The 800^th anniversary of Magna Carta is just 12 days away now. June 15 2015 is Magna Carta Day. Well, not in Ontario. A private members’ bill from Julia Monro (MPP York Simcoe) to make June 15 officially Magna Carta Day in this province is bottled up in committee and will likely languish if not die there since the legislature will rise on June 4 and won’t sit again until Sept. 14. They must be tired or something. Technically committees can meet in between so the bill could get reported out. But Third Reading must wait until fall if it ever happens.

Now I realize that private members’ bills rarely pass and it’s generally a lengthy process for those that do. Arguably it could go faster as a rule. But certainly when you’re looking at the 800^th anniversary of what is widely agreed to be one of the most important events in our entire history, MPPs across party lines could have moved this particular bill along faster given that it was first introduced on July 24 of last year. Assuming they intend to move it at all.

On the plus side, we can celebrate Magna Carta even without the politicians.

In the National Post I ask why so many Canadian museums seem to belong in a museum. Where's our enthusiasm for our history?

My latest IRPP post notes the continuing slide of Barack Obama into self-inflicted irrelevance.

The appointed president of the European Commission, a certain Jean-Claude Juncker, has just warned that if Greece leaves the Euro zone "we would put ourselves at risk because some, notably in the Anglo Saxon world, would try everything to deconstruct the euro area piece by piece, little by little." A spokesperson later clarified that when he said "Anglo Saxon world" he probably didn't mean the British personally so much as the loathsome "markets and speculators" one naturally associates with the wretched English-speakers of this world. A lovely thought phrased with exquisite tact. But why is it a warning? It strikes me as high time someone did it.

My new podcast "Reality University" is now available. It offers a weekly look at the big questions that affect our common life and the key ideas (and books) that help us understand the world around us. Please drop by and audit a few classes and consider signing up. Because as Philip K. Dick once said, "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away."

My latest National Post column gazes into Britain's navel and sees freedom receding.

Well this is odd. I was reading all these stories about "Israel Elections: Meet Isaac Herzog, Who Could Defeat Netanyahu" and "Israeli Elections: How the Left Could Win". And then this morning I read "Israel election: Netanyahu's Likud storms to victory". Say, could the legacy media have been reporting their desires as the news before it even happened? Arguably so, given that Britain's Guardian headlined a story about the actual outcome "Israel election: Bibi the magician pulls off a victory – but at what cost?" All the opinion that's fit to print, I guess.

**Update**

I notice that the top headline in today's Globe and Mail was "With Netanyahu, Herzog tied, the coalition building begins". In fact Likud won 30 seats, the Zionist Union 24. Some tie. The story has of course now been updated to explain that "Scrapping like a street fighter, the veteran Mr. Netanyahu used every trick in the book to overcome a four-seat deficit in public opinion surveys published just last Friday. His gentlemanly opponent, Mr. Herzog, waging his first campaign as party leader, didn’t stand a chance."

Thanks for clarifying that last point. From what you said earlier I... oh, never mind.

A discussion of the Magna Carta documentary and other matters with my friend "Nick @ Night!" Vandergragt on 580 CFRA News Talk Radio in Ottawa on March 15. [embed]http://www.thejohnrobson.com/podcast/John2015/March/Nick@Night_March15.mp3[/embed]