By Emily Stonehouse “It is literally impossible to be a woman.” And so begins the monologue delivered by America Ferrara in the movie Barbie, that graced theatres this past summer, and rattled hearts, bones, and…
Transparency
By Emily Stonehouse We’ve all seen them. Those word searches, plastered on the screens of social media, running rampant this time of year with promises that the first three words you spot will be the…
Our roadside shame
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. The exceptionally late arrival of winter’s snow has covered up Canada’s dirty little secret: We are not holier than other countries when it comes to garbage. Especially the…
Hearts and bones
By Emily Stonehouse You’re not really supposed to write about seasonal things in an editorial. It’s usually supposed to be some sort of stance. And in writing editorials, it turns out that I have no…
O Night Divine!
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. (I have written and told this story many times. Christmas would not be Christmas without telling it again.) --- Fresh fallen snow protested beneath my gumboots breaking trail…
A Christmas boost
By Emily Stonehouse We’re in that time of year where we all need a little boost. Energy is low, prices are high, and infections are steadily climbing. “‘Tis the season” we hear repeatedly. “It’s going…
Mysteries with a bonus
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. We tend to think of global warming and climate change as some new development, It’s not. There have been warnings about it going back many decades. You find…
To tie or not to tie
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Society’s deep thinkers have varying theories on the three stages of life. Like childhood, adulthood, and old age. Or, learning, working, and teaching. I discovered a theory of…
Know better, do better
By Emily Stonehouse We’re all allowed to make mistakes. Allowed to not know everything that may traipse on toes and ruffle feathers along the way. But the way we raise our kids is that once…
That day the power went out
By Emily Stonehouse It started like a normal day; Cheerios in the morning, a second coffee after the kids caught the bus. That day the power went out, we all had plans. Meetings, phone calls,…
Goodbye Self-checkouts!
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Some people are unhappy with the growing number of retailers getting rid of self-checkouts. I am not. Self-checkouts don’t pay income tax. They don’t contribute to social insurance…
Red tape and small business
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. There’s much talk lately about the need to reduce red tape. We live in a country in which people are swimming in it, just trying to keep afloat.…
Those beautiful burgers
From Shaman’s RockBy Jim Poling Sr. Try as you might, it’s hard to ignore television commercials. Especially when you arewatching a lot of sports, as many of us were during the World Series and now…
Not the time to forget
By Emily Stonehouse I’ve been sitting with this document open all week. A Remembrance Day editorial. There should be lots to say. How we remember. How we honour the fallen soldiers who have bled out…
That unequal tax exemption
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. “Politics will always break your heart,” Catherine McKenna once tweeted on the social media platform now called X. She should know. She suffered a barrage of verbal attacks…
Living in a world of despair
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. There is much controversy over whether mental illness is a significant cause of mass shootings, which are becoming a common occurrence, notably in the gun-crazy United States of…
Litter boxes and lies
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’ve never been a fan of cats. I find them self-obsessed and neurotic. If I was a cat fan, however, I certainly would not be dressing up as…
Head in the sand
By Emily Stonehouse I’m supposed to write about the things that happen in our community. But this week, as I kept my head down and dove into the happenings in our town, I felt the…
Replaced by a computer?
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’ve tried to ignore all the hype about artificial intelligence (AI). How it will transform work and reinvent business. How it will replace me as a writer. Any…
We want baseball, not Moneyball
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Baseball broadcaster Buck Martinez said the Toronto Blue Jays’ 2023 season would be a disaster if they could not advance past the first wild-card playoff round. They didn’t.…
With bells on
By Emily Stonehouse I don’t usually struggle with words. Usually, they come fairly easy to me. I feel lucky in that sense. But this week, I hit a wall. It was a unique challenge I…