The Last Case of Sherlock Holmes

Culture / Film & Reviews / Pop CultureLeave a comment

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Sherlock Holmes. Iconic detective, 93 years old. Tending his bees in bucolic self-exile near the Dover coast. Mycroft gone. Watson gone. Mrs. Hudson gone. Even the band of villains and criminals who made him who he was are gone. All he has left are his memories and his bees. And his memories are failing. It’s 1947 and the countryside still bears the visible scars of the recent war. Holmes (Ian McKellen) has just returned from a trip to Japan to see a mysterious contact who promises a rare, native plant will help him with his senility. In England, Holmes raises ……… click below for more ↓

The Mouse on Mars

Astronomy & Cosmology / Balderdash & Hoaxes / Conspiracy Theories / Critical Thinking / Science & TechnologyLeave a comment

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No, that’s not the title of a 1960s’ sitcom or a 1950s’ movie. It’s what some conspiracy theorist thinks he found in a NASA photograph taken by the Curiosity Rover on Mars, in late 2014. The story was posted on the IFL Science website this week. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Why pay these poor, deluded wingnuts any attention when it’s such an obvious case of pareidolia?” The answer is because they must be mocked in order to keep their silly gullibility from spreading to the scientifically-challenged. Not everyone who reads their content has your keen, critical eye, your cool ……… click below for more ↓

Mao: The Unknown Dictator

Books & Reviews / History & Biography / War & Military / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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Although I have read many biographies of the European dictators, and many histories of Europe and the Americas in the first half of the 20th century, I hadn’t read much about modern China until recently. Mao: The Unknown Story (by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday) was the first full-length biography I’ve read about Mao Tse Tung (Mao Zedong) and it is a remarkable work about a time and place in history that remains veiled to most of us even today. Mao’s rise to power and his leadership that won the Communist Party its iron-fisted rule in China has often been ……… click below for more ↓

The Airport Mystery

Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies12 Comments

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What’s happening at Collingwood Airport? Or better yet: what’s NOT happening? And why isn’t it? Once touted as the role model for regional cooperation, and having the best potential for local economic development, it is now a topic for murmurings about a secret sale, and ugly rumours that this has become the worst regional relationship this town has ever had. Every time the airport comes up on the agenda, our oh-so-open and transparent Collingwood Council scurries behind closed doors to discuss it. But while that may seal a few local lips, it hasn’t stopped people in our surrounding region from talking about ……… click below for more ↓

CRAP Design

Books & Reviews / Publicity & Communications / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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CRAP: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity. An unfortunate acronym from the four basic principles of graphic design first expounded in Robin Williams’ delightful little book, The Non-Designer’s Design Book. It’s now in its fourth edition, adding 24 pages since the last edition, almost 50 since the 2nd and more than 100 since the first). Of all my books on graphic design, this has been my favourite for several years, ever since I bought the first edition in the late 1990s. It condenses so much information, so many ideas, so many nuances into clear, understandable principles. Plus, it’s well-illustrated, with many visual examples ……… click below for more ↓

Our Know-It-Alls

Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / Planning & Policies / Publicity & Communications3 Comments

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Collingwood Council obviously knows more than anyone else in municipal governance. More, in fact, than anyone else in the entire country. In fact, they may all be geniuses in local governance issues. Otherwise, why would council cancel their individual subscriptions to Municipal World magazine at the start of their term? Previous councils subscribed to an issue for each member of council, plus others for administration. While I can’t say everyone read them, the brightest and most dedicated politicians on council read them cover to cover. Now the whole town gets one issue. ONE for the entire workforce;  for the dozen or so staff AND politicians. That suggests council ……… click below for more ↓

The Gauche in the Machine

Advertising / Collingwood / Council / Marketing / Media / Public relations / Publicity & Communications5 Comments

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Rudibus ex machina: criticizing Collingwood’s latest newsletter feels a bit like punching a puppy. Or commenting on the sloppy grammar of local bloggers. Both are far too easy, like catching fish in a barrel, and I feel guilty when I even think of doing it. But since your tax dollars are at work, it needs to be done. Someone needs to stand up and say this is not the standard  we expect from a $55 million-a-year corporation. This might be a good runner-up in a high school contest, but it is not a professional product appropriate for municipal communications.* This ……… click below for more ↓

Climate Change and Collingwood

Collingwood / Council / Environment / Planning & Policies / Science & TechnologyOne Comment

