I Hit Pause! – Issue 78
I hit pause! I needed to take a break and re-focus. I had never intended to write an overtly political blog. However, that was exactly what I had started to do. Politics had taken over a project that I wanted to dedicate to my other interests and, in particular, urban development. Where to re-start? So, […]
Urban Green Space – Issue 77
We need urban green space! And yes, we have to preserve agricultural land and wilderness areas. The biggest road blocks to achieving these objectives: suburbanites demanding development freezes to halt densification. Densification results in more urban green space – not less. Also, it helps prevent urban sprawl to more distant municipalities that grow by re-zoning […]
Stay Woke! – Issue 76
Definition of the word “Woke”: verb – the past tense of the verb wake adjective – alert to injustice in society / aware and actively attentive to important facts and issues – especially those relating to race, social justice, and all forms of discrimination. I find the adjective “woke” to be very clumsy. It really […]
Homelessness one more time – Issue 75
I enjoy exploring towns and cities and this year we spent a month in Paris and Strasbourg. Sadly, I always expect to see some level of homelessness. However, I wasn’t ready for the number of little encampments that I saw in France this year. Tents and cardboard shelters near the Louvre, in shopping arcades, just […]
Week of April 11th
I have fallen behind so some of this is not from the week of April 11th. Amongst the things that I found interesting: Official languages Fossil fuels and strange trading partners The western democracy bubble & the Ukraine Language Squabbles at ASEAN The Association of South East Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) has an aggregate population of […]
Week of April 4th
I have fallen behind so some of this is not from the week of April 4th. Amongst the things that I found interesting: Vietnamese investment in the United States US insistence that Putin and Russia be charged for war crimes in the Ukraine “Don’t Say Gay” laws The Good Country Index Sunflower oil shortage VinFast […]
Was It Inevitable? – Issue 74
We spent four weeks in France. We were in airports and train stations; on the Metro, buses, trains, airports, and airplanes! Restaurants and museums! No Covid-19! We get back to Canada and my wife, unknowingly, visits an infected family member! A few days later she has Covid, and two days later I test positive too. […]
Have you Missed Me? – Issue 73
Have you missed me? I have just finished a four-week trip to Paris and Strasbourg. I started to write this newsletter three or four days ago in Strasbourg. At the outset, I meant to discuss the disgusting invasion of Ukraine by the gangster, Vladimir Putin. But, for such a difficult topic I need to be […]
Good Bye LinkedIn, Issue 72
Good Bye LinkedIn! Good bye social media!
Week of February 14
What caught my attention the Week of February 14 New Words (at least for me): Hellacious – very great, very bad, very overwhelming. Example: The pandemic was hellacious. Chris Selley, National Post of February 14 Selley addresses the need to manage and police protests with consistency. So, he calls out Justin Trudeau for attempting to […]
Clarity and Data are Important – Issue 71
I am fed up with the COVID-19 debates over mandates and sanitary measures. To find a path forward, agreement on data and clarity are important. Clarity: Different levels of government have different responsibilities. So, in Canada and the US mask mandates, school and office closures, restaurant and bar openings, and most of the things that […]
Week of January 31st
What caught my attention the Week of January 31st? A Shell First Shell opened its first all-electric fueling station in Hammersmith and Fulham, London. Not a gas or diesel pump in site. Ultra rapid chargers bring car battery capacity from 0% to 80% in less than ten minutes. Built of sustainable construction materials, the charging […]