Folk Fest honours Ani DiFranco

Some years ago, I did some pretty in-depth research on ancient Athens and its democratic system of government as part of a documentary film I was pitching. It was actually a lot of fun, because I was looking at ways their democratic beliefs and practices were both similar to and different from ours.

Some of the differences were quite striking, such as the fact that only Athenian-born males 18 years of age and over could participate. Or the fact their executive branch was selected by a totally random lottery system — a system one expert described as akin to picking names out of a phone book.

Then there was the practice of ostracism, a procedure I found particularly attractive. Essentially, every year the citizens of Athens chose a political figure who was becoming too powerful or pushing for a more authoritarian regime and voted to banish him from the city for 10 years.

Needless to say, I can think of quite a few politicians I’d like to see subjected to that procedure.

An 18-year-old man has been charged after a 67-year-old woman was randomly attacked at a bus stop on Portage Avenue last month.

The senior was sitting on a bench at a bus stop at Portage and Craig Street on Aug. 10 when a man lay down beside her, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Tuesday.

The woman was “minding her own business” when the man began to kick and punch her, police said. The suspect followed her onto a city bus, but was kicked off shortly after for causing a disturbance.

The victim sustained injuries to her upper body but did not require medical attention.

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