Author: Ian Chadwick

Semi-retired writer, editor, reviewer, media relations & communications consultant. Former municipal politician. Ukulele player. Aficionado of Shakespeare, Horace, Machiavelli, Chaucer, Cicero, Homer, and tequila. Curmudgeon and cynic. Lay historian. Godzilla and ERB fan. PC gamer. Avid reader. Skeptic. WordPress/website tinkerer. Loving husband. Companion to one dog and two cats. Passionate about my small town. Perennially curious about everything. My writing is copyright © protected.

On the Bay’s Libertarian Piffle

Less (sic) taxes is, for On the Bay‘s publisher David Loopstra, a “solution” for the problems of inflation. It’s certainly not the solution for correct grammar, where he should have written fewer taxes or the phrase “less in taxes.” You can only get away with saying less if the noun is singular (tax). Perhaps I expected too much of a former newspaper reporter and editor. But regardless of his foray into the bad vernacular, his opinion piece in the magazine is merely poorly-informed libertarian piffle. … click below for more ↓

Why Are Canada’s Conservatives Opposed to Everything Good?

Canada used to be known worldwide as a nation of nice people. Canadians were thought of as polite, cheerful, compassionate, caring, respectful, honest, and helpful. We said please and thank you. We opened doors for people. We opened our homes and took in people in trouble. We gave aid to others. We were so well respected worldwide that American travellers sewed Canadian flags on their backpacks so people would not think they were actually Americans. But all that has changed. And I blame the conservatives … click below for more ↓

Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Maybe I’m just old and jaded, but after watching the 2023 movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, I couldn’t figure out why the film wasn’t in WalMart’s $5 bin rather than on the racks at $15. This is from a fan not only of fantasy novels and movies, but someone who actually played the game back in the ’70s and has played most of the computer knock-offs since. But the film left me cold. It came across as formulaic, predictable, and flat. Worse, a … click below for more ↓

CBC Strives for Supermarket Tabloid Status

As a source of credible journalism, CBC used to be one of the standards by which other media measured themselves. It was reliable, honest, and responsible. Oh, how far CBC has fallen from that perch. Decades of (mostly CONservative-implemented) cuts to reporting and editing staff, egregious layoffs too often in parallel with high executive bonuses ($14.9 million paid to roughly 1,100 people in 2023), coupled with an executive management which has clearly lost focus and has been flailing about aimlessly have taken their inevitable toll … click below for more ↓

Aptos vs Calibri

Did you notice the change? Microsoft has made the typeface Aptos the new default for its Office programs, replacing the venerable Calibri after 17 years. Aptos has been rolled out to users since December, 2023, and, at least for me, finally made it to my versions of Office in February. I. like so many others, didn’t notice it right away. I do a lot of my writing online, like this blog, where other typefaces are used. I only twigged onto the change last week when … click below for more ↓

Mayor Meets Premier: We Have Questions

In a municipal announcement, led with a screaming all-caps headline like a toddler in a toy store tantrum, the Town of Collingwood published a short statement from Mayor Hamlin about her recent meeting with Premier Doug Ford. Wait, you didn’t know about that meeting? Apparently, few in Collingwood did (and as of this writing, it has not appeared in any local media outlet). Read on. While normally a meeting with the head of the provincial government would be a good thing and worthy of a … click below for more ↓

Higher Taxes, But Fewer Services in Collingwood

Collingwood Council is currently debating some major changes to the town’s bylaws, many of which appear to mean fewer services and less support for our residents. This council has once again increased our property taxes and user fees (while giving themselves yet another pay raise as their reward for doing so!). There have been annual tax hikes in Collingwood every year for the past decade. And where has all that money gone if not to providing more and better services to residents? The town is … click below for more ↓

Hamlin’s Letter-Writing Debacle, Part Two

Collingwood’s mayor’s arrogant refusal to cooperate and collaborate with our regional neighbours to support the long-overdue redevelopment of the General and Marine Hospital continues to make local news and infuriate residents. While her autocratic behaviour in refusing to sign the letter of support backed by all other neighbouring municipalities throws egg all over her, it also blackens the reputation of the town. But does the feckless Hamlin care? Not a whit. Let them eat cake! The original letter as signed by five other local mayors … click below for more ↓

Opt-in Polls: Bad Data, Bad Science, and Bad Actors

I was perusing the usual collage of semi-news, trivia, and fluff on CollingwoodToday recently and noticed a poll at the bottom asking “How old are you?” It piqued my interest enough to add my vote. I’m always interested in demographics and statistics, and am curious about changing media engagement, especially now that print media has been scuttled locally. Who is reading it online? And how might that reflect both our community’s demographics and political leanings? But wait… is voting really that simple? Point and click? … click below for more ↓

Our Arrogant Mayor is At It Again

For me, I didn’t see the need for another letter at this time. Things could change,” Mayor Yvonne Hamlin sniffily replied to CollingwoodToday in her best “Let them eat cake” manner. “For me.” It’s always about me, me, me. It’s almost like she took selfishness lessons from Councillor Jeffrey. Hamlin was responding to a question about why she, representing Collingwood, refused to sign a letter about our hospital being sent to “provincial health minister and deputy premier Sylvia Jones indicating the desire to see the … click below for more ↓

Have Conservatives Finally Become Irredeemable?

In the past, whenever I read news about any conservative leader, party or government — small-c conservative, including the Canadian federal and provincial Conservative parties, the American Repugnicans, and the British Tories — I always have to ask myself, “Can they get any more corrupt than this?” Then I ask, “Can they be any more dishonest?” And then “Can they be any more batshit crazy?” And every time I look further, they surprise me by scraping the metaphorical barrel deeper, diving to new depths of … click below for more ↓

Making Gilead a Reality

American Talibangelists recently took a giant step towards creating Gilead in the USA when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were due the same legal protection as real children (although children there have less protection because Repugnicans care little about actual children than embryos). It extended the the legal definition of a human life to start at conception.* This 131-page ruling includes 41 references to god, flipping the bird to even lip service to the separation of state and church. And so the … click below for more ↓

The Death of Reading?

There are days when I despair for humanity’s future. Many days, of late, it seems, and they seem to get more frequent as I read the news. I recently read an article online that confirms my belief we’re all doomed by the accelerating stupidity that seems to be consuming the planet.* It makes me want to go back to bed, pull the covers over my head, and hibernate from the rest of the world while it destroys itself with self-propelled ignorance. And reading is connected … click below for more ↓

How Low Can You Go?

A Gallup poll released last summer suggested Americans are finally waking up to reality, although clearly they still have a long way to go. An article about this hopeful change in American thinking on Gallup’s website was titled, Belief in Five Spiritual Entities Edges Down to New Lows. Exciting as that headline seems, the figures showing belief in the supernatural are still way too high for a supposedly modern, advanced nation. And never forget that the Talibangelists still have a chokehold on US politics and … click below for more ↓