Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 68
January 19, 2014
Saturday Photo: Summer, Summer, Summertime....
Bridges are great symbols, connecting and separating, promising things to come, inviting daydreaming. These two bridges are particularly interesting to me now because they are harbingers of our plans for the summer.
On top is the 25 de Abril bridge across the Tagus river at Lisbon. It looks very much like the Golden Gate, which stirs up many pleasant associations in the first place. But it also is a landmark of one of my favourite cities, which Lee and I will visit in July if all goes well.The second photo was taken of a Sunday on the Seine during our last trip to Paris. No vehicular traffic, just pedestrians and bicycles. We'll be going there too, for two week before the Portuguese jaunt.
Really looking forward to this summer.
January 17, 2014
The Failure of Centre-Left Politics in Europe: Krugman on the Scandal in France (Canadian Papers Please Copy)
Forget the dallying with dollies, Paul Kruman says that François Hollande's behavior is scandalous. The French president has just announced increased austerity measures which have been discredited, and will make things worse.
Where are the center-left voices criticizing this stupidity not only in France but also in other European countries Krugman asks.
" Given the hardship these policies have inflicted, you might have expected left-of-center politicians to argue strenuously for a change in course. Yet everywhere in Europe, the center-left has at best (for example, in Britain) offered weak, halfhearted criticism, and often simply cringed in submission.
"When Mr. Hollande became leader of the second-ranked euro economy, some of us hoped that he might take a stand. Instead, he fell into the usual cringe — a cringe that has now turned into intellectual collapse. And Europe’s second depression goes on and on."
And where, we should ask, is the vigorous criticism of Stephen Harper's economic policies from our own center-left politicians? Lots about the Senate, a bit about the savaging of employment insurance changes, but very, very little talk about the need for an agressive, pro-employment economic policies from either Tom Mulcair or Justin Trudeau.
It's not too lalte guys. "Jobs, jobs, jobs" and "it's the economy, stupid" have won more than one election--and made the lot of us all better.
Where are the center-left voices criticizing this stupidity not only in France but also in other European countries Krugman asks.
" Given the hardship these policies have inflicted, you might have expected left-of-center politicians to argue strenuously for a change in course. Yet everywhere in Europe, the center-left has at best (for example, in Britain) offered weak, halfhearted criticism, and often simply cringed in submission.
"When Mr. Hollande became leader of the second-ranked euro economy, some of us hoped that he might take a stand. Instead, he fell into the usual cringe — a cringe that has now turned into intellectual collapse. And Europe’s second depression goes on and on."
And where, we should ask, is the vigorous criticism of Stephen Harper's economic policies from our own center-left politicians? Lots about the Senate, a bit about the savaging of employment insurance changes, but very, very little talk about the need for an agressive, pro-employment economic policies from either Tom Mulcair or Justin Trudeau.
It's not too lalte guys. "Jobs, jobs, jobs" and "it's the economy, stupid" have won more than one election--and made the lot of us all better.
January 15, 2014
No to Charging for Private Rooms at Montreal's Super Hospitals
The idea of superhospitals was ill-considered, in my opinion. Not enough thought was given to what closing down major medical establishments in the centre of the city would do to the city's fabric, nor to the repercussions of putting most of the high tech interventions in one place.
What about the danger of cross-infections? a few people asked. The response was: well, we'll have a lot of private rooms to cut down them.
Now it seems that the two hospitals (one affliated with McGill, the other with the Université de Montréal) want to charge for these private rooms. Currently, all hospitals here have a mix of private, semi-private and multiple patient rooms, and unless you request a private or semi-private room and agree to pay a premium you get whatever happens to be available.
But to ask everyone to pay for private rooms is a breach in the social contract that lies behind our health system. The ministry spokespeople say there would be a sliding scale based on patient income, but that just underscores the two tier aspect of this new idea. Besides, anyone who has ever looked at administrative costs knows that doing the paper work for sliding scales is going to eat up a lot of any "profit" that would be gained by charging the fees.
What about the danger of cross-infections? a few people asked. The response was: well, we'll have a lot of private rooms to cut down them.
Now it seems that the two hospitals (one affliated with McGill, the other with the Université de Montréal) want to charge for these private rooms. Currently, all hospitals here have a mix of private, semi-private and multiple patient rooms, and unless you request a private or semi-private room and agree to pay a premium you get whatever happens to be available.
But to ask everyone to pay for private rooms is a breach in the social contract that lies behind our health system. The ministry spokespeople say there would be a sliding scale based on patient income, but that just underscores the two tier aspect of this new idea. Besides, anyone who has ever looked at administrative costs knows that doing the paper work for sliding scales is going to eat up a lot of any "profit" that would be gained by charging the fees.
