Good news on climate change … I think
A new survey indicates that Canadians are increasingly acknowledging the reality of climate change while recognizing that we are the culprit. An Insightrix Research, Inc. poll reported that 98 per…
Bill Longstaff
Are the feds backing off Northern Gateway?
The federal government has, up until very recently, been a major cheerleader for the Northern Gateway pipeline project. After all, the pipeline is intended to carry Mr. Harper’s favourite energy…
Mexicans solving U.S. immigraton dilemma
Mexican immigration has been a hot political issue in the U.S. for some time resulting in, among other unpleasant phenomena, Arizona’s controversial Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act…
France embraces Robin Hood tax
On August 1st, France introduced its long-promised Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). Popularly referred to as a Robin Hood Tax, or Tobin Tax, the 0.2 per cent levy will apply to…
Drought, ethanol and the looming food crisis
That the drought in the U.S. will cause a rise in food prices is hardly news. However, scientists at the New England Complex Systems Institute are warning that the potential…
Unintended consequences—Bangladesh suffers from Iran sanctions
The Bangladeshis are entirely innocent of any real or imagined transgressions on the part of Iran, yet they are being punished nonetheless. Their sin is a heavy reliance on the…
Is Omar Khadr an untermensch?
I have thought long and hard on why so many Canadians hold such a callous attitude toward Omar Khadr. Here is a young man who has spent his whole life…
The Tea Party outperforms the Occupy Movement
The financial and economic collapse of 2008 in the United States precipitated two “revolutionary” movements: one on the right, the Tea Party, and one on the left, the Occupy Movement.…
The revolution and the reality—why Egypt elected Islamists
No small amount of surprise was generated by the recent elections in Egypt when Islamist parties swept the parliamentary elections and the Muslim Brotherhood candidate won the presidential election. Coming…
The amusing story of JPMorgan Chase
Reading about the latest foibles of JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, one cannot help but chuckle. CEO Jamie Dimon initially reported a trading blunder had cost…
Call for international solidarity with Canadian scientists
As the federal government’s assault on science encounters increased resistance from Canadian scientists, the international community increasingly takes notice. In a recent column in The Guardian, science writer Alice Bell…
Australia’s Girl Guides drop the Queen … and God
Having posted recently about an attempt to purge swearing allegiance to the Queen from the Canadian Oath of Citizenship, I couldn’t help but notice an article in The Guardian about…
Fukushima—Japan’s remarkable mea culpa
There are mea culpas and there are mea culpas. The report by an independent commission on the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is a dandy. In the preface…
Roach vs. the Queen
“I affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe…
Australia’s Dutch disease
Canada is not alone in suffering from the insidious Dutch disease. Australia, too, is feeling the pain. Whereas Canada’s version is caused by booming tar sands production, Australia’s is caused…
No more pecker snipping in Germany
With a ruling that circumcising boys constitutes grievous bodily harm, a German court has effectively outlawed the practice in that country. The case was brought against a doctor in Cologne…
The windmill next door
As a citizen of Alberta, Canada’s oil province and the birthplace of wind energy in Canada, I have perhaps less innate concern about windmills than citizens from other provinces. Indeed,…
Drunk driving a capital offense?
If you think that Alberta’s new drunk driving laws are tough, consider Iran. Two Iranians, their names not released by authorities, have been sentenced to death for persistent consumption of…
Scientists warn, politicians ignore
The Global Network of Science Academies, representing 105 science academies around the world, issued a press release last week highlighting what they referred to as “two of the most profound…