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Climate change is arguably the single most pressing, most important, most challenging issue to affect governments at this time. Our world is suffering and weather is getting extreme in many parts. It’s affecting crops, wildlife, safety, water… everything. But what are Canadian municipalities doing to combat it, to reign in their use of fossil fuels, reduce their carbon footprint, reduce emissions, pollution, and embrace alternate energy systems? Not much, according to a study done by the Ontario Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure. OCSI’s 2014 report, “When the Bough Breaks” has some discouraging statistics. According to their survey, only 38% of Ontario ……… click below for more ↓

Proportional Representation in Canada

Canadian Politics / Politics / Provincial PoliticsLeave a comment

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laUPeXZlPEg] Another Canadian election has gone by where the majority government is formed by a party winning only 40% of the popular vote. This has political watchers and pundits increasingly vocal about changing the electoral system. But most of them agree it needs changing. So far, however, the Liberals are mum on how their campaign promise to reform our electoral system will be implemented. And while I have faith our new Prime Minister will be true to his word, since it will come from a committee effort, one can only wonder what sort of camel that horse will be.* Over the ……… click below for more ↓

Misunderstanding Local Government

Collingwood / Council / Critical Thinking / Planning & PoliciesLeave a comment

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A recent editorial in the Collingwood Connection underscores the need to have writers who understand the actual process of government, and not simply comment on politics from an ideological perspective. It also underscores that some of our council still don’t understand why they are at the table. The anonymous writer of that editorial has penned this bit of cunning misinformation: Council was not being asked to decide if residents should be able to raise chickens in their backyard or pass judgment on the merits of the idea. They were being asked to start a process of public input. Well, we ……… click below for more ↓

The Republican Conspiracy

Critical Thinking / International politics / Politics / US Politics4 Comments

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CNBC GOP Debate: The Sh*tshow Version Last night’s debate was a total sh*tshow. Posted by The Huffington Post on Thursday, October 29, 2015 I realized only after watching this edited video that the activity of the so-called Republican candidates’ debate was not simply the circus it seemed from the outset; it was actually a conspiracy. A cunning, well-laid conspiracy. And it is so Machiavellian that I actually smiled in appreciation of its deviousness. My first reaction on watching the debate (online) was that no one in their right minds could ever select any of these clowns for president. Come on – Donald Trump as ……… click below for more ↓

Feathers A-Flying in Collingwood

Collingwood / Council / Critical Thinking / Development & Growth / Planning & PoliciesOne Comment

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Chickengate: despite urban chickens being outre among the trendy these days; a fad long abandoned by hip who are now pursing some new form of glitzy hobby, some folks in town want to raise chickens in their yards. Seems we’re only a few years behind the trendsetters. What next? Urban cows? Urban sheep? Urban bison? It’s a bad idea, but one this council will likely endorse – not simply because they are prone to nurture bad ideas, but because some of them owe hefty political favours to campaign supporters who, coincidentally, happen to raise chickens here already (in violation of the law, of ……… click below for more ↓

In Praise of Audio Books

Books & Reviews / Family history / Literature / Personal ReminiscencesLeave a comment

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Although I had listened to them in the past, I really discovered the joys of audio books several years ago, when my 92-year-old father entered hospital for his final months. As I travelled to and from the city frequently that summer, audio books kept me entertained and my mind from dwelling on the more serious questions of his health and mortality. Travelling to Toronto to visit my mother in her nursing home, for several years after he passed away, often became a trip with audio books, too. Although I have always been an avid and voracious reader, CD recordings soon found a ……… click below for more ↓

The high cost of affordability

Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / Municipal Politics / Planning & Policies / Politics / Provincial PoliticsOne Comment

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Affordable housing is crucial to the economic and social vitality of every municipality. Without it, people cannot afford to live here, which means they will look for jobs in places they can afford. Young people, especially, will move to places they can afford better. Collingwood is especially vulnerable to housing issues.* Given that the growth trend in our area is in low-paying (minimum wage), and part-time employment, finding affordable housing has become increasingly difficult for many people. Simcoe County itself estimates that a “single individual on Ontario Works would need to spend 108% of his/her monthly income to afford to live in ……… click below for more ↓

Apps are making us criminals

Canadian Politics / Collingwood / Council / Development & Growth / International politics / Municipal Politics / Planning & Policies / Politics / Provincial Politics / US Politics / User fees and costsLeave a comment

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og3PjvcR1Pc] Almost every week you read in the news about another taxi driver protest against Uber and its drivers. Taxi drivers go on strike, some rage against Uber and attack the drivers or damage their cars. Similar protests – albeit not yet as violent or large – have been made against Airbnb for its effects on local property values and changing social conditions like the loss of rental properties. These are just two of the apps whose effect on our society and culture are challenging laws and policies. There are others now that attempt to clone the success of their ……… click below for more ↓

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