Marching toward a Police State

Some recent disturbing news seem to indicate that although Canada is nowhere near being the Orwellian society UK has become, privacy is increasingly losing ground.

En Chance Til (A Second Chance) 2014

With all the hype around the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one can easily get lost in the multi-channel translations and all the foreign movie stars that flirt with the many cameras. And every now and then, the movie goer is treated to an emotionally riveting film, such as En chance til (2014) by Susanne Bier (trailers: dm, yt).

Hello world

Let us start with a few Voltaire..

Left, Right and Libertarianism

I recently stumbled upon a fun drawing, aiming to contextualize the psychology of the liberal / progressive, conservative and libertarian and their perceptions of each other. You might enjoy it

European Islamophobia

Not long ago, in Anti-minarets Switzerland, Stefan Metzeler (Pro Libertate, ISIL, Institut Constant de Rebecque) was attempting in comments to justify the xenophobic and racist hatred most Europeans feel toward immigrants. I promised I was going to answer to him but never did. I discovered however a longer essay which covers some of the topics I would have covered quite well.

Random twitter chat with a Patriot

A recent twitter conversation between a Conservative and a non-descript illustrates perfectly the dangers of adopting truthiness as a guiding light and renouncing critical thinking.

posting photos and videos without permission

A while back, I was contacted by a friend of mine from another country asking for my help regarding a former (or existing? can’t remember) colleague who had created a page on Facebook titled “the incompetent ~”, where ~ was her real name, and also using her photo. She had filed a request with Facebook to have it removed, but Facebook refused, citing free speech rights that did not exist in that country’s legislation. More recently, here in Canada, a friend of mine told me a story of similar blackmail and I decided to take a more serious look at what can you post and cannot post.

Bureaucracy Quotes Collection

A few choice quotes on the magic of bureaucracy. It’s somewhat reassuring to remember that many others have endured the pain of having to deal with bureaucrats, and here are their thoughts. Take solace in schadenfreude!

Voting in Toronto: Chrystia Freeland vs Jennifer Hollet

#cdnpoli #elxn42 Advance voting for the October 19, 2015 Federal election is starting today, continuing throughout the Thanksgiving long weekend, and with that in mind, we'll be taking a brief look at our candidates and the issues of this election.