Trench Warfare US Democrats Style

The BBC had a nice summary about Hillary and Obama today. As I was reading this I was struck by how dissonant the campaign is from what I perceive as the ideal qualities for the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
North American political campaigns have gotten increasingly nasty and personal over the years (Canada is [...]

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Energy Outlook — It’s Ostrich Time

The Future of Oil – New York Times
This article has the cheerful prospect of the number of airplanes and cars doubling in the next 30 years — no doubt the buyers in China and India eager to catch up with the West in waste and consumption. Then the article asks — where is the oil [...]

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Natural Resources — Enjoy them While They Last

Prairie Birds Flirt, and a Town Livens Up – New York Times
This article in todays’ New York Times is about an area in Missouri that has recognized the wonder of their rapidly declining bird populations. There are bird watcher tours with waiting lists. The locals have built blinds so the visitors can get a good [...]

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Bill C-10 and Taxpayer Say

globeandmail.com: Senator caught saying Verner hates Bill C-10
Its nice to hear that folks in the government have mixed feelings about funding the arts in Canada — or more precisely the kind of arts that are funded from the public purse. It is being labeled as censorship — a terrible word to be sure. But is [...]

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Burning Food – My Experiences

globeandmail.com: Why costs are climbing
The story of soaring food prices being helped along by competition from ethanol production for fuel supplements hit a nerve today. The Globe article mentioned that to fill an SUV tank with ethanol consumes more corn than a typical African eats in a year. This is a pretty frightening picture [...]

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New Version of Windows? Oh No, Not Again

I read with horror the cheerful announcement that there was going to be another version of Windows out sooner than expected — Windows 7. I am sure it will be new and improved with only limited carryforward compatibility with previous versions. So in order to move forward (as the vendor insists) we will not only [...]

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Living With Robots — The Indoor Edition

For some time now I have been living with robots — and it has been interesting to say the least. Outdoors the grass is being cut (after the snow all melts) by a wonderful Lawnbott Evolution (more about this in a future post) and indoors the crud is kept somewhat under control with Roomba. Over [...]

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That Great Bell Experience

reportonbusiness.com: BCE deal will proceed as planned, adviser says
My experience with Bell repair service today makes me hope that somebody buys these guys and transforms them back into a company that cares for their customers, not just their bill payments.
Our area had an extended power outage today. It used to be that when the power [...]

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Negative Politics

Carrying Primary Scars Into the General Election – New York Times
This interesting little article in today’s New York Times reminded me of why I find politics on both sides of the border so tedious. Seems that for years now the candidates have girded themselves and fought it out before the electorate not in terms of [...]

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