The Southern Baptists make up the largest protestant denomination in the US. And in 2019, the Houston Chronicle revealed that its 47,000 affiliated churches faced 380 accusations of sexual abuse. Plus, remember Tammy-Faye and Jim Bakker and 21-year old church secretary, Jessica Hahn? Jerry and Becky Falwell and the pool boy? And then there are […]
The wall of noise just keeps growing! It was bad enough to get stuck at a street corner with another car’s stereo at full blast! And usually accompanied by thumping base lines. Base lines that shake every car whose occupants pray that the green light will come quickly. Now with phones and blue tooth speakers, […]
I hit pause! I needed to take a break and re-focus. I had never intended to write an overtly political blog. However, that was exactly what I had started to do. Politics had taken over a project that I wanted to dedicate to my other interests and, in particular, urban development. Where to re-start? So, […]
We need urban green space! And yes, we have to preserve agricultural land and wilderness areas. The biggest road blocks to achieving these objectives: suburbanites demanding development freezes to halt densification. Densification results in more urban green space – not less. Also, it helps prevent urban sprawl to more distant municipalities that grow by re-zoning […]
Definition of the word “Woke”: I find the adjective “woke” to be very clumsy. It really doesn’t roll off the tongue. I avoid its use, but I am intrigued with how it became an insult. Surely, most of us aspire to be alert to social injustice and discrimination. History of the term “stay woke” The […]
I enjoy exploring towns and cities and this year we spent a month in Paris and Strasbourg. Sadly, I always expect to see some level of homelessness. However, I wasn’t ready for the number of little encampments that I saw in France this year. Tents and cardboard shelters near the Louvre, in shopping arcades, just […]
We spent four weeks in France. We were in airports and train stations; on the Metro, buses, trains, airports, and airplanes! Restaurants and museums! No Covid-19! We get back to Canada and my wife, unknowingly, visits an infected family member! A few days later she has Covid, and two days later I test positive too. […]
Have you missed me? I have just finished a four-week trip to Paris and Strasbourg. I started to write this newsletter three or four days ago in Strasbourg. At the outset, I meant to discuss the disgusting invasion of Ukraine by the gangster, Vladimir Putin. But, for such a difficult topic I need to be […]
Good Bye LinkedIn! Good bye social media!
I am fed up with the COVID-19 debates over mandates and sanitary measures. To find a path forward, agreement on data and clarity are important. Clarity: Different levels of government have different responsibilities. So, in Canada and the US mask mandates, school and office closures, restaurant and bar openings, and most of the things that […]