Adolph Hitler ordered the seizure of thousands of pieces of art during World War II. More than 1500 paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Renoir and Chagall (among many others) were found in the Munich apartment. These had been seized during the war by the Nazis and deemed “degenerate”. They were thought to have been destroyed many

John Chen is the new interim CEO of Blackberry. Today was the day the Fairfax Financial (Prem Watsa) deal was supposed to go to the next phase. Watsa had signed a deal some months ago to buy the company for $4.7 billion and take it private. But when he couldn’t arrange the financing the way

Prime Minister Stephen Harper once again showed off his musical talents at the Conservative convention this weekend. Harper sang and played the keyboard with the band, Herringbone for a 5 song, half hour set while a few Conservatives took to the dance floor. Pretty soon people will start thinking the guy is a real musician.

The old Waterloo Post Office building was built in 1912 and has undergone many renovations over the years. The original corner clock was removed in 1956, because it had fallen into disrepair. A modern clock was added in 1969, but itwas replaced in 1987 with one based on the original drawings and specifications. This restored

SJAM Highlanders cap perfect season, win Ontario highschool title. For the fourth year in a row Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders met the Resurrection Phoenix in the final game of the OFSSA field hockey tournament. The three previous years it was Ressurection that cme out on top. But not this year. SJAM capped off a

Rob Ford was on the radio again today addressing his faithful. According to police reports Rob Ford has been associating with the wrong kind of people, and the evidence suggests he is both addicted to alcohol and perhaps other harder drugs (like crack cocaine), and has been involved in an alleged extortion case with his

It is a common criticism of non-believers, agnostics and atheists to suggest they need “faith” just as much as religious believers. For instance, secularists as much as religious people have “faith” that the earth will continue rotating around the sun, or that an object will fall if it is released from a height. As David

The VeloCity garage work area at the U of Waterloo. Working on 30 new startups this fall. There’s no doubt the ongoing reports of layoffs and downsizing at Blackberry are painful to many individuals. Many are losing their jobs, at least temporarily. And this recurring news gives the distinct impression that both Blackberry is fading

According to many who are involved in the “aboriginal problem” in Canada, the federal Indian Act is at the heart of the problem. Here is an interpretation of the place, importance and problems associated with and stemming from the Indian Act, and an analysis of moves by the current federal and provincial governments to make

Hallowe’en is all about kids. The special day seems to actually be growing in significance, at least in some cultures, Canada among them. It is not just the commercialization, although that is certainly a factor. For kids it is a night filled with excitement over getting dressed up and canvassing the neighbourhood for candy and

Photo: John Crux/Getty With the wildfire season upon them, Aussie Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called climate change science “crap” and has denied a link between man-made climate change and an unusually high number of Australian wildfires. Abbott had recently (September, 2013) been elected running a campaign against a previously imposed carbon tax. The irony

Many parents are up in arms after a Calgary school decided to drop all academic achievement award ceremonies. The school board wrote in a letter to parents that awards don’t mean much to their recipients and “often hurt the self-esteem and pride of those who do not receive a certificate.” Many parents think these awards

He may not have had the season he wanted, or the one Blue Jays fans were hoping for, but R. A. Dickie did manage to win 14 games. And now he is the first Blue Jay since 2006 to win a Gold Glove Award. The Gold Glove is awarded to the best defensive player in

In this article, Why Apple Will Buy BlackBerry the author puts forward some convincing reasons why we might expect Apple to end up buying Blackberry. First, the $5 billion or so it would cost is chicken feed for Apple. They currently have more than $150 billion in cash. Second, buying BB would give them a

Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author of books like “The Tipping Point”, “Blink”, and his latest “David and Goliath” has been making making the rounds in Ontario, presumably promoting his new book and renewing old ties. He went to high school for a few years in Elmira, just down the road from Conestogo. One of those old

The home in Los Altos, California (Silicon Valley) where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built some of their first computers has been designated a historically significant location. It is currently owned by Patricia Jobs, the late Steve Jobs’ sister. Image credit – Getty Images

At last there is some good news out of Blackberry. After the Waterloo company finally got the cross-platform version of BBM pumping out to iPhone and Android users, they claim to have had upwards of 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours. Personally, being a BB10 guy, I hadn’t made much use of BBM

The Toronto Star reports today that the large collection agency iQor Canada Ltd. has been fined $500,000 for making unsolicited robo calls to people saying they owed money, without identifying themselves. Companies like this get away with unethical and illegal behaviour like this all the time, so it is good seeing the laws actually enforced.

Often Youtube interviews or debates with Richard Dawkins or Lawrence Krauss are long and (I suppose) tedious for most people. Dawkins is a world famous biologist and Krauss a well-known physicist. Both are outspoken non-believers in religion (they are not sure about the term “atheist”). And both are often accused of ridiculing believers. In this

With the current expenses scandal of Duffy, Wallin, Brazeau, and no doubt others, reform of the Canadian Senate is once again on the minds of many Canadians. This has been an on-again-off-again topic for decades. Back in the day. a younger Stephen Harper was committed to a “Triple-E” Senate – one of the Reform Party’s