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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: Honour and Damp-Eyed Idealism | | 2008-02-14 06:30:00 | | I may be something of a damp-eyed idealist, but I sincerely believe that in the long term, the person whose impulse is to do good is the person most likely to do well. More importantly, I am conscious that when we take to the field under the banner of UNICEF Team Canada, my teammates and I ride first and foremost for the honour of my country and the cause of the world's children, not for medals, ribbons, or other baubles. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Maclean's 50: NATO Hanging in the Balance | | 2008-01-25 17:55:01 | | In Afghanistan, the vast majority of NATO states have revealed an abject hypocrisy: they are all too happy to cower under an umbrella of security held over their heads by the sacrifice of others, including the wholly disproportionate casualties being borne by Canadian soldiers. If our NATO partners are not prepared to live up to their obligations today, they should not expect Canada or others to recognise any obligation to them tomorrow. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: Blood, Duty, and Responsibility | | 2007-12-21 19:45:01 | | Since 1983, nearly 70 000 unarmed civilians have died in Sri Lanka's civil war between Tamils and Sinhalese, and the catalogue of atrocities is one that should shock the conscience of the international community. Tomorrow, the Liberal Party will bring together Tamil and Sinhalese Canadians to discuss how Canada might foster peace in the country. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Advisory: Liberal Foreign Policy Forum on Peace in Sri Lanka | | 2007-12-21 17:55:01 | | The Liberal Party will host a major foreign policy forum in Toronto on Saturday on Sri Lanka's civil war, one of the bloodiest conflicts in the modern world. Bob Rae will be the keynote speaker and Akaash Maharaj will moderate. The forum will bring together Canadians from both sides of the conflict and from neither, and will seek to forge a consensus on what Canada can do to foster peace in the country. The panel will be composed of: Derek Lee MP, as host; Alan Tonks MP, GTA Caucus Chair; John McCallum MP, former Minister of Defence; John McKay MP; Jim Karygiannis MP; and Jonathan Kay, National Post Comment Editor. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Maclean's 50: Harper is But Mad North North-west | | 2007-12-18 15:26:03 | | Stephen Harper's penchant for manufactured outrage is, perhaps, more comprehensible in light of the inexorable ooze of revelations seeping out of the AECL fiasco. Though Maclean's Magazine jocularly hints at a more organic source for his antics, Harper is but mad north north-west... The reason he does not sustain his tantrums is that his outbursts are nothing more than the oldest of political ploys: when caught in an indefensible position, attack instead, and hope that the collective mind of the media wanders before the truth emerges. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Maclean's 50: A Sordid Campaign of Character Assassination | | 2007-12-08 19:15:03 | | How is it possible for the NDP, a party of such zealous political self-righteousness, to engage so fervently in so sordid a campaign of character assassination? One of the many ironies of politics is that there is little more ethically corrosive than the ideological certainty of virtue. It was because Robespierre The Incorruptible was utterly convinced of the morality of his position that he was able to sanction the immorality of the Reign of Terror. It is because the NDP believes that it holds a monopoly on the interests of The People that it is able to casually sanction the destruction of innocent people. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: Letter from a Grey-Beard Loon | | 2007-12-06 23:15:01 | | Recently, DeSmogBlog launched its 100 Year Letter Project, inviting contributors to compose letters to our great great grandchildren, reflecting on how global warming is likely to affect the world they will inherit from us...Personally, I can not imagine my own great great grandfather as anything other than a grey-beard loon peering out from frayed and sepia-tinted photographs, but I am sure he must have had his salad days, as I have mine, even if my own great great grandchildren will find that equally difficult to believe. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: Facing the Party Assassin | | 2007-11-14 10:20:01 | | Tomorrow, I will join a panel on federal political affairs on the Michael Coren Show, along with Mark Warner, the fluently bilingual international trade lawyer and community social activist who was unethically ousted as the Conservative candidate in Toronto Centre. Who wielded the knife that was plunged into Warner's back and into the heart of Conservative democracy? The Conservative Party's National Council, which counts in its membership Richard Ciano, the other Conservative on tomorrow's panel. Warner will finally have a chance to face one of his political assassins, and Canadians will have a chance to judge the new Conservative Party's commitment to local democracy. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Maclean's 50: My Enemy's Enemy | | 2007-11-09 16:35:03 | | With General Musharraf declaring martial law in Pakistan, I argue in my commentary for the Maclean's 50 that by joining hands with the dictator - even in an obvious alliance of convenience against the Taliban - we sent a message to the people of Pakistan that we were prepared to try to purchase security for ourselves at the price of oppression for others. If history has taught us anything, it is that such a Faustian bargain is a fool's bargain, which leaves everyone but the devil worse off... My enemy's enemy is not always my friend; all too frequently, he is just as odious as my enemy himself. