Tias Eckoff (1926 – 2016), with his Maya flatware in 1991, thirty years after he designed them. Photo: unknown.
I read Edward Morgan Forster’s (1879-1970) Howards End (1910) during the 1966-7 school year. The phrase, Only Connect, is associated with Margaret Schlegel, the novel’s protagonist. For Margaret, the most important quality in a person is an ability to connect their Inner life with their Outer life. Yes, in the novel inner and outer are capitalized. Other characters, notably Leonard Bast and Henry Wilcox, initially fail to connect, but for different reasons. However, they end up making a connection out of necessity at the end of the novel. This connecting destroys them both. Part of the process of living is to learn how to make these important connections. Throughout my life, I have ended up thinking about this novel on numerous occasions.
For the rest of this post, I want to concentrate on one design, one designer and one location. They are: Maya flatware, Tias Eckhoff (1926 – 2016) and Vestre Slidre. In addition I will add some other people including one Norwegian novelist, Knut Hauge (1911 – 1999 )and his novel, Nymåne over Filefjell (1955) = New Moon over File Mountain, except both File and Fjell refer to the same word, so it should be: New Moon over Mountain Mountain.
Let me begin with a feeling of astonishment. I was absolutely certain that I had written about these topics previously. After all, they are all about as close to my Norwegian soul as anyone can get. Unfortunately, no amount of searching, even using misspelled words, resulted in a reference to any post. My contention is that household (Outer) objects should embody a connection with an (Inner) soul. Designed objects, that a person chooses, are not just random things, but items carefully selected for a reason.
The next step in this story is in 1973 when I discovered a newly opened housewares shop in Vancouver’s Gastown, Karelia, named after an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia, Finland and Sweden. It is currently divided between northwestern Russia and Finland.
While Janis Kravis (1935 – 2020) was studying architecture in Toronto, he became aware of Scandinavian architecture and, especially, the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898–1976), who had a humanist approach to architecture, and a scope that encompassed everything from city planning to housewares. In 1959, Kravis found that Finnish products were largely unavailable in Canada. He approached about twenty companies and integrated their products into his Toronto studio/ store that opened in 1960. A Vancouver branch opened in 1973. The company closed down in the 1980s.
One product that I bought at Karelia, and at other places including a shop in New Westminster, was Maya flatware. It was purchased one place setting at a time. I appreciated it for several reasons. It fit my large hands comfortably. It was made of stainless steel, worked at its assigned tasks effectively, and looked attractive. Maya had been designed by the Norwegian industrial designer Tias Eckhoff. It was manufactured in Bergen, Norway. After we moved to Norway, we increased the number of place setting from about six to twelve in the 1980s. Thus, about half of the flatwear is about fifty years old, the rest forty years old. My estimate is that it will last somewhere between one and two centuries. Yes, I will be very disappoined if my children sell or discard it.
Tias Eckhoff was born in Vestre Slidre, which is about 9 hours driving/ 900 km south west of Cliff Cottage. It is on the E16 highway that connects western and eastern Norway. The village is on a main west–east highway that runs through Northern Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Sweden. I have driven the Norwegian section of it several times. I regularly dream about driving through tunnels, including one on the E16 highway, the Lærdal Tunnel, 24.51 km long, the longest road tunnel in the world. It was the final link completing the main highway that now enables car travel between Oslo and Bergen with no ferry connections and no difficult mountain crossings during winter. So when other mountain passes are closed, the E16 remains open. Gradually, Norwegian tunnel dreams are replacing my standard Canadian dream, where I am running an Esso fuel station on Highway 15, in Cloverdale, Surrey, British Columbia. Note: power station is now the correct term in Norway, since electricity is being offered along with gasoline and diesel. Prices for all three are now on display.
Filefjell is famous in Norway for its mountain road, the Filefjell King’s road, It is named for Sverre Sigurdsson (c. 1145/1151 – 1202) who was the king of Norway from 1184 to 1202. There has been an official road there since 1791.
It took me many years to read Nymåne over Filefjell. It is sometimes referred to as a thriller that takes place on an isolated farm, in the middle of winter. I started it in 1981, and gave up on it several times. I finally completed it about 2000. The main problem is that it is written in that other Norwegian written language, Nynorsk = New Norwegian, while I read and write Bokmål. I find it easier to read Bokmål, Danish or Swedish (in that order) than Nynorsk.
When I am enjoying a meal, most often using Maya flatware, I have many thoughts flowing through my brain. I am thinking of E. M. Forster, and the novel Howards End. I am also thinking of Knut Hauge, and the novel, Nymåne over Filefjell. I am thinking of tunnels that interconnect west and east, as well as interconnections between the outside and inside worlds. Sometimes, I am even thinking about Esso or Circle K power stations! Increasingly, I think about who will be inheriting the Maya flatware, and the novels.
Every 100 posts I produce a milestone post. Forget the past, I have now decided to use it to publish information that does not warrant a separate post of its own. This will combine up to several hopeless, unfinished drafts (current count 157) that have not come far enough to be scheduled (current count 49), then published (600 when this one gets published). Then there are all of the other things, that are never considered topics for a weblog post, such as …
A passport photo
Recently, Trish found an old passport photo from the early 1980s, that showed what I looked like in what she described as my prime.
When I retired from teaching at the very end of 2016, I estimated that I would spend five years working in construction, refitting our house so that it would be more energy efficient and more suitable for elderly residents. Most of the time, I am unsure who these old people are, but receive a rude awakening in the mornings when I look at myself in the mirror, as shown below.
At the bottom of the above photo, one can see a portion of my hand-held device (HHD) = phone, protected by a pink case. While Trish chooses blue as in dark blue, light blue or turquoise, I typically choose pink (sometimes purple, even red). These are colours we each feel comfortable with. Our original protective cases were ordered on 2022-09-11, when we also ordered our Asus Zenfone 9 HHDs. While Trish’s blue case was still in good condition, by 2024-08-07 my case was showing signs of wear, so I decided to order two additional cases, in the same delightful pink colour. I finally transitioned to the second case on 2025-06-04. My time estimates are not realistic. I thought I had received the cases a couple of months, not ten months, before. My revised estimate is that the cases will last about 2 years and 9 months each, or a little over 8 years in total. By that time (at the end of 2030), it might even be time to update our HHDs.
Undecided: Should I call this section school or sculpting?
Not everyone excels at school, and I remember when I was in my early twenties, I met a similarly aged man, who had decided to engage in sculpting. His grades were insufficient to allow him to attend art school, and he was relatively broke, so he bought himself tools and various types of rock, with the aim of teaching himself. I soon lost contact with him. However, I understand his predicament. Society has become far too competitive, and much of that relates to academic grades, not the ability to use tools. There are few places for people to learn basic or unusual skills. Admission to an art school is based on academic qualifications, not artistic ability, or interest. The world needs more working-person educational institutes!
I was in a similar position. As a young teenager, I had built a small boat, and as an older teenager tried to find an apprenticeship where I could continue to learn these skills to become a journeyman and possibly a master boatbuilder. Yet, there seemed to be no pathway forward. After failing at university, I had to settle with working for a firm of stockbrokers, because that is where my family connections lay. Similarly, after moving to Norway, I improved my basic wood- and metalworking skills while learning the Norwegian language, but could not become an apprentice furniture maker. Instead I had to take degrees in business management, and computer science. I ended up as a teacher.
Some people never face these types of decisions because they are at the apex of power. There is the billionaire class that many comment on, but I think especially of the monarchies of Europe, currently seven in number, in: Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This is not a system of government that I support. I am a republican, yet hold citizenship in two of these monarchies, Canada and Norway. I see no good reason why a presidency in these countries should not be given by appointment, possibly election, to a citizen, who has made an outstanding contribution to these societies, earlier in life. They should be old – possibly sixty-five to seventy when assuming office, yet wise. Normally, they should hold office for a single term, possibly four years, without any possibility of renewal. Both genders should be represented, all ethnicities should be considered, both native born and immigrant citizens should be eligible.
In the case of Canada, I observe that Charles III (1948 – ) has many conflicts of interest. In Britain he is to be consulted in advance, about any laws that can affect him personally, such as with respect to his vast property holdings. I imagine that there are also conflicts between the needs of Canada (and other commonwealth countries) and those of England. In Norway, a monarch is specified as head of state in the constitution, possibly because of the time when it was originally written, 1814. This makes it the second oldest constitution in the world. This does not make it appropriate.
