The Leader and His Team
It’s been a tough week for everyone; especially that “young, energetic and diverse team with deep experience” that Jason Kenney (his words by the way) appointed to Cabinet. Health Minister…
economy
Global Geopolitics Analysis 2020: Sinking All Ships (But Our Own): Elite Aim To Sink Global Economy, In Order To Consolidate Global Neo-Feudal Corporate Rule
The currently reigning political-economic orthodoxy, philosophy or ideology, both East and West, and in virtually every nation, with only a few exceptions, has rightly been called neoliberalism. What that means,…
Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Eric Doherty, and Eric Galbraith and Ross Otto, respectively write that the response to the coronavirus shows how it’s possible to imagine…
The Impact of COVID-19 on Democracy
James Madison said tyranny arises “on some favourable emergency”. The COVID-19 pandemic is today’s “favourable emergency.” It’s being used by unscrupulous politicians as a smokescreen for undemocratic behavior in Alberta’s…
Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Mike Konczal offers (PDF) a framework for responding to the coronavirus pandemic from a U.S. perspective. And the CCPA is providing ample analysis…
Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Frances Woolley points out how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the effects of decades of austerity on Canada’s health care system. Martin…
COVID-19: A Study in Leadership
“The first role of government is to help people in crisis or need. That’s why we have government.”– John McCain Crisis separates the leaders from wannabes. We will be watching…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Jim Stanford offers his take on how our governments should respond to the coronavirus epidemic – including an emphasis on health, income…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Todd Gordon and Geoffrey McCormack write about Canada’s crisis of capitalism – which is only being laid bare by a coronavirus pandemic exposing…
The Collapse of Modern Civilization
More than 150 years ago Thoreau commented, “Our sills are all rotten.” He was right. It is for that reason that Western, and Westernized, “modern” “civilization” is collapsing. This could…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan write about the U.S.’ choice between health care for all, or the spread of disease as people…
Globalization: Killed By Coronavirus?
Globalization was already a dying ideology and socio-economic-political order, program, or pattern, by 1999, twenty years ago. The defeat of the MAI and the Seattle World Trade Talks made that…
Importing From China: A Virus? Or A Totalitarian Model Of Elite Control?
Someone prescient once said, “Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little security, deserve neither, and will lose both.” We would do well to remember those words now.…
Budget 2020 and the Snake
On Feb 27, 2020 the Kenney government released Budget 2020. The day it was tabled it was under water, less than two weeks later it drowned. It sank beneath the…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Polly Toynbee and David Walker write about the brutal social consequences of a decade of austerity in the UK. – Andrew Jackson reviews…
Bill 1 and Freedom of Assembly
What do the Wet’suwet’en First Nations blockades have to do with Alberta’s Budget 2020? Everything. The blockades are the rationale (flimsy as it is) for Bill 1, Critical Infrastructure Defence…
Teck Withdraws the Frontier Application
Let’s try to have a sensible conversation about Teck, shall we? On Sunday, Feb 23, 2020 Teck Resources Ltd pulled its application for the Frontier oil sands project. The federal…
Family Day Alberta Style
Tomorrow is Family Day in Alberta. While we wait for Jason Kenney’s Family Day announcement extolling the virtues of the family and maybe throwing in a reference to Albertans as…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Annie Lowrey writes about the affordability crisis which has left most Americans in dire financial straits even as aggregate economic numbers look reasonably…
The Teck Decision Provides a Lesson on Handouts
For a long time Ms Soapbox has been trying figure out what Mr Kenney and the UCP mean when they talk about a “hand up” and a “handout”. She knew…