It’s hard to believe these days, but in many nations, conservative political parties were once actually the defenders of the nation’s interests, of the greater good, of the public, and of the state. They weren’t always the corporate shills, protectors of billionaires, privatizing libertarians, lobbyist puppets, Talibangelist lapdogs*, and racists
Continue readingTag: ayn rand
Alberta Politics: Jason Kenney’s ‘Public Health Guarantee’ isn’t worth much, but that may be good enough for many voters
No one ever said Jason Kenney isn’t a shrewd politician who knows how to run a campaign, so give the man some credit for his clever effort yesterday to look strong on a weak file for his party and make the NDP look a little weaker on its strongest. The
Continue readingScripturient: America’s time machine
We meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political, and material ruin… our homes are covered with mortgages, labor impoverished; and the land concentrating in the hands of the capitalists… The fruits of toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Ayn Rand – Exercise Your Critical Faculties
I missed out on the Objectivist phase of growing up, not glomming on to Rand’s insipid ideas saved me a great deal of fuss and bother as following Randian ideology tends to make one into a large swirling vortex of petty narcissism (see asshole). However, as Skye C. Clearly
Continue readingAlberta Politics: U.S.-based Atlas Network, which has ‘reshaped political power in country after country,’ a funder of Canadian Taxpayers Federation
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a self-described non-partisan tax watchdog and taxpayer advocacy group once headed by Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney, has always been tight-lipped about the sources of its own funding. This may be mildly ironic, given its vocal demands for transparency in government policy, but as a private organization
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Artificial unintelligence: Tiny computers in tiny hands are the real threat to civilization as we know it
It’s not big computer brains empowered by artificial intelligence that are going to destroy civilization as we know it. It’s little tiny computers, even if they’re pretty dumb, that are small enough to put in the tiny hands of unsupervised children, hopped-up frat boys and shallow narcissists like the 45th
Continue readingAlberta Politics: How to put Christ back in Christmas: It starts with Christians pressing ‘Reset’
ILLUSTRATIONS: Santa Claus … not Jesus. Below: Karl Marx (not mentioned in the story) … also not Santa Claus. Jesus Christ (quoted at length) … not Santa Claus either. This is an edited version of a post that first appeared in this space in 2012. With the Right in Alberta
Continue readingAlberta Politics: O Canada? Sorry, no ad libbing, please! We’re Canadian!
PHOTOS: Don Cherry, Canada’s best-known right-wing weirdo, wearing a suit that ought to be illegal. (Toronto Star photo.) Below: Boston-born tenor Remigio Pereira, the man who fiddled with the words of O Canada, much to Mr. Cherry’s distress, and B…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Message to the Wildrose Party: The NDP won and you’re going to need breakfast!
PHOTOS: The Wild Rose Breakfast Special. Just one of the many compensations of getting an early start on your day. Below: Infrastructure Minister and NDP House Leader Brian Mason, the NDP’s point man on early rising legislators; Wildrose Leader Brian Jean; and Interim Conservative Party of Canada Leader Rona Ambrose,
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Rona Ambrose, disciplined Harper loyalist, to lead the Opposition
PHOTOS: A typical constituent of Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose searches their Sturgeon River-Parkland riding northwest of Edmonton for a sign of his MP. Actual constituents of this Alberta MP may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Ms. Ambrose herself (CBC Photo) and Ms. Ambrose’s favourite author. Well, nobody in
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: How is Ayn Rand Still A Thing?
The funny folks over at Last Week Tonight tackle cover Rand and her amazing set of ‘ideas’ – you remember the ones – the “fuck you, I’ve got mine” high minded ‘philosophy’ that, because it dovetails with capitalism, did not die the premature death it so rightly deserves. Filed
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Let’s hear a big welcome for Preston Manning, a fresh new voice in Canadian satirical writing!
Preston Manning admonishes the Children of Alberta for abandoning the principles of Social Credit. Actual right-wing patriarchs may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Manning and, speaking of patriarchs, the sainted Ernest Manning, Ron Paul, the crazy uncle of the American right, and Ukip Leader Nigel Farage. “Cancer
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Ayn Rand’s "Vision of Paradise" in Today’s America? Try Tennessee.
If there’s one State that practices what Ayn Rand preached, it would be Tennessee and the results are predictable. From AlterNet: If you’re worried about where America is heading, look no further than Tennessee. Its lush mountains and verdant rolling countryside belie a mean-spirited public policy that only makes sense if
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Ayn Rand – Blueprints for a Feudal Society
Most of what Rand has to say about economics and politics is complete bunk. The idea that we should not restrict the wealthy classes in their endeavours strikes me as the fast forward button on the decline of Western Civilization. Altruism and empathy are the qualities that will save our
Continue readingbastard.logic: The Original Torture Memos
FLASH: Idaho State Sen. tables bill mandating the torture of Idaho youth en masse. No, srsly: Coeur d’Alene Sen. John Goedde, chairman of the Idaho Senate’s Education Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday to require every Idaho high school student to read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and pass a test on it
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy … Jeffrey Delisle and the real betrayal of Canada
Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy … Below: H.A.R. “Kim” Philby; Philby honored on a Soviet stamp; Sub-Lieut. Jeffrey Delisle. Nowadays, Harold Adrian Russell “Kim” Philby’s betrayal of British and American military secrets to the beavering Bolsheviks of the Soviet security apparatus seems almost quaint. But that’s only because even with their
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Why is it that on Wikipedia, Facebook and various other…
Why is it that on Wikipedia, Facebook and various other websites, the pushiest proselytizers are almost always the libertarian capitalists? They are like cult members. The glassy-eyed worshippers of the fortunate rich (who are rarely rich themselves) are by far the most persistent of the zealots who spread propaganda and
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Pam Geller’s racist ‘savages’ ad generates angry backlash
There has been quite a bit of angry backlash generated by the racist ad activist Pamela Geller and group succeeded in placing on public transit in San Francisco and New York. The ad reads: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel,
Continue readingThose Emergency Blues: Observations and Assessments
NOTIONS TO SMALL FOR A BLOG POST, ALL IN ONE PLACE, A.K.A. THE PERIODIC LINK DUMP. Further to my post “Sleepy Sleepy Nurse”: Sleep or Die. Really. My job: Registered Nurse. We don’t know as much about infection control as we think we do. “Less than a quarter of the Clostridium difficile cases
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