Why don’t they have a protocol for an officer-involved shooting?
One of the many things I don’t understand about the Ferguson police department is why they apparently do not have a protocol for dealing with any shooting in which an…
2014
What keeps Canada together?
The above is the title of a survey commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies and carried out by Leger Marketing earlier this year. The answer to what unites the…
A few harmless slaps were landed, but last night’s PC leadership debate in Edmonton was no donnybrook
The Three Tory Amigos just before last night’s Edmonton debate. Below: Mr. Lukaszuk, who your blogger says was the debate winner, frontrunner Jim Prentice, and the challenger with the best…
Why Not a Community Investment Fund for the Cowichan Valley?
Rob Douglas Since 2001 the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) has operated an in-house economic development body to help the regional economy prosper and grow. With an annual budget exceeding…
I’m Thinking, “This is Going to Hurt!”: On ‘How Not to Deal with Grief’
From my friend Betty Ann on her Facebook page: “This article deeply moved me…as I suspect it will for any of you who have been impacted by the kind of…
Dusty Springfield covers Kate Bush
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8vu5iBxHTfI Filed under: video
New report chronicles regulatory failures behind Lac-Mégantic
New report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives details eight key ways in which regulatory failure contributed to the Lac-Mégantic disaster. The post New report chronicles regulatory failures behind…
Why the English-Speaking World Resists the Reality of Climate Change
You would think if you were a country particularly prone to being mugged by severe storm events of increasing intensity, frequency and destructiveness you might be just as particularly receptive…
You’d Think Nobody Cared about the Kids: Why the Working Poor’s Kids Are Short-Changed
The New York Times recently had a story about a young single mother working at Starbucks who is having a terrible time coordinating her very changeable work schedule and child…
August 19, 2014 – Earth Overshoot Day
Relax, it’s not a holiday. It’s not something to celebrate. It is however a day of observance. For 2014, August 19th represents the day on which mankind has consumed a…
Posse Comitatus and Crossing America’s Rubicon
In 49 B.C., then general Julius Caesar staked his life on a huge gamble and led his legions across the Rubicon into Rome. Caesar knew that any general bringing his…
Soda Creek First Nation Struggles to Cover Costs of Independent Mount Polley Water Testing
The Soda Creek First Nation, traditionally called the Xatśūll First Nation, is going to tap into band savings for a community centre to pay for independent scientists to study the…
What kind of a City do you want? Part 2
The City of Vancouver has entered its second phase of consultation on the 2015-2018 Capital Plan. Here is a blog posting I wrote earlier this year. The link at the…
The Farewell Stephen Harper Song
Well as you know he's tortured us for more than eight years, not just with his ghastly policies.But also with his "singing."That monstrous wailing and screeching designed to make us…
In Tuesday’s Sun: the new police states(s)
NEW YORK – Drive across the border. That’s all you need to do, really, to figure out why so many Americans are so enraged about the killing of Michael Brown.…
Major Disasters Linked to Extreme Weather, Climate and Water Hazards On the Rise
Recently published data collected by the World Meteorological Organisation shows there were close to five times as many weather- and climate-change-related disasters in the first decade of this century than…
Globe and Mail: Will that be cash, cheque, or bitcoin?
Six automated bitcoin machines are coming to Toronto. How do you think this will affect the local economy? Article by Sean Tipper for the Globe and Mail A Canadian bitcoin…
From the Athabasca to Al Quds
Israel plans to launch extreme energy projects. If these plans come to fruition, Israeli emissions from synthetic oil production could have a greater carbon intensity than bitumen into synthetic oil…
Tahltans Blockade Imperial Metals’ Red Chris Mine in Response to Mount Polley Spill
Imperial Metals is experiencing troubled times. After the catastrophic breach of a toxic tailings pond at its Mount Polley mine on August 4th, British Columbians across the province have called…
Of Zombie Politics and Culture War
In a system that reduces life to a chain of disconnected reactions to shock, personal communication tends to lose all meaning… The individual under terrorist conditions is never alone and…