A lot of ink has been spilled of late (can we still talk of ‘ink spilled’ in the digital age?) about the gun violence wreaking havoc in Toronto. Other cities in Canada have similar, albeit smaller scale, problems although Toronto’s is getting much attention because of the death toll. So far in 2018 there have […]
Category: Perspectives
Sorry to be repetitive but some things are just worth repeating. So I will once again cite that great philosopher/New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra when he famously said: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Mr. Berra’s sage advice notwithstanding, many people foolishly think they can predict the future. Some do it […]
When we think of terrorism and terrorists our minds usually turn to men, and for good reason. It is an undeniable fact that most terrorists are men. Full stop. Whether this has anything to do with testosterone or men seeking to establish themselves in the world or whatever all remain interesting questions but irrespective of […]
We all know that we live in an era where facts are in grave danger. When the leader of the world’s most powerful nation regularly dismisses news as ‘fake’ whenever it goes against his bizarre view on, well on anything, you realise we are in trouble. No longer do people rely on certain sources of […]
Pity the poor ex head of state, whether that person is a prime minister, a president, a monarch or a dictator, who settles for retirement, although I’ d wager that many former dictators never get that far. At one time you are cock of the rock. Everyone listens to you. You get really cool perks […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on June 25, 2018 Canada and the US cooperate on many issues in many forums: the G7 (even with last week’s horror show thanks to the US President), the G20, the UN as well as a whole host of international bodies, in addition to numerous bilateral councils and […]
As we mark Canada Day today it is a good time to reflect on who and what we are as a nation. We are made up of people from all corners of the world even if we were taught in elementary school (at least I seem to remember that I was) that Canada was ‘discovered’ […]
If you were to listen to enough news these days you’d think that Canadians have little, if anything, to celebrate this day, our 151st birthday as an independent nation. An ‘epidemic’ of shootings in Toronto. A trade war with our neighbour and (erstwhile?) closest ally. Yet another year and no Stanley Cup winner among Canada’s […]
If there is one country that is garnering the headlines for all the good reasons these days (as opposed to Trump’s US for all the – well you know what I mean) it is Saudi Arabia. The cradle of Islam has best been known for confirming the maxim “there is no FUN in FUNdamentalism” as […]
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The perils of predictive analysis
I know that I have written on this topic before so I am sorry for the repetition. You probably don’t need to read yet another blog on that terrible Tom Cruise film but in the wake of CBC reports that alleged gay serial killer Bruce McArthur had been assessed way back in 2003 a “very minimal” […]