tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48045136713891321652012-01-27T11:40:43.001-07:00... political peregrinations from a progressive perspective ...Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.comBlogger6871100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-78590389973541885212012-01-27T11:40:00.001-07:002012-01-27T11:40:16.909-07:00

Americans are a militaristic people. That, I suspect, is why President Obama made praise of the military a major theme in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. He began his speech by praising the military and he ended by praising the military. And in between he practically boasted about murdering Osama bin Laden and made it clear he would wage war on Iran if it doesn't come to heel.

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-6459297302812574212012-01-26T11:27:00.000-07:002012-01-26T11:27:53.732-07:00

When trout waved lazy in the clear chalk streams, Glory was in me … So wrote poet John Betjeman about his beloved River Kennet. Sadly, the trout have had trouble waving lazy in the Kennet lately. The river, like many in southern England, ran dry this past winter, a victim of high water demand and below-average rainfall. Brown trout and grayling had to be rescued by officers from the Environment

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-68079935190494589722012-01-25T11:33:00.000-07:002012-01-25T11:33:05.089-07:00

John Baird has never been one of my favourite politicians. There is too much of the bully about him. Nonetheless, I applaud him for his speech Monday in the UK in which he criticized other Commonwealth nations for denying fundamental freedoms to homosexuals and others. "Dozens of Commonwealth countries currently have regressive and punitive laws on the books that criminalize homosexuality," he

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-24141219787289695352012-01-20T13:24:00.002-07:002012-01-20T13:24:58.474-07:00

So Obama has sunk the Keystone XL pipeline—at least temporarily. He has said Trans Canada can apply again, so perhaps he's just being an election-year tease. Nonetheless, it's a victory against the tar sands monolith. And that's what it's all about, not just shutting down a pipeline, but shutting down the tar sands. James Hansen, one of the U.S.'s foremost climate scientists and the head of

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-22048042303680139432012-01-19T12:23:00.000-07:002012-01-19T13:18:01.470-07:00

During the latest debate by the candidates for the Republican nomination for president, Newt Gingrich declared, “Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear-cut idea about America’s enemies: Kill them.” He got a standing ovation. Andrew Jackson was, of course, the president responsible for the Trail of Tears, the forced relocation of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States to

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-63835028310358407202012-01-18T11:22:00.000-07:002012-01-18T11:22:07.231-07:00

The premiers' meeting this week in Victoria had a new look. Normally an assemblage of men in suits, this one had a definite feminine presence with four of the 13 premiers being women. These include host Christy Clark of B.C., Alison Redford of Alberta, Kathy Dunderdale of Newfoundland and Labrador, and Eva Ariak of Nunavut. Only four women have held premierships in Canada prior to the current

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-24777601936192860222012-01-13T12:19:00.001-07:002012-01-13T18:18:08.097-07:00

In the paranoid corridors of Harperworld, opponents of tar sands development are radicals. And the most dangerous among the radicals are those who receive funding from foreigners. This is a rather curious accusation coming from Stephen Harper. After all, he faithfully serves the oil industry, much of which is foreign-owned. And it was Mr. Harper who insisted we should join the Americans in their

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-71234085872276909342012-01-12T12:06:00.000-07:002012-01-12T12:06:05.559-07:00

The world's capitalists are worried. The World Economic Forum, an organization composed of 1,000 of the world's most powerful corporations, is concerned that the financial crisis gripping the global economy may be leading us to a "dystopian future." In its report Global Risks 2012, the Forum warns, "a society that continues to sow the seeds of dystopia—by failing to manage aging populations,

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-43621645219815482012-01-11T12:15:00.000-07:002012-01-11T12:15:14.172-07:00

Sometimes a graph is worth a thousand words. A good example is a graph depicting Canada's contribution to U.N. peacekeeping that appeared in the December 2011 edition of Mondial, the newsletter of The World Federalist Movement. The graph, attached, shows Canada hovering around number one in the early 90s and then declining to 53th today. Out of almost 99,000 peacekeepers serving in 2010, we

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-6143776767074407312012-01-10T13:22:00.001-07:002012-01-10T13:22:36.739-07:00

The federal government, it appears, is in a hurry. We cannot exploit the tar sands fast enough and bad guys are getting in the way. In an open letter to Canadians, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver declared, "Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-61631866334027308342012-01-09T16:30:00.000-07:002012-01-09T16:55:33.095-07:00

One of the biggest blows against democracy in American history occurred in 2010 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United case that government could not place limits on independent spending for political purposes by corporations and unions. The ruling, by essentially giving corporations the same First Amendment rights as citizens, opened the door to even further corruption of the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-18397861666346291142012-01-06T13:20:00.001-07:002012-01-06T13:20:32.088-07:00

Stephen Harper was in full psychic mode on a Calgary call-in show Thursday. He telepathically declared that Iran is "a regime that wants to acquire nuclear weapons ... and has indicated some desire to actually use nuclear weapons." An impressive feat—reading the minds of the mullahs. The man is starting to look increasingly dangerous. As the Americans ratchet up their provocations of Iran, no

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-79991449747451171502012-01-05T13:34:00.001-07:002012-01-05T17:07:57.168-07:00

Another disappointment from U.S. President Barack Obama. On New Year's Eve, perhaps a time when he thought his nation was sufficiently distracted, he signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 which includes a clause granting the executive branch the power to indefinitely detain any person, including American citizens, it accuses of being a terrorist without charge or trial.

