Terry Etam

“Hello, this is 9-1-1, how may I assist you?” “I’d like to report a major criminal enterprise and see the perpetrators thrown in jail.” “…is someone in imminent danger? Because this is an emergency line and perhaps you want to speak with the police to launch an investigation.” “No, this is indeed an emergency, caused entirely by these criminals. It was just in the news. A front-running US presidential candidate said that the fossil fuel industry is conducting criminal activity that is [Read more]

Multi-election years are trying times for those that don't enjoy the game of politics. If one is immune to the charms of glad-handing and full-frontal bullshitting, exposure to the black art of politics at a minimum leads to dry heaves, and, in high enough concentrations, a stay in a hospital. Some feel otherwise; a university friend and I once debated the merits of choosing the political life. He defended the career path on the grounds that working for the public interest was a noble [Read more]

Sometimes, for people with a propensity to use many words to describe something properly, it is annoying and frustrating to read short and overly-simplistic analyses. It seems impossible to capture complex issues in a few words, and efforts often fall short. As a rule of thumb, I sneer at the paltry word counts, muttering that the feeble authors probably like Haiku to boot. For example, I’ve been trying for a long time to properly articulate the views of the petroleum industry to the world, [Read more]

This isn’t going to sound very nice, but think of all the stupidity in the world. I’m not trying to be mean, and no, this isn’t some sort of political diatribe. Sorry to break it to everyone but Trudeau isn’t stupid – he is just wildly out of his element. He has no ability or inclination for the finesse required to run a massive organization. Had he stayed in the drama classroom, we might all be marvelling at his brilliant productions. But just because someone isn’t stupid doesn’t mean they [Read more]

“Hello, this is 9-1-1, how may we help you?” “I’d like to report an emergency.” “Can you tell me what’s happened and where? Are there any injuries?” “Certainly. What’s happened is that hundreds of years ago people started burning coal, which made things better, so they burned more, and then there were a lot more people, then they discovered oil, which caused a lot of development and then there were a lot more people, and now they are using so much of it that the world might warm up 2 [Read more]

Have you ever heard of the Dutch disease? No, it isn't a product of Amsterdam’s legendary red-light district; the concept originates with economists, who are in every imaginable way the opposite of a red-light district. One could even imagine the red light district going dark for the duration of an economists' conference; some things just aren't worth it. The term Dutch disease refers to an economic condition that can confound nations when an abnormally successful industry tilts the table [Read more]

Promoting a book is not easy, in large part because to do so successfully requires full participation in the foul world of social media. It looks simple but simple mistakes can cost you an arm or a career (ask Howard Dean, a US politician who obliterated his political career with a singular yowling noise he brought forth in a speech; a fatal error in the speed-of-light digital era). I made a rookie mistake on Twitter recently, and was fortunate to emerge unscathed – I was not savaged for the [Read more]