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Toronto Star: Tuning Out Tory's Gospel | | 2007-09-29 09:45:02 | | An interview with the Toronto Star on Ontario's provincial campaign: "Many immigrants have come to Canada precisely because their countries of origin were racked with sectarian strife, and faith-based schools are evocative of those memories. Immigrants to Canada actively chose this country because of our core values and it is therefore an error in logic to believe that such people can be appealed to other than through an appeal to Canadian values... From a purely tactical perspective the worst fate that can befall any politician, much like any general in a war, is to be forced to fight a battle of his enemy's choosing. Tory has done precisely that. He has unwittingly led this campaign to a battleground of the Liberal Party's choosing." | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: The Political Witching Hour | | 2007-09-21 15:00:01 | | It is in the moments after a leaders' debate that political campaigns cast the most potent spell of the dark arts of spin: telling the electorate what they saw and heard, and therefore what they think. Far fewer people will ever view a debate than will read and hear about it later. Moreover, even those who diligently sit through the proceedings can be remarkably susceptible to the following day's received opinion. For both these reasons, the campaign that controls the debate after-chatter has the power to re-write history. In an effort to offer an analysis insulated from partisan talking points and untouched by post-debate spin, CanWest drew together a panel to provide a live blog-driven commentary on last night's Ontario leaders' debate. Former NDP president Adam Giambrone, former Mike Harris Chief of Staff Guy Giorno, CFRB radio host John Moore, and I put fingers to keyboard to offer up our analysis as the pearls of wisdom (or other matter) dropped from the lips of the provincial leaders. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: The Great Facebook Plague | | 2007-09-10 19:53:01 | | Succumbing to the plague, I have set up my own Facebook page, which has already proven to be quite a boon in re-connecting with old friends, making new ones, and discovering the virtue of electronic graffiti. If you are willing to brave Facebook's infamous links to the CIA's In-Q-Tel project, you can link our Facebook friends lists by clicking here. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Blog: The Friendly Dictatorship, Revisited | | 2007-05-07 21:40:03 | | Democracy is founded upon the conviction that the wisdom of society lies with the many and not the few. In this context, the massive centralisation of power in the PMO, under a succession of Prime Ministers of varying political hues, undermines not only the efficacy but also the very legitimacy of the Canadian state. Steve Paikin and The Agenda assembled a panel to examine what impact the minority parliament has had on the impulse to amass ever more power at the centre: Jeffrey Simpson, of the Globe and Mail; Norman Spector, Brian Mulroney's Chief of Staff; Janice MacKinnon, Roy Romanow's Minister of Finance; and myself. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Photocast: Group Sword at the International Tent Pegging Championships | | 2007-04-05 09:10:03 | | On the final day of competition at the world equestrian skill-at-arms championships in Oman, my horse Shomool remained in a surly mood. The rider to our left is keeping a considered distance, as Shomool had just attempted to deliver a slaying kick to his horse; Shomool's rear hooves came within centimetres of the intended victim. The warhorse's wayward bloodlust would remain with Shomool for the rest of the competition, and he seemed dejected that I insisted on coming between him and his wrath. A full account of the games is at my March 2007 blog. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Group Lance at the International Tent Pegging Championships - Akaash Maharaj Photocast | | 2007-04-03 10:05:03 | | On the first day of group competition at the world equestrian skill-at-arms championships in the Gulf States, I was matched with riders from the Oman National Team, and we galloped four abreast through the course. Competing in UNICEF's colours, I am using a lance in my right hand to strike at a ground target, and using the reins in my left hand to restrain my horse Shomool from savaging the neighbouring rider. A full account of the games is at my March 2007 blog. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Practice Run at the International Tent Pegging Championships - Akaash Maharaj Photocast | | 2007-03-18 10:36:03 | | A photocast of my practice run with the lance at the world equestrian skill-at-arms championships in Oman. My horse, Shomool, is galloping through the course at a greater speed than I had ever experienced on horseback. I am holding the lance at a rather desperate distance from our bodies to stave off the obvious calamity, and I have lost the nearside stirrup. Miraculously, we both survived to repeat our folly mere minutes later. A full account of the games is at my March 2007 blog. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Opening Ceremonies at the International Tent Pegging Championships - Akaash Maharaj Photocast | | 2007-03-16 00:33:01 | | A photocast of the opening ceremonies of the world equestrian skill-at-arms championships. Riders from across the world gathered in the Sultante of Oman to represent our countries in this 2500 year-old cavalry sport of sword, lance, and horsemanship. I am the nearest rider, and carry the pennant of UNICEF from my lance, as I rode for both Canada and the United Nations Children's Fund. Other riders carry their respective regimental pennants, while our national flags flutter from the flagpoles in the background. A full account of the games is at my March 2007 blog. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Globe and Mail: Living by the Sword | | 2007-02-26 17:15:02 | | As if being a tent pegger is insufficiently absurd on its own, I found myself practising for the upcoming world championships in -30C weather, some 65C lower than the likely temperatures at the competition itself. Peter Cheney of the Globe and Mail dropped by to observe the sport of sword and lance, and to ask a few questions between chattering teeth. I am only pleased that I managed to avoid demonstrating the horseback pole-vaulting catastrophe that he described... | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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| Akaash Maharaj - Projects: Tent Pegging with UNICEF Team Canada | | 2007-02-08 07:55:02 | | Of my many eccentricities, none is as improbable as my involvement in tent pegging. Often referred to as equestrian skill-at-arms, the sport has a mounted cavalier riding at a full gallop across a timed course, on the flat and over jumps, using sword and lance to smite a succession of ground and elevated targets. Yes, really... Like most tent peggers, I was introduced to the sport through service in a cavalry regiment. Seat a man on a horse, hand him a sword, and set him off at a gallop: any ability to resist tent pegging will immediately abandon him. | | By: Akaash Maharaj - Practical Idealism | | |
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