We have lost another three brave young men in Afghanistan because of a reckless foreign policy agenda bent more on placating our southern neighbours than ushering in any sort of realistic ‘new day’ in a country that has been at war for decades. In a country where international relief supplies are easier to obtained on the Black Market than anywhere else, where promises made by foreign powers have rarely become a reality despite propaganda to the contrary, one has to seriously wonder why the people of ...More »

Chris Jensen was kind enough to forward me a link to Canucks.com (Thanks Chris!) where someone has come up with a brilliant idea for celebrating the memory and legacy of Luc Bourdon. The idea is to donate $28 (Luc's number) to Canucks Place. *For those who don't know, Canucks Place is a Hospice for sick children. I encourage all to click here and bring a silver lining to Luc's passing. Thanks, -Rod This is just shocking to read. One of the most up and coming defensive dynamos has lost his ...More »

The world is, rather understandably, disconcerted by the inaction of Burma’s military junta with regards to their response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. As many of you are aware, the regime has been hindering international aid efforts, causing the humanitarian crisis to worsen. As it stands now, some 78,000 to 100,000 people have been killed and a further 60,000 are thought to be missing. While shocking to the layman, the Burmese regime has some cause for trepidation. We are, after all, talking about ...More »

The numbers regarding both the disasters in Burma and China have been, unfortunately, updated. In Burma, some 78,000 people are now reported dead with a further 56,000 missing. The United Nations is estimating that the death toll is above 100,000. The number one threat to those survivors in the area of the country that was hit remains access to clean water. In China, just over 22,000 people are being reported dead with an estimated 5 million people left homeless. The death toll is expected to ...More »

It’s eight o’clock in the morning. I have no idea what I am doing up, other than the fact that I went to bed pretty early. I watched The Other Boleyn Girl last night after rehearsal and prior to passing out. Why is it that no one can portray the Tudors with any historical accuracy? Recent Catastrophes Matters in China are looking grimmer by the day, as are conditions in Burma. One searches for words to put such catastrophes into context, but there are few. The ...More »

I’ve been busy with rehearsals and exhausted afterwards, so haven’t been able to update the site at all. In fact, I haven’t even checked my email since Friday. Anyway, a few things… Welcome to the new Canada. Today, in Halifax, the Prime Minister announced the Canada First Defense Policy, which is a major shift in Canadian military spending and commitment to global military affairs. It is, without question, extremely alarming. Listening to the Prime Minister talk this morning I was deeply troubled at his alignment of ...More »

The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 took the lives of some 225,000 people in 11 different countries. As it stands now, the death toll in Burma is still being held at roughly 22,000, but given that much of the southern portion of the Irrawaddy delta remains underwater, it is estimated that the death toll could rise as high as 100,000 – just under one half of that of the 2004 tsunami in a single country. Burma’s hard-line political leadership could also make matters worse by refusing ...More »

New reports out of Burma have placed deaths caused by the cyclone that recently hit the country at upwards of 10,000 people, far greater than figures initially released. Some 24 million people live in the five regions of the country that were hit. There have also been reports that that 80% of Laputta has been completely destroyed. If this doesn’t make you throw up in your mouth, nothing will. It is utterly fucking sick. A piece by Chomsky from February of this year entitled ...More »

While the Israeli government looks into the legality of targeting civilian areas from which rockets have been fired into Israel, the Israeli Defense Force has claimed that of the 100 plus Palestinians killed in their recent incursion into Gaza, 90 of them were Hamas militants. During operations in Gaza’s suburbs, the IDF have been guilty of employing snipers that have taken the lives of civilians. In one instance, a 12-year-old girl was shot in the stomach as she stood several feet from a window after ...More »

After years of cataloguing and commenting on world events on this website, I must admit that it has become somewhat of a chore. Obviously, my personal beliefs remain unaltered, but as the years have passed I have found myself suffering from a bizarre form of self induced anxiety because I feel that I’m unable to grant a myriad of subjects the attention that I feel they deserve, and in a manner that reflects their seriousness by providing the sort of attention to them that simply ...More »