Cloud somethings
I told my Mom I was having having a hard time painting clouds. She told me to use my thumb. I had so much fun, I used my thumb for…
July 2020
What Do You Make of This? Fauci or Not-Fauci? Maybe It Doesn’t Really Matter.
Full disclosure. This is an item attributed to Dr. Anthony Fauci that has appeared on social media, notably FaceBook. Did he actually write it or deliver this commentary? I don’t…
The Benighted Speak
There is a new report showing the continuing spread of Covid-19 in California. It seems that three counties, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange, have now surpassed Los Angeles county in…
Reading Catullus
With the extra time to read on my hands these days, I’ve been dipping again into the poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus, Roman poet around the time of Julius Caesar.…
Trump Takes Another Page from Putin’s Playbook
Trump sent his own contingent of “little green men” to crack down on protesters in Portland, Oregon. The term was coined when mysterious combat forces, their uniforms stripped of any…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Murray Mandryk writes about the history behind the possibility of a large-scale irrigation project. But Jason Warick reports that in trying to make…
A Lethal Combination – Booze and Covid-19
Every day the courts get plenty of business from people who can’t hold their booze and people who can’t drink responsibly. Fights, traffic accidents, DUIs, petty crimes – everything goes…
Report says cancelled cruise ships sparing Canada’s west coast from billions of litres of pollution
Originally published by iPolitics By Marco Vigliotti. Published on Jul 15, 2020 9:00am News A new report suggests COVID-19 restrictions have saved Canada’s west coast from billions of litres…
Saturday Photo: Concrete, Not the Rock of Ages…Nor Is the US
The photo was taken last summer in front of a house that was being renovated. Probably built in the early 1900s, it obviously had a lot of details that were…
John Lewis
I was 12 years old in 1960. On a Friday night, I stayed up late to watch the Pierre Berton Show. His guest that night was John Howard Griffin, the…
Finance Minister Morneau has to go.
(Before warming to today’s topic, I would like to thank the readers who sent their comments on yesterday’s topic. I thought at least five per cent of Canadians could name…
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon tops bestseller list with a silver blaze
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, July 12, 2020. The lists are compiled…
"This Is What National Decline Looks Like"
Take a couple of minutes to watch this searingly accurate assessment and indictment of the United States under Donald Trump. I did not hear a word with which I disagreed:…
Covid Figures Don’t Lie. Covid Liars, However, Do Figure.
Only it’s not 1 percent. The mortality rate among the infected varies country by country with 4-5 per cent at the lower end of the scale. The Intercept explains how…
Musical interlude
Iron and Wine – Passing Afternoon
Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Radheyan Simonpillai discusses new polling showing how COVID-19 has caused stress on multiple levels. Al Etmanski writes about the importance of continuing to…
A Sign of the Times? Tough Times Trigger Return of LSD.
Scientific American reports on a hefty increase in LSD use in America. The article suggests it’s becoming a popular form of “chemical escapism” in this era of existential perils. Those…
Burn Baby, Burn. Canada In Top One Per Cent!
At some point even the most ardent, unquestioning Trudeau fans will have to accept that Canada’s vaunted battle to slash CO2 emissions is a farce. The Libs talk a good…
The Death of a Queen
I was still in my teens when I first got to fly aboard the Boeing 747. I suppose that over the decades there have been countless teens who did the…
Follow The Money
Rona Ambrose has joined the board of JUUL. Michael Harris writes: What message does it send when a former federal health minister joins the board of an e-cigarette company, the…