With each story that I read about her, my respect for Elizabeth Warren grows. Would that Canada had someone similar to inspire us. Recommend this Post
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The indomitable American spirit personified above. Whatever became of it? Below: Bogie as Philip Marlowe, with gun; the leader of another English-speaking country refusing to knuckle under to the Luftwaffe, also with gun. We have learned, courtesy the news media, that membership in the National Rifle Association has surged past five million souls since the Sandy Hook Massacre of little children in Connecticut last December. It would seem that a significant minority of our American cousins will let nothing stand in the way of their right to massive firepower, which they insist is protected by the Second Amendment of the (Read more…) 
 Adolf Hitler, boston, crime, Emperor Hirohito, Greyhound, gun control, gun laws, James Porter, Luftwaffe, Martial Law, National Rifle Association, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler, Royal Air Force, School Massacres, Second Amendment, Terrorism, U.S. Constitution, u.s. politics, Wayne Lapierre From Citizens Climate Lobby Canada: MAY 1, 2013 – “For the first time in 3 million years [1], the average daily concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, is about to exceed 400 parts per million (PPM), a strong indication that the Canada and other nations [...] It’s always enjoyable (and all too rare!) to share good news, and I’m pleased that there’s some to share on this, the last Friday in April: The Ontario government under newly elected premier Kathleen Wynne announced on Wednesday that it will be partnering with the government of Manitoba and the International Institute for Sustainable Development [...] * No matter how hard the fossil fools try to stuff the renewable energy genie back into the bottle (click here to read more about Kansas’s latest back-the-past bill), the green energy economy is growing. For example, in March 2013 the number of Australian homes with solar power systems passed the one million mark, according [...] Lest anybody see the high-profile Atlanta example of standardized testing fraud as an isolated incident, Valerie Strauss writes about how Sask Party-style mandatory testing has produced similar problems across the U.S.: In the past four academic years, test cheating has been confirmed in 37 states and Washington D.C. (You can see details here, and, here, a list of more than 50 ways that schools can manipulate test scores.) The true extent of these scandals remain unknown, and, as Michael Winerip of The New York Times shows here in this excellent article, it is very hard . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: On impending failures
Ever wonder what would happen to the reactionary conservative sense of identity if it ever ran out of things to be outraged about? Happily for its psyche, that is not likely to happen anytime soon. Recommend this Post I’m on a (low-carbon) holiday for the next while, with little access to a computer, so please accept my apologies for delayed responses or posting of comments. All should be back to normal the last week of March. In the meantime, I scoured my files for some photos and graphics to post while I’m away [...] It’s TED Talk Tuesday on 350orbust. Simran Sethi talks about engaging with people who seem to be our polar opposites. This and that for your weekend reading. - Plenty more commentators are taking a turn duly mocking the Cons’ Senate shenanigans. Here’s Tabatha Southey: In fact, Mr. Duffy lives and votes in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa, in a home he purchased five years before he was appointed to the Senate in 2008. He has a modest, seasonal cottage in Cavendish, PEI, which is reportedly seldom used. There are signs there may be a number of these houses across the country – dark, lifeless, spooky places children rush by after sundown because some people say those houses have senators. . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links I was lucky enough to hear TEDx Vancouver when it was livestreamed in October. I knew then that I wanted to post Dr. John Izzo’s talk as soon as it was available on the internet; so here it is, The Defining Moment For A Generation-in-Waiting: A provocative and passionate public speaker and thought leader, Dr. [...] Here, on Brad Wall’s off-key lobbying against action on climate change – and why we should see the bright side of having the Obama administration push us toward more sound environmental policy when far too many Canadian leaders have failed in their responsibilities. For further reading…- Wall’s simultaneous lobbying for automatic pipeline approval and against any further Canadian action on climate change can be found here (see in particular the video clip to the right) and here.- Jeffrey Simpson and Tzeporah Berman have made similar points about the value of the U.S.’ message linking Canadian . