613-623-5005

A moving call for peace, but nobody's budging:  For sixty years the conflict in the middle east has been marked by both sides not respecting truce agreements, human rights or humanitarian pleas.  Your editorial calls on both sides to save face.  Since when did shame ever move either of these mortal enemies?  In Yogi Berra style:  Israeli stubbornness beats Palestinian intransigence every time; and visa versa.  January 3, 2009

Mea Culpa:  On reading Christie Blatchford’s column this morning  (Can a soldier defend shooting a wounded foe? No), I  was surprised at her comments, proud of the Canadian Armed Forces and ashamed of my own reaction to the case of  Captain Robert Semrau.  I had expected Ms Blatchford to excuse the situation by citing the defence of necessity, or mercy killing in the fog of war.  To my shame,  these rationales came immediately to my mind, not to hers and certainly not to our men and women serving us bravely and gallantly.

It seems Ms Blatchford and the Canadian military hold the soldier’s Duty to Honour in higher regard than I.  When I contrast their position to that of the American administration which exempts it’s soldiers from justice in occupied  lands and even from international courts of justice, I can but feel proud to be Canadian, yet shamed that I fell short of such lofty ideals.  Thank you, Ms Blatchford, for reminding us why we are in Afghanistan even though success is unlikely. It’s called principle, something worth a good fight.  January 7, 2009

Bitter, bitter / the writer whines: Once again Rex Murphy takes sarcastic aim at celebrity and sneers at Barack  Obama and the President-elect’s fans. (The coolest, and luckiest, of them all )  Rex seems to always look down on anyone for whom the multitudes look up.  But despite neo-con ads to the contrary,  Obama is not Paris Hilton.  The next president of the United States has qualities suited to his position and the positive, warm attention he is receiving.  The Obama-praise and Bush-whacking that Rex complains about has nothing to do with ‘cool’ or ‘hot’,  just right and wrong.  January 17, 2009

Licenced to lie: It’s far too long to fit on a licence plate, but may I suggest this for Quebec’s motto: “Je me souviens de ce qui n'a pas été “ ? Vive la romantique Québec!   February 17, 2009

Insights into Billy Bob: Yesterday, I became one of the by then million-plus YouTube viewers of the Q TV video showing the Billy Bob Thornton interview. Billy Bob's responses to Jian Ghomeshi gave me an insight that his music, not its commercialization, mattered most to him (Tough Prima Donna - editorial, May 10). It was refreshingly honest to see the disdain some artists hold for the publicity machine their careers demand. True, Billy Bob was touchy, had a chip on his shoulder from the start and countered the perceived insult to his art with a graceless insult to his host and audience. It reminded me of Lenny Bruce, who also liked a little gravy on his mashed potatoes.  April 11, 2009

Whodunit?  I agree with letter writer Patrick Cowen who gets on the case of Globe editors who can’t get their cases straight. ‘Who ‘ is the active subject of a sentence or phrase.  ‘Whom’ is the object of an action within a sentence or phrase.  So, in Seuss style re hazards in Who-ville:  Please don’t do something we’d like least of all/   When whoever is writing re whomever at all./  Don’t confuse ‘Whos’ with ‘Whoms’,  whichever the case,/   Lest you end up with green egg on your face!     May 1, 2009

All the little piggies: Rick Salutin humourously pretends to confuse the current flu crisis with the current economic disaster. ( The real pandemic is economic, with no vaccine)  He fears the globalization pandemic is deadlier.  This confusion is understandable as both phenomena are spreading world wide and have originated from the same source, swine.      May 1, 2009

Off the cuff: Laval Police say their hands were tied ( how ironic) and that they had no choice but to arrest, cuff and fine Ms Kosoian who ignored a police officer’s demand that she hold on to the subway escalator handrail.  Citizens are required to show respect for the law and law enforcement officers.  Likewise, police must earn that respect through their professional behaviour and respect for private citizens.  In this case, it appears tempers escalated while a level of common courtesy from both sides plummeted downward.  May 20, 2009

Wordsmithery in webdom:  Thanks to Warren Clements for another opedeminent column (A Slacktivist And His Crackberry Are Seldom Parted - May 16). My own slacklustre inactivity is confined to letters to the editor of The Globe and Mail, a reactive form of civic participation with a long and honoured history. But as John Ibbitson's latest book and The Globe's online interactive partnering of it show, oppopulism is becoming more efficient and widespread. I am most satisfied when I see my musings and comments instantaneously displayed online. I'm downright smugsated      May 20, 2009                                                                                                       

June 5, 2009

The G&M editorial and Rick Salutin’s column have two takes on President Obama’s speech in Cairo. The former looks at the political intent, the latter examines the president’s spiritual message.   But the themes are consistent: speaking truth to power and challenging all to embrace community over divisiveness. Do his words overreach their ability to become action?  Perhaps but, as Robert Browning wrote,   "Man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"  June 5, 2009