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-42899470354310592762011-12-31T12:52:00.000-07:002011-12-31T12:52:29.443-07:00

Not a bad way for the year to end, with the election of another woman as leader of her country. So congratulations to new Jamaican prime minister Portia Simpson Miller, or Sista P as she is affectionately referred to for her folksy, plain-spoken style. Simpson Miller's People's National Party won a convincing victory on Thursday with 41 seats in parliament to 22 for its opponents, the Jamaican

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-35250340101983539872011-12-30T13:41:00.001-07:002011-12-30T13:41:27.609-07:00

I admit to some surprise. Listening to the Republican contenders for the presidential nomination, you might think Americans wanted nothing more than to pay less taxes. In fact, according to a recent Pew Research Centre survey, most Americans (52 per cent) believe they pay about the right amount of tax. Interestingly, there has been a significant decline over the past decade in the number of both

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-16494193908958706912011-12-22T12:58:00.000-07:002011-12-22T12:58:00.647-07:00

"Give me the child and I will give you the man," the Jesuits boast. Indoctrinate a child in a faith and he, or she, will carry that faith for life. Or at least, most will. According to the latest British Social Attitudes survey, not indoctrinating a child in a faith is even more successful. Of those brought up with no religion, 94 per cent still had no religion as adults. None of the religions

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-44387403770888841542011-12-21T13:18:00.000-07:002011-12-21T13:18:32.348-07:00

Chiquita Brands has caused a bit of a flutter on the Canadian scene by announcing it will avoid using fuel from Alberta's tar sands. The company says it has joined 13 other companies in trying to reduce its carbon footprint. The announcement is timely. According to an industry report, the intensity of tar sands carbon emissions—the amount of greenhouse gases created per barrel of oil

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-86885045730106961642011-12-16T11:13:00.001-07:002011-12-16T11:13:34.171-07:00

U.S. President Barack Obama has declared the Iraq war over. While he proclaimed what he once termed a "dumb war" a success, he lamented the heavy cost. "Over 30,000 Americans have been wounded and those are only the wounds that show. Nearly 4,500 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice," he said. What he didn't say was that at least 100,000 Iraqis have died, hundreds of thousands have been wounded

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-38029161697833518192011-12-15T12:47:00.000-07:002011-12-15T12:47:29.250-07:00

As the Occupy Wall Street Movement campaigns against the unfair distribution of wealth in the United States, the "one percent" they hold accountable just keep on raking it in. According to the latest survey, American CEOs enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40 percent last year. Meanwhile, wages for the majority of Americans continue to lag inflation. Surprisingly, the top earners weren't

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-61621635566782664102011-12-13T11:49:00.001-07:002011-12-27T22:22:06.039-07:00

I consider myself a lucky man. I was born in the right place at the right time to enjoy what may well be the peak period of civilization. Never has human society offered so much to those in a position to take advantage of it—physical luxury not even kings and queens could enjoy in past eras, intellectual freedom unparalleled since the ancient Greeks, an exceptionally wide spectrum of political

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-48268201622654110832011-12-10T11:46:00.000-07:002011-12-10T11:46:36.852-07:00

That Americans see the world differently from Europeans is not a surprise, but what may seem surprising to many is just how differently, and how similar Europeans' views are to each other. For example, a recent Pew Research Centre survey showed that whereas 58 per cent of Americans thought that the freedom to pursue life's goals without state interference was more important than the state

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-67322153320300147052011-12-09T11:00:00.000-07:002011-12-09T13:00:25.448-07:00

The federal government's creation of what it terms an Office of Religious Freedom is not off to a good start. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, mentor of the new office, has created a panel to help lay out parameters for the proposed office. The panel is in itself hardly representative of religious tolerance. It consists of four Christians (two Catholics and two evangelicals) and two Jews. It

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-69758455563080898992011-12-08T13:00:00.000-07:002011-12-08T13:11:50.909-07:00

Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson recently gave a talk to a standing-room only crowd of Torontonians about how a set of Western values has captured the country. Ibbitson was, I suspect, making a mistake common to Eastern pundits. He was assuming that what might be called Alberta values form a monolithic set of what might be called Western values. In fact, the idea that Alberta values

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-60362869533275841722011-12-07T11:00:00.000-07:002011-12-07T11:08:06.291-07:00

I am beginning to get the uneasy feeling that we are psyching ourselves up for war with Iran. With the Americans' two Middle Eastern buddies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, egging their patron on, with the U.K. exchanging unpleasantries with the Iranians, and with Canada's new militarism offering a "ready, aye, ready" attitude, we seem to be moving in a dangerous direction. All this is ostensibly

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-42596349389961700082011-12-03T16:00:00.000-07:002011-12-03T16:33:09.183-07:00

