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By laura k, on June 9, 2013, at 4:00 pm The Casual Vacancy, J. K. Rowling’s first non- Harry Potter book, received almost universally poor reviews, ranging from tepid to savage. Reviewers found the book too long for the subject matter, too slow, poorly paced. They thought the plot was a soap opera. They found the writing cliched, studied, heavy-handed. In a book full of characters, they found few noteworthy. As one reviewer put it: “Unfortunately, the real-life world she has limned in these pages is so willfully banal, so depressingly clichéd that “The Casual Vacancy” is not only disappointing — it’s dull.”
I disagree.
Backlash? Impossibly (Read more…)
By laura k, on April 26, 2013, at 5:00 pm This is the first in a series of reviews of youth (formerly called YA, or young-adult) novels, which I will be reading in no particular order and with no particular method. I love youth literature, and it’s simply a pleasure to read what I want once again, with no schoolwork hanging over my head. As with all my “what i’m reading” posts, if it seems that I like everything I read, it’s because I only write about books I enjoyed.
I finally read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I’ve been intensely curious about this book since it was released (Read more…)
By laura k, on April 5, 2013, at 12:00 pm My friend Impudent Strumpet writes a series of posts that dispute the oft-repeated notion “money can’t buy happiness”. (Here’s an example.) I find this idea very thought-provoking. I’ve definitely subscribed to the idea that money doesn’t equal happiness – that making the acquisition of riches a primary life goal does not lead to a happy life. Imp Strump’s posts led me to think more clearly about this axiom and see what kinds of truths it might or might not hold.
If money doesn’t buy happiness, try living without any
For people who live in poverty, money undoubtedly could
. . . → Read More: wmtc: can money buy happiness? yes. no. sometimes. maybe.
By laura k, on April 1, 2013, at 7:00 am It’s Opening Day!
It’s always a long, cold winter for a baseball-only fan, but winters for Red Sox fans have been especially long and cold lately. When was the last time we saw a meaningful game? (Don’t answer that.) I lost interest ’round about July last season, unusual for me, but there’s something about losing every night that doesn’t inspire me to plan my life around the team’s schedule.
But that’s all behind us now. Spring is here, and with it, a fresh start, new hope, and who knows, maybe a half-decent, rebuilding kind of season for the Sox.
. . . → Read More: wmtc: what could baseball, sexual abuse, and pitbulls possibly have in common?
By laura k, on March 5, 2013, at 11:00 pm Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, July 28, 1954 – March 5, 2013.From Derrick O’Keefe at Rabble: Hugo Chavez has died — undefeated.
Yes, undefeated. Chavez, no matter how many times the corporate media and the cheerleaders of the status quo call him a dictator, was elected repeatedly with overwhelming majorities.
No matter how many times this slur is moronically or mendaciously repeated, people know the truth. No less than Jimmy Carter certified Venezuela’s elections as amongst the most fair and transparent his organization has ever observed. And the voter turnouts that elected Chavez were usually far, far higher than those
. . . → Read More: wmtc: hugo chavez 1954-2013
By laura k, on January 30, 2013, at 11:00 am An enormous number of library-related stories cross my path, either through school or this blog. A few have stayed on my mind and seem worth fleshing out.
A San Antonio, Texas public library will become the first in the US (and possibly in the world) to go completely bookless – that is, its collection will have no paper books, only digital books.
Much has been written about the pros and cons of digital books, and without recapping all that here, I think it’s important to realize that there are both positives and negatives. The digital book, like all technology, is
. . . → Read More: wmtc: three library issues, part 1: the all-digital library
By laura k, on January 21, 2013, at 9:00 am Right now there are no American women who were of reproductive age prior to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Yet reproductive rights in the US have never been more threatened. 2011 marked the passage of the most state-level restrictive abortion laws ever. 2012 saw the second-highest.
More than half of all US women of reproductive age (15–44) now live in a state that is hostile to abortion rights. Ten years ago, it was fewer than one-third.
The Guttmacher Institute has produced a series of infographics to illustrate the state of reproductive rights in the
. . . → Read More: wmtc: 40 years old and already irrelevant: happy birthday roe v wade
By laura k, on January 17, 2013, at 8:00 am “There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear…”
This week, I attended a talk put on by the International Socialists, featuring an organizer with OUR Walmart, by Skype from Texas, and a Toronto-based union activist. Both speakers were terrific and so inspiring, but although I took copious notes, I’m not posting a summary of the talk.
It was similar to the talk I blogged about here - from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity - and an extension to an article I wrote recently: workers doing it for themselves: fighting
. . . → Read More: wmtc: are we seeing the beginning of global people’s revolution?
By laura k, on January 14, 2013, at 8:40 am I’m re-running this, which I wrote for Socialist Worker Canada (now at a temporary site while a new website is being completed). If you are part of this struggle – or if you want to be part of it – and live in the GTA, please join us tomorrow night for Fighting Austerity in North America: Walmart Workers to Bill 115. Details below.
