Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 15: The end is near …
As a citizen of the province of Alberta, I will dutifully head to my nearby polling station to cast my vote in the provincial election on Tuesday. I admit that,…
Maurice Tougas
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 14: Debating the debate
During any political debate, voters and the media are always looking for the knock-out punch. Brian Mulroney famously destroyed John Turner in one debate in 1984, and Jim Prentice notoriously…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 13: On GSAs, Mueller and JWR’s illegal wiretap
We all know that Donald Trump is a dirtbag, but is he a worse dirtbag than Justin Trudeau? An Ipsos poll on Thursday gave Trudeau an approval rating of 40%,…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 12: It’s the RNP vs. the UCP
Finally, after weeks of a pre-election posturing, the real posturing has begun. Here in the People’s Republic of Alberta, Rachael Notley recalled the legislature, had the Lt. Gov. read a…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 11. The real world comes to New Zealand
We don’t hear a lot about New Zealand. Peaceful, stable countries don’t tend to make the news. Tragically this week, Australia’s little brother was thrust into the world’s spotlight for…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 10: Do you SNC what I SNC?
It was another week of developments, and non-developments, in the ‘Lavscam’ scandal/affair. Where to begin? Let’s start with Jane Philpott. Remember her? She was the minister of something who resigned…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 9: Justin Trudeau’s very bad, awful week
If only he weren’t so sanctimonious. If only he hadn’t presented himself as a paragon of virtue in a corrupt, fetid political swamp, then maybe we’d cut him some slack.…
Stuff Happens, IV: The Reckoning, week 8: It’s Oscar Sunday … zzzzz
Well, it’s Academy Awards Sunday. Remember when that used to be a big deal? As a longtime movie fan and pop culture junkie, I’ve always watched the Oscars with varying…
Stuff Happens IV: The reckoning, week 7: Tru-d’oh!
I think it’s safe to say that the second week of February, 2019, was the worst week of Justin Trudeau’s leadership. And with the House of Commons returning to action…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 6. The Trouble with Trudeau
This was not a good week for Justin Trudeau. The coming weeks may not get any better. The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that Justice Minister Judy Wilson-Raybould had…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, week 5. Breaking news: Winter is cold
Millions of Americans and not a few Canadians made the shocking discovery this week that winter can be very cold. Baby, it’s cold outside. Or are we not allowed to…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, Week 4: The kid in the MAGA hat
There was a time, not long ago, when the mainstream media drove the agenda. Newspapers decided what was news, TV news copied whatever was in that day’s paper, and that’s…
Stuff Happens, The Reckoning, Week 3: Canadians pawns in game of Chinese checkers (yes, I know that doesn’t make sense)
I believe there is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes: don’t mess with China. China, a country we are trying desperately hard to establish firm trading ties with, is still…
Stuff Happens IV, The Reckoning, Week 2: Trump TV
I really did not want to write about Donald Trump, at least not in the second week of the year. But the Glowing Orange Menace decided that eating up 90…
Stuff Happens IV: The Reckoning. Week 1, when not much happened.
I’m back. Did you miss me? No? Well, some of you did. Mostly nice family members who idly asked me at Christmas dinner why I didn’t write my weekly news…
George H.W. Bush: A wimp is rehabilitated
Nothing improves a reputation like dying. Last week, former U.S. president George H.W. Bush was laid to rest after 94 remarkable years of life. The praise for Bush was effusive,…
Deluged by fraudsters
Remember something called a ‘land line’? In the days before cellular telephone machines, a land line was simply called a telephone, because there was no other option. Today, none of…
Golden age of TV has passed the networks by
When I was a kid, I was a hopeless TV addict. My mom called me a “TV bug”. If anyone wanted to know what was on TV at any given…
How $1.34 turned into $76.13
I don’t know where you are, but here in the Great White North’s most northerly metropolis, it was a lovely summer. Until smoke from B.C. forest fires began to blot…