The smallest 'small school' has no permanent school building at all

My small school proposals seem to be too radical for most in this inert little province by the restless sea.

I discovered this when I went before a Nova Scotia public inquiry  and suggested that public schools follow the example of the province's universities.

Our two biggest, Dalhousie and St Mary's both moved about a fair bit before settling in their current physical locales and even then their university centre could move about within the campus lands.

Dalhousie , for example ,has been at its present location for over a century but its original building ,the Forrest Building, is now but the Dental School portion of this now immense university.

But from locale to locale, building to building, Dal has kept its name and institutional history.

But close the present building of the Burlington Elementary School because it is far too big for just twelve students and the school nd its history disappears along with it.

I suggested to the public inquiry that instead of killing that school's institutional history (and link to the present students' grandparents own school days) stone dead by busing all the kids to a big new consolidated school thirty miles away, why not house the same school in a new locale - the local fire hall's upstairs meeting room for example.

My wife, Rebecca, happily attended a public taxpayer financed school that rented space in an Antigonish County church basement and she has no signs of physical or mental abuse as a result.

But the public commissioner was left unmoved by my comments - to him and his ilk, schools aren't about learning but about real estate.

To be fair - the very varied public (Dartmouth area) audience before him felt no differently - I heard no murmur of support behind me as I sometimes get when I make bold suggestions at public meetings.

British public ( ie private) schools feel as I do and are content to rent ---- maybe that is why they are more noted for their students' successes than for the quality of their plumbing and heating .....

"I sail by stubborn stars, let rocks take heed.."

"... and should I sink... then sinking be my creed".

And that poetry stanza  was  in fact very much the bold personal credo of Kenneth Leslie , poet and anti-fascist activist (1892-1974).

Henry Dawson and Ken Leslie were both about the same age, both born of fathers from Pictou town, both attended Dalhousie , had an interest in sailing, and both moved to New York in the giddy 1920s and were in (different) anti-fascist circles there - they may even have met.

Stubbornness united them ....

But I think what really connected them both was their innate Pictou Scottish stubbornness together with a total commitment to duty, regardless of the personal cost.

They both did their best work during WWII, fighting the many anti-human activities prevalent in wartime America.

I doubt however whether Dawson shared any of Leslie's interest in losing his wives' money on share speculations or in chasing or at least marrying multiple women....

The only DEAD newspaper is a FEXLESS newspaper : the Halifax Metro ignores Merkel's Halifax visit !

LAMEST daily ever ?

How lame must a daily newspaper be to ignore a well-publicized  major news story in its own backyard ? After all aren't the news-o-saurs always reminding us bloggers that we only comment on the hard news that their fearless reporters dig up ?

But there it was , for all the world to see , the Halifax METRO exposing its inner failings as shamelessly as any ex-porn star seeking air time for their bio-pic.

Chancellor Merkel - de facto leader of the Euro currency group currently undergoing a meltdown of global depression proportions : by any definition, her every doings are eminently a top news subject.

Making probably her only ever visit to your medium sized backwater city.

So, on your front page the next day, a big splash story on Merkel and a nice photograph.

Great !  Well done !

Except : both were pulled off the wire from the Canadian Press agency, ie filed by somebody else.

In your own home town --- your rare chance within the world-wide METRO news organization to see a Halifax story go worldwide - handed over to strangers, on a platter.

Shameful ! Disgusting ! Lazy ! Slack-assed !

I have said it before : 97% of "news" originates when someone wants reportage on an event, for their own purposes, and details the story to all the press.

The only "digging up" usually done consists in finding one or two unique tidbits, to make your story stand out from the rest of your competitors.

Like the Halifax METRO staffers, I too live in Halifax.

I offer up my "blogged" articles about Merkel's education versus Harper's education here, here, here and here.

They, I think, help explain these fellow conservatives wildly varying stances on on climate change :  top warmist vs arch denier.

I think they provided a lot more "hard news" on Merkel's  freelance visit to a climate change project in Halifax, than whatever this sad-assed sorry excuse of a daily newspaper did.

Here's a  real hard news fact : the local alternative newspaper THE COAST generates more words of local reporting in a once a week publication than the Halifax METRO does in a week of daily reporting. How lame is that ?

"The only GOOD newspaper, is a DEAD newspaper...." 

Well ,that is not my saying or my belief - but at times like this, I am sorely tempted to subscribe to it .....

Stephen said he'd pull out, Tony stayed in , Kyoto2 had a baby : that's hardly a sin

Greg Hunt "Warmist"?

With apologizes for ruining Bruce Springsteen's wonderful song about Spare Parts with the likes of Stephen Harper and A. "Nasty" Abbott, but there really is some startling and unsettling news for Prime Minister Harper, the world's biggest climate denier.

First his fellow conservative Angela Merkel went all "warmist" on him by daring to dis him on his own home turf and visit a Dalhousie University climate change project.

Next, Eric Loughead, the co-founder of The Friends of Science, from his own home town of Calgary, for God's Sake ! - again mocked De Capo's authority by calling people who deny climate change  stupid  ,while responding to a poll that says only 2% ( yep - 2 percent!) of Canadians deny climate change.

I mean that is a fair description of Harper - but should we really mock him that brazenly in public ?

Aussie Liberal Party, like Merkel and Loughead going "WARMIST" ?

Now Harper's equivalent party Down Under, the Australian  Libertarians Liberals say, via spokesperson Greg Hunt, they are up for signing onto Kyoto 2 ; while Canada, under Harper's vigorous thrusting, has moaned "no go" on Kyoto.

