Birthday Cake

Cake

Please sir, can I have some more?

Playing with the collage feature

Multitasking

Daddy?

You were joking about blowing the college fund on the ponies? I'm too young for sarcasm. Besides, I would have taken the third horse in the eighth race instead of the nag you picked.

Winnipeg Children's Museum

Marie, Hubert, Austin, Renee, Michelle, Emma, Felicity

Winnipeg Children's Museum

 

Felicity

 

In Praise of Red Tape

In Praise of Red Tape: "But a funny thing has happened over the past six years. At a time when the press failed to check a reactionary Administration, when the opposition party all too often chose timidity, it was the lowly and anonymous bureaucrats, clad in rumpled suits, ID badges dangling from their necks, who, in their own quiet, behind-the-scenes way, took to the ramparts to defend the integrity of the American system of government."

Austin and Casey

Austin

 

Why England is rotting

England leads Europe in illiteracy, obesity, divorce, drug use, crime and STDs. Bloody hell

Tony Blair on the natue of media and politics (Click here)

The purpose of the series of speeches I have given over the past year has been deliberately reflective: to get beyond the immediate headlines on issues of the day and contemplate in a broader perspective, the effect of a changing world on the issues of the future. This speech on the challenge of the changing nature of communication on politics and the media is from the same perspective.

I need to say some preliminaries at the outset. This is not my response to the latest whacking from bits of the media. It is not a whinge about how unfair it all is. As I always say, it's an immense privilege to do this job and if the worst that happens is harsh media coverage, it's a small price to pay. And anyway, like it or not, I have won 3 elections and am still standing as I leave office. This speech is not a complaint. It is an argument.

As a result of being at the top of the greasy pole for thirteen years, ten of them as Prime Minister, my life, my work as Prime Minister, and its interaction with the world of communication has given me pretty deep experience, for better or worse.

A free media is a vital part of a free society. You only need to look at where such a free media is absent to know this truth. But it is also part of freedom to be able to comment on the media. It has a complete right to be free. I, like anyone else, have a complete right to speak.

My principal reflection is not about "blaming" anyone. It is that the relationship between politics, public life and the media is changing as a result of the changing context of communication in which we all operate; no-one is at fault - it is a fact; but it is my view that the effect of this change is seriously adverse to the way public life is conducted; and that we need, at the least, a proper and considered debate about how we manage the future, in which it is in all our interests that the public is properly and accurately informed. They are the priority and they are not well served by the current state of affairs.

Confessions

27 Confessions Of A Former Circuit City Worker

Cake

Note to self: Do not leave three and a half year old alone with cake fresh from oven and expect her to stop after one piece. Of course, I have issues stopping after one piece too. Simple vices...

Why DRM won't ever work | Tech News on ZDNet

Why DRM won't ever work | Tech News on ZDNet: "Believing in a DRM business model is like joining Star Fleet security, putting on your red shirt, and volunteering to beam down to the new unexplored plant with Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Someone will be coming back from that mission, it's just not likely to be the security guard. Always a true engineer, Scotty had the good sense to stay safely on board the ship."

Stuck in reverse

Situations like this are challenging when you can only crawl backwards.

Birthday party chocolate cupcakes

Felicity enjoying a chocolate cupcake after running around the gymnastics warehouse for a birthday party. The cupcakes were amazing. Who would have though my daughter would really dig chocolate? :-)

The photo was shot by a family member of the birthday girl. I love the detail on the hair.

Congressman Living off Food Stamps

Congressman Tim Ryan's Blog | Posting Detail

Take time to read the comments.

Spring Flowers

Papa and Austin

Chicken Eating Spider

The idea of a spider 11.8 inches across sent me into a panic - but I had to check out the site. I hope to be able to convince myself that given the distance between my family room and Peru it would be safe to put my feet on the floor again. :-)

In NATURE's DEEP JUNGLE: MONSTERS OF THE FOREST, spider expert Martin Nicholas travels to South America's Amazon in search of a spider known as the chicken-eating spider."

Thrill of victory - bitter taste of defeat

Doctor Felicity

Discussing String Theory and Particle Physics

Toddler Project Plans

Dressing up 2

Dressing up

Webby Nominees

Webby Nominees

Posts (page 2) - Marc Johns’s blog

World Controlled by Pipe Smoking Rabbit

This makes me chuckle every single time.

S.

Pictures from Alexa's party

We went to a birthday party on Sunday at a gymnastics gym. Lots of mats, trampolines, ropes and balance beams. My daughter promptly found the highest thing above the foam pit and threw herself off it. :-)

Art

Some art done by family members. The painting of the teacups was used recently for the program for my grandmother's memorial service. A wonderful choice.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristenjohns/

See also:

http://draw.vox.com
(blog)

Borders - Feature - Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney

---

I
Had Enough?

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets Tour

Google Docs & Spreadsheets Tour


Finally had the opportunity to use Google Docs with multiple users, in different locations, editing the same document at the same time. Completely seamless. I was impressed.

I sit on the executive of a non-profit society. We have to get a presentation ready for a board meeting. I created the document, used everybody's email to invite them to collaborate and away we went. Every change automatically saves a new version of the document allowing you to see who made what change and roll back to any version of the document.

A gmail address is not required though if you collaborate regularly it would be useful since you could then use the Google Chat (IM client) built into email and/or Google Talk (voice over ip) while working.

Documents can be uploaded and downloaded in MS office, Open Office and rich text, comma seperated value formats.

Not enough arms

Austin and Renee

Sad, Mad, Glad

In this video I am holding up small foam circles with faces on them corresponding to the various emotions.