Monthly Archives: December 2005

The Victims of Civilization

Posted on December 31, 2005 by Dave Pollard

The end of another year: Time to rememberThe victims who wait, without hopeFor the freedom they can only imagine. The children and spouses who suffer dailyBehind closed doorsFrom the horrific abuses of those made sickBy civilization’s relentless stresses. The farmed … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Works | 5 Comments

Figments of Reality and the Theatre of the Mind: Part Two of Three

Posted on December 30, 2005 by Dave Pollard

(this is a continuation of yesterday’s review of Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen’s 1997 book Figments of Reality — Part One can be found here) I concluded the first part of this essay by saying that: I find very compelling … Continue reading →

Posted in Preparing for Civilization's End | 3 Comments

Figments of Reality and the Theatre of the Mind: Part One of Three

Posted on December 29, 2005 by Dave Pollard

Most books on consciousness, existentialism and epistemology drive me to distraction. Ruminations that all of existence may be just an invention of our minds, or of someone else’s mind, and why nothing is knowable, are enough to cause me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Preparing for Civilization's End | 3 Comments

We Don’t Want to Know: A Hurricane Wilma Story

Posted on December 28, 2005 by Dave Pollard

It was a year ago that the Asian tsunami hit. What have we learned? We haven’t learned to be prepared for natural or man-made disasters. We weren’t, and aren’t, prepared for hurricanes. We weren’t, and aren’t, prepared for terrorist attacks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 2 Comments

Wonderful Summer: A Reminiscence

Posted on December 27, 2005 by Dave Pollard

Each summer my parents would take my brother and me to ‘the lake’ for our two-week vacation. ‘The lake’ was different from year to year, one of many lakes in the Whiteshell region of Eastern Manitoba, a couple of hours … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Works | 1 Comment

Think More, Feel Less?

Posted on December 26, 2005 by Dave Pollard

We woke up this morning, Boxing Day, to the scene above, as far as the eye could see. As soon as I got up I had to get outside, get everyone else outside, take pictures. I just stood out there … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 6 Comments

Saturday Links – Dec. 24/05

Posted on December 24, 2005 by Dave Pollard

Unconferencing: A Recursive Conversation: My friends Rob Paterson and Chris Corrigan have a podcast conversation with the UK’s Johnny Moore about ‘unconferencing’ — running a conference without speakers, using conversation facilitators instead. It’s an enlightening conversation, involving three very intelligent … Continue reading →

Posted in How the World Really Works | 5 Comments

A Christmas Story

Posted on December 23, 2005 by Dave Pollard

It was Spencer’s first Christmas alone since his wife had left him. Like his retirement a year earlier, he seemed to be taking it in stride, coping a lot better than the other people he knew who’d been through more … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Works | 6 Comments

Close Your Eyes and Imagine

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Dave Pollard

Back in the mid-1990s, Scott Adams of Dilbert fame was bitterly funny. Then for some reason he became mostly just bitter. In 1997 he wrote a book called The Dilbert Future which made some tongue-in-cheek predictions, some of which were … Continue reading →

Posted in Our Culture / Ourselves | 7 Comments

The Phishing Menace

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Dave Pollard

Like everyone else, I find spam annoying, but I also acknowledge that unwanted sales pitches of one kind or another are ubiquitous: I also find billboards, and commercials, and telephone solicitors, and every other kind of time-wasting unsought sales promotion … Continue reading →

Posted in Using Weblogs and Technology | 3 Comments