Sometimes I wonder why the people of Africa do not positively detest Europe and North America. We have exploited, colonized and raped their continent for centuries and continue to sell arms to their dictators whom we have put in place and then condemn them for spending money on wars. We invaded their countries, destroyed their culture and enforced white privilege [...]
On April 1, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had commended the Roman Catholic Church as “the conscience of the nation.” Given the record of the Brown government, informed readers might well have dismissed the story as an April Fools Day prank. Yet the report was accurate. With a general election impending on May 6, Brown [...]
I’ve been reflecting more than usual on writing and books. What got me thinking was a conversation with a fellow author I often meet at the neighbourhood library. “My book is popular in the British Isles,” he said, excited. “You mean your self-published novel that didn’t sell?” “Copies are flying off the shelves.” “Congratulations,” I said. “You must be pleased [...]
“Frank, sit down. What can I do for you?” “Well Millstone, old friend, you are acknowledged as the greatest oracle in the Western world. I come to you for some free advice. What would you do to solve the difficulties facing Pope Benedict today?” “Frank, I’ve never accepted the old bromide that the buck stops here and by that, I mean at [...]
The sun is shining, or it’s raining or snowing, so it must be time for yet another attack on the Roman Catholic church. This time involving lies about the Pope, his brother and, before long, his auntie Freda and his pet cat Hans. Logical thinking and balanced thought were eliminated from this subject long ago. It’s church-bashing time and why [...]
At our website, TheInterim.com, we comment on current news items at our blog Soconvivium (www.viewyourenvoymediasite.ca/soconvivium). During the debate on the Liberal motion to require that abortion and contraception be made part of the government’s maternal health program (see story on page two), we “live-blogged” the proceedings. Here are excerpts of my comments as the debate progressed. 11:09 am: Liberal MP Keith Martin [...]
Among most men of my acquaintance – and this probably says more about my friends than anything else – the most eagerly anticipated TV series this year is HBO’s The Pacific, which will started airing last month (after this column was submitted). It’s a companion piece to the critically-lauded Band of Brothers, the 2001 miniseries that followed a group of paratroopers from [...]
Liberal opposition party leader Michael Ignatieff is thought to be swimming in a tank of sharks. A group of top Liberal politicians thinks he’s politically dead or heading in that direction. Ignatieff’s plummeting popularity is a concern for some of the wannabes in the federal Liberal party who are sharpening their knives. His approval rating is now down to 20 per cent. [...]
In early March, the usual Hollywood types gathered at the usual Hollywood Oscar event and gave the usual people the usual awards. Avatar didn’t win much, but it hardly matters – it’s the most financially successful movie in the history of cinema. It’s also anti-Christian, anti-human and bursting with pagan and anti-life concepts and constructs. Set in 2154, it concerns [...]
Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the British Conservative party, has written a major policy paper on the family, in which he urges his parliamentary colleagues to single out married couples for special tax benefits. It’s an excellent idea that politicians in Canada should be no less eager to embrace than their British counterparts. Not so long ago, special benefits [...]
In “Christianity Lite” (First Things, February 2010), Mary Eberstadt traces the collapse of the mainline Protestant churches to Resolution 15 of the 1930 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops, which broke with the hitherto universal and constant teaching of the Catholic church against any use of artificial means of contraception. Specifically, Resolution 15 provided that married couples who are faced with [...]
I’m going to the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville,” I told my wife Ileen. “Sarah Palin is going to be the keynote speaker.” “Sarah Palin! She’s terrific. Who’s paying for it?” she asked, suspiciously. “The Tea Party people. The Democratic party recommended me highly.” “The Democratic Party!” she exclaimed. “After what you accidentally did to the Democrats telling the whole world [...]
Recently, in my Sun Media column, I wrote of being invited by a student group at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. to speak on the issue of abortion. I wrote in the column that the organizers of the event were obliged to hire security guards after threats were made to disrupt the event and how these were taken seriously as [...]
Recently, an editor who regularly rejects my articles called me a humorist. I let it pass. Editors have called me worse things. When I was young and busy, I wrote humour for fun, and I sold the odd piece. Now that I’m old and idle, I write humour seriously, and I still sell the odd piece. So I’m keeping up. [...]
There are a few rules about reviewing movies that no one can teach you – that only become evident after you’ve sat through many hundreds of hours of films you probably didn’t enjoy and written reviews that, taken as a whole, provide evidence of a life in the midst of being wasted. Some apply generally to the whole history of moviemaking and [...]