Ethical Oil was quick to slam environmental groups for taking US money… It appears Ethical Oil accepts funds, via PayPal, from around the world — including the USA. Just out of curiosity, when will Ethical Oil release its donor list?
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Americans Waking Up to Class Warfare, Find Themselves Under Attack
This could just be what the corporatist Right fears most; the American public realizing there’s a class war underway and they’ve been taking fire. If the American people get in a mood to counterattack, the forces of corporatism and their rightwing political minions could be in a very bad way.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Foreign influence in Canada’s oil patch
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver’s contention that the National Energy Board hearings on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline are loaded down with foreign special interests is exactly right. But it is not the “environmentalists and other radical groups” that are the problem. It’s the oil and gas industry. This Statscan table
Continue readingChairman Mao rolls in his grave
150 computer factory workers had to be talked down from a “suicide jump” in protest of lousy working conditions at the infamous Foxconn. This would not have made the news when Mao Zedong was in charge of China… The workers were eventually coaxed down after two days on top of
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Summing Up the Republicans
Good discussion about the current state of the GOP with respect to the primary race and hypothetical outcomes should a Republican become president, featuring David “Axis of Evil” Frum, New York Magazine writer Jonathan Chait and National Review editor Kevin Williamson. Towards the end of the conversation, Paiken wheels out
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Civil Unions vs Full Marriage Equality
Civil unions, as opposed to gay marriage, are often advocated for by the moderate right, and sometimes as a pragmatic solution on the left. The main idea is that civil unions provide a more reasonable approach that lets gay people enjoy the benefits of something close to marriage without upsetting those who do
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Guest Post: Niki Ashton is young, but formidable, a future force to be reckoned with in the NDP
Niki Ashton at the City Arts Centre last night. Below: Post author Olav Rokne. Business forced me to be in our nation’s capital when Niki Ashton, the latest candidate for the leadership of the New Democratic Party to visit Edmonton, spoke at the City Arts Centre in Old Strathcona last
Continue readingRecreating Eden: A Laugh from Musicians, That Might Work for Writers Too
Deep in rewriting my novel about a pianist, I’m seeing music everywhere. The latest is this multiple choice chart that might give you some advice. I particularly like the sequence that takes you through “Do you love money.” Should you answer “yes,” it says then “STOP THINKING ABOUT MUSIC.” Being
Continue readingwmtc: the joy of books, long may they dance
Found on G+, thanks to S.
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Jan. 11: my own conspiracy theory….
(my pologies for nissing a day. I had computer problems. But I spoke sharply to it, so it is now working properly.) Since, once again, the Moncton Times and Tribune has no serious news worth discussing, let’s take a close look at a minor item because it takes up a
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Meet Charles Ward
On Monday I voiced my support for Mike Crawley for LPC President, after profiling Crawley, Sheila Copps, Ron Hartling, and Alexandra Mendes over the past month. I mostly glossed over the fifth candidate, Charles Ward, since I really didn’t know much about him. Luckily, Charles gave me a call yesterday
Continue readingFar and Wide: You’re In, You’re Out, You’re Out, Carry On
Did you hear Bob Rae’s rousing speech to caucus today? Was there any doubt that is sounded very much like a guy ready to go for the permanent Liberal leadership job? A interim leader doesn’t need to defend an ancient record, unless of course that record could be used against
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: The Harper Regime is Playing Dangerous Game
By unleashing strident propagandistic messages aimed nominally at environmentalists but really anyone opposed to or even questioning of the Gateway pipeline, the Harper Regime is playing a dangerous game in attempting to limit legitimate discussion on the Gateway pipeline. This is, as David Eaves argues, given all the complex issues involved, exactly the moment
Continue readingThings Are Good: Carbon-Absorbing Material can Clean the Air
A new material that is inexpensive to produce is also good at absorbing CO2 emissions in the air. Hopefully we’ll see this material being applied to the medians on highways and other places close to planet-damaging carbon emission sources. Reporting their findings in the Journal of the American Chemical Society,
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Does PolitiFact Adequately Cover Scientific Misinformation? Well, Sort Of
pinocchio.jpg I’ve been harping a lot lately on the fact-checkers, like PolitiFact, and how they too often fall for a type of phony journalistic “balance” that those of us who practice science journalism as a trade have long abhorred. And then it occurred to me: Maybe the deep difference between science
Continue readingPeacekeeping—"Canada can and should do more"
Sometimes a graph is worth a thousand words. A good example is a graph depicting Canada’s contribution to U.N. peacekeeping that appeared in the December 2011 edition of Mondial, the newsletter of The World Federalist Movement. The graph, attached, shows Canada hovering around number one in the early 90s and
Continue readingMorton's Musings: What is Preferential voting?
Preferential voting is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank candidates in order of relative preference. For example, the voter may select their first choice as '1', their second preference a '2', and so on. The general advantage of the system is that
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Great Minds Think Alike: “Jinkies!” edition #nlpoli
Ruh roh! What do Danny Williams, Kathy Dunderdale and Sarah Palin have in common? They – and their bootlickers and wannabe bootlickers – all like to blame their own problems and shortcomings on people who write online. It’s all political bullshit, of course, but you can almost hear them saying
Continue readingContempt of country. Rant mode. ON.
Yanno. I know we have been down this garden path before. The Harpercons do something really stupid. (Daily occurrence) Then when people react (the employers of the Government, to be technically accurate)….They start calling us names, names designed to DE-legitimize our rights and concerns. Left wing fringe…..Remember that little quip
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