Vancouver’s "Living Wage"
It doesn’t bind private sector employers but if you work for the City of Vancouver or for a contractor working on behalf of the City, you will receive, at minimum,…
The Mound of Sound
Who Reaches Deepest Into Big Oil’s Pockets?
Well, it’s not the Alberta Tories if that’s what you were thinking. It is British Columbia’s very own Liberal government. ..according to data compiled by Elections BC and Elections Alberta,…
What Is Tom Lawson’s Major Mental Malfunction?
Canada’s chief of defence staff is about to retire, apparently due to terminal hoof-in-mouth disease. Air force general, Tom Lawson, brought a shitstorm down on himself explaining away the sexual…
In Other Drought News
Okay, Ontario. By the time the summer’s over you might be sick of your Saskatchewan cousins or at least the smoke from their out of control forest fires. Here’s the…
Speaking of Pricks – N – E – S – T – L – E – S
Swiss food giant, Nestle, doesn’t give a flying fuck about the drought that’s spread along the Pacific from California to Alaska. The company brought down on its own head the…
Magnum PI, You Prick!
Right-wing, gun-lovin’ nutjob Tom Sellick seems to have gotten his self-righteous, law’n order tits caught in the wringer. The former star of TV’s Magnum P.I. and, oh I don’t know,…
Is It a Tory Disease or Just a Contagion in Harper’s Cabinet?
Joe Oliver – pow! Backpfeifengesicht. Pierre Poilievre – pow! Backpfeifengesicht. Julian Fantino – pow! Backpfeifengesicht. Mackay, Ambrose, Finley, Clement, van Loan, Kenney, Ritz, Aglukkak, Blaney, Rait, Alexander – pow! Backpfeifengesicht.Trust…
Give the Dippers a Break. Syriza Didn’t Create the Problem.
A certain prominent Liberal mouthpiece has been going after the New Democrats for supporting the Syriza government in Greece. Unfortunately this fellow conflates the government of Alexis Tsipras, who only…
Summertime on Vancouver Island, Just Another Day in Paradise
A lot of people on this island rarely think of how we share it with some amazing wildlife including a number of “alpha” predators. Their ranks include everything from golden…
As I Stare at My Smoke-Clouded Sky, a Thought or Two About Tipping Points
A tipping point isn’t that instant when water begins pouring over the canoe’s gunwale. The tipping point is actually before that, when the canoe is heeling over and can’t be…
Don’t Worry, Be Happy. They Were Only Missiles.
Sure, they were sophisticated, Patriot missiles, belonging to the German military. And, yes, they were in Turkey along the border with Syria. Defending a NATO ally, okay? Fine, so far…
It’s Called the "Pucker Factor"
There’s a powerful yet weird mix of angst and optimism building in advance of the December climate change summit in Paris. Government types from the US to China to the…
Mars May Rise Again
The sole survivor, it is moored on Vancouver Island’s Sproat Lake a short drive west of Port Alberni. It’s the giant, Hawaii Mars, the last of what once was a…
Dear Crusty. LNG is Volatile. It Could Even Blow Up in Your Face.
BC premier Christy Clark is in love – with British Columbia’s natural gas reserves. She sees it as a magical solution to pay off all of the province’s debts and…
It Doesn’t Get Much Uglier Than This. Well, It Does, Eventually.
The closer you look into the Greek economic fiasco, the more you’ll see of a cautionary tale the rest of us need to absorb. The Troika – the IMF, the…
Thomas Piketty Rides to the Defence of Greece
The noted French economist, Thomas Piketty, isn’t mincing any words when it comes to defending Greece against its European creditors. He drives home the point that bloody-minded hyper-austerity types like…
Defence Contractors are like Leaking Sieves
Critics of the uber-costly F-35 usually expect to hear some variation of “no bucks, no Buck Rogers”. In other words if you want the super secret, latest and greatest, you…
Krugman – Europe Also Won in Yesterday’s Greek Bailout Referendum
From my years practicing insolvency law, I was left stunned at the illogic in the demands that the creditors sought to impose on Greece. The approach made no sense. They…
Why the Leaked F-35 Flight Test Results Must Worry Lockheed.
When word got out last week that Lockheed’s uber-costly F-35 Joint Strike Fighter got its tail waxed by a 30-year old F-16 in air combat flight tests, it was a…
It Sounded Like a Scene from Apocalypse Now
They came at last light as I sat in my livingroom, reading. It sounded like a helicopter assault straight out of Apocalypse Now and it went on for quite a…