Fist Fight in Ukraine's Parliament May 25 (Bloomberg) -- A fist fight broke out between lawmakers during a debate in Ukraine's parliament over the use of the Russian language in courts and hospitals. (Source: Bloomberg) TV Channel Finder ZIP is required for U.S. locations Bloomberg Television in change Continue reading →
Mark Blinch/Reuters No one got it right. Not me, not the press, not Conrad. The week of May 2 had no script. The way it was supposed to be was this: after nine years almost to the day, we were coming to the end of a nightmare. I would stand at the gates of the Miami Federal Correctional Institution in a pretty dress in one of the colours the prison rules had never allowed when visiting—which was pretty much every colour that looked any good on me except for black. Conrad would come through the door that had been slammed in my face with the warm comment “get her out of here” the previous Sept. 5 when he self-surrendered to prison for the second time. ... Continue reading →
The fantasy of the Grand March … is the political kitsch joining leftists of all times and tendencies. The Grand March is the splendid march on the road to brotherhood, equality, justice, happiness; it goes on and on, obstacles notwithstanding, for obstacles there must be if the march is to be the Grand March. — Milan Kundera Andrew Coyne introduced his Thursday column about student protesters in Montreal with the above quote from Milan Kundera’s remarkable and brilliantly titled novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The story follows the romantic and political tribulations of four characters caught up in the unforgiving consequences of the 1968 Prague Spring. What makes this novel a political classic is that it contains an original critique of communism and all ... Continue reading →
The fantasy of the Grand March … is the political kitsch joining leftists of all times and tendencies. The Grand March is the splendid march on the road to brotherhood, equality, justice, happiness; it goes on and on, obstacles notwithstanding, for obstacles there must be if the march is to be the Grand March. — Milan Kundera Andrew Coyne introduced his Thursday column about student protesters in Montreal with the above quote from Milan Kundera’s remarkable and brilliantly titled novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The story follows the romantic and political tribulations of four characters caught up in the unforgiving consequences of the 1968 Prague Spring. What makes this novel a political classic is that it contains an original critique of communism and all ... Continue reading →
So how's that old Arab Spring going? You remember – the "Facebook Revolution." As I write, they're counting the votes in Egypt's presidential election, so by the time you read this the pecking order may have changed somewhat. But currently in first place is the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi, who in an inspiring stump speech before the students of Cairo University the other night told them, "Death in the name of Allah is our goal." Like! Egyptian demonstrators gather to denounce the electoral success of Ahmed Shafiq, a presidential candidate, in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt on Friday, May 25, 2012. Of 13 candidates running for the presidency, Shafiq, along with Mohammed Morsi, gained the largest number of votes during two days of presidential ... Continue reading →
Elizabeth May raises a valid issue when she questions the federal government’s targeting of repeat users in its reform of the Employment Insurance program. The response might not be the one she’d like, though. The Green Party leader revealed Thursday that she spent several years as a repeat user (a term that sounds more like some sort of drug problem than one of employment status). Ms. May said that from 1975 to 1980, she received what was then called unemployment insurance during the off-season while working as a waitress and cook at her family’s restaurant and gift shop business in Cape Breton. Labelling regular users of EI, such as herself, as lazy or abusing the system is unfair, she said. “I paid into employment insurance. ... Continue reading →
