Cultural Misunderstanding: From "How are You?" to Body Language
What do you expect to hear when you say “How are you?” Most of the time in North Amreica’s it’s “Fine.” But in Russia, apparently, what you’ll get is a…
Mary Soderstrom
Saturday Photo: Summer, Summer, Summertime….
Bridges are great symbols, connecting and separating, promising things to come, inviting daydreaming. These two bridges are particularly interesting to me now because they are harbingers of our plans for…
The Failure of Centre-Left Politics in Europe: Krugman on the Scandal in France (Canadian Papers Please Copy)
Forget the dallying with dollies, Paul Kruman says that François Hollande’s behavior is scandalous. The French president has just announced increased austerity measures which have been discredited, and will make…
No to Charging for Private Rooms at Montreal’s Super Hospitals
The idea of superhospitals was ill-considered, in my opinion. Not enough thought was given to what closing down major medical establishments in the centre of the city would do to…
I Knew There Was a Reason Dept: Sleep Is the Cleaner
Give me a chance and I’ll go to sleep. There have been times in my life when I’ve slept badly–waking up at the time one of the kids should be…
The Poor Are Always with Us: The Trap of Charity
The Pope has just named 18 new cardinals. His choices supposedly show how he is refocussing the Roman Catholic Church’s energies on its mission to help the poor. Seeing as…
Saturday Photo: Full Moon in July
This week there will be a full moon, but the weather forecast suggests that we won’t be able to see it here. So here’s flashback to a summer full moon…
Reason 105 Not to Have Your Kids Young: You May Have More Time to Spend with THEIR Kids
As I went off to see an ailing Thomas and his family this morning, I began to see the wisdom in not having kids until your 30s. We have much…
Something More to Worry about: A Big Solar Flare
So the cold is supposedly going to moderate in North America over the next few days, but The Washington Post reports that there’s a big storm on the sun. A…
And in Fact, Climate Change Maybe behind the Cold Weather
The Scientific American goes further and says that the “Polar Vortex” incursion is usually associated with warmer temperatures in the Arctic during the summer and less ice in the ice…
Baby It’s Cold Outside, and Might Be Even Worse without Climate Change
A fascinating analysis from the Washington Post about the current cold wave across North America. Isn’t the first time, and won’t be the last time, but it has nothing to…
The Gospel of Malcom: Sowing Seeds of Change without Seeming to
It took me a while to figure out where Malcolm Gladwell’s new book David and Goliath fits into the brilliant populizer’s world view. The book documents through the stories of…
Saturday Photo: Magnificent Resistance
Grass growing in paving at the Oscar Neimeyer Museum in Curitiba, with display of jacaranda petals. Let 2014 be a year in which our resistance to what’s wrong be just…
Cold and Heat: Burning Hydrocarbons
It’s cold all over the country right now, weather that usually comes in February here, but which has been with us for more or less two weeks. I’m not one…
The Sun in 2014!
The sun is shining on the snow on this New Year’s morning 2014. Best wishes to you all. If you missed this, here’s the blog with our holiday news.
Signing off for the Holiday: See You in the New Year
Barring the unforeseen, I expect to be too busy having fun to doing any posting. So here’s a link to our Christmas blog in the meantime.
Saturday Photo: Celebrating in Cuzco
This was taken in a Cuzco grocery store, which a month ago was already decked out for Christmas. Love the idea of locals dancing to Andean harps while it’s summer…
Music that Goes Beyond the Season
Okay, this seems to be an ad for a supermarket chain, wrapped in a tribute to Nelson Mandela, but it really is lovely.
Educating Kids in Science, Math and Reading–and Making Sure They Get a Good Start from the Beginning
The New York Times analyzes why American school kids performed in such a mediocre fashion on the recnet OECD school success rankings. Three regions are singled out for comment: Shanghai…
Christmas Songs from Brazil…
As I try to get back to work, how about this for the run up to Christmas