U.S. Drought to Last All Summer
The U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center, in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is predicting that the devastating drought now sweeping most of the American bread basket will…
The Mound of Sound
Because Helping Canadians Stay Healthy is No Business of the Minister of Health
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq seems strangely disinterested in keeping Canadians healthy. She has rejected the advice of her own advisory panel of food experts to renew monitoring of trans-fat levels…
The Giant Chip on Our Shoulder, The One You Supposedly Can’t See
I wonder what the Chinese and the Russians must be making of our current obsession with stealth warplanes? My guess is that they view our focus on stealth as a…
Zimmerman Blames God for Shooting Trayvon Martin
Hell, he was only fulfilling “God’s plan” when he shot and killed Trayvon Martin. And, because it was God’s will, what’s not to like?
IMF Calls Bullshit on Brit Tory Austerity Farce
David Cameron’s boneheaded austerity fetish isn’t working. Even the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, says that much is plain. The Guardian’s Jonathan Portes has this take on the IMF report.…
A Brit Rallies Support for Canadian Science
Harper’s war on science is the subject of an op-ed piece in today’s Guardian calling for international support for Canadian scientists and warning Harper’s funding cuts could have global impacts.…
Not Now, Not Yet
Canada’s military brass seem intent on blundering their way, make that their soldiers’ way, back into combat without first explaining what went so wrong with their performance in Afghanistan. Make…
US Report Says as Much About Harper as Enbridge
The American Transportation Safety Board report that slammed Enbridge over the 2010 Kalamazoo River bitumen spill disaster in Michigan actually tells us as much about Harper and his EnviroShill Peter…
Will Generation X Face Revolt?
If Generation X, the class of ’61 to ’81, is truly disengaged, disinterested, disbelieving of global warming and its impacts, what does that hold for the future? As the Boomers…
About that Dry Spell
Last week it was the worst drought since the 80’s. Now it’s deemed the worst drought since 1956. And, with at least two more weeks of hot, dry conditions forecast…
Inherit the Earth
Generation X may be squarely in the crosshairs of global warming but a great many of them just don’t care. A survey conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for…
Coastal Chaos
Living on coastal B.C. we get used to seeing a lot of marine life. But this video, recorded in Hyacinthe Bay on Quadra Island, is breathtaking. Watch a pod of…
Harper Moves to Reinstate Fear & Helplessness For Terminally Ill Canadians
That sounds like hyperbole. It’s not. The Harper government is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court decision upholding the right of the terminally ill to physician-assisted suicide. Harper wants to restore…
Canadian Farmers Hard Hit by Climate Change
Farmers in far more than half of the United States are now busily filling out forms for emergency drought relief. This year’s corn crop is said to be particularly devastated,…
Time to Give the Armed Forces a Reality Check
It’s time to hit the “reset” button on Canada’s military, or at least its top ranks. That much was plain from reading the jingoistic remarks of General Walt Natynczyk from…
In Our Allies’ Eyes, Canada Failed in Kandahar
For many years I have argued that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan were betrayed by dismal political and military leadership in Ottawa and a mass media too inept to recognize the…
Britain’s Conservative Deluge
Conservatives have become a one-trick pony. They’re all about austerity; code for cutting spending and lowering taxes (for some). And Conservatives are very, very good at distancing their austerity campaigns…
Canada’s First Failed War
The generals who conned our political leaders into signing on to an unwinnable war talk of “success” in Afghanistan but they’re blowing smoke, trying to cover the stench of the…
Dutch Bail on F-35
It was close – 77 to 71 – but it was enough for the Dutch parliament to cancel their planned purchase of 80 F-35 stealth light attack bombers. Lockheed is…
Unlike Sarah Palin, I Really Can See Russia From My Backyard
Well I can see something of Russia anyway. I can see smoke from Russian wildfires creating a haze over local mountains. At first I thought it was just water vapour…