Recreating Eden

Prince Justin the Flake Says What I've Been Thinking: Canada Is Becoming Something I Don't Recognize

2012-02-15T11:56:00.004-05:00

If there are two words that I use with scorn, they are "flake" and "princess." In my mind they sum up a panoply of selfish, unhelpful characteristics. The latter I tend to use for women who have an exagerated sense of entitlement just because they've always been someone's darling. The former I use transgenderly to describe someone without depth, who doesn't take things seriouslly and, all too frequently, shoots of his or her mouth.

Justin Trudeau often is a flake, and, I realize, would qualify for the designation as "prince," should I want to expand my name-calling. But his statement on the weekend that he'd reconsider making Quebec a country if he thought that Canada was really "Stephen Harper's Canada" and that we "were backtracking in ten thousand ways" makes great sense to me.

The reaction in the Anglophone press has been predictable: how dare the whippersnapper sully his father's memory etc. But Stephen Harper's Canada is not Pierre Trudeau's Canada, nor Brian Mulroney's Canada for that matter. It is obvious to anyone paying attention that the Conservative plan is to remake this country profoundly, and maybe Quebec may turn out to be the one place where social and economic values espoused by Justin's Dad have a chance for survival.

If you don't think there's a difference between Quebec and the Rest of Canada, remember that the Prince made his comments on the most popular Sunday morning radio show in French, and it took two days for them to be heard outside.

Celebrate Valentine's Day with a Few Random Acts of Kindness

2012-02-14T09:44:00.002-05:00

The photo isn't new--I used it two years ago, but I still like it a lot. As for the holiday, well, it's problematic. Just another opportunity to sell something? For man, certainly. The Globe and Mail starts out its editorial decrying that:
"What a grotesque farce is Valentine’s Day... it is a ridiculous confection fraught with peril for millions of Canadian men and women whose amorous relations are perfectly fine on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, but somehow can’t survive the day in-between without conspicuous and expensive displays of mutual reassurance."

All too true. But on the other hand it's kind of nice to have something like this lift the spirits in the dead of winter. It also is an opportunity to think of what pleases those we love--and what might make the world a more pleasant place.

So I'm declaring a new purpose for the day: let us all do a few random acts of kindness and see if it helps things along.

Event the Globe ends its rant headed in that direction: "One way or another, we all tend to wind up thinking about love, and about the people we love, on Valentine’s Day. There are worse things that can happen to us in February."

The Great Gatsby Tonight: A Story for Our Time, although It's Unlikely That Jay Gatz Would Do As Well Today

2012-02-13T13:35:00.004-05:00

It's book discussion week, which kicks off with F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby tonight in Pierrefonds. I had kept rereading the book to the last since the three others are weighty, lengthy tomes that I wanted to make sure I finished in time to think about.

So what a pleasure to read this relatively short, elegantly written, sharply drawn novel! It's been a couple of years since I revisited it and I was amazed to find how relevant the implicit criticism of American society ages. The story takes place in the 1920s when times were good and fortunes were being made. The center will not hold, though, since the Crash was only a few years away. In many respects the action could have been taken during the height of the dot.com fury or just before the 2008 crash.

Jay Gatz, the poor Mid Western boy, who makes his fortune and become The Great Gatsby, does so by catching a wave that has long ago dissipated, however. He starts out his education by going to a small liberal-arts college, St. Olaf's. It still exists but its yearly expenses would be out of sight for a boy of like Jay: nearly $60,000. He bails out, but not because of financial problems, ends up qualifying for officer training during the First World War and spends five months at Oxford.

Such a path upward is increasingly unlikely in today's US, as many recent studies show. Rather than being a land of opportunity, the country is becoming more class- stratified. Probably it should be no surprise that the book is being made into a movie once again, with Leonardo Di Caprio playing Gatsby...

Saturday Photo: Spring Day in Le Jardin des Tuileries.

2012-02-12T14:41:00.004-05:00

The days are getting longer, no question about it. Which means that I've begun thinking of what fun it would be to go travelling. Probably nothing will materialize this spring, but I can't help returning to the pictures taken the last time we were in Paris.

Something to dream about....

Another One of Jeanne's Favourite Videos: Feist for Kids Outdraws Feist for Grownups

2012-02-10T10:57:00.003-05:00

Jeanne's around today which makes life exciting. Here is her current video favourite--and at not quite 18 months she recognizes "4" in a number of contexts:

And here's a music video of Feist singing the original song.

Please note that the first video has received more than 19 MILLION hits on Youtube, while the second has a paltry 134,000. The kids are all right.

Guess Whose Appointment Won't be Renewed: Kevin Page Contradicts Harper with the Facts about Funding Pensions

2012-02-09T11:48:00.003-05:00

Don't have much time today to go into this in detail because I'm involved in setting up an interesting conversation about jobs and the economy, "Working in Canada Today: A Real Challenge." As I wrote yesterday Tom Mulcair will talk about his economic plans after a couple of union reps will telll about their difficult experiences with the Harper government.

But I must draw you attention to the great gulf between what Stephen Harper says will happen to our pension system in the next few years and what the Parliamentary Budget Office Kevin Page says in a report released yesterday. In essence, he says things will be fine, but Finance Minister Jim Flaherty called Page "unbelievable, unreliable, incredible" it was reported several places.

So who do you think will keep his job?

Babies in the House of Commons: Why Not?

2012-02-08T12:48:00.002-05:00

There has been much chat this morning about a young MP from the South Shore of Montreal who brought her three month old baby into the House yesterday. She says she'd been recalled suddenly for a vote, and couldn't find her husband who ordinarily is there to take care of the little guy when she's in the house.

Now, this is not the first time a baby has been in the house: I think there was a photo op with Sheila Copps 30 years ago when she brought her daughter. But some of the reaction has been amazing today, with a message on the talk shows from some saying that she shouldn't be in the House if she has a new born.

A baby who isn't fussing causes nobody trouble, and bringing him in when there are no alternativies seems to me to be fine. And do the arithmetic: Sana Hassainia was elected on the Orange Wave last May 2. There's an excellent chance that she didn't even know she was pregnant then, and certainly didn't when she agreed to run!

And in the "Politics Make Strange Bedfellows" department: I always thought that one of the most charming things about Joe Clark was the way his one and only daughter (Nov. 6, 1976) was born about nine months after he was elected Leader of the Progressive Conservatives (February 22, 1976.) Can you imagine Stephen Harper celebrating in the same manner?

The picture, by the way, has nothing to do with Ms. Hassainia (who was not feeding her baby in the House) and everything to do with a campaign for breastfeeding. Very appropriate in this context though.

Final Steps toward an Electronic Rights Defence Committiee Settlement

2012-02-07T11:05:00.002-05:00

I should have posted this link last week: ERDC notices to members of its class action.

After nearly 16 years, the Electronic Rights Defence Committee case against The Gazette is winding up. The case was against five legal entities, all charged with being implicated in uncompensated, unauthorized electronic publications of work originally published in the Montreal newspaper. The big settlements came a year or so ago, but two parts of the suit--against Hollinger and CEDROM-SNI--have been hanging fire.

Last week, Quebec Superior Court approved notices to members which should lead to settlement with these final defendants. And with any luck, in a few months we should be starting the process of making individual claims in view of paying out the money received in the settlements.

Update on "Working in Canada: A Real Challenge"--More Input from Embattled Workers

2012-02-07T09:15:00.003-05:00

Last week I posted about the the informal end-of the-day reception coming up on Thursday and organized by the NPD Association of Outremont. on "Working in Canada Today: A Real Challenge."

Now we're expecting to have a representative of the United Food and Commercial Workers of Canada (UFCA) who'll talk about their difficulties in organizing and in the treatment of immigrant workers. Richard De Stephano of the machinists union at Air Canada ((l'Association Internationale des Machinistes et des travailleurs et travailleuses de l'Aérospatiale) will also speak about being forced back to work by the Conservative government last year after union members were locked out,. Thomas Mulcair, Outremont MP and candidate for the NDP leadership, will round out the discussion with his ideas about the economy and what the NDP can do.

Place: "The Bay" on the first floor of the Côtes des Neiges community centre, 6767 Côte des Neiges Road (165 and 435 buses, with 161 and 160 buses not far away.)

Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 9, 2012

Cyberflanage, Or the Delights and Dangers of Lateral Thinking

2012-02-06T10:45:00.003-05:00

The New York Times had an interesting article yesterday by Evgeny Morozov about what he thinks is a missed opportunity in the Internet Age: the way it allowed us to poke around, looking for gems of ideas or perceptions. He compares it to the very Parisian idea of flanage, which sometimes is translated as loitering. But it's something far more interesting: strolling and looking, a habit that was lauded by Walter Benjamin and others as a delightful and instructive way to pass time.

Unfortunately, says Morozov, the way Google and Facebook have begun to order what they think we want to know, given our past searches, the lovely serendipity of stumbling across new information, new images, new ideas is much less frequent.

I'm not sure it's all that bad, but I do know that if I have the time I still can spend hours following the leads presented by suggestions on the various web sites I come across. Start, for example, with Gustave Caillebotte, whose painting of floor scrapers we saw in the Musée d'Orsay a few years ago. Lee was delighted to see it because it depicts ordinary folk working, something not that common in the 19th century. He bought a print, only to discover to his amusement that the wine bottle is cropped out of the picture. Now, that observation can lead to seaches about the temperance movement in France, through Zola and his great series of novels in which drunkeness is a terrible curse (See L'Assommoir, for example) to reflections on the Mediterranean diet and the role of red wine in cardiac health.

The problem, I think, is that there just isn't enough time to follow up these fascinating lines of research. If you are a lateral thinker, the Web is full of riches. The trick is to learn how to follow your own tastes--and not to become drunk on all the information out there.

