“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don’t have to buy from a foreign source.” Texas Governor Rick Perry. Clarinda, Iowa December 27th And his audience applauded. New York Times Where is Rick Mercer asking a presidental candidate
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Bene Diction Blogs On: Evangelical Fellowship of Canada VP unhappy with CBC
EFC Vice-President, lawyer Don Hutchinson is not happy with CBC coverage of government consultations on the proposed Office of Religious Freedom. Well, there you have it. I’ve been outed by the CBC. Yes, it’s true. I was a panelist at the Department of Foreign Affairs consultation on establishing an Office of Religious
Continue readingBene Diction Blogs On: Andre Bocelli I Believe
If you’ve appreciated Bene Diction Blogs On why not click over to the Canadian Blog Awards and vote for BDBO in the Best Religion and Philosophy Blog category? Voting ends December 24th, 12 am. I’ll be returning December 28th. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and God bless us every one.
Continue readingBene Diction Blogs On: Accountability and transparency
Sometimes we use words or get so used to hearing words in relation to certain things or events, we don’t stop to think about what the words mean, or wonder if another person using the words has an understanding of what they are saying. The words accountability and transparency are
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: “End Medicare?” How Phony Bipartisanship Created a Fact Checking Disaster
pinocchio.jpg Just last week, I wrote about the core problem facing the new breed of political fact-checkers: The political right is more factually wrong, meaning that taking a strictly “bipartisan” approach will inevitably leave the fact-checkers themselves guilty of phony “balance.” And it will also lead to them occasionally having
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Climate-Media Paradox: More Coverage, Stalled Progress
who speaks for the climate.jpg For those of us who care about global warming, 2006 and 2007 felt like pretty good years. Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for An Inconvenient Truth, sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Media attention to the issue soared, and it
Continue readingBene Diction Blogs On: Prairie Bible Institute picks Calgary church to investigation abuse allegations
Centre Street Church in Calgary has not confirmed they have accepted the Prairie Bible Institute offer, nor has the church made an announcement or provided further information such as what professional staff is available (ie: provincial registered mediators, mental health staff, legal assistance). Dr. Mollering (PhD in biblical counselling) mentioned
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Andy Revkin Interviews Franke James On Dot Earth: Canada’s Approach To Inconvenient Art
Franke James Banned On The Hill.png Andy Revkin has a great interview with Canadian artist Franke James on his Dot Earth blog at The New York Times. DeSmogBlog previously covered the harrasment and censorship that Franke James says she experienced at the hands of the Harper government, which worked in strangely
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Can Fact Checking be Politically “Neutral,” When Facts Are Not Equally Distributed Across the Political Spectrum?
pinocchio.jpg Recently, I sat in on an off-the-record meeting about political fact-checking. I can’t report or quote from the event, but it spurred along some general thoughts that had already arisen in the context of writing The Republican Brain, which focuses a great deal on fact-checking—and thus, helped propel this post.
Continue readingBene Diction Blogs On: When loyalty is confused for love
But when loyalty becomes a practice of dismissing the consideration of right and wrong in order to “stand with” somebody, then it ceases to be a good civil habit, and it becomes something else. Sadly Christian Fundamentalism has promoted loyalty way, way more than it has promoted love. I can
Continue readingBene Diction Blogs On: Prairie Bible School President to abuse survivors – Are you going to suck or are you going to blow?
Prairie Bible School, which has received media attention for claims by former students and staff kids of physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse has decided not to hire a US group called G.R.A.C.E. Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alta., is poised to hire a third-party mediator to handle claims
Continue readingMike Powell Fanclub: Radio topics, December 13
Happy Tuesday! CKCU is on the air, and I’ve got an exciting show lined up. At 8:05, we’ll be speaking with Jane Hilderman from Samara about their new report, The Real Outsiders. At 8:30, we’ll chat with Geoff Green of Students on Ice about their upcoming Antarctic trip. We’ll also
Continue readingBene Diction Blogs On: Secret life of Alabama politican Bill Johnson
A 52 year old married former Alabama politican didn’t tell his wife. He didn’t tell New Zealand fertility doctors. He wasn’t forthcoming with the women he contacted online. Bill Johnson, who has been working with earthquake relief in Christchurch New Zealand has caused a different kind of quake in his
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: BREAKING: Canada Pulls Out of Kyoto Protocol
TarSandsLeaf.jpg Canada is pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol, the cornerstone of international climate negotiations, in the wake of the failed COP17 climate talks in Durban. Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent announced Canada's bail-out of Kyoto as he returned from Durban. The Kyoto Protocol was ratified by Canada in 2002, when
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: A Democrat Undermines Science
planb_200x170.jpg In my debate a few months back with Kenneth Green about the left, the right, and science, my colleague really could have used some more strong examples of left wing science abuse. Now, he has one. There is no other way to spin it: The Obama administration’s decision to ignore the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: "Raising Elijah": An Interview With Ecologist and Author Sandra Steingraber
Raising Elijah.jpg Q: In light of your new book Raising Elijah: Protecting Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis, which raises the specter of raising children in troubled times, both environmentally and ecologically, are you surprised that natural gas corporations have been producing public relations and propaganda materials like coloring books
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Youth Delegate Anjali Appadurai Speaks Truth to Power at Conclusion of COP17 in Durban
Perhaps the most powerful speech made in all of COP17 at Durban came at the very end, a statement by Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, who addressed the conference on behalf of the youth delegates. Her scornful depiction of the utter failure of the
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