I'm still alive but I'm over here ... Oreo Cookie Blues .... see ya... [Read More]

And #1 on the Top Ten Statements that Lib Supporters Hoped They'd Never Hear (But Should Have Expected):“We are pulling a ‘Dion’,” says (a Liberal) insider, referring to the fact that under Mr. Dion’s leadership the Liberals made sure the government did not fall.... [Read More]

"CALGARY — The case of the missing Sidney Crosby gold medal hockey gear has been solved. Hockey Canada says it’s recovered the stick and one of the gloves Crosby used during the men’s Olympic gold medal hockey game."Regina Leader-PostHockey fans can relax ....(Vote for this post)(Photo... [Read More]

Opening ShananigansSandra Morin goes after the SP Martinsville fundraising poster. She took the right tone. Well done.Topic 1 - Rural Doctor ShortageLingenfelter and Wall spar over the SARM issues on rural doctors. Lingenfelter is over-the-top when he doesn't need to be. Wall uses the quote by... [Read More]

Two days after the story about the Saskatchewan Party's exploitation of 9/11 for fund-raising purposes first broke - and after it's been slammed across the political spectrum on its way to being noted by a national news outlet - there's still nary a mention anywhere in Saskatchewan's traditional... [Read More]

As Brad Lavigne and others have noted, Frances Russell's column today is chock full of goodies to counter the Cons' reckless and regressive budgeting. At least, for those who are interested in bothering with that type of argument.... [Read More]

Not a lot of people liking President O’s greenwashing of nukes.  This most excellent article in the Guardian dispels the myth that nukes are green. The argument that nuclear is “carbon-free” conveniently omits the entire process of mining uranium, which produces greenhouse... [Read More]

I was going to avoid writing about the latest dust up on the Israeli-Palestinian front, wherein the Israeli government decided to publicly embarrass the United States by approving new settlement construction on the eve of Vice President Biden's attempt to engineer a reboot of Israeli talks with the... [Read More]

In the final days of the last Federal Election, former Conservative MP, Rahim Jaffer ran a radio ad in Edmonton slamming the New Democrats as being 'pro-drug'. -The New Democrats went on to defeat Rahim Jaffer for his Federal Riding. -Jaffer went on to be arrested for drunk driving and possession... [Read More]

I know that for Liberals/Conservatives the term "deranged Socialist" is simply redundant, but what about within Socialist/ Leftist discourse? Is there a place on the Left for a democratic socialist whose politics include not only Marx, but also Christ, Gandhi, Beckett, Levinas, Derrida, Lacan and a... [Read More]

Most of the public focus on Parliament over the last week has rightly been on the issue of the Cons' continued attempts to avoid accountability for their actions when it comes to Afghan detainees - and there's plenty of reason for concern about the Libs' willingness to give the Harper government a... [Read More]

David Schneiderman weighs in on the options available to the opposition parties if they're able to agree that Parliamentary supremacy is worth affirming:Prerogatives continue to exist, however, only to the extent that they have not been disrupted by statute. Although Judge Iacobucci's advice may be... [Read More]

Just remember, the Harper Cons have absolutely nothing to do with the implementation of the HST.(Edit: added label.)... [Read More]

You knew that Stephen Harper couldn't resist at least one huge 'sell off' of public assets while he was PM! (Don't look now but his old 'Reform' roots are showing ...)“There are some opportunities there for some privatizations of businesses that one questions why the government is in them... [Read More]

bearded-faced lie noun. A statement that sounds like a lie, but is actually true. Ex.: Obama's claim that a public option will save money is a bearded-faced lie.

Antonyms: bare-faced lie, bald-faced lie, bold-faced lie.

