Debtors Nation

The impact of the Bank of Canada's stupid inflationary policy of raising interest rates adversely affects working class Canadians. As I have said here. The current North American economy is NOT being driven by production and manufacturing but by consumer debt.

Too much debt puts consumers in a bind

Latest rate hike adds to already heavy burden
Many Canadians spending more than they earn

Alberta farmers reap bitter harvest
Incomes plunge 50% while neighbours in energy sector enjoy good times

They live among millionaires, and yet Alberta's farmers have seen their net incomes drop more steeply than their peers in any other Canadian province.

Provincial government coffers are bubbling over, oil-and-gas corporate profits are sky high, and per-capita income in the province is by far the highest in the country.

And yet, Alberta farmers' net incomes dropped 50 per cent in 2005, compared with a national average decline of 7.7 per cent, Statistics Canada said in a recent report.

The 50-per-cent drop is not just a numbers trick caused by a good year in 2004, Statistics Canada pointed out. Net income in 2005 was 30.5 per cent lower than the average income over the previous five years -- and those years were notable for their troubles with droughts, beef bans and bad weather.

See my:

The Truth About the Farm Crisis

For an analysis of the US Debt Crisis see the latest issue of Monthly Review online.

The Household Debt Bubble
by John Bellamy Foster

The End of Retirement
by Teresa Ghilarducci

Trouble, Trouble, Debt, and Bubble
by William K. Tabb

And see my:

Storm Clouds Over The US Economy

Housing Boom or Bust

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Canada, US, Alberta, Farmers, Debt, deficit, credit, taxes, interest-rates, Bank-of-Canada, Dodge, consumers

Cloaking Device

Scientists have discovered how to create a cloaking device is warp drive far behind? And will the United Federation of Planets let us in?

Scientists shed new light on invisibility

- the scientists' cloaking device would use newly developed materials that can bend light in unexpected ways. Scientists not involved in the work said the plans appear feasible but that they would require more-advanced substances than currently exist. Still, scientists said that the work represents an important theoretical advance likely to inspire new ideas in the booming field of materials science.

``It is a fascinating concept," said Steven G. Johnson, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in an e-mail. ``But I suspect that you're unlikely to find it for sale anytime soon (except on Daigon Alley)."

The research has obvious applications for the military, which is looking for ways to improve on the stealth technology used in the B-2 stealth bomber. But the technology could also be used to protect equipment by steering radiation around it and would likely have other uses in basic scientific research, according to the scientists, whose work was published online by the journal Science.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
invisibility, cloaking-device, physics, Star-Trek, United-Federation-of-Planets, warp-drive

Border Insecurity

Playing the card of National Security xenophobic racist white Americans are planning to close all their borders.

The Mexican border is only one focus of groups like the Minutemen the other is the US Canada border.

Less pronounced perhaps, but still there is the plan.

I was watching the Minutemen on the news yesterday building their own private security wall in Arizona. And they were flashing Minutemen Close the Border signs, which not only showed a fence on the Mexico border but also one on the Canadian border between Washington State and B.C.

Which makes the jingoist statist idea of National ID/ Passports/BioMetric cards even more stupid. Of course the US has no such national ID card yet though they have passed legislation on it. Its all smoke and mirrors.

Many would go to U.S. less if ID plan became law: poll

Canada wins minor victory in US border dispute

Its not about Security, thats just the face card. It's the joker in the pack that is driving this; racist anti-immigration xenophobes of the Protestant Right in America. In other words good old American Nativism.

American Nativism, 1830-1845
During the 1830s and 1840s Americans with nativist sentiments made a concerted effort to enter into the local and national political arenas. Nativism's political relevance grew out of the increase of immigrants during the ‘20s and ‘30s and the anti-foreign writings that abounded during these decades. While pivoting between anti-foreign and anti-catholic appeals, nativism became both practical and ideological in nature: platforms for the movement ranged from extending the length naturalization to protecting the sacredness of the Protestant Republic. In New York city's 1844 elections, the nativist movement formed the American Republican Party, which allied with the Whigs and resulted in the defeat of the Democratic Party. This political advancement, although local and short lived, presented a glimpse of the national nativist power later found in the know- nothings. Clearly, early nineteenth-century nativism participated in significant political changes, and the goal of this paper is to summarize nativism between 1830 and 1845 while analyzing these major political developments.

Border history repeated
Just as the Bush administration sees Canada as an indifferent ally in the war on terror, in late 1864 Abraham Lincoln's administration felt much the same way. Annoyed by raids across the frontier by Confederate States agents based in Canada and puzzled by Canadian sympathy for the Southern cause, Lincoln decided to act, ending the laissez-faire attitude towards cross-border traffic that had existed for half a century.Although the law lasted just three months, it stifled trade, created long lines at the border and was condemned in the court of public opinion on both sides of the frontier. But just as the Bush administration's actions have forced Canada to take notice, so did Lincoln's. John A. Macdonald formed a border police and Parliament passed a law aimed at dealing with suspected terrorists.

Also see: Migration

Build A Wall And They Will Still Come

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Minutemen, US-Mexico, US_Canada, border, American-Nativism, Nativist, racist, xenophobia, anti-immigration, National-ID-Cards, passports, biometric, Bush, Senate,

Note To Blogging Tories

I was going to comment on the joy in mudville over the Tories polling at 40% Rarely do I agree with rabid rightwinger Lorrie Goldstein, very rarely, in fact practically never, until he wrote this.

A word of advice for rabid Conservative partisans and charter members of the right-wing blogosphere.

