Category Archives: United States

FTRW 2016 – Day Four – Obama’s Nominee for Librarian of Congress Kicks Ass!

I feel like this year’s Freedom to Read Week series is a bit more toned down than the usual controversial swear-fest I enjoy creating each year. But there are things that happen on a less provocative level that have impacts on librarianship, censorship and access to information even if they don’t get an “R” rated […]

FTRW 2016 – Day Three – Political Censorship Ad

Watching the Democratic Presidential Town Hall so thought I’d post this (in)appropriate ad I came across on Reddit. To tie it back to censorship in a more serious fashion, it’s more important to remember that in various sectors but especially in politics, censorship isn’t just about the outright suppression of ideas – it also happens […]

#FTRW 2016 – Day Two – Music Monday – Most Controversial Music Videos of All-Time

Take your pick. Here’s #1 on the list which was pretty controversial (by design) at the time back in 1989 but seems relatively tame now…    

FTRW 2016 – Day One – Violent Video Games

It’s the most wonderful time of the (fucking) year!  😉 Yes, it’s Freedom to Read Week again, a holiday celebrated by librarians, writers, book lovers, artists, filmmakers and anyone else interested in the issue of censorship and free expression. As usual, I’m planning to do a week of posts on different topics to do with […]

Some Random Thoughts on the US Primaries #feelthebern #notmeus #nhprimary #berniesanders

So I’ve been watching both the Democratic and Republican campaigns leading up to last week’s first caucus in Iowa and today’s first primary in New Hampshire very closely. In all honesty, I might even be more engaged in the US elections then I was in last fall’s Canadian ones! I think this is because the […]

Random Thoughts on the First US Primaries

Does anyone else find the idea of caucuses weird (especially how the Democrats do it where you show your support publicly and others try to convince you to support other candidates?) It also seems like there’s an inherent bias to people who can afford to give up an evening – harder for the single parent […]

Trump Rally in a Nutshell

Doesn’t anyone remember Trump and his words with John McCain?! This [veteran] is talking about how tough it is being in a war. He is standing on a stage with [Donald Trump] a man who ridiculed a POW for no good reason for being captured and tortured in a war. Trump’s supporters are incredibly delusional. […]

Music Monday – “Right wingin’, Bitter clingin’, Guns and God Are Our Religion”

As a general rule, I don’t think you should mock your political opponents. But since these two yahoos are from the US, they’re technically not my opponents and I’m free to highlight their stupidity freely. 😉 In all seriousness, Sarah Palin’s recent endorsement of Donald Trump was mystifying. But is there method to her madness?  Is […]

“Every Parent’s Worst Nightmare” – School Shooting in La Loche

Definitely not a “Friday Fun Link” day today with news of a shocking shooting at a school in northern Saskatchewan which killed four people (not five as many early reports stated) with others injured. Here are some random thoughts… Reading online comments, many right wing Americans are calling out Obama for saying “This doesn’t happen […]

Friday Fun Link – The Cost of Living Everywhere in the World in a Single Awesome Graphic

Not sure if this is a “Fun” link but it captures something I’ve been thinking about a lot since our most recent trip to Cuba.