Tonight's blog comes to you via my shiny new laptop. I'm not bragging. I begrudgingly bought a new one after I had to admit my beloved old one had become unmanageably unstable.

Despite multiple viewings of the dreaded blue screen, one unfortunate crash that fatally wounded my old hard drive (and almost lost all my electronic files were it not for a generous couple of IT guys from my old place of employment), an overabundance of internal heat that nearly scalded my legs on more than one occasion, an inability to hold a charge and a consistent trend towards intermittent crashing, general lethargy and an overall lack of reliability... despite all this, I loved my old laptop and fought a good fight for it.

It felt the gentle rays of the west … Read More

It's October 23rd and my neighbours have gone Christmas. Their oversized snowman lawn ornament grins a creepy smile at me each time I look out my window and beyond the now-bare branches of my trees that usually and happily block all views. Their house lights will help guide my way home from now until April and increase the ever-growing yellow cloud of smog hanging over our city - a city mostly powered by coal. Actually, I'm surprised I see evidence of only two things Christmas on their lawn. Usually there's more. Give it a few days, perhaps.

Generally I keep these thoughts to myself... or attempt to. Most people reply, "Bah! Humbug!" when I dare mention the downside of holidays like Christmas. I'll add Halloween, Valentine's Day and pretty much … Read More

I'm not sure if any of you have heard, but we are actually not in a recession. That is, not all of us. We also do not live in a capitalist society or a democratic one, in case you were wondering. In fact, China is starting to look good, comparatively speaking.

If we were in a recession, surely our federal and provincial governments would not be throwing billions of taxpayer dollars into make-believe technology.

If we lived in a capitalist society, the free market would be left to its own devices allowing viable businesses to soar and the not-so-viable ones to sink - and those businesses, without government intervention, would likewise be accountable for the full costs (and profits) of their products from cradle to grave.

I would think if … Read More