DNA
23&Me was engaged in bankruptcy proceedings that ended on 2025-05-19, when Regeneron agreed to buy 23andMe out of bankruptcy for $256 million. Because of concern that this could result in us loosing control over our genetic information. I have now downloaded the available information for both Trish and I, stored it in four separate places, and asked 23&Me to destroy the saliva and their analysis of it.
Genetic information by itself has limited value. Although 23&me has detected markers that indicate geographical origins in my DNA, initially it was not very specific in terms of location, when it was first analysed in 2015. I was able to combine genetic information with genealogical events to piece together my heritage, first with the Salters/ Pentlands, then with the Bradds.
At the time of submitting saliva for a test, my intention was to find some general information about my paternity. This came, but mostly through my paternal half-brother, Brad, who contacted me 2018-10-01. From there I gained information, especially related to my ancestry in: Fredrikstad, Norway; Haarlem, Netherlands; Grenoble, France; and Mohawk territories in North America. My paternal haplogroup, I-M253, is associated with Doggerland, currently underwater in the North Sea.
In terms of my maternal DNA (through the Salters and Pentlands), I was already aware of a British connection, particularly from Orkney in Scotland, and Cornwall in England. Gradually, more geographic detail emerged, including 11.3% originating in southern Europe, especially 6.7% from Spain and Portugal; 2.7% from Sardinia; 1.4% from Italy. I asked Brad, with whom I share paternal genes, but he said he had no southern European genes. Presumably, then, these come from my maternal = Salter/ Pentland side of the family. It delights me to have some Sardinian DNA.
For me, the greatest benefit of being gene tested has been to trace my genetic origins. As an adopted person, without significant background information, it was always something vague. It was especially satisfying to find a Norwegian connection, and even a date: Fredrikstad, in south-east Norway, in about 1630.
A 23&me genetic analysis gives a north-American bias. So I have not found any living relatives in southern Europe. My most exotic relative is probably Catalina, a fourth cousin, twice removed, currently living in San José, Costa Rica, but with DNA originating in Medellin, Colombia.
Cooking for Beginners, Jerks and Clowns
The title of this section is taken from an article that appeared in Pensjonisten – a major magazine for Norwegian pensioners. It is about Per Borglund (1961 – ), who was once the editor of Mat fra Norge = Food from Norway. Now, he is best known for his Guinness record for having the largest collection/ library of cookbooks in the world, almost 13 000. The title is taken from what he describes as his most unusual cookbook, written by Norwegian pianist Kåre Siem (1914 – 1986) = Kåres-nam-nam-bok: Primitiv minikokbok for de absolutte nybegynere, duster and kløner. In English, nam-nam would be written yum-yum. I have simplified the subtitle to: Cooking for Beginners, Jerks and Clowns, without mentioning it being a cookbook. The rest of the title should be understandable, as long as one realizes ny = new.
I decided I needed to find out more about Kåre Siem, and searched his name on YouTube. The most promising video was titled, Accordion Captain’s song composer Kåre Siem. Statistics showed 2 153 plays since its release 2008-11-26. There were 20 key words association with the work in various languages: accordion and harmonica along with various geographical locations: balkan, bulgarian, paris, norvegian, romani = gypsy, arabian. No capitalization. I listened politely for the first 33s of 4m03s. Another videos demanded my attention, How the Black Death Saved the English Language.
Books in Norwegian
Most of my books are printed on paper. Other people in our family have different tastes. Most of Trish’s books are digital, downloaded onto her two Kobos: white for non-fiction, black for fiction. Almost all of her content is in English. I think Shelagh is also a consumer of digital books, but she uses an iPhone to read them. Alasdair seems to prefer audio books.
I try to divide my reading between English and Norwegian. For some reason, my Norwegian language books are more problematic, than those in English. Sometimes I buy a book and its content is so depressing that I refuse to read it, beyond the first few pages. The latest, most serious incident involved Odd Karsten Tveit (1945 – ), Palestina : Israels ran, vårt svik (2023) = Palestine: Israel’s robbery, our betrayal. On the other hand, I found Geir Pollen’s (1953 – ) Volga : En russisk reise (2021) = Volga: A Russian trip, insightful. The book was so good that I bought a second book by the author, Armfeldts armé : historien om en katastrofe (2014) = Armfeldt’s Army: The history of a catastrophe. It was about a failed Swedish attempt to re-capture Trøndelag, the county were we live. Sweden had occupied Trøndelag and parts of Møre og Romsdal (where we initially lived) from 1658 to 1660. In 1718, after several defeats in the Great Northern War, Sweden had lost its eastern territories to Russia. Too weakened to retake these, Charles XII of Sweden instead planned an attack on Norway to force the Dano-Norwegian King Frederick IV into concessions in subsequent peace treaty negotiations. It is called the Carolean Death March, because of the resulting loss of life.
Recently, the Norwegian book I enjoyed the most was Terje Tvedt (1951 – ), Historiens Hjul og Vannets Makt: Da England og Europa vant, og Kina og Asia tapte (2023) = The Wheel of History and the Power of Water: When England and Europe Won, and China and Asia Lost, I then read his previous book, Verdens Historie med fortiden som speil (2022) = World History with the past as a mirror. Visiting a bookstore on 2025-05-19, I found another of his books on sale, Nilen: historiens elv (2014) = The Nile: history’s river.
… and English
There are times when I feel too comfortable, having lived my life in middle-class Canada and Norway. Thus, I have recently thought I should expose myself more to African influences. Thus, at the moment, I am attempting to read Africa related literature. In terms of novels, I decided I should begin by re-reading The Alexandria Quartet = Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958) and Clea (1960), written by Lawrence Durrell (1912 – 1990).
My plan then is to explore the works of Tayeb Salil (1929 – 2009). Wikipedia tells us: Salih’s writing draws important inspiration from his youth in a Sudanese village; life that is centered on rural people and their complex relationships. “At various levels and with varying degrees of psychoanalytic emphasis, he deals with themes of reality and illusion, the cultural dissonance between the West and the exotic Orient, the harmony and conflict of brotherhood, and the individual’s responsibility to find a fusion between his or her contradictions.” Furthermore, the motifs of his books are derived from his religious experience as a Muslim in 20th-century Sudan, both pre- and post-colonial. Another, more general subject of Salih’s writing is the confrontation of the Arab Muslim and the Western European world. The books I have to read are:
The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories (1968). Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies. It includes: The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid, A Handful of Dates and The Wedding of Zein.
Season of Migration to the North, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies (1969).
For non-fiction, I am reading John McWhorter (1965 – ) an American linguist, who describes himself as part of the Black middle class, who plays the piano and has an interest in music history. In the following short list of his books, I am awaiting those marked with an * from a Norwegian bookseller:
Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care (2003)*
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (2008)
The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language (2014)*
Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths about America’s Lingua Franca (2017)
Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever (2021)
Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (2021)*
I have a fascination with mathematics, despite not being particularly good at it. Recently I have attempted to understand the proofs of Maryna Sergiivna Viazovska (1984 – ) with respect to sphere packing. The usual starting point is the Kepler conjecture, named after mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630). It states that no arrangement of equally sized spheres filling a 3-dimensional space has a greater average density than around 74.05%.
Viazovska solved the problem for dimension 8, which led to a collaboration with others, and a solution in dimension 24. It is frequently commented that these proofs are stunningly simple. For her work, she was awarded the Fields Medal in 2022-07. She is both the second woman, and the second Ukrainian to be awarded the prize. In 1990, Vladimir Drinfeld (1954 – ), a Ukrainian, was awarded the prize. In 2014, Maryam Mirzakhani became the first Iranian as well as the first woman to win the Fields Medal. It is awarded to two, three or four mathematicians under 40 years of age. The first awards were made in 1936, and since then every four years starting in 1950.
A simpler, but related, problem involves the placement of ten coins in a square. Its non-mathematical solution can be appreciated by watching this video.
Back on 2022-10-26, Duolingo offered an update in terms of courses, expanding into mathematics and music. They refer to it as multi-subject Duolingo. I intend to try this out after I have visited the maritime provinces of Canada, in the middle of July.
Yet, I am uncertain if I should trust Duo with basic math skills, such as adding. Back in 2017, when I started my current streak, it would add an extra day every time I used a different device. This problem did not last long, but there is an offset. Today, I should be on day 3020, but Duolingo claims this is day 3059, so I have been credited with 39 days too many. Many years ago, I contacted Duolingo requesting them to correct this, but nothing happened.
