Although staunch nationalist groups in Mongolia won less than 1% of the vote in the 2008 elections, there is a growing concern that the activities of foreign corporations in the landlocked Asian country are fueling far-right ideologies. From the BBC:"The signs of their resentment are not hard to find. Swastikas and slogans are daubed on walls across the city. On the internet the groups show how they are fighting back against what they see as attempts to dilute the Mongolian race. A YouTube video shows a man shaving the head of a Mongolian woman. Next to her a Chinese man sits with his hands over his face. It is a very public warning to Mongolian women. This is what happens if you sleep with Chinese men. It was posted by a member of a far-right group called Dayar Mongol. Erdenebileg Zenemyadar is its founder. His group's website shows members carrying Nazi flags. The swastika is part of the group's logo. However, he insists he is a nationalist, not a Nazi. He comes to meet us in…

Kos' new book, American Taliban, is taking aim at the more radical members of the American right. The book, as you would expect, is being vilified by the generic right. Granted, the right is a very insecure place where any criticism is dealt with tears, hand wringing and accusations of treason, socialism or any other term of denigration. So, it is no surprise the right is up in arms over the book.What's surprising is how the right is misrepresenting it often without reading beyond the title. American Taliban is a critical - at times close to incendiary - look at the more radical elements of the right and how they often shadow many of the tactics and beliefs of the Taliban. It's not just the right that fails to make this distinction between radical and generic. Glenn Greenwald does not distinguish between the two in his otherwise excellent piece on the book.The facts are hard to deny. The radical right embodies the essence of the Taliban, including its aversion and…

B.C. NDP meets reality:The Opposition New Democrats have been unrelenting in their criticism of the Liberal government for its refusal to reverse course on the tax, and they've publicly supported a petition campaign that collected signatures from more than half a million voters opposed to the HST.But the party also acknowledges even a change in government would do little to change the position the provinces is in: a five-year agreement with Ottawa that could come with stiff financial penalties if B.C. tries to walk away early.I haven't really followed all the B.C. shenanigans over harmonization. Seeing Van Der Zalm on the tube gives me too many 70s flashbacks. But Left Coasters can take note of Tim Hudak's "dodging and darting" over the issue back in Ontario. If you think tossing out the Campbell government is step one in an eventual repeal, think again.Speaking with my dear parents, it sounds as though the BC Libs have problems that go far beyond the new tax. Also, I am told,…

The New York Times ended its lukewarm review of Yasmina Khadra's The Attack four years ago with this proviso: "if he is to instruct us at the deepest level, he cannot afford to leave so much of himself and the lessons of his country's history out of his fiction."Since then the former Algerian military officer turned novelist has published two more novels, one which completes a trilogy about Islamic fundamentalists, called The Sirens of Baghdad. The second, What the Day Owes the Night, could be seen as his answer to the NY Times' criticism. It tells the story of a man from a wealthy Arab family who grows up in Oran and Rio Salado, a nearby village, during the 1930s and 1940s. He experiences the turmoil of the 1960s which saw Algeria become an independent country, and he loves deeply and despairingly a childhood friend from a French family who returns to France.This is the book that won the Prix des Durochères last December, the "prize" given annually by a book group of…

The more I read about Fox News North, the less angry I am about Harper and Kory's shenanigans in trying to take our money to fund it and then deny doing so and more entertained by the incompetence of how it is being handled. This whole story is so funny and dismally typical of Conservative malpractice that even the US media is joining in on the mocking.The Hollywood Reporter perhaps overstates the case (wishful thinking?) with its headline, "Canuck prime minister in Sun TV News furor", but it is an entertaining - if old news to Canucks - read. (BTW, while THR uses the term "Sun TV News" in the headline, it uses the more proper "Fox News North" elsewhere in the article).

