Seraphine - the movie.

Saturday evening I watched Seraphine. It is a French movie, with English subtitles. I rented it at Blockbuster – boy, has that business model gone by the wayside! I bet it has been at least 3-5 years since I rented anything there.




From the DVD cover: I’m thinking it is a (relatively) true story. In 1913 a German art collector Wilhelm Uhde, first to buy a Picasso and who discovered Rousseau known as Le Douanier, rents an apartment in Senlis to write and rest. He hires Seraphine as his maid. He notices, sometime, later, a small painting depicted on wood. He is shocked when he learns that he artist is not other than Seraphine. So begins an unsuspected and poignant relationship between the avant-garde art dealer and the visionary maid.



I had seen a review of it in a May/09 issue of the New York Times. It won 7 CESARs, which I gather are the French version of the Oscars. The awards included for best picture and best actress.



I found it to be a sensitive story of Seraphine’s development as an artist, being discovered, the relationship with her patron, dealing with monetary success (unsuccessfully), religion as an inspiration of an artist, and mental illness. They is a touching portrayal of her poverty as she made her own paints and used natural elements and what little money she had, instead of buying food and other necessities of life. She also was inspired by nature, and there are very touching scenes of that.



For those who enjoy “artsy” movies, this one is well worth it.

Hurt Locker

I finally had the time to watch Hurt Locker Friday evening. It was very entertaining but I couldn’t help but wonder about the air that I felt from this movie. It seemed to clearly convey the relationships among the soldiers and the chaos of the war, including the interaction with indigenous non-combatants. I sensed the portrayal of the war was almost ethereal. Definitely not of the style of Apocalypse Now! Was it the screen play, the photography or the director? I can’t help but wonder if this female director was responsible for creating this atmosphere. Anyone have thoughts about this movie and how they felt about it?

Speeches published in Policy Options

I have very much been enjoying the publication of excerpts of speeches in Policy Options, the learned magazine of Institute for Research in Public Policy (IRPP). Three come to mind, being those given by President Obama, Senator Segal and Prime Minister Harper. I am quite aware that these likely involved speech writers, but nevertheless seeing the source material helps to understand where these speakers are coming from. President Obama´s speech in Egypt was brilliant, and reading it helped to understand why it would be considered as part of why he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Senator Segal was very articulate and insightful. A wonderful suggestion to the media as to how they can improve their reporting. Regretably the speech of Prime Minister Harper at Davos was intellectually light in my opinion. I like the concept of enlightened sovereignty that he espoused but the speech described action and labelled it. It was not persuasive as it did not philosophically build a case for this type of sovereign action and then say this is what its execution would include. I suspect that is the difference between a stateman and a politican.

A Radical Thought

About twelve days ago there was an article in the New York Times about the cost of the Internet, TV and phone (including long distance) in the USA. The columnist pointed out that the cost of this bundle in France was US$30 per month. This was because they share the infrastructure and there is much competition. He was complaining of the high cost in the USA. He should check it out in Canada! We have far less competition in this area and less sharing of the costly infrastructure. The various companies are laying their own infrastructure and / or minimally sharing it. This has duplicated costs and created much redundancy. So generally I would be against government getting involved in this fashion, but I´m thinking this is a case where it would be for the greater good for government to nationalize the infrastructure, to have it run either by government or an efficient entrepreneurial third party, and make it available to all the service providers. The cost of infrastructure would thus not be a barrier to entry into the market. We could have more competition and lower cost. Wider access would be a huge benefit to education, business, Canadian society and our economy generally.

Eighth Blackbird @ Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's 2010 New Music Festival

I was so disappointed when the Winnipeg Free Press’ review of Thursday, February 11, 2010, night’s performance at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival included only details of the performance of Tanya Tagaq and nothing of the performance of Eighth Blackbird.

There is no question that Tagaq was phenomenal. She has taken Inuit throat signing and melded it with elements of other vocal styles. Her infusion of jazz and hip-hop added much to the performance. And I cannot fail to mention her unbridled energy on stage. She was just so much into the experience and her music that she drew us as the audience into her performances. As if this was not enough the compositions of fellow Canadian Derek Charke were perfectly suited to her signing and liveliness. Very approachable new music all.

