So, according to U.S. intelligence, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman whacked journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Confirmation of something we already knew. The crown prince is a cold-blooded killer. Regardless of the evidence, he will walk of course. Dictators of various sorts, from the crown prince to Russia’s Putin to
Continue readingTag: U.S. State Department
Alberta Politics: U.S.-based Atlas Network, which has ‘reshaped political power in country after country,’ a funder of Canadian Taxpayers Federation
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a self-described non-partisan tax watchdog and taxpayer advocacy group once headed by Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney, has always been tight-lipped about the sources of its own funding. This may be mildly ironic, given its vocal demands for transparency in government policy, but as a private organization
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 readingLeDaro: The Keystone Tarsands Pipeline Will Have Minimal Environmental Impact… Really?
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy A recently released State Department report claims the environmental impact of the Keystone pipeline would be “minimal.” So… I guess we have no choice, but to build the tarsands pipeline. No need to address the environmental impact of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Advice to Alison Redford: Own fair and reasonable, and leave the comedy riffs about Danielle Smith to us bloggers
Yuck! Alberta Opposition Leader Danielle Smith learns about veterinary medicine at the source. Or was this the lesson on Wisconsin’s “grassroots democracy”? Whatever. After that, she had cheese in Wisconsin. Below: Alberta Premier Alison Redford. I recall hearing somewhere the image experts have come to the conclusion that “if you
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Yikes! U.S. program with remarkable knack for spotting future foreign leaders picks … Danielle Smith
Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith prepares to set off on her 19-day American tour. Future America-friendly leaders may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: Ms. Smith for real. With tout le monde political Alberta focusing on the province’s final farewell to Peter Lougheed, founder of the 41-year Conservative dynasty who
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Harper’s wish for war with Iran: an ill Tory wind that blows no good for Canada
Unlike Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Doge of the Most Serene Republic of Venice was prepared to receive the ambassadors of Persia. Below: Igor Gouzenko, Dr. Samuel Johnson and Winston Churchill. When Igor Gouzenko came in from the cold 67 years ago last Wednesday, Canada had an extremely serious and
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Scientists Tell US State Department Excluding Climate Impacts in Keystone XL Review ‘Neither Wise nor Credible’
Keystone XL protest.jpg Ten of the nation’s top climate scientists penned a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today questioning why the State Department isn't considering the enormous climate change impacts of developing the Alberta tar sands in its review of the controversial Keystone XL export pipeline project. “At the
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: TransCanada’s Latest Extreme Energy Export Pipelines in the U.S. and Canada
shutterstock_48011347.jpg TransCanada was once in the limelight and targeted for its Keystone XL pipeline project. Now, with few eyes watching, it is pushing along two key pipeline projects that would bring two respective forms of what energy geopolitics scholar Michael Klare calls "extreme energy" to lucrative export markets. Pipeline one: the southern
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