Tue - May 20, 2008
Surprise settlements
I'm still a bit stunned by the unprecedented
early settlements
between the Canadian Auto Workers and Ford, GM and Chrysler. The September
contract expirations have been hanging over our heads ever since the Americans
ratified their contracts last fall. And we were all expecting the worst. A few
months ago anyone who said we would have agreements by the middle of May would
have been thought crazy.
Posted at 02:21 PM Read More
Wed - May 14, 2008
Rain Day
Jo-Ann just called, to tell me I was right. She's
interrupting her grand tour to go home and get some rest. I had warned her the
schedule seemed a bit ambitious.
Posted at 12:48 PM Read More
Tue - May 13, 2008
What Washington said
I've been following the American presidential
election with the same level of interest most of my family is paying to the
Stanley Cup Playoffs. They like the Detroit Red Wings, who so far are doing
very well. I like
McCain, but suspect the Republican is going to lose to Obama in November. In
that event my hope is that Obama follows the familiar pattern of successful
politicians, adopting the policies of their opponents after defeating them, at
least in regards to Iraq.
Posted at 01:13 PM Read More
Wed - April 30, 2008
War Rugs
Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan
opened last week at the Textile Museum of Canada. The exhibition
will be on display, in Toronto, until January 27, 2009.
Through three decades of international and civil war, Afghans have borne witness to disaster by weaving unprecedented images of battle and weaponry into their rugs. This exhibition presents 118 rugs that tell the story of the Afghan world turned upside down.
Posted at 11:43 AM Read More
Wed - April 23, 2008
The Butterfly Effect
The father of Chaos Theory, Dr. Edward Lorenz,
died
last week. Among his many contributions to science was the Butterfly Effect. He
gave a talk about predictability entitled "Does the Flap of a
Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in
Texas?"
The correct answer is no, but that's not what a lot of people believe, even though their common sense tells them otherwise.
The correct answer is no, but that's not what a lot of people believe, even though their common sense tells them otherwise.
Posted at 03:29 PM Read More
Sat - April 19, 2008
About Science
It was the night of the eclipse, and I was on my
way to pick up Julia. Her shift at Shoppers ended at 10 pm, the very moment of
totality.
Posted at 06:30 PM Read More
Thu - April 17, 2008
Romania, now and then
Earlier this month NATO held meetings in
Bucharest. On the agenda were potential new members and the war in Afghanistan.
Canada lobbied for, and essentially received, additional support for
our mission in Kandahar province.
Posted at 12:40 PM Read More
Mon - April 7, 2008
Whatever happened to Anti-Globalisation?
I've always been more than a little confused by
the anti-globalisation movement. Peter (aka The Plump and Gadgie)
addresses that perplexity in his post
this morning, while grieving the disappearance of a voice for global
justice.
Posted at 12:02 PM Read More
Wed - April 2, 2008
Spontaneous Innovation
The third group in the global warming debate, the
non-skeptical heretics,
took to the pages of Nature this week, challenging
some rosy scenarios by the IPCC about new technology.
The energy needs of developing nations are growing faster than anticipated. Meeting those needs with existing carbon neutral technologies is not possible. The IPCC has been assuming most of the necessary innovation would come about spontaneously. This has led to a false sense of confidence that the problem is much smaller than it really is.
The energy needs of developing nations are growing faster than anticipated. Meeting those needs with existing carbon neutral technologies is not possible. The IPCC has been assuming most of the necessary innovation would come about spontaneously. This has led to a false sense of confidence that the problem is much smaller than it really is.
Posted at 06:19 PM Read More
Sat - March 29, 2008
Failing to communicate
The Prime Minister is not doing his job,
informing Canadians about the Kandahar mission in Afghanistan. That's one of the
observations in a report (pdf)
from the pollsters at Angus Reid. They did a survey after the parliamentary
vote
to extend the mission until 2011. 58% of their respondents were opposed to the
decision, and 61% say Harper and his government are still failing to effectively
explain the mission.
Posted at 04:45 PM Read More
Thu - March 27, 2008
McCain on Foreign Policy
John McCain gave a speech yesterday, on American
foreign policy, that rivals the thoughtfulness of Barack Obama's speech on race
last week. He doesn't have the same eloquence and fluency, but he stated his
case just as well.
He called for a new league of democracies and defined success in Iraq and Afghanistan as "the establishment of peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic states that pose no threat to neighbors and contribute to the defeat of terrorists. It is the triumph of religious tolerance over violent radicalism." To abandon either country would be a dangerous mistake.
He called for a new league of democracies and defined success in Iraq and Afghanistan as "the establishment of peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic states that pose no threat to neighbors and contribute to the defeat of terrorists. It is the triumph of religious tolerance over violent radicalism." To abandon either country would be a dangerous mistake.
Posted at 07:19 PM Read More
Sun - March 23, 2008
Two Photo Blogs
Dave sent me one of those viral emails this
morning, almost entirely of recipient headers, dozens of names nested five
levels deep. Although the subject was Windsor Back Then the only content
I could see was two comments: "I think Bill was driving that yellow SW&A
bus? Enjoy." and "These sure bring back a lot of memories..."
Posted at 02:36 PM Read More
Fri - March 21, 2008
An Easter Parable
While waiting in line to see the movie Expelled,
a film about creationism and intelligent design, biologist and ID critic PZ
Myers was, well, expelled
from the premises. He left
quietly, while his family and friends stayed and watched the movie,
which includes an interview with Myers.
One of those friends was Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, perhaps the world's best known atheist.
One of those friends was Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, perhaps the world's best known atheist.
Posted at 12:53 PM Read More
Thu - March 20, 2008
Arrest Ahmadinejad
Irwin
Cotler is calling for the arrest
and trial of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, for incitement to genocide. Cotler is a former Canadian Minister of
Justice and the current human rights critic for the Liberal Party. There is
precedent, he said, in the conviction of several Rwandans, including a former
prime minister, on such charges by an international court.
Posted at 12:56 PM Read More
Tue - March 18, 2008
Obama on Race
After listening to his speech today I finally
understand why Barack Obama has so much support, despite his short and
unimpressive résumé as a politician. It's the best speech on race in
America I've heard since Martin Luther King. Obama was responding to the uproar
over controversial remarks by his
"former" pastor.
Posted at 02:55 PM Read More
A blog by Jim Monk
XML/RSS Feed
Archives
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
My Favourite Blogs
My Favourite Sites
Subscriptions
Windsor - Essex Blogs
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Published On: May 20, 2008 02:45 PM
Published On: May 20, 2008 02:45 PM