I'm still alive but I'm over here ... Oreo Cookie Blues .... see ya... [Read More]

We'd sure hate to lose this kind of sober second thought.... [Read More]

In the wake of Dave Batters' tragic death, a friend and reader offers up some commentary on how mental health unfortunately continues to receive short shrift as a public policy priority:We all do foolish things in our lives; thankfully the healthcare system is usually there to bail us out. For... [Read More]

Michael Jackson looks perfectly healthy in this rehearsal video taken on Tuesday evening, June 23rd. He was dead one and a half days later on the afternoon of June 25th.Video footage courtesy CNN....... [Read More]

One of the most frustrating aspects of being a New Democrat is that Liberal and Conservative supporters often try to make demonstrably and manifestly false claims about our party. One of the more oft-parroted (and false) lines about the NDP is that we don't have original policy proposals, but... [Read More]

When the party who came in a distant second in Saskatoon Riversdale in 2007 nominated its candidate for the upcoming by-election, the Star Phoenix reported it immediately.And likewise with the party who came in an even more distant third. (Though it omitted the noteworthy detail that the candidate... [Read More]

"The World Wildlife Fund gives Canada a failing grade on its climate change practices, ranking the country behind all other major industrialized nations, including the U.S.Canada finished in eighth place among the G8 nations -- its worst finish since the WWF first began releasing the annual report... [Read More]

Canada is back!Canada and Japan were blocking a possible deal on climate change at the Copenhagen summit, Sir David King, the former Chief Scientific Adviser, warned yesterday.Speaking at the World Conference of Science Journalists, Sir David said that the two countries had stepped into the breach... [Read More]

photo by Jacklyn Atlas... [Read More]

With all the other issues surrounding nuclear power in Canada, it wouldn't have come as much surprise if the Cons' efforts to pass another sweetheart liability regime for operators both public and private had managed to slip under the radar. But fortunately, NDP MP Nathan Cullen is on the job in... [Read More]

Lets see..... The new Charanga Habanera is out at Descarga.com and Itunes (and is getting a HUGE reaction) The Havana d'Primera debut CD is now out on Descarga.com Calle Real launched their second album last month at a showcase which...... [Read More]

Here's a Reuters article about Cuban reggaeton. Not too much new here if you've been following the story but a decent intro if you haven't. I loved hearing how the artists give their music to the taxi drivers to promote....... [Read More]

Coup: A vote in which parties representing the majority of seats in a legislative body use their superior democratically-elected numbers to vote down a governing party which has lost their confidence. "Coup": The military seizure and subsequent forcible exile of a democratically-elected leader.... [Read More]

...your definitive good-news story for Canada Day is here.... [Read More]

Surely we can at least count on a right-wing government to get military development as a point of pride, right? Sadly, no - and in fact a gap between intentions and manpower only figures to get worse:The Canadian navy is operating with significantly fewer service men and women than it needs on its... [Read More]

Today is the time to reflect on and appreciate our national institutions. At least, until they're done selling off their homes to keep the lights on:The CBC says it would consider selling buildings that house its radio and TV stations in a bid to wrangle control over its cash-strapped budget.Hubert... [Read More]

Truly it's a day for national pride:Canada is now the G8's classroom dud on climate change, sliding to last place among the world's industrial leaders in the annual climate scorecard released by the World Wildlife Fund and insurance giant Allianz today...."We have the resources – financially,... [Read More]

I love being a Canadian! It's a great country ... flaws and all!... [Read More]

I now present you the most Canadian thing anywhere on the Internets: Stan Rogers' "Northwest Passage" interspersed with stills from Due South. You're welcome. ... [Read More]

Is posted here at Timba.com Kudos to Gabriel Wilder for taking the time to record/transcribe/translate this highly informative interview with the leader of Havana DPrimera. Alexander Abreu touches on topics such as: the difficulties of developing an audience in Cuba,...... [Read More]

Unanimous. The Supreme Court of the State of Minnesota has awarded a challenged Senate Seat to Democrat Al Franken."We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under (Minnesota law) to receive the certificate of... [Read More]

haven't posted in forevernow i'm back posting again... [Read More]

For the most part, Kevin Libin's screed about Stephen Harper's Facebook page falls somewhere between a non-story being played up on a slow news week, and a stunning attempt to push Stephen Harper to be even less open to the public than he already is. But there's one part of the article which does... [Read More]