Saturday Photo: Snowy Day in a Canadian Suburb

2012-02-04T15:03:00.002-05:00

There is something to be said for the trees and gardens of post-World War II suburbs. On a winter afternoon the setting is peaceful. This was taken in Don Mills, one of Canada's first such developments, which still maintains many of the best points of suburban living.

There aren't sidewalks in this part, but it's important to remember that it was laid out with paths along the backs of the houses which allowed walking to school and to the nearby shoppng center. The center recently underwent a big makeover, which makes it more of a regional center than a shopping space got the neighborhood.

As Harper Picks Away at Canadian Values, Krugman Suggests What May Be Ahead

2012-02-03T10:02:00.003-05:00

If I seem to be spending too much time on this Canadian and Quebec blog talking about the US, it's because I'm afraid that Stephen Harper and his friends slowly pushing us in the direction of the US right wing vision of what a country should be to its citizens.

The latest warning comes from Paul Krugman's analysis today of what Mitt Romney is proposing South of the Border. Specificially, when Romney said on CNN that “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there," Krugman points out that Romney and his friends are systematically trying to dismantle whatever exists in the US in the way of a safety net. Who is going to benefit from Romeny's proposals? Not the middle class, but the very rich.

Krugman continues: "Even conservative politicians used to find it necessary to pretend that they cared about the poor. Remember “compassionate conservatism”? Mr. Romney has, however, done away with that pretense.

"At this rate, we may soon have politicians who admit what has been obvious all along: that they don’t care about the middle class either, that they aren’t concerned about the lives of ordinary Americans, and never were."

This is coming from a "moderate" Republican, remember.

Give those guys an inch and they'll take a mile--or in Canadian terms, allow the Harperites a centimeter and they'll take a klick and a half.

Working in Canada Today: A Real Challenge: Air Canada Machinists and Tom Mulcair to Talk about Work and Jobs Thursday, Feb. 9

2012-02-02T14:48:00.006-05:00

Come and discuss the economy and jobs at an informal end-of the-day reception, organized by the NPD Associaion of Outremont. Thursday, The topic of conversation will be "Working in Canada Today: A Real Challenge."

Richard De Stephano of the machinists union at Air Canada ((l'Association Internationale des Machinistes et des travailleurs et travailleuses de l'Aérospatiale)) who were forced back to work by the Conservative government last year after they locked out, will be on hand to tell of their experience. Thomas Mulcair, Outremont MP and candidate for the NDP leadership, will round out the discussion with his ideas about the economy and what the NDP can do.

Place: "The Bay" on the first floor of the Côtes des Neiges community centre, 6767 Côte des Neiges Road (165 and 435 buses, with 161 and 160 buses not far away.)

Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 9, 2012

There will be light refreshments. And your friends are welcome too: please feel free to invite them!

Talking the Talk: Shakespeare Didn't Say It the Way We Do

2012-02-01T10:24:00.002-05:00

This is something for all those North Americans who find it strange to see "pain" rhyme with "again" in some English poetry. Language is a living thing, and, strangely, I find this explanation of what Shakespeare's actors might have sounded like during his lifetime frequently easier to understand than British Received Pronunciation. Probabaly has something to do with the time at which English began to be spoken on this continent.

Buying Winter Boots Today: The Drama of Someone Who Hates to Shop

2012-01-31T12:48:00.005-05:00

Have I mentioned recently how I hate to shop? Probably not, because I avoid thinking about it as much as I can. (Food, garden and book shopping, being the exceptions.)

But shopping is sometimes unavoidable, and it seems I've come to one of those moments. The perfectly good, if a little scuffed, winter boots I've worn for perhaps three years are now ripped beyond repair on the toe seams. If I don't want to spend from now until sandal time with wet feet, I've got to do something about.

Hence this rather scattered post: must go make the rounds of the various shops to see what still is available this late in the season.

This lovely shoe certainly won't do, hélas.

Harper and Old Age Security: Lessons from Mulroney and Chrétien Majorities When Public Opinion Was Heard

2012-01-30T11:53:00.005-05:00

It's always a bit indelicate for somebody of my age to start complaining about changes in the old age security system since I'm hardly a disinterested party. But Stephen Harper's little speech in Davos last week when he mentioned raising the age of eligibility to 67 from 65 has prompted interesting reflections on the part of columnists and editorial writers.

Perhaps the most pertinent is that of Jean-Robert Sansfaçon of Le Devoir. (Please note that he was born in 1948, which makes him about to turn 65 so he's got a vested interest too.)

He writes: "The only thing that explains the sudden interest of Mr. Harper in universal social programs, is his determination to find some room for budgetary manoevres with a long time goal of reducing taxes for groups which the conservative ideology wants to favour. The rest is nothing but pretext." (My translation.)

This is just another in a long list of things on Harper's agenda which is to change fundamentally this country. He needs to be stopped, and since he has a majority government, we've got to make sure that the message that we don't agree is heard outside Parliament, in hopes that it may have some influence inside.

Sounds like a tough order, but it maybe possible. Sansfaçon notes that Brian Mulroney backed down from dis-indexing pensions in the 1980s, despite his majority. Similarly Jean Chrétien didn't use his majority to force through measures that would link the old age pension with means tests. Public opinion was against these moves and these two prime ministers reconsidered. Now, how to get the message through to Steve...

Saturday Photo: Sledding in a Winter When the Snow Doesn't Cooperate

2012-01-28T11:01:00.002-05:00

The picture was actually taken toward the end of last winter, when a sunny Saturday attracted many to the slopes of Mount Royal, just up from Park Avenue.

This year there has been considerably less snow, and yesterday a mixture of snow, then rain, then snow again has left a mish mash that isn't really all that inviting. But at least it's snow and this morning there were several families out, dragging little kids on sleds, either to the parks or to do errands.

This afternoon we'll be giving Jeanne her first sledding experience. Friends has given her a small sled, and she's all excited about it. Not sure if it's because of the idea of being pulled on one--and I don't think she's seen much of that--or because of the little girl whose sled it was. Jeanne loves Nana, and she's made some connection between the sled, Nana, cold and having fun. It's delightful to watch her make associations. Now we'll just have to see what she thinks about the sled outside.

Love Prevails: Photographs of a Heroic Couple Who Fought Anti-Miscegenation Laws in the US

2012-01-27T20:42:00.005-05:00

I've discussed Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes with six book clubs now, and one thing that cmes up every time is the astonishment that marriage between people of African and European descent were forbidden in several US states until the 1960s.

The archaic rules have little to do with the novel which occurs during the 18th century, but everything to do with the world in which Hill wrote it. The child of an African American and a woman of Scandanavian ancestry, Hill grew up in a Toronto suburb because his parents didn't want to raise their children in the racially charged society that was the US in the 1950s where they had to look for a jurisdiction in which their own marriage could take place.

The anti-miscegenation laws were not struck down until 1967 by the US Supreme Court after a long fight by a another inter-racial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving of Virginia. (That's a photo of them with their children.) Their heroic, but quite ordinary story, is told in a series of photographs taken in the 1960s which now are on display at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Some things have gotten better...

When Documentary Becomes Art: Uprooted, a Video about Suburbs

2012-01-26T09:30:00.001-05:00

Artist Isabelle Hayeur says: "I’ve been exploring landscape issues ever since I started working with video. Through the moving image I am investigating environmental, urban planning and social concerns that I’m working on at the same time in photography. I mainly engage with altered landscapes, suburban areas and tourist sites. I show how our societies take over territories and adapt them to their own needs. "

An effective way to make a point!

UPROOTED from ISABELLE HAYEUR on Vimeo.

Average is Officially Over, Says Friedman, But How Can We Get People to Think

2012-01-25T10:20:00.003-05:00

Thomas Friedman in today's New York Times points out that the unemployment rates in the US correlated inversely with education:

Americans with "less than a high school degree, 13.8 percent; those with a high school degree and no college, 8.7 percent; those with some college or associate degree, 7.7 percent; and those with bachelor’s degree or higher, 4.1 percent."

He goes on: "In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to buttress employment, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education."

Sounds reasonable, but how to get well-educated people (who are more likely to vote than poorly education ones) to realize that they're being hoodwinked by the right wing and that social programs are important to everyone?

The Lesson for Today....Maybe Even When Faced By Plutocrats

2012-01-24T09:05:00.002-05:00

Mitt Romney Pays $6.2 Million on $45 Million: This is Obscene

2012-01-24T08:31:00.002-05:00

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs: them's radical words, of course. But I always thought they were just, right, and what we need to build a society on.

The current discussion about taxes in the US and in Canada goes completely counter to this. How could anyone have a need for $39 million (even over two years, which is what The New York Times today reports Mitt Romney as declaring)? For that matter, how could anyone's abilities earn them $45 million, unless he or she had really accomplished something à la Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?

Perhaps it's time for all those eager Christians to ask themselves: what would Jesus do? I suspect he wouldn't have sat on all that money.

The Downside of Hydroelectricity: Methane from All Those Rotting Trees

2012-01-23T12:30:00.002-05:00

Le Devoir has an interesting story this morning about the way that the methane escaping from those big dams behind hydroelectric plants in Quebec have not been figured into the greenhouse gases produced in the province.

On paper, Quebec is doing not badly at all, largely because nearly all electricity here is produced by water power. However, if you figure in 8 megatonnes of methane from the hydro lakes now covering huge territories of forest, the picture is considerably worse.

The moral? Any production of energy is going to have its downside, from the noise of wind power installations through the risks involved in nuclear plants to the emissions from coal-fired generators. The trick is to choose the least dangerous--and also to cut down on our energy consumption.

