Lawrence Martin on the Shortcomings of the Press

Lawrence martin, in a piece called Has the fourth estate lost its tenacity? wonders whether it is the failure to offer much followup on stories of abuse of authority, dirty tactics, etc. that might explain why none of the wrongdoing on the part of the Harper Conservatives seemed to have any effect on their electoral fortunes. Well worth a look.

Harper Collins and E-book Ripoffs

While I have not yet succumbed to the allure of the e-book, I was shocked to learn that the publisher Harper-Collins has decreed that libraries can only lend out their books 26 times before having to once more pay full rights to the company. A small Alberta library has decided to stand up to this unfair and exploitive pricing practice by boycotting e-books from that publisher. One can only hope that libraries across the country find the backbone to take the same measure.

You can read the full details in David Climenhaga's article at rabble.ca.

American Sweatshops

Since I started subscribing to the Toronto Star, one of the big difference I've noticed from the Globe's business section is its emphasis on the human, as opposed to the corporate dimensions of companies. Today is a good example as David Olive looks at how the U.S. is becoming a sweatshop country being exploited by European companies who treat their American employees quite differently than the workers in their own countries.

Stephen Harper, John Steward, and Asbestos

An online article in today's Globe and Mail, written by Gerald Caplan, explores how the Harper government's retrograde policies have made Canada something of an international pariah. Especially interesting is how the export of asbestos was recently skewered on The Daily Show.

Guerrilla Tactics, Civil Disobedience, And The Census

Given the ideological reasons behind the Harper government's decision to eliminate mandatory completion of the long-form census, all rational objections to the move having been summarily and imperiously dismissed, many Canadians regard the 2011 Census with suspicion and disdain. It has been argued, for example, that the changes will conceal many of the negative facts of Canadian life, such as poverty rates. Consequently, concerned citizens are seeking ways to register their objections and undermine what they see as a move by the Harperites to use the resulting flawed data to eliminate or underfund programs that are vital to segments of the population.

Catherine Porter, writing in today's Star, offers some interesting strategies some are advocating to thwart this agenda, ranging from turning in indecipherable forms to outright refusal to complete them.

And They Did This BEFORE They Got Their Majority

Probably to the surprise of few who have tracked their anti-democratic and anti-transparency propensities, last month the Harper regime terminated The Coordination of Access to Information Requests System, or CAIRS, an electronic list of nearly every access to information request filed to federal departments and agencies.

Frequently used as an investigative tool by journalists to keep the government more open, its demise will undoubtedly further the agenda of Harper and his minions.

Maude Barlow on the Election

While I have been having a bit of a difficult time recovering from the double blows of the Harper majority and the apparent apathy of 40% of my fellow Canadians in their failure to vote in last Monday's election, I took some comfort in reading Maude Barlow's thoughts in a piece posted on rabble.ca.

Check it out if you need some reasons not to abandon all hope.