I’ve struggled to put my finger on how people respond when the subject of climate change comes up. This excerpt from a piece in Pro Publica captures the dilemma we all face. “George Marshall opened his book, “Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore
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The Disaffected Lib Mk. II: And Trump Will Still Get Off the Hook
The US Department of Homeland Security issued a domestic terrorism warning today. The warning specified a growing risk of attacks by “ideologically-motivated violent extremists” agitated about President Biden’s election and “perceived grievances fueled by false narratives.” The Republican gift, it seems, just keeps on giving. Trump may be gone, for
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: You Can Forget About an Early Election.
Canada may have to wait six months longer for Covid vaccines than America or Europe. What we were told was “a few weeks” lag is now looking like a disaster for the country, the people of Canada and the government of Justin Trudeau. The majority of Canadians may have
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – George Monbiot writes about the COVID disinformation which is so dangerous as to need to be suppressed. Maggie Keresteci, Nili Kaplan-Myrth and Naheed Dosani highlight the need for equity to figure into our plans and messaging about vaccine distribution. And Dakshana Bascaramurty discusses
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Oh, Those Poor Deluded Fools. They’re Not to Blame.
There’s a growing effort underway in the ranks of America’s left to excuse the sins of Trump’s legion of useful idiots. It’s not their fault. They’re to be pitied, not scorned. They’ve been handed a bad deal so they lashed out and latched on to the first smooth talker
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Simon Enoch traces the COVID-19 spending that’s taken place in Saskatchewan – finding that most of the support has come from the federal government, while Scott Moe has combined a refusal to lift a finger (and indeed a failure to make use
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: America’s Original Sin – Conspiracy Theory
Conspiracy theories propelled Donald Trump to power but it’s been the stuff of American politics since the 1776 Revolution. The United States of America was founded on a conspiracy theory. In the lead-up to the War of Independence, revolutionaries argued that a tax on tea or stamps is not
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: What If They’re Right, What Then?
There are few things good about becoming a senior citizen except that this is probably a good time to be nearing the station. I do not envy those who will be living in 2050 or even 2040. I have a reasonable prospect of making it to 2030 and I’m
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jim Brumby writes about the multiple growing disruptions to economic health and security which could be addressed by a wealth tax. – Kim Siever highlights how the oil industry continues to scam Alberta while pretending that its interest is that of the province
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On root causes
Shorter Scott Moe on threats against Dr. Saqib Shahab: I have no idea how these idiots got the idea that policy disagreement entitles you to engage in violent rhetoric and personal harassment. Shorter Scott Moe’s CO2Anon donor base: Environmentalists are child molesters! But the good news is that I think
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Grace Blakeley comments on the connection between neoliberal ideology, and the replacement of even the possibility of collective action with an assumption that we’re only in it for ourselves. – Aditya Chakrabortty writes about the need to eliminate poverty in all of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: How the Liberals Botched the Covid Crisis and Left Canadians Exposed
There’s no two ways about it. Justin Trudeau screwed up. That became undeniable when Pfizer announced disruptions in the scheduled supply of vaccine doses while it retooled some plant in Belgium. That’s when we discovered that Canada, instead of being at the front of the line as the prime
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Anna McMillan reports on the disproportionate effect COVID-19 has (predictably) had on First Nations reserves in Saskatchewan. And Maan Ahmidi reports on the appearances and realities arising out of the Libs’ continued appeals against orders to stop withholding equal access to services from
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Musical interlude
snarls – Walk in the Woods
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – David Brancaccio and Rose Conlon write about the tendency for people involved in deliberately-rigged contests to believe their success is the result of skill rather than manipulation – offering an important comparison to wealthy people who can’t sort out luck from merit in
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Payette’s Parting Gift – $150 Large for Life
Disgraced former Governor-General, Julie Payette, will leave Ottawa with a ridiculously generous parting package. Julie Payette submitted her resignation as Governor General on Thursday, but despite leaving early due to a workplace scandal she’ll still qualify for a lifetime pension of at least $149,484 per year. The lifetime annuity
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: The Bloom Is Off the Rose, the Wild Rose That Is.
For some time Alberta has been a provincial Ponzi-scheme, robbing the future to pay dividends today. Tens of thousands of orphan wells, dangerously contaminated groundwater and those Tar Sands tailing ponds are Alberta’s IOU for its future generations. But, as has been foretold repeatedly – and repeatedly ignored – the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: The Other Shoe Drops, New Covid Variant More Lethal
Wouldn’t it be great if Canada still had a world-class laboratory manufacturing vaccines? We did but we don’t, not any more. Word coming out of the UK that the more contagious Covid variant that’s now spreading around the world is also more deadly. That warning comes from none other
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib Mk. II: Ah, the Fragrant Scent of Pines
Remember the days of “no drama Obama”? Despite the still unresolved disasters of the past four years, those days of relative tranquility seem to be coming back. It’s sort of like that first Spring weekend at the family cabin on the lake after you’ve spent the winter sharing a dorm
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