More and more fun is nixed out of modern life.

Allez-y, thé rouge.

This post-industrial world has resolved communities into loose groups of perpetually mobile profit-seeking individuals.

Can this terrible obesity trend be abated in the U.S. and Canada?

See http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/an-epidemic-of-obesity/ .

To thaw means to melt.

Interestingly, Armageddon, the apocalypse, was foretold in both Christianity and Islam.

Finally I've gotten an Asian strainer to help with my cooking.

In proper English, when in a restaurant, parents with a toddler should ask a waitron for a booster seat, not for a booster.

A piece of phenolic cookware essentially means its handles are phenolic, which translates into plain English as "heat resistant handle(s)".

Since when has the word "staunch" become a negative one?

"Stuffy" should be negative, but should "staunch" too?

The United Church of Canada is "the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Roman Catholic Church."

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Canada .

I'm rueful that the life of us human beings in big cities has insidiously become so busy.

I've gotten used to stock Valleyspeak words such as "like" and "totally".

It's common knowledge now that smoking cigarettes sullies one's lung, throat, and mouth.

Do troubles ever abate in life?

"The Everlasting" means God.

"Decimation" is an interesting word.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army) .

I for one can sense that many, if not the better part of, Canadian consumers are sort of maxed out.

Does the French word "bâton" sound prettier than its English counterpart, "baton"?

Yes, probably a little prettier, IMHO.

Will there be jocund years?