The Global Village
Lessons for Democrats
Par David T. Jones le 5 février 2009
One of life's lessons is that no man stands so tall as when he puts the monkey on some one else's back. Appreciating that sobriquet, "Bush 43" jets into history (or at least to Crawford Texas), and a chattering troop of simians have seated themselves on President Obama's shoulders. Caging them, throttling them, or just enduring them are now the Democrats problem as for the first time since 1992, the Democrats control both the Congress and the Presidency...
Lettre à Gaza...
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 15 janvier 2009
Pauvre Proche-Orient ! Pauvre Gaza ! Pauvres Palestiniens ! Pauvre peuple en perdition… Comme si le destin continue de s’acharner contre toi pour faire parvenir un message à l’ensemble des pays de la région, et particulièrement à tes « frères » arabes. ..
Keep real Gaza facts in mind
Par Leo Adler le 15 janvier 2009
As the situation between Israel and Hamas continues to dominate headlines, and the calls for Canada to have an "even-handed" approach and to condemn Israel's "disproportionate" policies are renewed, it might be appropriate to step back a bit and review a few indisputable facts...
The Inaugural Inspiration
Par Alidor Aucoin le 15 janvier 2009
All US presidents eventually reveal their flaws, but the ones who are remembered in spite of their flaws are those who inspire Americans - and by extension all free people - to serve and make a difference...
Israel is disproportionate. Disproportionately restrained.
Par David Solway le 15 janvier 2009
The recent outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas should give us an opportunity to reflect, once again, not only on the current belligerents, but on the role of the obligatory third party to the conflict. I refer to the ground troops of the armies of the liberal-left, aka the Western media, who inevitably tilt the balance of the war they are “covering” in favor of their confederates or, what amounts to the same thing, against the side they reprove.
Political Correctness--the Curse of Civilization
Par David T. Jones le 15 janvier 2009
We can be confident that, as soon as our long ago ancestors started living in caves, there was "correctness"--social, political, tribal, etc. Just where do you throw your bones after cracking them open and sucking out the marrow? Just where do you perform your bodily functions? Or who speaks (grunts?) in what order in the group meeting?..
Who staged Mumbai?
Par Madhav Das Nalapat le 18 décembre 2008
First, a matter of terminology. Although the Mumbai terrorist attacks began late evening of November 26, 2008, the siege lasted three days, and hence it would be more accurate to take 11/27 (the midpoint) to indicate the attack. On December 1, www.upiasia.com carried an analysis by this writer on the attacks, pointing out that they were seemingly masterminded by regular elements within the Pakistan army. This was based on information from within the South Asian region that was credible and at levels senior enough to know the facts...
Problems for a “Team of Rivals”
Par David T. Jones le 18 décembre 2008
Washington DC - Washington media has much bruited about the concept of a “team of rivals” for the Obama administration. The label derives from the Doris Kearns Goodwin book of the same name regarding Abraham Lincoln’s assembly of a Civil War cabinet incorporating his political rivals, who individually and corporately believed themselves far better qualified than he to lead the country under any circumstances, let alone during a civil war..
To Michael: A Love Letter
Par Sharman Yarnell le 18 décembre 2008
Some years ago I was asked to audition for a stage play called Extremities. It was hot on Broadway with Susan Sarandon in the lead, and Elite Productions was mounting it here in Montreal...
To rouse the world from fear
Par Beryl Wajsman le 27 novembre 2008
Saturday was the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. That tragedy haunts us still. In many ways and at all times. The writer Mary McGrory said on that day that we shall never smile again. Daniel Patrick Moynihan answered no, we may smile again, but we’ll never be young again. For many it was the day hope died...
L’avocat du « Diable »
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 27 novembre 2008
Après Maher Arar, c’est au tour de trois autres musulmans… canadiens, Ahmad el-Maati, Muayyed Nureddin et Abdullah Almalki de réclamer des dommages et intérêts au gouvernement du Canada pour des crimes commis contre leurs personnes par des pays dont ils sont originaires, tel la Syrie et l’Égypte. Ce qui est regrettable, c’est que le contribuable canadien se voit désormais obligé de payer la facture à la place des dictatures du Proche et du Moyen-Orient, tout cela à cause d’un précédent créé par l’affaire Arar!..
