what could baseball, sexual abuse, and pitbulls possibly have in common?
It’s Opening Day! It’s always a long, cold winter for a baseball-only fan, but winters for Red Sox fans have been especially long and cold lately. When was the last…
poverty and class
hugo chavez 1954-2013
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, July 28, 1954 – March 5, 2013.From Derrick O’Keefe at Rabble: Hugo Chavez has died — undefeated. Yes, undefeated. Chavez, no matter how many times the…
three library issues, part 1: the all-digital library
An enormous number of library-related stories cross my path, either through school or this blog. A few have stayed on my mind and seem worth fleshing out. A San Antonio,…
40 years old and already irrelevant: happy birthday roe v wade
Right now there are no American women who were of reproductive age prior to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Yet reproductive rights in the US…
are we seeing the beginning of global people’s revolution?
“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…” This week, I attended a talk put on by the International Socialists, featuring an organizer with OUR Walmart, by Skype…
workers doing it for themselves: fighting the austerity agenda in north america
I’m re-running this, which I wrote for Socialist Worker Canada (now at a temporary site while a new website is being completed). If you are part of this struggle –…
why you cannot save your way to a comfortable retirement
I was very pleased to see this run in the New York Times. I guess it was safe because the writer didn’t actually use the word socialism. But this Op-Ed…
a people’s history of the war of 1812
At last, this is the fourth post of the talks I attended in November and December. Allan and I organized this in Mississauga, through the Mississauga “twig” of the IS.…
unrelenting austerity and the promise of self-reliance: a blog from greece
A friend sent me a link to this blog, written by a man from the UK, a Socialist Workers Party activist, now retired and living on the Greek island of…
more signs of life in the labour movement: non-union workers rising
Of all the reasons for hope that we’ve seen in recent times – Wisconsin, the Occupy Movement, the Quebec students’ actions, the Chicago teachers’ strike – this trend gives me…
from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity
Working my way backwards, this the second of four talks I attended that I’ll be reporting on. * * * * In November, I heard Nikos Loudos of the Socialist…
greenwald on "both sides are wrong", hedges on the world as gaza
There are always at least two sides to every story. Long ago, in the American West, some pioneers and cowboys were killed by "Indians". More recently, Iraqi "insurgents" have killed…
why is "entitled" a dirty word? some thoughts on what we are all entitled to.
When did “entitled” become a dirty word? Why do we hear “entitled” being used as catch-all slur, a derogatory description to be thrown at progressive people working for change? And…
rtod: a town without poverty. it happened in canada.
Revolutionary thought of the day: Initially, the Mincome program was conceived as a labour market experiment. The government wanted to know what would happen if everybody in town received a…
the whole world is watching: veterans to return medals in nato/poverty protests this weekend
All eyes will be on Chicago this weekend, as thousands of protesters from all over North American converge on the the NATO summit. The symbolism could not be more trenchant,…
healthy eating costs more. fact or fiction?
Conventional wisdom has it that healthy foods cost more than junk food, that buying and preparing nutritious food is more expensive than eating processed food. How many people bemoan the…
canadian doctors protest cuts to refugee health care
Bravo to the hundreds of Canadian family doctors who protested the dismantling of the refugee health care system! There was a demonstration in Ottawa, occupations of MP’s offices in Winnipeg…
marxism 2011 program notes: racism, economic recovery (not), canada’s vietnam
This is the last installment of my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. This post is less complete than the preceding Marxism 2011 posts.…
marxism 2011 program notes: keynes vs. marx: can capitalism be reformed?
These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. * * * * I was especially interested in this talk, as for much of…
marxism 2011 program notes: prospects for the left under a harper majority
These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here. * * * * This was just weeks after the 2011 election, and is very…