Currently, I am using Duolingo to learn Scot’s Gaelic. In recent years, I have also spent time on: Ukrainian, Finnish and Swedish. Originally, back in 2014, I began with French, then Portuguese, then German. I also used other sources to learn some Icelandic. I am thinking of returning to French when I return from my trip to maritime Canada. This is because my next trip to Canada should be to visit Quebec, in 2026. In addition, Duolingo fails to offer courses in Norn, formerly used in Shetland and the Orkneys. Essentially, it is a Norwegian dialect. The other language I was thinking of learning was Sardinian. Shetland and Sardinia are also on my travel list for 2026, in addition to a possible trip to California.
The Ordeal (2004), a Sculpture by Edith Breckwoldt (1937 – 2013) in Hamburg, Germany. “The ordeal. No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it. The truth is in all places.” Text by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Photo: Emma7stern, 2011-04-29.
Often, I am just a little too late. I began writing this post on 2025-04-12, eighty years and three days after the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I accept that I am imperfect, and missed the opportunity to publish this post on the anniversary of his death. So I will attempt to make this reflection more relevant to the current age, and publish it on the 80th anniversary of the official end of World War two, 2025-04-08.
In case anyone believes that only the Axis side of the war acted with evil intent, let me remind people that early in 1945-04, the first Allied-governed Rheinwiesenlager camps = Rhine meadow camps, a group of 19 concentration camps built in the Allied-occupied part of Germany by the U.S. Army to hold hundreds of thousands of captured or surrendered Axis Forces personnel. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force reclassified all prisoners as disarmed enemy forces, not prisoners of war. The legal fiction circumvented provisions under the Geneva Convention of 1929 on the treatment of former combatants. By 1945-10 thousands had died in the camps from starvation, exposure and disease.
A reflection about Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945).
Bonhoeffer lived a short and anonymous life. He was arrested in 1943-04 by the Gestapo and imprisoned at Tegel Prison in Berlin for 1½ years. His letters (and other papers) originate from here, but were smuggled out of prison. This correspondence contained provocative concepts about the world and the church. He was then transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, where he met his death by hanging.
Much of Bonhoeffer’s appeal relates to his radical thoughts about the future of Christianity in the postwar world. It is a world of religionless Christianity, a world without God. These thoughts appealed to the many for whom the old ideas and institutions of the church no longer seemed adequate. My interpretation is that God had died, or at the very least, failed people, by not suppressing the second world war. God was unwilling to intervene on the side of truth or fairness. God was willing to let might rule, and to sacrifice the innocent. This is the situation in every war since then.
Many theologians see a breach in Bonhoeffer’s thought, a demarcation that separates his later life, where he abandons almost everything that he had previously affirmed and confessed as a Christian. Others see a continuity between these later, radical concepts and what he had believed and written before.
Much of Bonhoeffer’s appeal related to Christology, the branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Such as whether Jesus was human or divine or both; Christ’s role as a messiah, including a role in the freeing of the Jewish people from foreign rulers. There are also questions about salvation, and the consequences of sin.
Much of Letters and Papers from Prison, involves a correspondence with Eberhard Bethge (1909 – 2000). Bethge carefully preserved most of what he received, collected additional materials from others after the war, then published the first edition in German in 1951, followed by an English language translation in 1952. Since then, new editions with additional content and improved translations have been published.
It appears that Bethge took years to conclude that these scattered and seemingly random scraps should be published. In postwar Germany there were many who considered Bonhoeffer a traitor because he conspired against Hitler. Bonhoeffer was not regarded as a proper academic, so his opinions were easy to dismiss. The book was regarded as dangerous, because it discusses the end of religion and living in a godless world. In addition, the book was esoteric and fragmentary. Upon its publication, it overcame all these obstacles and now stands as a landmark of theology.
The most relevant part of Bonhoeffer’s writing today deals with stupidity. He writes:
Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
If we want to know how to get the better of stupidity, we must seek to understand its nature. This much is certain, that it is in essence not an intellectual defect but a human one. There are human beings who are of remarkably agile intellect yet stupid, and others who are intellectually quite dull yet anything but stupid. We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect, but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem. It is a particular form of the impact of historical circumstances on human beings, a psychological concomitant of certain external conditions. Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. It would even seem that this is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other. The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, for instance, the intellect, suddenly atrophy or fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence, and, more or less consciously, give up establishing an autonomous position toward the emerging circumstances. The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with a person, but with slogans, catchwords and the like, that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings.
Yet at this very point it becomes quite clear that only an act of liberation, not instruction, can overcome stupidity. Here we must come to terms with the fact that in most cases a genuine internal liberation becomes possible only when external liberation has preceded it. Until then we must abandon all attempts to convince the stupid person. This state of affairs explains why in such circumstances our attempts to know what ‘the people’ really think are in vain and why, under these circumstances, this question is so irrelevant for the person who is thinking and acting responsibly. The word of the Bible that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom declares that the internal liberation of human beings to live the responsible life before God is the only genuine way to overcome stupidity.
But these thoughts about stupidity also offer consolation in that they utterly forbid us to consider the majority of people to be stupid in every circumstance. It really will depend on whether those in power expect more from people’s stupidity than from their inner independence and wisdom.
The other writing of Bonhoeffer, that I would like to include here, has to do with cheap and costly grace. He writes:
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. […] Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son …. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship (2003), pp. 47-9.
One of the world’s challenges in 2025 and beyond, is related to hybrid warfare. Frank Hoffman (1956 – ) defined hybrid warfare in 2007 as: the emerging simultaneous use of multiple types of warfare by flexible and sophisticated adversaries who understand that successful conflict requires a variety of forms designed to fit the goals at the time. Much of it is related to creating then enhancing divisions within a population. A popular way of doing this is through getting people with different religious affiliations to enter into conflicts with each other.
It is particularly easy for enemy agents to recruit different groups to oppose other groups. Imagine enemy agents pretending to be Protestants, attempting to recruit real Protestants to oppose people of other religions, which might include Jews, Catholics, Muslims and others, including non-believers. These same agents could then pretend to be members of these other religions, once again to recruit others. In this way, a country becomes increasingly split along religious lines.
It is important for everyone to know how hybrid warfare works. Its purpose is simple: to divide a nation into factions opposed to other factions.
Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull, as they appear on a Vancouver Public Library plaque outside the Metro Theatre in Marpole, Vancouver.
British born playwright Raymond Hull (1919 – 1986) and Vancouver born hierarchiologist Laurence Peter (1919 – 1990) met in a theatre lobby during an intermission, in the early 1960s. They agreed that they were watching an atrocious production.
Discussing the reasons for this theatrical disaster, Peter told Hull that employees rise to their level of incompetence. Workers keep getting promoted until they stop performing well. Later, the two men collaborated on their 1969 best-seller, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong, which focused on this key insight. The book was rejected by more than a dozen publishers before being accepted, and becoming a best-seller.
Many TV mockumentaries/ sitcoms throughout the world have been called The Office, including a BBC production 2001-3, followed by an NBC one 2005 – 2013. These series were directly inspired by The Peter Principle, and showed incompetent people in action. The same is true of the comic strip Dilbert, written and illustrated by Scott Adams (1957 – ) since 1989. Adams gained inspiration from his banking career at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco between 1979 and 1986.
The Peter Principle describes organizational dysfunction. Companies frequently have the wrong person in the wrong place. Yet, Peter was uncertain about the incompetent people at the top. In a 1984 television interview on CBC Television with Carole Taylor (1945 – ), he admitted.”I’m never sure whether our world is run by idiots who are sincere or wise guys who are putting us on.”
Taylor was probably an appropriate interviewer. She has had a dubious career. She was Miss Toronto 1964; an independent member of Vancouver City Council from 1986 to 1990; Chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade from 2001 to 2002; Chair of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) from 2001 until 2005; British Columbia’s Minister of Finance from 2005 until 2008; Chancellor of Simon Fraser University (in Burnaby, British Columbia) from 2011 until 2014. From my perspective, her most notable achievement was the introduction of the first carbon tax in North America, introduced in 2008. It was based on Sweden’s carbon tax, that successfully reduced carbon dioxide emissions from transport by 11%.
Most people think The Peter Principle was written as satire. Yet, even satire can contain truths. Researchers have undertaken studies based on Peter and Hull’s treatise, and then written reports about remedial actions that can prevent workers from rising to their level of incompetence.
A 2009 study by Italian researchers offered a radical approach to the Peter Principle problem. It found that companies may be better served by leaving things to chance and promoting people at random.
