Riding the Petro-Tiger
I don’t think even Sideshow Steve Harper believes the fable of Canada’s energy superpowerdom any more. My guess is that he knows full well that the federal government is riding…
The Mound of Sound
Those Damned Swedes and Their Affordable, High-Tech Airplanes
Sweden – less than 10-million people. Canada – just over 35-million. Sweden – GDP 538-billion. Canada – GDP 1.74-trillion. How is it that Sweden, with a population slightly smaller than…
China’s "Cancer Villages"
Chinese officials are now admitting the existence of “cancer villages” in areas where pollution and environmental degradation have resulted in cancer rates far above normal. According to Chinese business magazine…
Sequestration and the F-35. Kickin in China’s Door.
Oh those Americans and their silly budget showdowns. As some observers say, these confrontations have come to resemble kabuki theatre. Sequestration is scheduled to take effect on March 1, a…
Harper’s Fundamentalist Fetish is Just Plain Wrong
It’s this simple. If you don’t have money to maintain our Coast Guard stations and our fisheries monitors, you don’t have money to squander on an Office of Religious Freedoms.…
U.S. States Jonesing for Drugs
Georgia is said to be rushing to put down condemned prisoners before it’s stock of execution drugs expires on March 1. Georgia is just one of several states that find…
Capitalism Exchanges Fire with France
Globalization has transferred a great deal of political power into corporate boardrooms. And, for some businessmen, it’s gone to their heads – guys like Maurice (Morry) “The Grizz” Taylor, CEO…
Biden At Bat
Veep Joe Biden is carrying the White House campaign to rein in assault rifles. And, predictably, he’s shooting straight. He challenged the National Rifle Association’s arguments opposing Barack Obama’s plans,…
Hard Times Ahead For American Blacks?
Could the United States Supreme Court open the door for rolling back decades of progress for America’s black minority? When a black man won the White House in 2008, many…
Sex Could Solve Roman Catholicism’s Biggest Problems
The debate is open again as to whether Roman Catholic priests should have to be celibate. Britain’s top Catholic, Cardinal Keith O’Brien says the next Pope should re-open the issue…
Duffy to Cough Up Cash
Harper senator (just add water and stir) Mike Duffy has said he’ll repay the housing allowance he’s been pocketing for living in Ottawa while “resident” in Prince Edward Island. “What…
Global Musical Chairs
There’s nothing like self-interest to shape one’s perspective. With the ascendancy of the emerging economies: – China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and South Africa – those of us in the…
Not Green, For Now
I had to resign my membership in the Green Party to do it, but now I’m a Liberal Supporter. I didn’t join the Liberal Party and I won’t unless something…
The Social Science of Climate Change
What does social science have to do with climate change? Quite a bit, actually. Climate change denialism has given social scientists rich pickings to scrutinize, pick apart and analyze. One…
Always Wanted to Visit "The Big Easy"?
Many of us have at one time or another wanted to visit New Orleans, The Big Easy. If you still want to go, you might want to go sooner rather…
The Butcher’s Price of the War on Drugs
Mexico’s drug wars have been brutal. Upwards of 70,000 have been killed, often brutally, usually near the U.S. border. Now it’s emerging that another 27,000 have simply disappeared. Combined with…
This Could Be a Smear, It Could Be a Conspiracy, or It Could Be a Clerical Tsunami – Gay Blackmail in the Vatican?
The Pope and the gay clergy scandal? The Rome daily La Repubblica reports that Pope Benny’s hasty departure from the Holy See could be linked to a network of gay…
China’s Water Woes
China does not seem able to come to grips with the pollution that is inexorably poisoning the country. While Beijing talks about green energy, including 5th generation reactor technology, it…
1.5C Enough to Unleash the Permafrost Greenhouse Gases
A team of researchers, led by Oxford University scientists, has concluded that global warming of just 1.5 degrees Celsius will trigger the melting of the world’s permafrost and, with it,…