Salem-News.com Articles written by Daniel Johnson

The Real Battle of Alberta

There is a global recession on and it's going to get worse before it gets better.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - For the well fed and somewhat inebriated, the Battle of Alberta is all about the rivalry between supporters of the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers. But the real, unpublicized, Battle of Alberta is about the actual social war between the Government of Alberta and many of its citizens, particularly the poor and the working poor.

Three months ago Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, assailed the public welfare system, saying that “unwittingly, we have developed a policy that stomps you into the ground.” At the same time he admitted he had no solution to the situation.

Iran, 1953

While most Americans were ignorant of the 1953 coup that the U.S. was involved in, the Iranians were not.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Iran is back in the news, not that it has been much out of it in the last few years. This time it’s about the outcome of an election that Western countries, particularly the US, don’t like.

Back in 2003, just before the American invasion of Iraq, I predicted (incorrectly as it has turned out so far) that once Bush and co had deposed Saddam Hussein, they would move into both Iran and North Korea—to take care of the Axis of Evil. Then the world would be for…America…to be in control of global affairs again.

Human First, Economic Object, Second

Economic activity is a human activity, suggesting that economics must be based on some model of human behavior. We are not all capitalists, but we have been duped into believing that Homo economicus, economic man, is a valid model of human behavior.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Kevin Tokar, in his late twenties, had been working for four years as a sound editor for TV documentaries in Toronto. On the job, he often found his mind wandering as he realized that he was more interested in the stories than in his job of perfecting the presentations.

"I found myself wanting to be more involved with the people, places and problems presented on the screen in front of me than I could ever be from my comfy chair behind the sound mixing board."

The Palestinian Counter-Holocaust

Israel could have been a mingling of the two cultures, but the Jews would never and still won’t allow that as an option.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - After regularly reading Salem-News over the last few months, I’ve encountered some ideas that the main-stream-media ignore. I’d like to comment, here, on Israel and the problems (what an understatement) in the Middle East.

Privatization in Alberta

Privatization of public interests are not necessarily bad but they usually are. The key question for a citizen to ask in each instance is: WHO BENEFITS?.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Private good, public bad is the standard cry of economic and political conservatives. They have been saying it so long, that over the last half century or so, they’ve framed the argument that even liberals have had to respond to. I don’t know anything about privatization issues in Oregon, but the actual experience here in Alberta may offer a lesson.

Up to 1993 the Alberta government controlled a lot of things for the benefit of Albertans. One was the Alberta Liquor Control Board (ALCB) which operated 202 liquor stores throughout the province.

The GM Challenge

In 1979, GM was the largest corporation in the world in terms of sales.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Now that the American public is the major shareholder of GM, a concern raised by many is that government, being inherently incapable of running or overseeing any kind of business, is going to mismanage the whole operation. This assumes that big business is better than big government. In my previous article "Capitalism cannot work."

I drew the obvious conclusion that for the last fifty years, the management of GM, Ford and Chrysler have driven the industry into the ground. So, Big Business itself has obviously failed.

Capitalism Doesn’t Work. Period

The failure of the auto industry which went from king-of-the-hill in 1959 to bankruptcy in 2009 can be laid at one doorstep — auto industry management.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Capitalism as a group of people working face to face to meet economic and material goals works. It’s part of human nature.

But Capitalism as a cultural phenomenon can’t work because people become “assets” and profit becomes the overriding goal—overcoming the standard virtues like honesty, integrity, morality and so forth.

Another Taser Death (VIDEO)

Many Canadians are now focusing on is the apparent lack of truth and responsibility on the part of the national police force.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - On October 14, 2007, 40 year-old Robert Dziekański arrived at Vancouver International airport from Poland after a flight of nearly 24 hours.

He was emigrating to Canada to live with his mother in Kamloops, B.C. The plan she offered was for them to meet by the baggage carousel. What she didn’t realize was that the carousel was in a secure area to which she had no access. This, otherwise insignificant, error cost Dziekański his life.

The Hidden Immorality in a Food Bank

The ideal solution is that food banks should be totally funded by government. That way the costs are spread across society and no one free rides.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - I remember when the first food banks were set up in the early 1980s in response to the declining economic conditions. They were supposed to be a temporary measure. Now they’re everywhere.

There are now huge numbers of homeless people—including families with children. In Calgary last spring, an overnight census was done with over 4,000 homeless people counted. But everyone knows the number is higher, perhaps much higher. It’s no different in other large cities across North America.

A Tale of Two Wars

Soldiers set out to kill each other, not because they want to, but because they are told to—and they obey!

(CALGARY, Alberta) - On May 11, 2009 Sgt John Russell, a 15-year career soldier, walked into Camp Liberty, a counselling centre in Baghdad, and shot to death two counsellors and three young soldiers, before being restrained. This is a multiple tragedy from all vantage points.

Wars are about killing with the devil in the details—who does the killing and how they do it.