Anthony Philbinhttp://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/author/57enghttp://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/857http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/857The recent publishing of Marci McDonald’s The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, was timed to coincide with Canada’s annual National Prayer Breakfast (NPB). Though the first occurrence of the prayer breakfast took place when The Beatles arrived on North American soil, back in 1964, I have to say I’d probably still be in the dark about it if not for the clever marketing ploy by McDonald’s publisher.Anthony PhilbinThu, 22 Jul 2010 13:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/841http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/841FIFA, the body governing the sport of soccer globally, counts some 207 countries as members. As Kofi Anan humbly admitted in a recent World Cup press release, the UN has only 191 members. This, and a number of other observations on what has become The World’s Game, were at the heart of Mr. Anan’s obvious soccer-envy in his latest message.Anthony PhilbinThu, 10 Jun 2010 06:50:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/598http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/598Who among us, I wonder, didn’t feel something akin to goose bumps as the reality of Barack Obama’s acceptance of the Democratic nomination for President settled in upon them last week. One moment we were in the midst of just another U.S. presidential campaign, admiring yet another over-packaged, albeit ‘well-cadenced’ politician, and the next we were witnessing nothing short of the embodiment of Martin Luther King’s triumphant vision of justice and equality in America...Anthony PhilbinThu, 18 Jun 2009 13:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/624http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/624The principles by which all western financial institutions are currently operated permit them to loan vast sums of money that they don’tactually have. This disconnect between reality and currency is a necessary evil if you posit that a growing economy is a healthy economy, but when the rules that control just how much the banks can pull out of their magic hats become lax or under-applied, there are some very real implications both for the health of society and the freedom of its borrowers...Anthony PhilbinThu, 18 Jun 2009 04:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/400U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson hasn’t clearly explained why the U.S. needs to bail out the Wall Street millionaires, and he has even gone on record saying that the $700 billion figure in the bailout package is completely arbitrary. He has further admitted that the $700 billion number is “not based on any particular data point”. In other words he doesn’t have a clue...Anthony PhilbinThu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/200http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/200While bankers and financiers and the lawmakers they control are spinning various doom and gloom scenarios to rationalize why they need saving, under the tenets of a free market economy what we are witnessing is not some unexpected or earth-shattering aberration...Anthony PhilbinThu, 02 Oct 2008 23:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/232http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/232Historic moments have a way of sneaking up on us...Anthony PhilbinThu, 04 Sep 2008 16:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/359http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/359Let’s imagine for a moment that you want to buy a family home. Average price in Canada today: $300,000. You go to a friend and ask them if you can borrow the money, but your friend doesn’t have the $300K—not even close. Despite the fact that they don’t have the money, your friend pulls out some official-looking forms and tells you to sign here, here and here...Anthony PhilbinThu, 15 May 2008 15:00:00 -0400