It Doesn’t Help to Call Oprah a "Cannibal"
The Swiss shopgirl at the centre of controversy for allegedly refusing to show Oprah Winfrey a purse, claiming she couldn’t afford it, is defending herself – clumsily. The woman denies…
August 2013
It’s Santorum Again. He’s Back.
Rick Santorum is not a classy guy. In fact, he denounces the term “middle class” as Marxist. Here’s what he told an audience in Iowa: “Don’t use the term the…
Pamela Wallin and the Corruption Cons
Well in the beginning of the end it was almost an anti-climax eh? Another damning report, another Con Senator being investigated by the RCMP.The independent audit of Senator Pamela Wallin's…
Guest Post: In Defense of At-Home Care
Guest Post: In Defense of At-Home Care Linda Bright is a staff writer and a public relations coordinator for MyNursingDegree.com.Given her experience as a former hospital administrator, she writes primarily…
Remember the Line About Horses and Barn Doors?
The Harper government has pulled the operating licence from the now bankrupt Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railroad. Apparently the Canadian Transportation Agency concluded that MM&A doesn’t have adequate third-party liability…
The Lac Megantic Rail Disaster
In recent years, some residents of Lac Megantic have repeatedly put forward the view that the operation of the former CPR mainline linking Montreal with St. John New Brunswick through…
What? Wireless companies can’t take the heat?
Over the last few weeks, the three big players in Canada’s wireless business — Bell, Telus and Rogers — have been running two separate but related series of ads which…
Arms Race Update – Japan Launches First Aircraft Carrier Since WWII
The Japanese navy has a new warship, the largest warship and first aircraft carrier it has built since WWII. The Japanese, sensitive to their past and current tensions in Asia-Pacific,…
A note on “Skepticism and Gypsy Stereotypes”
Hopefully you took the time to read the article I just posted entitled “Skepticism and Gypsy Stereotypes.” I want to give some backstory to this piece, separate from the article…
Skepticism and Gypsy Stereotypes
By Ian Bushfield and Edwin Hodge At a recent skeptics conference and during a discussion of the sorts of charlatans and frauds that are best known for peddling woo, a…
Austerity chokes Canada’s down-and-out as Harper, Flaherty look the other way
The exceedingly aggressive austerity cuts carried out by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty over the past seven years have come home to roost as millions of…
Confused and inconsistent PC position on health generates a big “huh?”
The Ontario Tories may want to look further than Tim Hudak for reasons behind their by-election losses over the summer. True, the PC leader consistently ranks behind the other two…
Sink-hole swallows vacation villas near Orlando, Florida
What is happening with nature? Thunderstorms, pouring rain, fires and now sinkholes in Florida. All these are causing a lot of destruction and in some cases death. In case of…
Final version of my policy to be presented at Summer Fling: Encouraging Youth Democratic Participation and Improving Civic Education
My original policy had some friendly amendments for clarity and language, so here is what I’ll be presenting at Summer Fling this weekend: Encouraging Youth Democratic Participation and Improving Civic…
August 13: bring a mop….
This is late because I’m still using a borrowed computer. I may miss a couple of days to the 18th to splash between the sandbars. Not sure. Why the mop?…
Taking Back a Stolen Homeland – Scotland
Few things show inequality more than Land Registry records and, when it comes to that, Britain surely stands alone. In the thousand years since the Norman conquest, most of the…
Glen McGregor, revisionist
Glen McGregor, he of the “Deflower Caroline Mulroney Contest,” is very, very angry about my column below. This upsets me a great deal, as you can well imagine. He’s called…
Software updates are flu shots
A nice metaphor for software updates. Flu shots attempt to immunize people from the influenza virus, by exposing their immune systems to small doses of weakened or dead virus molecules.…