Green Helmets (Not Green Berets) to Fight Strife Due to Climate Change?
The story's apparently been around for a while, but I just came across it today when Le Devoir ran a front page item about how the UN may soon be…
Mary Soderstrom
A Season for Endings: Gil Courtemanche Service Today
A writer friend just asked me if I were going to the ceremony for journalist and novelist Gil Courtemanche who died two days before Jack Layton did and whose farewell…
Are Books Dead–and What about Writers?
The Guardian has an interesting piece by Ewan Morrison on the end of publishing, and the rise of "free." Worth reading if you're a "content creator" or a reader.
Pears Are Ripe: A Case of Benign Neglect?
Sunday evening in the middle of Irene, a young man knocked on the door and asked if he could climb in our backyard to take down some of the pears…
Good Sense from The Gazette, for Once: Leave the Car at Home
We've not been readers of The Gazette on a regular basis for years (long story, having in part to do with a class action I'm involved in against it) but…
Saturday Photo: So This Is an Idea of What it Looks like..
This is probably the most eloquent pair of pictures before and after the fire. The small photos are what the staircase looked like the day afterwards, and the large one,…
Krugman on the Complicated Question of Economic Recovery: A Remiinder That We Also Need Hard Headed Ecomonic Goals
Paul Krugman as usual has some interesting things to say today. This time he asks why Ben Bernanke, head of the US Federal Reserve, doesn't do what Ben Bernanke, economist,…
A Laugh Because We Need One: The Air Farce Remembers Jack
With apologies to our American friends who apprently can't access Ari Farce material for copyright reasons.
Why There’s Not Much of a Post Today
Little Jeanne is coming over to play today, the day before her first birthday. Got to wash the kitchen floor because her way of getting around is scooting on her…
Why There’s Not Much of a Post Today
Little Jeanne is coming over to play today, the day before her first birthday. Got to watch the kitchen floor because her way of getting around is scooting on her…
Jack Would Approve: Radio Nederlands Series on Protest Songs
One of the brief uncomfortable moments at Monday night's vigil at the foot of Mount Royal in memory of Jack Layton was the interminable version of "This Land Is Your…
Save Sept. 19 for an Interesting Evening of Reading and Love
Last winter in the depth of our despair the Quebec Writers' Federation asked me if I'd like to be one of two writers to present a favourite novel that has…
Jack’s Reach…
Just a note--I got more hits on my blog yesterday than I ever had, all with search terms like "Jack Layton House." (Most went to a posting from shortly after…
Saying Good Bye: Jack’s Last Letter and a Link toward a Page of Condolence
Here are a couple of links that may be useful to people saddened by the loss of Jack Layton. The official condolence page in English Et en français And here's…
Our Jack of Hearts Is Gone…
The country and the world will have tougher going now that Jack Layton has left us.
Saturday Photo: Flowers, Native and Otherwise
This is the season for Brown-eyed Susans, Rudbeckia or whatever you want to call this fantastic golden flower. They are native North American perennials and given some sunshine will bloom…
The Basement Is Clean! Or How to Have 35 Years of Construction Scraps Recycled.
Of course, one of the things about moving back into a "restored" house is the sharp contrast what was left over makes with the clean walls etc. Lee now has…
For the Record: The Gazette Says Now to Making the Armed Forces "Royal"
The Montreal English language daily The Gazette fell all over itself welcoming William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge a few weeks ago, so you might think it…