The Security State Ramps Up
Newly extracted FBI documents show that, under Barack Obama, it’s business even worse than usual for the American security state. Chris Hedges, writing for TruthDig.com, warns that the FBI and…
The Mound of Sound
What Is It With Bubbles?
There’s something about bubbles we must find enormously comforting or somehow rewarding. Look at the Americans. They had the Savings & Loan fiasco. Then it was Enron and a gaggle…
It’s That Season Again. Might As Well Find the Humour
Vancouver and other parts of B.C. are falling victim to widespread norovirus. Plenty of Vancouverites are “down” with the highly infectious bug and they’re not alone. There’s plenty of it…
Another MacKay-Fantino Love Child?
They could’ve stuck with the ships Paul Martin had on the books when he left office, but nooooo. The ships, three of them, were to replace the navy’s 45-year old…
Gwynne Dyer Also Gets Gassy
Wow, a week past just jam packed with reality. TruthDig came out with an explanation of how America has slipped into a fracked gas bubble in which bundled gas leases…
When Rallies, Flyers and Public Forums Won’t Work
They call themselves Deep Green Resistance Vancouver. They’re a group of local environmental activists calling “for militant action – including sabotage – to defend the environment.” Although they emphasize that…
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words, Sadly
Ah’m fixin to git me one of them thar assault rifles. Seriously, how did this guy, James Holmes, ever get his hands on an assault rifle? He’s the accused shooter…
U.S. Coast Guard Probes Ottawa-Beijing’s Tanker Scheme
The U.S. Coast Guard has been ordered to investigate and report on the implications of large scale bitumen supertanker trafficking out of Vancouver. A legislative amendment proposed by Washington state…
The Royal Society of Canada Tells Harper to Unshackle Our Scientists
The President of the Royal Society of Canada, Yolande Grise, warns that the relationship between public policy and science is broken within the Harper regime. Policy and science are in…
Americans’ Forever Blowing Bubbles, This Time It’s Gassy
Is America caught in a shale fracking bubble? An article from TruthDig.com claims it is and that it’s set up the same way as the last one only with bundled…
Unless We Act Soon, There’s Not Much Reason To Act At All.
We’re in the battle of our lives and we’re almost as indifferent to it as our adversary, the science of physics. Bill McKibben, writing at tomdispatch.com, says time is not…
Idle No More Probably Defies Convenient Definition
Idle No More doesn’t speak to a grievance. It doesn’t speak to two or three. What it speaks to is defined solely by how broadly and deeply it resonates both…
When Is a Public Hearing Not a Public Hearing?
Can you call something a “public hearing” when you refuse admission to the sitting Member of Parliament for the area you’re holding your meeting? Newly-minted Victoria NDP MP Murray Rankin…
A Recipe for a New, Healthy Canadian Economy for 2013
Ann Dale, Canada research chair in community sustainability at Royal Roads has formulated a recipe for a new and healthy Canadian economy for 2013. Among other things, Dale argues we…
What Is Your Favourite State Best, or Worst, At?
Most Canadians have a favourite U.S. state, usually the best known to them or the one they feel most comfortable with. Yet you might be surprised to discover what your…
Not Exactly a Confidence Builder
For reasons I don’t understand I often read the Times Colonist online before I go out to the front porch and pick up the morning’s print edition. This morning the…
Jack Knox It Straight Out of the Park
Victoria Times Colonist scribe Jack Knox has it right. It’s not eco-hippies who will stop Harper’s Northern Gateway pipeline, it’s the heart of middle-class Canada who will do that job.…
One Fish. One Point Seven Million Dollars. Adios, Blue Fin.
It’s a record. A 222kg blue fin tuna was sold for $1.7-million (155m yen) at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market. High bids traditionally mark the year’s first auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji…
Fantino’s Foot-In-Mouthitis Flares Again
Harper loose cannon Julian Fantino is at it again. Now safely distanced from the F-35 fiasco, Fantino has been unleashed on the International Cooperation portfolio. His diplomatic prowess was demonstrated…