Ron Hynes: the man of 1000 songs departs for Cryer’s Paradise. By Greg Locke
Newfoundland singer-songwriter and musical legend, Ron Hynes, died Nov. 19. He was 64. In an ironic coincidence there was a power failure in downtown St John’s around the same time. Across the bar I heard someone say, “I guess Ron turned the lights out when he left.” Hynes’ music and writing marks a generation that began with Newfoundland’s cultural renaissance.
Bosnia divided two decades after peace deal. By Daria Sito-Sucic
A metal capsule containing over 20,000 wishes for the future was stored away in a Sarajevo museum, to mark the 20th anniversary of the peace deal that ended the Bosnian war but left the country deeply divided and dysfunctional.
Suicide Bombing: history’s least successful military tactic, by Jonathan Manthorpe
The latest terrorist tactics adopted by the Islamic State show the group heading toward political irrelevance and self-destruction. Suicide attacks have been used throughout the history of warfare — and they have an unrivalled record of total failure. They have never worked either as a last-ditch defence or as an offensive tactic aimed at overwhelming the opponent.
Amid the furor over refugees seeking asylum, we offer two essays:
Gate A-4, by Naomi Shihab Nye
Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been detained four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.” Well — one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.
Remembrance and Refugees, by Rod Mickleburgh
Two days before the numbing atrocities of Paris, I went to the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Japanese-Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park. After the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, bowing our heads in remembrance on that sun-bathed morning feels light years away. Yet, looking back, as hearts harden towards welcoming desperate Syrian refugees, the event seems to take on a deeper meaning.
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