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: New column day Brad Wall’s contrived outrage over foreign interference in domestic policy might be a bit less laughable if he didn’t make so much of a show of trying to dictate the U.S.’ own decisions. [Edit: fixed wording.] The times, they are a-changin’! Not only did President Obama speak clearly about the need to act on climate change in his State of the Union address earlier this week, yesterday on CBC Radio’s flagship supper-hour news show, As It Happens, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobsen was interviewed about Canada’s lack of action [...] Today’s blog post is courtesy of Citizens Climate Lobby: In his State of the Union address, the President said, ‘If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations [from climate change], I will.’ Republicans who wish to avoid more regulations should embrace the free-market approach of a revenue-neutral tax on carbon. Saying that “for the [...] A message from an Oklahoma farmer for President Barack Obama, as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address tonight: * All eyes in the climate change community are going to be on President Obama tonight as he delivers his State of the Union address, which outlines his administration’s vision for the next four years. The clip below, from AP, discusses the urgent need for Obama to address climate change (although one wonders why they [...] Assorted content to end your week. - While we may sometimes lose track of the continuing differences between Canadian politics and those in the U.S., here’s a reminder of how we’re familiar with a far wider and more progressive range of public policy choices: while we’ve seen plenty of discussion about improving the standard for retirement benefits available under our national pension plan (even if public support for that expansion has been ignored by a right-wing government), Duncan Black’s call to do the same for Social Security is being raised as a voice in the wilderness: If the . . . → Read More: Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links In this TED talk, Bryan Stevenson starts a conversation about injustice that we all need to hear. The youtube description says this: In an engaging and personal talk — with cameo appearances from his grandmother and Rosa Parks — human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares some hard truths about America’s justice system, starting with a [...] The climate alarm is sounding more loudly than ever in these early days of 2013. Climate change, we are finding out, isn’t something for our children and grandchildren and the global poor to wrestle with, we are staring it in the face right now where ever you live on this planet. Here in North America, [...] An American militia in 1773 … before they were well regulated and illustrating why they needed to be. Most militia units, said Gen. George Washington, were “totally unacquainted with every kind of military skill.” Below: President Washington; President Thomas Jefferson. One of the effects of the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook last year is that – slowly, slowly, ever so slowly – gun control is coming to the U.S.A. The sheer lunacy of the substantial cohort of firearms-proliferation advocates and their politically influential organizations in the United States after the massacre of six-year-olds on the anniversary of . . . → Read More: Alberta Diary: Freedom from gun terror: why understanding American history can help keep Canadians sane
American History, Canadian Constitution, Canadian Politics, Common Law, Founding Fathers, George Washington, gun control, gun laws, Justin Trudeau, long-gun registry, National Rifle Association, Sandy Hook Massacre, Second Amendment, stephen harper, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Constitution, u.s. politics The Idle No More movement continues to spread across Canada and the rest of the world; it has declared that it’s here to stay. There have been round dances in intersections and malls across Turtle Island (North America). Here’s a flash round dance held a week ago in the Mall of America; think about the [...] This is a reposting from The Earth Story’s Facebook page: “The cost of living is going up and the chance of living is going down. “ –Flip Wilson A new publication issued by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in the journal “Nature” has reported that the chances of keeping temperatures below a [...] #HarperRegime is delusional – reeking with Luciferian pride – in thinking it can practice Israeli-American style “exceptionalism.” The reality is that none is exceptional, and, like children, they lack respect for the #UN because they don’t get their s… . . . → Read More: Politics and Entertainment: #HarperRegime is delusional – reeking with Luciferian pride Richard Nixon after his overwhelming 1972 re-election victory. Below: George McGovern, Alison Redford. Here in Alberta’s icy capital, the winter of 2012 is starting to feel like the summer of ’73. If you’re an Alberta Progressive Conservative, this is not a good thing. Let me explain. In the spring and summer of 1972, Richard Nixon, … . . . → Read More: Alberta Diary: Potted history: why the winter of 2012 feels like the summer of ’73 |
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