Category Society
That Time Again
It is the second Thursday in May, which means the annual March For Life should be taking place on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill this afternoon. Since I now life in Germany, I won’t be there to see it. It is usually the biggest protest of the year in Ottawa. And it is usually almost entirely ignored […]
The Crane Moves On
Early last week I was wondering about the stalled construction for the new apartment building at the edge of town. I asked my wife how the construction company could afford to keep a crane up and idle for the past six months. I guess they couldn’t anymore. Thursday it was dismantled and removed. I just […]
What Market?
When it rains…no-one shows up. The Spring Flomarkt, or flea market if you prefer English, took place in the Sulzburg market square yesterday. Or a pale imitation of it. This is usually a big event. But the weather played havoc with the attendance. I had hoped for some bargains; instead I was underwhelmed. I was […]
Remembering Kent State Again
It was one of the pivotal events of my teen years, one that shaped my attitudes towards government and the place of protest in society. Every year, on May 4, I remember the Kent State killings. The original of this post ran on this date in 2015. Forty-nine years later their names are a footnote […]
Troop Deployment
There are soldiers in the streets in Canada. This is not a coup. This is democracy in action. I’ve been in countries where the sight of soldiers was never good news, places where the military was an alternative government, just waiting to seize power. It isn’t like that in Canada. Our transitions from one government […]
Welcome To Maihock
It’s a holiday today in Sulzburg. Last year I was out of town and didn’t know what I was missing. I really don’t know anything about May 1 celebrations – we don’t have them in Canada, at least not that I have ever seen. When we signed the lease for our apartment in Sulzburg we […]
No Room For Hate
Whether it is killings at a mosque in New Zealand, church bombings in Sri Lanka or the mostly unreported violence against Christians in the Middle East, the attacks have a common theme. The perpetrators are motivated by hate. Maybe it is coincidence, but the Lutheran churches in Lippstadt, Germany (and elsewhere for all I […]
Simpler Times
I saw this cash register at Uncharted Grounds, the coffee roastery in Kandern, Germany, where some friends work. It brought back memories. When I was a child cash registers looked very much like this one. There were no bar codes or scanners. Each item in a store had a price sticker, and at checkout […]
Changing Times
Saw this card in a bookstore attached to a church in suburb of Freiburg. Since you probably don’t read German, allow me to translate: “All the best for your wedding and the baptism of your child.” I would think I had gotten that wrong, except for the wedding rings on the baby’s toe. Apparently having […]
Feminism 101
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb… 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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