Week in Review
January 31, 2011 | No Comments
Here’s last week’s Top Five: Scott: Magical Thinking Comes to Canada Scott, again: Back On the Homefront: Ed Stelmach and Stephen Harper Kate: The changing face of Canada Me: Intolerance Day Me: Because I Hate Ridiculous Gag Orders… Thanks, everyone, for dropping by and sharing your thoughts.
Enough already with the speculation
January 30, 2011 | 2 Comments
A headline from a story by Susan Delacourt in the Toronto Star today: “Tories planning spring election?” Seriously, why do journalists continue to provide positive reinforcement and encourage this foolishness? Reporting of this type adds no value other than mild entertainment. Anyway, speculation shenanigans and endless election posturing were supposed to stop, or at least [...]
Quote of the… err… Wednesday
January 29, 2011 | 6 Comments
I meant to comment on this the other day when I first read it, but, well, you know. Anyway, Skippy Stalin, writing at Postcards of the Hanging, covers some of my thoughts on the death penalty: One of the most perplexing things about people who describe themselves as “conservative” is that they constantly rail about [...]
Magical Thinking Comes to Canada
January 28, 2011 | 22 Comments
If you look up the term “magical thinking” on Wikipedia, you will get the following explanation: Magical thinking is causal reasoning that looks for correlation between acts or utterances and certain events. In religion, folk religion and superstition, the correlation posited is between religious ritual, such as prayer, sacrifice or the observance of a taboo, [...]
Two Small – But Insignificant – Steps in Senate Reform
January 28, 2011 | 2 Comments
It may not be as important as hypothetical death penalty debates, but I welcome Jack Layton’s decision to bring up the issue of senate reform. From the NDP website: OTTAWA – Canadians are fed up with the hyper-partisan and undemocratic senate and want to see changes now, said New Democrat Leader Jack Layton. Speaking in [...]
David Kato, RIP
January 27, 2011 | No Comments
There’s not really much to say: A prominent Ugandan gay rights activist whose picture was published by an anti-gay newspaper next to the words “Hang Them” was bludgeoned to death. Police said Thursday his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing and that one “robber” had been arrested. Activists were outraged over the [...]
The changing face of Canada
January 27, 2011 | 6 Comments
During Stephen Harper’s unsuccessful run for Prime Minister in 2004, the Liberal Party unveiled the timeless and now-familiar strategy of demonizing its opponent. The Liberals sketched the Calgary MP as a far-right wing lunatic with a secret agenda who would tatter the Canadian social fabric to the point of unrecognizability. Canada would become a place [...]
Because I Hate Ridiculous Gag Orders…
January 27, 2011 | 5 Comments
Dustin Ward Paxton is accused of torturing multiple people. He is accused of locking up, sexually assaulting and torturing his roommate, turning the once 240 lb healthy man into an 87 lb battered mess. His actions – assuming the allegations are true – are absolutely horrific. The abuse that the victim, Dustin Lafortune, endured is horrific and would [...]
Royal Dutch Shell and the tragedy of Nigeria’s Ogoni region…..
January 26, 2011 | 1 Comment
The red sections on the adjacent map of Nigeria mark the nine states that encompass the Niger Delta, the states are: 1. Abia, 2. Akwa Ibom, 3. Bayelsa, 4. Cross River, 5. Delta, 6. Edo, 7.Imo, 8. Ondo, 9. Rivers. Royal Dutch Shell has been the largest player in the Niger Delta area of southern [...]
Back On the Home Front: Ed Stelmach and Stephen Harper
January 26, 2011 | 10 Comments
While the parallel isn’t perfect, it seems fair to suggest that there are a number of similarities between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach. Stelmach is leader of one of the longest governing provincial parties in Canadian history. Harper is Prime Minister of one of the longest standing minority governments in Canadian [...]