A Plague of Willful Incompetence
This The Tyee article, “Get Ready for the Forever Plague,” by Andrew Nikiforuk, hits all the important notes about our ongoing pandemic. He says that we’re dealing with a “plague…
Marie Snyder
Covid and Climate Change: Similar Rationalizations, Different Intensity
I was searching through YouTube looking for things to include in my career retrospective, mainly looking for a clip of an old CKCO show, What’s Your Point/The Final Round, from…
Last Day of Teaching – Ever!
Well, never say never. But I’m officially done at KCI, at any rate, where I spent part of my grade 13 year as a student back in ’85, then was…
Open Letter to Universities Removing Mask Mandates
Open Letter to Dr. Deborah MacLatchy, PhD, President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, president@wlu.ca, and Dr. Vivek Goel, CM, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo, president@uwaterloo.ca RE:…
In Conversation with Richard Marsh
After writing about the Klondike Papers originally, my little blog got a ridiculous number of hits very briefly but just long enough for Richard Marsh to notice and fact-check my…
And on to LongCovid
Masks are all but gone in my neck of the woods. A couple stores have employees that wear them, but not many, and then very few customers do. The people…
On Expertise
We’ve grown to develop an anti-expertise view in society. I imagine it might have something to do with a do-it-yourself mentality born of individualism and capitalism. I can work harder…
Russia’s Hunger Plan
This Timothy Snyder (historian specializing in genocide) thread is unnerving: “Russia has a hunger plan. Vladimir Putin is preparing to starve much of the developing world as the next stage…
Klondike Papers
I’m just getting my head around it all here. But I’ve watched lots of videos and read lots of threads, and here’s what seems to be happening in as brief…
On Masks and Narcissism
I was reading a random woman’s social media feed as she was considering that an increase in narcissism might be to blame for masking issues, and I nodded along to…
Love and Sorrow
I’ve recently started reading Martha Crawford’s blog and following her on Twitter. She’s a therapist in remission from cancer. I want to keep this particularly beautiful and timely thread to…
A Bit More on Burnout
I was listening to VoicEd.ca last week (Wednesdays at 8:45 am), and they recommended Lynn Thomas’s post on resilience and burnout summarized from a talk by Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe. I…
Some Words on Hope
The Narwhal quoted police and prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba on her understanding of hope: “The idea of hope being a discipline is something I heard from a nun many years…
Just 1,460 More Days ‘Til We Vote Him Out!
They called the election before all the polling places were closed because Ford had that much of a lead. My first thought this morning: “Realizing what a bubble I’m in…
Ford’s Privatization Scheme
How privatization of social services and healthcare is moving forward in Ontario from an anonymous ODSP employment provider: (from here with links to articles here and here) Ford two years…
So, Where are We Headed?
I knew what he was going to say as soon as we made eye contact. A bearded shit-eating grin in a pickup-truck stopped at a light while I cycled across…
On Optional Grade 13 – aka Breaking the 34-Credit Threshold
When Conservatives Mike Harris and Ernie Eves decided to get rid of grade 13 and the OAC year – Ontario Academic Credit – in 2003, I was opposed to the…
Pandemic Amnesia
Someone told me that we need to adapt to Covid faster, and get used to masks and checking air quality much faster for our own survival. They think our problem…
Are We Being Manipulated to Ignore Covid?
Recently @LauraMiers wrote: “When people finally realize they’re being manipulated–that repeated Covid infections cause permanent organ damage and autoimmunity, dramatically shorten life spans, exacerbate all re-existing issues, and lead to…
The Harrowing Road for Candidates – and the Rest of Us
I’ve recently read two articles on the problem and solution to the current nastiness in elections after hearing first hand about serious issues candidates have had at the door. You…