Ken Gray, with content from The Washington Post (Democracy dies in darkness) [Ken Gray] Some friends recently asked if I thought boycotts were getting the attention of Americans, especially legislators and business leaders. Itโs hard to say. With, for instance, groceries, changes in buying behaviour are obvious. There are some excellent bargains on American fruit... Continue Reading →
Meet Mar-al-Oval โ A historic space transformed
Your editors at takenote.ca continue to search out every aspect, every nuance, every outrage generated by the Hitleresque antics of Don-Old 2.0. Today we turn our broken hearts and curious minds to the topic of White House interior design, specifically to Donโs redecoration of the historic Oval Office itself. We are assisted in our quest... Continue Reading →
Pay attention, and fall in love โ Honouring Phil McIntyre-Paul
By Michael Shapcott Phil McIntyre-Paul is practically royalty in the beautiful Shuswap in the central interior of British Columbia. He helped create the Shuswap Trail Alliance more than two decades ago. Over that time, he has helped nurture more than 350 greenway trail projects โ drawing in fifteen Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, three levels of... Continue Reading →
Protecting Liberty, again
Ours is not the first generation to take up the cause of the protection of liberty. Whether Canadian or American, we are likely not the last. We typically associate such struggles with failed states often in the global south and elsewhere--Myanmar, South Sudan, Russia, El Salvador, China. We have memories of two world wars from... Continue Reading →
Hail the disconsolateย ย ย
A prophet cannot know that all will be well, that those in power will wake up and mend the damage they have caused, and that peace will prevail. The mystic can never be certain that union with God will be the outcome of longing for God. They must rest in unknowing. Unknowing is not always... Continue Reading →
Canada eh!
Resistance to the Trump/Musk horror show is growing. In the US, social media now includes a variety of mea culpa statements by Trump voters. Many are hard to verify and may be fakes. That said, I am reminded of that stupid woman who admitted on the BBC a day following the โleaveโ victory that she... Continue Reading →
Bravo Trudeau โ An appropriate and proportional response to Donald Trump
Now in the last days of his role as Liberal leader and Canadian Prime Ministerย Justin Trudeau speaks intelligently, respectfully, and with gravitas. In future years Canadian historians may describe this time as his golden hour. I provide here the full text of the Prime Ministerโs address [Global News] to Canadians and Americans, and directly to... Continue Reading →
The truth gets uglier, day by day
UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL IMAGES AND A VIDEO "Trump and Vance have revealed to Americans and to Americaโs allies their alignment with Russia, and their animosity toward Ukraine in general and its president in particular. The truth is ugly, but itโs necessary to face it." -- David Frum, The Atlantic, Friday, February 28, 2025 And one... Continue Reading →
Checkup, on Cross Country Checkup
Howls of protest surged online as the CBC News special 51st State: A Cross Border Conversation was announced and broadcast on multiple platforms across the U.S. and Canada this past Sunday. This was an international co-production between CBC Radio Cross Country Checkup with Ian Hanomansing and The Middle with Jeremy Hobson. Both hosts took calls from Canadians and Americans.... Continue Reading →
Trump is rapidly gaining a personal monopoly on the use of force
[Ken Gray] On this my 67th birthday I wanted to write something myself about the state of the world, of North America, and of Canada. A few ideas are in development, but for now, the words below published by Robert Reich today are best shared here. They answer a question many Canadians and Americans ask... Continue Reading →