The Return of Stuff Happens, week 4: Trump’s rule by fiat
We all know how powerful the President of the United States is. But I don’t know if we ever recognized just how powerful. Almost … dictatorial? Don’t agree? Well, what…
Maurice Tougas
The Return of Stuff Happens, week 3: Welcome to the world of alternative facts
“The only thing we have to fear is, fear itself.” Franklin Roosevelt, 1932 inauguration. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your…
The Return of Stuff Happens, week 2: My hush money has arrived
Deposited into my bank account this week was a payment of $150, my “Alberta climate leadership adjustment rebate”. The rebate covers the period of January to June of this year,…
The Return of Stuff Happens, week 1: The taxman cometh
Here in the Glorious People’s Republic of Alberta, we have begun the process of saving the Earth, 4.5 cents a litre at a time. The NDP government introduced its Climate…
Stuff Still Happens, week 52: Let’s recap 2016 … sorry, it’s the law.
Yeah, yeah, I know. It was a terrible year. One of the worst in recent memory. But the rule for anyone who writes a weekly blog or column is that…
Stuff Still Happens, week 51: The week with no Stuff Still Happens blog
So, what’s there to report on the week before Christmas? Well, there was a terrorist attack in Berlin that killed 12 people. Who wants to even think about that on…
Stuff Still Happens, week 50 : Why won’t this horrible year just END?
A meltdown of humanity. That vivid phrase was used this week by a UN spokesman, in reference to the final days of the battle for Aleppo. It’s not a bad…
Stuff Still Happens, week 49: On the ‘lock her up’ chant, and the woman they DID lock up.
Last Saturday, the right-wing rabble rouser, Ezra Levant, roused the rabble just enough to host an anti-carbon tax rally at the Alberta legislature. The crowd of probably a few hundred…
Stuff Still Happens, week 48: Why we (sigh) need pipelines
This week, the Trudeau government approved two pipelines, and rejected one other. Trudeau is winning lavish praise for his bold, statesmanlike decision in some quarters, hyperbolic, end-of-the-world scorn from others.…
Stuff Still Happens, week 47: Tarnish on the golden boy
Is the shine coming off the golden boy? Justin Trudeau is under the gun these days for what appear to be, if not lapses in ethics, at least some questionable…
Stuff Still Happens, week 46: Bird debate splits Canada! Or maybe not.
The fallout from the Nov. 8 U.S. election continued this week. And just like nuclear fallout, the devastation will be long term. President-elect Donald Trump (my fingers had a hard…
Stuff Still Happens, week 45: President Homer Simpson
As always, The Simpsons predicted the future. In a season 9 episode called Trash of the Titans, Homer runs for sanitation commissioner against career civil servant Ray Patterson, voiced by…
Stuff Still Happens, week 44: Hey, America! C’mon over!
Did you know that our shiny new, Canada-is-back Liberal government has set a new goal for the number of immigrants we will accept this year? That number is 320,000 immigrants…
Stuff Still Happens, week 43: An entirely Trump free blog (except for this mention)
See if you can guess in which country the following prison horror story took place. A 24-year-old man, accused of killing another inmate back in 2012, has been held in…
Stuff Still Happens, week 42: A nasty, nasty man
For a few moments during Wednesday’s presidential debate (mercifully the last), Donald Trump appeared almost presidential. He said exactly the same things he has said at every debate, but at…
Stuff Still Happens, week 41: America gone wild
The American election campaign, which was already the worst in history, imploded this week. The week began with a presidential debate widely seen as the worst in history. Donald Trump,…
Stuff Still Happens, week 40: OK, now he CAN’T win
Even the Teflon Don can’t get out of this one. Everyone except his most fanatical supporters knows Trump is a pig, a boor, a crass, classless thug. Now we have…
Stuff Still Happens, week 39: He could STILL WIN!
There’s nothing else to say about the U.S. election anymore, is there? But I will anyway. The Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, is demonstrably and unquestionably a horrifying candidate, the…
Stuff Still Happens, week 38: Bulletin – Liberals like to $pend money
The Trudeau government, less than a year old, has certainly adopted well to governing. Like most governments, the Trudeau Liberals have found that there is a surprising amount of money…
Stuff Still Happens, week 37: Judging the judges
This week, an Alberta judge found Travis Vader guilty in the deaths of elderly couple Lyle and Marie McCann. Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas found Vader guilty of second degree…