Campaign Diary Volume 9: Sidewalks, snow, public transit & Adlai Stevenson
A sidewalk snow removal machine in Ottawa. Below: Better a hole in the shoe than a hole in the head, as the slogan said. Adlai Stevenson in ’52, campaigning in…
2013
Shall, Dickson Booth Lake loop: trip report posted
I do this every year. Disappearing for four days in early fall. And yet, my partner, the lovely and talented Irene Jansen, puts up with me. I am a lucky…
Stephen Harper “won’t take ‘No’ for an answer” on Keystone XL pipeline
Photo: Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Read this story from the Associated Press on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s bold statement on Keystone XL at a talk in New York. Harper’s true climate…
Pennsylvania’s fracking boom goes bust
Fracking operation in southwestern Pennsylvania (photo: Mark Schmerling) Read this Sept. 12 story from Philly.com describing how Pennsylvania’s fracking boom is going bust. Meanwhile, The Common Sense Canadian reported recently…
I Care About What’s in Your Head, Not What’s on Your Head
So there’s this thing in Quebec which I’m sure my Canadian readers have heard of and maybe also a few of my American readers, which involves the Quebec government devising…
Who are Freeman on the land
“Freemen on the Land” claim that all statute law is contractual, and that such law is applicable only if an individual consents to be governed by it. By avoiding such…
Sept. 29: just a short blog for a Sunday….
‘Newsrooms’, the total number of reporters available to a news medium, are generally far too small, and getting smaller. The result is that it’s not possible to have enough reporters…
In Sunday’s Sun: the author, reviewed
Authors often complain that reviewers critique them, and not their books. It’s often true, too. I’ve written seven door stoppers. Whenever I break the solemn promise I earlier made to…
Smith and Hayek on the Labour Market
Over the past few decades, the work of Adam Smith has been enlisted into the neoliberal cause. His casual reference to the ‘invisible hand’ has permeated popular discourse in a…
Iran & Syria: Obama Talks Softly but carries a Big Stick
Teddy Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy President Obama has confounded his domestic and international critics by adopting the negotiation posture first espoused by President Teddy Roosevelt: The widespread use of ‘speak…
The Many Ghastly Faces of Dean Del Mastro
Well I'm glad that Dean Del Mastro just can't wait for his trial to begin. The lawyer for former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro says his client wants to go…
A Cup of Pu-Erh
It’s dark in the cup, but in the glass pot for brewing, it’s a deep copper. It smells of earth and age, a hint of horses and leather. A rich,…
On consistent rules
Bill Curry reports that many Canadian municipalities are wondering why Rob Ford has access to funding streams not available to anybody else: Ottawa’s $660-million gift to Toronto for a subway…
Adrian Dix called while you were out
He said he has some advice, free of charge.
Harper government claims to be leader on climate change action
OTTAWA – The Conservative government has responded to an international report on “unequivocal” global warming by slamming past Liberal inaction and renewing its warning of an alleged NDP carbon tax.…
Vote for my policy on Encouraging Youth Democratic Participation and Improving Civic Education on Common Ground!
Sign up and vote here! Very excited to see the new online platform tool Common Ground be rolled out at provincial council today. Please register, take a look at the…
Statement by Political Prisoners Tarek Loubani and John Greyson, from Egypt
Tarek Loubani and John Greyson are two canadians who have been held in prison in Egypt for the past month and a half. The following statement was written some while…
John Baird does not trust Iran
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Canada remains ‘skeptical’ of Iran despite a historic telephone call between U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday. (Jacques Boissinot/The…
A Note On A Poll Re Keystone XL
For the most part, its the same old. More Americans than Canadians support the building of Keystone XL to pipe tar-sands bitumen down to the Gulf . Actually, I’m cheating…
Global warming will be long with us
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calls it the “greatest collective challenge we face as a human family.” He is, of course, referring to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on…