Quote du Jour: Alberta's Clueless Energy Minister
on Nov 6, 2009 in Progressive Conservative party Dave Taylor Bill 50 Ed Stelmach Alberta politics conservatives behaving badly Mel Knight From Thursday's Just Answer the Damn Question! Period: Mr. Taylor: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Geez, this is funny. Not every stakeholder is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars advertising on radio, on television, and in the newspaper...

Italy Convicts CIA Agents of Kidnapping and Rendition
on Nov 5, 2009 in Pete Hoekstra extraordinary rendition Barack Obama Nicolò Pollari human rghts Maher Arar SISMI Sabrina deSousa Stephen Hadley GWOT CIA Robert Seldon Lady Abu Omar Well, at least there's justice for 'extraordinary rendition' victims in one jurisdiction in this world. In the case of Abu Omar who was snatched from the streets of Milan in 2003 and rendered to Egypt to be tortured (known as the 'Imam rapito affai...

Shooting Rampage at Fort Hood, Texas
on Nov 5, 2009 in Fort Hood US military The latest from Lt General Bob Cone at Fort Hood: 12 dead 31 injured 3 gunmen ("soldiers") - 1 dead, 2 in custody (see update below) Cone said the shootings occurred in the "soldier readiness" area. It was not immediately known whether the victim...

On Vaccinations, the Soviet Union, and Chickens
on Nov 3, 2009 in flu pandemic Dave Taylor Alberta government Don Braid conservatives behaving badly Ron Liepert H1N1 Calgary Herald Don Braid writes in the Calgary Herald: Only Alberta has been forced to close all vaccination clinics for four full days. It's still a mystery why our authorities decided to go for mass immunization rather than the more controlled approach adopted b...

Pick a Hill to Die On, Iggy
on Nov 2, 2009 in Alfred Apps Michael Ignatieff Liberal Party Question Period I find it amusing, that when the opposition party is in opposition, that the media are constantly pressing us to lay out our wares - constantly 'put your big ideas in front of the public'. The reality is the government has been elected to govern and...

Alberta Suspends H1N1 Vaccination Clinics
on Oct 31, 2009 in flu pandemic Alberta Canadian health care conservatives behaving badly Ron Liepert H1N1 This province is run by morans. Via the CBC: Alberta health officials said Saturday the province's H1N1 immunization clinics have been suspended immediately because of a national reduction in the number of available vaccine doses. Officials said...

Happy Halloween!
on Oct 31, 2009 in Robert Service The Cremation of Sam McGee Hank Snow Posting some version of the Robert Service poem The Cremation of Sam McGee, my favourite poem, has become a sort of Halloween blogging ritual for me. So, here it is again: Hank Snow's version. Enjoy.  ...

Quote du Jour: H1N1 Hysteria
on Oct 30, 2009 in flu pandemic Alberta H1N1 The Tory MLA for Battle River-Wainwright, Doug Griffiths, has been fielding complaints from his constituents after a clinic in Wainwright ran out of vaccine earlier this week. Griffiths believes both politicians and the public need to settle down.

Obama's Extrajudicial Executions
on Oct 29, 2009 in UN Human Rights Council Philip Alston extrajudicial killings Barack Obama Jane Mayer US military The New Yorker Pakistan drones "Extrajudicial executions". That's a nasty phrase, isn't it? And to attach the much-loved and vaunted President Obama's name to it? Well, that's almost akin to blasphemy. But, if you refuse to call the US military drone attacks on Pakistani civilians...

H1N1 Vaccination Hysteria
on Oct 27, 2009 in Alberta Canadian health care swine flu H1N1 For months, governments and the media have been sounding the loud alarm bell over H1N1 flu - urging people to get vaccinated ASAP. So, it's not like this is a surprise. In Calgary though, apparently it is. The Alberta government, in its usual (cheap...