Surprise Turn of Events at Taylor Verdict
Kirsty Sutherland
April 29, 2012Today former Liberian president Charles Taylor has been unanimously convicted of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) sitting at The Hague. The verdict, which convicted Taylor for aiding and abetting rather than joint criminal enterprise, was followed by an impromptu dissent by the Trial Chamber's alternate judge, Justice Sow of Senegal.
In an unexpected turn of events, as Justice Lussick (Presiding), Justice Doherty and Justice Sebutinde rose to leave the courtroom after delivering the verdict, Justice Sow addressed the Court:
"The only moment where a Judge can express his opinion is during the deliberations or in the courtroom, and, pursuant to the Rules, when there are no serious deliberations, the ...
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War Hype at the Toronto Star
Editor
March 16, 2012Columnist Siddiqi has turned to the best minds available to back the Star’s headline, "Canada should lobby for bombing of Syria" (March 15, 2012). Hugh Segal, John McCain and Lloyd Axworthy agree it’s time to deploy "air assets" to remove Assad, it’s the humanitarian thing to do. Humanitarian: As in burn Korans, urinate on the dead and massacre civilians?
Segal wins the prize for imperial goofiness. NATO bombed Libya to remove Gaddafi so we have to bomb Syria to avoid a "double standard". You bomb one Arab government you don’t like you gotta bomb the next one goes the Senator’s logic. Of course "double standard" actually means doing to others what you would not allow done to you, which would apply to the Star, to Canada, to Siddiqi, to Segal, to Axworthy and McCain. ...
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Keep an eye on Kofi Annan, He’s the Master of Disaster
Editor
March 13, 2012Koffi Annan has been to Damascus for the UN Secretary General. The Syrians had better watch their step with him, he’s as dangerous as a regiment of the Paris led phony Free Syrian Army.
Koffi will try to arrange a UN/Arab League presence in Syria which can then move on to destabilize the government, through such means as disinformation outlets to confuse and demoralize the population and “corridors” for passage of people and weapons to rebel strongholds, safe from Syrian government oversight. That done, when
the time is ripe, when the army has been divided and somewhat disarmed, hostilities can be resumed—with “world opinion” on the side of freshly armed rebels. All blame will placed on Assad.
It should be kept in mind that Koffi Annan did precisely t ...
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Powerful Israel supporters give the max to Mulcair, no blush from NDP
Editor
March 11, 2012Peter Munk, Chairman of Barrick Gold, Gerald Schwartz, President of Onex and Joel Reitman, CEO of MIJO Corp. have each contributed to the Mulcair campaign for leader of the New Democratic Party. "Now" magazine of Toronto mentions this as "odd". How is it odd?
Munk, Schwartz and Reitman are keen supporters of Israel and are looking for candidates who agree with them. Mulcair fills the bill. He can do the mantra 2 state process line, but is missing on Israeli occupation and aggression. He won the hearts of Zionists with his attempt to bully Lizzie Davis. On Israel and the Palestinians Mulcair is a lot like Bob Rae, without the finesse. Some might have thought it odd that Thomas Walkom of the Toronto Star would write about the leaders campaign with paragraphs about contributo ...
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The Question of Separatism by Jane Jacobs
Five years after her death, a new enriched edition of Jane Jacobs' third book with an exclusive 2005 interview; available April 1, 2011
The incomparable Jane Jacobs passed away five years ago on April 25, 2006. Baraka Books proudly offers readers a new edition of her third, least-known book to mark that anniversary. Undeniably a genius on urban issues, Jane Jacobs also grappled with the question of nations and political sovereignty but nobody wanted to hear what she had to say. Out of print since the mid 80s, The Question of Separatism, Quebec and the struggle over sovereignty now includes a new preface and an exclusive and previously unpublished 2005 interview conducted in Jane Jacobs' Toronto home just a year before she died. Random House first published the book in 1980.
Nagging questions remain five years after her death? Why has the work of a leading thinker on the unfolding story of nations received so little attention? Why is the only book she wrote about her adopted country, The Question of Separatism, never discussed? Why, unlike her other six books, was it out of print for 25 years? How can 35 experts put together a 400-page anthology, What we see, Advancing the observations of Jane Jacobs (2010), without mentioning the book?
Jacobs answered these questions in part in an interview she granted me in 2005. She pointedly broke with her no-interview policy because this interview was to focus on her book The Question of Separatism, 25 years after it appeared and ten years after the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty.
Asked if the media ever talked to her about her book on separatism, Jacobs replied, "No. Practically never! You’re the first." Explaining the silence she added: "Don't want to think about it… or engage in talking pros and cons and why people feel this way. It’s an unwelcome subject (...) It was fear that there would be no more identity for Canada, that it would disintegrate if Quebec were to separate. It was foolish because there are so many examples of separatism, and nothing has disintegrated, unless they went to war. There were over thirty of these cases in very recent times since the issue of Quebec was raised in 1980."...
The Question of Separatism by Jane Jacobs is available at Baraka Books
