In this country, the “golden thread” of criminal law, embodied in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is the presumption of innocence. To quote the Charter, “Any person charged with an offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public
Continue readingTag: Russia
The Disaffected Lib: Bangin’ that Old War Drum, Again.
Maybe it’s because they’re still smarting from getting their asses handed to them in Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe not. Either way it’s getting a bit embarrassing listening to Western military leaders banging the war drums over Russia. NATO, especially, is sounding the alarm of an all-out shooting war with the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Are We Really Willing to Go To War over Ukraine?
Would you be okay if it was your kids in uniform going off to a shooting war with the Russians over Ukraine? The whole idea seems fantastic, ridiculous. We tend to dismiss it as unimaginable but giving it short shrift can be lethal. Earlier this week three words caught my
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The New Frontier is the Russian Border
Think of it as the new equivalent of the East German-West German border. It was across that border that NATO (i.e. US) and Warsaw Pact (i.e. Soviet) forces glared at each other, constantly ready to leap into what probably would have been global annihilation. We’ve moved the line. It’s now
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Vlad Putin – NATO’s Essential Enemy
Vlad Putin has given NATO – well, nothing less than a reason to exist a little longer. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO was a headless chicken, running around aimlessly, still on its feet but just. The North Atlantic alliance pretty much took whatever gig it could get.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: We’ve Already Entered the Counter-Stealth Technology Era
It’ll be years before the over-priced, overdue and underperforming F-35, stealth light-attack bomber, ever shows up in Canadian air force hangars but already the supposed magic of stealth is losing its lustre to the evolution of counter-stealth technology. Ask yourself just what did we expect the countries obviously intended as
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Let’s Hope We Know What We’re Doing.
It’s hard to know what we really wanted. When the West slammed Russia with sanction piled upon sanction were we seeking retribution over Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine or were we really trying to bring Russia to its knees? Western leaders have developed a nasty habit of not thinking things through.
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Che’s daughter Aleida Guevara talks about her father… the Cuban embargo… and more
Upper right: A much younger Aleida with Fidel and Che Aleida Guevara, daughter of Cuban revolutionary leader Che Guevara, was in Moscow recently where she gave an interview to RT. She is a medical doctor based in Havana where she works out of the William Soler Children’s Hospital. In addition
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Putin congratulates Prentice on LGBTQ bill
Russian President Vladimir Putin hunting for grizzly bears. Will Alberta Premier Jim Prentice join him? Below: Mr. Prentice. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Alberta Premier Jim Prentice today for his government’s effort yesterday to make it easy to deny the existence of LGBTQ Albertans by making it difficult for students
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Why Denmark fears militarization of Arctic islands means Canada could soon control almost all of Hudson’s Bay, and other tall tales
If we just listened to Stephen Harper and the BBC, what a wonderful world this would be! Below: Catherine the Great, USAF Gen. Philip Breedlove. Last Wednesday, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported in shocked tones on its online news site that “NATO’s top military commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, has warned
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Bloomberg: Russia-China gas deals spell big trouble for Canadian LNG
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger Damien Gillis- Common Sense Canadian sent this along and it tells the story of how badly the Christy Clark BC Government has handled this from the get-go. The good news is that the potential profitability of fracking is negated by market forces, geography and sheer
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Arms Race Update – US to Spend a Trillion Dollars on Upgrading Nukes
US Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, put it bluntly. “No other mission we have is more important.“ The mission Hagel was referring to was a trillion-dollar, 30-year programme to upgrade America’s nuclear weapon arsenal. A trillion dollars. Even today that’s serious money. According to the Associated Press, Hagel told the Pentagon
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Keeping Score in Cold War II
When it comes to Cold War II, we’re limited to snippets of information; an incident here and there, accusations and counter-accusations. It’s hard to get a meaningful picture of what’s going on. Enter the European Leadership Network, a think tank made up of former senior political and diplomatic types. They’ve
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Sh_t Pravda Says
Ah, Pravda, the legendary propaganda agency of the Soviet Union, is back at it, merrily thrashing about in its favourite Cold War wading pool. Articles such as, “Russia takes complete advantage of castrated Armed Forces of the West,” or, “Russia prepares nuclear surprise for NATO,” or, “Modern Day America, One
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Alberta’s big problem is the same as Russia’s – so what’s Stephen Harper doing about it?
Keep those wells a-pumpin! Keep those oil prices low! Squeeze those Russkies! Uh … just a minute. … isn’t that bad for Alberta’s many varieties of Conservative? Below: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Mr. Harper’s hero, Margaret Thatcher. The Globe and Mail, tireless cheerleader for
Continue readingLeft Over: Keeping Remembrance Day in My Own Way….
Gap’s ‘Remembrance Day deal’ not appropriate, Toronto veteran says ‘The point is not to exploit and profit from this day,’ says Cpl. Chuck Krangle CBC News Posted: Nov 10, 2014 11:10 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 11, 2014 10:57 AM ET Have to agree with Cpl. Krangle, it is
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Word of Warning to NATO from Finland
Finland isn’t impressed with NATO’s anti-Moscow attitude. President Sauli Niinisto will be taking that message to a conference in Helsinki on Thursday with David Cameron and the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic nations. Niinisto says NATO is backing into a new Cold War with Russia. He criticized the West
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Video doc ‘MH-17 The Untold Story’ makes strong case while controversy over crash continues
MH-17: The Untold Story is a recently released investigative documentary on the circumstances surrounding the crash of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing over eastern Ukraine. It calls into question the oft cited belief in mainstream Western media that a Russian separatist BUK missile was behind the downing of the plane. The
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: If It’s Cold War You Want, It’s Cold War You’ll Get
Wasn’t one enough? Really? For almost a half century we, the West, and the Russians/Soviets poured mountains of money down the drain preparing for a war none of us would have survived had it come to that. Underground missile batteries, fleets of nuclear missile submarines, strategic (nuclear) bombers, nuclear-capable strike
Continue readingdrive-by planet: The Oliver Stone Rossiyskaya Gazeta interview: Ukraine, US media bias, Putin, MH-17 and more
American film director, Oliver Stone, recently gave a lengthy interview to the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He is in the region helping to produce a documentary with the title Ukraine on Fire. Excerpts from the interview showed up in various online publications but I just recently came across an English
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