Feel free to leave your own examples of bearded-faced lies in... [Read More]

Oh, how I would have liked to be wrong in worrying that the opposition parties were going to pass up their chance to put in place some rules that couldn't be so easily manipulated by the Harper Cons. Here's Kady: (G)enerally speaking, committees readopt the same rules of procedural engagement as... [Read More]

Grab a coffee or tea.  Find a snack.  Lots of linky news today so this could take a while! First up:  A Calgary nuke company, Kirrin Resources, is not going to expand its exploration for uranium in Quebec.  That’s good news for Quebec’s citizens.  Not so good for Saskatchewan... [Read More]

This must have been a really bad year for movies. Or maybe the Academy wanted to reward a director for making a low-budget film where normally one would have expected them to blow more than the GNP of a populous, earthquake-ravaged Caribbean island to make 90 minutes of eye candy. Or maybe they... [Read More]

I want to add my voice to those of other bloggers who are shaking their heads in wonder at a poster being circulated for a Saskatchewan Party 'pig roast dinner' fundraiser:-BigCityLib-Accidental Deliberations-Humble OpinionThis poster is from the constituency represented by Saskatchewan's current... [Read More]

While I tend toward the view that the high-profile portions of question period are covered to death, there's still sometimes room for some highly noteworthy questions and answers to slip through the cracks. Take for example what this exchange between NDP MP Carol Hughes and Con Health Minister... [Read More]

There are plenty of ways to respond with snark to the Sask Party's use of 9/11 carnage to raise money. But this is one time where even trying to respond with humour would miss the point. It's never been much of a secret that the Sask Party's underlying philosophy is one of shameless exploitation of... [Read More]

The Crisis Group has another excellent report out [PDF] - this one about Abkhazia's increasing reliance on Russia. This small breakaway region of Georgia, once home to the beachside villas of Soviet officials, has long maintained that it has no business being under the thumb of Tblisi.... [Read More]

In another forum about this time last year, I wrote a blog post to which I can no longer link. But the text of the post is still on my hard drive and I was rummaging through it and the last paragraph was this:I think it's clear now that the election of 2008, having begun in 2006 sometime, will... [Read More]

Shorter Kelly McParland:If those lazy, shiftless, useless jack-booted bureaucratic thugs whose red tape destroys the economy and who suck from the public teat while bleeding hard-working Canadians dry don't agree to hand over some of their ill-gotten gains, then some unnamed persons might try to... [Read More]

So, I may not get a chance to do this every day (in fact I think you can assume I will miss more days than I hit) but any time I get a chance to watch the Saskatchewan QP I will post my review of both the questions and the answers.Opening ShananigansSmarmy Jeremy Harrison introduces Ezra Levant in... [Read More]

To residents of Edmonton-Strathcona: any vote for the Cons' Ryan Hastman will be interpreted as justifying Rob Anders' existence. Govern yourselves accordingly.... [Read More]

Shorter Stockwell Day:Of course nobody should care that we're slashing jobs from the Military Police Complaints Commission. After all, it's not as if we're letting it do its job in the first place.... [Read More]

Look ... in the early days of the Harper government, the new Conservative administration was simply not prepared to let Dick Cheney and the Bushites have all the fun torturing evil types in the name of truth, justice and the American (er... Canadian) way.I mean ... if the Americans could thumb... [Read More]

...to find out whether the opposition parties have actually developed rule changes to Harper-proof our Parliamentary committees at least to the extent of preventing the Cons from unilaterally shutting them down. Anybody want to take the "yes" side of that bet?... [Read More]

I've noted that the Saskatchewan Party convention was noticeably lacking in any ideas or questions from its delegates. But let's note in fairness that while the Sask Party's members did manage to rouse up at least some contribution to the proceedings:Standing O for Gantefoer.Yes, that Gantefoer -... [Read More]

The Hill Times goes into detail about the Cons' parliamentary budget estimates. And the most striking (if entirely unsurprising) news is that the Harper Privy Council Office is looking for a huge increase in funding to help it spread the message that everybody needs to sacrifice:The Privy Council... [Read More]

AECL CEO Hugh McDiarmid then:“Returning the NRU to service to support the production of medical isotopes for Canadian patients and healthcare practitioners is our primary objective”, said AECL’s President and CEO Hugh MacDiarmid. “We have a dedicated team working around the clock to bring... [Read More]

