It seems that there isn’t the support there once was for a ban on pit bull-type dogs in Quebec’s National Assembly. Continue reading
Here in Montréal, we’re only a few weeks out from our municipal elections. This time around, Anne-France has decided to throw her support behind local councillor Valérie Plante of the Projet Montréal party to next lead the city.
She said she might be more conservative than Plante, but coming together behind the best candidate was what’s best for the people of Montréal.
“They would like to know that people of different political stripes can get together and set aside these political allegiances for the sake of making this city the best city in North America,” Anne-France said at a press conference announcing her support for Projet Montréal. Continue reading
It’s back to school time once again. So, as your summer winds down and your kids are getting ready to head back to the classroom, why not give another listen to The Goldwaters special episode on parenting?
In it, Anne-France Goldwater and her daughter, Dr. Samantha Goldwater-Adler, sat down to talk about some of the challenges they’ve faced as parents, and share some of the secrets they’ve found to raising happy, healthy kids. Continue reading
Last week an engineer at Google sent a memo around the company decrying the tech giant’s diversity initiatives. This week, James Damore was fired over the document.
The memo was titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber” and posted to an internal company message board. In it, Damore argues that women make up a lower percentage of employees at Google mainly because of their biology, not discrimination.
Damore’s memo specifically criticizes the company for its ongoing diversity and inclusion initiatives, which include encouraging its employees to take classes in unconscious bias. He uses primarily stereotyped misconceptions about men and women to argue that “gender gaps do not always imply sexism,” and declares that “discriminating just to increase the representation of women in tech” is “misguided and biased” as well as “unfair, divisive, and bad for business.”
It’s raising questions inside outside the company whether or not Google is violating Damore’s free-speech rights by letting him go over his views.
It’s a thorny question, and part of a broader discussion in society on what, where, and how people can express themselves. In an earlier episode of The Goldwaters, the family discussed free speech and its place in today’s society.
In the episode, Anne-France Goldwater, Daniel Goldwater, and Samantha Goldwater-Adler really dig into free speech and whether we’re too quick to clamp down on ideas some label offensive.
You can listen here on Soundcloud:
And don’t forget, you can subscribe to new episodes of the podcast with iTunes, and RSS for when the family returns from a summer break next month.
PHOTO CREDIT: Niharb/Flickr
Masculinity, and what it means, continues to be a central theme in modern politics.
In the U.S., President Donald Trump seemed to have based some of his campaign on a series of masculine dominance rituals, insulting and belittling his opponents to claim the Republican crown. But Trump’s treatment of women has again and again grabbed headlines south of the border. Continue reading
It started last year with a simple question from a journalist: Would you run for mayor?
She’s not there yet, but she’s getting close to a decision. Anne-France Goldwater has taken a short break from the podcast and other media to reflect on whether she wants to take on this city’s issues hands-on. Continue reading
It’s one of the difficult questions for parents today: is social media something they should avoid?
With the proliferation of fake news and the seeming increase of vitriol online, the jungle of social media can seem like something you might want to stay away from. But a new survey done for Today’s Parent suggests it may not be all bad out there for parents. Continue reading
The nature of spirituality is a curious thing, especially in the natural world. It’s thought that we humans might have developed our religious sensibilities through an evolutionary process.
It’s a tricky thing to prove, however. One of the ways to find that proof might be to see it in a lesser evolved species, like chimpanzees. Which is why when a research paper landed last year stating different groups of chimps throughout West Africa were regularly throwing rocks at a tree for reasons unknown, and leaving the stones piled at the tree’s base, there might be a deeper meaning to it. Continue reading
You may have noticed a shift recently away from the use of “marijuana” in the news and on our podcast. More and more, you’ll find yourself hearing “cannabis” instead. And there’s good reason for that.
The term “marijuana” is a word loaded with all kinds of negative connotations, the Goldwaters’ recent guest Adam Greenblatt said on The Goldwaters podcast. Greenblatt, the Head of Quebec Engagement at Tweed Inc., explained to the family the negative connotations that come along with the word. Continue reading
There’s no question that dogs known as “pitbulls” have a bad reputation. Unfairly targeted as dangerous in some parts of Canada, they suffer from an image problem.
That is changing, however, with cities like Vancouver and Edmonton repealing “anti-pitbull” legislation. Continue reading
