Born to Kill!

Worth a read.

Right wing blog takes on Beck and other strange individuals

An interesting development in the neighbourhood.

Sirota on the racism of the fringe right

“We’re living in a world where the behavior of right-wing lynch mobs clearly is far less about ideology, and far more about partisanship and racial hate. As I said on CNN, we know this because for all the talk of concern about the Constitution and the growth of government, the tea party protesters were nowhere to be found when George W. Bush trampled the Constitution and grew the government. That double standard exposes the truly dark forces driving this right-wing anger — and those on the right who refuse to acknowledge it proves the old adage that there are none so blind as those who will not see.” – LINK

Still, there’s hope! I figure that corporations wouldn’t want to change a tune that a majority of Americans are adhering to, in this case Beck’s hateful dribble. Obviously, they are not.

Update: Jimmy Carter speaks out on this issue

“Strategic ethnocentrism”

by Stephen M. Walt

I was aware of [the war in Central Africa], of course, but as I read French’s essay, I realized that I knew very little about its origins, evolution, or the prospects for ending it. I’m a full-time professional in the field of international relations and security studies, and I teach an undergraduate course on “the origins of modern wars” here at Harvard. I go to seminars on various international relations topics almost every week. And yet I knew next-to-nothing about the greatest international bloodletting of my lifetime. Readers of this blog know that I’m usually wary about outsiders meddling in situations they don’t understand and that don’t involve vital interests, but that’s no excuse for being ignorant about a cataclysm of this magnitude. – MORE

In control? Think again.

From Madeleine Bunting:

Do you think your mind is capable of independent judgment and largely directs the course of your life? Do you think that most of your decisions in life have been the product of your rational, conscious self? Do you believe you are in control of your life? Do you cherish ideas such as self-expression, a sense of autonomy and a distinct, self-authored identity? The chances are that, albeit with a few qualifications, most of your answers are yes. Indeed, given a pervasive culture which reinforces all these ideas, it would be a bit odd if you didn’t.

But the point about this new explosion of interest in research into our brains is that it exposes as illusions much of these guiding principles of what it is to be a mature adult. They are a profound misunderstanding of how we think, and how our brains work. They are fairytales, about as fanciful and as implausible as goblins.

This is such dramatic stuff that Matthew Taylor at the Royal Society of Arts, which has pioneered public engagement with this new research, argues that we are on the verge of a new Enlightenment. He argues that the 18th-century concept of the individual self has run its course and that a new paradigm of human nature is emerging. Given that assumptions of an autonomous individual underpin every aspect of how we order society and our political economy, educate and tackle social issues, this kind of Big Idea tends to make you feel a tad dizzy. LINK [via Media Lens]

La bataille des plaines d’Abraham

“Deux siècles et demi après la bataille des plaines d’Abraham, les historiens ne s’entendent toujours pas sur l’importance de cette défaite historique.” – Christian Rioux

#ottawaspends on Twitter

It’s interesting! Read about it here.

“The character of Obama”

“His pragmatism is what is overwhelming him.”

“The quiet unravelling of Canadian democracy”

“Canada today is not Africa then or now. Our wealth and health, and our communal respect for legal, civil and human rights position this favoured country on a higher plane. Still, 10 years of close observation and some 1,500 Star columns lead to an unsettling conclusion: Africa, despite popular perception, despite the Somalias and Zimbabwes, is moving in one direction, Canada in another. Read the headlines, examine the evidence, plot the trend line dots and find that as Africans – from turnaround Ghana to impoverished Malawi – struggle to strengthen their democracies, Canadians are letting theirs slip.” James Travers – via Truth to Power

What does it mean to be a revolutionary today?