Scheer Success
Andrew Scheer has been elected House of Commons Speaker. I met him in 2004, when we were federal candidates in adjacent Regina ridings. I was the no-shot NDP candidate against…
media
War on Drugs
It’s hard to run a country with everyone squawking in your ear about how you have to be just like them, even if they are failures. The war on drugs…
Does Capitalism Save Lives?
I was watching CNBC and happened to see this panel about how the number of Americans killed by natural disasters has declined over time. It was also noted that, in…
Releasing Government Bad News Under Cover of a Hockey Game
Based on the bad news coming from the BC and Canadian governments under cover of game one of the Stanley Cup finals, we should be wary of the Canucks going…
Bright, Shiny Objects
CNN unwittingly demonstrates with this sorry spectacle why so many people have come to thoroughly despise the mainstream media. By the way, if you want to read an interesting article…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- The McGill Institute's Election Content Analysis includes plenty of interesting information on how this month's federal election was covered. But the most noteworthy point…
The system is broken: strategic voting, coalitions, and the political regime under which we live
While I can of course see the rationale for strategic voting, there is much to be said for voting with one’s conscience. When we consistently choose the lesser of two…
HuffPo takes on the Great White North
What a pleasant surprise when I saw the other day that Arianna Huffington launched a Canadian version of the Huffington Post. I was annoyed, as were other users, that for…
Anonymous: The Commons and the Last of the Outlaws?
The ongoing attacks on net neutrality constitute a new round of enclosures of the modern commons. If the original enclosure movements during 16th and 17th centuries in England signified the…
Vote for "The Sheepdogs" for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
http://www.rollingstone.com/choosethecover
A U.S. shift to more reality-based journalism?
This really is a brilliant little post. Pointing to a "pro-reality" shift in U.S. media away from years of the press giving Republicans freedom to roam with "delusional" ideas such…
Western media coverage of the recent border protests around Israel
Consider this Globe and Mail story detailing the protests met with deadly force that have occurred on the Israeli border in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon. It does an acceptable job…
The Lang-O’Stanford Exchange
I was invited last week to serve as the substitute host for the indomitable Kevin O’Leary on CBC News channel’s “Lang-O’Leary Exchange.” Amanda Lang introduced the show by saying, “Hello,…
Giving Birth to Your Activist Self: Finding Your Voice as a Mother Activist
Workshop Handout for Giving Birth to Your Activist Self: Finding Your Voice as a Mother Activist International Conference on Motherhood Activism, Advocacy, Agency May 13-15, 2011 - Toronto, Ontario Presented…
The Perils of “Strategic” Voting
Several Toronto Star and Globe and Mail columnists have suggested that the Conservative majority resulted from too little strategic voting for the Liberals. In every federal election that I can…
MayDay 2011 Aftermath: Let the Distractions and Deflections Begin
Constantly lampooning the NDP for having the only youth in their party may provide a short-term distraction from the crimes of the Cons, but it ain't gonna last.
Sun News Network: Let The (Incredibly Lazy) Astroturfing Begin!
It has been fascinating to watch the Conservative campaign strategy evolve over the past two weeks; working in tandem with Sun TV in a quest to secure a Harper majority,…
Masturgate: The Little Scandal That Couldn’t
It’s election time and everyone is abuzz with the ostensibly shocking allegation that Jack Layton might have, possibly, received a happy ending at a rub-and-tug 15 years ago. Let’s let…
Harper’s Reckless Economics
Throughout the election campaign Stephen Harper claimed the political high ground on the management of the economy. The surprise is that the opposition has pretty much let him get away…