I'll echo the many posts this weekend to the effect that the opposition parties need to press forward with their Afghan detainee document order in order to preserve any semblance of Parliamentary supremacy (even if I'm pessimistic about the prospect of their taking the advice). But it's worth... [Read More]

When the editorial board of the province's largest MSM daily paper issues a headline like the one above, you know that the governing party is in big trouble. Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party is holding their annual provincial convention this weekend, but you have to wonder ... why? The empty tables... [Read More]

In the apparent absence of enough interested members to actually ask questions at a at their convention, the Sask Party has sent up one "Brad W." to lob a softball to their caucus Q & A. Followed by a "B. Wall". And then a "Darb Llaw" to close out proceedings.Now, I'd have thought they could at... [Read More]

I'm not entirely sure why Dalton McGuinty and so many other Ontario politicians seem to have bought into the idea that massive privatization will do anything at all to help government finances. But in the wake of McGuinty's bizarre "super corporation" privatization plan, Erin has the right... [Read More]

Never thought I'd read this.Journalist Nir Rosen, long the pessimist on Iraq, writes that the security situation there is looking pretty damn stable (all things considered.)There are still militias active in Iraq, and the level of deadly violence would be unacceptable almost any place else on... [Read More]

The Star-Phoenix editorial board is duly scathing about the Sask Party's complete lack of vision. But it's worth putting into perspective just how remarkable it is that the Sask Party's convention this weekend is apparently featuring a mere five resolutions in total - with the one which would... [Read More]

For those wondering whether the right-wing focus on slashing taxes and the public service is even intended to result in economic benefits rather than simply being a matter of anti-government ideology, I'm not sure one could ask for a more decisive statement than Gerry Nicholls' latest commentary on... [Read More]

CBC's report raising the possibility that Canadian officials deliberately rendered Afghan detainees to be tortured obviously raises the stakes in the ongoing standoff over records documenting Canada's actions. But while we'll have to see how both the information showdown and the substance of the... [Read More]

Susan Delacourt on just how obvious it is that even to the extent Con MPs could be bothered to carry out consultations, those had no effect whatsoever on Emperor Harper's plans:I believe it was CanWest reporter David Akin who told us that federal cabinet ministers howled in protest when they first... [Read More]

Continuing in his pattern of fiscally dubious moves, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced that the federal government will be looking to sell Crown assets as a means of deficit control. Setting aside the question of whether selling these assets is in the long-term social and financial... [Read More]

Kaskade - It's You It's Me... [Read More]

This video, from The Real News Network, discusses the emergence of Western anti-Muslim bigotry within mainstream political discourse.

... [Read More]

The Canadian chairman of the Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission who blocked the fraud-plagued first round in last year's Afghan presidential elections will join the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee on a growing panel of hard-hitting speakers in Ottawa on March 9.Grant Kippen was a... [Read More]

Kady has the most ridiculous detail yet about the Cons' attempt to hide from the Afghan torture issue:SO YEAH, ABOUT THOSE TERMS OF REFERENCE UPDATE: Apparently, Nicholson's office will be putting out a press release on the Iacobucci review just as soon as they've managed to nail down the details,... [Read More]

Regina Leader-Post political columnist, Murray Mandryk, recently did a good piece on the disastrous Saskatchewan Party 2009-10 provincial budget. In it, he asks some very sobering questions about the motives behind grossly overestimated royalty revenues from projected postash sales by the privately... [Read More]

Hey, look:Climate scientists have long warned that global warming could unlock vast stores of the greenhouse gas methane that are frozen into the Arctic permafrost, setting off potentially significant increases in global warming.Now researchers at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and elsewhere... [Read More]

“Debate is not a sin, a mistake, an error or something to be put up with in parliament, debate is the essence of parliament.” Stanley Knowles, MPHouse of Commons Procedure and Practice - page 677Globe & Mail... [Read More]

