“We’re not going to have a two-tier health-care system in this country. Nobody wants that,” Martin told reporters in Ottawa. Of course not. Why would anyone want that? Certainly not after last summer’s Health Care Summit, in which he used the fabulous instrument of “cooperative federalism” to fix Health Care For A Generation. Earth to […] More »

Voter turnout in US Presidential elections, among the 4 million NRA members: 95% That’s from The Right Nation, a book that is educating me on every page. More »

Here’s something that has me completely stumped. If anyone can explain to me what, if anything, is wrong with this picture, I’ll be very grateful: Live 8 Outrage Over ‘Hideously White’ Line-Up by Zoe Street London campaign group Black Information Link has torn into Live 8 for not including enough black performers in the London […] More »

Given the obscene mess that is federal politics in Canada, it is tempting to take very little of what goes on in Ottawa at all seriously. But when it comes to getting my head around this story, I have to keep pausing to pick my jaw up off the floor. It is becoming increasingly clear […] More »

A piece in the Globe this morning asserts that the Grewal tapes were definitely altered, and not accidentally during a digital audio transfer. How did the audio expert put it? Like this: “These tapes have been edited. This is not a maybe. This is not something that’s unexplained. This is not, ‘Oh, this is odd.’ […] More »

The sublime Ms. Hebert unloads on the Headwaiter: Some of Martin’s cabinet loyalists are now quietly questioning whether their loyalty to him is in conflict with their duty to the country — and so probably should the rest of us. More »

It seems the people at Starbucks have finally realized the challenges they inflicted on the caffine-deprived when they changed the lingo for ordering coffee — because they have produced a manual for ordering a Starbucks beverage. Called “Make it Your Drink,” this 24-page little booklet has a helpful glossary, diagrams, even a sample fill-in-the-blank order […] More »

I’ve been interested lately in the phenomenon of the “cult brand” or the “brand hijack.” This is brand loyalty with a twist: instead of passively adopting a brand and its corporate-defined identity, consumers are taking a more active role in manipulating, sustaining, and promoting the meanings of their favourite brands. The most obvious example of […] More »

In trying to understand the nature of the European Union, France’s place in it, and its relation to Britain and the United States, I have been reading the following books: Encyclopedie, by Phillip Blom. A good account of the publication of the famously subersive Encyclopedia, starring my favourite philosophe, Denis Diderot. The Roads to Modernity, […] More »