Friday, February 26, 2010
On the eve of Canada’s federal budget address, here is a message from the Canadian Taxpayer Federation:
The 2009 federal budget represented the largest spending increase in Canadian history, and the largest deficit ever recorded. Last year, the feds borrowed $153-million a day! If taxpayers don’t make their voices heard, we can be assured [...]
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Really, from the believe it or not ‘Canada file’:
In English, it’s sold as the “Canada donut.” But in French, the chain hedges its bets by calling it the “beigne rouge et blanc”- the red-and-white doughnut, with no mention of the name Canada.
And the fact that the sprinkles are in the shape of tiny [...]
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Here is another 25 quotes on politics… for a total of 250 (a quarter of the way to our goal of compiling 1,000 bon mots on the subject.)
The most important political office is that of the private citizen. - Louis Brandeis
Fire, water, and government know nothing of mercy. - Proverb
People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made [...]
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey-cage. – H.L. Menken
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. - Pericles
Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary. - Robert Louis Stevenson
An [...]
Monday, February 22, 2010
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they never use. - Kierkegaard
Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half the time. - E.B. White
Nearly all men can withstand adversity; If you want to test a man’s character, give [...]
Friday, February 19, 2010
Further to Chris Hedges’ argument within Empire of Illusion, here is his thought on the role of the Internet as a contributing factor in the devolution of our society. In a piece entitled, “The Information Super-Sewer”, Hedges contends that our society and man’s ability to properly communicate are threatened in having virtual realities replace the real world. He begins [...]
Thursday, February 18, 2010
So, here’s Canadian federal minister Stockwell Day’s challenge as printed in a Canadian Press article today:
Treasury Board President Stockwell Day told reporters the upcoming budget will begin laying out specific areas where the Conservatives will rein in public spending. “What we have to do is send the signal out that we realize that, [...]
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Here’s the crux of the argument presented in Empire of Illusion, a disturbingly invigorating book on the demise of our North American society.
The more we sever ourselves from a literate, print-based world, a world of complexity and nuance, a world of ideas, for one informed by comforting, reassuring images, fantasies, slogans, celebrities, and [...]
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Chris Hedges’ Empire of Illusion is a must-read for those who want to go into the impeding crises our country face with their eyes wide-open. In the last of the book’s chapters on today’s political leadership, Hedges holds out little hope for the actions of President Barack Obama. Here’s a rather pessimistic take on the [...]
Thursday, February 18, 2010
An apt quotation is as good as an original remark. – Proverb
The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations. - Benjamin Disraeli
I quote others only the better to express myself. - Michel de Montaigne
I hate quotations, tell me what you know. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every quotation contributes something [...]