Justin Trudeau’s admission that he had smoked the occasional joint had the Conservatives at their huffing and puffing best this week. His “actions speak for themselves” offered the Prime Minister while Justice Minister Peter MacKay accused Mr. Trudeau of setting “a poor example for all Canadians, particularly young ones” and
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
The U.S. war against democracy in the Middle East
The CIA’s recent public admission that it masterminded the 1953 military coup against Iran’s democratically elected government reminded me once again of the fickle U.S. support for democracy in the Middle East. American involvement was well-known—books have been written about it—but the publishing of previously classified documents by the U.S.
Continue readingIs flood amnesia setting in?
Immediately after the big water in June, two truisms were out and about in Calgary. One stated the flood had been so catastrophic that finally Albertans would take significant measures to mitigate damage from future floods. The other said that it wouldn’t be long before the disaster was put out
Continue readingUndoing democracy democratically
As the Egyptian military brutally dismantles democracy in their country, other losses of democracy tend to pale in comparison. Yet when they involve people electing to disband their own democracy, they are nonetheless disheartening. At least to a democrat such as myself. Thus I felt no little disappointment when I
Continue readingA mustache to die for
The things that worry religious fundamentalists never fail to amaze and amuse me. For example, Muslim fundamentalists have threatened to kill Malik Afridi because of his mustache. Admittedly, Mr. Afridi’s version of the handlebar is rather extravagant, but considering that the fundamentalists are big on facial hair themselves, you might
Continue readingI have met the enemy and they ain’t all capitalists
I am no fan of capitalism. An economic system based on greed and founded in patriarchal values is flawed at its roots. But the tendency of so many on the left to blame all our problems on capitalists is simplistic, unfair and false. It is scapegoating. Despite the system, like
Continue readingREAL Women’s real bigotry
John Baird – doing the right thing Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has done a commendable job of defending gay rights everywhere from Uganda to Russia. Not everyone agrees, however, with his initiatives. REAL Women of Canada, a group that describes itself as a “pro-family conservative women’s movement,” has roundly
Continue readingStephen Harper’s private army
It is known as the Canadian Special Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM. It commands a secret army, comprised of four units: the Joint Task Force-2 (JTF2), the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR), the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit—Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CJIRU-CBRN), and the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron (427
Continue readingThe need for a global no-growth agreement
Trade agreements are all the rage among nations these days. And that might not be a bad thing if they were principally about trade rather than about empowering corporations at the expense of workers and governments. In any case, what the world really needs is not global trade agreements but
Continue reading400 ppm
Of all the events that occurred during my blogging hiatus, the one that struck me as the most significant, even including the massive flooding of my hometown, was the Earth experiencing for the first time in millions of years an atmosphere containing 400 ppm carbon dioxide, as measured at the
Continue readingI participate in an historic event
For my first posting in seven months, I can hardly do better than comment on my participation in a truly historic event. I not only observed but became a fully-fledged, if highly reluctant, participant. The event I refer to is the greatest flood in Alberta’s history, perhaps in Canada’s history,
Continue readingHiatus for health reasons
For those of my readers who have wondered why I haven’t posted since early December, let me assure you I haven’t greatly extended my holiday season nor have I run out of opinions (God forbid!). I had extensive eye surgery in late December and my ophthalmologist has severely restricted my
Continue readingWorld losing confidence in Obama
Most of the world breathed easier when Barack Obama was re-elected, but it would seem more a sigh of relief than enthusiasm for the man everyone fell in love with four years ago. Confidence in the president on a variety of issues has declined precipitously since 2009. For example, according
Continue readingStarbucks sticks it to the Brits
I always look forward to reading yet another story about how multinational corporations slither out of their tax responsibilities and was, therefore, duly amused by a piece I encountered in Al Jazeera about the world’s favourite coffee shop. It appears Starbucks, while selling £643-million worth of goods in the U.K.
Continue readingThe free trade bust
Judging by the editorial hype in the corporate press and among Conservative politicians, the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was the greatest boon to this country since the fur trade. When the agreement celebrated its 25th anniversary in October, International Trade Minister Ed Fast claimed opponents of such agreements are “denying
Continue readingCanada’s shameful vote against Palestinian statehood
Yesterday marked a shameful moment in the history of this country’s foreign policy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestine as an observer state … and Canada voted no. Our vote puts the lie to our claim that we believe in a two-state solution, or
Continue readingWildrose has this one right
To say I rarely agree with the Wildrose Party would be an understatement. Yet they have recently stated a policy which I heartily support and have heartily supported for a long time. Party leader Danielle Smith reported this week that her party wants Alberta’s election financing laws to ban donations
Continue readingCanadian democracy—always good for a laugh
Headline: Conservative Joan Crockatt wins Calgary Centre by-election with 37 per cent of the vote. So … I will now have an MP most of my fellow constituents don’t want in a government that most Canadians don’t want. Ah, Canadian democracy, you’ve got to love it.
Continue readingHere’s a headline I’d rather not see
Checking The Guardian on my morning round of news websites, I encountered the following headline: “Canada, the surprise “pariah” of the Kyoto protocol.” The subhead went on to add, “Some Canadians doubt whether their country should have any say in negotiating the second Kyoto protocol after it became the only
Continue readingSun suckers the rest of the media … again
As the NDP rapidly and somewhat surprisingly closed in on the Conservatives during the last federal election campaign, Sun Media dug deep into Jack Layton’s past to find something to smear him with and then flaunted it just days before the election. The rest of the media instinctively jumped on
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