The older I get, the longer I live, the more I realize that true justice is uncommon, and that evil frequently prevails over good. The case of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the Afghan interpreter whose work was so highly-prized by the Canadian military, is only the latest example of this fact.
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Politics and its Discontents: Jason Kenney Responds to His Critics
In a move that can hardly be described as surprising, Jason Kenney is fiercely defending his immigration officials and their decision to refuse a Canadian visa to Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter who risked the wrath of Taliban insurgents to assist our forces in his country. Despite a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: My Letter to Jason Kenney Re: Sayed Shah Sharifi
Dear Minister Kenney, I am writing to express both my shock and my disappointment over Canada’s failure to honour its word to Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter who risked the wrath of Taliban insurgents to assist our forces in his country. By all accounts a very brave and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Canada’s International Reputation Continues to Deteriorate
Once looked upon as an honest-broker middle power which enjoyed the respect of almost the entire world, Canada in recent years has seen a steady deterioration in its reputation for many reasons, its unreserved and uncritical support of all things Israeli, the obstructionist role it plays on climate-change, and its
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Is What Revolution Looks Like
That is the title of Chris Hedges’ latest column on truthdig.org. Despite the attempts to dismantle the Occupy encampments, attempts that seem eerily coordinated, Hedges suggests that this is only the end of the first stage of a revolution by people who have seen the truth and refuse to go
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Occupy Wall Street Police Breakup
News has spread quickly about the cowardly breakup of the Zucotti Park Wall Street Occupiers. Here is a link to a livestream covering the protesters as they move throughout the streets of New YorkRecommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Andrea Horwath, Tim Hudak: Unlikely Allies
“Outrageous proposals for new spending and reckless tax giveaways like these are unacceptable.” So says Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, in high dudgeon over the intention of NDP leader Andrea Horwath, and supported by Progressive Conservati…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More on Iran’s ‘Nuclear Program’
Yesterday I wrote a post linking to an article by Gwynne Dyer that suggests the rush to judgement about Iran’s alleged nuclear-weapons’ program needs to include the facts and not just recycled data and hysteria. In a similar vein, I recommend a piece c…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Timely Warning From Gwynne Dyer
Author, historian and journalist Gwynne Dyer is offering a timely warning as the world seems to be going down the same uncritical path to bombing Iran as it did with Iraq and its non-existent weapons of mass destruction.Says Dyer, in an article entitle…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Occupy Movement and Christianity’s Core Message
Gene Robinson, the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, addresses the relationship between the Occupy Movement and the central message of Christianity:Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Blow Against Public Morality
Despite the conviction of the Conservative Party of Canada for the illegal financing of its 2006 campaign that brought it to power, a blow has been struck against, not for, public morality.As reported in The Star, the sophisticated in-and-out scheme, m…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Are Canadians as Fed Up as the People in Ohio?
This past Tuesday, the voters in Ohio told their state legislature that they have had enough. In response to a law enacted with the help of the wealthy Koch Brothers that essentially stripped all collective bargaining rights for public-sector workers, …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Trial of Goldman Sachs
Even if you only have time to watch the opening statements by Chris Hedges and philosopher, activist and professor Cornell West, this video, a mock trial of Goldman Sachs by members of Occupy Wall Street, is well-worth watching. The array of ‘crimes’ …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Why the Occupy Movement Has Relevance in Canada
Thee are many who assert that the Occupy Movement has no relevance in Canada because we have a social safety net and other measures that provide a modicum of protection to the most vulnerable. They also argue for the superiority of our banking system, …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Finding Freedom in Handcuffs
That is the title of Chris Hedges’ latest column at truthdig.org, written after his arrest for sitting on the sidewalk in front of Goldman Sachs in New York. It is a powerful indictment of the immorality that pervades the ethos of unfettered capitalism…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Chris Hedges’ Indictment of Goldman Sachs
Prior to his arrest the other day for sitting on the sidewalk in front of Goldman Sachs, Chris Hedges issued the following indictment of the investment banking and securities firm:Goldman Sachs, which received more subsidies and bailout-related funds t…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Sticks and Stones…
Emboldened and enraged by the demagogic politics that substitute for reasoned discussion in the United States, an unemployed man is shown misdirecting his anger at Democratic Massachusetts’ Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren in the following video. Calli…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Arrest of Chris Hedges
If you advance to the 30 minute mark of this video, you will see Pulitzer Prize winner, author, and activist Chris Hedges, along with other Occupy Wall Street protesters, being arrested by the NYPD for sitting down on the sidewalk in front of Goldman S…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More On Toronto G20 Incarceration Conditions
As human beings, there is really no way that we can dispute our deeply-flawed natures. Overlooking the terrible depths to which we can sink, the unspeakable cruelties each of us is capable of, and seeking to justify or rationalize away those shortcomi…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Noam Chomsky Addresses The Occupation Movement
While some may wonder about the practical utility of the Occupy Movement and where it is headed, I believe that in its current form, its chief value lies in the raising of consciousness about the gross inequities that exist in the world today, and endi…
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