The actor and wrestler has angered China
Are you familiar with John Cena? If not, good for you; he’s not really worth knowing about. For the uninitiated, John Cena is a former professional wrestler. According to the World Wrestling Entertainment website, he’s a 16-time WWE champion, author and ‘actor’ (quotes are mine). To quote directly from the website: “After gaining the respect…
What do we make of the deluge of statistics and science, and pseudo-statistics and pseudo-science coming from all sources?
So-o-o-o-o … what’s new? Well, the Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, so there’s that. I’m very excited, up until the Edmonton Oilers are eliminated. After that, my interest in hockey falls to near zero, except for a hockey pool I entered. When researching which teams to choose, I was surprised to learn that the Tampa…
But there's light at the end of the tunnel
So I’m at a pharmacy, getting a prescription filled. The pharmacy tech is behind a shield, of course. She’s also wearing a mask, naturally. And, not so naturally, she’s also wearing a face shield. That’s three layers of protection between us. I’m thinking to myself that this is a bit much, but whatever. If she…
The University of Manchester has told its staff not to use the word mother while celebrating Mother’s Day in an attempt to promote diversity
Happy Mother’s Day! Oh, I’m sorry. Have I offended you? Please accept my apology, especially if you’re a student at the University of Manchester in England. I came across a story on the internet a while back with the click-bait headline “Manchester University bans the word ‘mother’ ahead of Mother’s Day.” I checked it out,…
I’ve developed a real affection for British TV, even when the accents are so gumbo-thick that I’m forced to turn on subtitles
In my TV-besotted youth, we had precious little exposure to British television. There was Dr. Who, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Avengers. The Avengers starred the curvaceous, recently departed Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, every teenage boy’s fantasy figure (tied with Julie Newmar’s Catwoman on Batman). Otherwise, that was about it for exposure to British…
Or how you too can share in the millions Mark Zuckerberg is giving away
Few crimes make me angrier than telephone or online scams. But I don’t know who I’m angrier at – the scammer or the victim. The scammer is a reprehensible subhuman, preying on naive elderly people. What’s worse than that? But I’m also angry at the naive elderly person. Seriously, grandma, do you really think the…
When Erin The Tool (sorry, that should be O’Toole) entered the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race in January 2020, he took aim at his primary opponent, Peter MacKay, by asking: “Do we go back and be the mushy middle party?” I wish. I would be happy to have a mushy middle party to support.…
One day, you’re an unshakable fan of a company; the next day, you’re warning complete strangers to stay away
The relationship between customer and company is a delicate thing. One day, you’re an unshakable fan of a company; the next day, you’re warning complete strangers to stay away. Here are three examples of customer service and how it can go so right – or so wrong. Many years ago, my Telus internet went out.…
The Alberta government has introduced a new social studies curriculum for Grades 1 through 6 that puts an emphasis on ancient and medieval civilizations and the history of religions. Here is a preview of a Grade 2 class in the not-too-distant future. “OK, class, settle down, settle down. Today, we’re going to continue our studies…
Examples of tweets destroying careers are numerous. Commit your thoughts to Twitter and you're forever setting your opinions in amber
Last week, I got a notice from Twitter that I was ‘celebrating’ 12 years on the social media platform. What an accomplishment. Here are my Twitter stats after 12 years: I have sent out 3,475 tweets. I’m following 50 accounts, one of whom claims to be a graduate of ‘Bovine University.’ Bafflingly, I have 431…
Introducing columnist Maurice Tougas, who will bring his often-off-kilter perspective on current events to readers once a week
So here we are, a full year into the Coronapocalypse. It has been (choose your favourite hackneyed phrase) a year like no other, unlike anything we’ve ever seen, a year of the new normal, etc. It will be years before we know the full impact of the COVID-19 catastrophe, but after a year we can…