Update, Friday, March 19: It seems to me that it’s impossible to truly know where the government stands. One moment the foreign minister says birth control isn’t included in their G8 maternal health push. The next the prime minister’s backing up on that, saying discussion around birth control’s not out of the cards. *** There […] More »
Anthony Fenton, the investigative journalist who wrote “Hostile Takeover: Canada’s outsourced war for Iraq’s oil riches,” the September-October cover story in This Magazine, has been on the air three times in recent weeks, talking about the article, Canada’s part in the Iraq occupation, and the private businesses that profit from the conflict. Here’s Anthony talking […] More »
Let me get this straight: The United States finally elects a credible president; moves to enact more humane health care policies; attempts to rein in its legions of lunatic financiers; and gets a clue on climate change. Meanwhile, Canada chugs along with its boring-but-stable banks and an imperfect but respected single-payer healthcare system. And we’re […] More »
If you missed the Daily Show this week, on Wednesday it offered a kind of condensed, sweetened version of the current political moment in the U.S., a methodical and droll demolition of the out-and-out insanity that has gripped the American right. In the segment—which, by the way, earns every ounce of smugness it exudes—the archives […] More »
Karl Rove’s work is done, apparently. The Economist has a thoughtful/ detailed blurb about Rove’s resignation here. It cites Rove’s ability to get Bush re-elected in 2004 as his biggest triumph, which, you have to admit, was quite the feat. Rove knows his market: the American people, unfortunately, wanted the big, dumb approachable “guy next […] More »
A nasty, I believe Republican, stomach virus had me lying wretchedly in bed watching almost 24 hours of non-stop American election coverage recently — alternating between CNN and CBCNewsworld (I like that Henry Champ — good suits). It’s an experience I cannot recommend, even for the natural audience of this blog, who would have been […] More »
Democrats can’t get away from him fast enough and Republicans hope his “botched joke” marks a turning point in the U.S. mid-term elections, but what few people are not saying about Senator John Kerry—flubbed comedic stylings or not—is that he was right on Monday when he said a lack of education will get you stuck […] More »
Responding to Hugo Chavez’ speech to the General Assembly at the UN yesterday (from The New York Times): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Mr. Chavez’s comments were “not becoming of a head of state.” And I agree, which means that Condi and I now agree on two things (Peter McKay can be very charming […] More »
By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more. — Albert Camus … and sometimes it doesn’t even have a policy. Reports on the one year anniversary of Katrina consistently indicate that if they can do it themselves, or they’re lucky enough to receive charitable help (like that provided […] More »
Just off the wire from Talking Points Memo: You remember Katherine Harris? Gave Florida to George Bush largely by allowing the systematic denial of basic democracy to large portions of the African American electorate in her state — anyway, that’s one theory. That Katherine Harris, that’s right. She’s not doing well at all in her […] More »
Funny, why haven’t we seen this article about John Bolton saying there is no moral equivalent between Lebanese civilian deaths and terrorism victims published anywhere but the independent media? More »