Canada's Debate

I just came across a response to my earlier post about Sid Ryan and the recent CUPE boycott brouhaha. The author’s blog is called “To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth”.. and I can’t help but notice that there’s no mention of reading comprehension in that title. Now the blogger, a gentleman by the [...]

For once, a post that’s not about Warren Kinsella… although it does stem from a reader comment on his site.
but it suffers rather badly from something I see as a flaw with many Liberal ideas - too much emotion, not enough reason.
Ignoring for a moment the ambiguous use of the capital-L, lets consider this statement [...]

Reading this post got me thinking about my sister. Now, my sister is neither Anglican or gay (and hopefully she is not reading this.) However, she is a feminist… a trait for which I admire her. Every year during passover she places an orange on the seder plate. While the story she uses is apocryphal, [...]

I had another one of my frequent, unplanned and uncontrollable free-association daydreams this morning, while I was shaving. Ignoring the fact that this is not a good time to shave, my thoughts led me somewhere interesting. For some reason Blossom came to mind, which led me to porn, and then to a show I remember [...]

Here’s a simple question with two difficult answers. Is it possible to have a moral society when social obedience (social adherence to the laws of the land) is enforced by further laws?
The subject came up last week during an uncomfortable conversation with my family in a car last week. Does creating new laws to ensure [...]

What has one eye, six legs, about ten feathers, and foams tirelessly at the mouth?
Yep, you guessed it: the American media! This is not a critique of that media mind you… what it is is a rejection of the sort of mass “sadness” that seems to follow whenever tragedy strikes. Now, what is the difference [...]

The relationship between democracy and freedom is a very deep one, but the two are not the same. Never have been, and never will be. It is entirely possible to have democracy without freedom… so, the question remains, is it possible to have freedom without democracy, or more pointedly, is it possible to have democracy [...]

Seeing as I have only one X chromosome, I don’t have any great insight or wisdom to share on what life is like for women. However, understanding women and understanding the circumstances that women face are entirely different; and that is the reason why we should all take some time to consider International Womens’ Day.
I [...]

Suggesting that you read Warren Kinsella can be a liability on the blogosphere… especially if you’re trying to make it clear that you are not a member of the Liberal party. That being said, I do read him, and occasionally respond to what he has said… I also read a blogger named Robert McLelland, or [...]

The term All Politics is local goes back quite a while, and has served a lot of pundits and quip-artists well.
Now, as I was sitting on the couch and engaging in one of my unconscious internal debates I came to toy with the idea that All religion is local too. Now, before I explain I [...]

Here’s a seemingly innocuous question: what makes a creature intelligent? I ask as I read this AP story, which describes Chimpanzees fashioning primitive spears and possibly hunting with them.
Researchers report witnessing a chimpanzee skewering a tree creature for supper with a spear-like tool, a rare observation of a long-studied primate in the wild.
“It’s not uncommon [...]

I’ve been following Venezuela for a few years now, with great interest… not because I believe in socialism (although I do, to a degree), but because I know that it couldn’t possibly work there. Now, it would appear that I am being vindicated.
Faced with an accelerating inflation rate and shortages of basic foods like beef, [...]

We all care about the environment, to varying degrees. But at what point does are “caring” become insufficient? Right about here I’d say. Andrew Potter calls this out and I can’t say I disagree with him.
I have no objection to spirituality or people trying to rediscover something, whether it be their roots, their place the [...]

Before I sat down to write this post, I spent about fifteen minutes looking for a short story I read at least six years ago from Robert Heinlein. I can’t remember the name, the plot, or any major details from this story except for one major theme. The story is set in a world where [...]

You know, there is so much news out there that it is often hard to know where exactly to start. I can look at the paper, talk to my friends, and browse my usual online ’sources,’ and find fifteen to twenty stories that pique my interest in politics. There’s the ongoing almost-war in Iraq, the [...]