| If your looking for a public nuisance, legally it sure wasn't Professor Gates, but we can make an argument that it might be the Blue Dog Democrats marking their territory on health care and maybe even
| Canadian and U.S. Senates are pretty light on the democracy front, Texans talks of secession but missed some history and can Kennedy rule from the grave on health care?
| The tea partiers lied about their numbers and seem to make up a bunch of things, but they could be a force to reckon with, ramping up the hate, anger, and racism with help from Fox.
| A U.S senator claims the Constitution only protects citizens, and corporations have new election powers, and people protest due process then you know it is fear of a democratic planet.
| We promised some good news you might have missed and we deliver but then when you look at the U.S gathering of conservatives and the Olympics, well things can get ugly.
| Who counts? In Harper's budget world it isn't women, the environment or indigenous issues. But he counts deficits. And plenty is being counted for the U.S. health care bill but not what matters.
| It isn't pretty (and doesn't cover everyone, except maybe insurance companies) but there is something to this vote that could change the political winds a bit in the U.S.
| Sure the Tea Party folks are upset, but should progressives care? And in Europe the Catholic church sex-abuse scandal is making some interesting waves. Plus news you might have missed!
| The crazy is coming out in Arizona, but this likely unconstitutional immigration law might really be about something else, plus other political news and views.
| The Maine Republican party goes Tea Party, a Senator calls for guilty until proven innocent, another TP group wants U.S. senators to be appointed, but democracy might be breaking out in Britain.
| Something ugly is sticking to things, some of it is mud on the face of Harper for his billion dollar security tab, plus BP, shockingly, doesn't seem to be getting out the full story, and more.
| An honest debate on Israel? A reasonable drug policy? A breakdown of the two party system? Can any of this happen? It's like baseball, one out three maybe.
| Hypocrisy reigns as a government that hates the long form on the census invades Toronto with the G20 (and tells women what to do with their bodies), plus what does it mean to leak war documents?
| The so-called "ground zero mosque" is neither, but that doesn't matter. What matters, to freedom loving people, is freedom of religion and right of assembly not racism disguised as caring.
| U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thomas might be married to a conflict of interest (tough luck for us), plus we look at the politics of polls and news you might have missed.
| As the folks in Toronto can tell you the The Angry Voter ™ is not just for tea-parties anymore, the rally for sanity shows that irony is not quite dead, plus the media yawns at Wikileaks news.
| Yes the airport procedures seem like theatre and may have little to do security but aren't there other civil liberty issues that might be a bit more pressing? Plus politics and Palin.
| Media and politicians are putting out a lot of misinformation on Wikileaks and the UN investigates the U.S. on the prison conditions for the alleged leaker, plus a lame duck Congress gets it done.
| Killer whales, mine fires, terminator seeds, birthers, Chuck Norris, oil spills not in the gulf, a problematic museum of tolerance and more highlights from 2010.
| In this episode we talk abut the bad trade deal that most haven't heard of (CETA), why things are so nasty in Arizona and elsewhere, plus news on volcanos, India, state bankruptcy and more.
| We have a love for the news but this week is a doozy. We have Superbowl champs supporting unionized workers, corporations going after a journalist, a disturbing abortion bill, silent justice and more.
| The assault on unions ramps up even more in the U.S. but this time labour and friends break out a can of democracy and Obama defends human rights by attacking the Defence of Marriage Act.
| It turns out that maybe you can reach too far over that political cliff, as the 2011 season of politicians doing the overreach shows. Plus, assessing nuclear power and news you might have missed.
| With an historical contempt finding, the Canadian government isn't looking so great and the election could mean things only get worse. And worse it gets in the U.S. as the government faces shutdown.
| OK we didn't see this coming, and what is worse it might not come at all; yes Donald Trump for president. No, we did see that coming; it's the dramatic rise of the NDP that we missed (but so did you).
| The elections are a great reminder that Canada has a serious democratic deficit and the killing of Bin Laden raises questions about democracy and the rule of law.
| Canadian postal workers go on strike for the first time in fifteen years and you would think they were burning flags. The attack on labour is crazy as is what passes for electoral politics in the U.S.
| Class action lawsuits have been taking a beating by SCOTUS, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas continues with some ethically challenging practices, Obama ignores the War Powers Act, plus divorce!
| From Toronto to the U.S. Congress and White House, the talk is cuts, cuts, cuts. How is the general welfare of the public served by this worship of downsizing, of austerity? How low do we go?
| David Cameron, the British PM, is wagging his finger at parents and kids but, of course, the idea of simple thuggery doesn't cut it. Plus straw polls, political hypocrisy and other joys.
| The U.S. media has finally realized that the tar sands are a story, oil-loving Texan Rick Perry keeps going for the strange and a few words about Jack Layton.
| The PM goes all in with the hate, but where is the love for building communities and actually protecting people? Plus, the Koch brothers rear their ugly plans, and civil disobedience goes old school.
| Democracy in the streets is a good thing, and if people start talking about class and other privileges, it will be a good thing, though you wouldn't know it from the pundits.
| Challenges for the Occupy movement, the" supercommittee" isn't and technocratic governments start popping up. Plus climate crises news and other extremes.
| It's official. The Harper government works to make the climate crisis worse. The U.S. government is officially giving itself the right to arrest and indefinitely detain its citizens.
| Our top choices from our feature Below The Fold where we seek out news that highlights the crazy, the frustrating and even the hopeful. Plus, bonus predictions for 2012.
| The players' association for the NFL in the U.S. comes out swinging against so-called "right to work" anti-union legislation and we talk labour and sports. Gingrich is over the moon for colonization.
| Attempts to re-ignite the abortion debate in Canada, an all-male Congressional contraception hearing, the jaw-dropping remarks of Rick Santorum; women's health isn't on the right-wing God's agenda.
| The robocall scandal to suppress the vote in Canada still has legs but Canadians aren't quite yet in the pro-league when it comes to vote suppression. Plus, mind-numbing attacks on women's rights.
| Austerity fever is catching, and it isn't a pleasant disease. Symptoms include unemployment, growing wealth gaps, crumbling infrastructure and more. We diagnose it and give some health tips.