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"The lights are going out all over America." So states opinion columnist Paul Krugman commenting on the numerous cutbacks to basic infrastructure and social programs in the USA. It appears that is spite of the so-called "stimulus package" passed by the US congress the US economy continues to...

An interesting article indicating what happens when the ratio of women to men is upset due to the practice of polygamy or gender preference. It turns out that in societies where polygamy is part of the culture or where male children are selected over female children it leads to serious social...

Interesting article dealing with rising health care costs. The author maintains that much of the increase in the cost of health care is due to doctors and patients using medical techniques that are not only unnecessary, but also expensive. To quote the author medicine in Canada and the US...

Not sure if this thread belongs here, but video games are part of entertainment so here it is. It seems that games designers in Britain are upset over the advantages Canada offers to game designers. Apparently government subsidies and tax advantages have lured many British game designers to...

At an art exhibition in Vienna photos intended to compliment the famous gun sculpture have been removed apparently because of objections by the government of China. It seems that the economic influence of China now extends to being able to determine what people in Western democracies are...

Perhaps it has something to do with all of those sheep, but New Zealand placed number one again in the peace index rankings. How did Canada do? 14th. Not too badly and much better than our American neighbour (85th) Rankings & Results Vision of Humanity 2010 Global Peace Index Ranks New...

No doubt due to the debacle of the oil leak in the Gulf Of Mexico the government of Newfoundland has halted Chevron's plans to begin drilling until the company shows that it has a workable plan for dealing with a situation similar to that in the gulf. Newfoundland halts Chevron drilling

US scientists have created the first synthetic cells. The cells are self-replicating and it is believed will eventually make it possible to create designer organisms to fulfill certain tasks. For example it is thought organisms could be created to clean up oil spills. Of course, those opposed...

The recent plans of Imperial Oil to begin the construction of its $8 billion oil upgrader should have been good news for the Alberta metal fabrication industry. Unfortunately, Imperial Oil has so far chosen to award contracts dealing with this development to firms in South Korea. Indeed, it...

The parties in the House of Commons turned down a request from the Auditor General to allow her to audit their personal spending. That means that $500 million of taxpayers' money can be spent any way the Members of Parliament choose. This seems to be a serious breach of the right of voters to...

Apparently those of Europeans ancestry have about one to four percent Neanderthal DNA. Now if someone says "Stop acting like a Neanderthal," those with Neanderthal ancestry can claim that they are only acting in character. That certainly explains the way I act. Neanderthal DNA survives in...

Our national animal has been at it again. This time it has engaged in the construction of a massive dam that is estimated to have taken 35 years to construct. Take that oil sands tailing ponds. Beaver dam visible from space

Canada's latest party, the Pirate Party, apparently intends to run candidates in the next election. The main plank its candidates intend to walk? - Reform of Canada's outdated copyright laws, especially those connected with music and video sharing. They might just get my vote, provided they...

I'm putting this thread here because I see it as something affecting all of Canada, not just Alberta. It concerns an article by Kevin Taft which analyzes public spending from 1989 to 2008 and then comparing it with the corporate wealth taken from Alberta during the same time period. A brief...

Movie star and current Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted on the Tonight Show that if he was legally able to do so he would definitely take a shot at the US presidency. The problem is, of course, that under the US constitution he is excluded due to the fact that he was not...

This is an interesting defence. Oil giant Syncrude maintains that it was not at fault in the case of 1600 ducks dying in their hazardous waste pond due to the fact that it was the ducks who foolishly chose to land in the ponds; ponds which Syncrude had a perfect right to maintain. Lovely...

The following article details how many Canadian businesses exploit foreign workers by using them as short term labour and then sending them back home when the need for such workers has passed. There is also a problem of workers not being trained or paid in the manner they were originally...

Interesting article by conservative columnist Ross Douthat detailing how threats from Islamic extremists have tended to curb public commentary on their religion. I am not sure whether this should be here or in the religion forum, but it seems more political commentary than religious. Ross...

Edward Roberts, considered the man who created the first PC has died. For better or worse Roberts was a man who helped to change the world and set helped set Bill Gates on his career path. Sometimes those who are most important to world civilization are the least noticed. BBC News -...

I am surprised that no one else has commented on this. Certainly an agreement between the US and Russia to further reduce their nuclear arsenals is of some importance, especially given the fact that it is something of a win for the us given that the Russians had to get rid of more weapons than...