What a Year
It’s been a record-setting year in many places. Here in British Columbia we’ve had our hottest year ever recorded, our wettest year on record and, now, it looks like we’ll…
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Is Omicron in Your Near Future?
The headline in the National Post speaks for itself: “It looks like we’re all going to catch Omicron.” Tristan Hopper’s column begins with two facts: 1. One in ten Canadians…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Andrew Nikiforuk distills the four myths which have resulted in Canada’s political leaders plunging us into multiple avoidable waves of COVID spread.…
Story of the Year, Canada, 2021 – What’s Your Pick?
I think a poll would find the persistent Covid-19 pandemic would win as Canadian Story of the Year for 2021. It’s been the most constantly disruptive event and it affects…
Did We Get Caught Unprepared – Again?
Did Canada’s health authorities – federal and provincial – leave us yet again unprepared? Were they slow in rolling out the booster shot deemed essential to thwart the deadly effects…
There’s Good News and There’s Bad News. Freedom House Ratings, 2021.
Democracy is in decline around the world. Where it was strong it remains strong – with one glaring exception. Canada (98) again did very well in the ratings, no surprise…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ben Cohen points out some of the ways the Omicron variant deviates from what we’ve come to assume about COVID-19. And Colin Horgan…
Tuesday Night Cat Blogging
Leveled-up cats.
On lockdowns
Richard Raycraft reports on the absurdity that the Libs’ latest excuse for a pandemic support (the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit) is available to precisely zero Canadians even as the Omicron…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ben Cohen writes that we shouldn’t take a negative rapid test as license to stop taking every possible precaution to limit community…
Use Every Tool At Your Disposal
The Washington Post editorial board is urging president Joe Biden to take off the gloves in the fight against Covid-19 and, especially, the Omicron variant sweeping the nation. They want…
An Old Soldier’s Lament
You could say the United States military has gone to the dogs. It’s a top down problem. It’s a contagion that doesn’t stop at America’s borders. In today’s Tom Dispatch,…
A Nation Rotting from the Inside
I have an American cousin. Poorly educated, profoundly ignorant, a real Trump guy. Like a vivisectionist’s dog, he lovingly licks the hand wielding the scalpel. Like many of his Facebook…
The Faint Whiff of Change
In the last two weeks I’ve been struck by a growing awareness that something serious is underway in Antarctica. Three friends who have rarely, almost never, said much about the…
Polluter Pays. The Case for Taxing the Rich.
The now standard narrative is that the developed countries are to blame for the climate catastrophe. Some think that’s an unduly broad brush. The case for taxing the rich wherever…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Umair Haque is rightly frustrated that we haven’t learned and applied obvious lessons about how to fight COVID after two years, while also…
It’s the Christmas Season, right? Right?
It’s a messy Massie Christmas to you and yours. This year the Republican congressman from Kentucky sent friends and family this lovely Christmas photo. Looks like the little one has…
If the Library Isn’t Your Thing at the Moment, Here’s Something.
Make some time, grab a cocoa, settle into your favourite chair and check out the December issue of the MIT Technology Review. That’s December, 2020. It’s jam packed with ideas…