Alex Massie over at Andrew Sullivan's blog has a couple of posts highlighting some recent remarks made by Secretary Clinton on her visit to Argentina. Asked about the possibility of the U.S. playing a mediation role between Britain and Argentina over the status of the Falkland Islands, Clinton made... [Read More]

The padlocks placed on Canada's parliament by Conservative Leader, Stephen Harper, were removed today. Allegedly, Canada's democratically elected Parliament was Suspended on December 30th in order for the Conservatives to roll up their sleeves and bring forward the best plan and Speech from the... [Read More]

Mallory and I were scrambling to get out the door this morning – well, I was scrambling, Mallory was evidently elsewhere mentally speaking – and we have the following conversation:... [Read More]

"Yep, the great free-enterprisers who've railed on for decades about Tommy Douglas driving out the oil companies are now giving away every penny of our potash royalties this year to the potash companies. How can something like this happen, you ask? [...] Whatever it is, it's incompetence well... [Read More]

One of the very first outward signs of HIV I bore was seborrheic dermatitis. It was more like a reaction to being told that I had HIV. This has not been a consistent problem with me – or else I ignore it equally as consistently – but it has become problematic in the last month and [...]... [Read More]

Vicki and I bought a house in the east end of Toronto last year, and one of the points that sold me on the house was its proximity to the ravine system of parks that are a real gem in this city. So the idea that the city is moving to lock-in the Don and Humber parks as part of the provincial green... [Read More]

Here’s Dr. Jim Harding’s latest column. Worth a read. After a Decade of Shock and Awe by Jim Harding It’s common to recap events in decades. We often even adopt decade identities – the rebellious sixties, the greedy eighties, etc. Might we call the first decade of the 21st... [Read More]

"Buried among all the budget cuts and discontinued programs in the recent provincial budget there was an announcement of two new programs in the Department of Energy. The first of these would see the energy department "work within Alberta’s education system to facilitate a flow of age-suitable... [Read More]

So we're in the run-up to a municipal election here in Toronto, and so far most of the headlines (if not most of the polls) have been dominated by a clown named Rocco Rossi. Specifically, Rossi has grabbed the spotlight by slamming bike lanes, claiming that the creation of the Jarvis bike lane... [Read More]

An Open Letter to American President Barack Obama Dear Mr. President: I know how difficult it is to quit smoking.  I would suggest that the mere fact that you can count on one hand the number of cigarettes you have each day is a great starting point. Quitting is a process, at least it has... [Read More]

Moving day -- not mine, a friend's.  Really glad that I don't plan to move again for the next, um, generation or so.At one point, I thought: "Geez, this wasn't this hard when I was younger."  Then I remembered: "Oh hell, I wasn't the one moving bookshelves and couches when I was little." ... [Read More]

"Steve Harper wants to make sure you see him celebrating that goal!""The Prime Minister and his son Ben took in Sunday's gripping men's final with the hockey legend in Vancouver. Having brought along his official photographer, Mr. Harper managed to capture for posterity his reaction to the... [Read More]

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB ARTIST ELIADES OCHOA to PERFORM TWO SHOWS AT The ROYAL, TORONTO"S INTIMATE ART DECO CONCERT THEATRE Havana Arte Productions present two nights with the legendary Cuban singer/bandleader ELIDES OCHOA at the Royal Theatre 608 College St,...... [Read More]

One of the elements of Obama's presidential campaign that I found really attractive - indeed one of the things that distinguished him from some of his opponents in the primary races - was his renewed focus on downgrading the role of nuclear weapons, both in terms of America's defense posture and in... [Read More]

Stephen Brunt’s Olympic Montage. ... [Read More]

Click here for a video montage of “the moments that made Canada believe” which aired on CTV in the hours leading up to the gold medal hockey game that brought competition to an end. ... [Read More]

