I am so very sick and tired of hearing ‘I can do whatever I want on my own property!’ The latest instance concerns a neighbour who has stuck some of those new solar lights in front of her cottage, lakeside of course. Thing is, they don’t have an on/off switch. So what she’s done on …
Category: environment
Nov 08 2017
The Weather Report
Does anyone else find the weather report really, really irritating? All that drama! It’s going to rain! Oh how exciting! A low pressure weather front is moving in! Oh my, grab the kids!! And the pseudo-scientific detail! The rain is going to be caused by water droplets, that’s droplets of H2O, in the air that …
Jun 05 2017
Business in Denial
‘We’re just providing what the market, what people, demand.’ ‘The customer is squarely in the driver’s seat.’ Yeah right. Gosh, shucks, don’t-look-at-me. One, I doubt that’s true. I mean, if people really wanted your product, you wouldn’t (have to) spend millions on advertising, advertising to persuade them to buy it. Supply isn’t (just) following demand; …
May 02 2017
Visionary?
Reading about Nipissing University’s Students in Free Enterprise (NUSIFE), which is a group of students who undertake projects “intended to increase the public’s awareness of entrepreneurship and business-related subjects,” it occurs to me to wonder why such an endeavour is undertaken only by business students. Consider the projects listed below – and imagine… – “Global …
Aug 18 2016
Blood & Oil
[since I’m at it — posting about tv that happened oh, a year ago…see June 1 post] About a year ago, the weather reports became dramatic. Forecasters started talking about “extreme weather events” with voices and gestures that rivalled sports game commentary, making droughts, wildfires, floods, tornados, and high temperatures all so—exciting. My god, I …
Sep 21 2015
Climate Change Disaster Movies
Have you noticed the increase in climate change disaster movies? Right, yeah, let’s get everyone comfortable with the idea. The idea that survival is possible. And, after, if only heroism.
Feb 24 2014
This weather brought to you by…
“A deep freeze continues to sweep through Europe, mudslides and avalanches caused by heavy rains and snowmelt in Oregon and Washington have prompted evacuation notices, prolonged drought continues to devastate much of the American Midwest, Texas, and Mexico, with many areas now being without rain for over 200 days, and flash fires continue to rage …
Nov 07 2013
Have you noticed the way the weather is being reported lately?
Have you noticed the way the weather is being reported lately? Climate change, specifically global warming, as evidenced by the dramatic increase in severe storms and the decrease in polar ice…they’re making it entertaining. Entertaining, for gawdsake. Commentators refer to “extreme storms” — making them sound all exciting and daring, like “extreme sports”. Another opens …
Oct 18 2013
Needs and Wants
I don’t like living in a global community. When everything is so interconnected, everything I do (or don’t do) is bound to be at someone else’s expense. Mere self-interest seems impossible; selfishness is inevitable. For example,
Oct 04 2013
The Revision of “Oh Canada”
I’m all for sex-neutral language. In fact, I think we should completely revamp English to eliminate all sex-specific terms (except ‘male’ and ‘female’, to be used only in relevant contexts, most likely only in medical contexts). As is, the language encourages, obsessively, sex-differentiation when sex is, or should be, irrelevant. As is, it supports the …
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