I’ve been watching, but staying out of, the debate around the US health care system and how it will change. What I don’t understand are the people who resist full insurance because they have good benefits now through work, and don’t see the need to pay for other people’s benefits. I first don’t understand it because I just don’t get… Read more →
Category: Political
Now I’m Going To Have To Reread The Prince
I heard quite a lot–references and allusions–about Machiavelli during my early teen years, and that lead me to get around to reading The Prince at some point during my time living in Switzerland–I was 16 at the time. I remember being impressed and amused by the book, and by what I knew about how it connected to political life in… Read more →
CIA caught with pants down, by spiral notebook
Organizations breed both bureaucracy and incompetence. I’m tempted to ask Trish to tell me why this is–I’m sure it’s something well known in her field, but it sure seems to be empirical fact: you create an organization and certain institutional pressures necessarily lead to behaviours that are rational at the individual level, but which result in startling incompetence at the… Read more →
Putting it in context
If you think the fact that Feingold has to call out Obama is depressing, or that the failure to actually enact transparency over what happened with respect to torture under the Bush administration is depressing… well, you should probably stay away from Noam. Here’s a snippet from Chomsky’s recent article on the Torture Memos, which looks at the history of… Read more →
Feingold, once again, says what needs saying
For several weeks now I’ve been almost consciously avoiding reading any of the stories about how Obama is handling both the existing set of “detainees” and how his administration is handling demands for transparency and possible criminal prosecution for people who authorized the use of torture. I’ve been avoiding it because all signs point to an endless cascade of disappointment… Read more →
Possibly Meaningless Anecdotal Observations
I once again had the opportunity today to spend some time with the Department of Homeland Security’s border people at the American border. Since I’ve spent a not insignificant amount of time with them–mostly in the same office, at the same border-crossing–over the years, I have some idea of how these things will go, and what to expect. Today, I… Read more →
Peaks of rage
You know, if I posted every time Harper’s government took and action, or announced a policy direction, that I disagreed with or found repugnant, this blog would be one long bile-laden rant. So I mostly take the “ignore them and hope they go away” strategy, coupled with the occasional rant when something particularly ludicrous or vile happens. Here’s a couple… Read more →
Aside
Finally, someone has realized how to use the power of the web to expose the deep power of GOP economic thinking to the masses on the web. Pop over to the GOP Problem Solver to find out how to solve all your problems. (The second stage joke actually made me laugh out loud.)
Cheney’s Assassination Bureau
You’ve probably seen the story by now: Hersh replied, “After 9/11, I haven’t written about this yet, but the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it. They haven’t been called on it yet.” Hersh then went on to describe a second… Read more →
Rae’s Open Letter To Harper
And now, from the This-Is-The-Best-Thing-I’ve-Read-All-Week department, an open letter sent by Bob Rae to Stephen Harper. Just let me quote two little bits, which should be enough to get you to go read it. First, from the beginning: I am writing you in my former role as Deficit Poster Boy and Punching Bag. This title was bequeathed to me by… Read more →
Aside
Wow. 22 minutes. He’s right, they do live on shamelessness and motivated amnesia.
It begins…
Look, I know the dude isn’t the messiah. He’s a politician, and he’s way, way to the right of me, so I’m sure lots of things he will do will seem disappointing to me. That’s not the point today. As a very smart friend of mine said today: “For the first time in about fifteen years I believe it is… Read more →
Party politics and the middle east
You know, when representatives of over 30 countries agree on something… it’s kind of miraculous. All the agendas, and internal bickering, and differing philosophies, etc. Hell, just getting the government of a single democratic country to take a position on something is an achievement, since every firm position is bound to offend some power group “at home”. So something that… Read more →
Dude has no fear of CSIS
You know, my feelings about our current PM, and his ideological associates are no secret around these parts, but my ability to rant certainly takes a back seat to that of Canadian SF author, and scientist, Peter WattsWatts has been mentioned here lots of times.. And more than being a better ranter, he appears to have no fear at all… Read more →
I’ll take good news where I can get it
I was… um… unthrilled to read this story in the Globe earlier this week: MP wants to reopen abortion debate December 28, 2008 at 11:59 PM EST WINNIPEG — The abortion debate is about to enter a “new era” of advocacy for the rights of the unborn, says a Conservative MP who recently took over the chairmanship of a secretive,… Read more →
