Mounties always get their man

The title words for this post have taken on a stark new meaning in recent times in Canada. I’ve been trying to write about the Robert Dziekanski incident from Vancouver International Airport in October for a week or so now …

When comedy goes too far …

Everybody loves a joke … well, except when they don’t. In all honesty, its hard to believe that the people who came up with this idea truly didn’t see the potential for chaos and problems. In today’s world, its very hard to imagine anyone thinking that security personnel guarding a major international conference will have [...]

A call to violence

I stumbled across an interesting article this morning over at the War Room at Salon, that highlights the differences between the left wing and right wing elements in the US right now as far as rhetoric is concerned. Tim Grieve found a clip from a recent Ted Nugent show that is very interesting. As most [...]

agents provocateurs – Updated below …

The Youtube video posted recently of a protest rally in Montebello, Que raises some pretty big questions about the role of SQ and/or RCMP officers in violent protest. Coming late onto this story, my first exposure to it is through the Youtube video (well, in truth, I found the Youtube link 3 lines into a [...]

We don’t know Dick …

Jon Stewart is one of those guys that falls into the trap of excellence. The Daily Show is comedy and satire at such a high level so consistently, that it takes something truly great to grab attention and provoke comment. On the August 15th segment of “You don’t know Dick” he really knocked one [...]

Activism abroad

This week has seen 3 Canadian activists arrested, then later released, in China for activist related activities. As is often true in cases like this, the immediate media attention around the arrests focussed on the message of the protest for which the activists were arrested, and on ways to free them. What’s interesting in cases [...]

Detention without trial is unconstitutional … and other obvious truisms …

When we talk about labeling people “enemies of the state” and arresting and holding them indefinitely and without trial based on that label, we tend to think we are talking about history, from some nasty totalitarian regime like the former Soviet Union or East Germany. But the fact is, Canada’s Security Certificate procedures, in place [...]

Another way to blame Hollywood?

As is probably apparent, one of my favorite sections of Salon.com is the War Room. The little bits of minutia that they manage to find for that section, coupled with the wit and writing skills of Tim Grieve, make it a truly fascinating read every day. In today’s War Room is a wonderful little piece [...]

Canada says “Oops” to Maher Arar

PM Stephen Harper announced this morning that the Canadian government has agreed upon an official compensation package, as well as an official apology, delivered by the PM himself on Newsworld this morning. While many of the details remain confidential, reports say the $ amount is over $10 million, which may seem like a lot to [...]

The Taunting of Saddam

I’ve written recently about the irony around the execution of Saddam Hussein, but the grainy, unauthorized cellphone video that has emerged of the proceedings is a chilling reminder of the power of new media, to inflame, to inform.  I won’t link to the video here … no doubt its easy enough to find on the [...]