Articles of Interest — Recently Posted

Canada

Due to the flurry of activities following the CPC's fiscal update of Thu 27-Nov-2008, I am breaking out the articles pertaining to that fiasco into a sub-section of the “Canada” section.  This will cause the most recent updates to be at the top instead of as trailing sub-entries within the old entry.

The break-out will only apply in the “Recently” tab and not to the “Online” tab

The Fiscal Update Fiasco

• Flaherty Hints at Tax Cuts in Budget  Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday he’s reviewing options for putting more money in people’s pockets through tax cuts as part of a multi-billion dollar stimulus package that will include infrastructure spending and help for laid-off workers.   ⇒ By Julian Beltrame writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sat 03-Jan-2009.
• Unchartered Waters  We made it this time.  But could Canadian democracy survive another constitutional crisis?   ⇒ By David Asper writing for The National Post, with Professors Adam Dodek and Lorne Sossin, and columnist Colby Cosh responding; posted Fri 02-Jan-2009.
• Will 2009 Bring Quicker Thinking?  A mark of strong political leadership is the ability to respond quickly and effectively to unforeseen circumstances.  The expected is the easy part; it’s the unexpected that tests leaders’ mettle.  Canadians can only hope their leaders will fare better at these tests in 2009 than they did in 2008.   ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Thu 01-Jan-2009.
• Why GG’s Dec. 4 Decision Has Far-reaching Constitutional and Political Significance  If a coalition of parties representing the majority of MPs cannot make a claim for power, stymied by a PM who refuses to allow them to express themselves in Parliament, how will a coalition government come to Canada?   ⇒ By Nelson Wiseman writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 29-Dec-2008.
• Budget is Harper’s ‘Last Shot,’ Ignatieff Warns  Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has given a sharp warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper:  Deliver a budget that opposition parties can support next month or be prepared to lose a vote of confidence.   ⇒ By Shawn McCarthy writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sun 28-Dec-2008.
• Parliamentary Democracy Disdained under New Rules  Conservatives campaigning to disarm institutions of Canadian government and replace them with a regime based on plebiscites.  Der disdain, der hypocrisy, der Harper!   ⇒ By Denis Smith; posted Thu 25-Dec-2008.
• Canadian Political Turmoil Over, Harper Secure, U.S. Ambassador Says  The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, says this country’s political turmoil has probably ended and Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper will remain in office for the near future at least.   ⇒ By CBC News with files from The Canadian Press; posted Wed 24-Dec-2008.

  Of course, Ambassador David Horton Wilkins serves up the same “undemocratic” tripe that was trotted out by the CONservatives and taken up roundly, soundly and ever so dumbly by their followers.  Uh-hmm … the same tripe that I had been criticizing on my soapbox page for quite some time now.  Now, I am not saying that the “claptrap” was instigated/injected by the Yankees; however, it is ultimately rooted in and speaks to the pervasiveness of American notions and prejudices here in Canada.

• Ignatieff Warns PM against Use of Hardball Tactics in Parliament  In a year-end interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Ignatieff said he asked Mr. Harper during a recent meeting to instruct Conservative House Leader Jay Hill to try to remove ill will by meeting with Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale.  I wonder what der Harper will pull in a few weeks?  It is becoming increasingly harder to trust anything that comes out of Stephen Joseph Harper’s mouth.   ⇒ By Brian Laghi writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Wed 24-Dec-2008.
• Ottawa Books $600-million Deficit in October  The federal budget surplus all but disappeared in October, the third month in a row to show a deficit.  Ugh!  Jim Flaherty strikes again!  Just like when he left Ontario with that deficit he hid only to be discovered by the McGuinty government upon taking over.   ⇒ By The Canadian Press; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

  Oh!  Goody, here he goes again … UPDATE:  Flaherty Promises a Short Deficit  Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised Tuesday that his January budget will chart a clear course back to balanced books despite plans for massive stimulus spending and fresh evidence of the federal government’s rapidly deteriorating fiscal position.   ⇒ By Shawn McCarthy and Greg Keenan writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

• PM Does About-turn on Stacking Senate  His campaign for Senate reform stalled, Harper appoints 18 to chamber’s Conservative ranks.  Party fundraisers and defeated candidates dominated the list of 18 new Conservative senators announced yesterday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as one of the country’s leading advocates of Senate reform unleashed the biggest single day of Senate appointments in Canadian history.   ⇒ By Bill Curry and Daniel Leblanc writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

