Signs of danger averted

The world has never been this safe, and may never be again.

Canada Pacific coastCanada Pacific coast (Source: AP/SITA)

Men have many bad habits, none more so than the sardonic dismissal of opinions that differ from their own. But how hard it is, sometimes, to suppress a smirk.

Such as at the idea that you should take tsunami surge levels into account when buying real estate on Vancouver Island. How high up should we be to stay safe, you might mock your scowling wife – a thousand meters? Two? And shouldn’t we be thinking about building a bunker?

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The silent treatment, we call it in English; Slovaks say quiet house. Neither phrase does justice to the oppressive atmosphere that descends, especially when it turns out your raillery was wide of the mark.

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