PHOTOS: Stampede chuckwagon races – exciting for spectators, but deadly and cruel for horses. Real men don’t hurt animals for entertainment. There will be a safety “review” after the death of a fourth horse on Sunday at the 2015 Calgary Stampede, which is now mercifully over. Oh, please! There will be no meaningful review of […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Reunite Alberta’s right? The Great Wildrose Experiment is going to be hard to undo
PHOTOS: Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean at the Calgary Stampede. Too country to be electable in the new Alberta? (Photo from Mr. Jean’s Flickr account.) Below: Former Harper strategist Ken Boessenkool and former Harper speechwriter Paul Bunner, both involved in Alberta’s “reunite the right” movement. (Photos grabbed from their Facebook accounts.) Well, no one can […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Why stop with just one religion? Shouldn’t Ottawa certify clerics for all religions, plus martial arts instructors?
PHOTOS: The Senate of Canada, also known as “the Red Chamber,” possibly for its adoption of tactics for dealing with religion reminiscent of two large communist countries. Actual Canadian Senators may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Andrew P.W. Bennett, Canada’s first “Ambassador for Religious Freedom” and a cantor at the St. John the Baptist […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Will Canadian troops in Ukraine have to train radical Islamist volunteers said to be tied to ISIS?
PHOTOS: Defence Minister Jason Kenney explains who Canadian troops will train in Ukraine last fall. Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ukraine in 2010. Photos are from the CBC and the Prime Minister’s Office’s Flickr account. It’s been evident for several months now Ukraine has a problem with neo-Nazis, in particular battalions of “volunteers” who […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Murky and contradictory poll results, weird timing, unlikely to divert media from its dubious narrative about Alberta’s NDP
PHOTOS: “Press 1 if you support the Wildrose Party …” With the right digital equipment, the whole family can have fun with demon-dialler public opinion polls, even down on the farm in rural Southern Alberta. Below: Novice political columnists learn how to cover the news in Alberta. According to news accounts of last week’s Mainstreet […]
Posted inMedia
Memo from The Old Copy Editor: The offensive flag in question is not ‘the Stars ‘n’ Bars’
PHOTOS: An offensive symbol on the front of a Canadian truck, right here in Alberta. The Old Copy Editor reminds readers that this is not the Stars ’n’ Bars. Below: HMCS Iroquois back in the day when she still had a gun on her foredeck. The Old Copy Editor reminds readers that there is no […]
Posted inGeopolitics
The effort to engineer regime change in Greece could lead to a much bigger disaster
PHOTOS: Leaders of the Greek military government of 1967 to 1974. Is something similar waiting in the wings if the eurozone leadership’s effort to terrorize the Greeks into voting Yes to never-ending austerity fails today? Below: Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras, former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien and Nobel-Prize-winning American economist Paul Krugman. Recent Western […]
Posted inCanadian Politics
Independence Day: an excellent moment to remember Stephen Harper is no ‘Tory’
PHOTOS: Today is Independence Day in the United States, and also in Texas, where this photo was snapped. Below: Stephen Harper, not a Tory, unlike John A. Macdonald, below him, who was. Below both of them, a Hessian soldier gets ready to load up and shoot at an American insurgent. Only the Hessians’ pants were […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Lawsuit and ASIRT investigation illuminate the Alberta Tory Party’s existential crisis
PHOTOS: Car 54 where are you? Somewhere in northeast Calgary, by the sound of it. Actual Calgary Police Service officers may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below, former Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson (CBC photo) and former Edmonton-Ellerslie PC nomination candidate Balraj Manhas (from his Twitter account). Two news stories yesterday illustrate the fatally deteriorating […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
New Democrats to have real nomination battle in Calgary-Foothills riding
PHOTOS: Skilled polling technicians monitor the interactive voice response equipment the day before Canada Day. Actual Canadian pollsters may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: NDP Calgary-Foothills nomination candidates Anne Wilson and Bob Hawkesworth. Notwithstanding a gloomy demon-dialler poll suggesting voter support has migrated from the NDP Government to the Opposition Wildrose Party, there will […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Happy Canada Day: Alberta has an extra billion, which was good luck for the NDP
PHOTOS: Finance Minister Joe Ceci at yesterday’s news conference, in a government of Alberta photo, imparting the happy news that former premier Jim Prentice’s Tories left $1.1 billion lying around and didn’t bother to tell anyone about it. Below: Opposition Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt and PC Leader Ric McIver. Presumably it will be a Happy […]
Posted inAlberta Politics
Alberta’s NDP government moves too cautiously, but in the right direction, on raising the minimum wage
PHOTOS: The government of Alberta’s spin on an increase in the minimum wage – what a contrast to the grim excuse-making of a few months ago! Below: Jobs Minister Lori Sigurdson (from the Premier of Alberta’s Flickr account), Premier Rachel Notley (photo by Dave Cournoyer) and Alberta Chambers of Commerce President Ken Kobly. They may […]