by Phil Taylor the Taylor Report for CIUT
You may have known that Albert Einstein was a committed socialist activist. Thanks to author Fred Jerome, however, we also have an account of his views on Israel. Now, Jerome comments on the release of the Einstein archives. Letters stretching from the 1920s into the 1950s expand our understanding of Einstein's engagement with the question of Israel.
Abusers expect victims will not be believed.
by Jody Dallaire, Dieppe Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity between Women and Men
Male on male sexual abuse has been in the news lately, with Graham James' sentence, the moving Cap Pelé acknowledgment of sexual abuse done to many men there when they were children, and the compensation paid to childhood victims of clergy in the Diocese of Bathurst. Notably, some of the men who had been abused came out publicly, giving their names and rejecting the shame that is supposed to be associated with sexual abuse victims.
The communities involved (and the media) have been wonderfully supportive of the victims, who spoke out as grown men. This respectful approach helps more than those men and their families. The change in attitudes and reactions helps all victims of sexual assault when they ask for help.
Harper, McGuinty, working overtime to manage political expectations.
by Geoffrey Stevens
Politics and professional sports have several things in common, including the need to manage expectations.
Sports franchises build a fan base and box-office success by dangling a dream of victory — a winning record, a berth in playoffs, even a championship. The dream keeps fans coming back, renewing season tickets at ungodly prices, filling arenas and inflating television ratings.
Of course, the team has to deliver on the dream, occasionally, to keep the fan base warm. New York Yankees are particularly adept at this. Even in their down years, the Yanks manage to make their fans believe victory is within reach.
by David Suzuki
with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Editorial and Communications Specialist Ian Hanington
Is the world getting nuttier? Looking at recent events in North America, it's hard not to conclude that humanity is taking a crazy step backwards. I recall a time when science and scientists were taken seriously — but lately they've been getting knocked around, especially in the US and Canada.
The State of Tennessee, for example, passed a law that allows teachers who don't believe in evolution or human-caused climate change to challenge existing scientific theories. Yes, students should be encouraged to think critically and to question everything they are taught but, given the current political climate in the US, this is likely to lead to misinformation. In an infamous 1920s case, a Tennessee school teacher was tried, convicted, and fined for teaching evolution.
by Richard Wagamese
Some nights there are stirs of echoes in the dark. It's an age thing, I think. Nights when sleep eludes you are the times when things past seem to take on lives of their own and present themselves to you as clear as yesterday. Sleepless. Reflecting. Longing sometimes. Moments when you maybe didn't hold on strong enough or long enough and the spirit of them and the people in them return fully formed, making you understand the nature of regret.
I wonder if everyone gets that. I wonder if it's a part of the human condition to have to exist on the edges of your memory sometimes and replay scenes from your life just to see how much you can actually recall. I know it's not just a First Nations thing. I believe that when you've lived here long enough, your past informs you as much as your present. If as, the Zen people say, the map is not the territory, then revisiting individual landscapes have much to offer us.
by Phil Taylor the Taylor Report for CIUT
George Clooney wants intervention in Sudan. The Taylor Report interviews David Hoile from the European Sudanese Public Affairs Committee. "People who have been around the block a few times have very little patience for people like George Clooney," suggests Hoile, who delves into the contradictions of Hollywood liberal interventionists, and describes the Sudan border conflict.
by Jody Dallaire, Dieppe Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunity between Women and Men
Maclean's magazine has an annual survey called "Canada's most dangerous cities." Once you start something like that, the news that Canada is basically a safe place really won't play. If crime rates actually decline — as they have been — well, then I guess that you just make the best of it by reporting the worst cases.
What I want to raise today — apart from the irrelevance of that once-great magazine — is Maclean's recent report that, according to official statistics, Saint John is the city with the highest rate of reported sexual assaults in Canada. Again.
Fredericton was not far behind, with the third highest rate of sexual assaults reported in Canada. Caledon, Ontario had the lowest rate of reported sexual assaults. (Sexual assault numbers include male, female, child and adult victims).
by Geoffrey Stevens
Ever since their breakthrough election of May 2, 2011, several huge questions have hung over the New Democratic Party.
Did that election — 103 seats, 59 of them in Quebec — signal a tectonic shift in national politics? Or was it an aberration, a fling, the political equivalent of a one-night stand?
Could the NDP consolidate its position as the official opposition? Or would it lose its momentum and slip back into its accustomed (and comfortable) third-place position?
by David Suzuki
More than anything else, coal fueled the Industrial Revolution. It was, and still is, plentiful and cheap. It's also always been relatively easy to get at, especially if you don't mind sending kids into mines, endangering the lives of miners, or blasting the tops off mountains.
Coal is an 18th century fuel source, but we're still relying on it for much of our energy needs in the 21st century. Because it's so abundant and inexpensive, there's been little incentive to switch to cleaner but often more expensive sources.
by Richard Wagamese
We've lived in our mountain home full time for about five years now. After a lifetime in the city, we've had to learn how to live as rural people. It's been interesting, aggravating and hilarious all at the same time. We came here knowing absolutely nothing and had to learn from scratch. I've lost a few thumbnails, a lot of hair and the odd ounce of blood learning to maintain a rural home. There's a lot of wild stories to be shared with friends about it all.
