The Dark Path... and then Light

The Reading List for 18 Nov 22

The past week has been a bit lighter at Bond Papers.

That wasn’t planned. The fall sitting of the House of Assembly was a surprisingly depressing and on some levels frightening live-action conclusion to the Managed Democracy series. What I thought was a series that was hinting at a darker possible future, turned out to misread how far along the path we already were.

The light week let me reflect on what we’d all just witnessed and then look at what was in the draft stages to see if it needed any adjustment. That let some light in.

The next couple of weeks will be a return to some familiar ground. The Free-for-All on November 21 is a commentary on the recent decision by the mainlanders running Generic Canadian University to ban the Newfoundland and Labrador national anthem from its ceremonies.

Wednesday there's a paid subscriber column onwhat a recent court decisiontells us about power and justice.

The Free-for-All on the 28th will be about why NACLOR-Hydro remains a troubled and troublesome organization. This was in the works before the Auditor General dropped a couple of reports. Those reports just added a bit of colour to what has been passing along at the shadowy edges of public awareness.

In December, there are three Monday columns left for the year. One of those will be the formal end to the Managed Democracy series. The other columns are up in the air. There are a bunch of drafts that deserve to see the light of day, plus there are new ideas percolating. Something will turn up to end the year with a high note.

The only thing that’s firmed up for December so far is the first Reading List. On December 2, we’ll drop the Christmas book guide to new and older books for the person on your list who loves or should be loving Newfoundland and Labrador. In the meantime, we’ll continue with the Friday Reading List through to the two week break in December.

There’ll be a couple of weeks off over Christmas and New Year, then back at it for the 18th year of Bond Papers and the second year since moving to Substack. There’ll be a Free-for-All on January 2, while you recover from your New Year’s Eve hang-overs and a Reading List that Friday.

With that bit of editorial forecasting out of the way, on to the weekly list of stuff I have been reading the past few days and weeks.

There’s some stuff about hillbillies - local folks may find interesting - a bit about Canadian politics - Emergencies Act hearings, and the Ford government’s use of the notwithstanding clause - and a few other little tidbits to keep you intrigued, informed, and entertained.

Enjoy!