Just taking a moment today to note two things this blog might be tempted to ignore: 1) A very real and triumphant story of democracy in action in Iraq. There’s no hiding from it just because we don’t like the path we all had to take to get there. I wouldn’t go to vote if […] More »

Can Paul Martin be stopped? In a comment two posts down, the insightful John_D finds my arch-Trudeauvianism (Trudeaupianism?) delightfully amusing. I’d be more amused — and delighted — if I weren’t one of about five Trudeauvians left in the country. One such fellow-traveler is Allan Gregg, who has the cover story in the new issue […] More »

I finally tracked down a copy of “Bonjour Expo”, by the Montreal-based musician Nathanial Hebert, aka Quebec Connection. It’s a really cool CD of music that the 26-year-old Hebert thinks would have made a good soundtrack to Expo ’67. Or, as his website puts it, it is “a classy, teutonic-disco themed album, chronicling the golden […] More »

In the lead editorial on Saturday, the Globe and Mail asked, “where does a free vote end and government accountability begin?” The editorial argued that The Headwaiter should make the vote on the upcoming gay marriage legislation a “free vote” for Liberal backbenchers, but that all members of Cabinet should vote with the government and […] More »

Thank you to all the friends of This Magazine — current and former staff, board, contributors, volunteers and readers — who came out to the Rivoli on Thursday night to help push the boat out in my honour. I left the room (at 3 am) feeling like I was on cloud nine. You are an […] More »

The number of columnists who have accepted cash from the Bush administration to promote the President’s agenda is now up to two. The latest? Syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher, who accepted a $21,500 contract to research and write items promoting marriage (presumably the traditional kind). She later wrote about the Bush initiative in her column. Gallagher […] More »

1. Here‘s a neat list of top ten science books from the Guardian. Made me a bit nostalgic. I was a science boy, I grew up on dinosaurs. 2. Speaking of the Rheostatics, did anybody catch their show in Kingston last night? Review and set list plz. 3. Speaking of science, I am looking for […] More »

This is great. Warren Kinsella’s been writing a book on punk, and I think it’s getting to him. He’s been throwing punches left/right/centre on his blog for the past week or so, and it’s spilled over into the crowd. This reminds me of the time, in grade 9, my friend Kenny and I went to […] More »

Things are finally dying down in Quebec, after everyone has been freaking out for the past two weeks over what many people (like Mario Dumont) are calling Jean Charest’s worst political blunder.What happened was this: The provincial Liberals announced that they were raising the funding of private jewish schools that teach the public curriculum from […] More »

Hey all you paranoid androids, feeling a bit down today? It is because today is, officially, the most depressing day of the year. A UK researcher figured it out scientifically: He settled on January 24 after using an elaborate formula expressing the delicate interplay of lousy weather, post-Christmas debt, time elapsed since yuletide indulgence, failed […] More »

Did anyone catch Nut Graf, Jason Sherman’s new radio play, on Saturday? Here’s a review from the wonderful Kimberley Noble: “Sharp, funny writing that will really resonate with anybody who’s worked in a big Canadian newsroom and captures the culture closely enough to be compelling to people who have not but are interested in what […] More »