November 2011
34 posts
11 tags
Why conservatism needs to be rescued | #cdnpoli
How does that saying go? Save me, Jesus, from your followers? One could argue that the conservative tradition needs the same kind of help. The roots of the current culture war aren’t hard to find. I’ve written previously about a class-based campaign that goes back more than three decades, to the days of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher; while that campaign’s being fought...
Nov 30th
11 notes
Stop the CBC Smackdown - Watch the Videos and Take... →
The CBC’s “new owner” Lance Fury sets out his vision for the public broadcaster.  (h/t deBeauxOs)
Nov 30th
10 tags
Busy Times. Little Time To Post. « All Fired Up In...
via afuitbs.wordpress.com As Cityslikr says, it’s Internet to the rescue. As we buckle down for budget season, I’m reminded of what Val Sears reportedly said as the 1962 federal election campaign kicked off. “Gentlemen, we have a government to defeat.” (The caveat, of course, is that this is coming from the internet, which is why I’m using the word...
Nov 28th
2 notes
7 tags
The Sixth Estate on who pays for Canada's...
… where think tanks and the like are concerned, is that most of these groups routinely put themselves into a conflict of interest when they advocate policies which benefit their large donors (mainly foundations owned by large corporations and billionaires who own large corporations), and compound that conflict of interest by not disclosing it. This position isn’t about accounting...
Nov 28th
7 notes
9 tags
What @cityslikr said about #TeamFord taking a...
TTC users can conduct the crusade against the cuts themselves. Call, write their councillors, let them know this will not stand. Here’s a list of the Team Ford members on the TTC board who should hear from you first:  Karen Stintz, TTC chair, Ward 16. Peter Milczyn, TTC vice-chair, Ward 5. Vincent Crisanti, Ward 1. Frank Di Giorgio, Ward 12. Norm Kelly, Ward 40. Denzil Minnan-Wong, Ward...
Nov 27th
2 notes
7 tags
How Did Toronto Lose So Much Transit Service? |...
A draft list of service cuts put together by TTC staff made its way to me in mid-October. At the time, the media and council were preoccupied with Ford’s Waterfront Follies. This list did not find its way to TTC commissioners, councillors, or the public, even though the changes would have widespread effects. via torontoist.com Excerpted from a comprehensive and detailed piece by Steve Munro. ...
Nov 26th
1 note
Nov 21st
45 notes
Video: UC Davis Chancellor Katehi walks to her car...
The Pepper Spray Princess … Sent from my BlackBerry
Nov 20th
What @justinsb said re @goldsbie
Bear with me tweeps. My Mac’s in the shop. Doing this all on Blackberry, so I can’t Storify the relevant tweets, but someone should. (No names *cough* mcgrath *cough* ) I don’t know the full story about who outed whom, or how and when journalistic ethics were breached, or whether any small urban mammals were harmed, so I’m not taking sides on that. But I will say,...
Nov 19th
ListenPrayer vigil at Occupy Toronto | Sol12  Now...
Nov 17th
15 tags
Video: Occupy Toronto, one month in | #OccupyTO...
November 15, 2011. Occupy Toronto wins a round in court after the city’s move to evict the camp is put on hold. That evening, Occupiers and supporters gather in solidarity and celebration … So it’s not that easy to get good visuals at night with an inexpensive camera. Who could have known?  Either way, I wanted to get this online as soon as I could, because injunction or...
Nov 16th
6 notes
1 tag
Nov 16th
10 notes
@OccupyToronto lawyer secures injunction - Toronto... →
In a telephone conversation with one of Mayor Ford’s staffers yesterday, I suggested that our Chief Magistrate might take some time to visit the camp and talk to the people there. Not holding my breath. Related posts: @mtaibbi on How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the #OWS Protests Chris Hedges Arrested in Front of Goldman Sachs - via Truthdig | #OWS #classwarfare #uspoli ...
Nov 15th
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Nov 14th
2 notes
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Nov 14th
179 notes
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Nov 14th
53 notes
6 tags
@mtaibbi on How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to...
This is a visceral, impassioned, deep-seated rejection of the entire direction of our society, a refusal to take even one more step forward into the shallow commercial abyss of phoniness, short-term calculation, withered idealism and intellectual bankruptcy that American mass society has become. If there is such a thing as going on strike from one’s own culture, this is it. And by being so...
