who wrote shakespeare? eric idle knows.
A while back, wmtc had a discussion about the supposed controversy of the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays, after I read the book Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare, by James Shapiro.…
history
nyc reflections part 4: know the past, find the future, nypl centennial free book
Roy Blount contemplates the original Winnie-the-PoohI have one last snippet to share from our recent, brief trip to New York City. My friend NN, who writes this blog, surprised me…
fisk: "heaven be thanked that the soldiers cannot return to discover how their sacrifice has been turned into fashion appendage"
It's that time of year again, the week when no one dares show their face on Canadian television, or indeed in any public place in Canada, without a red poppy…
"she is my family" and other revelations of humanity: s. brian willson in toronto
Guest post: Allan reports on "An Evening with S. Brian Willson", a benefit for the War Resisters Support Campaign, Monday, November 7, 2011.(Willson speaking at a church in San Francisco,…
monday in toronto: "my own government labeled me a terrorist and attempted to murder me"
My own government labeled me a terrorist and attempted to murder me. My story is strongly relevant for activists today in this climate of an unending 'war on terror.'S. Brian…
Fracking Linked To Earthquakes In The U.S.
Earthquake.jpg On the heels of yesterday’s report detailing Cuadrilla Resource’s admission that their fracking practices were responsible for small earthquakes in the U.K., new report...
Nation Maker
Richard Gwyn talks about his new book Nation Maker, the second volume about the life and times of Sir. John A. Macdonald covering the period from Confederation until his death…
Tale of the Norden Bombsight
Malcom Gladwell spins a fascinating story about the strange origins and ultimately twisted fate of a fabulously complicated yet practically hapless bomb-sighting device developed at extraordinary expense for the U.S.…
life, by keith richards, canadian content alert
This post - like its subject - is old but still relevant.Over the summer I read Life, Keith Richards' memoirs. When I blogged about it here, I was loving it,…
howard zinn on not predicting the future
There is a tendency to think that what we see in the present moment will continue. We forget how often we have been astonished by the sudden crumbling of institutions,…
next weekend in toronto: conference on war resisters in north america
If you're interested in the issue of war resistance and the history of war resisters in both Canada and the US, you'll want to be at the Steelworkers Hall in…
this just in: racism in the u.s. now less obvious
Landmark Civil Rights Act Made Racism Slightly Less Overt (Season 1: Ep 3 on IFC)
9.11.11: an anti-remembrance
Ten years on. Ten years of Islamophobia, endless war, the open rationalization of torture and massacre. Ten years of surveillance, insidiously creeping police state, witch hunts, shredding of personal freedoms.…
you can look it up
"Can anyone on Capital Hill read?” demanded a sign held by a protester at one of the first Tea Party rallies, back in February of 2009."If so read the ConstitutionAs…
"we work to buy things that are built to die so that we must work to buy more things that will break"
Two weeks ago, my coffee maker broke. It was a electric percolator (I wrote about my preference for it here), made by Cuisinart. It's the third such percolator I've had…
Much Ado About The Wrong Thing – Canadian Forces DisIntegration
As a political scientist and somewhat of a historian I prefer our system of government based on a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. I also appreciate the role that our…
heroic white people, "i am not a racist," and other thoughts on some old news
I recently read a few unrelated items that dealt with racism, equality and civil rights in the US, which raised some thoughts I want to share. This time I'm purposely…
Debt Deal History
There is a lot of history on the debt ceiling in the united states. In fact for many decades the debt ceiling increased tremendously without the need of any compromise…
"the marriage vow": more racist myths about american slavery
Earlier this year, I blogged about a dangerous, racist myth about US history: that the southern states seceded from the union not because of slavery but because of "state's rights".…
Summer Lies
Do you remember sitting on the couch in the house off Broadway the summer that everything seemed so unreal, the day you told me you were falling in love with…