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The Changing Shape of Conservatism
What is a conservative in Canada? There was a time when I would have answered that question in economic, financial terms, and I think many others might have agreed with that. Conservatives are wary of increasing the Federal debt, and insistent on prudently balancing the budget. My father used to inveigh against “spending our children’s…
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Fair Competition – How and Why?
My article on the need for a good balance between fair competition and inclusivity for the LGBTQ community has raised a question about the need for fair competition. Why, I was asked? Why is fair competition important? Is it good for us? Is it good for our kids? The questions were posed by a parent…
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Competition in a Non-Binary World
I want to venture into the complicated issue of transgender athletes competing against cis-gender women and possibly some other related topics. But before I do that, I want to carve out a position so that the reader will not misunderstand where I’m coming from. First of all, I believe that we should all be tolerant…
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The Absurdity of Rules for War
Foreward: I have hesitated to publish this piece, because I’m not sure I have anything profound to say on the subject. (Of course, the more cynical and unkind amongst you might think that’s pretty much the norm). So this offers no solution to anything – just poses a “What the Hell are we thinking?” kind…
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The US Court System – Torpedoing Democracy
This article draws freely and without permission from the writings of Heather Cox Richardson, a noted author and professor of History at Boston College. She is a passionate defender of democracy in the States and a vigorous opponent of the Extreme right-wing policies that are taking over America. I trust she’d be happy with my…
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Adventure Tourism – Who Pays?
A friend of mine opened a conversation the other day about the investigation into the catastrophic failure of the Titan submersible. Why, he questioned, is there a big need to know about the failure mechanisms, and why should the taxpayer foot the bill for any extensive investigation? I think those are both decent questions. The…
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Organic Foods and Other Nonsense
My brother Terry, who evidently likes to wind me up from time to time, sent me an email recently in which he said “At my weekly Monday golf game, 2 of the guys were talking about how all of our food is contaminated by agricultural chemicals, and none of it is safe to eat! One…
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The Bar Stool Economics Parable
Recently the following little parable came to me in email that was distributed to our golf group. It was described as “humorous and worth the read.” Another member of the golf group suggested that I take a crack at looking at the meaning and accuracy of the parable entitled Bar Stool Economics. So I did.…
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Taxing What You Have Saved
This article was published in the fall of 2021. Eventually I had to take it down because it had begun to attract a half-dozen spam responses per day. I’m re-posting it here with a new title just restore the blog record. This articles belongs in the early tax series. The third form of taxation is…
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The Anti-Woke Pierre
cartoon borrowed shamelessly from the Toronto Star What does it mean to be woke? Well, it’s anybody’s guess, really. The term seemed originally to be applied as a celebration of social awareness. If you were concerned about racial equality, if you were concerned about women’s issues, you were woke. Then it grew. If you were…
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Right Criminal, Wrong Crime
(Image by Dave Wharmond, political cartoons.com) Well, New York has gone and done it. They’ve indicted Donald Trump. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? On the one hand it’s great that someone had the guts to go after him. I have this nasty feeling, however, that this prosecution might be a mistake.…
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Ukraine, 1 Year After
It has been a year now since Russia invaded Ukraine. The news lately has been full of reviews of the Ukraine situation, including a UN resolution condemning Russia for its aggression. So, let’s start with the UN. There are five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Russia, China, France, USA, and the UK,…
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Plant Yer Corn Early
Those of you who watched TV in the 1960’s will likely remember the scene in which some flunky held out his hand to Granny Clampett and said “what about a tip?” Granny wrinkled her very wrinkly brow and said “Plant yer corn early”. Poor Granny – she had no idea what a tip was. In…
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Are Canadian Think Tanks Trustworthy?
The Fraser Institute A family member recently told me that if I want to have her read my articles, I’d have to make them shorter. That was good feedback. I’ve been targeting 2000 to 3000 words for my essays, and based on the feedback received, I’ll see if I can cut it down a bit.…
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Remodeling Health Care
My last little fulmination was directed at fixing our health care systems in Canada. After all was said and done, I suppose I made only three significant points. The first was that Health Care needs fixing. The second was that it is the responsibility of the Provincial governments to fix it, and they should stop…
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Health Care – A Sick Situation
Two women died in Nova Scotia recently despite having presented themselves at hospital emergency rooms for treatment. One woman – only 37 years old – waited six hours for treatment at a hospital in Amherst Nova Scotia. She was in such extreme pain that she was unable to sit in a wheelchair and wound up…
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How Blogging Has Changed Me
I started writing a blog a little over a year ago. I would see something on the news that would turn my crank and I would respond by commenting on Facebook (because I just HAD to vent somewhere). But that process was unsatisfactory. Facebook comments are short and shallow, and I needed a platform to…
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The Dark Money Conspiracy
Leading into the US mid-term elections, I wrote an article about the incredible spending levels associated with elections on the United States. I recall finding some spending estimates and doing a little math which showed that political parties and outside interests were going to spend approximately $8000 US per vote cast in the election. If…
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Why Seemingly Intelligent People Believe Stupid Stuff
I am often bemused by the prevalence of conspiracy theories. There are so many of them out there. QAnon, the Illuminati, the Jews, the Masons, aliens, the US government, the UN, the oil industry, the automobile industry, climate change deniers, climate change alarmists…the lists go on and on. The number of groups secretly conspiring against…
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What Limits Our Right to Protest?
(Image from the Ottawa Citizen) I’ve been following, (sporadically and with some limits on how much I can take before I’m either bored to tears or frustrated beyond belief) the inquiry into the government’s invocation of the Emergency Act. Certain impressions come to mind. I was pleasantly surprised by the presence of mind and demeanour…