Stuff Still Happens, week 3: The slow death of the daily newspaper
And so, the era of competitive newspapers in Canada has come to an end. This week, the wretched Postmedia group consolidated the newsrooms in four cities where they own both…
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Rona Ambrose – Smoke From The Ears
Anyone else smell pants burning? Maybe it’s something else. Hold on, you’re about to get whiplash. I guess having an empty head is a biological advantage since your brain doesn’t…
Varoufakis: China was ready to support Greece, but Berlin killed the deal
From EuroActiv Athens had secured a funding deal with China during the crucial negotiations with its creditors last summer. But a phone call from Berlin to Beijing killed it, Yanis…
The Rational Gods of Iceland
While 61% of Icelanders say they believe in God, according to a recent poll, absolutely none under the age of 25 believe that their personal hairy thunderer created the world:…
Cancer Treatments and Cures – Natural and Conventional: An Overview
Here’s a thorny, delicate, controversial subject – but then again, when have I ever been known to shy away from such things? Peoples’ lives and well-being are at stake.…
Postmedia should axe Paul Godfrey.
Watching Postmedia bleed red ink is a Canadian pastime on the scale of the vanishing tar sands and those perennial losers, Toronto’s hockey team. The difference is that the tar…
Dirty Dig Done Dirt Cheap….
Flint water crisis: 6 things to know about the toxic taps Lead-tainted water leads to state of emergency in troubled Michigan city CBC News Posted: Jan 20, 2016 5:00 AM…
New Book: The World Won’t Wait
Roland Paris and I have a new edited volume out on Canadian Foreign Policy. The World Won’t Wait: Why Canada Needs to Rethink if International Policies features analysis from a…
Trudeau To Rush A Billion Dollars to Wall and Notley
The government is in talks to quickly allocate $1 billion for infrastructure projects in the two provinces — money earmarked by the previous government’s infrastructure fund but not yet delivered,…
A little historical perspective on the Syrian refugee numbers
As you know, Canada (in the form of our newly elected government) is bringing in 25,000 Syrian refugees as our part in the effort to lessen the humanitarian crisis that…
OPSEU fights back against Wynne’s hospital cuts
OPSEU is ratcheting up the campaign against the Wynne government’s relentless attacks on Ontario’s health care system. Here’s what’s happening across the province: This week, the Ontario Health Coalition is…
Mental Note: Design rocket so it doesn’t explode at 90 degree tilt
Rockets that land are a new thing, so it’s probably a minor oversight. No one was hurt in the blast. It’s hard to reuse a rocket that lands, if it…
Ellen Meiksins Wood, 1942-2016
Last week, the great Marxist scholar and historian of political thought, Ellen Meiksins Wood, passed away. Wood was a major influence on my intellectual development, both in terms of how…
A New Deal for Alberta?
Oilpatch worker urges Justin Trudeau to help Alberta in widely shared Facebook post ‘Please start helping our own people through these tough times’ By Andrea Huncar, CBC News Posted: Jan…
Kanile’a Islander GL6
What a difference two strings make. Late last week, I traded my Jupiter Creek steel-stringed baritone, solid-body uke for one of these Kanile’a nylon-stringed GL6 “guitar-leles” which the company calls…
Stuff Still Happens, week 2: Caution, bad news ahead
Hoo-boy, what a bad news week for Alberta, and Canada. Oil continued its slide, falling to below $30 a barrel. The Canadian dollar continued its slide, falling to below 70…
Three Card Monte in LaLaLand
Corus Entertainment is buying Shaw Media in $2.65B deal Acquisition ‘redefines Corus and Canada’s media landscape,’ president/CEO says The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 13, 2016 7:20 AM ET Same…
There’s more to electoral reform than voting.
Before you get to vote for a candidate or a political party in a general election much needs to happen. There are various aspects of our political system involved and…
A Critical Review of Lord of the Flies
Garbage – should be dropped from all curricula. Worthy only in emergency conditions where no toilet paper is available. More jaundiced Hobbesian delusions peddled as thoughtful social commentary. Pure rubbish.…
Writings of J. Todd Ring 2016-01-12 17:52:26
Revolution and Uniting the People: Bernie Sanders, Thomas Jefferson and FDR I would say that Bernie Sanders is not only a good candidate for US President, and beyond that, the…