Harry Shannon
Premier Doug Ford today announced what he called ‘a new
world-leading safety measure.’ In a
first, Ontario will in future not allow the number ‘13’ on traffic
signals. Currently, when traffic lights
show pedestrians how long they have before the lights will change, ‘13’ appears
if the countdown is longer th…
Category: Uncategorized
Eton school, please stop what you’re doing.
Harry Shannon
I was born and raised in the UK, so I pay some attention to what's going on there.
A while ago I heard the headmaster of the British school Eton justifying its ultra-exclusivity and the fact that almost all its students are from very rich families. (Eton actually calls itself a ‘College’.) The headmaster claimed that ma…
Media Hype? Check the Numbers
Unless you’ve been under the proverbial rock for the last few weeks, you’ll know that the TV show Game of Thrones (GoT) has just aired its final episode. It has had eight seasons.
Clearly fans of GoT were really into the show (although I
gather that they weren’t so enthusiastic about the final season). Based on the attention in th…
My letter in the Hamilton Spectator, May 14
Background: This letter responded to one a few days earlier in the Hamilton Spectator. That letter in turn was commenting on the story in the paper about Rabbi David Mivasair, who went to the West Bank to help repair a road used by Palestinian villagers to access health care, etc. He was arrested by Israeli forces.
RE: RABBI’S VIEWS CLASH…
My letter in the Toronto Star, May 14
Background to this letter: The Conservative government in Ontario opposes the federal carbon tax, claiming it is ineffective. Premier Doug Ford is taking the matter to the courts. As well, Ford has talked about increasing speed limits on Ontario highways. My letter was joining some dots.
Re He who tweets by gas prices, dies by gas prices,…
Econ 101 Pop Quiz
It seems the economic policy known as ‘supply-side’ has made a comeback in the U.S. under Donald Trump.
The underlying idea was, I understand, proposed by Arthur Laffer in the 1970s and formed the basis of Ronald Reagan’s approach in his presidency. The claim is that if taxes are reduced, society as a whole will benefit becaus…
How I lost three hours to Summer Time
Harry
Shannon
Spring forward, Fall back; so goes the saying. Which means you ‘lose’ one hour when the clocks go forward in Spring.
Yet I
managed to lose three! I was in Canada
for the first one on 10 March. North
America extended the summer time period some years ago. The U.S. Congress were pretending they were
takin…
How to be a philanthropist: An 11-step guide
Harry
Shannon
Pay your workers starvation wages,
preferably in low income countriesIgnore labour laws and health and
safety hazardsMake obscene amounts of moneyBefriend powerful politicians and donate
to their partiesContinually deny any wrongdoing or
dreadful labour practicesTransfer your money to tax havensGive a tiny fraction of the taxes
s…
Welcome to my blog
Welcome to my blog
‘ProbablyMaybe’
Harry Shannon
Monday 23 February 2019
“Just what the world needs,” I hear you muttering
sarcastically, “another blog.”
So why the heck am I doing it? Of course there’s some ego involved. I’m the same as lots of people, I like to
think I have something to say. …