An interesting article in an Al Jazeera blog poses the question, Who is Obama really running against? The answer isn’t Mitt Romney. It’s Obama himself, or at least the 2008 version. The author suggests that the 2012 Obama, revealed after four years in office, is so different—as in disappointing—from the
Continue readingAuthor: Bill Longstaff
News flash—U.S. corn growers oppose subsidy
American farm policy has been described as “a bi-partisan pork-barrel boondoggle.” Critics claim that massive subsidies reward mainly corporate farms (through 1995 to 2010, the top 10 per cent of farmers collected 74 per cent of all subsidies) while undermining farmers in the Third World. For example, NAFTA allowed cheap,
Continue readingCarleton makes amends … sort of
Carleton University has finally attempted to atone for accepting what was little better than a bribe and then trying to cover it up. In 2010, the university made a secret deal with Calgary businessman Clayton Riddell which, in return for a $15-million donation for a graduate program in political management,
Continue readingMorsi’s brave initiative
Egypt and Iran have barely been on speaking terms for some time. An Egyptian leader hasn’t visited Tehran since the Islamic revolution in 1979. But new president Mohamed Morsi intends to change that. This week he is attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit hosted by Iran. Apparently, Morsi’s visit will be
Continue readingMuslim clerics rally to protect Christian girl
Pakistan is so saturated with Muslim fanaticism that hearing about a host of clerics joining hands with leaders of other faiths to strike a blow for justice is refreshing indeed. News from Pakistan is replete with stories of religious barbarism, including the appalling law that provides the death penalty for
Continue readingWhat would Huck Finn have said?
My favourite book in childhood, and I was an avid reader, was Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Rafting down the mighty Mississippi from adventure to adventure was as romantic a vision as a boy could have. Sadly, it appears that old Miss isn’t so mighty these days. Due to
Continue readingDying for your country in anonymity
According to Wikipedia, 158 Canadian Forces personnel have been killed in the Afghan war since 2002. Their ultimate sacrifice has been widely recognized, honoured and commemorated—individually and collectively—and will continue to be, at least every November 11th, for generations. I thought about this while reading about how the Alberta government
Continue readingIs our federal government anti-worker?
Among other unwarranted assaults, the 2012 federal budget took a shot at working people. It introduced rules which will require most EI claimants to accept jobs at much lower wages and will allow employers of temporary foreign workers to pay less than the prevailing Canadian wage. The budget followed a
Continue readingFunny picture of the day—Julian Assange’s personal patrol
Below is a Sang Tan/Associated Press photo of policemen hanging out at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The occasion is Julian Assange’s presence within. As the whole world knows, Ecuador has granted Assange political asylum from the pursuit of British and Swedish authorities. But look at the cops! I count
Continue readingEurope’s shrinking economy—bad news or good?
Once again the news of a shrinking economy leaves me with mixed feelings. According to the CBC, the economy of the European Union shrank by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 after a flat first quarter. Surely this is bad news. The EU is heavily in debt
Continue readingGood news on climate change … I think
A new survey indicates that Canadians are increasingly acknowledging the reality of climate change while recognizing that we are the culprit. An Insightrix Research, Inc. poll reported that 98 per cent of us believe climate change is occurring with 86 per cent believing that human activity is at least partly
Continue readingAre the feds backing off Northern Gateway?
The federal government has, up until very recently, been a major cheerleader for the Northern Gateway pipeline project. After all, the pipeline is intended to carry Mr. Harper’s favourite energy source—Alberta bitumen—to offshore markets. The government has proclaimed the economic benefits of the pipeline, castigated its critics as foreign-funded radicals
Continue readingMexicans solving U.S. immigraton dilemma
Mexican immigration has been a hot political issue in the U.S. for some time resulting in, among other unpleasant phenomena, Arizona’s controversial Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act which was fought all the way up to the Supreme Court with mixed success. Now it seems the immigrants are
Continue readingFrance embraces Robin Hood tax
On August 1st, France introduced its long-promised Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). Popularly referred to as a Robin Hood Tax, or Tobin Tax, the 0.2 per cent levy will apply to sales of publicly traded shares, including credit default swaps, of businesses with a market value of over €1-billion. Ten other
Continue readingDrought, ethanol and the looming food crisis
That the drought in the U.S. will cause a rise in food prices is hardly news. However, scientists at the New England Complex Systems Institute are warning that the potential for a price spike has already been created by “misguided food-to-ethanol conversion programs and rampant commodity speculation.” The drought will
Continue readingUnintended consequences—Bangladesh suffers from Iran sanctions
The Bangladeshis are entirely innocent of any real or imagined transgressions on the part of Iran, yet they are being punished nonetheless. Their sin is a heavy reliance on the jute crop. Jute is a major industry in Bangladesh, worth a billion dollars in exports, mainly to Iran. Forty million
Continue readingIs Omar Khadr an untermensch?
I have thought long and hard on why so many Canadians hold such a callous attitude toward Omar Khadr. Here is a young man who has spent his whole life as a pawn of others. Indoctrinated in an extremist philosophy throughout his childhood; sent to serve jihadists in Afghanistan when
Continue readingThe Tea Party outperforms the Occupy Movement
The financial and economic collapse of 2008 in the United States precipitated two “revolutionary” movements: one on the right, the Tea Party, and one on the left, the Occupy Movement. If we now ask what each has accomplished, the answers are straightforward: the Tea Party a great deal, the Occupy
Continue readingThe revolution and the reality—why Egypt elected Islamists
No small amount of surprise was generated by the recent elections in Egypt when Islamist parties swept the parliamentary elections and the Muslim Brotherhood candidate won the presidential election. Coming after a revolution conducted by progressive elements, convincing victories for Islamists was unexpected. But it shouldn’t have been. The revolutionaries
Continue readingThe amusing story of JPMorgan Chase
Reading about the latest foibles of JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, one cannot help but chuckle. CEO Jamie Dimon initially reported a trading blunder had cost the bank a mere $2-billion and dismissed concerns as a “tempest in a teapot.” He now admits the tempest may
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