Harper’s, Maisonneuve, and Maisonneuve

So a fact checker from Harper’s just wrote to say that my letter will be published if I provide them with sources. I sent them the names of the books I added as references to the Wikipedia article on Grise Fiord, which will clearly meet their standard of proof, so I guess I’ll be in the October issue. I was quite happy when Maisonneuve published a letter of mine a few years back, but this is definitely cooler. Meanwhile, Maisonneuve, which had a few pretty good issues, has kinda imploded, and I stopped reading a while ago. Maisonneuve the major Montreal thoroughfare is doing fine, however, despite fears that a pedestrian tunnel underneath it would cave in last month. Today Sh. and I took our first trip along the almost-completed bike path which runs along it right through the downtown core. Nice work, city!

À propos of that last letter to the editor about gun control, here’s today’s fun fact for you: there are 875 million known firearms in the world, and 270 million of them (31%) are in the United States (i.e., there are 90 guns per 100 US citizens). That’ll sure make me feel safer next time I visit.