All entries by this author

Not a slap on the forehead? .. democracy in America 2006: ya gotta believe its some step ahead

Nov 8th, 2006 | By | Category: USA Today

UPDATED NOVEMBER 9. According to Canada’s self-confessed national newspaper, as originally reported by the indispensable Associated Press, the “best face” George W. Bush’s spokesman Tony Snow could put on the (now altogether clear) results of the US mid-term elections was “some people saw it coming. It was not a a slap-on-the-forehead kind of shock.’” Just slapping […]



New fractured scene in Ottawa .. Canadians should just get used to it?

Oct 19th, 2006 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

It is a certainty that the American people will be voting this coming November 7. And who knows what wonders may be wrought? But the latest gurglings from Ottawa suggest that the Canadian people could be waiting quite a while longer. (And seeing that the last Canadian federal election was less than nine months ago, […]



Canadian Thanksgiving 2006 .. what does the eclectic identity of this country mean?

Oct 10th, 2006 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

Canadian thanksgiving, up north where the leaves fall from the trees earlier in the colder weather, is not quite the national holiday it is several weeks later in the USA. But this year we have at least had some reminders of just how confusing what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just called the “unique history […]



Liberal leadership race in Canada .. rolling update and autopsy on super weekend 2006

Oct 2nd, 2006 | By | Category: Ottawa Scene

MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006. 10:30 AM. [OCTOBER 3 UPDATE AND RESULTS AS OF OCTOBER 5 ADDED]. With more than 85% of the so-called super-weekend results calculated for convention delegates in the Canadian federal Liberal leadership race, Michael Ignatieff enjoys a tidy if far from overwhelming lead. Bob Rae is in a clear second place, with Gerard Kennedy and […]



Who is Keith Olbermann? .. getting real at last on MSNBC

Sep 28th, 2006 | By | Category: USA Today

It is impossible to keep track of everything on the media cornucopia that haunts North America these days, perhaps especially when you live in Canada. So some of us may be pardoned if we have only recently ever heard of Keith Olbermann at MSNBC. On September 26, 2006, in any case, Mr. Olbermann told whoever […]



Afghanistan again .. Canada’s new interest in foreign policy bolstered by UK report

Sep 6th, 2006 | By | Category: Countries of the World

Not too long ago, it almost looked as if a tricky vote on the Harper minority government’s softwood lumber deal with the USA today might monopolize the drama when the Parliament of Canada returns to work on Monday, September 18. But it now seems that, here as elsewhere, the Bloc Quebecois will probably keep the […]



Happy Labour Day .. dreaming of the monarchy of majority government in Ottawa

Sep 2nd, 2006 | By | Category: Key Current Issues

As an official national holiday Labour Day (or Labor Day) will be 112 years old this year, in both Canada and the United States. And as Harold Meyerson has nicely explained in the Washington Post, those who started it in the later 19th century would almost certainly not be too happy about Labour Day 2006. […]



Who are the Tamil Tigers .. and how important are they in the real war on terrorism?

Aug 25th, 2006 | By | Category: Countries of the World

This week, on August 23, under the intriguing headline “TAMILS SAID THEY WERE GOING TO STAG PARTY,” the Toronto Globe and Mail cast some light on a current brand of alleged international terrorism that does not involve Islamist fantasies, Al-Qaida, or the Middle East. Here as elsewhere, Canada has distinguished itself from the elephant next […]



UK-US airline terror threat.. are the Brits really wiser in these foolish things?

Aug 16th, 2006 | By | Category: USA Today

The foiled British terror threat that put places as far away as northern California “ON ALERT” last week is bound to remind Canadians of their own foiled terror threat only two months back. Yet last summer “Islamist” terrorists of some sort actually did bomb the London transit system. And that, among other things, gives the […]



Meanwhile back in northern North America (or is it still British North America, as Mr. Harper says?)

Jul 28th, 2006 | By | Category: Canadian Provinces

ST. JOHN’S, NL. FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006. The annual mid-summer gathering of the Canadian provincial premiers and territorial leaders (a.k.a. “The Council of the Federation“) provided some slight relief from the troubles of the Middle East, for any resident Canadian citizens still paying attention. The provincial and territorial leaders failed to solve the problem of “fiscal imbalance” in […]