Getting what they deserve? NOT!:  Shocking entitlements are not a case of  public vs. private sector behaviour as Margaret Wente supposes. (Entitled to their entitlements ).  It's a matter of top vs. bottom!  When ridiculously large severances are awarded to those top mandarins ( Public Sector) or CEOs  ( Private Sector ), the inevitable rationale is that they must be competitive to similarly outrageous terms in the private sector, otherwise the government ( or AIG )  won't be able to attract the brightest and the best.  In other words, the guys at the top set the rules and standards in their own favour.  In this game, the cards are stacked against the people who end up paying.  June 9, 2009  

By their acts, ye shall know them:  Re: Bob Rae denied entry into Sri Lanka .  The government of Sri Lanka wants to be free of public scrutiny.  Who do they think they are, the RCMP?  June 9, 2009

Viagra Falls, slowly I turned:  Warren Clements  takes us through monthly metaphors (  Ever-young May has pick of suitors ) wherein May stands for youth and either September or December denotes old age. For romantic references, the month of May should continue to represent modern girls as in, ‘ Will she or won’t she? She May! ‘   But for aging men with untreated E.D., the appropriate month would be Nomember.    June 27, 2009

What counts: Letter writer Paul Ranalli  is playing with numbers in his criticism of Sonia Sotomayor’s record as a judge.  The Supreme Court nominee wrote 380 majority opinions during her 11 years on the appeals court. Of those 380 opinions, the Supreme Court heard five of the cases and overturned her on three.  She doesn’t have a 66% failure rate, she has a better than 99% success rate.  Not bad in any business.  July 14, 2009

Re  Public-private calamity: The  Public-Private Partnership concept  invariably works to the advantage of the private sector which will not participate until and unless their interests are foremost in the agreement.  These interests are often antithetical to those of the public.  When I applied for landed status in Canada in 1967,  an immigration official asked me a number of questions including employment history. I told him I was a salesman as I had worked in a used book store, ergo I sold books.  He laughed and said I was a clerk not a salesman.  I asked what the difference was and he informed me that a clerk sells you what you need and a salesman sells you what you don’t need.   Then and there I understood: the public sector is designed to meet the public’s needs but the private sector’s primary interest is sales.   It’s no wonder such conflicting motivations lead to calamity to give us what we don’t want.  July 22, 2009

Early morning sacks:  Re:   Edmonton Eskimo sacks suspected serial purse snatcher.  Said Jones,  “I ain’t no hero. I just seen someone who needed help, and jumped in." But that is the very definition of hero.   I've been a Ti-Cats fan for 40 years,  but from now on I will be rooting for Kitwana Jones as well.  Here's a cyber high-5 for a guy who dared to do the right thing.   July 22, 2009  

Health care is a right in Canada: As a two time cancer survivor since 2004, I can honestly say I owe my health and well-being to the Canadian health care system.  (Critics use Canada to assail Obama's health plan ).  I have only relied on private insurance to help with the cost of prescription drugs, physiotherapy and massage to help in my recovery.  My private insurance  also covered semi-private vs a ward bed at hospital.  But all other expenses, including three major surgeries and 35 radiation treatments,  were covered under OHIP. In the U.S.   I would have been forced to mortgage my home to the hilt to pay for those five years of treatment and follow-up.  Furthermore,  the reassurance that my major medical needs are guaranteed as a right ( paid for through taxes) has meant I have not had the mental/ emotional stress which would have further exacerbated my medical condition. I would gladly be a spokesman for the Canada Health Care System to counter the propaganda currently promoted by Fox News and other right-wing interest groups.   July 23, 2009

Jack Sprat?:  Margaret Wente doesn’t seem to understand; it’s not a question of  fat versus thin, which of the two is healthy and which unhealthy.  Yes, a few extra pounds will help a patient undergoing surgery.  Yes, pre-teen and teenage girls starving themselves so they can squeeze into last year’s jeans is anything but healthy on many levels.  The point is to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regimen throughout life.  That’s something North Americans fail to do and statistics indicate an over weight, under fit problem in the general population with an alarming rate of early-age obesity.  My wife’s constant caution to me, “ Move more, eat less and look in the mirror before heading out the door “,  speaks to the wisdom of sensible diet and exercise as well as the need to reflect.  Presentation is important, neatness counts.  July 24, 2009  

More than just a Tina bit funny: Tabatha Southey may want to send her resume to Saturday Night Live. (Did Sarah Palin ramble, meander and blather? You betcha )  Her jibes at the speaking style of Sarah Palin, ex-Alaskan governor type politician and presidential in four more years wanna-be,  was up to Tina Fey standards. Also, Ms Palin may have much in common with her SLN imitator, or at least Ms Fey’s name .   My dictionary defines ‘fey’ as 1. doomed, 2. able to see into the future, and 3. marked by an otherworldly air.   Ms Palin’s speechifying orational-like verbiage certainly fits the third definition.  I can only hope definitions one and two combine for her politically.   July 26, 2009