A 2018 study looked at data from more than 50 000 sales workers at 214 firms and “found evidence consistent with the ‘Peter Principle.'” It found organizations were more likely to promote top sales staff into managerial positions even if the most productive worker wasn’t necessarily the best candidate.
Some organizations counter the Peter Principle through a dual track approach that allows for high performers to advance their careers = get income increases and/or fancy job titles, without necessarily having to climb the corporate ladder.
Some organizations have tried to tackle the Peter Principle problem by focusing less on a worker’s past performance and more on their potential. They use what’s called the nine-box method to evaluate prospective leaders, using a three-by-three grid that weighs an employee’s accomplishments and their future potential. “Women were actually getting slightly higher performance ratings within the nine-box system, but they were getting sharply lower potential ratings. So it seems like potential is something very difficult to forecast, but it’s an area where various biases can sneak in.”
Peter’s career
Peter worked as a teacher in Vancouver between 1941 and 1965, before becoming an education professor at the University of British Columbia. In 1966, Peter moved to California, where he became an Associate Professor of Education, Director of the Evelyn Frieden Centre for Prescriptive Teaching, and Coordinator of Programs for Emotionally Disturbed Children at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Peter also wrote: The Peter Prescription: How to Make Things Go Right (1972), The Peter Plan: A Proposal for Survival (1976), Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Times (1977), and more.
He wrote several books aimed at teachers: Prescriptive Teaching (1965); Competencies for Teaching (1975) in four volumes: 1 = Individual Instruction, 2 = Classroom Instruction, 3 = Theraputic Instruction, 4 = Teacher Education.
His insights into teaching are expressed even on the opening page of The Peter Principle, where he writes that he learned early in his career as an educator that “a fair number of teachers, school principals, and superintendents appeared to be unaware of their professional responsibilities, and incompetent in executing their duties.”
Hull’s Career
Hull was born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. He emigrated to Vancouver at the end of World War II, and worked as a waiter, janitor and civil servant. In 1949 he studied creative writing at the University of British Columbia and discovering he had an aptitude for it. After graduation, he eventually began writing television screenplays for the CBC. He later wrote for the stage and, in time, formed The Gastown Players.
His literary output included plays: The Drunkard (1967); Wedded to a Villain (1967); Son of the Drunkard = The Drunkard’s Revenge (1982). Other works were: Profitable Playwriting (1968); How To Get What You Want (1969); Writing for Money in Canada (1969); Effective Public Speaking (1971); Gastown’s Gassy Jack (1971) (co-authored with Olga Ruskin (nee Bruchovsky, 1931 – 2010); How to Write a Play (1983). in addition to co-authoring The Peter Principle (1969), with Laurence Peter.
Hull and Peter’s names lives on
In 2006 Vancouver Public Library installed 26 literary plaques. One of these was outside the Metro Theatre, 1370 S.W. Marine Drive, which was the location where Peter and Hull met. It reads:
“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”
From The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong
One of the most famous non-fiction books written in British Columbia, The Peter Principle (1969), was co-authored by Raymond Hull and Laurence J. Peter after the pair met as strangers while attending an amateur production at the Metro Theatre. In the lobby, during intermission, Hull mentioned the production was a failure. Laurence J. Peter, an Education professor at UBC, suggested to Hull that people invariably rise to their level of incompetence. In their international bestseller that resulted, The Peter Principle, Peter described his theme as “hierarchiology,” a term now commonly used when analyzing systems in human society. Hull described the content as, “the tragi-comic truth about incompetence, its causes and its cure.” Dr. Laurence J. Peter, who was born in Vancouver and worked for the Vancouver school system from 1941 to 1965, left B.C. and worked in the Education faculty of the University of Southern California. He wrote 11 more books and died in 1990. Raymond Hull was a writer and also an actor and playwright. He died in 1985, bequeathing most of his royalties from six plays and 18 books to the Canadian Authors Association, and most of the rest of his estate, approximately $100,000, was given to the Vancouver Public Library.
[end of inscription on plaque]
Raymond Hull Quotations:
All marriages are happy. It’s the living together afterward that causes all the trouble.
He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.
The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.
Laurence Peter Quotations:
The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it.
A man doesn’t know what he knows until he knows what he doesn’t know.
Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.
The problem with temptation is that you may not get another chance.
Every girl should use what Mother Nature gave her before Father Time takes it away.
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today.
The reason crime doesn’t pay is that when it does, it is called a more respectable name.
Competence, like truth, beauty, and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.
The purpose of my books is not to proclaim that I know all the answers, or plan to save the world; but by writing these stories, the idea is to turn people on to thinking in terms of solutions, rather than in terms of escalating problems.
Peter was fond of quoting the wisdom of American humourist James Boren (1925 – 2010): When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. And when in doubt, mumble. Boren founded the International Association of Professional Bureaucrats and, in 1992, was the official candidate for President of the United States, for the Apathy Party of America, with his campaign slogan: I have what it takes to take what you’ve got. He lost to Bill Clinton.
Homogenized Milk
Sometimes Peter explains basic concepts using analogies: “the cream that rises to the top turns sour.” If this is still too difficult, he paraphrases it: ‘The cream rises until it sours.’ Unfortunately, many of the people he was trying to explain this to, have probably drunk homogenized milk all of their lives, and have no understanding of how milk and cream start off as separate fractions.
Peter probably had no difficulty explaining his concepts to members his own generation, people who had grown up with standard milk who intuitively knew that cream is lighter than milk. In dealing with younger people there are experiential gaps, often called generation gaps. Bridging these gaps can be difficult.
Auguste Gaulin (1857 – 1922) invented an emulsifying machine, he called a homogenizer. Its three piston pump forced milk through a narrow tube under pressure. This action broke fat globules into smaller sizes to prevent separation and rising. The machine was patented in 1899, but homogenization did not become popular with the general public until the 1920s, when large quantities of homogenized milk were purchased and people began to notice the quality difference.
In North America, the use of homogenized milk began at The Torrington Creamery, Torrington, Connecticut in 1919, but did not spread. By 1927, The Laurentian Dairy, in Ottawa Ontario, started to produce homogenized milk. By 1932, milk plants in many Ontario cities and towns offered homogenized milk for sale. In the United States, enthusiasm for the product was generated by William McDonald, Flint, Michigan, in 1932, who introduced homogenized milk there. Through unique experiments and demonstrations involving regurgitation studies, attention of the public was drawn to homogenized milk. Sales by the McDonald Dairy Company, in the midst of the economic depression, stimulated much interest throughout the United States.
Some people call them fake Hermès Kelly bags, but replica or faux, sounds so much nicer. Whatever one wants to call them, this approach is less expensive than the real thing. None of my friends can tell the difference, so spending money on authenticity is wasted. The smaller bag is comparable to the original 25 cm, while the larger one is is 28 cm. The bag is named after Grace Kelly.
This is the fourth Words of the Year. Instead of focusing on a single word each month, this year the focus is on phrases, that have attracted my attention, in some way. Some of these came about listening to a music video, or reading a book when a phrase jumped out at me, and demanded my attention. Then again, some come from the usual sources…
Brain rot
Oxford’s expression of the year, Brain rot = the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. The term gained prominence in 2024, capturing concerns about consuming low-quality online content, especially in excess and on social media. Its first recorded use was in American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau’s (1817 – 1862) Walden (1854), a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience = Resistance to Civil Government (original title).
Casper Grathwohl, Oxford Languages president, said: “Brain rot speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time. It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology.”
The five unsuccessful shortlisted words were: demure = reserved or responsible behaviour; dynamic pricing = a situation where the price of a product or service varies to reflect demand; lore = a body of facts and background information related to someone or something; romantasy = a fiction genre combining romance and fantasy; and slop = low-quality artificial intelligence generated online content.
The Power and the Glory
The Power and the Glory alludes to the doxology often recited at the end of the Lord’s Prayer: “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.” is one example of many.
Graham Greene (1904 – 1991) has used this phrase as the title of a 1941 novel about a renegade Catholic ‘whisky priest’ living in Tabasco, Mexico in the 1930s, when the Mexican government was attempting to suppress the Catholic Church. It was initially published in the United States under the title The Labyrinthine Ways. A Wikipedia article about the novel explains the plot, and other details.
Whisky priest not only refers to Graham Greene’s unnamed protagonist, more generally it refers to a person or fictional character who shows clear signs of moral weakness while preaching to a higher standard. That preaching does not have to take place in a church.
