Categories
Perspectives

September 16, 1920: Wall Street bombing

On this day in 1920 a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on New York’s iconic Wall Street, stopped near the JP Morgan bank headquarters and went boom.

Categories
Perspectives

When bad guys use good technology

I have to confess that I am a fan of the CBC. Not out of any sense of Canadian nationalism necessarily, although there is probably some of that too. No, I like the CBC because I like the variety of its programming, especially the radio offerings. I try not to miss episodes of The Debaters, […]

Categories
Perspectives

Terrorism: plus ca change (part 1)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) For many in the post 9/11 world it may seem as if terrorism is something new – and terrible. We are constantly inundated with news about attacks here and attacks there, sometimes […]

Categories
Perspectives

Bad actors are winning the online battle. It is time for the majority good actors to step up

News flash! The Internet is not always used for good! What are we going to do about it???? I don’t suppose these headlines strike anyone as real ‘news’, do they? We have long known that any technology can be leveraged for good or for bad (dynamite was developed by Alfred Nobel – yes, he of […]

Categories
Perspectives

They made me do it: how to reconcile ‘brainwashing’ with terrorist group membership

Of all the cases of ‘foreign terrorist fighters’ that has cropped up of late, and there have been many, many such instances, the story of a British ‘schoolgirl’ is one of the most interesting. Shamima Begum left the UK in 2015 as part of the ‘Bethnal Green’ trio of females who joined Islamic State (IS). […]

Categories
Perspectives

Is the far right extremist threat really that big in Canada?

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 15, 2018. There is no question that when the topic around the water cooler turns to terrorism – not that I hope or think that it often does – as far as the average citizen is concerned the particular brand of terrorism that garners the most attention […]

Categories
Perspectives

Is the far right extremist threat really that big in Canada?

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 15, 2018. There is no question that when the topic around the water cooler turns to terrorism – not that I hope or think that it often does – as far as the average citizen is concerned the particular brand of terrorism that garners the most attention […]

Categories
Perspectives

3D printable guns and threats to national security

It is never a good idea to get into a debate on the US Constitution’s Second Amendment – the one that talks about the ‘right to bear arms’ – because it is pointless.  Gun advocates seldom have any interest in discussing their God-given freedom to carry a weapon, any weapon including some very powerful automatic […]

Categories
Perspectives

The wives of Islamic State – what to do?

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 […]

Categories
Perspectives

The fine line between the right to protest and public safety

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on May 21, 2018 It would be hard to forget the G8/G20 riots in Toronto in 2010. Or similar mass violence at the WTO meetings in Seattle in 1999.  Commercial properties smashed and vandalised.  Police cars destroyed.  The arrests of hundreds.  People kept in cages by the authorities.  […]