In the past 36 hours, social media has exploded over a controversial headline in The Telegram. The story, by court reporter Rosie Mullaly, covered the first day of testimony in the trial of Carl Snelgrove, an RNC officer charged with sexual assault against a young woman to whom he offered a ride home in the
Author: Peter Jackson
Trump, annotated
I considered composing my own annotation of Donald J. Trump's inauguration diatribe, but instead will defer to this excellent piece from Vox. http://www.vox.com/a/president-trump-inauguration-speech-transcript-annotations
We’re talking about children here
A school bus rides along an open country road in winter. The children are laughing and jostling, the two in back waving at the man in a pickup following behind. Suddenly, the driver loses control. She tries to straighten the vehicle, but instead swerves off the edge and trundles down an embankment. The man in
The Putin Network
Saying Russian hacking had nothing to do with the outcome of the U.S. election is like saying sexting other women had nothing to do with Anthony Wiener's political career. The former New York congressman may well have botched things all on his own, but revelations about penile postings — including messages allegedly sent to a
Do you want a media conspiracy or not?
Until this week, it would have been hard to imagine how the words of Trump and his spokespeople could become any more Kafka-esque. But Kellyanne Conway managed it. On Monday, the incoming president's chief counsel told an American TV audience that the media should stop listening to what Trump says and look instead into his
Happy New Year
Many years ago, I was at a New Year's Eve party and a fellow I knew suggested we put this song on at midnight. I knew why, but you have to listen to the whole song to realize. Not long afterwards, he committed suicide. So, here's a happy new year to you all. Hope it's
Hell on Earth
Nobel award-winner Bob Dylan basically defined the protest song in the 1960s. What do protest songs sound like today? Well, here's a favourite example, from 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fju9o8BVJ8&feature=youtu.be
A little background
Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement on my new blog. Thanks to Ed Hollett in particular for giving me a little plug on Bondpapers the other day. He is truly one of the originals, having blogged on (mostly) provincial and federal politics for the past 11 years. He's received a couple of notable nods for his
How the Leitch stole Christmas
I hate Christmas. Those who know me are painfully aware of this. They call me "the Grinch" or "Scrooge" or some other moniker drawn from the repertoire of Christmas water torture that makes me despise the season in the first place. In fact, I don't hate Christmas at all. Despite a predilection for scientific skepticism,
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming – Renée Fleming and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUGTzpntLs8