Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is not your typical governor. And she is now a very atypical vice-presidential candidate. Yet her selection foreshadows an American election that will run along the well-worn grooves of the culture wars; 2008 will not be that different from 2004 and 2000. Continue reading →

WOLFE ISLAND, Ont. -  To the extent I had ever thought about ploughing fields, I thought of it more as a practical task rather than an aesthetic performance. I certainly never thought of it as a competitive venture. But this week’s Canadian Plowing Championships right here on Wolfe Island have taught me something new. Continue reading →

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Baseball is a game of memories, but at the Hall of Fame there is some selective forgetting. This is the tenth anniversary of what might have been baseball’s greatest season — the 1998 campaign that featured the home run record being shattered by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, and a New York Yankees team that almost won more games than any other. It was the season that saved baseball after the trauma of the 1994 labour dispute cancelled the World Series. Continue reading →

CAPE BRETON, N.S. – For 2008, the historical focus has been on Quebec City, marking its 400th anniversary this year. Fair enough, as the establishment of Quebec and the subsequent battle over it loom large in Canadian history. But what about Louisbourg? Continue reading →

As the number eight is considered good luck in China, the Beijing Olympics are set to open on 8/8/08 at 8:08 p. m. It is fitting that a little superstition and credulity should kick off the whole affair, as nothing requires great pretending like the Olympics. The Beijing edition should raise that to, well, Olympian heights. Continue reading →