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Workers Doing It For Themselves: Food service workers in New York and Chicago unite to improve working conditions
One of the most exciting developments currently unfolding among the working class in North America
. . . → Read More: wmtc: workers doing it for themselves: fighting the austerity agenda in north america
By laura k, on January 14, 2013, at 8:30 am I was very pleased to see this run in the New York Times. I guess it was safe because the writer didn’t actually use the word socialism. But this Op-Ed is all about the dead-end of capitalism, choking the life out of the working person, and more recently, the middle class. …we struggle with our personal finances not because we spend too much money on small luxuries but because salaries have stagnated at the same time as the costs of nonluxuries have gone up.
Even as the average household net worth plunged by almost 40 percent between 2007 and 2010,
. . . → Read More: wmtc: why you cannot save your way to a comfortable retirement
By laura k, on December 30, 2012, at 8:00 am At last, this is the fourth post of the talks I attended in November and December. Allan and I organized this in Mississauga, through the Mississauga “twig” of the IS. The talk was given by our friend and comrade John Bell.
The other recent talks: noah richler, u.s. war resisters, and the militarization of canadian culture, from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity, and talking radical: a history of canada through the eyes of activists.
Allan is guest-posting this one.
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This past year, Conservative MP Paul Calandra hosted a
. . . → Read More: wmtc: a people’s history of the war of 1812
By laura k, on December 14, 2012, at 2:00 pm A friend sent me a link to this blog, written by a man from the UK, a Socialist Workers Party activist, now retired and living on the Greek island of Samos. It’s a picture from of life under extreme austerity – how people are suffering, but also how they are coming together.
It’s very scary. People are living under the harshest of conditions. Too often, the response is scapegoating and violence. Attacks on undocumented immigrants, Roma, and others read like European history repeating itself in the worst possible ways.
Yet this blog also highlights the seeds of hope. Grassroots initiatives
. . . → Read More: wmtc: unrelenting austerity and the promise of self-reliance: a blog from greece
By laura k, on December 11, 2012, at 11:30 am Of all the reasons for hope that we’ve seen in recent times – Wisconsin, the Occupy Movement, the Quebec students’ actions, the Chicago teachers’ strike – this trend gives me the most joy and the most hope. Here are three stories of non-unionized workers organizing themselves to change conditions in their own workplaces.
In September, New York City restaurant workers walked off the job and won a historic victory against their oppressive and vindictive employer. The restaurant workers who were fired and locked out of their store for organizing a union have won after a week of escalating protests outside
. . . → Read More: wmtc: more signs of life in the labour movement: non-union workers rising
By laura k, on December 11, 2012, at 10:30 am Working my way backwards, this the second of four talks I attended that I’ll be reporting on.
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In November, I heard Nikos Loudos of the Socialist Workers Party in Greece (by Skype) and Canadian activist and organizer Carolyn Egan speak about the recent general strike in Europe, and the fight against austerity at home and abroad.
It was after 1:00 a.m. in Greece, but Nikos was full of energy. He reminded us, “I cannot complain, there are people who have bigger problems”. In Brussels, the Eurogroup was staying up all night discussing “the Greek
. . . → Read More: wmtc: from greece to chicago to toronto, workers fighting back against austerity
By laura k, on December 3, 2012, at 9:00 am There are always at least two sides to every story. Long ago, in the American West, some pioneers and cowboys were killed by “Indians”. More recently, Iraqi “insurgents” have killed US soldiers. When I was growing up, Vietnamese “guerillas” – I believe… . . . → Read More: wmtc: greenwald on "both sides are wrong", hedges on the world as gaza
By laura k, on August 18, 2012, at 8:00 am When did “entitled” become a dirty word? Why do we hear “entitled” being used as catch-all slur, a derogatory description to be thrown at progressive people working for change? And why should we permit this word to retain such a heavily negative connotation?
Here are some people I have seen called entitled in this negative sense by bloggers and commenters. Brigette DePape. Occupy protesters. Refugee claimants. Quebec student protesters. People opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Voters who believe they were defrauded by the Conservative Party of Canada.
Here is a synonym for entitled: deserve.
Here is another synonym
. . . → Read More: wmtc: why is "entitled" a dirty word? some thoughts on what we are all entitled to.
By laura k, on July 21, 2012, at 8:00 am Revolutionary thought of the day: Initially, the Mincome program was conceived as a labour market experiment. The government wanted to know what would happen if everybody in town received a guaranteed income, and specifically, they wanted to know whether people would still work.
It turns out they did.
Only two segments of Dauphin’s labour force worked less as a result of Mincome – new mothers and teenagers. Mothers with newborns stopped working because they wanted to stay at home longer with their babies. And teenagers worked less because they weren’t under as much pressure to support their families.
