Bombardier Bribery Bust
Bombardier execs are in hot water with Sweden’s National Anti-Corruption Unit over alleged bribes to win a $340 million (US) contract with Azerbaijan. Auditors of the World Bank’s Integrity unit…
The Mound of Sound
The Case for Ousting Trump
It doesn’t have anything to do with money laundering or colluding with the Kremlin to rig the election. It has everything to do with the ruinous impact of a dysfunctional…
Still Crazy After All These Years
Apologies to Paul Simon but the phrase, “still crazy after all these years,” speaks perfectly of America’s inability to either accept or learn from its past. The proof is manifest…
Sorry, But You Did Have It Coming.
It’s a phrase that lawyers are particularly fond of – “the author of his own misfortune.” It describes the common defence to those who make poor choices and then seek…
I-M-P-E-A-C-H, I Quit
Daniel Kammen is a professor at UC Berkeley. Until recently he’s also served as a science envoy to the US State Department. It seems the good professor has had a…
America’s Backroom Revolution or Constitutional Coup?
It may be the ultimate expression of neoliberalism – revolution. Only don’t think of George Washington and his Continental Army. The generals in the neoliberal revolution will be billionaires and…
Dear Ezra. Do Let the Door Hit Your Ass On Your Way Out.
And I hope it hits you hard enough that you squeal. The New Republic has a feature on Ezra Levant and his Rebel Media. The article focuses on how the…
Today in Breitbart
A Steve Bannon fidget spinner. The timing is perfect just as fidget spinners are going the way of Pogs in the 1990s. Over at the re-Bannoned Breitbart News Network, the…
Exxon Hoist On Its Own Petard
Petro-giant Exxon is facing a load of grief. Several US state attorneys-general are gunning for the company and a new report based on Exxon’s own internal documents has produced what…
The Essential Role of Perspective
The reports sound pretty awful – more than 800 dead in floods that are sweeping India, Nepal and Bangladesh. But how to make any sense out of that? I went…
Can Liberal Democracy Survive Neoliberalism?
Externalities, where would we be without them? In the Ponzi scheme we know as neoclassical economics, the sort still taught to our young in universities, externalities are impacts from economic…
A Uniquely American Approach to Discussing Sea Level Rise
Americans know the sea is rising. A good many wealthy Americans own rather expensive waterfront abodes. They’ve come to “get” the reality of sea level rise, storm surges and saltwater…
Bannon Bites Back
That didn’t take long. With Steve Bannon booted from the White House last Friday and back at the helm of Breitbart news the same day, it didn’t take long for…
An Invaluable Primer on Neoliberalism
It arrived by stealth, largely unnoticed. It boils down to the idea that markets are superior to governments and that the political caste should defer to markets wherever possible. It…
Guess What the Dumb Bugger Did Now?
Donald Trump is known for not heeding advice. Those who give him advice are often frustrated when he proceeds to do just the opposite. Take yesterday’s solar eclipse. While Washington…
"Anti-Fa"? Hell, Yes. Proudly Fighting Fascism, Fang and Claw, Since 1937.
Anti-Fascists Heading to War We all get sent out anyway and we always sign up for the privilege. Those who have read this blog over the years will know that…
So This Guy Stops By Over the Weekend…
An old buddy. We’ve been friends since he began doing my firm’s computer work in the 80s. He comes over to visit about twice a year these days. He showed…
Bannon Out?
Donald Trump has apparently given Steve Bannon his pink slip. President Donald Trump on Friday fired Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist in the latest high-level White House shake-up, removing…
Assange Went Hard on Hillary, Limp on the Kremlin
A lot of people started smelling a rat when Julian Assange went a little bizarre during his latter years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Something wasn’t right.…