Demonstrating an amazing facility for doublespeak, Sarah Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska late Friday afternoon.  Citing the mounting expenses and divided focus that has come from constantly defending her honor and family, she did not want to finish her term as a lame duck, she said.   Her rambling speech offered little more in the way of explanation but since that announcement several speculative articles have been published in small time blogs and in establishment media alleging that an investigation may soon be under way concerning diversion of building materials and labor in the construction of the Palins’s 3500 square foot home that was constructed at the same time and of the same materials as the Wasilla arena.  On the 4th of July Palin struck back with threats of legal action and since then the FBI has announced that Palin is not under investigation.

Margaret Carlson at Bloomberg.com commented, ”There comes a point when not practicing politics as usual becomes so unusual it borders on the bizarre.”

Still, political notoriety has its perks. It seems that in leaving office she will be walking into both a book contract with Harper Collins, and possibly a hosting deal for a television program.

Last Friday the Canadian Federal Court ruled that US war deserter, Joshua Key, could qualify for refugee status in Canada. Federal Court Justice, Robert Barnes said that the refugee court had erred previously in denying Key’s bid for asylum and ordered the board to reconsider Key’s application. Citing a case from the US Federal court of appeal, Barnes ruled that supporting evidence for asylum status did not have to meet the threshold of a ”war crime,” as sufficient reason for Key’s refusal to serve.  Barnes said that ”it cannot be seriously challenged,” that some of the conduct that Keys witnessed had violated the Geneva Convention.  The decision was released on July 4th and could affect as many as 100 other deserters in Canada presently according to the Windsor Star.

Key’s had been sent to Iraq for an eight month tour and testified that during that time he witnessed instances of abuse, humiliation, and looting by US military personel. Key’s then experienced debilitating nightmares upon return for a two week leave and said that he could not return.  Seeing no other option, he moved his family to Canada and applied for asylum.

A new Canada West foundation study has been published this month concerning public spending priorities.

When Canadians in the four western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and manitoba were asked to rate their priorities for public spending according to a 5 point Likert scale, their top 3 for increased spending were in the areas of healthcare, the environment, and reduction of poverty.  Healthcare was the only area to be awarded a ”very high” rating by a majority of Western Canadians.

Interesting findings include greater support for creating employment opportunities for aboriginal peoples than for importing foreign workers. Sixty percent agree that the economy should be left to the free market and of these, only around 16% felt strongly so.  Eighty percent felt that some sort of protections should be in place for rural economies. Ninety per cent support increased government spending for research and development but only 40% felt strongly so.

A PDF copy of the Canada West foundation study is available here.