Archive for March, 2004

yet another item on the list

March 21st, 2004

On Paul's recommendation, a one-year subscription to Before & After is now on my birthday list ($45USD). 18 Palmer Court, Bracebridge, ON, P1L 1K5.

new glasses

March 18th, 2004

I'm wearing new glasses now, courtesy of University of Waterloo's optometry clinic. Let me know how you think they look. I paid $45 to get a glare resistant coating on the lenses. Judging by the photo, the coating appears to work in one direction.

I had my eye exam on Thursday 11 March. It took about 100 minutes. A third-year optometry student administered the exam. She answered my questions about the equipment she used in the exam. Her supervisor checked the results of my ocular health exam (looking at the back of my eyes to check for signs of diabetes and other diseases -- some diseases can be diagnosed early through ocular health exams). I'd recommend the clinic to UW students, but keep in mind that the exam takes 100 minutes.

which supreme court justice?

March 15th, 2004

Prodded by Douglas and Mark, I took the "Which Canadian Supreme Court Justice are you?" quiz. Apparently I'm Mr. Justice Frank Iacobucci (80.78% match).

missed council today

March 14th, 2004

I think I'm losing it. I totally forgot about today's council meeting.

build your own LCD picture frame

March 14th, 2004

Via Paul Lehmann: Display Your Digital Wonderland, Popular Science.

Belinda versus the Club

March 13th, 2004

The only thing I liked about Peter Mackay's campaign was his pledge to serve for a short time. I really like his idea of pausing his regular career to serve in government and I think two terms is enough for any MP.

The notion of the professional politician appears to be common sense, nowadays. Rod Love, Alberta Campaign Manager for the Belinda Stronach campaign, writes about how Belinda is taking on the Club of professional politicians who dominate Parliament Hill. He chooses Ralph Klein to make his point; a less optimal example for Alberta but a better one for Ontario and Quebec is political neophyte Pierre Elliot Trudeau. He did a few things on Parliament Hill.

honoraria for directors of not-for-profit corporations

March 13th, 2004

Over the past few days I've been discussing the issue of giving significant honoraria to directors of a not-for-profit corporation located at University of Waterloo. In my most significant contribution to the discussion, I provided some background information about the organization, Imprint, and criticized a proposal to give honoraria to directors. Since then, I've responded to some criticism of my criticism by the organization's current President.

UN to Nova Scotia: compensation for Africville

March 12th, 2004

"A United Nations report is recommending the province consider compensating former residents of Africville, the black community bulldozed almost 40 years ago."

helmer.ca redesigned, again

March 11th, 2004

Let me know what you think of the new look.

equal opportunity racism

March 10th, 2004

George Elliott Clarke on racism in Canada:

"If Canada has a problem, the problem is race," Clarke, who teaches English literature at the University of Toronto, said in an interview. "And the reason it's a problem is because we don't talk about it.

"Because we refuse to deal with our history, which is a history of racism against Jews, against blacks, against Chinese, Japanese, Italians, Ukrainian, south Europeans, eastern Europeans. I like to call it equal-opportunity racism. That's Canada."