A recent Pew Research Center survey indicates that Americans, or at least those who have an opinion on the matter, are turning against the Tea Party. A year ago, as the Republican Party was making sweeping gains in the midterm elections, 24 per cent of Americans said they agreed with the Tea Party while 14 per cent disagreed. That has now reversed with 20 per cent agreeing and 27 per cent

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-10198113092957332552011-12-02T11:56:00.000-07:002011-12-02T12:53:52.545-07:00

I was intrigued by Green Party Leader Elizabeth May's attempt to join the Tuvalu delegation at the Durban Climate Change Conference. As she explained, "If my government, the Government of Canada, does not need my help, I offer it to another government, one that works for my children because the Government of Canada does not work for my children, my grandchildren." Unfortunately, May missed the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-48088520262831717622011-11-29T13:00:00.000-07:002011-11-29T13:20:04.931-07:00

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, a United Nations sponsored event, has been observed every year on November 29th since 1977, 30 years to the day after the partition of Palestine. The UN General Assembly has requested that the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights organize an

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-65450996969564957382011-11-23T11:30:00.000-07:002011-11-23T11:56:21.139-07:00

Normally, I'm wary of slippery slope arguments but when an African government acts to limit freedom of speech, I suspect such an argument may be valid. Unfortunately, South Africa has done just that. A law, ostensibly to protect state secrets, has been approved by the South African National Assembly. The law makes it a crime to leak, possess or publish information judged as classified by the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-63348111584664278882011-11-22T11:30:00.000-07:002011-11-22T11:32:39.728-07:00

The Liberals have suggested an approach to achieving fairer regional representation in the House of Commons, and they should be listened to. Their solution is certainly better than that of Bill C-20 which will add yet another 30 seats to the House. The Liberals would achieve representation essentially as fair as C-20 without adding any more seats. They would sensibly just redistribute the current

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-91475594732054278142011-11-18T13:33:00.000-07:002011-11-18T13:42:21.682-07:00

Whether or not Iran is developing nuclear weapons, it appears that Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak appreciates why they would. In an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose, when he was asked if he would want a nuclear weapon were he a member of Iran's government, he replied, "Probably, probably. I know, it's not—I don't delude myself that they are doing it just because of Israel. They look around

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-32810114614374130842011-11-17T11:00:00.000-07:002011-11-17T11:02:19.097-07:00

Frogs are delightful little buggers. Look at this little rascal in the photo, a red-eyed tree frog. With his goofy expression and padded toes, you can't help but love him ... or her. Too bad, really, that they are doomed. As we humans press on causing the world's sixth great extinction, amphibians are perhaps the most in danger. About half of amphibian species are in decline with a third

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-78918403263262791252011-11-15T13:30:00.000-07:002011-11-15T13:43:52.848-07:00

Despite Stephen Harper's 25-minute walk in the garden with Barack Obama during the recent APEC forum, the president was not dissuaded from his decision to conduct a thorough review of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline project. Apparently he is unconvinced by our prime minister's declaration that approval of the pipeline is a "no brainer." Perhaps the president, as Harper suggests, is just

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-1885114607850589462011-11-14T13:33:00.001-07:002011-11-14T14:06:53.915-07:00

"I was persuaded by our team to perhaps break tradition, and so we have not required you to wear your aloha shirts." Thus President Obama broke the 20-year tradition of having the assembled leaders at an APEC forum ditch their power suits and don the traditional local dress. Kind of a shame. After all, they were meeting in Obama's home state of Hawaii and those aloha shirts are pretty spiffy.

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-18991604121291553602011-11-11T13:46:00.000-07:002011-11-12T11:49:51.639-07:00

The warnings continue. And they are ominous. In its annual World Energy Outlook released November 9th, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that the world will lose the chance to limit global warming if it doesn't act now. This isn't news of course. Climate scientists have been trying to tell us for some time that the problem isn't so much a greenhouse effect as a runaway greenhouse

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-88769291934961446632011-11-05T11:56:00.001-06:002011-11-05T11:56:25.197-06:00

Meir Dagan, former head of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, is no admirer of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has accused Netanyahu of being "irresponsible and reckless" and feels that Israel's security is being mismanaged by the prime minister and Ehud Barak, the defence minister. According to a story in the Guardian, Netanyahu is now said to believe that Dagan and

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-37968535871358879282011-11-04T11:36:00.001-06:002011-11-04T12:39:41.118-06:00

Following the vote Monday to admit Palestine into UNESCO, Hamas official Ahmed Yousef said it "shows that Israel and America are not dictating politics to the world anymore." Hamas's view carries its own bias, nonetheless Mr. Yousef has a point. U.S. opposition to the vote does indeed serve as another example of the empire's declining influence in the world. In the U.S.'s own backyard, once

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-72809307883836818292011-10-31T13:47:00.002-06:002011-10-31T13:47:22.020-06:00

Allow me to add my cheer to those that went up at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 36th General Conference after delegates approved Palestinian membership. The move was particularly courageous considering the United States will now punish the organization by cutting its 22 per cent contribution. The Americans claimed they opposed the move because

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-46932354512777885332011-10-29T11:41:00.000-06:002011-10-29T11:41:51.193-06:00

