Media Messaging – Using the ‘Right’ Terms
What language do you think progressives should use to try to communicate with the average Canadian viewer?
November 2011
A beautiful day…
…in our nation’s Capital! Get out and enjoy it if you can. Share and Enjoy: Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Don’t Let them Tell you. . . . . .
You have to give credit to the rightwing to one thing at least - the way that they have convinced so many people that our society is broke and we…
Canadian Boats Seized by Israel
Gaza situation is one of the worst injustices in the world. Why Harper and other western leaders are not speaking out. They were fast to intervene in case of Libya.…
Remember Burma? – Friday Film Pick: Happy World
A short while back, Bryan Farrell, who also writes for WagingNonviolence, told Slate readers about a short web doc called “Happy World.” A peak inside the bizarre dictatorship currently gripping…
"Moral convictions", Republicans and bullying
You gotta love Republicans. In Michigan, the Republican-heavy Senate has passed a new anti-bullying bill that promotes bullying by giving perpetrators the 'moral conviction' right to bully on behalf of…
The Rebel’s Letter to Mankiw and some thoughts on education in economics
Yesterday I noted that 10 percent of Mankiw’s students walked out of his class to protest what they, rightly believed, to be a heavily biased introduction to economics. I think…
Dear commerical media quit using “union boss” to describe our leaders
I know y'all are into brevity and everything. I'm with you. But is the pain of adding three extra characters to your titles and content really so onerous that you…
Cuba legalizes private property transactions
It’s good to see the rules loosening up a bit in Cuba: Cuba Legalizes Purchase, Sale Of Private Property. Hopefully this continues. It’s too bad the US can’t just get…
Zucchinissimo!
Revealed as I peeled away the undergrowth in my little backyard patch. Note the ruler at midsection—this mutant zucchino is nearly a metre long. It was the only fruit the…
In The Face Of Winter, A Movement Blossoms
Despite the police harassment, the arrests, the confiscation of tents and supplies, as well as the imminent arrival of winter, the Occupy movement continues to grow. Although the mainstream media…
Paint a Rosy Picture
Murray Mandryk is concerned there may be no “real opposition” in the coming legislature. I’m not surprised that there won’t be. The Green Party of Sask. has been campaigning on…
Jeanne’s Favourite Picture: On Kids and Dogs and Population Control
Le Devoir columnist Josée Blanchette has a piece today about dogs and what a pain they are. Jeanne, who can not read of course, was taken by it nevertheless. The…
Purpose of the curative proviso is to avoid a retrial that would be superfluous and unnecessary but sets high the Crown’s burden
R. v. Sarrazin, 2011 SCC 54 was released about 15 minutes ago. It is a strong decision supporting a limited reading of the curative provision for harmless errors in criminal…
So How Are We Doing?
Action, not words. That might be the long overdue message our leaders need to hear on climate change. The US Energy Department reports that recent greenhouse gas emissions have increased…
We’re all adjusting
Apparently it’s not cheating if you cheat at Nanowrimo. It’s called Being a Rebel. They even have Rebel badges and everything. Rebels are creating all kinds of books at Nanowrimo,…
IBM Launches 3rd Annual Smarter Cities Challenge
smarter cities.jpg At a time when corporations’ misdeeds are under a bright spotlight (and rightfully so,) we needn’t overlook the few companies that are working to bring innovation a...
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- If there's any good news in the Cons' constant attacks on labour, it's the growing recognition that workers need to fight back with no…
What’s so great about Local Food
I suspect that the local food movement is one of those ill thought out environmental ideas that, like ethanol, actually may do more harm then good, especially from a global…
Gov 2.0: Network Analysis for Income Inequality?
I’ve been thinking a lot about these two types of graphs at the moment. This first is a single chart that shows income growth for various segements of the US…