Culture of Mediocrity
Let’s talk about mediocrity. We are a society of followers (ever hear the phrase ‘Monkey see, monkey do’?) We are trained to do what the leader does and to act like the cool kids. We want flash, style, appeal, and success. There are phases we go through – when we follow, when we adapt, and [...]
Caffeine Withdrawal and the Working World
Almost everyone is familiar with caffeine in one form or another, whether through the cup of coffee in the morning, lunch, afternoon and evening, or be it a can of coke, it is rare to fiond someone who hasn’t felt the charge of caffeine in the morning or during a late-night study period. Bonus points [...]
2008 in Photographs
The Boston Globe has posted a series of over 100 amazing photographs detailing 2008 around the world. 2008 in Photographs – Part 1 2008 in Photographs – Part 2 2008 in Photographs – Part 3 Some of the content is violent and graphic, however the editors have blocked these by default. The squeamish types can [...]
New York City Switching to LED Street Lights
In a move sure to please the team of president-elect Obama, New York City is taking steps to promote its own green economy by switching to LED streetlamps. The program will provide the city with a few key benefits: Cheaper maintenance: LED lamps work twice as long as the currently used high pressure sodium bulbs. [...]
Legislating Good Behaviour
The city of Preston (35 miles or so north of Manchester) on December 9, 2008 launched their “Respect our City” campaign aimed at preventing people from such anti-social behaviour as swearing, vomiting on the sidewalk, and peeing in alleys. The goal is to promote good citizenship by empowering the police to hand out fines of [...]
Why China Can’t Meet Expectations
The Kyoto protocol is coming to the end of its life in 2012 and the world has come far behind in meeting its ambitious emission targets. Not unexpectedly, the United States and China are the worst offenders on record ignoring the fact that they are both large landmasses with huge populations. China got by an [...]
The Evils of Consumerism
Today I speak in a purely non-academic manner of speaking and will instead try to appeal the logic of the public in understanding modern human behaviour. Everyone knows by now of how a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by customers eager to buy Christmas presents – specifically a discounted XBox. Perhaps this author simply [...]
World Aids Day
Today is World Aids Day. Several newspapers declare that the world is “celebrating Aids Day” but I sincerely doubt anyone is doing any celebrating – let’s just say the event is being observed. Today’s goal is to raise funds and awareness for the fight against HIV – with awareness being the key goal. Although knowledge [...]
Realities of the NHL in Nashville and the South
I have previously spoken of the growing internationalism of profesional sports wherein the ellusion was made to the difficult positions of national hockey league franchises in the southern United States. Nashville, Tennessee is an illustration of the difficulties and errors in southern expansion; as are the teams located Tampa Bay, Florida (Lightning); Sunrise, Florida (Panthers); [...]
The World Loves Barry Obama
By now president-elect Barack Obama ought to be getting used to the idea the he will soon be the most powerful man on Earth. Obama-mania has stricken all corners of the globe – for some reason people love this guy and have pinned a lot of expectation on him. Even Obama isn’t immune to the [...]
