If there is anything unique about the human race, at least as far as I know, it is the supremely arrogant belief that some all powerful entity – who for some reason takes the same ‘image’ as man, a somewhat intelligent ape– has created the universe just for him (the... More
It is a sad age in culture where beauty requires its own defence, but there is a great quantity of appalling, incompetent art that justifies its existence on grounds of standing for an important social cause or for making a life affirming statement. I only have a problem the moment... More
We are seeing an increasing lack of precision in our language that narrows not just the words we use in speech and writing, but the thoughts we have. Bad grammar and imprecise diction both betokens and breeds stupid thoughts. There isn’t one cause. The semi-related forces of text message and... More
A version of this piece originally appeared on [Nora's Blog] in December 2012 Sometimes I forget that Canada is a massive country where people are separated into silos. Idle No More has reminded me that there exists massive gulfs between people, experiences and awareness. I don’t actually fault the folks... More
“Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in” - Leonard Cohen, Anthem During revolutionary times one usually finds lurking the utopian tendency: the urge to perfect the world and the expectation that the Kingdom... More
Barack Obama is a war criminal. This is true for essentially the same reasons as George W. Bush is one. In fact, a number of intelligent commentators such as Robert Fisk and Noam Chomsky have pointed out that the two administration’s foreign policy differ in only one significant way. The... More
“What time is it?” The seemingly innocuous question posed by my friend as we sat at our local bar highlighted the social experiment we had embarked upon. Earlier in the evening we had decided to go for a walk, and did what many people would consider the unthinkable; we left... More
Populism is supposed to be popular, right? Andrew Breitbart passed away yesterday for apparent unknown health reasons. Most people know Andrew simply as “the asshole that got Shirley Sherrod fired” and make no mistake, Andrew Breitbart was in fact that asshole. I’m fairly certain he would be proud of such... More
Every now and then one will unfortunately have the experience of participating in a rather, pleasant and stimulating conversation which is completely derailed by a statement of sheer lunacy. “Oh, so you actually believe in DNA?” “No, don’t you get it….gravity is a social construction.” “The essential nature of Marxism... More
You’re sitting on a train at the station. Another train slowly passes by on the next track over. You feel yourself leaving the station, only to realize – once the other train has passed – that you haven’t moved an inch. While illusions of motion and directionality are most often... More
Among economists, academics and political scientists there seems to be a debate emerging about the current economic turmoil. The central issue being: does debt matter? The Keynesians don’t seem to think it does. Other people disagree. I think it matters for the following reason: it has mattered for the last... More
What follows is the perception of a senior citizen who has been visiting the occupied St. James park in Toronto, listening and talking to people, and who has been disappointed with the media representation of the Occupied movement. Because contrary to complaints, there is a coherent message. The state structure is... More
If there is anything unique about the human race, at least as far as I know, it is the supremely arrogant belief that some all powerful entity – who for some reason takes the same ‘image’ as man, a somewhat intelligent ape– has created the universe just for him (the... More
It is a sad age in culture where beauty requires its own defence, but there is a great quantity of appalling, incompetent art that justifies its existence on grounds of standing for an important social cause or for making a life affirming statement. I only have a problem the moment... More
We are seeing an increasing lack of precision in our language that narrows not just the words we use in speech and writing, but the thoughts we have. Bad grammar and imprecise diction both betokens and breeds stupid thoughts. There isn’t one cause. The semi-related forces of text message and... More
A version of this piece originally appeared on [Nora's Blog] in December 2012 Sometimes I forget that Canada is a massive country where people are separated into silos. Idle No More has reminded me that there exists massive gulfs between people, experiences and awareness. I don’t actually fault the folks... More
“Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That’s how the light gets in” - Leonard Cohen, Anthem During revolutionary times one usually finds lurking the utopian tendency: the urge to perfect the world and the expectation that the Kingdom... More
Barack Obama is a war criminal. This is true for essentially the same reasons as George W. Bush is one. In fact, a number of intelligent commentators such as Robert Fisk and Noam Chomsky have pointed out that the two administration’s foreign policy differ in only one significant way. The... More
“What time is it?” The seemingly innocuous question posed by my friend as we sat at our local bar highlighted the social experiment we had embarked upon. Earlier in the evening we had decided to go for a walk, and did what many people would consider the unthinkable; we left... More
Populism is supposed to be popular, right? Andrew Breitbart passed away yesterday for apparent unknown health reasons. Most people know Andrew simply as “the asshole that got Shirley Sherrod fired” and make no mistake, Andrew Breitbart was in fact that asshole. I’m fairly certain he would be proud of such... More
Every now and then one will unfortunately have the experience of participating in a rather, pleasant and stimulating conversation which is completely derailed by a statement of sheer lunacy. “Oh, so you actually believe in DNA?” “No, don’t you get it….gravity is a social construction.” “The essential nature of Marxism... More
You’re sitting on a train at the station. Another train slowly passes by on the next track over. You feel yourself leaving the station, only to realize – once the other train has passed – that you haven’t moved an inch. While illusions of motion and directionality are most often... More
Among economists, academics and political scientists there seems to be a debate emerging about the current economic turmoil. The central issue being: does debt matter? The Keynesians don’t seem to think it does. Other people disagree. I think it matters for the following reason: it has mattered for the last... More
What follows is the perception of a senior citizen who has been visiting the occupied St. James park in Toronto, listening and talking to people, and who has been disappointed with the media representation of the Occupied movement. Because contrary to complaints, there is a coherent message. The state structure is... More
