COUNTERWEIGHTS EDITORS/SEASONS GREETINGS, TORONTO, DECEMBER 18, 2021. We’re back from the Northern California exurbs. (Possibly just in the nick of time?). And more on that later. For now we’ll just note that everything was excellent without exception.

Meanwhile, in some strange brew of celebration and commemoration here are 21 counterweights blogazine articles from the year now rushing to its end.

They are arranged in chronological order and arguably form one gently twisted historical sketch of the fateful year of 2021, from the 21st century avant-garde angle of people writing for this blogazine. (Or so we all imagine.)

The 21 steps begin with the altogether appalling January 6, 2021 “attack on democracy in the United States” (Justin Trudeau) — aka the “attempted coup” or “insurrection” or “storming of the Capitol building” in Washington, DC.

The steps end with “On Nov 30 the old British ‘Realm’ of Barbados will turn itself into a modern democratic ‘Republic’ — can remaining realms like Canada be too far behind?”

This end article should be mostly of interest to Canadians. And even here active popular interest has yet to match the enthusiasm of counterweights editors. On the other hand, Rihanna is one leading citizen of the new Barbados Republic. And she at least deserves wider interest!

If you actually want to look at any of the 21 articles below just click on the date that follows the title. Meanwhile again, we should quickly note that as not quite spelled out in any of the 21 below, the year 2021 is ending, at least here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America, etc (as elsewhere, we know from TV and the Internet etc), deeply and of course understandably caught up yet again in public health and the coronavirus pandemic.

As we also say at the end of the list that follows, we just wish happy holidays and all the best in 2022 to everyone anywhere who chooses to celebrate and/or commemorate (especially in 2021) :

(1) Good morning America how are you? … Jan 7th, 2021, Counterweights Editors

(2) Biden inauguration at last : “Americans always finally do the right thing, after they’ve tried everything else first” … Jan 20th, 2021, Randall White

(3) Why a Royal Commission on Democratizing the Governor General of Canada makes sense in 2021 … Jan 30th, 2021, Randall White

(4) New Valentine’s Day Massacres 2021 in the United States and Canada … Feb 14th, 2021, Citizen X

(5) Commonwealth today not what it used to be in Canada —and it may have a bigger future than we imagine? … Mar 30th, 2021, Citizen X

(6) Blue Jays 2021 : Expectations will continue to rise; Montoyo says “Our guys are ready” … Apr 1st, 2021, Rob Sparrow

(7) Why Canada needs a new citizenship oath … Apr 10th, 2021, Ashok Charles

(8) Just starting to probe the mystery of Doug Ford in Canada’s most populous province … May 2nd, 2021, Citizen X

(9) Understanding the strange state of conservative theory and practice today … May 23rd, 2021, L. Frank Bunting

(10) “We have not yet realized that the Indian and his culture were fundamental to the growth of Canadian institutions”(and then there’s Democracy in America today) … Jun 7th, 2021, Randall White

(11) Senate reform for better regional representation still a great idea .. but it has to recognize the cross-Canada democracy … Jun 20th, 2021, Counterweights Editors

(12) Why Donald Trump will probably never wear the orange jumpsuit he deserves (and Justin Trudeau will in any case appoint a new Governor General of Canada soon) … Jul 4th, 2021, Randall White

(13) Summer 2021 adventures of the Ontario flag reflect bigger issues .. how long can this keep going on? … Jul 20th, 2021, Counterweights Editors

(14) RIP William Grenville Davis — we’d have better democratic politics in Ontario today if we had more politicians like him … Aug 9th, 2021, Randall White

(15) Is Justin Trudeau’s summer snap election in Canada turning into a mistake? (&/or for Old Ontario residents will it just be Bland Bill Davis in 1977 all over again?) … Aug 21st, 2021, Counterweights Editors

(16) 2021 Canadian election result — this time opinion polls were close : another Liberal minority government like in 2019 … Sep 21st, 2021, Counterweights Editors

(17) Why is so much Canadian mainstream media (and its hangers-on) so eager to gang up on PM Justin Trudeau? … Oct 3rd, 2021, Randall White

(18) Are USA & China bringing the wider global village back into the limelight? … Oct 12th, 2021, Counterweights Editors

(19) No kind of formal Liberal-NDP accord in Ottawa after 2021 election for now? … Nov 9th, 2021, Counterweights Editors | Category: In Brief | Edit

(20) Anti-political mood softens as world “part overcomes, part assimilates the pandemic” … Nov 18th, 2021, L. Frank Bunting

(21) On Nov 30 the old British “Realm” of Barbados will turn itself into a modern democratic “Republic” — can remaining realms like Canada be too far behind? … Nov 26th, 2021, Randall White.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ALL THE BEST IN 2022!