Christopher McBean
@chrismcbean.bsky.social
Strategist, polyamorist, ergodox, permaculture & agroforestry hobbyist, craft ale & cider enthusiast, white settler in Canada of British descent; a wanderer who isn’t lost.
https://therowanwoodchronicles.blog/
https://therowanwoodchronicles.blog/
History suggests that empires rarely change course because they are defeated. They change course when the costs of dominance exceed the benefits.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/08/a...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/08/a...
After the Shock: Deterrence, Realignment, and the End of Assumed Leadership – Reshaping the West (Part 3)
Once containment without war is attempted, the central question is no longer how allies respond to American aggression, but what follows if that response holds. Alliances are shaped as much by expe…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
January 8, 2026 at 1:54 PM
History suggests that empires rarely change course because they are defeated. They change course when the costs of dominance exceed the benefits.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/08/a...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/08/a...
A United States move against Greenland under a Trump administration would demand a response designed not to soothe Washington, but to constrain it.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/07/c...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/07/c...
Containment Without War: Ending Alliance Impunity in the Twenty First Century – Reshaping the West (Part 2)
If Part One exposes the fiction of automatic alliance protection, Part Two must confront a harder truth. The absence of a military response does not require submission. This is not 1938, and restra…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
January 7, 2026 at 12:19 PM
A United States move against Greenland under a Trump administration would demand a response designed not to soothe Washington, but to constrain it.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/07/c...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/07/c...
NATO’s Article Five is often spoken of as if it were a law of nature rather than a political agreement? Well it’s not, and here’s why.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/06/a...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/06/a...
Article Five, Greenland, and the Fiction of Absolute Alliances – Reshaping the West (Part 1)
NATO’s Article Five is often spoken of as if it were a law of nature rather than a political agreement. An attack on one is an attack on all. The phrase is repeated so often that it begins to sound…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
January 6, 2026 at 12:42 PM
NATO’s Article Five is often spoken of as if it were a law of nature rather than a political agreement? Well it’s not, and here’s why.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/06/a...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2026/01/06/a...
The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy recasts Canada and other NATO partners into assets to manage, not partners to rely on.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/12/11/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/12/11/t...
The Strategic Shift Behind the 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy
The newly released 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy signals a significant departure from the traditional principles that defined American foreign policy for decades. Longstanding commitments to…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
December 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy recasts Canada and other NATO partners into assets to manage, not partners to rely on.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/12/11/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/12/11/t...
Public health is fundamentally about prevention, and prevention only works when it’s woven into daily life. So there is a large hidden cost when local public health units are closed. (Repost - typos)
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/27/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/27/t...
The Hidden Cost of Closing Local Public Health Units
UpdateThe board of Southeast Public Health (SEPH) has passed a motion asking its CEO to reconsider a plan to shutter eight rural offices and explain what led to that decision. The call comes as off…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
November 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Public health is fundamentally about prevention, and prevention only works when it’s woven into daily life. So there is a large hidden cost when local public health units are closed. (Repost - typos)
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/27/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/27/t...
In the windswept corridors of Latin American geopolitics, the tensions between the United States and Venezuela have quietly transformed into something far more consequential than a mere counternarcotics campaign.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/17/c...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/17/c...
Carriers, Claims, and Crude: Why the Caribbean Is Becoming 2025’s Most Dangerous Flashpoint
In the windswept corridors of Latin American geopolitics, the tensions between the United States and Venezuela have quietly transformed into something far more consequential than a mere counternarc…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
November 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
In the windswept corridors of Latin American geopolitics, the tensions between the United States and Venezuela have quietly transformed into something far more consequential than a mere counternarcotics campaign.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/17/c...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/17/c...
There’s a blue shimmer on the horizon. It’s the uneasy glow of a party wondering who still belongs beneath its roof. Here is your watchlist of
the Conservatives most likely to wander, waver, or simply walk away in the coming weeks.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/07/t...
the Conservatives most likely to wander, waver, or simply walk away in the coming weeks.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/07/t...
The House That Pierre Built
There is a faint creak coming from the blue house on Parliament Hill these days. Nothing as dramatic as a collapse. It is more like the weary sigh of old beams shifting under new weather. The Conse…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
November 7, 2025 at 11:38 PM
There’s a blue shimmer on the horizon. It’s the uneasy glow of a party wondering who still belongs beneath its roof. Here is your watchlist of
the Conservatives most likely to wander, waver, or simply walk away in the coming weeks.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/07/t...
the Conservatives most likely to wander, waver, or simply walk away in the coming weeks.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/07/t...
Ultimately, Tewin forces Ottawa to confront a contradiction at the heart of Canadian urbanism. We are a country that has promised climate action, but remains tethered to car-dependent suburbs.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/03/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/03/t...
Tewin and the Shape of Ottawa’s Future
At the moment, I don’t feel I know enough about this developing issue to take a position, so I plan on monitoring the situation and perhaps look at the bigger picture. Four years ago, O…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
November 3, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Ultimately, Tewin forces Ottawa to confront a contradiction at the heart of Canadian urbanism. We are a country that has promised climate action, but remains tethered to car-dependent suburbs.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/03/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/11/03/t...
A half-billion-dollar redevelopment at Lansdowne is pitched as civic renewal. But what happens if affordable housing is cut, traffic worsens and taxpayers absorb the risk while private partners profit?
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/27/l...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/27/l...
Lansdowne 2.0: The half-billion-dollar deal that asks Ottawa to trust again
There are moments in a city’s life when the decisions made at council chambers shape not just its skyline, but its soul. The redevelopment of Lansdowne Park has entered such a moment. The City call…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
October 27, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A half-billion-dollar redevelopment at Lansdowne is pitched as civic renewal. But what happens if affordable housing is cut, traffic worsens and taxpayers absorb the risk while private partners profit?
