The Kurds: They should have had a country of their own, but since they don’t, and since Canada is allied by treaty to one of their principal enemies, letting Canadians join their fight isn’t a simple matter. We need clarity on just what Canada’s position is from the Canadian government.
Continue readingTag: Vladimir Putin
Alberta 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 readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper, Vladimir Putin, and the Great G20 Showdown
OMG. I see Stephen Harper has stolen the spotlight at the G20 summit, by going dictator to dictator, with Vladimir Putin.Stephen Harper told Russian President Vladimir Putin flatly that he needs "to get out of Ukraine," when the two met at a Group of 20 summit of major economies in
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 readingdrive-by planet: Risk of ‘accidental’ nuclear war: Chomsky on the ‘worst case scenario’
It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which any world power would deliberately start a nuclear war given the dire consequence for the planet. Rational thinking and the will to survive prevents us from believing that any nation… any leader… could be crazy enough to intentionally unleash what could well
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Political business in great waters: When they that go down to the sea in ships are up to no good!
Prime Minister and First Lord of the Admiralty Stephen Harper. For all we know, actual Canadian prime ministers do appear in silk stockings and tri-corner hats exactly as illustrated. You know, in private. Below: The unlucky Sir John Franklin. O Eternal Lord God, who alone rulest the raging of the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Stephen Harper the Chicken Hawk Gets his Feathers Plucked
Well as you know, no world leader has screamed as loudly about the crisis in Ukraine as has Stephen Harper.If words were weapons the Russians would have surrendered by now.But now NATO is demanding that he put his money where his mouth or his snout is.And the chicken hawk has
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Why Edmonton Strathcona electors should vote NDP, as (not exactly) explained by Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland
Toronto Spadina MP Chrystia Freeland, a Liberal, after speaking at the University of Alberta Faculty Club last week. Below: Eleanor Olszewski, nominated Liberal candidate in the federal Edmonton Strathcona riding; Linda Duncan, NDP MP for Edmonton Strathcona. Last Wednesday night, during an engaging talk at the University of Alberta Faculty
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A return to civility? An end to Internet anonymity? Please! The leaders of all Parliamentary parties need protection now
Political discourse in Canada, as seen by the National Post, that well known champion of common courtesy. Below: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. The National Post is shocked, just shocked, at the tone of the public commentary responding to the threatening break-in at Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau’s Ottawa home while
Continue readingMontreal Simon: So What Do Canadians REALLY Think of Stephen Harper?
Well, we know he has a high opinion of himself. That he likes to rule like a king.We know that he ordered that the Canadian government should henceforth be known as the Harper government.And that these days he's posing as a Great World Leader. Spoke to President Obama earlier today
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: One of the most Powerful Countries in the World Can no Longer be Trusted
There is a Public Relations firm operating in both the United States and Canada, Ketchum Inc., that has for the past several years, been working with Vladimir Putin, to sell Russian influence in the United States. They run an English language website, ThinkRussia.com and when tensions first began to rise
Continue readingdrive-by planet: The West’s dangerous game: anti-Russia media hype and the MH-17 blame game
Obama continued with the blame game this week as a raft of new sanctions were introduced against Russia. In remarks directed at Moscow, he said that the ‘destabilization of a sovereign country [Ukraine] cannot be accepted in 21st century Europe.’ Obama must have a short and highly selective memory. It
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: More Government Propaganda While Canada Once Again Stands Alone
A very strange Oped piece appeared in the Globe and Mail on the weekend, written by none other than Stephen Harper. It was a follow up to a government announcement that we would be giving the Ukrainian military another 220 million dollars, on top of the 300 million already provided,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: A meditation on the parlous state of the prime ministerial belfry: is he batty, or what?
Psychological-political portrait of Prime Minister Stephen Harper by Edmonton artist William Prettie. (Used with permission.) Below: The young Vladimir Putin; the young Stephen Harper. When I ponder our prime minister’s mental state nowadays, my mind spontaneously offers up a rude phrase about the things bats leave behind in belfries. Prime
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Will Harper’s Red Scare Become the Pink Blush of Embarrassment?
“The development of mutually advantageous and constructive relations with Israel in the political, economic, humanitarian and other fields was and will remain the priority of Russia’s foreign policy.” — President Vladimir Putin Journalist Jered Feldschreiber wrote recently of the friendly relationship between Russia and Israel, despite the fact that Putin
Continue readingdrive-by planet: The contradiction between Poroshenko’s peace plan and Kiev’s actions… rhetoric
Top: Former Ukraine president Leonid Kuchma, OSCE’s Heidi Tagliavini and Russian ambassador Mikhail Zurabov in talks with separatist leaders Beneath: Alex Borodai and fighters Kiev’s recently declared ceasefire was initially rejected by pro-Russian separatists, in part because it was unilaterally declared by Kiev without prior negotiation. Separatist leaders have since
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Chicken Hawk Harper’s Hollow War on Russia
As I mentioned in my last post, Stephen Harper has been making a complete fool out of himself with his latest war of words with Vladimir Putin.But at least he is getting some strong words of encouragement from his devoted friend Tony Abbott. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called Russia a
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Enough petulant propaganda, please: the hammer of D-Day crushed Hitler on the anvil of Russia
D-Day on Juno Beach: Canadians trudge ashore under a strange colorized sky. Below: The distinguished Canadian military historian, the late Reginald H. Roy. It’s been 70 years today since our magnificent Canadian soldiers went ashore at Juno Beach in Normandy to play their part the grim and deadly task of
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Use of Putin-as-fuhrer meme part of effort to demonize Russia: prince Charles’ Nazi relatives
Bottom right: Charles’ great uncle Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson fawning over Adolf Hitler During a recent 4-day visit to Canada, Prince Charles visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax. In the course of speaking with a volunteer named Marienne Ferguson whose family fled Poland in advance of the
Continue readingLeDaro: Vladimir Putin basically told Stephen Harper to go and take a hike
Stephen Harper thinks he is a world leader. He has been prominent in criticizing Russia over Ukraine and promised Ukraine some military help. Putin primarily told him to go and ‘screw yourself’. A toast to Stevie “The Conservative government’s tough rhetoric over Russia’s actions in Ukraine may play well to
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