As long as one of us is deemed rubbish, the rest of us have a vested interest in identifying and addressing the underlying cause. The refugee crisis riddle will not be solved until we repel the forces that created it.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), between 23,000 and 24,000 migrants had tried to cross over to Italy since the beginning of the year, while just under 21,000 migrants made the same journey between January and April 2014. While the number of migrants rose to some extent, migrants perishing at sea have hit the roof.

Totalitarian states record even the most banal of our activities so that when it comes time to lock us up they can invest these activities with subversive or criminal intent. And citizens who know, because of the courage of Edward Snowden, that they are being watched but naively believe they “have done nothing wrong” do not grasp this dark and terrifying logic.

Until last week. A Harper cabinet already in a morgue-like mood from the NDP victory in Alberta was now facing another blow to its house of cards. Seeing Omar on his lawyer’s driveway was like witnessing the beginning of the end of a wrongful conviction case.

The right of indigenous peoples is the right to self-determination, meaning freedom from an incarcerating existence. In the case of the Palestinians, international law’s solution is perpetuating incarceration through the statehood.

This is about challenging the notion that Toronto should be a city where the investment needs of developers, bankers and business owners get to prevail unchecked. Their agenda is an interwoven hive of business, commerce, upscale recreation and high-end housing. Standing in the way of this are enduring pockets of housed poverty and a considerable and growing homeless population.

The facts tell us that Canada is complicit in the torture of detainees and has been doing everything it can to cover its dirty hands.

The US Senate Report documenting CIA torture of alleged terrorist suspects raises a number of fundamental questions about the nature and operations of the state, the relationship and the responsibility of the Executive Branch and Congress to the vast secret police networks which span the globe – including the United States.

December 10 is the date of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations 66 years ago. That important act was the result of many years of struggle against racism and colonialism, combined with the horrors of the Holocaust that were still fresh in the memory of humankind after the Second World War.

The Mexican government, welcomed as a partner of the Canadian and U.S. governments in continental economic development (North American Free Trade Agreement – NAFTA) and continental security also happens to partner in crime and the slaughter of its own people.