Retirement creates a restlessness and a despair that can be overpowering. We are no longer in the workforce, stoking the engine of commerce that makes this liberal-democratic, capitalist country function. At cocktail parties where we once proudly proclaimed, “I’m a VP….” or “I own XYZ company…” or “I am on the Board of Directors of […]
Well, I finally joined the precarious ranks of the “Two-million” in Canada, set to double in number by 2026 – the medical orphans – i.e., those without a family physician. I have been here twice before. The first time was when I immigrated to this country in the late ’80s. At that time, I just
In February last year, I wrote an article for the Anchorman titled “This article is NOT written by a robot,” to maintain that I was still in control of my subject matter. ChatGPT had just been unleashed on the world and was turning it upside down. Editors trembled, Writers wept, and Publishers rubbed their hands
In Search of Sentience Read More »
Most Caribbean islands, barring Cuba and Hispaniola, do not have a colourful recent history of revolutions and invasions, other than for the battles fought between their former colonial masters—the British, Dutch, French, and Spanish—for the possession or exchange of these volcanic outcrops. But Grenada has one, as recent as 1983, and it was interesting to
Grenada – an invasion that worked Read More »
Every family has skeletons in the closet. Some members actively drag them out for catharsis and reconciliation– hence the proliferation of memoirs and autobiographies in the literary market today. Others try to bury them even deeper in the detritus of those closets, leading to pretence, guilt, and unhappy lives. Titled “Sins of the Father,” I
A Good Story Will Be Told – even after 85 years Read More »
Every day for the last five years I looked at the remains of my parents on the mantelpiece and wondered what to do with them. My mother’s ashes were in a vase-like silver urn, covered with a crimson velvet hood; my father’s reposed in a rectangular metal box wrapped with brown paper because he thought
The Ashes – and it’s not cricket Read More »
The Meta vs. Mass Media battle, or Bill C-18 as referred to by the Canadian Federal Government, has shown its ugly face. Before the law goes into force in December 2023, both sides have already staked out their positions. The Feds have decided that Meta is the bad guy. On the Meta side, links to
The Battle for Advertising Gold Read More »
I am a keen follower of the smaller wars, the “controlled burns,” that broke out post-WWII, because I have been trying to understand what went wrong with our collective declaration of “Never Again” that echoed in the wake of revelations like the Holocaust and the A-bomb, and after we finished counting the 85 million-plus dead
Controlled Burn – the strategy of modern warfare Read More »
I was recently invited to participate in an immigrant exhibition in my small town, featuring local residents who had moved to Canada from various countries. I felt honoured. I was also asked to speak about my experiences to the local audience, mainly comprised of people who had been settled in this country for multiple generations.
Immigrant Life – the untold story Read More »
In an era of intolerance, I have often wondered whether our opponent, the Other, also known as the Competition, actually helps to make us better? I was in Paris recently and attended an exhibit at the Musée d’Orsay on the paintings of Manet and Degas, two impressionist painters of the 19th century, who were friends
Does the OTHER make us stronger? Read More »