Stephen Harper talks about Japan: grace and sensitivity personified

OK, so I'm piling on. Sue me.

Guy takes an earthquake and rapidly spiralling nuclear disaster and tries to milk it for political advantage. Links here, here, here, and here.

Just when you think he can't possibly top himself. Thousands of deaths, a country devastated and about to go radioactive, and he's thinking, hmmm, can I spin this for votes?

Steve? You are one Class Act, buddy.

Ottawa cop charged with sexual assault in Stacy Bonds case

Well, well, well.

The Special Investigations Unit has charged Sgt. Steve Desjourdy with sexual assault in connection with an incident dating back to September 2008. Links from CBC, Globe, and CTV.

Today's shiny object: the word "barbaric"

Oh dear. Justin Trudeau seems to have made a boo-boo – er, gotten tangled up in the semantic weeds (Cue the Jesus Facepalm).

Watch as the Conservative Attack Parrots^TM crank up the squawking and the national conversation gets sidetracked into a giant foofaraw about honour killings.

Economic, ethical and ecological collapse, according to Chris Hedges

Very sobering piece from Chris Hedges (author of American Fascists, among other things) about what happens when empires go sclerotic.

Re Japan: spare a moment for Rev. Paperboy and family

Links from the Galloping Beaver and the Dawg.

Class warfare and the corporate media

In a comment on the preceding post, JJ (is she returning to the blogosphere? Be still, my beating heart!) observes the near-total blackout on coverage of the situation in Michigan.

Michigan and the shredding of government of, by and for the people

Wisconsin we all know about. Rachel Maddow had a stomach-churning segment recently about Michigan. I urge you to watch it. I'm trying mobile blogging so I can't post the video just yet, but you can find it easily.
Full-blown corporate feudalism, fascism, whatever you want to call it. It's on the march. Democratic governance is on the endangered-species list down south, and you'd have to be on Fantasy Island not to think it's in the crosshairs up here as well.
More to come.