Dave Batters, 39, died at home in Regina on Monday night, the family said in a news release.CBC Saskatchewan... [Read More]

REFUND POLICY ANNOUNCED FOR 'MICHAEL JACKSON THIS IS IT' TICKET HOLDERSLONDON (June 30, 2009) – "At this time of mourning for Michael Jackson, we are together in our sadness at the loss of one of the greatest entertainers ever."The world lost a kind soul who just happened to be the greatest... [Read More]

... [Read More]

Having obviously recognized that Canadians aren't about to buy the argument that a summer of committee meetings with Pierre Poilievre makes for a substantial achievement, the Libs are apparently test-driving another excuse for their continued capitulation to the Harper Cons. But while this one from... [Read More]

Shorter Leader-Post editorial on the Sask Party's flat tax plan:It's unjustified class warfare to question our belief that rich people are objectively better and more important.... [Read More]

Word comes out that Danielle Chartier has been officially nominated as the Saskatchewan NDP's candidate in Saskatoon Riversdale. In case anybody was still operating under the misapprehension that Chartier figures to be anything short of a "heavyweight", she managed to assemble 165 Facebook fans and... [Read More]

Others have already commented on the statement that the Cons have every intention of eliminating vote-based funding for political parties:Whenever the election does come, Harper has one plan in mind for afterward: the elimination of public funding to political parties. A punishing blow to his... [Read More]

The Green Party of Nova Scotia missed an April deadline for filing financial statements with the province's Chief Electoral Office and are facing removal as a registered political party. The Green Party won only 2.33% of the vote in this months provincial election.CTV News... [Read More]

So apparently all the Libs have to show for their latest decision to roll over is...more face time for Pierre Poilievre. This is what happens when one fails to include a "no cartoon characters" clause in describing the composition of a panel.Which isn't to say that the Libs are likely to complain -... [Read More]

Yesterday, the Times reported that President Obama has expressed opposition to a provision of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill (summary) that would compel the President, starting in 2020, to begin imposing trade barriers against countries that don't act to limit carbon emissions. The Times... [Read More]

Brent King wanted to make a donation to his local homeless shelter so he asked them what was the #1 thing that they needed. He was told ... new, clean, men's underwear. Hmmm ... so he bought 25,000 pair and is now delivering them by mobile home to shelters in 10 cities across Canada.-Brent... [Read More]

Murray Dobbin's post on the Toronto municipal strike points out how much effort goes into making public sector workers unpopular. He's big on the value of the public sector and here I agree with him.... [Read More]

...but I didn't realize that even the Hill Times and its anonymous Liberal sources went into reruns:A Liberal source told The Hill Times that the Liberals are unlikely to vote for the Harper government on confidence votes anymore."There's an inherent dichotomy in, 'This government is terrible but... [Read More]

Needless to say, the latest revelations about safety concerns with effectively all of AECL's CANDU nuclear reactors figure to be glossed over just as thoroughly as the recent concerns with the MAPLE and Chalk River isotope reactors. But in addition to providing evidence that nuclear technology is... [Read More]

The rumour is that when Ontario's minister of Energy and Infrastructure was confronted with the cost estimates for the new nuclear build, he suffered a severe case of sticker shock. For the nuclear reactors themselves, it may very well be terminal:The Government of Ontario today announced that it... [Read More]

What a remarkable essay. Ernesto Hernandez Busto (editor of the Penúltimos Días blog) takes a schematic of the political system of Iran and lays it over top of Cuba - for some revealing results. He even goes on to project...... [Read More]

Yesterday, I pointed out one egregious example of the Star rewriting history to try to cut out the Libs' complicity in continued Harper government. But it's worth pointing out that the NDP itself could be doing more to point out both its own successes in putting together the progressive coalition,... [Read More]

Shorter Rocco Rossi:Weakness is strength! Dithering is decisiveness! Failure is accomplishment! And if you liked those, we have plenty more where that came from!(Edit: fixed typo.)... [Read More]

Just see all of the fun you miss since you stopped going to church on Sunday!!... [Read More]

The United States produced about as much oil in the month that Barack Obama was elected President as it did in the month that the Empire of Japan surrendered on the deck of the battleship Missouri.Oil went way up after WWII in the US, then it came waaaay down. Despite being the wealthiest country... [Read More]

