Why does the media care what’s trending on Twitter?
While I was watching TV news coverage of the Moncton nightmare, I often heard the reporters talking, in terms of near awe, that #Moncton or #prayforMoncton was trending on Twitter.…
June 2014
Activist Killjoy: Vancouver Arts is getting pennies from Developer CACs
I know everyone in the arts community is celebrating this news: City hall is bringing some relief to Vancouver’s embattled arts community, which has for years complained about a lack
COPYRIGHT BOARD SETS RATES FOR ONLINE MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES/ By Sharifullah Mahboob
This new move to set royalties for internet music streaming and sound recordings is a small but fundamental step that secures copyright holders. Toronto lawyer and partner of Brauti Thorning…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jim Armitage discusses how the privatization of public services in the UK is being mashed up with the principles behind subprime lending and…
Interesting picture
I found this picture on the internet. Harper seems to use similar illusion.
June 7: Sensationalism vs. news
Much of today’s news is about the killing of three police officers, about public sympathy, and the arrest of a man charged with the killings. But for all those pages…
On Harper’s Hateful Hypocricsy
There is little doubt that Alana Westwood will now be joining that ever-growing pantheon of proud Canadians inscribed on Harper’s Enemies List. The PhD Candidate at Dalhousie University and volunteer…
Sex, Marketing, and Boys’ Business
The Stephen Harper government has just brought out its new bill on prostitution which is getting criticsm from many quarters. A compromise between all-out legalisation and complete outlawing, the Conservative…
Saturday Photo: Chestnuts in Blossom
April in Paris, Chestnuts in blossom: right? Well, no, it’s June and the chestnuts are in blossom in Montreal. That’s about par for the course–or a little later this year,…
How Wynne blew the Globe and Mail endorsement
This election in Ontario, the red-Tory editorial board of the Globe and Mail reluctantly endorsed a Tim Hudak minority. How did Kathleen Wynne blow the endorsement Dalton McGuinty got in…
Study Dismisses Geoengineering Quick Fix For Global Warming
Politicians should not look to science and engineering for a relatively quick fix to effectively deal with climate change caused by rising greenhouse gas emissions, a new academic study has…
Study Dismisses Geoengineering Quick Fix For Global Warming
Politicians should not look to science and engineering for a relatively quick fix to effectively deal with climate change caused by rising greenhouse gas emissions, a new academic study has…
Wynne, Walkom coalition scheming comes full circle
Here’s a little Machiavellian theatre of the absurd. Back on May 28, Wynne surprised journalists by not ruling out a coalition with the NDP. I thought: finally, a politician with…
A Name That Will Live In Infamy
We once had to wait weeks, Andrew Coyne writes, for a new Harperian abuse of power. Now it happens daily. The latest example is the government’s proposed legislation on prostitution:…
The Hair hears from an unhappy hooker.
Canada’s prime minister received an interesting e-mail yesterday. It was from the hooker who tried to explain her profession to Stephen Harper back when the federal cabinet was discussing the…
Life In Scarborough: Scarborough Youth Discuss Their Social Media Presence
So I’m sitting in a bar in Scarborough (I’m always sitting in a bar in Scarborough), and this young couple a few booths down start arguing. She starts giving him…
The Insane Adventures of the Increasingly Desperate Stephen Harper
OMG. Duck and cover. He's back in Ukraine again, posing as a champion of freedom and democracy. Canada has and will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine. #cdnpoli…
A system guaranteed to fail
I grumble about the quality of political journalism hereabouts and these complaints seem justified, even urgent, when an Ontario pundit demonstrates an example of powerful advocacy for the public interest.…
Harper’s Service Canada wants to steal OAS from mentally ill seniors
I was sent a form to fill out to get OAS. They sent me back a form saying I had not completed the residence section. Get this. If you’ve lived…