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63 |
Re
SEC Accuses Psychic Of Fraud, And Of Being A Bad Psychic
(March 5): So is this a prophet and loss statement? The
investors should have seen it coming. If it sounds too good to
be true, it’s either a fraud or a Speech from the Throne.
March 6, 2010 |
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64 |
Inferiority complexity:
I’m so simpatico with Margaret Wente. Her oven, TV remote and
financial planning systems are complex because they’re designed
with an illusion: that the gadgets and systems are better and
smarter than ourselves. Bedazzled, we buy the fantasy and are
lured into surrendering control. Form follows function, so we
end up with telephones that perform marvels but force us to
follow a 75-page manual to operate. You can’t feel empowered
when you’re demeaned like that. It’s a pre-programmed
inferiority complex.
March 22, 2010 |
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65 |
Long arm of the lawn
So police in Tennessee have charged a man on a motorized lawn
mower with driving under the influence, saying he “smelled of
alcohol and failed a sobriety test” (Man
On Lawn Mower Gets DUI – Editor’s Picks, online, April 17).
Couldn’t they just have arrested him for driving while on
grass? April 19, 2010 |
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66 |
Home spun truths:
Most MPs are reluctant to divulge the specifics of their
expenses. Of course, they should submit to an open audit by the
Auditor-General, but it’s obvious why they won’t. They can only
lose and have nothing to gain. All MPs, regardless of party,
have one thing in common: they’re all incumbents. Their
opponents in the next election would have the advantage of no
record to defend. Any record of expense can be “spun” as being
inappropriate or excessive and therefore used as ammunition to
fight an opponent. It isn’t that our members of Parliament fear
the truth; they just dread the spin. What a sad state of
affairs. May 18, 2010 |
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67 |
It’s reassuring to discover my failing memory is just a natural
consequence of aging and information overload (Collected
Wisdom – June 12). These days I can’t even remember what I’m
trying to forget. June 19, 2010 |
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68 |
The poppy is red because it stands for sacrifice, which is what
we pay tribute to on Remembrance Day. Yellow ribbons, white
poppies or blue violets send any number of messages, none as
clear as the traditional poppy November 11, 2010
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69 |
Apparently, in Manitoba Judge
Robert Dewar’s court, “no” means no make-up
(Judge Appears To Blame Victim In Sexual-Assault
Case – Feb. 24).
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70 |
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Far side comb-over
Re Trump Claims Win In ‘Sideshow' Over Obama's Birth
Certificate (April 28): I don't know which is more
laughable: Donald Trump's hair or what's under it.
April 30, 2011 |
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71 |
Bit by bit
Re Nova Scotia Hospitals Ban Tim Hortons Doughnuts (May 20):
Double-double toil and trouble brewing. The fast-food fans will
not like this one Tim bit. May 21, 2011 |
|
72 |
Dollars, doughnuts
Re Tim Hortons To Pay Former CEO $6.5-Million (June 6): I bet
you dollars to doughnuts the front-line workers at Timmy’s wish
they could get a piece of that pie.
June 7, 2011 |
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73 |
Whose dime is it anyway?:
Re Facebook Group For Working-Class Torontonians, Not Layabouts
And ‘Communists’: Councillor (Aug. 9): “The people who show up
for meeting(s), some may be working people, but they’re only
working off the dime of taxpayers,” said Toronto Councillor
Giorgio Mammoliti. Does he, a paid councillor, not see the irony
of his presumptuous, offensive statement?
As well as politicians, I might note, the police, firefighters,
teachers, waste disposal workers, nurses, etc., work on the dime
of the taxpayer. And contracted out services as well are paid
for by taxpayers. It’s called collective responsibility or
government. It’s what civilized people do. August 11, 2011
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74 |
Holy
See-no-evil
The
Vatican’s defence of and rationalization for
inaction and cover-up in child abuse cases is
indefensible (Vatican Rejects ‘Unfounded’ Irish
Accusation Of Sex Abuse Cover-Up – Sept. 3).
It’s
been reported that in Ireland “it wasn’t until
last year that the Vatican ever told bishops to
co-operate with civil authorities in reporting
abusive priests.” The Holy See-no-evil,
report-no-evil has much to answer for this.
Every citizen has a moral, if not legal,
obligation to report. All the power of the
church should have been used to both thwart and
condemn the abusers.
What we
have here is a failure to excommunicate.
September 5, 2011
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75 |
Signs:
If that killer chair referred to in recent letters (Mens Rea –
Dec. 6; Killer Chairs – Dec. 7) is still out of sorts, please
consider a therapeutic quick fix at a furniture store whose sign
reads: “Upholstery fully recovered in three days.” December
12, 2011 |
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76 |
Retrofitted promise
Re Tories Stop Short Of $400-Million Home Retrofit Promise (Jan.
30): This reminds me of those insurance ads where the
suit-wearing adult plays dirty tricks on kids, such as offering
a child a toy only to take it away saying, “That was a
limited-time offer. It’s right here in the fine print.”
Stephen Harper should remember that “government of the day” is a
time-limited offer, too, before ending programs two months
before the promised date. January 31, 2012 |
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