  UPDATE:  Better Roads Not Travelled  Even with his government weakened by the political turmoil that nearly brought it down earlier this month, Stephen Harper was well within his rights yesterday to make 18 Conservative appointments to the Senate.  It was preferable to his previous course of action, which was to leave most Senate seats vacant after their occupants retired.  But if the Prime Minister intended the appointments as a show of strength, he failed.  If anything, they were a show of weakness.   ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

  UPDATE:  Weakened Harper Plays to Party  In finally exercising his prerogative to appoint members of the Senate, Stephen Harper acted yesterday less like a prime minister and more like the party leader he has never deigned to be.   ⇒ By Brian Laghi writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

  Even Don Martin of the CONservative rag, The National Post, cannot help but express his disgust and disdain … UPDATE:  A Seasonal Gift for 18 Lucky Lapdogs  The rush of appointments has been spun in advance as necessary to beat any power-seizing, Liberal-led coalition from stacking the Senate with their partisan choices if Mr. Harper’s government is toppled in the coming months.   ⇒ By Don Martin writing for The National Post; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

• Top-court Appointment Bypasses Review Process  Prime Minister Stephen Harper surprised the legal community Monday by filling a long-standing vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada and in doing so bypassed a parliamentary review process that his own party had fought hard to institute.   ⇒ By Kirk Makin writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

  UPDATE:  Hurry, without Hearing  When Prime Minister Stephen Harper named a Supreme Court judge yesterday without allowing for a public hearing in Parliament, he set a bad precedent.  Mr. Harper’s decision may be understandable in the circumstances — barely — but it is regrettable.   ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

Other “Canada” Articles

• Promised Listeriosis Probe Still Lacks Investigator  The Harper government has not yet named the leader of a promised probe into the listeriosis outbreak that killed 20 people — a lag critics say discredits an already suspect process.  “This government is not willing to swallow its medicine. That’s the difference.”   ⇒ By Sue Bailey writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Sun 04-Jan-2009.

  UPDATE:  The Back Burner  The government’s apparent failure to launch an investigation it promised early last fall raises the unsettling thought that its pledge was made largely to prevent the issue from jeopardizing its prospects in the election campaign.   ⇒ By the Editors of The Globe and Mail; posted Tue 06-Jan-2009.

• The Smart Money Says Harper Exits This Year  To look at the history of the Conservative Party is to find few success stories — leaders who’ve gone out a winner, leaving the party in a united, salutary state.  Among the chief reasons we could see Stephen Harper take his leave this year is that, if he does, he’ll join that tiny club of achievers.  If he doesn’t, he risks a denouement common to predecessors — the big tumble into the Tory trash can.   ⇒ By Lawrence Martin writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Fri 02-Jan-2009.
• MP Wants to Reopen Abortion Debate  The new chairman of a secretive Parliamentary caucus opposed to abortion is pledging to rekindle the abortion debate in Canada and bring “more value” to the lives of unborn children.  Although Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he’s not interested in reopening the divisive issue, Winnipeg MP Rod Bruinooge told The Canadian Press people need to be better educated about Canada’s abortion stance, which he says puts the country in a “class of its own.”   ⇒ By Chinta Puxley writing for The Canadian Press; posted Sun 28-Dec-2008.

  I remember a while back talking to someone I consider, in retrospect, a Christian fundamentalist (also Catholic) and he was very sincere about his faith.  However, he also wished the Church had as much power as it was back in his old country.  I reminded him that there was a point to having the church and state separate.  He was somewhat taken aback when I mentioned that if they were not, then it would be just like it is in Iran or any other theocracy.  He asserted that Christians would never do that and I just laughed in my mind for the absurd assertion that emanated from his pious mouth.

  UPDATE:  Harper Stiff-arms Tory Talk of Reopening Abortion Debate  In the face of dissension within the party, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is reiterating its commitment to not reopen the debate on abortion.   ⇒ By Joanne Chianello writing for Canwest News Service; posted Tue 30-Dec-2008.

• Why are the Greatest Howls of Media Outrage for Companies Losing Their Gravy Train?  The shame is not Danny Williams.  The shame is a mainland that seems to have little understanding of the devastation wrought upon Grand Falls-Windsor by the callous disregard of a global company.   ⇒ By Sheila Copps writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 29-Dec-2008.
• Ottawa’s Political Uncertainty a Serious Barrier to Engaging Obama Administration  Expert Chris Sands says Obama’s Cabinet is so far ‘almost a windfall for Canada’ and we have good ties with many of them.   ⇒ By Harris MacLeod writing for The Hill Times; posted Sun 28-Dec-2008.
• Harper Abandons Zeal for Reform  The real surprise is how Harper is reinventing himself as a conventional politician.  After devoting his career to changing the way power politics is practised, Harper has changed into a practical politician uncommonly devoted to furthering his career in power.   ⇒ By the Editors of The Toronto Star; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.
• Tory Aide Tried to Scuttle Hanukah Event, School Says  While the holiday season is traditionally a time of celebration and peace for Jews and Christians, a Tory staffer is facing accusations she launched a partisan battle against the Liberals over a Hanukah ceremony at a school for disabled children.  Sometimes, the CONservatives and their actions truly are their best ambassadors!   ⇒ By CTV.ca News Staff; posted Wed 24-Dec-2008.

