Globalization as we have come to know and love it is misnamed. As it advantages corporations while disadvantaging workers and governments, it might more appropriately be called corporatization or some…
By all accounts Tony Abbott waged a highly effective campaign in leading his Liberal (conservative) Party to victory in the Australian election on Saturday. And it didn’t hurt that he…
As humanitarian concern over the Syrian tragedy transforms into a call for war, I wonder if we in the West—and most importantly President Obama—aren’t forgetting that many Syrians support Bashar…
Lay your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Will President Obama get the support he wants from Congress for an attack against Syria, or will he suffer an historic and humiliating defeat?…
Most Canadians, I suspect, don’t pay much attention to the use of sanctions in international politics. War, yes—people being shot, bombed, and apparently even gassed is hard to ignore—but sanctions…
In a good news item, the governments of Ontario and Manitoba announced they will maintain the internationally renowned Experiment Lakes Area project. Ontario has committed $2-million a year and Manitoba…
Various Western nations, including Great Britain, the U.S. and France, are exhibiting great outrage against Syria’s assaults on its own people. And outrage is indeed called for. Yet there is…
No, the above headline most certainly does not refer to Canadian Tory MPs. In the recent vote in the British House of Commons on Prime Minister David Cameron’s motion to…
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…
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…
I recently read the Canadian Bar Association report Reaching Equal Justice (I ran out of mysteries) and was surprised at the strength of the language. A sampling of the phrases…
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…
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 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…
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…
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,…
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 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…
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,…
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…
