Danielle Smith harbours many separatists in her partty

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith continues to publicly maintain the fiction that she is not pro-separatism, and that neither is her party. She claims to support "a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada", whatever that might mean.

The truth, though, is other. The Republican Party of Alberta, the official pro-independence political party, maintains a list of pro-independence MLAs on its website that includes no less than 19 MLAs from Ms. Smith's United Conservative Party (out of 48). 

Ms. Smith's own words and actions, while carefully avoiding outright boat-burning professions of independent aspirations, are far from those of a die-hard federalist. And her underlying beliefs are perhaps better exemplified by her omissions rather than her commissions.

For example, she has made no attempt to reign in the rabid pro-independence anti-Canadian talk of one of her more outspoken MLAs, Jason Stephan, who represents Red Deer-South and is currently Alberta's parliamentary secretary for constitutional affairs. 

In a piece for the strongly pro-independence newaper The Western Standard, Stephan urged Albertans to "act and sign the petition", claiming that "Canada is in serious decline" and moving "towards a third world country". He asserts that Canada's standard of living is declining due to "stupid laws and policies emanating out of Ottawa", laws and policies that also "erode Alberta's freedoms in favour of a nanny state". He concludes "Ottawa wants Alberta broken too".

These do not sound like the opinions of a pro-Canada federalist, somehow. Some of the other UCP members have been shamed into distancing themselves from Stephan's comments. But Smith clearly does not see the need to distance herslf from such incendiary talk from a member of her own caucus by taking concrete actions like removing him from caucus. "Sovereign Alberta within a united Canada" my arse.

Trump is just the "steward" of the White House

Brave US District Judge Richard Leon has ordered the Trump adminsitration to suspend construction of the $400 million "ballroom" Trump wants to replace the East Wing of the White House.

Unfortunately, it comes too late to prevent the demolition of the old East Wing, so what the practical effects of the judicial ruling will be remains unclear. But it re-states what everyone else already knew - that Trump cannot go around remodelling national treasures on a whim and without congressional approval. As Judge Leon put it: "The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!"

"Steward", eh. He's not going to like that.

Having already remodelled much of the interior of the White House along the lines of an extravagant 19th century brothel, Trump figured he could also do whatever he wants with the outside, and even to construct a lavish bomb shelter and "military complex" underneath it. Well, not so, says the law.

Mark Carney vows not to resort to proroguing Parliament

Mark Carney had been getting a bit of flak recently for some of his inconsistency. dithering and prevarication. But, like it or not (and I don't), these are times that call for a bit of circumspection and evasion where necessary.

Kudos where kudos is due, though, he has been very clear about refusing to prorogue Parliament if - and it is still an "if" - the Liberals win enough of the upcoming by-elections to reach a majority government.

Some unspecified Liberal sources have been positing the idea that, if they do achieve a majority, they should immediately prorogue Parliament so that any existing parliamentary committees get reset, and can then be re-established to reflect the new majority status, making it easier to control committee agendas and push legislation through.

This is a legitimate political strategy and governments of all stripes have resorted to it at some point. But it is always controversial and contentious, as it is seen as self-serving and almost a kind of legal cheating and loopholing. Most governments that have taken recourse to it is usually face some level of backlash for it. 

Carney is sensible enough to want to avoid backlashes. If he thinks he can get his policies through committees without proroguing Parliament - through the usual minority government tactics of collaboration with other parties - then he should certainly do that. I approve of his stance.

Alberta education bill a classic of DoubleThink

Alberta's right-wing government at it again with the DoubleThink and the gaslighting. They must be big fans of classic books and films!

The irony has probably never occurred to them, but by introducing a bill called "An Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms and Amend the Education Act", the Alberta government is in fact introducing politics and ideology into classrooms, where none existed before.

Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides introduced the bill, with a straight face, saying,"This bill reflects that schools should teach students how to think, not what to think". The bill in fact bars teachers from making "political or social statements", displaying flags, and naming or renaming school buildings. It imposes school trustee codes of conduct, and various other restrictive measures. It is demonstrably NOT designed to make classrooms less political, merely to change the politics to something they approve of.

They might just as well have included, "War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength", for good measure.

And now we need to think about "fungal storms"?

Fungal storms are not so much a storm of fungi, but fungi that spread through storms, and these events are becoming much more prevalent as climate change amps up the intensity and the frequency of storms. In particular, they are affecting the dry, dusty and hot south-west of America.

In south-western USA, storms often manifest as dust storms, where clouds of sand, soil and dust are whipped up by extreme temperatures, including the fast-moving walls of dust known as "haboobs". Construction, agriculture and wildfires also add to the particles carried in these intense storms. 

As well as dirty windows and hazy skies, these storms can disrupt air and ground transportation, agriculture, and solar power generation. They can also trigger heavy rain, flooding and mud flows. But it's now becoming clear that these storms also carry fungal spores from disturbed or contaminated soil hundreds of kilometers from where they were once safely buried.

Once airborne, these microscopic spores are easily ingested by humans and animals alike. Fungal infections are spiking in desert states like Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, but also even further afield, like Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Kansas. 

