TweetPremier Dave Hancock is standing behind Jeff Johnson, even after the Information and Privacy Commissioner ruled that the embattled education minister broke Alberta’s privacy laws by sending a direct message to the personal email addresses of thousands of teachers during their contract negotiations. In any other job, breaking the law
Continue readingTag: Calgary Stampede
cultural sn:afu: According to Walt Wawra the world is a place in need of infinitely more guns
If you were still wondering about the differences between Canada and the US, in terms of gun culture and other stuff, this might explain a few things… According to his letter to the Calgary Herald, Walt Wawra, a Michigan police … Continue reading →
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: "Been to the Stampede yet?"
I’m just glad they didn’t ask this visiting American gun enthusiast for a smoke. Recommend this Post
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Does Bizarre Bethune brouhaha signal ideological rift within Harper Conservatives?
Communist physician Norman Bethune, left, and a comrade from the Red Chinese Army speak with Canadian Treasury Board President Tony Clement, right, in a vignette as imagined by Sun News Network. Below: Dr. Bethune, looking weirdly contemporary with a fashionable goatee; far-right ideologue Rob Anders; the real Mr. Clement. Is
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Chuckwagon carnage: Three horses die and Calgary Stampede blames the lead horse!
A chuckwagon race at the Calgary Stampede in 1957. Canada’s greatest city? Below: One resident of Canada’s greatest city camps it up for the occasion. “Autopsy shows lead horse in chuckwagon accident died of ruptured aortic aneurysm,” shouts a headline in yesterday’s Calgary Herald. So… what? The Calgary Stampede’s going
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Is nothing sacred? Turbulent pastor jumps to the front of Calgary’s Stampede Parade!
Pastor Artur Pawlowski and members of his flock march at the head of the Calgary Stampede Parade on Friday. Below: Pastor Pawlowski with Alberta Solicitor-General Jonathan Denis. Below that: Pastor Pawlowski with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. All photos grabbed from Facebook pages belonging to Pastor Pawlowski or his Calgary Street
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Big money speaks quietly to the recalcitrant Calgary Stampede on its 100th anniversary
Cowboys in the aftermath of a bad chuckwagon spill at the 1937 Calgary Stampede. Below: Chuckwagon races as they’re supposed to appear; Stampede Programming VP Paul Rosenberg; Bell Canada logo of yore. Money talks, and what money is saying now, the day before the 100th opening of the Calgary Stampede,
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The 100th Calgary Stampede: real men don’t kill horses for fun
A chuckwagon race in 1924 – then and now, unquestionably exiting and unquestionably cruel. Time for it to stop. Below: Alberta Premier Alison Redford and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, both looking fashionably butch in their cowboy duds. There’s no doubt about it: chuckwagon races are as exciting as hell. There’s
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Sixth Annual Politicians in Cowboy Hats
For a brief history of Stampede fashion, you can read the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 round-ups.Although Rick Hansen served as Stampede Parade Grand Marshal, all eyes were on Will and Kate this year. I do find it somewhat perplexing how many of the…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Proof That Cowboys Are Kind of Morons
Apparently riding bulls whose nuts have been twisted to drive them into a frenzy of pain and rage is a stupid, fucking thing to do. According to a recent study, rodeo contestants are 20 times more likely to suffer a “catastrophic injury” than is a foot…
Continue readingCalgaryLiberal: Lessons in Organization in the Calgary Region: Three Things We’re Doing Right
As per rule #9 of my 10 Rules for Liberal Debate, I’m going to spend this post complimenting and bragging about what Calgary is doing on the federal Liberal scene. Here are just three of the many things that the Liberal Party of Canada is doing…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Horse dies in Stampede chuckwagon race – no one does anything about it
A chuckwagon race at the Calgary Stampede sometime in the murky past. Cruel to horses then. Cruel to horses now.It was opening night yesterday at the Calgary Stampede: another horse died in a chuckwagon race.So what else is new? Last year six horses di…
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Royal Robots?
Following the opening of the Calgary Stampede and yet another tedious photo-op – this time at the local zoo of all places, apparently to educate the Royal couple about how carbon deposits from the Cretaceous era are ingeniously turned into … Continue reading →
Continue readingCalgaryLiberal: Alberta Liberal Leadership Race: An Open Game
As I took a step back at the convention in May for the Alberta Liberals I recognized something key: it was an open field for anyone to enter and try to win support. The ‘inner party’ folks–the ones who organize, are in the know on thi…
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