More Lessons for Republicans
Par David T. Jones le 27 novembre 2008
Journalists are inclined to depict every political bend in the road as a major turning point. Historians know better. And so it is after the 2008 election in which President-elect Obama is being globally greeted with hosannas and depicted as the bearer of solutions to all ills foreign and domestic. ..
Citizen Obama
Par Beryl Wajsman le 13 novembre 2008
He started by testing the waters. That was what his campaign was all about at the start. Barack Obama burned with ideas and ideals, but he knew as a junior Senator with relatively little national exposure, that his 2008 campaign would probably be all about positioning. Positioning for the next time. But then something happened. Iowa...
Les défis
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 13 novembre 2008
Il y a encore quelques mois, l’idée d’avoir un homme de race noire comme président des États-Unis était en soi un défi, d’autant plus que dans l’imaginaire populaire de l’Occident, l’Amérique était encore une entité où le racisme était plus vivace qu’en Europe. Or, voilà qu’aujourd’hui, les États-Unis d’Amérique prouvent encore une fois la grandeur de ce pays et la force de sa démocratie; de quoi constituer une leçon d’ouverture au monde entier...
It matters
Par George Jonas le 13 novembre 2008
Yes, it matters. Just because you've seen one president, doesn't mean you've seen them all. If you got the president you always wanted for a neighbour, don't yet heave a sigh of relief. If you got the one you always feared, don't yet despair. Knowing who the president is doesn't tell you everything, or even half of it. Presidents aren't free to be what they are. A candidate may be his own person. But a President is his office. As a leader, he no longer belongs to himself. The Chinese might call him the creature of the three Ps: His people, his place and his period. A leader is a follower by definition...
Kristallnacht: Seventy years later
Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 13 novembre 2008
It is a challenge to address the stark issues posed by the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. One difficulty is that too many in my own spiritual community (Christian) stood by during the worst catastrophe in all of recorded history.There were exceptions-some famous, some virtually unknown—but most Christians in Europe and elsewhere, including Canada, did not do enough to love and care for our Jewish neighbours as ourselves. Another is drawing two effective lessons from the Holocaust of practical use today in Canada and elsewhere...
Everlasting debt
Par Lawrence Rosenthal le 13 novembre 2008
Rêve est réalité
Par Sébastien Dorélas le 13 novembre 2008
Ma couverture de cette campagne a commencé d’un drôle de manière. Nous (la délégation) étudiante du CIPUF avons eu droit à une escale forcée au bureau des douaniers au poste frontalier de Champlain. Le douanier en charge de l’inspection n’a pas apprécié que parmi la vingtaine d’étudiants de la délégation, certains avaient des passeports provenant de la France et de la Belgique...
“The glass ceiling has been shattered”
Par Dan Delmar le 13 novembre 2008
The stakes were high on Nov. 4 for American Democrats, but also for members of Montreal’s Black community who expect to see the election of Barack Obama as a positive development for black youth in this country as well...
Catastrophe looms for Ashraf refugees
Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 30 octobre 2008
The 3500 refugees in Camp Ashraf, located in Iraq about an hour's drive from both Baghdad and the Iranian border, are at serious risk. They are members and supporters of the main opposition in Iran, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), formed in the 1960s in opposition to the Shah's absolute monarchy...
Butt Out
Par David T. Jones le 30 octobre 2008
U.S. observers of the Canadian scene are well aware of the almost obsessive attention Canadians pay to the United States. It is almost as if you don't have a life of your own...
Visa to paradise
Par Rouba al-Fattal le 30 octobre 2008
I stood for inspection at the gates of heaven
‘Passport and visa please’, a full armed angel demanded...
