Once again Canadian democracy is in crisis, as our government has prorogued parliament to avoid a scandal concerning the torture of detainees in Afghanistan. Public opposition has found a home on social media like Facebook and Twitter, which pose a challenge and opportunity for creative leaders to emerge and possibly even rescue our democracy from death's door.

The nature of a minority government like ours is that no single party controls the lower house of Parliament, and as a result gory details about the use of torture in Afghanistan were about to be revealed due to the diligent work of the opposition parties. In proroguing Parliament, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is able to prevent (or more likely just delay) the public from learning more and thus ensure the survival of his government for at least another two months.

A crisis like this presents an opportunity to expand the democratic process and include more people in politics as a whole. However, it's hard not to snicker at the fact that joining a Facebook group to show opposition to something has become the ultimate cliche. While such a group does raise awareness and cross over into mainstream media with front page headlines, I am not alone in wondering whether it actually accomplishes anything.

Even worse, why is the alternative to this kind of virtual action doing absolutely nothing? It's as if it has already become such strong orthodoxy that if you don't join, or even worse complain, you're regarded as a nay-sayer and are also responsible for providing alternatives.

The justification for this staid strategy is that it helps to raise awareness and provides an outlet for new initiates to the political process. However I don't believe that awareness alone makes a difference, but rather it is the larger process of mobilizing to action, and evading marginalization.

I've been super busy with work and not able to find room to write, although part of the problem is what I want to write tends to be complex, requiring time I don't have, to really play with the ideas. In the meantime I'll post some Flying Solo vids Wodek Szemberg put together based on a session we filmed last summer.

There are two fascinating developments in the world of online security that are so sensational as to seem right out of a cyberpunk thriller.

The first, which I've spoken about on CBC recently, is the resilience of the Conficker worm, which culminates in some kind of action on April 1st 2009.

The second is an incredible espionage initiative called GhostNet, which friends of mine at the Citizen Lab here in Toronto have helped unearth and expose to the public.

Combined these two stories depict something I've been describing as an open arms race, in which proxy forces develop new types of information based weapons and test them live on the internet. While it's never clear who the players are behind this perpetual information war, researchers are able to dissect the tools and compromised systems to portray a fascinating tale of computer-based cloak and dagger.

It's been a really long week for me, and the country as a whole. I've been working really hard, on a ton of exciting projects. So, too, have the political parties in this country. All of them are coming closer than ever to achieving their agenda and creating a new type of government for Canadians.

On the one hand you have the Conservative party, about whose now-successful efforts at consolidating their hold on power I've been writing quite a bit.

On the other hand, you have a newly formed coalition that evokes strong emotion on all sides, and for the first time in a while genuinely threatens the otherwise arrogant Stephen Harper.

Now that parliament has been prorogued, the campaign for power moves into uncharted waters. While we're not in an election (yet), the airwaves are full of political ads, the media is talking about polls, and the internet is alive with the buzz of politics.

To some extent, the government has home field advantage, in that they can still govern, and appear to be hard at work navigating Canadians out of an economic maelstrom.

The coalition parties have their work cut out for them. Their challenge will be to stay in the news while the government bunkers down and hopes Canadians grow tired of the drama.

The key to the coalition's success is unity. But that doesn't mean there can't be dissent. Part of their strength lies in their diversity, and this diversity originates in the cities of Canada.

So the Conservative Party of Canada have enacted a ridiculous strategy of playing chicken while the economy teeters on the brink, and I'm left wondering, are they too clever by half?

While I do realize that the Harrisites are gaining influence in the PMO, and that their Machiavellian nature should not be underestimated, I still assumed that Harper and the people around him were smarter than this.

Couched in an economic statement that includes government spending cuts, the Government is literally trying to bankrupt the opposition parties. An anti-democratic move unto itself, but one so crazy I kind of wonder if the Tories themselves actually expect it to pass.

Perhaps the government is actually engineering it's own defeat. Upset with their inability to obtain a majority to weather the economic storm, they are playing a wicked kind of end game that is both awesomely stupid and fiendishly clever. Either they will successfully bankrupt and cripple the infrastructure of opposing parties, or their government will be defeated and a new coalition comprised of Liberals, NDP, and BQ will form a new government.

In no way do I, or the Conservatives think there will be an election. The last election was a total waste, with horrible turnout, and calling another would inevitably draw the wrath of pretty much everybody.