Those were the words of Pope Francis, mentor to the world’s Catholics, who marked the way of the cross Friday in an empty St. Peter’s Square. Not being religious, I usually refrain from commenting on religions. I am making an exception for this Easter. I do take an interest in
Continue readingTag: World Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: It’s Barnum and Bailey Time.
It’s pandemic, it’s frightening, it’s Barnum and Bailey Time. The circus has come to rescue politics from crushing boredom. In America, in Canada and around the world, the clowns, the aerialists, the lion tamers and the bareback riders are doing their stuff in the realm of politics. And it is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Fool Britannia.
Brexit has come. Brexit is gone. And what does it mean? Has the English Channel widened? Are they filling in the Chunnel? Are the Chunnel trains still running? What does it all mean and do we care on the west side of the Atlantic? It seems unfair that the Brits
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The grief of greed.
Many people share the blame for the shooting down of Ukraine International Airline Flight 752 over Iran. It is not the first time a civilian airliner has been brought down while carrying out its business. But what business, other than greed, takes a civilian airliner into a threatening war zone.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Brexit and the jawbone of an ass.
They had the jawbone of an ass to lead them and the Philistines won this one. Boris Johnson proved he is an ass and he led the Brits down a path they should never have followed. But it is a path the English and the Welsh might travel, without the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In that ‘better’ place?
It makes you wonder if the families who lost loved ones in Canada’s Afghan forays would agree that it was worth it to leave Kandahar a ‘better’ place? Maybe Canada’s defence minister Harjit Sajjan looks at it differently. Sajjan was asked to comment recently on the American conclusion that the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Whatever we do, we’re wrong.
Have you been following the adventures of Huawei? Do you realize now why Bell Canada was so wrong when it dumped Nortel Networks? The once famous Bell subsidiary did not just encompass Canada’s past leadership in telecom technology, it was our future. Bell blew it. Bell has always been a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In defence of First-Past-the-Post.
Write a few comments on how we vote and suffer the outrage of readers. Write about something serious and it’s ‘ho-hum.’ It’s not fair, you know. Last week I was called, among other nasties: “The finest mind in the 16th Century.” All I did was comment on the foolishness of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump’s Triumph?
It will only be after someone translates the French word “merde” for him that Donald Trump will really know what the audience of world leaders thought of his plans for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Trump’s triumph this week is the meeting of the organization in England to celebrate
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: And when they are down, they are down.
Funny, that nursery rhyme has been running through my head. You know the one: The grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men. He marched them up to the top of the hill. And marched them down again. It seems the modern Duke of York has gotten himself
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Justin Trudeau defends NATO?
There seems to be a difference of opinion between French President Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Justin Trudeau of Canada. Macron says that the 70-year old North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is suffering brain death, while Canada’s PM thinks it is doing ‘just fine, thank you.’ Trudeau insists that NATO
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The new Charlemagne: Emmanuel Macron?
Until the last four years, the view of Europe has been as an economic union. That is now changing and we can start to think of Europe as a political union. And as a political union, it joins China and the United States of America as one of the three
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “How dare you?” Greta Thunberg.
Somebody must have explained to the 16-year old from Sweden that you have to be brash to get noticed in North America. She would be quite unlikely to say ‘How dare you?’ to her elders back home in Sweden. Yet it worked at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mother of all Parliaments.
This mother certainly has her problems. And if you believed Theresa May was incompetent as prime minister, you probably should not have gotten your hopes up for Boris Johnson. The U.K. parliament at the Palace of Westminster has not seen so many comings and goings since the British civil war
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: To be in Biarritz in August.
It is like making the scene in Gstaad in February, you really should do Biarritz in August. It is reserved for the world of the rich and famous and now the world leaders. While the Boris Johnson’s and Donald Trump’s might have lowered the bar somewhat, Emmanuel Macron knows how
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Brits are crazy too.
There is a pattern emerging. What particular hell we are heading for might still be a mystery but I fear the pace is accelerating. What you would have thought impossible a few years ago is to-day’s horror. To make matters worse, there is no discerning a rational path for the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trudeau should listen to McCallum.
John McCallum was building a very solid career as a professor and as an economist when he took a misstep into politics in 2000. While it took him a while to learn the ropes, his greatest political success was in Justin Trudeau’s government as immigration, refugees and citizenship minister. He
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Now pinch hitting for Canada: Donald Trump.
We really need that. Can you think of anyone less able to speak for Canada to the Chinese? Donald Trump was grandstanding with Canada’s prime minister in the Oval Office in Washington the other day. The media had been allowed in for some quick questions and to get their pictures
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Summarizing Disaster Capitalism – Jason Hirthler
Mainstream 101: Supporting Imperialism, Suppressing Socialism by Jason Hirthler “Yet the corporate use of the word democracy has no relation to the word’s philosophical definition. It is merely a portmanteau for all manner of plunder, the techniques of which include first evicting the wayward socialist in power, by sanction
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mr. Trudeau goes to Washington.
Frank Capra’s 1939 movie, Mr. Smith goes to Washington, is not only a classic but it was the film that made James Stewart a movie star. And if Mr. Trudeau plays his part properly, his trip to Washington this week could help him keep his job as prime minister. First
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