Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Jonah Brunet points out the wide variety of definitions of the term “lockdown” in response to COVID-19 – with imprecision in the meaning…
February 2021
Adios, Rush.
Rush Limbaugh has departed this mortal coil. Lung cancer. Age 70. Trump bid adieu, calling Limbaugh “a true American legend.” “In theory, he could have been gone four months ago,…
Colombia welcomes the Bolivarian exodus
Not everyone is welcoming refugees these days, particularly in the Americas. That’s why it was encouraging to read about Colombia’s generous treatment of the millions of refugees pouring across the…
Covid Journal, Feb 17, 2021
Today’s topics: a class action lawsuit against chocolate producers using child slavery and discussion about a ‘new’ internet.
Eulogizing a Fallen Extreme Right-Wing Icon
And if your name is Donald Trump, you also take the opportunity to talk once again about how a corrupt system screwed you out of a second term. Recommend this…
Levant loses. Love it.
This case will be very, very useful for anyone who is sued by bigots – bigots who want to cancel their critics and suppress free speech.
Critical infrastructure protection: Dangerous politics in Manitoba, Alberta and beyond
A man waves a Mohawk Warrior flag on the Pat Bay Highway during a blockade in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, February 2020. Photo by Wolf Depner/Black Press Media. At…
The Disappearing Open Mind
We used to believe that being open-minded was an admirable quality. Glen Pearson writes that open-mindedness is hard to find these days. Conservatives, in particular, are having real problems on…
Living socialism today: Remembering Leo Panitch
Leo Panitch (1945-2020) at The World Transformed 2018 in Liverpool. Photo by Kevin Walsh/Wikimedia Commons. Standing outside a conference with a group of devotees, a famous political scientist brags that…
Maybe it’s Time to Cancel Chris Hedges
I think maybe it's time to "cancel" Chris Hedges. Not because of racism or bigotry - but because he clearly has nothing to contribute to on-going discussions about the shifting…
Maybe it’s Time to Cancel Chris Hedges
I think maybe it's time to "cancel" Chris Hedges. Not because of racism or bigotry - but because he clearly has nothing to contribute to on-going discussions about the shifting…
The Argument to Shrink the Economy Keeps Getting Stronger
The idea that we can eventually decarbonize our economy to keep it growing has been talked about for decades; sadly we’re far away from a carbon neutral economy and even…
Waiting for vaccination.
It is a stay-at-home vacation. Using depression medication. And booze for self-realization. Gotta get back to civilization. Need in-person conversation. The wife came and looked over my shoulder to see…
Maybe it’s Time to Cancel Chris Hedges
I think maybe it’s time to “cancel” Chris Hedges. Not because of racism or bigotry – but because he clearly has nothing to contribute to on-going discussions about the shifting…
Is the Kenney Government’s EMS dispatch consolidation plan a prelude to ambulance privatization?
Is the Kenney Government’s determination to force reluctant municipalities to turn over 9-1-1 calls to a provincial Emergency Medical Services dispatch centre a prelude to privatization of provincial ambulance services?…
Tuesday Night Cat Blogging
Embedded cats.
“Roly”
Check this out. One of my antiques guys in Brighton saved them for me: a collection of Kennedy-related books owned by none other than the Rt. Hon. Roland (“Roly”) Michener.…
Luis Arce’s Bolivia and the new regionalism in Latin America
Bolivian President Luis Arce speaks during the 2015 International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean. Photo courtesy the OECD Development Centre/Flickr. “Our movement is unique in the world,”…
Even the World Bank supports a wealth tax
While recognizing the danger of increasing inequality in Western societies, I have not been a fan of a wealth tax, one of the more commonly offered solutions. I have been…
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s agonizing drug addiction
HEALTH Diaries show the disastrous extent of the ‘Anne of Green Gables’ author’s addiction to prescription drugs, as well as parallels to our modern-day opioid crisis By Alanna Mitchell February…