While I don’t relish the idea of pulling all-nighters anymore (I did enough of that preparing last-minute essays in university), I have to admit my sympathy for the Conservatives being forced to put up with an all-night filibuster by the Opposition on Bill C-38 last week wasn’t about to have me shedding tears for the poor government MPs who had to lose a little sleep to get their bill passed.

As Syrian military helicopters pounded rebel strongholds in the city of Homs on Monday, and with every other day bringing stories of fresh human rights outrages from the alienated and embattled Middle Eastern nation, it should be more apparent that without intensified pressure from the West, military or otherwise, the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad will not bow down.