The Conservative NDP Merger we need #nlpoli
The province’s largest public sector union met last week in St. John’s for its annual convention. They started out their first day with a speech from recently-elected boss Jerry Earle.…
2015
What do the federal election results mean for Edmonton and Alberta?
With the excitement of the 2015 federal election one week behind us, now is a good time to take a look at how the results of the election could impact…
Was there just a coup in Portugal? Why did Canada’s media ignore the story?
PHOTOS: The São Bento Palace, home of the Assembly of the Republic, in Lisbon. Was it just the site of a constitutional coup with implications for Canada? You’d never know…
Michael Geist: Real Change on Digital Policy May Take Time Under New Liberal Government
Law professor and copyright expert Michael Geist suggests that the new Liberal government may wait until 2017 before implementing significant change to Canada’s telecom, broadcast, copyright, and privacy policies. The…
State Terror or Capitalist Terror, Military Coup or Capitalist Coup
The Rosariazo in 1969. The worsening economy and the onset of dictatorship led to waves of protests, strikes and riots. • Photo by Carlos Saldi Introduction Democratic critics of military…
Uri Avnery on Israeli Racism
Photo by cyrillelala Editor’s Note: The sad reality of racism in Israel has been known to many of us for decades–a tragedy for a people which has suffered so much…
Sunny Ways?
“If it were in my power I would try the sunny way…Do you not believe that there is more to be gained by appealing to the heart and soul of…
On Reading and Writing
I teach grade 12 university-level philosophy, and I teach it as a university prep-course. So we read primary sources, and we write essays longer and more complex than the standard…
Consensus. Being reasonable, and Harpers "tea party"
There are lots of pundits telling us that the difference between Harper and Trudeau will be listening skills, delegation, and respect. I like all of that as well. (These last…
It is likely the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau will like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Don Maroc It is likely the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau will like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) almost as much as the Conservatives under What’s His Name. So it’s…
Oct. 25: catch-up day
And the day when I kick myself for not connecting the dots on Trudeau and the election. A friend sent me an article on Trudeau. I thought it excessively cruel…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Les Leopold takes a look at the underpinnings of Bernie Sanders’ unexpectedly strong run for the Democratic presidential nomination. And Sean McElwee…
what i’m reading: dead wake: the last crossing of the lusitania by erik larson
On May 7, 1915, the gigantic luxury ocean liner Lusitania – an engineering marvel, the fastest ship of its era – was hit by a torpedo shot from a German…
On ticking clocks
Governing inevitably involves a combination of setting the agenda to the extent possible, and responding to events to the extent necessary. And while there’s a great deal of doubt as…
The Virtues Of Civility
Probably one of the most obviously distressing aspects of the last ten years has been the precipitous drop in political civility, earmarked by fractious and factious exchanges in the House…
Prince Justin and the Painful Collapse of the Con Regime
Golly. I know it's Jason Kenney's twisted fantasy, and Stephen Harper's Satanic nightmare.But I can't help feeling like I'm living in a fairy tale. It's that good.Prince Justin has toppled…
m*a*s*h re-watch update: still funny and other observations
Back in August, I started re-watching M*A*S*H end to end on Netflix. I promised updates… and here we are. (tl;dr: it’s great.) Random thoughts below. A huge number of M*A*S*H…
A simple solution for Canada’s Senate.
During the honeymoon that our new Prime Minister Trudeau deserves, we should all try to be helpful. It is in this spirit of cooperation that Babel-on-the-Bay would like to extend…
Democracy’s Future
After 5 years of writing about democracy’s decline and the impact of one particular individual had in that regard I am now faced with the question of ‘what do I…
Bringing Science Back
http://www.alfasciences.com/ The Harper government declared war on science and scientists. Jeremy Kerr and Isabelle Cote write that science and scientists must be given a seat at the policy making