According to Wired.com’s “Danger Room” China has not one but two stealth fighters. It’s been almost two years since China revealed the Chengdu J-20 stealth warplane. Now rival Shenyang has apparently produced its own stealth fighter, designated J-21. It’s unclear whether Beijing intends to compete the J-20 against the J-21
Continue readingAuthor: The Mound of Sound
The Disaffected Lib: Who Do They Think They Are, the Vatican?
It’s going to be a tough two weeks for the Boy Scouts of America as details pour out of the organization’s decades of suppressing information about child molesters in their midst. A Los Angeles Times review of 1600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that scouting officials
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: They Can’t Do It
In capitals around the world there’s been no shortage of bold talk about the need to tackle the global warming threat but that talk rarely translates into more than token gestures. The road to Hell is indeed paved with good intentions. The Crown Prince of Sophistry, Steve Harper, has declared
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Washington’s Climate Change Wrecking Ball
To the Third World, the United States stands out as the nation resolutely blocking “any hope of stopping run away climate catastrophe.” “By the end of the most recent round of climate talks in Bangkok (August 30 to September 5), there was no movement from developed countries to increase the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Just Four More Years
It wasn’t predicted to happen until the end of the century – well after we were long gone. Now it could arrive within just four more years. “It” is the collapse of Arctic sea ice and Professor Peter Wadhams warns of a “global disaster” now unfolding in the Arctic. “…as
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Romney’s Russia Blunder Backfires Again
Another Russian leader has responded to Mitt Romney’s labeling of Moscow as America’s “Number One geopolitical foe.” Earlier in the week it was Vlad Putin using Romney’s slur to justify Russian hard-line opposition to US missile defence plans for Europe. Now it’s Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich warning that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Putin’s New American BFF – Mitt Romney
Russian strongman Vlad Putin has a new pet American – Mitt Romney. Putin told Russian reporters he’s grateful to Romney for labeling Russia “America’s number one geopolitical foe.” “I’m grateful to [Romney] for formulating his stance so clearly because he has once again proven the correctness of our approach to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper Skulks Behind Cluster Bomb Ban
In 2008, countries around the world signed on to a global ban on cluster bomb munitions. Apparently the sheer humanity of it was too much for the Prince of Darkness to bear. Now there are warnings that our prime ministerial Beelzebub is prepping legislation to circumvent the spirit and letter
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper’s Weird War Fetish
Salaberry Leads Voltigeurs at Chateauguay What is with Steve Harper’s bizarre obsession with the War of 1812? Canada, at that point, was British territory, more than a half century away from independence. The war was fought by American forces on one side and predominantly British forces on the other. Yes,
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Imperial Premiership
You don’t have to convince many British Columbians that Ottawa no longer functions as a democracy. Consent, in the twisted mind of Stephen Harper, is something that is extracted at the ballot box and ceases to have any relevance during the actual term of government. Because Harper deems our consent
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Weaver Slams Harper – Again
It wasn’t a large protest rally, just 200 people in the crowd, but the message was loud and clear – Harper must stop gagging Canadian scientists. On hand at the Victoria protest were U. Vic climate scientist, Andrew Weaver, and Green Party leader, Elizabeth May. “We used to laugh about
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: "We’re In Uncharted Territory"
Europe could be plunged into a deep freeze again this winter, a condition linked to the disappearance of Arctic sea ice. The Jet Stream is moving north and it’s slowing, allowing the formation of slow-moving Rossby Waves that loop far south, bringing polar winter air into Europe as far south
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory
It’s an old phrase, oft used but perhaps never more fittingly than to describe our war in Afghanistan where we succeeded so brilliantly in failure. We defeated ourselves. We defeated the Afghan government. We defeated the people of Afghanistan. We defeated ourselves. We were not defeated by the Taliban. Outwaiting
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: China’s Nuclear Hair Trigger
China is just one of several countries with arsenals of nuclear weapons. Yet, unlike the others, the unusual structure of China’s military forces may leave the country much more prone to nuclear escalation from a conventional war. ” [A] new study, previously only available in Chinese, appears in the latest
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Farewell Peter Lougheed
Profound condolences to the family of Peter Lougheed and to the people of Alberta who have lost the man who served them so well as their finest premier. Mr. Lougheed was a true Canadian and fiercely loyal to his province. Our country is poorer for his passing.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Sit Down, Fool, and Shut Up
Mitt Romney claims its America’s “role” to lead the Middle East. “The world needs American leadership. The Middle East needs American leadership and I intend to be a president that provides the leadership that America respects and will keep us admired throughout the world.” Mitt, you sorry bastard, the Muslim
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Who Says Free Speech Extends to Agent Provocateurs?
An American film ridiculing the Prophet Mohammad is triggering anti-Western violence across the Middle East. That film was intended to achieve that very result. On what possible basis can it be defended as an expression of free speech? We used to have a name for people like the militant Christian
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Russia’s Arctic "Nuclear Time Bomb"
K-27 She’s rusting away on the seabed barely 75 feet below the surface. The experimental Soviet nuclear submarine K-27 is a disaster waiting to happen in Russia’s Kara Sea that adjoins the Arctic Ocean. On just her third cruise, 7-crewmen died when the ship’s reactor malfunctioned. Soviet authorities eventually chose
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Weaver Slams Harper’s War on Science, on Canada, on the Canadian People
Leading Canadian climate scientist Andrew Weaver has laid into Stephen Harper in this morning’s Times Colonist. The U. Vic. prof accuses Harper of putting fossil fuel interests ahead of everything else – including Canada and the Canadian people. “…in June 2007, Prime Minister Steven Harper told world leaders that climate
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: America’s Bought and Paid For Judges
A great way to water down democracy is to control the judiciary. This is what happens when you combine unrestricted corporate electoral spending with an elected bench. Judges whose election and tenure are tied to corporate funding can be reasonably apprehended to have a corporate bias on the bench. Those
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