After years of obsession with surveillance, are the British starting to realize its limitations and its corrosive effect?  •  Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve also spoke to the London audience, arguing that the government's desire to control risk in society was "destroying our quality of …

Outside it is howling. High wind and 10 C above in the last days of the damned month. Snow retreats. There is change. There is hope. Soon, the buds will swell and earth will break open revealing growth. Then you will be in for it.  •  It is stunning that adults can do this to explore history but … read more »

It boggles the mind. It feels like the CRTC toying with rolling back the clock and examining ideas around somehow nationalizing a segment of the internet, like a mapled AOL, gating a bit of the web and only letting people in who are carrying Tim Horton cups. What do the actors say about this …

Great flibberty jibberty. I sure am grateful that there are smarter people out there than me. I sure would hate to be left to my own devices to make my way in the world and understand, you know, stuff. So it is with appreciation and relief that I read the news today that the media might soon be …

We need to remind ourselves once in a while that the people who lived in our towns and cities in generations past were not better behaved and that there was no golden age other than the one we live in. As today's proof, I give you a tidbit located in today's "From The Archives" column in the Globe …

This is good. Good stuff, too. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney working with PEN and even author John Ralston Saul, honorary patron of PEN and husband of former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson to get a political dissident out of China and into Canada:  •  Mr. Kenney issued a special … read more »

It is a funny old world. We walk around in a haze of assumptions and build up layer upon layers of accepted truths which can leave us amazed by the unexpected things we hear on any given day, which leave our beliefs challenged:  •  The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence candidly … read more »

I have to admit. I have a general idea of the relationship between brass monkey and extreme cold but not the specific source of the idiom. Apparently there are a number of meanings. Thank heavens for wikipedia which contains a vast array of entertaining and authoritative speculation. Regardless … read more »

There aren't many days when I think that blogging has fulfilled its promise but when Damian wrote me yesterday to tell me that he has been selected to be embedded with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, I was both pleased for and proud of him. He's a graduate of RMC so should know his way …