Why the U.S. credit crisis should never have happened
Par Robert Borosage le 16 octobre 2008
How did it come to this? The banksters issue a threat: hand over $700 billion in taxpayers’ money–on top of the $600 billion already forked over–or we’ll take down the global economy. There will be a lot of obfuscation—fingers pointing every which way—but the story is very clear...
Du machiavélisme « Assadien » renouvelé !
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 2 octobre 2008
À en croire les nouvelles en provenance de Damas, la voiture piégée qui a explosé le samedi 27 septembre dernier serait le travail d’un terroriste irakien lié à Al-Qaïda. Ce « terroriste-suicidaire » se serait fait exploser avec sa voiture en plein milieu de la foule dans une région dense sur le chemin de l’aéroport...
Sarah Palin and exceeding expectations
Par David T. Jones le 18 septembre 2008
On November 3, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin accepted the Republican nomination for Vice President. Her selection on August 31 by Senator John McCain had prompted a tsunami of "Sarah Who?" instant analysis...
Incident, ou Meurtre prémédité avec message à l’appui?
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 4 septembre 2008
Lorsque l’information est tombée, ma première réaction était de la vérifier pour voir si les agences de presse ne s’étaient pas trompées – bien que rares sont les erreurs de ces dernières, voire impossible – en annonçant qu’un hélicoptère de l’Armée libanaise avait été abattu au dessus d’une zone contrôlée par le Hezbollah au Sud Liban...
Ideas before identities
Par Anthony Philbin le 4 septembre 2008
Historic moments have a way of sneaking up on us...
La vision israélienne
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 21 août 2008
Il fallait s’y attendre, la décision du Premier ministre israélien, Ehud Olmert, de démissionner, sonne le glas d’une courte ère aux conséquences néfastes pour l’image de marque d’Israël...
La réaction arabe
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 21 août 2008
Il y a quelques semaines, suite à l’accord conclut avec Israël par l'intermédiaire de la médiation allemande pour libérer les prisonniers libanais et palestiniens des prisons israéliennes en échange des corps des deux soldats israéliens, le Secrétaire général du Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, déclarait publiquement devant des dizaines de milliers de partisans « chose promise, chose due! »...
Why McCain can't let Obama run against Bush
Par Prof. Thomas Velk le 21 août 2008
George Bush is not running for President, but Barack Obama is running against him anyway. With every call for change, the charismatic young Senator reminds the electorate that he is not merely anti-Bush, but The Anti-Bush...
Procrustean History
Par David Solway le 7 août 2008
The crisis in which the West now finds itself is largely one of its own making and is rooted primarily in the false relation it has entered into with history...
L'humanitaire versus le terrorisme
Par Alain-Michel Ayache le 7 août 2008
Deux ans après, presque jour pour jour, le Hezbollah remet les corps des deux soldats israéliens qu'il avait kidnappés lors de son attaque par delà la ligne bleue, en territoire israélien. Une attaque qui avait été à l'origine de la « seconde guerre du Liban » de juillet 2006...
Iran: Time to support existing opposition to Mullah tyranny
Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 7 août 2008
The international community appears to be increasingly aware that Iran's theocracy constitutes one of the world's most oppressive governments. It continues to persecute minorities (Arabs, Azeri's, Kurds, Turks, Baha'is, Jews and Christians) and women in a species of gender apartheid (The life of a woman is worth half that of a man in Iran)..
Jamais plus!
Par l'Hon. Irwin Cotler le 10 juillet 2008
Cette année c’est la soixantième anniversaire de l’adoption de deux instruments cruciaux dans notre histoire, soit la Convention pour la prévention et la répression du crime de génocide (la « Convention sur le génocide »)—connue comme la Convention « plus jamais »—et la Déclaration universelle des droits de la personne—reconnue comme étant la « magna carta » de l’humanité...
Global Conflict and North American Integration
Par Prof. Thomas Velk le 10 juillet 2008
Cooperation with the United States earns Canada economic gains and gives it a discrete national identity. Meaningful cooperation is always possible, but international conflicts that shift the U.S. balance of power toward the executive branch represent unique opportunities for Canada to extend her national interest...
