"Ethical Oil" – an argument that make no sense
The Devil in the Tar Sands, Jody Williams and Desmond Tutu, Project Syndicate, 2011 CAPE TOWN – …”Oil from the tar sands of Alberta is the dirtiest in the world,…
Norman Farrell
Conservatives ready to serve paymasters
Harper warns of ‘hijacked’ hearings on Northern Gateway pipeline, Bob Weber, The Canadian Press: EDMONTON – Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he’s listening to concerns that hearings for the Northern…
Dumb-ass schnooks we are
Replay from May 27, 2011 because the issues have not changed: Too-polite Canadians accept almost any declaration from people in authority. We are naive, complacent schnooks. Dumb, as well; the…
A change of subject
Regular readers might be aware of my family’s interest in KIVA, which describes itself as a: “non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging…
Oil industry ramps up the pressure
As Ian Reid succinctly observes, the Vancouver Sun “has apparently merged with Encana’s communications department and is now almost desperately spinning the Northern Pipeline on their behalf.” Postmedia, the Sun’s…
Police Squad – from the Encyclopedia of Wildlife
Another replay, recycled from April 2010: Police are an extremely social animal. They exist as a social unit called a squad. Police travel and hunt in a group and perform…
Foreign funding of environmentalists?
In a demonstration of ultimate irony, Ethical Oil, which shills for the international petroleum industry, complains about environmental groups receiving a tiny portion of their funding from outside Canada. Where…
These people don’t believe in ‘ethical oil’
CKNW’s morning show featured Fraser Institute alum Kathryn Mitrow Marshall, who is now labouring for Ethical Oil, an ironically named lobby group with close ties to the Conservative Party of…
"The drugs Canada is peddling"
Dr. David Schindler, University of Alberta “Every year that you can get away with lack of regulation, is a few billion more bucks in your pocket. After 40 years, I’m…
Shilling for dollars
Gordon Hoekstra and the Vancouver Sun present another episode in the ongoing series, Shilling for Corporate Canada: Enbridge is a Canadian success story: “Patrick Daniel, its president and CEO… earned…
Before the diet begins tomorrow
As the last post indicated, it was a quiet New Year’s Eve at our house. Today is a bit different though as the family group arrives for what is becoming…
Are you suffering today?
Headache, body ache, nausea, periorbital hyperalgesia, sensitivity to light and noise, diarrhea, thirst, lethargy, dysphoria and guilt. Those are symptoms I don’t have today after a quiet New Year’s eve.…
Adele – for those who don’t know already
I may be late but 2011 was the year I discovered brilliant young English singer-songwriter Adele Laurie Blue Adkins. Salon.com calls her The one musician we all agree on.
Peace on Earth, maybe later
AMERICA’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO HER FAVORITE DESPOTS, Truthdig “The U.S. closed the first $30 billion half of a major arms deal Thursday to send 84 F-15 fighter jets to a…
Export baby export !
In earlier articles, including Majority supports Keystone XL, or do they?, I wrote about oil companies aiming to move Canadian oil to tidewater so that exports can create shortages and…
Vancouver Sun practices conscious deceit
Elmer Derrick and Enbridge VP Janet Holder IS IT TRUE ELMER DERRICK IS “THE” GITXSAN HEREDITARY CHIEF? Commentary by Merv Ritchie, Terrace Daily, Dec. 11, 2011 This is the claim…
Harper’s boondoggles
F-35 production a troubling example of Pentagon spending, Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2011: “Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took the Senate floor on Dec. 15 and described the F-35…
Canada trails USA in risk awareness
Canadian media doesn’t provide much detail but ProPublica, the American non-profit doing fine investigative reporting, is examining dangers of gas and oil production through hydraulic fracturing. In an earlier article…
Majority supports Keystone XL, or do they?
Wetland oil spill – Evi, Alberta Vancouver Sun headlines: U.S. majority supports controversial Keystone XL pipeline project: poll “A majority of U.S. voters still support TransCanada Corp’s controversial Keystone XL…
Heritage and Environment: Forgedaboudit
The Athabasca River Basin 1,538 km in length, the Athabasca River is Alberta’s longest undammed river and its second largest by volume. The river drains the 159,000 km² Athabasca River…