As if that were not enough, we were honoured to have Eighth Blackbird grace the stage of our festival. Eighth Blackbird, based in Chicago, is one of today’s top new music ensembles, of the likes of Kronos Quartet and Bang on a Can. Kudos to the WSO for having them take part. Their portion of the program was very accessible new music. And their style was clearly of a well integrated and elegant sextet. Many of the performances used a technique of the performers being choreographed to move around the stage to play in smaller groups. As they explained it, the music at times had the themes being concentrated in the smaller groups so it made sense to have those groups together to play and the musicians be further motivated by the synergy of concentrating the sound as they played closely together. A very polished rendition. Their explanations of their pieces were meaningful and showed the connections of their group with the pillars of the new music world. Of note is that they performed Stephen Hartke’s masterpiece, Meanwhile, which was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. To conclude their program they performed a work they had commissioned of Steve Reich. Reich is unquestionably the Beethoven, Bach, Mozart; pick whatever great composer you want, of today’s new music world. Reich’s work, Double Sextet, was accomplished by Eighth Blackbird pre-recording their performance of the music of one sextet, and then performing the accompanying sextet live to that recording. It was awesome. The music was colourful and powerful. It was clear to see why is won a 2009 Pulitzer Prize. The performance by Eighth Blackbird was energetic, enthusiastic and meaningful. Winnipeg, we have no idea how lucky we were to have had this calibre of new music ensemble and music played for us.

“Team of Rivals – The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” – a Canadian’s perspective

My perspective of some of the political points I discovered upon reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's book entitled "Team of Rivals - The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln". There are two parts to my vlog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unVyfhtwXDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZiU9fp3Qj0&feature=channel

Cost of War vs Money for Education and Environment

This is my experiment with a video blog entry which I’m publishing to Facebook, this blog and YouTube. My daughter, Tasha, tells me the test will be the number of hits on YouTube. That thinking is what has led me to this experiment. I’ve read that the younger generation is using YouTube to a very great extent. They are searching there more than even on Google (which is ok because I think Google owns YouTube!). That generation has become so visual and oral that they are moving away from text format I fear. So will the future be that our commentaries, if to reach the widest audience, will have to be by video, rather than in print? So let’s see what happens with this video.

The video is a brief integration of some news articles and a few thoughts of the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan versus what leadership would be shown by the use of that money in the areas of education and the environment.

My adventure into yoga and Bhakti Yoga Studio's Mysore One Month Experience

About 3 weeks ago I started Ashtanga yoga in the Mystore style classes at the Bhakti Yoga Studio at 288 Marion Street. It has been wonderful. It's taking me exactly into the realm that I want to go: de-stressing relaxation, exercise and thinking in a better philosophical space. It's not hot yoga - which personally I couldn't take the heat. But if I remember correctly the idea is to create inner heat to rid my body of toxins - and as my friends, you'll know that there are a few of those. If time permitted I would increase my practices but so far it has just been on Saturday mornings, and Tasha has accompanied me for most of them. A nice father-daughter joint experience! We bought a 12 pass for $120 as I recall, so quite reasonable. I noticed though that they have an activity coming in January to raise the awareness in Winnipeg of Ashtanga yoga in the traditional Mysore style and I thought some of you might be interested in that. Sounds to me like a good way to try it out, or you could invest less time as I have. The less time meanss it will take me longer to master - but I have the rest of my life to learn and I'm hoping to be around for quite a while. If you want to learn more, here is the article from their website, and you can also get more information about the Bhakti Yoga Studio and what it has to offer on their website at http://www.bhaktiyogastudio.ca .

Mysore One Month Experience

An invitation to welcome the New Year with new knowledge and awareness. To all yoga students, aspiring or experienced who are new to Mysore style classes, we are extending an invitation for you to come and learn the methods of Ashtanga yoga in the traditional Mysore style.

In Mysore style classes, each student is addressed individually by the teacher and taught the sequence of poses, how to breath fully, and other methods for calming and focusing the mind. Students learn through practice, repetition, and remembering what they are taught. Anyone can learn yoga in a Mysore class. No experience required. It is easy to learn and offers many benefits. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health are all imporved through regular and consistent practice.

Developing a practice is a process which can come about in one way only. By practicing! There is nothing advanced about a Mysore class, beginners are welcome. Students with more developed practices, who may be practicing more advanced postures and techniques began with no pracitce themselves. They learned little by little. Anything is possible if you practice. Go to the FAQ link for more information about Mysore style.

We are not promoting a competition over 30 consecutive days but, are inviting you to set the intention to come and practice yoga regularly over a month and see for yourself what the potentials of a regular practice are. We are encouraging students to attend Mysore practice 3-5 days each week over the period of one month. There are also classes on the weekend which Mysore program students may attend. They are led classes where the teacher counts, breath by breath, through the postures and movements of either the full Primary Series or the first half of the Primary Series in a steady and rhythmic flow. All are encouraged to attend one of these weekend classes each week.

Regular practice works slowly, drop by drop, moving one toward consistency and balance in all ways.

