Traditional wet shaving using a brush, some shaving soap or cream, and a double edge safety razor or a straight razor is making a comeback. Traditional wet shavers claim that the shaving goo from an aerosol can dries out your skin, and the multi-blade cartridge razors, aside from costing the sky, pull and drag and … More Getting Banned
The vast majority of mass shootings in the United States have been perpetrated by white Christian males. Until something is done to address this issue, there should be a total ban on white Christian males entering the country, and all white Christian males currently living in the U.S. should be carefully monitored and required to … More Dealing with Mass Shootings
A curious ambiguity arises when a negative main clause is followed by a ‘because” subordinate clause. Look at the following sentence: Leaders of the Islamic State don’t want Donald Trump to lose because they like him. Do you see the ambiguity? Take a minute to think about it and say the sentence out loud. The ambiguity … More The Islamic State, Donald Trump, and Grammatical Ambiguity
Religious beliefs can be lethal. But most religious beliefs seem harmless. Take the traditional Catholic belief in Limbo, where unbaptized infants spend eternity. It’s not Heaven, but it’s not Hell either. Catholics who believe in Limbo might be very upset that an infant is not going to Heaven or relieved it’s not going to Hell, but … More Taking Religion Seriously
In the United States the police are becoming increasingly militarized in order to deal with an increasingly militarized society. American civilians—including the mentally unstable, the completely deranged, and the ideologically violent—can easily get their hands on military-style assault weapons and armour-piercing ammunition, so the police can hardly get by with simple standard-issue service revolvers. So … More Dark Clouds Gathering
Nothing whips grammar purists into a frothing frenzy more than supposed errors in the use of “less” and “fewer.” The rule is pretty simple: use “less” with non-count nouns: less sugar; use “fewer: with count nouns: fewer cups of sugar. But little complications crop up. One can have many countable problems—who doesn’t?—but suppose one of … More Less/Fewer
Political extremists of all stripes are prone to conspiracy theories, witness the so-called 9/11 Truthers. The 9/11 Truthers are left-wing and right-wing activists—I am tempted to say lunatics– who believe, with precious little evidence, that the attacks of 9/11 were an inside job. They see any attempt to point out the lack of credible evidence … More My Conspiracy Theory
When business schools (meaning the Ivy League universities) send their people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending people like you. They’re sending real estate mogul wannabes that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing cheating. They’re bringing price gouging. They’re bringing drugs. (Don’t tell me they don’t … More Why I Don’t Support Donald Trump
The family doctor we’d had for the past six years suddenly left his practice for undisclosed health reasons, and we assumed we would have a very hard time finding a new doctor. GPs are in short supply in British Columbia generally and seem to be in very short supply in Victoria. We have friends who … More Near Death Experience
Extreme reactions to the attacks in Paris are to be expected, I suppose. But I was surprised to hear that so far some thirty-one states in the U.S. have decided not to accept Syrian refugees. They’re worried that Islamic extremists might sneak in with the refugees and launch attacks like the ones in Paris. I’m … More Fear of Syrians
No Harm Spilt 