I was sitting listening to Mahler last night, sipping an amusing little French wine, and thinking about the embarrassing pretentiousness of some people. Of course, I’m referring to the sort of phony pseudo-intellectuals who continually about blathering on about Strindberg and Noam Chomsky. Personally, I like to consider myself a man of the people, and… Read more »
It’s been said that Canada’s suffered three invasions throughout her history: French, British, and the cultural one by our neighbours to the south. The first two shaped us as a physical nation, the third is interfering with one of the largest problems we, as a people, have ever faced: our search for a national identity…. Read more »
Over the last few weeks, American news media has been intensely preoccupied with the case of Terri Schiavo, a topic that has touched many and prompted vigorous and acrimonious debate. Her life and death struggle has sparked important dialogue in many homes, including my own. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult her life has… Read more »
The Council of Canadians (COC) is calling for donations and the support of Canadians again, and this time the issue is sovereignty over Canadian water. Centered in Ottawa since 1985, the COC is a non-partisan organization concerned with presenting national issues to the citizens of Canada. In the recent past, the COC has successfully lobbied… Read more »
As anyone who has ever lived and worked in a big city knows, life in the metropolis can be filled with rampant materialism, designer drugs, shallow relationships, and anonymous sexual encounters. But I’m not kidding myself, there are downsides to it, too. These drawbacks are apparent to anyone who has made the move from a… Read more »
The other day I came upon a car accident, and that incident, in addition to the unfortunate recent events that have befallen my daughter’s vehicle, got me thinking about the topic of social responsibility. Over my lifetime I’ve been involved in a few motor vehicle accidents and I’ve learned several important lessons. The obvious, of… Read more »
Okay, I am officially sick and tired of all those belly-aching whiners out there who go on and on about how shallow and trivial our society is becoming. I hear it all the time: burned-out hippies and irritating tree huggers prattling on about how bad globalization is, how our lives are being taken over by… Read more »
Happiness: Is it a false hope or is it really attainable? Happiness. We all want it, and when someone’s got it, they flaunt it and everyone else has the secret hope that money can buy it. What brings happiness? People ask the Dalai Lama since he seems to have it together about what constitutes happiness… Read more »
One of my favourite television dramas is Nip/Tuck, an incredible show I was fortunate enough to discover right from the first episode. I’m eagerly awaiting season three right now, but recently my daughter had an unusual incident that was straight out of a Nip/Tuck episode. In the opening scene of that particular episode, Dr. Troy’s… Read more »
As of January 12, 2005, another new Athabasca University course has launched! Employment Law in Canada (HRMT 322) explores what was originally referred to as “Master and Servant Law” – that is, the legal relationship between employers and their employees. Course author A.N. Khan, Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies at AU, indicates that he wrote… Read more »