There has been a slate of stories in the past few weeks on the notion of sexual consent, or, to be more specific, the consent required, particularly from the female, for the man to engage in sexual relations with her. There are the two Liberal (male) Members of Parliament accused of sexual harrassment by anonymous […]
Evil loves to wear a mask. Both Jason Voorhees, fictional character of the endless Friday the 13th movie series infamy and the (unfortunately real) head-hacking members of ISIL both generally cover up when doing their dirty deeds. Both hearken back to the ‘headsmen’ of old, who chopped off heads for the State wearing long black […]
Pursuant to the article on the Quebec pilgrimage, I have to vent a little on the topic of tipping. When I travel solo, I tend to go light, with a tent, eating from grocery stores, walking; I rarely, if ever, stay in hotels and, if I can, I try to avoid restaurants. I have a […]
Quebec is celebrating a Jubilee Year on the 350th anniversary of the founding of their cathedral, Notre Dame, the oldest and principal church in all of North Amercia, and I just returned from a pilgrimage there with some students from the college at which I work. Quebec, as such, is the primatial see, the first […]
“Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, while others have greatness thrust upon them”. So wrote Shakespeare in Twelfth Night . ‘Greatness’ may take various forms, but I have been pondering of late the greatness achieved by heroism. We may define a hero as one acts ‘above and beyond the call of duty’. […]
The ‘canary in a coal mine’ was a primitive technology used before the age of sensors: The bird can sense the presence of noxious gases far earlier than humans; thus, when the canary starts to gag, it’s time to run for the top. The canary, being more sensitive, is the first to go. Illnesses […]
Brittany Maynard took her own life on November 2nd; one might almost say ‘appropriately’, as it was the commemoration of All Soul’s in the Christian religion, but, then, there is nothing really appropriate about suicide, whether assisted or not. You may recall that Mrs. Maynard, a young and beautiful newlywed, whose story, incarnated by the […]
The title of this brief reflection is drawn from Pope Saint John Paul II’s final memoir, published in the year of his death, 2005, wherein he reflects upon various themes, especially in the light of the twentieth century and his own experiences. A guaranteed excellent read. However, I use his title to prompt our own […]
So we have had, apparently, our first terrorist attacks on Canadian soil since the rise of ISIS/ISIL. Two Canadian soldiers run down in a parking lot, and another shot while standing guard at the Canadian War Memorial, while holding his unloaded rifle (as policy dictated). Two soldiers murdered, both by young men who […]
As a thought experiment, I will sometimes ask people what their first impression is when they see a police car (here, in Ontario, an O.P.P. vehicle). Almost invariably, the answer is ‘fear’. I find this curious, that we fear those who are deputed by the State to ‘protect and serve’, as indeed they should, for […]