Greene was part of the Catholic literary revival. It is a term that has been applied to a movement towards explicitly Catholic allegiance and themes among leading literary figures. These are generally converts to Catholicism. The other writers belonging to this movement that I have read extensively are G. K. Chesterton (1874 – 1936) and Norwegian Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) who translated Chesterton’s work, but also gave the world her best-known work, Kristin Lavransdatter, (a trilogy, 1920 – 1922) about medieval life in Norway from a woman’s perspective. Other prominent Norwegian writers who have also converted include 2023 Nobel literature prize winner Jon Fosse (1959 – ) and Karl Ove Knausgård (1968 – ).
Armed and Dangerous
Sometimes phrases are humorous while at other times they are deadly serious. Here is one example, looking at the not-so serious aspects first.
Armed and Dangerous might refer to Armed and Dangerous (original title: Вооружён и очень опасен = Vooruzhyon i ochen opasen, = Armed and Very Dangerous) the 1977 Soviet-Czech-Romanian western, based on the novel Gabriel Conroy (1875/ revised 1882) by Bret Harte (1836 – 1902). This movie was filmed completely in Russian, yet most of main characters were played by non-Russian speaking actors (Lithuanian, Romanian and Czech), who were dubbed by Soviet voice actors.
In 1986 another film appeared with the same title, minus Very. John Candy (1950 – 1984) had a major role in it. It opened to poor reviews and low ticket sales. After 38 years, I have still not found that this film has any redeeming qualities. In particular, it is not especially funny. My favourite John Candy film, watched many times over the years, often in classrooms, is Canadian Bacon (1995), where he portrays American Sheriff Bud Boomer, enthusiastically wanting to go to war against Canada. Candy was Canadian! These days, I think American President-elect Donald Tariff, must have been secretly watching the film, and Bud’s role, especially.
On from John Candy to Carl Canedy, producer of the Antrax thrash metal song Armed and Dangerous, released at the beginning of 1987. This is not the track I would recommend to get your mother to love thrash metal. At best it is mediocre. The defining song of that genre is Holy Wars … Punishment Due (1990) by Megadeth, with its intricate rhythm, memorable leads, bass and the meaning of its lyrics. Written in Northern Ireland, during the troubles. Some regard this the best thrash metal song ever! Unfortunately, there is no mention of Armed and Dangerous in it.
Wikipedia reminds us that philosophically, thrash metal developed as a backlash against both the conservatism of the Reagan era and the much more moderate, pop-influenced, and widely accessible heavy metal sub-genre of glam metal which also developed concurrently in the 1980s. Derived genres include crossover thrash, a fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk.
The more serious side involves fungi, where the armed part is their ability to mutate. These are an ever present and real armed threat to humanity. There are many examples including: potato blight = Phytophthora infestans, infecting potatoes and tomatoes; black sigatoka = Mycosphaerella fijiensis, infecting bananas and plantain; witchweed = Striga hermonthica, infecting many species including corn, millet and grasses; rice blast = Magnaporthe oryzae, infecting grasses; Asian soybean rot = Phakopsora pachyrhizi, infecting soybeans and other legumes.
In the 1960s, stem rust led to the resistant wheat varieties that fueled a green revolution. Many farmers believed they were finished with the rust fungus Puccinia graminis. But in 1998, a dangerous new strain, Ug99, emerged in Uganda. By 2004, its spread prompted Norman Borlaug (1914 – 2009) an American agronomist and winner of the Nobel peace prize, to investigate it further. His research contributions led, indirectly, to extensive increases in agricultural production (the green revolution). Ug99 threatens wheat crops throughout the Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It has been found in Europe from Spain to Siberia. It’s presence increases the risk of famine in Pakistan, India and other locations where small farmers can’t afford fungicides.
Tarted up
Here is a phrase from the Free Dictionary, using tarted up: We tarted up the apartment with a pink shag carpet. The dancers tarted themselves up in feathers and sequins. I live with a greenish shag carpet. Pink was used extensively in my childhood living room, but not with a shag carpet. In yet another Guardian article it was pointed out that fashion brands mislabeled real feathers as faux. Wikipedia could tell me that sequins made with nautilus shell were found dating back 12 000 years in Indonesia. While not having any clothing that use feathers or sequins, I use pink extensively, and most recently ordered two more phone cases in the same pink I have used for the past two years. This is to ensure my Asus Zenfone 9 purchased in 2022, will last until I turn 80, in 2028. Currently (2024) there is a Zenfone 11. Zenfone 13 is a delightful designation, that I expect to emerge in 2026. By 2028, it should be sufficiently dated to attract a sizable price discount.
John Camden Hotten (1832 – 1873) in Dictionary of modern slang, cant, and vulgar words (1864) has this to say about tart: a term of approval applied by the London lower orders to a young woman for whom some affection is felt. The expression is not generally employed by the young men, unless the female is in ‘her best,’ with a coloured gown, red or blue shawl, and plenty of ribbons in her bonnet—in fact, made pretty all over, like the jam tarts in the swell bakers’ shops.
Pascal Tréguer (? – ) adds: The word [tart] therefore was originally a term of endearment, and what most probably happened was an ordinary semantic extension of tart, from the literal sense of a small openpastry case containing a sweet filling to the figurative sense of pastry case containing a sweet filling a sweet woman.
Loud Budgeting
For me, loud budgeting was always known, but nameless, before it received a name from Pass Notes Shops and Shopping in the Guardian newspaper. The term emerged in a viral post by TikToker Lukas Battle (1997 – ). My wife, Trish, does not follow anyone on TikTok. She tells me that when we spend money on almost anything, it is our scarcity brain taking control. Her focus now is on hoarding avoidance. This has not always been the case. Our goal during our first year (1980-1981) in high priced Norway was to be able to buy enough food. At the end of that first year, we had saved enough to buy a radio that also played tape cassettes, a luxury.
As an accountant, Trish was well aware that budgets have to be loud. Quiet budgets just encourage excessive spending. We have always been open about our economic situation, especially with our children. When one lives in relative poverty, indulging in quiet luxury is immoral. One is thankful one has a coat and a backpack. I am not sure either of us would recognize a Hermès Kelly bag (mentioned here, only because it was part of the Guardian article). For over forty years, we have rejected aspirational consumerism and have embraced thriftiness. Please do not ask about our VW ID.Buzz.
While the Hermès Kelly bag was popularized by Grace Kelly (1929 – 1982), it was just a simple, practical design. Kelly allegedly used it to hide her pregnancy in 1956. Yet, the bag was created in 1935 by Robert Dumas and called the Sac à Dépêches = dispatch bag, which in itself took design elements from the older Haut à Courroies (HAC) bag = top with belts bag, which was designed in the 1850s. There are website posts that explain details about this bag’s design, that allow/ encourage anyone to make their own DIY version. When doing so, please avoid using animal products.
Battle claims loud budgeting is being like rich people. They hate spending money. He encourages people to broadcast spending limits, and to be financially upfront with friends.
Then there are things I don’t understand, like putting deactivation stickers on credit cards. I only use a credit card to provide additional security when making some types of purchases, such as hotel accommodation in foreign countries. It had gone four years since a credit card was used! Except, before this text was revised, my bank sent me an email claiming that they would not renew my credit card, unless I used it. So, I used it for a purchase, then (for good measure) made a couple of other random purchases with it, while visiting Newfoundland.
Trish told me about one Norwegian woman who claimed that she was now leading a life of luxury. She was now able to eat nutritious meals every day! She was so rich that she could allow her children to make choices about what they wanted to do in their free time. I agree, that is what life should be, but I hope it becomes regarded as normal, rather than luxurious.
Battle is living in a vastly different world from the one I populate. In his world, people receive costly social invitations, that should be turned down, with honest reasons about why. He is following luxury brands on social media, that should be unfollowed. He is proudly packing his own lunch, and eating it in public. He claims that his actions are not communist, but contain the secret ingredient of capitalism: being mean. Being mean isn’t new, but it could be a novelty for Gen Z or Gen α. He wonders if they can survive financial catastrophe, by bringing their own coffee from home.
Coffee
My son, Alasdair, tells me that the greatest quality reduction in coffee from farm field to sipping/ drinking/ gulping the final product, comes in the grinding of its beans. He claims that one has only 15 minutes from grinding to filtering to produce coffee at its best. Thus, he is contemplating the purchase of a grinder. I might too, but the operative word here is might, because I have engaged in a purchasing habit that has lasted for 35+ years: The replacement of Coop Red = filtermalt, mørk og kraftig = filter ground, dark and strong coffee with unground coffee beans. I even know where the red coffee is located in our local store, but have no idea where coffee beans can be found.
