Tar sands ain’t funny, says Travel Alberta
Travel Alberta was begging for it. Its latest ads, featuring the many attractions of the province, are really quite nice. But then they end with the extraordinary phrase, “Remember to…
Bill Longstaff
Raising taxes on credit unions is a retrograde step
Prior to 1972, Canadian credit unions were exempt from all income and capital taxes. In many countries, including the United States, they remain tax exempt at both the state and…
Will India defeat malnutrition?
India has a lot of a lot of things, including hungry people. It has the world’s second largest population and the world’s second highest percentage of malnourished children. It also…
I’d rather have Justin Trudeau stoned than Stephen Harper sober
Justin Trudeau’s admission that he had smoked the occasional joint had the Conservatives at their huffing and puffing best this week. His “actions speak for themselves” offered the Prime Minister…
The U.S. war against democracy in the Middle East
The CIA’s recent public admission that it masterminded the 1953 military coup against Iran’s democratically elected government reminded me once again of the fickle U.S. support for democracy in the…
Is flood amnesia setting in?
Immediately after the big water in June, two truisms were out and about in Calgary. One stated the flood had been so catastrophic that finally Albertans would take significant measures…
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,…
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 ……