This song doesn’t make sense without the two public services currently under attack in Canada: passenger rail and the mail. They’re being strangled off in the same way: starve them of necessary funding so service degrades and the public turns against the service, then move in and axe even more service, secure in the knowledgecontinue reading
Current Events Archives
December 5: “Free Nelson Mandela,” The Special AKA
I’m sure there are radio stations playing “Sun City” tonight in their reports on the late Nelson Mandela and his extraordinary life as an anti-apartheid leader and the first democratic president of South Africa, but around here, it’s The Special AKA’s “Free Nelson Mandela”. This is an energetic romp that you can enjoy without havingcontinue reading
The infantilization of childhood
On the radio the other day, a CBC host gamely ad-libbed in an interview about the catastrophe in Japan, asking the interviewee’s children, in Japan, were coping: “What about the seven-year-old? At seven, children are aware of some things.” “Some things?” A seven-year-old is hardly just learning to focus his or her eyes. At seven,continue reading
Baby, meet bathwater
At first glance this makes a good deal of sense: Bill would protect kids from drug endangerment The bill would make it a separate offence to “drug endanger” a child. It would establish drug-endangered children as a category in need of protection. It would also add drug endangerment as a form of child abuse undercontinue reading
The poignant, poignant pain of eating on $225 a month
Apparently OSAP allows $7.50 a day, or roughly $225 a month, for a student food allowance. The Star is reporting on the extreme hardship this produces, and four intrepid students, risking starvation and perhaps even the odd foray into their own kitchens, are blogging their attempt to comply with this limit for three agonizing weeks.continue reading
Blame the victim (again and again)
Even when the circumstances in pedestrian deaths clearly point to driver error, Toronto police don’t hesitate to point the finger at the person who wasn’t behind the wheel of the vehicle: Sgt. Tim Burrows said the victim was crossing slightly west of the crosswalk at the intersection. “It’s difficult to determine who is at fault,”continue reading
Interesting example
Another day, another woe-is-Gen Y story. In all seriousness, Canada’s poor mechanisms of getting new graduates into the workforce are an ongoing problem. But this latest story on the front page of the Report on Business isn’t particularly compelling: Elizabeth Adams, 24, knows all about timing. She recently graduated with a fine arts degree andcontinue reading
Apparently forethought isn’t one of the skills they should plan to share
Ah, woe. Carol Goar reports that retiring baby boomers plan to spend time volunteering, but: But for the most part, the non-profit sector is not waiting with open arms for retired baby boomers with skills to share and time to spare. “Logically, it should be a great opportunity,” says Michael Hall, vice-president of Imagine Canada,continue reading
Ernie and Bert were always pretty racy
Infamous subway-riding 9-year-old’s mother Lenore Skenazy details her questionable viewing habits: We got the DVD set of Sesame Street from the early years. It shows kids just having fun in groups, playing on a vacant lot, playing on the playground and playing follow the leader. Before any of this is shown to you, there’s acontinue reading
Eight years on
This is how I felt that day: like something might come swooping down out of the sky at any time, that no place was safe, not the streets I walked along in my new high heels (heading out of the financial district: the streetcars were jammed, traffic at a standstill). When I walked along Bloorcontinue reading