Easier said that done....

Saturday Photo: A Couple of Pictures from the Portuguese

2012-01-21T13:43:00.005-05:00

We're eating Portoguese this evening, and my thoughts are wandering back to Lisbon. It's been three years since I visited that lovely city, but the images remain fresh. Here are two pictures that show different aspects of the city.

The first is of two buildings from different eras on the Rossio, the central square. The second is the interior of the "Water Temple," the old reservoir built 150 years ago.

Griffintown Redevelopment Back on the Agenda: Public Consultation Today

2012-01-20T10:49:00.004-05:00

Just before we were all interrupted in our getting and spending by the financial crisis of 2008, plans were rolling ahead to redevelop one of the oldest neighborhoods in Montreal, Griffintown.

Supposedly the neighborhood--probably the first in North America to be set out on a classic urban street grid--would be razed and a new street and building configuration put into place. A second shopping district in the central core would be developed and a lot of up-scale housing would be built.

That all fell by the wayside, thank goodness, when the Great Recession began. But developers and some city officials have not given up on the idea. A public consultation is being held today on revised plans in the heart of the district at the Université de Québec à Montréal's engineering school. Please note that the school has been the hub of much recent, small scale redevelopment, which probably will produce a healthier urban landscape than the earlier plans.

More later....

Why Write Novels at All: A Very Good Question

2012-01-19T09:09:00.002-05:00

As I burrow deeper in River Music, I begin to wonder if it's worth anything at all. That's why coming across Garth Risk Hallberg's essay/review in the Sunday New York Times has provoked a lot of reflection. "To be less alone" sums up what he reports a handful of rising American literary stars as saying during a literary conclave on the Isle of Capri in 2006 Le Converzioni. The solitude in question is that of the writer as well as the reader.

If you add in all the recent novels in which books have saved people, from Mr. Pip to The Elegance of the Hedgehog, the importance of a fictional world to frequently isolated readers becomes clear. Hallberg's essay ends by wondering if this enough, however.

I have no idea. All I know that at the moment I am beating my head against a wall in a story where music is very important, where it is a life raft for at least one solitary young woman. Music cannot be reduced to words, which makes trying to explain what she feels all that more difficult.

Aaargh! Back to work.

Umberto Eco's Strange New Book: The Prague Cemetery

2012-01-18T11:24:00.003-05:00

There are no library book discussions in January--it is January, after all, and there is no telling what weather will befall us in this climate--so in addition to reading Christmas gift books, I'm getting a jump on the books for February.

Last night I finished Umberto Eco's latest novel. Called The Prague Cemetery in English, its 550 pages cover most of 19th century French, Italian and Russian history, as it presents the thoroughly unpleasant people behind the grossly false Protocols of he Elders of Zion. Even though I put it on the library reading lists, I'm not sure at this momrnet if it is worth reading: having a month to reflect on it before I have to lead a discusison is probably a very good things.

In the meantime, here's a presentation he gave last fall in Toronto, which tells a bit about his aims in writing the book and how he researched it in conversation with Michael Enright.

You've Come a Long Way Baby Dept.: Who's Catering to Men?

2012-01-17T10:42:00.003-05:00

What is appropriate dress is as much a matter of fashion and wanting to please as it is of following strictures laid down by authority.

Interesting question for my female friends: what would you wear if you didn't give a thought to what others thought?

Pink Ribbon Nonsense--Or Is It Even More Sinister?

2012-01-16T09:33:00.003-05:00

As someone who has gone through a breast cancer scare (excision of suspect tissue and radiotherapy, and, thank you for your concern, five years later all seems well) I have been annoyed by the hullaballoo about "surviving breast cancer." My concern has been that women may be scared off by all the hype and those who are post-menopausal may be afraid to have mammograms for fear of what might be discovered.

Le Devoir this morning has a story that makes that concern seem not terribly important, however. The National Film Board of Canada is releasing Pink Ribbons Inc. into theatres February 3, and it sounds like required viewing for anyone who is concerned about health issues, health system financing and preventing cancer.

The film explores the links between "breast cancer awareness" initiatives and the cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical companies that finance them. In short, it appears likely that $1.5 billion (yes, billion!) raised in recent years has not been spent wisely, and that some of the sponsors have been using the campaigns to divert attention from their own role in the increase in breast cancer rates.

Oh, and did I mention that the surgeon who did' my operation and who insisted I needed to take Tamoxifen, was a share holder in the company that makes the drug? When I produced articles in The Lancet about a random controlled trial of the drug in Australia, the UK and New Zealand that counseled against prescribing the drug for women older than 54, he in effect told me that I was being silly. Taking the drug reduces new breast cancer by 50 per cent, he said, not mentioning that 1) the reduction was for all women (not just old ones) and from 4 per cent to 2 per cent and that 2) there were serious, sometimes fatal side effects, from taking it.

Needless to say, I went looking for another doctor to follow me.

Saturday Photo: No Holly, But Some Ivy

2012-01-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

It's January 14 and the end of year holidays are over for everyone (although Russian Orthodox Epiphany will be next week and the Asiatic New Year is just around the coner.)

We've just had our first big snow fall, and it's bitterly cold, if sunny, today. That means that my little ivy plant would not survive outside. Living

Public Debt Explained in a Few Minutes, and If You Don't Have Tax Enforcers Taxes Don't Get Paid

2012-01-13T11:41:00.003-05:00

An interesting explanation of public debt from Le Monde with English subtitles. The context is European but the principles apply on this side of the Atlantic too

And here's the link to another aspect of public sector cuts: if you don't have employees at IRS (or in in Canada the CRA) to make sure people pay taxes, they won't be paid and the debt gets worse.

Hommage to a Woman Whose Research and Advocacy Has Saved Immense Numbers of Premature Babies: Mary Ellen Avery

2012-01-12T09:39:00.006-05:00

Everyone whose life has been touched over the last 40 years by a premature baby who survived owes a debt to a woman whose death was reported this morning in The New York Times, Mary Ellen Avery.

Dr. Avery, who was for a time at McGill University and Montreal Children's Hospital but whose career basically was in the US, made the link between the absence of surfuctant in the lungs of babies born before term and their inability to breathe properly.

The condition knew no class barriers: the third child of President John Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline Bouvier lived only two days after he was born five and a half weeks prematurely in August, 1963. At the time, treatment pioneered by Dr. Avery and her colleagues had not been perfected. But since then, it is quite usual for children born at 7 months or even less to survive with no lasting problems.

One of the most difficult periods of Lee's and my life together was the time when we had twins, stillborn at 23 weeks. Babies born that prematurely survive rarely even today--and perhaps shouldn't because the medical challenges they face are immense. But this summer when friends of Elin and Emmanuel had a baby at 32 weeks it was wonderful to think that Sivan's parents didn't have to worry about the problem Dr. Avery's research solved.

She's doing very well, it seems. And in our case, Lukas was born a year after the twins, ready to take on the world...

A Laugh from Musicians, That Might Work for Writers Too

2012-01-11T17:05:00.003-05:00

Deep in rewriting my novel about a pianist, I'm seeing music everywhere. The latest is this multiple choice chart that might give you some advice.

I particularly like the sequence that takes you through "Do you love money." Should you answer "yes," it says then "STOP THINKING ABOUT MUSIC."

Being an artist is all too often its own reward.

Hungry All Day Today: Anthony Bourdain's Layover in Montreal is the Cause

2012-01-10T16:00:00.001-05:00

Hugs Versus Inequality: Investments in Social Programs Are Essential to Equality of Opportunity

2012-01-09T08:44:00.004-05:00

More about the increasingly unequal society that is the US: Today Paul Krugman rails against those who are bent on making the playing field even more bumpy. After pointing out how Mitt Romney disparages President Obama by lies and inuendo he adds: "someone who really wanted equal opportunity would be very concerned about the inequality of our current system.

"He would support more nutritional aid for low-income mothers-to-be and young children. He would try to improve the quality of public schools. He would support aid to low-income college students. And he would support what every other advanced country has, a universal health care system, so that nobody need worry about untreated illness or crushing medical bills. If Mr. Romney has come out for any of these things, I’ve missed it. And the Congressional wing of his party seems determined to make upward mobility even harder. "

On Sunday Nicolas Kristoff in the same illustrious newspaper, pointed to research which shows that protecting children from stress from the beginning of their lives is an effective way to "chip away at poverty and crime." The roots of impairment and underachievement are biologically embedded, but preventable. he says quoting Jack P. Shonkoff, a Harvard pediatriciam" “This is the biology of social class disparities,...Early experiences are literally built into our bodies.”

Kristoff continues: "The implication is that the most cost-effective window to bring about change isn’t high school or even kindergarten — although much greater efforts are needed in schools as well — but in the early years of life, or even before birth.

“Protecting young children from adversity is a promising, science-based strategy to address many of the most persistent and costly problems facing contemporary society, including limited educational achievement, diminished economic productivity, criminality, and disparities in health."

Quote that to anyone who wants to chip away at Canada's social safety net.

Saturday Photo: Finally, Skating....

2012-01-07T15:29:00.002-05:00

Or there was until about an hour ago. Many years the outdoor skating rinks around here begin iln the first of second week in December. This year, not much happened until last week because of the crazy weather.

Last night when I walked home, the boys of winter were playing a pickup game of hockey, and little kids were sledding in Parc Beaubien. Nice to see everyone enjoying the wonders of winter.

But today it's warmer and I don't know how long things are going to last. Another case of carpe diem.

