One of the best articles I have read about the Hamas-Israel war is The New York Times “There Is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive” by Peter Beinart. Beinart is a Jewish-American professor of journalism and political science at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
Views from the Beltline: Jewish wisdom; Gentile folly
Reading The New York Times, as I do every morning (the world’s best newspaper), I have encountered a number of articles on the current hostilities in Palestine. I couldn’t help but notice that the articles with the most rational, most compassionate, and wisest analyses were written by Jews. This might
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Limits of the free market
Whenever I do those quizzes that purport to reveal where you fit on the political/philosophical spectrum, they insist I’m a social democrat. This rather surprises me because I tend to think of myself as more of a liberal. Whatever. I am a strong supporter of the free market. In fact,
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: A woman’s world
Some years ago I wrote a book based on the theme that women are better designed for the modern world than men. (Visit this page for a free copy.) Men were well-suited for the hunter-gatherer societies we evolved into, but then civilization appeared and we have come a long way
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Terrorism—weapon of the weak?
Hamas’s invasion of Israel has once again brought attention to the Palestine problem. The routine of Israel oppressing the Palestinians while simultaneously stealing their land has once again been interrupted by outright war. For over 75 years our government, parroting the United States, declares that a Palestinian state can only
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Why are we less polarized than the U.S.?
Witnessing the current state of affairs in our great neighbour to the south, the word polarization leaps to the tongue. In a previous post I suggested what we call polarization is really the right-wing of the conservative movement running off the rails into extremism. The current behaviour of the Republicans
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The West takes on an orange hue
With the big victory for the NDP in the Manitoba election on Tuesday, the western provinces are now bookended by social democratic governments. In between are two conservative governments but even here the NDP form the opposition. I think it would be fair to say The Orange are now the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Precariat jobs could be good jobs
What is a good job? In most people’s minds I assume that would be something that pays well and provides good benefits, steady employment and satisfying work. In the post-war period that described manufacturing jobs. They weren’t good because of the benevolence of the free market. Quite the contrary. They
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Trump simply never grew up
There seems to be no limit to the incendiary statements ex-US President Donald Tump is capable of. Earlier this week he made an egregious attack on General Mark Milley, recently retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accusing him of treason and saying he should be executed. Trump is
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: India—too big to hold accountable?
The world isn’t a fair place. The rule of law doesn’t apply globally. Might is often right. This reality overarches Canada’s accusation that the Indian government orchestrated the murder/assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar as he left his temple in Surrey. If the evidence is there, then PM Trudeau
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: What polarization?
Do conservatives like democracy? That may seem like an unfair question. And for many conservatives it may be. Bur it seems there are many who don’t, and they are very much in the news these days. As the premier example, I offer those American Republicans that have rejected the 2024
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Big state takes on big oil—a lesson for Alberta?
Someone reading this blog might get the impression I take pleasure in hearing about environmental lawsuits against oil companies and their friends. They would be right. I do. And so I enjoyed hearing about perhaps the most prominent climate lawsuit in the U.S. California, the most populous state in the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Calgary gets serious about housing
Somewhat surprisingly, we have an issue which all three major parties have agreed on. A housing crisis. There is even agreement on how to deal with it. Both the governing Liberals and the opposition Conservatives agree that cities must loosen zoning regulations and open up more opportunities for row housing,
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Do kids have to sue for a sustainable future?
Much publicity was generated recently by a court case in Montana (Held v. State of Montana). A nonprofit called Our Children’s Trust, acting on behalf of 16 young Montanans, sued the state claiming young people have a constitutional right to a healthful environment and the state must consider potential climate
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Talking to China
Winston Churchill is credited with saying “It’s better to jaw-jaw than war-war.” It is very much better indeed when two protagonists are armed with nuclear weapons, say like the U.S. and China. It was refreshing therefore to hear that the two great powers are going to do a lot more
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Sortition—assembling citizens
A recent essay in The New York Times prompts me once again to write about a favourite topic of mine, namely citizens’ assemblies. The essay, by Adam Grant, was entitled “The Worst People Run for Office. It’s Time for a Better Way.” Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: An American hero
The U.S. has come a long way. Any doubt about that was erased last Monday. On that day, a Southern black woman announced that she would hold a former president accountable for his actions. Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani T. Willis announced that a grand jury had indicted former
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Oil industry disappoints (but doesn’t surprise)
Once upon a time I toiled in the oil patch and it was good to me. I worked for Shell Canada and the royal pectin paid well, provided excellent benefits and training, and offered ample opportunities for advancement. I made lifelong friends and was proud to be helping folks heat
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The planet is literally in hot water
According to the dictionary, getting yourself in hot water means getting yourself into trouble for which you risk punishment. Well, we are heating up the water that covers most of our planet and we will most certainly be punished. I refer of course to the oceans. Our heating of the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta pauses the future
Alberta is Canada’s leader in renewables projects and investments. Of the new solar and wind generation capacity added in Canada in 2022, 75 percent was in this province. This, it seems, is too much too fast for the provincial government. The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) has paused approvals of new
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