Fearless Journalism, Or Presidential Appeasement?
Happy New Year, everyone. And now, a return to regular programming. As 2017 dawns and the Trump presidency draws near, I have been wondering if the MSM will show any…
Lorne
2016: In Memoriam
2016 was a terrible year on many, many fronts. Compounding those tragedies in which human beings played major contributing roles was the one over which we have no influence: death.…
The Shape Of Ideological Purges To Come?
History teaches us that when political ideologies mutate into forms of state religion, those who stand in opposition or refuse to ‘get with the program’ are targeted. Nazism, with its…
Almost Too Grim To Contemplate
While the Pope is imploring world leaders to act with dispatch to mitigate climate change, it is hard to remain optimistic about the prospects of American engagement under incoming president…
Meanwhile, As The World Fades Away
I have never seen the magnificent cheetah, and new research suggests I never will. Read, watch, and weep at our collective folly. Recommend this Post
A Special Understanding
Under successive neoliberal administrations in both Canada and the U.S., it has long been demonstrated that those occupying the upper echelons of our fractured societies are granted a myriad of…
Merry Christmas – A Gift For You
During most of the year, the topics and issues I deal with on this blog are often dark and depressing.Such is the way of the world. However, I’d like to…
Lethal Legacy – Part 2
In Part 1, I wrote about the lethal consequences for many who have worked at GE Peterborough. A toxic workplace that has resulted in crippling disease or death for many…
Guest Post: An Incompatible Marriage
In response to my post the other day featuring some stellar letters from Star readers on inequality, regular commentator Pamela MacNeil offered an insightful analysis of the fundamental incompatibility between…
Lethal Legacy: A Province’ s Version Of Neoliberalism
The Toronto Star has run a heartbreaking series, very well-worth reading, on the fate of many of the employees of Peterborough’s GE plant, whose lives were either cut short by,…
"The Cancer Of Inequality"
In a recent post well-worth reading, The Mound reflected on the decline of support for liberal democracy. Today, Star readers respond to an article carried by the paper entitled, How…
What A Pretty Face Conceals
When one thinks deeply about neoliberalism, one conjures up the face of greed, rapacity and monetary narcissism. Not at all a pretty face. But here in Canada, Thomas Walkom writes,…
A New Word For Me
And that word is kakistocracy. Coined in 1829, it means government by the worst elements of society. I have a feeling that all of us will become intimately acquainted with…
The Shape Of Things To Come?
The other day, I wrote a post about how NBC Nightly News was attacked by Donald Trump via his weapon of choice, Twitter, a perhaps apt mechanism given the president-elect’s…
More Weapons In The War Against Fake News
If you get the bulk of your news from television and print journalism, you may be unaware of the extent to which fake news has taken hold in the virtual…
On Trump’s Hit List: NBC Nightly News
Media reports that Donald Trump is now railing against NBC Nightly News are not really surprising. After all, the truth can hurt. The network’s reports on his cozy relationship with,…
More On Fake News
I was tempted to conflate the first two words of my title to drive home a point, but I resisted. Meanwhile, Star readers weigh in on that shameful Canadian, Stephanie…
Is A New Purge On The Horizon?
Few of us will forget the disdain with which the Harper regime regarded science, especially the science around climate change. Virtual embargoes that prevented scientists from releasing and discussing with…
More Threats, Thanks To Our Heedlessness
Out of sight, out of mind seems the attitude of far too many in today’s world; as the following amply demonstrates, such attitudes have far-reaching consequences: Unfortunately, closer to home,…
Fidel’s Legacy
Although the Toronto Star is my newspaper of choice, there are times when I strongly disagree with its content. Recently, its most prolific writer, Rosie Di Manno, wrote a series…