OP/ED: Sick, stupid and sterile
In September 1962 – 50 years ago this month – a book was published which changed the way we looked at the post-World War Two chemical revolution. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring – a clarion call about the perils of pesticides – is largely credited with launching the modern day environmental movement. Soon after its publication,...
Comment: Lousy pay, little respect, measly or no benefits or pension? Fight back: UNIONIZE!
Workers have always had to fight. From the time of the industrial revolution right up until today, the people who make the capitalist system work--those who do the work that produces the goods and those who are the consumers who buy them--have had to fight for a fair share of the profits. Capitalism works best when the people...
OP/ED: Beware the dangers of 'Tall Poppy Syndrome'
This week’s column is going to be focused on a major pet peeve of mine; it may seem a bit ‘ranty’ because I’m feeling a little hormonal today … so bear with me. It’s something that has always bugged me but has become more apparent to me recently through certain interactions and conversations. So without […]
OP/ED: A B.C.government for the people…not at the expense of the people
Today I couldn’t help but wonder…at what point in a politician’s life does spewing hypocritical crap become so second nature that they fail to smell the aroma of the barnyard they’re sitting in? It was a mere two weeks ago when the story broke of excessive and frivolous spending in government, not only by the premier, but by...
COMMENT: Nuke the moon!
Okay, time to stop worrying about climate change. Turns out we can just change the climate. How? Well, maybe we should just nuke the moon. (Apparently if we can shift its orbit to block more sunlight, oil companies can keep drilling, the politicians in their pockets can keep doing nothing and gas-guzzling SUV drivers can laugh...
COMMENT: Are material things making humans more humane...or less?
Do you count your blessings? Is being a Canadian one of those? Are you content with your life? Humanity in the most materially-developed societies (such as Canada) is both blessed and cursed, for we have the physical health and leisure to be altruistic and informed, but we’re trapped in materially-dominated lives that make ...
COMMENT: Some local notes from a national meeting
I was privileged to attend the 41st General Council Meeting of the United Church of Canada, held in Ottawa in mid August of 2012. We dotted the “i”s and crossed the “t”s of years of work carried out by task groups and committees, congregations, and conferences. Responding to requests for assistance and change that came to us...
OP/ED: In BC, democracy has a price tag. Sometimes.
They failed the first time, but that hasn't deterred the B.C. government from trying yet again to put a sock in the mouths of community organizations, chambers of commerce, unions and other groups by attempting to impose tough spending restrictions on third parties which – if they get their way – would apply before an election...
OP/ED: On putting the wrong foot forward to celebrate 40
A good friend of mine just had her 40th birthday. Her birthday request – for a small group of friends to go on a three-day hiking excursion up Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park. The kind of adventure where you pack EVERYTHING you will need to survive in the wilderness for several days into a ginormous 30-pound backpack and...
August contemplations
In which the author ponders if he has wasted time chasing political and historical facts, while other things worth knowing have gone unnoticed… Travel broadens the mind. Home is where the heart is. Every person can assert, I know my own truth and I originate my reality. Ideology does not include all possible realities. Politics […]