Hard times usually bring out the crazy in people, whether it’s economic hardship in the United States or political adversity in the Middle East (or vice versa). Religious radicals tend to thrive in these environments, but as this past week has shown, the misapplication of the freedom of speech is all that is required to demonstrate the ugliness of our societies.
Year: 2012
If Harper is Statesman of the Year, then it must be 1984
George Orwell taught us that sometimes, with the right reinforcement, war is peace. This week, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in New York proved that […]
Feds thumb nose at Quebec demand for gun data
Does anyone remember the concept of “open federalism?” That was the anti-centralist concept of Canada espoused by the Reform party back in the early 90’s that said the role of the feds should be limited to those areas that the provincial government either can’t or won’t do themselves.
Education for the Sake of Education. Who Woulda Thunk It?
I wonder how and when we stopped studying for the sake of learning. Why must it be an investment? A must? A pressure?
Reality-checking the “fact checkers”
I’d like to challenge this assumption that fact checkers are a force for good, if only for a moment. Because after scratching beneath the surface, it doesn’t appear that “fact checkers” are any more reliable than the “facts” they’re checking…
Five First-Term Failures of Barack Obama
Every American general election that has taken place in my life time has come down to a choice between the lesser of two evils. Despite the first African American President’s several accomplishments, Barack Obama’s first administration has turned out to be more hype than hope.
Fattal Loft’s Uncertain Future
By the muddy banks of the train tracks there is a loft the locals call Death House. A venue used by punks and many others in the underground scene to express anger, confusion and rage at social inequalities and lack of justice in the system…
“Are you crazy? Board that bus! They could arrest you if you interfere”
Two police officers, a young man and a young man, wearing dark latex gloves and standing near their vehicle, are speaking with a young woman who is very thin, her blond hair is disheveled, her clothes are dirty, teeth in bad shape (several missing), and she seems intoxicated.
#QC2012: Not the headline we were expecting
It was a tense election, but I didn’t think it would end this way. In the alley, behind Metropolis, one person on the ground, held there by cops making his gun visible to the cameras, another dead and another injured. PQ leader Pauline Marois, newly minted PM elect rushed off stage by security mid-speech. She had just won a minority government…
Canadian media’s environment ennui shapes national discourse
There were three environment stories in the media today that, though seemingly unrelated, are pretty typical of Canada’s environment news, at least under the Harper regime.