Month: April 2021

‘No More Pipelines Bill’ C-69 Alberta’s Next Legal Hope

Having recently lost its constitutional challenge against federal carbon pricing in Canada’s top court, Alberta is still in the fight against Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act. Multibillion-dollar investments in resource and pipeline development are not all that is at stake. Provincial-federal relations and Western alienation are collateral issues in what promises to be an…


2021 Budget: Deficit Spending Likely to Inflate an Already-Expanding Public Service

Continued deficit spending in this week’s federal budget, the first in two years because of the pandemic, is likely to inflate an already-expanding public service that has grown 11.5 percent, or by more than 39,000 full-time equivalent employees, in the five years between 2015–16 and 2019–20. “There was a huge downsizing under Chretien, and then…


Biden Pushes Employers to Provide Paid Time Off for COVID-19 Vaccinations

President Joe Biden is urging businesses across the United States to give workers paid time off to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The Biden administration is supporting businesses that do so by introducing a tax credit that will offset the cost of up to 10 work days, or 80 hours. The credit was part of the American…


Justice Department Declines to Disclose Basis of Investigation of Minneapolis Police Department

Senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials repeatedly declined Wednesday to provide details on why the government launched a “Patterns and Practices” civil investigation of the Minneapolis Policy Department (MPD). Attorney-General Merrick Garland announced the investigation earlier in the day, and reporters were later given a background briefing on condition the names of the participating officials…


Hawley Calls for Breakup of Mega-Corporations That ‘Want to Run Our Democracy’

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called on April 20 for the Republican Party to reduce its financial dependence on big companies, while urging the breakup of some mega-corporations that exert too much power on American politics and seek “to run our democracy.” Hawley made the remarks during an appearance on “Fox News Primetime,” after being asked…


Hawley Says Mega-Corporations That ‘Want to Run Our Democracy’ Should Be Broken Up

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) took to the airwaves on Tuesday to call for the Republican Party to reduce its dependence on big companies, while urging the break-up of some mega-corporations that exert too much power on American politics and seek “to run our democracy.” Hawley made the remarks during an appearance on “Fox News Primetime,”…


The Revolutionary Humanity of the Declaration of Independence

One of the most inspirational and revolutionary documents ever written is the American Declaration of Independence. This great document isn’t read and studied as much today as it was in the past, but it should be. This single, relatively brief pronouncement captures and expresses the lofty ideals of America’s Founders as they set about laying…


Tuidang: A Movement That Can Dissolve the CCP From Within

On April 20, the number of people who have published their declarations to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its Youth League, and the Young Pioneers exceeded 376 million. This figure has surpassed the number of people who withdrew from the Soviet Communist Party before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. A China expert said…


‘Violino’: The Musical Trees

In every sound of the violin there is the breathing of its trees. —Antonio Stradivari, luthier The story of the world’s greatest violins begins in the musical woods nearly 400 years ago. Standing high atop the Italian Alps, at an altitude of over 5,575 feet, the magical spruce trees grow very slowly. Having endured the…


LIVE: 2021 Annual Report for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom—Virtual Launch