Fortunately, I am better at comparison shopping online. I announced my finding of an Andersson CEG 1.0 grinder from Net on Net that uses 200 W to produce up to 70 g of coffee. It has a 3.7 (of five) star rating and costs NOK 200 now and during Black week (delivered). Normal price appears to be about NOK 120 – 140, so I suggested we wait until the sales start in the new year before purchasing it. I could also tell Alasdair that the most popular grinder with variable grain size settings, is a Wilfa WSCG2 with a 160 W motor that can produce 130 g of coffee. It costs NOK 740 and has a rating of 3.8. To obtain a higher rating (4.2) the price increases to NOK 4 000.
Unfortunately, my son knows I waste money buying inappropriate tools, then regret my decisions and buy something more appropriate. He suggested that I should watch some coffee grinder reviews on YouTube, that might explain the price difference. I watched three short, but informative, reviews before admitting that I would reconsider my choice. Conclusion: I will live without a coffee grinder, and continue to use Coop red coffee.
Overnight Sensations
Despite resolve to focus on phrases, it is sometimes necessary to understand some new words that are entering a language, are influencing these phrases. These typically come from younger generations, even beyond that of one’s children. Now that I have retired from teaching, I have very little input from anyone described as Gen Z or Gen α.
Anna Spanish‘s founder, Anna Latorra, provides some contemporary slang, noting its “power to turn phrases into overnight sensations.” Some of the more recent terms, with their urban dictionary meanings are listed below.
Term
Meaning
Pookie
A nickname you call your best friend or someone you really love
Gyat
Short term for god damn
Simp
It is when a man is overly submissive to a woman and gains nothing from it. Example: “Guys simp in her Instagram replies and she doesn’t even notice them.”
Rizz
“Rizz” comes from the word “charisma.” In southern Baltimore they’ve started shortening it, using “rizzma” (the noun replacing “charisma”) and to “rizz” (the action of showing charisma)
Coquette
“Coquette” is mainly an aesthetic based on reclaiming girlhood and embracing a fun-loving, bubbly personality
Preppy
A “preppy” girl is a girl who wears the “preppy aesthetic” style, this includes wearing Roller Rabbit, Love Shack Fancy, Sassy Shortcake, American Eagle, etc.
Yeet
To violently throw an object that you deem to be worthless, inferior or just plain garbage
NPC
Short for non-playable character, it means the opposite of a main character. This person is usually a background character in your life that doesn’t have significant importance
Moots
Short for “mutuals.” It’s when you follow someone on social media and they follow you back
No cap/capping
The use of the phrase “no cap” is meant to convey authenticity and truth. Example: “No cap, ‘Barbie’ is the movie of the year.”
Ick
Something someone does that is an instant turn-off for you, making you instantly hate the idea of being with them romantically. Example: “His cargo shorts gave me the ick.”
GRWM
A “GRWM” video is a vlog where you film everything that you do in your morning, night, ECT routine. Acronym for “Get Ready With Me.”
Delulu
A delusional fan girl/boy who believes they can/will end up with their favourite idol or celebrity and invest an unhealthy amount of time and energy into said idol
Cheugy
The opposite of trendy
Bussin
What you would say if something was really good
Opps
Anyone in competition or against you. Enemies
Sus
Giving the impression that something is questionable or dishonest, short for suspicious
PFP
Short for profile picture
OOMF
Short for “one of my followers”, usually used on X and TikTok to talk about one of your followers without mentioning their name
Beige flag
Something that’s neither good nor bad but makes you pause for a minute when you notice it and then you just continue on, something odd. Similar to “red flag” (a bad sign) and “green flag” (a good sign)
Sheesh
A word used as a substitute to “Daaaamn!”
OK Boomer
A slang term used as a response to someone from the Baby Boomer generation. Example: Boomer: “When I was your age I already owned a home.” Gen Z: “OK Boomer. Houses cost like $12,000 back then.”
Heather
When someone says that you’re “Heather,” they mean that everybody can’t help but like you
Mid
Used to insult or degrade something you don’t like, labeling it as average or poor quality. Example: “Personally, I thought ‘Barbie’ was mid.”
I discovered Argentinian Caro(lina) Kowanz, currently living in Germany, on YouTube, where she provides short videos explaining English. She portrays different roles in the same video. In one, for example, she was a passenger on an aircraft who faced assorted problems, including a seat that would not recline, and an air vent that couldn’t be closed. She was also the flight attendant, acknowledged these problems, but unable to resolve them.
On another video, she tried to help viewers understand these English idioms. I have not used any of these idioms.
Ghosting = an abrupt cessation of communication with another person. Often involving dating.
Throw shade = indirect criticism of someone.
On fleek = something looks perfect! Yes, this is positive.
Spill the tea = tell the gossip, especially with all the drama that goes with it.
Low-key = something that you don’t want to make an issue about, in contrast to high-key where one feels very strongly about an issue.
Binge-watch = watching many episodes of a series without taking a break.
Lit = something is amazing or very exciting.
Slide into someone’s dms = send a direct message to someone on social media.
No cap = honestly.
Bet = Right or correct.
That fit goes hard = That is a very nice outfit you are wearing.
Then on Christmas Eve, 2024-12-24, in a Guardian newspaper article, I came across three Chinese neologisms about China’s current predicament – slowing economic growth, a falling birthrate, a meagre social safety net, and increasing isolation.
躺平 = Tangping = lying flat, a term used to describe the young generation of Chinese who are choosing to chill out rather than hustle in China’s high-pressure economy.
润学 ? =Runxue = run philosophy, which refers to the determination of large numbers of people to emigrate.
对合 = Neijuan = rolling inwards = involution, a term used to describe the feeling of diminishing returns in China’s social contract. This is a concept from sociology that refers to a society that can no longer evolve, no matter how hard it tries. Applied to the individual, it means that no matter how hard someone works, progress is impossible.
Official photo of Rachel Carson ca. 1940, taken by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
This weblog post has been published on the 60th anniversary of the death of Rachel Carson on 1964-04-14. She died of cancer, at the age of 56. This was the second death of a prominent, yet relatively young person in a matter of months. The first was the assassination of American president John Kennedy (1917 – 1963). The comment, relatively young, is written by someone at the age of 75. For someone 15 years old, fifty years probably seemed an eternity into the future.
As I started writing this post, I was reading the 1998 collection, Lost Woods, the Discovered Writings of Rachel Carson, edited and with an introduction by Linda Lear (1940 – ). This was the fifth book I read, written by Rachel Carson.
The first book I read of hers was the third that Carson wrote, The Edge of the Sea (1955). It revealed the shoreline, that part of the sea accessible to a young person, probably not yet a teenager. The focus was on three edges: rocky, sandy and coral. The focus was on the east coast of North America. The rocky shores were typical of the Cape Ann region of Massachusetts, the sandy shores were of the intermediate coast off the Carolinas, while the corals were part of the Florida Keys.
The second book of hers that I read was her second book, The Sea Around Us (1951). It is often described as poetic. That term was foreign to me. I regarded it as providing me with deeper insights into life into oceans depths. It too was divided into three sections: Mother Sea, The Restless Sea, and Man and the Sea About Him.
These two books prompted an interest in marine biology, and in microscopy. I still have my compound microscope from 1962. I used it to study and make photomicrographs of plankton I had harvested using a home-made plankton net, that was essential equipment on my home-made 2.4 m = 8′ long Sabot dinghy.
The third book of hers that I read was her fourth book, Silent Spring (1962). It had nothing to do with the sea, but with birds, and how the overuse of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other synthetic pesticides, was responsible for a decline in bird populations — the silencing of birds. At one point I voiced my concerns to my uncle Harry, an etymologist, who chastised me for my concerns, saying that DDT had saved the lives of millions of people.
The fourth book I read by Carson, was her first book, Under the Sea Wind (1941). It describes the behavior of three Atlantic coast organisms that live both on and in the sea on the Atlantic coast. Under the Sea Wind consists of three parts, each following a different organism that interacts with the sea, and viewing it from a personified organism’s perspective. The first section, Edge of the Sea, follows a female sanderling (Calidris alba, Pallas, 1764), a small wading bird Carson names Silverbar. The second section, The Gull’s Way, follows an Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus, Linnaeus, 1758) named Scomber. The third section, River and Sea follows an American eel (Anguilla rostrata, Lesueur, 1817), Anguilla.
