Japanese whale “researchers” have persuaded a U.S. judge to declare the Sea Shepherd organization piratical. The ruling was issued on Wednesday by chief judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th US circuit court of appeals. In his 18-page opinion, he wrote: “You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch.
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The Disaffected Lib: Call It What You Like – Homeland, Vaterland, Rodina – It’s All the Same
On the 10th anniversary of the creation of America’s Department of Homeland Security some are deeply worried about the connotation of the word “homeland” itself in the evolution of today’s American security state. Could it echo the dark days of Germany’s Vaterland or Stalin’s Rodina? Once upon a time, “homeland”
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Called "Green Fatigue" And There’s a Good Chance You’ve Got It
A survey of 22,812 respondents in 22 countries has found that only 49% consider climate change a very serious issue. Public concerns about environmental issues has slumped to a 20-year low. Worries about climate change first dropped in industrialised nations but they have now also fallen in developing economies
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Ban Hunter-Killer Robots Now
We’re on the threshold of a tipping point in combat weaponry – the deployment of autonomous attack robots. That’s right, think Terminator. You’re not far off the mark. Robot warfare and autonomous weapons, the next step from unmanned drones, are already being worked on by scientists and will be available
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: To Be Innocent on Death Row in Texas
It’s pretty hard to be a condemned inmate in Texas when all you’ve got is science on your side. Larry Swearingen is sitting on Death Row for a 1998 murder that pathologists say he couldn’t possibly have committed. The victim, a 19-year old college student, went missing on December 8.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: InterContinental Drug Cartel Warfare?
Africa’s drug cartels are no longer content to simply be mules for moving Latin America’s drug cartels’ product into Europe. Now they’re even moving into the Latin American gangs’ home turf. “…the West African traffickers have grown up, in a way, instead of working as couriers underneath the Latin American
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Yeah, Sure, the Jim Crow South is No More
Any court that can pretend corporations are people has demonstrated a talent for overcoming reality. That pretty much describes today’s United States Supreme Court or at least the hard-right conservative majority that calls the shots. Those five cloaked hooligans are now fixing to pretend that minority voting rights in the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: "A Perpetuation of Racial Entitlement"
It’s not hard to figure out where U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia stands on the Voting Rights Act of 1965. When he labeled a provision that requires the Slave States to get federal approval before changing voting procedures a “perpetuation of racial entitlement” he didn’t leave much doubt on
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s More Than a Little Missing Ice
Killer heat waves, droughts and floods whipsawing the planet are the result of the warming Arctic region. It’s pretty simple – lose the ice, lose the planet. Hey, how about a blast from the past? Remember when, way back in 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that “in
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Cautionary Tale – The Right to Die
Here’s something to think about. A few days ago I experienced, first-hand, the death of a dear friend. He had been in decline for several months. This necessitated a few stays in hospital. While in hospital my friend had signed a “DNR” or Do Not Resuscitate authorization. It was his
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Just Shut Up and Do As You’re Told
If you have any illusions you’re not living in a corporatist state, any doubt, watch this film, “Obey.” Then think about how you’re going to be living in ten years from now, twenty.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Jimmy Carter Gives Canada Its Due
The film Argo might have won the Oscar but Jimmy Carter thinks the real prize goes to Canada, not the C.I.A. Carter described Ben Affleck’s picture as a “great drama”. But the former president also said that “90 percent of the contribution to the ideas and consummation of the plan
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Andrew’s Letter to Wolfie on the 10th Anniversary of the Conquest of Iraq
Career U.S. Army commander turned academic, Andrew J. Bacevich, has ties to Iraq. He commanded an American unit in Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait on the orders of George H.W. Bush. Years later his son, a U.S. Army lieutenant, would die in Iraq in a war ordered by George
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: I Lost a Buddy Last Night
Neighbours. His wife called close to 10. He didn’t have the strength to get himself off the toilet and she didn’t have the strength to get him up either. I said I’d be right over. I went in my old Harley tee-shirt and sweat pants, a real “come as you
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Hard Truth About Unconventional Fossil Fuel
When it comes to unconventional fossil fuels, the majority of Canadian politicians, federal and provincial, fall into two categories – idiots or featherbedders. The Tyee has this eye-opener from geologist David Hughes, a gas and oil specialist for Natural Resources Canada for 32-years. Unconventional fossil fuels all share a host
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Nobody is Safe Anymore. No One, Nowhere.
It’s the latest, greatest thing in the Pentagon’s toybox – MAVs. Micro Air Vehicles like those shown in the following video already exist and they could take your last shreds of privacy. They could even take your life. And here’s the civilian version of the Dragonfly MAV developed for the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Warming World Equals Work Loss
Most of us realize that it’s a lot harder to work on those really hot, humid days. Climate change is bringing us more hot, humid days and there are more to come in the future. Ergo, we’re facing a drop in labour capacity. Hot and humid has worsened over the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Chris Hadfield – Rockstar
The Guardian is singing the praises of Canadian fighter jock, test pilot and astronaut, the soon-to-be ISS commander, Chris Hadfield. This line says it all: “…he is on the way to becoming a breakthrough star in his own right, the first internationally recognisable astronaut since the grainy black and white
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Pot Calling the Kettle Unqualified
Angry old man, Grampa John McCain is at it again. The guy who nearly made Sarah Palin his wing-gal in the executive branch had the gall to label Chuck Hagel “unqualified” to be Obama’s defense secretary. To prove Hagel not up to the job, McCain pointed to Obama’s failure to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Time to Say "None of the Above"
I wouldn’t ride in a car with a driver who was too stupid to know when to use the brakes. Would you? Yet that’s a pretty fair metaphor for the people who are leading our federal parties today. One of the things we expect our political leaders to do is
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