tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50216382013-05-25T09:10:04.061-04:00Sobering ThoughtsComments on politics, the culture, economics and religion by Paul Tuns -- in short, everything about the human endeavour from a non-hyphenated conservative perspective.
I am Toronto-based writer and editor, whose articles, columns and reviews have appeared in more than 35 publications. I am editor-in-chief of The Interim, Canada's life and family newspaper, author of Jean Chretien: A Legacy of Scandal and a regular contributor to the book pages of the Halifax Herald.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17076125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-21091945173612101202013-05-25T09:09:00.002-04:002013-05-25T09:10:04.066-04:00On Sweden`s rioting
Maybe the Scandinavian model does not work so well. The Daily Telegraph: "Stockholm riots leave Sweden's dreams of perfect society up in smoke." Of course the Jew as canary in the mine should have alerted us to this. The Local reports that rioting has spread beyond Stockholm. This Reuters report is atrocious, effectively making excuses for the rioting (although the reporter Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-65209787764460735022013-05-25T08:35:00.000-04:002013-05-25T08:35:25.875-04:00The upside of destruction
Seen on Twitter:
@DeathStarPR: Paris Hilton is releasing a new album. There has literally never been a better reason for the Death Star to explode your planet.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-66271212581818129092013-05-24T15:17:00.000-04:002013-05-24T15:17:00.388-04:00The Industrial Revolution, liberty and dignity
The Cato Institute's Andrew J. Coulson says: "This is the most important question in economics: Why did the Industrial Revolution happen when and where it did–and not before or elsewhere?" He briefly notes why it is important to get the answer correct (to not accidentally undo the incredible good the progress coming from the IR does for human Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-76830621472194974522013-05-24T09:54:00.000-04:002013-05-24T09:54:00.328-04:00The Obamaconomy
The Hill reports: "The survey, by CNN and ORC, found that 67 percent of Americans rate the nation's economic conditions as poor." Just under half of those rate the state of the economy as "very poor." The Hill stresses that the numbers are improving, suggesting that the economy is just hunky-dory, even though two out of three respondents think things are pretty lousy and 29% Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-41364517033667089312013-05-24T09:29:00.003-04:002013-05-24T09:29:57.027-04:00Don't blame the death of marriage on the gays
Gavin McInnes at Taki Magazine:
Unfortunately, marriage died long before homosexuals got involved. Divorce is what killed it ...
My peers are the children of divorce and I’ve seen it permanently scar almost all of them. Both Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly have been divorced. Rush Limbaugh has done it three times. You can’t be sanctimonious about Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-52742014949165141172013-05-24T01:36:00.000-04:002013-05-24T01:36:44.498-04:00’Now The Gibson Guitar Raids Make Sense’
Investor’s Business Daily editorializes about how the Obama administration doggedly harassed a guitar-maker (Gibson) over a relatively minor and obscure possible violation of importation of flora and fauna regulations while it’s competitor (C.F. Martin & Co), which used the same material, was left alone. Hint: it makes sense in light of the IRS scandal. Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-76140015077618446232013-05-23T17:48:00.001-04:002013-05-23T17:48:32.795-04:00Despite what Canadian media and political elite say, abortion is still an issue
LifeSiteNews.com reports:
While Prime Minister Stephen Harper and mainstream media have said that Canadians do not want to reopen the abortion debate, MPs have presented the government with more than 70 petitions from constituents since January that say otherwise.
The petitioners are asking the government to Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-80129987697818823072013-05-23T16:08:00.001-04:002013-05-23T16:08:18.458-04:00What the hell does this even mean?
The CBC reports:
Nik Nanos digs beneath the numbers with CBC New Network's Power & Politics to get to the political, economic and social forces that shape our lives.
This week: Few Canadians are confident their government will be able to accomplish anything positive in the current political climate, according to a recent poll by Nanos Research ...
Only 13.1 Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-5382938386506418912013-05-23T12:13:00.000-04:002013-05-23T12:13:00.689-04:00The Liberals always knew possible gas plant cancellation costs
The Toronto Star: "Ontario power plant cancellations: Liberals knew of $900 million ‘worst-case scenario’." Progressive Conservative MPP Vic Fedeli said the $900 figure was in the Treasury Board projections for the 2012/2013 fiscal year while cancellation negotiations were taking place.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-66041672744447755292013-05-23T11:28:00.001-04:002013-05-23T11:28:15.299-04:00Cameron's wimp reaction to Woolwich murder is the opposite of the outrage we should feel
United Kingdom David Cameron is being depicted as tough on terrorism because he says that Britain "will never buckle in face of terror." But as Gates of Vienna notes, Cameron also says that perhaps it would be better if soldiers didn't wear their uniforms in public. As Baron Bodissey says, "now there’s an Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-35873294855453336132013-05-23T10:02:00.003-04:002013-05-23T10:03:03.235-04:00The Onion on Obama's media whores
Loved this:
Standing before members of the White House Press Corps Wednesday afternoon as aides lowered a bunch of grapes into his mouth, President Obama encouraged everyone gathered in the West Wing briefing room to abandon their inhibitions and revel in a wild, drunken orgy ...
