What? Thomas Ricks Said What???
The headline is a little on the abrupt side: "A stunning profile of Ben Rhodes, the asshole who is the president's foreign policy guru."Byline: Thomas Ricks.Now, if you're not familiar…
2016
Musical interlude
CHVRCHES - Leave A Trace
War Crime, a Term That Has Lost All Meaning
There was a time we were all about "war crimes." We vilified war criminals. They were monsters and not just Nazis either. We wanted nothing more than to see them…
PEF Summer School 2016
If you are in Ottawa or close by, and are interested in the ideas and debates that are shaping today’s economy, then we have a summer school for you. PEF…
CBS CEO backpedals on paying Canadians for their plasma
The Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Blood Services is doing some damage control by backtracking on the agency’s position on plasma collection. In an internal blog post last week, Dr.…
20 Questions for Film Curators
This past winter I taught a graduate seminar course at Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema (Concordia University) entitled “Curatorial Practices and the Politics of Programming.” It was a fantastic and…
What Must Go On Inside a Prime Minister’s Mind
Jesus, do you think he's clued in? Do you think Justin has realized with an abrupt shock that, hard as we were on the other guy, we would hold him…
A Setback for the Predator State
It happened in Italy. Roman Ostriakov was given a six month jail term and a hundred Euro fine for stealing four Euros of food, cheese and sausages, from a Genoa…
Trudeau Critical Of Elizabeth May For Tying Fort McMurray Fires To Global Warming
Green Party leader Elizabeth May has connected the raging fires that wiped out Fort McMurray sending 88, 000 residents fleeing for their lives with Global Warming. She stated the obvious…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- David Crane identifies the good news in the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report on climate change - which is that we can meet our greenhouse…
Adverse inferences from failure to tender a witness
R. v. Jolivet, 1 S.C.R. 751:25 The general rule develop...
A guilty plea by a co-accused, not called at trial, cannot be used to support the Crown’s case
R. v. C.G., 2016 ONCA 316: This was an error. The trial judge also erred in using K.I.'s guilty plea to corroborate the evidence of the complainant. Had K.I. been…
When A Government Overstays Its Welcome
I am convinced that all institutions have a 'best-before date,' after which it is time for massive renewal. Comfort with the status quo, a sense of entitlement, a growing separateness…
STAMP applauds CUPW grievance action over neo-Nazi rag
The press release that went out last night. Share widely, please.
Highly-scientific poll: reaction to stuff Justin Trudeau did
For the Liberal Prime Minister, it was quite a week. It was like there were two Justin Trudeaus – one, a serious Prime Ministerial leader type, and one who was…
LawFact of the Day: Family Law
Here is your daily Law Fact from Wise Law for Friday May 6, 2016. Today we are talking about Family Law.A video posted by @wiselaw on May 6, 2016 at…
Polls and other time wasters.
A friend in Barrie called and left a message the other day about public opinion polls that said Conservative Leader Patrick Brown was more acceptable as premier than Liberal Kathleen…
Joe Slept Though The Verdict
If you want to know what the Conservatives have learned since their election defeat, Michael Harris writes, you should read the op-ed which Joe Oliver recently penned for the National…
How the Fort McMurray Disaster is Bringing Canadians Together
It may be small consolation to the thousands of people who have lost their homes, or their businesses, or have been forced to flee the Fort McMurray inferno.But I have…