The Mysore Program classes are Monday to Friday mornings from 6:30am to 9:30am, Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5:00pm to 6:45pm, Friday evening from 5:30pm to 7:15pm, and Saturday morning from 9:30am to 12:15pm. A led 1/2 Primary Series class will be held Saturdays at 12:30 to 1:45pm. Bhakti Yoga Studio Mysore Program pass is valid for all of these classes. It is not valid for any other classes listed on the schedule. Begin anytime in January and pay only $100 for a one month Mysore pass.

There are two other studios in Winnipeg where you can learn Ashtanga yoga in the traditional Mysore format. We are all participating in the Mysore One Month Experience.

Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture

I interrupted the main book I’ve been reading lately (Cryptonomicon) to read “Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture”. It is by Apostolos Doxiadis, translated from Greek by the author. The author is a mathematician and the subject matter is the struggle of a mathematician, Uncle Petros, to prove an unproven proposition – Goldbach’s Conjecture – viz. according to the author, every even number greater than 2 is the sum of two prime numbers. It seems though that the real Goldbach conjecture, written in 1742 states "that every number that is greater than 2 is the sum of three primes". Maybe something got lost in Doxiadis’ translation, or he just included this as part of this fiction? It was a delightful light read, most interesting, and a wonderful diversion. Ok, I have to admit too that the fact the author was Greek (a major part of my ethnic heritage) and the subject matter was mathematics (my original post-secondary academic love) drew me to this book. I was also intrigued by the staircase design on the cover which was drawn in a depiction of what I’ve normally seen fractals represented as. There are two levels to the story.

First, there is the mathematics. Not the number crunching, calculation type of math. It’s described in the book as grocery bill math. Neither is it the equational type of math you think of in algebra or calculus. Rather it is about types of math, whether it be logic, universal algebra, number theory, etc. being used as tools to solve complex mathematical hypotheses. So in a sense it is what I would describe as meta-math – math about math. It really is looking at it from a different level. That really stretched my mind because my studies never got to that level. I was still back at the learning the tools stage: calculus, logic, set theory, modern geometry, universal algebra, etc. Would have been fun to get to that next stage!

The second level is the human story of the quest of Uncle Petros. He works hard. He makes the mistake of not sharing his intermediate results which would have been considered ground breaking and worthy of notable publication. He seems on the verge of solving it. But then he gets negative feedback from well placed colleagues. He retires to the family property in Greece, shunning the scientific world. He interacts with a nephew who Uncle Petros tries to dissuade from becoming a mathematician. That eventually succeeds and the nephew studies business, after doing an initial degree in math. Later he draws out his uncle, who we are lead to believe discovers the solution, but dies of a stroke before the proof is documented. Tragic. Some side stories of family relations. I really felt the Greek family celebrations. Touching stories too of two brothers of Uncle Petros who run the family business and support Uncle Petros financially. Should one pursue one’s dreams? Should one be practical and support one-self? Should he have given up on the basis that the Conjecture was unproveable, or persevered?

General Rick Hillier’s Talk on “Managing Risk in Turbulent Times”

At a breakfast this morning sponsored by Gowling’s, General Rick Hillier, a consultant to that firm, and former Chief of Canada’s Defence Staff, spoke on “Managing Risk in Turbulent Times”. Most of the talk really related to leadership. He is a very rousing and dynamic speaker, but not as militaristic as one might assume. And I think that was part of the message. To be a leader you really need to pay attention to the human side; to relationships.

As for risk management, he talked of deciding is something is worth the risks, if you are going to do something. That’s trite, but I wonder if we do this as often as we should. Seems to me that in whatever we are deciding, we often make the decision to forge ahead based on whether we think it is a good idea. We want that desired result to increase revenue, decrease expenses, gain market share, etc. But have we really thought about the risks of doing it, and I would suggest just as importantly the risks of not doing it. Bottom line: more expansive thought should go into decision making.

But back to General Hillier’s remarks: He told of a situation in which he and his wife, and a lot of troops, were travelling in a new transport to the Canadian military. Big sucker! They were coming into Afghanistan. The aircraft, despite its size, is designed to come in quickly for a landing. Not a long, slow glide so that it will be a target for group launched rockets. So it goes from 27,000 feet to 1200 feet in about 1 minute 30 seconds. He said quite a sensation. He was a little worried because the US Major piloting the plane looked like he hadn’t started shaving yet. During the descent his wife screamed “We’re going down.”’ His response was: yes, we’re going down but it’s a controlled descent. “controlled descent”! Good analogy to our sometimes engage in dramatic changes, but hopefully being mindful that we should be in control as they proceed. Another way to manage risk.

