Quite an obituary – Canadian broadcasting pioneer, gay rights activist, Canada’s first openly gay Senator, academic and educator – Laurier LaPierre has died at age 83.
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The Disaffected Lib: Tofino’s Humboldt Squid Mystery Solved?
It was mid-August, 2009 that hundreds of Humboldt squid, the terror of the Sea of Cortez, suddenly washed up on beaches near Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Nobody knew what to make of it or even how these creatures seemingly migrated from the Gulf of California to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Britain’s Norman Legacy – One Thousand Years of Inequality
I first became aware of the Norman impact on Britain post-1066 when I learned of its effects on the English language. Normans, effectively Vikings or Norse from France, settled in as a dominant socio-economic layer atop Saxon England. They claimed the best of the best – of everything. The Saxon
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Europe’s CCS Contest Falters – No Winner Emerges
The European Union is actively encouraging development of CCS or carbon capture and sequestration technologies. The goal is to find a way to strip CO2 emissions from energy production, especially coal-fired power plants, and safely sequester (bury) the stuff deep underground. The EU ran a contest, with more than a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: An Issue Tailor-Made for a Second Term President
Barack Obama can’t lose on gun control. The Newtown massacre has coalesced support for a crackdown on America’s free-for-all gun trade. Even the NRA is now lurking in the shadows, afraid to show its face. What America needs most is a ban on assault rifles and large-capacity magazines that often
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Former Oldest Canadian Dies, New Title Holder Awaits Same Fate
As a newspaper reader it’s grating when, every three or four months, there’s an article published with a photo announcing the oldest Canadian has died. You look at the photo, check out the age, maybe read on to find out where she lived (they’re disproportionately women) and go to the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper – Damned If He Does, Damned If He Doesn’t.
Harper has a choice. He can transform Athabasca into a state-controlled, state-run fossil fuel resource or he can kiss goodbye to his twisted dream of fossil fuel superpowerdom. The Athabasca Tar Sands are running out of steam – literally. There’s simply too much shale oil and gas coming on line
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: What Would Diefenbaker Make of Steve Harper?
I was just writing a Conservative friend about the Nexen/Athabasca fiasco when a terrible thought crossed my mind. I imagined what it would be like if “The Chief” John Diefenbaker was alive to witness Steve Harper’s sell-out of Canadian resources and jobs to China’s Communist masters. What would old John
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Time to Face the Music – Only the Communists Can Keep Athabasca Afloat
Canada’s Tar Sands heavy-crude oil is uneconomical. The proof is that there’s not enough investment money coming in to keep the Athabasca house of cards from collapsing. Joe Oliver says there’s no shortage of private capital for the bitumen pits. He’s a liar. Even the National Post, can’t deny it.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The F-35, Should Canada Sit This One Out?
Maybe Canada should just give the F-35 a pass and wait for something a lot better. Like the Aussies and US Navy we could opt for a proven, capable, reliable, affordable alternative, like some new F-18s and sit by while America’s next-generation technology works through its considerable teething problems. It
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: They’re Back For More
Knock, knock, knock. It’s the Chinese again and they’re back for more Canadian energy resources, this time shale gas. Oh I know it’s barely a week since Harper supposedly promised the Nexen takeover was a one-time thing, the last time the Beijing Communist apparatus would get its grubby commie hands
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper’s Cabinet Barely Literate
Just kidding. I’m sure they can all read and write at some level but there’s an interesting piece in The Tyee revealing how many Harper ministers have no post-secondary education whatsoever. The names may surprise you. Marjory Lebreton (leader of the government in the Senate) Gerry Ritz (agriculture) Denis Lebel
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: NDP Never Passes Up a Chance to Show How Small-Minded It Can Be
Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, and Liberal finance critic, Scott Brison, are personal friends. Last summer Carney took a week of vacation time that he and his family spent at Brison’s Nova Scotia vacation home. That was enough to send the Petty Party into a hissy fit, lodging an
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canadian Pols "Naive" on China
Canadian pols like Steve Harper and BC’s unelected, unelectable and outgoing premier, Christy Clark, are “naive” in their dealings with China. That assessment comes from a University of California economics professor, Peter Navarro, who has studied how the Chinese operate world wide. Navarro didn’t sugar coat his words about recent
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Vancouver Region Bracing for Storm Surge, King Tides and Flooding.
The next couple of days pose a serious flooding threat to the Lower Mainland, particularly Vancouver’s low-lying suburbs. Sunday and Monday are expected to see the strongest of the seasonal “king tides”, with levels over 5 metres above low tide.But Oceanographer Scott Tinis says a storm surge will bring that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Freedom of the Press, Freedom From the Press
Western mass media have long been deservedly criticized for having an “if it bleeds, it leads” attitude to news. At one point sensationalism was seen as the sizzle that sold the steak, genuine information. It was an old carny trick from ages past. But that reflected a past in which
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: What If The Peasants All Start Talking Like This?
In Washington the Social Security narrative has been captured by the political classes and stood directly on its head, the better to tear it to shreds. So powerfully has this been done that even the word “entitlement” has been transformed to mean not something deserved but something somehow undeserved, a
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Obama’s Fried Fish
Anxious folks in Washington and Colorado may have gotten an early Christmas gift from their president. When it comes to simple possession and recreational use of marijuana in their states, Obama says he has “bigger fish to fry.” Obama told Babs Walters, “It would not make sense for us to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why No Competition?
Lockheed Martin has a number of F-35s built and flying. Surely it’s got more than enough to get a few up to the Cold Lake air base to strut their stuff against the competition. Let’s see how they do in dogfighting, in ground support, in the interceptor role. Let’s see
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why Let the Air Force Decide What We Want?
It’s up to Parliament to tell the Air Force what Canada needs from the RCAF, not the other way around. What the Air Force wants and what the country needs are not one and the same. That’s especially true for today’s “Americanized” military that may be losing sight of the
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