The Feast of the Three Kings from Persia: How Times Have Changed

2012-01-06T11:47:00.002-05:00

Just where exactly the Magi came from is uncertain, as far as I can tell. But it would seem that at least some of them were astronomers from Persia. Therefore on this feast day , it is appropriate to take a look at the Persian tradition through the lense of music by Albert Ketèlby, whose In a Persian Market celebrates it.

Nasty Words Don't Survive Translation: The T-Word Means F%@&-All in English

2012-01-05T10:54:00.005-05:00

For those who arn't plugged in local controversies, the cartoon from this morning's Montreal Gazette refers to the fact that the new head coach for the Montreal Canadien's doesn't speak French. Promoted to the post in a few weeks ago when nothing was working for the Habs, Ron Cunneyworth's record hasn't been stellar since--and criticism about his being a unilingual Anglophone has gotten louder.

But Montrealers like to win, and so given last night's victory--the first in far too long--Aislin, The Gazette's fine cartoonist, mocks how success can change perceptions.

"Taburnack!" refers to the tabernacle in which the eucharist is stored in the Roman Catholic churches, which might raise a loud ho-hum from people elsewhere. But it's one of those words you don't use in polite Quebec society: there was a point when Lukas (aged 7 or 8) was scandalized to learn that one of our Christmas records had been made by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The word is so strong that this morning on the Radio Can French language service, a commentator referred to it (in French) as the "T-word."

This same guy has not shied away from using the "F-word" in English on occasion when quoting someone directly. That would not happen on the CBC where the soldiers on the long-running radio series Afghanada were always talking about "freaking this" and "freaking" that.

So what do you swear by, religion? or sex?

Suburbs, Stress and the Myth of the Good Life: More Evidence from North of Montreal

2012-01-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

"Suburban" in North America conjures up visions of single family houses on streets lined with grass, good schools, a good life away from the struggles of the city. But that appears to be changing.

Stress is higher in the suburbs north of Montreal, according to The Montreal Gazette. Taking data from a Stats Can household health survey, researcher Jack Jedwab found that more than "half of people age 35-44 in the Laurentians said most days in their lives are quite a bit or extremely stressful." The figure was 36.6 per cent for Quebecers that age as a whole, compared to 31.9 per cent in Montreal, and 29.8 in Canada overall.

Why is this? A large part is due to the problems of commuting to work in Montreal. We saw a bit of that last year when most of the tradesmen working on our house repairs came from lower Laurentian communities. They'd leave home by 5:30 a.m. and on a good morning arrive shortly before 7 a.m., the hour when municipal bylaws say construction work can begin. Usually they'd call it a day by 3 p.m., but they were clocking in up to three hours a day on the road.

The effects on family life have got to be disastrous.

Sunny and Cold Day: Time to Think of Adventures in the Mountains

2012-01-03T11:13:00.003-05:00

Many, many years ago Lee and I spent a lot of time hiking in the Sierra Nevada of California. Ever since then there is a particular kind of cold, blue sunshine that I associate with mountain mornings, and which make me want to get moving.

This morning it's considerably colder than those mornings in late summer and fall so long ago, but the light is the same. When I went looking for something to evoke that time, I came up with this video. A bit self-indulgent, but some of it is pretty nice.

And under the tree this year was a book My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir, which is worth looking at, particularly when the mountains are far away.

Taxes Quebeckers Pay Go up, Taxes Companies Pay Go Down

2012-01-02T11:09:00.004-05:00

Canada now has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world: 15 per cent as of midnight on Sunday. But are businesses going to use that tax windfall to reinvest in Canada?

Not likely, say a chorus of economists.

The bottom line (and don't all those financial types like talking about the bottom line?) is that Stats Can figures show investment actually falling as corporate tax rates decline. Back in April, before the federal election The Globe and Mail reported that the "rate of investment in machinery and equipment has declined in lockstep with falling corporate tax rates over the past decade. At the same time...businesses have added $83-billion to their cash reserves since the onset of the recession in 2008."

But New Year's Day also marked an increase in taxes for ordinary folk in Quebec. The sales tax went up a percent to 9.5 per cent, slightly lower than the 10 per cent charged in Nova Scotia, and the 10.5 per cent in PEI.

Payroll taxes across the country will also rise this year, as employment insurance premiums increase 5 cents per $100 of insurable earnings and federal pension plan contributions fo up. The Toronto Star reports that it means "employees will have to give up a total of $3,147 in payroll taxes next year — an increase of about $142 over this year.

"Employers will have to shell out about $164 more in payroll taxes next year, for a total of $3,483.

"The combined net increase of 4.84 per cent is the highest since 2002."

There's something wrong with this picture, don't you think?

Saturday Photo: Happy New Year on the Last Day of a Difficult Year

2011-12-31T10:29:00.002-05:00

The year that will end at midnight tonight held some excellent things, but as I noted in our holiday blog, in some cases the only appropriate reaction was "be careful what you wish for."

Let us not dwell on trouble though. Best wishes from all of us for a 2012 which is not apocalyptic in any sense of the word, and for the courage necessary to meet the challenges of are inevitable

Lights Going off in US Cities in Order to Save Money

2011-12-30T09:52:00.005-05:00

In this season of long nights and festivals of lights, The New York Times has a story about some municipalities which are turning off streetlights (and in some cases pulling them up) in order to save money.

The reasons given are failing economy, decreasing tax bases, fund-strapped cities. In the case the NYT documents, a formerly-affluent suburb of Detroit, Highland Park, whose population has dropped from 50,000 to 12,000, was $4 million in debt to the local power company. The municipality struck a deal: it would "take away 1,300 of the city’s lights, add 200 lights in strategic locations, and the debt would be forgiven."

The result was predictable: residents complained and have changed their lives so they aren't out after dark in many neighborhoods. Some have begun systematically leaving their porchlights on, while others are installing security lights--a way of shifting the cost of lighting from the city to individuals.

This is pretty sad. Taxes are what we pay for civilized society, Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said. When the 99 per cent pay up, they should get the services they need.

Finally Cold--Ice Ferns on the Window This Morning

2011-12-29T14:16:00.002-05:00

It finally turned cold last night, adn this morning the windows were covered with frost, even though they are double glazed. Or rather, they are double glazed since Monday.

The windows in the baywindow in the living room are old fashioned wooden ones where you have to take out the inside panes come spring, and replace them in the fall.

Or rather you're supposed to do itin the fall. This year, however, for various reasons we didn't get it done and didn't get it done, and then finally there were a few hours free on Boxing Day.

Thank goodness, because it really would be cold in here otherwise.

King Stephen: Britain Has a Constitutional Monarchy Where the Queen Only Advises, But Canada Has a King Who Makes the Rules

2011-12-28T09:34:00.002-05:00

Manon Corneiller in today's Le Devoir has a scathing evaluation of the Stephen Harper and his majority government, with a sidelong attack on our parliamentary system. In the US, she notes, the president has no guarantee of getting his program through, since the House and Senate can--and frequently do--block what he wants to do. But a majority government in Canada can do whatever it damn well pleases, as wel have been seeing lately.

This is fundamentally undemocratic, of course. Corneiller adds that this is nothing new: a year ago Jeffrey Simpson even published a book about Jean Chrétien called The Friendly Dictatorship.
What is new is the extent to which Harper has pushed "control, centralization, intransigence, intimidation and the exploitation of each weakness in our system to attain his ends, " she says. And she ends with a telling anecdote: in 2010 Harper took off at high speed across the landing strip at Tuktoyutuk on an all-terrain vehicle. When asked if he had necessary permission to do so, he answered simply: "I make the rules."

It seems to this anti-monarchist that ERII follows more rules than this guy does.

Cartoon by Tom Dolighan.

More Christmas Presents and Words of Wisdom for Writers: Geraldine Brooks Edits The Best American Short Stories 2011

2011-12-27T11:53:00.002-05:00

One of the gifts I look most forward to each year is the new number of The Best American Short Stories. This year the journalist-turned-fiction writer Geraldine Brooks is the editor, and, while I haven't had a chance to really delve into the volume, I found her introductory essay most thought provoking.

One of her main points is that a short story is often the better for having a structure which can be related to plot. The setup, the reveal, the reversal and the resolution are the names she gives to four elements that often (but, she asserts, not always) found in good stories.

Hmm, I thought to myself: that schema is worth holding in mind while I work on my own short stories. One of the things I've really got to get cracking on is the collection, Desire Lines: A Geography of Love, the collection for which I got a grant from Quebec's art agency, the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec.

Topic for this afternoon's work: take a look at what I've got so far to see if I've been using the structure.

Boxing Day Special: Listening to Nils Brown with My New Headphones.

2011-12-26T14:53:00.003-05:00

The following Youtube clip can give you only a taste of the delightful CD the Lizieux elves gave me for Christmas: Nils Brown singing Belle Canzoni d'Italia through the headphones that were a present from Lukas and Sophie.

I've been following his career for about 15 years, ever since he was at McGill doing music about the same time Elin was. He sings all the classical usual stuff--oratorios are a particular specialty--but lately he's been experimenting with "bringing unusual Italian music to the public," as he says in the CD's liner notes. Here's a Barchet link to a better recording, but the video is fun because it shows his energy.

Saturday Photo: At Last a Little Snow

2011-12-24T13:01:00.002-05:00

We had a few centimeters of snow yesterday afternoon and last night, so there's a semblance of a white Christmas here. The picture was taken from the back porch as the temperature hovered near the point where Fahrenheit and Celsius come together (0F and -18C)--it ws too cold and early to go out.

The stocking was our cat Calie's. Each year she got the same can of sardines which we never opened, as well as (some years) a cat toy, which she usually tore to bits by New Year's Day. We miss her.

Happy Holidays to Everyone

2011-12-23T12:14:00.000-05:00

The Attack on the Health System Begins: The Federal Health Minister Says, Do What You Want.

