“To grab yourself more thinking time, Alan Connor of BBC News Magazine advises: ‘The most common advice boils down to something that might seem obvious: Only work when you’re being paid to work. The rest of the day is yours to do with as you wish - and you may wish to devote it to thought. Obvious, perhaps, but not obvious enough that we do it: ... between 50 and 80 per cent of us skip an actual break for lunch, let alone using the hour for quiet contemplation. You might not have heard the unspeakable expression “eating al desko,” but if you’ve been in an office, you’ve probably witnessed the sorry spectacle of a workstation becoming a dining table for seven minutes and a hastily chomped panino.’”

“Social Studies” in Globe & Mail August 1, 2008

In my latest National Post column I point to a troubling pattern of Prime Minister Mark Carney lying constantly, brazenly and recklessly about things big and small, including his personal conflicts of interest, without thus far facing any consequences.

In my latest Epoch Times column I say that when our finance minister claims a call for efficiencies he doesn’t even realize he has no idea how to find represents “a long-term transformation of government” it confirms that those in power think words are deeds and wishes are horses. Which is why they never actually study how government works.

“Secret of living? Find people to pay you money to do what you would pay to do if you had the money.”

Sarah Caldwell quoted in D.P. Diffiné, “The 1993 American Incentive System Almanac”

“I got off to a roaring stop”

Me on sitting down to work December 29, 2924 with an ambitious agenda of cleaning up fundamentals and being immediately overwhelmed by urgent trivia in yesterday’s leftover email.

In my latest Epoch Times column I follow up on the question of where the feds expect to find $150 billion a year for defence alone by warning that the overall fiscal situation is far worse than they think including, crucially, how little time they have to fix it.

In my latest Loonie Politics column I say all the excitement about Zohran Mamdani is misplaced, not because he isn’t potentially important but because what matters isn’t whether he wins a primary or even the New York general mayoral election. It’s what happens if and when he tries to govern and what the result tells us about the soundness or insanity of his principles.

“Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly”

Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria quoted in Will Durant Caesar and Christ