the incredible shrinking life: a flood, a hotel room, a library
I’m always amazed how when personal upheaval strikes, whether tragedy or happy Big Life Change – your world shrinks down to a tiny little circle. We moved to Canada the…
July 2013
Pat Robertson’s Unified Theory
In which the ex-pastor kindly shares his comprehensive ‘gay’ theory: Recommend this Post
Canucks Prospects- Scrimage and Interviews
There are those of us out here that are keeners and curious about the new guys, even during the ‘Dog Days’ of summer. So my friends for those who dig…
Friday night blues blogging
This is Keb’ Mo’ covering Robert Johnson’s Kind Hearted Woman Blues. It seems like a good place to start (h/t to Moose at Classic Blues Videos). Tab Benoit hails from…
How should judges approach self-represented litigants at trial?
Bird v Bird, 2013 SKQB 157 sets out a useful checklist for how judges should approach self-represented litigants at trial: 46) The Court went on to quote the guidelines established…
Trayvon Martin, newly dead on the grass: a photo everyone should see
There’s been a boatload of controversy today over the brief airing on Trayvon’s lifeless body as he lay in his obviously high retail – almost preppy – clothes. Most of…
Check-Mate #ClimateChange
What’s utterly frustrating when discussing Climate Change with Deniers, is they don’t plan the big picture logically. More specifically, their plans can be shown to place civilization into extreme danger…
Strip search must not be conducted as a matter of routine
R. v. McKay, 2013 ONCJ 298 holds: Since the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Golden, supra, it has generally been accepted that when it is necessary to…
Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde
After reading the play by Shakespeare last week, I decided to tackle Chaucer’s epic 8,000-line poem about the Trojan lovers, Troilus and Cressida (or Criseyde as Chaucer writes it). It’s…
CPC Convention Rescheduled For Halloween Night
I can think of no date more appropriate.
A $40 billion bad idea in Nicaragua
Daniel Ortega, who holds the office of President of Nicaragua in defiance of Nicaragua’s Constitution, is championing a mega-project; a canal across the eastern part of Nicaragua that would provide…
Lac-Mégantic and the Callousness of the Cons
As people in the shattered little town of Lac-Mégantic try to recover from the terrifying tragedy that struck their town.Try to come to terms with the fact that the bodies…
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s statement to human rights groups
by: Obert Madondo | Twitter: @Obiemad: WikiLeaks has posted NSA surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden’s statement to human rights groups, issued earlier today at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Here’s the full text:…
A new look. A work in progress.
TweetAfter three years with the same template, this week I decided to update the look of daveberta.ca. It is still a work in progress, but feedback is welcomed! Tweet
Rhetorical questions to be avoided in jury charge
R. v. Williams, 2013 ONCA 477 holds: We agree with the appellant that the trial judge’s earlier directions to the jury, when he was relating the evidence to the elements…
A communications network open to all Canadians would deliver real affordability and choice
It’s been a fairly positive few weeks for Canada’s long-suffering cell phone users, who pay some of the highest prices for some of the worst service in the industrialized world.…
Murry Salby: Galileo? Bozo? Or P.T.Barnum?
“They laughed at Galileo … but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown” might be appled to Murry Salby, who until May was a Professor of Environmental Science at Australia’s…
Ikea’s Union-Busting Lockout in Richmond, BC Reaches Two Months
Is Walmart Ikea’s labour relations mentor? Ikea, that family-friendly darling of home decor and Swedish innocence is trying to break its union, Teamsters Local 213. They have locked out their…
What Do Toronto, Calgary and Angkor Wat Have in Common?
What do Toronto and Calgary have to do with the mysterious Cambodian city of Angkor Wat? More, perhaps, than we would care to imagine. The city of Angkor Wat, Cambodia,…