2011-12-22T15:06:00.002-05:00

It's well known that if you want something to pass unnoticed you announce it on a Friday afternoon, and if you really want it to disappear, you do it the Friday before Christmas.

Well, December 23 would appear to be too much, but last Friday the Conservatives began announcing how they want to change the health system. Then Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq sent a letter telling her provincial counterparts to say that just about anything will go when it comes to cutting the costs of health care in the future. So, goodbye Canada Health Act, hello rampant privatization.

What a bleak prospect...and a fight to take up again once the holiday season is over.

Veiled Threats to Women: It's Not Covering Your Head That's Important, It's What's Inside

2011-12-21T15:49:00.004-05:00

What do Nancy Reagan, the Virgin Mary, and the girl in the blue bra have in common? All of them have covered their heads out of respect for custom and/or religious beliefs.

That's why the photo taken earlier this week at the rally in Tahir Square in Cairo is so shocking. Here is a young woman who has been protesting brutality against women, and who is brutalized by soldiers before the eyes of the world.

That she is wearing pretty underwear and jeans underneath her abaya should come as no surprise: many Muslim women are as interested in looking nice as women elsewhere. The main difference betwen this young woman and the ordinary 20 year old in Europe or North America, is that she probably is a whole lot braver because participating in a demonstration in Cairo is a lot more dangerous than occupying a park in Manhattan, Minneapolis or Montreal.

Bravo, Sister!

Christmas Countdown Continues: Got to Get on the Road Today

2011-12-20T11:57:00.002-05:00

One of the best things about living where we do is that it's very easy to get around by foot or public transporation. And since I've got a million things to do, I'll head out the door and do them.

But before that here's a link to an interesting story which show that relying on public transit and pedestrian traffic can make for good shopping streets. Earlier this year the Plateau Borough of Montreal introduced a lot of one way streets and cut back on parking in an attempt to cut down on excess car traffic. As you might imagine there was an outcry from merchants, who argued that the measures would cut down on their business.

Loe and behold, though, they're finding that they're busier than ever. People who are attracted by the shops on busy Mont-Royal stick around to shop at other nearby commerces, it seems.

The Days Grow Short and We Lose Some Giants

2011-12-19T10:48:00.002-05:00

Strange how three small countries have lost important figures in their recent history these last few days. The world may be a better place without Kim Jong-Il, although the jury's out since instability in the region is not a thing to be wished. But to lose the Czech Republic's Vaclev Havel and and the Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Évora in one weekend is quite sad.

Saturday Photo: Apples and er, Clementines, Say the Bells of Saint Clemens

2011-12-17T20:11:00.003-05:00

This time of year it is the fruit that matured during the long days of summer that bring the sun into our lives. Here are clementines and Cortland apples (the best of the Quebec crop, I think) which make lovely decorations to say nothing of eating over the end of year holidays.

But I always think of the rhyme about the Bells of St. Clements when we eat them. We have bells from a church during the daylight hours, but nothing with the history of St. Clements in London. That is, of course, the way it goes in North America.

Countdown to Christmas...Herring and Trees

2011-12-16T12:52:00.003-05:00

An expedition of sorts this morning: Elin and Jeanne accompanied us to the Jean Talon market to buy a Christmas treet and to a fish store to get salt herring for sil. Tomorrow Lukas is coming by to help set up the tree in the afternoon. With any luck the herring will be skinned and boned by then and set aside to marinate until Christmas eve.

Food is the heart of any festival, it seems to me, and by now I've whittled down the recipes to ones I like the most. This doesn't mean that the work is any less, but the reward is greater.

What Happens When The Right Unites: The Cons Get Away with Murder

2011-12-15T10:14:00.003-05:00

This morning La Presse has this excellent drawing by Chapleau, with an even more telling caption:

"C-10, Kyoto, Long Gun Registry, I do what I want because I'm MAJORITY"

A lesson for us all: unite the left.

Book Discussion Week: A Classic of African Independence at the Atwater Library

2011-12-14T11:20:00.003-05:00

This is book discussion week: tonight Chinua Achebe's This Fall Apart is on the agenda at the Atwater Library. Here's a scene from a television series made in Nigeria to whet you interest.

The book is obviously required reading in many secondary schools: YouTube is full of "movie trailers" about the book made by students, some much better than others.

Harper Government Pulls out of Kyoto: Time to Get Serious about Who Should be the Leader of the Opposition

2011-12-13T09:25:00.003-05:00

This morning there is only one question for anyone in the NDP:

Who will be the best leader to unite the left and leftish, not just in the party but across the country?

We need a very strong opposition in Ottawa led someone who has weight both in Quebec and elsewhere. As far as I can see, the one person is Thomas Mulcair. Brian Topp, whom I've known for years and admire for his many qualities, is a great strategist. The party needs him more than ever, not as leader, but as the chess player, the guy who has the big picture in his head. The consummate back room boy, in the best sense of the term.

We've Got Rhythm (We English Speakers, That Is)

2011-12-13T08:21:00.002-05:00

Just an addenda to the previous post about Handel's Messiah:

Listening to the great performance on Sunday and to the way the continuo led the way, I was stuck by the way a strong rhythmic beat is so appropriate to English lyrics. Unlike French or Italian (and perhaps other Romance languages) English words are strongly accented, and the basis for English poetry is the various kinds of stressed "feet." It may be harder to find rhymes in English or to sing it with the mouth open widely to let the sound soar (it doesn't have all those words ending in 'o' or 'a'), but it certainly must be easier to play with the rhythms.

Again, what a grand peformance by The Violons du Roy! Great present from Lukas and Sophie, who gave us the tickets for our birthdays this fall, and who attended with us!

And here's a flashmob that is a pale comparison to Les Violons, mais quand même is a lot of fun. I must admit that this old atheist always sings along (or at least mouths the words). It is one of the few pieces I know all the way through, having sung alto in my seventh grade music class. But I don't stand up--So what if the king did a long time ago!

The Messiah by the Violon du Roy, LePage and Nézet-Séguin at the Met: What Happens When You Put Resources into Culture

2011-12-12T11:47:00.004-05:00

An absolutely terrific afternoon yesterday when we heard Handel's Messiah presented by the Violons du Roy. I have never heard a better performance, with particularly marvelous singing by tenor James Gilchrist and the choir, La Chapelle de Québec. The critics agree : Christophe Huss, Le Devoir's picky reviewer, called it the "concert of the year," while Arthur Kaptainis of The Gazette wrote: "The excellence of the performance also could have been foreseen, but not all the novel details Bernard Labadie teased out of (or added to) the arch-familiar score."

Last week also saw Yannick Nézet-Séguin conduct the Metropolitan Opera in Gounod's Faust: the young conductor is "impressively gifted" said The New York Times. Earlier this fall, Robert LePage, another Quebec talent, mounted the third of his rethinking of Wagner's Ring Cycle, Siegfried.

There is a lesson here that is an argument for continued spending on "frills" like culture. Quebec, with a population of about 8 million, is hitting way above its weight. In large part this comes from 30 years of support for culture in all its aspects, culture that is exportable, that crosses boundaries, and enriches our lives.

Saturday Photo: Snow and Rock in the Noontime Light

2011-12-10T11:21:00.001-05:00

Brilliant sunshine today, and a little snow. It's not enough for a white Christmas, but maybe it's a good sign.

The Future of Canada's Health Care System: Don't Forget NDP Outremont's Forum on Saturday.

2011-12-09T09:32:00.002-05:00

Don't forget:
Three panelists of note will participate in a forum on the future of our health care system, organized by the Outremont NDP Riding Association.

Mathieu Vick, parliamentary assistant to Anne Minh Thu Quach, NDP MP for Salaberry-Beauharnois and deputy critic for Health will be the moderator.

The panelists:

Michèle Beauclair, 1st vice-president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec
Lucie Dagenais, associate member of Médecins québécois pour un régime public
Lee Soderstrom, economist specializing in health issues

Date: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, December 10
Place: La grande salle des Dominicains, 2715 Chemin de la Côte Ste-Catherine.
Entrance via par the parking lot on the east side (Bus129, Métro Université de Montréal)

The Annual General Meeting of the Outremont Riding Association and election of the new executive will follow at around 3:30.

And yes, that third panelist is my favourite economist, who is not a member of the NDP, but who agreed to participate because he cares so much about health care.

Fox News Attacks the Muppets for Being Dirty, Brainwashing Liberals: Will Attacks On Jesus Be Next?

2011-12-07T15:33:00.002-05:00

I really thought this was a send-up when I first saw it: Fox News folks complaining that The Muppets are brainwashing children with an anti-corporate, anti-capitalist message. But it appears it was the real thing.

Come on, aren't these guys supposed to be Christian? And what did Christ preach? Certainly wasn't "every man for himself," cut throat stuff like these guys are pushing.

Demon on Harper's Back Versus NDP Attack

2011-12-06T12:59:00.003-05:00

Stephen Harper's Conservatives haven't given much shrift to the international conference on climate change in Durban, South Africa. Nice to see that this negative presence has been matched by demonstrations on the ground, as witness the parody of our prime minister who appeared in media around the globe over the last few hours. The demon on his back must be whispering evil things in his ear--how else to explain how a supposedly intelligent man can ignore so much evidence about climate change?

The NDP has much better things to say, thank goodness. Leadership candidate Thomas Mulcair criticized the Conservatives stance roundly yesterday, while Deputy Environment Critic Laurin Liu. A recent McGill grad, she was one of the flock of young Quebeckers elected last spring, and has definitely found a niche for herself in Ottawa. Good on her.

