The Case Against "The Conservative Case for a Carbon Tax"*
July 28, 2008 by Paul McKeever · Leave a Comment
Liberal Party of Canada leader Stéphane Dion may very well lose his job following the next election. His ouster might even be justified by the fact that his unprincipled “Green Shift” platform is politically costly yet offers nothing conservatives would recognize as a benefit. However, were conservatives to press ahead with “The Conservative Case for a Carbon Tax” described by National Post columnist Jonathan Kay, they would actually be functioning as the liberal collectivist’s most effective weapon against both conservativism and capitalist individualism. The leader of such a conservative movement would be more deserving of ouster than even Mr. Dion. Read more
NEW VIDEO – The Psychology of Green: The Death Cult of Zero Worship
July 15, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 3 Comments
On July 9, 2008, I was the guest of “Just Right” with Robert Metz on radio CHRW (FM 96.8, London, Ontario, Canada). The topic of the one-hour program was “The Psychology of Green”.
Over the course of the program, I contrasted rational individuals of high self-esteem with irrational individuals of low-self esteem. Read more
Three Ideas Implicit in the American Revolution
July 6, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 2 Comments
The Western Standard (www.westernstandard.ca) asked me to write “a short, 250-word comment on the ideas motivating the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. My submission is still online, together with a number of other distinguished individuals’ submissions on the same topic. It all makes for some great food for thought.
What follows is my submission, as headlined and bylined by the fine editors of the Western Standard. Read more
Green Turns to Brown: "Zeitgeist", "Not Normal Times", and BS
June 30, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 5 Comments
With gas prices up at around C$1.35 per litre, the release a week and a half ago of Stéphane Dion’s “Green Shift” plan to impose more taxes on middle and upper income earners is being rejected. You can see it in letters to the editor, you can read it on blogs. And the left has been left with little ability to respond to the plan’s assessment as a failure.
Of those who are neutral or positive about The Green Shift, virtually none are defending its actual content. Doing so would expose it for what it is: a proposal for a dramatic shift of earnings, from those who earn to those who do not. Instead, we are getting spirited sermons about how “green” is a freight train that cannot be stopped. The psychological strategy is obvious enough: if a proposal is too irrational and destructive to sell on its merits, tell people that no matter what the proposal is, the cultural momentum in favour of it is too great to stop its implementation.
Here are today’s disgustingly transparent examples. Read more
All Nut, No Tree: FP's Terry Corcoran Interviews Stéphane Dion
June 29, 2008 by Paul McKeever · Leave a Comment
As I write, I am listening to a recording of Financial Post editor Terry Corcoran interviewing Liberal Party of Canada leader Stéphane Dion. The experience is surreal. A bit like listening to a psychiatrist interviewing a mental patient about some notes they have found tucked behind a loose brick in the patient’s holding cell: crazy notes detailing plans for a comet-chasing mass-suicide. Read more
Just Registered: Reason's Harvest…dot COM
June 25, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 3 Comments
I am happy to announce that, today, I registered the domain name reasonsharvest.com. That domain’s temporary home page will be replaced over the coming weeks as I approach an as-yet not determined launch date. However, in what follows, I provide a little background about why I have registered the site. Read more
Problem Solved for Stéphane Dion: Shift from Green to Red
June 24, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 1 Comment
Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper today reported that a well-established Toronto-based company, Green Shift Inc., which carries on business under the name “Green Shift” (in which it holds the registered Trade Mark), is contemplating the commencement of legal action against the Liberal Party of Canada. Last week, the Liberal Party of Canada released a platform of “green” proposals to tax the consumption of “carbon”, while purportedly lowering income tax rates to make the new carbon taxes “revenue neutral” (but, see below). The Liberals named the platform “The Green Shift”, and registered the domain name thegreenshift.ca to promote it. Green Shift Inc.’s domain name is greenshift.ca (no “the”). Read more
Marijuana and the Short-lived Freedom of the Summer of 2003
June 23, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 3 Comments
On June 19, 2008, the National Post’s Letters Editor, Paul Russell, posted to the NP blog a letter he had received from a reader, Ross Reynolds. In the letter, Mr. Reynolds asserted that there is no “constitutionally valid” law (i.e., there is no law) prohibiting the possession of marijuana in Canada. Read more
An Open Letter to Premier McGuinty Re: "Psychics" and the Laws of Ontario
June 19, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 4 Comments
June 19, 2008
Hon. Dalton McGuinty
Premier
Main Legislative Building
Room 281, Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A1
Dear Premier McGuinty:
Re: “Psychics”, “Reasonable Grounds”, and the Case of Colleen and Victoria Leduc
Like many Ontarians, I am shocked to hear news reports concerning the case of Ms. Colleen Leduc and her daughter, Victoria, who suffers from autism. Read more
Meridianfrost as Jim Taggart: Contrived Laughter in Lieu of Rational Counter-argument
June 17, 2008 by Paul McKeever · 3 Comments
I find it difficult to bring myself to watch shows like the Daily Show. Don’t get me wrong, some of the content on that show is quite funny. However, much too much of what today passes for “comedy” (especially on that show) consists of little more than running a clip of someone, then looking into the camera and either laughing or smiling. Read more
