The Scourge of Rogue Elements

Following Canadian Tire's conviction for gasoline price-fixing in Kingston and Brockville, a spokesperson for the company, Liz Hamilton, had this to say:

"... the company’s participation in the price-fixing ring was the work of a single regional business manager, who is no longer with the company after an internal investigation."

Will the scourge of rogue elements never end?

Toronto Library Strike

As a lifelong user of public libraries (I can still remember the very first book I took out as a child) and one who aspires to practise critical thinking on a regular basis, I feel for the people of Toronto who are now without this invaluable resource.

Despite the inability of the brothers Ford to appreciate their importance, the central role played by libraries in people's social and intellectual lives is addressed in a column today by The Star's Joe Fiorto. I hope you will take a look at it.

Rob Ford's Absolutism

In a report carried on CBC, Toronto's monomaniacal mayor issued the following pronouncement regarding support for subways:

You are either with us or against us. There is no middle ground.

Hmm, now why does that absolutist assertion sound so eerily familiar?

Are You Afraid of Clowns?

The only ones who frighten me are the ones holding political office. But, just to show you that I have a sense of humour and don't spend my entire life anguishing over the erosion of our values and our democracy, allow me to provide you with this link which, if you ever enjoyed Seinfeld and Crazy Joe Davola, you might find amusing.

I like to think of it as an example of what happens when clowns go bad.

Michael Ignatieff on Syria

The former Liberal leader and professor has a thoughtful article analyzing the situation in Syria with an interesting solution to the problem of Bashar al-Assad's demonic destruction of his people.

Today's Star Editorial Cartoon

I trust this needs no further comment from me:

We Need To Free Ourselves From Our U.S.-Dominated Perspective

I have always thought that one of the biggest tragedies for Canadians is the fact of our proximity to the United States. Not only is our cultural perspective heavily influenced by that closeness, but so too is the way we view economics, which helps to explain the inroads in the past many years that the right-wing has made in our country.

There is an excellent essay in today's Star, written by McMaster Professor David Gouter, who argues that there is much to be reminded of in the economic successes of Northern European countries such as Norway and Sweden, socialist nations that are still thriving despite the economic meltdown brought on by unfettered capitalism in 2008.

You can read his piece here.