As if it was yesterday

You know what I’m talking about. 9/11. Twenty years ago today. Hard to believe it’s been that long. But I remember exactly where I was. Every detail. As clearly as if it was yesterday.

I was at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I was seeing five films that day (I saw five to six films every day for 10 straight days). And on this particular day, Tuesday, September 11, I was just coming out of my first of the day, which had started at around 8:30.

Really???

Is all the mean-spiritedness of this year’s presidential race (and the last eight years) starting to rub off on me? Am I missing something? Am I just an old stick-in-the-mud? Or is the carnival-like atmosphere of the GOP convention also making you wonder how the US ever became a super power?

I know the Democrats do it too, although from what I watched on TV last night it didn’t seem as bad. I know it’s the way it’s always been done. And while I admit it’s always given me pause, I’ve usually just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

But this year, when so much is at stake, when the country has never been more divided, when nobody’s life seems to

Who knew an elbow could cause such an uproar?

Canada’s House of Commons came to a virtual stand still last week. Prime Minister Trudeau was trying to get a bill passed. Bill c-14. Doctor-assisted suicide.

Yes, it’s a contentious issue, but it’s a conversation we must have, one that’s long overdue. And good for him for having the balls to bring it up.

But I digress.

There’s a June 6 deadline on the Bill, handed down by the Supreme Court. It was being hotly debated and contested. Everyone was getting more than a little testy. They
weren’t getting anywhere with the agenda.

Several members of the NDP, including Tom Mulcair, 

Channeling Marvin Gaye …

Being a city dweller I either walk or take the subway most places. I never think twice about it. But the other day I noticed something new and I have to admit it gave me pause.

It was just a few days after the terrorist attacks in Brussels. The second I entered the subway station I noticed two police

Something to think about …

Like everyone else I was horrified to hear of yet another mass shooting, this time in San Bernadino California.  And “no,” I am not going to get into how I feel about the whole gun issue.  There’s nothing left to say.

This post is about a press conference I saw when I was watching the TV coverage the day it all happened.  Because this tragedy occurred so close to the terrorist attacks in Paris, and elsewhere, because we’ve seen so much barbarism, ‘terrorism’ is the first thing that comes to mind now when any act of  violence takes place

My head’s gonna explode …

I had a different blog post prepared for today.

But on Saturday night a good friend of mine (with whom, when I lived in Montreal, I used to have the most intense, interesting and fabulous conversations on just about every topic you can think of, but especially politics) sent me an email about some articles she’d read in the Globe & Mail.

She wondered what my thoughts were, she was incensed about one of them, which was written by Jeffrey Simpson.

Frankly I hadn’t read them.  Margaret Wente, an OpEd writer for

To the powers that be at CNN …

Shut the f*ck up already.  Really.  Your incessant repetition of nothing is so getting on my nerves.  The endless speculation that goes nowhere.  The constant questions.  The meaningless questions.  The ever-growing stream of ‘experts’ who have no answers because there are no answers.  Your relentless prying and probing and the never-ending exploitation of people’s sadness and grief.  Please.  Stop.

Enough already.  Give it a rest.

It’s bad enough when there’s a snowstorm and your poor, unfortunate, frost-bitten reporters are sent hither, thither and yon to freeze their asses off, so you can keep tabs on how high the snow drifts are.  Or when a plane goes down.

You just can’t get enough of the gory details.  Over and over and over and over again you ask what it must have been like to be a passenger on that plane as it spun out of control and it became

Day 261. Canadian Arrests

For all the Canadians who think terrorists don’t target us, think again.  Seems the police have had two alleged terrorists under investigation since August 2012.  And a couple of days ago, April 22 to be precise, a special joint tax force of RCMP and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) anti-terrorism units, in partnership with provincial and municipal police forces in Ontario and Quebec arrested them.

Thankfully, long before they could carry out their plot, which was still in the planning stage.

Thankfully, long before countless numbers of innocent people were killed and injured.

Their plan?  To blow up a VIA passenger train in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).  When?  No one is saying.  Why?  No one is saying.  But do terrorists really need a reason?  And if and when they have one, does it make a difference?  Does it, somehow, make it make sense?

Of course not.

Which train?  Apparently it wasn’t a specific train they were after.  It was a specific route.  Although no details have been

Day 258. Egos Aside

Want to know how powerful the spirit of collaboration can be?  Look no further than Boston, this past week.  Everyone co-operated.  Everyone was on the same page.  They worked as a team.

From the Governor to the Mayor.  From the local police to the FBI.  From the swat teams, to the military, to the bomb squads, to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.  From the emergency workers to the medical personnel to the fire fighters.  From the runners to the residents to the business owners.

I wasn’t there.  I have no training in such matters.  Or, thankfully, any experience.  But this I do know.  If they hadn’t put their egos aside, if they hadn’t put individual agendas or prejudices or beliefs or preferences aside, if