LINKS April 4, 2011

BORDER

Border officials violated rules in forwarding photos [CP]

International search is on for missing Canadian couple [Spokesman-Review - WA]

Border guards to scan air, waterways, and shore [CTV]

US and Canadian officials celebrate longer hours at the Wild Horse Port [KFBB- Montana]

LABOUR/LABOR

Canadians decry Wisconsin anti-union labor law [presstv.ir]

MILITARY

War in Libya used to defend need for better fighters [Ottawa Citizen]

Canadians protected amid Qu-ran protests: Cannon [CBC]

ARCTIC

First-ever US Arctic investment summit [pr-usa.net]

TRADE

Stalking the savvy shopper [The Province - Vancouver]

Bills trying to raise their profile in Toronto [Globe and Mail]

ENERGY

No to a new tar sands pipeline [NY Times]

US media divided on proposed Keystone XL pipeline [Postmedia News]

Exxon test mega-load will roll Monday [Boise Weekly - Idaho]

Big rig opponents: Exxon comments validate fight [The Missoulian - Montana]

Environmentalists sue over mega-loads [The Independent Record - Helena, Montana]

Lawsuit tries to stop oil sands equipment from moving through Montana [Calgary Herald]

Liberal energy plan smacks of Trudeau: economist [Calgary Sun]

Leach: Liberals’ significant climate plan cloaked in silence [Globe and Mail]

Politicians need to see this: oil sands workers [Edmonton Journal]

***

On Twitter at luizachsavage

Category: Today's Links

LINKS April 1, 2011

Updated 8:25 pm EST

BORDER

International weapons smuggling ring was based in Alberta: police [CP]

Canadian closes 3 border crossings [UPI]

Miller seeks 100 percent secure borders by 2016 [Detroit News]

Secure border act would tell DHS to prevent all illegal entries within 5 years [HSToday.com]

Canadian man arrested in Maine after bogus detonator threat made on bus [AP]

US Border patrol report [The Northern Light - WA]

Israeli traveler humiliated in Germany, Canada [ynetnews.com]

DIPLOMACY

High on the job: Ambassador Doer thrives on the adrenaline rush [Winnipeg Free Press]

Practical politics at work [Winnipeg Free Press]

TRADE

Harper talks trade, but is this just an outreach exercise? [Globe and Mail]

CRIME

Court documents link second polygamous leaders to cross-border marriages [CP]

MILITARY

No Canadian boots on the ground in Libya, Harper vows [Postmedia News]

Gates says other nations can arm Libyan rebels [NY Times]

NATO warns rebels against attacking civilians [NY Times]

Lawmakers batter Gates on Libya [Washington Post]

ENERGY

Enormous Kearl-bound oil sands shipments target of Montana lawsuit [CP]

100 US landowners tell Clinton Keystone XL pipeline too risky [NRDC.org]

Former State Dept. envoy backs Keystone pipeline [Reuters]

Republicans make ‘urgent case’ for TransCanada’s Keystone [Globe and Mail]

Republicans press Obama to approve oil sands pipeline [Postmedia News]

Republicans make ‘urgent case’ for Canadian oil [CP]

Pembina: tough but fair regulations would drive oil sands regulation [Petroleum Economist]

Indigenous activists fight building massive pipelines from tar sands through US [alternet.org]

Enbridge pushes for political support of oil sands pipeline [Globe and Mail]

Alberta oil sands ‘greening’ good news for Ontario [Edmonton Journal]

Layton would slash oilsands subsidies [CBC]

Okla Commissioners to discuss Cushing oil suppply [COKO TV - Oklahoma City]

The Koch brothers come to Canada to promote their oil sands interests [rabble.ca]

***

On Twitter at luizachsavage

 

Category: Today's Links

Commentator: New Detroit crossing a “Bridge to Nowhere”, “fascism”

April 1, 2011
By Luiza Ch. Savage

I guess he hasn’t heard of supply chains.

From Twit Tyranny by David Forsmark:

However, unlike total Marxist socialism, fascism can be content with merely controlling the means of production, sometimes by an amalgam of government and big business.  Today, we give them the sunny name of “public-private partnerships.”  Sometimes it’s called crony capitalism.  I prefer corporate welfare.

A governor who is from the business community, before he makes cuts to education, needs to be able to say, “Look I cut the freebies for my crowd first.”  But Snyder, who originally said in his budget that he was going to “cut” the state’s slush fund for picking winners and losers in the business world to $50 million from the $200 million Jennifer Granholm routinely spent for no results, now tells the Detroit news he may need more.

But perhaps the most controversial—and head scratching—example of this, is the Detroit River International Crossing, or DRIC.  The DRIC is a $5 billion bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Canada, to compete with the privately owned Ambassador Bridge.  (And judging by the new census numbers, Canadians should start calling this the “bridge to nowhere.”)

It is true that the crossing needs an upgrade, but the owner of the Ambassador Bridge wants to build a new span privately. But the governor, egged on by Detroit business roundtable types, is determined to have taxpayers foot the bill.

Partly because the Michigan Department of Transportation wants the $500 million the Canadians have offered to put up– and because of the perverse incentives of government, that money can be used for federal matching grants, which also makes them drool– and because of the usual inflated jobs creation numbers every big government construction project promises, a Republican governor is competing with a private company.  It probably doesn’t hurt that one of the biggest Republican consultants and lobbying firms is advocating for DRIC, either.

Last year, Detroit Democrats loaded up the DRIC legislation with tons of local pork development projects and it was killed in the Republican Senate.  But now, with our “businessman” governor, it’s back.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Canada, Canadian, USA, US, U.S., United States, Luiza Savage, Luiza Ch. Savage, Bilateral, Bilateralist, NAFTA, NORAD, border, trade, Ottawa, Washington, oil sands, tar sands, Harper, Obama, Maclean's, Gary Mar, Gary Doer, David Jacobson, Canadian Embassy, perimeter security, North American Union, Keystone XL, diplomacy, foreign policy, northern border, Canadian border, cross-border, Candice Miller, Chris Sands