BLOGGERS

Professor Michael Karen or the University of Calgary has just written a book alleging that bloggers are lonely, isolated, rebellious and live in a make believe world:”In the blogosphere, the death of an ancient cat is on the same emotionl level as an earthquake in Pakistan.”
          Not so fast say the bloggers:  “Bloggers love company;  [...]

HARPER

The Harper people have just issued a series of ads attacking Stephane Dion.  The ads claim Dion is a poor leader, ineffectual on the environment and ignorant of foreign affairs.  Some claim these ads cost a half a million dollars and one will play to the audience of the Super Bowl on Sunday.  It is [...]

SINN FEIN

It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of yesterday’s decision of Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein to support and cooperate with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.  This was one of two roadblocks prohibiting northern Ireland from governing itself instead of being governed from London The other roadblock is the refusal of Ian Paisley’s party [...]

MOUNT ROYAL

A committee is currently meeting to study the future of Mount Royal.  On one side are heritage and conservation groups that seek to slow or stop development on the mountain. This group wants elements on the mountain e.g. playgrounds, parks, lawns to be named “untouchable.”  On the other side are institutional landowners seeking to expand [...]

ABBE PIERRE

Seldom, if ever, have I seen an entire nation spontaneously pay tribute to a simple priest.  Abbe Pierre spent most of his 94 years in France helping the poor, the homeless, the unemployed and all those he came across on the fringes.   He had a simple message:  “The true peacemakers are those who open themselves to [...]

MAHER ARAR

Partly as a result of faulty information sent to American police, Maher Arar, found himself in a dank Syrian prison where he was severely torotured on a daily basis.  He did not expect to emerge alive.   What does Canada owe Mr. Arar for a mistake that caused him and his family so much physical and emotional [...]

THE PICKTON TRIAL

A farmer named Pickton in B.C, is reported to have butchered and murdered upwards of 50 women in the most gruesome manner.  Pickton’s trial is expected to last at least a year. Every paper  in the country is carrying this appalling story on its front pages.  Do papers like the Globe and Mail run this stuff [...]

EUTHANASIA

A man named P. Welby in Italy sith muscular dystrophy asked to be disconnected from a respirator that had kept him alive for nine years.   Church authorities refused him a religious funeral, because said Cardinal Ruini, “it would have legitimized behavior contrary to the rules of the church.”  On the other hand, Cardinal Martini (the Jesuit followed [...]

Tonight at nine, the PBS program Frontline is running a program called HAND OF GOD about the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.  I wonder if it will touch on one of the most curious elements of this whole affair:  the fact that so many priests have been censured and that practically no bishops [...]

SOVEREIGNTY

A leading candidate for the French presidency, Segolene Royal, told PQ leader Andre Boisclair that she supports the independence of Quebec.  Does a foreign citizen have any right to pronounce on Quebec’s constitutional status?  Does Boisclair have any right to boast about it?  Might it help Royal’s campaign if she apologized?