Street Signage in Ottawa

I believe that reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity is an important expression of our regard for who we are and where we come from. I applaud each culture’s ability and tenacity to bring to this area their personal views in a peaceful and open way. Anyone who moves to this climate must really want to live here and therefore should be commended on their perseverance and love of freedom.

But I do have an issue with the nature by which street signs - nay all expressions of cultural reflections in the public domain - are reposted with languages and characteristics related to particular interest groups. When council decides who should be allowed to change public spaces and what attributes those public spaces should be composed of, there should be guidance in place that directs their decision so that favoritism is minimized and that fairness prevails. A “one-off” decision making process leads to fractionalization whereas a cohesive approach to the creation and maintenance of our collective identity allows all to contribute within a level playing field.

Our decisions as a community should be guided by policy created through the assemblage of opinion and rational thought. Let all voices be heard, not just those willing to take the stage

Surgeries in Space

A news article today indicated that the number of knee surgeries can be reduced for overweight people by the simple idea that weight is actually a causative factor in knee pain and knee failure. In fact, it was shown that by reducing an individual's weight, the pain in the knee lessened thereby allowing the individual to cancel knee surgery as the pain became tolerable.

IMHO the real causative factor is not the mass the individual carries, but the acceleration due to gravity on the mass itself (the individual). This leads me to thinking that there may be an opportunity to study joint issues in space, to understand the nature of ligature and cartilage breakdown and perhaps design new treatments based on zero gravity conditions.

We, as a human race, are taking our first steps into commercial space flights. There may be an opportunity here to further our medical knowledge on the things that afflict mankind. Perhaps Sir Richard Branson could invest in this most potentially lucrative venture...

Global Warming?

Ever notice that when it gets cold outside, water vapor forms on the inside of the windows in your house. This is due to the fact that warm air holds more moisture than cold air. When the warm air hits the glass on the windows, heat is lost to the glass from the air, allowing the air to cool forcing the water molecules to "drop" on to the window pane and hence the "fogging" of the window occurs.

What if we take this to a global scale?

North America, Europe and most countries in the northern hemisphere this year are experiencing major downfalls of snow and rain unheard of in the last 60 years. If we were in fact heating up, would not the atmosphere be able to hold more moisture rather than drop it on the earth? My hypothesis at this time is that the earth is now in a short cooling trend evidenced by the amount of moisture coming to rest on the planet.

Increasing Food Prices

I do most of the grocery shopping for my household and I have noticed over the years ever increasing food prices and an ever increasing rate of change of food prices. For example in one year alone, cheese has gone up $2 for a 600g brick. The year before that it went up about a dollar. I am beginning to wonder when the "cost of food curve" will flatten out and allow wages to catch up.

I am what one would call an "aware" consumer. I voraciously read flyers and try to buy things only on sale. I do appreciate the "Christmas" sales that temporarily lower prices and that is when I stock up. Naturally fresh food cannot be stocked up on but you can limit what you buy to a more essential and traditional list. I live in a colder climate and hence fresh vegetables and fruit are at premium prices during the winter months.

I tend to eat as my parents did in the winter months by relying heavily on potatoes, turnips, carrots and any vegetable that can be frozen. To supplement my diet I take vitamins and minerals, including large doses of Vitamin C, D and E and with this I have noticed a significant increase in energy.

With all of that said, I am wondering what the food prices will be in the future. How will my children be able to afford the basics in life? Are we all going to have to go back to subsistence farming just to get by or are we going to become fully indentured servants to corporations and the government - the two main consumers of the outputs of all of our activities...

What Now 2010?

Here we are - a new year. What changes are we going to expect this coming year? Are there going to be earth shattering changes to our climate? Will economic policies change such that wealth is better distributed between the haves and the have-nots? Or like most years, there will be a series of gradual changes each incrementally changing the environment in which we live to some degree.

How are we, as a global community, going to move forward? Will the wars that constantly rage be calmed? Will rational thought creep into the minds of those in power so that the waste that is war (and the perceived threats that precede it) is ended.

My fervent hope is for a a shift in global fiscal policy to one not based on debt management but on long term sustainable growth in industries that truly benefit human kind.

Unbelievable

The Federal Government in the US is going to give another $3.8 B to GMAC. WOW!!!!!

My understanding of capitalism is that when a company does not provide products or services that the marketplace wants, it either changes what it produces/offers or it dies. Period. For the US Fed Gov to take even a stronger position in a company that has been floundering for years seems like a pretty bad investment. But what is even worse is that the US will borrow (or print) more money from somewhere to give to GM putting US citizens in a longer term debt position.

We here in Canada are no better off as I am sure we will be part of the GMAC solution or problem (depending on your perspective). Supporting companies that cannot withstand competition in the marketplace is simply bad business IMHO. Short term gain for long term pain is not they way out of our current crisis. We need to be thinking about "re-tooling" the employees and the manufacturing facilities to produce more meaningful and substantial human- benefiting products. Do we not have enough cars provided by other manufacturers?

I am sure that Adam Smith would not approve of such invasive actions into the activities of publicly traded companies.

Carbon Zero City

Hi,

I always find it interesting reading about environmental initiatives taking place that are touted as great achievements for mankind. Although I applaud foresight and forward-thinking, we must remember the cost some of the initiatives come with and their hidden impacts on the future. One only has to look under the surface just a bit to see what the real effects are or have been that run counter to the environmental vision.

Take for example the Masdar Initiative, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A supposed “carbon zero city”. This initiative is being espoused as a great environmental breakthrough. It is important to note that a lot of what they are trying to put in place is definitely laudable. Building a city where no one needs to drive cars is great. Obviously it must be a small city with little need for travel and the people who live in it have no desire for a lawn or garden and enjoy living in high-rises.

Three key items I think deserve mentioning regarding this initiative are:

1. The money to back the initiative comes from past oil revenue. I would say they have played a significant role in shooting carbon into the atmosphere just like us – guilty by association.
2. UAE will continue to pump and sell oil to us (Thank You Very Much- we need it) at a high cost preventing some of us from diverting fuel costs to energy efficiencies such as new home appliances.
3. Construction techniques being what they are today, require significant oil consumption. How does one make concrete with breaking down limestone first to make cement?

It is easy to build a city that uses very little fossil fuel when the rest of the world is burning oil on your behalf and funding the construction with their hard-earned dollars.