Salem-News.com Articles written by Daniel Johnson

Canadian Plastic

Canadian Actor John Candy: "What kind of plastic you carry?"

(CALGARY, Alberta) - In the 1987 movie Trains, Planes and Automobiles John Candy and Steve Martin are staying in the same room and the same bed, when they're robbed by a small town burglar. Candy: “What kind of plastic you carry?”

Martin: “Visa and a gasoline card. Oh, and I’ve got a Neiman Marcus card in case we want to buy a gift for someone. What have you got?”

Occupy Wall Street User Manual--Part 1

Knowledge is power.

(Calgary, Alberta) - In the 19th century, history was largely explained by The Great Man Theory , the paradigm that history was made and driven by extraordinary individuals who, through either charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellian skills, expressed their power in a way that had a decisive impact on the flow of history.

Herbert Spencer, the 19th century Father of Sociology, rejected this idea, saying that such “great” men are really the products of their social milieu, and that their actions would be impossible outside their social environment.

Alberta: Political hell looms

If the Wildrose Party forms the government on April 23, Alberta is on its way to becoming Alabama north with oil.

(Calgary, Alberta) - Alberta is one of the few places in the world that is rat-free, and has been so for more than half a century.

Only zoos, universities, and research institutes are allowed to own caged rats in Alberta, and possession of an unlicensed rat (even a pet rat) is punishable by a $5,000 fine or 60 days in jail.

Down and Out in Paris and London

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair, 1903-1950) was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century,

(Calgary, Alberta) - The title of his best known book, 1984, has become a cultural reference in itself, like catch-22.

Some of the terms from that book have become part of our language: Orwellian an attitude and policy of control by propaganda; newspeak a simplified and obfuscatory language designed to make independent thought impossible; doublethink holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously.

Freedom of or from religion?

Perhaps there is a god; he’s just tired of Americans, being so full of themselves.

(Calgary, Alberta) - Outside the Islamic world, the U.S. is the most religious nation on earth. Canada and the European nations are all nominally religious in orientation, but no one takes their religion more seriously than the American people.

The Constitution supposedly guarantees the separation of church and state but in reality, it does no such thing.

Barefoot, Pregnant and in the Kitchen

Politically, we are watching the U.S. spiralling down the drain.

(Calgary, Alberta) - I was outraged by the headline when I opened this morning’s New York Times: Women in Texas Losing Options for Health Care in Abortion Fight.

Not only have the Republicans declared war on women, but many women are willingly serving as foot soldiers in the ranks.

A Modest Proposal

For preventing the poor and unemployed of America, from being a burden on their families or country, and for making them beneficial to the public.

(Calgary, Alberta) - The American economy appears to be slowly recovering, but one segment of the population will never recover. Over the last decade or so, an underclass of poor has appeared and expanded.

There are, in addition, millions of unemployed who, because of age or lack of contemporary vocational skills will never be employed again. This is an unfortunate reality.

The American Voter

The government “safety net” was originally intended to keep people out of abject poverty, but the safety net is now increasingly focussed on propping up the middle class.

(Calgary, Alberta) - Is the average American voter naïve, clueless, or just plain stupid? Or some combination of the three?

I started thinking about these possibilities when President Obama was in the process of reforming the health care system. People showed up at rallies to protest; some chanted and other carried signed that said: “Keep your government hands off my Medicare”. Duh.

There`s nothing wrong with America that a new Constitution won`t fix

A visitor to earth, watching the 192 UN member states march into the future, might well say: "Look! Everyone is out of step, but the United States."

(Calgary, Alberta) - To the end of his life, Albert Einstein's best friend at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton was the mathematician and logician Kurt Godel.

In 1947, when Godel was about to go through his citizenship hearing, he revealed to Einstein and economist Oskar Morgenstern, that he had discovered flaws in the Constitution that would make it possible for the U.S. to become a dictatorship.

Canada Stepping Out in Front

Denial is not just a river in Egypt--it's also too real an attitude for too many Americans.

(Calgary, Alberta) - On a recent story, Stephen, a frequent commenter wrote:

I think it is an illusion to think Canada is a country. Canada is one of the 50+ states.