The zoo crew:  Congratulations to the on-line editing crew at the  G&M for their subtle sense of humour.  The August 5^th edition of the ‘Day in pictures’ slide show had a baby wallaby followed by squirrel monkeys followed by a shot of a smiling, waving and caged Karlheinz Schreiber. Nice juxtapositioning.   I’ve always thought it a shame to see wild animals penned up behind bars.  An exception might be Augsburg’s latest prisoner.   August 5, 2009

Better read than dead wrong: I found Rick Salutin's column, ‘Being 'new' gets old really fast’, came from out in left field on three grounds.  Firstly, he questions the value of reading, ergo learning, anything new.  He writes “Why not just reread what we already know we like? That's how the human race read and told tales for millenniums before the rise of print”. Secondly, he implies literacy is but the result of ‘crass economic motives’; like this is a bad thing. And finally, he non-sequitored his way into a rather tenuous connection between the development of books and aging socialist politics in Canada.  His confusing piece could have been entitled ' Better read than dead '.  Maybe I should just read some of Rick’s past columns,  ones I already know I like.  August 7, 2009

Who knew?  Factions in the (still ) New Democratic Party could not come together to make a name change at a time when young supporters, like their American counterparts, are screaming for change, if not for something new. ( NDP name change debate fizzles )  Old-timers in the party, ironically backing  the  ‘ new ‘ side,  wore buttons bearing only the letter N. to show their support for no change.  Has ‘new’ become the new “ N word “ ?  Or is it all the news not fit to print?  Gee! Who knew?   August 16, 2009

Humour in insolvency:  Re Reader's Digest plans to file for U.S. bankruptcy protection:  Chapter 11, the best medicine. August 16, 2009

Beyond belief: Ray Pennings feels the Supreme Court ruling on Photo-ID is unreasonable and an undue burden on the Hutterite community in Alberta.  He suggests a thumb print on drivers’ licences would do instead;  but might that not also be seen as a graven image?  The right to believe does not extend to the right to engage in social activities, such as driving,  on your own terms.  Shared road, shared laws, shared responsibility.   The option of hiring non-Hutterite chauffeurs may be taxing, but maybe that’s the cost of doing God. August 21, 2009

That weren't no Lady, that was my anger:  What a fitting yet ironic image Anthony Jenkins gives us in his political cartoon about the Lockerby Bomber’s judicial fate and the public’s reaction.  In his 1637 poem Lycidas, John Milton wrote ‘ The hungry sheep look up and are not fed ‘.  Some critics reference this as the gap between the powerful decision makers and the people in need.   With the Scottish mercy decision, society ( the people represented by Jenkins as innocent sheep ) look to a higher authority  and are not satisfied.

The irony is that John Milton, a radical Roundhead,  called for the beheading of Charles I when many in his cause pleaded for mercy.  The Globe editorial, Mercy for merciless mass murder puts forth many cogent arguments but begs the question that closure trumps mercy.  Hungry sheep look up and are not fed… Fed what?  Justice or vengeance?  Justice is a Lady, Vengeance is a Bitch. August 22, 2009

The principle reason for politics is...: Politics can be about principles; also it can be about compromise. It can be about participation in the social contract; it can be about changing the world. Unfortunately, all too often it is about power and self-interest.   Ted Kennedy's request for an interim Senate appointment in the event of his untimely death flies in the face of his democratic principles, that the state’s representatives must be elected.  But he does so to achieve the highest of goals.  If  the Massachusetts legislature reneges on this principle, one championed by Ted Kennedy, it will be for the greater good.  Politics, they say, is about choices.  Who said it was easy?    August 22, 2009

Not the best time to schmooze: Lawrence Martin wonders why Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff  isn’t courting US President Obama. Soul mates the two may be, but what could they constructively accomplish?  Linking Canadian Liberalism with the American debate on Health Care would be the kiss of death to Obama's slim chances at reform.  As for issues most crucial to Canada, border security and continued military commitment in Afghanistan,  our interests would receive little support from the American administration.  Ignatieff is probably smart to lie low for now.   August 27, 2009

Assumed values - presumed agenda:  Rick Salutin  has uncovered the wolf in sheep’s clothing by exposing so called core values as code for particular political agendas which tend to be anti-democratic and implicitly racial. I seem to recall one good old American institution for defending core values was called the K.K.K.  And an Austrian guy a way back wrote a book on how to maintain what he felt were pure, core values;  Mein Kampf, I think it was called. Some values are rotten to the core.  You betcha!   August 28, 2009

Perils before swine:  The first batch of the H1N1 flu vaccine may not be available in Canada until mid-November, in part, because Health Canada officials want to avoid the possible debacle which took place in the U.S. in 1976 when a pandemic of swine flu was feared but did not occur.  What did result back then was 25 deaths attributed to vaccine shots.  It’s a gamble either way.  Perhaps we are wise to wait for confirmatory tests before distributing batches of the drug.  Is this a case of ‘ Batches? We don’t need no stinging batches!”  September 1, 2009

