As I get older, I sometimes feel like a character from the X-Files, one of the recurring motifs of which was “Trust No One.’ I think I have lived long enough and read widely enough to know that things purported to be the truth are often the exact opposite. Such
Continue readingAuthor: Lorne
Politics and its Discontents: An Update on Sayed Sharifi
After many setbacks, Sayed Shah Sarifi, the brave young Afghan interpreter who recently arrived in Toronto thanks to his own tenacity and the efforts of people of goodwill, has landed his first Canadian job. You can read this good-news story here. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Want To Make It Easy For You To Vote
Or at least some of you. Only in America, eh? Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Be Careful Where You Paddle
I guess this is what happens when we forget our place. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Tale of Two Countries: G.M. in Canada and Colombia
Corporations have, shall we say, a rather checkered history in dealing with the workers who make possible their profits, often viewing them as disposable commodities to be chewed up and then spit out. As contract talks with the Big Three automakers get underway, CAW president Ken Lewenza has issued this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Debased
It is the only word that seems remotely appropriate to describe the view of human nature implicit in this article, published in the National Post, dealing with the Pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, the man who leaked embarrassing documents to the media with the intent of exposing Vatican corruption he hopes
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Our American Cousins?
One can’t help but wonder if Harper’s police force has been giving lessons to their American cousins in stifling free speech at right-wing political rallies. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Would I Lie To You?
Faith can be a marvelous thing, one that people take strength from as they go about their daily lives. One meaning of faith, as offered by Oxford Dictionaries online, encapsulates this idea: strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof. However, there is
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Because ….
…..some animals are more equal than others, I guess. At least that seems to be the message in McGuinty’s Ontario.* *Doctors, teachers, and most other public servants need not apply. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: From A Star Reader
My sentiments exactly, Steve: Re: A G20 cop’s close call, Aug. 10 I am a 59-year-old middle-class law-abiding person. That said, I cannot help but remark on the juxtaposition of the description of George Horton’s “crimes” with the picture of police activity during the G20. Horton is accused of wearing
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: What Purpose Do We Serve?
Although I have written on this topic before, I think it merits a return visit, given the environmental disasters currently engulfing the world. Were it within my power, I would legislate that all people in both elementary and high school, and in the world’s corporate boardrooms, be required to watch
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Vatican Needs A (Re)boot
Although I am a man with spiritual beliefs, I have little but contempt for religious institutions, given as they are to making rules and interpretations that serve only to inhibit inquiry and honest discussion about the true nature of reality as they desperately try to maintain their waning political power.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More Ridicule for a Gun-Loving Cop
In many ways, as the cliche goes, laughter is the best medicine. I often think that within the media and the blogosphere, far too much serious attention is paid to the most outrageous people, whose utterances are so preposterous that they probably should be ignored or justifiably ridiculed. After all,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More on Drilling for Oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
As noted recently, the Harper regime, in its bottomless contempt and disregard for the environment, recently opened up the possibility of drilling for oil in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, another unpleasant fact hidden deep within the arcana of Omnibus Bill C-38. Happily, this fact was brought to the public’s
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: “This was an attack on the rule of the law.”
So said Crown attorney Elizabeth Jackson, who is seeking a sentence of 18 months in jail and three years’ probation at the sentencing hearing of George Horton, 24, whose crime during the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit was kicking the scout car of Staff. Sgt. Graham Queen as well as another
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Nose Hill Gentlemen
My favorite: You can see more of the twitterverse’s reaction to this paranoid gun-loving cop right here. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: "Been to the Stampede yet?"
I’m just glad they didn’t ask this visiting American gun enthusiast for a smoke. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More About Our Prime Paragons of ‘Virtue’
Just a few reminders about the moral thugs within our midst: Tides Canada’s charity status attacked Pro-oilsands group accuses it of illegal political activity Thomson: In the end, pipeline is a political decision Justice minister won’t send Del Mastro file to prosecutors Inappropriate to do so: Nicholson Elections Canada investigating
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Harper Government and The Eve of Environmental Destruction
Despite recent toned-down rhetoric, I suspect Harper and his minions are fooling very few people. Take, for example, the recent words of our Anti-Environment Minister, the integrity-challenged Peter Kent: Confronted by a looming 2020 deadline for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the Harper government will ramp up its efforts to reduce
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Do You Have What It Takes To Write For Sun News?
Please note: no journalism degree needed or wanted. YOU’RE CONSCRIPTED! JOIN THE SUN NEWS TEAM Do you think differently? Have you dreamed about working in the media but couldn’t stomach the thought of the group think therapy sessions? If you’re on a relentless pursuit of the truth, we might have
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