I admit to ambivalence about the government's announcement that under the proposed Fair Representation Act the country will gain 30 more MPs. It is a good thing, of course, to strive for more equitable representation and that's what this Act attempts to do. My province, Alberta, will receive six more seats to bring its representation closer to its share of the population. That will be a good

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-41025025439541488362011-10-28T11:58:00.001-06:002011-10-28T11:58:55.465-06:00

An initiative championed by Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan has borne fruit in the House of Commons. Dr. Duncan proposed a "climate change caucus" consisting of members of all parties, and it has now been formed. In addition to Duncan, the caucus consists of Conservative MP Michael Chong, NDP MP Denise Savoie, Bloc Québécois MP Maria Mourani and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. According to Savoie, "

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-84459162104514510952011-10-27T11:53:00.001-06:002011-10-27T11:53:35.208-06:00

Science, it seems, is confirming the Occupy movement's concerns about capitalists running the world. A trio of complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology combined the mathematics used to model natural systems with comprehensive corporate data to map ownership among the world's transnational corporations (TNCs). They discovered that less than one per cent of the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-13795660424768189652011-10-26T13:12:00.000-06:002011-10-26T17:54:03.189-06:00

In 1972, Nobel Prize-winning economist James Tobin suggested his now famous currency transaction tax as a way to manage the volatility of exchange rates. He believed that governments were not capable of adjusting to massive movements of funds across foreign exchanges without causing hardship to their people and sacrificing their economic policy objectives. By imposing a small tax (he suggested

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-61481019144827993262011-10-25T11:23:00.001-06:002011-10-25T11:23:54.290-06:00

Released last Thursday, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) illustrates yet again the folly of using the GDP as a measure of social progress. The GDP is, after all, simply a measure of how much stuff we buy and sell. It doesn't cover areas of our lives such as community vitality, democratic engagement, education, the environment, health, leisure and culture, and time use, all of which are

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-28257824947846465492011-10-19T11:56:00.000-06:002011-10-19T11:56:25.293-06:00

When Calgary's GoPlan, the blueprint for the city's transportation development for the next 30 years, was created in the mid-1990s, it predicted that by 2024, 50 per cent of commuters would be using public transit to get downtown to work. Only 33 per cent used public transit at the time. Critics said the plan was optimistic, even unachievable. It has turned out to be wildly pessimistic.

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-18136127486084417982011-10-18T14:05:00.000-06:002011-10-18T14:05:04.518-06:00

Finally, the Prime Minister has filled the gaps in the Supreme Court and seemingly with good choices: Justice Andromache Karakatsanis and Justice Michael Moldaver, both from the Ontario Court of Appeal. Politically, the two justices are considered small-c conservative, not surprising for a Conservative Prime Minister. Justice Karakatsanis, called to the bar in 1982, has practiced criminal,

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-22829861321368552362011-10-17T12:30:00.002-06:002011-10-17T12:30:57.434-06:00

What is Calgary's most popular attraction? The Calgary Stampede, you say? Flames games, perhaps? The Calgary Zoo? Wrong, wrong and wrong. According to an article in Fast Forward Magazine, in 2010 the Calgary Public Library system "had more visits than the Stampede, Calgary Zoo, Heritage Park, Science Centre, recreation arenas and all professional sporting events combined." It circulated more

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-60361195390192658982011-10-14T11:31:00.001-06:002011-10-14T11:31:29.561-06:00

Is Occupy Wall Street a Sixties' moment? Will it bring about lasting change or simply fade away? Either way, it is overdue. Started in New York, inspired by the Arab Spring, it has now spread throughout the U.S. and beyond. The views of the participants are diverse, yet seem to focus on two demands: We want our democracy back and we want a more equitable, sustainable society. The demands are

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-79666882195091540952011-10-13T12:07:00.001-06:002011-10-13T12:07:36.064-06:00

The workers at Sobeys' Forest Lawn supermarket, the only unionized Sobeys in Calgary, are currently on strike. The pickets have been on duty for two weeks. Doug Smith of the United Food and Commercial Workers union says the action resulted from the company's refusal to bargain in good faith. He claims they have been bargaining for 22 months and the union is prepared to continue negotiations, but

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-68191609736909176652011-10-12T13:28:00.001-06:002011-10-13T11:40:30.350-06:00

The recent election of Alison Redford as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, and thus the premier of the province, was healthy progress for women in Canadian politics. Now Premier Redford has selected her cabinet and there the progress halts. Out of 21 members of cabinet, including Redford, there are only three women. One cannot entirely blame Redford, however. She had

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-21139062446988924032011-10-07T14:00:00.000-06:002011-10-07T14:24:49.811-06:00

I was a little surprised at the Nobel Peace Prize awards for 2011. I had felt sure the winners would include a leader from Egypt's Arab Spring revolt, the Arab Spring being the major peaceful achievement of the year and Egypt being the most prominent example of it. Nonetheless, the winners are all sound choices—all women, chosen "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-58258800666049570782011-10-05T13:24:00.001-06:002011-10-05T22:48:30.291-06:00

