Great story, Alex. Thank you.

Data is a plural noun, neuter, second declension. Fora is the same. The singulars, of course, are datum and forum.

FWIW I have pretty much given up on “data are”, since people keep correcting me.

This brings back my high school Latin teacher, Doc Morris.

In Latin, every noun is classed into one of five declensions. The short answer to your question is that arena is in a different declension from data and fora.

Arena is a singular noun, feminine, first declension. The plural is arenae.

IMHO the challenge with introducing a new structure is that so many students don't follow the structure. Lots of Ont students take a victory lap in high school. Last I checked, more completed a 4-yr degree in 5 yrs than in 4. So the gains to restructuring are diluted. We live in a cafeteria society.

Ont Min of Education commissioned a 4-part evaluation of Grade 13 elimination led by A.J.C. King, Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen’s U. Limited scope, and data ended in 2005, but it was serious work that gave timely feedback on how students were progressing. www.edu.gov.on.ca/fre/document...

Georgia is at 290 days. Mass movement of which students are a big part bsky.app/profile/mari...

It's rare that one can please a stakeholder group by not spending money

Very plausible. Every department thinks its spending is an investment in a better future. They're not entirely wrong.

FYI Champagne is now saying "early fall budget." Clearly worried that NATO Summit will bump up the 2% benchmark. Interview at www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

Sure, it's do-able. Harper inherited balanced budget, 3% GDP growth, stable military alliances. Carney's risks are higher. Markets have accepted a Fall budget. Only PP and the pundits are demanding an early budget. I think it would be reasonable for any PM to take some time and get the Budget right.

2/2 You also want stakeholder management and public communications plans. Stakeholders are dying to put their stamp on the manifesto. Sometimes they know things that are important. If you put out a budget with no stakeholder consultation, expect some tepid responses.

Budget is whole-of-govt, not just priority areas. Costings need to be acccurate year-by-year, so require at least rudimentary operat'l plans for new initiatives. Civil servants sometimes know things that manifesto-writers don't. In a budget you can't hand-wave about how to meet savings targets. Etc.

Alex, if you were Carney you would give yourself a few months to write a budget. Early budget = hasty decisions, status quo bias (because who has time?), too much influence from Finance. Also NATO is rethinking its 2% target. If 2% becomes 3% (or more), your budget would be out the window.

Intro to Stats, Fall 1973. The prof had a fancy calculator that could calculate std deviations, but the students could not afford even a basic calculator ($717 in 2025$). So we learned to calculate SDs manually. Today they learn how to use R and do group presentations.

Tough, but well substantiated. You are saying now what others will say in future. A nitpick: it was 30 pieces of silver.

Trump vs. U.S. dealt with criminal prosecutions only. So I think most of what you are asking about is outside its ambit?

Unlike PP, Harris had done a lot of fiscal thinking. But their platform called for a big tax cut in their first budget. They were in no hurry to give up the revenue. So calling 1995 document a Fall Statement allowed them to defer a promise.

There is no legal requirement for a budget. House has to vote supply. Ontario had no budget in 1995. Harris govt elected in June, delivered a "Fall Statement", and had its first Budget in spring 1996.

1983