Assorted content to end your week. – Jeffrey Simpson manages to write an entire column on important political developments he managed to miss in 2011 without uttering the words “NDP” (or any member thereof). Which surely looks like an early nominee as a continued blind spot in 2012. – Peter
Continue readingTag: occupy canada
Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Paul Krugman comments on how Republicans’ cheerleading for total corporate control – which has of course been matched at every turn by Canada’s Cons – has resulted in their declaring war on any policy which could possibly result in environmental improvements: (T)he
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Thomas Walkom tries to be optimistic about the year ahead, and likely settles on the best reason for hope that Canada’s politics will see some change for the better: Canada, like Australia and Brazil, is getting by on sales of raw materials
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Occupy Canada and the Great Darkness: My Video
I visited St James Park the other day, about a month after the Occupy Toronto campsite was torn down. And not even the Christmas lights on the old gazebo, could brighten up the bleakness. I much preferred it when it was full of gentle dreamers, talking about changing the world.
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Quote of the year: “We are the 99 per cent”
Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School has declared “We are the 99 per cent”, the political slogan of the Global Occupy movement, the heavy weight champ of the quotes for 2011. It’s another unavoidable …Read More
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: I Love Time Magazine’s Choice For Person of the Year. Us
Time magazine has chosen “The Protester” as Person of the Year. From the Arab Springs to the “Occupy” movement, those who literally stand up for democracy are being honoured. Time said it is recognizing protesters because they are “redefining people power” around the world. “People power”. What a lovely term.
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Even Canadian Bankers are Hoping that the "Occupy" Movement is a Success
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a report yesterday, showing that Canada’s income disparity is growing faster even than that of the U.S. Low paying jobs and a diminishing middle class, are partly to blame, but also deregulation, that allowed the wealthy to become even wealthier, is a
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Capitalist Pigs and the Cream Separator
Uh oh. I mean oink oink. I see the unrepentant capitalist pig just can’t help itself. Stuffing itself with human misery. While the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. A new report finds that the gap between the rich and the poor just keeps getting wider in Canada.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your day. – Toby Sanger posts about the OECD’s findings on inequality in Canada, with this particularly jumping out as to how much less progressive our tax system is now than it was two decades ago: Taxes and benefits play a smaller role in reducing inequality
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Another "Occupy" Movement That Should Inspire
Smedley Darlington Butler (1881-1940), was at the time of his death, the most decorated marine in the United States. However, the final years of his life were spent in publicly denouncing wars, which he decided were being fought for corporate interests; speaking at pacifist rallies and advocating for veterans. On August 21,
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Hooligans and How the Cultural Left Can Beat the Political Right
This week in the Winnipeg Sun, a column by Tom Brodbeck; Hooligan Harper haters: Crime bill protestors partisan hypocrites, irked me on many levels. From the eye rolling “Harper haters” that’s been done to death, to the notion of opposition to Bill C-10, being a partisan issue. I contacted Mr. Brodbeck
Continue readingMontreal Simon: A Hollow Lament for Occupy Canada
I see that Kalle Lasn, one of the Canadian instigators of the Occupy Wall Street movement, laments the way things turned out in Canada. While protesters from Halifax to Vancouver emulated their global counterparts by pitching tents in public spaces and brainstorming ways to challenge the status quo, Lasn said
Continue readingBad Form
I understand it’s considered bad form for rank and file progressives to criticize the Canadian Occupy protests in any way, even while being supportive of the American ones. But if anyone is in a position to do so, it would be the malcontent responsible for setting off the entire movement
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Occupy Movement and the Nature of the Beast
Twenty four hours after this little campsite was demolished, I see that Margaret Wente couldn’t restrain herself from going down to St James Park, squatting on all fours, and delivering this dreary dump. Despite the current circumstances, every single protester in North America is pretty well guaranteed a comfortable middle-class
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Frances Russell wonders what happened to the concept of the public good: Our political language about taxes has changed. Gone is “ability to pay.” The new catchphrases are “user pay” and “pay as you go.” The bottom-line message to citizens is “if
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Occupy Toronto:The End of the Beginning
(click pics to enlarge) By the time I got to the Occupy Toronto campsite this afternoon it was mostly gone. The library, where some guy in a Clockwork Orange bowler hat had barricaded himself, was being dismantled. Some of the neighbours were taking back “their” park. So be careful where
Continue readingOccupy Toronto clears out, makes plans
On Twitter this morning I found a live stream and chat from Occupy Toronto. I wandered into it right about the point where the protesters were in the process of decamping. At around 9am local time the cops made an appearance and officially requested that the protesters leave, after which
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Occupy Toronto and the Old Rebel
I visited the Occupy Toronto campsite on my way back from work today, and it was a sad and desolate sight. Exhausted street kids tearing down their tents, as an icy wind blew the dead leaves around them. The demolished kitchen that once fed hundreds of people a day, now
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Linda McQuaig points out how the Occupy movement has at least started to shift the terms of our political debate: Rather than hanging out at malls or zoning out on Facebook, these young people have endured real hardship in the Canadian near-winter
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Occupy Ottawa issued eviction notice, vow to resist
Occupy Ottawa is under attack! The National Capital Commission (NCC) served the movement with a notice of eviction from Confederation Park earlier today. The peaceful Occupiers are required to vacate the park by mid night. But they’re …Read More
Continue reading