Undoing democracy democratically
As the Egyptian military brutally dismantles democracy in their country, other losses of democracy tend to pale in comparison. Yet when they involve people electing to disband their own democracy,…
Bill Longstaff
A mustache to die for
The things that worry religious fundamentalists never fail to amaze and amuse me. For example, Muslim fundamentalists have threatened to kill Malik Afridi because of his mustache. Admittedly, Mr. Afridi’s…
I have met the enemy and they ain’t all capitalists
I am no fan of capitalism. An economic system based on greed and founded in patriarchal values is flawed at its roots. But the tendency of so many on the…
REAL Women’s real bigotry
John Baird – doing the right thing Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has done a commendable job of defending gay rights everywhere from Uganda to Russia. Not everyone agrees, however,…
Stephen Harper’s private army
It is known as the Canadian Special Forces Command, or CANSOFCOM. It commands a secret army, comprised of four units: the Joint Task Force-2 (JTF2), the Canadian Special Operations Regiment…
The need for a global no-growth agreement
Trade agreements are all the rage among nations these days. And that might not be a bad thing if they were principally about trade rather than about empowering corporations at…
400 ppm
Of all the events that occurred during my blogging hiatus, the one that struck me as the most significant, even including the massive flooding of my hometown, was the Earth…
I participate in an historic event
For my first posting in seven months, I can hardly do better than comment on my participation in a truly historic event. I not only observed but became a fully-fledged,…
Hiatus for health reasons
For those of my readers who have wondered why I haven’t posted since early December, let me assure you I haven’t greatly extended my holiday season nor have I run…
Starbucks sticks it to the Brits
I always look forward to reading yet another story about how multinational corporations slither out of their tax responsibilities and was, therefore, duly amused by a piece I encountered in…
The free trade bust
Judging by the editorial hype in the corporate press and among Conservative politicians, the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was the greatest boon to this country since the fur trade. When…
Canada’s shameful vote against Palestinian statehood
Yesterday marked a shameful moment in the history of this country’s foreign policy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestine as an observer state ……
Wildrose has this one right
To say I rarely agree with the Wildrose Party would be an understatement. Yet they have recently stated a policy which I heartily support and have heartily supported for a…
Canadian democracy—always good for a laugh
Headline: Conservative Joan Crockatt wins Calgary Centre by-election with 37 per cent of the vote. So … I will now have an MP most of my fellow constituents don’t want…
Here’s a headline I’d rather not see
Checking The Guardian on my morning round of news websites, I encountered the following headline: “Canada, the surprise “pariah” of the Kyoto protocol.” The subhead went on to add, “Some…
Sun suckers the rest of the media … again
As the NDP rapidly and somewhat surprisingly closed in on the Conservatives during the last federal election campaign, Sun Media dug deep into Jack Layton’s past to find something to…
Time to disestablish the Church of England
The Anglican Church, as the nation’s officially “established” church, has had a privileged position in England since the Act of Supremacy in 1534. It isn’t called the Church of England…
Why can’t we be more like Norway?
Canada and Norway are a lot alike. We are both prosperous, free-market democracies. But as Bruce Campbell points out in his series of articles in the CCPA Monitor, there are…
Federal environment minister joins the real world
When I worked in the oil industry many years ago, we used to refer to those politicians, academics, media people, etc. who didn’t fully appreciate our interests as not living…