Snake eyes?:  Lawrence Martin is hardly encouraging for Liberals in Ottawa. ( Will Ignatieff's bid to stake out higher ground work? )  Ironically, the US election of Barak Obama makes  Liberal  chances even less likely. The electorate usually votes against, not for. While Canadians had an eight year hate-on for George Bush. Liberal election strategy  tied Bush to the Tories.  That won't work now. Liberalism will have to stand on its own now and, as Lawrence Martin indicates, put forth a positive vision. Tricky when, at best of times, the Tories and Grits are twin sisters of policy ( the Tories being the ugly twin ). The ‘hidden agenda’ line wears thinner and thinner the longer the Tories stay in power in a minority Parliament. Further, a Liberal simple messaging, “Go BOLD” approach may be risky from both a policy and rhetorical perspective.  It tempts the voters to bring in a majority government. Talk about rolling the dice!   September 3, 2009

What art Thou? All of the above: Politically incorrect art is, by definition, artistically correct.  Not necessarily good, but it serves the purpose of art, which is to challenge. The protest group condemning the Toronto International Film Festival, on the other hand, seems more interested in opposing than challenging. Early in their careers, actors and writers learn this axiom,  “ show your truth, don’t declare your beliefs as truth. “   September 4, 2009

Sad but true:  The Tories under Stephen Harper are more interested in slamming their opponents than in serving the needs of Canadians. ( Globe Editorial, Keep building that deck )  As a Global TV newscaster, Peter Truman used to say, that's not news, but that too is reality. September 4, 2009

Food for thought:  Food Bank syndrome in schools is just another form of 'user-pay' philosophy which, while appropriate in some circumstances, is often promoted by the rich in their on-going attack on all things smacking of collective responsibility, especially government which works in everyone's interests rather than just theirs. If the right-wing had their way, there would be no public education or free libraries and, as is obvious in the  States, collectively insured health care.  Remember the old song: "If livin' were a thing that money could buy, you know the rich would live and the poor would die."   September 5, 2009

Muttual Aid: Re  Dog saves toddler lost in Yukon bush: Trite though it be, the title ' Man's best friend'  was not given without reason. If people treated people as pet dogs treat their owners, our world would benefit.  Disneyesque as it sounds, Dogs go to heaven. They deserve it more than we.  September 7, 2009

Samoa the same? Not really:  The South Pacific Island nation of Samoa is going ahead with a revolutionary move which is fraught with danger and is opposed by a large portion of its tiny population.      ( Chaos predicted as Samoa tells drivers to switch to other side of the road)  Switching from right-hand side of the road driving to the left is reportedly meant “to bring Samoa in line with driving customs in Australia and New Zealand….”  to encourage ex-pats living down under to ship their used cars to the island and thus deflate car prices and make them more affordable for the poor in rural areas.  This is taking left-wing social management to the extreme.  It’s what one might call Samoa wrong-sided, leftist thinking.  And as far as safety is concerned, it’s a case of switch and abate.   September 7, 2009

That sinking feeling: I agree with letter writer Marian Kingsmill that the complex situation means the few advances in Afghanistan ( political, social and economic ) are being built on sand.  This is exacerbated by the very nature of fighting an insurgency.  As hated and feared as the Taliban is, the Afghan people will opt for security.  If we cannot provide that, our cause, as noble as it may be, is doomed.  Alas, this mission itself stands on quicksand and there is no end but tragic; there is no way but down.  September 8, 2009

Warriors should be made of sterner stuff?: Just a few comments about Margaret Wente’s column,  ‘Ignatieff wants to be a warrior king’.

1. Ms Wente chides Iggy for not playing Captain Canada, presumably for not explaining to Americans our universal health care and the politics and philosophy behind it.  But if anyone should venture into the political minefield that is the Health Care debate in the United States, it should be the federal or provincial Ministers of Health.  Where were these Super Heroes?

2.  If, like Ms Wente,  we see Iggy's book about a doomed idealist as prescient or even significant, how should we view Prime Minister Harper's upcoming tribute to hockey? He shoots, he scores another minority?

My foot soul sore - I'm happy trudge to the polls: Reading Rex Murphy, ( Pity the parties' foot soldiers ) one wonders why have elections at all; they're such a tiresome task for everyone. We'd be better off under a dictatorship where we don't have to decide, dither or debate. Trudging off to cast a vote so often?  Only in Canada (and a few other democracies), you say?  Pity.  September 12, 2009

Some subtle shades of green: eco-me$$age?:  I just watched the latest Ignatieff political ad ( Liberals fire second ad salvo ) and I wonder about the significance of the ad’s setting.  Does the forest backdrop mean the Liberals are talking upfront about the economy but still have the environment on their minds, albeit in the background?   Or are they saying the Tories are barking up the wrong tree with their ineffective economic plan and can’t see the forest for the trees ?   September 13, 2009

The 'holy' bad game:  The Rough Riders’  humiliating romp over the Blue Bombers included eight turnovers by Winnipeg Quarterback Michael Bishop.(Riders hammer Bombers 55-10 ) I think it’s clear that even if Bishop switched leagues to become a Cardinal or even a Saint, he would still not have a prayer.  September 13, 2009

Stock still, I stood stunned

As info-flotsam flowed by:

Wikipedia.

