Down the hall in the English Department, we have an otherwise highly respected colleague who believes, and I quote, that “Any criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitism.” I take this to mean that if the Israelis decided to… Read More ›
Month: September 2019
BLACKFACE
Should there be a statute of limitations? For some crimes, yes, for others no, and we can argue about which is which. But should there be a statute of limitations on purely moral accountability for saying and doing stupid things?… Read More ›
GENDER IDENTITY – WHO GETS TO SAY?
Unless you’re some kind of natural law theorist – in which case there’s no talking to you – let it be granted that all rights are contingent on the material conditions recommending them to us. And at that, they’re negotiated…. Read More ›
THE ADVANTAGES OF PRETENDING-TO-BELIEVE OVER BELIEVING
I find it amazing how many people in western Libya, who supported Gaddafi when it looked like he was going to able to hold Tripoli, will have having not supported him when it became clear that he wasn’t. (I also… Read More ›
IN DEFENSE OF BERNARD VALCOURT
At the risk of sounding racist … oh what the hell, I can just play my J-card – ex-Tory MP Bernard Valcourt was dead right to object to the MMIWG enquiry calling the murder of indigenous women “the Canadian genocide”…. Read More ›
TRAVIS PATRON AND BERNIE FARBER
The application of Travis Patron’s newly minted Canadian National Party for tax-deductibility status, and the opposition to that status from Bernie Farber’s Canadian Anti-Hate Network, is the perfect test-case for just how far the rest of us are prepared to… Read More ›
IN DEFENSE OF BESTIALITY
The internet is a treasure-trove of “Look for one thing, find another!”, often giving rise to “Who knew there even was such a thing?” Case in point, the other day I stumbled across a slough of articles in defense of… Read More ›
SHOOTING ITSELF IN THE FOOT
The #MeToo movement may be having its intended – and perfectly laudable – effect of discouraging some bad male behaviour. But it may also be having a less-than-laudatory autonomous effect, that of cutting women off from perfectly innocent and otherwise… Read More ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 