He had a saying: no (something), no fads. Sorry, but I can’t remember what “(something)” was – it was an early morning after a wonderful evening of a dinner with Stikeman Elliott. The concept was though that one should avoid preconceptions and the “flavour du jour”. He told the story of an Inuit soldier who was 4 foot 6, but was the best in training soldiers in the Arctic. He could do amazing things. But on seeing his size you would assume that he could not do big things. One story was about how he talked a polar bear out of their camp. The same applied to the above story of the pilot. Don’t assume because of his youth that he was unable to execute the ability to control and expedite a landing which had all the potential for disastrous results. The “fads” part spoke so much to me. In management literature we see so much of this. When you really get to the bottom of it, a lot is fads, or repackaged basic principles that we’ve read about before.

But it was General Hillier’s connection with his people that spoke the most to me. He talked of his knowledge of his operational staff but also of the injured and their families. He had met them. He had taken the time to talk to them. He had done little things for them, that meant so much to them. He had grieved with the families of those who had given their lives. He helped a widow carry on the work that her husband, a medic, whose nickname was Boomer, had done with the people of Afghanistan. The work was often with children to help to prolong their lives. The rates of child mortality are high. Part of it was a very touching story of toques which were knitted for the kids to wear to prevent the loss of body heat. Apparently this is a real problem which leads to many unnecessary deaths. The widow arranged for Canadians to knits thousands of these toques, which are called “Boomers”, and the General facilitated their distribution. Not something you would think a busy General would have time to do. But it was important to him. And I think an important element of his leadership.

He has a book coming out October 24 and apparently the pre-orders are sold out, and it is like #5 on amazon.ca’s best pre-sellers list. Based on what I heard, it could very well be an interesting read. At a breakfast this morning sponsored by Gowling’s, General Rick Hillier, a consultant to that firm, and former Chief of Canada’s Defence Staff, spoke on “Managing Risk in Turbulent Times”. Most of the talk really related to leadership. He is a very rousing and dynamic speaker, but not as militaristic as one might assume. And I think that was part of the message. To be a leader you really need to pay attention to the human side; to relationships.

As for risk management, he talked of deciding if something is worth the risks, if you are going to do something. That’s trite, but I wonder if we do this as often as we should. Seems to me that in whatever we are deciding, we often make the decision to forge ahead based on whether we think it is a good idea. We want that desired result to increase revenue, decrease expenses, gain market share, etc. But have we really thought about the risks of doing it, and I would suggest just as importantly the risks of not doing it. Bottom line: more expansive thought should go into decision making.

But back to General Hillier’s remarks: He told of a situation in which he and his wife, and a lot of troops, were travelling in a new transport to the Canadian military. Big sucker of an airplane! They were coming into Afghanistan. The aircraft, despite its size, is designed to come in quickly for a landing. Not a long, slow glide so that it will be a target for ground launched rockets. So it goes from 27,000 feet to 1200 feet in about 1 minute 30 seconds. He said quite a sensation. He was a little worried because the US Major piloting the plane looked like he hadn’t started shaving yet. During the descent his wife screamed “We’re going down.”’ His response was: yes, we’re going down but it’s a controlled descent. “controlled descent”! Good analogy to our sometimes being engaged in dramatic changes, but hopefully being mindful that we should be in control as they proceed. Another way to manage risk.

He had a saying: no (something), no fads. Sorry, but I can’t remember what “(something)” was – it was an early morning after a wonderful evening of a dinner with Stikeman Elliott. The concept was though that one should avoid preconceptions and the “flavour du jour”. He told the story of an Inuit soldier who was 4 foot 6, but was the best in training soldiers in the Arctic. He could do amazing things. But on seeing his size you would assume that he could not do big things. One story was about how he talked a polar bear out of their camp. The same applied to the above story of the pilot. Don’t assume because of his youth that he was unable to execute the ability to control and expedite a landing which had all the potential for disastrous results. The “fads” part spoke so much to me. In management literature we see so much of this. When you really get to the bottom of it a lot is fads are repackaged basic principles that we’ve read about before.

But it was General Hillier’s connection with his people that spoke the most to me. He talked of his knowledge of his operational staff but also of the injured and their families. He had met them. He had taken the time to talk to them. He had done little things for them, that meant so much to them. He had grieved with the families of those who had given their lives. He helped a widow carry on the work that her husband, a medic, whose nickname was Boomer, had done with the people of Afghanistan. The work was often with children to help to prolong their lives. The rates of child mortality are high. Part of it was a very touching story of toques which were knitted for the kids to wear to prevent the loss of body heat. Apparently this is a real problem which leads to many unnecessary deaths. The widow of the Canadian soldier arranged for Canadians to knit thousands of these toques, which are called “Boomers”, and the General facilitated their distribution. Not something you would think a busy General would have time to do. But it was important to him. And I think an important element of his leadership.

He has a book coming out October 24 and apparently the pre-orders are sold out, and it is like #5 on amazon.ca’s best pre-sellers list. Based on what I heard, it could very well be an interesting read.

