Dispatches From North Of The Border

From alleged democracy to "businesstoCRAZY" to economic ruin!

A smile of "Ahhhhh" and then a giant, sad feeling rolled over me as I read an 18 month old blog by Andy Hobsbawm from 30 April 2007. Hobsbawm was writing in his blog, " Small Is the Next Big Thing " that the world was/is rushing head long toward some type of disaster.

It is November 2008 and the ruling class "giants", the "businesstocracy" including the once might RBS, Merrill Lynch, CitiBank and the worshiped Goldman Sachs and so many more, who had have set about to collect all the marbles in the game of life, may have destroyed the economic game in which they made the rules.

In 2008, we have seen the collapse of RBS, Washington Mutual, CitiBank, Bear Stearns and the all powerful Goldman Sachs. The shell game of who has the money now is over. The difference in this game was one of scope of size in the shell. In this case, three card Monty wasn't for the one dollar a game variety it was for legalized pocket picking of billions of dollars with each play of the the game.

In "collecting things" (called money) they, the "giants", all may have set the world back to the likes of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The extent of the depression may not be seen in the same way as the '30s but for many the effects will be felt in the same way or even worse.

Will the decade of the 2010s be the new Great Depression?

Only time and history will tell, but already, during the last year, the world has seen a world economic collapse which is hundreds of times greater than that of the 1930s and for many the new depression is just beginning.It will not matter what the politicians and "leaders" of the world call it, for many it is already the new depression.

For the real poor of the world, in the undeveloped counties, the new depression will have no immediate effect. They have always been the worlds' neglected and will continue to be.

If the old order ran as a "businesstocracy" the new social and economic world order will require new rules and new leaders.

The question that can be answered rhetorically, "Did the world have any leaders during the last 20-30 years?" INDEED! It was the "businesstocracy"!

If one simply replaces the second letter "c", in businesstocracy, one has the reality of that old ruling class and the games played with other peoples lives: buinesstoCRAZY.

Long live the new order ... what ever that is!

The following very interesting understandings of the truly COMPLICATED male/female relationship were posted as a comment to a column from "Sam and the City" in a blog entitled "Can you change a man?". Here are the reprinted facts from the comment by "In Memory of JimBob" :

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS

Smart man + smart woman = romance

Smart man + dumb woman = affair

Dumb man + smart woman = marriage

Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy

______________________________

OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + smart employee = profit

Smart boss + dumb employee = production

Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion

Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime

_____________________________

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

_____________________________

HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.

To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand
her at all.

______________________________

LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more
willing to die.

______________________________

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.

_____________________________

DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

Technorati Tags:
2007,
relationships,
Sam and The City,

Technorati Tags:
2007,
blogging

Attribution for Mind Map from SDSU education web!

New York Times February 8, 2007

The following material appeared directly as cited in the Technology Section called Q & A and the byline was from J. D. BIERSDORFER

Your Name, on the Web

Q. How do I make my own Web page and use my own name for the Web address?

A. If you don’t want to use the free site-hosting, page-building tools and templates available on sites like Google Page Creator (pages.google.com) or Yahoo’s GeoCities (geocities.yahoo.com) because you can’t have your exact name for the address, you will need to do a little more work.

The basic process involves buying the domain name for your site, finding a company to host it (so people can get to it on the Internet) and then building the site. Many Web site design and hosting firms have package deals that do most or all of it for you.

There are many companies that sell and register Web site domain names, including GoDaddy (www.godaddy.com), Dotster (www.dotster.com) , Register.com (www.register.com). On these types of sites, you can see if your name is available and register it there for a small fee. These types of sites can also usually guide you through the hosting and site-building part of the process.

Designing and building the site on your own may take some time if you are unfamiliar with the coding used on Web pages and other standard tasks like uploading them to a Web server.

Sites like www.2createawebsite.com and www.webmonkey.com have free tutorials on the process, and most bookstores have many volumes on the subject of Web site creation.

On a personal note, I found and use BlogJet as my WYSIWYG ... HTML and XML editor. Pictures and videos all can be easily added to your posts with attribution included.

BlogJet is easy to use and has every feature which I require and allows for editing, posting and publishing capabilities. In my opinion, this easy to use blog editor allows newbies and professionals, alike, easy, safe, fast coding and publication of your writings directly into the blogging world.

There is a one time cost for long term use of this software. Should you have the need there is a family plan for more than one blogger in a home which is a plus for creative and connected family bloggers.

Additionally, if you desire version upgrades of BlogJet (Version 2.0 - was recently released). You can get significant version upgrades at a reduced price. These are great value for money tools in the blog world. Both first time purchases and upgrades are attractively priced. You really get GREAT value for your purchase.

Test drive it for free and see how it adds to your blogging experience!

Technorati Tags:
2007,
blogging,
BlogJet,
education,
programming,
software,
software,
web design

How old is your mother?

79 years young

What do you call your mother?

"Mum"

How is your relationship with your mother?

Less complicated as I grow older (I hope I am wiser)

Does she have other children other than you?

Yes ... my younger brother

Is she a good cook?