Tropical Storm Hermine formed out of a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico overnight. The cyclone is positioned over an area of extremely warm water with low wind shear and is expected to strengthen as it moves north toward the east coast of Mexico. Currently, Hermine is not forecast to exceed Tropical Storm strength although most intensity models put it close to Hurricane intensity before it makes landfall.Initial intensity is placed at 45 knots (83 kmh/52 mph) as the cyclone moves on a track of north-northwestward at about 11 knots (20 kmh/13 mph). According to NHC winds and seas vary greatly in each quadrant making a general forecast very difficult. Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for La Cruz Mexico northward to Port O'Connor Texas and a Hurricane Watch is in effect for the coast from Rio San Fernando Mexico to Baffin Bay Texas.This is the same coastal zone that took the hit from Hurricane Alex on July 1st this year.

This Labour Day, working people once again reflect upon our standing in society. Wealth continues to concentrate among the hyper-rich. The middle class is under attack, the proportion of Canadians living one paycheque away from homelessness is daunting, and the National Post noted Labour Day with an unhinged anti-union editorial. Meanwhile, this weekend’s Labour Day [...]

Conor has been anxious to return to school; literally counting down each day and telling Mom and Dad how many days left until school. Today was ONE DAY left!.  Last year we did some transition planning for Conor's move from Middle School to High School.  Together with Middle School, High School and District 18 representatives we prepared Conor, as best we could, for the transition to High School.  The planning included actual visits to Leo Hayes High School and work with the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention trained  Teacher Assistants who will be working with Conor this year. They also visited Conor at Middle School and spent some time working with him there before the end of the year.  Hopefully that familiarity with the place, and with some key people, will help ensure a smooth transition. Today, with more fine weather, I took Conor for a visit to Leo Hayes High School just to see the building, one more time,  where he will be attending school…

This article in the Toronto Star about the salary inequality of non-unionized and unionized nurses caught my attention, not so much because of the story itself, but because of the comments which followed. For some reason, when nurses’ wages are discussed, people go a little nuts. Apparently, we’re all lazy, stupid and overpaid. Some representative [...]

On the off chance that I was not the last person in the world to find out about this, I'd like to highlight some stories about Roger Ebert, the famous film critic. Since 2006, Ebert has been unable to eat or speak. His lower jaw and part of his throat were removed during cancer surgery; several complicated surgeries to rebuild his face and vocal cords failed. I'm not sure how I missed this, but no news of Roger Ebert reached my island until this past weekend.Ebert now blogs and has an extremely popular Twitter feed. He writes about politics and social issues, and movies, and culture - and he cooks, and writes about food. Like any really good writer, Ebert can write about nearly anything that interests him and make it a good read. So the man is missing part of his face, and he doesn't eat, and he doesn't speak. What does that mean? How does he live? One can get nourishment through a stomach tube, and many people communicate without verbally speaking. But the mechanical means of…

Merde! The introduction that never ends. Luckily I have perfected rocking back and forth on my toes to combat boredom and unfortunate facial gymnastics whilst waiting for political candidates to stop dithering on.

Maher Arar writing in the Ottawa Citizen:Since the events of 9/11, imams and prominent members of the Muslim community have increasingly felt compelled to apologize for and condemn the acts of some Muslims who are arrested under anti-terrorism laws. They have usually done so even before finding out all the facts about the cases in question, and have mostly relied upon early information which, at best, has been selectively filtered by the security apparatus, or at worst, maliciously leaked to the media by "unknown sources." I see two clear problems with this apologetic reaction.First, these apologies imply that the arrested individuals are guilty, not just before a fair trial, but before any clear details of the case are released, exchanging the presumption of innocence for the attitudes of a lynch mob.Secondly, even if you were to accept guilt without a trial, what message is being sent by Muslims apologizing for such a terrible crime? Do Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, or…

Last week, as we drove into downtown Toronto, my wife spotted a fellow sleeping on a bench. He was covered with a green garbage bag. Luckily, the week had been unseasonably warm. The poignancy of his situation hit us with some force because, two hours earlier, we had watched a clip about a house which had recently come on the market in Edmonton, Alberta. It was a cavernous place, equipped with the latest technology, including a driveway complete with several drains and submerged electric cables. The owner would part with his property for a mere $5.25 million.In Canada, there is something faintly ridiculous about owning a heated driveway. It conjures up images of pre-World War II France, sitting smugly behind the Maginot Line, certain that it could avoid invasion -- either by the Germans or the armies of Old Man Winter. In four months time, the guy on the bench will be scrambling to find whatever protection he can.I thought of him again when we got home and I read Bob Herbert's…

