Casanova Dies in Bohemia
At the end of his long and storied life, Giacomo Casanova found himself a lonely man in a damp, cold castle in Bohemia, a small German kingdom distant from all…
October 2021
Saturday Photo: The Streams That Flow to the Fleuve
I’ve always wondered at the distinction made in modern French between fleuve and rivière. For a long time I thought that one was big and the other little, but that’s…
Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – The Globe and Mail’s editorial board discusses the need to consider whether to lift public health measures with care rather than stubborn anti-social…
Monbiot – We’re Doing Too Much of Everything.
In his 2004 book, “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed,” anthropologist Jared Diamond writes that when societies collapse it happens rapidly and just when that society has reached…
Those Who Would Fly Too Close to the Sun
We had it all figured out. We were going to wring out every last penny of profit. Then it bit us in the butt. Globalization, the neoliberal trade regime our…
Justin Trudeau and the Tofino Farce
It's been more than ten days since Justin Trudeau won the election, leaving his Con and NDP opponents lying on the canvas licking their wounds. And/or licking each other. But…
Insufferable Arrogance
Justin continues to step into it. On Canada’s National Day of Reconciliation, he took a holiday. Susan Delacourt writes: Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was never supposed…
A Bicycle Built for Two?
The usual chorus is at it again. They are the ones unhappy with our first-past-the-post voting system. They think first-past-the-post is a bicycle built for just two political parties. And…
Weekend Roundup: Vaccine passport’s new QR code won’t work; Mandel quits AHS board; pipeline association folds tent
Astonishingly given its record, Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government has actually upgraded its easy-to-forge vaccine passport in jig time! There’s only one problem. It doesn’t work. Alberta Jobs and Something-Something…
Today’s news: So maybe next year our TRC Day will actually be about Truth & Reconciliation?
Join your mostly white media in making #TruthandReconciliationDay all about a white man. Couldn't fail harder if we tried. — #SHIFT (@TheGentYYC) October 1, 2021 Does anyone else find it…
Indian Horse by the late Richard Wagamese is Alberta independent bookshops’ fiction bestseller for week ended Sept. 26
Here are the lists of the top 10 fiction and non-fiction titles sold by independent booksellers in Alberta during the week ended Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. The lists are compiled…
An apology
I am sending this post early because A) my computer is a mess and I might be unable to get it fixed for several days. B) As well, I thought…
Musical interlude
CHVRCHES & Robert Smith – How Not to Drown
We Wuz Robbed
The real losers in the federal election were the people of Canada. The Tyee takes a look at how the election would have turned out if, instead of the rigged…
Rich America’s Day of Reckoning
There’s something about waterfront property. The allure of living at the water’s edge is powerful and it has been reflected in sky-high property prices. That may be about to change.…
Why is Millennium Park so Poorly Maintained?
We took a walk along the sidewalk and trail into the inappropriately-named “Millennium” Park* this week and were deeply disappointed by the lack of maintenance there. Aside from seeing a…
Need a Laugh?
I got a chuckle from a Guardian article about the woes besetting the people of Rome. It comes down to garbage (uncollected), crowds (late night revellers), congestion and crime. Nothing…
Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Anand Giridharadas writes about the dangers of letting political discussions become primarily a matter of process and personalities, rather than the real impact…
Legal Tweet of the Day: October 1, 2021
#LegalTweetoftheDay: B.C. server who was fired after asking to be addressed by correct pronouns awarded $30K via @CBCNews – Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto Law Office website: www.wiselaw.net…
Are Emission Cuts a Ruse?
Is it all just a sham? Are these endless targets, solemn promises invariably honoured in the breach, really a means to steer the climate crisis narrative? Have we been had?…