To thine own self be true

In the 1970s about 60% of gr. 12 U.S. students read a book, magazine, or newspaper every day.
In 2016 only 16% reported doing so.

1 in 3 U.S. seniors didn’t read a book for pleasure in 2016. While at the same time, those gr. 12ers visited Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram every day.

In 2016 12th graders spent 6 hrs./day on digital media, 10th graders spent 5 hrs., and 8th graders spent 4 hrs./day.

High-schooler screen-time has tripled since the 1970s.

So much for old-fashioned reading and reading skills, book literacy and critical or any in-depth thinking. Kids are getting way dumber than ever. So much for understanding even simple ideas, concepts, and logical arguments.

Stay tuned for mass dumbness, more social alienation, and widespread physical and mental health issues.

In L.A. they’ve found that ridership is way down because of no parking lots.

Isn’t it wonderful that Dopey Don and his council don’t read or research before starting to dig? It’ll be the same story here. Nobody can/will get to the trains because there’s nowhere to park.

(And yes, I still predict the city will run out of money before this fiasco ever gets built and up and running, leaving Edmontonians with a wasteland and no money to fix any of it.)

“Truth isn’t truth.”
–Rudy Giuliani

Peach pie till the end of August. Easily as unique and tasty as their strawberry.

The Italy bridge tragedy. There are going to be myriad more stories like this everywhere even in Canada and Edmonton. The High Level Bridge is over 100 years old, but…

I wonder every time I cross a bridge anywhere if I and others around me will make it across…

Failures and limitations of technology. And humans for not monitoring structures or repairing them as needed.

Air Quality–300 Hazardous. Edmonton worst in province.

A garage sale first for us and others this weekend.

Obviously we are headed for many more smoky Augusts based on how this summer is much worse than last year.

That and more summers of crows and magpies. And wasps starting up one month earlier than September. Only good news–fewer mosquitos–much less rain.

Summers here used to be what locals once looked for. Now it’s the worst season of the year.

We are now headed for years that are half frozen and half smoke. Nature’s revenge on people who will huddle more in side clutching their screen-worlds till Space Wars with power shutdowns everywhere break out to remove their last refuge. My God! What will people do then? How will they survive/live?

Aretha Franklin. No disputing the greatness and impressiveness of her life well-lived and well-loved.

and I’ll say it again. The current Edmonton City Council is on an irrational, runaway course to destroy what was once a fine, livable city.

They have destroyed the road system, parking, and ease-of-movement everywhere. They have sold out tourists, car drivers and homeowners to bike agendas and crazy, poorly-thought-out LRT fantasies. They apply dangerous calcium chloride on winter roads and try to open a toxic beach. They spend millions tearing up public space and initiate disastrous projects that never end.

Theirs is a horrible record of waste, inconvenience, lack of safety, and a distinct lack of public reality. They have flushed this city down the toilet over and over again. Don Iveson is the worst mayor we have ever had and, likewise, this is the most stupid city council ever. Period. A study in absurdity and stupidity since their election. Now nothing will ever fix or save our poor, warzone-looking burgh. Pity poor Edmonton, a once-livable nice city.

are getting an eerie sense of how future summers will be with weird morning and evening skies, unhealthy to dangerous air, and numerous effects even on ordinary activities and work. Climate and weather have suddenly become the big stories of Canadian summers (winters have long limited Canadian lifestyles).

So far this summer I’ve also reported on Space Wars and how technology can take out all electrical systems including people’s umbilically-connected phones. But what will even a hardy people like Canadians do when weather and climate begin to affect their daily plans, vacations, work, and daily breathing and personal health?

The economical effects for putting out widespread fires could eventually beggar local, provincial, and national budgets. Factor in added mass health expenses and you begin to see how life, as we’ve known in, is beginning to change for the worse on a permanent basis.

It is tragic, incidentally, how many people have already lost homes, how towns have been devastated, and how much destruction has been done to the great Canadian landscape which has long been the pride of the nation, too.

No, like a lot of things these daze, normal does not live here anymore, only continuous change, mostly of the negative variety.

Today, in Ottawa, a boa constrictor on the loose.
In Quebec, black widow spiders.
When will those killer bees get here for all the sun-tanning enthusiasts?