Germans and their fascination with nudity
The shy Angela Merkel Angela Merkel may not like to tell you but even she enjoys it. NBC News gets to the bottom of Germany’s love affair with nudity. “Lately,…
September 2013
An Irrational Mixup at SaskPower
Ten years ago, SaskPower was spending money to promote education about Climate Change. The poster contest is an important component of our efforts to educate the public about the climate…
A Teacher’s Truth Costs Her Her Job
It seems to me that any school should feel very lucky to have a teacher of Kristen Ostendorf’s character and courage. Totino-Grace Catholic High School in Minnesota is not one…
Dysfunctional Legislatures
Is there any such thing as a fully “functional” legislature in Canada? I am starting to wonder. I do not follow all the various provincial maneuverings but it seems to…
A Dystopian Future
George Orwell and Aldous Huxley envisioned nightmarish worlds, which were the result of 20th century trends. Now American economist Tyler Cowan has produced a vision of the dystopian world of…
An Essay On Syria, Morality And The International Community
Do you know why chemical weapons are often referred to as the “poor man’s nuke”? The term comes as a snide label detailing the devastating effects these weapons have compared…
Voyager One and Our Message to the Aliens
It's amazing to think that this little toy that we earthlings made is now sailing out of our solar system. The tireless Voyager I spacecraft, launched in the disco era…
In Sunday’s Sun: ten reasons why Quebec’s racist “Charter” could fail
It’s a mutually-reinforcing conceit, former Bill Clinton advisor Dick Morris once observed. Politicians and their staff pride themselves on their ability to manipulate the media and – through them –…
BC-MLA’s Tour Shawnigan Watershed While The CVRD Dusts Off The Bylaw To Stop Contaminated Dumps
Richard ‘Hub’ Hughes-Political Blogger With things heating up around the contaminated site threatened Shawnigan Watershed, Cowichan MLA Bill Routley along with BC NDP Environment critic Chandra Herbert were led by…
brief open letter to richard dawkins: you have no right to speak for anyone but yourself
Dear Richard Dawkins, If the sexual abuse you experienced as a child did not leave you with lasting scars, that’s very fortunate for you. However, you have no right to…
war resister rodney watson: four years in sanctuary
Today marks four years since Iraq War resister Rodney Watson requested sanctuary from the First United Church in Vancouver. Watson has been in sanctuary ever since. We can honour Watson’s…
Harper’s economic flim flam
Harper incessantly claims his top priority is “jobs and the economy.” So how exactly is he doing? Not so good according to Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail. One…
Climate Change is the ultimate ‘Moral Hazard’
Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Moral Hazard, Part 1: The Cost of Risk and Reward One of the factors compromising our prospects for a stable and secure environmental…
Bob McDonald says "stand up for science"
On CBC News, Bob McDonald, Canada’s favourite science commentator, makes a plea for both basic science and for Monday’s “Stand Up for Science rallies.” He comments on our federal government’s…
You Know Those Annoying Commercials on YouTube?
I slammed straight into this one. Somehow I think I just lost a few days off my lifespan.
On the Perversion and Suppression of Intellectualism
Henry Giroux, considered one of the top 50 educational thinkers of the modern period, is sounding the alarm on the fate that has befallen intellectualism in today’s Brave New World.…
In Wildness is the Preservation of the World
The title of this post is a quote from Henry David Thoreau’s essay, Walking, published posthumously in 1862, but which he wrote and rewrote during the 1850s. I was thinking…
Colorado Whipsawed By Drought and Floods
This made the news in the Colorado newspaper, the Yuma Sun, on September 7th, just one week ago. The Colorado River Basin is currently experiencing its driest 14-year period in…