Feb 25, 2013
So long, and thanks!
Our last show? We think so. Still we talk about the crazy, make an XL pipeline prediction and even throw in some baseball. Plus news you might have missed.
Two American ex-pats, separated by 7500 kilometers and their levels of optimism, take on the issues of the day in the United States, Canada, Europe and the world. They hunt down news you might have missed, sometimes provide good insights, and shake their heads at the rampant idiocy in the world more often than can be considered healthy ... good thing they live in countries with socialized medicine!
Feb 25, 2013 So long, and thanks!Our last show? We think so. Still we talk about the crazy, make an XL pipeline prediction and even throw in some baseball. Plus news you might have missed. |
Nov 9, 2012 Election reflection, conservative rejection?Obama wins, but does that mean progressives do? We look at the right and left delusions and aspirations and the need for election reform. Plus news you might have missed! |
Oct 15, 2012 You don't say: What's not being talked about in American politicsSome big issues get covered in the U.S. presidential campaign, but some of the biggest are given pretty short shrift. |
Aug 10, 2012 Here’s looking at you: A debate on the surveillance stateBillions of emails and phone calls recorded every day, CCTV cameras going up and staying up, drones watching people’s homes, should we care? Plus, news you might have missed! |
Jun 25, 2012 Fast and spurious: Obama and executive privilegeObama flexes some power around an investigation and around immigration but what does all this mean for what is left of American democracy? |
Jun 7, 2012 Resistance is not futile: Wisconsin, Quebec and gay rightsWisconsin not a total loss, Obama gets one right (and one very wrong), Ontario does the right thing, Quebec and Canada fight for civil rights, plus Monsanto buys a critic and other news. |
Apr 9, 2012 Austerity feverAusterity 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. |
Mar 20, 2012 Below the belt: Politics and dirty tricksThe 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. |
Feb 17, 2012 Does God hate vaginas? The religious right's attack on women's healthAttempts 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. |
Jan 27, 2012 Organized sports and Gingrich on the moonThe 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. |
Dec 21, 2011 Below the fold: News you might have missed in 2011Our 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. |
Dec 16, 2011 Official suckatude: Canada and the U.S. destroy the worldIt'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. |
Nov 22, 2011 Democracy on the run: The Occupiers are told they can't, the U.S. 'supercommittee' isn'tChallenges for the Occupy movement, the" supercommittee" isn't and technocratic governments start popping up. Plus climate crises news and other extremes. |
Nov 3, 2011 A taxing conversation: Changing the tax debateDid you know 50 per cent of Americans don't pay tax? Neither do we, because despite what right-wing talking heads say, it isn't true. In fact, a lot of tax talk is misdirection. |
Oct 11, 2011 World of class warfareDemocracy 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. |
Sep 27, 2011 Fear and loathing, eh? Canadian PM brings the hate, where's the security?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. |
Aug 30, 2011 Tar sands go to Washington, but will Perry?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. |
Aug 16, 2011 Are the kids all riot?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. |
Aug 1, 2011 How low can we go: Ceilings and floors of public policyFrom 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? |
Jun 29, 2011 Class dismissed: Justices against justiceClass 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! |
Jun 15, 2011 Delivering the mail and the crazy: The attack on unions and the attack on senseCanadian 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. |
May 26, 2011 The hatetriots act: From bad laws to strange primaries to bi-partisan problemsAn IRTN report from Russia, the art project known as the GOP primaries, and how the politics of hate seem to bring politicians together. |
May 12, 2011 Death throes of democracy: On elections and the rule of lawThe 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. |
May 1, 2011 Can the orange crush the blue wave? Elections, polls, pols and politicsOK 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). |