Oil as a Staple
“By 1901, Baku produced half the world’s oil…Baku was a melting pot of pitiful poverty and incredible wealth…he derricks and the refineries poisoned the city and corrupted the people…il townships…
2014
Nov. 17: What is a heritage?
It happens every St. Patrick’s day or Rabbie Burns day or whoever’s day. We gather to celebrate our heritage. As a regular speaker at Robert Burns’ dinners, and with a…
On The Crimea Referendum
Okay, Crimea has had its referendum, and apparently over 95% of those who voted, chose to align with Russia. I don’t know the full context of the politics in Crimea.…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Nafeez Ahmed writes about the dangers of combining growing inequality and increased resource extraction: By investigating the human-nature dynamics of these past cases…
140 Law – Legal Headlines for Monday, March 17, 2014
Here are the leading legal headlines from Wise Law on Twitter for Monday, March 17, 2014: Lev Tahor choice of Guatemala as refuge surprises legal experts ACLU challenges Indiana same-sex…
causes of “natural” disasters like the Irish Potato Famine.
There are posts going around right now in honors of St. Patrick’s day pointing out that the real story of the Irish potato famine is rarely taught. Children are taught…
Massive turnout in Crimea: 96.77 vote for integration with Russia: jubilant crowds capture the mood
There was a massive turnout in the Crimea referendum, with 81.3 percent of eligible voters participating. When the final tally was in 96.77 percent voted “yes” to integration with the…
The Press Gallery Takes A Stand
Last week the parliamentary press gallery passed the following motion: “We as the Parliamentary Press Gallery reserve the right to ask questions in all photo-ops and availabilities with the prime…
Canadians exit the Khyber Pass.
To the lament of a single bagpiper, Canadians took leave of Afghanistan this past week. We have been aware of being involved since the winter of 2001 when then Defence…
Kevin Page On Canada’s ‘Grotesquely Wrong Elites’
Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, about whom I have written many times on this blog, is without question one of Canada’s true heroes. The reason? He insisted upon doing…
D’oh! Telegram shags up Muskrat Falls access story #nlpoli
According to a major Telegram story on Monday morning, the provincial government won’t be able to release some information about Muskrat Falls because of the provincial access to information laws.…
BC’s crony capitalism in action
Flipping channels Sunday, I paused to watch as Vancouver Whitecaps FC played an MSL game at the StubHub Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, CA. In a facility…
A smattering of ways this Monday St. Paddy’s may go
So how is your’s going? I hope it hasn’t gotten much worse than “bulk cereal.” Slainté! Alltop is the bulk cereal of Internet humor aggregators. Genius “infotoon” by Lunchbreath.
The only progressive in the TO Mayor race is Olivia Chow
Municipal politics are an interesting political arena. You have much more of a political ideological mix here, which you don’t necessarily have for the federal or provincial arenas. So it…
Stephen Harper, the Melting Planet, and the Collapse of the Capitalist System
He has tried to deny the reality of climate change as long as any crazed person could.Even as he torched the planet, and turned Canada into a hellish place.But the…
Revolutionary singer banned from Egyptian arts festival
Mohamed Mohsen, an Egyptian musician who became popular during the country’s 2011 uprising, was prevented from performing at the Cairo Opera House during an arts festival this past week. Known…
The Ukraine Crisis and the Absurd Con Clowns
Someone recently compared the Ukrainian crisis to the beginning of the First World War.Where new alliances, old hatreds, and excessive nationalism created an explosive mixture until one act of senseless…
The Insiders #nlpoli
The story of the 2014 provincial Conservative Party leadership contest is a study in politics on its most basic level. It is a story of those with influence and of…
Are You Also Sick of Politicians’ Childish Behaviour?
The language toward women can also turn vulgar. In an interview I conducted with the Hon. Sheila Copps, the former MP recalled being called a ‘slut.’ A female NDP MP…
DTES LAP Amendments that Cllr Carr shuts down: Watch the speech & Read the full document by Reimer
I already posted snippets of the full documents (4 separate PDFs here). This post is specifically the first pdf Amendment doc from Reimer and the speaking points Cllr Carr was