She doesn't cook as much as she once did but I love her cooking

Where was she raised?

Cambridge (Galt), ON

Do you love your mother?

More than ever ... a greater love as she grows older

When was the last time you saw your mother?

One month ago

Does/did she make you do chores, if yes what?

No _ but I gladly do errands for her

What is your mother's favourite restaurant?

el dante

What kind of music does she like?

Easy listening

Does your mother work?

Retired and most days she loves it

Does your mother spoil you?

When ever I go home

What is your mother's favorite store?

Shops wisely at Wal-Mart

Does she know who Britney Spears is?

I doubt it

Is she a good driver?

Does not drive

What is her favorite color?

Blue

Where is your mother right now?

At an OHL hockey game

What did you give your mother for mothers day?

Brunch and a card

Your mother is ...

So much more wonderful each new day

Take This Survey at Quizopolis.com

Technorati Tags:
2007,
family,
life,
parents

One of my colleagues sent me a spam email. It came as one of those Internet spamming items, you know, the kind of email that promises that if you follow the directions and resend the email to 10 people in the next sixty seconds you will receive "good luck" or "riches" or something bad will happen to you if you break the chain. The typical spam email reads, something, like this … ‘This item has been sent around the globe 22x and no one has broken the magic yet ’.

I usually just preview these with a quick glance without opening any attachment or the email and then push delete. This spam message struck my fancy because it contained many of those rational and logical things we all know we should do but so often find ourselves too busy to do or we are too caught up in our own world. We often forget the simplicity and the joy of just being a good person. Do I believe in the absolute application of all of these ... NO of course not. The bottom line for all to remember is ...

"Be Nice > > > It Costs Nothing To Be Nice"

THINGS ONE SHOULD DO and CAN DO

ONE Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions

THREE Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR When you say, "I love you," mean it.

FIVE When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

SIX Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

TEN In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

FOURTEEN Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

FIFTEEN Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN When you lose, don't lose the lesson

SEVENTEEN Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

EIGHTEEN Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE Spend some time alone.

The attribution for these thoughtful words of common sense were supposedly from the Anthony Robbins organization. The source for these may not be easily found however this doesn't change the goodness of these items because the bottom line in life is still:

"Be Nice > > > It Costs Nothing To Be Nice"

Technorati Tags:
2007,
blogging,
email,
spamming,
spam

In trying to better understand my 2007 desire to blog (somewhat inefficiently at the moment), you might care to know that I am secondary school faculty member living and working here in Oakville, Ontario. Working as a full time special education resource teacher, one of my daily needs is to understand and use the ever evolving technology associated with the computer and the Internet more effectively. To become more effective in the use of IT, I believe that my teaching/learning processes will become an even greater resource and learning support for my students. To more fully empower my students who use software and hardware technology everyday in their learning journey is something I most certainly aspire to everyday.

One of my personal learning goals, for my students, is to make their learning positive and cutting edge. As a special education teacher, my students despite their learning exceptionalities, know more about computer technology than many who are business leaders or teachers. They are very likely far more advanced than their parents because they use the resource everyday in school and at home for communication and social networking. This hands on computer knowledge is often misunderstood by the business community, employers and society. I learn from them everyday. Thanks gang for “teaching” me!

Why did I start this blogging adventure?It truly was a discovery of new learning. A very interesting gentleman, on a one year exchange to our school (from Sydney, Australia ~ "OZ") got me started, when I began to read his exchange journey blogging and the many connections between his teaching and his family’s exchange adventure.

If you desire an enjoyable series of short reads and a different view of our Canadian culture , check out his blogging entries. He documents the before journey by his family (http://canada2006.blogspot.com/), the many experiences here in North America and his family's return to “Oz”. Chris opened my eyes and my mind to the positive use of blogging for personal discourse and more importantly for educational use in this highly technological world. He also has several other blogs for education and personal use. One of his blogs shows his students in action as they create their own blogs and musings. Another of his blogs is an exchange of his thoughts and ideas on teaching, learning and education and the responses of others from around the world.

This technology learning journey is also part of my own professional development plan. Blogging will allow me to write my thoughts and ideas and actually share them potentially with the world. (Who knows if anyone else will read them? If there is an opportunity for an exchange of thoughts and ideas then I will gain much more as an educator and as a blogger. Perhaps indirectly all of this will improve my communication and writing skills! Whether anyone else reads these blogs will tell with time however it would be nice to have others critique my thinking. I can imagine connecting with others from just down the street or on the other side of the planet.

My first few months of blogging will be a very steep learning curve (aside from newer GUI interfaces, my last foray into software programming involved early software such as "Fortran" and "WatFor". The learning and programming using of HTML, XHMTL (XML) and other much more friendly programming languages will hopefully allow me to be able to grasp and use such concepts as hypertext, tags, tables and titles through blogging and the internet.

The ultimate goal is to be able to use these skills and newly learned computer programming language tools efficiently in my blogging and especially in my teaching and in the education environment. As a teacher continuely developing, improving and learning new appraoches for my teaching will ultimately allow me to share these skills with my students everyday.

Technorati Tags:
2007,
blogging,
email,
programming,
software
special education