I intended to comment on the October Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, offering as it did yet another disappointing, if not depressing, account of the federal government's climate change efforts. However, a press release by the Pembina Institute said it better and with more expertise than I could, so I decided to offer that instead. Matt Horne, director

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-68063747894524814602011-10-04T13:47:00.003-06:002011-10-04T14:23:13.207-06:00

Democracy is about political equality. To be democratic, a political system must in essence belong to all the people equally, and if it is to belong to all the people equally, all the people must fund it equally. One person/one dollar may not be as important as one person/one vote, but it is very important nonetheless—money does translate into votes. The federal government's termination of the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-36194782400937765082011-10-04T11:29:00.003-06:002011-10-04T11:29:58.441-06:00

The possibility of Toronto becoming a province has popped up in the news again. The idea has floated around for years, supported by a variety of civic thinkers including the urban guru Jane Jacobs. The idea has considerable merit and not only for Toronto. Under our Constitution, cities are creatures of the provinces, to be dealt with as provincial politicians see fit. This may have been

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-61819475680410440952011-10-03T12:03:00.001-06:002011-10-03T12:03:58.610-06:00

We in Christendom have a history of "Christians" using religion to justify violence of all kinds, from war to burning people at the stake. Indeed, exploiting one of history's gentlest prophets to justify violence is one of the more intriguing themes of the Christian story. The prophet's Testament describes as non-violent a man as one could imagine. In Luke 6:29, he advises, "And unto him that

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-43313464945037536332011-09-30T11:33:00.000-06:002011-09-30T11:33:30.375-06:00

That the CIA does sleazy stuff is hardly new. Perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised then that they exploited children to help track Osama bin Laden. In order to confirm his presence in Abbottabad, they sought DNA samples from the residents of what they believed to be his compound. To this end, they recruited a Pakistani doctor to organize a vaccine program. The doctor claimed he had obtained

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-80901007137738890142011-09-22T12:28:00.000-06:002011-09-22T12:28:53.421-06:00

It seems so little to ask. A people, already recognized as a nation by most other nations, requests full membership in the UN. It should be a shoo-in. Palestine is recognized by 65 per cent of the world's states representing 75 per cent of the world's people, including most of the major nations such as China, India, Russia and Brazil. And yet, ever unconditionally faithful to Israel which opposes

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-4977632063057676282011-09-21T11:38:00.000-06:002011-10-21T13:41:36.727-06:00

Black is white, down is up, and British cooking is popular in Berlin. It's true! Berlin has seen the opening of a spate of cafes and bars featuring British food. East London, a cafe recently established in the trendy Kreuzberg district, serves scotch eggs, bacon and egg butties and steak and ale pies. Das Gift, run by Glaswegian musician Barry Burns, offers snacks such as salt'n'vinegar crisps

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-58846969500041299942011-09-16T11:55:00.002-06:002011-10-21T13:43:06.390-06:00

Within the U.S. military is another military, a secret military. Not secret in its existence—although even that can be shadowy—but secret in its operations. Except when it scores a public relations coup, such as the mafia-style execution of Osama bin Laden, the American people don't know what it's up to. And it's up to a lot. According to stories in the Washington Post and Al Jazeera, U.S.

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-2214481632313968432011-09-15T11:56:00.000-06:002011-10-21T13:44:34.927-06:00

We have seen four provincial referendums recently offering alternatives to the First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system and all failed to bring about change. A major reason for the failures may very well be the systems offered. In B.C., a citizens’ assembly recommended the Single Transferable Vote (SVT) system and a citizens’ assembly in Ontario and a commission in Prince Edward Island both

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-25177563554945614782011-09-12T11:28:00.000-06:002011-09-12T11:28:28.451-06:00

The United Nations has declared September 15th the International Day of Democracy. Fair Vote Canada is expanding the day to Democracy Week, September 12th to the 18th. The week, according to Fair Vote's website, is all about "participating, celebrating, understanding, and improving our Canadian democracy." As I contemplate those four words "participating, celebrating, understanding, and

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-57698424006540086082011-09-10T11:33:00.000-06:002011-09-10T12:14:54.149-06:00

Harmless, Barbie dolls are not. They are, in fact, responsible for exploitation, misery, and even death for thousands of innocents. According to the human rights group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), a Sturdy Products factory in Shenzhen, China, that makes Barbie dolls uses child labour and forces its staff to do three times the amount of overtime allowed by law. One

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-74212682461207506082011-09-09T11:46:00.000-06:002011-09-10T12:18:49.836-06:00

The daily press, diligently promoting the interests of its corporate owners, continually insists that taxes must be kept low to ensure Canada's economy is competitive. This refrain is dutifully chorused by conservative politicians. It is not, however, true. It has, in fact, been utterly disproved—beyond a reasonable doubt as they say in the legal community—by various European countries. For

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-8930199294016159702011-08-29T12:22:00.000-06:002011-08-29T12:22:27.861-06:00

This has been a summer of discontent in American politics. According to The Pew Research Center, 79 per cent of the U.S. public are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country and even more are frustrated or angry with their federal government. The Republicans are particularly out of favour. Since February, the approval rating of their leaders has dropped from a low 36 per cent

