On Pandemic Politics, Pedagogies and Practices
“We have no wish to denigrate or criticize online distance education,” write the authors of Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practice, “but rather, the aim of this brief editorial is twofold:…
May 2020
Meng Wanzhou Still on the Hook. Extradition Proceeds.
Will China up the pressure on Canada after today’s decision from the B.C. Supreme Court finding that the bank fraud charge against Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou is an extraditable charge. In…
COVID-19 and the Racialized Dimension of Seafaring Work
Filipinos dominate the workforce in the global shipping industry. Photo courtesy Grieg Star AS, a shipping company based in Bergen, Norway. Seafaring work is uncertain, demanding and, at times, dangerous.…
#NoUNSC4Canada thrusts critical discussion of Canadian foreign policy into mainstream
A Canadian soldier takes part in a simulated battle during Exercise Maple Resolve 17 at Camp Wainwright in Alberta, Canada, May 16, 2017. Photo by Sgt. JF Lauzé. The #NoUNSC4Canada…
Our High-Carbon Future
Many have imagined the Covid pandemic will usher in a new era marked by fundamental change. To some that means a low-carbon world just ticking along on alternative, green energy.…
One for the Books. Elon Musk’s Crew Dragon Set to Fly Today.
I remember the flight of Yuri Gagarin. I remember the suborbital flight of Alan Shepard and the three-looper of John Glenn. I grew up devouring the progress of the Mercury,…
Erasing Evolution
Some creatures, the oldest, carry within them billions of years of evolutionary history. Human activity is putting that history in jeopardy as we drive those species into extinction. It’s ironic…
Harper’s Ship has Sailed.
When Stephen Harper began popping up in the news again I felt like an abused dog finding itself crossing paths with his evil former master. Give him his due, Sideshow…
The Beaverton’s Scathing Satire
The headline really isn’t funny – “Every living premier in Ontario blames long-term care facilities problems on their predecessor.” The process started when reporters asked Doug Ford about the accusations.…
Covid Journal, May 27, 2020
Criminal behaviour at nursing homes; masks; suicides. Just another day of updates about Covid during lockdown.
Steaming Piles
From the very beginning — starting with Barack Obama’s “phony” birth certificate — Donald Trump has peddled conspiracy theories. His latest is particularly vile. Peter Wehner writes: When Lori Klausutis…
A Star is mourned
When I was contemplating a move from Vancouver to Toronto, the Star found out via an editor I knew there. I met with some senior folks at the paper, and…
My latest: celebrate life
So much death. More than 100,000 gone in the United States. Close to 400,000 dead globally. In Canada, more than 6,500 dead, with Quebec accounting for most of that grim…
The Day After: Animals
‘Robin’, an illustration by John James Audobon, American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter (1851). Image from Wikimedia Commons. The Day After: Animals marks the first installment in an ongoing curated series…
The future is ours.
As the song asks, “How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the farm, after they’ve seen Paree?” That was a song that many believed after the First World War. It…
We know what’s wrong with long-term care in Canada — we need politicians with the courage to fix it, not an inquiry
There are bound to be calls for formal inquiries after the long-term care horror show discovered in Ontario and Quebec, and quite likely on its way to being discovered in…
The Military Blows The Whistle On A Sickening Scandal
When I first saw Canadian soldiers arriving at long term care homes in Ontario and Quebec I must admit I was shocked.I didn't think they had the training or the…
Tuesday Night Cat Blogging
Elevated cat.
No, Mr. Ford. It’s Not a Police Matter. It’s So Much More.
So much for Doug Ford’s brief stint as the caring, concerned premier of Ontario. The province’s Covid-19 response changed public opinion of the giant blonde lout. Then this. Cockroaches, rotten…