re: BBC NEWS - Global ecosystems 'face collapse'

The BBC reported today that the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) released its biannual "Living Planet Report," and the news is not good. Basically, if global consumption levels continued at the current rate, two planets would be needed to meet global demand by 2050. The WWF concluded this by estimating each country's ecological "footprint".

Here's what is interesting: If one looks at the "footprint", one notices that a big chunk of the footprint comes from fossil-fuel utilization.

And guess what? The Canadian Government had earlier announced that the "Clean Air Act" would halve Canada's 2003 emissions by 2005. (Oh,I get it now. This is MUCH better than the Kyoto protocol that the Conservative government had us bail out of, that would have required us to stick to 1990 levels.) Under the previous government, the Liberals pledged to spend $10 billion over seven years to help Canada cut its average greenhouse gas emissions by 270 megatonnes a year from 2008 to 2012. I wonder if anyone did the math to compare the two... but the difference is that now Canada will not be bound to its Kyoto commitments, and it will be "business as usual" for the foreseeable future (or until the next election).

IMHO, I think it's already too late... the human race missed its chance to keep the planet in good health...

HotSoup launched

Another interesting article. Only this time, an interesting approach to participatory democracy.

In the article entitled "The Clintons Get Their Village", Wired magazine reports on a new site called HotSoup. In a nutshell, it's a forum for movers-and-shakers in the States to gain 2-way communication with "opinion leaders" who themselves have influence in their communities. The site is worth a visit, as HotSoup includes members such as Bill and Hilary Clinton, biker champ Lance Armstrong, Jon Bon Jovi (!) and senior Democrat / Republican strategists.

While the site is strictly U.S.-oriented, I couldn't help but think that this kind of site could be of use in Canada - but would likely be destined to failure because of the average Canadian's apathy and close-mindedness of its politicians and opinion-drivers...

Oh well...

Video games can reshape education: U.S. scientists

Well, duh!

It's about time people started to wake up to the enormous potential of education-though-videogames. Some people might consider it distateful, even immoral - but let's face it, it's here, so we might as well get used to it and use it to "our" adavantage. That includes education.

'Bout frickin' time....

Piila's Thought Wave

Ah, it's time to recognize a sister-in-arms, Piila, who's entered the blogosphere. Kindred spirit, she is. I invite you to check Piila's Thought Wave!

Happy blogging, Piila!

Thanksgiving at Shabomeka Lake

My family and some close friends spent a wonderful weekend at Shabomeka Lake at a fabulous cottage we rented. We hiked, biked, kayaked during three glorious autumn days and left the preoccupations of work behind...

We can only appreciate the beauty of Nature thanks to the work of those who take the time and effort to make it easier for the rest of us to get around. Thanks to Glenn Pearce, who over the past 20 years has built a network of trails in the area, we were able to sample a bit of what Nature had to offer.

You'll find some pictures of our treks during our Shabomeka Thanksgiving.

Boost your life the Urawaza way...

This sounds like the subject line of an e-mail you'd have deleted when it got by your spam filter, but it's not. Urawaza (Japanese for "secret tricks") are little fixes to simple (but perplexing) problems. I prefer to think of them as "life hacks". Example: what's the trick to keeping a band-aid from falling off your finger when it gets wet? Find out by reading this Wired article.

The shame of it all...

Sigh.

I had to do it. I had to drop my math class.

It was just SOOO much work. It stopped being fun and became an adrenalin-driven chore. I really really wished that it could work out, but to do justice to the subject and to myself would have have meant that I would have to devote more time to homework and studying. To what end?

I don't know how single-parent families manage to complete high-school night courses. Or, for that matter, older adults who decide to return to high school so they can get their diploma.

So what did I learn from this?

Well, I learned that (a) I have a deep interest in math; (b) I can learn it if I decide to take the time to review my materials and do my homework; (c) math is fundamental to any science. (I know that this is a no-brainer, but there are so many applications! No wonder anything that is of use is founded in math - and that includes art). In fact, I'd venture that if one is well versed in mathematics, that this will open doors into the other sciences.

Math is great exercise for the mind. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to many people, but it was a surprise to me. It uses a different side of the brain, I'm sure. For some reason, the beauty of math reminds me of some lyrics from "Lined Up" by Shriekback (if you remember the 80's):

Lined Up

Tired of all this crawling around
Realising the joke was on us
Reaching out to the obvious
Starting with an answer not a question
Our most acceptable businesses
All aligned in just one direction
Organised on the same lines
With one face - one side

We got all lined up
We got all lined up
We got all lined up
All lined up
All lined up

Back at the all night party
We're getting clearer all the time
Refined to one shape - frozen like crystal
It has the symmetry of perfect design
One line leads to another
They cross at the corners run straight at the sides
It reads the same way in any direction
Two red circles and a thick black spine

We got all lined up
We got all lined up
We got all lined up
All lined up
All lined up

Let it fall into place
We could tie it to a tree
We could point it at you
We could make it a habit
We could leave it outside or
We could give it our full understand it or we could ignore it
Holding all our past in the one hand
We showed those people in a way they understand
Shiny little eyes on a big red bus
The ones we point at work for us
One sharp point between distinction
Going this way for X amount of time
Frame - line - and convergence
From the first to the final
This intention is mine

We got all lined up
We got all lined up
We got all lined up
All lined up
All lined up

Go figure.