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Three Good Articles from The Sunday Star
Even though it is not my daily newspaper (The Globe and Mail and the New York Times typically play that role), I do periodically read the Toronto Star. The newspaper has particularly good feature articles on its weekend edition. On my train ride back to Toronto today, I read three pieces that I want to note here.
( Toronto Star: Liberal senator likes Clemons' 'politics of hope' ) -
Some federal election reflections
Ah... no Conservative majority government. That was important, but I'm bothered by how close that party has come to majority. On a more positive note, I am pleased to see the New Democratic Party register some gains in seats but I'm disappointed to see that the Green Party (which garnered a vote share close to the damn Bloc) seems to have lost ( Read more... ) -
The Leader's Debate: On Crime
The format of the leader's debate is a bit odd. They have video clips of random people around the country asking questions... The latest question that the leaders are debating is the problem of higher crime. Sadly, the questioner made a mistake in the question ("How will you deal with the rise in violent crime ( Read more... ) -
Economic nationalism redux?
In watching the federal leader's debate, I note that there are frequent mentions of economic nationalist policies. One wonders about the wisdom of trying to protect industries that seem to be collapsing vs. stimulating new sectors with investments in education, technology and so on ( Read more... ) -
Leader's Debate Continued...
The debate has opened on economic issues and it is interesting. There has been some discussion on lost manufacturing jobs and the slide in the stock market but there's nothing particularly interesting yet... That said, I think the sluggish manufacturing problem and the US financial collapse are somewhat unconnected problems, as far as I know. -
English language leader's debate, 2008
For the first time ever, the MP for the area I live in will be a participant in the Leader's Debate. I'm quite interested to see how it goes. I gather that the last night's French language debate was almost entirely focused on economic matters and that it largely consisted of attacks on the Prime Minister. I wonder how tonight's debate will go. I ( Read more... ) -
Nelly McClung by Charlotte Gray
On the train home today, I finished reading a great new biography of Nellie McClung by Charlotte Gray'sIt is part of a great new series of biographies, edited by John Ralston Saul, called: Extraordinary Canadians. The books are all short (200 pages or so) and remind me of Classical biographers (i.e. Plutarch) in that they seek to draw lessons from ( Read more... ) -
Talk Like A Pirate Day
Have a look at Talk Like A Pirate Day theme song. Then there is also the official websiteI don't know if I could ever give up my computer for rum, but this song and day is still a whole lot of fun. I can't help but smile at several lines like, "It's 'talk like a pirate day,' when laptops are benches are God gave us for wenches and a sail ain't a ( Read more... ) -
The Ontario Textbook and Technology Grant
I received a note today announcing the Ontario Textbook and Technology Grant. Essentially, the government is giving $150 to every student at a public university in the province who requests this. You do not have to apply for or receive OSAP to request this grant. The online application took only a few minutes and the whole process is supposed to ( Read more... )
