January has been busy. Guests, birthdays (well, one birthday), hockey games, a comedy show and a return to work meant that I didn’t get as much written this month as I wanted to. Counting my new “Weekly News Roundup” I only managed to publish 5 times in January. I did slide one in on December 29th during my break so counting that one this was what has been published since the last monthly update:
Weekly News Roundup – 12 January 2024 - Looking back and looking ahead.
Shibboleth originally promised as “How far is ‘far?’ The media and it’s obsession with the ‘far-right’.”
Weekly News Roundup – 19 January 2024 - Milei cries for freedom, Trump's opponents just cry
Climate Change and Optimism originally listed as “The Case for Optimism.”
Weekly News Roundup – 26 January 2024 - The diversity battle continues and surprise! More Trump
Now that I look at this list, it doesn’t look half as bad as I thought. Maybe I should cut myself some slack. Especially when you factor in that the plan was to take the first two weeks of January off. Still, there’s always room for improvement and February only has the Superbowl, one birthday, and another comedy show to get in my way. Time to get cracking!
Coming “Soon”
The list of ideas is growing faster than I can keep up with, but I do need to track them somewhere and at least here there’s some visibility. Remember, I’m always open to suggestions to feel free to add a comment or send me an email.
On Deck
Immigration – Why we’re in this mess and how to get out of it.
Shipping and the Houthis
The “Death” of the Grand Old Party
Why I’m a PhD Drop-Out
Researching
Bring Back the Smoke-Filled Room – How to bring politics back to the center.
Bureaucratic “Bloat” and the rising cost of college
Canada’s Revolving Dictatorship
Charity Begins at Home – Why the government should be concerned with Canadians first.
Fixing Democracy - Part III – The Role of the Executive and a Bicameral Legislature – this has been her forever so I may need to go back and rehash my entire plan for this series.
Taxpayer Sovereignty
The Death of Customer Service/My Own Personal Twitter Files
The History of Palestine – ok, this might be a little broad.
The Three Sides of the Climate Wars
Two-Tired Healthcare
Just an idea
Equity vs Equality
Racism – Why the Left’s Narrative is Simplistic and Wrong
Simplistic Thinking
Societal Norms/Moral Decline
That 70s Show – Progressive Policies and the return of inner-city crime.
The Victim Games – Merit vs. Gamification
Truth and Reconciliation
Top 10 Postings
You can find all my posts in my archive.
Comment of the Month
Sadly, there were no comments this month.
AYPWIP?
The Federal Court of Canada recently ruled that:
The federal government’s decision to declare a public order emergency under the Emergencies Act in early 2022, as well as the associated regulations that it enacted, were unreasonable and were not justified on the facts or the law.
The regulations violated the Charter right to freedom of expression and the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.
This has me thinking about tyranny, authoritarianism, and civic responsibility (specifically, what do we owe our fellow citizens?). So, with these in mind I give you the following to ponder:
“[D]emocracy can itself be as tyrannical as a dictatorship, since it is the extent, not the source, of government power that impinges on freedom.”
-- William F. Buckley
“When a state treats its citizens as an existential threat then that state ceases to be a democracy.”
― Suchitra Vijayan
The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it.
-- John Stuart Mill
As usual, I encourage you to join my subscriber chat or comment on this, and other, posts and let me know your thoughts.
Final Thoughts
Its going to be a busy year! We have a US election and various Biden and Trump related criminal and civil trials, immigration is hot button topic seemingly everywhere, and two ongoing wars (you forgot about Ukraine, didn’t you?). Check out my Weekly News Roundup for my commentary of the issues I feel are important as well as my regular weekly (hopefully) article.
Until next month.
Phil