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Rage, rage against the dying of the idealized past
I used to love reading the newspaper. For years I had the Globe and Mail, and then the Toronto Star, delivered to my home. I’d read it on the subway, or on my couch, and feel I was reading something...
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"How can a guy who can't speak English lie?"
A few days ago I finished the new Michael Lewis book The Big Short (amazon). In typical Lewis fashion it’s a somehow-entertaining story about markets, their bizarre circumstances and the equally...
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A tale told by an idiot, etc., etc.
I’m listening to both the US Congress and US Senate debate the deal to raise the debt ceiling, and shaking my head. What theatre. What grandstanding. What utter bullshit. You don’t have to search long...
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"The last chance for progressive politics for an awfully long time"
“It is time to stop listening to the voices who plead for calm moderation and for a cotton-candy centrism that melts at the first sign of resistance. It is time for politicians on the other side to be...
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On buggy whips, rogues, and stoned cabbies
Anyone following my Twitter feed or spending a moderate amount of time with me lately would have seen my rant about Uber. I was intrigued by the idea because of the potential for technology to disrupt...
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It’s time to abolish tipping
Can anyone explain to me why we observe this absurd practice known as tipping? Many other countries have simply done away with it by paying service staff what they’re worth, but we in North America...
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Please, Molson and Labatt and Sleeman: save us from ourselves
Oh, for the love of Pete. For those who don’t live in Ontario, here’s the background: the Beer Store, a foreign-owned monopoly on beer sales (outside of the provincially regulated LCBO) is worried that...
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Stand your ground. Unless you’re defending the logic of stand your ground gun...
Just in case anyone’s wondering whether “stand your ground” laws increase gun deaths, The Economist has put it into graphic form. Jesus. [source: economist.com] .:. Cover photo by Mayu, used under...
View ArticleDesperate counties
Last fall StatsCan published a report showing, as of 2016, the percentage of Canadian households living below the low-income threshold. It was unsurprising, but still upsetting, to see the statistics...
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Pull it together, Ontario
True to form (which is to say, consistently formless and unpredictable) the Ontario government on Friday announced restaurants and bars could open their patios. With no warning. First of all, in my...
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