Infections from fungus species like coccidoides, aspergillus, candida auris, histoplasma capsulatum and blastomyces dermititidis are being found far from their traditional stomping grounds, making diagnosis tricky. They are expected to spread still further into the Midwest, even Canada, in the comimg decades. Coccidoides causes "valley fever" and severe pulmonary disease in some cases. Aspergillis, particularly drug-resistant strains, can lead to life-threatening infections in people with weakened immune systems. 

These dangerous species, of course, only represent a small fraction of fungi, the vast majority of which are harmless, even beneficial. But it's an important minority, and becoming ever more important.

Trump's hissy fits continue to alienate Western "allies"

For an octogenarian in his dotage. Donald Trump sure sounds like a petulant, ill-tempered kid. Is this what they call the "second childhood"?

The latest outburst: "You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself. The USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us... Go get your own oil." This to erstwhile American allies, who were not consulted before Trump lashed out unilaterally at Iran and bit off more than he could chew, and who had no intentions of being involved in such a foolhardy caper. Once again, he has sent the world into turmoil and then abandoned it, unwilling or unable to to figure out an end-game.

It seems unlikely to me that anyone will trust the USA ever again, even after Trump has gone, because there is a whole segment of the American political class, and its society in general, that sees this kind of thing as normal now, as what passes for international relations.

The world is already backing away from the USA, slowly but surely, leaving a gaping vacuum where Western values and morality used to be. There is a risk that America may find itself in the wilderness for generations to come, although I've a suspicion that realpolitik will dictate that everyone conveniently forgets this whole sorry Trumpian episode, and just hopes for the best for the future.

Trump asking Arab states to pay for his war is rich irony

Here's a bright idea. Donald Trump thinks he might call up the leaders of various Arabic Gulf states and get THEM to pay for his war against Iran, the one that he started and now can't get himself out of. Neat, eh? The layers of irony are positively dripping off it. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt says it is something the President is seriously considering.

The US war against Iran has already cost an unknown number of tens of billions of dollars, and there is no off-ramp in sight. The other Gulf states, against whom Iran is taking out its frustrations in the only way it can, have no love for Iran. But neither did they ask for a war with it; that was all Trump's idea (maybe with Israeli input).

So, Trump asking them for money is asking for them to pay for being bombed and for losing out on billions in oil revenue. Do you see the irony now? Trump apparently doesn't.

Co-opting God in support of a Holy War

You might have noticed, but I'm not religious. In fact, I'm areligious, atheist.

Kudos to the American Pope Leo XIV, though,  for calling out all sides in the US-Israel-Iran war, but particularly those who claim to be Christian (his turf), for invoking God in support of their cause. Warmongerers have been doing it since long before the Crusades, 

Leo (I can call you "Leo", can't I?) made his position clear: that no-one can use religion to justify war, least of all Christians who worship "Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no-one can use to justify war". Furthermore, "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them".

Well, that's pretty clear. 

So, when the likes of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth use pseudo-biblical language about US forces raining death and destruction from above "in the name of Jesus Christ", he might want to reign it in and tone it down a little. I know he is not strictly Catholic (Hegseth is an Evangelical Protestant), but still... Hegseth even has a "Deus Vult" tattoo - "God wills it" -  echoing the war cry used by the Crusaders. The guy is distinctly creepy.

And who can forget that image of Donald Trump (a self-declared non-denominational Protestant) deep in prayer with various "faith leaders" in the early days of the war. Equally creepy.

Several Republican holy rollers got in on the act. Senator Lindsey Graham called the conflict "a religious war", and Senator Kevin Cramer declared that the United States has "a biblical responsibility to Israel", whatever that might mean.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavit (Catholic, at least notionally) would also have us know that the whole White House is praying hard this Holy Week, although the fact that she felt compelled to point it out suggests a largely performative element to it.

At least one commander of US troops in Iran was reported as waxing religiously lyrical about the Americans' incursion, saying that it was "all part of God's divine plan" and that "President Trump has been annointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to earth". Yow!

Benjamin Netanyahu is also fond of invoking the scriptures in support of his wars against Palestine and Iran, quoting some pretty obscure stuff about the Amalekites (ancient enemies of the Jews in biblical times) and "wicked Haman" (a Persian official in the Book of Esther, who planned to kill all the Jews).

Of course, the Iranians are just as bad, declaring Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a martyr for being killed by the Americans, making reference tonthe "Hidden 12th Iman" who is supposed to return on the day of judgement. *Yawn*

And then there's Vladimir Putin, who has often used religious imagery in justifying Russia's war on Ukraine. In particular he has co-opted Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to his cause, a man who is happy to declare it a "holy war" against the West which has "fallen into Satanism". Early in the war, the Patriarch vowed, "I'm going to bless the troops, I'm going to bless the tanks and bombs, and I'm going to declare that anyone who dies in the process of this war will immediately go to heaven and have their sins forgiven".

Wow. Clearly the Americans have a thing or two to learn from the Russians.