Thursday Morning
H/t Toronto Star The events of yesterday were undeniably tragic. A young man, Nathan Cirillo, died. As I noticed on a Facebook posting by my cousin’s wife, Nathan was a…
Thomas Walkom
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The Star points out what the Cons have destroyed – including public assets and program spending – in order to chip away at…
Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne examines the Cons’ economic record and finds it very much wanting: Inequality has deepened under Mr. Harper’s watch, job quality has…
The Perspective That Age Bestows
Unlike some, I do not bemoan the passage of time. True, I am of that generation known as ‘the baby boomers,’ but while I am at times mildly bemused about…
The Murky Lessons Of History
Blindingly clear for some, obscure and ambiguous for others, the lessons of history need to be given close scrutiny these days, especially by our chickenhawk prime minister. Like so much…
Harper’s Policy On Gaza: The Canadian Toll
While the cost of the Israeli invasion of Gaza is almost incalculable in turns of human suffering and loss of life, there is another casualty in all of this, one…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Gar Alperovitz suggests in the wake of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century that it’s long past time to reconsider who controls…
Thomas Walkom Misses The Mark
One of the reasons I subscribe to The Toronto Star is the quality of its columnists. Tim Harper, Martin Regg Cohn, Thomas Walkom, Heather Mallick, etc. rarely disappoint. However, no…
Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Tavis Smiley discusses the need to speak realistically about the causes and effects of poverty, rather than simply dismissing real human costs…
A Brief Programming Note
Since spring finally seems to be arriving in my place on the planet, it seems like a propitious time to take a day or two off from this blog and…
Advice to progressives: Don’t airbrush Jim Flaherty’s record out of sympathy for his family
The late Jim Flaherty tries on the traditional new shoes just before delivering his 2012 federal budget. Below, some of Mr. Flaherty’s friends and colleagues: former Ontario premier Mike Harris,…
I Come Not To Praise Flaherty
I have thus far avoided writing about Jim Flaherty’s passing for a very simple reason; it is difficult, if not impossible to keep separate his family’s personal loss with the…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Ezra Klein comments on the U.S.’ doom loop of oligarchy – as accumulated wealth is spent to buy policy intended to benefit nobody…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Andrew Coyne sees the powerful impact of local forces on nomination contests as evidence that grassroots democracy is still alive and well in…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Thomas Walkom writes that the Cons’ economic prescriptions are doomed to fail because they’re based on a fundamental misdiagnosis: (T)hat half of…
A Timely Reminder About Taxation
Responding to a column the other day by the Star’s Thomas Walkom, letter-writer Bruna Nota of Toronto offers us some timely reminders: Re: Tax a dirty word in these Thatcherite…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul Krugman points out how the U.S.’ corporate elites are agitating to make sure that any economic recovery helps only those at the…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom points out that many Canadians can expect to lose jobs without any social supports due to the Cons’ focus on political…