These were not the only books I read about the sea. To understand what was happening on the Pacific coast I used Edward Rickett’s (1897 – 1948) Between Pacific Tides (1939), as a guide. To gain a better understanding of what was happening in the depths of the ocean I also read William Beebe (1877 – 1962) as he descended in his bathosphere in Half Mile Down (1934).
As is the case with most of the books I read as a child, the books cited here were borrowed, often repeatedly, from New Westminster public library, located a convenient three blocks away from my childhood home. These books were not in the Children’s department, so I had to have special permission to borrow them.
I now have paper editions of Carson’s four earliest books, along with digital editions of these and some others written by her, or about her. I also have a paper edition of Between Pacific Tides.
Many people believe that there is a direct connection between Carson and Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970. For the most part Earth Day is harmless, and doesn’t require anyone to make changes to their consumer way of life. I am even more skeptical about Carson inspiring the Responsible Care program was established in 1988 by the Chemical Manufacturers Association (now American Chemistry Council) to help the chemical industry improve its safe management of chemicals from manufacture to disposal. I see it as an attempt to focus public attention away from the damage done by chemical manufacturers.
When these chemicals first came on the market, they appeared almost miraculous. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller (1899 – 1965) had shown in 1939, that DDT eradicated insect populations in the control of vector diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. For this he received the 1948 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine. It was noted that DDT sprayed from airplanes eliminated the malaria- and dengue fever–carrying mosquitoes that sickened and killed American soldiers in the Pacific war theater. These wartime successes led to postwar applications, with chemical companies selling DDT to farmers to reduce crop loss to insects. Tropical nations used it to prevent mosquitoes from spreading malaria.
In the 1950s the chemical industry created new pesticides and herbicides, such as chlordane and heptachlor for killing insects and 2,4-D to control sagebrush growth on western U.S. roadsides.
Carson’s most important skill was connecting existing data from many areas and synthesizing them to create a coherent narrative. In Silent Spring, this was about the effects persistent chemicals had on the landscape and its inhabitants, only some of which were human.
Carson did not condemn all chemicals, only the reckless and irresponsible poisoning of the world that man shares with all other creatures. She followed DDT from the time it was sprayed on alfalfa, through alfalfa-fed hens, into the eggs, and finally into the egg-eating humans. Then she explained, in terms readers could understand, that chemicals like dieldrin, were used to kill pests, but ended up being stored in the body. Plants, animals and people formed an interconnected web, affected by these chemical compounds.
There was a vindictive reaction from Chemical manufacturers. Velsicol Chemical Corporation, which produced chlordane and heptachlor, threatened Carson’s publisher with a lawsuit. Monsanto Company published an essay, The Desolate Year to show that without pesticides and herbicides farmers would be unable to produce enough food for a growing population and that preventable diseases would continue to kill people. Others chastised Carson for failing to mention chemical successes.
Robert A. Roland (1931 – 2013), president of the Chemical Manufacturers Association from 1978 to 1993, later admitted that the chemical industry had made a mistake in not properly engaging with Carson and addressing the environmental issues she wrote about.
President Kennedy ordered the Science Advisory Committee to review pesticide and herbicide experiments. It published its findings a year later and acknowledged some links such as that between DDT and liver damage. Later, the report was regarded as being less than forthright.
Silent Spring changed how people saw the world around them. It initiated the modern environmental movement, and influenced government regulation of pesticides and other chemicals, especially environmental effects.
In 1972 the U.S.Senate banned DDT, encouraged by the emergence of new environmental organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund. Chlordane was banned completely in 1988. Restrictions were placed on the use of heptachlor.
Silent Spring changed how governments, industry and agriculture respond to chemical ills.
Thank you, Rachel Carson, for helping to enlighten me to the dangers of chemicals in the environment. Without your efforts, I am uncertain how long it would have taken for this awareness to emerge.
Principal language families of the world (and in some cases geographic groups of families). Original work by: Zachary Leshin (1990 – ) = PiMaster 3, 2013.
While the focus of Words of the Year 2022 was on social justice, in 2023, one cannot escape the fact that the world is heading towards an environmental catastrophe. Global warming is real, and will continue to happen, with western consumers the primary agents of change, while the citizens of the rest of the world pay for its consequences.
Part of this year’s efforts in appraising words of the year, is to allow readers to determine the meaning of a resurrected word: Technohygiene. Now, for the first time ever in this weblog, people get to determine what this word actually means. This is not a matter of multiple choice. The word is given, what should it mean?
January – Quiet Hiring
Quiet hiring is when an organization acquires new skills without actually hiring new full-time employees. It can mean hiring short-term contractors, or current employees could move temporarily into new organizational roles.
There were some predictions that 2023 would result in a recession, which could point to a slow down in hiring, but not a hiring freeze or layoffs. The main challenge is that there is a talent shortage, mentioned in 2022, that hasn’t gone away. This means it’s harder to increase or even maintain a head count, at the same time there is a desperate need for talent, so that companies can meet (potentially exceed) their ambitious financial goals.
Hiring usually falls into one of three categories: staffing existing roles, creating new roles or addressing an immediate need. Quiet hiring is only concerned about that third category. It prioritizes the most important functions at a given time.
Now, if only employers would ensure that work resulted in improved health for employees and the planet. I note that this term isn’t used in Scandinavia, where the majority of workers belong to trade unions, including this writer, until 2023-12-01, when I resigned from Norsk lektorlag – a union for teachers.
February – Snye
There are times when I can be found using the Internet. Much of that time is spent exploring the world, and discovering new features about it, including examining old as well as new maps. This led to Snye.
Snye refers to a side-channel, especially one that later rejoins the main stream/ channel. Sometimes it refers to a backwater. It is a Canadianism, used mainly in Ontario. The word was discovered by looking at a map of the Chenal Ecarté aka The Snye, a river in the municipalities of Saint Clair and Chatham-Kent in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is a left distributary of the St. Clair River that flows to Lake St. Clair, and thus is part of the Great Lakes Basin.
The word is probably adapted from chenail (in Quebequois) a variant of standard French chenal. Chenal comes from canālis in Latin = waterpipe/ conduit, possibly derived from canna = reed/ pipe. Canna is related to the Ancient Greek kánna, from Semitic origins, such as the Akkadianqanū = reed, and related to modern Arabic qanāh = canal/ channel; and, Hebrew qāneh = cane/ reed/ stem.
Latin derivates of canna in English include: canal, cane, canister, cannoli, cannon, canon, canyon, channel. Also related is the surname Chanel.
Snye was first recorded in English in the 1810s.
March – Complisult
Yes, this is the art of combining a complement with an insult. It comes from the NBC television show Community. In more ancient times, it was known as a backhanded compliment. An example: I like your shirt, it almost fits you. A complisult, first sets the recipient up, by saying something nice, to allow that person to start trusting. Then comes the insult, designed to let the recipeint feel an inferior status.
Trump is a master of the complisult: I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. After he says: I’ll say it with great respect, the follow up phrase is a dismissal.
With complisults, one is entering the domain of a gaslighter/ narcissist incapable of giving a conventional compliment. The complisult serves two purposes. First, it leads the recipient to a false sense of security. Second, it allows the gaslighter/ narcissist gain something. As soon as the recipient gives them something, perhaps just a smile, they respond with the insult or, at best, a comment that shows indifference.
April – Funemployment
The root of this word is not employment, but unemployment. Instead of regarding unemployment as a problem, it is seen as an opportunity.
For months, the above two sentences, were all that I had written about Funemployment. As publication of this post approached, I wondered, if I should seek out a different word as a replacement. Fortunately, writing something else entirely, I looked up synonyms for similar, on thesaurus.com.
On 2023-12-18, dictionary.com (sibling site to thesaurus.com) announced that it was going to present a vibe of the year! Vibe(s) = the overall feel of a situation or person.
Their choice was eras = periods of time in a person’s life characterized by something distinctive and noticeable, such as a particular emotional state, relationship, achievement, or interest. Retirement is possibly one such era.
They explained, vibe of the Year “is based on the shared sense that we’re all looking for ways to define the perpetually shifting stages of our cultural and personal histories.”
Having been funemployed for seven years, but with a secure source of income, it is useful to appreciate the vibes this period of time brings with it.
