A win for the U.S. and its democracy?
Major League Baseball’s decision to move the all-star game out of Georgia and to Colorado will guarantee that state voting laws will be a big story in the days surrounding the game. Colorado’s voting system will undoubtedly get a lot of attention, especially as the July 13 game gets closer. That’s good news, whatever your…
In his first serious foreign policy test in 1961, the new American president flunked badly. He was in way over his head
Things were going swimmingly for U.S. President John F. Kennedy immediately following his January 1961 inauguration. Despite being elected by a mere whisker, his approval ratings were stratospheric and much of the media was in love with him. It was as if he was a political superman. Then came the fiasco at the Bay of…
Global taxation schemes always stall because fiscal policies are seen as ways for governments to influence their economies
Nobody wants to hear about higher taxes. It’s an unpopular and counterintuitive notion to those who believe taxation is a call of death for economies looking for growth. But the world is different now, which is why United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s call for a minimum corporate tax to stop the so-called race to…
The state wants non-U.S. cruise ships to be allowed to go straight from continental U.S. ports to Alaska, cutting out B.C. entirely
You may think British Columbia has a cruise ship industry because of our great location, marvellous climate and amazing attractions, natural or otherwise. You would be wrong. We have a cruise industry here because of actions by the United States 100 years ago to put America first. The U.S. wanted to ensure that it had…
When we limit our media consumption to one side of the political spectrum, we get a distorted picture of reality
Everyone likes positive affirmation. It’s nice knowing that while the rest of the world has gone crazy, your friends have your back. It feels even better when you have thousands of friends agreeing with everything you say. Frankly, that’s the power of social media, where positive affirmation is only a few clicks away. Social media…
With the continuing OPEC+ oil output cuts, markets were going into an overdrive mode. Prices at U.S. gas stations rose sharply
Surprising the markets and going against expectations, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in the extended OPEC+ changed course at their ministerial meeting last week. At the virtual meeting, OPEC+ opted to increase its output by 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May another 350,000 bpd in June, and roughly an additional…
453,000 km worth of tubes provide a plethora of jobs
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre “Designing hypothetical roadmaps outlining complete elimination of fossil carbon from the global energy supply by 2050 is nothing but an exercise in wishful thinking that ignores fundamental physical realities,” wrote Vaclav Smil a year ago. Smil, a University of Manitoba professor of the environment (emeritus), wants less…
Crude oil markets continue to show signs of weakness – even without the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the Suez Canal closure
Pressure is mounting on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies in the extended OPEC+ to roll over their crude oil output cuts when they meet on April 1. Markets continue to show signs of weakness – even without the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the Suez Canal closure. But the Suez…
2024 Republican nomination will be a prize worth winning. Not an automatic ticket to the White House but more than a consolation prize
An interesting new American poll, conducted by the firm Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, surveyed Republican voters to ascertain what they want from their party going forward. Bottom line: They still like Donald Trump – a lot. The poll’s analysis sees the Republicans as consisting of five separate tribes, four of which are well disposed towards…
Canada was the only free-country supplier of foreign crude oil to the U.S. between 1993 and 2020
By Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan Canadian Energy Centre Imagine you’re in Germany and wonder if it’s a good idea to rely so heavily on natural gas imports from Russia, where the governing regime is accused by German politicians of killing journalists and the attempted murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. German Chancellor Angela…