Black Lives Matter has spawned many ideas to attack racism. One of the oddest is to do away with blind auditions, which professional orchestras have used for 50 years in order to eliminate sexism. Back in the early 1970s, the top five orchestras in the US had fewer than 5% women. It took another decade […]
The Plague-Ground – Are blind auditions deaf and dumb? Read More »
The fate-of-humankind question isn’t “When will a vaccine arrive?” It’s also: “Who will take the vaccine?” Two things happened last week to help us answer both. Last Tuesday, the heads of five Big Pharma companies offered their “quick and honest assessment” of their COVID-19 vaccine candidates to members of the US Congress. AstraZeneca plans to
The Plague-Ground – Is the cavalry coming? Read More »
You’re a wealthy donor to a great cause. You are deeply committed to it and have given money persistently over the years to support it. You are asked to go on a Donor Tour to Africa or Central America where you get to see first-hand how your generosity is being put to work. You don’t
The Plague-Ground – Let Me Count The Ways Read More »
Back in the 1980s, violence against women was so awful that the São Paulo police force set up women’s police stations in areas where the abuse, assault and death were worst. These single-gender outposts soon spread from Brazil to Argentina, Central America and Africa. They didn’t spread because they were trendy, but because they worked.
The Plague-Ground – Empathy — With Guns Read More »
Rooting out rogue police officers in Canada can be harder than jailing drug lords. There’s the culture of ‘never-ask-never tell’. Plus the fact that it’s near impossible to find out which officers have been disciplined, demoted or thrown out. Plus the people who do look into bad cops are often other cops. But that is
The Plague-Ground – New Thoughts on Bad Cops Read More »
I won’t write about the loucheness of Justin Trudeau, his need to feather his mother’s nest, his whac–a-mole conflicts of interest; nor the conflicts of his Minister of Finance and Chief of Staff; nor forcing his officials to be economical with the truth in explaining the preposterous coincidence of an unsolicited proposal arriving on their
The Plague-Ground – Justin Not-So-True Though Read More »
Lead a blameless life and communicate only via carrier pigeon. That feels like the only way to avoid the people who are toppling reputations these days and cancelling free speech in the name of defending it. This happened to two Toronto women recently and their stories and fates reveal just how intolerant tolerance has become.
The Plague-Ground – A Tale of Two Women in One City Read More »
Last Friday at Mt. Rushmore, Donald Trump demonized the large majority of his fellow Americans: “In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance.” So I asked myself: “What is a far-left fascist, anyway?” I asked because most fascists are right-wing, like Mussolini, Franco and,
The Plague-Ground – I’m a far-left Fascist. Are you? Read More »
My laptop is groaning with articles, videos, and the wave of “stuph” that lands every day from friends who say: “Must see this!” And I nearly always do. But like you, I’ve had to become a curator of their taste. I’ve learned to always trust Englebert’s judgements, sometimes trust Guylaine and not even open the
The Plague-Ground – Summer cleaning Read More »
Last week a passenger on a WestJet flight from Toronto to Halifax tested positive for COVID-19 after it landed. This prompted the Nova Scotia Health Authority to warn everyone on the flight to get tested, and especially those in Rows 16 to 21, seats A to C. Which means people were sitting in Seat B,
The Plague-Ground – Are airplanes our next long-term care residences? Read More »
It’s Christmas. The vaccine is working, as are most of us. Much is calm. Much is bright. Mainly because Joe Biden won the Presidency a month ago and Donald Trump agreed to go quietly, wrapped in blanket immunity for himself and his family. But the best news of all is that political refugees are flooding across the
The Plague-Ground – Yearning to breathe free Read More »
Last week Russia celebrated its biggest public holiday, Victory Day, with tanks, missile launchers, and bluster from President Putin. It’s usually held on May 9th, but was derailed by the pandemic. Nonetheless, Putin insisted it happen because this year marks the 75th anniversary of Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany. But more so, because it boosted
The Plague-Ground – We need a new Best Friend Forever. Read More »