January 14, 2014
I Knew There Was a Reason Dept: Sleep Is the Cleaner
Give me a chance and I'll go to sleep. There have been times in my life when I've slept badly--waking up at the time one of the kids should be home and waiting until I heard them come in--or fitfully--even earlier, when they were waking in the night for food or comfort. But usually if I haven't drunk coffee or alcohol, I can sleep restfully any place.And my memory is good. That's not bragging, that's just a fact. So I was extremely interested in reading a piece in the Sunday New York Time s about sleep and the role it serves to maintain cerebral health by allowing the physical removal of the waste products of brain function.
Chronic insomnia or sleep deprivation appears to cause long term problems including frequently "the degeneration of key neurons involved in alertness and proper cortical function and a buildup of proteins associated with aging and neural degeneration," writes Maria Konnakova.
Neuroscientists are thinking about several ways to attack the problem, either by providing an alternative to sound sleep where the brain's natural cleansing system could be simulated or by removing the brain's waste by pharmaceutical means, she writes.
In the meantime, I'll try to catch the ZZZs when I can, even if it means falling asleep occasionally on the bus.
January 13, 2014
The Poor Are Always with Us: The Trap of Charity
The Pope has just named 18 new cardinals. His choices supposedly show how he is refocussing the Roman Catholic Church's energies on its mission to help the poor.
Seeing as how that was Jesus was all about, the new guy's discourse and some of his actions do seem to be in tune with the best points of Christianity. But whenever anyone starts talking about helping the poor, I get nervous.
To be sure that kind of concern is better than blaming the poor for their plight, the way a large portion of the Right Wing in North America likes to do. Paul Krugman today once again points out how the Republicans may have begun to see that the blame game they've been playing is going to hurt them electorally. "Republicans are in a deep sense enemies of America’s poor," he writes. "A party committed to small government and low taxes on the rich is, more or less necessarily, a party committed to hurting, not helping, the poor."
Here in Canada we have a government that gets tough with the unemployed while spending $2.5 million to advertise a "job" program that never existed. That kind of thing is unexcusable, and another reason to get rid of the Conservatives as quickly as possible.
But on the other hand programs and policies that address poverty and inequity shouldn't be touted as a balm on the woes of the less fortunate, something that makes us shine in the eyes of the Lord. They should be designed to support the dignity of their recipients, and be aimed at giving them their due as full members of our society.
Not charity, but justice, is what's needed.
Seeing as how that was Jesus was all about, the new guy's discourse and some of his actions do seem to be in tune with the best points of Christianity. But whenever anyone starts talking about helping the poor, I get nervous.
To be sure that kind of concern is better than blaming the poor for their plight, the way a large portion of the Right Wing in North America likes to do. Paul Krugman today once again points out how the Republicans may have begun to see that the blame game they've been playing is going to hurt them electorally. "Republicans are in a deep sense enemies of America’s poor," he writes. "A party committed to small government and low taxes on the rich is, more or less necessarily, a party committed to hurting, not helping, the poor."
Here in Canada we have a government that gets tough with the unemployed while spending $2.5 million to advertise a "job" program that never existed. That kind of thing is unexcusable, and another reason to get rid of the Conservatives as quickly as possible.
But on the other hand programs and policies that address poverty and inequity shouldn't be touted as a balm on the woes of the less fortunate, something that makes us shine in the eyes of the Lord. They should be designed to support the dignity of their recipients, and be aimed at giving them their due as full members of our society.
Not charity, but justice, is what's needed.
January 11, 2014
Saturday Photo: Full Moon in July
This week there will be a full moon, but the weather forecast suggests that we won't be able to see it here.So here's flashback to a summer full moon for those who miss both the light of the eyes of night and the mild weather that the shadowy trees attest to.
January 10, 2014
Reason 105 Not to Have Your Kids Young: You May Have More Time to Spend with THEIR Kids
As I went off to see an ailing Thomas and his family this morning, I began to see the wisdom in not having kids until your 30s. We have much more time to enjoy and help out with our kids' kids (and they were a little late in producing too) than our friends who had their progeny earlier in life. In other words, retired or semi-retired grandparents can be useful and have fun too.
Just in case you're wondering, there's a whole group of anthopologists and ethnographers who argue that grandparents (and grandmothers have been studied the most) have a positive effect on the survival of their grandchildren. This is called the grandmother effec, but I'd call it the grandparent effect, because Grandpas are great to have around too.
