It was a restaurant in Guanzhou, China. I couldn’t speak enough Chinese to order anything. (My Chinese is limited to “Excuse me, foreigh devil.”) The waiter couldn’t speak English. So he brought me sweet and sour pork. (They’ve learned that’s a safe bet with westerners.) I didn’t eat there again.
Continue readingWise Law Blog: Seven Years of Wise Law Blog
Blog years probably should be counted like dog years. And while I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that the seventh anniversary of the commencement of this blog came and went last week, the truth is it seems like it’s been much longer than that. In fact, it’s awfully hard to remember
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Rob Ford Is Doing Bad, Bad Things
Centa says the questions of whether Ford improperly took funding from his family company and overspent his campaign limit are important to the provincial Municipal Elections Act, and to democracy itself. “Mr. Ford was, and is, represented by excellent counsel and we think the interests of justice are best served
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Fun Facts: Hibernia gas and Holyrood #nlpoli
From Stephen Bruneau’s submission to the public utilities board hearing on the Muskrat Falls project: In 2010, the withdrawal and use of natural gas as a fuel for electrical generation and heating was greater for Hibernia alone than was the total oil-fired energy used at Holyrood for the same year.
Continue readingPolygonic: The Coyne chrysalis
”This isn’t about the planes, in other words, or costs, or accounting. This is about accountability. This is is about whether departments are answerable to their ministers, and whether ministers are answerable to Parliament — or whether billions of public dollars can be appropriated without the informed consent of either
Continue readingMorton's Musings: Striking a jury
MacGregor v. Potts, 2012 ONCA 226 is an interesting example of a case where the party filing a jury notice successfully moved to have the jury struck: [31] The respondents (plaintiffs) filed a jury notice, as was their right. They began to call their evidence. After the evidence of Mrs. MacGregor and two obstetrical
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How Much of Canada Could BC Power?
British authorities are meeting with their Icelandic counterparts to consider powering the UK with geothermal electricity. It’s a terrific, low-carbon solution. Take the heat the earth naturally brings to the surface in places like Iceland, use it to produce steam, use that steam to power turbines and run generators that
Continue readingLeDaro: Stephen Harper’s Legacy
Poor are getting poorer and rich are getting richer. Here is a one story and there are many more here.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: Why anti-pipeline organizing isn’t just another protest
By now, the details of the proposed Enbridge pipeline (and its disastrous social and ecological implications) are well-documented, so I’ll spare you. Most people reading this are probably convinced that the pipeline is a horrible idea that should be stopped. This article is more about the how than the why
Continue readingThe World Famous Dan Shields: 4469…Thomas Mulcair”s Exit Strategy
The new leader of Team Dip, Thomas Mulcair, has an exit strategy just in case this whole becoming Prime Minister of Canada thing doesn’t work out. In a Toronto Star story this morning the man who would be PM said that he is hanging on to his French passport until
Continue readingThe World Famous Dan Shields: 4468…David Letterman Can Collect His OAS
As of right now. The late night talker turns 65 today. If only he was a Canuck. WFDS
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: Alert! Episode 211
Broadcaster/writer Steve Lendman makes a strong case against NATO intervention in Syria. Feminist and community activist Adrie Naylor explains why Harper’s austerity agenda hurts women particularly hard.
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Picture worth a 1,000 words dept.: the Ontario NDP
This photo was taken just before Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath’s latest press conference, today. Where she claimed she doesn’t want an election. That’s her campaign van. Anyone believe her claims that she doesn’t want an election? I didn’t think so.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Later Retirement: A Win – Win Solution?
The C D Howe Institute have put out a study on later retirement by Peter Hicks, a former senior official with HRSDC and the OECD who has written a lot on the policy implications of ageing societies. I find this to be one of his less convincing efforts. The argument
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Dan Gardner is going to get mad at me for this
Dan Gardner is an intimidating guy. I met him about a decade ago, when he was leaving the employ of the Ontario PC government and heading off to work at the Ottawa Citizen. He was a big, slightly-intimidating guy. I figured he was a conservative, and that we wouldn’t agree
Continue readingPop The Stack: Our Democracy is Leaving on a Jet Plane
This latest article by Andrew Coyne on the F-35 fiasco gave me chills, it’s a must read for anyone who still believes in honest, representative government. See this excellent article by Brian Stewart for more background on the growing secrecy in recent years surrounding the F-35 purchase and other activities at
Continue readingPop The Stack: Our Democracy is Leaving on a Jet Plane
This latest article by Andrew Coyne on the F-35 fiasco gave me chills, it’s a must read for anyone who still believes in honest, representative government. See this excellent article by Brian Stewart for more background on the growing secrecy in recent years surrounding the F-35 purchase and other activities at
Continue readingThose Emergency Blues: More on When Labelling Patients Causes Patients to Die
In the comments WhiteCoat (of WhiteCoat’s Call Room fame) strenuously objects to my take on the Anna Brown case: Wow. Someone on my blog suggested that I check out this post after I just posted about this story yesterday. To all of you who think “something more should have been
Continue readingcartoon life: Ocean view #23
This is the last of the series. Repainting from photos was an interesting exercise. Early re-worked images had none of the freshness of the in situ work. The photos bound the image, somehow. Even as I tried to retain the freshness and brightness, this one, to me, still clamps on
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Alberta Votes Day 18: Debate Night in Edmonton
More often than not, the Alberta leader’s debate is a mere formality, intended to create a vaneer of democracy in a province where elections tend to be meaningless. It’s barely worth watching, because even if someone delivers the mythic “knock out punch”, it doesn’t affect the election outcome. Hell, had
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