Inequality and Its Perverse Effects from The Help to Rising Birth Rates among Educated Women

2011-12-05T11:55:00.006-05:00

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is in the news this morning because of the report it has just published Divided We Stand: Wby Inequality Keeps Rising. The report's analysis ranks countries by economic inequality, showing that in Canada it has increased markedly in recent years, although things are still considerably better than the US. The effect is due to a widening disparity in labour earnings between high- and low-paid workers, and less redistribution through taxes.

The Globe and Mail reports:

"The average income of the top 10 per cent of Canadians in 2008 was $103,500 – 10 times than that of the bottom 10 per cent, who had an average income of $10,260, an increase from a ratio of 8 to 1 in the early 1990s....At the same time, the top federal marginal income tax rates tumbled – to 29 per cent in 2010 from 43 per cent in 1981."

Last week the Globe had a story which must be read in tandem with this. It details how educated women are having more children in the US than in Canada. One of the many reasons, it seems, is because the growing divide between the wealthy and the poor in the US "has created both a class of women who can afford to hire help in their homes and a pool of workers who are willing to provide it cheaply...

"Because wages of unskilled workers have fallen for the past 30 years in the U.S. (30 per cent by some estimates), favourably employed working parents can afford to hire housekeepers and nannies – and they can afford to have more children as well."

What a sorry state of affairs. The report, please note, comes at a time when The Help by Katherine Stockett about African American maids and their employers in the 1960s is still on best seller lists and the movie from the novel is making waves. Not much has changed, except the maids now may be from foreign countries.

Saturday Photo: A Cat's Eye View of the World

2011-12-03T13:31:00.003-05:00

It's chilly today, although there's no snow on the ground. The sun at the moment is flooding into our house, and lighting up this cat's window as well.

Actually, now that the leaves are off the trees many house plants go through a new growth spurt. And cats, who like to sun themselves, have new places to do that.

Message from One Canadian Steve to Another: Violence Is Actually Decreasing

2011-12-02T09:48:00.003-05:00

The New York Times on Tuesday had an interesting interview with Montreal-born psychologist Steven Pinker, whose new book The Better Angels of Our Nature argues that violence has become less and less present in human life over history.

He says the "idea for the book took root in his mind...when he stumbled across graphs of historical rates of violence. In England, for example, homicide rates are about a hundredth of what they were in 1400." Shortly afterwards he was invited to write an essay on what he was optimistic about, and he quickly agreed to write about "the death of violence."

In 2006 Dr. Pinker was invited to write an essay on the theme “What Are You Optimistic About?” His answer: “The decline of violence.”

The NYT reports that reaction came quickly. "I started hearing from scholars from fields that I was barely aware of, saying, ‘There’s much more evidence on this trend than you were aware of,’ he said.

The video is a little old, but it gives a most interesting summary of his thinking. Steven Harper, who wants us to think that things are getting worse, would do well to watch it.

Saturday Photo: The End of Something, the Begiinning of Something Else

2011-12-01T13:46:00.002-05:00

A few leaves left floating in a fountain before the winter snow comes. Got the boots and winter coats out, even wore them earlier this week. But the snow disappeared, not before Jeanne got to walk in it--not even crying when one boot came off and she traipsed along in her stocking feet. Guess the novelty outweighed the shock of the cold!

Who's Profiting from Those Day Care Centres--Families or Entrepreneurs

2011-12-01T12:01:00.003-05:00

Jeanne and her parents are looking for good child care these days. She's 15 months old, and until now they've been able to work their schedules so that one of them is free, with a healthy amount of baby sitting by grandparents. But waiting lists are long for the usually-excellent provincially funded centers which charge $7 a day. Even good private day cares, where families fare better than in other provinces since they get a break through an income tax credit for child care expenses, aren't that easy to find.

So I--along with many others--was furious to read the report of the Quebec auditor general which says that not only have the Liberal government's promises about how many day care centres would be set up, but nearly a third of those approved did not meet standards. Instead they got the green light from the minister responsible for family affairs.

The opposition Parti Québécois points out that many of those who received permits were contributors to the Quebec Liberal Party.

Come on, let's not play games with our kids.... The principles behind the system are good, but the quality should be good too.

A Year after the Fire: Things Are the Same But Different.

2011-11-30T13:28:00.002-05:00

As I write this, it is 1:31 p.m., a year exactlyl after the moment when the first call went in on the fire which put us out of our house for eight months. We've been back since August 1, but the last work onlly was completed three weeks ago. Needless to say, this is a day that gives us the shivers. No one was hurt, we lost very little, but it was an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone.

You Are What You Read Department: Time Makes It Easy for Americans

2011-11-29T07:57:00.004-05:00

An interesting comparison between the front pages of this week's Time, for the US, Europe, Asia and South Pacific. The Americans get the cover story "Why Anxiety Is Good for You" while the other ones get a photo of a protester in Egypt.

Flash Mob Monday: Too Busy for a Real Post

2011-11-28T18:46:00.002-05:00

It's one of the days when I keep running around. Here's music and dance to go with that frenzy: Ravel's "Bolero" in Copenhagen, "This Time for Africa" in Rome, and ""

Holland in Montreal: A Woofnerf in St. Henri

2011-11-25T09:02:00.003-05:00

Elin spent three years at The Hague, living just off a canal on a street that ended with -laan: neither she nor I can remember the complete name but the -laan referred to the canal. Then she moved to St. Henri, just off the Lachine canal, and I used to joke that she went from one -laan to another.

Today the Montreal Mirror has a story about another Dutch touch to the neighborhood. The former St. Pierre River, now converted into a buried storm sewer, has been a heat island, since the asphalt paving on top traps the sun's rays. But the arrondissement plans to convert it into a peculiarly Dutch invention, a space that is open to local traffic for people whose garages open onto it, but which will essentially a pedestrian walkway and park. There will be small parks at either end with exercise space. The Mirror story also notes that good street lighting is proposed to "dissuade nefarious activities."

To that end, the planners might include playground and exercise equipment in the middle, to encourage foot traffic. As Jane Jacobs noted, the more people passing on foot, the safer a street is, and that applies to woonerfs too.

Another version of the story with more about the St. Pierre River can be found in Alanah Heffez's post on SpacingMontreal from last May

Photo: Montreal Mirror

Turkeys and Chickens and Pork Roast: the Best Ever

2011-11-24T11:15:00.002-05:00

Since it's Thanksgiving south of the border, and other holidays are coming up, here's a recipe that I found a couple of years ago on Global Gourmet and adapted a bit. Turkeys had become to be considered real turkeys around here: the overbreeding of the poor stupid bird has led to pretty bland flesh that none of us particularly liked. But this marinade (or, really, brine) does great things. It can also be used for chickens and pork roasts: I used it for a few hours on a chicken earlier this week which turned out exceptionally succulent.

For a large turkey. Halve for a chicken or pork roast. I use a big canning pot for a turkey (mine will hold two 14 pound birds, which is what I cooked for our Canadian Thanksgiving buffet in October.)

2-1/2 gallons cold water

2 cups kosher salt or gros sel

1 cup sugar

2 bay leaves, torn into pieces

1 bunch fresh thyme, or 4 tablespoons dried
or a similar amount of rosemary

2-4 dried chilis, depending on your taste

1 whole head of garlic, peeled

5 whole allspice berries, crushed

4 juniper berries, crushed

Place the water in a large pot that can easily hold the liquid and the meat you intend to brine. Add all the ingredients and stir for a minute or so until the sugar and salt dissolve.

Refrigerate turkey in the brine for 48 hours; chicken for 4 to 24 hours; pork for 3 days. (We have a cold room and when I do this in the winter I put the pot there since it takes up a lot of room in the fridge.) If the meat floats to the top, use a plate or other weight to keep it completely submerged in the brine. I also turn the meat over once or twice to make sure the spices permeate the flesh.

You can stuff a chicken with onions, lemon wedges, and herbs such as thyme, parsley, and rosemary. Rub the skin with oil to help browning. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. (Salt isn't needed because of the brine.) Cook uncovered in a 400-degree oven until done, about 1 hour and 15 minutes for a 3-1/2 to 4-pound chicken.

For the turkey, I stuff it with my mother's white bread, onion and sage dressing (about the only recipe she really was good at, I might add). But you can use any stuffing you like or just add lemons, herbs, and onions/ Rub the skin with oil and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper. Cook uncovered in a 400-degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes per pound until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the thigh registers at least 165 degrees.

For a boneless pork roast, sprinkle it with pepper and herbs such as sage, thyme, or tarragon, if desired. Roast uncovered in a 400-degree oven for about 12 to 15 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature reaches 150 to 160 degrees.

Very easy and very good.

QWF Update

2011-11-23T09:06:00.002-05:00

Neither David or Merrily won in their categories. In fiction Dimitri Nazralla won for Niko (Véhicule Press) while Joel Yanofsky won in non-fiction for Bad Animals: A Father's Accidental Education in Autism (Viking Canada). Both sound good: must read them.

QWF Awards Tonight: Michel Freitag's Book to Be Launched

2011-11-22T13:58:00.003-05:00

Tonight is a big literary night. It's the Quebec Writers' Federation annual awards gala, and my good friends David Homel and Merrily Weisbord are up for prizes. Thank goodness they're contestants in different categories --David for Midway in fiction, and Merrily for The Love Queen of Malabar in non-fiction--or I'd have a hard time knowing who to root for. I've always thought David a severely under-recognized novelist, and another prize would be good for him. Merrily, whom I've known nearly as long as I've known David, gave me an introduction to the subject of the book in question, Kamala Das. Ms. Das opened many doors to me in Kochi, India, when I was doing research for my book Green City, and I'm very grateful to Merrily.

