The death toll from the fall of John A. Macdonald’s statue in Montreal Saturday still stands at zero, the gods be praised. One would have thought it was much higher, however, given all the outraged virtue signalling from Conservative politicians and their “issues managers” here on the western edge of
Continue readingTag: Saddam Hussein
Alberta Politics: Who loves ya, baby? Canada’s conservatives urgently need to reassess their dalliance with Donald Trump
A photograph of last weekend’s G7 conclave in Quebec showing several national leaders apparently trying to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to act like a grownup was doing the rounds on social media in the aftermath of the post-summit trainwreck. With the G7 gathering in La Malbaie already nearly universally
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Mission accomplished in Syria? Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose on that claim!
Mission Accomplished? Donald Trump’s crowing Tweets prove the wisdom of Karl Marx’s dictum: History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. This fact is a significant blessing, nonetheless, at least insofar as Friday night’s tactically and legally dubious missile raid by U.S. military forces on Syria is concerned. How
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Best Thing I’ve Read On ISIS
It’s run by Saddam’s old gang from the Baath party. The best bit: Rayburn questions whether even some of the foreign volunteers realise the extent to which they are being drawn into Iraq’s morass. Some of the fiercest battles being waged today in Iraq are for control of communities and neighborhoods
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ten Questions about the Harper Government’s embrace of war with ISIS-ISIL-IS
Ready, Aye, Ready! Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird whips up the War Party in the House of Commons. Below: Stephen Harper, the prime minister, and Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn. Stephen Harper, John Baird, Laurie Hawn and the rest of the boys yesterday finally got the war in Iraq they’ve
Continue readingAlberta Diary: On the centenary of Gavrilo Princip’s fateful shot in Sarajevo, let’s learn the right lessons from history
Gavrilo Princip under arrest. Below: Princip and the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Today is the centenary of the day Gavrilo Princip took his little Belgian pistol to Sarajevo and blew the heir presumptive to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire into history. As is well known, not long after young Princip
Continue readingdrive-by planet: John Kerry’s speech: U.S. hypocrisy in preparing conditions for an illegal attack on Syria
In the course of his speech to prep public opinion for the likely US-NATO attack on Syria, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said: “President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.” The killing of
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Harper’s wish for war with Iran: an ill Tory wind that blows no good for Canada
Unlike Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Doge of the Most Serene Republic of Venice was prepared to receive the ambassadors of Persia. Below: Igor Gouzenko, Dr. Samuel Johnson and Winston Churchill. When Igor Gouzenko came in from the cold 67 years ago last Wednesday, Canada had an extremely serious and
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: If you have any doubts left Alberta’s Conservatives are done like dinner, this should settle ’em
“I never thought I’d vote PC” … just embarrassing. Below: Ralph Klein back when he was premier of Alberta; Saddam Hussein. If you have any doubts left there are only three more sleeps before the end of the Progressive Conservative Era in Alberta, look no further than the video and
Continue readingWorld Headlines Review: Basra and Iraq: Oil and Expectations
A strange portrait of the Southern-Iraqi city of Basra is painted in a recent and brief Economist article. Better than Baghdad struggles to find real evidence of improvement of quality of life or opportunity in Basra, which is Iraq’s international oil and shipping hub and home to a large disenfranchised
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