Hail, Isolde
After Richard Wagner had been working on the Ring Cycle for about ten years, he took a break for two years to write Tristan und Isolde. With Tristan, he did…
Yappa
Senator Assange
Julian Assange is running for Australian senator for the Wikileaks Party. Assange is still holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK, but Australian law allows non-residents to run…
Too Many Goblins…
…Orcs, whatever. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. Otherwise, quite good.
Remembering the massacre
On December 6, 1989, I was on holiday in Arizona, spending a week by myself driving around the Navajo and Hopi reservations. I kept the car radio on a local…
Leadership, leadership, leadership
I’m leaning towards Justin Trudeau for federal leader and Sandra Pupatello for Ontario provincial leader. But I don’t claim to be engaged enough to make an informed decision this time.…
The problem with Rob Ford’s defence
Rob Ford says he didn’t benefit from the conflict of interest that got him kicked out of office. He said last week, “I had nothing to gain and the city…
A Keynesian Cliff
When we have a recession and there’s a call for stimulus, a lot of people – especially on the right – dispute the effectiveness of Keynesian economics. People like Prime…
Soldiers as personal servants, 28-vehicle motorcades to parties, and other glimpses into the military life
We go from day to day having a certain sense of what our world is like: that all people are created equal, that strong class distinctions don’t apply anymore. And…
A little respect for downtown residents – please!
I needed to go to Toronto today, and had to cross King Street in Waterloo at the start of my trip. But there was a run of some sort going…
Bullying, anti-bullying, and anti-anti-bullying
A couple of days ago a 15-year old Canadian girl committed suicide after a long bout of internet bullying that followed her even when she switched schools. Prior to hanging…
Lance Armstrong, Doping, and Testicular Cancer
The reason we have to stand up against performance-enhancing drugs is not because it’s cheating. It’s not to protect the people who bet on sports. The idea of protecting gamblers…
The Pros and Cons of Iran Getting the Bomb
There seem to be a lot of people running around with their hair on fire, lamenting that Iran will get nuclear weapons and Israel will become a smoking hole. The…
Low Expectations are Justin’s Friend
The Globe published a rather odd little article today: “Former MP Mulroney: Underestimate Justin Trudeau at Your Peril”. Some of the online commenters interpreted Mulroney’s statements as support for Trudeau.…
Iran, Embassies, Omar Khadr
Prime Minister Harper took a ridiculous and counter-productive hard line against Iran a couple of weeks ago. Breaking diplomatic ties with Iran was a move that left politicos around the…
Passports for babies
The price of a passport for a child under 3 years is $22. For $24, you can get a passport with 48 pages (double the usual amount). That’s what we…
Mark Carney for Liberal Leader
Okay so it’s all rumors and his office is denying it, but the idea is so wonderful that I have to try to spread it further. A leadership race between…
[Not] Solving Traffic Problems in Uptown Waterloo
I attended the Uptown Traffic summit last week. It was a success – over 120 people, lots of careful consideration of the problems that were posed. In the promo for…
Robosurveycalls
My first career was as a market research analyst, and ever since then I’ve been a market research hobbyist. As part of that I always volunteer to do surveys –…
The Trouble with Buskers
Before I start in with the griping, I need to say that I love the Uptown Busker Festival. I like the pulled pork barbecue and the cheesey kiddie rides. I…
Assange Now on American "Terrorist Trading Cards"
The sales blurb: We Shall Never Forget 9/11 – Vol. II: The True Faces of Evil – Terror Graphic Coloring Novel – Terrorist Trading Cards Price: $6.99Item Number: SCB-WSNF2Manufacturer: Really…