Finance & Economics

• Economists are Telling Us It’s Bad, Very, Very Bad  Economists don’t know what will happen next week, yet can predict job losses 30 years away.   ⇒ By Angelo Persichilli writing for The Hill Times; posted Mon 29-Dec-2008.
• Faith in the Market  The champions of Islamic finance — banking and investing based on the Koran — believe that if Islamic principles had been applied to Wall Street, the global economic crisis never would have happened.  The handful of men who decide which mortgages, car loans, and credit cards are spiritually sound are cashing in.  But critics smell a con.   ⇒ By Carla Power writing for Foreign Policy; posted Sat 27-Dec-2008.
• An Intellectual Bailout  We must add another field to the list of those in need of rescuing — economics itself   ⇒ By Moisés Naím writing for Foreign Policy; posted Sat 27-Dec-2008.
• The Poor Man’s Burden  Eighty years ago, a depression changed the way we think about poverty.  It took decades for the world to recover and to remember that if people are given freedom, they will prosper.  Now in the wake of another massive meltdown, the fear that shocked us into depending on government to fix poverty is spreading once again — and threatening to undo many of the gains we have made.   ⇒ By William Easterly writing for Foreign Policy; posted Sat 27-Dec-2008.
• As Banks Struggled, Executives Pulled It In  Banks that have their hands out in Washington this year were handing out multimillion-dollar rewards to their executives last year.   ⇒ By Frank Bass and Rita Beamish; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.
• The Worst is yet to Come  Five economists whose prophetic warnings went unheeded preview the next stage of the global financial crisis.   ⇒ By Nouriel Roubini, Stephen S. Roach, David M. Smick, Robert J. Shiller, and Dean Baker writing for Foreign Policy; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.
• Bernanke’s Backdoor Bailouts  As part of its effort to prop up the markets, the Fed is giving billions to banks — and putting taxpayers at risk   ⇒ By David Henry and Matthew Goldstein writing for Business Week; posted Sun 21-Dec-2008.
• Chipmakers on the Edge  Awash in inventory, global companies are in deep trouble — and some are seeking bailouts   ⇒ By Bruce Einhorn writing for Business Week; posted Sun 21-Dec-2008.
• A Deflation Maelstrom in the Making  The Fed is pulling out the stops to thwart it, but slack demand, rising joblessness, frozen credit, and vanished home value are all feeding a vicious spiral   ⇒ By James C. Cooper; posted Sun 21-Dec-2008.
• Does OPEC Still Matter?  OPEC is trying to present a united front, but it has not been able to control oil prices either up or down   ⇒ By Stanley Reed writing for Business Week; posted Sun 21-Dec-2008.
• The Fed’s Fierce Battle Plan  In dropping rates to zero, Bernanke is attacking the recession head-on.  And his approach may well lead to a recovery by late 2009   ⇒ By Peter Coy writing for Business Week; posted Sun 21-Dec-2008.

The International Scene

• The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual:  Afghanistan Edition  In 2006, a controversial military manual rewrote U.S. strategy in Iraq.  Now, the docrine’s simple, powerful — even radical — tenets must be applied to the far different and neglected conflict in Afghanistan.  Plus, David Petraeus talks to FP about how to win a losing war.   ⇒ By By Nathaniel C. Fick and John A. Nagl writing for Foreign Policy; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.
• Afghanistan:  Soviet Failures Echo for US  Control of roads and rural areas vexes coalition effort.   ⇒ By Mark Sappenfield writing for The Christian Science Monitor; posted Sun 21-Dec-2008.

The Environment

In my world view, the environment is inextricably linked to energy.  That is certainly reflected in these pages.

A Quick Primer  Cap and Trade, Carbon Tax, Intensity Targets: What Does It All Mean?  What is at Stake for Canada and the Planet?   ⇒ By Council of Canadians; posted Sat 08-Nov-2008.

Please note that the oil-industry prefers to use the term oil sands versus tar sands.  The former is a nice euphemism to diminish the financial, capital and environmental expense entailed by the processing required to draw crude oil from bitumen.  The latter is closer in denoting the truly dirty aspect of bitumen in higher fidelity.

