Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Joseph Heath discusses how the Volkswagen emission cheating scandal fits into a particular type of corporate culture: (W)hen the Deepwater Horizon tragedy occurred, or now the VW scandal, it was hardly surprising to people who follow these things. Certain industries essentially harbour and reproducing
Continue readingTag: foreign policy
Democracy Under Fire: Special Forces for National ‘Emergency’s’
Call me paranoid, perhaps I have been following Harpers attacks upon our democracy too long, but I fail to understand why we need to expand our ‘Special Forces’ (at an annual cost of $50 million) “to respond to varied, and sometimes multiple, national and international emergencies.” We do have almost
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The refugee crisis: Harper Conservatives just can’t spin it both ways
PHOTOS: Refugees from the Syrian civil war clog a road near the Syria-Iraq border. (UNHCR photo.) Below: Saskatchewan Conservative MP Kelly Block’s constituency leaflet; Ms. Block herself; Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. For several years, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has played to the worst instincts of a significant
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Richard Nisbett comments on the situational determinants of behaviour which are far too often mistaken for merit or accomplishment. Libby Kane points out how increasing inequality and the predictable social segregation which follows makes it harder for the lucky few to see
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Thompson: Cuba-U.S. détente preceded by major diplomatic milestones
Freelance journalist Glen Malcolm Thompson explains the major diplomatic milestones that preceded the normalization of Cuba-U.S. relations. The post Thompson: Cuba-U.S. détente preceded by major diplomatic milestones appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper must clarify ‘zero tolerance’ for Israel boycotters: Church
The United Church of Canada wants “clear reassurance” that Prime minister Stephen Harper does not intend to criminalize Canadians critical of Israel. The post Harper must clarify ‘zero tolerance’ for Israel boycotters: Church appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Harper’s effort to criminalize legitimate Canadian criticism of Israel is diabolical
Canadians have a moral obligation to revolt against Stephen Harper’s efforts to criminalize both legitimate criticism of Israel and support for Palestinians. The post Harper’s effort to criminalize legitimate Canadian criticism of Israel is diabolical appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: To See Ourselves as Others See Us
Ask anyone in the Third World where, if they had their druthers, they would choose to live and their top choice, hands down, would be the United States. Ask those same people which nation is the greatest threat to world peace and they say, you guessed it, the United States.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Robert Reich offers a long-form look at the relationship between inequality and policies designed to extract riches for the wealthy at everybody else’s expense: The underlying problem, then, is not that most Americans are “worth” less in the market than they had
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Trudeau To Support Harper’ Imminent Iraq War Extension
Liberal leader open to supporting Stephen Harper’s imminent extension of Canada’s combat mission against Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq. The post Trudeau To Support Harper’ Imminent Iraq War Extension appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson link inequality and climate change as massive problems which are generated by political choices (and thus amenable to correction through the political system): Rising inequality is no more natural than global warming. And just as with global
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Top Ten Wars of 2015
And a Happy New Year to you too. The new president of the International Crisis Group, Jean-Marie Guehenno, has issued his own New Year greetings in an article on the ten wars to watch in 2015 in Foreign Policy magazine. For the most part they’re the old familiars that continue to
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Assata Shakur: “I am a 20th century escaped slave”
Cuba-based black revolutionary Assata Shakur says she fled “from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government’s policy towards people of color.” The post Assata Shakur: “I am a 20th century escaped slave” appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canadian mining interests in Guatemala challenged by indigenous direct democracy
In Guatemala, indigenous Mayan communities’ participation in community consulta, or consultation, helps to engage the government, and push back against Canadian and multinational mining companies accused of human rights abuses. The post Canadian mining interests in Guatemala challenged by indigenous direct democracy appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Speech by Cuban President Raul Castro on normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations
In speech, Cuban President Raul Castro thanks Canada for facilitating the high-level dialogue which resulted in the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, maintains that Cuba will not not renounce socialism. The post Speech by Cuban President Raul Castro on normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Susan Bibeau: Ottawa shooter’s mother speaks
Susan Bibeau, the mother of Ottawa shooter Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, says her son was not a terrorist but “felt cornered” and “acted in despair.” The post Susan Bibeau: Ottawa shooter’s mother speaks appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Our Most Worrisome Endangered, Perhaps Already Extinct, Species. World Leaders.
You know it. I know it. Even if you haven’t really thought about it, you’ve probably sensed it. As our world sails into an ever worsening storm, there’s nobody at the helm. Just when we need them most we find ourselves without real leaders. Foreign Policy’s Aaron David Miller contends that
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Militarized Foreign Policy
Perhaps the ultimate legacy of the Bush/Cheney regime was the militarization of America’s foreign policy by which the use or threat of military force came to displace diplomacy as the principle instrument of foreign policy. That Canada should succumb to this same contagion is as lamentable as it is inevitable
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Aaron Wherry reviews what the last week has told us about the functioning (or absence thereof) of our House of Commons – and points out that the most important problem is one which hasn’t yet surfaced in headlines or memes: (T)he most important
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Romeo Dallaire’s last Senate speech criticized Harper’s foreign policy
Romeo Dallaire, the retired Canadian general who led a UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the African country’s 1993 genocide, used his last Senate speech to criticize Harper’s foreign policy. The post Romeo Dallaire’s last Senate speech criticized Harper’s foreign policy appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
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