He Said WHAT?
We still have difficulty grasping the undercurrent that lurks in the shadows of the independence movement in Catalan, headquartered in Barcelona, and the Spanish government rooted in Madrid. For some…
2017
Edmonton Election races I will be watching on Election Night
With less than 36-hours left until the polls open on Alberta’s municipal Election Day, candidates and their campaign teams will be pressing hard to make sure their efforts over the…
Jesse Wielenga Finished With WCAI?
In a recent (and as it turns out final) Facebook update before seemingly deleting his most recent account, Jesse Wielenga wrote that he was "finished" and that he would be…
New NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh battles racism in Canadian politics with love
Jagmeet Singh, a martial artist, Sikh lawyer, and newly-elected leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), uses love to challenge racism, Islamophobia and white supremacy in Canadian politics and society.…
Scholars Gather to Lament the Decline of American Democracy. Relax Guys, That Horse Left the Barn Years Ago.
Last week 20 of America’s top political scientists gathered at Yale to take the pulse of American democracy. Their conclusion? American democracy is declining socially, culturally and politically. Going, going,…
Leadership 2018 Candidate Profile: Trent Wotherspoon
As with Ryan Meili, I’ll start my look at Trent Wotherspoon’s new run for the Saskatchewan NDP leadership by pointing back to his previous candidate profile and campaign review. And…
Leadership 2018 Candidate Profile: Ryan Meili
As I’ve noted before, Saskatchewan’s NDP leadership campaign will involve some very familiar candidates. And so my starting point in analyzing the race will be to review the previous leadership…
What I Would Have Done Differently
I received the following inquiry recently: I find it fascinating that you have maintained a career in public service while pursuing your intellectual endeavors on the side. With the Internet…
The ignorati rise
Chapman University recently published the results of a depressing, but hardly surprising, survey that shows American believe in codswallop continue to rise. Not political codswallop – this is the supernatural,…
IS THERE A DENTIST IN THE HOUSE? YES, THERE IS!
Last week I walked into my Mom’s seniors’ residence and did a double-take. In the foyer, a woman wearing a white lab coat and paper face mask was peering into…
Idiot lights: aka fog lights
Have you noticed how many people drive with their idiot lights on all the time? These are supposed to be “fog” lights, but idiots drive with them day and night,…
Just Who Is Joshua Boyle?
I don’t get it. A guy takes his wife, pregnant with their first child, backpacking through a Taliban controlled part of Afghanistan. They were on a mission, he says, to…
The Kinsellian Political Rules™
So, I tweeted about Donald Trump’s fired Chief of Staff being interviewed by Robert Mueller, the Russiagate special counsel. I said it recalls the Kinsellian Political Rule Two: never fire…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul Wells writes about Justin Trudeau’s natural affinity for the rich and privileged, while the Star remains unduly willing to give him the…
How Ottawa and Victoria Fed Vancouver to the Wolves.
Vancouver is reeling. The first house I bought in Vancouver, 30+ years ago, illustrates the decay. It was a nice neighbourhood of 40s vintage, ‘neat as a pin’ bungalows in…
Review: In the Wake
This book develops ways of exploring and describing the relations that constitute Black diasporic life. As I understand it – and I’m sure I’m missing lots – it begins from…
update: the gay cop on barney miller comes out, plus an adorable child sex worker
About a month ago, I wrote about an episode from the late 1970s-early 1980s sitcom “Barney Miller”, in which the squad discovers that an officer from their precinct is gay.…
Apocalypse Explained
American news likes to focus only on the human drama that ensues when disaster strikes. In contrast, Global National, clearly less fettered by corporate fiat, takes the time to analyse…
Saturday Photo: Hibiscus in October
For years I’ve had two hibiscus bushes that have bloomed perhaps a half dozen times when the conditions were just right. I put them outside in the summer, but even…
Another Canary In The Coal Mine
Everyone these days focuses on the middle class as the engine which drives the economy. However, Susan Delacourt writes, the shuttering of Sears stores across the country tells the story…