Another successful terrorist attack, another inquiry as to why it was not stopped. This is becoming a common occurrence at least in Western societies where the exigencies of liberal democracies demand accountability. There may very well be post facto reviews in non-democracies like Russia and Saudi Arabia as well but we do not tend to […]
Category: Perspectives
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I was a teenaged terrorist
When I was in first year of high (secondary) school – grade nine as we call it (why is it that I cannot get a BareNaked Ladies song out of my head?) – I did something really stupid. I was about to bus home from a Friday night dance when I decided that it would […]
I, like many others I suspect, have grown tired and increasingly frustrated at trying to understand anything the Trump administration is doing. So many of its decisions seem to be made with little forethought or analysis and appear to be taken in a ‘screw you’ kind of way. What other interpretation can be given to […]
This piece originally appeared in The Hill Times on November 27. There is no question that the relationship between the Toronto Police Services (TPS) and the citizenry of Hogtown have been rocky of late. Whether it is the controversial carding programme or allegations of police brutality and unnecessary use of force, many Torontonians have a […]
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Was Charles Manson a terrorist?
The word ‘terror’ is a very powerful one that tries to describe, insofar as language can, a very powerful emotion. Terror is ultimate fear, a heightened sense of threat to oneself that can freeze one’s ability to react and cloud one’s ability to use reason to get out of a highly dangerous situation. It is […]
And so the debate continues. Arguments range from the alarming view that those who fought with terrorist groups like Islamic State will return to wreak havoc and death on an epic scale to an Alfred E. Newmanesque ‘What me worry?’ response. As with pretty well everything in life reality is somewhere between those two extremes. […]
Are we in the West suffering from collective naivete? Are we ignoring an obvious threat to public safety? Are we failing to understand that there are citizens among us who can do real harm? I am referring of course to the phenomenon of ‘foreign fighters’, Westerners who left of their own free will to join […]
Anyone who has flown on an airline since 9/11 knows it is not fun. Those ads from the 1950s that show the glamour and luxury of international travel are dated curiosities of yesteryear. Whether it is the increased nickle and diming of ever more services – checked bags (leading to the competition for overhead bin […]
This blog appeared in The Hill Times on November 13, 2017 (http://www.hilltimes.com/2017/11/13/real-impact-terrorism-shattered-lives/125186) In the aftermath of a terrorist attack we all go through a typical laundry list of questions. Who is behind this act and did he act alone? Are there others out there? What will he be charged with? What can we do to […]
This blog appeared in The Hill Times on November 20, 2017 (http://www.hilltimes.com/2017/11/20/can-canadians-trust-csis-help-keep-us-safe/125620) This piece was never going to be an easy one to write. The organisation where I proudly worked for over 15 years – CSIS – is now the subject of a $35 million lawsuit by five employees alleging racism, Islamophobia and homophobia. Canadians […]