Yesterday, over at Northern Reflections, Owen Gray wrote a post entitled A Lost Generation, a reflection on the discouraging prospects our young people face in establishing themselves in gainful employment, and the fact that their plight does not seem to be a factor in the Harper regime’s decision-making. I left
Continue readingTag: the toronto star
Politics and its Discontents: ‘Where Is The Outrage?’ Asks Alex Himelfarb
I have written two previous posts about Alex Himelfarb, Director of the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs at York University, former Clerk of the Privy Council, and fellow blogger. He is a man whose passion for democracy and societal fairness I deeply admire. I was therefore pleased to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: News That Gladdens My Heart
Despite its oft-proclaimed demised, print journalism seems to be alive and well, at least in the GTA. As reported in today’s edition, The Toronto Star is enjoying record readership: The Toronto Star retains its title as the most-read newspaper in the Greater Toronto Area, with more than 1 million readers
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Social Media and Margaret Wente
About two years ago, I wrote a blog post explaining why we cancelled our subscription to The Globe and Mail. At the same time, I sent an email with a link to the post to Globe editor-in-chief John Stackhouse, suggesting that if he wanted to know why he had lost
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Linda McQuaig on Neo-Conservative Contempt
There are some columnists whose work I am loathe to miss. For example, over at the Globe, unlike some people I could name, Lawrence Martin writes with precision and integrity, never failing to take to task the endless abuses heaped upon the electorate by the Harper regime. At the Star,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Celebration of Literacy
Despite its rather lengthy history, yesterday was the first time my wife and I attended Toronto’s Word On the Street, a celebration of books, literacy, and the dispelling of ignorance. As a retired English teacher and keen observer of the political machinations that envelop our society, it was very heartening
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Sometimes It Is Hard Not To Feel Smug
Many years ago, the singer Mac Davis wrote and performed a satirical song entitled “It’s Hard To Be Humble,” about a man so impressed with himself that he has no insight whatsoever into what a buffoon he really is. I sometimes think of that song when I ponder the shenanigans
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Inconvenient Truths for the Corporate Sector
Given that recent reports have helped to puncture the myth of job-creation benefits arising from corporate tax cuts and corporate welfare, I was pleased to read Martin Regg Cohn’s article in this morning’s Star. Entitled NDP leverages vote results to pressure big business to create jobs, the article discusses the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Rick Salutin On Teacher Unions
We seem to be in the constant throes of anti-union sentiment during a time they are most needed. The right wing, including Ontario Conservative leader young Tim Hudak, seems to be especially enamored of the phrases “union bosses” and “workplace democracy,” both thinly-disguised anti-union euphemisms. And now that teachers are
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: If You Say It Enough Times …
Recently I have been writing about the vital role critical thinking plays in a healthy democracy; this morning, after reading the letters section of The Star, I couldn’t help but think about one of the oldest and most frequently-used techniques to inhibit that process: repetition. Repetition , a strategy frequently
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Uncommon Wisdom From The ‘Common’ People
That is the best way to assess the fact that last night, despite all of his gerrymandering, Dalton NcGuinty was decisively thwarted in his ruthless drive for the majority government he had been denied in the last general provincial election. Thanks to the people of Kitchener-Waterloo, both he and the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Heather Mallick On The Insidious Nature Of Poverty
The older I get, the less patience I have with government that preaches an austerity that has a disproportionate impact on the poor. Of the right-wing rhetoric and mythology that all one has to do is to work hard to succeed, so evident in last week’s Republican convention, I have
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Propaganda From Vic Toews
There are two letters of particular note in this morning’s edition of The Toronto Star, one a propaganda piece from our much beleaguered Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, the other from Ron Charach, who seems to possess a certain perspicacity in his assessment of the Conservative government. I am
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: How The Right Deforms Our Attitudes
I have long believed it is not so much the ‘genius’ of the extreme right as it is their financial backing that makes them powerful propagandists. Their domination of the media and their captivation of politicians’ ears give them advantages very difficult to surmount. Read letters to the editor throughout
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Have A Responsibility
As we go about our daily lives, the majority of us, I suspect, share a hierarchy of concerns ranging in priority from the health and well-being of our loved ones, to ourselves, and to our fellow humans. It is probably the latter than many of us pay only lip service
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: From A Star Reader
My sentiments exactly, Steve: Re: A G20 cop’s close call, Aug. 10 I am a 59-year-old middle-class law-abiding person. That said, I cannot help but remark on the juxtaposition of the description of George Horton’s “crimes” with the picture of police activity during the G20. Horton is accused of wearing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Ridicule for a Gun-Loving Cop
In many ways, as the cliche goes, laughter is the best medicine. I often think that within the media and the blogosphere, far too much serious attention is paid to the most outrageous people, whose utterances are so preposterous that they probably should be ignored or justifiably ridiculed. After all,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More on Drilling for Oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
As noted recently, the Harper regime, in its bottomless contempt and disregard for the environment, recently opened up the possibility of drilling for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, another unpleasant fact hidden deep within the arcana of Omnibus Bill C-38. Happily, this fact was brought to the public’s
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Harper Government and The Eve of Environmental Destruction
Despite recent toned-down rhetoric, I suspect Harper and his minions are fooling very few people. Take, for example, the recent words of our Anti-Environment Minister, the integrity-challenged Peter Kent: Confronted by a looming 2020 deadline for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the Harper government will ramp up its efforts to reduce
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Walkom – Harper and Oil
In this time of unprecedented climate change, I think most people realize that Stephen Harper has an unhealthy addiction to oil, one that marks him as truly retrogressive as he seeks to return Canada to its traditional role as primarily an exporter of resources, all the while couching that backward
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