Sometimes inaction makes sense: Reid Morden, former deputy minister of foreign affairs (1991-94), who was also the head of CSIS, ( 1988 - 1992 ) chides the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin for ‘inaction on key international issues’.  ( letter Sept. 17/09 )  Does Mr. Reid not remember Bosnia, a commitment started under Brian Mulroney but continued by Chretien?  And who could forget  Afghanistan, a military commitment that will have spanned ten years of support by both Tory and Grit governments?  But the quintessential inaction of Jean Chretien was his refusal in join in George W. Bush’s insane invasion of Iraq.  That American folly dwarfs any Canadian loss of international stature.  September 17, 2009

Down and out in Afghanistan: Margaret Wente has put her finger on the conundrum cum quagmire that is Afghanistan (Tragedy of good intentions).   Sadly, one of the inevitable consequences of Yellow Ribbon - Support Our Troops mentality is to chill any critical thinking, much less debate,  about the wisdom of foreign policy and military strategies.  As I noted on these pages nearly two years ago, it’s  Afghaniquicksand. We're sinking faster and deeper than ever. There’s nowhere to go but down and eventually out. September 17, 2009

O tempora, O mores!:  As a comment on the 25^th anniversary of Brian Mulroney’s 1984 political victory and as a tip of the hat to all those Latin-loving letters to the editor of late,  please allow me:  Quo usque tandem abutere, Brian, patientia nostra, quamdiu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia?   Translation: “How long, Brian, will you abuse our patience? For how long will that madness of yours mock us? To what end will your unbridled effrontery toss itself about?"  I still remember some of my Latin and much about Brian Mulroney.   September 18, 2009

That's mil-i-tain-ment!: No wonder Canada has dropped plans to build a mock Afghan village at the Canadian Embassy in Washington.  This extraordinary stunt hoped to heighten U.S. awareness of Canada’s military role in Afghanistan.  But Americans already get their info-tainment from the likes of CNN and Fox News and prefer  Action-TV and video games to live theatre.  The American public has X-Box war games and movies like GI Joe, the Rise of Cobra  to occupy their minds and form their opinions. Besides, they were already treated to official mili-tainment  by the U.S. Air Force via video footage of ‘intelligent’ bombing raids in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. September 19, 2009

Rhinoceros preposterous?:  Although polar opposites politically, columnists Rick Salutin and Rex Murphy have found common ground this week; each examined Michael Ignatieff and found him wanting.  For Rex, Iggy’s medium and message is all muddled. To Salutin,  mirror imaging is less about Marshall McLuhan and more about mythical mistakes. Salutin thinks the Liberal leader’s narcissism will make Ignatieff a bad candidate. But a third writer for the Globe  this weekend,  Rick Mercer,  goes further still and skewers all three major party leaders and implies he wouldn’t throw them a rope if they were drowning, much less a vote if they were running.  Electorally, I feel at the end of my rope.  Hang it all, I may vote Rhino next time.   September 26, 2009

Left is right. But does it matter?:  Lawrence Martin points to many significant NDP positions and analyses which were instantly derided in the press pro forma but which, in time, have become common wisdom.  (On many vital issues, the NDP have been on the mark) The CCF/NDP have often seen their positions implemented years later: Medicare, freedom of choice re abortion, ending the death penalty, same-sex marriage, to name but few.  While politics is about policy, it’s sine qua non is the power to implement them.  Just as the greatest amount of wealth resides with the smallest percentage of society, so rests in privileged hands the power to control and influence.  

American Journalist A.J. Liebling  famously said " Freedom of the Press belongs to the man who owns one."  True, technology has advanced democratization of media , but that only goes so far.  Cellphone photo-ooops may catch cops who cross the line; and cyber-tweekdom and InterMyFaceSpace networking may go a long way in prompting news and exchanging views. But, alas, the mass media remains and maintains the message for the masses.   September 26, 2009

Roman law and just crucifixion: I applaud Margaret Wente for dismissing arguments being made in defence of the famous film director and which are critical of his seizure in Switzerland.  ( Roman Polanski, freedom fighter) Neither jurisdiction nor the passage of time should mitigate his heinous deed. Time did not erase the pain and evil that was Adolph Eichmann or the Butcher of Lyon.  In some instances the question of jurisdiction and unfair laws does apply, as in the case of Salmund Rushdie.  But that is not the case here and the United States is in accord with all cultures and societies in condemning and outlawing child rape and sodomy. October 1, 2009

