Putting a Myth to Rest
There’s been no end of talk from climate science denialists that global warming has slowed in recent years. Yes, global land surface temperatures have risen somewhat more slowly than they…
The Mound of Sound
Athabasca’s Ugly Footprint Riles Rahm Emanuel
Chicago has got an Athabasca problem – mountains of petcoke, the standard detritus of refining Alberta bitumen. According to Chicago’s mayor, it’s time to store that crap indoors. Mayor Rahm…
The Straight Goods on China and Japan – Maybe
The western media has a clear slant on the tensions between Japan and China over Senkaku Island. The name itself suggests it is Japanese. The Japanese government even purchased it…
When Money Buys Ruin
What would you do if you learned of a small group of people actively at work on efforts that would make your children’s and grandchildren’s lives, and the lives of…
The Case for Valuing Natural Capital
When I think of the mega corporations I’m reminded of Popes. Usually they just get on your nerves but, every now and then, you might get a Pope Francis. Every…
Societal Death Watch
Earlier this year I lost a good friend to heart disease. Lou didn’t just keel over out of the blue. His was a steady, 18-month decline. He went downhill slowly…
The Corruption Inevitable in Right Wing Culture
From Le Monde, a look into how Louisiana parlays prison into profits resulting in an ‘incarceration dependency’ and the abuse of the imprisoned. The number of people in US prisons…
Blunt Warnings, Ignored
“We as a species have never experienced 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We’ve never been on a planet with no Arctic ice, and we will…
The Lottery of Modern Life
Robert Reich asks, “what will it take for us to get back to being a decent society?” While he’s speaking of his United States homeland, he could easily be speaking…
Peak Oil, Check. Peak Gas, Check. Peak Food? What?
Food may run out long before the oil does. A study by scientists at the University of Nebraska warns of “abrupt plateaus or declines” in industrial agricultural production. As much…
Underestimating Climate Change IOmpacts
In recent years we’ve become accustomed to severe weather hitting one part of the planet or another. Drought here, flooding there. Freezing cold fronts in one place, heat waves in…
Saudis Slam Obama
In diplomatic parlance it was nothing less than a punch in the face for the president of the United States delivered by a prominent member of the House of Saud.…
Pope Francis Gives Limbaugh One Upside the Head
America’s favourite open-mouth radio personality, Rush Limbaugh, has accused Pope Francis of being a Marxist. The Pope responded to Limbaugh’s accusation in an Italian newspaper interview published over the weekend.…
Moyers – America Is On the Brink of Losing Its Democracy
It’s almost too much to believe, I get that. Yet when Bill Moyers warns that America is on the brink of losing its democracy, it’s a warning we must heed.…
The Right’s War to Defend Inequality
As inequality is finally becoming a hot topic in American discourse, it is generating the predictable pushback from the Right. Visit a few web sites and you’ll find the same…
Why Aren’t the Armed Forces Self-Sufficient? Oh Yeah, They’re an Essential Service.
Transport minister Lisa Raitt opines that Canada Post has “a responsibility to be self-sufficient.” What the harebrained mandarin of things that move seems to have meant was that the post…
Settling for Less for More
I’m not going to rag on the F-35. I’ll leave that to Aviation Week.Leaders of smaller air forces are worried that they could be priced out of flying fighter aircraft…
Is This What a Revolution Looks Like at Birth?
We’ve seen the upheaval in Greece, the riots in Britain, Spain and France, but it could be Italy that is showing the first signs of an incoherent, chaotic but broad-based…
Two Americas – Through German Eyes
In America there are two radically different approaches to climate change. One camp places its trust in science. The other trusts its future to God. Der Spiegel takes an interesting…
Weekend Reading
For most of us the Lac Megantic disaster was about the devastating explosion of rail tanker cars. It was that horror, of course, but it was so much more. The…