Like Sir John A. Macdonald, a British subject I was born and now, apparently, a British subject I may die. What's with that?

Or did I fail to get it right yesterday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his gang of so-called Conservatives have decided to give up he trappings of independent nationhood and, just as the Scots are about to head out for the Highlands, go in with the British on a joint-venture diplomatic service?

The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and its Alberta branch plant known as the Wildrose Party continue to push risky economic theories.

Funnily enough, though, that's just what they’re loudly accusing the federal NDP Opposition leader of doing in the federal version of the Wildrose Party's new attack advertisements aimed at Thomas Mulcair.

But then, that kind of attack is pretty much business as usual for Canadian neo-Cons: Push risky economic theories, then accuse your opponent of doing the same thing, in precisely those words. Act in a bullying manner and accuse your opponents of being bullies. You get the idea. We've all seen this movie too many times.

According to the publisher of Canada's National Toronto Newspaper, the Globe and Mail will now try to make its readers to pay to read its on-line content -- a trend established by the New York Times last year with limited success.

Phillip Crawley told his assembled troops on Thursday that the paper "will implement a metered paywall system this fall, asking readers to pay if they read more than a certain number of articles each month."

"The lights are going out all over America," wrote Paul Krugman, the Nobel laureate in economics and New York Times columnist, last month.

Krugman was speaking both literally and metaphorically. Among the items he cited: