The First Amendment lets Americans say pretty much anything to anyone, anywhere. The Second Amendment lets them keep and bear arms. So can they turn up at polling stations on November 3rd, armed and belligerent and, in the words of their President, “watch very carefully?” No, they can’t. In this case, what reads like 1+1 […]
The Plague-Ground – The right to bully voters is under threat Read More »
Finally, someone not only fact-shamed Donald Trump in real-time, she wiped the smile off his face. Until yesterday, I’d never heard of Savannah Guthrie, the host of last night’s Town Hall on NBC. Today, she’s my hero. She did what no other TV host, moderator or fantasy-inquisitor has done: when Mr. Trump tried to interrupt
The Plague-Ground – The Unmasking Read More »
Two years ago, the New York Times food editor Sam Sifton spoke at the University of Toronto about the rise of Syrian cuisine in Canada. He apologized for his President’s nasty immigration policies and their inhumane consequences, and said he loved Toronto because “more immigrants mean more restaurants.” We all cheered. It seems that our
The Plague-Ground – More immigrants; more restaurants. Read More »
“Trump … puts a kilo of pure uncut white supremacy on the table, and he has his minions just snort it up and it empowers them.” “It makes them feel strong. It makes them feel invincible, while everything around them is being destroyed. And the more that he gets in trouble, the more kilos he
The Plague-Ground – A Bad Night for White Rage Read More »
In 2014 when the Rogers’ family gave $150 million to create the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, part of that went to discover how AI can prevent and treat heart failure. Last year when Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman gave $100 million to build the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, part of
The Plague-Ground – When you’re the lead dog, the view always changes. Read More »
“Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups?” asked Chris Wallace. “Proud Boys?” replied Donald Trump….“Stand back and stand by.” That was the defining moment from a Presidential debate that CNN’s Dana Bash called on-air — “a shitshow.” Yesterday, all kinds of articles explained who the Proud Boys are: America’s #1 anti-immigrant, all-male, all-white,
The Plague-Ground – NOT THE BEST CANADIAN IMMIGRANT. NOR THE BEST AMERICAN ONE, EITHER. Read More »
Were you like us last month in thinking you could head someplace warm in January or February for even a week’s relief from winter? Are you like us now thinking that’s not going to happen? Forget Florida and Arizona. In fact, forget anywhere warm like Colombia or New Zealand where you have to quarantine for
The Plague-Ground – Two Places to Spend Your Winter Read More »
Two years ago, four adult children from four different families we know well, killed themselves. This was in addition to the two who died from accidental drug overdoses. Naturally, I believed that the suicide rate must be rising. I was wrong. In the Year 2000, 11.7 Canadians in every 100,000 of us committed suicide. In
The Plague-Ground – Death Has Less Dominion Read More »
In Britain, the average person is seen by 70 CCTV cameras every day. As Boris Johnson said when he was the Mayor of London: “When you walk down the streets of London, you are a movie star. You are being filmed by more cameras than you can possibly imagine.” As with much of what Mr.
The Plague-Ground – I See You. I Know You. Read More »
This summer, Dr. Joe MacInnis would rise before dawn, slide into his kayak on Lake Simcoe and paddle out to greet the morning. For Dr. Joe, it’s exhilarating to watch the sun slowly emerge from a body of water and be grateful for another day as a sentient being, a thinking animal on this singular
The Plague-Ground – LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT COURSE? TRY GRIEF 101. Read More »
Next February, Jane Fraser will become the CEO of Citigroup, making her the first female CEO of a giant Wall Street bank. This is great, long overdue and awkward news. Because it begs the question of how far women have advanced in terms of real corporate power, especially here in Canada. Frankly, they’ve clawed their
The Plague-Ground – There’s No Power Like CEO Power Read More »
In 1997, Gary Kasparov, the reigning world chess champion who many think is the greatest player in the 1,500-year history of the game, lost to a computer. By 2017 when he spoke at a RamsayTalk in Toronto, he was the Head of the Human Rights Foundation, a prophet of where artificial intelligence will take us,
The Plague-Ground – Do you not be happy with me as the writer of the words of you? Read More »
