A very interesting review in last weekend’s Washington Post. The book is a collection of excerpts from the history texts of various countries, focusing on what other countries teach their kids about the USA. As one might expect, the authors focus on passages that are critical of America. In particular, Canadian textbooks appear to give […] More »

So, Andre Ouellet has finally resigned as president of Canada Post. Or as the CBC website puts it, he has “quit amid allegations of excessive spending, questionable hiring practices and ties to the federal sponsorship scandal.” Among Ouellet’s crimes: he gave jobs to his friends and relatives, he sponsored a TV show about Rocket Richard, […] More »

Update — August 14 Paul Wells continues the discussion on his blog, with devastating arguments. I cannot overstate how important I think it is that everyone read inkless Wells, everyday. He is easily the best columnist writing on national affairs in this country. After ten years in Onterrible, I have returned to Quebec, fetish of […] More »

Did anyone catch Bill Clinton being interviewed on the CBC this morning by my old soccer chum Adrian Harewood (filling in for Anna Maria Tremonti)? It was a fascinating interview, if only because it was a a sad reminder of what poor communicators most politicians are in comparison. I think Paul Wells had it right […] More »

If, after reading David Hayes’ fascinating tour of NASCAR country, We’re not in Dixie anymore, Bubba and are wondering just what the fuss is about the single female vote in the US, check out this excellent article at Mother Jones online, One Woman, One Vote. The problem for the left as they see it is […] More »

Update: Of course, I could be totally wrong about all of this. John Ibbitson seems to think so. (Edited because when I’m in a bad mood I indulge in gratuitous insults) This is one of the least helpful articles I have read on the topic in a while. It is an op-ed in today’s Globe […] More »

Update: The excellent young writer Katie Raynes-Goldie has alerted me to a bit of trouble bewing over the iPod: Some people are alleging that the built-in batteries are designed to stop recharging after a year or so, and Apple is charging $99 to replace them. But as always, the truth is a bit more complicated… […] More »

The influx of donkey and elephant images these days got me to thinking: how the hell did these random animals come to represent America’s two biggest political parties? And, why don’t Canadian parties have any funny animals? I’m sure I’m not alone in these musings, so I decided to not only find out where the […] More »

Nunavut’s tourism industry is in decline, according to an article in today’s Nunatsiaq News. While most visitors to our newest territory were traditionally government workers, Nunavut had seen an increase in true tourist traffic in recent years. The decline is being attributed to some of the reasons tourism has waned in the south — SARS, […] More »

Although Canada is sending one of its smallest summer games teams in decades to Greece, COA officials had plenty of excellent citizen-athletes from which to choose a flagbearer. Triathlete Simon Whitfield, the amazing hurdler Perdita Felicien, or – my personal choice – wrestler Daniel Igali. Instead, they chose judoer Nicholas Gill. Sure, he’s going into […] More »

British Columbia — and Vancouver in particular — has one of the most concentrated local media environments in the country: The Victoria Times-Colonist, the Vancouver Sun, the Province, and National Post are all owned by Canwest. Wherever is one to go for alternative local news? Behold The Tyee. Forget Rabble, the Tyee is the finest […] More »