According to reports, the six-hour-long alcohol-fueled orgy included nearly 50 Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-84694351738295260972013-05-23T01:52:00.000-04:002013-05-23T01:52:17.020-04:00You want an explanation for the Ford drug allegations?
Here's a possible explanation, via Blazing Cat Fur: a "film" maker was looking for Rob Ford lookalike back in January. The ad said, "It's a short shot of the mayor smoking a cigar and chuckling into the camera - as part of a montage. It's a dark comedy set in Toronto. Please send a photo for consideration and more information." I thought thePaul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-3420542304316502892013-05-22T21:07:00.002-04:002013-05-22T21:08:23.504-04:00Three and out
3. SB Nation's Grant Brisbee's ask who's worse, the Miami Marlins or Houston Astros? There is an advantage to the Marlins (as the better team, not the worse one) because they have better pitching and the possibility of the return of hitting fiend Giancarlo Stanton.
2. Greg Simmons of Hardball Times has a brilliantly entitled column, "Is 5/125 the new 5/55?" Eight-figure salaries Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-46153471228016614612013-05-22T16:03:00.000-04:002013-05-22T16:03:00.234-04:00The media
One of the most persistent but under-reported forms of media bias is what journalists don't write about. Ron Unz has a long article in The American Conservative [sic] on the U.S. media and what it doesn't cover. It is worth reading if you can stand the standard TAC prejudices and dispositions that come with such a piece, but this is a useful insight into politics today:
We always Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-81742995340226497222013-05-22T15:32:00.000-04:002013-05-22T15:32:00.021-04:00Building bridges with cliches
At NRO Betsy Woodruff reviews former Republican Senator Olympia Snowe's memoir Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress, which is apparently full of trite sayings about bipartisanship: "It’s amazing the positive things that can happen when you get people talking in a room together!" One needn't even read Snowe's screed to know that the Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-4951773561137371532013-05-22T12:30:00.002-04:002013-05-22T12:30:24.748-04:00New issue of Cato Journal
The Spring/Summer Cato Journal is out and it's theme is, "Europe's Crisis and the Welfare State: Lessons for America." I'm most looking forward to Pierre Lemieux's article, "American and European Welfare States: Similar Causes, Similar Effects." (pdf)Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-63029974913749243672013-05-22T12:04:00.003-04:002013-05-22T12:04:55.681-04:00There is no Great Stagnation (printable food edition)
NASA is looking at additive manufacturing to create printable food sometime in the future. The idea is not for consumption in space, however, but to feed a world with 10-12 billion people.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-87613449066022297502013-05-22T09:52:00.001-04:002013-05-22T09:52:48.139-04:00How do you prove you're qualified?
Andrew Lawton at Landmark Report: "Why is University of Toronto screening sexual orientation of job applicants?"
(HT: Lilley's Pad)Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-73971216517282219982013-05-22T09:46:00.000-04:002013-05-22T09:46:15.780-04:00Remove this bum from the Senate
The Toronto Star: "Mike Duffy billed two Tory campaigns $510 during 2011 election while claiming Senate allowance."Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-32486858865762350082013-05-21T22:00:00.003-04:002013-05-21T22:00:59.674-04:00Three and out
3. Michael Baumann has a good article at Grantland on "The Great Weirdness of That Reds-Phillies Game." Also at Grantland, Jonah Keri also examines the freakish sequence of events that got Philly its win Sunday night (scroll down to his section on Philadelphia).
2. Fingers crossed: MLB may expand its use of instant replay next year.
1. Steven Goldman has a provocative and Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-2350378317912874572013-05-21T19:51:00.002-04:002013-05-21T19:51:59.019-04:00Today's Milton Friedman
I haven't read it yet, but the May 2013 Econ Journal Watch symposium, "Why Is There No Milton Friedman Today?" featuring contributions from Tyler Cowen, David Henderson, Richard Epstein, Richard Posner, Robert Solow, and others looks very good.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-46573122899265444482013-05-21T19:48:00.000-04:002013-05-21T19:48:09.051-04:00'The bystander president'
Investor's Business Daily editorializes:
Is Barack Obama the president or not? If you were visiting from another planet, you'd have to wonder. He says he learns what his government is doing from the news, and seems detached from his role as leader.
Let's take Obama at his word (for now) that he didn't know his Justice Department was spying on reporters. Or that his Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-74278368623454823912013-05-21T18:07:00.001-04:002013-05-21T18:07:36.510-04:00More Gosnells
We are assured by the abortion industry and pro-abortion politicians that Kermit Gosnell is unique. LifeSiteNews.com: "Webcast to expose other Gosnells in America tonight." Family Research Council and Live Action team up to expose the really ugly side of the abortion industry.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-798041411635269962013-05-21T13:46:00.000-04:002013-05-21T13:46:06.594-04:00Election averted
NDP leader Andrea Horwath props up McWynnety government; Ontarians will not be forced to decide among three mental and moral midgets any time soon.Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5021638.post-45819271889681982632013-05-21T12:19:00.000-04:002013-05-21T12:20:09.051-04:00University: you mileage may vary, depending on the choices you make
Of course, not all choices are self-evidently self-destructive because 19-year-olds can't be expected to notice the link between taking a bird course and going to a kegger on the weekend, and accumulating debt that will cripple you in the future. The description of Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton's new book, Paying for Paul Tunsnoreply@blogger.com