U.S. feeds Japanese militarism
China, with its paltry aid to the Philippines and its announcement of a new air-defense zone over the East China sea, has not been making friends in its region these…
Bill Longstaff
If you’re a democrat, instruct your MP to support Chong’s Bill
An opportunity to strike a blow for parliamentary democracy has suddenly arisen and all democrats should take advantage of it. On Thursday, Michael Chong, MP for Wellington-Halton Hills, will introduce…
Thou shalt not have an economy of exclusion and inequality
I am no fan of the Roman Catholic Church, nor can I avoid cringing at some of Pope Francis’s views, particularly on women, but occasionally I do have to applaud…
Parliament needs a science watchdog
Science has never been more important to the human race than it is today. We are faced with the two greatest threats in our history: catastrophic climate change combined with…
Does Canada’s knee-jerk loyalty benefit Israel?
Right on cue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the new nuclear deal with Iran hardly before the ink was dry, calling it a “historic mistake,” stating he was not…
The Conservatives and the Republican disease
Being an inveterate reader, I frequently encounter something that is such a nice piece of writing it demands a second or third reading and occasionally even creates a pang of…
Era of sense of entitlement reaches U of C
CEOs loading up on compensation and perks, even if their companies are floundering, has become a commonplace of our era. This sense of entitlement has similarly been observed among various…
Calgarians are happy campers
If you were looking for a living definition of the expression “happy campers,” you might cast an eye on Calgary. According to an Ipsos Reid poll, almost ninety per cent…
Harper outshames Ford
Embarrassing our country more than Toronto Mayor Rob Ford would seem to be an impossible task. Yet our prime minister has done just that. On November 12th, the federal government…
The elites display their conscience
The World Economic Forum (an elite organization in itself) recently released a study, The Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014, based on a survey of 1,592 leaders from academia, business,…
The U.S. and Sweden—a tale of two incarceration rates
Having just watched the documentary The House I Live In about the U.S. drug war, or more precisely about the abject failure of the U.S. drug war, I was intrigued…
Sun News and sewer journalism
When Sun News hires the infamous Ford brothers to do a TV show, decent people cringe, but they shouldn’t be surprised. Aping Fox News, as Sun Media are inclined to…
I’m waiting for an apology, Toronto
I admit to chuckling when Toronto first elected Rob Ford. While we here in Calgary, a city often accused by the uninformed of being a tad rednecked, chose the bright,…
Good news and bad news about climate change from Stanford U
First the bad news, even if it’s old news. Stanford University scientists report that not only is the Earth undergoing one of the largest climate changes since the dinosaurs disappeared,…
Neo-militarism shows up on Alberta license plates
The neo-militarism seeping out of Ottawa seems to be infecting Alberta. The province has announced it is unveiling a new license plate which will bear the “Support our Troops” slogan…
Remember who? And for what?
Canada first observed Remembrance Day on November 11th, 1919, to commemorate the armistice that had ended WWI one year earlier and to remember those in the military who had given…
We were hell on other species before we were even us
Homo sapiens has been driving other species into extinction for a very long time. We are familiar with more recent events on our own continent with the annihilation of species…
No need for the Nisga’a to sell their land
The Nisga’a Nation in northwestern B.C. has announced it will be the first First Nation in Canada to allow reserve land to be owned privately. Three properties have already been…
Conservative MPs defend Edward Snowden, attack security establishment
No, not Canadian Conservative MPs—British Conservative MPs. Former shadow home secretary and Conservative Party leadership candidate David Davis has come out strongly in support of American whistleblower Edward Snowden. “The…