The Bully Pulpit
“I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!” US President Theodore Roosevelt uttered those words in office (reported in the February 27,…
history
Family, a Century Ago
The gentleman in the uniform on the right is William Gordon Pudney, Chief Petty Officer and engineer on the cruiser, Niobe, one of the earliest ship’s in Canada’s fledgling navy.…
subway tokens, greek coffee cups, and me: missing nyc
This week I received email from my friend Alan, formerly known in this blog as Alan with one L, or AW1L. Subject line: Re: 34th Street/Penn Station Just Now Out-of-Towner…
Harper History, Part 3 – First Con Minority
Jan 2006 – Sept 2008 In part three of our series examining the things that Mr Harper and his supporters have done that impacted our democracy we cover the period…
Same same?
TL:DR version – learn your history before you shoot off at the mouth.
Harper History, Part 2 – In Opposition
June 2004 – Jan 2006 This is the second of a series of monthly articles examining the actions of Stephen Harper and his Party colleagues both before and after his…
Megamind Time Machine
We kicked off a Netflix addiction with “The Croods” last night, and “Megamind” this morning. At Christmas we replaced a tube TV with a more modern LED version that can…
Weaponized Aryan Jesus?
The term “weaponized Jesus” comes from an article I read on politicsusa.com, from November 2013, titled “The Religious Right With Their Weaponized Jesus Are Not Christians.” It’s worth a read,…
Fossils To Museums
I was an 8 year old awash in fossils, so I was a tad more generous than this former 9 year old PEI lad with his much more valuable fossil.…
A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPE One of the books I’m reading now is John D. Barrow’s ‘The Book of Nothing’. The subject is a look at the concept of ‘nothing’, the…
A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPEOne of the books I'm reading now is John D. Barrow's 'The Book of Nothing'. The subject is a look at the concept of 'nothing', the void,…
A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPE One of the books I'm reading now is John D. Barrow's 'The Book of Nothing'. The subject is a look at the concept of 'nothing', the…
Harper History, Part 1 – The Early Years
This is the first of a series of monthly articles examining the actions of Stephen Harper and his Party colleagues both before and after his rise to power with particular…
Looking over our shoulder….
Traditionally this is the time of the year that we look back over the past 12 months and remember the highlights, both good and bad, in an effort to ‘do…
Human Smoke
“The truth of history,” Napoleon wrote in his memoirs while exiled on St. Helena, “is a fable agreed upon.” Agreed upon mostly by the victors, one should add. The losers…
Parliament Should Go Solar
Following up on my 2010 blog post on solar for the White House, it takes almost 3 years to get solar added to a historic national building. That’s why we…
rtod: this changes everything
Revolutionary thought of the day: All of this is why any attempt to rise to the climate challenge will be fruitless unless it is understood as part of a much…
Why Denmark fears militarization of Arctic islands means Canada could soon control almost all of Hudson’s Bay, and other tall tales
If we just listened to Stephen Harper and the BBC, what a wonderful world this would be! Below: Catherine the Great, USAF Gen. Philip Breedlove. Last Wednesday, the British Broadcasting…
Poor King Henry VII
As Rodney Dangerfield might have said had he been cast in a role as Henry VII, “I don’t get no respect.” Henry VII is one of those English kings who…
5 people who used extreme empathy to change the world
English economist and social reformer Beatrice Webb is one of the five “empathy heroes” who changed the world by taking compassion to the extreme. The post 5 people who used…