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-37404042425302873432011-08-27T11:38:00.000-06:002011-08-27T11:38:29.447-06:00

I admit to a love-hate relationship with nuclear power. One day I am all for it because of the large amounts of relatively green power it can provide. I wonder if we can seriously reduce our dependence on fossil fuels without it. And then an incident like the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan reminds me of what a nasty little friend nuclear power can be. Fukushima has now claimed another

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-19709239020757675562011-08-26T13:22:00.000-06:002011-08-26T13:22:02.891-06:00

Anti-union legislation has been all the rage in the U.S. following last November's election of a number of right-wing governors. Most notorious is Wisconsin's Scott Walker, infamous for his polarizing union law that strips most public employees of their collective bargaining rights. Ohio governor John Kasich hasn't received similar attention, but his Bill 5 (SB5) has been an equally savage an

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-30034502479025524772011-08-25T11:33:00.001-06:002011-08-25T13:11:19.003-06:00

Will justice ever be done? This is a question U.S Investors have been asking about the recent financial crisis. Specifically, they have queried why no criminal charges have been laid against Goldman Sachs or any other investment bank whose greed and recklessness led to the crisis. They may finally be getting an answer with the news that Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-41787639993845380672011-08-18T13:32:00.000-06:002011-08-18T13:32:09.148-06:00

The British lower classes, like those elsewhere, have for a very long time expressed their grievances with riot against the established order, going back to the Poor riot of 1196, and including the Spitalfield and Gordon riots of the 18th century, the Luddite and Bristol riots of the 19th century, and the Luton Peace Day riot of the 20th. Other Western countries have similar histories but, with

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-89833748922172084272011-08-16T14:09:00.000-06:002011-08-16T14:09:14.588-06:00

Canadians can hardly escape the "royal" connection. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Royal Ontario Museum ... the list is endless. To say nothing of the royal visage staring out at us from our currency. All appropriate I suppose as the royal family provides our head of state. I am bemused, nonetheless, at Defence Minister Peter MacKay's

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-1957289012379352292011-08-12T12:43:00.000-06:002011-08-12T12:43:11.619-06:00

It is always such a challenge to divorce the class angle from British affairs. Two of the most vociferous critics of the recent rioters in London and other cities have been Prime Minister David Cameron and London mayor Boris Johnson. As it turns out, these two old Etonians know a little about vandalism themselves. Back in the '80s, during their Oxford days, they were members of the infamous

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-27787776134285381582011-08-11T12:16:00.000-06:002011-08-11T12:16:50.256-06:00

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has condemned Syria's Assad regime for its suppression of pro-democracy dissenters and withdrawn his ambassador. This is a very civilized thing to do in the face of the brutality taking place in that country. Coming from Abdullah however, it is thoroughly unconvincing. The Saudis recently supported a similarly brutal suppression of a pro-democracy movement by the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-44796320257728209472011-08-10T13:18:00.000-06:002011-08-10T13:18:53.366-06:00

What would Jesus do? Would he take a trip to Spain that cost the Spanish taxpayers, in the midst of a severe economic crisis, $80 million while accepting sponsorship from over 100 corporations, including Coca Cola? Apparently 100 Spanish priests don't think so. That's what Pope Benedict is doing and they are protesting it. The priests represent Madrid's poorest parishes and don't believe that

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-62339256244687026082011-08-08T11:20:00.000-06:002011-08-08T11:20:00.784-06:00

Suspended because of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008, peace talks between India and Pakistan are back on. Foreign ministers of the two countries have held a formal meeting in New Delhi that brought effusive comments from both parties. The Indian foreign minister, SM Krishna, said his country wanted to see a "a stable, smooth and prosperous Pakistan." while his counterpart, Pakistan

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-36123404742173432542011-08-06T11:31:00.000-06:002011-08-06T11:31:00.142-06:00

A lost century—inequality in the U.S. is more extreme than it has been in almost 100 years. The gap between the ultra-rich and the poor and middle class has widened dramatically over the last 30 years. The richest one per cent of Americans now earn almost a quarter of the country's income and control over 40 per cent of its wealth. The wealth gap between the races is also worsening. According

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-48929854162894939482011-08-05T11:44:00.001-06:002011-08-05T11:45:26.191-06:00

Now this is interesting. Brigadier General Rostam Ghasemi, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, has been approved by Iran's parliament as the country's next oil minister. This automatically makes him head of OPEC as Iran assumed the presidency of OPEC last October. The general presents certain problems. He is subject to sanctions by both the U.S. and the European Union. The

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-2284224538975977532011-07-27T13:37:00.000-06:002011-07-27T13:37:15.600-06:00

Pope Paul VI once referred to Ireland as "the most Catholic country in the world." Now it seems the Irish are slipping the Vatican's leash. Abortion on demand remains illegal and most citizens describe themselves as Catholic, but the Irish people are becoming increasingly secular. The legality of divorce, the widespread availability of contraception and the decline in church attendance all

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-90698766397635628772011-07-21T13:43:00.000-06:002011-07-21T13:43:59.166-06:00

