More about the increasingly unequal society that is the US: Today Paul Krugman rails against those who are bent on making the playing field even more bumpy. After pointing out…
Or there was until about an hour ago. Many years the outdoor skating rinks around here begin iln the first of second week in December. This year, not much happened…
Just where exactly the Magi came from is uncertain, as far as I can tell. But it would seem that at least some of them were astronomers from Persia. Therefore…
For those who arn’t plugged in local controversies, the cartoon from this morning’s Montreal Gazette refers to the fact that the new head coach for the Montreal Canadien’s doesn’t speak…
“Suburban” in North America conjures up visions of single family houses on streets lined with grass, good schools, a good life away from the struggles of the city. But that…
“Suburban” in North America conjures up visions of single family houses on streets lined with grass, good schools, a good life away from the struggles of the city. But that…
Many, many years ago Lee and I spent a lot of time hiking in the Sierra Nevada of California. Ever since then there is a particular kind of cold, blue…
Canada now has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world: 15 per cent as of midnight on Sunday. But are businesses going to use that tax windfall…
The year that will end at midnight tonight held some excellent things, but as I noted in our holiday blog, in some cases the only appropriate reaction was “be careful…
In this season of long nights and festivals of lights, The New York Times has a story about some municipalities which are turning off streetlights (and in some cases pulling…
It finally turned cold last night, adn this morning the windows were covered with frost, even though they are double glazed. Or rather, they are double glazed since Monday. The…
Manon Corneiller in today’s Le Devoir has a scathing evaluation of the Stephen Harper and his majority government, with a sidelong attack on our parliamentary system. In the US, she…
One of the gifts I look most forward to each year is the new number of The Best American Short Stories. This year the journalist-turned-fiction writer Geraldine Brooks is the…
The following Youtube clip can give you only a taste of the delightful CD the Lizieux elves gave me for Christmas: Nils Brown singing Belle Canzoni d’Italia through the headphones…
We had a few centimeters of snow yesterday afternoon and last night, so there’s a semblance of a white Christmas here. The picture was taken from the back porch as…
It’s well known that if you want something to pass unnoticed you announce it on a Friday afternoon, and if you really want it to disappear, you do it the…
What do Nancy Reagan, the Virgin Mary, and the girl in the blue bra have in common? All of them have covered their heads out of respect for custom and/or…
One of the best things about living where we do is that it’s very easy to get around by foot or public transporation. And since I’ve got a million things…
Strange how three small countries have lost important figures in their recent history these last few days. The world may be a better place without Kim Jong-Il, although the jury’s…
