Shannon Phillips and the Lethbridge cops
Women in politics are routinely subjected to hate mail from assorted misogynists. Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillips is no exception. According to her constituency assistant, “We used to say that if…
Bill Longstaff
All hands on deck to rig the oil market
The oil industry and the free market are not well acquainted. The price of oil has long been manipulated more by cartels than by free markets. Since the 1970s, the…
Curing the planet’s humanity problem
The planet Earth has a problem—a bad case of advanced-stage humanity. It is much more virulent and far more dangerous than a mere coronavirus, which threatens only a few species.…
Sovereign killers and the “Khashoggi ban”
So, according to U.S. intelligence, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman whacked journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Confirmation of something we already knew. The crown prince is a cold-blooded killer. Regardless…
Sensible Alberta voice appointed to Net-Zero Advisory Body
I was pleased to hear that the Pembina Institute’s executive-director, Linda Coady, has been appointed to the federal government’s new Net-Zero Advisory Body. The body is an independent group of…
The difference between a Democrat and a Republican
One of the brightest lights to appear recently on the stage of American politics is the absolutely delightful Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Bright, charming, compassionate and—I have to say it—gorgeous, the Democratic…
Alberta business proposes more taxes
We don’t generally think of proposals for more taxes coming from the business community but that’s exactly what happened in Alberta this week. The Business Council of Alberta has issued…
Joe Biden—a Teddy or an FDR?
Many progressives are hoping for great things from Joe Biden. The United States faces huge problems aside from the pandemic and its economic fallout. There is an opportunity here for…
Colombia welcomes the Bolivarian exodus
Not everyone is welcoming refugees these days, particularly in the Americas. That’s why it was encouraging to read about Colombia’s generous treatment of the millions of refugees pouring across the…
Even the World Bank supports a wealth tax
While recognizing the danger of increasing inequality in Western societies, I have not been a fan of a wealth tax, one of the more commonly offered solutions. I have been…
How corrupt is Canada?
How corrupt is our country? Not very. But we can do better. According to Transparency International’s (TI) 2020 report, we are in eleventh place on their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).…
Conflating capitalism and global warming is a mistake
Many on the left insist that dealing with global warming necessitates dealing with capitalism. Because the latter causes the former, they say, it is the root of the problem. Replacing…
The centennial of broken Liberal promises on PR
A recent newsletter from Fair Vote Canada reminded us that the Liberals have been promising proportional representation (PR) for 100 years. And not delivering. In 2021 we celebrate, if that’s…
Time to start paying Mother Nature back
I’ve long thought that the sensible approach to the global economy is obvious, if complex. We calculate what the Earth can sustainably provide in terms of natural resources, then we…
Trump and the definition of fascism
Is Donald Trump a fascist? He has been accused of being one, including by me in previous posts, but the left is inclined to label conservatives they particularly dislike as…
Albertans support net-zero by 2050, but …
A recent survey by Janet Brown Opinion Research, commissioned by the Pembina Institute, showed some encouraging attitudes of Albertans toward climate change. For example, two-thirds of those surveyed support the…
Is Joe up to the challenge?
The strongest emotion many people felt in response to the election of Joe Biden as president of the U.S. was relief. Relief not because Biden is the new president but…
Another Albertan’s reaction to President Biden’s climate announcements
When I read about U.S. President Biden’s first steps down the climate change path he intends to follow, I was delighted, primarily because of his stated intention to rejoin the…
Democracy and mass delusion
I have always been intrigued by people’s tendency to believe what they want to believe rather than what the facts are telling them, to believe what their innate biases desire…
Has Trump revived fascism in the Republican Party?
I am surprised and disappointed at those Republicans who support Trump to the point of rejecting the will of the American people and even democracy itself. The recent effort to…