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Category Archives: Culture
I Don’t Need to Change, I Need to Change the World Around Me
Although modern urban societies promote tolerance for the most part, there is a vocal minority who insist that they are entitled to more tolerance than others. Those of us who have read George Orwell’s Animal Farm recognize this logic. We … Continue reading
Throw Your Vote Away: The Simpsons on Electioneering
One of the most poignant statements about our political system in the west was the election speeches of Kang and Kodos as Bob Dole and Bill Clinton running for president in a Simpsons episode from twenty years ago. When Homer … Continue reading
Textual Reality and the Phenomenological World
Although my friend’s daughter asked me one time if the story I had just told her was a “true story,” most people acknowledge—however reluctantly in the case of Harry Potter fans—that the characters in the stories they read are fictional. … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Literary Theory, Literature, Media, Writing
Tagged Harry Potter, Helen of Troy, Hogwarts, Hunger Games, Linda Hutcheon, Marshall McLuhan, Phenomenology, Racist Jesus, reality, The Appearance of Solidity, twilight, Wolfgang Iser, writerly text
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Cultural Inertia: the QWERTY Keyboard and the Standard Railway Gauge
Two human traits stifle technological innovation. One of them is our innate suspicion of change, and we can see how that would have worked to our advantage historically, and the other is the slightly more complicated cultural and by times … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Culture, Development, Solar Power
Tagged B. F. Skinner, Dvorak, PLOVER, QWERTY, stenotype, Susan B. Anthony, voyageur dollar, Walden Two
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Keller and Rosa Parks: Case Studies in Historical Oversight
The story of both Parks and Helen Keller have been so heavily overwritten by the public imagination that they are almost invisible in a narrative ostensibly about them. This line drawing of their lives looms much larger than the more … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, Culture, History
Tagged activism, Civil Rights, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks
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Becoming a Non-Vegetarian
A friend I’ve known for a number of years has recently decided to foreswear their vegetarianism, which I would have thought was rather deep-seated, and begin eating animals again. This is common enough that it is not really worthy of … Continue reading
Posted in Activism, Culture
Tagged animal rights, animal welfare, eating meat, ethics, vegan, Vegetarian
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Pit Bull Defenses
One of the most polarized issues between pet owners, other than dogs are better than cats and whether you should keep mammal eating snakes around children, is the positive evaluation of pit bulls by dog lovers. Like all emotional arguments, … Continue reading
A Shared Politics of Fear and Hate
Although Canadians have little actual stake in the American election, there is much shared sentiment on both sides of the border. Following the lead of the American media, many Canadians declare themselves to be supporters of one candidate or another, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Internet, News of the World, Politics, Social Media
Tagged A Short History of Indians in Canada, anti-immigrant, conspiracy, desegregation, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jim Crow, media, racism, Survivor, Thomas King
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To Build a Fire
In the public imagination, the skill of building a fire lies somewhere between the virtuosity of some online people (We can think of the man from the Primitive Technology channel) with their bow and drill, Jack London’s famous story (“To … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Literature
Tagged building a fire, fire, Jack London, Prometheus, Survivor show, use of tinder
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Living in Cities and Hiding in a Box
Increasingly we gather in cities. All around the globe the movement is toward the urban areas, and here in the west, just outside the principal urban areas, into the suburbs. The glitz and excitement of the city is not experienced … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Development, Internet, Social Media, Winnipeg
Tagged cities, urban landscape, Winnipeg
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