TORONTO – Toronto’s public transit system (known as the “TTC” for Toronto Transit Commission) is in such a state of turmoil that only a radical, can’t-even-see-the-box-from-here approach will fix it. At present, it’s a middling-good, ad-hoc network of buses, electric streetcars (as pictured), light rail and subways operated by an aggressively unionized cabal that […]
TORONTO – Common sense is sorely lacking in the media hoopla and political response to the latest failed attempt to bring down a civil airliner. Perhaps it’s time to look dispassionately at the challenge and identify some potential responses that might help.
Christmas Day Recap
For those of you living on Mars: On December […]
TORONTO – Yesterday, Canada’s Prime Minister was publicly rebuked by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao for prioritizing human rights above corporate profits. This bit of laughable political theater in China turned outright bizarre by the time news reached Ottawa, where opposition political leaders dutifully lined up behind the Chinese dictatorship to wag their professorial index […]
TORONTO – In his Macleans magazine column this week, Paul Wells rightly points out that the coming détente between federal Liberals and Conservatives mark the end of Jack Layton’s tenure as leader of the federal New Democratic Party.
Wells outlines a believable scenario that would see a tenuous truce between the two major parties in Canada’s […]
TORONTO — Just a few “quick hits” in the blog today.
Obama to land in Kabul soon?
With U.S. president Barack Obama currently on a tour of Asia after the APEC conference, and the world waiting for him to announce his decision on a way forward in Afghanistan, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pop up […]
TORONTO — First, let me say that my thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and wounded in yesterday’s horrific shooting incident at Fort Hood in the U.S. Second, let me say how disappointing it was watching the “insta-news” media machine grind through the day.
Much of what I’m going to cover in […]
TORONTO — I have written before about the strategic savoir faire of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Saturday’s attack on the headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi may prove to be the single biggest strategic blunder by the Taliban’s wing in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the Army
And, the Army is Pakistan.
The government in Pakistan is inept, corrupt […]
TORONTO – Today’ surprising announcement that U.S. president Barack Obama is the 2009 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize must have the leader of the free world pulling his hair out.
Sure, it’s an amazing honor. And, it’s something to highlight on your resume if (a) you’ve won one and (b) if people believe you’ve earned […]
DUBAI — I had an unusual chance on Wednesday to watch the back end of U.S. president Barack Obama’s press conference on health care. He answered a number of questions
with answers that were, for a politician, unusually lengthy and detailed. The last question was off-topic, asking for his opinion of the hoopla surrounding the arrest […]
DUBAI — An article in today’s Los Angeles Times provides good evidence that the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan “gets it” when it comes to counter-insurgency warfare there. The article announces a new U.S. military policy to forego body counts in future press releases.
For some time now, ISAF and U.S. military spokespeople have touted the […]