Luncheon Speaker - Doris Kearns Goodwin on "Team of Rivals"

Very interesting luncheon speaker at the conference today. She is Doris Kearns Goodwin, a historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author. I haven’t read any of her books, but she was speaking today on her book, Team of Rivals – the story of Abraham Lincoln.

She had spent 5 years I think it was pouring through letters and diaries to come up with a fascinating work, about an extraordinary man. She bemoaned the fact that in our age of electronic communications, such sources as she used will not be available. Is anyone keeping the electronic media of great people?

She told fascinating stories of Lincoln’s leadership, how he got the Republican (I guess that was before that party got a bad name!) nomination for president (he beat the clear favourite, who was so confident he spent the 9 months before the nomination travelling Europe, on the third ballot; how he brought his fiercest opponents into his cabinet, even listened to them, but once he decided they had to fall into line (e.g. when he decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation there would be no more debate on whether it would be issued, but he would hear them on timing and implementation matters); how notwithstanding being treated rudely by some of these opponents he took the high road (e.g. forgiving them or not stooping to the same level of politics) [wouldn’t that be refreshing in 21st century politics!]; if someone was not doing their job how he would create an imaginary line (of time) by which if they did not do it they would be fired (he did this with a general during the Civil War); and his great ability for story telling (which I think is a great way to mentor and instil values).

But alas the book is way too long (900 pages) to keep my attention – my jaws would get way too sore from sounding out all those words! So once again I passed up buying a book at this convention (the last one was by the physicist who spoke on string theory) and having the author sign it. But come to think of that length, my current read is Crytonomicon, which is about 1000 pages – but it’s math, not history. More on that though when I finish it.

Going to Boston October 18, 2009 for Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting

I'm on my way to Boston for a conference of the Association of Corporate Counsel, an international association based in USA. The prospect of spending 3 days with about 3500 in-house counsel doesn't really appeal to me, except that the education sessions are fantastic. Definitely in the top couple of what I have experienced. Not only do they concentrate on what is important to general counsel, but they also recognize that general counsel often have responsibilities as corporate secretaries. So lots of sessions on that too. The most interesting title of one session I attended a couple of years ago was "The Care and Feeding of your Board of Directors". How true - definitly a relationship side to those things, not just the formal support. Have to admit that there are a few counsel who I enjoy seeing. Not sure of the luncheon speakers this year. At my first such conference there was a top USA physicist who spoke on string theory. Was fantastic! I even understood it, given his approach and slides. However 30 minutes later if I tried to explain it, I'm sure I turned into a babbling idiot! First trip to Boston, so I'm looking forward to that too.

LEAF, Manitoba Chapter, Person's Day Breakfast, October 16, 2009

Attended the LEAF Annual Person’s Day Breakfast this morning. Was very well attended at about 1000. Yah! Prof. Kathleen Mahoney spoke. When I’ve thought of equality I’ve always considered it meant that you had to treat people the same. But she said, sometimes you have to treat people differently, presumably not to discriminate against them. That really spoke to me. Treat people differently, to treat them the same. Makes sense if you consider a pregnant woman in the workplace. You may have to treat her differently in order to get her to the same point as you would treat a man. Then former AFN Chief Phil Fontaine spoke. He spoke of the residential school situation. When I grew up in Brandon I attended the United Church and a number of the children (probably aged 6-16) attended from the Indian Residential School. They were tremendously bad behaved. Would never sit still. Would run all over the place. We always thought that they were just badly behaved. After listening to Chief Fontaine I had a new perspective – maybe they were just acting out because of how they were being treated at the Indian Residential School, or because they had been forced away from their family and were being forced to assimilate into “white” society. Put it in a whole different light. Maybe we should be more tolerant of bad situations and try to understand the causes rather than jump to conclusions about the obvious.

A friend had commented to me: Both speeches were very absolutely inspiring! I was impressed with Phil Fontaine's message about balance and his increible presence as a healer. The LEAF breakfasts are always thought provoking!

I too was impressed with Phil Fontaine's message and his delivery. She hit it right on the head in describing him as a healer. I previously had the idea from media reports over the years that he was more militant. However that was certainly not the message he portrayed at the breakfast. I also like how he talked about the good things that were done by some Indian Residential Schools. I had no idea about that. Should I have read more, or was it just not reported? I hope it is not a cop out, but I am of the view that sometimes the media publishes the extreme points in order to garner interest in buying papers, watching tv news reports, etc. That unfortunately leaves the positive parts of the story out.

