Columbus made history's most famous mistake when he called the people his lookout had sighted Indians, and thought he'd arrived on the outskirts of India. The late Vancouver humorist Eric Nicol caught the jumble nicely. When Columbus heard the cry "Indians!", wrote Nicol, he ordered his three ships to form a circle with the women and children in the middle, like a wagon train in a Hollywood western. So the women and children all started drowning.

I'd like to join the argument over multiculturalism that Daniel Stoffman initiated here last Saturday. He says "culture is not just about superficial differences but also about core values." I'm afraid I don't see why culture is about values at all, much less core values. Values are always shifting, and they don't stay core for long: They compete, fade or find ways to coexist. Efforts to designate some as "core" or "essential" to "national identity" may simply be attempts by some to fortify their position against new challengers. That moves us into the realm of politics.