Ah, Shit, Now They Tell Us !!
You know him. You like him. Neil deGrasse Tyson - astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, TV celebrity and director of the Hayden Planetarium.According to Dr. Tyson and a load of eggheads like…
The Mound of Sound
Naomi Klein Has It Right – But Only To a Point.
How frustrating it must be. You've finally identified the disease that plagues you but there's no medicine for it and you haven't got nearly enough time left on this mortal…
Another Reason Trudeau Should Think Twice Before Doubling-Down on a Bad Bet – Bitumen
Michael Ignatieff called it "the beating heart of the Canadian economy for the 21st century." Fortunately for the Liberals - and Canada - Iggy has gone back to Harvard.Iggy's successor,…
The NDP – What’ll It Be, Rut or Renaissance?
With the New Dem's convention underway in Edmonton, it's a good time to revisit Murray Dobbin's musings on his party's perilous path forward first published last week in The Tyee.…
Hey, Justin – and You Too Cathy. Can This Lady Have a Word With You?
Well, in the eyes of the Trudeau government, black is green, and the struggle to deal with climate change is trumped by threats to national unity. Our prime minister tells…
Of NatPo and News Cycles
To those who lament the inevitable passing of PostMedia as a loss to journalism I ask just how tenuous does a publication's ties with reality and information have to be…
The High Price of PermaWar – And You’re Picking Up the Tab
"Let’s face it: in times of war, the Constitution tends to take a beating."Andrew Bacevich makes a pretty good point. In times of war rules get bent, sometimes broken. Our…
Now This May Come As a Surprise
The world is abuzz with tales of dictators, gangsters and oligarchs hiding ill-gotten gains and transacting nasty deals including gun running via shell companies in shady places like Panama, the…
The Clock Runs Out for Dean Del Mastro
It's off to the Greybar Hotel for former Harper aide and MP Dean Del Mastro.Deano struck out on his appeal against conviction for election overspending offences and was whisked off…
Is Canada a Criminal Enterprise? Yeah, Apparently So.
When lawyers, accountants, bankers and politicians get into bed the answer is yes, Canada is a criminal enterprise. Bruce Livesey explains in the National Observer, Canada's criminal establishment has been…
Edward Snowden Live Tonight
Edward Snowden will be the guest for a Simon Fraser University discussion tonight on Big Data, security and human rights. The programme will be streamed live on SFU Public Square…
Oh Shit. Has Hillary Been Snagged by the Panama Papers Scandal?
From Daily Kos, a three point summary of how Hillary Clinton may be linked to the Panama Papers scandal.Concerning the Panama Papers scandal, let's start putting two and two together.1.…
Iceland’s Prime Minister Quits
The first major casualty of the Panama Papers scandal is Icelandic prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. He resigned today after waging a rearguard action against revelations that his wife owned…
What Does This Say About the Globe & Mail?
Reading the opening day coverage of the Panama Papers scandal in The Globe & Mail conveyed the sense of a paper on the outside looking in. There was something forlorn,…
Don’t Get Distracted By the Bright, Shiny Thing
All eyes are on the Panamanian law firm of Mossack Fonseca. We've even named the scandal after their homeland, the Panama Papers. As I noted in my previous post, the…
The Game is Rigged
It went by barely noticed. Yesterday a spokesman for Canada's revenue minister said that the Canadian Revenue Agency has been given its marching orders, directed to do the math on…
I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
It all began in 1945 with the "Trinity" test near Los Alamos. That was followed by the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ending WWII. It led Robert…
You Could Almost Substitute "Alberta" for "Africa"
Foreign Policy magazine on the plight that has befallen Africa's petrostates. It does sound just a little familiar.Africa’s petrostates are crashing hard. A cool $115 in the summer of 2014,…
If You Remember This
Remember this cover from Time magazine? It came out in 2006 but it wouldn't be out of place on newsstands today.Here are a few more climate change covers from Time:
Norway Convenes "Corporate Corruption" Summit. Austria Investigates.
Well, it looks as though liberal democracy is still intact in Norway where the government wasted no time responding to the Panama Papers scandal by calling a corporate corruption summit.…