It has been a while since playing poker at the local casino. The people who work the tables as a team, at that place, play a rough game. I stick to blackjack and craps at the casino and play poker monthly with a group of friends who have played together
Continue readingTag: NAFTA
Montreal Simon: Donald Trump’s Failed Attempt To Intimidate Canadians
It was a deadline that Donald Trump insisted Canada must respect. In the language of the gangster in the White House, an offer it couldn't refuse.Canadians had until Friday to sign a new NAFTA deal dictated by himself, or there would be trouble.But Team Canada stood its ground refusing to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Day The Mobster Donald Trump Threatened Canada
Almost a week ago I looked at why the grubby Donald Trump was trying to sound like a gangster. And concluded it was because he was desperately afraid of going to the Big House.Well now the cowardly bully is mouthing off again.This time he's threatening Canada.Read more »
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joesph Stiglitz writes that history has proven wrong the theory that the weak recovery from the 2008 economic crash was the result of “secular stagnation” rather than a woefully insufficient public policy response. And Sam Pizzigati points out how the U.S. public is
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Is Andrew Scheer Losing His Marbles?
I didn't get a chance to see Andrew Scheer's reaction to the court decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline until late yesterday evening.But when I did I was shocked, for he looked like a real mess, like a man becoming unravelled, or a young Bela Lugosi.And when a reporter asked
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Why Do Andrew Scheer’s Cons Hate Canada So Much?
I have no idea why Andrew Scheer hates Canada so much. Or why can't put the interests of his country before those of his party.Or why he tries so hard to debase and destroy his opponents.That's something only a psychiatrist, or since he's a religious fanatic, only a minister can answer.But
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Christo Aivalis discusses the future of organized labour and the need for workplace democracy in an era of increased automation: New organizing models and shorter workdays are both viable solutions to address the struggles of encroaching automation, but neither strike to the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump, NAFTA, and the Shame of Andrew Scheer
Donald Trump has been busy recently, lowering, then raising, then lowering the American flag over the White House. President Trump, under enormous public and private pressure, finally issued a proclamation of praise for Mr. McCain on Monday afternoon, two days after the senator’s death, and ordered the flag to be flown
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ontario Electricity Sector VI – Meet the new boss…
The provincial election of June ended 15 years of Liberal electricity policy in Ontario. Anger over high electricity prices continued to be an election issue, contributing to the Liberals loss of power and official party status (reduced from 55 to 7 seats). The PCs have formed Government with 76 seats,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: How to nail the NAFTA sunset clause sticking point
Mexico is showing realism with its latest move towards recognizing that the American administration wanted a different trade agreement, based on fair trade (and not just free trade), and that puts an end to the flight to the bottom of the wage scale. Mexico is prepared to commit to conditions
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 readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how NAFTA has proven wholly ineffective in deterring a destructive U.S. president from starting a gratuitous trade war – and how Canada should respond in charting a new economic course. For further reading…– Andrew Jackson has previously discussed the effects of NAFTA to date, as well as Canada’s
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Monbiot Trashes NAFTA
Guardian enviro-scribe, George Monbiot, hates NAFTA. He thinks it a scam perpetrated without the consent of the peoples of Canada, America and Mexico by their political bosses. Monbiot especially detests the ISDS or Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause. He also defends Donald Trump’s demand for a 5-year “sunset clause.” In seeking
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Our ‘Pollyanna’ foreign minister.
You have to be very gullible to believe the statements Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland has been making after each of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sessions. It seems lately that only Mexico is being obdurate over those proposed clauses that will harm that country’s positions. And yet
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Martin Wolf reviews Mariana Mazzucato’s The Value of Everything, including its distinction between value creation and value extraction. And Yvonne Roberts points out how millenial workers are being left with little but large debts as a result of inequality between classes and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Quirks & Quarks examines the potentially devastating effects of a dilbit spill on British Columbia’s coast. And David Climenhaga warns that Kinder Morgan is looking at NAFTA to provide it an alternate source of risk-free profits at public expense. – Mia Rabson reports
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Paul Krugman writes that a transition to a clean energy economy is well within reach – as long as politicians don’t put the interests of oil money over our economic and environmental future. But Gordon Laxer notes that NAFTA already limits Canada’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Tom Parkin discusses the Libs’ identity politics – and how they endanger people’s substantive interests both in what the Libs fail to do, and in the predictable reaction from right-wing populists: For Liberals, identity politics is a distraction from economic policies that are
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Peter Gowan and Ryan Cooper write about the need for much more affordable social housing across the income spectrum. Rhys Kesselman responds to a few of the more laughable attacks on British Columbia’s more progressive property tax. And Stephen Punwasi discusses the Financial
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Are Two Sellouts Pending?
He’s loved of the distracted multitude, multitude, who like not in their judgement, but their eyes. Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 3 As Claudius in the above states, there will always be those who suspend their deeper thinking when evaluating public figures, preferring to reflexively accept the public images the latter
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