Cottage Closing / Being Marooned Adventure

Arrived Friday (October 9) 630 pm at our wee cottage in the woods ( 20 min drive NE of Town of Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba). It was going to -7 C. so had to go out to the cottage to protect the water pipes. Cottage is not insulated, has 2 area heaters and a wood stove. So it's basically like heating a tent. Made my notes for my Facebook posts with pencil as pen ink was not fluid! Got the cottage warmed by 930 after Tasha made cookies so the heat of the stove would help to heat cottage. Such a nice thing to a mid-teen daughter to do.Overnight it would likely be not bad if someone got up to re-stock the wood stove. Didn't happen. Tasha is in a contained room with a space heater. No way she'll leave that warmth! We're in the open loft - it's an "A" frame cottage. My strategy was to drink enough wine that I would sleep through the night and not notice the cold. So it was indeed cold Saturday morning. One final note - the only way to survive this cold is for me to cover my head while I sleep. I brought my bright red Festival du Voyageur toque. Wore it all night. Wendy hates it. Guess I should have brought the yellow toque! Lol. Her parting comment as I drifted off was that I'd be hearing from her solicitor. Struck me that that would mean I would be talking to myself!By Saturday at 11 am there was at least 20 cm of heavy wet snow on the ground and it was still coming down. No one had been down the road by the cottage yet. At least we're safe. But won't have enough wine! So much for closing the cottage and getting back to Winnipeg today!

We could have waited out the storm, but hadn't brought any books to read as I thought I would just be in and out to do the closing. Still snowing Saturday late afternoon. I did do some of the outside closing jobs. Not sure why I am punishing myself! The electricity is blinking on and off a bit. Where are those Cdn Forces helicopters that make unscheduled stops for burgers when you want one? I'm in the mood for a delivered pizza and red wine to enjoy in front of the wood stove!

By the end of Saturday afternoon I finished all the outside jobs I'm going to do. Still snowing Saturday evening. 16 inches so far. Went for a walk and took shortcut through the woods. Snow up to my knees in lots of places.

Sunday at about midnight the hydro went out. Didn’t get restored till a bout 8:45 am. So much for the space heaters helping. Wendy and I took turns replenishing the wood stove. Wasn’t too bad but we didn’t feel very rested on Sunday. But it stopped snowing overnight. Some of the trees had snapped from the weight of the wet snow.

As I went out to shovel the driveway so that we could escape this madness, I thought that it was such a strange sight to see the deciduous trees still with their green leaves, but all around the trees was this thick blanket of white snow. Good news though: I won’t have to rake leaves at the cottage this fall. Bad news: they’ll be there in the spring. My best optimistic estimate is that given our last seasons in Manitoba, spring will likely come in July, 2010!!!

Got the driveway shovelled. Not much fun given how wet and heavy the snow was. Then we all finished the closing jobs. Left for home about 1 ish. Worst part was getting out of the development. There were just 2 tracks down the road, but there had been enough warmth so that those tracks were actually down to mud – it’s a gravel road. Came to the end of the avenue the cottage is on and was going to take a run through the piled up snow to get onto the main road, and then noticed that there was a fire truck with its emergency lights on coming down the road. They actually stopped and waved me through. Had to back up by then and take a run at it. It worked. Not sure what the fire truck was doing. Maybe packing down the snow so people could drive, at least until the municipal plows get out.

When we got on the highway we saw that the snow plows had been down and there had been enough warmth that the highway was bare. What a relief! As we drove towards Lac du Bonnet, and were about 10 km from the cottage as the crow flies, there was hardly any snow. No evidence of the road needing to be plowed. And as we got to Lac du Bonnet there was even less evidence of snow. Wendy was so right when she said it was like we had stepped out of winter, and into fall. So why us???? Why did we have to be on the other side of the bad weather!

Arrived home safely about 3:30 pm.

Prodding Families into Divorce & Taking a Life Every 30 Minutes

Another great article in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof. It is a sobering story supporting why there should be health care reform in the U.S.A. Here are some points from it. Kristof points out that the critics of health care reform argue that it would undermine American family values, not least by convening the Palinist expressed death panels. I wish the negative argument would stick to logic rather than emotional fear mongering. Kristof tells the story of a married woman whose husband is diagnosed with dementia. Upon considering the financial toll of what is to come she is advised to divorce her husband. Unless she does so the expenses will whittle away their combined assets, and then her husband can go on Medicaid – but by then their children’s inheritance would be gone, as would her retirement savings. She would be left with a bleak retirement with neither her husband nor her savings. Also for 5 years after any divorce, under U.S.A. law her assets could be seized – precisely because the government knows that people sometimes divorce spouses to escape their medical bills. Then he sets out the statistics – 62% of American bankruptcies are linked to medical bills. This has increased nearly 50% in just 6 years. But get this – 78% of these people actually had health insurance, but the gaps and inadequacies left them unprotected. The lack of health insurance causes 18,000 unnecessary deaths a year. That’s one person slipping through the cracks and dying every half an hour. This article is very much worth your reading. It can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/opinion/30kristof.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=kristof%20until%20medical%20bills%20do%20us%20part&st=cse

