It needs no expertise in sociology to determine that the family is in trouble. It seems now as though the ‘intact’ family (parents, a male and a female, with the requisite chromosomes, married but once and still together, along with their children) is the exception and not the norm. The same is becoming true […]
So cried the unfortunate Mr. Bumble towards the end of the musical version of the Dickensian classic, Oliver! I had the opportunity to play the rumbunctious character a few years ago here at the college, complete with pillow to fatten me up, and I quite enjoyed the opportunity to shout the phrase to my students […]
One of my readers mentioned, a propos the post on multiculturalism, whether or not we here in Canada even have a culture worth annihiliating. A pertinent question, and one that I have pondered. What, in fact, is Canadian culture? Such a question may bring to mind a number of associations: Maple trees and syrup, backyard […]
Recently, at least within the recent limits of my own limited memory of things inane, Justin Bieber, a Canadian from southern Ontario, stripped down to his ‘Calvin Kleins’ on national television, declaring that he is only ‘comfortable in his Calvins’, as he exposed his skinny body to too many people, most of whom would rather […]
I’ve been pondering of late whether there can be such a thing really as multiculturalism, especially in light of recent disturbing revelations coming out of Rotheringham, England, where a under-age sex-ring was conducted, mainly by men from Pakistan, right under the noses of the police and the inaptly-named ‘children’s’ aid’. Muslim culture has a […]
Sero te amavi… “Late have I loved Thee, O beauty ever ancient and ever new…” So wrote Saint Augustine in the opening pages of his Confessions, in Latin prose that has scarcely ever been matched, before or since. His classic work is seen as the first real autobiography, offering a sometimes brutally honest glimpse […]
Richard Dawkins, like his intellectual ancestors David Hume, Feurbach, Emile Zola and countless others, claims not to be religious. In saying so, more times than I care to count, he is not being entirely honest, for whether Dr. Dawkins realizes it or not, Man by his very nature is a religious being. Aristotle claimed that […]
I recently watched, under some level of duress, Marvel’s adaptation of the Avengers. Well, I say duress; it was at the recommendation of a colleague, whom I respect and admire, and still do so (chaque a son gout…). Yes, here we have yet another superhero movie, this time a whole panoply of superheroes, battling some […]
Much has been written about the recent events in Iraq, under the auspices of ISIS, the radical Islamic, well, what shall we call them, a group, a religion, a state, a nation, a gang? Their barbarities need not be recounted here; the recent beheading of an American journalist, by what seems to be a British […]
Quo vadis, blogger? Or, roughly translated, why, bother, blogger? Why blog indeed? There are myriads of blogs out there, and one more may not make that much difference, so why? Aristotle said that intention is first in the order of execution; we must ask why we are doing something, for there is always a ‘why’, […]