There is a respectable argument that crime can be deterred through punishment. Empirical evidence demonstrating a deterrent effect does exist. Such evidence is hard to interpret and tends to show…
Edward Ritvo-Susan Swedo Shootout at the IMFAR Corral, Sheraton, Toronto Photo by Harold L Doherty, May 18, 2012 Dr. Susan Swedo of the DSM5 autism committee presented a defense of…
Irene just called to tell me that Mallory and her friend C are tenting out in her backyard, after a delicious urban safari involving a bike ride and a trip…
In making consumer choices, most of us don’t have time for careful sorting of fact from fiction. As a result, we rely on sources presumed to be accurate and free…
#pinteRAGE
Economist Peter Cramton ( a specialist on auction theory and practice) sent me the following email today: Dear Mr. Murphy, I do believe that climate change is one of the…
… that’s it’s a-gonna be a hot summer, kids… Great for tomatoes!!! Trashy, Ottawa, Ontario
Anthony Swift writes for Switchboard, which is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Here’s what he has to say on clean-up: “Raw tar sands bitumen is nearly…
If there were any doubts in your mind that we are inching our way toward a police state, there can surely be no doubt left after this week’s passage of…
Why is Stephen Harper like kryptonite to intelligence? Now scientists from Harvard, the Smithsonian Institute and other top academic institutions are furious with Harper for his decision to shut down…
If you’re looking for some fun reading this summer, I have a couple of books I’d like to suggest. And both can be purchased this week for less than usual.…
Demographer Richard Cincotta of the Stimson Center in Washington DC has compiled some intriguing facts about revolution and the age of populations. His analysis not only enables him to predict…
They’ve taken over in the States and they’ve done the same thing in Canada. In both countries our democracy is in peril due to the ascendancy of media giants pursuing…
A quirky book that takes as one of its starting points the historically lousy job that the liberal and marxist traditions had done of theorizing nationalism, Imagined Communities became a…
I was not particularly looking forward to reading this classic English-Canadian nationalist text, originally published almost half a century ago. Partly this is because I
This time the malevolent hand of Steve Harper is obvious. The entire Department of Fisheries and Oceans contaminants programme is being axed effective April Fool’s Day. In B.C. that means…
Via OpenFileMontreal: Quebec singer Ariane Moffat has released a song, entitled “Jeudi 17 mai 2012″, which is targeted squarely at the Charest government’s emergency law Bill 78. Chanteuse québécoise Ariane…
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne tears into the Cons for being interested solely in developing a junk labour market where both work safety and income security…
China’s Next Cold Warriors? The North Atlantic Treaty Organization made a lot of sense when it was an alliance of North Atlantic nations to mutually defend the security of North…
First, just a quick look at the Times and Transcript.1. Four pages of pictures and story about Prince Charles and Duchess Whatever. And they aren’t even here yet.2. A two…