To recover from U.S.A. health reform malaise, take a dose of Canada Health Act

I am absolutely amazed that the American health care reform is bogged down in partisan politics. It doesn’t hurt for us Canadians to be reminded of the underpinnings of our system as we watch this inertia south of us. With respect to the U.S.A., it seems to me that in the 21st century it should be recognized by all that health care is a basic human value, just as we have come to recognize freedom of speech, freedom of association, etc. It sounds like there is a lengthy and detailed bill before the legislators. Why not just agree on the principles – which should be fairly straight forward, pass that as law and then implement it, working out the details at that time.

I think that is what happened with health care in Canada. And contrary to what some Republicans and other related interest groups are saying and advertising, the Canadian health care system does work. Why does it work? Because it is based on five principles which sustain its operation, have stood the test of time, are not enshrined as values of the health care system, and mirror the values of Canadians:

First, the provincial and territorial health care plans must be publicly administered – on a non-profit basis by a public authority, which is accountable to the provincial or territorial government. Its records and accounts are publicly audited.

Second, the provincial and territorial health care plans must be comprehensive – i.e. they must cover all insured health services provided by hospitals and physicians.

Third, the provincial and territorial health care plans must be universal – i.e. all residents of a province or territory must be entitled to the insured health services provided by the provincial or territorial health care plan on uniform terms and conditions.

Fourth, the provincial and territorial health care plans must be portable – i.e. residents moving from one province or territory to another within Canada must continue to be covered for insured health services by the area they left during any waiting period (not to exceed three months) imposed by the new area of residence. After the waiting period the new area of residence assumes responsibility for health care coverage.

Fifth, the provincial and territorial health care plans must be accessible – i.e. all persons shall have reasonable access to insured hospital and medical services on uniform terms and conditions, without having to pay user charges or extra-billing and unimpeded by other means (e.g. discrimination on the basis of age, pre-existing conditions or financial circumstances). The provincial and territorial health care plans must provide reasonable compensation to physicians for all the insured health services they provide and provide payment to hospitals to cover the cost of insured health services. Reasonable access in terms of physical availability of medically necessary services means access to insured health services at the setting where the services are provided and as the services are available in that setting.

The Canadian health care system allows for reasonable access to medically necessary hospital and physician services, on the basis of funding by government. It is a national program composed of thirteen provincial and territorial health plans, all of which share certain common features and basic standards of coverage. Based on the provinces and territories fulfilling the basic principles, they receive federal cash contributions to fund their health plans. The provinces and territories are responsible for the management and delivery of the health services.

It just seems so straight forward. People should be able to receive health care without having to worry about mortgaging their homes, or losing coverage when they change jobs or they develop certain medical conditions. I would hope that reason will prevail and the U.S.A. will be able to provide health care similar to what we enjoy in Canada.

More Illogic in USA Health Care Debate

Paul Krugman is a professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University. In 2008 he won the Nobel Prize in economics for his work on global trade patterns. He wrote an op-ed column in the August 24, 2009 New York Times entitled "All the President's Zombies". You can read the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/opinion/24krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The article is very interesting from a number of viewpoints. He soundly debunks the value of Reaganomics (the efficient market theory). I had referred to this in my blog "Greed, Lack of Regulation and Innovation Gone Amok". I think it is fairly well accepted given the financial times we have gone through that such approach by Reagan and Thatcher amongst others was ill conceived. Dr. Krugman goes on to compare this to fallacies in the negative side of the debate over the "public option" in USA health care. He argues that we should not consider the public option as it would be a horrible government intervention.

We've just gone through a financial time which has proved that some government intervention is not only useful, but required to curb the misdeeds of some. Would one consider that some health care providers in the USA could use a tune up through some reasonable government regulation? I think not. And it's a small step from there to the government offering a parallel system. For the free marketers - let the consumer decide which one they want to use. Dr. Krugman sets out many cogent arguments and then tries to tackle explaining why these zombie ideas of Reaganomics won't die. An article well worth the read.

OMG: Rice quoting Bush quoting Nixon

On July 19/09 I had written about Condoleezza Rice explaining what she had done with respect to waterboarding. It was reported that she said “When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.” Maureen Dowd in writing the article said that this was almost quoting Nixon's logic. Well, I just watched that part of the Frost interview of Nixon dealing with Watergate, and there was no "almost" about it. Nixon said flat out " I'm saying that when the President does it, that means it's not illegal." The blatantness of this absurdity just astounds me! Nixon was bad enough, but haven't they learned anything over the last decades?

