Ideeahs

The government of the province of Quebec tabled its budget yesterday. Based on what I have read in various newspapers it seems that we have, once again, a government that seems to know only how to do one thing: increase taxes. Now I realize that the budget deficit is out of control and that the province's debt is extravagantly high. Yes something needs to be done. Basic finance tells indebted individuals that they must either spend less or find a way to earn more to get their personal finances back in order. Since earning more tends to be a harder for individuals then spending less, most of us (who actually choose to address the issue) will tend to spend less. Getting a higher paying job is not easy and can takes months or years. Salary increases are rarer today than they were in the past. So if you want immediate effect you spend less and you prioritize. So now let us look at government finances. It would seem that different rules apply. Apparently earning (hmm....bad ch...

The infinitely small and large have always amazed me. The size, vastness and space of the universe are just as incomprehensible to me as are the unimaginably small particles that make it all up. In The Times this morning I read that the Large Hadron Collider had finally swung into action. This is pretty cool physics though I must admit I don't understand much of it at all. In reading the article I found the following sentence of particular interest. Physicists from around the world watched the developments at the LHC live on the Cern website, while live weblinks to Fermilab in Chicago, Florida State University, Tehran and Zurich were beamed into the LHC control rooms. Specifically the bit about Tehran, the capital of Iran. I find it interesting that CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, would have a live weblink connecting it to Tehran. Now I know that nuclear in this sense does not mean nuclear bombs but rather the smaller bits that make up atoms, protons, qu...

No, I have no plans on streaking down a street. But I have finally finished the first draft of my first book. I have sent the draft to my first reviewer. The result is that I feel naked. For the last three months I have concentrated on writing an autobiography of my experience working for IBM and, in the second half of the book, the lessons that I have taken away from those twenty-one years in the corporate world. Now that someone else is finally going to read those words which I have held so close to my chest over the last months I wonder many things: 1) will the words resonate? 2) will they please or annoy? 3) what mental image of Olivier de Sousa will they, the readers, create in their minds? My plan is to have two or three more people review the book before I submit it. After those initial reviews I wonder how, not if, the book will change. Will the title change? Will the layout change? Will the choice of words change? Will new sections be added or redundant ones removed? S...

Last night I watched Jamie Oliver's new TV show that is airing on ABC. I have been a fan of Jamie for many years. What endears me to him is his style, the way he cooks and his flair for making conversation with just about anyone. He speaks his mind. He is opinionated and, yes, I like that! :-) Now that he is making his first entry into the masses of North America, into the heart of dumbed-down America, he has had to make modifications. He still speaks his mind but the way his message is being delivered is much more dramatic, hyped-up, shocking. This has had to happen to appeal to prime time. This is not the Food Television crowd or a European crowd. This is West Virginia. The editors of the program are having a field day I am sure sifting through all of the hours of footage they have accumulated. It is classic good vs. bad, elitism vs. populism, foreign vs. domestic. Here comes this bloke from England, with his funny accent, stating that America is killing its kids becau...

Listen to Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, explain the purpose of this conference - The State of the Planet 2010. State of the Planet 2010 from Earth Institute on Vimeo . Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!

There are two interesting items making the news these days that have some parallels and that are causing certain folks to be quite hypocritical. The cancellation of Ann Coulter's talk in Ottawa due to protest has been described as a knock against free speech, expression and beliefs. I agree. People should be free to speak what is on their minds and universities, of all places, are meant to be places where free speech is enshrined. Student bodies have always been vocal, and have entrenched themselves in the ideology of the two sides of any argument. Professors are protected behind the system of tenure. All good in my view in allowing good, strong debate. If you don't agree with Coulter's beliefs you can demonstrate (your right as well) but, in Canada, we, as far as I know, allow for free speech. Personally I think Coulter is an attention seeker and find her exclusive, single-minded view of the world outdated and offensive. I can't help but think of the ongoing bur...

I recommend that you watch the four part series entitled One Ocean. The first three episodes are available here: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/The_Nature_of_Things Episode 4, the last airs today, the 25th of March and will be available soon after at the same link. Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!