Musings of the Technical Bard

The Result of Coddling the Children

Taliesyn — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:25:23 +0000

This week, I had the opportunity to volunteer for a science field trip at my daughter’s school. The prospect of spending the day with a group of 13 and 14 year olds filled me with some trepidation as this is a difficult age. And while there was much juvenile behaviour and lack of focus on …

Hollande is terribly mistaken

Taliesyn — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:51:24 +0000

The new President of France, Francois Hollande, has stated that he is against the severe austerity that European governments have been adopted and forced into by the EU, ECB and most notably, by Berlin. He has stated that the solution to France (and Europe’s) economic problems is more government spending. He is calling for the …

On Jobs and EI

Taliesyn — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:29:20 +0000

I fully support the statements by Finance Minister Flaherty regarding the idea that there is no bad job, and that people on EI should have reduced opportunity to refuse to take jobs that are “unsuitable”. It is ridiculous for Thomas Mulcair and Peggy Nash of the NDP to argue that “skilled workers” who have education …

On CO2 Emissions in the Oil Sands

Taliesyn — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:29:19 +0000

In today’s National Post, John Ivison and Andrew Coyne provide an interesting dichotomy about the debta surrounding climate change, the oil sands, CO2 emissions and the politics of perception. Ivison starts by stating that Ottawa (i.e. the government of Canada) must act to reign in oil sands emissions, or else the critics will be proven correct …

Jeff Rubin is a misguided Malthusian

Taliesyn — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:09:46 +0000

Jeff Rubin, former economist at CIBC, has in the past few years, turned into a modern Malthus, proclaiming the end of the world as we know it. However, his writings are lacking in the breadth of analysis truly required to understand the problems we face, and he underestimates the ingenuity of humanity to solve problems. …

A response to eco-hypocrites

Taliesyn — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:44:52 +0000

Robert over at smalldeadanimals sent an excellent letter to Charles Adler this week. I recommend it to all. I too work in one of the industries the eco-nuts hate – I have spent my nearly 20 year career designing facilities that either extract petroleum from the earth, refine it into the fuels we use, or …

On the Quebec Tuition Deal

Taliesyn — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:06:07 +0000

Premier Jean Charest and his government have made a terrible mistake. They have essentially given in to the students by signing a deal that they can raise tuition but must cut other fees. First, how does this fix the fiscal imbalance of the Universities? The total income will not rise as much as planned, leaving …

More on Students Whining

Taliesyn — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:51:15 +0000

Further to my previous post, one key thing I’d like to know about the protests in Quebec: What subjects are the protesting students majoring in? I’d be willing to bet that most of them are not studying a STEM field. I would like someone to go poll these students and ask two questions: Name …

On the Quebec Student Whining

Taliesyn — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:49:14 +0000

The ongoing protests of university students in Quebec over the gall of M. Charest to raise their tuition by $1625 over five seven years, and the growth of that movement to argue over other “social” issues makes me shake my head. Students in Quebec have had it too easy for too long. Truth be told, …

On the Alberta Election

Taliesyn — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:48:20 +0000

And the pollsters are kicking themselves. All of the polls published in the last week of the campaign showed the Wildrose party in the lead, ranging from 6-17 points. but the PCs have scored their 12th consecutive majority government, and will reach the unparalleled target of having been in power for at least 45 years …