North of 49

A very nice young lady asked a question of me the other day. "Why do we do things we know are bad for us?" It is a very simple question with no hidden meaning or wherefores and futhermores strewn through the text. No this is one sentence is a simple question which would take volumes to answer. I'll put this in a personal context, I have been told for years that this is bad for my health and I have had friends pass away from cancer and I have seen the effects of emphysema on an aging body yet I still smoke! Why do I smoke cigarettes? The easiest answer and a true one is that I lack the will to quit. This easy answer brings us to a few questions, am I an idiot, mentally incapacitated to the point where reality and logic have flown out the window? Can free will have a negative effect on the human organism? Why is there a dichotomy in the will, everyone to a degree has it so why do some inherently have what I would call well balanced lives when there are others like myself wh...

Australia has really made some records these past few years. 2010/11 has been the wettest year in one part of the country. The strongest cyclone in memory came on shore just north of the area of Queensland that was hit with flooding. Not unusual as there are cyclones that go through the area from time to time. Then in another part of that southern continent they haven't seen much rain so it is one of the driest years in recent memory. I don't think this one blip amounts to anything at all but when you have a bunch of blips it means something is on the friggin radar screen! The time, if I read all the info correctly, is past for blaming climate change on one thing or another. Certainly we should try to minimize our impact on the environment but not to the exclusion of the idea that we maybe way too late to turn this trend around. The feedback loop created by snow and ice melt will most definitely speed up this change. I am thinking that we should be thinking of and implementing ...

This post maybe a bit fragmented and I apologize. I am very busy and preoccupied with "life" right now otherwise I would have edited this piece a bit more. The talk is out there, the western world is not working. Big surprise that there would be employment pain as the economy goes from producing to consuming. Not enough engineers and scientists? The question for me is this: If everyone had a university degree who would flip your burger? I think that some folks think that, no matter what, if you work hard you will succeed. True that is but again if everyone is trying their best that means some will not measure up to the best therefore you fail. At this time spouting platitudes from the past is exactly what we should avoid, we need to invite new ways of thinking about our future. I have mentioned that the way we conduct economies is very inefficient and this is reflected in wasting resources, all of them including human resources. We now have university grads shouldering the un...

All of our constructs large or small must be put into a cosmic context. None of our actions or thoughts can be seen as being puny as they all have an effect far beyond the physical plane that we can see. Your joy and happiness, your pain and woe resonates beyond your touch. I do not know this for a fact but I think the evidence is starting to point in that direction. Understand that I believe in the spiritual world but not so much in religion. I am not a cynical wit who wants to get a guffaw or seem smart at the expense of someone else's belief system no matter how twisted it may seem to me. In the realm of belief and faith my questions have no bearing. The belief of the individual is his or her own. The questions we have and the paths we take to find answers can strengthen and direct the energy of the individual. In a nutshell if you are truly happy and you are not hurting others I really don't care how many deities you have or if they've got two or twelve arms I...

It has happened. I have become a grandfather...............TWICE! I have three daughters and the eldest and the youngest both had babies. A little boy and a little girl. William came to us in November and little Evelynn arrived end of December. I am getting old. I have seen my genes carried on into eternity and it makes me not sad nor happy but just a little confused. I am not sure what it is to be older, to be mature. How is this done? Are there rules to this or perhaps a recipe or detailed process which can be sent by email so I can follow it step by step? Perhaps it is as I have thought for most of my life. That the definition of what an older person should do or not do is largely a construct of someone else who is usually younger. I have thought about becoming all grown up and serious about my life's direction and still have not made a solid plan which makes me a hypocrite. I have told my daughters so many times that they should plan for the future, look ahead etc. So it is pos...

Before I forget I should say that none of the photos I used have been mine. I would like to therefore thank those creative souls who have these images on the web. I will not use unauthorized material again The typography of the previous segment was done as it was to tkae you out of yuor comfort nzoe. Just a lttile bit. I Wanted to Point out that we let words get in the way of accessing deeper meaning of ideas. I wanted to illustrate that we can form old ideas into new ones. By far the majority of us would agree that it is insanity to overcome failure by forming the very same structure or using the same process expecting it to behave differently only to have it fail...... again.. This is in part our problem we keep relying on the old ideas to get us off of the merry go round that is taking us in circles and it is a kick for the first thousand years but now we want a new ride but can't seem to get off this one. Yeah some jump off only to be never seen or heard ...

I was Just wondering about yOuR listening habits. Does yOur ear hear things the same way that miNe does? Of courSe they are built pretty much the sAme. No it would be the proCess after the eaR gets it. In the ol noodle, the proceSSing center. When I hEAr A sonG I heAR everything as a relative pitch. When you heAR a song and can hEar the words you don't hear the same thing that I do . In order to even hEar the words of a song I have to conCentRaTe hard. I heaR the notes the singer is singing not sO much the woRDs. It haS beEn a debilitAtion in soMe respects but like maNy otHEr thIngs I Can trAIn to coNcenTrate on tHe wOrDs of a sOng. So wHat do yoU hEar wHen U LisTen tO MuSic?