Here are a couple of excerpts from the book I’m reading right now, Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges (amazon | indigo | kobo). I’m about 60 pages in and I’m wavering between “He’s overreacting, it’s not that bad.” and “He’s right, we’re fucked.” Those captivated by the cult of celebrity do not examine voting [...]
Posts under ‘Politics’
TED
I don’t normally just re-post video, but I found these two TED talks particularly enjoyable and thought I’d share. Sean Gourley: the mathematics of war Clay Shirky: How social media can make history
Entertainers
On his blog today, Dilbert creator Scott Adams wonders why people get so bent out of shape about the likes of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. During the peak ratings years of The Jerry Springer Show — an alleged reality show — a fight would break out among the guests during almost every episode. It [...]
At least I didn’t land on Bono
A few days ago Joey DeVilla blogged about the OKCupid politics test and, well…I just can’t resist a blend of politics and charts. Here’s the text the test spit out for me: Social Liberal (73% permissive) / Economic Liberal (23% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat (the test was quite American-centric) You [...]
Coke vs. Pepsi
Several years ago I watched an episode of Real Time with Bill Maher which featured among its guests Michael Moore, Ralph Nader and former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell. In that episode Maher and Moore pleaded (literally) with Nader to not run in 2004 and dilute the Democratic vote, as he had in 2000. I [...]
“Recruited for moral judgments”
Earlier this week in the Toronto Star John Sakamoto (who I thought wrote music…but whatever) did a brief story about Cornell research entitled “Morality rooted in disgust“: Researchers at Cornell University tested a group of people from politically mixed swing states for both their political ideology and their “disgust sensitivity.” “Participants who rated higher in [...]
Only through the exercise of candor
Salon published an interesting piece today from Boston University professor of history and international relations Andrew Bacevich called Farewell to the American Century. Bacevich goes further than the WaPo’s Richard Coen — who declared the American Century ended — and suggests it could scarcely end…it was all an illusion in the first place. In its [...]
How does a homeless junkie get a broadcast license anyway?
By now you’ve likely heard about the episode of the Fox News show Red Eye (if you haven’t seen it already, download the WMV) wherein late night panel show host Greg Gutfeld mocked the Canadian military. Predictably, this got the Canadian public, pundits and politicians all in a palaver. Today Gutfeld apologized…kind of. It was [...]
Let’s get ready to rumble!
Welcome to this bout for the superheavyweight ridiculousness championship of the world. In this corner we have the Canadian minister of state for science & technology, Gary Goodyear (who obviously missed his true calling: cartoon race car driver), who refuses to say whether he believes in evolution: Jim Turk, executive director of the Canadian Association [...]
“Is he giving squinting lessons?”
Activists in Calgary plan to protest the arrival in their city of George Bush. Oh, kids. Bad move. Don’t give him attention in any form. The opposite of love isn’t hate, you ninnies, it’s indifference. George W. Bush can expect a cordial welcome tomorrow inside a Calgary convention hall as the wildly unpopular former U.S. [...]
“A revolution of destruction”
After three months (!) I have finally finished reading The Coming Of The Third Reich by Richard Evans (amazon). A highly worthwhile and ultimately troubling book about how the Nazis came to rule Germany in the early 1930s. To those of us too young to remember WWII, Hitler and Nazism seem like bogeymen, monsters sprung [...]
Risen, like a turkey from the ashes
A final thought on yesterday’s topic, Bush’s legacy: as the clarity of distance seeps into the memory of the Bush43 years, it will be curious to observe the phases through which his reputation will pass. My prediction is as follows: He’ll fade from the limelight by the spring, and generally avoid interviews from all but [...]
“Both the country and, ultimately, the Republican Party are left the worse for it.”
With America’s eyes (and the eyes of others here in Canada and around the world) focused squarely on Washington for Barack Obama’s inauguration, some have taken a break to wonder about outgoing President Bush’s legacy. By the way, I hereby declare “outgoing President Bush” to be the finest three-word combination in the English language. Ahem. [...]
“We believed, after being told that if we didn’t, we would die.”
I don’t think Esquire gets enough respect. For a magazine that too often gets lumped in to the “Men’s Interest” section of the magazine rack with Details and GQ, it strikes a good mix of fun, hotness and (relative) intellectual stimulation. For examples of the first look no further than {dreamy sigh} their most recent [...]
“[A]n appalling stance”
From today’s Globe and Mail: Alone among major Western nations, the United States has refused to sign a declaration presented Thursday at the United Nations calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality. In all, 66 of the UN’s 192 member countries signed the nonbinding declaration — which backers called a historic step to push the General [...]