Just in case you're wondering, there's a whole group of anthopologists and ethnographers who argue that grandparents (and grandmothers have been studied the most) have a positive effect on the survival of their grandchildren. This is called the grandmother effec, but I'd call it the grandparent effect, because Grandpas are great to have around too.
January 8, 2014
Something More to Worry about: A Big Solar Flare
So the cold is supposedly going to moderate in North America over the next few days, but
The Washington Post
reports that there's a big storm on the sun. A good-sized solar flare has erupted which means incrased soalr radiation arriving in the neighborhood of the earth. Not good wether for a space walk, it seems. And sometimes solar flare can cause manetic storms that interfere with power grids.
In 1989 such a flare caused a massive power outage in Quebec. The surge from the flare "created electrical currents in the ground beneath much of North America. Just after 2:44 a.m. on March 13, the currents found a weakness in the electrical power grid of Quebec," NASA says on its web site. "In less than 2 minutes, the entire Quebec power grid lost power. During the 12-hour blackout that followed, millions of people suddenly found themselves in dark office buildings and underground pedestrian tunnels, and in stalled elevators. Most people woke up to cold homes for breakfast. The blackout also closed schools and businesses, kept the Montreal Metro shut during the morning rush hour, and closed Dorval Airport."
I've tried to trackdown something I heard about how the Hydro Quebec grid is now protected against such surges, but I can't find it. The only consolation, if this storm causes power problems, is that all that solar energy can produce amazing Northern Lights.
In 1989 such a flare caused a massive power outage in Quebec. The surge from the flare "created electrical currents in the ground beneath much of North America. Just after 2:44 a.m. on March 13, the currents found a weakness in the electrical power grid of Quebec," NASA says on its web site. "In less than 2 minutes, the entire Quebec power grid lost power. During the 12-hour blackout that followed, millions of people suddenly found themselves in dark office buildings and underground pedestrian tunnels, and in stalled elevators. Most people woke up to cold homes for breakfast. The blackout also closed schools and businesses, kept the Montreal Metro shut during the morning rush hour, and closed Dorval Airport." I've tried to trackdown something I heard about how the Hydro Quebec grid is now protected against such surges, but I can't find it. The only consolation, if this storm causes power problems, is that all that solar energy can produce amazing Northern Lights.
January 7, 2014
And in Fact, Climate Change Maybe behind the Cold Weather
The Scientific American
goes further and says that the "Polar Vortex" incursion is usually associated with warmer temperatures in the Arctic during the summer and less ice in the ice cap..
"Although the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic varies year to year, overall it has been disappearing to a notable degree since 2007 and it is forecast to continue to vanish even further. That could mean more trouble for the polar vortex, and more frigid outbreaks—a seeming contradiction to “global warming,” perhaps, but not for “global weirding,” also known as climate change."
"Although the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic varies year to year, overall it has been disappearing to a notable degree since 2007 and it is forecast to continue to vanish even further. That could mean more trouble for the polar vortex, and more frigid outbreaks—a seeming contradiction to “global warming,” perhaps, but not for “global weirding,” also known as climate change."
Baby It's Cold Outside, and Might Be Even Worse without Climate Change
A fascinating analysis from the Washington Post about the current cold wave across North America. Isn't the first time, and won't be the last time, but it has nothing to do with climate change.
Jason Samenow writes: "Were it not for the build-up of manmade greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, I’d posit the extreme cold events we witness now would be even colder. In other words, take these same cold air outbreaks and project them on the climate of the 1800s, and they’d be more severe. We’d need a model to test that, but it’s an educated guess.)
The truth is that increasing greenhouse gases act to warm the globe and, on average over time, should take an edge off the cold. But the planet is a really big, complicated place and the weather changes fast and randomly. Conversely, the climate changes very gradually. Taking all of this together, cold shouldn’t come as a shock, nor should it have anyone second-guessing the reality of climate warming."
Jason Samenow writes: "Were it not for the build-up of manmade greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, I’d posit the extreme cold events we witness now would be even colder. In other words, take these same cold air outbreaks and project them on the climate of the 1800s, and they’d be more severe. We’d need a model to test that, but it’s an educated guess.)
The truth is that increasing greenhouse gases act to warm the globe and, on average over time, should take an edge off the cold. But the planet is a really big, complicated place and the weather changes fast and randomly. Conversely, the climate changes very gradually. Taking all of this together, cold shouldn’t come as a shock, nor should it have anyone second-guessing the reality of climate warming."