Letterman gets an "A",  but not quite like Hester Prynne:  Lecherous Letterman’s brilliant bad-boy banter provides a lesson in damage control for politicians and celebrities who get caught with their pants down.  The quintessence of new-age infotainment,  his Late Night stand-up comic confession was most effective in coming clean and making the best of a bad situation.  I hope Brian Mulroney was watching. The former PM could learn a thing or two.  October 2, 2009

CanWest's last gasp?:  The bankruptcy filing by Canada’s largest media mogul,  CanWest, is certainly news ( How the Asper dream crumbled )  but, as Global TV’s former newscaster Peter Newman might say,  “ That too is reality.”  Overextension of debt and empire building can bring down any castle, especially those built in the clouds. The media giant is now on life support;  one might even say it‘s on an ‘Asperator’.  October 6, 2009

Pebblehenge won't rock: The point the Council of Barriere, B.C. seem to be missing is that, in this case at least, size most certainly matters.  ( B.C. town to build Stonehenge replica)  A mini-Stonehenge would lack the original’s sense of mystery, power and endurance which brings so many tourists flocking to Salisbury Plain each solstice.  The gigantic stone shrine, believed to have built 5,000 years ago,  inspires awe because of the incredible and historic enormity of its construction.  Its draw for new-age druids is not just a matter of observation, astronomical and religious, at a specific latitude.  The magic of Stonehenge cannot be recreated by a Disneyesque version of this wonder of the very ancient world.   October 8, 2009

Queen to King's pawn: check, mate:  Governor General Michaelle Jean is certainly  “not just a clerk”  (A hot debate about head of state. A clerk just follows orders, a head of state gives them.  Given her decision last December to prop up Stephen Harper’s government despite its loss of confidence in Parliament,  and given the manner in which the Prime Minister has behaved since, we might  call the Queen’s representative a king maker.  But though she proposes, it’s the electorate who disposes.  October 10, 2009

Give peace a chance: To those wondering why Baraka Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, look no further than news that a century of hostility has been brokered between Turkey and Armenia.  Last minute disagreement over wording was reportedly smoothed over by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. This Obama administration and its new direction in international affairs is giving peace a chance.  The compromise solution of setting up “ a commission of international experts to study the events” of the Ottoman slaughter of Armenians at the end of WWI  has a decidedly Canadian feel to it.  How’s that for peacekeeping?   October 11, 2009

DNA Do Not Act (yet):  Margaret Wente is not alone in wondering at “The strange case of Suaad Mohamud”.  While DNA mapping of a full-sister might have been similar enough to fool authorities, I am not so sure about that of a half-sister. But other picture IDs will either confirm Ms Mohamud’s story or lead to further investigation here in Canada where we all stand a better chance of getting at the truth.  Still, I find it hard to believe that if she is not who she claims to be and this is a scam,  that anyone would have the gall to try it on.  Surely millions of dollars in compensation would never be handed over without finding out the truth.  After all, this isn't Ontario's e-health we’re talking about!  October 13, 2009

Sex drive in the fast lane:  We’ve often heard that “ the clothes make the man”,  but now it seems male sex drive may be indeed affected by what ‘gear’ you’re in. The Globe and Mail  recently surveyed readers with the question, “ what kind of wheels will torque your sex appeal? “  That question may have physiological as well as psychological merit.  A Concordia University study*   has found a significant increase in testosterone levels in middle aged men when they drive speedy sports cars.  So aging studs no longer need the little blue pill or testosterone patches; a Mustang or Porsche will do. Patches?  We don’t need no stinking patches!    October 14, 2009

Turn on, tune in and retire:  Margaret Wente mentions an interesting retirement plan ( When work quits before you do ) for self-employed people in their sixties without pension security and for whom employment opportunities look bleak.  One of her entrepreneurial  friends, described as unwanted creative-class boomers, is contemplating going back to 1970s commune  model where they had  no money but  “… lived together and ate well and smoked dope. “ Now that’s what I call a joint venture.  So forty years after the end of the sixties it’s  “Turn on, tune in and retire.”   October 16, 2009

The right to know; not an easy call   Re: Top court weighs fate of whistleblowers :   'The truth will out',  but only if people are not afraid to let the world know what's up.  It's a delicate balance; protecting journalistic sources keeps the flow of otherwise secret information.  But when such information, once revealed, leads to judicial inquiries, is it not also in the public's interest to examine the trust-worthiness of that information and its source?  Not an easy decision for the highest court in the land.   October 21, 2009

No new news is good news: The promotions  proclaim  ‘it’s an all new CBC News ‘.  This may be news to the Holy Mother Corp,  but what’s new is their style of presentation. News, by definition, is always new.    The name itself should be their first clue. And is the CBC trying to mimic CNN?  Peter Mansbridge has left his chair behind the desk to stand amid computer morphing backgrounds like a well dressed Wolf Blitzer.   October 29, 2009

