Massive dual win for Harper—a majority and a Liberal Party in ruins
Stephen Harper has long had two goals, a short-term goal of winning a majority government and a long-term goal of destroying the Liberal Party. Last night he achieved the first…
Bill Longstaff
Measuring democracy
It wouldn't surprise anyone if they were told that the rich have more influence on government than the rest of us. Some scholars in the U.S. have gone further than…
Allan Blakeney … death of a statesman
As politicians of all sorts battle another election down to the wire, I'd like to pay my respects to one of the best. Allan Blakeney died April 16th leaving behind…
Murdoch’s mischief … the excesses of freedom
If you were to suggest that the most powerful man in British political politics today was Prime Minister David Cameron, I would respectfully disagree. I would suggest it is Britain's…
One man’s hero …
Two items in the news recently underlined the old difficulty of agreeing on who is a terrorist. Last week a court in The Hague found Ante Gotovina, a Croatian commander…
Pembina Institute evaluates party posltions on the environment
For a capsule look at the various parties' environmental platforms from the perspective of an environmental research group focusing on energy, the Pembina Institute offers the following: Bloc Québécois: The…
Vermonters tackle corporations-as-citizens issue
According to a poll by ABC News, 76 per cent of Americans oppose their Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to grant corporations the same rights as individuals when it comes to…
Bolivia calls on Pachamama to enshrine Nature’s rights in law
According to ancient Andean spirituality, the fertility goddess Pachamama is at the centre of all life. Pachamama has inspired the Bolivian government to pass legislation, entitled the Law of Mother…
Homo sapiens and the sixth great extinction
What kind of creature are we, we Homo sapiens? According to a recent study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, we may be among the half dozen most…
Canadians show compassion in straw poll on Bradley Manning
Whether you think Bradley Manning is a good guy or a bad guy will depend to a large extent on your political persuasion, those on the left opting for the…
No jasmine revolution for China—Pew survey
With revolution all the rage, so to speak, in the Middle East, pundits have been pondering the prospects of similar passions being sparked elsewhere. Inevitably China, the blossoming superpower on…
Republicans wage war on the environment (with a little help from the Democrats)
If anyone still believes we are going to save ourselves from environmental catastrophe, the U.S. Congress is doing its best to disabuse us of our optimism. It has mounted a…
Daylight saving time year-round … If the Russians can do it, so can we
If George W. Bush did anything worthwhile as president, it was extending daylight saving time (DST) for an extra few weeks. Now the Russians have gone him one better—much better.…
I’d like to vote, but my conscience objects
So we are to have yet another election. On May 2nd we will have the opportunity to exercise our democratic franchise. We will have the opportunity as free and equal…
Bertrand Serlet (father of Mac OS X) leaves Apple
In one of those curious twists of fate, when Apple fired Steven Jobs in 1985, it couldn't have know that this would lead to the salvation of the company. Jobs…