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Torturing Democracy
The following is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen about the Bush administration. I first saw “Torturing Democracy” on PBS, but it’s now available as a three-part streamed video. We may all be tired of the Bush era, but this concise, chilling and very well-documented exposé of the Bush’s War on Terror is a […]
A Lapse of Truth in the Gaza War
The recent Israeli campaign in Gaza officially began on December 27, 2008. It started with many days of aerial bombardment of the Gaza territory, and then intensified on January 3, 2009, when the Israeli army invaded. 13 Israelis and over 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, which finally ended on January 21, 2009, when […]
Provincial deficits for 2009/2010
Here are some interesting stats re: provincial deficits. We see that Alberta has a huge per capita deficit, thanks largely to Alberta’s reliance on irregular resource and exploration taxes, and not on more stable income and sales taxes. This is a good example of how debt and deficits are as reliant on what you tax […]
The giant Ponzi scheme that is Florida
Florida used to be the golden child of free-wheeling neo-liberal capitalism: low taxes, little regulation and scant attention paid to the future. But now that people need help from their government, Floridians are reaping what they (didn’t) sow. Here’s a selection from a recent article: …………………….. By Neil Macdonald CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/10/f-rfa-macdonald.html … Gary Mormino, […]
Resource financing keeps Bay Street flush
Here are some telling statistics that help describe the magnitude of the American economic tailspin: ………………… BOYD ERMAN From Monday’s Globe and Mail April 6, 2009 at 4:19 AM EDT Take that, Wall Street. Bay Street bankers are finding themselves in the unprecedented situation of being just as busy selling stock as New York financiers, […]
With economy so bad, Bank of Canada may revert to printing money
Didn’t they try this in Germany after World War One? Perhaps I’ll need to be more cautious when I gloat about my variable rate mortgage! Of course, in Germany, there was a real shortage of goods and resources, as Germany was directly stripped of much of its resources by the Treaty of Versailles and by […]
B.C.’s highest court rules that Adbusters Media Foundation can sue CBC and Global TV
By Charlie Smith April 4, 2009 www.straight.com Vancouver-based Adbusters Media Foundation has won an appeal in B.C.’s highest court to add the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a defendant to a lawsuit against Global Television Network Inc. and Global Communications Limited. In a unanimous three-member decision released Friday (April 3), the B.C. Court of Appeal […]
With capitalism on its derriere, the left still gets no respect
Though it’s nothing new to those who analyze Canada’s media industry, the right-wing and pro-business nature of Canada’s media may not be understood by the average Canadian. The following is a fairly surprising op-ed from Lawrence Martin, a stalwart with BCE’s The Globe and Mail (which, as Canadian political scientist Rand Dyck has observed, “tends […]
The American Debt
If you’ re not scared by the American debt, you should be. The Frontline documentary below shows the scale of the problem, and how it will hamper the Obama administration’s attempt to revive the American economy… and Canada’s. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tentrillion/view/ Posted by Colin Welch at 7:33 PM Edited on: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:14 PM Categories: […]
Inequality As an Economic Problem for Capitalism
Here’s an interesting article that recognizes that inequality is not just a moral issue for bleeding heart lefties. It’s a very real problem for capitalism: too much equality might stifle innovation, but too little equality and the economic cycle will come to a grinding halt. Perhaps we should look deeper into the economic crisis, and […]