Svend banished to purgatory for doing his job
Vancouver Courier (June 20, 1999):
The first column upon returning from vacation is a chore. After spending three weeks relaxing and trying to purge my mind of work and its aggravations, I have to re-stress myself scouting around for a subject.
This year, though, the transition is
uncommonly easy. In fact, I have a passel of possibilities, so
now the question becomes which one to do first. All hell
breaking loose over God and Svend Robinson in the House of
Commons wins out. ...
read more.
Falwell’s
organ exposes him to ridicule
Vancouver Courier (February
14, 1999):
When we’re young, we live a charmed existence where the real and
the imaginary are inseparable. From imaginary friends to
monsters in the closet, the mind runs free on a playground
filled with wondrous fancies and terrifying spectres. Hopefully,
more of the former than the latter. ...
read more.
The Vatican exorcizes options
Vancouver Courier (January
31, 1999):
When faced with having to explain the inexplicable, devout
Christians sometimes resort to the catchphrase “God works in
mysterious ways.” It doesn’t explain anything, but at least it
eases the mind. Perhaps it’s the best way to try to comprehend
the Vatican’s pronouncements on Satan. Christians of all
denominations must be thinking that God has outdone himself.
...
read more.
Readers tune out as journalism
loses its rigour
Vancouver Courier (August 9, 1998):
One of the biggest newsmakers today is the news. In the last
couple of months, a Boston Globe columnist was found to
have fabricated information and CNN was forced to repudiate a
major investigative story. The story of Operation Tailwind,
about the use of sarin nerve gas by U.S. forces in Laos in 1970,
was found to be entirely unsubstantiated. The fallout of this
admission is especially embarrassing: If the great all-news
network can’t get it right, who can? ...
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Vatican can’t
keep out reforms forever
Vancouver Courier (March 2, 1997):
When they were part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “in” group,
Bill Moyers and George Ball were known as the “domesticated
dissenters.” They opposed the escalation of the Vietnam War but
were permitted to voice criticisms under two conditions: one,
they didn’t discuss their views with outsiders; and two, they
didn’t challenge the policy itself. They had to criticize around
the edges or else find themselves on the outside looking in. In
1966, they resigned. ...
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