It is mid-July, and after many months of a whole lot of abnormal, things are teetering on the edge of threatening to return to something like pre-pandemic normality. I got my second dose of Pfizer vaccine at the end of June, and we have finally begun planning a trip to visit family we have not … Continue reading Summer research and fall teaching update
Coronavirus 12: On the arbitrary nature of local enforcement of provincial rules
It is spring once again, and our discontented winter slowly winds it way to a glorious "first dose summer" and, hopefully, a "second dose fall" that brings us ever closer to something like normal here in Canada. Yet for now we are still locked down in Ontario as the measures the current provincial government put … Continue reading Coronavirus 12: On the arbitrary nature of local enforcement of provincial rules
Coronavirus 11: third wave’s the charm
It's rare that a policy decision meets with almost universal disdain and derision. Angering and disappointing detractors and supporters in equal measure, while still not really addressing the root problem, takes a special kind of skill. We here in Ontario were witness to just such a total collapse of governance on April 16, when provincial … Continue reading Coronavirus 11: third wave’s the charm
Internet content mill, 250 words at a time
It has now been one whole year since the first quarantine measures were put in place here in Ontario and elsewhere across North America. I don't have much new to say about this unwelcome anniversary, at least nothing I haven't already said in previous scattered posts on the pandemic. I have not had much inclination … Continue reading Internet content mill, 250 words at a time
The Capitol riot
I am still processing the events of Wednesday, January 6, and will be for some time. We came, I believe, perilously close to witnessing the execution of many members of Congress by a raucous mob that had made its way to Capitol Hill from a rally where they heard soon-to-be-former-President Donald Trump give an incendiary … Continue reading The Capitol riot
Coronavirus 10: close encounters of the bird kind
Here in Windsor, and soon across most of Ontario, we find ourselves in the grip of a 4-week lockdown. I find it useful to think back to the initial constraints imposed as the pandemic spread in early 2020 and governments responded. Reeling from the enormity of that first lockdown in mid-March, including the abrupt move … Continue reading Coronavirus 10: close encounters of the bird kind
Reckoning
Just about a year ago, the governor of Kentucky, Republican incumbent Matt Bevin, found himself about 5000 votes shy of re-election against challenger Andy Beshear, a moderate Democrat and son of former governor Steve Beshear. Bevin, a brash businessman known for big talk and inheriting his family's wealth, had never held public office but decided … Continue reading Reckoning
Coronavirus 9: an ounce of prevention
In November 1686, King Louis XIV underwent a successful operation to relieve the immense discomfort of an anal fistula. This was, for the time, no small feat given that part of his prior treatment included the use of red hot irons and he was just as likely to have died from the surgical procedure than … Continue reading Coronavirus 9: an ounce of prevention
Listening
Things are pretty bleak. It has been a very long six months of coronavirus restrictions and adjusting to a new normal. Those who think we will return to the previous normal once this is all over should abandon that notion. In fact, if you can imagine what "over" would even mean with regard to covid-19, … Continue reading Listening
Coronavirus 8: masking up and throwing down
The pandemic has introduced me to a guilty pleasure that I must confess: I really enjoy watching videos of people freaking out about having to wear a mask or other protective face covering in public places and when shopping. It is equal parts educational and deeply disturbing to watch someone simply lose. their. shit. when … Continue reading Coronavirus 8: masking up and throwing down
