Robert Logue's blog

Here's a story that might bring a smile to your face:

 While so many things are going wrong with this world, here's a little bright spot from northern Europe:  Poet and member of the Social Democrat opposition in Finland, legislator Tabermann has introduced a new bill to gives Finns a week of paid vacation to shag, making Finland, "a pioneer in offering paid vacation solely in the name of romance."

"Love is a human right," proclaimed Tabermann as he introduced the bill into parliament.   read more »

I wrote this for an econ class.  I primarily used Hayek's theory of overinvestment as the basis for my analysis.  I may not agree with the monetarist political political program, but they have done some very useful research in economics.

Blowing Bubbles: Comparing Japanese and American Experiences  read more »

Neo-liberalism is dead.  The current economic mess we find ourselves in is a direct result of its policies.  That has been my opinion for a while.  However, its one thing for a blatant lefty to say this, while it's quite another thing when senior members of the US Republican Party start saying it too.  Here's a startling admission from US Treasury Secretary and a key member of the Bush administration, Henry Paulson:  read more »

South beach diet, Atkins diet , Pineapple diet, etc.  I'm gonna call this one the "demand-pull inflation empire diet,"  or DIED for short. Catchy, huh? It conjures up Swiftonian images when people start putting food in their SUVs rather than their mouths.   read more »

Here's an excellent and relatively current video on the state of the US dollar.  It includes an interview with Paul Craig Roberts (Reaganite, critic of Iraq war, economist, etc), who quite elegantly makes an analogy to the fall of Rome.  It is a far easier way of looking at this topic than reading economics texts.  Part 1  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54MUm2P1jOU Part 2   read more »

There is an excellent new alternative media website now available.  The Real News produces fantastic video-casts on its website and offers it all for free.  No adds.  No government funding.  No corporate funding.  The Real News is being produced in near-bye Toronto, being headed by Paul Jay.  For anyone who hasn't already checked this out, I thought I'd just put this up here.  Check it out, and then tell as many people about ti over the Christmas holidays as you can.

 

The Real News Network

I bring you Canada's Senate Hall of Fame, complete with a list of corporate sponsors, a 'how to' section on how to become a senator and the opportunity to vote on the next inductee.  This is brilliant.  Pure Genius. 

It's really scary when you think that so many of our senators sit on the board of directors of major corporations, some of whom are the worst this country has to offer.  For example, Senator Hugh Segal, is a director for SNC-Lavalin, a company that make bullets for the Pentagon and Canadian Forces, and he's reponsible for passing legislation with respects to Canada's foreign policy?  That's ludicrous.  read more »

At the OPEC meeting this month, Hugo Chavez, told those gathered that the fall of the US dollar of late is not merely the fall of the US dollar, but the fall of the US empire as well. He was trying to get OPEC countries to stop pricing oil in USD and move to a basket of currencies. Saudi Arabia, one of the US' closest allies, rejected this proposal, saying that to do so would cause the US dollar's fall to become a collapse. What's going on here is clear: The US is Saudi Arabia's biggest customer and they want to delay the collapse as long as possible, so to squeeze as much money out of that debt ridden economy before it finally keels over and dies. But preventing the collapse at this point is near impossible. Just what exactly has happened to have led the world to this precipice?  read more »

Stop everything!!!! There's a global shortage of hops.  The CBC article on it is here.  The article metions that the greatest impact is probably going to be on the smaller, craft brewers.

So i finally arrived home for reading week today and what am i greeted by, but the headline in hte local newspaper which reads, "Group protests planned Mosque." 

 Apparently there was an application to the town to convert an old bungalow into a mosque.  Suddenly, my hometown has become a hotbed of upheval and Islamaphobia.  Also, in one of the wierdest ironies ever, the Jewish Defence League (which the FBI lists as a "right wing terrorist group") is holding protests and its leader has formed a group called Concerned Citizens Against Terror.  What's even scarier is the familiarity of the rhetoric being used, stuff i would normally associate with G W Bush's 'War on Terror' rants.   read more »