published by Michael R. Barrick on Mon, 02/04/2013 - 10:56
In round numbers, if a Pound Sterling was actually worth a pound of silver at current prices, a penny (meaning the original "old money" pre-decimalisation definition as of a measure of weight equal to 1/240th of a pound) would be worth somewhere around $1.80 in Canadian or American dollars. A loaf of bread therefore costs about 2 pennies weight of silver and a (full, Imperial) pint of beer, 5 pennies weight - which is what they cost 100 years ago.
published by Michael R. Barrick on Mon, 01/14/2013 - 22:16
Imagine a post-apocalyptic world in 2513. Unknown to us here and now, aliens first visited a remote part of the planet in 1992. The aliens were just exploring and didn't really have any nefarious plans, in fact they were on their way to go trade with some other aliens and kind of ended up here by accident. They poked around a bit in the small corner of the globe they landed on, took some samples, did a little surveying, said “hi” to the rather surprised locals and then traded some of their stuff for some of the locals' stuff.
published by Michael R. Barrick on Tue, 11/27/2012 - 16:50
published by Michael R. Barrick on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 10:14
I was listening to the CBC this morning and realizing that no-one is going to wax poetically about video-game hockey like they do for the old slot-hockey tables.
published by Michael R. Barrick on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 12:37
The Tyee – Artists Wage 2.0 Attacks on Harperthetyee.ca
Toronto composer John Roby's wickedly funny song "Steve, It's Time to Leave" circulating online is as good an illustration as I've ever seen for why liberal democracies fund the arts.
published by Michael R. Barrick on Thu, 04/14/2011 - 19:17
published by Michael R. Barrick on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 23:20
published by Michael R. Barrick on Thu, 03/31/2011 - 13:15
published by Michael R. Barrick on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 11:41
Go ahead: vote irrationally, vote Conservative. You will be a multi-billionaire. Charlie Sheen will come to your parties. Your stocks will always go up. People will wade across the Rio Grande and walk to Canada just for the privilege of being serfs on your expansive estates and lick the rims of your Hummer clean. The peasants don't need human rights and freedoms because they'll be too busy thanking you just for the crumbs you throw them. You will never need medical attention, an old age pension, unemployment insurance—nor will anyone you care about.
published by Michael R. Barrick on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 10:31
Election reform notion (not that I expect this to happen): ballots should be blank, no party names, not even candidate names. Voters have to write in who they want, legibly and correctly spelled. This would remove 99% of the stupid from elections such as people who are illiterate, people who vote for the party without even knowing the name of the MP running for their riding, and people who can't spell to save their lives.
The neo-cons would be in ruins.
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