Politics in decline: Stoop as low as you want, as long as you have a “good reason”
As the snake said when he eventually sank his fangs into the woman who had befriended him, “You knew what I was when you took me in.”
Peter Lougheed and Me
He was a giant in more ways than a young university student in the early 1980s, who grew up elsewhere, could possibly realize, but in ways that have endured.
Bus driving adventures
Everyone has “one of those days” at work from time to time and driving a motorcoach with more than 50 seats can present its own set of challenges in that regard.
Life in Ireland: Observations by a Canadian visitor
Last week, Michele and I had the great good fortune of visiting the republic of Ireland for the first time....In no particular order (and sometimes with tongue in cheek), here are some of the things I noticed in our travels.
Abject hypocrisy: Russia’s “concern” for the innocents in Gaza
Just when you think you’ve heard the height of hypocrisy escaping from the mouths of world leaders...
On dying & grief (postscript)
It did not take long after I had written the first four parts of this essay for me to find out what grief in losing a close friend would look like.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Part 4): What should be done?
It was a straightforward good-vs.-evil situation: the civilized world stood together after World War II and trumpeted the idea that, should another Adolf Hitler or Nazi Germany appear somewhere at any point in the future...the world would not allow another such odious regime or political actor to gain a foothold ever again.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Part 3): The world’s response
On February 28, 2022, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn the invasion. One hundred forty-one UN members supported this motion, while seven (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Nicaragua, Mali, and Eretria) opposed it. Interestingly, though, there were 32 abstentions as well...
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Part 2): What has Russia accomplished?
So, what exactly has Russia accomplished with its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine to this point? Has its invasion been a success in any way? How would Russia define (or re-define) success?