• Feed-in Frenzy  A simple green tariff has transformed Germany.  Why isn’t Canada following suit?   ⇒ By Chris Turner writing for The Walrus; posted Fri 02-Jan-2009.
• Stelmach Confident Obama will See the Sense in Alberta Oil  Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach wants U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to know that Canada is the United States’ best friend when it comes to supplying reliable and secure oil.   ⇒ By Katherine O’Neill writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Thu 01-Jan-2009.

  So, you might be asking, why Edward Michael Stelmach — premier of Alberta — and der Harper — son of an oil executive — are both scrambling to lick the boots of Barack Hussein Obama II?!?  Well, read on …

  UPDATE:  Officials:  Obama Chooses Chu for Energy Secretary  President-elect Barack Obama intends to round out his environmental and natural resources team with a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and three former Environmental Protection Agency officials from the Clinton administration.   ⇒ By Liz Sidoti and Dina Cappiello writing for The Associated Press; posted Thu 01-Jan-2009.

  UPDATE:  Energy Nominee is No Fan of Fossil Fuel-based Energy  Chu supports renewables in climate-change strategy   ⇒ By Richard L. Burleson writing for The Houston Chronicle; posted Thu 01-Jan-2009.

• For Those Who Value Flying —  In his 2006 book Heat:  How to Stop the Planet from Burning, George Monbiot presents a set of strategies to achieve a 90-per-cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.  He takes pains to avoid a substantial cut in our standard of living, with one exception:  We have to give up air travel.   ⇒ By David Zingg writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Wed 31-Dec-2008.
• The Waning of the Boom  Project after future oil sands (tar sands if you are on the environmentalists' side or even slightly green) project has been shelved or slowed down until, according to the companies, plunging oil prices stabilize and financing starts to loosen up.   ⇒ By Gordon Pitts writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 29-Dec-2008.
• Lifeline for Renewable Power  Without a radically expanded and smarter electrical grid, wind and solar will remain niche power sources.   ⇒ By David Talbot writing for Technology Review; posted Sun 28-Dec-2008.
• The Nuclear Option  After a decades-long slowdown, nuclear power once again dominates the global energy debate.  Dozens of countries are vying to join the nuclear power club and hundreds of new reactors are on the drawing board.  But despite the hype, it will not be the miracle cure for energy dependence or global warming that boosters promise.   ⇒ By Charles D. Ferguson and Michelle M. Smith writing for Foreign Policy; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.
• Think Again:  Climate Change  Act now, we are told, if we want to save the planet from a climate catastrophe.  Trouble is, it might be too late.  The science is settled, and the damage has already begun.  The only question now is whether we will stop playing political games and embrace the few imperfect options we have left.   ⇒ By Bill McKibben writing for Foreign Policy; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.
• The Carbon Trap  Can offsets, emissions caps and complex trading schemes turn off the global spigot of greenhouse gases?   ⇒ By Jennifer Barone; posted Wed 24-Dec-2008.
• Detroit Using Canadian Water since 1964  Detroit has been taking water from the Canadian side of the river it shares with Windsor for the past four decades, without Ontario’s knowledge.  The American city has avoided provincial regulations but an agreement is now in the works to start regulating the water grab. Critics, however, say the situation sets a dangerous precedent.   ⇒ By CBC News; posted Tue 23-Dec-2008.

Social Sciences

• Wikipedia and the Meaning of Truth  Why the online encyclopedia’s epistemology should worry those who care about traditional notions of accuracy.   ⇒ By Simson L. Garfinkel writing for Technology Review; posted Sun 28-Dec-2008.

Technology, Science and Health

• Is Silicon Valley Losing Its Magic?  A road trip finds risk aversion, short-term thinking, and a few bold ideas   ⇒ By Steve Hamm writing for Business Week; posted Mon 05-Jan-2009.

The United States of America

• The $10 Trillion Hangover  Paying the price for eight years of Bush   ⇒ By Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz writing for Harper’s Magazine; posted Mon 05-Jan-2009.
• Bushisms  Gems from the one and only (Thank Goodness)...   ⇒ By Jacob Weisberg & others; posted Fri 02-Jan-2009.
• Harper’s Index — A Retrospective of the Bush Era  Most of the Bush-era figures cited herein appeared in the Harper’s Index between the years 2000 and 2008 and have been updated as of November 2008.  Sources are listed on page 68.   ⇒ By the Editors of Harper’s; posted Fri 02-Jan-2009.

Miscellaneous

• The Worst Predictions about 2008  Just about everybody got wrong-footed by 2008, but some people’s mistakes were truly spectacular   ⇒ By Peter Coy writing for Business Week; posted Fri 26-Dec-2008.