My heart mourns for Sri Lanka today when I see the pictures of lineups for gasoline and food, and the mass protests on Galle Face Green urging the government and the president to resign. We had a similar demonstration like that in Ottawa recently, but our “First-World” protestors opened barbecues and saunas for comfort, food […]
Lament of a Forgotten Son Read More »
This article was turned down by my regular publications when submitted in late February, for there was uncertainty about its reception. Then other geopolitical events of larger import got in the way and the article was “drowned in the feed.” But when bikers resuscitated this battered horse last weekend in Ottawa, I decided to publish
The West has launched economic warfare on Russia with its severest sanctions yet, in the hope that they would cripple the country faster and with less loss of life than with open hostilities. And yet, as I visited Cuba for the sixth time in a span of 17 years, I saw no change in this
Do Sanctions Work? Cuba Begs to Differ Read More »
The last two years of hibernation have taken their toll on everyone’s life. This forced change came at a time when lifestyle was going to change for me anyway, with another looming milestone: retirement. My concept of retirement was of “active retirement” – a lifestyle I had promoted to seniors ahead of me in the
I remember when I took my oath of citizenship thirty years ago. After searching for more than thirty years prior to that, I had finally arrived home, in a country I could be proud of, because I was being accepted – warts, accent, vocabulary, biases, and all – I was finally a Canadian. In the
I used to be a good Canadian – not anymore, it appears Read More »
As this year winds down, I am left wondering about some of the incongruent happenings in the world around me, some of which I have dealt with in full-length articles. Let me itemize them, in no particular order. Hopefully, if you see some meaning, or have faced similar questions in the past and can see
A year of incongruency – why? Read More »
This is possibly the last article I will be writing about the pandemic. For any others written from this point on can only be categorized under “the Endemic.” However, I thought I’d throw one more stone at this dreadful disease that upended the world from it’s cosy existence. Covid-19 changed many things for many people,
Is this Pandemic a Poor Person’s Disease? Read More »
At every election, like the one just passed, I begin to wonder about these guys, the UVs—the X factor that can swing an election from favourite to underdog, or vice versa. Why do we have so many of these Hamlets in our world, people who hold the balance of power in their hands by virtue
The Undecided Voter Read More »
(This article was previously published in the Sri Lankan Anchorman newspaper – July edition) I remember the slick reports in magazines like Macleans that first made me want to immigrate to this country. “Canada voted best country in the world to live in” said the United Nations Human Development Index and other global surveys throughout
The Best Country in the World to Live In? Read More »
The number of vaccinated are starting to outnumber those who are not sporting a punctured arm (or who refuse to get pricked). Very soon, if the science holds, we should see a diminishing number of outbreaks, waveless days, masks falling all over, ICU’s suddenly looking for business, and Covid becoming “yesterday’s guy.” But will it?
The Reopening – what happens now? Read More »