But before then, sociologist and philosophy Michel Freitag's last book L'Abime de la liberté will be launched tonight too. Yesterday was the second anniversary of his death, so the choice of the launch date seems particularly appropriate.

Getting the User to Pay: Toll Roads Aren't That Awful, Poll Says

2011-11-21T10:42:00.002-05:00

A Canada-wide poll commissioned by the CBC shows that Canadians are not averse to letting the user pay when it comes to roads and bridges. More than three-quarters of those questioned in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto said okay to tolls on new highway construction, with Montrealers being more in favour of tolls on existing infrastructure than in the two other cities. At the same time, Montrealers were far more satisfied with public transportation in their region than people elsewhere.

The old idea of letting the user pay is probably a good one when it comes to roads and bridges, because it amounts to a disincentive to use of the private vehicule. But money raised through the tolls must be used to improve public transit, because there's another old saw that works against good urban planning. "If you build it, they will come," means that unless alternatives are offered to new roads and bridges, within a short time they'll be as congested as the old ones were as urban sprawl creeps outwards.

Saturday Photo: Denser Development, Less Reliance on Cars

2011-11-19T13:29:00.003-05:00

This is a good traffic day in Montreal, where the problems of urban sprawl are considerablly less than in many other North American cities and where public transit ridership is growing fast.

Nevertheless, the Metropolitan Montreal Community reports that urban sprawl is perceived as a real threat by people who attended a series of hearings on agricultural rezoning and urban development.

The Montreal Gazette reports that more than 1,400 people attneded the hearings while 344 briefs were submitted, 225 of which were presented verbally. As a result the study committee recommends that the plan for future development

"— include firm goals for conservation of green space, wetlands and shorelines. The document suggests 12 per cent of the territory should be protected by 2015, and 17 per cent by 2020.

"— favour dense, residential development around public transit hubs (at least 40 per cent of new homes built over the next two decades should be built near public transit)

"— encourage the development of a regional bicycle network for recreational and commuting purposes

"— encourage significant improvements to public transit service

"— favour maintenance of existing road and public transit infrastructure over construction of new roads and highways.:

While the preservation of wetlands and the bicycle path plan are laudable, what really is important is the last item, with the goal of denser development around transit hubs coming in a close second. It's true that if you build them they will come...or drive the roads and buy the houses. So don't.

Didn't See Any Snow Before My Birthday, But There Were Flurries Before the Party

2011-11-19T11:58:00.002-05:00

Last week I posted about how for the first time since we came to Montreal there were no snow flakes before my birthday, November 8. A couple of people reported that they'd seen a few flurries which made me feel slightly better about global warning. And I'm happy to report that Thursday and Friday of this week saw definite snow squalls. Nothing measurable, nothing that even stayed on the ground for more than a minute, but at last a little snow.

As we will be celebrating my birthday this evening (those of Elin and Lee, Oct. 2 and Sept. 18 respectively for reasons that are too long to go into) I'm glad that the beginning of winter has made itself felt without doubt before the party.

Chicken Curry Tonight: Don't Need to Say Anything Else

2011-11-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

Attention Must Be Paid to Writers--on Front Pages, if Not Ground Floors

2011-11-17T13:49:00.004-05:00

There are times when a writer feels absolutely second rate, completely forgotten, totally unnecessary in the scheme of most of society. But then something comes along thatis amazing evidence that somebody cares a lot.

That happened Tuesday when Le Devoir invited a couple of dozen of Quebec writers to write the news. Not just reviews and cultural observations, but the hard stuff including politics and business. For example, novelist Marie Laberge contributed a fascinating article on the presence of immigrants in the construction industry, based on Statistics Canada data. The occasion was the opening of the Salon du livre, a six day book bash that draws more than 100,000 visitors every year.

The high profile attention given to writers is truly encouraging--almost enough to make up for the fact that when I went into the local Renaud-Bray (the Quebec book store chain) I discovered that books had been moved up to the second floor, and candles and Christmas paraphernalia took up most of the first floor space....

You win some, but you also lose an awful lot.

Writing the Back Story: Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea

2011-11-16T11:27:00.002-05:00

Last month we talked about Jane Eyre at the Atwater Library, and tonight it will Jean Rhys's idea of why the first Mrs. Rochester went mad, Wide Sargasso Sea. Both books are great reads, and in their own way both are comments on the life of the time in which they were written.

While Charlotte Brontê's classic Gothic novel sheds much light on the difficulties of women's fate in the early 19th century, Rhys's much shorter story expands the vision to the evil left by slavery. She was born in Dominica, called a "white cockroach" as a child, and saw with very clear eyes the cruelty of the "peculiar institution" as well as the helplessness of women at the time.

The "honeymoon island" of her novel is in large part an image of Dominica, which is billing itself as marvelous, ecologically sound tropical paradise. This video makes you want to go, particularly as winter approaches in North America.

We Walked and Walked...Montreal in the 1950s

2011-11-15T08:40:00.002-05:00

Open File has a lovely story about a young immigrant from Germany, Alfred Bohn. who took many pictures of Montreal after he and his wife immigrated in the 1950s. Check it out.

A hatmaker by trade, he says he, his wife and two other couples who lived close by on Clarke Street would "spend our days walking and walking because we didn’t have cars and we all lived in the same area and we all had empty jobs.”

At 78, he lives in suburban Laval now. I wonder if anyone is taking pictures there now. Certainly it's a lot harder to cover on foot....

Book Groups This Week: The Way to Paradise by Mario Vargas Llosa

2011-11-14T11:35:00.002-05:00

I'm expecting fascinating discussions this weeks as two of the book groups I lead will be talking about Mario Vargas Llosa's historical novel about Paul Gauguin and his grand mother, the French-Peruvian proto-feminist Flora Trístan, The Way to Paradise.

The book is flawed, but Vargas Llosa always has something interesting to say. Here's an interview with David Frost about democracy in Latin America.

Saturday Photo: Thinking of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Geometry

2011-11-12T11:19:00.003-05:00

Perhaps my favourite photographer is Henri Cartier-Bresson. On a trip to France a few years ago we spent two afternoons in a restrospective exhibition of his work at the Biblithèque nationale. It was literally an eye-opener, as not only were great prints of his photos on display, so were notebooks and some of his contact sheets.

Being the kind of picture snapper who always took lots of exposures even before digital photography, I was amazed to see how few times he clicked the shutter. On a roll of 36 shots, he would have no less than three or four subjects. Each shot would be a distinct moment, and the amazing thing was that each was exactly the right one. His famous shot of a man jumping across a puddle, for example, was not one of a half dozen, if I remember correctly. He didn't warm up with snaps of other people crossing the square or fuss with settings to get the right exposure. He simply knew what aperature and speed to use and waited until the man in question was ready to take flight.

Cartier Bresson also was passionate about geometry, saying that underlying all photography was structure and the geometric relation of a photo's elements. That's evident in the jumping man shot, and it is also an idea that I'd like to use more often in my own pictures. The one at top is of a trestle near Kamloops, BC. where I think the geometry works. But I must admit that it is only one of about 10 shots I took during half an hour and I had the aid of automatic exposure meters.

Deep Integration Is Not the Way to Go: The Economic Pitfalls of Common Currencies (to Say Nothing about the Cultural Fallout)

2011-11-11T10:17:00.003-05:00

Memo to Stephen Harper and others who'd like to integrate the US and Canada: it's not the welfare state that causes problems, it's the inability to manage your economy independently.

Today in The New York Times Paul Krugman says about the Euro crisis: "Sweden, with its famously high benefits, is a star performer, one of the few countries whose G.D.P. is now higher than it was before the crisis...(while) spending on welfare-state programs..."was lower, as a percentage of national income, in all of the nations now in trouble than in Germany, let alone Sweden.

"Oh, and Canada, which has universal health care and much more generous aid to the poor than the United States, has weathered the crisis better than we have."

He goes on: " ...the big determining factor for interest rates isn’t the level of government debt but whether a government borrows in its own currency. Japan is much more deeply in debt than Italy, but the interest rate on long-term Japanese bonds is only about 1 percent to Italy’s 7 percent... In particular, since euro-area countries can’t print money even in an emergency, they’re subject to funding disruptions in a way that nations that kept their own currencies aren’t."

Music for a Rainy Day: Debussy's Jardins sous la pluie

2011-11-10T17:06:00.002-05:00

It is a wet day with rain soaking the fallen leaves. Perfect for listening to Debussy's Estampes, a charming piece of music.

The heroine of my novel River Music, I'm discovering, is one of the greatest interpreters of Debussy's piano music in the mid to late 20th century. So I've been listening to it a lot, and am discovering wonders.

Too Much Success? Nope, Just a Reason to Put More Money in Transit

2011-11-09T13:36:00.002-05:00

More and more people in the Montreal region are using public transit, a report by the group Transit says. In 2006, Quebec set out to increase use of public transit by 8 per cent in six years. The good news is that that goal has been surpassed everywhere in the province already. The bad news is that in some places, like Montreal, buses and Metro trains are full to capacity. Use will jump by 4 per cent over 2010, it seems, while use of suburban trains has increased by 18 per cent . The last figure is due in large part ot increased service, a vindication for those who believe "if you build it, they will come"

It's time to increase financing, Transit says. More lines, more buses and Metro cars will be needed by commuters. And by the world as some of us try to meet the challenge of green house gases and climate change.

Climate Change: a Personal View

2011-11-08T15:41:00.003-05:00

Today is my birthday and for the first time since we came to Montreal decades ago, no snow has fallen so far this season. Every other year there have been at least a few flakes by now, even though rare has been the birthday when we had to wade through snow.

