Rest Easy Pete

         When I began reading my blogs tonight I found the one that I had been anticipating, but it still caught me with a jolt of sadness. We all knew that Pete from Out of My Multiple Minds was not well as he had bravely kept us informed of his status. His last posts were gripping as he told about his fight to remain with us for as long as possible.

         The post I found tonight was simply called "It's Over!"  This post was written by his daughter and I thank her for informing us of her Dad's end.

        Pete only started blogging a few months ago. I was somehow lucky to blunder across his blog and I could instantly tell that it was a blog that was absolutely necessary to follow.

       What made Pete's blog such a hit was Pete. He called things as he saw them. He was passionate and did not back away from any cause. Many of the things he stood for were not on the popular side. He could tell an excellent story. He fussed and worried about what he wrote, but he naturally knew how to tell a story. Keep adding the detail and saved the climax to last. I remember following him down a long corridor to visit his sick friend. I thought the friend would be dead , but no his friend was still hanging on. The big thing was that Pete made the effort to visit his fast fading friend. Pete lost two very good friends in the last two months of his life.

      We need more Petes in this world. I will miss Pete from Out of My Multiple Minds.

       Much support to Pete's family at this sad time,

65th Wedding Anniversary: Awesome

        This weekend I attended a celebration for friends Betty and Howard's 65th anniversary. This is the first 65th I've ever attended and it was a very moving affair.

        Betty and Howard's five children put on a dinner and program to honor their parents. One son spoke of his parents and how they were a Mom and Dad and very family oriented. He covered happy occasions, sadness and how generally the family functioned extremely well. Their life was not just a smooth ride  

 as they also faced hardships and devastating loss. He described how his mother and father were extremely hard workers and that they also worked very hard for family growth as well. An excellent picture album was put together to show each child's life in the family as they grew up. All grandchildren were briefly featured as well.

      Some of the older friends and neighbors made comments which were humorous and also added to the description of this couple's life.

      As I reflected on this occasion I couldn't help but think about how vibrant and energetic this couple was and is. They each had tremendous energy as individuals and also put tremendous positive energy into their relationship. They also had time to participate in the community and were ever ready to help others. They are also both physically vigorous and enjoy life. The pictures gave a vivid description of the length of time that goes into a 65 year relationship. The styles through the decades made it simple to see how much time was involved.

       Betty and Howard certainly influenced their children in a positive way and have also

been an inspiration to many other people.

ipod Victory

        On Jan. 19 I posted about getting an ipod and that I was challenged to figure out how to get it working.
I am happy to report that there is victory over the ipod. I've got the thing playing music in my ear and I didn't have to go across the street to my 14 year old neighbor or his 16 year old sister.

        I found a site where I could download the manual for free. I read the manual. I then down loaded itunes. I took a rest or two to find out what to do next. So I finally found the courage and plugged the ipod in to the computer and did all the registration things. Then I rested awhile.

       My next step was to try and put music on the ipod. Copying the CD was a piece of cake. After that I was stuck. I couldn't find out how to get the music from the computer to the ipod. Finally I decided to look at a tutorial instead of the manual. Right away I found out how to sync my stuff to the ipod. And there I was listening to music on my ipod. I am so proud of myself!!!

    Now I have to figure out how to use all the other bells and whistles on my ipod. It seems to do everything except the dishes. But as in my first post, I'm in no great rush. I'll just savor the moment for now.

      Now I may not have had to go across the street for assistance from my teen aged neighbors but I'm sure they get the last laugh. I know they will be wrinkling up their brow and saying, "What was so hard about all that? Why does he have to brag about that? To use an ipod is so simple!" They won't read my blog but I know that somebody will tell them and they'll all have a good laugh.

Political Future With the Internet

         The world has been watching as the Tunisian regime was toppled  and another is threatened in Egypt. These events have been initiated, organized and promoted with heavy use of the Internet. It's been fascinating to watch developments as they unfold.

        These events have caused me to think about the influence of the Internet in a wide variety of situations. Voter turn out in democracies has been falling. Is the Internet a facility which could be used to increase voter participation in elections? I'm sure that the technology is present that could set up a valid voter system on the Internet. With higher voter participation the political landscape may fall on it's head. Politicians could use the Internet to their advantage as President Obama did in gaining the Democratic nomination and election to the White House. Voters could rapidly organize campaigns of recall if there were recall laws. Politicians would have to listen very carefully to the public and games played now would not be as effective.

       Now citizens are using the Internet  to bring down regimes. How long will it be before some strongman- dictator devises some scheme to maintain his grip on power by using the Internet? What will the next generation of social media look like? Face book and all the others are recent developments and their use has expanded enormously. When face Book and other social sites were introduced the use we see to day was unimaginable at that time. How will new technology which is in the pipes influence the use of present media? What new tactics will organizers come up with?

