Last week, Heather McPherson, New Democrat Member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona, was sounding as belligerent as any Alberta Conservative on the topic of what she termed “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.” In a lead-up to a question in the House of Commons, a clip of which Ms. McPherson distributed on
Continue readingTag: Russia
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Russia, Fascism & The West
Whatever problems Russia has, and every country has problems, as does Russia, two things are clear: Russia is not trying to take over the world. Davos and Washington are doing that. The West is in no position to criticize any nation over human rights. We have imported the Chinese totalitarian
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Despite COVID-19, 15,000 people join Fight for Equity rally against racism at Alberta Legislature
A mostly youthful throng estimated at more than 15,000 people braved the coronavirus pandemic yesterday evening to join the Fight for Equity rally against racism at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton. The rally was organized in response the public murder of George Floyd, an African American man, at the hands
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Oil Capitals Hunker Down
To Calgarians, the city is starting to feel like a punching bag. Its primary industry suffers one body blow after another. Oil prices crashed at the end of 2014 as surprising growth in U.S. shale production boosted supply while OPEC refused to cut its output. Major investment firms, finally recognizing
Continue readingFrom Emperors to Emperors and Tsars to Tsars—Plus ça change
The French proverb plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same) most aptly describes what has been happening at the pinnacle of government in China and Russia. Two years ago, the Chinese Communist Party, completely dominated by its 64-year-old president
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Remember when Canada was about to become ‘a global energy powerhouse’? So how’d that work out?
Anybody remember Stephen Harper’s plan to turn Canada into “an energy superpower”? That was in July 2006, a dream articulated in Mr. Harper’s first speech abroad as Canada’s prime minister. Canada was not only about to become “a new energy superpower,” Mr. Harper told the Canada-U.K. Chamber of Commerce in
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: The Cartel Still Rules … Sort of
It isn’t easy to convince nominally free-market Albertans that monopoly and government interference in the market made us rich, but of course they did. Nothing has contributed more to the province’s coffers than OPEC, the oil-producing countries’ cartel. OPEC’s control of supply has kept oil prices well above what a
Continue readingThe EU Declares War
I apologize for the alarmist headline. The European Union hasn’t actually declared war, more a case of having recognized a war, a shadow war. Vera Jourova, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, claims Russia and China are engaging in a “digital war” with fake news and
Continue readingThe Quality and the Rabble in American Government
The health of democracy, indeed government generally, often rests more with the quality of a country’s civil servants than with the quality of its politicians and their associates. Rarely have we seen as graphic a contrast between the two as we are seeing at the Trump impeachment hearings. On the
Continue readingDemocracy or Putinism?
Vladimir Putin has been quoted as saying that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” Whether or not his words have been interpreted correctly is a matter of dispute; nonetheless, his compatriots apparently agree with the sentiment. According to a recent survey by
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Why Canadian media won’t call post-Brexit protests ‘pro-democracy demonstrations’
If there are riots in Britain after the hard Brexit Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party cronies have scheduled for Halloween, will mainstream media in Canada describe them as “pro-democracy demonstrations” as they do when similar violent outbursts take place nowadays in Hong Kong or Moscow? On the
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Britain has bullied Iran for centuries
Britain’s imperial designs on Iran go back at least to the Great Game with Russia over control of trade routes through central Asia in the 19th century. Indeed, Iran’s southern and eastern boundaries were set by the British during the Anglo-Persian War (1856-7). By the end of the century, Britain
Continue readingPutin Fails Liberal Democracy 101
Vladimir Putin is perhaps first among the anti-democratic strongmen that have emerged to soil the world. At the recent G20 summit he couldn’t resist taking a shot at liberal democracy, suggesting that it is becoming obsolete. The fact is that while the system he so loved, and faithfully served—Soviet Communism—lies
Continue readingAlberta Politics: U.S. brags about targeting Russian power plants with cyber-attacks – have they lost their minds?
Back in 2011, not long after Barack Obama had been sworn in as president of the United States, a Pentagon spokesperson warned that henceforth and forevermore, the United States intended to treat cyber-attacks by other nations as acts of war. “A response to a cyber-incident or attack on the U.S.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: A timely reminder on this historic day: The hammer of D-Day crushed Hitler on the anvil of Russia
FREDERICTON, N.B. – It’s now been 75 years since our magnificent Canadian soldiers went ashore at Juno Beach in Normandy to play their part the grim and deadly task of sweeping Hitler and his odious empire from Europe. Canadians need to remember, though, that the landings on June 6, 1944,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Lest we forget? Does Veterans Affairs’ video blooper signal something more seriously amiss in Canada?
On Thursday 13,000 soldiers of what used to be known as the Red Army marched through the heart of Moscow to military bands playing “The Sacred War” as Russia marked the 74th anniversary of the surrender of Berlin and the end of the road for Hitler’s “Thousand Year Reich.” According
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: What Has Mueller Really Done? Think.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has a lot to show for his two-year investigation. He’s indicted some 37 individuals. Of those within his reach, most charged have pleaded guilty. Others have been convicted at trial. The remainder await trial. The local gang have mainly been indicted for lying to investigators. Manafort
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: There’s a Reason They Called it MAD.
They were all the rage in my day. Tactical nuclear weapons, mini-nukes, or “those little bags of instant sunshine.” Somewhere around here I’ve got a then-“secret” field manual laying out how these weapons were to be used in the event of a massive Soviet invasion of western Europe. All eyes
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Geopolitical Interlude – Conflict in the Ukraine
The lives of the common people seem to always come last when it comes to geopolitical considerations.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What’s the appropriate response to Riyadh’s diplomatic hysterics? How about reopening our embassy in Tehran?
Is there an appropriate response by Canada to the bizarre events of the last few hours on the diplomatic circuit? It’s not just that Canada’s ambassador has been kicked out of Saudi Arabia for Tweets by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and an official in her department that by
Continue reading