On March 27, over 130 states will meet at UN headquarters in New York to commence negotiations, mandated by the General Assembly last December, on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons. This country, alas (see my January column, ‘Divided Nations: Canada Ducks Disarmament Challenge’), will be joining most of its NATORead More

Occasionally, it takes us a while to accept something that is hard to understand, does not jibe with our script of the world, or plainly, just doesn’t make any damn sense. And I am here to say now, finally, over a month into this springtime of our discontent, that IRead More

It’s only just begun, yet the whole world seems to be feeling the weight of Donald Trump’s presidency. Many more affected and more knowledgeable than myself have commented (boy have they commented) on where he will take the United States during the next four years, but there’s no doubt whatsoeverRead More

On December 23 – the day after US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted his intent to “greatly strengthen and expand” American “nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes” – the United Nations General Assembly voted to open negotiations next year on a treaty outlawingRead More

Fresh off his near victory in the recent CBRM municipal election and plum out of long-term pension options, Dr. StrangeJob is now considering a shot at provincial politics. Not only is Nova Scotia in need of a new premier, but Cape Breton also requires a stronger voice at the provincialRead More

I had not planned to write about the US presidential election but my correspondent in Colorado is still trying to make sense of last night’s results and I am going to wait until he is able to sit up and take nourishment before asking his thoughts on the Donald TrumpRead More

Perhaps the only thing uniting the electorate of the United States in the last days before our presidential election is a sort of bemused disbelief at where we are and how we got here. Calls for imprisoning political opponents, refusals to accept election results, and unabashed jingoism are actions AmericansRead More

I recall once meeting a retired teacher and asking her how she had spent her summer. Her answer: “Eating, drinking cheap wine and reading trashy novels.” Now that’s a summer! Unfortunately for me, I know someone with a subscription to The New Yorker who drops a dozen copies in frontRead More

American presidential elections are not won at the base of either party. The dichotomy of the two major American parties has historically rested on a fairly centrist pivot, where roughly 40% of both Republicans and Democrats can be found. This loose crowd in the center, unpinned by party affiliation orRead More

American presidential elections are not won at the base of either party. The dichotomy of the two major American parties has historically rested on a fairly centrist pivot, where roughly 40% of both Republicans and Democrats can be found. This loose crowd in the center, unpinned by party affiliation orRead More