As the world burns, and our Supreme Court here in Canada is about to decide tomorrow on whether or not physicians should be permitted by law to kill their sick patients, a word on the extravaganza the Americans call their ‘Super Bowl’, to distinguish it from any other kind of ‘Bowl’ which, in the U.S. […]
No, this is not a review of an X-rated version of the Transformers movie which, felicitously enough, I have never seen (the Transformers…there is no X-rated version, so don’t go looking). Rather, a comment on a report I heard last Monday, January 26th, 2015, that Ontario’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (how’s that […]
Thomas Mulcair, leader of the NDP, and a candidate for future Prime Minister (whose chances in making that job, somewhat fortunately, are bleak.. .I say ‘somewhat’ since, alas, and alas again, another more likely option is Justin Trudeau, but more on that later). Anyway, Mr. Mulcair wants to raise your children. Well, not him specifically, […]
Jim Prentice, the recently elected Premier of Alberta, taking over the reins from Allison Redford, whose economic excesses, especially in lavish gifts presented to herself and her own family, recall the halcyonic days of Catherine the Great and Cleopatra…well, where was I? oh, yes, Mr. Prentice has apparently admitted that Alberta is living well beyond […]
It was just reported in the news that the two alleged gunmen in the Charlie Hebdo massacre have been killed by police, after a standoff with a hostage in a printing shop. The hostage has survived, but three others were killed in another hostage-taking at a kosher market; all of the gunmen have gone to […]
I had never heard of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo before today. Glancing at some of their more outrageous covers, it seems they spared no one: The Pope, Mohammed, political leaders, even Christ Himself, all were fair game in their lampoons. I hesitate to provide a link to these images, for as readers know, […]
Besides Sundays, there are two other holy days of obligation in the Catholic Church in Canada. In the universal Catholic Church, there are, in fact, ten such days on which Catholic must attend Mass, but in Canada, for various pastoral reasons (one may presume), the bishops have reduced them to two (sometimes transferring other days […]
A merry Christmas to all, in these eight or twelve days of Christmas, depending on how one counts them. Of course, as we learn from the story of the Grinch, and of course the Gospel, Christmas is about giving, family time, offering to others a part of ourselves, reflection on the gifts of God in […]
This morning, the councillors of the city of London, Ontario decided unanimously to deny funding to their symphony orchestra, which was in dire straits financially. The musicians, twenty nine in total, plus some support staff, had not been paid in recent weeks, apparently, and they needed 300 grand to tide things over for a month […]
Secretary of State John Kerry decried the recent Taliban massacre, crying out that all people of conscience should unite in condemning the acts…And, he is right. He also called them ‘mediaeval’, on which point he was not so right. There are not many cases in the middle ages of women and children being slaugtered, and, […]