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/27/l...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/27/l...
Doug Ford just lobbed a Reagan-themed grenade into U.S. politics and Trump took the bait.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/25/g...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/25/g...
Good Cop, Bad Cop, and the Ghost of Ronald Reagan
The latest Canada-U.S. flare-up could almost be mistaken for political theatre. On one side of the stage, Ontario Premier Doug Ford channels a hard-nosed populist energy that plays perfectly to Ame…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
October 25, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Doug Ford just lobbed a Reagan-themed grenade into U.S. politics and Trump took the bait.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/25/g...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/25/g...
Canada Post and VIA Rail are forgetting who they were built to serve: everyone, everywhere.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/01/w...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/01/w...
When Crown Corporations Forget Their Purpose
Two of Canada’s most visible Crown corporations, Canada Post and VIA Rail, seem to have lost their way. Both were created to knit together a vast and sparsely populated country, ensuring that every…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
October 1, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Canada Post and VIA Rail are forgetting who they were built to serve: everyone, everywhere.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/01/w...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/10/01/w...
What was BBC fiction in the 1970s - ID cards that decide your rights - is now knocking on Britain’s door.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/30/f...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/30/f...
From Dystopian Fiction to Political Reality: Britain’s Digital ID Proposal
As a teenager in the late 1970s, I watched a BBC drama that left a mark on me for life. The series was called 1990. It imagined a Britain in economic decline where civil liberties had been sac…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
September 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM
What was BBC fiction in the 1970s - ID cards that decide your rights - is now knocking on Britain’s door.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/30/f...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/30/f...
As the NCC and others begin once again discussing what to do with 24 Sussex, I just want to point out a more strategic approach. #24Sussex #NCC
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/04/08/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/04/08/t...
The Prime Minister’s New Home: A National Symbol Reimagined
For nearly a decade, 24 Sussex Drive has sat in dignified decay; its halls silent, its windows dark. Once the official residence of Canada’s Prime Ministers, it has become a symbol not of leadershi…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
September 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
As the NCC and others begin once again discussing what to do with 24 Sussex, I just want to point out a more strategic approach. #24Sussex #NCC
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/04/08/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/04/08/t...
Canada, Australia, and the UK recognizing Palestine shakes global diplomacy, isolating Israel and weakening the US’s influence.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/21/l...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/21/l...
Losing the Diplomatic High Ground: America’s Isolation on Palestine
The international recognition of Palestine by Canada, Australia, and now the United Kingdom represents more than a symbolic act. It is a tectonic shift in global diplomacy that leaves Israel increa…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
September 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Canada, Australia, and the UK recognizing Palestine shakes global diplomacy, isolating Israel and weakening the US’s influence.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/21/l...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/21/l...
Canada’s Capital recently launched a great new website “Ottawa at Night”. Here is my review and suggestions for further site development to enhance functionality and the user experience.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/08/o...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/08/o...
Ottawa At Night: A Bright Step Into the Capital’s After-Hours Scene
Ottawa has long laboured under the stereotype of being a sleepy government town where the sidewalks roll up at dusk. Nightlife in the nation’s capital has been quietly evolving through careful cura…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
September 11, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Canada’s Capital recently launched a great new website “Ottawa at Night”. Here is my review and suggestions for further site development to enhance functionality and the user experience.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/08/o...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/08/o...
A proposal to the Open AI leadership - consider changing your subscription model to increase the number of paying user and generate more revenue.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/10/s...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/10/s...
Strategic Pricing Adjustment to Accelerate User Growth and Revenue
Dear OpenAI Leadership, I am writing to propose a strategic adjustment to ChatGPT’s subscription pricing that could substantially increase both user adoption and revenue. While ChatGPT has ac…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
September 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
A proposal to the Open AI leadership - consider changing your subscription model to increase the number of paying user and generate more revenue.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/10/s...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/09/10/s...
I thought I would share this old idea during our long weekend before the majority of kids head back to school next week.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/07/07/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/07/07/t...
Time for a Change: Rethinking Canada’s Outdated School Calendar
For generations, Canadian schools have followed a familiar rhythm: two long semesters separated by a ten-week summer break. This model, which mirrors the American academic calendar, has been treate…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
August 31, 2025 at 9:57 PM
I thought I would share this old idea during our long weekend before the majority of kids head back to school next week.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/07/07/t...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/07/07/t...
Isak’s Pure Ego Trip Is Distracting! We Want Shearers, Not Owens!
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/09/f...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/09/f...
From Shearer’s Graft to Owen’s Fannyin’ — Isak’s Lost the Plot!
By Big Mac, the OAP Blogger from Byker Whey aye, what’s this pure pish wi’ Isak then? I’m tellin’ ye, it’s a bleedin’ disgrace! This lad could’ve been a Shearer, graftin’ away, proper Toon number 9…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
August 9, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Isak’s Pure Ego Trip Is Distracting! We Want Shearers, Not Owens!
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/09/f...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/09/f...
From Limehouse to Left Populism, why we might be seeing a real shift in UK politics.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/04/f...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/04/f...
From Limehouse to Left Populism: Why Corbyn’s New Party Feels Different
Last week, I wrote a general interest piece on the Corbyn–Sultana initiative to launch a new grassroots political party in the UK. After posting it, I realised I had a more personal connection, and…
therowanwoodchronicles.blog
August 4, 2025 at 11:17 AM
From Limehouse to Left Populism, why we might be seeing a real shift in UK politics.
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/04/f...
therowanwoodchronicles.blog/2025/08/04/f...