Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Richard Partington reports on new OECD data showing that wages are continuing to soar for the lucky few in the developed world while stagnating for everybody else, as well as on the Rowntree Foundation’s observation that single-income families in the UK have fallen
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Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – James Galbraith reminds us of the danger extreme inequality poses to any social bonds – and the need for political action to counteract the current momentum toward further concentration of wealth: Controlling inequality—like controlling blood pressure—is good for your economic health. Economies with
Continue readingMontreal Simon: What Will Stephen Harper Actually Do At The White House?
It's not hard to figure out why Stephen Harper wants to visit the White House. He's been waiting for an invitation for a very long time.And goodness knows he needs the publicity, since no Canadian Prime Minister has been forgotten by so many, so quickly.But since we don't know what
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Alex Ballingall reports on the efforts of the United Nations’ special rapporteur on housing Leilani Farha to push for an enforceable right to housing – and the Libs’ predictable demurral in favour of vague aspirational statements. And Jen St. Denis points out that
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Do we need a Canadian version of the Logan Act to put a stop to dangerous freelance diplomacy?
Most observers of Canada-U.S. politics and the two countries’ unexpectedly fraught trade relationship would agree former prime minister Stephen Harper’s no-longer-secret visit to the White House on Tuesday is unlikely to do much good and has the potential to do harm. What Mr. Harper, now just another private citizen in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: As reproductive rights wither in the United States, a UCP candidate’s abortion-restricting strategy for Canada is revealed
“On abortion, we’re never going to see a black and white, yes or no question. My job as your MP is to fight for incremental changes. … It’s called the foot-in-the-door tactic.” — Joseph Schow On a day when there’s serious talk in the United States that women’s right to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump and the Stephen Harper Missile
As we all know, relations between Justin Trudeau and the madman in the White House have been going from bad to worse.With Donald Trump doing all he can to try to intimidate Trudeau, and force him and Canada to surrender to his insane demands.And now it seems he has a new,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Katrina vanden Heuvel discusses how the Trump tax giveaway to the rich will exacerbate class and race inequality in the U.S. And David Climenhaga offers a reminder that Alberta’s budget crunch remains a product of its failure to collect a reasonable level of
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s not equalization! It’s the taxes, stupid! They’re almost too low to keep the lights on and something’s gotta give
It’s not equalization. It’s the taxes, stupid! That is to say, Alberta’s taxes are too low to run the place over the long term and something’s gotta give. The great thing about Alberta’s never-ending tantrum about equalization and how the province of Quebec taxes and spends, at least from the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Wawmeesh Hamilton discusses the lack of basic upkeep of desperately-needed First Nations homes, as the federal government looks to transfer responsibility without providing funding. Jamie Grierson notes that the UK’s lack of resources for supportive housing results in survivors of domestic abuse
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump and the Return Of the Blood Libel
It had to be one of the most obscene sights I have ever seen. Donald Trump using the dead to smear illegal immigrants as criminals.President Trump hit back on Friday at criticism over his administration’s hard-line stance on immigration, lamenting the “death and destruction caused by people that shouldn’t be here,”
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andray Domise discusses both the U.S.’ choice to be an intentionally safe destination for refugees, and Canada’s complicity in validating that choice and other policies of dehumanization rather than speaking out against even such obvious abuses as the imprisonment of children. And the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “A Little Child Shall Lead Them.”
Yes, that quote from Isaiah in the Christian bible is out of context. It still seems appropriate. It is used in Isaiah to set the scene of the beasts of the forest lying with farmers’ domesticated animals—and a little child shall lead them. In this case it sets the scene
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David Ball offers a reminder that Canada’s immigration system includes the needless detention of children – and that we should be working on ensuring families can stay together, rather than claiming any virtue in merely falling short of the scale being implemented
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Should Justin Trudeau Call An Early Election?
As you probably know Donald Trump's decision to declare war on Canada has sent Justin Trudeau's popularity skyrocketing.According to the latest poll his approval rating hasn't been as high since he won the 2015 election.But since the tariffs we have imposed on the United States don't come into effect until July the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Bill Maher on Trump and Trudeau as Goofus and Gallant
Donald Trump's decision to attack Justin Trudeau and declare war on Canada is deeply disturbing and the act of a madman.But one of the bright spots in this darkness is the way many Americans have rallied behind Trudeau and expressed their support for Canada. Read more »
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chrystia’s Cassandra Complex?
Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, might not be a fortune teller but she had more than a few truths for the Americans last week. Our only concern might be with her timing, discretion and diplomacy. As the expression goes: Rome was not built in a day—and it took a few
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Justin Trudeau, Michael Harris, and the Trump Bump
For months Michael Harris has been looking for any excuse to attack Justin Trudeau, blaming him for just about everything.From his failure to disarm Saudi Arabia to the state of the weather.But not any longer.Read more »
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Trump’s anti-Canadian antics are good news for Alberta pipeline advocates – whether or not that was the plan
U.S. President Donald Trump may not actually have intended to deliver a blow to West Coast environmentalists opposed to the completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project, but he has done so with his recent dubious allegations about Canada’s trading practices. Building a pipeline capable of carrying diluted bitumen
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Colbert Takes Aim At Trump’s Hot Date With Kim Jong Un
Well by now we all know about Donald Trump's new bromance with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.And how he likes Kim more than he likes Justin Trudeau.Which can only please the treasonous Trumpling Andrew Scheer.And while many pundits have taken aim at Trump's depraved relationship with Kim Jong
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