The fossil fuel industry seems to have a romantic fascination with “all the oil in the ground”, a fascination that shields it from financial reality. There are two things absolutely true about the fossil fuel industry. It has a finite end because there is a finite end to the oil
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: Housing As A Right
Should housing be a right. That is the question. But the real question is what would that mean and how do we make it more than a token right but an actual effective right. In North America we had this mythology that everyone could own their own home. That has
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Television Part 3 – Cutting The Cord, Where We Ended Up
The Fifth Column first talked about “cutting the cord” in June 2019 in my post On Television that looked at the history of television from broadcast TV and rabbit ears through Cable TV to streaming services delivered via wi-fi. In July 2020 I posted On Television Part 2 – Cutting
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Election Issue That Dare Not Speak It’s Name
What election am I referring to – whatever one is next in whatever jurisdiction you are in. Yes I am talking about that which we dare not speak – the need to change our economic system before its ultimate collapse. Karl Marx predicted the collapse of capitalism, and it was
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: What is Wrong With The Internet ?
Yes, I know we could write a book, but essentially what is wrong with the Internet is the way we use it. The public changed has the way it uses the Internet to the benefit of a few monopoly tech companies and those that want to spread disinformation because laziness
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Is There a Conspiracy to Break and Then Fix Health Care ?
So how would this work. I suggest first you underfund public health care as well as simply not spending budgeted funds. As the public facilities fail to meet the needs you claim private facilities are needed. You then transfer funds from public to private facilities further reducing the public facilities
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: AI Has Nothing To Do With Intelligence
AI Has Nothing To Do With Intelligence AI has nothing to do with intelligence but people believe the marketing hype, mostly because we have a distorted idea of what intelligence is, largely do to the media. Take the quiz show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” that says in
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Is There Hope For Palestine
I wrote this in November 2007 on the hope for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The solution essentially comes down to understanding the most and least that each side can accept. We could argue forever whether the State of Israel should have been created the way it was but,
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Franzis Black and White Projects Professional 6 Photo Film Emulation Versions
This is a demonstration of the film emulation capabilities of Franzis Black & White Projects. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the emulation provided by this software but it is indeed an interesting idea. I have not included all the options available but have selected a few film types
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Palestine – What If
Balfour Declaration (November 2nd, 1917) “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Remembrance Day and Righteous Wars
When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s Remembrance Day was a very solemn occasion. There were still a lot of World War II veterans participating and even some from World War I, as well as veterans from the Korean War (sometimes referred to as a “police action)”.
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: All Photography is “Photoshopped”
A pretty bold claim but what do I mean by it. Well I do not mean “photoshopped” in the sense of someone going through their photo collection post divorce and removing their ex-spouse from all their family photographs. I mean something more subtle than that. The appearance of every photograph
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: What If We Had A Different Non-Political Form of Representative Government
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
Continue readingTHE 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-
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