As the saying goes, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And, dare I say, even PP might correctly take the people's pulse on occasion. However, even if he does say something that our more reactive selves may respond positively to, it hardly means he is fit for the office of Prime Minister. There is a video I found currently circulating on Twitter that, distilled to its essence, perhaps captures the vox populi but is also a window into PP's exploitive soul. If you watch to the end, you will also be gifted with an addition to his repertoire of aphorisms to go along with Spik ..read more

In my previous post I discussed how media shape the narratives by which we interpret the world. I used as its example the near-hysteria surrounding changes in the capital-gains attribution rate that the media have fuelled. The same narrative structure seems to be permeating coverage of the widespread campus protests and activism surrounding Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza. To follow the 'official' narrative, such protests are little more than rabid demonstrations of anti-Semitism and promotion of the destruction of Israel. For the uncritical mind, that story is all one needs to know. Howe ..read more

  As a regular consumer of media, I find myself more and more looking for patterns. While there is likely no such thing as totally consistent media narratives, I do think a preponderance of print, television and social media frame stories in ways that doubtlessly influence our perception of events. Two recent events suggest such patterns: the Trudeau government's decision to raise capital gains taxes to a 66% attribution rate from 50% for those making more than $250,000 in such profits per years, and the coverage of the increasingly widespread protests on campuses over the Israeli genoci ..read more

“Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning.” ― Franz Kafka, The Trial One of the most intriguing books I have ever read in my long reading life is The Trial. The above quotation represents the heart of the novel, about a man who endures the torturous and protracted processes of an arcane justice system. I found myself thinking about the book during the trial of Ulmar Zammer, whose hellish descent into the justice system is one almost too awful to contemplate. The novel's resonance in the case emerges ..read more

One has to hand it to the Americans. They seem endlessly inventive when it comes to devising new ways to inflict mayhem. However, while the following is legal in 48 states, I am sorry to inform those who love to embrace new technology that this stand-in for Fido would likely run afoul of our laws in Canada. The company lists possible applications of the new robot as "wildfire control and prevention," "agricultural management," "ecological conservation," "snow and ice removal," and "entertainment and SFX." But most of all, it sets things on fire in a variety of real-world scenarios. And ..read more

H/t Graeme MacKay  Yesterday's post highlighted the rush to judgement many people embraced when Ulmar Zameer was charged with murdering a police officer. People like Doug Ford, John Tory and Patrick Brown condemned the fact that he was granted bail. A publication ban prevented the reasons for the bail from being published, but anyone could have gone down to court to find out why bail was granted. Justice Malloy had declared the evidence very weak, and hence the bail. But populism has its own reasons, and it is generally more politically profitable to stoke the fires of rage and bitternes ..read more

It is obviously just human nature to sometimes react with outrage and certitude when confronted with something that seems to beggar common sense. We have likely all experienced such a response at one time or another. The recent acquittal of Ulmar Zameer, charged with murdering a police officer, is an object lesson in caution. You will likely recall that when the charge was brought down in 2021, prominent politicians like John Tory, Patrick Brown and Doug Ford reacted with very public disgust and outrage over the granting of bail to Zameer. It seemed inexplicable to many that a man charged wi ..read more

Quite predictably, the rich have reacted with great bitterness to the new budget, in particular the part requiring them to pay more tax on capital gains that exceed $250 thousand. To hear their tune, sung in unison, financial Armageddon is upon the country. A chorus of Canadian entrepreneurs and investors is blasting the federal government's budget for expanding a tax on the rich. They say it will lead to brain drain and further degrade Canada's already poor productivity. In the 2024 budget unveiled Tuesday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government woul ..read more

Well, Tim Horton's has done it again - disappointed their customers. Of course, that's nothing new, but I'm not referring here to the mediocre coffee that is inexplicably a national icon. Nor am I referencing their disturbing and bizarre forays into food innovations they have no business experimenting with. There is something off-putting for example, about offering flatbread pizzas alongside their downsized donuts and paltry breakfast wraps. But maybe that's just me. What is indisputable, however, is that the best this multi-billion-dollar operation can do when it screws up is to offer a mer ..read more

In my previous post, I wrote rather scathingly of Doug Ford and his refusal to put back into the building code a requirement for new home builds to have a plug built in to facilitate EV chargers. To clarify any confusion left by that post, the extra $500 charge to new homes would have been for the infrastructure, not the actual charger.  Unfortunately Ford, who takes his direction from developers, refused at their behest this simple requirement, disingenuously citing his desire to make life more affordable for Ontarians burdened by his benighted 'leadership. Toronto Star readers, a gene ..read more