The microfinance delusion: who really wins?
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womanatmile0.wordpress.com: The world’s most prominent leaders agree to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century
Congratulations world. We are finally starting to head in the right direction, fuelled by the passion and commitment from a handful of dedicated leaders. I’m so proud and happy today that the G7 leaders have agreed to decarbonize by the end of this century. Despite opposition from my own apparent ‘leader’
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Looking to Fight Austerity by Greening Spain
Robert Pollin on Podemos in Spain Filed under: Uncategorized
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Imagining the Cosmos: Utopians, Mystics, and the Popular Culture of Spaceflight in Revolutionary Russia
This essay investigates the explosive Soviet interest in space travel during the New Economic Policy (NEP) era of the 1920s, as expressed through amateur societies, the press, literature, painting, film, and other popular culture. In recovering an obscured history of the roots of Russian cosmonautics, it shows how the cause
Continue readingKersplebedeb | Kersplebedeb: Imagining the Cosmos: Utopians, Mystics, and the Popular Culture of Spaceflight in Revolutionary Russia
This essay investigates the explosive Soviet interest in space travel during the New Economic Policy (NEP) era of the 1920s, as expressed through amateur societies, the press, literature, painting, film, and other popular culture. In recovering an obscured history of the roots of Russian cosmonautics, it shows how the cause
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: The Idea of Muslim National Communism: On Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev
Not having any pretensions of giving an overview of all of Muslim national communism, I am interested here in someone who remains its major figure, the Tartar Bolshevik intellectual and militant Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev, whose first arrest was remarked upon by Trotsky in 1923, when he cited Kamenev’s words: Do you
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: THOSE MYTHOLOGICAL MEN AND THEIR SACRED, SUPERSONIC FLYING TEMPLES
From this anxiety of imitation, it is a short step to seeking authenticity in texts from the past, even if one of those texts is itself a modern imitation. The effect is further magnified by a narrowly instrumental education, the shrinking of public debate, the subservience of media to business
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff happens, week 21: The truth comes out; goodbye Sepp; hello, Caitlyn
The long-awaited Truth and Reconciliation Commission summary report on residential schools came out Tuesday, detailing the “cultural genocide” practiced by various Canadian governments against the First Nations. The report — actually, the summary report, with the full report coming later — made a staggering 94 recommendations, some of which make
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Out of Touch and Out of Water
John Klein: Behold the editors of the Leader-Post: Originally posted on John Klein – Regina: I was frankly surprised that the Leader-Post actually brought up climate change in their editorial that is otherwise a little out of touch. It would have been nice if they interviewed Dave Sauchyn. I learned
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: The Deep State: Germany, Immigration, and the National Socialist Underground
A weakness of large parts of the “left” opposition and the radical Left becomes apparent: after the pogroms of the early ’90s many abandoned the working class as a revolutionary force. They could therefore only turn to “civil society” and thus ultimately the state as an ally against the Nazis.
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Ideology and Practices (publicautonomy.org)
Some examples? Let’s start with something — an opinion or claim — that is not ideology, even though it might seem to be. Here’s one: “Canada is a democratic society that treats its citizens fairly.” It may be bullshit, but it’s not ideology. The ideology is this: that one barely
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: ConCalls: Documentary Underway
I was interviewed for the E-Day documentary film being wrapped up this Summer. What’d I say? You’ll have to wait until it’s been all put together. I can’t wait! https://t.co/vXIDfiLnwi Inky Mark running in #elxn42 as an Independent http://t.co/ZCvw2lX8Kg #votersuppression https://t.co/YJ73Qu4IIL — @EDayFilm (@edayfilm) June 4, 2015 Road trip video
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Grandstanding
grand·stand??ran(d)?stand/ verb derogatorygerund or present participle: grandstandingseek to attract applause or favorable attention from spectators or the media.“they accused him of political grandstanding” Just saying: i think there is a connection between neocolonialism as the current phase of global relations, and grandstanding as a personal practice within the multicultural middle class.
Continue readingSketchy Thoughts: Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies
Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support, according to data compiled by The Times. The figure underscores a common theme running through his emerging empire: a public-private financing model underpinning long-shot start-ups. http://ift.tt/1AFdypZ
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Alberta Getting a Climate Change Plan?
If they enact what is known to be good policy, but the previous government was afraid to do, that’d be a start anyway. I found it interesting that the newspaper had at least 1 line of comment from many minor party leaders, yet nothing from the PCs! They even had
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: This is Your Daily Economic Action Plan Reminder
Canada is not a Petrostate, I repeat, Canada is Not a Petrostate. There is no evidence that Canada places more value on oil than democracy. Remember, don’t “attack the Canadian economy” by speaking against economic activity you disagree with. RCMP officer to C-51 protester: "when the demo's down, you become
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Article in Foreign Affairs
I have an article in Foreign Affairs on the governance challenge posed by algorithmic decision making: The Violence of Algorithms
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Article in San Fransisco Chronicle
The following was in the San Fransisco Chronicle, on May 1 Why the U.S. should but won’t partner with hactivists Anonymous For a barbaric movement grounded in early Islamic apocalyptic prophecies, what is perhaps most striking about the rapid rise of the Islamic State has been its use of modern
Continue readingLeft Over: The Fundamental(ist) Reasons for It All…..
Rise of the ‘precariat,’ the global scourge of precarious jobs Barely one in four of the global workforce has a stable job, UN reports By Brian Stewart, CBC News Posted: Jun 01, 2015 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 01, 2015 8:36 AM ET Back in the 7-‘s, when i was
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Greece in Suspended Animation
Professor Leo Panitch on the state of Greece’s debt negotiations with the Troika, from The Real News Network. Filed under: Uncategorized
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