Oh, my. Will politicians never learn? Of course not. This week’s political miscue was by Brian Jean, leader of the Wildrose Party. Speaking at a town hall meeting in Fort McMurray, Jean said he would continue to “beat the drum” for elder care in Fort McMurray. A sucker for word play, apparently, he didn’t stop […]
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In This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 34: More Donald Trump (sigh)
Sigh. I really didn’t want to write one more word about Donald Trump, but the guy just continues to astound. Consider the past week. He told African-Americans – or “the blacks” as he once called them – that they live in poverty with horrible education and no home ownership. He told African American and Hispanics, […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 33: Evan Dunfee, Olympic hero
Well, that was fun. The Rio Olympics are over (or close to it, depending on when you read this), and for Canada, they’ve been a smashing success. In the pool, a teenager named Penny Olesiak came out of nowhere (or Ontario) to win four medals and the hearts of a country (I know, I know… […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 32: The value of a Penny has soared
What’s a penny worth? In this country, nothing, because we don’t make pennies any more. But as of this week, a Canadian Penny is priceless. At age sixteen — sixteen! — Canada’s swimming sensation with the made-for-headlines name has won more medals than any other Canadian swimmer. Heck, she’s won more medals in one Olympics […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 31: Let the games begin, because they have to.
Ever heard of a favela? No, not a falafel, a favela. If you’ve been following the news about the Rio Olympics, which miraculously began this week, you’ve certainly encountered the word. And you should hope that’s as close as you ever get to one. Favelas are the Rio equivalent of a ghetto, the slums, the […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 30: Hillary makes herstory (sorry)
Americans, God bless ’em, are good at a lot of things. They can be very self-critical in ways Canadians never are, but they are even better at self-aggrandizement. Americans (or at least Democratic Americans) were patting themselves on the back so hard this week, they may have dislodged a national vertebra. They have selected a […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 29: Donald Trump’s Lying Circus
OK, let’s recap the week at the Republican National Convention. Be prepared, this makes for depressing reading. The week began with Antonio Sabato, a former underwear model, little known actor, and failed Dancing with the Stars competitor, addressing the convention. Why Antonio Sabato, no one is sure why. But after his speech, he told ABC […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 28: A summer to regret
Remember when summer was carefree? Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows? Hot times in the city? Walking on sunshine? Sunny days? Well, not this year. The summer of 2016 has been riddled with tragedy and horror. It gets harder and harder to write this blog; every week, it is a litany of man’s inhumanity to man. This […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 27: Black Days in July
Back in 1968, singer Gordon Lightfoot released one of his greatest songs, Black Day in July, about the race riots that left “Motor City burning” as he sang. That song flashed in my head on Thursday when America — and the world — looked on in horror as five Dallas police officers were shot dead […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 26: Oiler fans say, ‘What the Hall?’
It’s summer here in the Great Green North, the brief respite from the snow and cold and ceaseless hockey talk. Or at least that’s supposed to be the way it goes. While there are no reports of winter weather, hockey news just never goes away. This week, the obsessive fan base of the Edmonton Oilers […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 25: Brexit, stage right
The huge story this week was the result of the so-called ‘Brexit’ referendum. United Kingdom voters (that would be Britain, Scotland and Northern Ireland) were asked whether they wanted to stay in the European Union, or leave. The vote was a stunner — 51.9% voted to leave. If all of the measured, well thought out […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 24: A familiar script to this horror movie
Have you ever watched a really great horror movie that shocked and scared you out of your wits? If you were to watched it again, it would still be scary, but a little less so. And if you watched it a third or fourth or fifth time, the shock would have pretty much worn off. […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 23: The year of the fallen icons
The Oxford English Dictionary defines icon as ‘a symbol or graphic representation on a screen of a program, option, or window’, which doesn’t work until you look at the second definition, which is ‘a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration.’ There are few words in English usage today more […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 22: Muhammad Ali, when boxing mattered
The death on Friday of Muhammad Ali, described by the New York Times as a “titan of boxing and the 20th century” reminded me of a time when boxing mattered. There was a time, before Ali and for a while after he retired, when boxing was one of the premiere sports in the world. Everyone […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 21: Carbon taxes and classless acts
The Rachel Notley government unveiled its carbon levy tax scheme this week, and in classic government fashion it downplayed just how much it will cost the average Albertan. According to the government, a typical Alberta family will pay between $70 and $105 extra per year for consumer goods and services as a result of the […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 20: A very Canadian ‘outrage’
Chaos in the Commons! Hell in the House! Kerfuffle in the Kommons! Parliamentary punch-up! Broohaha! Shenanigans! Other old words nobody ever uses anymore! By now, you have no doubt heard of the incident in the House of Commons where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau grabbed Conservative party whip Gordon Brown by the arm to “escort” him […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 19: Rumours fill in for facts in Fort Mac
Canadians continue to show remarkable kindness to the Fort McRefugees. The Red Cross is swimming in cash (much of which they have already distributed) and donation centres are overflowing with donations. Charitable organizations are operating with remarkable efficiency, and even the government seems to be doing everything right. Well, almost everything. The government finally allowed […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 18: Apocalypse Now
On Tuesday when I turned on the evening news, I saw pictures of thousands of cars fleeing an apocalyptic hellscape. I first assumed it was just thousands of Americans fleeing to Canada to escape the Donald Trump presidency, but it turned out to be much, much worse. There isn’t much more that can be said […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 17: The impossible is now probable
Thought Batman vs. Superman was unwatchable? Just wait until Trump vs. Clinton. With the prospects of stopping crazed billionaire Donald Trump looking more remote with each passing primary (the Trumpster went five-for-five on Tuesday) Ted Cruz and John Kasich joined forces in an attempt to derail the Trump express. The vile Cruz and professional nice […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Stuff Still Happens, week 16: The purple reign of Prince
The biggest news story of the week was printed in purple. Prince, the diminutive, genre-spanning singer/songwriter/phenomenon, died unexpectedly this week at age 57. Even more than the death of David Bowie earlier this year (he was known to be sick, and always looked kinda sick), the passing of Prince Rogers Nelson rocked the rock world. […]
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