This is a bizarre story:

For the first time in Canada, a man has anonymously donated a part of his liver to a complete stranger on a “no-strings attached” basis.

But before doctors at Toronto General Hospital (TGH) agreed to Kevin Gosling’s request, he was sent to three psychiatrists to assess his mental state.

“They asked me, do I have a death wish? Did I do something wrong in life that I want a free ticket to heaven?” Gosling said at a news conference Thursday.

Kudos to Kevin Gosling for remaining anonymous.

I laughed really hard watching Rick Mercer Report last night. It was one of the funniest of his shows in recent memory. There were several overt jabs at Canadian politics and politicians. Check out the recaps here.

One spot entitled “Ignatieff – Man of the People” lampooned Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff. The skit was a mock television campaign ad plugging Mr. Ignatieff’s bid to become the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC). The ad played on the candidate’s career as an academic; it was another jab at Ignatieff’s supposed intellect. I’m not going to explain it any further – watch it yourself.

Now, I don’t doubt that Michael Ignatieff is a capable politician, but I have gone on record questioning his political acumen. Iggy fumbled his way into the last election as a star-candidate for the Liberals in Etobicoke. He was courted by party insiders to join the Canadian political scene. That’s the way things are done, but they may have pushed him into the limelight prematurely.

It is no secret that some former John Manley supporters and a handful of other party stalwarts are orchestrating his ascension within the LPC. The list of his supporters is growing. Since Belinda Stronach announced that she would not be running for the LPC crown, Iggy’s resources within the party have deepened. Arguably, his team is now the best in the race. They are well organized and well funded. The question is – can they pull it off? Can they make him a saleable politician?

Iggy may be book smart, but I wonder if that characteristic can be translated (spun) into political capital. He might be a hit with some segments of the Liberal party. He might be a hit with some segments of the Toronto chattering classes. But can LPC rainmakers turn Iggy into a candidate who is marketable beyond his already-established support base?

The biggest obstacle to their success, without a doubt, is Iggy’s academic baggage. As a Harvard professor, he has commented, in writing, on several contentious and political topics. His opinions are going to follow him like stink. It doesn’t matter what he said; his statements will polarize voters.

It is going to be a Herculean task for Iggy’s communications team to develop a strategy that will deflect criticisms of his academic writing. He has to define himself before his opponents do. His team will have to put his politics in context without saying too much – without sounding academic (without even using the word academic). Voters don’t do academic. They will have to convince folks like Rick Mercer that there are more compelling reasons to pay attention to Michael Ignatieff other than to call him an egghead.

Iggy’s public campaign will be watched closely. There are more folks like me, who watch politics for a living, waiting for it to implode than are waiting for it to take flight. Still, there is a growing expectation that something has to happen – too many egos are on the line for things to stand still. And when you’re dealing with the Liberal Party of Canada, egotistical ambition is what makes the machine turn.

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This post was written by alevo.

Raise the Hammer is out with another issue, one that really focuses on Hamilton’s long-term future. Ryan has two great articles that examine two issues highly relevant to Hamilton, the future of big box stores like Wal-Mart and the implications of peak oil on Hamilton’s future. There’s lots of other interesting submissions to check out too.

Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has developed a robotic seal they call Paro, a creation designed for therapeutic benefit that is currently being tested in nursing homes and with handicapped children.

Having a pet is good for people, especially people who are lonely or depressed, and Paro was created with this in mind. But just as the creation of robots intended as sexual companions raises the kind of moral and ethical questions I examined in Robotic Prostitution, so does the creation of robots intended for therapy:

Is it right for anyone who feels desperately lonely or depressed to gain relief in an illusion? Would it be fair to use robots, which appear to have feelings, among elders with dementia who might think they’re dealing with a real animal?

Robotic Prostitution continues to attract comments and attention, including from the distributors of the movie Ghost in the Shell that I referenced, who contacted me to tell me about their newest film, Karas, which will be released on April 25. I don’t know if the film will have the same social relevance as Ghost, but the production values look outstanding and they’ve hired a long list of Hollywood talent for the voice acting, something that happens all too rarely with Japanese releases.

They’re sending me a copy to check out, so I’ll be sure to let you know what I think.

When you’re wrapped in the North American media cocoon, it’s sometimes hard to know what to think. Is Iraq on the brink of civil war? Should governments deal with a Palestinian administration formed by Hamas? Paying for stories to be planted in Iraqi media sounds an awful lot like propaganda, but is there any justification for it? Is Zarqawi dead, or does he even exist?

Amy Goodman’s interview with Robert Fisk today has some answers to those questions from someone who has spent years in the Middle East, on the ground, in the war zones, and in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza, not in the walled-off Green Zone or behind a desk.

You also get a fiery condemnation of American journalism by the renowned author. An absurd, even comical performance by an American military spokesman with a peculiar mustache in the Hitler style and a pathological inability to give a straight answer, even as the room erupts in laughter at his obvious discomfort and embarassment. And a call for the immediate end to the occupation of Iraq and why it needs to happen now.

This is 25 minutes of journalism that I guarantee you will enjoy. If you feel like you need to give your head a shake, this will do it. Check it out on Democracy Now! or pick one of these streams to watch:

Watch 128k stream | Watch 256k stream (You’ll need RealPlayer to watch these).

You can also get the MP3.