French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has made a new law to evacuate all Roma people from France. Why? Well, apparently all Roma people are involved with crime, so says Sarkozy. There is some truth to the argument: there is is major crime coming from Roma camps. However, to evacuate all Roma people from the country, because a portion of the group is involved with crime is just stupid and descriminative. If you follow that ideology than you migt as well expell all cultures and groups, because there is bound to be at least one that is invovled with crime.The European Union and the UN consel on rascism condems this act of descrimination. It is just plain wrong to force all Roma people out when it is a minor group that is commiting crime. It would be much better if they increase law enforcement in these areas of high crime, but to evacuate the country of a people, because of this discrimination is wrong on the fullest degree. Thousands of people have attended…

You take one look at this and think, “hey, I didn’t know that Terry Jones had a twin separated at birth — how ironic that they share a name and enjoy sitting at a piano in unconventional modes of dress.” But alas, the tale is much more interesting than that. Mike Terry, is, according to [...]

When “business federations,” “taxpayer groups” and “economic think tanks” start worrying about our freedom, choice and rights as working people, watch out! Below, Martin Luther King, who understood that “right-to-work” really means … “work for less.”Happy Labour Day! Get ready for a propaganda onslaught against the rights of Canadian working people by “business federations,” “taxpayer groups,” “economic think tanks” and other fake-grassroots weeds cultivated in the corporate grow-ops of the “conservative movement.”All the signs are there. It shouldn’t take the Oracle at Delphi to put together what they mean.For example, moments before Labour Day, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business published the results of a “survey” purporting to show high support for U.S.-style “right-to-work” legislation in Canada.The CFIB is pure AstroTurf. It’s a fake-grassroots group that no more represents Canadian small businesses people than…

HUMOUR:LOOK OUT HALLOWEEN IS COMING UP SOON:

The government is moving ahead with the first stages of increasing capacity in federal prisons given the influx of new inmates they’re expecting. I’m less impressed, however, with the way in which the Postmedia article on the topic simply brushed off the issue of double-bunking, citing Vic Toews assertions that it’s legal and “no big deal,” when it is a very big deal that goes against our international obligations, and even our own correctional guidelines.International cooperation minister Bev Oda now says that no, she’s not considering giving money to Planned Parenthood international (despite their assertions that they were in talks), because any hints that they might be funding abortions – even indirectly – pissed off their pro-life base. Not that this wasn’t exactly unexpected. How long before Oda gets shuffled out of her role? Or does she need to pose with drag queens before that happens?What’s that?…

Nation, I'm off to the beautiful Canadian Rockies for a desperately-needed week of rest and relaxation with Mrs. Savage.Be sure to stay tuned to CalgaryPolitics.com for all your Civic Election information and debate.And, in light of what happened the LAST time I left town without leaving explicit instructions, a quick note to Calgary-area MLA's: No floor crossing while I'm gone, kids. -E.S.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR BANGLADESH: SEND A MESSAGE TO SECRETARY CLINTON ABOUT BANGLADESH WORKERS:The following appeal to send a Labor Day message to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes from the International Labor Rights Forum. BLBLBLBLBLAsk Secretary Clinton to help the workers in Bangladesh who make our clothes.Send an Email This Labor Day to Request Secretary Clinton Make Good on Commitments to Labor Rights as a Priority in U.S. Trade Policy!As you have seen over the past couple of weeks, our comrades in Bangladesh continue to remain imprisoned as the Government of Bangladesh uses them as a scapegoat for the turmoil in the garment industry.The highly respected labor leaders Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity need more support from the US government. Secretary Clinton has an opportunity to use the policies already in place to demand swift action by the Government of Bangladesh to end this harassment campaign. Right now, the US…