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…
history
"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…
what i’m reading: cradle of gold, story of re-discovery of machu picchu
One hundred years ago, this week - July 7, 1911, to be exact - an American man named Hiram Bingham found the ruins of an ancient ceremonial city, mostly overgrown…
Canada Again
What Canadians Need to Know About Canada Canada is a country the world can be proud of. This is despite our numerous shortcomings and mistakes over our 144 years of…
report on war resisters fundraising dinner from u.s. peace activist bruce beyer
This past week, the Toronto chapter of the War Resisters Support Campaign hosted a fundraising dinner at the United Steelworkers Hall. These dinners, which we hold four times a year,…
On the Hydraulic Thesis
The Hydraulic Thesis is related to the interplay between the rise of states in certain societies and the production of large scale irrigation and other 'hydraulic' systems that increase per…
70 years ago today
For the history buffs out there, this is one of Churchill's very memorable speeches selected in Brad DeLong's liveblog of today in World War II: "Winston Churchill Liveblogs World War…
Hi, I am Jack, and I am a recovering socialist
Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) held in Vancouver its fiftieth national congress since its foundation. It is presently Canada’s official opposition in the House of Commons, and arguably one of…
Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
There are so many societies in which the elite made decisions that were good for themselves in the short run and ruined themselves and societies in the long run…. Similarly,…
Battlefield Earth
Vancouver is Canada’s latest battlefield. I don’t think Regina’s population would easily riot, not even over the Riders. We’ve come to accept losing the Grey Cup pretty well, and when…
My On Trek To Washington trip!
I will be going to Washington next week I hope to keep you posted on my voyage. You may recall the title of this post it comes from the famous…
history repeats itself as toronto censors subversive messages in public art
Did the City of Toronto paint over a mural because a figure in it resembled Stephen Harper? Or was the mural eradicated because it bears an anti-capitalist message? Or perhaps…
books on books, part 3: reading matters: what the research reveals about reading, libraries and community
Nobody reads anymore, or nobody reads anything worth reading. At least that's what we're supposed to believe. These days everyone is too busy playing video games, watching YouTube and texting.…
Should We Keep The Royals?
The Royals are coming to Canada this summer. With the comments from people like Amir Khadir saying that the Royals are Parasite's. It may bring to Question on the Issue…
why i support the canadian union of postal workers and why you should, too
Earlier today, we put a sticker on our mailbox. It's meant to be a message for our letter carrier, to show support for her cause. The Canadian Union of Postal…