Canadian Environment Ministers Agree: Oil is an Infinite Resource
The breathtaking inanity of Canadian energy policy can be summed up no better than the statement expressing the shared beliefs of natural resources minister Joe Oliver and all of his…
2011
I’m An Old Man! I’m Confused!
Did anyone else get an Uncle Leo vibe from Murdoch's "old man" routine yesterday? It is the oldest trick in the book, the old "I can't be guilty because I…
More News for Optimists
This summer I’ve been doing a lot of travelling and haven’t been updating as frequently as I usually do (sorry, but vacations are fun in the summer), in the meantime…
The energy ministers’ Orwellian statement
The news release and action plan issued by the provincial energy ministers following their recent conference in Kananaskis stepped rather lightly over environmental concerns. Perhaps this is not unexpected at…
A Proposal: "From The Desk Of Alfred Apps"
As Bob Rae meets with Liberals this Summer, he's been hearing complaints about the lack of transparency and poor communication within the party.The July 9 meeting of the National Board…
TIm Hudak’s 8th century view of the world: feminists should be required to wear ankle bracelets "preferably with stilettos"
Go over to Dawg's place to take in Tim Hudak's opinion of people who support the rights of women. He calls them 'witches'.It makes one wonder what has happened to…
Frequently-quoted answers to simple questions
Pogge asks:Is (Brad) Wall so uninformed that he doesn't know about (federal subsidies for the oil sands)?It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends…
First Nations children are more likely to go to jail than to graduate from high school
The federal government spends just 2 per cent of its federal prison budget, which exceeds $2-billion a year, on aboriginal programs. ... From an incarceration point of view, aboriginals are…
The Bank Moves to Hit the Ball
The release of today’s Monetary Policy Report from the Bank of Canada follows yesterday’s announcement of no change in interest rates, the latest in a long series. It reminds me…
Unclear on the concept
Quick, try to make sense of this passage from Postmedia's coverage of the Cons' plans to reintroduce gun registry legislation this fall:In October 2010, the bill was killed by an…
From the Earth to the moon
Forty two years later, the American manned space program is about to die. For the first time in half a century the United States will not have the ability to…
Tim Hudak on witch-burnings
(Toronto, July 20) DawgNews has just learned that Tim Hudak, the Ontario Progressive Conservative leader likely to become the next premier of the province, once circulated a petition calling for…
A tribute to the late Sir Edward Elgar
I love how he has to struggle to get the premise out, because he knows is SO damn funny. Alltop is a maestro of the less-popular instrument, the garden hose…
Some Insights On Rupert Murdoch’s Troubles
My friend Gary, who has developed quite a talent for epistolary irony, sent me an email this morning on the Murdoch appearance yesterday before the British Parliament. With his permission,…
Harper Regime Considering Army Officer, Spy Chief as New Head of Mounties
There will be a new chief for the RCMP named soon, and the field of candidates appears to be notably weak and controversial, at least from the scanty coverage in…
A Hike to the Secret Passage
Last Friday and Saturday morning, before higher temperatures required me to do nothing but lie on the couch and read, A and I got up at 6:00 am to hike.…
Vetrovec caution
R. v. Roks, 2011 ONCA 526 contains a helpful review of the need for corroboration (in a loose sense) in a Vetrovec context: The principal complaint in this case has…
The State of Open Data Licenses in Canada and where to go from here
(for readers less interested in Open Data - I promise something different tomorrow) In February I wrote how 2011 would be the year of the license for Canada's open data…
Government of Canada Deceives Abused Telemarketers
Continuing my regular series of hopelessly bad government press releases, let me just say that if this is what human resources minister Diane Finley thinks is strong affirmative action in…