Jim Prentice sucks US corporate teat
June 16, 2008 :: ...or, send Bill 61 back to where it came from: the corporate boardrooms of some ofthe biggest copyright holders in the world, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) members.

Global Food Crisis
May 01, 2008 :: Recently, rising rice and corn prices have made the news. Biofuels are to blame, we're told.

City of Calgary Cycling Policy Comments
April 15, 2008 :: The City recently solicited comments on their draft Cycling Policy. These are mine.

Bisphenol-A
April 15, 2008 :: BPA has recently received a lot of attention as an endocrine disrupter and estrogen analog.

Symon's Valley/Burma Road cycling
January 10, 2008 :: Questions about Symon's Valley and Burma Road re-development.

Backcountry Food
April 02, 2007 :: I am sometimes asked what is appropriate, light food to take into the backcountry. Here, I attempt to distill my answers.

Packing Lists
January 15, 2007 :: What does Mike taking skiing etcetera?

2006 Election
January 24, 2006 :: Canada still endures a "system" of national and regional voting known as "first past the post" (FPTP). What this means is that the views of Canadians are guaranteed to not be represented...

Calgary Water Fluoridation
January 20, 2006 :: Despite objections at the time and continued objections from many doctors working in the City, Calgary continues to fluoridate the water supply, despite the fact that there exists a natural...

Ranting at MEC
November 16, 2005 :: Many people have noted a decline in MEC. What? Why?

Christmas Election
November 15, 2005 :: Uh, say what?

City Bus Traps
November 07, 2005 :: Friendly suggestion about bus traps and cyclists.

Re: ``Bud Blight''
November 02, 2005 :: Responding to an "Avenue" magazine article on pot.

Killing for Money
October 20, 2005 :: Avian bird flu apparently now means patent laws *might* just suck.

Imagine Calgary
October 19, 2005 :: A project of the City of Calgary to "vision" the next 100 (!) years of existence.

Jury Nullification
August 25, 2005 :: ...of bad laws.

Human Consciousness
August 15, 2005 :: Interesting tid-bits I've uncovered about research into human consciouness.

Just Riding Along
July 25, 2005 :: A concerned Volker/Stevin employee and the meaning of institutional decision-making.

WIPO: The Public Domain
June 06, 2005 :: A response to WIPO's June online discussion about so-called "intellectual property".

Five People Dead
March 10, 2005 :: Moments after the tragic and needless death of five people, the political axes come out to be sharpened on this momentous grindstone.

Generic Drug Exports
October 09, 2003 :: PhRMA wants to kill more Africans for profit.

Re: ``Cows as Commodity''
September 04, 2003 :: Letter to the Calgary Herald editors.

Article Commentary: Blackouts
August 22, 2003 :: Today there were blackouts across much of northeastern America and central Canada. I was reading a random article about it from USA Today and was struck by the subtle editorialising in...

Re: ``New World Order in Chaos''
May 12, 2003 :: Responding to this week's Fast Forward Viewpoint.

Doublespeak
March 31, 2003 :: Doubleplusverbicide.

Re: Dead Soldiers on TV
March 23, 2003 :: The US is complaining bitterly about Iraq showing dead American soldiers on TV.

Iraq War
March 21, 2003 :: An invasion of Iraq by America and Britain is under way. These are some of my preliminary thoughts.

The Free Market: Allegory
March 14, 2003 :: People constantly say things like, ``in an ideal market...'' Has ``the free market'' become mere allegory?

Biometric ID Cards are Stupid
February 27, 2003 :: There is no useful legitimate purpose for biometric identity cards.

Open Letter Re: Iraq Attack
January 30, 2003 :: We should not bomb Iraq.

Alberta Governmet Communication re: Kyoto
November 26, 2002 :: Update It's now February 6, 2003; I'm not holding out any hope for Mr. Vincent's strong assurances of a reply... Background I have been attending the Kyoto...

Kyoto Speakers Series: Murray Smith
November 26, 2002 :: My experience at Murray Smith's Kyoto presentation.

