A rather alarming statistic comes from Statistics Canada today : more than nine out of 10 Canadians have detectable levels of bisphenol A in their urine. From the Globe and Mail: Bisphenol A is a man-made chemical that is used in such everyday products as polycarbonate plastic water jugs, the epoxy resins lining the insides of tin cans and some types of carbonless cash-register receipts. Elevated exposure to bisphenol A, which is also known as BPA, has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and adult-onset diabetes in humans. Research in laboratory animals has …
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Good to be back in the land of peace, order and good government. Ah well! You can't have everything, right? Still, a week on the shores of Maine serves as a great refresher but it was hard not to notice the struggle they are having with their democracy. Fights over long settled amendments to the constitution, religious bigotry and just plain old fashioned bigotry makes me happy to get back.While there is some serious news to blog about (the ongoing census debacle) it looks as if we're finally getting some inconsequential summer headlines. I went over to The Globe and Mail and this is …
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Until next year at least, there will be no summer silly season. I'm not entirely sure as to the real reason why. I'll speculate that the Tories were hoping to make some hay over the summer months and possibly spring an election on their political foes, who all winter and spring long could get no traction, no matter the issue. They also seemed to want to throw their base a bone or two by scrapping the mandatory long-form census and endless law and order blather. Both have proved to be political embarrassments for the Conservatives. Turns out Canadians do appreciate and understand …
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When Stockwell Day laughingly cited the "alarming" rise in unreported crimes as an excuse to spend $10-$13 billion dollars on new prisons, at a time when the government is preaching austerity and crime rates are dropping, he quickly became the subject of ridicule. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson made a valiant attempt to defend Stockwell today releasing details on said "alarming" statistics, telling the press that in 2004, a Statistics Canada survey found that 34 per cent of crime incidents were reported to police, down from 37 per cent in 1999.Not really good enough to explain …
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I hope no one minds the intermittent blogging of late. The heat, work, preparing to get away and research for what I hope will be my first book are keeping me busy. But enough about me.Let's talk about someone who has learned how to cope with Conservative spin and fear-mongering and even fire back a few good shots of his own. I'm of course talking about Bob Rae. Yesterday he joined the chorus of those criticizing Stockwell Day and his defense of spending billions of dollars on new prisons when the crime rate appears to be declining. He also had something to say about scrapping of the …
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Hello there! Preparing Tuesday's radio show and busily digging for Canadian news. Omar Khadr's lawyer is trying to halt the military tribunal and has filed an emergency petition to halt the upcoming trial to be held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 10. Toronto-born Khadr, now 23, has been held at the military prison since he was captured in 2002, at the age of 15, during a firefight in Afghanistan with U.S. soldiers. He faces five charges in connection with the incident, the most serious being murder of a U.S. special forces soldier.The PMO, never ones to miss an …
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Just a little commercial break so I could recharge a bit. Have to admit that the nature of the news stories I've been talking and writing about this summer have taken a weird toll. If you've also checked out the other blog, you'll know that the news from south of the border has been fueled by hatred and race-baiting and stupidity. Yet the MSM seems oblivious, reporting on stories without context, ignoring the incendiary speech from the right only mentioning it in when they try to draw false parallels to speech on the left. Thing is, there are no equivalencies on the left. There are none …
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Well, another beautiful day here in Canada's happiest city. I've got a few friends and acquaintances who are going to argue with this unlikely assertion but I have to admit I like the idea - why would the people at Lonely Planet make such a thing up? There must be some truth to it. Montreal, by the by, was second worldwide to a place that resembles what most us imagine paradise to look like, Vanuatu. So next to paradise, Montreal is the second best place to be.Yesterday in Ottawa Industry Minister Tony Clement testified on behalf of the Tory government to stubbornly try and justify their …
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I was getting ready to blog and looking around for Julian Assange's bio when I came upon a TED video talk he had just a few short days before the release of the 92,000 plus reports on the Afghanistan war. Very interesting and yet another reason to love the intertubes. …
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I'm clearly running out of ideas for titles. Still, any excuse to post a Rolling Stones tune works for me:It's very much as if parliament never went on vacation here in Canada. The Tories are still attacking and doing their best to smear Iggy who is having none of it. He seems to have a learned a thing or two in the past year. The Conservatives sent out a missive declaring Liberal, Jennifer Pollock’s comment on Twitter to be a smear of the entire Calgary Police force.The Tories memo blathers on with the same kind of talking points they have employed since Iggy was made leader …
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Getting ready to blog here and wanted to post something that might be thought provoking and of use in the meantime. Have a look at Annie Leonard's, The Story of Bottled Water: …
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Monday's are as good to me as any other day. For my radio show it usually means I have way more stories than I'm able to get to in 2 hours which is strangely kind of of fun. So of course the controversy over the census is still ongoing and the Conservatives continue to keep digging which is okay with me. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says ask Canadians to fill out a long census form for the good of the country and they'll rush to grab their blue or black ballpoint pens - he failed to mention all the fairies and elves that assist in this magical effort but you can assume they're part of …
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