On the evening of June 27th, 1969, New York City police did as they had done many times before, raided a known 'Gay' bar when it was full of patrons on a busy Friday night. But on this night, something unusual happened - the patrons of the Stonewall Inn refused to be arrested and taken away in... [Read More]

1) Changing my blog template, font, or background color green to "show solidarity" with Iranian protesters. It's ridiculous to argue that I need to demonstrate my belief that elections should be fair and people shouldn't be killed by the state. More than that, I'm not so narcissistic as to... [Read More]

Ive been meaning for some time to start translating the steady stream of news about the Saskatchewan Roughriders into some content for the blog. And with the regular season set to start next week, there's no time like the present. So here's my quick preview of where the 'Riders figure to place this... [Read More]

And he's a piece of work, no doubt about it. But I'd like to interject something to the Liberals all high-fiving each other, celebrating the return of a harder, nastier form of Conservative leader. (Libs have been celebrating "getting to run against Mike Harris again.")1) Mike Harris beat you. ... [Read More]

via Kevin Moore PRIMERO QUE NADA ESTOY SUPER CONTENTO POR LA CONVERSACION QUE TUVE CON CONTIGO MI CUÑI. EL ACCIDENTE OCURRIO DE ESTA FORMA COMO A LAS 3 DE LA TARDE DEL MIERCOLES PASADO DIA 17 DE JUNIO , ESTABA...... [Read More]

It's undoubtedly great news that Abousfian Abdelrazik has finally made it back to Canada. But CTV rightly notes that while the worst may be over, the Kafkaesque traps for Abdelrazik and anybody seeking to improve his circumstances are far from a thing of the past:Abdelrazik's troubles will likely... [Read More]

Bruce Johnstone:Many presenters criticized the consultations for being narrowly focused on the UDP report, which itself was narrowly focused on the potential for adding value to Saskatchewan's uranium resource.Time and time again, presenters raised the problem of trying to debate the nuclear energy... [Read More]

Just in case there's any doubt, the Harper Cons have proven again that while they do everything they can duck responsibility as long as possible, they're also not above caving in the face of a threat worth taking seriously:Privy Council officials have ended months of stonewalling and handed over... [Read More]

For those out and about on Sunday June 28th, Maracatu will start playing at Church And Hayden (one block South of Bloor) at 1:45pm - then march down to the Wellesley St stage for a double bill/trade-off with Samba Squad.... [Read More]

Friday September 25 at The Sound Acadamy I'm curious as to the last time Willy Chirino was in Canada, if ever. Anyone know?... [Read More]

Franz at Planet Timba has assembled all the videos for the new Charanga Habanera release into one place. The following is my current fave The new album is now available on iTunes Canada. Search under David Calzado y su Charanga...... [Read More]

The Toronto Star prints some poorly-labeled historical fiction:Jack Layton looked like a kingmaker when the Liberal-NDP coalition threatened to topple the Conservative government last fall, but eight months later he is struggling for attention.By throwing in his lot with the Liberals, led then by... [Read More]

This blog is not about American pop music, but i think it's worth noting something that I haven't heard in the avalanche of media that has followed his passing. Namely that Micheal Jackson was equally popular all over the world....... [Read More]

"The internet suffered a number of slowdowns as people the world over rushed to verify accounts of Michael Jackson's death. Search giant Google confirmed to the BBC that when the news first broke it feared it was under attack.Millions of people who searched for the star's name on Google News were... [Read More]

Fluke - Zion... [Read More]

...at least according to The Supreme Court of Canada.Most at the CBC seem quite happy with this decision - that a 14-year-old-girl's rights were not violated when she was given a forcible blood transfusion against her wishes.Read that again.To me, this is one of the most horrifying decisions any... [Read More]

It was, as I said on my facebook page, an amazing night of remembering, crying and healing at the 25th Annual Candlelight AIDS Vigil. A true sign of the richness of my life is that I didn’t get the chance to hug everybody that I knew there. Maybe it was the fact that it was the [...]... [Read More]

I just finished reading “Gang Leader for A Day,” by Sudhir Venkatesh. While Sudhir was studying Sociology at the University of Chicago, he was gaining valuable experience by embedding himself into one of Chicago’s most notorious and poorest housing projects, the Robert Taylor Homes. He would... [Read More]

