Author: Unknown

  The headline in the National Post speaks for itself: “It looks like we’re all going to catch Omicron.” Tristan Hopper’s column begins with two facts: 1.  One in ten Canadians already have someone in their social circle who has contracted Omicron. 2.  In the span of just two weeks,

  I think a poll would find the persistent Covid-19 pandemic would win as Canadian Story of the Year for 2021. It’s been the most constantly disruptive event and it affects everyone, all genders, all ages. We’ve seen our governments tackle it head on and we’ve seen them stupidly sound

  Did  Canada’s health authorities – federal and provincial – leave us yet again unprepared? Were they slow in rolling out the booster shot deemed essential to thwart the deadly effects of the Omicron Covid variant? While demand is high for third doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the supply can’t keep

Democracy is in decline around the world. Where it was strong it remains strong – with one glaring exception.  Canada (98) again did very well in the ratings, no surprise there. Not as well as Finland (100) or Sweden (100) or Norway (100) and just a tad behind New Zealand

  The Washington Post editorial board is urging president Joe Biden to take off the gloves in the fight against Covid-19 and, especially, the Omicron variant sweeping the nation. They want it all. Take some of the pressure off healthcare workers while that still might help. Get the vaccine mandate

  You could say the United States military has gone to the dogs. It’s a top down problem. It’s a contagion that doesn’t stop at America’s borders. In today’s Tom Dispatch, veteran US Army commander turned academic, Andrew Bacevich, dissects “the Petraeus-era cohort of war-losing, the-buck-stops-somewhere-else, upwards-failing generals.” …Somehow, the

 I have an American cousin. Poorly educated, profoundly ignorant, a real Trump guy. Like a vivisectionist’s dog, he lovingly licks the hand wielding the scalpel.  Like many of his Facebook pals he is fueled by his perceived victimization, all of which he lays at the feet of the Democrats. I

  In the last two weeks I’ve been struck by a growing awareness that something serious is underway in Antarctica.  Three friends who have rarely, almost never, said much about the climate emergency wanted to talk about the South Pole.  What concerns them is the glacier, the Thwaites glacier. It’s

  The now standard narrative is that the developed countries are to blame for the climate catastrophe. Some think that’s an unduly broad brush.  The case for taxing the rich wherever they’re located. 10% of the world’s population are responsible for about half of all greenhouse gas emissions, while the

  It’s a messy Massie Christmas to you and yours. This year the Republican congressman from Kentucky sent friends and family this lovely Christmas photo.  Looks like the little one has an Uzi, mom has a vintage Thompson, the back row are packing ARs while dad, the congressman himself, is

   Make some time, grab a cocoa, settle into your favourite chair and check out the December issue of the MIT Technology Review. That’s December, 2020.  It’s jam packed with ideas about the perils we’re facing and how we might be able to handle them. Helps to sweep away some

  Breakthrough describes Covid infections among the fully vaccinated. It’s our new reality. In the United States, so-called breakthrough cases — infections among the vaccinated — were less common before Omicron, affecting just a small percentage of vaccinated people, by most counts. Now breakthrough cases among the vaccinated are fast