PHOTOS: Dignitaries stand around and have their photos taken at the Leduc No. 1 well near Devon on – if the Internet is to be believed – this day in 1947. Not sure if I believe that, seeing as the first photo below was supposed to have been taken on
Continue readingTag: Economics
The Common Sense Canadian: Liberal pals plundering BC Hydro for tens of Billions
By Norm Farrell Until the mid-twentieth century, much of British Columbia lacked reliable and affordable electricity. To resolve the privation, W.A.C. Bennett created BC Hydro, a publicly owned utility. The province’s leader acted because the private sector had refused to meet growing needs for electricity. Unlike less effective successors, Premier
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: SK Government Response Too Slow
“”The secrecy around pipeline spills in Saskatchewan is astonishing,” said Keith Stewart, head of Greenpeace Canada’s climate and energy campaign, in an email on Tuesday. “First the government waits three days to announce it, then the company will neither confirm nor deny that it’s their oil. More worrisome, however, is
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Sask Party Putting People Out of Work
The Sask Party has hit a new low. “Province laying off 251 custodial workers, “lowest paid government employees,” says union” A tender for cleaning services at SGI’s head office was sent out last week. Those being laid off work in government-owned properties, like the Legislative Building and the T.C. Douglas Building
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Requiem for the American Dream
This is Chomsky’s last long-form documentary. It came out in January, but I hadn’t heard about it until recently. I paraphrased/transcribed the 72 minute video liberally with links to further readings below. It’s about the American Dream: the idea that you can be born poor but work hard enough for
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: North Dakota Wind Beats Saskatchewan Coal
2. How about neighbour North Dakota?Coal 4185 MWGas 248 MWWind 1759 MWYou could REPLACE either Coal or Gas in #skpoli with ND's #wind — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) December 13, 2016 4. Wall's government and Harper's spent more than $1,400,000,000 on #CCS, and it produces so far little more than 100MW.
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Requiem for the American Dream
This is Chomsky’s last long-form documentary. It came out in January, but I hadn’t heard about it until recently. I paraphrased the 72 minute video liberally with links to further readings below. It’s about the American Dream: the idea that you can be born poor but work hard enough for
Continue readingThings Are Good: Economy Continues to Grow Despite Decrease in Emissions
Economists used to measure progress using emission rates correlated to GDP, now that comparison is ridiculous. A few years ago we looked at how carbon output is shrinking while economies grow and that is continuing to be the case. Earlier this year it was predicted that the global economy will
Continue readingThings Are Good: It’s Time for the Economy to Shrink
money With the frequent boom and bust cycles the economy goes through it is rare for people to argue that perhaps the downward portion of cycles should continue. Shrinking the economy can actually be a good thing when done with good direction. DW has gathered many examples of places and
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fate of BC’s ancient forests is a question of “values”
Craig Pettitt of Valhalla Wilderness Society in the Incomappleux Valley How do we value wilderness? What metrics should we apply to an 1,800-year-old tree, or the tiny lichens that make their home on it? What numbers do we input into our calculator – ecosystem services rendered, tonnes of carbon sequestered, cubic metres
Continue readingKersplebedeb | Kersplebedeb: Surplus Absorption, Realization Crisis, and Imperialism (David Gilbert, November 2015)
David Gilbert, a political prisoner held in New York State since 1981, wrote the following text in 2015, examining the the ways in which capitalism is confronted by, and contends with, crises in surplus absorption and realization, in the imperialist age. David was not entirely satisfied with this text in the end,
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Paved Paradise Because Parking Was Already There
July 5th, 2016, after years of a mud pit following the rip-out of the previous playground: Now it looks like this again: Reasoning given: A project of this scale requires a large site and staging area directly adjacent to the building. The site, the courtyard immediately west of the building
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On the Nature of Gifts and Help
Being helped so much by so many has led me to thinking about the idea of help and of gifts and Derrida’s idea that gifts are impossible in that, in part and very briefly (he wrote a whole book on this), once we give to someone it sets up a
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Wall Took Money From Who?
Who has the Saskatchewan Party accepted donations from? The UofR, City of Regina, Regina Public Library, etc. Most of the cash came from oil companies such as Crescent Point, Cenovus, Encana and PennWest, though the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, the Canadian Western Bank and construction company PCL also contributed. …The NDP last
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Too Much Climate Change Truth
Brad Wall’s “plan is laughable“. That’s because it isn’t a plan to address climate change, it’s a plan to sweep it under the rug for another decade. Too bad we’re short of time and marching toward oblivion. Clearly, Wall now thinks we’ve fallen a long way as a province since
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: What’s Really Going On With Climate Change
There are too many people espousing their uneducated, or simply malicious views about the problem of climate change. There are enough of them in some places as to have totally halted progress against one of the greatest threats facing not only our species, but countless others. It’s equivalent to having
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Goodbye, Politics, Re-Spun! Hello, WePivot.net!
“Politics, Re-Spun” is now WePivot.net! but why, you scream in horror! next month is the 14th anniversary of Politics, Re-Spun…it’s time for a reframing/rebranding/pivot to something more…betterer, or more bigly, if you will. 14 years ago, in the twisted Orwellian months after 9/11 where words did not mean what words
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Sandra Jansen is right, there are Progressive Conservatives in Alberta
Yippee! Sandra Jansen just confirmed she’s running for the leadership of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party. This is good news because her campaign will test Jason Kenney’s assertion that there’s no such thing as a progressive conservative. Kenney is peddling the line that there are only two kinds of people in
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: We Hear #carbontax Won’t Work But It Will Change Behaviour
Coyne has a point: .@acoyne @ZackSiezmagraff Yes, exactly. Same way people don't like paying taxes so they avoid them, but a #carbontax won't change behaviour. — Saskboy (@saskboy) October 14, 2016 Kevin replies, “I’m planning the purchase of a wood stove…” Would you normally buy a wood stove? No, but
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: A Tax on Everything Is Coming
Run for the hills! .@CNN #PriceOnCarbon article: "because we've been so slow to act on this crisis, bold action is now required" https://t.co/PvV1Y1oFdM — Pembina Institute (@Pembina) October 5, 2016 I realize several people who I’m friends with, think Premier Wall is great for Saskatchewan. I’ve never held a high
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