Canada’s next great leader will not be a doer. Our next great leader, if we are lucky enough to have one, will be an undoer – a leader who will systematically cut out the rot that has beset this country slowly for decades and then very quickly, very powerfully over
Continue readingAuthor: The Mound of Sound
The Disaffected Lib: Will Quebec Fire a Rocket Up Harper’s Fundamentalist Ass?
All eyes should be on Quebec’s National Assembly where the government is expected to table its bill on medically-assisted death. The debate, said to be fierce, shows how emotionally-charged and religiously-loaded the subject is. To some it’s murder by physician. To the other side it’s death with dignity or terminal
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Will the F-35 Be Obsolete Before It Reaches Canadian Hangars?
Here’s a question no one has yet asked. What is the F-35’s anti-stealth capability? Way back when America’s stealth fighter, the F-22, and its poor cousin, America’s stealth light bomber, the F-35, were conceived it was envisioned they would be operating against non-stealthy aerial opponents. One side had stealth, the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Are We Heading for Despotism?
The first thing that someone stealing your privacy will tell you is “don’t worry.” That’s the standard line after they have been exposed stealing your privacy. That, in turn, is reinforced with suggestions that you don’t matter to them anyway, you’re insignificant and that they have netted so much data
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is Pam Wallin the Ultimate Tory Piggy at the Trough?
Pam Wallin is, by most standards, flush. In addition to the hefty pension benefits she likely racked up from her broadcasting days, she has plenty of other revenue streams – atop her tidy Senate stipend. Pamela Wallin has a lucrative life outside politics, where she has been entitled to roughly
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: An Obituary for the Left
CounterPunch recently carried a lament for The Silent Death of the American Left. It offers useful insights for the gristled remnant of Canada’s once proud political Left that has now fallen happy victim to the black hole of political compression, the flaccid centrism that afflicts us today. The question stands
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: China Stakes Its Claim to the Arctic
It’s our fault if we don’t listen for China has been loud and clear that it considers it is entitled to a powerful, potentially military presence in the Arctic and a stake in Arctic ocean resources. To date, China’s economic ambitions in the Arctic have been largely thwarted by Arctic
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Chomsky on Our Appetite for Self-Destruction
Has civilization finally reached our Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde moment? Noam Chomsky maintains mankind has fallen into two camps and Dr. Jekyll’s side is winning. For the first time in the history of the human species, we have clearly developed the capacity to destroy ourselves. That’s been true since 1945. It’s
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: They Really Are Frankenfish
It’s only a question of when, not if, genetically modified Atlantic salmon, popularly known as “Frankenfish” escape into the wild. Oh it will be some horrible mistake to be sure. No one, we’ll be told, could have foreseen what happened. Yeah, right. Canadian scientists decided to run a little experiment
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Just the Sight of Joe Oliver Makes Me Want to Punch Him in the Mouth
Not that I would, mind you. I do not resort to violence – ever. That said, I sure would like to give Joe Oliver a knuckle sandwich in his greasy cakehole. Joe’s a business guy – well, a business guy and a damned lair – no, that’s redundant – a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Oh Yes, Another Scandal, Another Line Crossed
This time it’s Elmer MacKay’s dull boy, DefMin Peter, himself no stranger to clumsy scandal. It seems enough Harper slime has rubbed off on the defence minister that he’s been using the military’s National Investigation Service to “investigate journalists who wrote or broadcast embarrassing information about MacKay and the Canadian
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Some Times the Words Just Aren’t There
I think I’ll take a break for a few days. I spent too much time this morning trying to find a clever way to frame that first sentence but the words just weren’t there. Time to take a breather, to take stock. The events of the past few weeks; the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Batshit Crazy Loses a Champion
We’ll miss her when she’s gone. The Queen of Batshit Crazy has announced she won’t seek re-election.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Science of Climate Change Denialism
Denialism as a science? It could be a social science, the science of manipulating public consciousness to produce a predictable effect, the divergence of public opinion from fact. What is denialism but a carefully researched, very refined and focused form of propaganda? The Pentagon’s DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Those On the Run Rarely Help Their Pursuers
When you’re being hunted down, chances are you’re not going to help your pursuers. Canada’s chief electoral officer complains that Conservative Party workers have “failed to co-operate” with an investigation into the fraudulent robocalls scandal. That has led Marc Mayrand to appear before a House of Commons committee to yet
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Pig With Lipstick is Still a Pig, Not a Greyhound.
Stephen Harper is still intent on saddling the RCAF with the F-35 light attack bomber. The so-called “reset button” that his government supposedly pushed to launch a full-blown fighter competition is being dismissed by some of Lockheed’s competitors as a farce. Here’s the thing. There won’t be a valid competition
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A War Without Name Is A War Without Meaning – Bacevich
Retired U.S. Army colonel turned professor, Andrew Bacevich, says, when it comes to warfare, “a rose by any other name” just doesn’t cut it. Bacevich tries on several names for the war of the past decade, looking for a proper fit. Here are his options – The Long War; The
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why Not Buy the Chinese Version Just Like Wal-Mart Does?
A confidential Pentagon report leaked to the Washington Post accuses hackers of stealing the designs of many of America’s most advanced weapons systems. Experts warn that the electronic intrusions gave China access to advanced technology that could accelerate the development of its weapons systems and weaken the U.S. military advantage
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper Pal Busted in Panama
Arthur Porter has been nabbed by authorities in Panama. The Montreal hospital administrator has been on the run for some time. Three years ago Porter was appointed by Stephen Harper to serve as chairman of SIRC, the watchdog panel overseeing CSIS, Canada’s spy agency. Porter was subsequently accused to taking
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Ford Scandal on Crack
Gawker has published an account that supposedly links the controversial video said to show Toronto mayor Rob Ford with drug dealers smoking crack with the murder of an individual who may have been killed over it. Gawker claims a Ford City Hall staffer passed along to detectives the street and
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