Public servants south of the border have more to fear than Rae Days. In Kansas, their pay cheques may be delayed; in California, they may not get a pay cheque at all as Governor Terminator does what he does best: Governor prepares to lay off 10,000 There’s a fair bit of obliviousness among civil servantscontinue reading
When localization fails
I got a little excited when I saw this month’s Atlantic Monthly on the newsstand. “The suburbs lose. The sun belt fades. Toronto wins. How the crash will reshape America,” touts the cover over a nighttime shot of Toronto seen from the lake. A little strange, granted, since Toronto is in Canada and there iscontinue reading
All hail the BBC
For morning news, the BBC podcast wins, hands down. Yesterday in an interview about bailouts, an interviewee’s comment on bankers: …put on airs and graces not justified by talent or industry Ouch! Beat that, Globe and Mail, source of the morning’s most blathery podcasts…
Bob Rae passes the torch
And does so with great glee. Bob Rae penned this note-perfect letter to Harper, published yesterday in the National Post. Highlights: You have learned that deficits are not the product of the devil incarnate, but happen when there are recessions. You will regret that your every prior thought is in print. Your old copies ofcontinue reading
Pseudo-provencal beef braise
This is actually a variation on a lamb braise — which I like somewhat better but it’s more difficult to get the appropriately cheap cut of lamb without a large quantity of extraneous bones. It’s a good dish to make the night before for a potluck, because it seems to improve by sitting overnight incontinue reading
Argentina
Vintages devoted pride of place in their January 17 release to Argentina. We’ve always generally liked good Argentina Malbec so I decided to stock up on a few bottles of something — in the event, two bottles of Santa Ana’s “La Mascota” Malbec 2006, at 14% and $15.95 . (There were two wines that caughtcontinue reading
Steady hand on the tiller
From CBC News’ fun new quiz on the economic wisdom of Stephen Harper: 4. On Sept. 26, 2008, Harper said, ‘The only way there is going to be a recession is if they (the Liberals) are elected and that’s why they’re not going to be elected.’ o Myth o Fact Consistency is your friend whencontinue reading
Um, is it too late to ask for the fruit plate?
On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of acontinue reading
Wine thoughts again
I bought a bottle of wine for an experimental quasi-Provencal braised beef thing we made for dinner today. The braised beef absorbs a good third of the bottle in the braising sauce, making it possible to buy one of these 14% New World reds on a weekday without regretting it the day after. The winecontinue reading
Whatever happened to adulthood?
Somehow, the Canadian Association of Retired People — CARP — has moved from being, well, an association of retired people, to “50-plus”, to — wait for it — 45 and over. 45 and over? At a time when Freedom 55 is stretching to Freedom 65 and there is debate about moving out the qualifying agecontinue reading