PONDERABLES
In sports, if analytics held all the answers wouldn’t every game end in a tie?
Is it really possible to focus on more than one thing at a time, or is “multi-tasking” simply the ability to quickly and effectively switch from one thing to another?
When Emcees begin an introduction with the words “And now here’s a person who needs no introduction,” why do they feel compelled to then embark on a long-winded one? Wouldn’t just the person’s name suffice?
When appearing on TV, why do so many people choose a retinue (cynically referred to as “potted plants”) to surround them?
Given that all provinces have ministries of education, why do municipalities need boards of education?
THINGS I FIRMLY BELIEVE
Stop-gap solutions are sometimes necessary. The problem with spending too much time looking for and analyzing “root causes” is that the current situation may worsen in the meantime.
A major reason for house prices being so out of reach in large metropolitan areas is that developers aren’t building any more starter homes (such as two-bedroom bungalows) because they’re not sufficiently profitable.
Donald Trump and former Fox News provocateur Tucker Carlson are two people who should never be taken seriously.
When bail is being considered, the onus should always be on the defense to convince the court it should be granted, not on the prosecution to show why it should not.
No two words mean exactly the same thing, there’s always a shade of difference.
“That’s a good question” is not a compliment, it’s a euphemism for “I really have no idea what the answer to that is.”
Political correctness is always an excuse, never a reason.
A LEADERLESS COUNTRY
Canada has never been so leaderless. Prime Minister Trudeau has no obvious leadership qualifications, the hapless Jagmeet Singh is just Trudeau’s lapdog, and Pierre Poilievre seems to have no emotion other than rage.
AND SPEAKING OF TRUDEAU
After my shot last week at Prime Minister Trudeau for his flagrant misuse of the word “intersections,” I received a number of complaints and queries about why I’m so tough on him. My answer is the same as I’ve given a number of times before, but as I’m regularly acquiring new followers I’ll give it again.
If Justin’s last name was anything other than “Trudeau” he would never have been heard of, and would still be flitting from part-time job to part-time job, living off his grandfather’s obviously ample trust fund. Given both Justin’s and his father’s demonstrated hatred of Alberta and its petroleum industry, it’s ironic in the extreme that the family trust fund was originally created from money Justin’s grandfather, Charles-Emile Trudeau, made from owning 30 gas stations in the province of Quebec, selling them to Champlain Oil in 1932 for the equivalent of about $22 million in today’s currency, and then becoming a senior executive of the company.