I watched the vote in the House of Representatives yesterday and was struck how was a real lesson in civility. For an issue that is undoubtedly going to "not only changes the relationship of the citizen to the state but the very character of the people" according to one famous Chicken Little {h/t …

The New York Times has published the thoughts of five prominent Republicans on the health care question and this is good. You wouldn't catch FoxNews or Limbaugh setting out the position of the right. Responsibility for one's own ideas carries too many risks. But the care that has gone into …

Bug? Beat? Who knows? I was fine at 11 pm but by 1:30 am it had me. The "YE SHALL NOT SLEEP" throbbing sinus thingamabob. Ginger beer seems to help. The spicy sort. I have to remember in these troubled times that, like Gordon Lightfoot, I am still alive.  •  How far can Canada go after being held …

We are generally clever, we humans. We figure things out by what we see about us. But there are two problems - what we haven't seen yet and what that we make decisions without considering what we haven't seen yet. Consider this:  •  ...in recent months at a clinic in Liège, Belgium, the patient …

Six days of above freezing on the radar all of a sudden. This sorta thing always makes me believe it will be a soft winter but, then, WHAMMO, it will be -87 ten days from now. The Olympics may well be pooched if this sort of thing keeps up out west. What if the snow doesn't show? What if it rains …

No baseball and no elections. It is that time of the year when you have to make do and you have to make do with a toque on your head. I don't know if I am ready. It got so long for summer to get going. Now we wait for our winter of discontent. I have to put away the garden hose and bring out the …

So we got the needle. We qualify for the early line up and the system worked pretty well though we did hit a rather sweet lull in the wait times. "Will we feel the pinch for long?" we ask. Pause. "You'll feel it, alright." I have a super noogie while others can't lift the arm over their head … read more »

I thought we covered "salt as wicked" when I was a kid. So wicked in fact I thought I should spell it whicked to get the full force of a "wh" opening.  •  There is merit in getting a couple of decades on. In the 70s and 80s we all learned though persistent media and news campaigns that salt … read more »

It's starting. That sleepy time in summer when nothing seems to really be happening. The recession is chugging along and society has yet to collapse. It's ten weeks to October's chills but no one is stocking up on sweaters or beef broth yet. There was a perfect game - just the 18th ever. I watched …