Down, down, down it goes. According to Stats Can's latest report, our crime rate has dropped again, down five per cent from 2009 to 2010, now in decline for 20 years. Particularly impressive was the 10 per cent drop in the murder rate, and perhaps even more telling about the dwindling urge to violence is the 13 per cent drop in the attempted murder rate. We are, it seems, increasingly becoming a

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-87619159661276840712011-07-20T13:30:00.000-06:002011-07-20T13:30:56.123-06:00

The news release and action plan issued by the provincial energy ministers following their recent conference in Kananaskis stepped rather lightly over environmental concerns. Perhaps this is not unexpected at a meeting paid for in part by oil companies. One statement went beyond treating environmental concerns lightly to the point of trashing them. I refer to the comment in the news release that

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-8182938098914665502011-07-16T11:37:00.000-06:002011-07-16T11:37:07.234-06:00

According to the Conference Board of Canada's report How Canada Performs, we are becoming a more unequal society. Although, in the period 1976 to 2009, all Canadians were better off in real dollars, the poor and the middle class have gained only marginally. The rich, on the other hand, are getting a lot richer. This is largely due to the "super rich"—the richest one per cent of Canadians. From

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-8096851136543851882011-07-15T11:54:00.000-06:002011-07-15T11:54:31.157-06:00

The modern march to free market supremacy is often thought to have begun with the ascendancy of the conservative regimes of Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and the Ronald Reagan in the U.S. One of its ultimate—and inevitable—outcomes was the recent collapse of the world financial system and wrecking of the economies of those nations most seduced by it. And now another chicken has come home to

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-17942098611725103992011-07-13T11:40:00.000-06:002011-07-13T11:40:03.969-06:00

"Global investment in renewable energy jumped 32 per cent in 2010, to a record $211 billion," reads the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011 report. The report, commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), revealed that for the first time financial new investment (money invested in renewable energy companies, utility-scale generation and bio fuel projects) by

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-40924930245425362872011-07-09T12:01:00.000-06:002011-07-09T12:01:06.712-06:00

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted it. He recently declared that press self-regulation in Britain had failed and a new body, independent of the media and the government, is needed to properly enforce standards. Quite an admission for a conservative, although having his one-time communications chief, former editor of News of the World Andy Coulson, arrested Friday, may have finally

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-42034158702418988272011-07-08T11:44:00.001-06:002011-07-10T13:41:20.974-06:00

It seems that every time the subject of changing the voting system comes up, we automatically assume that a change must be sanctioned by a referendum. I increasingly feel this is a mistake. We have experienced four referendums on the voting system in this country recently, one in Prince Edward Island, two in B.C., one in Ontario, and all lost even though the systems proposed were thoroughly

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-33402159745279928942011-07-07T10:56:00.000-06:002011-07-07T10:56:55.327-06:00

Calgarians, indeed Albertans, will often tell you that this is a place where you are judged by what you do, not by who you are. I doubt this was ever true. I've lived across Canada and I've never found Calgarians any less susceptible to the prestige of a name or the seduction of celebrity than other Canadians. If there was any doubt about that, the current gushing over William Windsor and

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-50449096494340532562011-07-06T11:17:00.000-06:002011-07-06T11:17:50.248-06:00

As British Columbia's carbon tax celebrates its third birthday, the province's residents seem to have grown rather fond of it. According to a Pembina Institute report, 69 percent of British Columbians are concerned about global warming and 70 per cent support their province being a leader in dealing with it. Furthermore, they would like the tax applied to all sources of pollution that cause

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-51716808618594632952011-07-05T11:15:00.000-06:002011-07-05T11:15:33.655-06:00

Catherine Ashton, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, recently stated that the EU called for "deep democracy" in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt as they liberated themselves from dictators. She emphasized that deep democracy is about more than votes and elections. It includes the rule of law, freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, impartial

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-43249392529015684182011-06-30T11:48:00.000-06:002011-06-30T11:48:38.708-06:00

In Nikolai Gogol's novel Dead Souls, his protagonist Chichikov seeks to purchase serfs who have died but are still registered against their owners as taxable assets. By relieving the owners of the tax burden, Chichikov obtains ownership of the dead serfs for nominal sums. He hopes thereby to inflate his apparent wealth and use it as collateral for an enormous loan which would provide the wealth

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-42510431475294850372011-06-29T12:52:00.000-06:002011-06-29T12:52:09.529-06:00

Shortly before the Canada Post lockout, Statistics Canada mailed me a copy of the 2011 National Household Survey, formerly known as the long form census, to dutifully fill out. I promptly trashed it. But Stats Can was not finished with me. Yesterday, with Canada Post back in business, I opened my mailbox looking forward to some overdue magazines, but to my considerable disappointment all I found

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-23398117876985314812011-06-28T11:12:00.000-06:002011-06-28T11:12:08.120-06:00

That the United States is unpopular in Pakistan is common knowledge. But just how unpopular is surprising. According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, 73 per cent of Pakistanis hold an unfavourable opinion of the U.S., 68 per cent have little or no confidence in President Obama, and 69 per cent see the U.S. as more of an enemy than as a partner. Those are not good numbers for a country the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-28396253237803298242011-06-24T11:37:00.000-06:002011-06-24T11:37:22.624-06:00

