“Going viral,” the expression used to describe the astonishing popularity of a seemingly modest little item that within a few days racks up millions of “views” has quickly become part of our modern lexicon. Sometimes it seems harmless enough, just a nice little form of entertainment to be able to watch, for example, that really clever and very funny little dog-tease video about a man having a conversation with his dog about food that ended up being fed to the cat. The fact it went viral to the tune of many millions of views on YouTube shows just how much people all over the world are hungry for a little comic relief. Continue reading
General Interest
Combining Elementary and Secondary in One School
Beginning in 1957, my entire five-year high school career was spent at one suburban Toronto school. Downsview Collegiate Institute had just been built, at a time when elementary and secondary schools could hardly be built fast enough to keep up with that huge demographic wave, the baby boom generation. I, and others of my age, were part of an initial wave of boomers, born or conceived just before our newly recruited father/soldiers went overseas to an uncertain future. The actual post-war wave was even bigger. Continue reading
Hole Opening up in the Ozone Layer Over the Arctic
I hear the world was supposed to have ended this past May 21, according to some true believers. Since that date has apparently passed without anything especially apocalyptical happening, the crucial date has since been amended to Dec. 21, 2012. Continue reading
Capital Punishment
I was digging potatoes down in the bottom field, so I was, when I decided to take an overdue lunch break for a nice, cool glass of, um, buttermilk and a sandwich up at the house, after which I took a look at Saturday’s edition of this newspaper. As usual I turned first to the editorial/opinion pages, to see where my weekly column ended up and check out what the other great minds had to say about the important events and issues of our time.
An unsigned “point of view” editorial under the heading “time to hold referendum on death penalty debate” on the page opposite quickly caught my eye. I was, to put it mildly, shocked and appalled by what I read. Surely we’re not going to seriously consider bringing back the death penalty, let alone have a referendum about it. So what if “millions of Canadians want the return of capital punishment – whether it be by hanging or lethal injection – as punishment for the most heinous crimes against our society,” as the editorial opines? That doesn’t make it right. Continue reading
Conservative Crime Bill
Nobody can accuse me of not having a sense of humour. It’s a bit on the dark side, I must admit. Like, I sometimes get a laugh out of things that really aren’t very funny, or so some people might think.
For example, Canada’s Conservative government, newly re-elected a few months ago with a majority government despite getting just 40 percent of the popular vote, now has the numbers in Parliament to do pretty well whatever it wants. And all it took was one day of the new session of Parliament to demonstrate that the Harper government is out of touch with the real pressing issues this country and its people are facing. Continue reading
Brain Cancer Drug, Avastin, Not Approved for Provincial Funding
It boggles the mind, as I’ve said so many times before. But I’ll say it again, this time in reference to a conversation I had earlier this week with a senior Ontario Ministry of Health bureaucrat, about provincial funding for a relatively new anti-cancer drug. The drug is Bevacizumab. That’s its generic name. It’s better known by its trade name Avastin. Continue reading
Last Words of Jack Layton
The outpouring of public grief since Jack Layton died less than a week ago is the most interesting and significant aspect of one of the most important events in Canadian political history. That’s for what it reveals about the kind of person Canadians would prefer to see running the country on their behalf. And it extends all the way from Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and cabinet minister, to lowly backbencher from any party, or no party. Continue reading
Redeveloping Owen Sound’s Waterfront
You might think, considering the invitation from city council earlier this week for the public to come forward with ideas about redeveloping the waterfront, that little if any public discussion or visioning has already gone into what a revitalized harbour area should look like.
Nothing could be further from the truth, though you’d never know it from the redevelopment that’s already taken place that anybody has been paying attention to ideas and policies discussed and put in place more than a decade ago. Continue reading
Shootings at Norway Youth Camp
“This comment has violated our Terms and Conditions, and has been removed.”
That explanatory note appeared again and again in the “comment” section under one of the initial news stories I read on line about the shocking mass murder in Norway. Continue reading
Why Small is Good When it Comes to Alternative Energy
We installed a small (about 1 kilowatt per day) solar system a couple of years ago at “the farm” south of Lion’s Head. It’s been a learning experience, to say the least. As long as we get a few days of good, clear sun every week, our photovoltaic panels generate enough power to run our simple needs: an energy-efficient refrigerator, a few lights, a computer for a couple of hours a day, and the wireless device that gives us a phone and internet access. (We need to generate our own power, and rely on wireless telecommunication, because there are no power or phone lines down our road. We are totally “off grid” in both ways.) Continue reading
Finding Hope Ness 