“What is the good of words if they aren’t important enough to quarrel over? Why do we choose one word more than another if there isn’t any difference between them? If you called a woman a chimpanzee instead of an angel, wouldn’t there be a quarrel about a word? If you’re not going to argue about words, what are you going to argue about? Are you going to convey your meaning by moving your ears?”

G.K. Chesterton “The Peacemaker” in The Ball and the Cross, quoted in Gilbert The Magazine of the Society of G.K. Chesterton Vol. 26 #5 (May-June 2023)

In my latest National Post column I say historical amnesia seems to be Canada’s new national policy and slogan, driven by politicians who know they cannot withstand comparison with figures from the past.

“Why Japan Is Building Its Own Version of ChatGPT /Some Japanese researchers feel that AI systems trained on foreign languages cannot grasp the intricacies of Japanese language and culture”

Headline and deck on article in Scientific American September 15, 2023

In my latest National Post column I argue that the same libertarian-libertine qualities that made social media appealing across normal partisan lines, and addictive, are now making them hugely and rightly unpopular and we must make the platforms legally “publishers” to put a stop to the raging indecency.

“If you believe in a principle, never damage it with poor expression.”

Engineer Charles Parson, on why they risked arrest by taking the steam turbine ship Turbinia through the big naval review for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee to show that this kind of engine was much faster, quoted on “Incredible Speed: Turbinia” [https://youtu.be/rcQN9UxEEcM?t=336].

“Bitesized analysis, curated daily/ Busy schedule? The Economist app offers fast, digestible insights in a range of formats to suit you. Head to the Home section for a daily selection of our best analysis – all curated by senior editors.”

Email teaser from The Economist January 13, 2023 [prompting a cry of “Et tu, Economist?” not only over the pandering dumbing down/speeding up busy-lifestyle but also that pretentious “curated” – there was a time when that publication eschewed dumbing down and trendy fatuities].

In my latest Loonie Politics column I say the Peel District School Board purging all books written before 2008 is a worrying red flag about what’s happening in government schools… and I do mean red.

In my latest Epoch Times column I take aim at Orwellian social justice as is unjust, antisocial and un-Canadian.