Pakistani police bash and smash pro-democracy demonstrators. Iranian police whip women who dress “imodestly.” Chinese police open fire on students. New Orleans’ police join looters in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Mexican police riddled with corruption. These reports are just a hint of the uniformed thuggery that the hapless citizens of other lands have [...]

Dear Editor;
Pakistani police bash and smash pro-democracy demonstrators. Iranian police whip women who dress “imodestly.” Chinese police open fire on students. New Orleans’ police join looters in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Mexican police riddled with corruption. These reports are just a hint of the uniformed thuggery that the hapless citizens of other lands [...]

Dear Editor:
Do the cops in Brazil have to read prisoners their Carmen Miranda rights?
William Bedford
Toronto

Re “China blasts ‘interference’” (Oct. 30):
It’s not surprising that the mighty Chinese Communist Cabal are furious at Canada’s warm welcome for Tibet’s Dalai Lama. They are right to fear this simple godly pacifist. The rulers in Beijing realize the colossal mistake Winston Churchill made in dismissiing an erstwhile neighbour of theirs, another simple [...]

by William Bedford
The plaintive wail of the pipes
and the beat of the muffled drum
echo in the morning mist.
The Maple Leaf snaps in the breeze
above the bowed heads of the
mourners while John McCrae’s
immortal words are read.
As the bugler sounds the Last Post,
the youngsters fidget,
and look forward to playtime.
The oldsters shuffle, and look backward
to wartime.
The past and [...]