Thanks to Savage Washington for this heads up on Dana Milbank’s treatment of the Harper visit to Georgeville D.C. So, other nickames for Harper (see below)? The Canadian. The Foreigner. Belt-Buckle Guy. And my favorite… Bufuddled. Here’s a great bit: As foreigners go, Harper is the sort who would appeal even to the isolationists among […] More »

Much is being said about President Bush calling our man Harper “Steve” earlier this week. While many are saying this indicates the two men are now chums, I’m more inclined to think the opposite — that Bush really has no idea what Harper is like at all. I could be wrong, but Harper really doesn’t […] More »

The Times of London has run a weirdly triumphant account of Germany’s loss to Italy in yesterday’s World Cup semifinal match in Dortmund: Doubts voiced about World Cup boost for host country I’ll admit to being a fan of Germany — the soccer Germany (and, in all honesty, the beer Germany, sausage Germany and literature […] More »

If you’ve ever been curious about the differences between the labour movements in Canada and the U.S., have a look at this quirky little contest from Working America, an AFL-CIO affiliate. The winner of the best “bad boss” story competition wins a vacation (sorry, the voting period is already past), and there are some real […] More »

Inspired by the looming Dominion Day weekend, a 7 hour return “motor coach” ride to Calgary and Mason’s earlier protest song playlist request, here is your all for singing you around (hee) Canada Day playlist request. The Rules: 1. Can-con (obviously). 2. Sounds best with windows/top down and singing along out loud. (Even if you […] More »

Graham Greene– thanks to wikipedia for the image. I direct your attention to possibly the last interview ever with one of my all time favorite writers — Graham Greene (thanks to Bookninja thru Maud Newton for the tip). Graham Greene died at age 86 in 1991. If you haven’t read The Quiet American, you have […] More »

CBC’s Middle East bureau chief Adrienne Arsenault is leaving Jerusalem for a new post in London (according to this report on the Zerb blog). I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I consider Arsenault to be one of the best working Canadian journalists. I admire the subtle, difficult, balanced work she’s done during her time in […] More »

Helen Thomas, the long-time White House correspondent, was on the Daily Show tonight, and she said things like*: “Democracy isn’t spread with the barrell of a gun” and “I believe people have a right to know everything their government is doing.” Is this woman a defender of democracy or what? * paraphrased, of course More »

THIS Magazine’s super-efficient and ever-delightful new editor, Jessica Johnston dropped off an advance copy of the July/August THIS (her first) at my office this morning — as she was also dropping off a small pile of poetry submissions to the literary contest (I am a panner for poetic ore). The mag will hit store shelves […] More »

What is your favourite protest song? I’m working on a very fun project for the magazine and I’m trying to compile as many essential songs of resistance as I can, from 1966 onward. Any genre, and country, any language—I’m trying to make this pretty comprehensive. Sure to make my list already are artists such as […] More »

Checking out the link to The Nation in Mason’s excellent post below, I noticed an ad promising to show me the future of the Internet. So I clicked, and got a lobby site for a group called Hands Off The Internet. I watched their little animation, which makes some clear and easy delineations between good […] More »