19th
June
2008
First of all, let me extend my deepest sympathies to the citizens of Huntsville, Ontario. A lovely community, really; a population of about 18,000. Beautiful countryside, nature in the driver’s seat. Quiet, for the moment. They now have about 24 months to get their barricades in place, because the current government announced today that the G8 summit will be held there in 2010.
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posted in politics |
22nd
December
2007
The weather forecast calls for rain, and I’m left with the feeling that I should worry. You see, we’ve been “blessed” with a lot of snow this last while, enough that the view out on the patio is blocked by accumulation. Now, I’m warned of heavy rainfall on the horizon, and it just might be that snow is a natural sponge. The rain falls, sinks in a few centimeters, then freezes. Instant ice pack. Will my world collapse around me sometime tomorrow?
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posted in media, Wx |
26th
September
2007
We’re due to take “our” census in the next couple of days. In this province, a head count is made on a specified morning falling as close as possible to the last date in September. Schools are funded for the current school year based on these numbers which then receive a detailed mathematical analysis. Just so you know; that are the reason computers were invented. Forget all those urban myths about bomb trajectory calculations. School funding formulae were at the root.
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posted in education |
19th
September
2007
For the second time in the last three years, one of those college dormitory fantasies has been realized. Someone has managed to do a David Copperfield on two trucks full of a particular brand of Canadian beer. Quite apart from the warning given by the corporation to loyal clients, “Stock up, because there may be a shortage until the middle of next week”, this cries out for a cheap summer movie treatment.
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posted in economy |
28th
August
2007
Watching or reading the news is an activity that is fraught with risk. One must tread through the virtual minefield of politically correct sentiment, even as the powers that be change the rules. In fact, there are no facts; all can be revised given enough time and desire. Today, there were two examples, similar in their difference.
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posted in history |
19th
August
2007
A parent asks and a child gives the simplest of answers to the most mundane of questions: What did you do today? But what if you couldn’t answer, because you can’t remember. This weekend’s video rental dealt with that dark area known as neurological damage. What if you couldn’t remember? What if the act of sequencing was derailed?
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posted in media |
10th
May
2007
People love flowers. We’re in full “go to the garden centre and buy” season locally, with the weekend lawn farmers busy sowing and hoeing and doing all those busy as a bee things that follow the fallow of winter. I’m a minimalist, but at an earlier stage in my job history (when I was but a seedling) I was the industrious slave of a greenhouse operator in central Ontario. I loved the work. Even if I was too early in the season to actually see the blooms, I knew what awaited the buyers from having planted thousands of those informative plastic tags in the flats of plants. I was a walking horticultural encyclopedia.
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posted in economy |
9th
March
2007
- Petticoat Junction 1963-1970
- Hogan’s Heroes 1965-1971
- Gilligan’s Island 1964-1967
- Beverley Hillbillies 1962-1971
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posted in history, media |
6th
March
2007
One of “my” online newspapers is carrying an open letter to parents today, explaining a policy decision from yesterday. At least they didn’t dilly-dally on getting the press release out. Allegedly (what a strange word to describe actually) the local school board in a central Ontario area decided to cancel school buses yesterday due to cold weather and blowing snow. For the safety of the students.
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posted in media, politics, Wx |
6th
February
2007
Last Saturday, Dr. David Suzuki spoke in Charlottetown. Last night, he spoke in Quebec City. Unfortunately I wasn’t in the audience for either event, but the media did present a synopsis that will have to suffice. I believe he had important words, if anyone is listening.
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posted in environment |
