History’s Nasty Bite. . . .
Iv’e never been a triumphalist. Perhaps, somewhere deep inside I’m too superstitious. Fortuna’s wheel can turn against you on a dime and certainly doesn’t need any temptation to thwart your…
2020
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Edward Lempinen reports on new research showing that the response to COVID-19 in just six countries has prevented 500 million infections and…
Milley – That Walk With Trump Was Wrong
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, general Mark Milley, says he was wrong to accompany Trump’s entourage as the president staged a photo-op at a church across the…
Poverty and Pandemics Are a Toxic Mix
Covid-19 seems to be more common in poorer communities. Well, duh. CBC has discovered that, in Montreal, race, housing and income correlate to the spread of Covid-19. Montreal districts with…
The Day After: Food
Satellite image of circular crop fields in Kansas. Image from Wikimedia Commons. The Day After: Food marks the second installment in an ongoing curated series that asks contributors to imagine…
A Watershed Moment in the Relationship Between Politics & Sports
We all have our passions and things that we love. Those things aren’t always similar and it’s interesting when those things intersect and how they do. For me, my two…
Covid Journal, June 11, 2020
Covid Exposes Institutional Racism
Do We See?
Martin Luther King had some insightful things to say about power: “It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change.” “Now, we got to get this…
We Evolved to Walk and it’s Great for our Health
Walking is great! Most of us have heard that we should get 10,000 steps a day to maintain our health, but walking is more than just taking steps. Shane O’Mara…
The rumours of our demise…
It is good to be home. After months of quasi isolation, it is still a place of comfort during this pandemic. Being taken by ambulance to the hospital last week…
It’s not up to the premier’s staff to decide who’s a journalist — except when it is
Responding yesterday to criticism for letting Alberta Premier Jason Kenney take a question from a reporter for a controversial right-wing news site during Tuesday’s virtual COVID-19 update, Press Secretary Christine…
A Little Good News to Pierce the Gloom
No new Covid-19 deaths in British Columbia in the past five days. A dozen new cases reported, all on the mainland. It’s been weeks since there was a new case…
My latest: do as I say, not as I do
Justin Trudeau paused. Above his black mask, the famous dark eyes flitted around the crowd. It was Friday, and thousands had gathered for a Parliament Hill protest against racism. They…
NASCAR Has Had Its Fill of Redneck Shitkickers
NASCAR, every southern redneck’s Mecca, has seen the light. They have banned the Confederate battle flag from every track.
Best part? The lawyer’s last name
Official response from CNN General Counsel to @TeamTrump‘s letter demanding CNN apologize for a poll that shows @JoeBiden leading. pic.twitter.com/pQaGPxsA0y — CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 10, 2020
Police Turn Vandals
You have to see this to believe it. In Minneapolis, cops slash the tires of protesters’ cars.
Alberta’s Bill 1 and the ongoing suppression of Indigenous movements
Premier Jason Kenney and Cabinet are sworn in at Government House, in Edmonton on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Photo by Chris Schwartz/Alberta Government. The Alberta government’s Bill 1—the Critical Infrastructure…
Canada’s mainstream media news cycle is failing us
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians during a televised press conference on the COVID-19 crisis. Still image from YouTube. In February 2020—just four months ago—if you turned on a news…
"A Gross Abuse of Prosecutorial Power"
The corruption of democracy in the United States did not begin with Donald Trump but no president has done as much as Trump to normalize the corruption of the state.…