Saturday (or Thanksgiving Weekend) Photo: Time for a Walk
Been cold, will get warmer, but nowhere near as warm as a good Thanksgiving supper! We did our annual number with a bunch of friends and family (23 adults and…
Mary Soderstrom
Imagining the Cities of Tomorrow: A Conversation
What can we do to make our cities more liveable? Here’s a conversation between yours truly, transit expert Taras Gresco and architect and urban ist Avi Friedman. I do a…
Saturday Photo: Emeral Ash Borer on a Sunny Sunday
Lee and I took Thomas out to the Parc du Cité-du-Havre today. It’s one of the unknown gems of Montreal, open space in the middle of the St. Lawrence, where…
The Reason Why We Need Local Government Boards and Why Governments Want to Cut Them
The Liberal government of Philippe Couillard is anything but “liberal” in the sense of progressive or englightened. It is slashing government spendings, endorsing austerity while denying that is its aim,…
Make Refuges, Not Refuse: The Fate of the Seas
A very upsetting story about oceanic pollution in The New York Times today, “Swimming through Garbage” by Lewis Pugh. He spent a good part of his summer swimming in the…
Saturday Photo: Making Honey While the Sun Shines
This weekend has been an absolute gift. After several days of cold, the temperature rose last week, and this weekend we had some of the nicest days of the summer,…
First ERDC Claim Comes In!
It’s always nice to see something take off, particularly when it’s been forever since the preparations began. But on Friday morning the very first claim arrived in the ERDC’s post…
Electronic Rights Defence Committee: Payout Starts
I consider this something of a personal victory. After more than 17 years of work and worry, the Electronic Rights Defence Committee (ERDC) has received the green light from Quebec…
Saturday Photo; The Ducks on the Pond
For several years ducks have nested in parks around here, but this year I didn’t see any early in the summer. However, for the last week or so a little…
Want to Know Who Will Win? Ask a Bookie
This is the day when the world (or at least a part of it) is mulling over the 55.3 per cent rejection of Scottish independence on Thursday. Lots of talk…
Eleven Years Later: Who’s Remembering the Iraq Protests Today?
Tell me, everyone, where are the people in the streets protesting the Canadian government’s slip into conflict in Iraq? Remember the massive protests in 2003, including 200,000 in Montreal on…
Saturday Photo: Not Much of This Left…
Actually this photo was taken some time ago, but I couldn’t resist since it was so cold this weekend. Risk of frost in the suburbs they say, definitely a time…
Financing Schools: Cut Private School Grants More
Like the song says, “The rich get rich and the poor get children.” Le Devoir has a story this morning about how the current austerity wave is requiring that Quebec…
The Wisdom of Plants? Caffeine’s Advantages and Disadvantages
Had your caffeine fix yet this morning? I look forward to my cup of coffee after breakfast mightily. The taste is not that great (as I tell my grandkids who…
Saturday Photo: When the Uncovered Past Does Not Linger
As I’ve mentioned here before, one of the summer’s highlights was our trip to the Roman town of Coninbriga, not far from Coimbra in Portugal. The site was a going…
The Real Intergenerational Inequity Is Not Public Debt But Lack of Public Support
Are the guys in power in Canada and the US listening to voice of economic reason? The answer is “No!” of course. As Paul Krugman charges again today, austerity measures…
Saturday Photo (Day Early): 50 Years Déjà!
It was a Saturday, all right, 50 years ago today when Lee and I got married. Seems hardly possible that so much time has passed, particularly since he’s the same…
Scandalous Double-Double: the Tim Hortons/Burger King Deal
Has Canada become a flag of convenience? That’s certainly what it looks like as two fast food giants get ready to merge and take advantage of the tax benefits that…
Saturday Photo: Olives and Chicory in Portugal
Drought in Spain and blight in Italy may increase the price of olive oil this winter, various business insiders report. That’s not a pleasing prospect, as I find myself using…
More on the War against Children: Quebec’s Education Minister Says Not Buying Books Won’t Kill Kids
My jaw dropped yesterday when Le Devoir quoted Yves Bolduc, Quebec’s education minister, as saying that not buying books for school libraries wasn’t a problem because it wouldn’t kill kids.…