One picture is worth a 1000 words …
but one psycho-neurotic isn't worth one vote, let alone 60 million (25% of eligible voters)! (3 min read) Bravo to the Toronto Star and cartoonist Michael De Adder for an image that says what Read more...
Fascism versus Democracy …
or 'the strong and wrong versus the right and weak' (7 minute read) I've borrowed the heading from something President Bill Clinton said, and former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright restated in her Read more...
Every mayor must foster community spirit and hope …
to measure up to this mayor and his community (5 minute read) The municipal elections are behind us and the rush of community spirit that leads up to elections has subsided, so now is Read more...
Election postmortem – what you see is …
what you get, who you are, and what you deserve (5 minute read) Good morning to everyone who lives in the 444 Ontario municipalities that voted yesterday and woke up this morning to a Read more...
Double, double, toil and trouble …
fire burn and politics bubble – until we stop drinking witches' brew and vote incumbents out (4 minute read) It's simple. Change means change. Don't re-elect anybody. It's folly. It's drinking the same witches Read more...
The most important four-letter word is …
vote – and you can use the other four-letter words to curse the outcomes if you don't vote Photo: Emily Howard Stowe (1831-1904) (9 minute read) Emily Howard Stowe was a great Canadian. She Read more...
The inmates are running the asylum …
in every city hall and they keep banging their heads against the same wall, expecting a different outcome. That's insanity! (5 minute read) Albert Einstein (photo: ThoughtCo) The "banging heads ... insanity" Read more...
The road to character is steep and …
it's a dead-end for most "so-called" leaders (Hanging Coffins, Echo Valley, Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines – photo courtesy Trover) (8 minute read) Being in a position of leadership is not a qualification for being Read more...
Information is not knowledge …
and it's no substitute for ignorance (5 minute read) "The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance." – Herodotus Today, as never before, information is increasing and knowledge is decreasing. Because Read more...
Communities are dying …
from a lack of public engagement, aided and abetted by toxic discourse (7 minute read) A common definition of community is a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social and Read more...
From Charlottesville to Cobourg, free speech walks a …
fine line between open debate and abusive control (6 minute read) The tragedy in Charlottesville Virginia last week cannot be equated with millions of daily infringements on free speech but its violence exposes the Read more...
On Bullshit – a perspicacious, philosophical take on …
our society's state of affairs and the President of BS Four things you might not know The author of the bestselling book, On Bullshit is Harry Frankfurt, professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University. Read more...
The foxes will never fix the hen house of democracy …
and the hens will never stop being a bunch of chickens Three things you might not know Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove he wasn't a chicken. But being a bunch Read more...
Why does everyone ignore the numbers …
and the truth about the presidency of the United States and the state of democracy from the largest nations to the smallest communities? Five things you might not know Donald Trump became the Read more...
Is leadership in full retreat …
as speed, complexity and growth trump trust? Four things you might not know Two-hundred and four years ago, megalomania and narcissism trumped trust in leadership as Napoleon, after ignoring repeated advice against invading Read more...
Leadership and the power of emulation …
Could Trump's brand of leadership become a problem across generations of leaders? Four things you might not know, and one you do We all know Trump is "yuugh" on branding and basks in his Read more...
Empires decay from within, from the grassroots …
and small towns are a window onto the state of the nation Three things you might not know By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will be urban. Urbanites are hyper-susceptible to stress Read more...
Can farmland save urban renewal?
They're coming, they're coming ... can the farmers save the urbanites? As published in Northumberland Today, May 15, 2014 In 1973, Oregon State passed a law to protect farmland and they drew a circle around every Read more...
One small step for democracy, one giant leap for Port Hope
Is there hope for democracy in small towns? The metaphor of the moon landing is overused but it seems appropriate for a local historic event that happened just one week after the forty-fifth anniversary of Read more...
Community? What is it good for?
You are part of a community and the sum of the parts is greater than the whole (photo: oneeyeland.com) As published in Northumberland Today Community is a grand word. It’s ubiquitous, universal and Read more...