It seems as if Harper's allies, his erstwhile partners in global mass destruction , like ships abandoning a sinking rat, are deserting him...

When WARMIST Merkel meets SKEPTIC Harper global temp goes up one degree !

Harper's only LIFESKILL

Half remembered high school science (of the outdated Victorian era variety) goes up against a recent PhD in 21st century level Quantum Science, when fellow conservatives Stephen Harper and Angela Merkel meet this week in Ottawa.

Despite being fellow conservatives, the two are better known for their differences than for their similarities.

Harper is the world's best known climate denying leader --- a man willing to slash and burn his way through Canada's scientific community to get his way.

Frankly, because Harper has never held a real job - never held a job that might involve technology, so he simply doesn't get this 'science thing'.

All his jobs have required him to display his considerable skills in ideology and rhetoric.

Just don't expect him to know how to change a tire, a diaper or boil an egg : don't expect him to knowingly engage real life.

Quantum scientist versus a guy who has never held a real job

Merkel knows enough science to know she - and humanity - actually knows very little with any great certainty.

She accepts that current climate science is our best current take on complex climate changes and she is always willing to throw in more money to let the climate scientists get better takes on reality.

As a result, she is number one in credibility among the world's scientists when she speaks up publicly in favour of the reality of climate change, as she does frequently.

Harper thinks we have had all the answers since the days of Newton, Dalton and Darwin and we should have shut off the research money tap on Jan 1 1900.

So when they try and talk in private, sparks fly and heat is given off but neither bends the other's mind.

Too bad that instead of cutting the ice loss over the Arctic, all these talks will do is raise tempers and temperatures and so MELT more arctic ice.....

Merkel "betrays" fellow conservative Harper with visit to Halifax climate change project

Harper ain't Happy !

HALIFAX - Privately, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his fellow Conservatives are said to be livid over Germany Chancellor Merkel's freelance visit to Dalhousie University to see the launch of a climate change study --- but in public it is all "sunshine and smiles".

Officially, Merkel is merely visiting Halifax's Dalhousie University to help launch a joint project on climate change between Dalhousie's Marine Research Institute and the German Helmholtz Association --- a job usually left for an official from the German Embassy in Ottawa to perform.

But Merkel has always made it clear that resource-poor and now population-poor Germany can only survive by (a) using its brains - ie science and (b) using those brains on up and coming global issues before others  see the future opportunity.

 And in practise, that means above all else, being there first on energy shortages and climate change. 

By contrast, Harper is a Calgary-based MP and has always ensured his own personal re-election by working tirelessly to see that his governing party is nothing more than mere putty in the hands of  Canada's massive Calgary-based Oil industry.

Under his watch, Canada's Conservatives have become the world's first governing "fossil energy lobby group".

He himself is one of the world's biggest and most tireless (tiresome ?) climate deniers but is not content, like most of them, to merely rant against the climate in a blog.

Harper has taken positive steps to kill the climate debate in Canada : conducting extensive witch hunts and mass firings throughout Canada's scientific community.

In fairness, Mr Harper has shown some restraint : he hasn't yet ordered any 'hits' on pesky climate change supporters.

But his trigger finger must really be twitching this week over the fact that Ms Merkel's highly public pro-climate change action is taking place in his own 'hood. De Capo is not pleased !

Harper hates warmist 'traitors' in his family of fellow conservatives.

But fortunately for the German Chancellor, Harper and Canadian Conservatives are also, and not so secretly , 'loving' the way that Merkel has slapped down those dark and swarthy Dagos from Greece and Spain over their financial deficits.

This fact has restrained Harper and his cabinet cronies from publicly launching their normal full-press character assassination on anyone who dares oppose them.

Still the anger must go somewhere -no wonder then that extra amounts of high blood pressure pills had to be delivered to this week's Cabinet meeting, as a medical precaution...

Janet Browne, Darwin's mega-volume biographer, to speak at Dal

While everyone is ignoring the 300th anniversary of Copyright (sigh !) we are all supposed to be guyed up to mark the 200th B-day of C. Darwin.

Yawn - I just don't like the guy.

Ironically, the reason why I do not like Charles is because of the tireless efforts of Janet Browne, who went way down deep in the dusty archives and came up with biographic gold on Mr Darwin.

Ironically, because I believe Professor Browne was and remains a big fan of Darwin, warts and all.

Her two volume mega-kilogram bookstops ( "Voyaging" and "Power of Place") reveal that Darwin thought nothing of stealing valuable documents from grieving widows or of slandering opponents, through the use of surrogates ,so Darwin could keep his reputation of high moral character.

Worse of all, in his brief autobiography, Darwin denied any credit to his doting father for helping Charles to claw his way to the top of the world of science.

Doted upon ? Spoiled is a better word.

Charles Darwin was given extremely expensive scientific equipment for his hobbies as a child - such as a microscope that would cost the annual income of a half dozen farm labourers for example.

Without all the support that his mega-millionaire father and wife (mega-millionaire in in 2010 dollars) gave him, Darwin would never had been credited with discovering evolution.

Then he goes and denies that his unique access to these and other scientific aids gave him any leg up over his poorer scientific competitors.

Ingrate ! Spoil your child and he'll bite your hand in thanks, I always say.

Anyway , Janet Browne speaks at Dal's Ondaatje Hall October 15th 8pm --- and I will be there.....