PONDERABLES
How much is the birth rate going to rise in Atlantic Canada in early June 2020, and how many babies born then will be named Dorian
Is the plural of computer mouse computer mice?
BLUE JAY BROADCASTERS PONDERABLES
What compels Blue Jays colour commentator Pat Tabler to include the phrase “a little bit” in almost every sentence he utters? And, isn’t it disappointing that Dan Shulman has picked up this annoying habit? He’s one of the best play callers in baseball, and until now has never stooped to being a copycat.
Why do both Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler spend so much time predicting what pitch is coming or surmising what the batter is thinking, especially when their guesses are wrong most of the time?
A TRULY AWFUL ELECTION
This federal election will be the 19th in which I’ve been eligible to vote, and as I consider voting to be something we should all take seriously, I will. But our choices are so truly awful that the temptation to stay home is almost overwhelming. It’s enough to make a person yearn for a line on the ballot reading “none of the above.”
Let’s start by considering the long-term effect of the promises being made by the only two parties with a chance of forming a government, the Liberals and Conservatives. About the only choice is which one we’d rather see spend us into economic doom. Both party platforms, if fully implemented, would mean there would be no room to fiscally stimulate our way out of the next recession, and there will be a next recession, we just don’t know when, which would inevitably mean a long stretch of high interest rates, inflation, and widespread economic hardship.
That the other four parties have no hope of forming a government is really quite a good thing. The NDP would spend us into economic disaster even before the next cyclical recession rolls around on its own. The Green Party has no idea how to do anything other than mount and maintain a program of climate change awareness, which is fine by itself, but there’s a lot more to running a country than that. The People’s Party of Canada is headed by a leader who’s widely known as “Mad Max.” And the Bloc Quebecois is dedicated to breaking up the country.
Then there’s the sorry choice between the leaders of the two parties with a chance to form the government. Justin Trudeau has proven to be an unprincipled hypocrite with feet of clay. Andrew Scheer should be mopping the floor with Trudeau during this campaign, but because of a variety of problems, most of which have been self-inflicted, he’s failed to resonate with the electorate. Scheer and his advisors don’t seem to have what it takes to bury Trudeau, which is not a sign of effective leadership.
We’ve never been so leaderless.
LET’S BURY THIS NDP MYTH
While speaking of burials, let’s lay to rest the NDP myth that corporations pay tax. Corporations don’t pay tax, only people pay tax. Every dollar of tax that a corporation pays ultimately means either a dollar less in wages to employees, a dollar less in dividends to shareholders, or a dollar more that consumers pay for its goods or services.
MIKE BABCOCK’S MEAN-SPIRITED SELFISHNESS
When acquired by the Leafs last summer, Jason Spezza enthusiastically expressed pride and pleasure for the opportunity to end his long and distinguished career playing for his home town team. It’s not hard to imagine how much he was looking forward to the opening game, especially since it was against the Ottawa Senators, the team for which he played most of his 1,145 NHL games; he probably arranged for dozens of tickets for family and friends. Yet, coach Mike Babcock scratched Spezza from the Leafs’ opening game lineup.
This was a selfish, mean-spirited, classless act by any measure, but especially so because it likely wasn’t Spezza that Babcock wanted to show up. Leaf GM Kyle Dubas, who signed Spezza last summer, apparently without Babcock’s approval, was the probable target.
The consensus among hockey insiders is that there’s no love lost between Dubas and Babcock. But Babcock should keep it between them, not drag others into it.