And it's the same old song - by Jon

Turns out, being black in a bank while a robbery is being committed is a crime.

I suppose it's hypocritical of me to criticize the American penchant for optimism without touching on the Canadian. Sure, ours is a much more benign kind of cultural blindness, but tell that to the guy that just got beat up by Peel Police.

Is there racism bubbling underneath the surface of Canadian society, or were these just two cops with a serious problem? I want to believe the latter, but I'm a bit too old for fairy tales. The myth of the multicultural paradise has blinded us to the possibility that we might, in some ways, be no better than our counterparts to the south. After all, didn't we have segregated schools in this country until the mid-1960s?* Wasn't Truro, Nova Scotia colourfully referred to as "The Alabama of the North" for its intolerant reputation? The first step to solving our social ills is to open ourselves up to the possibility that we might have a problem.

Admittedly, I smacked the back of my head into the glass-back of the squash court tonight, so I hope this post makes sense when I read it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going to lie down in a dark room, and try not to swallow my tongue.

Still not dead! - by Jon

Hey, you knew I was a bad blogger. Shut up.

I loved this line from a CNN report regarding the Hans Island debate:

"Notwithstanding the disputed area, the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry is allowing its cafeteria to sell Danish pastries as a goodwill gesture towards the Danish government and people," ministry spokesman Reynald Doiron said."

At least if we're going to create an international incident over an island the size of an unusually large basketball court, we can have a sense of humour about it. Oh, Canada... you make me smile.

Over to you, Ian.