Things I think about or just find and want to share. https://craigmcn.ca/ Sun, 05 Jul 2026 20:23:12 +0000 Sun, 05 Jul 2026 20:23:12 +0000 Jekyll v3.10.0 Shrinkflation works because we check price tags, not net weights. And when our inflation measures don't track quantity, the squeeze on household budgets goes officially unrecorded. Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/shrinkflation-is-a-lie-youre-paying-for.html https://craigmcn.ca/shrinkflation-is-a-lie-youre-paying-for.html government Canada economy Opinion This week's instalment of Music Monday is Nothing Compares 2 U. The 1985 The Family original and a 1990 cover by Sinéad O'Connor. Mon, 29 Jun 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/nothing-compares-2-u-2.html https://craigmcn.ca/nothing-compares-2-u-2.html covers music video The Family Sinéad O'Connor People Music Monday The headline numbers say Canadians are doing fine. Employment is solid, inflation is down, most people are housed and not in default. The problem is that "fine" used to include something left over after the essentials, and that part has quietly disappeared. Thu, 25 Jun 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/doing-fine.html https://craigmcn.ca/doing-fine.html Canada government affordability housing economy Opinion Thoughtful Thursday This week's instalment of Music Monday is The Man Who Sold the World. The 1970 David Bowie original and a 1994 cover by Nirvana. Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/the-man-who-sold-the-world.html https://craigmcn.ca/the-man-who-sold-the-world.html covers music video David Bowie Nirvana People Music Monday Canada's housing crisis gets framed as a construction problem because building things is something governments can announce without making anyone powerful uncomfortable. The political will to address speculation, zoning and ownership hasn't materialized, and the language of crisis is doing a lot of work to disguise that. Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/canadas-housing-crisis-is-not-a-supply-problem.html https://craigmcn.ca/canadas-housing-crisis-is-not-a-supply-problem.html Canada government language housing economy Opinion A court in Ontario has ruled that homelessness is a protected ground under the Charter, and Premier Ford thinks that's cockamamie. What it actually is, is a government being held to its own constitutional obligations for the first time. Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/homelessness-is-discrimination.html https://craigmcn.ca/homelessness-is-discrimination.html government Canada housing Opinion Thoughtful Thursday This week's instalment of Music Monday is Respect. The 1965 Otis Redding original and a 1967 cover by Aretha Franklin. Mon, 01 Jun 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/respect.html https://craigmcn.ca/respect.html covers music video Otis Redding Aretha Franklin People Music Monday We engineered away every idle moment and then repackaged the experience of having nothing to do as a skill you have to learn. Nobody called it mindfulness when you were just waiting for the bus. Thu, 28 May 2026 23:02:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/weve-forgotten-how-to-be-bored.html https://craigmcn.ca/weve-forgotten-how-to-be-bored.html productivity technology mindfulness social media Opinion Thoughtful Thursday This week's instalment of Music Monday is I Will Always Love You. The 1974 Dolly Parton original and a 1992 cover by Whitney Houston. Mon, 25 May 2026 18:45:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/i-will-always-love-you.html https://craigmcn.ca/i-will-always-love-you.html covers music video Dolly Parton Whitney Houston People Music Monday The em dash has been doing honest literary work since Shakespeare, but AI models trained on classic literature adopted the habit and now overuse it so relentlessly that people call it the "ChatGPT hyphen." Blaming the punctuation is the wrong diagnosis. Thu, 21 May 2026 22:47:00 +0000 https://craigmcn.ca/in-defence-of-the-em-dash.html https://craigmcn.ca/in-defence-of-the-em-dash.html 99% Invisible language punctuation productivity AI Opinion Thoughtful Thursday