No more cell phone
October 30, 2002 :: So, I tried out having a cell phone for a while. Now I no longer have one.

Kyoto Speakers Series: Alan Amey
October 28, 2002 :: Report on the third Kytoto speakers series presentation at the University of Calgary.

Re: CBC: ``Bush slashing nuclear weapons''
May 24, 2002 :: Nice try, CBC.

Re: ``Law-Abiding''
May 24, 2002 :: What an annoying phrase.

Cloning is Fun
May 24, 2002 :: With the recent moratorium on stem-cell research and other promising medical advances, such as cloning, politicians are again wading through domains they have no business wading in. About the only...

Re: Canadians soldiers die
April 23, 2002 :: Canadian soldiers died recently in an illegal and undeclared war inAfghanistan. For some reason, people find this surprising.

Re: ``Blank Media'' Tariff Increase
March 19, 2002 :: The Canadian government is proposing to further raise and expand the immoral tariffs on blank media. They shouldn't.

Re: Olympics
March 11, 2002 :: The latest Winter Olympics are over. What did we learn?

Should we have the right to private communication?
March 11, 2002 :: Background Communication Currently in North America, it is very difficult to communicate privately. Only by using strong encryption may one have a seblance of private communication, and even...

Re: Pakistan debt-forgiveness
December 06, 2001 :: I finally received a response to my letter regardingdebt-forgiveness to Pakistan.

Stupidity for Dummies
November 06, 2001 :: As we've already seen (Piss Off, PetroSoft), people can get pretty weird when they combine trade-mark lawyers with Google searches. Another recent example of this lunacy is Hungry Minds, Inc. ...

Have terrorists succeeded?
November 06, 2001 :: It's still not clear who is responsible for the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, nor is it likely to ever be clear what motivations the terrorists might have had. One...

Open Letter Re: Bill C-36
October 29, 2001 :: Bill C-36 speeds on its way through the Commons;it should be stopped.

Open Letter Re: Attacking Afghanistan
October 23, 2001 :: The US prepares to further devastate Afghanistan. Canadashould not help.

Re: Ciprofloxacin Patent
October 23, 2001 :: The recent hub-bub over ciprofloxacin and Bayer'spatent thereon only reveals problems with patentsin general.

Open Letter to Industry Canada Re: Copyright Act Changes
September 11, 2001 :: The Canadian government is thinking of adoptingDMCA-like anti-circumvention measure. This is absurd.

Open Letter Re: Hague Convention
June 07, 2001 :: Should Canada open herself up to the civil courtdecisions of other nations?

Go Away, Census Guy
May 31, 2001 :: The Census should be voluntary and should not containpersonally-identifiable data.

Re: National Missile Defense
May 28, 2001 :: Canada appears poised to support America's propsedNMD strategy; we should not.

Letter to Industry Canada: Cell-Phone Jamming
March 12, 2001 :: Cell-phone jammers are currently not coverered by CRTCregulations. Their use should be generally unrestricted.

Copyright is dead; Long live copyright!
February 13, 2001 :: Copyrights and patents (so-called ``intellectual property'') infringeupon your freedoms, for no good reason whatever.

Day Defames Dude; Downplays Degrading Defence
February 05, 2001 :: Stockwell Day attempts to defend his widely despised useof public money attempting to defend a libel suit broughtagainst him.

First Day of the Rest of the 37th Parliament
February 05, 2001 :: Stockwell Day's first go as leader of the CA in the House of Commons.

Full Text: Day's Response to Throne Speech
February 02, 2001 :: The full text of Day's response to the Throne Speech.

Soap or Food?
January 04, 2001 :: So, I got dragged into The Body Shop or somesuch theother day, and very well might have been in a food store.

Supernet
January 04, 2001 :: Have you heard of Supernet? $193 million Albertan dollars are being``invested'' in it.

Piss Off, PetroSoft
December 19, 2000 :: How would you like part of your job to include doing Websearchers for people ``infringin'' your ``trademarks''?

