For all our vast technical progress over the past few centuries, we mere human beings still don’t seem to know much more about the vast mysteries of death than our ancestors several thousand years ago. And perhaps it is true enough — in some profoundly mysterious way — that certain kinds of people more or […]
I was getting all steamed up. I was ready to add my own obscure voice to the wider protest over the Canadian Mint’s insistence that Dave Gunning, the “Canadian Folk/Celtic singer-songwriter born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia,” must pay a copyright fee for the use of images of pennies on the cover of his next […]
There have been various explanations of the Harper government’s decision last Friday to suspend Canada’s diplomatic relations with Iran. See, eg: “By cutting ties with Iran, we just shot ourself in the foot” ; “Burman: What has prompted Canada’s move against Iran?” ; and “Canada’s last Iran ambassador: Cutting off Tehran looks like a mistake.” […]
This past Friday the Victoria Times Colonist published a piece by Murray Brewster of the Canadian Press, entitled “Royal branding of Canadian Forces to be extended … Suggestions for smaller branches forwarded for approval to Queen.” As Mr. Brewster has explained: “Restoring the ‘Royal’ prefix to the navy and air force has … become a […]
Pranab Mukherjee was elected President of India last Thursday, July 19, 2012. The results of the election were announced by the country’s electoral authorities on Sunday, July 22. Mr. Mukherjee will be sworn into office at the Central Hall of Parliament House in New Delhi tomorrow, Wednesday, July 25, by the Chief Justice of India […]
On Canada Day 2012 a recent welcome comment from the unsung great historian of French and Indian Toronto’s great granddaughter has drawn our attention back to an earlier posting on “Canada Day 2009 : Percy Robinson and the reluctant Canadian republic.” Three years ago we urged that Percy James Robinson (1873—1953 and, among many other […]
Current Argentine president Cristina Kirchner, widow of former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner, is viewed by many observers of such things as one of the “Hottest Female World Leaders” extant. So you might think that when she and UK Prime Minister David Cameron bumped into each other at the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, earlier […]
This past Friday Canada’s self-confessed national newspaper revealed that “Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine will be celebrating their first wedding anniversary on Sunday … Intolerable media intrusion was cited by many sources as the reason the couple broke up in 2007, but they soon got back together and married in a global ceremony […]
“Today,” my wife remarked as we were getting up, “is the original ‘great day for Canada.’” Having acquired much familiarity with our nuclear family legends, I knew what she meant. But I asked the obvious dumb question anyway: “You mean,” I said, “that this is your grandfather’s birthday?” (My knowledge of the legends does not […]
Stephen Harper’s new passion for restoring the British monarchy to the kind of position it enjoyed in Canada before the Second World War may be impressing a few people in other parts of the global village today. But others who watch Canadian current events remain unconvinced. On Saturday, February 4, 2012, eg, Greg Barns and […]