An adorable PET: Like Margaret Wente, I too only met Pierre Trudeau once; it was the summer of 1971 when I was a young radio journalist in Oakville.  Trudeau Mania was reportedly on the wane by then but you wouldn’t know that by the gaga looks on the faces in the crowd, especially the young women.  As I shook his hand. I was amazed that this short, nattily dressed man with a very weak handshake, had somehow gained the reputation of babe-magnet. But 38 years on, that attraction still holds. My 22 year-old daughter adores him, even though her knowledge of our 15^th Prime Minister is only through books, on-line research and film history. Trudeau was a giant of a man in his heart and mind where size really counts.   October 31, 2009

Things that can be bought  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton downplayed the  Abdullah withdrawal from Afghan elections, saying "I don't think it has anything to do with the legitimacy of the election.  We see that happen in our own country ."  (Not the best argument)  Hillary, I've got some swamp land in Florida going cheap. Great place to build condos. Oh, and I also own this nice bridge in Brooklyn; interested in buying that?   November 1, 2009

Harpooning buffoons:  Jeffrey Simpson thinks Canada should ditch our ties to the monarchy soon. ( No offence, Prince, but our ties to the monarchy should end )  But Canada doesn't have a Jacko or Sylvio to ridicule. We need the likes of Prince Philip and Prince Charles.  The closest we have right now is Greenpeace spokesman Paul Watson as the Clown Prince of Whales.   November 1, 2009

Canada Post Dead Letter Office: To answer David Welch’s question  and set the record straight. The card of condolence from the Cancer Society was addressed to the DeLuca Family.  Being blissfully unaware of my demise at the time, I proceeded to open it. The letter cited ‘ the recent passing of Ken DeLuca ‘ not the phrase ‘ your passing ‘. For the sake of brevity, my letter to the editor used the after-the-fact pronoun rather than a direct quote. November 12, 2009

Canadian tenets and BeLEAFS:  (Re The new Canada: a question of emphasis  and Soul of a Nation, Gable cartoon): My Canada includes Universal Health Care Insurance,  Equalization Payments, Same Sex Marriage,  Abortion as a medical issue, disavowal of capital punishment, a well equipped force for both National Defence and Peacekeeping, as well as the rule of law through due process in a Parliamentary democracy. Ideally, it would also feature an NHL team in Hamilton and a victorious Toronto Maple Leafs team hoisting the Stanley Cup.  But some goals may be unrealistic.  November 13, 2009

Afscandalstan - it just gets worse: Just what is not credible? ( Tories attack credibility of diplomat who blew whistle on torture ) Does Peter MacKay mean that Richard Colvin did not send damning reports between 2006 and 2007?  That military and civil authorities were indeed warned is not debatable Or does he mean the basis for the allegations was not deemed credible?    If Peter MacKay has Ministry responses questioning Colvin’s claims at the time or addressing those issues, let him show them.  That would at least clear the government of the implication that the PMO, Rick Hilliary and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affaires has tried to white wash the issue.  The government might well be guilty of downplaying this scandal. But I hope they are not guilty also of complicity in torture and lying to Parliament and the Canadian people for the last three years.   November 19, 2009

A gallant defence of ignoring the truth Re: (Torture and the paper trail ) This is worse than looking the other way or whitewashing. Defence Minister Peter MacKay is using the following logic: because no one can 100% prove incidents of torture, all allegations or evidence thereof are not credible.  Or, as Tory MP Cheryl Gallant fatuously noted at the special Commons Committee, they would not stand scrutiny in a court of law. Is she implying the government is using a legal loophole to avoid this mess?  She added “talk of abuse of detainees is hurting public support for (our) Afghan military mission.”  It’s not the ‘talk’; it’s the abuse itself which weakens support.  Honestly facing those allegations is an exercise in accountability and responsibility, Ms Gallant.   November 19, 2009

Right wing-nut? You betcha!  Rex Murphy astutely calls Barak Obama “a kind of teleprompter Cicero”.  Just substitute the name George W Bush for Cataline in Cicero’s famous debate and you can’t miss the similarity.  But Rex missed one example in his comparison of President Obama’s oratory to Sarah Palin’s. ( Obama inspires; Palin connects ) In both style and message, Palin is closer to Hitler than Obama is to Cicero. Also the former Alaskan governor appeals to the same type of audience that Adolf the housepainter had.  November 21, 2009

Ow! That smarts: Re (Have you done your 10,000 hours?) Margaret Wente sees the import of both innate talent and persistent effort.  But she sides with the former as more important in determining success.  In explaining why Chinese students do so well in math, she says author Steven Pinker would argue that  “Chinese kids do indeed work hard – but they're also smarter.”    So Pinker is saying the Chinese are smarter because they are smarter?  It doesn't take a genius to see through that tautological argument. C'mon, Marg, you're smarter than that. November 21, 2009

