Search: “CSIS”

I see that the American government and its intelligence community are engaged in a debate over which terrorist group poses a greater threat to the US: Al Qaeda (and its affiliates) or the Islamic State (and its sorta affiliates).  There are proponents on both sides of the ledger and good points are being made by […]

In baseball, a batter that achieves a .300 average (i.e. 3 hits in every 10 tries) is considered a success.  A goaltender with a save percentage of over .900 (meaning he saves nine out of every ten shots he faced) is considered good.  Other professions undoubtedly have their own measures of success. So why is […]

We all know that politicians are generally not well regarded.  Recent surveys in the US have shown trust in Congress at around 14%.  Not good. I suppose the reasons for this historic lack of confidence vary from person to person.  Most news stories seem focus on illegal spending, or outrageous perks or how little time […]

When most people think about terrorism, they probably have some pre-set notions of what it looks like.  Terrorists are from disadvantaged backgrounds.  They are marginalised.  They have mental health issues.  They are inherently violent people. All these preconceptions are wrong.  Or at least they are not very good at predicting who becomes a terrorist and […]

Still with me?  Let’s continue #13 and #14 – fantastic (that’s even better than great)!  We should have let CSIS and the RCMP off the leash a long time ago.  They, more than anyone, know the nature and level of the threat and should be able to tell Canadians about it. #15 – very good, […]

I’m no fan of spaghetti westerns and the 1966 film starring Clint Eastwood among others has nothing to do with terrorism.  It’s just that I can think of no better phrase to describe the interim report issued by the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence on countering the terrorist threat in Canada (see the […]

Remember John Kerry?  He’s the guy who ran against George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential election.  Like most campaigns, this one had its controversies – like Swift Boat –  perhaps none greater than when Kerry said that the US had to get to a point where terrorism was not the primary focus of society […]

In some ways Canada is a post-religious nation.  This is not to say that religion is not important or that it is not present, but it is certainly not as front and centre as it used to be.  The Canadian landscape has also shifted as believers of other faiths (Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, etc.) multiply. As […]

It is not uncommon for inaccurate information to be held as accepted wisdom where no amount of data will convince people otherwise. Examples of this would include the conviction that crime rates are soaring (they have actually been plummeting for years) or that e-cigarettes are ok (there is no data yet suggesting that they are […]

The multiple attacks today (June 26) have led to a burst of condemnation and outrage – as they should. The vast majority of people – Muslim and non-Muslim – have rightly protested against this barbarity.  And we will surely see more demonstrations in the days to come as more and more people are inspired to […]