In my latest Epoch Times column I explain why I didn’t berate a guy over Ukraine just because he had a Russian accent.
“The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well.”
John D. Rockefeller, quoted in an RBC Financial Group ad in Globe & Mail February 7, 2004
“We deliberate not about ends but about means.”
Aristotle Ethics
“the great and awful book of human folly, which yet remains to be written, and which Porson once jestingly said he would write in five hundred volumes!”
1841 Preface to Charles Mackay Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
“Economists... conducted an experiment at a poor, minority school district near Chicago where they randomly assigned some teachers to receive end-of-year bonuses based on student improvement, while other teachers received upfront bonuses that could be revoked at the end of the year if student improvement was below average.... the only difference was the timing of the bonus. There were ‘large and statistically significant gains’ on math test scores when bonuses were paid upfront, but not when bonuses were paid at the end of the year.... the prospect of having to give back money they had already received was more motivating for teachers than the prospect of getting money.”
The Boston Globe, reprinted in “Social Studies” in Globe & Mail August 7, 2012
In my latest National Post column I say while politicians often hurt us by mistake, they boasted repeatedly that they would make gas unaffordable. So how’s it working for you?
“She didn’t wait for her ship to come in, she swam out to it.”
Letter from Maymar Gemmell in Maclean’s March 18, 1996 regarding the recently deceased Barbara Hamilton
“John -- 2014 comes to an end in just a few weeks. Now is the time to save big and support the the important work of the Ontario NDP! All donations to the Ontario NDP in 2014, are eligible for generous provincial tax credits.”
“Hey John,/ Did you know that when you donate to the NDP, you get up to 75% back in tax credits?/ I’m not a banker or a sales guy, but that’s a great deal no matter how you slice it. Here’s what you’re eligible for if you chip in before December 31st./ Total you’ve given in 2015: $0*/ What you could get back in tax credits: $30/ Donation required today to get $30 back: $40/ Donate $40 today to maximize your tax credits before the deadline.”
Email from “Ontario NDP” Dec. 5, 2014 and email from “Director of Operations/ Canada’s New Democrats” Dec. 14, 2015. Just a few among many they’ve sent me (in return for zero total lifetime contribution) in an effort to prove that even socialists know incentives matter, except when devising or debating policy.