SNAFU - Some News Agencies Feel Unwanted:  Prime Minister Harper believes “freedom is enhanced when journalists are free to pursue the truth, to shine light into dark corners, and to assist the process of holding governments accountable”.  Then he leaves without bothering to face reporters’ questions.  Sometimes silence speaks volumes and the lack of media is the message.   November 22, 2009

GateCrashGate: The shenanigans of the White House Gate Crashers, Michaele  and Tareq Salahi , are too bizarre for so-called ‘reality TV’.  They appear more worthy of a collaborative fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Philip K. Dick.  I assume someone in the media is going to dub this security scandal Gatecrashgate.  November 28, 2009

Dumb-ocracy:  Letter writer, Karen Breakey suggests opposition parties adopt the slogan ‘Our Party – Smart on Crime’ to counter what she believes is a counterproductive and disastrous Tory approach.  She believes many voters in Canada will embrace this more intelligent approach to the issue. Sadly, there are more dumb voters than smart ones. The electorate, especially when it’s scared,  tends to be swayed by rhetoric, not reality.  That’s why despots like to keep their people afraid and in the dark.  December 1, 2009

On the cutting room floor: Public appearances warrant pesky paparazzi photos but times of personal and private activity deserve the respect due any citizen, royal or common.  (Queen writes paper, magazine editors over paparazzi)  For too long the press have abandoned common courtesy and given Her Majesty and her family the royal shaft.  I say ‘ Off with their headlines!’ December 6, 2009

Thinking  outside of the box:  Your editorial, “Hope and greed”, states “… the greedy will always be with us.”  and  “ hope never ceases to afflict human beings.”   My reading of the Pandora’s Box myth referenced in that editorial, is that hope remains a treasured gift of the gods to aid humankind plagued by the evils released by Pandora, including greed.  Jesus reportedly said the poor will always be with us ( Mathew 26:11)  Maybe there is a connection between the greedy and the poor; but perhaps to be hopeful, one must think outside of the box.  December 11, 2009

Editor needed for this editorial: In your editorial, Testing the Protestant ethic,   Harvard economist, Davide Cantoni’s refutation of sociologist Max Weber is examined; at least I think it is.  There may have been much heat in such arguments but the editorial left me cold and certainly shed no light.  By the way, Cantoni  is an anagram for 'No, I can't'  which is my answer to the question, " Can you understand what this editorial is trying to say?"   December 13, 2009

All American Hero (goat):Not out of the Woods yet

• Tiger, Tiger burning bright

• Featured on the news each night.

• What scandalous gossip so sexy

• Deformed thy grand celebrity?

•  

• And which network stole thy powers

• With talk-show gibes thru late night hours?

• By what right did they conspire

• To dim the brightness of thy fire?

•  

• Was it CNN or Fox NewsNet

• That caused thy trophy wife to fret?

• Or was it naughty escapades

• With fourteen blabbing bimbo-babes?

•  

• When thou forsook that Loving Cup,

•  Did she review your old pre-nup?

•  Did she smile or did she cuss

• As she became litigious?

•  

• Although thy prowess on the links

• Impresses us, your new rep stinks.

• And sponsors now are quick to bail  

• The more they learn of your sad tale.

•  Did Fox News or CNN

• Reduce this god to mortal man?

• So fragile is celebrity.

• Did they who made M.J. break thee?

•  

• Tiger, Tiger now in flight,

• Reviled on the news each night.

• When gossip airs ‘24/7’

• How swiftly stars do fall from heaven.

December 17, 2009

Curse of the Mum: Canadian passivity at Copenhagen may be a result of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s fear of making a commitment that can come back to haunt him. Perhaps he’s heeding the advice of Silent Cal Coolidge, the 30th U.S. president: “I’ve never been hurt by anything I didn’t say.”   December 18, 2009

Keep the Rex in Xmas:  Christmas may have its crown again, Rex. But, whatever the religious format, trappings of the kingdom of heaven do not belong in some places. I have no problem with people wishing a ‘Merry Christmas’ and I welcome the sight of festive trees, crèches and holiday lights.  But we must be, as well as appear to be, without prejudice or bias in two public arenas, our judicial and legislative institutions.  The courts, police stations, municipal councils, provincial assemblies and parliament must be free of such symbols.  There are many religions and philosophies, but we live under one set of laws. Courts and councils impose decisions, therefore they must be neutral and seem unbiased. They belong to all of us and we are equal under them.  December 26, 2009

December 29, 2009

Profits vs. prophets: I nominate Jeffrey Simpson for the John the Baptist of the Year Award  (A surfeit of rah-rah, a dearth of serious debate) as a voice crying out in the wilderness.  Economists, the media and especially politicians should indeed be ashamed, but their behaviour, while regrettable, is quite understandable.  They don't want to end up like biblical John with their heads on a platter.  Nor do they want to be, to use Jeff Simpson’s succinct and incisive term, evanescent.   December 30, 2009