Friday miscellany…
So Harper is acting all smug and tough in Davos, isn’t he? Although short on details, Mr. Harper’s speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday made…
So Harper is acting all smug and tough in Davos, isn’t he? Although short on details, Mr. Harper’s speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday made…
Of course not. But judging from Brewer’s breathless account and headlines from the usual bevy of right-wing blogs, a ‘threatening’ Obama “intensely” reproached the Governor for comments about the “thin-skinned”…
Americans are a militaristic people. That, I suspect, is why President Obama made praise of the military a major theme in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. He…
Assorted content to end your week. – Jack Knox comments on how the rest of the world sees Canada under the Harper Cons: A week after bleating about foreign radicals…
After a protracted battle over the issue of whether so called ‘gay-straight clubs’ must be allowed in Catholic schools, many LGBT allies thought a legitimate victory had been attained when…
Efraín Ríos Montt, an American-backed monster who ruled Guatemala in 1982-3, is going on trial at last. Torture, rape and mass extermination of Guatemalan Mayan Indians were this born-again Christian’s…
As much as I agree with many of Ron Paul’s principled stances on various issues, I just cannot stand the cult of over-zealous fanatics that support him… Despite all evidence,…
Or, almost-seniors. Those approaching the age of 65 must be gasping for breath this morning, learning of Harper’s hint at perhaps raising the age for receiving ‘old age’ benefits to…
Fischer v. IG Investment Management Ltd., 2012 ONCA 47 deals with when a class action will be allowed. A class action will not be allowed if there is a preferable process to vindicate…
DoNotPassGo PayThroughTheNoseForPick-UpParkingVille Robert Matas, consistently the best thing going in The Globe, BC Division, has a pretty good analysis of the Ferry’s Commisioner’s report up. Here’s his lede: BC Ferries…
Margaret Atwood has dubbed it ‘Enemygate’. ForestEthics whistleblower Andrew Frank accuses Harper of bullying tactics. John Bennett of the Sierra Club frets that this is “a scary time for Canadian…
Two obvious but generally unstated details about the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline are climate change and that oil and gas companies stand to make mega-profits. An honest appraisal of the…
Prime Minister Harper went to Davos yesterday to sing Canada’s praises. No sooner had he finished reciting a long list of our national achievements, however, then he launched into a…
Clarence Darrow was one of my earliest heroes. I first encountered Darrow in the guise of Spencer Tracy, who portrayed the lawyer in the 1960 movie “Inherit the Wind”. Darrow…
In very unsurprising news: Starbucks has opened a new coffee shop. In surprising news: that Starbucks store is made from repurposed cargo containers! With many containers scrapped at the end…
Phenomenal, is all I have to say. Phenomenal. Honestly, I think this is great. It is far to easy to read this as though I intend irony or sarcasm, but…
democrat_and_republican_symbols.jpg Over the past year or more, I’ve profited from a series of conversations and exchanges with Yale’s Dan Kahan, the NSF supported researcher who has made great waves studying…
I have new next-door-neighbours again. In the five years I’ve been here, I’ve had five different sets of people living on the other side of my east wall. The most…
I love when the right and big corporations use the ‘free speech’ (or in this case, ‘freedom of expression’) argument from everything to excusing defamation and libel to putting out…
In the upcoming election, Barack Obama will not be challenged by the Republicans, who frankly have given up on even pretending to be politicians serving the public, but by the…