Nov 11th
2 notes
8 tags
The four-wheel fetish: moving beyond the car |...
Back to the whole War on the Car thing. A recent post at All Fired Up suggests that driving cars essentially turns people into sociopaths. Perhaps I’m not giving the argument the space it deserves here, but it’s pretty compelling. A sample: … if we’re looking around for a culprit for the serious democratic deficit currently facing us, the toxic public discourse that now passes for...
Nov 10th
1 note
DAMMIT JANET!: No more Contempt & bullying. →
Nov 10th
Nov 10th
86 notes
2 tags
Nov 9th
7,107 notes
14 tags
@Cityslikr, @NickKouvalis, and the need for...
Ah, nuance. What a thing it is to contemplate. It’s so bracing. Complication. Reflection. Complexity. It’s what puts the real in real life. My friend @cityslikr, who on his worst days is ten times more eloquent and compelling than I will ever be, was involved in one of those Twitter conversations the other night. Initially it was with some tabloid scribbler, but as the evening went...
Nov 6th
7 notes
9 tags
Chris Hedges Arrested in Front of Goldman Sachs -...
Chris Hedges made this statement in New York City’s Zuccotti Park on Thursday morning during the People’s Hearing on Goldman Sachs, which he chaired with Dr. Cornel West. The activist and Truthdig columnist then joined a march of several hundred protesters to the nearby corporate headquarters of Goldman Sachs, where he was arrested with 16 others. Chris Hedges’ statement in Zuccotti Park: ...
Nov 6th
4 notes
“You can ask then, if this means that I am calling for the overthrowing of the...”
– Derrick Jensen (speaking at Occupy DC, Oct. 7, 2011 video)
Nov 6th
95 notes
Nov 5th
948 notes
5 tags
Gay-friendly policy sparks death threats against...
via burnabynow.com Naming names: Homara Ahmad, Charter Lau, Helen Ward, Gordon World, and Long Xue were identified as opponents of Burnaby’s anti-homophobic-bullying initiatives. Related posts: Video: Rick Mercer buries one in the back of the net | #LGBT #homophobia  Jamie Hubley: Again, this is where we juxtapose | #homophobia #stupidity  A dog whistle from Hudak | #onpoli...
Nov 5th
9 notes
6 tags
@accozzaglia, I think I love you | #TOpoli
[View the story “@accozzaglia, I think I love you ” on Storify]
Nov 5th
How Wall Street Occupied America | The Nation →
From Bill Moyers. Let’s see if I can find the video where he spanks one of Fox Noise’s flying monkeys … 
Nov 4th
7 tags
A nice bit of anti-bankster agitprop | #OWS
moveyourmoney2.pdf Download this file Not sure at this point whether Papandreou’s Eurozone referendum is a go or not, but I’ll settle for this in the meantime. Well, look … no one said changing the narrative was going to be easy. Baby steps …  Also, this #FTW. Related posts: This was peaceful until you came BBC: Markets dive in reaction to unfortunate outbreak...
Nov 4th
27 notes
7 tags
Nov 3rd
350 notes
Libraries Are Not Gravy! | #TOpoli →
throwing-milkshakes-at-cars: I don’t know how much good, if any, online petitions do but fuck, Rob Ford wants to slash and burn the Toronto Public Library. The emails are definitely being sent because I immediately received this form response from Rob Ford’s office: "Thank you for your email.  As I promised during the mayoralty election, I am dedicated to delivering customer service...
Nov 2nd
13 notes
7 tags
BBC: Markets dive in reaction to unfortunate...
US and European markets have fallen following Monday’s announcement of a Greek referendum on the latest aid package to solve its debt crisis. Eurozone leaders agreed a 50% debt write-off for Greece last week as well as strengthening Europe’s bailout fund. But the Greek move has cast doubt on whether the deal can go ahead. New York’s Dow Jones ended the day 2.5% lower, after a...
Nov 2nd
2 notes
Scotch Whisky In A Can |Blended Scotch Whisky... →
Quick poll: Inspiration, or blasphemy?
Nov 1st
10 tags
The #Occupy movement and the U.S. party system: a...
It is telling that our founders recognized the need for a semblance of democratic governance, if only to establish the legitimacy of the regime they established.  This is why capitalists and their political representatives have always been reluctant to quash democracy altogether. The democratic character of the regime under which we live has waxed and waned over the past two and a third...
Nov 1st
9 notes