COMMENT: Can Harper's CETA trojan horse be stopped?
Stephen Harper’s no-longer-secret agenda to implement a revolution from the right and dismantle Canada has one major impediment that must really stick in his craw. He is constrained in what he can do by the constitutional division of powers which gives the provinces so much political authority. The really big social items on...
COMMENT: Eat GMO Sweet Corn? I’d rather eat bugs!
A damning new peer reviewed study, ‘Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize ‘is calling into question not only the safety of genetically modified (GM) food but the stringency of government regulations and assessments. For the first time, a long term and comprehensive study...
OP/ED: Déjà vu at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference
Over 1,000 delegates from 189 municipalities and districts across B.C. are gathering this week in Victoria for the annual conference of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. And for many of them the recent appointment of Bill Bennett as Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development may very well seem like déjà vu. Bennett...
OP/ED: You won't be calling me paranoid once the kidnappers get me
This October, my besties and I are going on a girls-only trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco. We have been saving up for almost a year and have quite the travel itinerary planned. First, we are going to rent a little cabin in wine country and tour the various vineyards (sipping all the way). […]
COMMENT: The ‘Pro-Israel’ Network Behind the Innocence Video
If someone had planned to upend US foreign policy — to utterly destroy the very basis [.pdf] of all our diplomats (and military personnel) have been working to achieve in the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world — they couldn’t have done a better job of it than whoever put together Innocence of Muslims. […]
COMMENT: A problematic process, but respect to the new CAO
Dear Laurie Charlton, I write in response to your recent condemnation of council's process in hiring our new CAO/CFO. I've added some headings to break things up. Yup, council screwed upI agree. Council made a big mistake when they decided to keep CAO Victor Kumar's resignation confidential, limited their job search to a...
Ego, Evil, Empire, and the Israeli-Iranian brink: Thoughts turn strange as war nears
“The strong do what they will, the weak do as they must.” - Thucydides, c. 405 BCE, viewing Greek wars. I teach a history course entitled “Chosen Peoples”: ancient Israelites, pagans and Christians are the topic. With synchronistic wonder, a crisis has come upon us in the Middle East involving Iran/Persia and Israel/Judah....
OP/ED: "Yippee! winter's coming," said no one, ever
September – the month that summer comes to a screeching halt, kids go back to school, zucchinis take over the world, and Christmas commercials begin to play on T.V. I have never been a real ‘September fan’ … to me, it has always represented a bleak, slippery slope leading to a dark pit of wintery […]
COMMENT: Erring on the side of caution when it comes to climate change
Reading letters to the editor and speaking with individuals here and there in our communities has led me to understand that convincing some people that humans have a part in climate change is about as likely as convincing others that our current MP is doing a good job, or that our MLA belongs to the right party. I've had the...
COMMENT: It's time for MLAs to take their seats in Victoria
IntegrityBC launched an online petition on Sunday calling on the B.C. government to reconsider its decision not to recall the legislature next month. IntegrityBC noted that Ontario's MPPs are already back in session. In October, they'll be joined by MLAs in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In November, MLAs in Newfoundland and...