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Facts and Opinions that matter this week

Facts and Opinions this week features two elegant pieces about people who mattered in the worlds of sports and music: E. Kaye Fulton’s tribute to “glorious gentleman” Jean Béliveau (open), and Brian Brennan’s Brief Encounter with conductor Mario Bernardi, who veered off the beaten path (subscription). From the academy, don’t miss the essay by economist Warwick Smith, who won a New Philosopher award for The perils of the last human: flaws in modern economics. Our fate is not determined, even by the economy, Smith insists: “The fact that our economic system is a social construct means that we have made a choice, even if an unconscious

Tom Regan on race, guns, and militarized death in America

Facts and Opinions’ Seeking Orenda  columnist Tom Regan writes today on Why the United States is a perilous country for a young man, black or white. An excerpt of his new column: There’s a deadly virus in the United States. Much more deadly than Ebola. (Two people have died of Ebola in this country.) The virus I’m talking about kills thousands of people every year. It’s a poisonous concoction of racism, police departments unaccountable to anybody but themselves and a tsunami of guns, guns, guns. Alone, each of these problems is serious. But put all three of them together and you

On conductor Mario Bernardi, whose notes were “crystal clear, like pearls.”

Canadian conductor Mario Bernardi had a simple formula for making a small orchestra sound large. Every instrument should be impeccably tuned so that the notes are “crystal clear, like pearls,” he told  Arts columnist Brian Brennan. “That gives you the sense of a big sound without the quantity.” An excerpt of Brennan’s Brief Encounters column, Conducting Canada to Musical Maturity: Mario Bernardi: They thought Mario Bernardi was crazy in 1969 when he left a prestige conducting job at the Sadler’s Wells Opera in London to start up a new orchestra from scratch at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa.

A dying king, a hated crown prince, and Thailand in turmoil

The succession of the next royal head of Thailand is a tale of palace intrigue fit for a king. Here is an excerpt of International Affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe‘s new column, Uneasy lies the head that wears Thailand’s Crown: It’s a story that would have William Shakespeare licking his lips and sharpening his quill. The tale has everything that excited the creative juices of The Bard. There’s a dying king, much loved and revered by his people for his care for their wellbeing. But waiting in the wings is a hated, rapacious and vindictive Crown Prince. Even the most fervent royalists among

Noteworthy: antibiotics and superbugs

Superbugs, caused by wanton use of antibiotics, have the potential to change human civilization: by erasing the gains made in fighting bacterial disease since WWII, destroying many of our weapons against cancer, killing infants and our injured, rendering hospitals even more dangerous. The New York Times reports on superbugs in India this week. Reading it is worth your time. Below, as well, are some of the stories that we think matter, amid the torrents of information and entertainment. This series is about boutique, not supermarket, selections. Your suggestions welcome, and invited  –  email Editor@canadianjournalist.ca ‘Superbugs’ Kill India’s Babies and Pose

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