Michael Jackson's Thriller was probably the first song I ever listened to repeatedly - our house had a copy of the record. And now the dude's dead.The world feels different, somehow.... [Read More]

"Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back. A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived."TMZ"Paramedics were... [Read More]

The legendary music producer spent 10 days in Havana recording a project .......that will be part of a double CD I'm releasing on Brownswood in October called Havana Cultura - the other CD is a 16 track comp ranging from...... [Read More]

Pupy Pedroso is bringing his band and Candido Fabre to Canada in October with a play in Toronto at the Phoenix Concert Hall on October 23. I'm sure there will be other Canadian dates but they havent been announced yet....... [Read More]

It looks like the long wait for the release of Havana D'Primera's 'Haciendo Historia' is finally over. Prodland USA, the mail-order company has it for sale.... [Read More]

An interesting look back at the Stonewall Riots in New York 40 years ago – what would become known as the start of the gay liberation movement. And, having come out of the closet myself in a highly-politicized time in Toronto, I enjoyed this look back at the year after Stonewall –... [Read More]

One of the things that has always bugged me about those who counsel confrontation and military action as a means of dealing with problematic countries - unfortunately still a large group of people - is the certainty with which they treat the idea that confrontations between weaker powers and... [Read More]

Mark Sanford, it turns out, did not get his hiking boots dusty along the Appalachian Trail – as his staff had been telling the media while he was AWOL. He was doing the dirty down in South America. Hiking? Yes, hiking a skirt. The Republicans and their ‘family values’ have... [Read More]

(photo by me) Here's a review of Anacaona at The Art of Jazz festival from Joyce at Live Music Report. On the first night (pictured above) Anacaona did a really slick show in front of a room full of jazz...... [Read More]

Flocons and I disagree frequently about union tactics, but he's absolutely right: at a time when -- to pick only the most obvious example -- Iranian protesters can't even get a fair election, it's a privilege to be squabbling over a garbage or liquor store strike[1].To dissent slightly in a way... [Read More]

"OTTAWA — The Treasury Board says that the cost of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan for the next two years will be $1.35 billion higher than projected a year ago by the Defence Department. [...] The Defence Department, citing national security provisions, censored an Access to Information... [Read More]

Harper is dangerous to the Canadian left because he gets this dynamic (even if it's different in Canada), and has been far more successful at locking up the nutters:The country is getting increasingly less white — and that might be the biggest problem facing the GOP right now. Ronald Reagan could... [Read More]

Chrysotile asbestos is an extremely dangerous toxic substance that has been linked with a variety of respiratory illnesses, cancers, and other diseases. Although the use of asbestos is heavily-regulated in Canada, we remain the only industrial country in the world that continues to export... [Read More]

You know, it makes me happy to know that whatever else I might do in life, somewhere in hell Richard Nixon is gonna be bothered by any kids I have.Seriously, dude had issues. Interracial kids should be aborted?... [Read More]

Via Phil Peters, some bad news about Cuba's economy The message of a Juventud Rebelde article, recounting interviews with officials and university economists, is that things remain tough: the Cuban diet will be affected, there is less liquidity, investment plans...... [Read More]

It looks like Chet basically called it right on the strike, but one of the things I'm surprised about is the particular gripe that I'm not seeing: you'll recall that during the last TTC strike it was alleged that the TTC was causing a threat to public health by impeding the flow of nurses from... [Read More]

Nope, that data ain't coming back.Balls.... [Read More]

As about a million others have pointed out, the ongoing events in Iran present some very delicate problems for U.S. policy, and for the means and nature of any future diplomatic engagment with Tehran. Before the upheavals of the past few weeks, those (myself included) who pressed for diplomatic... [Read More]

An article arrived in my “in” box today which underlined for me one of the persistent difficulties in living with mental illness – stigma. Stigma interests me a great deal, living as I am with HIV/AIDS, too. I almost feel defensive in talking about my bipolar II condition,... [Read More]

On the face of it, striking during a recession would seem to be pretty daft.... [Read More]

"The Saskatchewan Party government isn't waiting for the outcome of public consultations on the future of the uranium industry to pitch the province as a potential place to build a nuclear research reactor that could produce medical isotopes."Regina Leader-PostPremier Brad Wall's government simply... [Read More]

