Search: “far right”

While this may strike some people as arrogant and dismissive I have to confess that when I listen to ‘experts’ talk about national security issues in the media I first look at who is speaking. Some of those who offer opinions are journalists, others are politicians or political junkies, still others are academics. All have interesting perspectives […]

While this may strike some people as arrogant and dismissive I have to confess that when I listen to ‘experts’ talk about national security issues in the media I first look at who is speaking.  Some of those who offer opinions are journalists, others are politicians or political junkies, still others are academics.  All have […]

When I was at Public Saftey Canada I had the opportunity to work in outreach with some outstanding civil servants.  They would organise sessions across the country with a variety of communities to engage on a wide range of topics all related in some way to public safety.  I was invited on some of them […]

The news is full, every single day, of reports of violence from a number of actors: murders, sexual assaults, shootings, etc.  Occasionally we read of a terrorist attack somewhere in the world – depending on where you live the frequency of this particular form of violence will vary.  Not surprisingly, if you live in Somalia […]

To say that we in the West live in a sex-craved society is putting things mildly.  From TV shows where sexual humour is pervasive (for what it is worth, I think The Big Bang Theory would be a lot funnier without so many sex jokes and no, I am not a prude!) to advertising it […]

This piece appeared in The Hill Times on April 23, 2018 Way back when I was an analyst at CSE I recall a conversation with an workmate about who was more important to the organisation (we were both young and full of piss and vinegar).  He worked on the ‘Soviet problem’: I was assigned along […]

OK, OK, I know I really should lay off the Monty Python analogies.  I imagine you are getting sick of them.  But can anyone REALLY get tired of the greatest comic group in history?  Come on, admit it, you love them as much as I do. Staying with this obsession of mine, then, I want […]

I have a confession to make.  I wear a mask sometimes.  I think I have a good excuse though: I play goal in pick-up hockey games in Ottawa.  My face may not be Tom Cruise-worthy, but I sure don’t want to look like Jacques Plante before he pioneered the wearing of face masks in the […]

There is an interesting debate in Canada over what are called ‘mandatory minimums’, i.e. a government/court-imposed set of rules on how crimes are to be treated.  This is an attempt to establish minimum sentences for certain offences, supposedly tied to how society views certain criminal acts.  In jurisdictions that have such strictures judges are bound […]

Quick, what is the first thing that comes to mind when I say the word ‘Buddhist”?  The Dalaï Lama?  Saffron robes?  One hand clapping?  I would wager though that the last thing that comes to you is violent extremism.  Maybe it should. I cannot claim to know a lot about Buddhism (a gap I intend […]