There are few people, I imagine, that condone the use of torture. Well, except those countries or governments who engage in it I suppose. The list of those actors is one that most would find obvious: Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. And yet Amnesty International finds that torture is practiced in 141 nations, i.e three quarters of […]
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This article appeared in The Hill Times on December 4, 2017 Canada is a nation of immigrants. After all, each and every one of us, with the exception of our First Nations, an immigrant or the offspring of immigrants, whether we can trace our families back to the 16th century or the 21st. Among many […]
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 week I was very fortunate to be on a panel this week sponsored by the National Capital (Ottawa) branch of the Canadian International Council (CIC) with Ben Rowswell and Dr. Stephanie Carvin of Carleton University entitled ‘From Blogs to Books to Software’. Mr. Rowswell gave an outstanding talk on how social media is changing […]
I am fairly certain that I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I really enjoy the humour of Monty Python. One of the sillier skits – not that it is easy to choose just one – was when John Cleese plays a drill sergeant trying to teach recruits how to defend themselves against […]
US authorities are still searching for a motive behind Stephen Paddock’s rampage in Las Vegas last week. A number of ‘theories’ have been put forward, none of which are very helpful. For instance, the fact that Mr.Paddock’s father was a bank robber and once on the FBI’s most wanted list has turned out to be […]
We learned today that a Canadian, Joshua Boyle, has been rescued in Pakistan, together with his American wife and three children born in captivity after having been held for five years by the Taliban. Mr. Boyle and his very pregnant spouse were taken by the terrorist group while ‘backpacking’ through central Asia, including Afghanistan. It […]
Three cheers for Saudi Arabia! The conservative Kingdom has ruled that women can now drive and no longer need to be accompanied by a mahram (essentially a male guardian) when they are in a car. Many are celebrating this decision although some conservative killjoys have accused the government of ‘bending the rules of Sharia’. Some […]
In the wake of the recent storms that ravaged the eastern Caribbean and Florida a lot of Canadians were stranded in resorts and hotels and undoubtedly were suffering under horrible conditions, life-threatening ones even. Many savaged the Canadian government and Canadian airlines for not acting more quickly to get them home and out of harm’s […]
Last Saturday’s arrest in Sydney, Australia of four men in an alleged terrorism plot was the latest in a series of interdictions by Australian authorities. In this supposed plot, four men are being held under special anti-terrorism powers for planning to place a bomb on an aircraft, hidden in a ‘meat mincer’. Other reports noted […]