Alex from Maracatu Nunca Antes and Sergio from Dos Mundos are presenting this very cool Brazilian artist Curumin next month at the El Mocombo. If you are like me and just getting familiar with the latest trends in Brazilian music,...... [Read More]

It used to be called la Fête de Saint Jean-Baptiste, back when the people of Québec were much more loyal to the Roman Catholic Church, John the Baptist being the province’s patron saint. As a youngster, I’d guess six years old or less, I remember seeing a lot of nuns around... [Read More]

Samuel had an accident in his kichen, but all is ok and it shouldn't affect their Montreal play on July 12th. Right? UPDATE: All the overnight chatter and bla bla indicates that the Montreal concert is intact and that we...... [Read More]

Let’s admit it – there is almost no reliable news as to what is actually happening in Iran. The pictures from the last couple of days don’t show the mass demonstrations of the first few days following the presidential elections. It seems that the number of protesters dropped from hundreds of... [Read More]

Here's a nice video profile that The Toronto Star did with Pabloski Rosales. Pabloski is known for his tres playing - but is also a wicked electric guitar playar in the soul/funk style of an Earth Wind and Fire. (Good...... [Read More]

Rockeros, góticos, emos, reguetoneros....young people in La Habana hanging out on Calle G... [Read More]

Do you pay taxes to the Government of Canada? If so, you are paying for the war in Afghanistan. As a taxpayer living in a democracy, you are entitled to demand information and accountability from your elected government concerning the expenditures of the nation.Stephen Harper and his Conservative... [Read More]

Matt Yglesias posted some interesting ruminations last week on the legacy of U.S. foreign policy between the wars. Anyone familiar with the founding fathers of Modern Realism, people like E.H. Carr, Hans Morgenthau and George Kennan, or even with the general popular-historical consensus on... [Read More]

The latest addition to the Toronto Cuban music scene, (at least for the summer) is mega guitarist Elmer Ferrer, seen here in a photo from Yasmina at last Fridays KingBombo Habana show at Lula. Timberos would know Elmer from his...... [Read More]

So the reason my blogging has been so paltry as of late is that I'm working on a large article as my final assignment for my Master's degree, which has to date involved at least 5 hours of interviews with some pretty interesting people. Last night I was consolidating the files scattered across... [Read More]

This is just a quick note to bloggers and Twitterers who have been following the latest #IranElection developments. Google's translation engine is now supporting English-Persian machine translation on an alpha basis. Like all machine translations, it is far from perfect. However, this will help... [Read More]

In his speech at the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner, John Hodgman discusses the epic battle between jocks and nerds, arguing that the election of Barack Obama represents a turning point in that struggle.

... [Read More]

The following statement was made in the House of Commons on Friday by NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Paul Dewar:

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Mr. Speaker, New Democrats are extremely concerned about the situation in Iran.

Protestors are being crushed, the means of communications among... [Read More]

Download (MP3)

Today's podcast features two interviews. First, part 1 of 2 with Jason MacLean on corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Jason MacLean on Corporate Social Responsibility

Jason MacLean is an Associate in the Litigation Group at the Toronto office of Osler, Hoskin... [Read More]

A large crowd turned out to witness Nova Soctia's new leader, Premier Darrell Dexter, take the Oath of Office with his small 12 member cabinet.Meet 'Team Dexter' - Halifax Chronicle-HeraldVideo courtesy T. Kinch ....... [Read More]

"The inquiry into the RCMP's fatal confrontation with Robert Dziekanski was put on hold today until September after a potentially explosive e-mail exchange between RCMP brass surfaced just as closing submissions were about to begin.Inquiry Commissioner Thomas Braidwood says he's “appalled” that... [Read More]

Back in October, I made 10 predictions about the 2008 federal election and the Parliament to follow it. Eight months later, it is time to look back on how I fared in my predictions. With several predictions still to be determined, I am reasonably satisfied with the accuracy of my... [Read More]

The Saskatchewan Party government is trying to make changes to the province's labour legislation and is required to bring their changes before a legislative committee that holds public meetings. Bill 80, The Construction Industry Labour Relations Amendment Act 2009, would allow major changes to... [Read More]