The reason both sports and politics attract so many junkies is that both activities are so often wildly unpredictable. Anything can happen in either, and, just often enough to keep us titillated, anything does. Can you say "They really blew a 4-1 lead?" Can you say British Columbia?

Of course sometimes both are boringly predictable. The likely winner often enough does win. That's what happened early in the week when former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Penashue was soundly whupped in the Labrador by-election. That's really all there is to say about it since the easy Liberal victory tells us nothing about the larger fortunes of the three parties.

The Irish Farmers Association has released its strongest statement to date opposed to Canadian demands for higher beef and pork quotas in the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The IFA is asking the Irish trade and agriculture ministers, in their roles under the EU Presidency (which Ireland holds until July), "to intervene strongly at the highest level to prevent what is being flagged as a very bad deal for the Irish and European beef and livestock farmers."

CBC reports, "Gros Morne National Park's status as a world heritage site may be in jeopardy due to plans for controversial oil exploration on Newfoundland's west coast, CBC News has learned. Black Spruce Exploration wants to use hydraulic fracturing -- the so-called fracking process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth -- to find oil and gas in Sally's Cove and other areas, which lie just a few kilometres from the boundaries of the park. …The company (has) submitted its fracking and drilling plans for environmental review with the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, but nothing has been presented to the Newfoundland and Labrador government yet."

Surely the wrong man has quit!

Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff, resigned yesterday in the imbroglio that followed the revelation he gave disgraced Senator Mike Duffy $90,172 to pay back the Parliamentary expenses the supposed representative for Prince Edward Island in the Upper House had improperly claimed.

The purpose of the controversial payment, obviously, was to make the political problem created by the discovery of Senator Duffy's unethical behavior disappear.

In my years of activism, I have pounded down many pairs of boots on the streets of Toronto. I don't regret any of it, but I can reflect on the temporary nature of street demonstrations.

You get a flier or an email, you show up, you march around, shout some slogans and you go home.

Sometimes the powers that be hear you and sometimes they don't.

But the point I'm making here is that while it's important to manifest our anger or solidarity towards a certain cause -- like Idle No More and the all important Round Dances that helped spread ceremony and public awareness around First Nations issues in Canada -- the manifestation isn't permanent.

There are so many questions raised by the disclosure, by the Prime Minister's Office no less, that the Chief of Staff cut a personal cheque to cover Mike Duffy's illegitimate claims for a housing allowance in the place where he has been ordinarily resident for decades, that even to list them is a challenge.

The problem with most of the questions is that they start a bit later in the scenario than they should.

First up, was Mike Duffy promised a Senate seat if he worked really hard to sabotage the Liberals in the 2008 election?

"Bitumen: Canada's National Disaster" Day of Action on Tuesday, May 21

The Deets:

Tuesday May 21, 2013

11:00 am

Sarnia City Hall

255 North Christina Street

Sarnia, Ontario

The Call Out:

Popular economics is a dialogue about power. While "economics," most often referring to "neo-classical economics" (the principle component of mainstream economics), is a monologue that excludes all but a small elite of highly trained professionals, popular economics, rooted in struggles of people against oppression and for social justice and a "better possible world," uses popular education as a means to learn, organize and "name" more truthfully the world in which the vast majority of us live.

Listening to Jeffrey Simpson hold forth on medicare this a.m. on Michael Enright's Sunday Edition on CBC, I was struck by how disengenuous his prescriptions are for privatizing health care service delivery. I say disengenuous because he is well enough informed to know better. There is much that can be said about the problems of opening the door to private investment in the health sector -- and under NAFTA, once the dyke is breached, grab your life jacket!  But let me just respont to the key argument he makes: "who cares who provides health care services so long as they are publicly regulated?" (I paraphrase).

My friend Jacqueline Vigneux of Mount Lorne, 40 Km out of Whitehorse, between Whitehorse and Carcross. writes...

"Here we are rushing to uncover the government's plan to frack the Yukon....

Last year Government was ready to offer two lots to Oil and Gas (few Km away from my boyfriend's property) a  bunch of us stood up and now there is a moratorium on fracking till the next election.

We are happy that at least, some of the council approved our idea.

Yukon's Mount Lorne Hamlet council rejects hydraulic fracturing.

The Council Assembly of the Hamlet of Mt Lorne was held, Tuesday, May 7 at the Community Centre.

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