Huddled cats.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Communist Era Authoritarianism Never Really Left Illiberal States of Eastern Europe
It wasn’t that long ago – December, 1991 – when the Soviet Union collapsed and, with it, the Warsaw Pact that once anchored the Soviets’ hold over Eastern Europe. One by one the Eastern European countries broke with Moscow, most of them beating feet for the warm embrace of the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Tim Flannery Admits Failure – Why That Should Bother You When Next You Vote
Cassandra. That’s the mantle to be worn by anyone who regularly circulates the latest information from climate science. Chronicling a planetary-scale, slow-motion train wreck is not a cheerful pursuit. It makes for grim reading and it is getting demonstrably worse year upon year. That said, I got a real body
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Will Maxime Bernier’s Debate Dates Help Finish Off The Cons?
Well it's definitely not as good as the original Wizard of Oz. How could it be with Maxime Bernier playing the scarecrow?And screaming all day long about how he wants a brain AND a debate.But it does have a happy ending, sort of…Read more »
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Climate in Crisis
If you really want a detailed assessment of anything, print is always your best source. For example, today’s Star details the horrendous changes taking place in the Arctic thanks to the record-breaking temperatures occurring there. If, however, you want a quick overview of what is happening in the North, take
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Andrew Scheer’s Ugly Toilet Bowl Moment
I have to admit I'm stunned. I honestly thought that Andrew Scheer had hit rock bottom when he refused to apologize for comparing LGBT Canadians to dogs.And exposed his naked homophobia. But I was wrong. Somehow Scheer managed to sink even lower into the steaming bowl of excrement.And now he's accusing
Continue readingMagpie Brûlé: Failures at Launch
We are onto Day 7 of the 43rd General Election and the parties are all spread out around the country trying to win over peoples votes. A big piece of that attempt is a party’s platform, which not only tells people what they are hoping to do if they get
Continue readingThings Are Good: Butterflies are Back Thanks to Small Gardens
If you planted native species in your garden then you deserve a pat on the shoulder. Your efforts have helped the butterflies return from dangerously low population levels. In Toronto we’ve seen the mass return of butterflies and it’s thanks to efforts by people and educational groups ensuring that pollinators
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Locked And Loaded
Donald Trump says his country is “locked and loaded” for a confrontation with Iran. Before he wanders into the desert again, Andrew Bacevich writes that Trump would do well to remember how the United States got entangled in Iran: In 1987, an Iraqi warplane attacked an American Navy frigate, the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ann Pettifor discusses how a Green New Deal will pay for itself while making use of readily available sources of financing. And Clive Thompson points out the positive social impacts of Dunkirk’s decision to offer free transit. – Meanwhile, Emily Holden reviews
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It’s Tory Tax Tuck Time.
We hardly got through the first week of the federal election before the conservatives brought out their usual election chestnut. It is time to promise lower taxes. It would hardly be a Canadian election without it. And, as usual, this bribe will not even pay for your drive-though Tim’s on
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: In other news, Liberals have stopped linking Andrew Scheer to Faith Goldy
What a tangled web we weave. https://t.co/JspEEdXnMq #cdnpoli #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/IBGANwveUp — Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) September 17, 2019
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Deep Sea – Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Deep sea mystery with sciency bits. 🙂
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is This Why Washington is Fingering Iran for Saudi Oil Depot Attack?
This is the “Beast of Kandahar.” It is Lockheed Martin’s super stealth RQ-170 drone. It was ‘top secret’ until it wasn’t. In 2011, the CIA had one operating over Iran but, it seems, the Iranians were ready with a trap. As the story goes the Iranians jammed the 170’s communications
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s fuming response to Amnesty International was not the adversaries’ first go-round
Returned to power after four years, Alberta’s Conservative party is governing pretty much as you’d expect from a government that, as Talleyrand supposedly said of the restored House of Bourbon, has learned nothing and forgotten nothing. Consider the matter of the controversial letter from the head of Amnesty International Canada
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Government inaction on anti-Palestinian charity reflects Canada’s racist power structure
Supporters of the Stop the JNF Campaign protest the 2016 national conference of the Jewish National Fund in New York City. Photo by Joe Catron. We are beginning to hear more about the varieties of racism that plague our country. However, there is a near virtual absence of any recognition
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Depression for the Masses – Everybody Gets Some.
The rise of authoritarian autocrats is giving people the downers. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) tracks hundreds of attributes of democracy for 202 countries, spanning more than two centuries. Its 2019 report found that “24 countries are now severely affected by what is established as a ‘third wave of autocratization,’” an
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Science Under Attack
There are those who want to derail action on climate change. They include powerful corporations and individuals with ‘fossil fortunes’ at stake. Now, as pressure for concrete action begins to mount, they’re fighting back. It should come as no surprise they’re weaponizing social media. Scientists, activists and politicians who are
Continue readingNotes on Democracy: My Relulctant Strategic Vote
Here’s an irony. I’m forced to vote Liberal (again) because Justin Trudeau betrayed me. No, it doesn’t make any sense and, furthermore, it pisses me off. But that’s just the way it is. In his 2015 campaign, Justin promised that that election would be the last under the grievously undemocratic
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