“Vous savez que ces deux nations sont en guerre pour quelques arpents de neige vers le Canada, et qu’elles dépensent pour cette belle guerre beaucoup plus que tout le Canada ne vaut.” – Voltaire If only Voltaire could see us now! So much for his “few acres of snow”! Yet in many ways it has…
It was a fine English June day, over eight hundred years ago, that the barons of England confronted King John in the meadows of Runnymede, a green paradise on the banks of the River Thames. There were pomp and panoply and circumstances, but at base it was all business. The almost unanaimous barons were fed…
In many ways, my book is complete. In fact, it’s been written about five times already. This time, once it’s packaged up, it’s out the door. I hate this thing which has taken over my life! For about a month now, I’ve been stuck on a re-write of Chapter Six, and I have many good…
Not everyone is a fan of Elon Musk, but you can’t can deny his many achievements. SpaceX, neurotechnology, tunnelling, hyper-loops, and of course, Tesla … And he’s not quite done, yet. Not everyone is aware that Musk was born in South Africa and that his mother was Canadian. Thus, when Elon wanted to spread his…
Those of us with rural roots have learned the hard way the truth of the expression: “It’s too late to close the door when the horse has left the barn.” Same applies to cows, pigs, sheep, chickens….. There are similar expressions involving umbrellas and leaky roofs. You know them, I know them. All of these…
Recently my trusty old keyboard became too wonky for my level of patience, so off it went to electronics heaven. Too many cookie crumbs, too many coffee spills, I suspect. I dug around my “bits and pieces” bin and found one I had forgotten about, set it up, and before long was using it to…
Most lawyers I know give generously of themselves to the community. The same is true for the other professions. Sports, church, not-for-profit organizations, soup kitchens– it’s not hard to find lawyers and their counterparts right there in the thick of things. As they should be. It’s also more common than one might think that lawyers…
Norm, are you serious? Winnipeg is in the centre of the continent, and sits 239m above mean sea level. If Winnipeg floods, we’re all in serious trouble. Well, Winnipeg is not likely to face flooding from the oceans, but it is still going to pay a steep price for rising sea levels. And so will…
Whisky is a funny word, but so is Scotch. Let’s have a bit of fun with both. We can’t even get the spelling of whisky straight, and even if we think there are rules, they get broken. Which is kind of appropriate given the subject matter. Whisky, or whiskey, is the anglicisation of uisce beatha,…
As Karen and I approach our fiftieth wedding anniversary, I understand better each day that I am and have been a very lucky man. I will be the first to say that being married to me is no easy task, yet my dear wife has been unwavering through thick and thin, my confidante, my cheerleader,…