I love the concept of the tipping point -- the idea that there can be a single moment in time when one last critical molecule of resistance crumbles and the whole damn mountainside comes down. Egypt recently found its political tipping point. Rosa Parks was a tipping point for racial discrimination in America. I believe another tipping point was reached last month in Missoula County, Montana. A kid by the name of Touray Cornell faced a felony charge: possession of an illegal substance punishable by serious prison time. The substance: marijuana, found by a police raid on his home. The amount: 1/16th of an ounce. [continues 555 words]
I love the concept of the tipping point - the idea that there can be a single moment in time when one last critical molecule of resistance crumbles and the whole damn mountainside comes down. Egypt recently found its political tipping point. Rosa Parks was a tipping point for racial discrimination in America. That first third-period Russian goal against our Canadian Juniors (cruising, at the time, to an easy, predicted 3-0 victory) was a sports tipping point. The Russians poured in four more unanswered goals to trounce the Canucks and take the title. [continues 696 words]
"You gotta ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well? Do ya, punk?" - - Harry Callaghan Ah, yes. Good old, bad old, Dirty Harry, squinting down the barrel of his cannon and giving the bad guy one last shot at macho redemption. Is Harry's gun empty? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't work out for the perp. Well, luck's a funny thing. Sometimes you're the windshield, as my pappy used to say, and sometimes you're the bug. [continues 586 words]
As a compelling attention-getter, there's nothing quite like a nose in the crotch. An uninvited nose, I hasten to add. This one was large, wet and attached to the snout of a German shepherd - - which was in turn leashed to the brawny right arm of a brush-cut, flint-eyed, humourless-looking chap with a badge on his chest and a Glock-nine on his hip. Where was this happening - a DMZ border crossing between the Koreas? A lockdown weapons inspection site outside Baghdad's Green Zone? Nope. [continues 636 words]
When I was in my late 'teens I lived for a time in a relatively seamy section of Montreal. My landlord, a wannabe jazz saxophonist, used to get together with an overgrown flower child who answered to the name Posey. They would spend most afternoons sitting on a balcony overlooking Rue Guy, puffing on doobies the size of panatelas as they giggled at the world going by. They were the only two people I knew in the world who smoked pot. [continues 627 words]
When I was in my late teens I lived for a time in a relatively seamy section of Montreal. My landlord, a wannabe jazz saxophonist, used to get together with an overgrown flower child who answered to the name Posey. They would spend most afternoons sitting on a balcony overlooking Rue Guy, puffing on doobies the size of panatelas as they giggled at the world going by. They were the only two people I knew in the world who smoked pot. [continues 628 words]
When I was in my late 'teens I lived for a time in a relatively seamy section of Montreal. My landlord, a wannabe jazz saxophonist, used to get together with an overgrown flower child who answered to the name Posey. The two of them would spend most afternoons sitting on a balcony overlooking Rue Guy. They would puff on doobies the size of panatelas as they giggled at the world going by. They were the only two people I knew in the world who smoked pot. [continues 631 words]
Did I ever tell you about the time I impersonated a cop? Relax, sergeant - it was several years ago, in another provincial jurisdiction. I lived in the sticks at the time, the hour hand had long passed midnight and some Party-Hearties in a house down the road were making noise. I took it for an hour and a half and then I called the cops. A bored dispatcher informed me that, as it was the weekend and due to cutbacks, no police were actually on duty, but an officer could be summoned from a nearby jurisdiction 'in an extreme emergency'. [continues 598 words]
Did I ever tell you about the time I impersonated a cop? Relax, sergeant - it was several years ago, in another provincial jurisdiction. I lived in the sticks at the time, the hour hand had long passed midnight and some Party-Hearties in a house down the road were making noise. Way too much noise. I took it for an hour and a half and then I called the cops. A bored dispatcher informed me that, as it was the weekend and due to budgetary cutbacks, no police were actually on duty, but an officer could be summoned from a nearby jurisdiction 'in an extreme emergency'. [continues 733 words]
Did I ever tell you about the time I impersonated a cop? Relax, sergeant - it was several years ago, in another provincial jurisdiction. I lived in the sticks at the time, the hour hand had long passed midnight and some Party-Hearties in a house down the road were making noise. I took it for an hour and a half and then I called the cops. A bored dispatcher informed me that, as it was the weekend and due to cutbacks, no police were actually on duty, but an officer could be summoned from a nearby jurisdiction 'in an extreme emergency'. [continues 610 words]
The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. Socrates Well, it's official. The Fraser Institute has declared that the War On Drugs has been a big fat waste of time. The Institute, for those who don't patrol the far-right fringe on the political tundra, is a collection of bigdomes who pronounce regularly on the vagaries of government and social policy. The Fraserites hang their mortar boards and three piece pin stripes in British Columbia, but ideologically they are Alberta Incarnate. [continues 548 words]
