News and Opinion from Montreal, Canada and the World
Anyone who knew either of his names knows by now about the passing of 47 year old Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch. He passed away last Friday after a three year battle with cancer.
Looking back, I find it hard to uncover a bigger musical or political influence in my life then that which the Beastie Boys left. Adam Yauch of course had a big part in that.
With all the protesting going on these days, Montreal has become a veritable political theatre for all manner of agitprop and self-expression. Of course, no anti-whatever rally would be complete, these days, without the requisite Guy Fawkes masks, bandanas worn as masks, balaclavas (aka ski masks), etc. What do all of these things have in common? Wearing them may soon be a criminal offense punishable by jail time (up to 5 years!)…
The student strike and protest is now entering its fourth month, they have spawned more than 160 protests in 72 days in Montreal alone. The protests have now garnered international attention including coverage on CNN and Al Jazeera. In my (new found) opinion, the actions of the students are completely justified. This whole state of affairs revolves around the Quebec government’s rising debt…
If anything good has come out of the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin, it has to be the unwanted exposure of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is not a lobby, nor is it a front group, it is a council made up of 2000 legislators and 300 corporations. The corporations sit on nine different task forces and vote with these legislators to approve “model” bills…
The Comment Tree is a weekly collection of posts and commentary from social and mainstream media sources – keeping up to date with the topics of interest in the current news cycle, international and domestic.
Introducing The Comment Tree, a weekly collection of posts and commentary from social and mainstream media sources compiled by Tariq Jeeroburkhan – keeping up to date with the topics of interest in the current news cycle, international and domestic. This week: Random Thoughts, NDP Leadership, the 2012 Federal Budget and F-35 Fighter Jets…
This morning, CUTV (Concordia University Television) cameraman and programming director Laith Marouf was filming a student protest in Montreal when SPVM riot cops moved in. His footage was streaming out live on the web to approximately 5000 viewers. Despite repeated attempts to inform police that they, as journalists, were simply doing their job by filming the protest and police actions…
As a New Democrat, nothing makes me prouder than to hear that the latest edition to the team blew his nearest rival (Gritty Grant Gordon) out of the water, in his resounding victory (nearly twice as many votes!) in Toronto-Danforth’s recent by-election. Jack’s spirit can rest easy knowing that his riding is still in good hands, and that his successor will continue his valuable work there. As a academic constitutional/human rights lawyer I couldn’t be more proud…
They say the first budget of a majority government is always the harshest; it’s a time when the government can do whatever it likes without the fear of answering to voters in an upcoming election. That being said, the first Majority Conservative budget in a generation could have been worse, but it could have been much better. The Conservatives plan to cut $5.2 billion over the next few years in an attempt to balance the budget before the next election. I have no qualms…
April 1, 2020 Preface: Given everything going on in the world today, it’s best not to try and prank people with our annual April Fools […]