Stuff Still Happens, week 4: The Iowa caucuses explained … sort of
After 15,723 polls, 787,252 hours of TV time, and 254 billion words written (all numbers estimates), the election process to choose the next President of the United States begins in…
politics
End Energy East
This is also how I feel about Energy East and similar pipeline projects. In the national discussion about our energy and transportation network future, if you don’t put chemistry before…
Laying Down A Deadly Bluff
For ages now Canadians have been conditioned to accept that we “need” more pipelines to move more oil. Otherwise we’ll continue to exhaust train crews and have bombtrains in every…
Looking Back At the Conservatives’ Campaign
I wrote this on October 1, 2015, but never finished it: Let’s examine the Conservative’s campaign thus far: It began with them showing ads where men are being drowned, as…
“Liberals” bash Bernie, get Berned
Advisory: Adult language warning, adult conversation – not for children or those who watch FOX or CNN: The whores to corporate America, the political and media prostitutes, including Bill Clinton…
Shell-Shock: A novel by installments
Here is an unconventional move. I am considering publishing a novel by installments. This has been done in the past, but is not the current norm. But I am not…
Blessed be the gadflies
Metaphorically speaking, and only with regard to issues of the greatest importance, I wholeheartedly agree: “When confronting your enemy, go for the jugular, and never back down.” – Alexander Cockburn…
Confronting Evil: Not with a bang, but a whimper? Neither, I say
Yes, it is best to be cordial, courteous, friendly and respectful, and to avoid harsh words and harsh speech, generally speaking. But when it comes to confronting power, when it…
Bernie Sanders: The backlash is on – surprise, surprise!
Bernie Sanders was effectively silenced and blacked out of the media, by and large, for a long time, until he became too popular and too prominent to ignore. Now, the…
Rona Ambrose – Smoke From The Ears
Anyone else smell pants burning? Maybe it’s something else. Hold on, you’re about to get whiplash. I guess having an empty head is a biological advantage since your brain doesn’t…
Reductio ad absurdum: Why we environmentalists are missing the boat with sham hearings, technical arguments
Technical arguments and sham hearings on the merits and risks of pipelines and tankers miss the point, argues Rafe Mair.The post Reductio ad absurdum: Why we environmentalists are missing the…
Trudeau To Rush A Billion Dollars to Wall and Notley
The government is in talks to quickly allocate $1 billion for infrastructure projects in the two provinces — money earmarked by the previous government’s infrastructure fund but not yet delivered,…
How the BC Liberals killed WAC Bennett’s dream of affordable public power, ferries, rail
Longtime BC Premier WAC Bennett's dream of affordable public power, ferries and rail is dead. Rafe Mair describes how a need generation of right wingers - the BC Liberals -…
The Political Agnostic
Watching the American political debates, especially the increasingly vituperative and acerbic Republican debates, reminds me again why I am a political agnostic when it comes to party politics. I simply…
Oh, Ann, You Do Make Me Laugh
Ann Coulter, that spewing harridan of hatred, bigotry, malevolence and xenophobia makes most thoughtful people cringe. Hell, she makes even rabid, right-wing frothers cringe. She makes the Westboro Baptist morons…
William Shatner’s Inaugural Address
(After Winning the First Post-Two-Party Presidential Election) Friends, Americans, Countrymen! Lend me your ears. I come to bury our two-party system, not praise it. I stand before you today, not…
Writings of J. Todd Ring 2016-01-12 17:52:26
Revolution and Uniting the People: Bernie Sanders, Thomas Jefferson and FDR I would say that Bernie Sanders is not only a good candidate for US President, and beyond that, the…
Why the BC Liberals could easily win the next election
Despite myriad scandals and a lack of popularity, the BC Liberals could easily win again in 2017, says Rafe Mair - especially since the NDP refuse to help themselves.The post…
Where’s Wall’s Western Strategy Now?
It wasn’t very long ago that Brad Wall was a part of shaping western Canada. He wanted BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and maybe even Manitoba to agree on LCD wage and…