Marc | July 28, 2011
The recent attacks in Norway by Anders Breivik have some interesting features that are starting to come to light. Scott Stewart, of STRATFOR, just posted an analysis that is worth reprinting. I have a few observations after the article. ”Norway: Lessons from a Successful Lone Wolf Attacker is republished with permission of STRATFOR.”
Category: Mythology & Narratives, Radicalization |
No Comments »
Tags:
Marc | May 25, 2011
It’s been a while since I last posted. In part, that’s because I have been busy and, honestly, also because I haven’t had any fully formed thoughts that I thought worth posting . That said, I just got back from New York on tour with the OBC and our Carnegie Hall debut. It was certainly [...]
Category: Music, Uncategorized |
No Comments »
Tags:
Marc | June 1, 2010
In my last post, I talked about critical thinking and noted that one of the problems I have been seeing recently lies in the communicative nature of thinking / research. I wanted to expand on this idea a bit, and look at some of the issues surround what, for want of a better term, we [...]
Category: Communications Theory, Epistemology, Uncategorized |
4 Comments »
Tags: Critical Social Thought, Critical Thinking
Marc | May 28, 2010
I just finished attending the IAFIE conference here in Ottawa, and a lot of the discussion was on the subject of “critical thinking”. Based solely on the presentations there, it became rapidly apparent that the problems many of the presenters were having with critical thinking were the exact opposite of the problems my students have [...]
Category: Communications Theory, Epistemology, Teaching |
12 Comments »
Tags: Critical Thinking, Epistemology, IAFIE, Rhetoric
Marc | May 21, 2010
At ~ 3:30 am (May 18th), the RBC branch at Bank and First in Ottawa was firebombed and, later that day, a group calling itself FFFC Ottawa posted a video of the attack and claimed responsibility. The chief of Ottawa Police Services, Vern White, told CBC that he is “extremely confident” that they will shortly [...]
Category: Social Theatre |
No Comments »
Tags: Domestic Terrirism, Ottawa, RBC
Marc | April 22, 2010
According to a recent press release, the Canadian Minister for Public Safety will be re-introducing the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act that died when the government was prorogued last December. According to the minister, “This government is responding to calls from victims who seek justice, and demonstrating leadership in the global fight against terrorism,” [...]
Category: Politics, Social Theatre |
1 Comment »
Tags: Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act
Marc | April 14, 2010
Well, once again one of the primary characteristics of fanatical fundamentalists, in the pejorative sense, has shown up. CBC announced that several of the radical Islamist groups in Somalia have banned music from being played on the radio stations there on the grounds that it is “un-Islamic”. As the story noted: Hosts at Mogadishu’s 14 [...]
Category: Music |
No Comments »
Tags: Music, Somalia
Marc | March 19, 2010
I am continually amazed at how “muddy” at lot of thinking is these days, and how this is reflected in a lot of the writing that I now read. I find myself yearning for the “Good Old Days”, which existed only in myth, where people would hold sensible conversations in their writing. Maybe I’m just [...]
Category: Epistemology, Presentation & Performance |
12 Comments »
Tags:
Marc | March 2, 2010
My friend Jim Cassidy just sent me a link to this presentation. Totally cool, and a fantastic way to show the power of music.
Category: Music |
1 Comment »
Tags: Bobby McFerrin
Marc | February 1, 2010
A week ago, I posted about the medium is the message vs. massage and used a couple of YouTube Videos from the Ottawa Back Choir as example. On Saturday, I was over for dinner at an old friend’s house and he showed me one of his favourite YouTube recording artists: Pamplamoose Music. As he showed [...]
Category: COIN, Communications Theory, Evolutionary Theory, Presentation & Performance |
No Comments »
Tags: adaptation, Canadian Communications Tradition, New Media