Recipe for Scientific Innovation

In the May 12, 2008 issue of The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell published an article entitled “In the Air” in the section “Annals of Innovation”. It is a very interesting article and I’d recommend it to you. The full article can be found at:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/12/080512fa_fact_gladwell?

The article reviews elements of scientific innovation, primarily in three areas:

1. Sometimes we are just not looking hard enough. He gives the example of finding dinosaur bones, and a particular enthusiastic (well-heeled) who found that it wasn’t just that the bones were rare to find, but that there were not enough people looking for them in a systematic way. With the people and the appropriate search methodology there was a significant increase in the discovery of bones.

2. Sometimes the time is just right – and there are actually simultaneous insights of the same thing. He documents the elements around the discovery of the telephone and calculus, by more that one person at the same time. From these examples Gladwell concludes that “scientific discoveries, must, in some sense, be inevitable. They must be in the air, products of the intellectual climate of a specific time and place.” This is where he cites that artistic genius varies. “A work of artistic genius is singular.”

3. Sometimes it just needs a perspective from a different discipline – an interdisciplinary approach; getting out of one’s own silo. He cites an example of some physicians, a physicist and some others considering the following: “someone has a tumor, and the tumor becomes metastatic, and it sheds metastatic cancer cells. How long do those circulate in the bloodstream before they land?” The physicians did not know. Their field encourages qualitative observation and interpretation. “But physicists measure things and compare measurements, and do math to put measurements in context. So the physicist had the advantage of someone looking at a familiar fact with a fresh perspective.” With the calculations done they came up with a cancer-filter idea, and as it turned out there was already a company in another part of the U.S.A. developing such a filter.

Gladwell acknowledges that inventors put in years of preparation before the moment of a great discovery. However “it was impossible to know what unconscious associations triggered his great insight. Invention has its own algorithm: genius, obsession, serendipity, and epiphany in some unknowable combination.” But he cites too that in someone using the first element noted above to the extreme, they too can make discoveries. So he concludes that “maybe the extraordinary process that we thought was necessary for invention – genius, obsession, serendipity, epiphany – wasn’t necessary at all.” Interesting that he doesn’t resolve these two opposing theses.

Gladwell also ties in these elements to some work being done by Nathan Myhrvold with a new venture capital firm in the U.S.A. He has raised a lot of money, hired the brightest of people and engaged them in the magical process of making insights. Appears that with the above three elements they are making some very interesting progress – regrettably not publicly traded.

Playing It Safe in Cancer Research

I recently read an article entitled “Playing it Safe in Cancer Research” published in the June 28, 2009 issue of the New York Times. If you want to read the full article you can find it at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/health/research/28cancer.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=kolata%20%22playing%20it%20safe%20in%20cancer%20research%22&st=cse

This article is based on the system in the USA and it would take someone with more knowledge of science than I to compare it to the system in Canada, but it did raise in my mind some fundamental philosophical points.

The subtitle of the article is “Grant Money Goes to Projects Unlikely to Break Much Ground” but it does make the point too that grant money in the USA is often not going to projects that are likely to break much ground. It talks of the grants going to projects which are only likely to produce incremental progress in the fight against cancer. “The reviewers choose such projects because with too little money to finance most proposals, they are timid about taking changes on ones that might not succeed. … projects that could make a major difference in cancer prevention and treatment are all too often crowded out because they are too uncertain.”

The article goes on to refer to big ideas without a backer. In some cases there is a real catch 22: a project is refused funding because there are not even any preliminary results to support it, but of course the researcher cannot come up with the preliminary results without some grant money to get the project started.

Reference is then made to some angels outside the USA government and the American Cancer Society. Some researchers don’t even bother to apply for government money and instead go for grants from some endowments which can support such grants. But regrettably there are not enough of such angels around to support the many projects which are available.

One researcher, who has reviewed grants for the cancer institute herself, is quoted as saying that she realized that, among other things, those that get financed must have a novel hypothesis that is credible based on what we know already. I have found it instructive to live by the principles enunciated by Stephen Covey in his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and some of his other works. In some of his foundational principles he talks of significant breakthroughs being breaks with old ways of thinking. Also, it is often the case that significant problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. Those principles make good sense to me. I wonder if they apply to medical research. The article does talk of the USA National Institutes of Health setting aside some funds for pioneer awards which are for proposals which are exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and /or unconventional research but with the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms. If so, that would support I would think taking some risks and going for projects which might produce real breakthroughs. However risks need to be balanced. So it makes sense to me that chancy experiments with novel hypotheses which may provide real breakthroughs will need to be balanced with something. The something I’m sure involves the “bigger picture” including some consideration of where science is at. I leave it to those more knowledgeable than I to figure out that balance.