Author Archives: Dave Pollard

All The Things I Thought I Knew

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Dave Pollard

Image from wikipedia. This is a work of fiction. “Who could we get who’s as good as David Foster Wallace?” My daughter Sevi had been selected to find a “commencement address” speaker for their local high school, which was interesting, … Continue reading →

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Links of the Quarter: March 2018

Posted on March 16, 2018 by Dave Pollard

image via Ulf Parczyk on Jim Newman’s Facebook Page Sometimes I feel as if I’m in possession of a great and important secret, but I live in a world where (almost) everyone else speaks a strange foreign language, so no … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works, Preparing for Civilization's End | 3 Comments

What Happens in Vagus…

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Dave Pollard

Evolution is a precarious process. Within every species, minor variations are constantly introduced and tested for ‘fitness’: If they help the creature survive, they are passed on to the next generation, and if they hamper survival, they will not be passed … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 3 Comments

How to Ask Strangers What They Care About (Without Scaring Them Off)

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Dave Pollard

Why is it when we meet new people, our way of self-identifying, and our first question to them, is so often about what we do “for a living”? I suppose this is because it’s safe — most of us don’t … Continue reading →

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Separation Anxiety

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Dave Pollard

Scientists of all stripes are beginning to discover that the primary tool of science — analysis, the separation of things into ‘discrete’ parts and the modeling of their ‘separate’ behaviour to try to explain cause and effect (and everything else) … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 7 Comments

On the Shoulders of Giants

Posted on February 11, 2018 by Dave Pollard

This is the third and final story in a trilogy about a father and daughter. The first two were The Project, and Calling the Cage Freedom.  Image: Stepping Stones, by Paul Stevenson, CC BY 2.0 “OK, so I’ve been reading that book … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Works | 2 Comments

The Price of Oil

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Dave Pollard

The clueless gamblers that speculate on stock and commodity prices have been having a field day recently. Desperately chasing profits, like high-rollers who keep increasing their casino bets every time they lose, they have wiped billions out of share and … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works, Preparing for Civilization's End | 2 Comments

Risky Business

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Dave Pollard

UPDATED: Jan 26, 2018 1pm replacing last year’s ‘maps’ with this year’s, just released. This year’s Davos Global Risk Forum “landscape”. Last year’s for comparison purposes, with legend here.  Every year, an organization called the Global Risk Forum presents the corporate … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works, Our Culture / Ourselves | 3 Comments

Networking to Find Better Work

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Dave Pollard

I’m retired, and hoping I won’t ever have to return to the work world, but I know most of the world doesn’t have that luxury, and many aren’t happy with the work they are doing as employees, freelancers or contractors (or they … Continue reading →

Posted in Working Smarter | 3 Comments

Letter of Termination

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Dave Pollard

image from Fill at Pixabay CC0 Dear Powers That Be Consortium: This is to inform you that the services your organizations have been providing to us, as our agents, no longer meet our needs, and we are terminating our agreement (the Industrial … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works, Preparing for Civilization's End | 8 Comments