At the Machzikei Hadas synagogue in Ottawa. Great to be among friends.
I carry on for about 50 minutes & then there's a lively discussion.
So here's my talk about where we're at and how we got here, specifically to Ukraine. Starts with my adventures in Russia 17 years ago during the Springtime of the Oligarchs, that moment in history when democracy began its long global retreat, and the rise of the police states, led by Beijing, began.
I promised to cover a lot of ground so I did. From Cain and Abel at the tomb of their brother Sith Ibn Adam near Mazar-e-Sharif at the beginning of time in Afghanistan & finally the path from Tuamgraney to the Valley of the Black Pig in Ireland, where the world will end. So the locals used to say. And for all anyone knows they may have been right.
In Ottawa I was a guest of my beloved Fred Litwin and Andrew Yip & a guest of Rabbi Idan Scher at Machzikei Hadas, & my talk was co-sponsored by my friends at the Beth Israel synagogue and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
Here’s the link.
I’d just come from Montreal, where I gave a talk at the 30th Annual Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide at Vanier College, so it’s been a few days of pretty solemn stuff. I’d say I’m glad to be back on the west coast but it was milder in Montreal & Ottawa than on the coast when I left, and it’s still pretty chilly out here. Will be writing my column this week, then away from my usual newspaper gigs for a couple of special projects for the National Post, some roaring out the backgrounds on my Triumph if ever and whenever time and weather permits, but I’ll be dispatching newsletters as often as I’m able.
If you’ don’t already, you should subscribe. Seriously.