Against
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Welcome to my Blog
Against the Flow is a new blog that will deal with serious and difficult topics, and occasionally with softer subjects too. It will side with politics that strives to do the right thing, as opposed to favouring quick and easy answers. Rather than practising mere public relations, it will encourage journalism that seeks the truth and explores what is really going on in the community. It will praise political leaders who take responsibility for their words, actions and mistakes. It will show respect for First Nations peoples for their great strengths and for the many injustices they are overcoming. It will salute those who recognize that our planet is both burning up and drowning due to climate change and undertake to fight on behalf of Planet Earth.
I understand that nothing in public happenings, or in life, is all black or white. There are also many shades of grey. As I emphasize in my book, Wires Crossed, politics is the art of the possible. While striving to uphold their principles, successful politicians in a democracy learn to balance what they want to do with what the public wants and will support. I do, indeed, favour idealism over cynicism, and respect those with the courage to aim for the ideal even while knowing that perfect solutions are not possible.
Against the Flow will wrestle with difficult subjects such as: upholding and celebrating the free press while revenue sources are dwindling; arguing that addiction, homelessness, and mental illness are complex problems, and a variety of social tools and services will be needed to address them. Forced rehabilitation or compulsory treatment are not the answer. Sports betting feeds one type of addiction, especially for our youth. It threatens to diminish sport and recreation as key aspects of our quality of life. Touching on most other issues, climate change is of vital concern. The fires and floods of the past few months have shown that every political party in Canada, at both the federal and provincial levels, must bring forward a comprehensive strategy and action plan to combat this challenge.
Beyond the serious and difficult topics, Against the Flow will also deal from time to time with the softer side—including what is good, funny, and sweet in life. Afterall, everything does not always turn out as we had hoped. We cannot press a button and reach exactly where we want to go. Song writer William Prince captures this well with the words of one of his songs: “The truth about love it don’t come all at once, it gets easier and harder all the time. If you don’t give up when push comes to shove, it gets easier and harder all the time.”
This blog will draw on the various stages of my varied career, my challenges, inspirations, failures, and occasional successes. Throughout, I will argue that it is fun, healthy, and rewarding to paddle against the current.
Add tech details on how to get on the site etc.
I understand that nothing in public happenings, or in life, is all black or white. There are also many shades of grey. As I emphasize in my book, Wires Crossed, politics is the art of the possible. While striving to uphold their principles, successful politicians in a democracy learn to balance what they want to do with what the public wants and will support. I do, indeed, favour idealism over cynicism, and respect those with the courage to aim for the ideal even while knowing that perfect solutions are not possible.
Against the Flow will wrestle with difficult subjects such as: upholding and celebrating the free press while revenue sources are dwindling; arguing that addiction, homelessness, and mental illness are complex problems, and a variety of social tools and services will be needed to address them. Forced rehabilitation or compulsory treatment are not the answer. Sports betting feeds one type of addiction, especially for our youth. It threatens to diminish sport and recreation as key aspects of our quality of life. Touching on most other issues, climate change is of vital concern. The fires and floods of the past few months have shown that every political party in Canada, at both the federal and provincial levels, must bring forward a comprehensive strategy and action plan to combat this challenge.
Beyond the serious and difficult topics, Against the Flow will also deal from time to time with the softer side—including what is good, funny, and sweet in life. Afterall, everything does not always turn out as we had hoped. We cannot press a button and reach exactly where we want to go. Song writer William Prince captures this well with the words of one of his songs: “The truth about love it don’t come all at once, it gets easier and harder all the time. If you don’t give up when push comes to shove, it gets easier and harder all the time.”
This blog will draw on the various stages of my varied career, my challenges, inspirations, failures, and occasional successes. Throughout, I will argue that it is fun, healthy, and rewarding to paddle against the current.
Add tech details on how to get on the site etc.
Wires Crossed examines a continuing role for a federal government in adopting new ways of supporting this key part of our provincial life, without getting involved in press content.
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Wires Crossed...is a balanced examination of a controversial symbiosis — corporate power and media control, an issue with resonance across Canada now, as newspaper ownership is increasingly concentrated in a few large corporations. Julian Walker draws on a career as journalist, political insider, senior bureaucrat and academic for this vivid account of what can happen in society when a single corporate player acquires a dominant position in public life by owning and controlling the voice of the community. -Linden MacIntyre, long-time journalist, CBC’s Fifth Estate,best-selling novelist
...Part personal memoir, part political and journalistic history, always entertaining and insightful, it is first and foremost a love story for the fourth estate and a rallying cry to preserve its integrity across this country and beyond. -Mary McKenna, PhD, Assistant Dean, University of New Brunswick
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