There is no denying that he was a giant on the international stage.
Henry Kissinger, who died two days ago at the age of 100, was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, served and advised many Presidents, and was a celebrated US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser (doing both at the same time). He was also reviled by his critics, some of whom wanted him charged as a war criminal for the bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
I interviewed him three or four times during the eighties and nineties. He was always quick to agree to our requests and made himself available from his Connecticut home with just a few hours’ notice. I last saw him in 2010 in Sitges, Spain where we were both attending an exclusive dinner organized by the Bilderberg Conference. Dr. Kissinger was seated at the table beside mine where he was with, among others, the Queen of Spain. It was an outdoor buffet dinner on a beautiful evening overlooking the Mediterranean.
Approaching 90, Kissinger was determined to get his meal on his own. After loading up, he walked back to the eating area singularly focused on the tray he was carrying, ensuring nothing would spill. He headed straight to our table, never taking his eyes off the tray and sat down beside me. I looked at him as he was reaching for his knife and fork and said, “It’s great to have you with us, Dr. Kissinger.” Startled, he looked at me and without missing a beat said, “You’re not the Queen of Spain.” With that kiss off, he got up and moved back to the right table.
Great story, but one you certainly won’t find in this excellent look back at Kissinger’s century from National Public Radio in the US:
Henry Kissinger, controversial diplomat and foreign policy scholar, dies at 100
I was in the Royal Canadian Navy for about a year, a month, and a day before they caught on
“That kid will never fly a Tracker off the Bonnie,” said an officer watching me bounce a landing in a twin-engine C-45 on a runway at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Translation: I was 18, in training to be a pilot and to eventually fly off HMCS Bonaventure, but the consensus was that it would be dangerous for everyone involved (yes, we really did have an aircraft carrier back in the sixties).
Top row, second from the left. 1968; CFB Borden.
In those days, there were more than 100,000 members in the Canadian military, plus reservists. Now, there are spots for less than 70,000 with about ten thousand of those unfilled.
On board HMCS Harry DeWolf with Cmdr. Corey Gleason 2021 Arctic Bay Nunavut
Senior military officers are always asking for bigger budgets for newer planes and more powerful tanks and ships, but today it’s more than that. They’re worried that elements of the Canadian Armed Forces are literally falling apart. Last month stunning stats from the Defence Department: half the Navy can't go to sea, and almost half the Air Force can’t get in the air. And now a video from someone in Navy uniform saying they may not be able to fulfill 2024 commitments. Paul Wells had this Substack:
A "generational challenge" in naval readiness
Modernizing Canada’s Broadcasting Framework
The CRTC is preparing to modernize Canada’s broadcasting system. Canadians’ views on public policy priorities have changed with the times. The Motion Picture Association – Canada commissioned a national study and found people see and value what global studios and streaming services contribute to Canada’s creative economy, including a new world of opportunity for Canadian creative workers.
Somewhere in the early 2000s, I was on my way to Iqaluit to do a remote broadcast of The National.
I always enjoy travelling north and consider it a privilege that very few Canadians, if for no other reason than the cost, get the opportunity to do.
Cape Dorset, Nunavut, 2007
I started my broadcast career in Fort Churchill, Manitoba in late 1968. Churchill was one of a series of communities linked to the CBC’s Northern Service: Fort Churchill, Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Inuvik, and Iqaluit (then called Frobisher Bay) among them. So, Iqaluit was familiar territory for me on this trip. As I stepped off the plane, I was received by a high school principal. He wanted to know if I could come over to the school, right away, to speak with the students. I was used to being asked to speak to students, but they were always organized beforehand. I asked why all this was being handled in such a hurried fashion. I wasn’t prepared for the answer. Student suicides. As in many remote northern communities, there was a history of this in Iqaluit. But there had just been a few more and the school was desperate to find a way to get through to students devastated by the news. The principal said he thought they would appreciate hearing from me. How do you say ‘no’ to that? You don’t. So, we headed straight from the airport to the school and during the drive I tried to think of what I could say. This was not my lane, and I knew it. Was there anything I could say that would ease their pain? It wasn’t my finest hour, but I tried to show I cared by talking about my connection to the North and my admiration for the courage they were showing in dealing with a very difficult situation. After my remarks, I talked with a few of the students, but I felt I’d failed the moment, although to this day I’m not sure what I could have said. I thought of that visit again this week after reading a wrenching story written by Tanya Talaga in the Globe and Mail. The headline says it all:
How have we grown numb to the suicide of Indigenous children?
It’s been fifty years since the Americans landed anything on the moon.
No humans, no machines. Nothing. That may change next month. Are you at all excited? AFP has this preview:
After 50 years, US to return to Moon on January 25
Ever since the October 7 Hamas attack, there’s been a story that has bothered a lot of journalists.
It’s the number of their colleagues who have been killed in the war, as reported by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The number keeps going up, rapidly. The last I saw was in the high fifties. It’s a stunning and very troubling number, but is it an accurate reflection of what is happening?
Martin Fletcher is a journalist I have enormous respect and admiration for. He was NBC’s premier Middle East correspondent for 28 years. He wrote this blog for The Times of Israel:
CPJ’s misleading tally of journalist deaths is clickbait for Israel haters
There is no indication that Joe Biden is going to pull the plug on his 2024 re-election campaign, but hey, why should that stop the chatter?
One thing that is becoming abundantly clear is that the Democrats are not ready for the internal chaos that would follow if, in fact, Biden decides the bad polling numbers just won’t work in his favour.
What would happen if, like LBJ did in the spring of 1968, Biden decided for the good of the party he abandon his re-election bid?
Jeff Mason of Reuters tried to answer that this week:
Democrats have no Biden backup plan for 2024, despite age concerns
Time to wrap it up for this week and on a nice note.
My new book with Mark Bulgutch, How Canada Works, was released last week, debuting as an instant bestseller, ranked at #4 on the Canadian Non-Fiction list. Thanks for your support! This week I'll be travelling the country, signing copies, and giving interviews - should be fun!
And a reminder to join the crowd watching the YouTube version of Friday's Good Talk with Chantal and Bruce. It can also be found on National Newswatch.
That’s The Buzz for this weekend … see you in seven days.
The Buzz is a weekly publication from National Newswatch that shares insights and commentary on the week’s developments in politics, news and current affairs.