Today the high temperature reached 14 C (55 F) and the sun shone marvelously. When I walked around the mountain this morning, many trees still glowed yellow and orange: leaves have just not fallen when they usually do.

Tomorrow who knows what the temperature will be, but it's clear that all our tomorrows will be different than our yesterdays when it comes to climate. We've brought it on ourselves, and even as I enjoy this Indian Summer, I fret about what this means.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the NDP: a Forum

2011-11-07T12:43:00.001-05:00

Here's an invitation that may be just what you wanted!

You would like to know more about the history of the NDP and its record as a force for change in Canada? You would like the chance to discuss the issues currently being defended by the NDP team of MPs in Ottawa?

If so, you shouldn't miss a forum organized by the Outremont NDP Riding Association

Monday November 7, 2011, beginning at 5:30

The meeting will begin with a presentation by Raoul Gébert, president of the Quebec section of the NDP, on the roots and the mission of the party. Then we hope to have one of the young MPs from Quebec on the party's future (to be confirmed). A question and answer period will follow. (The presentations will be in French, but questions in English will be welcome).

Whether you're a new friend of the party or a long-time member, this event is for you!

So write it down in your datebook:

Date: Monday, November 7, 2011, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Place: Café EM
5718, Park Avenue, Mile End, (Buses 80, 535 and 160)

Snacks will be served and there will be a menu available for orders of beverages or more substantial meals.

Why It Matters That the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer

2011-11-05T10:39:00.001-04:00

Paul Krugman has it right again: "...extreme concentration of income is incompatible with real democracy. Can anyone seriously deny that our political system is being warped by the influence of big money, and that the warping is getting worse as the wealth of a few grows ever larger?"

Saturday Photo: Dawn Redwood in the Cemetery

2011-11-05T10:13:00.002-04:00

The redwoods and giant Sequoias of California were the mythic trees of my youth. Both the variety that grows in the Sierra Nevada and the one native to the coastal ranges were awe-inspiring, while walks in the groves were they grow remain exceedingly pleasant memories.

At one point I tried to start a coast redwood here from seed, but had no luck. It would appear that more astute gardeners than I also have trouble: a quick search of the Jardin botanique web site shows only a listing for redwood used as bonsai.

But the tree's long-lost anscester, the dawn redwood, will grow here. The Metasequoia had been known as a fossil dating from 100 million years ago, but ws assumed to be extinct. In 1944, however, a huge specimen--64 inches in diameter and 98 feet tall--was found in a temple courtyard in Central China. Subsequent searches found more in isolated Chinese mountain valleys. The seeds were brought back to North America in 1948 and planted in botanic gardens widely.

I'm not sure just when this specimen was planted, but it can be no older than 60 years old. It is more like a bush at this point, and it will be interesting to see at what point it shoots for the stars like the original find. Given our climate that may be a while, but in the meantime it is an elegant addition to the cemetery garden.

Jeanne's Favourite Picture: On Kids and Dogs and Population Control

2011-11-04T11:18:00.005-04:00

Le Devoir columnist Josée Blanchette has a piece today about dogs and what a pain they are. Jeanne, who can not read of course, was taken by it nevertheless. The pictures of the dogs enchanted her. The one she liked the best is of the dog in a stroller, because, I presume, it included two of her favourite things.

Blanchette quotes a friend as saying that the reason she loves her dog so much is because it is her child. Well, I know that we practiced raising a dog before we started raising kids, and I also know what we learned contributed to the creation of a couple of pretty decent people. And if dogs offer a subsitute for children in North American households, perhaps that's all to the good since there's been much in the press about the resource expenditures per person in developed countries in this world of seven million people.

Jeanne, by the way, has passed the point where a dog demonstrates more intelligence than she does. Twice in the last little while she has gone and fetched something when asked, a trick which most well-reared dogs can master. Of course, having learned the trick, a dog will keep doing it forever. A child, though, at some point will stop and give you an argument. Ah the terrible twos which sometimes stretch out to the terrible twenties...

The Burning Bushes: Fall Lingers on

2011-11-03T11:51:00.002-04:00

This morning I had an appointment on the other side of the mountain, so I walked across through Mount Royal Park. We didn't get the snow storm that whipped the Northeast US into submission, and the leaves are lingering on the trees. The yellows and oranges are past their prime, but the walk was still lovely.

And there were the occasional splotch of pure flame. One of them is up the street where a bush, green and unpreposing all summer, has turned a flamboyant magenta. No wonder that fall is the favourite season for so many people!

Quebec Won't Help Finance Prisons: Another Reason for Federalism?

2011-11-02T09:27:00.002-04:00

Quebec's Justice Minister told a Commons committee yesterday that the province has no intention of paying for the prisons that the Harper government wants to build as a consequence of its omnibus crime bill.

The CBC reports him saying that: "the Conservatives' bill is more of a short-term solution to fighting crime and he repeatedly warned it will mean more repeat offenders in the court and corrections systems.

"C-10 does not take into account the return of the young offender, of the individual into society," he said.

"What you've got is a Band-Aid solution here, you're not curing anything,"

Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty has also been making noises about that province's dissatisfaction with the bill.

The Conservatives can pass the bill, which combines nine separate pieces of legislation which died on the order paper when the election was called last spring. That's the problem when you've got a majority government, even though a majority of the people didn't vote for you. The only hope is that in the current federal system the provinces will be able to make their opinions felt.

Seven Million: How to Make the World a Better Place

2011-11-01T11:18:00.001-04:00

The last few days the rapidly increasing numbers of humans have been getting a lot of press, probably well-merited. The New York Times had an interesting story yesterday about a campaign to link birth rates in the developed world with species extinction.

Were the US birth rate reduced from about two children per woman (below the replacement rate) to 1.5, green house gases would decline by 10 percent by 2050 and by 33 by the end of the century, the story says.

Canada's birthrate already is about 1.58 per woman, so I have no idea what decreasing that farther would mean. What I do know is that all children should be wanted children, and that women around the world should be educated. Literate girls grow into women who have fewer chilren because they are more likely to know what their birth control choices are as well as having a better idea of how to raise healthy children. Indeed, educating girls have proved to be a more effective path to population control than coercive government policies.

Halloween: Obesity Versus the Occasional Splurge

2011-10-31T10:19:00.006-04:00

This year it seems like Halloween has gone on forever. Today's the day, and I expect not much is getting done in schools all across North America as kids parade around in their costumes and prepare for the candy gorge today. But there have been parties (often only for grownups) since Friday night which means almost four days of festivities.

This morning Radio Can interviewed a cardiologist who compared the menace of obesity to that of smoking 40 years ago. Attitudes towad smoking have changed dramatically, and he said that the same must happen to attitudes toward too much fast food and other empty calorie food. Otherwise, he said, we are going to be faced with immense problems of diabetes and heart disease as overweight childen become overweight adults.

How does Halloween fit into this? Halloween was once a rare moment when children could stuff themselves with candy, but now excess has become part of the daily fare.
Far better to splurge occasionnally. Not only do the moments of sugar high seem more intense because they stand out more from ordinary life, their effects on health have got to be less.

Sunday Music: CBC Two/ Espace Musique Play an All-Day Concert of Serious Music

2011-10-30T10:25:00.002-04:00

This is what the two services of the public broadcaster should be playing all the time: the very best in serious music by Canadian performers.

Concert in Canada

and

Espace Musique

Why wait for the 75th birthday to do this, particularly when the Harper government is out to cut their funding?

Saturday Photo: Rebuilding the Cemetery Gates

2011-10-29T11:15:00.006-04:00

Who would have thought that climbing hydrangeas could do such damage? But given enough time and the cycle of freeze and thaw in this climate, and it probably should not be a surprise that the lovely vine--which covers the gates to the Mount Royal Cemetery--has done considerable damage.

About two years ago, routinue maintenance revealed fissures in the stone structure. Initially, the cemetery posted notices, saying that things would be repaired within months. But obviously the problems are much greater, and will cost about $750,000 to repair.

Here's what the gates looked like this week. After attempts to brace the stone in place, the gate is now strapped together and barricaded so that no one can pass underneath, even on foot.

One small photo shows the gate about four years ago on another lovely fall morning.

The other, from the placard now explaining what's going on, was taken more than 150 years ago, when the cemetery was just opened.

Lessons from Iceland: Paul Krugman on How to Get out of a Crisis by Not Listening (Much) to the Right

2011-10-28T09:12:00.003-04:00

For a long time I had a sticker from the Icelandic social democratic party, brought back by a young friend who'd spent some time in that small, rugged country in the 1980s. It's gone now, cleaned of the fridge by zealous post-fire cleaning.

In Iceland itself, the leftish parties have realigned since my friend's trip, but it's clear that social democratic ideas are alive and well, and have served the country well, after that much larger crisis, the 2008 worldwide financial meltdown. The result, Paul Krugman writes this morning, has meant following a path no other country took, with results that have been much better, it seems, that what's happening Europe.

Krugman writes from Rejkavik that:

"Iceland was supposed to be the ultimate economic disaster story: its runaway bankers saddled the country with huge debts and seemed to leave the nation in a hopeless position.

"But a funny thing happened on the way to economic Armageddon: Iceland’s very desperation made conventional behavior impossible, freeing the nation to break the rules. Where everyone else bailed out the bankers and made the public pay the price, Iceland let the banks go bust and actually expanded its social safety net.

"....Iceland hasn’t avoided major economic damage or a significant drop in living standards. But it has managed to limit both the rise in unemployment and the suffering of the most vulnerable... “Things could have been a lot worse” may not be the most stirring of slogans, but when everyone expected utter disaster, it amounts to a policy triumph.

"And there’s a lesson here for the rest of us: The suffering that so many of our citizens are facing is unnecessary..."