Public health and corporate iniquity
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have sued Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, accusing it of using features that hook children to its platforms even as…
United States
Are our hands clean?
One of the best articles I have read about the Hamas-Israel war is The New York Times “There Is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive” by Peter…
Why are we less polarized than the U.S.?
Witnessing the current state of affairs in our great neighbour to the south, the word polarization leaps to the tongue. In a previous post I suggested what we call polarization…
Trump simply never grew up
There seems to be no limit to the incendiary statements ex-US President Donald Tump is capable of. Earlier this week he made an egregious attack on General Mark Milley, recently…
Big state takes on big oil—a lesson for Alberta?
Someone reading this blog might get the impression I take pleasure in hearing about environmental lawsuits against oil companies and their friends. They would be right. I do. And so…
Talking to China
Winston Churchill is credited with saying “It’s better to jaw-jaw than war-war.” It is very much better indeed when two protagonists are armed with nuclear weapons, say like the U.S.…
Manufacturing Consent for War in Canada and the United States
In this webinar, organized by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Colleen Bell and Yves Engler explain how governments in Canada and the United States shape public opinion to support their wars. The…
An American hero
The U.S. has come a long way. Any doubt about that was erased last Monday. On that day, a Southern black woman announced that she would hold a former president…
Biden, Trump and the authoritarian urge
Recent polls show that Donald Trump and Joe Biden are tied in this very early stage of the 2024 presidential race. Each has just over 40 percent support of registered…
A Republican and a Democrat take on big tech
The headline in The New York Times “Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough” caught my eye for two reasons, both good. First,…
The amazing American economy
Reading a very good book recently I was once again reminded of the irrepressible nature of the American economy. The book is Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most…
Trump, would-be autocrat
There is a common assumption that Adolf Hitler was elected to the position of Chancellor of Germany. That isn’t strictly correct. In 1933, the Nazi Party held the most seats…
The cluster bomb curse
The United States recently took a step towards civilizing war, if war can be in any way termed civilized. Last Friday the US Defence Department made history by destroying the…
Happy birthday, US of A
Today our good neighbours to the south are celebrating their country’s birthday—its 247th. Two hundred and forty seven days of democracy, the longest ever. The second most famous democracy—ancient Athens—lasted…
Preaching misogyny
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the biggest Protestant denomination in the US, descending from Baptists who settled in the American colonies in the 17th century. The southerners broke away…
Johnson, Trump and contrasting ethics
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are two buffoons who embarrassed two major democracies by their election to national leadership. Both are now gone and much good riddance. Both are also…
Canada smokes New York
Good neighbours share. But what Canada is sharing these days with its good neighbour to the south is not appreciated. I refer to the dense plumes of smoke from our…
Republican trans phobia
People generally like to keep things simple. Black and white, right and wrong, men and women. But of course things generally aren’t all that simple. More often than not there…
The secret is equity, not wealth
No society has ever created wealth like the United States. And no other society does today. Its dynamic capitalism with freer markets and smaller welfare states than other industrial nations…
Americans aren’t so American anymore
A recent survey funded by The Wall Street Journal showed some dramatic changes in the attitudes of our neighbours to the south. For example, two of Americans’ most cherished institutions,…