People ask "How do you decide what to write about?". That's easy. The paper says that I can write about anything that has been in my mind during the past week. Since I have at least one thought every seven days, that is what appears here. Some find it interesting and others wonder why I bother. It is always just one man's opinion.

Several things follow here that have caught my interest recently. None of them merits a full column so I summon a platoon of asterisks to keep them apart.

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Last week this space said that the First Great War is now usually dubbed WW2. Strike that from the record. Obviously it was an error that my computer wasn't smart enough to correct. Or was it a mistake? Some historians claim that the first 'world war' was the Seven Years'War of 1756-63. It involved most of the then great powers in an effort to win control of Western Europe, North America, the Caribbean region and India. The theatre of war was, therefore, all but world-wide. Does my computer really know that? If so, that's scary.

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Preston Manning speculated last week that Mr Harper and his tightleashed colleagues will be the "governing party" for the foreseeable future. As was once asked about King Saul, is Manning also among the prophets? In an OpEd column he spoke, revealingly, about "the old Progressive Conservatives" as distinct from "the new Conservatives". The omission of "progressive" rings warning bells.

It was the reason Joe Clark could not stay on board. Did hard Harperism also drive the maligned Belinda Stronach first off the Tory tight rope and then back to Magna? Is federal Progressive Conservatism dead? A Harper majority would dispel any doubt.

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The Globe and Mail continued its secular disdain for the Christian community in its Good Friday and the Saturday editions. The only nod to the Easter festival was an opinion piece by a Unitarian ex- Christian whose family 'celebrates' the season with Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs. Would the editor have published during Passover an article by a non-observant Jew who had abandoned the traditions of the Seder, the recitation of the Kiddush, reading of the Haggadah, the festival meal, the recitation of Hallel? One thinks not.

The Globe also substitutes annually a front page reproduction of a snow scene from the collection of the late 'squillionaire' Kenneth Thompson for any Christmas symbolism. Global discrimination?

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A local writer celebrates a new baby as having "exquisite beauty and total innocence". Recalling my own newborns, I agree with the "exquisite" part. The totally innocent part will come into question when, without capitalistic conditioning or any training in radical egocentricity, the child will demand another youngster's toy and say "Mine!". Correction will be followed by tears and possibly by tantrums. That demand for possession seldom admits to something being "ours", let alone to it being "yours". Our growing children need our presence more than mere presents.

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A flashback to 25 years ago in the column to my right (your left) reminded us that in 1982 there was a plan to turn what is now the Hockley Resort into a secondary level 'college'. The property had been abandoned by its owners but the new plans proved too costly. Pity! The independent schools of Newmarket/Aurora are too far away to provide popular alternative education in Shelburne/Orangeville. So are any in Caledon/Mississauga. When will Dufferin County have an independent preparatory school, perhaps in Mono Mills? Public discussion of the question would be useful.

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With an Ontario provincial election coming in October, we may face the possibility of a Tory (albeit Progressive Conservative) regime at Queen's Park while there is a 'new Conservative' government in Ottawa. Ontario voters have traditionally understood the wisdom of having a different party in power in Hogtown from the one governing in Bytown. In the present circumstances that would not be the case if John Tory's colleagues sat with those of Stephen Harper at the federal provincial conference tables. The two kinds of Conservatism still project a mixed message, at least until a majority in Ottawa shows its true colours. If and when it does, would we want many of Mike Harris's successors in power in Toronto while others dominated Capital Hill?

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The much-publicised dilemma of the Anglican Communion over the recognition of committed samesex alliances is essentially a Euro- American problem in a church that, like that of the Roman rite, has a presence in every country in the world except Tibet. We now know that sexual orientation is not a matter of choice. As a 'gay' colleague once asked me, "Who would freely choose this anxiety and rejection?". One would think that same-sex commitment is preferable to promiscuity. Some, of course, say that there is no such thing as longterm loyalty among 'gays'. Is it found even among a high percentage of heterosexuals? All I know is that if one of my children or grandchildren "came out" I would not dismiss him or her either from my family table or my affections. Should a faith community do less?

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The National Post reported last week that the Governor General has been advised by a Québec art consultant to 'Canadianize' the paintings in Rideau Hall by eliminating portraits of present and former monarchs. It is an obvious separatist ploy. One would wish the inclusion of pictures of French, English, Scottish, Loyalist American and other such historical persons in the planned National Portrait Gallery but to banish that of H.M. the Queen from Government House would be nothing short of revolutionary. Whatever the future of the Canadian monarchy may be, it is imbedded in our current Constitution.

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The Bathroom Book of Ontario History, is available at BookLore in Orangeville ($9.95). It should be in everybody's loo or somewhere in the house. It should be given, especially, to the children of immigrant families that still have little understanding of the historical context into which they have come to live. It is an easy to read, whimsically illustrated. A Canadian history "bathroom book" is needed. in lieu of more scholarly volumes.