Opinion

It wasn’t long ago that nations acquired things like tanks, ships and planes solely for the purpose of fighting wars. Today, the tanks, ships and planes are called platforms and their purpose is not just military.

A 100 Mile House resident finally got lucky this week. But it was in B.C. Supreme Court, rather than in the back of his van. There’s a measure of comic relief in the judgment he won, but there are also serious musings from the judge about B.C.

If it had happened 2,000 years ago, the population might have rioted in the streets. At the very least, Roman leaders would have put off all major undertakings until portents improved.

I confess I’m fascinated by the drama surrounding the Sochi Olympics. But not the sporting side of things. What interests me is the thought of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s place in history hanging in the balance. These are his Games.

Zen is the religion that promises nothing, and delivers. Such a wry observation points, with appropriate obliqueness, to the potency of nothing.

It’s an obscure reference, but Victoria Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch had a Meatloaf tune ingrained in his brain Thursday night.

In the land of government plenty — that vast landscape populated with Canadian tax dollars — there is no shortage of politicians willing to hand out and defend subsidies to business, and no dearth of corporations willing to take the cash.

This month, a historic house on Rudlin Street will be commemorated with a plaque in honour of B.C.’s Black History Month.

We have a ton of Sochi. Breaking news. Local stories. Medal standings. Daily schedules. Sport-by-sport updates. And video players. Two of them. Bookmark this right now: http://www.timescolonist.

Earlier post: How our household is saving $2,400 a year on heating costs (with asterisk) The answer was: a heat pump. We mostly like our heat pump. But there are some idiosyncrasies.