Stephen Harper’s questionable respect for democracy
When Stephen Harper won a majority government this last May, I wrote that one litmus test for the next four years would be regarding his respect for transparency, parliamentary procedures,…
bazie
Obama, Cain, and racism
When Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States, the simple fact that he is black was itself symbolic, momentous and meaningful. As Obama was…
Occupy Wall Street vs the GOP leadership contest
Since the 2010 midterms, the dominant topic in American domestic politics has been on deficit reduction. The rhetoric built up for a while and then culminated in the twin crises…
The media’s questionable coverage of the Occupy movement
It can't be said that the mainstream media isn't covering the Occupy Wall Street et al protests. Indeed, a major difference between these protests and so many others that came…
Herman Cain’s motivations for running
In a leadership contest like the GOP one that has multiple contenders who have nearly zero chance of winning, it is worth investigating various possible other motivations they might have…
Thoughts on the Nevada GOP debate
This post is a collection of miscellaneous thoughts regarding the Nevada GOP nomination debate. There is no particular order or theme. Cain and 9-9-9: In the previous New Hampshire debate,…
Why I voted as I did in the Ontario Election
While I wrote quite a few blog posts on the 2011 Ontario Election, both generally and specifically with regards to my riding of Parkdale-Highpark, I never actually indicated precisely who…
The sensitivity of the Ontario election results to the Green Party vote
One of the interesting results of the Ontario general election was the collapse of the Green Party from its 2007 peak of 8% down to just over 3% in 2011.…
Externalizing the costs of war in Somalia
Perhaps the epitome of a war that externalizes costs out of sight of the average voter is one where the voter is unaware a war is even going on. Such…
Oxymoron of the Day: Modernizing the Monarchy
The UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, wants to modernize the monarchy. In our modern day and age, you see, the practice of preferentially selecting male over female heirs is the…
The Influence of Green Parties
Green parties so often exist on the fringes of the political spectrum, often without direct political power, and so it is important to periodically remind ourselves of why they are…
Herman Cain’s 9,9,9 plan, concision, and the rest of the GOP nomination field
One of the problems with the mass media is the need for concision; that is, the need to be able to explain oneself within the very short periods of time…
The US Congress’s punitive actions against Palestine
In response to the Palestinian bid for statehood, the US House, against the wishes of the White House, has frozen some $200 million dollars worth aid to Palestine. The funds…
Wall Street protests, Obama, and changing the political conversation
In some ways it is not appropriate to give too much undue attention to the current Wall Street protests in New York that are spreading around the US and into…
Ontario Election 2011: Why the left should hope for a Liberal Minority with NDP support
I suspect that many people, perhaps most, have a favorite party that they would prefer to win a majority. Somewhat incorrectly, I think, it has become the conventional wisdom that…
The role of public relations in the military
Canada's top military figure, Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk has gotten media attention recently since it was revealed that he spent over a million dollars on government aircraft…
Iran’s overstated military capacities
Iranian Missile Test With the main thrust of the Libyan intervention dieing down - and with it the need to justify it by villainizing Qaddafi - Iran has firmly regained…
My asymmetric stance towards Islam
If I was a Saudi Arabian - and if I was brave enough - my central focus on Islam may be to try and moderate its social practice. I would…
My deflating optimism about the NDP leadership race
For a while, I was feeling very energized about the NDP leadership race. We on the left were going to get six months or so to have a real and…
Nuclear weapons and motivations for Libya and Iran
Perhaps one of the greatest triumphs of the non-proliferation movement was the 2003 decision by Colonel Qaddafi of Libya to entirely abandon his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons program, throwing…