Throwaway Sentence

From Kathy Sierra's post, "Are Our Tools Making us Dumber?" I know it was a throwaway sentence at the end of an otherwise in-depth and insightful article, but for the sake of a good cup of coffee, the wish of an ever-aging man, this is all I'm going to reproduce here: Just because there's one Starbucks per every 20 square feet in the US does NOT mean you shouldn't know how to make good, strong coffee the old-fashioned way.

Forgotten Luxuries

Reposted from Stephen over at Modesty, upon return to the States from Kolkata: A lot in our society that we view as a normality or even a cause now appears to be a luxury to me now. Take for instance PETA, an organization that I believe is a bit eccentric at times but overall I am against cruelty towards animals. PETA now appears to me to be a first world country's luxury more than anything else. We are now living so above our means that we can not only eat on a daily basis and choose what we eat, but now we can label what we eat 'good' or 'bad' morally. Men, women, and children all over the world would give anything for a morsel of food today, and they could not care less which way it was or wasn't prepared or whether it was vegetarian, vegan, or whatnot.

War on Obesity

Yesterday morning in a North York public school gymnasium, Helena Guergis and Tony Clement declared war on obesity, on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "Six out of 10 Canadians are inactive," Health Minister Tony Clement said. The Chronicle Herald reports that the spring relaunch will deliver "a modern message to help fight obesity, which is as bad as it's ever been." With fear that obesity will spread like terrorism, the program which has remained latent for six years, will be championed amongst schoolchildren and octogenarians who still remember Hal Johnson and Joanne MacLeod, who were always keeping fit AND having fun. As if that's possible.

Kandahar, Alberta

I don't know if this really is a good idea: The Toronto Sun is reporting that Afghans in the vicinity of Calgary are being asked to audition for roles in a virtual Afghan village. Wainwright, Alberta (the Buffalo Capital of Canada) is being transformed into a military training station for those heading to Afghanistan. So why Wainwright? Like many small villages in Afghanistan, Wainwright does not have the civilizing advantage of a Tim Horton's, a clear indicator (at least to the National Post) of economic growth, prosperity and civilization.

Googe

What ever happened to GoogLe? Valentine's Day really isn't that complicated. I mean, there's the chocolates, the flowers, the dinner out, etc., but for crying out loud, how do you forget the "L" in your own name? This update via my sweetheart, who got it from Sarah, because I have a Googe toolbar and don't frequent the page itself. If this is a publicity stunt, it's certainly working. Noon-ish Update: Could it be that the green stem of the strawberry is actually the missing "l"? It is green, afterall, but definitely less clear than previous incarnations of the doodle.

Procrastinating

It can be said that our cat is lazy. For example, while he should be completing his doctoral thesis on social capital and the lives of felines in Parkdale, he naps. Rather than taking the time to type up his research, he has opted to glare, rather sveltly, Ericka affirms, at the camera. Even though he is being monitored day-in and day-out, he fails to produce any results. Not even anything for his editors to review. I don't know how the bloke expects to graduate if he justs sleeps all the time. I know it's hard, Nigel, but dude, you've gotta get back to work. Just write - you can't edit something you haven't written.