       Changes have been unexpected and rapid in Tunisia and Egypt. I'm sure that six months ago these events were not  imagined. What other countries will be changed as a result of assistance and use of social media? 

      I'm sure that I'm not the first person to ask these questions. I'm sure that many are studying the use of technology and what possibilities there are to bring about change in the political world. I just haven't looked for blogs or websites that deal with this topic.

Town Name Discoveries

      A blogger I follow has Osage Minnesota in the location. I don't know whether the blogger lives in Osage or if it's the server location.

      So the other day my curiosity led me to look in my atlas and find out where in the ???? Osage is. Now going to my atlas tells you I am rather ancient. So I looked in my trusty atlas and couldn't fine Osage. Finally I said, "Oh Look on the internet!" Osage, Minnesota came up right away and with it a total description of the town.

     Now as I was looking in my atlas and before I gave up I noticed a number of towns with the same name as towns in my home province of Saskatchewan. So I wondered did these places have any connection to each other. I knew that many Americans came to homestead in Saskatchewan. I also have read some local Saskatchewan history and remember that some places were named because of where some of the settlers had come from.

      So in about two minutes I found Wadena, Watson, Kelliher, Bruno, Ogema, Elrose, Benson, Atwater, Belle Plaine and Ceylon. All of these are also place names in Saskatchewan. I researched one, Wadena. And yes, the first Settlers had come from Wadena, Minnesota and had named the place Wadena because that's where they came from. One wonders if the settlers were so attached to the area they came from that they used the name to make themselves feel better or if they were short on imagination and creativity?

    No matter it was still an interesting little discovery. I also wonder if the Minnesota names came from somewhere else?

The Problem With Political Attack Ads: Truth

         "If we don't believe in freedom  of expression for people we dispise we don't believe in it at all." Noam Chomsky

All but a very few people know that political attack ads are purposely deceitful. To me, and I'm sure most other people the truth is an extremely valuable part of our society and how that society operates in a successful manner. So why do some politicians use negative attack ads which at times are composed of absolute lies?

         Now I admit that most of the time political attack ads don't bother me because I don't watch television. I am aware of attack ads because I read the newspaper and follow current events on the net. I like to read a wide variety of political commentary. It is healthy to read various political views and to read opposing views to your own. All good commentary and debate has the possibility to make us think and examine our own views and that's a good thing.

       Political attack ads seem to be used by those who are not able to support their own views with logic and evidence. Political attack ads are used by those who have an agenda which is not up front so the attack ads are used to make it look like their position is plausible. In other words weak ideas and weaker politicians resort to attack ads. Can't support the idea: attack the opposition on a personal basis. Make the opposition look like a weirdo or kook of some kind. So gobs of money is spent on attack ads which are not only mean and nasty but not very close to the truth and in some cases outright lies.

    So why has a bee got under my bonnet now to rant about political attack ads? Recently the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) ran an attack ad for one day. There was much criticism as people thought it was way over the line as far as truth was concerned. Questions were asked and then Michael Iggnateif came on saying, "Yes, Yes ,Yes." So things were obviously taken out of such context that there was a huge backlash to the ad. Oh yes, the CPC said they were only running it for one day????

    So why do people continue to support any  group which deals in untruths? Any group which deals in untruths should be severely punished at the ballot box no matter who they are. Truth has got to have some value to it. To me truth is crucial. We cannot allow political parties to use deceit any longer. Stand up for truth.

Old Guys Who Cross country Ski Shouldn't Fall

       Now I have posted about the great things about cross country skiing and have made my self out to be some sort of expert. But I have my limitations and I'll admit it. Yes, the old guy I fell today!

     Now for being 71 I consider myself to be in somewhat reasonable condition. I admit that when I get up off the floor it takes some effort. It's not like when I was ten and would bounce up off the floor without thinking.

     So you're saying , "What happened? Get on with your story." We have gobs of snow this year so it's excellent for cross country skiing. I've made a trail behind my house so that I can go out any time I have time. The trail is completely flat. But yesterday I suddenly went down. Now comes the fun part. How do I get up?

 The trail is hard packed. I went sideways. When I put my hands down to get up they just went down in the snow and I had no solid surface to push up from. My head was actually lower than my skis because I went down in the soft unpacked snow.. My skis were crossed. So after plunging around I said to myself wait a minute. Think! Oh ya! Get both poles on one side. Get your skis uncrossed. then pull yourself up by the poles. Up I got, full of snow.

      So a little excuse making. Usually I ski on groomed trails. These trails are even and hard. The trail I've made is uneven and the poles go down deep into the snow sometimes and then It throws me off balance. So sooner or later I was apt to fall. I know a lame excuse.

     So other than my dignity I was fine. I hope nobody was looking out their window to see me wallowing around.