My partner and I have been talking much about the horribly tragic death of two boys in New Brunswick a couple of days ago. KP is snake-o-phobic and this just confirmed her worst fears, especially with a reptile shop around the corner that sells large s…
Continue readingTag: Socialism
RedBedHead: On Pythons & Media Generated Paranoia
My partner and I have been talking much about the horribly tragic death of two boys in New Brunswick a couple of days ago. KP is snake-o-phobic and this just confirmed her worst fears, especially with a reptile shop around the corner that sells large snakes. For me, while it
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: clarence darrow, attorney for the damned, by john a. farrell
I last wrote about Clarence Darrow in early 2012, after reading a piece by one of my favourite New Yorker writers, Jill Lepore. Two new biographies of Darrow had been published, and Lepore wrote a tribute to the great defender, and mused on the state of North American labour movement.
Continue readingwmtc: rtod
This Revolutionary Thought of the Day brought to you by my abiding hero, Clarence Darrow. Darrow dismissed many of the remedial bandages that he and the labor movement had battled for: eight-hour-day laws, women’s suffrage, child labor legislation. “We are busy patching and tinkering, and doing a poor job patching
Continue readingRedBedHead: Massacre in Egypt: Is Revolution Worth The Price?
As I sat down to write this post the news of a tragic massacre of at least 32 Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated protestors, and the injury of 300 more was plastered all over the internet. That much is clear, the rest is yet to be disentangled (if ever) from two completely opposing
Continue readingRedBedHead: Massacre in Egypt: Is Revolution Worth The Price?
As I sat down to write this post the news of a tragic massacre of at least 32 Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated protestors, and the injury of 300 more was plastered all over the internet. That much is clear, the rest is yet to be disentangled (if ever) from two completely opposing
Continue readingRedBedHead: Massacre in Egypt: Is Revolution Worth The Price?
As I sat down to write this post the news of a tragic massacre of at least 32 Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated protestors, and the injury of 300 more was plastered all over the internet. That much is clear, the rest is yet to be disentangled (if ever) fro…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Deflected Marxism: The Poison Of The Intelligentsia
I was thinking recently of an apocryphal story that was told to me many years ago as I sat in a dank basement drinking from a keg of beer. Apparently Lenin was listening to Beethoven with the Russian novelist Gorky and commented something along the lines: “ah, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia.
Continue readingRedBedHead: Deflected Marxism: The Poison Of The Intelligentsia
I was thinking recently of an apocryphal story that was told to me many years ago as I sat in a dank basement drinking from a keg of beer. Apparently Lenin was listening to Beethoven with the Russian novelist Gorky and commented something along the lines: “ah, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia.
Continue readingRedBedHead: Deflected Marxism: The Poison Of The Intelligentsia
I was thinking recently of an apocryphal story that was told to me many years ago as I sat in a dank basement drinking from a keg of beer. Apparently Lenin was listening to Beethoven with the Russian novelist Gorky and commented something along the lines: “ah, the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia. Sometimes they produce such beauty that one wants to reach out and pat them on the head. But you
wmtc: barcelona, day two
Barcelona is amazing. Some people suggested that five days here were too many, but we can barely fit in all the things we want to do – even though we are omitting one major tourist attraction and the most popular day-trip in Spain. (More on that later.) I managed to
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: I just saw that today, May 5, is the birthday of Karl Heinrich…
I just saw that today, May 5, is the birthday of Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883), the German economist, historian, journalist and philosopher. I post this video in honour of the occasion. It’s a bit silly, and I’m not sure of the intentions of the creators, but I’ve been waiting for
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Here’s my final photo from the International Workers Day…
Here’s my final photo from the International Workers Day rally in downtown Toronto on May 1, 2013. I couldn’t resist snapping a pic of this “Bourgeois” tour bus parked near the starting point of the Mayday march. Obviously I wasn’t the only one who saw the dry humour in this,
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 4 These two photos from the 2013…
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 4 These two photos from the 2013 International Workers Day march in Toronto are of the front and back of a Rebel Time Records “United Colours of Antifa” T-shirt — the black flag of anarchism and the red flag of socialism united against fascism.
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 3 These are various photos of…
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 3 These are various photos of the International Workers Day march in downtown Toronto during the evening of May 1, 2013. A wide range of groups, individuals, causes and ideologies were represented — under the common banner of working class power.
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 1 These pictures are from the…
Toronto Mayday 2013 – Photo set 1 These pictures are from the starting point of the International Workers Day rally in downtown Toronto in the early evening of May 1, 2013. The trees and sunlight in these five photos highlight the other, much older, aspect of Mayday: nature, rebirth and
Continue readingdrive-by planet: NDP caters to conservative critique by nixxing ‘socialism’ references in constitution
Top: NDP leader Mulcair / Bottom: Atefa Akbary and Farshad Azadian The vote at the NDP Montreal convention to remove the word “socialism” from the party’s constitution is symbolic in all the wrong ways. It’s ironic that at a time when neoliberal policies are on the ropes and capitalism never
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Billy Bragg on why he became a socialist
One of the main reasons Billy Bragg became a socialist was Margaret Thatcher. She inspired many to take up the fight against the policies that have been wrecking Britain. Billy Bragg was a front line activist during the Thatcher years. In 1985 he formed Red Wedge – a musician’s alliance
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Socialist’s Lament
Let’s be clear about one thing: the New Democratic Party of Canada was never a socialist party. For all the hands wrung and tears shed over its newly amended constitution, the NDP, since its formation in 1961, has always been a social democratic party like any other, and social democracy
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: A Socialist’s Lament
Let’s be clear about one thing: the New Democratic Party of Canada was never a socialist party. For all the hands wrung and tears shed over its newly amended constitution, the NDP, since its formation in 1961, has always been a social democratic party like any other, and social democracy
Continue reading