Culture

Sometimes things hide in plain sight. When I was a kid, I never paid much attention to bus stop signs.  I was totally oblivious to their existence. But when I decided to start taking the bus I saw bus stop signs everywhere! When I actually started looking for them, I saw them on the same streets that I walked every day.  They did not suddenly appear. ...

When both US president Barack Obama and Catholic Pope Benedict XVI advise you that your plans are a bad idea, that's usually a good sign that you should think twice about what you're doing. Terry Jones would be well advised to listen to their advice. His tiny 30 member group, ironically named the "Dove World Outreach Church" in Gainesville, Florida,...

Alone and discouraged, I sat staring at a computer screen. I was frustrated by the way my life had turned out. I’d worked hard to hold onto remnants of hope for my marriage, but each day that summer I could feel it slipping through my fingers.  I felt so alone.  God was still there, I knew, but I longed for people who would talk back.  Late...

Would you pay to hire a friend for an hour? Although there are plenty of online dating sites, RentaFriend.com may be the first to offer a friend-connection service ... for a price. It will cost you $10/hour to connect with a friend in your local area. The website describes its services as follows: RentAFriend.com is a website that allows you...

I was both surprised and deeply saddened by a video on CNN this morning that asked “Has Porn Hijacked Sexuality?” The video shows an interview between CNN anchor John Roberts and author and sociologist Gail Dines.  Dines is the author of the book Pornland which looks at the effect of pornography on people’s view sex and even of their own bodies. The...

I was reading in the news this morning that Switzerland has decided not to extradite Roman Polanski. He has waited almost a year to get the news that his life on the run can continue.  Polanski has had a guilty conviction hanging over his head for more than 30 years. As I read the article I couldn’t help but think that if he hadn’t run, if...

Too often people are tempted to put a band-aid on a problem instead of really fixing it. That was the thought that came to mind when I read an article in the Globe & Mail titled "Suicide barrier on Bloor Viaduct worked, but jumpers went elsewhere": The Bloor Viaduct suicide barrier, a $6-million feat of engineering that managed to marry heritage...