The end
. . . → Read More: wmtc: rtod: a town without poverty. it happened in canada.
By laura k, on May 17, 2012, at 7:30 pm All eyes will be on Chicago this weekend, as thousands of protesters from all over North American converge on the the NATO summit. The symbolism could not be more trenchant, as Chicago was the scene of protests and rebellion against an earlier US war, and famously out-of-control police violence.
Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and other veterans’ and peace groups will march under the banner of Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda, co-sponsored by a long list of peace and social justice organizations, including ADAPT, a radical
. . . → Read More: wmtc: the whole world is watching: veterans to return medals in nato/poverty protests this weekend
By laura k, on May 14, 2012, at 8:00 am Conventional wisdom has it that healthy foods cost more than junk food, that buying and preparing nutritious food is more expensive than eating processed food. How many people bemoan the supposed fact that low-income people cannot afford to eat healthfully: “When carrots are less expensive than chips, then everyone will have access to a healthy diet.”
There’s only one problem with that. It’s wrong. Carrots are less expensive than chips. Brown rice and lentils is way cheaper than McDonald’s. I’m not talking about the difference between organic and conventionally grown produce, just the difference between processed foods or fast-food
. . . → Read More: wmtc: healthy eating costs more. fact or fiction?
By laura k, on May 12, 2012, at 10:30 am Bravo to the hundreds of Canadian family doctors who protested the dismantling of the refugee health care system! There was a demonstration in Ottawa, occupations of MP’s offices in Winnipeg and Toronto, and press conferences in other cities. “I just cannot understand how my government can take the most vulnerable of people and decide it’s appropriate to make them more vulnerable,” said Dr. Paul Caulford, a Scarborough, Ont., family physician, who has worked with immigrants and refugees for decades.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney claims that refugee claimants have better health care than other Canadians – a lie – and
. . . → Read More: wmtc: canadian doctors protest cuts to refugee health care
By laura k, on May 9, 2012, at 8:00 am This is the last installment of my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here.
This post is less complete than the preceding Marxism 2011 posts. They are Allan’s notes from the sessions I chaired, and two sessions he attended without me. Apparently Allan is not the note-taker I am!
But I’ve learned that you never know who is reading or who is Googling, and what they might need. In that spirit, here are three short takes on three more talks from Marxism 2011. That leaves only one talk – labour lessons from the resistance of
. . . → Read More: wmtc: marxism 2011 program notes: racism, economic recovery (not), canada’s vietnam
By laura k, on May 6, 2012, at 4:30 pm These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here.
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I was especially interested in this talk, as for much of my life I would have considered myself a reformist in the Keynes mode. I slowly learned that reform can never work, and now seek to know more about alternatives. Hence my exploration of socialism.
The following are the notes given to me by Octavian, who gave the talk, plus my own editing.
Keynes vs. Marx: Can capitalism be reformed?Octavian CadabeschiMay 28, 2011
John Maynard Keynes [pronounced "Canes"] was
. . . → Read More: wmtc: marxism 2011 program notes: keynes vs. marx: can capitalism be reformed?
By laura k, on May 5, 2012, at 8:30 pm These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here.
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This was just weeks after the 2011 election, and is very interesting to think about at the one-year mark of Harper’s majority. Given what we know now – Jack Layton’s death, the NDP’s election of a centrist leader, the continued revelations of Conservative election fraud, the extreme ideology of the Harper government – what would we add to this today?
Prospects for the Left under a Harper MajorityPanel Discussion, May 28, 2011
Monique Moisan, Quebec Solidaire
The election results from
. . . → Read More: wmtc: marxism 2011 program notes: prospects for the left under a harper majority
By laura k, on May 5, 2012, at 7:00 pm These are my notes from the 2011 Marxism conference in Toronto. The series starts here.
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These notes are sketchier and rougher than the previous posts, as the talk was very informal.
What Would a Socialist Society Look Like?Kim KerridgeMay 28, 2011
This question is both broad and deep. The International Socialists take a global view of life – all life is interrelated – so revolution must be achieved globally to happen at all.
Capitalism is the rush for profit above all else. It leads to much of world starving or having barely enough to
. . . → Read More: wmtc: marxism 2011 program notes: what would a socialist society look like?
By laura k, on April 23, 2012, at 10:00 pm As I read news stories, read blogs, skim headlines, one question keeps coming to my mind, over and over. What are people supposed to do?
Income insecurity
Wages have been slashed or have been stagnant for years. Corporations continue to eliminate jobs, forcing the survivors to work much harder for the same (or lower) salaries, while the unlucky into a job market that is more like an empty larder.
Jobs that were once full-time and included benefits have been transformed into part-time jobs or contract work, with lower pay, no benefits and no security.
Good jobs are scarce and getting
. . . → Read More: wmtc: what are people supposed to do? or, why we need socialism
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