America’s idea of itself as a great and enviable nation was encapsulated by the now defunct print edition of the Reader’s Digest and its signature feature, “Laughter, the Best Medicine”. For those in trepidation of what MAGA portends, the best antidote is a sense of irony and the absurd.… Read the rest
This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, six weeks before our American neighbours have theirs. We also beat them to the idea by 43 years. The Pilgrims feast dates to 1621. Sir Martin Frobisher’s expedition to find the northwest passage held one in present day Nunavut in 1578, to give thanks for the safety of its fleet.… Read the rest
Here’s a simple test to validate the headline of this post.
From 2014 to March this year, 26,334 MIGRANTS/REFUGEES/EX-PATS died or went missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey and North Africa.
Now rank the capitalised labels according to the chord they struck.
… Read the rest
“Compassion”, the 19th century Polish philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote, “ is the basis of morality.”
In a world sorely in need of copious amounts of it, compassion is both highly selective and hostage to a short attention span on the part of the public and the news media, the inevitable consequences of the way news is disseminated. … Read the rest
Homo sapiens began migrating from Africa to Europe somewhere between seventy and 100,00 years ago. In relatively short order they overwhelmed the humanoid species already there. The European Union seems to see the migrant crisis on the Belarus-Poland border as the modern incarnation, which begs the question: Why are they handling it so badly?… Read the rest
Paddling a kayak across a pristine lake provides not only solace for the soul, but often as not, unexpected lessons. Early one morning this week, I came upon a cluster of male merganser ducks frolicking, fishing and preening. It occurred to me that the lake I love is populated with migrants.… Read the rest