Author Archives: alan

Thomas Homer Dixon, in the course of urging Canada to prepare for war, refers to Aisha Ahmad’s claim that the result of such a war would destroy the US – in a way that I think is like the so-called … Continue reading →

Canada doesn’t need the F35 – or any other fighter aircraft for that matter. The only conceivable military threat to us is from the South, and possesses such overwhelming conventional military strength that any traditional resistance would be futile. Our … Continue reading →

An article that explicitly acknowledges that the “effect” it reports is probably explained by confounding with other factors (in this case social isolation and lack of access to medical services) should not be titled in a way that suggests the … Continue reading →

It is true that water vapour causes more warming than CO2. But what is also true is that the concentration of water vapour in the atmosphere is determined by the sea surface temperature and so is not something we can … Continue reading →

A Quoran asks: Is there a contradiction between the idea that population growth is necessary for economic growth and the fact that eventually we run out of food, fresh water, arable land, and so on? Are economists driving us over … Continue reading →

Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are dickheads … but look. The fact that traditional antisemitism always shows up alongside antizionism is entirely to be expected and in no way “makes nonsense” of the claim that antizionism … Continue reading →

Shortly after the conclusion of the Liberal leadership vote today Justin Trudeau will probably submit his resignation as Prime Minister to Governor General Mary Simon. The purpose of this message is to engage as many Canadians as possible in urging … Continue reading →

One of my pet peeves is failure to reject false arguments for a conclusion one believes to be true. And climate change is very much a case in point. While it may seem reasonable to “follow the evidence”, I have … Continue reading →

YES!!! Source: X Threatens Our Democracy. Canada Should Ban It | The Tyee

This story  about a Jewish man in Miami who shot at two Israeli tourists whom he mistook for Palestinians (and who then posted “Death to Arabs” on social media due to the same misperception) makes me wonder whether ten years from … Continue reading →

A black hole has been spotted heading towards Earth, and we have 200 years before it arrives. Does our species have a chance of survival? Perhaps. But not on Earth. (Assuming any kind of astronomically plausible black hole, there is … Continue reading →

Even just the title of the article linked to in the post below should make it clear that Prussian Blue stains were NOT found in the homicidal gas chambers but only in the de-lousing ones. And the whole purpose of … Continue reading →

Sorry Jim Baggott, but I do not for a moment believe that soviet communist philosophy shaped postwar quantum theory . While I can believe that some believers in social determinism felt threatened by the inherent uncertainties of quantum mechanics I can’t … Continue reading →

Note: This is not a work of scholarship so I have included no references, but all of the claims that follow are true – as can easily be verified by using google searches on the terms used to find links … Continue reading →

This avoidance scheme described below is a good part of the reason why I have always advocated that the value of all gifts should be taxed as income in the year received. Source: (1001) Colin Riegels’s answer to How do … Continue reading →

When I was little I enjoyed being read to – or listening to stories being read on the radio. And the performance of a raconteur still has its appeal for what it adds by way of  expression. It can also … Continue reading →

Source: Kingston ‘health homes’ put Jane Philpott’s vision of primary care to the test – The Globe and Mail

The word “woke” is either real or imagined Afro-American “slang” for figuratively having awakened from a previous state of sleepwalking through life unaware (or in denial) of differences of privilege between ourselves and others. As such its use by me … Continue reading →

Nate Silver is crowing that his model predicted the actual outcome as “most likely” but that’s a bit like saying that exactly 50 heads is the most likely outcome in a series of 100 coin tosses (which it is) despite … Continue reading →