PHOTOS: The controversial photo of Mr. Donald, Ivanka Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto … Wait! That’s Joe Trudeau! Below: U.S. Presidents whose “First Ladies” weren’t necessarily their wives, for one reason or another … Thomas Jefferson, who predated the whole First Lady phenomenon; Martin van Buren, a widower; Grover Cleveland,
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Alberta Politics: A Tale of Two Traitors: Or, does President Donald Trump even get this betrayal thing?
PHOTOS: Donald J. Trump – American Caligula, or just an American idiot? President Trump may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: H.A.R. Philby, as portrayed in a Soviet stamp, and Igor Sergeievich Gouzenko, Cold War side switchers. Sally Q. Yates, fired by Mr. Trump for “betraying” the Justice Department. Harold
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Is a Pink Revolution beginning in America? This genie will be hard to put back in its bottle!
PHOTOS: A Pink Revolution? Protesters in Washington yesterday (Washington Post photo). Below: U.S. President Donald Trump, the demonstration yesterday in Edmonton and CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va. Was it just my imagination, or was there a whiff of “colour revolution” in the air yesterday south of the Medicine Line? Yesterday
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Deep irony in the deep state: Some thoughts about those post-Christmas American ‘spy’ expulsions
PHOTOS: A couple of Russian “intelligence operatives” pensively contemplate the news they’re about to be kicked out of the United States for acting like journalists. Actual GRU deep cover agents may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Russian President Vladimir Putin disguised as well-known journalist Clark Kent; U.S. President-elect Donald
Continue readingAlberta Politics: I come to bury Castro, not to praise him: unpacking conservative fury at PM Justin Trudeau’s condolences
PHOTOS: Fidel Castrol in his heyday. Mr. Castro died Friday at 90. Below: An affectionate Havana scene … “Viva Fidel por siempre;” Margaret Trudeau, Mr. Castro and Pierre Trudeau in 1976; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died at 90 last year; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Before I start, let’s
Continue readingAlberta Politics: If Donald Trump won’t knuckle under, could he face an American ‘Colour Revolution’?
PHOTOS: One of many anti-Trump rallies in the United States in the past few days (from Facebook). Below: U.S. President Elect Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, U.S. Senator John McCain and Julius Caesar. It would be an irony if the troubles the United States has visited on much
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Part II: If there’s no Russian threat in the Baltics, why is Canada so enthusiastic about a new Cold War there?
PHOTOS: The memorial to the Soviet soldiers who died conquering the city of Berlin in 1945, the last time a major world power seriously underestimated and misjudged the Russians. Below: NATO’s top soldier, Czech General Petr Pavel and the U.S. Army
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Part I: What will NATO get up to in the north now that the chill is off between Russia and Turkey in the south?
PHOTOS: NATO pilots salute back in the day, when you could make a case there was actually a reason for the military alliance to exist. Below: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. MUNICH, Germany Relations between…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: News Satire: U.S. will not tolerate foreigners acting like Americans, officials say
ILLUSTRATIONS: A map showing some of the countries in which the United States has interfered in the political process (grabbed from Geology.com). Below: U.S. CIA Director John O. Brennan, Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candid…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: New York Times coverage of Russian hacking deserves another Pulitzer – for fiction!
PHOTOS: Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who the New York Times blames for everything. (Photo from Kremlin.ru.) Below: Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary R. Clinton; former Nixon speechwriter Patrick J. Buchanan; Republican Party presi…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Did Allah Take The Wheel?
The West’s policies and actions in the Middle East have set the stage for tragedy. The destruction and destabilization of states and the creation of a new Cold War flash-point in Syrian (and one upcoming in the Ukraine) are spreading chaos in the world. The mass murder in Nice, France is an example, par excellence, […]
Alberta Politics: Victory Day in Moscow: some thoughts about the wisdom of messing with Russia
PHOTOS: A scene for last year’s May 9 Victory Day Parade in Moscow. The red banner visible in the centre is one of the Soviet victory flags hoisted over the Reichstag in Berlin in May 1945. Below: My military history professor, Reginald H. Roy and Br…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Questions without answers: Why are our U.S. allies so ambivalent about ISIS, and what does it mean for Canada?
PHOTOS: U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner. (Screen grab from C-SPAN.) Below: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Conservative interim Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. For all we know, Syrian President Bashar a…
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: US Intervention In Syria: The Next Iraq
Here is a very brief synopsis of the US role in Syria. We will, for the sake of brevity, leave aside for the moment the obvious and documented facts of the US arming and supporting of the very terrorist groups they claim to be fighting; as well as th…
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Toxic Geopolitics of the Middle East – Richard Falk
Taken from his essay on Counterpunch called Slouching Toward Global Disaster. “Toxic Geopolitics It is impossible to understand and explain such a disastrous failure of military interventionism without considering the effects of two toxic ‘special relationships’ formed by the United States, with Israel and Saudi Arabia. The basic feature of such special relationships is an […]
Alberta Politics: Short-term jobs and profits notwithstanding, Canada’s interests are not served by Saudi armoured vehicle sale
PHOTOS: A Canadian LAV III similar to the armoured vehicles to be sold by General Dynamics Land Systems (Canada) of London, Ont., to the Saudi National Guard. Below: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion, former MI6 head Sir Ri…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why Canada’s belligerent Conservatives are likely praying for peace in the Persian Gulf
PHOTOS: The nuclear powered American aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf in in 2014. (U.S. Navy photo.) Mighty warships are the carriers, but in the constricted waters of the Gulf, vulnerable nevertheless. Below: A map of the Gulf…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Year in review: from plunging oil to rising hope, the Top Ten news stories of 2015
PHOTOS: Cameras try to follow a nearly invisible Rachel Notley through the crowd at an Edmonton hotel on May 5, 2015, moments after she had been declared the winner of the Alberta election. No one could quite believe that the NDP had just won a majorit…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Reassessing NATO: Canada shouldn’t let itself be ‘Article Fived’ into a war by Turkey’s Islamist president
PHOTOS: A bunch of NATO political bureaucrats try to look busy in this file photo. Recognize anyone? Below: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Does it benefit Canada in …
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brad Wall’s call to block refugees from Syria is just more of the same old conservative wedge politics
PHOTOS: Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall (CBC Photo). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and B.C. Premier Christy Clark. Bottom: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is either demonized or ignored by Western mainstream media. In light of the inevitably angry and emotional response to the Paris terror attacks
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