Lock The Medcine Chest
Donald Trump wants to give Americans lower drug prices — by buying drugs from Canada. David Olive writes: Trump is poised to authorize pilot projects by U.S. states, pharmacists and…
August 2019
Are parties considering the cost of living?
There might be a problem brewing in the election that the politicians are missing. It is the real cost of living. The problem is that the parties are listening to…
Jason Kenney pledges ‘I will never give up on Canada’ while stoking Alberta separatist sentiment
Maybe Canada needs a Clarity Act for pollsters’ questions intended to gauge the level of support for provincial secession from Canada. The Clarity Act, of course, is the federal law…
If You Don’t Like "Illiberal Democracy" How About "Christian Liberty"?
In Hungary there’s talk of re-branding authoritarian illiberal democracy with something more palatable, less jarring – Christian Liberty. That does sound mighty fine, eh? In his Demokrata editorial, András Bencsik…
How Do You Like Them Odds?
A somewhat different way to view climate change is by losers (many) and winners (few). Which species will tough it out. Which won’t. An article from BBC explores this subject.…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Steven Greenhouse discusses how the U.S.’ economy is rigged against workers. And Eric Levitz writes that Donald Trump’s giveaway to the rich worked…
extended mom visit
My mother is visiting from Oregon. That visiting from Oregon part still looks weird to me, since for my entire life — and her entire life until a few years…
Taking Stock
The last six months have not gone well for Justin Trudeau. But he does have one large arrow in his quiver. Tom Walkom writes: At 5.5 per cent, Canada’s unemployment…
Chuckles Chooses Cheap.
Conservative leader Andrew ‘Chuckles’ Scheer was not out to look cheap the other day. It was just the effect when he again announced that the conservatives would guarantee Canada’s health…
Restoring Power: destroying the monster #nlpoli
The threat from Muskrat Falls can only be removed by concerted action that addresses the project’s financial burden, restores integrity to the system of electricity regulation, and that breaks, once…
John Carpay, Christine Blatchford, and Paul Fromm Walk Into An Award Banquet….
…. and this isn't the set-up for a joke, though one might suggest the subjects are a bit of a joke in their own right. Back in November I wrote…
What Do They Want?
When Ms Soapbox read the “open letter” to Canadians published by three oil executives she was reminded of Sigmund Freud. Freud spent 30 years asking himself: what do women want?…
The Amerikan Disease – White Supremacy
It’s a disease as old as the United States itself, probably older – white supremacy. Georgia Southern University prof, Jared Yates Sexton, writes that it’s now a full-blown epidemic. It…
Coals to Newcastle? Iran Seizes Tanker Smuggling Oil to Gulf Arabs.
Two questions: from where and to where? Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have seized a foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that was smuggling fuel to Arab states, Iran’s state TV reported,…
The Murderous States of Amerika.
It’s been raining dead Americans over the past 24 hours. Two mass shootings – first in El Paso, Texas, and then in Dayton, Ohio – have left 30 dead and…
Keep our parks safe: Public asked to respect BBQ restrictions and park smoking ban
August 2 2019 Vancouver parks and beaches are busier than ever at this time of the year so the Vancouver Park Board is reminding visitors to respect barbecue restrictions and…
The Coming Great Flood
Civilizations, Chris Hedges writes, have been rising and collapsing for six thousand years: We are probably not an exception. The physical ruins of these empires, including the Mesopotamian, Roman, Mayan…
The Global Population Gets Greedier By The Day
That is the opening line in the following report that deals with Earth Overshoot Day, the day our species uses up the Earth’s finite resources that should take a year…
My latest: Star, CBC no longer lead the way
How the media mighty have fallen. Way, way back, when this writer was a special assistant to opposition leader Jean Chretien, getting ready for the daily Question Period ritual was…