As Stephen Harper prepares to present himself as Canada's biggest 'fan' later today during the Olympic Hockey Gold medal game, maybe we should take a look at what he has said about this country in the past ... quotes that won't be reported by CTV anytime soon:"Canada is a Northern European welfare... [Read More]

For gawd's sake Rex, give it a break .... ... [Read More]

Politics is a blood sport. Every political party hires staffers to research their opponents to try to dig up dirt from the past. And whenever a politician slips up, either by a poor choice of words or through questionable conduct, her political opponents are ready to pounce. I get this, and I... [Read More]

Leaving behind a thank-you note was a very kind gesture. I am a regular viewer of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and so I thoroughly enjoyed coverage he and his team gave the Winter Olympics from Vancouver for two weeks.  They even did a nice piece with the two Brian Williams. Brian... [Read More]

Former IAEA Chief Mohammed ElBaradei hosted a meeting of opposition leaders in Cairo earlier this week to talk about strategies for the upcoming 2011 Egyptian presidential elections. Of primary focus were ways in which to promote the ability of independent candidates to run for the presidency.... [Read More]

The novel The Lovely Bones. Apparently the movie is basically unwatchable, which is a shame. But the book is excellent, and one of the few non-SF novels I've read in this.... lifetime.This recipe for bread from the NYT's Mark Bittman. So delicious, even when it doesn't go as well as you'd hoped.... [Read More]

Interactivo will launch their new CD "Cubanos Por El Mundo" on March 8th at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana with a special concert featuring MELVIS Santa, HAYDEE Milanés, FRANCIS del Río, OSCAR Valdés, X Alfonso, DAVID Torrens, SANTIAGO Feliú,...... [Read More]

So... the Olympics are happening. That's... something to write about. Maybe?

In all seriousness, sorry for the lack of posts recently. I'm working on a series of posts about first principles of governmental legitimacy and also a few other longer-form entries. Hopefully I will post some... [Read More]

I'm often jealous of other countries that have parliamentary debates that are, you know, actual debates, complete with vitriol and personal attacks and all the other parts of politics that in the U.S. take place on cable news instead. Well here's a doozy from British MEP Nigel Farage. If nothing... [Read More]

Douglas Muir has an interesting post over at A Fistful of Euros on the Greek government's attempt to liberalize its immigration policy to allow for the children of some immigrants to apply for Greek citizenship. Muir notes that this is a bigger deal than it initially sounds, citing data indicating... [Read More]

Mayor Dave Bronconnier announced he will not be running for Calgary’s top job for a fourth term. At his state of the city address on Tuesday, Bronconnier said he wants to give all challengers enough time to mount a proper campaign for the October municipal election. Bronconnier’s speech... [Read More]

CBC staffers have handed out thousands of small Canadian flags to passersby outside their Vancouver studio – a friendly gesture, the public broadcaster said, to the patriotic crowds milling in the Olympic city. But Vancouver Olympic organizers weren’t amused and asked the CBC to cease... [Read More]

Tom Philpott has a pair of excellent articles in an excellent series of them about... um, synthetic nitrogen.  Wait!  This is actually good!  The first article is about how America is increasingly reliant on imported nitrogen fertilizer.  If you liked wild price swings in the price of oil, just... [Read More]

Following allegations from a Tory staffer  that there is enormous pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to sanitize access to information requests, the New Democratic Party of Canada has asked the Information Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions to look into possible... [Read More]

Yusa is based out of Argentina these days and has a busy performance schedule there. Marzo. 12 . Casa Nacional del Bicentenario . Bs As . - junto a Vero Condomí Abril. 9 - 16 - 23 - 30 ....... [Read More]

Anyone who knows me, knows that calling me a “huge Barenaked Ladies fan” is quite the understatement. I’ve seen them so many times in concert, I’m afraid to count. With Steven Page splitting from the band last year, I am excited, yet nervous, to listen to the band’s... [Read More]

