Category Archives: Politics

Some Resonant, Relevant Quotes on Free Speech and the Charlie Hebdo Massacre From The #MetaFilter Thread #jesuischarlie

So I wrote about the Charlie Hebdo massacre in a rather rambling manner the other day. I’m still thinking about what happened a lot – the conflict between unrestrained freedom of speech defenders (here!) and a sort of “Can’t we all get along/be kind and non-offensive to everyone” reaction which I have some sympathy to but […]

#JeSuisCharlie (And Some Tangents About Language, The Nature of Offense and the Unintended Consequences of Trigger Warnings)

Trigger Warning: This essay contains ideas you might not agree with. You’ve probably heard about the terrorist criminal attack today in Paris that targeted journalists and cartoonists with a satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. Instead of trying to write an essay to capture my thoughts (since The Onion did a pretty good job on that front already), I’ll […]

Why Librarians Defend The Right To Watch Porn at the Library

This is a great article on an important topic but my short answer is this: “Beyond limits set by the existing laws of the land, no one should have right to tell anyone else what they can read/watch/listen to.  Period.” To expand on this a bit… I’ve seen patrons watching things that are a lot […]

One Year To The Next Federal Election: 25 Reasons You *Shouldn’t* Vote For Harper #canpoli #cndpoli #skpoli

In politics, it’s really easy to slip into hyperbole, no matter which side of the political spectrum you’re on – “George W. Bush was the WORST President of all-time!”, “Obama has RUINED the United States forever!” The next federal Canadian election is (tentatively) scheduled for October 19, 2014, exactly one year from today. And when […]

“I thought that music mattered. But does it bollocks? Not compared to how people matter.”

Here’s a great scene from the highly underrated British movie, “Brassed Off” which I re-watched this afternoon. (Bonus points for this speech also providing a sample for the song “Tubthumping” by anarcho-punk collective, Chumbawamba) This band behind me’ll tell you that that trophy means more to me than owt else in the whole world. But […]

Saturday Snap – Breastfeeding May Prevent Viruses (But Can Still Go Viral)

Shea recently entered a contest on Facebook run by a group who are trying to raise funds to create a breast milk depot in Regina (similar services exist in larger cities such as Calgary and Vancouver.) For the contest, a bunch of local breastfeeding advocates submitted photos of themselves and their babies into one of three […]

Holiday Weekend Catch-Up

I took a couple days off on Monday and Tuesday to have an extended long weekend to go camping with Shea’s and my folks and to attend Shea’s cousin’s wedding.  Which means I need to do another extended weekend catch-up of missed blog posts… Saturday Snap As mentioned, we went to Shea’s cousin’s wedding at […]

Good Morning Vietnam: An “Un-War” War Movie

In my RIP Robin Williams post yesterday, I mentioned that I wrote an essay while a student in England about Williams’ role in “Good Morning Vietnam”. I don’t think I’ve posted any of my undergrad work on this blog ever but given yesterday’s events, now’s as good of time as any.  Oh, and feel free to […]

Friday Fun Link – A Few Links About The World Cup of Soccer

* Jon Oliver on the mixed emotions football fans feel towards a game that’s more like a religion for most of them and the corrupt body that oversees the quadrennial tournament… * Twitter has enabled graphic hashtags of national flags for the World Cup. * Brazil’s inequality summed up in one stark football-related – although […]

Too Many Tabs Tuesday

Here are a few things that caught my eye this past week… What are the best new products nobody knows about? (Quora) How We Die – Then and Now: Comparing Causes of Death, 1900 v. 2010 (Infographic) What Radiohead Song Always Moves You To Tears? (Reddit) How Poverty Taxes The Brain (Infographic) Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” […]