Federal Election 2K
December 06, 2000 :: The last federal election was a farce of ``brand-name'' partypromotion and silly posturing over appearance. Electors should beencouraged to debate policy and vote with such debate fresh in theirmind. Blindly voting for a party should -- ideally -- be eliminated.

Calgary West Debate
November 16, 2000 :: I participated in the all-candidates question and answer for CalgaryWest at the University of Calgary. These are my thoughts.

Bill 11: Prologue
October 26, 2000 :: So, the Alberta Government finally got back to me regarding my ``comments and concerns'' with Bill 11 (the recently-proclaimed Act allowing for many more private clinics in Alberta). Here is their letter...

Letter to Banff National Park
September 02, 2000 :: Banff National Park has closed Assiniboine trail (among others) to bicycles in order to ``reduce disturbance to wildlife and provide large carnivores with the secure habitat they require to survive...

Data Loss
July 21, 2000 :: Facts Amid some reasonable amount of fanfare, Microsoft unveiled their dot-NET vapourware/strategy. Amid almost zero fanfare, Microsoft receives a patent on the file-format ASF, a meagrely-enhanced...

Abortions
May 14, 2000 :: The perennially inflamatory debate.

Fixing the Senate
May 10, 2000 :: The NDP has long advocated a change to our electoral system: representation by population. A recent Globe editorial makes the good point that changing from our current system would be quite hard; regions...

Letter to Halvar Jonson
May 02, 2000 :: I had originally sent a letter to the Premier, Treasurer and Health Minister regarding the foolishness of their flat tax plan (to be implemented next year) and its effect on health spending. The Health...

Solution 17: Bad Answer to Mythical Problem
April 29, 2000 :: This article in intended to point out the bad points of ``Solution 17''. I feel that increasing personal and spousal exemptions is a better way to cut taxes, if cutting taxes is determined to be the...

How To Cut Taxes
April 25, 2000 :: You've read a lot in our almost exclusively right-wing media about how desperately we need tax cuts. One of the right's most higly-touted ways to cut taxes is to move to a flat tax, like Alberta will...

On Elected Judges
April 25, 2000 :: A democracy is defined as the rule of the majority with respect to minority rights. The last bit is vitally important to avoid a simple tyranny of the majority, and the rights of minorities are protected...

Gun Control
April 14, 2000 :: Hand guns are designed, marketed and sold for a single purpose: to kill people. Gun control is still a tough issue, however: does limiting people's freedom to own guns result in a benefit to society...

On Private Universities
April 11, 2000 :: Universities are not employee farms, yet that is exactly the role they are being forced into. Reduced funding and a political environment shifted far to the right (``thanks'' in large part to Conrad...

Letter to Greg Melchin
April 04, 2000 :: I spoke to you briefly after the PC association meeting at the Ramada and promised to send you some links to why I don't think Bill 11 is a good idea. There are two articles on my Web site (one fairly...

Patent Pending
April 02, 2000 :: Most patent offices around the world will state the reason for their existence around the ``fact'' that patents encourage innovation. That a strong patent system encourages innovation is far from clear...

Death Penalty Madness
March 20, 2000 :: From time to time, people talk about when the death penalty is appropriate, and some think it should be re-introduced to Canada (at least Stockwell Day, seeking leadership of the new Canadian Reform...

Fuck Off CIBC
March 16, 2000 :: Today I walked up to a CIBC bank machine to get some cash. Festooning the machine are various advertisements for such delectable treats as bubble gum and mutual funds. After navigating the various...

Gauntlet Health Care Letter
March 15, 2000 :: This letter is in response to two columns published last week in the Gauntlet, the student paper for the University of Calgary. The first is a right-wing view of Ralph Klein's proposed Health Care...

Bill Eleven Remix
March 08, 2000 :: You should probably read my other piece on Klein's proposed new health legislation first. Klein claims: the public health system will pay new private hospitals to do surgeries. Klein claims: quality...

