A religion disparaged by empire
The lwa sits in the corner on a wooden chair, holding a crutch in his hand. A respected general, Jal Bizango needs the crutch because his right leg has been…
Culture
What’s Wrong with America, Billionaires and Corporations?
Riotously popular economist Umair Haque had a few interesting tweets about America, corporations and billionaires this week. December 30, 2013 How the Occupy Movement is Enriching People’s Lives (1) April…
Just How Lazy ARE Indigenous People, Anyway?
It’s a trick question. And let’s not forget how many of us are told we are inherently lazy because we are native. Hard to shake that. via Twitter / apihtawikosisan:…
Facebook Is the New AOL/Compuserve Big Brother
The evolution of the decay of Facebook privacy. The late, great Neil Postman once wrote that we’d more likely voluntarily embrace the fascism of Huxley’s Brave New World than Orwell’s…
Art in the Age of Fatalism
“What is the nature of art in a period of extreme ideological confusion and inverted political frustration?” That’s the question the iconic art critic John Berger struggled with in the…
Canada Post writes its own obituary
Headline news this week: Canada Post moves to end home delivery. End home delivery? For me, both as a writer, a lay historian, and growing up in an era where…
Faceless Adversaries
My mother often shares an underdog story from my childhood (beaming with pride and I with bemusement) that I had stood up against a bully at a young age. We…
On John Stuart Mill, Free Speech, and Climate Change
I got caught up in a few arguments about climate change recently that just reinforced to me, that there’s still such a strong bashlash against the entire idea that we’re…
More CBC Privatization
The private sector is grinning at the stealth privatization of Hockey Night in Canada. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hockey Night in Canada, privatization version! Yes, the CBC is now…
Evaluating Elysium
Science fiction is frequently at the cutting edge of social commentary. From Ursula Le Guin’s 1974 novel The Dispossessed to Neill Blomkamp’s 2009 film District 9, science fiction writers commonly…
Human vs. Nature vs. Human Nature
There’s nothing like nature to provide a clear reminder that all the political scandals in the world are irrelevant in the face of human suffering in the wake of natural…
In Appreciation of Vintage Music
I was listening the other day to a song sung by Cliff Edwards, Cheating on Me, recorded from an old 78 RPM single. Scratchy, warbly, and a bit thin, but…
All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again. That children’s nursery rhyme…
It’s Not the End of the World
His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously…
Anti-Intellectualism: The New Elitism
There’s a growing – and disturbing – trend in modern culture: anti-intellectual elitism. The dismissal of art, science, culture, philosophy, of rhetoric and debate, of literature and poetry, and their…
Junk Patriotism
Today is our motherland’s birthday. Let us cheer and let us cherish. Please only leave behind your reverence, and take away with you your trash. – Anonymous Netizen, ChinaSmack China’s…
1927: Ads, Layout and Typography
As promised, here are the first 20 scans of the ads from the 1927 North American Almanac I recently mentioned. If there is interest, I’ll do another set later this…
On Celebrating Talent
Convalescing from a wicked cold that’s beating the crap out of me, I watched a trio of movies about amazing musicians: Joe Strummer, Ginger Baker, and Sixto Rodriguez. In the…
A Cup of Pu-Erh
It’s dark in the cup, but in the glass pot for brewing, it’s a deep copper. It smells of earth and age, a hint of horses and leather. A rich,…