Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Caitlin Johnstone offers a grim but fair evaluation of the barely-existent left in the U.S. and elsewhere – while recognizing that the obvious implication is the need to build capacity to demand systemic change. And David Suzuki discusses how an obsession with perpetually
Continue readingTag: sexism
The Cracked Crystal Ball II: Equity, Not Meritocracy
Ever since Biden’s speech to Canada’s Parliament this weekend, Conservative politicians here have been going off about whether or not the female members of cabinet “got there because of their sex or because of merit”. Consider the following from Poilievre’s communications lead: The level of sexism and misogyny in this
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Maggie Mills discusses how an antisocial public health policy in the midst of an ongoing pandemic is producing a disastrous human cost (particularly for vulnerable people), while Pamela Heaven reports on CIBC research showing that even the economy to which people are being
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Srinivasan’s "The Right to Sex"
“It is absurd to contend that vice, ecstasy, and passion would become impossible if man and woman were concretely peers” (xiii). ~ Simone de Beauvoir Amia Srinivasan’s book rivals Kate Manne’s fantastic Down Girl in the most exciting way. It’s an absolute must read for anyone hoping to improve themselves
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Shannon Daub. Alex Hemingway and Marc Lee examine the strong consensus among the B.C. public that the recovery from COVID-19 should build a more equitable and sustainable society. The CCPA has released its alternative federal budget plan to show how that could
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Totalitarian Left’s Bastardization of Intersectionality
Intersectionality is one of the positive additions that heralds from Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. Her concept of intersectionality is as follows – “The main argument of this black feminist paper is that the experience of being a black woman cannot be understood in terms of being black and of being
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Why Brett Kavanaugh Was Not Believable
I didn't get to watch much of the U.S. Senate hearing where Christine Blasey Ford testified that Brett Kavanagh once sexually assaulted her.And Kavanagh screamed that the assault never happened, and claimed that it was all a plot by the Democrats to destroy him.But I didn't have to watch much
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Anita Hill
My time at university was split down the middle by the news of the Montréal Massacre, and the subsequent years were plagued with fears of the Scarborough rapist. We proactively organized walking groups to move around on and off campus, started a “No Means No” campaign, and then, at one
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Manne’s "Down Girl"
With thorough argumentation and heavily footnoted facts brought to the table, Down Girl, by Kate Manne delineates misogyny from sexism and hopes “to offer a useful toolkit for asking, answering, and debating” (13) issues centred around misogyny. Right off the bat, let’s clarify that it’s not remotely a man-hating thesis.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne rightly criticizes the World Bank for trying to push discredited and inhumane trickle-down economics as a substitute for viable economic development. – Gary Younge calls for some much-needed recognition of the toxic masculinity behind so many mass killings. And Nora Loreto
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Entitlement and Unfettered Rage
One of the benefits or downfalls of the internet is that it allows fringe groups to find each other online. When it comes to feeling like nobody in the world knows about climate change or the Myanmar genocide (or philosophy), because nobody in my immediate vicinity is too concerned or
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Doug Ford And The Bigot Elephant In The Room
It's now a recurring nightmare. The hellish vision of Doug Ford swinging from the CN tower and bellowing like King Kong:"I'm da Premier of Ontario!!!!" Now that the polls show him apparently heading for a gorilla of a majority. And as if that wasn't bad enough, then there's this other poll suggesting that men
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Hog Trump Goes After The #MeToo Movement
We always knew that Donald Trump was a sexist pig, even before he became president.A misogynist, a groper, a pervert.Even the media knew that. But his supporters didn't care, many of them being hogs themselves, and they voted for him anyway.And now he's doubling down and going after the #MeToo movement.Read
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Is This Why The Con Media Hates Justin Trudeau So Much?
As you know, I've often wondered why the Con media is so biased against Justin Trudeau, and hates him so much.I've blamed that bias on shameless scribblers trying to please their corporate bosses, who are furious with Trudeau for raising their taxes. I've wondered whether our dilapidated media are being secretly
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom discusses Canada’s likely NAFTA decision between an even worse deal than exists now, and no deal at all – though it’s worth recognizing that the latter choice shouldn’t be seen as a problem. And Alex Panetta points out the Libs’ total
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Ed Finn comments on the massive amounts of public money being funneled toward Canada’s wealthiest corporations: When it comes to listing countries on the basis of the social services they provide to citizens compared to the subsidies they heap on corporations, Canada doesn’t
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – David McGrane writes about Jack Layton’s five great fights – and how they continue to provide an essential framework for social democrats. – Rupert Neate reports on London’s “ghost towers”, which include tens of thousands of high-end homes sitting empty in a city
Continue readingcmkl: December 6th: post until it’s fixed
I wrestled with the idea of writing yet another December 6th post. When I worked for uniondom, the copy-paste platitudes we posted every year on this date and many others really frustrated me. And yet here I was contemplating the same thing. And I think I decided that I would
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Meaning of Gender is changing – T.M Murray
Catch the rest of the article here. “In the past several years ‘gender’ has been radically re-defined by a reactionary movement that has transformed it from a set of conventions and constraints on what men and women can be or do, to an interior mental state. Chrissie Daz is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2017 Links
The latest from the federal NDP’s leadership campaign as we reach the last day of the first round of voting. – B.J. Siekierski reports on the latest Mainstreet poll showing Jagmeet Singh with a lead, but significant room for movement at each step in the campaign. And the Huffington Post
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