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…
Bill Longstaff
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…
Bully for the nuns
I’m no fan of the Roman Catholic Church, or organized religion generally, but when the folks in black do a good deed, I’m prepared to recognize it. And the good…
City charters—progress for Calgary and Edmonton?
The municipal level of government is the orphan of our political system. Cities are, under the Constitution, creatures of the provinces. In 1867, making municipalities wards of the provinces may…
The War of 1812—a non-Canadian event
That Mr. Harper and his colleagues are all gung-ho about the War of 1812, and spending millions on commemorating it, is hardly surprising. Reactionaries seem to have a thing about…
If it ain’t one damn thing …
That China’s waterways are badly polluted, is common knowledge. Less well recognized is the increasing pollution of its land. Zhou Jianmin, director of the China Soil Association, reports that, “More…
Even the OECD supports Mulcair
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has issued a report saying that increasing commodity prices is creating an uneven economy in Canada. This, of course, is what Thomas…
"Masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action"
Such is the considered opinion of the Vatican on this harmless and pleasant pastime. The indignant definition was part of the Vatican’s critique of a book by Sister Margaret Farley,…