This and that for your Thursday reading. – Joan Westenberg discusses how to fight back in the war against knowledge, while Julia Doubleday calls out the lengths to which the New York Times and other outlets are going in avoiding any acknowledgment of the continuing effects of COVID-19. And in
Continue readingTag: human rights
Canadian Dimension: Remembering the ‘year of the Irish’
Statues placed at Toronto’s Ireland Park to represent the arrival of the Irish famine migrants on the city’s waterfront in 1847. Designed by Irish sculptor Rowan Gillespie, they were modelled on a similar Famine Memorial in Dublin for which he created seven statues of famine migrants about to embark on
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: operation paperclip: the secret intelligence program that brought nazi scientists to america
Many years ago, I wrote about how the label conspiracy theory is used to shut down inquiry and squelch the questioning of authority: two words, part one, two words part two. */** Never have I been more aware of this than after reading two books about real events that could easily
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Gaza Stories
“Gaza – Stories of Grief, Resilience and Hope” was hosted by the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba and Independent Jewish Voices Winnipeg at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg on March 16, 2024. As the title suggests, members of the Palestinian diaspora in Winnipeg share the impact this
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Trans enters the culture wars
Pierre Poilievre states that biological men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. I agree. But then I’m not aware of any biological men attempting to compete in women’s sports. Some transwomen are, but transwomen are … well, women, not biological men. According to my layman’s understanding, these
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The morality of tyrants
I have long been intrigued at how men who inflict torture and murder on their fellow human beings can consider themselves moral leaders. History is replete with authoritarians of various hues who fit the mould. One who exemplifies the type at the moment is Russia’s very own Vladimir Putin. One
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: December 10—Human Rights Day
It doesn’t seem to have attracted the attention it deserves but 2023 is the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration “is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Further Reflections On Nationalism
I would emphasize there are better and worse forms of nationalism, but stress that nationalist political-economic policies can be highly beneficial for the people, as opposed to neoliberalism, globalism or neoconservatism, so long as they are combined with robust democracy, human rights and freedom, and a spirit of friendliness and
Continue readingwmtc: write for rights 2023: my fifteenth year #w4r2023
2023 marks the fifteenth year that I have participated in Amnesty Interntional’s Write for Rights. Fifteen years ago, I chose one case, one person. I wrote to officials about them, and wrote to them as well. I upped the ante a bit more every year, until the year (date unknown!)
Continue readingwmtc: from the archives: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the self-hating jew (a three-part story)
This seems like a good time to re-post this three-part series. It remains one of the best pieces I’ve written. Part one, my Jewish identity: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the self-hating jew Part two, my awakening: my journey to palestinian solidarity and the myth of the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Collapse Of The West: Chapter One: The Global Tectonic Shift
By J. Todd Ring Preface: I wrote this essay in January of 2020, then the covid crisis hit, and it was shelved for over a year. The macro-scale patterns have not changed fundamentally since then, although the slow-motion collapse of the US, and the West more broadly, has accelerated. I
Continue readingwmtc: a genocide is happening right now and nations are doing nothing to stop it
Right now the State of Israel is committing genocide against the people of Gaza. Many humans around the globe are horrified, grieving, raging. But people with the power to stop it are either defending it or remaining silent. And as we know, silence equals complicity. In this post, I have
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Winnipeggers mark the 50th anniversary of the Chilean coup
On September 11, 1973, Popular Unity Government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in a violent coup d’état carried out by the Chilean military with the backing of the government of the United States. The coup leader, General Augusto Pinochet, implemented a bloody campaign of torture, imprisonment and murder. Thousands were
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: A Winnipeg Vigil for Palestine
On August 12, 2023, supporters of Palestinian liberation in Winnipeg held a vigil across from the Israeli Folklorama Pavilion to raise awareness of the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Affirmative action—race or socioeconomics?
The US Supreme Court recently struck down race-based affirmative action as a basis for college admissions. Americans are now busy entertaining new ideas about how to account for historical disadvantage suffered by ethnic groups. And well they should. Blacks, the group affirmative action was aimed at, suffered centuries of slavery
Continue readingwmtc: in which an email reminds me to resurrect a very old post: join athena to change amazon
Do you support Athena? Athena is a broad coalition of people and organizations who seek to change Amazon’s practices through a variety of tools and tactics, including from the inside. In a braindump called the post of orphaned notes, I found this. athena is organizing against amazon, and you can help
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Lesson For All Of Us
Some ‘religious’ people will undoubtedly find this teaching from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hard to accept. Republicans have good reason to fear this woman, because her ability to cut through their BS is a master class in the art of political engagement. She absolutely understands how to sell a values driven argument
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Republican trans phobia
People generally like to keep things simple. Black and white, right and wrong, men and women. But of course things generally aren’t all that simple. More often than not there are annoying shades of grey. Gender would seem simple. It’s all determined by our sex chromosomes. Women have two X
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Africa’s anti-gay madness—the Christian connection
Uganda recently passed an anti-gay law described by United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk as “probably among the worst of its kind in the world.” Anyone engaging in gay sex can be imprisoned for life. Even attempting to have gay sex can earn seven years behind bars. Homosexual acts
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Africa’s anti-gay madness—the Christian connection
Uganda recently passed an anti-gay law described by United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk as “probably among the worst of its kind in the world.” Anyone engaging in gay sex can be imprisoned for life. Even attempting to have gay sex can earn seven years behind bars. Homosexual acts
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