Only a Small Number of People Need to Change to Avert Climate Destruction
You’re not the problem! The problem is the 1%. Our global carbon footprint has risen dramatically since 1990, but only a few people are to blame for the worst of…
politics
Toronto: Go Vote Today
In fact, if you live in Ontario then you should get out and vote in your local municipal election. The municipal level is where people feel the impact of government…
The Price One Pays: Liquidation of the Uncompetitive
I’m saving this excellent thread by Dr. Satoshi Akima FRACP. It’s tongue-in-cheek, but of course some are sharing bits of it as proof that we need to let ‘er rip!…
Artists Show the Real Toronto
Another impressive piece by the artist @JohnTory. #AusterityTO pic.twitter.com/9ZwvXUDIDz — Yash Keough (@conradsleight) October 5, 2022 Hopefully next week Toronto will have a new mayor (vote Gil Penalosa!) and oust…
77 Things to Hate About Covid
Caroline Dew, an ICU Critical Care nurse in Australia, wrote this thread that I want to save. My only criticism is that it’s written in the past tense. You can…
And the Winner is…?
Ms Soapbox is draped across her fainting couch anxiously awaiting the outcome of the UCP leadership race and is too distraught to post a blog.* She would welcome her readers’…
How to Win an Election
Anyone running for office should consider reading How to Win an Election, by Quintus Tullius Cicero, translated by Philip Freeman. It’s a short, small book subtitled An Ancient Guide for…
Troll Busted
So I’m hearing tonight that the hateful and cowardly reign of terror of one of Saskatchewan’s most vile troll accounts is finally over. And if it’s true that the person…
How Much Harm is Immoral?
If you know something you’re about to do could potentially harm people, and the only reason you’re doing it is for your own convenience, then wouldn’t we largely agree that…
Timothy Snyder’s Talk on The Road to Unfreedom
I haven’t read the book yet, but I stumbled on Timothy Snyder’s talk about it from four years ago. Unfortunately, it’s all still very relevant! “The things that are happening…
Charles In Charge
Well, it finally happened. The Queen of Canada died, at 96 years old. She passed a couple days ago at her Scotland estate, and I still haven’t heard a cause…
It Ain’t Over!!
Just a quick update on Ontario’s Covid numbers, currently: In the words of Colin Furness, MISt PhD MPH: “It’s clear politicians from all parties won’t act until there is public…
Hobbesian vs Benthamite Politics
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) was not an optimist about human behaviour. Writing more than a century after Niccolo Machiavelli, the English political philosopher argued in his masterwork, Leviathan (1651), that the…
Ancient Election Wisdom
I recently came across this piece by Marcus Tullius Cicero (one of my favourite classical authors) on the Sententiae Antiquae website (a good source of classical Latin and Greek translations),…
When I watch the United Conservative Party (UCP) Leadership race, one question always comes to the fore: do the UCP leadership candidates realise that in five to ten year Alberta will have serious problems in retaining our economic position in this world?
In 2008, Tesla rolled out its boutique electric car. It was called the Tesla Roadster. At that time, the Roadster had a big sticker price: $109,000 USD. Based on a…
Privatization in Ontario
It’s vital in Ontario that we understand the problems with privatization because the shift of essential services from the public to private sphere is happening right under our noses. Brittlestar…
A Useful Crisis
I’m a big movie buff, and I used to love watching meaty psychological thrillers and films with evil people murdering one another. No Country for Old Men is one of…
What Happened to Politics?
I want to save this thread by Jeff Rybak, defence lawyer, lecturer at the University of Toronto, and a not-for-profit corporate director: “I’m trying to understand what’s happening with politics…
Strap One On For Safety!
I wrote about the almost total absence of PSAs around using masks to prevent transmission of a virus that, in some areas, kills ten times as often as traffic collisions,…
Covid-Free Schools are Possible!
A school in Texas has been 100% Covid-free with zero learning loss. They used good masks indoors (N95 or better) with no ‘mask breaks.’ Everyone eats outdoors even in the…