I have been thinking about what a non-political from of representative government might look like and whether it could be considered democratic or not. One model came to mind, a Council One Hundred that would set policy, provide Cabinet Ministers and oversee the government administration. With 50 peoples representatives chosen
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: Fernbank Road Pond Photo Versions
Slideshow of photos taken along the Fernbank Road Pond in Stittsville in July 2023 with my Panasonic Lumix FZ100 camera and edited with Photoshop Elements 2023, Simply Good Pictures 5, Franzis Color Projects 6 Professional and Franzis Black & White Projects 6 Professional. (View in YouTube to view full screen)
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Imagining A Post Capitalist World
This is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis but an imagining of some of the features of a post capitalist world. OK lets get this over with first. The first thing we will notice is the numbers we use to measure the success of a capitalist economy, GDP, GNP
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The stages of corporate social media
Corporate social media essentially goes through three stages. The first is new, free and wonderful, lots of functionality, user friendly and free, or at least pretending to be free. It’s purpose is to build a customer/product base (as the customer is the product). The second stage is monetization. The purpose
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: What Are Family Values Anyway
So what are these family values the right is always going on about. I am not talking about specific religious or cultural values but the values all families share. It seems there is one common thread and that is that families care about and take care of each other. They
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Should We Bring Back The Lord’s Day Act
No I am not going all religious on you This would be more of a Day for Humanity, a day that would not belong to the billionaires and millionaires but to the common people and the community. This would be a day where all profit making activities would be banned
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Thing About Religious Fundamentalists
The thing About religious fundamentalists is that they expect you to base your life and your belief system and morality on religious texts written three thousand years ago, before: – The Renaissance (15th and 16th Centuries CE)- The Scientific Revolution (1543-1687 CE)- The Enlightenment/Age of Reason (17th & 18th Centuries CE)-
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: How Did We Get Here
Let me tell you a story about my early days working for the House of Commons in a non-partisan position serving all Members of Parliament and all Canadians. While we all had our own political opinions, that ranged from right to left, we all worked professionally and in a non-
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Annual Report on Kanata South Pathways Deterioration, Spring 2023
Another year has gone by and it is time to report again on the deterioration of the Bridlewood and Glen Cairn pathways in Kanata.Bridlewood Glen Cairn
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: More Fun With Photo Editing
I imagine most people have a favourite photo editor that they use for all their photo editing. Sometimes I like to mix it up and use different software for the different abilities each has. I will usually save my photos as lossless PNGs when transferring between different programs to avoid
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Translating the Negativity of Today’s Right Wing into the Reality of Their Beliefs
Today’s right wing loves to express itself in terms of what they hate, seeming to lack any positive messages. When you turn their negativity into positive statements it expresses what they really believe in. Anti woke: Celebrating a lack of awareness and caring for others Anti Political Correctness: Never do
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Object Removal with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 – The De-urbanization of a Pond
Back in the day, Inpaint used to be the standard for removing objects from digital photographs. Then I discovered Photo Stamp Remover which I found to be much better and easier to use. That all changed when I upgraded my Photoshop Elements 12 from 2013 to Photoshop Elements 2023. The
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Why Mastodon
So why did I open a Mastodon account and why do I think Mastodon can replace Twitter. I started looking for alternatives to Twitter soon after Elon Musk purchased it and sent it to hell in a hand basket. Of course, Twitter’s problems started much earlier than that. As soon
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: COVID-19 Pandemic Reflections and The Next Pandemic
Well the pandemic is over, at least according to most governments, science and medicine not so much. So now it is time to look back, and to look forward. Perhaps my biggest reflection is that governments, at least in Canada, did not receive the rational criticism for their failures that
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Photo Versions Created with Franzis Black & White Projects
Back in the day, not my day but the day, cameras were not an app on your phone but bulky and heavy apparatus with explosive flash powder that could only take monochrome photos. We have advanced a long way to today’s sophisticated DSLRs and prosumer cameras such as my Panasonic
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Photo Versions Created with Franzis Color Projects
Way back in the day when I used to be a member of the Camera Club of Ottawa and we met at the NRC building on Sussex Drive the most usual criticism of my photos was that they were “good record shots”. I did not see that as much of a
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Is It Time For The NDP To Rebirth Itself
The North American right wing has been overtaken by a vile hateful Donald Trump inspired populist MAGA movement that has spawned the Freedumb Convoy types and infected the Canadian Conservative Party and what was once a principled conservative tradition in Canada, although you have to go back awhile to the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Left, Right or Centre – Explainer
In today’s age of populism, with ideology apparently dead, how do you now if you are on the left or right or in the centre. There are indeed some basic philosophical positions that determine if you are on the right, left or in the centre. If you are on the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Benefits of Being a Nobody on Twitter (& free speech)
Following 193 accounts and with 329 followers I am a relative nobody on Twitter. By controlling who I follow and who I block I can protect myself from the worst of Twitter. By choosing to follow legitimate news sources and people with similar interests, like cycling, my Twitter feed is
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: An Open Message to Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe
The election is over and you can now free yourself from your election handlers. It is time to move your focus from getting elected to making Ottawa a better place to live. So what should your first priority be. During an election campaign it is obviously whatever the largest group
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