Mallory and Push Push by cmkl

We have the outrageous fortune to live near the Rideau Canal, the world's longest skateway. And as patriotic Canadians we've always believed we needed to skate and to pass on this skill to our progeny. Because skating is at the essence of... [Read More]

Since Raul Castro took over as president of Cuba, ties between Havana and Caracas have been significantly strengthened. Whereas some analysts had predicted that Raul might limit these ties in order to strengthen his relationship with the new administration in Washington, the opposite appears to be... [Read More]

Noam Sheizaf on the Israeli government's attempt to grant voting rights to Jewish expatriates.... [Read More]

I must’ve missed this in the post-holiday haze.  He’s been missing for a month.  And that frightens me. http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/768621–scientist-vanishes-without-trace Scientist vanishes without trace Adrian Morrow Staff Reporter On Jan. 18, Lachlan... [Read More]

James Rogers over at European Geostrategy has an interesting post up about naval supremacy and power projection. Rogers covers a lot of ground - quoting from a BBC documentary about the Royal Navy, he expounds on the differences between naval and maritime powers, the kinds of dominion the exercise... [Read More]

Here's something you might not have read about: the campaign to get Mohammed ElBaradei to run for president of Egypt. In the fall of last year, the former IAEA chief sparked some furious commentary in the Egyptian press when he suggested that he might consider a presidential campaign if the proper... [Read More]

I'm shocked, shocked that young, fit, and frankly beautiful people are getting laid like rabbits on speed:At the Albertville winter Olympics, condom machines in the athletes’ village had to be refilled every two hours. And in Sydney the organisers’ original order of 70,000 condoms went so fast... [Read More]

Dude, I'm trying not to keep hating on you. But quoting Spiro Agnew to dismiss criticism of the Vancouver Olympcis? Really?... [Read More]

... [Read More]

Husam Tammam on the implications of the transition to new leadership for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.... [Read More]

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a… duck! This simple test, when applied to the Canadian housing market, shows that there is a very high probability that Canada is facing a housing bubble, something that our Finance Minister and the Bank... [Read More]

Photo of Piloto by Roger at New Music Report This is the one Cuban music festival I hate to miss. It's organized by Klimax director Giraldo Piloto The 9th annual Festival Fiesta de Tambor pays tribute to some of the...... [Read More]

So Shaw is buying Canwest (everything except the newspapers.)  The likely result of this is that 2 of the three private networks in english Canada will be owned by cable companies, with the third private network left alone with the CBC to beg for money.  Not an enviable position to be in if you... [Read More]

Hell, V might get cancelled? I've got bread older than that show. It's a shame that television networks are unwilling to give series the time they need to find their legs.Our brains adapt quickly to controlling computers. Up next: computers adapt quickly... TO CONTROLLING US!One of the more... [Read More]

The Tyee has published my article BC School Closures: A Cure Worse Than the Disease. Excerpt:Forty-four of B.C.'s 60 school districts have closed 176 schools since 2002, and over 50 more closures are certain or threatened over the next couple...... [Read More]

Noah Bonsey and I have an article up at the Columbia Journalism Review on the subject of Al Jazeera and its status as an opinion-maker in the Middle East. Its influence, we argue, is extremely significant. Al Jazeera has shown itself able to fundamentally affect politics in the region, particularly... [Read More]

Canada’s privacy commissioner has chastised Google for not consulting with her before launching its Buzz social-networking service. “We have seen a storm of protest and outrage over alleged privacy violations and my office also has questions about how Google Buzz has met the requirements... [Read More]

Eric Martin highlights a great piece from Daniel Levy on the odd disconnect between many Israeli leaders' public recognition of the unsustainability of the occupation - in this case it was a speech by Ehud Barak - and their utter unwillingness to actually take the wrenching steps necessary to end... [Read More]

I am not a huge fan of the total amounts of money that are being spent on the Winter Olympics. That being said, I am still recuperating from major eye surgery and am having a hard time navigating cyberspace because of my bad vision. To help me have quick access to the medal standings, I am putting... [Read More]