A flashback for this Wednesday, from a trip I took to Iraq in 2015. Somehwere I think I still have a couple of posts written at the time that still haven’t been published. The Peshmerga guards ask if we would like some tea. I don’t drink hot drinks, but I know it would be culturally […]
Not only is it Tuesday, but it is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginnning of Lent. I figured it was a good day for some topical humor before we get solemn. Okay, those last two had nothing to do with Tuesday. I thought I would throw them in to see if […]
I spent a good chunk of the weekend feeling uneasy. I blame the novel I was reading. Never, the new book from Ken Follett is a topical modern-day thriller. Follet made his reputation with thrillers, then expanded into historical blockbusters, and it is nice to see he hasn’t lost his touch. When you think of […]
Do you ever have days when you just feel uninspired? Me too. In fact, yesterday was one of them. So today, instead of the post I had planned, I’m rerunning one of my favorites, this time from five years ago. “Mr. Anderson, this is the Traffic Department calling. We are calling about a claim regarding […]
A little while ago, I got a text from a friend. He said: When we were kids, my parents sent us to visit friends who had chicken pox, so we would catch it. You’re welcome to come visit us 🙂. It wasn’t chicken pox in his household, but a case of COVID-19. Mild symptoms, as […]
You’ve heard it said: those who don’t learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it. Did you have that feeling yesterday? Here’s a timeline from the past: On March 7, 1936, the German military, at the command of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, moved into the demilitarized Rhineland. Britain and France scolded. On March 12, […]
Wellington Street in downtown Ottawa, Wednesday afternoon. Not a truck in sight. Not many cars either – access is being strictly controlled. To celebrate the empty street, the Prime Minister revoked his previous invocation of the Emergencies Act. Apparently the “emergency” has ended, though nothing has changed since Monday when the motion passed in the […]
As I watched the ongoing live streaming coverage of Freedom Convoy 2022 over the weekend I could help but think: Gil Scott-Heron was wrong. Or was he? You probably aren’t aware of the music of this American poet. He’s been dead for more than a decade, and the times he chronicled were over long ago. […]
The Emergencies Act remains in place after last night’s vote in the House of Commons. Those who value civil liberties are saddened, perhaps scared. Today though, some reflective words from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a press conference Monday I was surprised to hear him go beyond his (what I feel are weak) justifications for […]
Canadian Members of Parliament were supposed to be home today, meeting with their constituents. Instead, the House of Commons is sitting (though some MPs will be attending on Zoom). We are in a national “crisis” after all. MPs spent the weekend debating whether the Liberal government was right to invoke the Emergencies Act last Monday […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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