simon says, grumpy bird, and an evil witch: summer reading club begins
Summer is the busiest time of year in the Central Children’s Library. Actually, we are wildly busy any time school is out; the summer is just the most sustained period…
July 2013
Harper’s “Public Event” “photo opportunity” (Cameras and photographers only) #cdnpoli
Where is this event you ask? Lac-Mégantic, Québec 3:15 p.m. – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will participate in a photo opportunity. Why is Harper there? You could say that Harper’s…
PRISM: Obama Didn’t End Illegal Spying, He Extended It
“There are no checks and balances here, and we’ve got to restore them.” Sensenbrenner, Republican who drafted the Patriot Act II. Go read 2001/2002 debate over the Patriot Act –…
RESIGN!!!
Stephen Harper left Parliament, public in dark on Senate scandal: Editorial RCMP investigation has shed light on aspects of the Senate expenses scandal that Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn’t keen…
The Duffy Deal: Is PM Stephen Harper from Barcelona?
I know nothing! Poor Manuel, the harried waiter in Fawlty Towers, is often denigrated by Basil Fawlty with the words: “He’s from Barcelona”. Now we face an equally valid question:…
Racism and the US Civil Rights movement retold
As I read through Rick Perlstein’s book, Nixonland, about American politics and life in the 1950s and 60s, the Civil Rights movement and the reaction to it by white Americans,…
Runaway Train
Lac-Mégantic, Quebec was partially levelled by a massive oil explosion from a train that became detached from its locomotive and rolled into the downtown. The locomotive experienced a fire before…
deep green resistance, gender, and transgenderism
I wrote about going to a Deep Green Resistance presentation. Then after a few days I ended up hearing about the controversy around DGR’s position on transgenderism. Basically, they argue…
Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Lest anybody think the Harper Cons’ combination of dishonesty and secrecy is limited to political payoffs, Blacklock’s reveals (PDF) that they subsidized the…
Three Stooges
Mike Duffy is having fun. 🙂
Can We Trust the RCMP to Investigate Duffy-Wright-Harper?
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson sent a curious e-mail to his senior officers in March of this year. In an email dated March 22 from Paulson to more than 50 chief…
Calgary Flood one in growing list of recent Extreme Weather Events
Calgary’s flood, it seems, is just the latest in a growing frequency of extreme weather events that have been causing havoc nearly everywhere on the planet. While Canadian news was…
VOCM more like Fox and Sun #nlpoli
VOCM’s newsroom is taking a massive step downward with a headline on the Liberal leadership. On Friday, Dwight Ball stepped down as interim leader. The caucus will decide his replace…
The "Primitives" Have Got It Right
In a recent article, Noam Chomsky asks the question we should all be asking: “Who will defend the earth?” The people who are desperately interested in the answer to that…
The Reserve Paradox, Part One: The Same Old Story
We have been fighting for so long that the original misunderstandings and differences that created this conflict have been forgotten. Various tactics have been tried by one side and countered…
A Look at Etobicoke-Lakeshore
On August 1st, the provincial constituency of Etobicoke-Lakeshore will hold a by-election along with four other ridings across Ontario, including three of which I’ve already covered – Windsor-Tecumseh, London West,…
Why are Pickup Trucks so Anti-Pedestrian?
Take a look at the back of any of today’s pickup trucks. Notice the exhaust pipe, under the vehicle? It points to the right. The same side of the road…
The Digital Life
The Disaffected Lib recently wrote a post expressing ambivalence about the ubiquitous role that technology plays in our lives. It is an ambivalence I think many of us, especially those…
The silence of Stephen Harper.
You do not necessarily think of Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a quiet person. When you see television news clips of him in the House of Commons or addressing a…
The Disaster You Haven’t Heard About Yet?
Details are sparse so far on an oil spill reported in the Athabasca River near the Poplar Grove First Nation. Members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation oil spill response…