British Columbians are counting the days until we send Christy Clark and her sullied neo-Liberals packing. The NDP are going into the election campaign up by 12 points over Clark’s Liberals. Could the rightwingers stage a comeback? Anything is possible but that seems highly unlikely. All the NDP has to
Continue readingAuthor: The Mound of Sound
The Disaffected Lib: How Harper, Trudeau and Mulcair are Steering Canada Toward a Cliff
Canada went through the 2008 Great Recession and fared better than most of the developed world. It turns out Harper didn’t have enough time to let Canadian banks off their leashes to run wild like their American and European counterparts. When the widely predicted (Krugman, Roubini, Stiglitz et al) crash
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: B.C. Economist Slams Bitumen Scam
She’s even using the “F” word, as in fraud. And Robyn Allan says the fraud, on the Canadian people, is being perpetrated by the federal and provincial governments, Big Oil, Enbridge, a rightwing think tank, a major bank and, of course, their media waterboys. In her latest critique Allan makes
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Britain’s Billionaire Enviro-Philanthropist Outs People Like Harper, Mulcair and Trudeau
Fund manager, Harvard MBA, billionaire – we’ve become all too familiar with the type. But British-born Jeremy Grantham is best known for predicting all the major economic bubbles in recent decades and making a fortune on them. Now he’s speaking out about the most dangerous bubble of them all –
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Washington and Beijing Talk the Talk, Now Must Learn to Walk
They’re the world’s two biggest national economies and the world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. It’s encouraging then that the United States and China have announced an agreement to “accelerate action to reduce greenhouse gases by advancing cooperation on technology, research, conservation, and alternative and renewable energy.” Their joint
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Anne Frank was a "Great Girl"? Really?
I don’t want to offend any Bieber fans out there but this kid’s a total, self-absorbed jerk. Apparently he spent an hour touring the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. On his way out he took time to leave this entry in the guest book: “Truly inspiring to be able to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why Australia Fears the United States
Since coming into existence in 1776, the United States has enjoyed just 21 “war free” years. The last four of those were under president Jimmy Carter who didn’t see much point in blowing other people, their kids and all their stuff into smithereens just to make a point. No wonder
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: We Seem to Be Making a Herculean Effort to Get to First Base
Imagine you’re a baseball player and your only focus is to make it to first base. Not second, not third, not home plate. Just first, that’s it. All of your aspirations begin and end at first base. That sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it? What’s the point of showing up at
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Sometimes a Picture Is Worth…
This might be one of those times. Chris Riddell, The Guardian
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Tommy, We Have to Talk
Dear Tommy: I’ve got some bad news. The old gang has moved on. They’ve “modernized” some, taken a new direction if you will. Now, rest assured Tom, no one’s saying that everything the party you created once stood for is radical nonsense. At least none of them are saying that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: One Lucky Guy
You’re a surgeon. A father to five young kids. This is not how you should be spending your free time.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Most Persuasive Arguments for Legalizing Drugs
A retired U.S. police captain makes an utterly compelling case for abandoning the war on drugs.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Will the Greens Back Trudeau, Shun Mulcair?
Tom Mulcair and the NDP will need all the help they can get for the 2015 election. It’s too bad Tommy burned his bridge to the Green Party. “Over the last two years, I found Justin Trudeau to be collaborative and friendly,” May told the Georgia Straight in a phone
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: One of the Greats, Johathan Winters, Dead at 87
Winters improvs with Dean Martin
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Chris Hedges Finds the U.S. Is Using Human Rights as a Cover for Pre-Emptive War and Empire
If you thought America’s aggressive excesses were going to end with the departure of Bush-Cheney from the White House, think again. Chris Hedges writes of “a new wave of ‘humanitarian interventionists’ …who naively see in the U.S. military a vehicle to create a better world.” “They know little of the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Ayn Rand’s "Vision of Paradise" in Today’s America? Try Tennessee.
If there’s one State that practices what Ayn Rand preached, it would be Tennessee and the results are predictable. From AlterNet: If you’re worried about where America is heading, look no further than Tennessee. Its lush mountains and verdant rolling countryside belie a mean-spirited public policy that only makes sense if
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Margaret Thatcher Breaks Into #3 Spot on British Pop Charts
It’s currently behind something called “Need U (100%)” by Duke Dumont and A*M*E at No. 1 and P!nk feat. Nate Ruess’ “Just Give Me A Reason” at No. 2. But “Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead” from The Wizard of Oz, is currently selling 2,000 copies a day online in
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Obama’s Grand Betrayal of Ordinary America
Barack Obama’s carefully nurtured image as a man of the people has been blown to shreds. Rob Urie, writing for CounterPunch, captures the event in one paragraph: With Barack Obama putting his plan to cut Social Security and Medicare expenditures into writing in his Federal budget proposal the ability of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Do We Really Want to Save a Place for Our Grandkids? It Sure Doesn’t Look That Way.
It’s claimed by those who study such things that civilizations that collapse do so suddenly and while they’re at their peak. In a way the process resembles a balloon bursting. It gets bigger and bigger and then – pop. How are we to know when we’re nearing that civilization bursting
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Bradley Manning Finally Catches a Break
If the U.S. government wants the book thrown at Bradley Manning for leaking government communications to WikiLeaks, it’ll have to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. The US government will have to prove that the WikiLeaks source, Bradley Manning, had “reason to believe” that his disclosure of state secrets
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