During the first few decades of the industrial revolution in Britain, it was the landed gentry that ruled. They did not have the good fortune of being born into a noble family, but they did have the good fortune to own considerable tracts of land. As a result, they were
Continue readingAuthor: brian gibb
the disgruntled democrat: In America Being Fat Is Like Being Poor: It’s Your Fricken Fault
At some point in time, probably not in the immediate future, the Anglo-American world is going to wake up to the fact that no man, nor no woman, is an island. The environment, beginning in the womb, has profound effects on the people we turn out to be. Seems pretty straight
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Falling Into the Fat Trap
This week we saw some startling figures concerning obesity rates around the world. Researchers found more than 2 billion people worldwide are now overweight or obese. The highest rates were in the Middle East and North Africa, where nearly 60 per cent of men and 65 per cent of women
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: In the End, Quebecers Are Not All That Different From the Vast Majority of Canadians: They Prefer To Be Governed Than To Govern
Mercifully, this sorry spectacle of a general election in Quebec is over. I can’t remember a campaign so empty of any real debate as it came down to a choice between an extremely lame Charter of Values that would have banned the overly overt display of religious affiliation in the
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Thanks But No Thanks Quebec: Take My Ballot And Shove It
Well, I have decided not to vote in this charade of an election. My principle reason is that my vote does not count — it is totally ineffective — because I live in a region where the same political party, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), has taken all of the
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Parasites Have Infected And Taken Over Quebec’s Body Politic
In nature, there are parasites that invade a host, take control of its movements for their own benefit, often leading to the host’s demise.n My favorite example of this life process is the Lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum). In short, as an adult the Lancet liver fluke spends its time in
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: The Evolution of the Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome
Lately, I have been intrigued by the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes as a modern take on how the vast majority of people behave when it comes to speaking truth to power. The Hans Christian Andersen version of the story goes like this: A vain Emperor who cares about nothing
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Groundhog Day in Quebec: Another Boomer-Driven Lose-Lose Election
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. (Max Planck) The big problem with the latest Quebec general election is that once
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: WTF! In Quebec, Even If I Don’t Vote I Still Get Screwed!
You have to admit that when it comes to maintaining their stranglehold on political power in Quebec, the two major parties, the PLQ (the Quebec Liberal Party) and the PQ (the Parti Québécois) can be very ingenious. They need to be. Revelations at the Charbonneau Commission indicate that both parties
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: The Quebec General Election 2014 Is A Game For Idiots
Yesterday, the outgoing Premier of Quebec, Pauline Marios, requested that the provincial legislature be dissolved, thereby sending Quebecers to the urns for a general election on April 7. Hey wait a minute. Didn’t the Quebec legislature unanimously adopt a law that would have general elections held on fixed dates every four years? It
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Three Reasons Why This Anglo Is Thinking About Leaving Quebec: Breach of Trust, Loss of Confidence, Demographics
Truth be told, I have lived in Quebec for the last twenty years. Last week, not much of a surprise, a poll revealed that about 50% of the anglophone and allophone respondents were thinking about moving out of Quebec. Too bad I wasn’t contacted. I would have loved to explain why.
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Given Today’s Technology, Why Do We Continue To Elect Representatives From Political Parties?
Canada’s political institutions have not evolved significantly from their conception nearly 150 years ago. We still regularly go to the polls and choose between the candidates from various political parties to represent us in Parliament and in the provincial legislatures. Effectively, we transfer our popular sovereignty to a few individuals,
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: In Canada’s Contested Vote Exchange the Biggest Losers Are Democrats
Although Canadians like to think of themselves governed by a modern democratic state, in reality, we are still governed by a colonial form of government that is a vestige of the British Empire. Our Head of State is a foreign monarch, Queen Elizabeth II; the Prime Minister is chosen by the Crown’s
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer: A Disgruntled Democrat?
In reaction to a government bill that would prevent Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand, from speaking publicly about the quality of Canada’s Electoral System, he went on record to state: “I’m not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who can not talk about democracy” and that “my
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Inequality Is What America Is All About
Change you can believe in. Yeah right. There are some things that never change and one of them is the tendency for the rich to get richer at everyone else’s expense, especially in America. Since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, 95% of the gains have gone to
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: The Pathetic State of Politics in Quebec
The more we find out how corrupt the leading figures are in Quebec, the more it makes me want to move across the river in Ontario. Where does it stop? Nobody knows and I think the Charbonneau Commission is just scratching the surface. With regard to politics, we have learned that
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Ditch the North American Diet and Climb Out of the Fat Trap
We are a fat folk, myself included. One out of three of us are overweight and one out of five are obese. And boy do we love to eat. Trouble is we have no idea how to go about eating in a healthy manner. We jam out gullets full with fat, sugar,
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Year in Review: Canadians No Longer Have Reason to Feel Smug
There was a time when Canadians could feel a quiet pride about their country: peacekeeping roles with the United Nations, generous social programs, young Canadians cavorting around Europe with Canadian flags stitched onto their backpacks. We were the quieter, gentler version of America. Well, this year all those notions got
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Merry Christmas America: You’ve Been Scrooged
As the holidays draw nearer, it appears that, judging from president Obama’s speech on economic inequality last week, he finally gets it: America has been scrooged. I think that this year enough people finally honed in on the fact that while many Americans stuffed themselves at the dinner table on Thanksgiving
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Canada’s Rob Ford Is Far Too Canadian
In other words, just dessert Canada for not taking care of your political institutions. Take a look around: an out-dated voting system, scandal in the Senate, documented voter suppression through robo calls, rampant corruption in the province of Quebec, and a big, fat, crack smoking mayor of Canada’s largest, world class (but
Continue reading