2020
Caregiver Burnout: Fact & Fiction
This morning a caregiver posted this in a Facebook group: “Well, today I crashed. That is all.” Responses from other well-meaning caregivers were varied. One wrote, “No you didn’t! You…
Dimension Remembers: Loa Henry
Winnipeg recently lost an icon of the left, with the passing of Loa Henry. Loa was a life-long feminist, a creative, and a social justice advocate whose life stands testament…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Derek Thompson discusses how the U.S.’ capitalist system has been designed to squeeze younger workers – leading to many of them being open…
Cowichan Valley declares state of local emergency as intense localized flooding forces evacuations and disrupts transportation
News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 1, 2020 Cowichan Valley declares state of local emergency as intense localized flooding forces evacuations and disrupts transportation Duncan, BC – The Cowichan Valley…
Chevron Takes 2 Billion Dollar Hit on Kitimat LNG
It’s actually $2.12 billion CDN, $1.6 billion USD. That’s the write-off Chevron is taking on its Kitimat LNG investment, an interest the company is still trying to sell. Chevron chief…
Magpie Brûlé Podcast: Early Days of the Minority Parliament
Season Two of the “Magpie Brûlé” podcast has started. In this premiere episode of Season two, I talk about the return of the House of Commons, the interesting early dynamics…
Fear and Loathing on the Conservative Leadership Trail
Former Canadian Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay, and US Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, left, chat informally before sitting down for a meeting in the Pentagon on Sept.…
Labour of love: Canada’s childcare system in crisis
On the opening of the second session of the 42nd Manitoba legislature in November, the Progressive Conservative government’s Speech from the Throne noted worrying plans to “reduce red tape for…
The US, Iran and the Danger of War
A mural depicts the Iranian national flag in Tehran on September 19, 2019. Photo by AFP. The tensions that emanated from the US assassination of General Qassam Soleimani on January…
Bernie Sanders and the Case for a Canadian Left-Populism
Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in Vallejo, California, 2016. Photo by Shelly Prevost (Flickr). With Jeremy Corbyn’s crushing defeat in the 2019 UK general election, which saw the bifurcation…
A Canadian Green New Deal is Alberta’s best hope for the future
A Green New Deal sign is held up in front of the sculpture “The Crier” by artist Gerhard Marcks near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Sept. 20. Photo by…
Overkill?
Spotted on the Deutsche Welle web site, this photo of a pilot aboard a jetliner flying passengers out of China, presumably Wuhan. Overkill? You decide. A German military aircraft carrying…
Give Me A Break
This morning, the divorce is official. The UK has left the European Union. And, Ian McEwan writes, it was all done with “magic dust”: The only certainty is that we’ll…
Saturday Photo: January Morning…
The stark beauty of winter, with, thank goodness, the promise of lengthening days. The sun is coming up about 7:15 these days, which means that there’s a hint of light…
Can an atheist claim ‘divine right?
This might not be a theological question. How can a well-known American lawyer stand in front of the senate and the nation and tell us a man elected by the…
The Certainty Of Death, Or The Death Of Certainties
It’s amazing to me, to see, even in thoughtful writings, even in exceptionally thoughtful writing, which is as far above the norm as the moon is from the bottom…
Arbitrator’s decision awarding 1% pay increase to some AUPE members undermines UCP austerity arguments
An independent labour arbitrator yesterday awarded unionized Alberta government employees and health care support workers a modest 1-per-cent pay increase for 2019. Having gone into wage-reopener negotiations in the final…
Great tweets of the day: laugh and the world laughs with you
Well, I guess there’s nothing to do today really except laugh, so here goes: I’m on the edge of my seat! pic.twitter.com/tn2MbABmZe — Gillian OShaughnessy (@GillOshaughness) January 31, 2020 pic.twitter.com/wMoE3xGXx7…