What kind of fool voluntarily pays taxes on money that doesn’t exist? Well, the same kind of fool that sues a country because his feelings are hurt.
posted in politics | Comments Off on Equality is just a concept | 267 words
On of those defining moments in an educated life is when you realize that something learned a long time ago is finally relevant. Let’s set the situation. We’re in a physics class around 1970 and the topic of the day is static electricity. We start with the wimpy foil leaf that moves in response to an ebony rod that was rubbed with rabbit fur. Boring. Write up the lab report and wait for the next class.
posted in education | Comments Off on Poetic justice | 338 words
Before we go any further, the refrain to the song goes as follows: “C’est la faute des liberaux”. Or, after running it through the New Goverment translation service: “It is the fault of the liberals”. What fault? Governments don’t have those. Oh yes, this time around, it appears that our arms sales have been doing much better than previously reported. Or, not reported, in this case.
posted in economy | Comments Off on When the shine fades on the halo | 291 words
Spoiled, that’s what you kids are. Why, in my day we had a metal tub that was filled with water heated on the back of a stove, and we took turns. We weren’t too big, or too dirty, so the system worked. Now, you have a shower! Not just a garden hose that you run back and forth under. A shower. We (the loving, caring parents) have even added a new head, just for your water-wasting pleasure.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Reverse marketing psychology | 415 words
The final box of “stuff” from the big box store has been carried in from the van, and you come to the realization that your “digs” are just too small for your consuming. The floor space has been reduced due to the furniture store visit, and the refrigerator is now difficult to explore. Oh for the good old days when the ‘fridge was a window toward the football field, and the only new stuff in view was a library book on short term loan. At times like this, wouldn’t it be nice if somebody would show up and attach some additional rooms?
posted in technology | Comments Off on More rooms on demand | 291 words
The definition of a crisis depends on the who, what, when, where and why of a situation. Basic journalism has always known this. Drought, famine, pestilence; all have characteristics that identify the monster under a particular bed. This morning, the news brought up one that most of us never think about; the decreasing water levels in our Great Lakes. I realize we share them with the neighbour, but that’s a detail. Or is it?
posted in economy, environment | Comments Off on It isn’t missing – it’s been reallocated | 362 words
My morning started out with a complete validation of what I’ve been doing for the last two decades. My professional duties have had, as a focus, the evangelization of the computer as a useful tool in education. Today, I did the setup for a meeting involving administrators, teachers and representatives of the minister of education. Nothing too showy; a laptop and a projector, some video footage, the usual. The difference is that this audience expected the tools to be there, and they welcomed the media content. Stuff that had been recommended by someone to someone else via a link in email, which they all can’t live without. A conference room where the laptop was ordinary. Working wireless.
posted in computing, environment | Comments Off on Media as a reward | 314 words
The classics are full of heroic gestures. Fruitless efforts, but part of the character of anyone who would be remembered forever. King Canute ordering the waves to cease. Don Quixote (Kee-ho-tay, not Quicks-ott) tilting at windmills. Sisyphus rolling rocks uphill. And my personal favourite; the man with the leafblower. A warrior against countless enemies.
posted in environment | Comments Off on Fruitless effort | 263 words
Somehow a bit of snow seems like a blessing, when I see the news footage from southern California. Wildfires are exactly that. In fact, there are times when the material resembles some webcam stuff from the edge of a live volcano in Hawaii. Five hundred thousand people on the move to someplace that is less like Dante’s sixth circle. Not exactly what their tourist bureau wants as an image for the rest of the continent.
posted in media | Comments Off on Burning down the house | 313 words
One should always be prepared. We have a whole youth movement based on the idea. Sometimes a great notion has to be tested, and today I went through a good old-fashioned, count the seconds situation: the fire drill.
posted in education | Comments Off on Testing the response times | 346 words