Stop gloating over last week's Ipsos-Reid poll showing Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives would win a majority government if an election was held today, with 43% of the popular vote compared to 25% for the Liberals.

Stop using it and other polls showing the Tories are up significantly from their election night support of 36%, while the Liberals are down from 30%, to thump your chest and smugly declare that whatever Harper is doing, it must be right.

You're being as foolish as rabid Liberal partisans and bloggers were last fall when the polls showed the Grits bouncing back from AdScam with a shot at a majority government.

Polls taken today mean nothing. If pollsters and pundits (present company included) could tell you what's going to happen in the next election based on polls taken now, none of us would be pollsters and pundits. We'd be bookies.

LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, TORONTO SUN

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Liberals, Conservatives, Harper, Blogging-Tories, polls, polling, Toronto-Sun, Goldstein
politics, Canada

Regulations Alberta Style

Alberta says it will shortly clamp down on emissions of greenhouse gases -- perhaps as early as next year -- introducing regulations that the oil-producing province's Environment Minister claims will be the toughest in Canada... Alberta vows to introduce stiff emissions regulations

Regulations mean nothing if they are not enforced. And in Alberta that is the case. We have lots of great regulations but no enforcement. Not worth the paper they are written on. Sort of like the old Soviet Constitution. Great constitution but was ignored by Stalin. Wait a minute Alberta is a One Party State, the old Soviet Union was a One Party State....hmmm coincidence I think not.

A tip o the blog to Accidental Deliberations


Also See:

Kyoto

Alberta


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Klein, Alberta, Canada, Kyoto, green-house-gas, Tar-Sands, emissions, regulations, petro-chemical, industrial-pollution

Car Accidents Are Deadly In Afghanistan

Don't get into a car accident in Kabul, the city state under US/UN Afghan control. Or you could end up getting killed by coalition forces. This is the democracy we are fighting for, one where the population is friendly and wants us there. Yeah right.


US crash sparks Afghanistan riot BBC News

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets chanting slogans

Hundreds of Afghans gathered in the wake of the accident chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Karzai", referring to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

They pelted the US military vehicles with rocks before the shooting began, forcing them to scatter.

Two police vehicles and a police checkpoint were set alight, witnesses said.

"People are very angry," resident Samad Shah said.

US, Afghan forces fire on rioters Globe and Mail

Sher Shah Usafi, a Kabul police chief, said at least three people were killed and 16 wounded in the crash, while U.S. forces killed one person and wounded two as they fired on dozens of rioters shouting “Down with America!” and throwing stones at them while they fled the area.A commander with the city's traffic police who was at the scene said he also saw U.S. forces firing on protesters. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
media, Canada, Harper, Afghanistan,corruption, Karzai, Kabul, criminal, Taliban
riot, car-acident, US, Forces, UN, Canadian-Armed-Forces

Don't Wear Shorts

In Baghdad. No matter how hot it is. Or you could end up getting killed in the New Democracy that Georgie Porgie says is worth thosuands of lives dying for. And it doesn't matter that these folks were both Sunni and Shia. Guess the Williams sisters won't be playing exhibition games in Baghdad soon.

Iraqi players killed for wearing shorts

Baghdad: An Iraqi tennis coach and two of his players were killed this week in Baghdad because they were wearing shorts, authorities said on Saturday.

Gunmen stopped the car in which the Sunni coach and two of his Shiite players were riding and asked them to step out before shooting them on Wednesday in volatile Saidiyah neighborhood of southwestern Baghdad, said Secreatary General of Iraqi Tennis Union, Manham Kubba.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
shorts, Tennis, Iraq, Baghdad, murder, sectarian, violence

Feminist Defense of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somalian Secular Feminist highly critical of Islam. She is a Dutch parliamentarian who has been kicked out of Holland for lying about her refugee status. That would usually be food for the right to blast her. Except she belongs to Theo Van Gogh's right wing party. Opps. She is on her way to America, to join the right wing think tank the American Enterprise Institute. Despite her right wing politics a Leftwing Feminist welcomes her. See Feminism does make strange bedfellows, contrary to the misogynist rantings of some Blogging Tories.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Ayaan, Hirsi, Ali, Theo, VanGough, Holland, Feminism, Somalia, Islam, Anti-Islam, Secular, Humanist

UK Soldiers Desert Iraq War

How many Americans have deserted? Let alone the number who have committed suicide over this ugly Imperialist war. Of course desertation is better than massacring innocent civilians.

More than 1,000 desert UK forces
More than 1,000 members of the British military have deserted since the start of the Iraq war, the BBC has learned. Figures for those still missing are 86 from 2001, 118 from 2002, 134 from 2003, 229 from 2004, 377 from 2005, and 189 for this year so far.

See: Iraq War

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Iraq, UK, Soldiers, deserters,

Wormy Norton

Silence may be golden unless you have a fatal flaw in your anti-virus software. In this case Norton/Symantec waited till late Friday after this story to even confirm the problem. Friday last business day, and they still have no patch or fix. Today is Sunday, what happens at the opening of business tommorow?

Flaw Found in Symantec Antivirus

MAY 26, 2006 07:11:32 AM

Security researchers at eEye Digital Security have discovered a serious flaw in Symantec’s enterprise antivirus software that could be used by hackers to create a self-replicating "worm" attack against Symantec users. Because Symantec has not yet confirmed the existence of the problem, much less patched it, eEye is offering few details on the vulnerability, which was first disclosed late Wednesday.

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Norton, Symantec, Soft-Ware, virus, worm, anti-virus, utilities, Internet, WWW, computers, cpu