Professor's Last Lesson

A news story currently circulating through the Internet is an inspiring story of a short, but very full, life. I wrote a description for my Obituary Guide website.

The Portable Obituary

As part of my on-going obituary research, I’m reading the new book The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich, and Powerful Really Died by Michael Largo. Read my review.

The Shock Doctrine

Lots of current coverage for Naomi Klein's new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Klein is well known for her earlier book, No Logo.

The Shock Doctrine had several excepts in the National Post last week, along with some critical reviews. In last night's The Hour on CBC TV, George Stroumboulopoulos interviewed Klein. She was quite unassuming, even saying at one point that she agreed with all of her critics. Her work is certainly getting much attention and she is no doubt receiving many ideas that can fuel her next project. (Watch the The Hour interview.)

Green Communities Canada

This look like an excellent organization. Green Communities Canada describes itself as "a national association of non-profit organizations that deliver innovative, practical solutions to Canadian households and communities." Resource Conservation Manitoba is the member from Manitoba.

Community Shared Agriculture

Yesterday I picked up our weekly share of produce, which consisted of potatoes, carrots, beans, tomatoes, cucumber, winter and summer squash, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, and ground cherries. The list does not do justice to the variety and tastiness of the offerings. I wrote a column about this concept Shared Agriculture: A Growing Notion earlier this year.

The Way We Mourn?

The article “The Way We Mourn,” in the latest issue of Maclean’s magazine, certainly has some interesting points about modern ways of observing death. Pulling no punches, writer John Fraser takes aim at what he asserts are over-the-top obituaries and funerals. I wrote a review of the article for my Obituary Guide website.

Taxes and Income

My latest Brandon Sun column Our Citizenship, Paid For By Our Taxes was on different tax rates for Manitoba and its closest neigboring provinces. Although taxes can be important, other issues - such as availability of jobs and overall quality of life in different places -are often more crucial.

One interesting point that I didn’t have space for in the column is the real difference in the income levels of married people as compared to single people. Looking at Statistics Canada data, one can see why some say that families headed by a single mom are the main impoverished group in Canada.

At first glace, this would seem to be obvious: two earners would make more income than one. As well, anyone who is part of a married couple can relate how economically advantageous this can be, for example, one can be going to school while the other works – thus raising the income potential of both for the long-term, and so on.

But the statistics show that even more seems to be going on: two earner families with children make much more than the expected twice as much as one earner families. (Income is 2005 “market” income, such as employment, and excludes government transfers.) Single mom families make an average of $30,900 per year. Two parent families make on average much more than twice as much: $83,900 annually. Even when there is only one earner in a two parent family, they have an income of $56,600 – much more than the single mom family. (One last statistic: single dad families have an income of $58,300.) See Statistics Canada.