Robert Brehl
If cheaters never prosper, why do people cheat?
Why do people cheat — whether on their spouse, during tests, playing sports or in business? A recent event amongst friends triggered this question in my mind and nagged me for several days about the psychology of cheating.
The ‘irrational attack’ against Catholic schools
Many years ago, a person named Margaret Wente called and offered me a job at the Globe and Mail newspaper, which I accepted. Many, many years ago, I passed through the Catholic school system in Toronto, elementary school at Holy Cross and high school at Neil McNeil.
Thankful for Canada, warts and all
As we celebrate Canada Day we may not have a team in the exciting World Cup soccer tournament this month, but events surrounding it remind us that we’re so fortunate to live here. One news story really drove this point home: people in soccer-mad Africa are being killed by Islamist extremists for watching the games on television.
No place for state in personal beliefs of nation
Just before Christmas, 1967, then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau famously said: “There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”
John XXIII, the witty saint
Pope John XXIII’s ascension to saint status, along with Pope John Paul II, sent me on a quest to find some of the new St. John XXIII’s wittiest remarks.
New take on ‘Hallelujah’ a new Easter tradition
With the kids well into their teenage years, I was looking for an Easter tradition to replace the old Easter egg hunt that evaporated some years ago.
Faith and politics mix with Hurricane Hazel
I am nearing the end of an interesting project — helping Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion with her memoirs — and one of the most enjoyable parts of it is something I never expected.
PQ’s star candidate a Harper ally?
A friend in Montreal — I’ll call her Sassy Knoll for her love of conspiracy theories — thinks Pierre-Karl Peladeau and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are in league to torpedo the Parti Quebecois’ chances in the crucial April 7 Quebec election.
Praising Francis is not a slight to Benedict
As we approach the first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, it is not difficult to find him top of mind.
True sportsmanship or a great illusion?
The key to the great illusionist Harry Houdini was the art of misdirection. Houdini could do things like make elephants on stage disappear by misdirecting the eyes and ears of the audience so their minds believed something quite different.