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, has a problem. He wholeheartedly supported incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential election, and now it turns out the flaky Ahmadinejad is being a bad boy. Allies of the president and his chief of staff and close confidant, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, are accused of attempting to undermine the power of the clerics. In recent weeks, at

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-59671184938846829722011-06-24T11:11:00.005-06:002011-06-24T11:12:27.057-06:00

Americans have for some time seemed to have an insatiable appetite for military spending. Defence was the sacred cow of their federal budget. Now it seems they are losing that appetite for at least one form of military expense—waging war. The Afghan war is expected to cost the United States $118.6 billion in 2011, over four times Afghanistan's GDP. The cost, soaring since Barack Obama became

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-77173394754032362902011-06-21T17:44:00.000-06:002011-06-21T17:44:22.457-06:00

Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, animal advocate and a very funny man, once observed that, "Man always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-12787803750689629092011-06-21T11:23:00.000-06:002011-06-21T11:23:43.421-06:00

The now infamous Vancouver hockey riot has done a pretty good job of smearing the city's reputation around the globe. Shocking as it was, it wasn't entirely surprising. Rioting seems to be part and parcel of professional team sports. The reason, of course, is that team sports are a tribal phenomenon and tribalism has a close relationship to violence. When people go to a music concert, a movie,

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-85855315902933932992011-06-20T11:51:00.001-06:002011-06-20T17:36:49.598-06:00

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Canada's economic prospects are looking good. In its latest global forecast of economic activity, this year we will have the highest GDP growth in the G7 except for Germany. We are, it appears, doing very well. Or are we? Growth is the mantra of our business and political leaders and such classical economists as hang out at the IMF, to whom it

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-11422314152304809862011-06-18T12:04:00.000-06:002011-06-18T12:04:07.787-06:00

I admit I was motivated to write this post by the above heading. I couldn't resist it, so I plagiarized it. Apparently it first appeared as a Twitter message on the main site women2Drive. As flippant as it sounds, it sends a serious message. It reminds us that in this modern world of ours we still have a nation where women have to beg men just to drive a damn car. Where they must obtain

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-4687625642264568092011-06-17T12:07:00.000-06:002011-06-17T12:07:21.627-06:00

Congratulations to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) for their victory in the Turkish election last Sunday. Erdogan led his party to their third straight win with a majority of seats and almost 50 per cent of the popular vote. The AKP has guided Turkey to unprecedented prosperity. Since they first took power in 2002, the GDP per capita has risen from

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-16023271740234809822011-06-17T11:22:00.000-06:002011-06-17T11:22:37.792-06:00

A study released Wednesday by international consultants Deloitte and Touche reports that CBC/Radio-Canada contributed $3.7 billion to the Canadian economy in 2010. This contrasts to its annual parliamentary allocation of $1.1 billion and overall expenditure of $1.7 billion. The study concluded the public broadcaster's contribution to the Canadian economy is well above its spending power because

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-55844955374059101762011-06-15T13:38:00.000-06:002011-06-15T13:38:17.083-06:00

In Stephen Harper's speech to the recent Conservative convention, referring to foreign policy, he announced that the Conservatives moral stance would be clear. "Moral ambiguity, moral equivalence are not options," he stated, "they are dangerous illusions." They may or may not be, but he is something of a moral relativist himself. A prime example is the Palestine issue. In his view, any violence

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-9511702626063063552011-06-14T12:15:00.000-06:002011-06-14T12:15:34.035-06:00

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates is not amused by the lack of military esprit de corp among America's NATO allies. "The blunt reality," he lectured, "is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress—and in the American body politic writ large—to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-66429855491883196622011-06-10T13:14:00.000-06:002011-06-10T13:14:47.899-06:00

Some events of note in South America's last five years: In Bolivia, President Evo Morales presided over the ratification of a new social democratic constitution and was re-elected as president with 64 per cent of the vote.  In Ecuador, President Rafael Correa easily won re-election and ratified a new constitution that guarantees social rights and limits privatization.  Also in Ecuador, the

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-52907149467833935132011-06-09T12:09:00.000-06:002011-06-09T12:09:22.600-06:00

Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, now secretary of Homeland Security for the U.S. government, is a staunch supporter of the death penalty. This is not a position I would normally agree with. However, when Ms. Napolitano refers to the Arizona Workers Act, which she signed into law as governor, as a potential "death penalty" for corporations, I agree with her sympathies entirely.  

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4804513671389132165.post-35499465848807603822011-06-09T11:34:00.000-06:002011-06-09T11:34:05.069-06:00

Googling the history of our Afghanistan adventure the other day, I encountered  a snide Vancouver Sun article written in 2008 mocking "Taliban Jack" for his position on the war, sarcastically summarizing his views as, "Bring in the UN, facilitate discussions among the warring parties, directly engage the Taliban leadership, develop a comprehensive peace plan, build consensus around a political

Bill Longstaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15883751372039947365noreply@blogger.com0