Bill 11
March 08, 2000 :: After announcing his intentions to allow private health care in Alberta many months ago, including a province-wide TV address paid for by the government, Klein has finally shown the actual bill he...

Dear Ralph Klein
February 27, 2000 :: Dear Mr. Klein, In your recently announced budget plans, you speak in glowing terms about your ``increases'' to health and education funding. In fact, these supposed ``increases'' only take the funding...

Who Wants to Throw Up?
February 17, 2000 :: So I switched on the TV tonight before putting in the best movie ever, The Big Lebowski, and ended up seeing the start of Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire. I thought it was the movie of the week poking...

Oscar Crap
February 16, 2000 :: It's that time of year again, when a bunch of people from the movie industry get together and give themselves awards. I, of course, have my opinions of who should win, so here they are (bearing in...

Our Health Care
February 13, 2000 :: My Thoughts There has been a lot of debate lately on health care, much of it revolving around Ralph Klein's recent proposals to contract out surgeries to a private company and allow for private hospitals....

Fixing Education Funding
February 09, 2000 :: Education funding in Canada -- especially Alberta -- is currently broken. More education is better for society. Post-secondary education should be accessible to everyone, no matter their income. It...

Herald Still Striking
February 03, 2000 :: Two hundred and thirty members of the news-room staff of the Calgary Herald have been on strike since November 8. The editorial and distribution staff, members of the Communications Energy and Paperworkers...

Superbowl?
February 01, 2000 :: So, apparently, there was an American Super-bowl yesterday. You wouldn't know it from the commentary, though; it appears that there was a big advertising orgy and everybody came out with wallets blazing....

Favourite Movies from 1999
January 17, 2000 :: There were a couple movies released last year which I haven't yet seen, so don't berate me if I change this later. Perhaps a little late, but everyone else is making 10-item lists of the movies they...

KDE vs. GNOME
December 26, 1999 :: My first impressions of KDE and GNOME were recently formed while installing and configuring a RedHat 6.0 system for my Dad. I had tried GNOME out on my own machine around their first major release and...

Genetically Modified
December 09, 1999 :: There has been a lot of talk recently about labelling genetically modified food products. Many people are concerned about eating such food merely because they don't trust it. Others are concerned about...

Wash This!
November 09, 1998 :: The big question: to wash or not to wash. It really boils down to checking whether anyone is watching. And really, what's a little dabbling under the cold water tap going to do? The Procedure You...

Shoot Me
July 26, 1998 :: You have to jump through hoops to register cars (although not nearly enough hoops to get a driver's license; they pass those out like candy); a similar system to acquire a gun only seems prudent. ...

Stampede
July 04, 1998 :: The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede started yesterday. I don't see what the fuss is about; a lot of people dust of their urban hick attire and strut around the city like the just took one in the...

Smell Ya Later
June 20, 1998 :: Perfume these days is getting really, really bad. A little goes quite a long ways, but too many people (and products) don't seem to realize this. Soap My brother, for some strange and likely bizarre...

Its Your Fault
June 19, 1998 :: News today is that NBC will not be running a Seinfeld episode where Kraemer stomps on a Puerto Rican flag, following complaints that it's offensive to Puerto Ricans. Hang on Get a grip....

Netscape Explorer
June 06, 1998 :: Netscape, as you may well have heard, has recently released the source to their popular browser. "Why would they possibly do such a thing?" you ask, "and will it succeed?" Why Of course, there...

Protect Me
April 20, 1998 :: The role of government has bloated far beyond what it should be. The government shouldn't be in the business of protecting people from their own stupidity, only the stupidity of others. I'm Stupid...

Problematic Movies
January 06, 1997 :: Squealing Car Tires Ever notice that car tires always squeal in movies (especially low-budget or cheesy ones)? I mean, you have to really try to get a mini-van's tires to squeal (especially on gravel...)...

Degrading School Skills
January 05, 1997 :: An example of a non-isolated incident from a movie theatre: "Hi. What's your exchange rate for American [to Canadian] money?" "$1.30...Two tickets? That'll be $17 [Canadian]" An American...