It seems there’s nothing that Enbridge and its government underlings won’t do or say to mislead the public into believing that shipping bitumen via tankers through B.C.’s treacherous coastal waters is actually safe. One of their favourite lies is to claim that the product they’ll be shipping, diluted bitumen or
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The Disaffected Lib: Ready for This? Black P.R.
It’s all the rage among China’s powerful political class, Black PR. With the ongoing crackdown on political corruption in the People’s Republic, dodgy Chinese pols are becoming worried about what’s available about them online. And, in an internet savvy country like China, there’s always a solution – for a price.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: There’s Only One Way for the Ford Bros. to Fight Back
With everything that has come at them from the Toronto Star and the Globe & Mail, bare denials won’t begin to clear the cloud that hangs over the heads of Toronto mayor Rob Ford and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford. They’ll have to look to a court of law to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Scandals of Steve Harper – An Album
One of the first things Stephen Harper did upon becoming prime minister was to redecorate the foyer of the House of Commons, replacing portraits of former Canadian prime ministers with photos of himself. Maybe it’s time to refresh that gallery. Here are a few shots to update Steve’s portfolio: Harper
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Future is Staring Us in the Face. We Must Stop Looking Away.
As a civilization we’re having enormous difficulty coming to grips with climate change in its full dimension and all of its aspects. Part of that is because, while it truly is a global problem, its impacts are not globally uniform and the impetus to deal with it even less so.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Time to Rein In the Prime Minister’s Office
If Stephen Harper wants to operate a quasi-criminal enterprise on the public dime then he has to take full responsibility for it. The Prime Minister’s Office is his and his alone. He decides who works there and he decides what they do or don’t do. It is funded from the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Of 9-Billion, More than Half will Endure Water Shortage
It’s not a big problem, yet, in Canada and most of us wouldn’t know there’s a problem at all. But much of our world, including the United States, is already experiencing serious freshwater challenges. Global warming plays a huge role in the worsening freshwater crisis. A warmer atmosphere holds more
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Not Just a Symbolic Victory, Judge Slams Thug Conservatives for Robo-Calls.
Maude Barlow puts the robo-call decision in perspective. Just hours ago the long-awaited Federal Court ruling on election fraud was released…In a clear and bold statement, Judge Richard Mosley wrote: “I find that electoral fraud occurred during the 41st General Election.” While his ruling stopped short of annulling election results,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: IMF Calls on Cameron Tories to Change Course
Britain’s Conservative Cameron government are the High Priests of bone-crushing austerity. David Cameron and his gaggle of privileged Saville Row suiters are not interested in sparing the lash when it comes to Britain’s weak and vulnerable. Meanwhile, Steve Harper looks on with fawning admiration at everything he wishes he could
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Did Somebody Mention Bruce Carson?
Oh yes, I did. I mentioned Bruce Carson simply to reinforce the point that the beating heart of corruption within the Harper government is, in fact, the Prime Minister’s Office, the PMO. The denizens of the PMO aren’t all outstanding, accomplished A-List types like Nigel Wright. Harper’s PMO has been
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Man of No Integrity and Limitless Hypocrisy
Stephen Harper’s performance before the Conservative parliamentary caucus this morning spoke volumes for the integrity and sense of raw power and privilege of what passes for a prime minister in Canada today. Harper played victim and complained about how he was very upset at the conduct of certain Parliamentarians (i.e.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: If the Opposition Fumbles This Ball They’re Not Fit to Govern
Nix “Duffygate,” trash “Senategate,” this is “HarperGate” and that’s what the opposition needs to hammer away at. Heritage minister James Moore is said to be en route to Prince Edward Island to demand Duffy’s resignation. That has to be part and parcel of rolling this scandal back out of the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Who Is That Winging His Way to Cavendish, PEI?
Harper’s Consigliere? Word has it that Harper minister and loyalist, James Moore, has been dispatched to P.E.I. to demand that the Cavendish Cottager resign his senate seat. Will Duffy call the cops on another intruder? Does Harper’s envoy come bearing parting gifts? Oh to be a fly on the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: UPDATED: A Trip Down Memory Lane – Remember When This Scandal Was All About Mike Duffy?
This began with a scandal about Mike Duffy and a cottage on Friendly Lane in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Suddenly that seems like so long ago, an eon. Duffy, Duffy who? Now the scandal has shot straight up the food chain, ricocheting around the Senate and on into the PMO.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper Can’t Talk His Way Out of This One – And He Won’t, Not This Time
In February, when the Wright-Duffy cheque scheme was hatched, two of Harper’s closest aides were Nigel Wright, Chief of Staff, and Benjamin Perrin, Special Counsel and personal legal advisor to the prime minister. Lawyer Nigel Wright, holder of two law degrees, one from Harvard, somehow decides to cut Duffy a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Nigel Wright’s Spur of the Moment Problem
Nigel Wright continues to be Stephen Harper’s moat and drawbridge in the Duffy affair. Steve says he knew nothing about the $90,000 gift via a personal cheque from Wright to the Cavendish Cottager and Wright backs him up. Even though Wright has resigned and his story about Harper being in
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Robert Reich on Bringing MultiNationals to Heel
Robert Reich argues there’s just one way remaining to wrest domination from global capitalism. We need multinational tax policy to halt the excesses of multinational corporatism. As global capital becomes ever more powerful, giant corporations are holding governments and citizens up for ransom — eliciting subsidies and tax breaks from
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Chris Hedges Call for Revolt
Writer, war correspondent, religious scholar, Chris Hedges has become increasingly radicalized over the past dozen or so years although he would argue it’s society that has truly changed, particularly through the influence of religious fundamentalism and the capture of political power by the forces of corporatism. Whatever the balance of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When the Loudest Government Ever Falls Silent
Steve Harper’s namesake nemesis, the Toronto Star’s Tim Harper, writes of a government known for its “in your face” bombast that has abruptly fallen silent. …our governing party has collectively lost its voice. The “accountability” government gave us the news that Pamela Wallin, the senator so loudly backed by Harper
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: There’s Good News and Bad News on the Climate Change Front
New research suggests mankind may avoid the very worst predicted impacts of climate change. That same research concludes what is actually in store is devastating anyway. “…the world is still likely to be in for a temperature rise of double that regarded as safe. “The researchers said that warming was
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