Cartoon by Mr. Fish, TruthDig
Continue readingAuthor: The Mound of Sound
The Disaffected Lib: Afghan Army Losses Spike
The Afghan army held the country together for a number of years after the Soviets bailed out but it’s far from clear they’ll do as well after Western forces leave next year. The Taliban have killed 1,100 members of the Afghan security forces over the past six months, double the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Full Measure of High-Carbon Bitumen
Bitumen boosters in the Alberta and Federal governments, Big Oil and the pipeline hustlers are vigilant in ensuring the public never gets an overall picture of the impact of the Tar Sands. We’re shown a snippet here, a glimpse there, all carefully crafted to give us false assurances of what
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When the Liberals Jettison Liberalism
Thomas Walkom has a point. Why are today’s Liberals so detached from liberalism? …it’s not clear what the Liberals represent any more. They would like voters to think of them as the non-Conservatives — the alternative to Stephen Harper… But are they?Paul Adams, an astute political observer writing in iPolitics,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: America to Open Combat Roles to Women
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants to open U.S. combat roles to women. I’ve got a better idea. Why not make them female only? There’d be a lot fewer stupid wars fought if women called the shots.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper Frightened, Seeks Political Cover
When Steve Harper says he wants “consensus” it means only one thing – he’s run out of guts and wants political cover from the opposition. Harper wants the opposition to back his next step to dragging Canada into war with al Qaeda in the Sahara. He’s already loaned France one
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Petri Dish for Climate Change Adaptation
Andean glaciers are quickly melting away. It’s reported they’re melting faster than they have in three centuries. Millions of South Americans are dependent on meltwater from these glaciers. That’s about to change. “Glacier retreat in the tropical Andes over the last three decades is unprecedented,” said Antoine Rabatel, the lead
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Art of Politics, Japanese Style
Japan’s newly minted finance minister thinks his country’s old people should hurry up and die. Really, seriously, I didn’t make that up. Taro Aso, the finance minister, said on Monday that the elderly should be allowed to “hurry up and die” to relieve pressure on the state to pay for
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Arms Race Update – All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men Still At It.
The True Warfare State, undaunted by its high-tech flops in Iraq and Afghanistan, proceeds apace in the development of the latest and greatest in institutional mayhem devices. Here’s one of the ideas they’re working on, the laser tail gunner. It’s a rear aspect, high energy laser defence system for tactical
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why Growth Is Our False God
All of our politicians, without exception, cling to the alchemy that prescribes growth offers the solution to our every problem. Taxes too high? Grow the economy. Population aging too much? Grow the population, open the doors to immigration. Not reaping enough benefit out of the Tar Sands? Double, no triple
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: EnviroCan’s Blunt Warning
The Tundra is Burning Over the past 65-years, Canada’s average winter temperature has increased 3.2 degrees Celsius. This reaffirms what many suspected. Canada is getting hotter faster than ever before and at a faster rate than almost any other country. Rain, snow, sleet and hail storms are becoming more erratic.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Arms Race Update – India Warns Kashmiris to Prepare for Nuclear War
Indian officials are warning residents in their part of Kashmir to dig bomb shelters and gather a two week supply of food and water in preparation for a possible nuclear exchange. The notice, published Monday by the Kashmir police in the Greater Kashmir newspaper, advised people to build toilet-equipped basements
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Will the Democrats Fix the U.S. Senate Today?
There’s a window that is open today that will be closed tomorrow and, by the time it closes, we’ll know if the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate has the courage to fix what’s broken. When the Senate returns on Tuesday, it will still technically be in the first legislative
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Timely Poll
The Guardian is running a poll today, asking readers: George Orwell’s fiction and non-fiction warned of the dangers of totalitarianism, surveillance and the distortion of language. Was he right, broadly speaking, about the dystopian way society was heading? What do you think? Vote here.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: They Call It "The Point of No Return" Study
Greenpeace has come up with a roster of planned oil, gas and coal projects that it calls “carbon bombs.” Prepared by the consultancy firm EcoFys, the study lists 14-major projects that will increase global greenhouse gas emissions by a civilization-wrecking 20%. That’s where the “point of no return” part comes
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: F-35 Fiasco Dumped Into Harper’s Lap
The Harper government has tried to scapegoat its way out of the F-35 debacle, blaming bureaucratic bungling, deceit within National Defence, just about any likely target that could deflect responsibility from themselves. Now the recently retired assistance deputy minister of defence materiel has come out swinging. Dan Ross, the former
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper Rolls Over on British Columbia Workers
Read it in The Tyee. The Harper government is knuckling under to Chinese mining companies out to block Canadian labour in British Columbia mines.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Gun Show Week Wraps Up – With Body Bags
It’s been a big week for the American gun show circuit. Five people were wounded from accidental gun discharges at three U.S. gun shows. The Shot Show gala, 2013, in Las Vegas set an all-time attendance record. Brownells reported it sold 3.5-years worth of large capacity assault rifle magazines in
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: F-35 Grounded
The U.S. Navy has grounded the Marine Corps’ F-35B variant on Friday after an exhaust system failure. A and C-model variants were said not to be affected. The incident came just days after the Pentagon’s director of testing and evaluation released an 18-page report detailing an array of problems which
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: America’s Mental Health Epidemic – Assault Rifles
I am a gun owner. I own two rifles. They are both single-shot rifles. One is a hunting rifle although I use it for predator protection. The other is a .22 rifle for plinking down at the local range. I do not own a semi-automatic rifle of any description,
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