May – Baby Chasing (v) / Baby Chaser (n)
Zonda Chief Economist Ali Wolf, explains there’s a big overlap between select baby boomers and select millennials. They are often competing for the same houses, the former downsizing into retirement houses, the latter stepping on the first rung of the property ladder with a starter residence. The key difference between the two groups is that boomers have equity, in the form of their current debt-free house, while millennials have less. Boomers are attempting to help their less fortunate offspring by selling up and moving close to provide extra help rearing the pandemic babies. These movements are tracked in Zonda’s Baby Chaser Index. Austin, specifically, along with Texas and other locations in the sun belt, more generally, are top locations.
Millennials have pushed up home prices in recent years as demand outweighs supply. Yet, this situation will start to reverse over the 2020s, as Baby Boomers begin aging out of the housing market, while post-Millennial generations are smaller, leading to population growth declines, or even reversals. This could lead to excessive housing in the market, reducing prices.
Reading about this phenomenon once again in 2023-08, it appears that American real estate analysts had underestimated the number of residences boomers would need. Somehow, they had not realized that widowed boomers would want to retain their independence, and would not want to move into someone else’s residence.
June – Salt tooth
The Irish News tells us “… more than 40 per cent of people have a weakness for salty rather than sugary flavours. Experts call this phenomenon a salt tooth, and it’s becoming more common. For while some people are genetically programmed to crave salt, others are now developing a salt tooth as a result of the prevalence of highly processed, salty food in our diet.”
Salt contributes to the gluttony crisis. People are eating more than they need. In part, this is because agricultural production has exceeded dietary needs. Greed encourages these excessive production levels. Initially, global food companies thought they were be able to profit from this, by exporting their surplus. However, surpluses became more of a world phenomenon. So, these companies responded by encouraging increased consumption = gluttony.
There are places in the world that are resisting gluttony. Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain (1947 – ) developed the concept of blue zones resulted from demographic work in Nuoro, Sardinia, published in 2004. People concerned with diet should probably investigate The Blue Zones, popularized by Dan Buettner (1960 – ) by reading books, watching videos or listening to podcasts. There is even a short introduction available online.
July – Global boiling
UN secretary general, António Guterres (1949 – ) noted that scientists confirmed 2023-06 was on track to be the world’s hottest month on record. He said the era of global warming had ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived”.
Thermal reflective paint is produced by Cool Roof France (CRF). It claims to be on a mission to reduce the ambient temperature inside buildings in a sustainable and cost effective way, by painting roofs white! White paint is traditionally made up of calcium, solvent and water. Calcium? In France, more than 130 Gg = 130 000 Mg = tonnes of oyster shells are thrown away every year. CRF takes a few tonnes of this waste and uses the outer part of the shell – which is made from calcium – to replace other sources of calcium in its paint.
Yet, oyster shells offer another advantage, it produces a more durable paint. The thermo-reflective roof paint is applied in three layers. The first two layers make it a durable product which will last for around 20 years. The third layer is able to reflect 90 per cent of the sun’s rays away from a building, resulting in an average temperature reduction of six to seven degrees Celsius. In France, this means a 30 – 50 % reduction in air-conditioning (read: energy) usage. For further information, see this Euronews article.
Here at Cliff Cottage, I am considering painting our black metal roof white.
August – Noctalgia = sky grief
Along the sins of developed nations is a propensity to pollute air and water and to create massive amounts of carbon dioxide, that is dumping into the atmosphere triggering global boiling. If this is not enough, the haves have significantly increased light pollution. Aparna Venkatesan (University of San Francisco) and John C. Barentine (Dark Sky Consulting) have coined a new term to help focus efforts to combat light pollution. Noctalgia captures the collective pain humankind is experiencing, as it continues to lose access to the night sky.
To tackle noctalgia, a movement has sprung up across the globe to create dark-sky reserves, where surrounding communities pledge not to encroach with further expansions of light pollution. Elon Musk is not part of this effort. Satellite-based light pollution will require international cooperation and pressure on companies like SpaceX to be better stewards of the skies they are filling with constellations of Starlink satellites. They have put orders of magnitude more satellites into orbit than even a decade ago, with even more expected. Those satellites spoil deep-space astronomical observations when they cross a telescope’s field of view. More importantly, they scatter and reflect sunlight from their solar arrays.
September – Coruscating
Coruscating, readers are told in a Guardian article, means sparkling or emitting flashes of light. It is derive from the Latin coruscāre, to flash or vibrate. Yet, it could also mean the same as excoriating, censuring severely, severely critical or scathing. The article then mentions that David Shariatmadari (?- ) in his book Don’t Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language (2020): “A word’s origins do not reveal its underlying meanings.”
Elizabeth Closs Traugott (1939 – ) explains that the first meaning of toilet in English was a “piece of cloth, often used as a wrapper, especially of clothes”. It adopted several other meanings before taking on its current one.
Michael Proffitt, chief editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, shows this new usage of coruscating dates to at least to 1995. It was added to the Oxford Dictionary of English, in 2017.
October – Rizz
Rizz refers to a term used by Generation Z to describe someone’s ability to attract or seduce another person. Rizz probably comes from the middle of the word charisma. It can be used as a verb, as in to rizz up = chat someone up.
Younger generations continually create opportunities to own and define the language they use.
Thus, another term used by these people is situationship = an informal romantic or sexual relationship.
I find it interesting that the word comes from the middle of a larger word. In Norwegian, many words come from the end. For example, a car (or any vehicle) is referred to as a bil, from automobil.
November – Authenticity
On 2023-11-27, Merriam-Webster announced its word of the year, authentic. Editor Peter Sokolowski stated: “We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity. What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more. Can we trust whether a student wrote this paper? Can we trust whether a politician made this statement? We don’t always trust what we see anymore. We sometimes don’t believe our own eyes or our own ears. We are now recognizing that authenticity is a performance itself.”
Definitions include: not false or imitation: real, actual, exemplified in an authentic cockney accent; true to one’s own personality, spirit or character; worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact; made or done the same way as an original; and, conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.
December – Unabated
Abated, as it refers to fossil fuels, is generally understood as capturing emissions before they go into the atmosphere. Thus, unabated fossil fuels are those without interventions to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The key word here is substantially. Does it mean 75% or 90% or 99%?
The world has known about the damage caused by fossil fuels for a long time. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its second assessment report in 1995. This affirmed the science of anthropogenic climate breakdown. At that point, the world was informed about what was happening.
United Nations Climate Change Conferences, held annually and generally referred to as the Conference of the Parties (COP).
The sixth IPCC report delivered in 2023-03 issued humanity a bleak final warning – the biosphere is on the brink of irrevocable damage.
Thus, it is incomprehensible that the COP28 president was Ahmed Al Jaber, who is also director general and chief executive officer (CEO) the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). He has stated that climate diplomacy should focus on phasing out emissions, not fossil fuels.
Thus, it is incomprehensible that the powers that be allow the CEO of an oil company to chair the 28th round of the COP climate talks, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, in the hottest year on record, and with carbon emissions rising.
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), the COP host country should rotate between five regional areas: 1) Africa, 2) Asia-Pacific, 3) Eastern Europe, 4) Latin American and Caribbean, and 5) Western European and others.
It has now been decided that Baku in Azerbaijan will host COP 29. It is extremely concerning that a significant fossil fuel-producing nation will host the annual climate conference for the third consecutive time, following Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Burning fossil fuels is one of the chief causes of the climate crisis,.
Dishonorable mention – Password Child
I don’t know how to break this to my children, but neither of their names have been used as passwords. The closest I have come is using the name of a fictional character from a book first read some decades ago for a disposable email address. Disposable? Yes, I believe I still have access to it. At a minimum I have its password recorded, but do not recall using it since 2006.
Cambridge, as in a quaint British university, states that password child is a humorous way of referring to a parent’s favourite child, supposedly because the parent will often use the name of that child as a computer password.
My son, Alasdair, visited a graveyard at Morar in Scotland, 5 km south of Mallaig, where Loch Morar empties into the sea. (Mallaig can be found on the map below, just south of Skye). Morar is currently home to 257 souls, the MacLellans lived there before South Uist in the Hebrides, before the Margaree Valley on Cape Breton Island, before Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, before Vangshylla, Inderøy = Inner Island, in Norway. Alasdair discovered that many of the people in the graveyard were MacLellans named Shelagh and Alasdair, spelled as we had chosen to spell their names.
Word of the Year 2023 – Vatnyk
ватник is how the word is written in both Russian and Ukrainian. The Ukrainian transliteration to English, vatnyk, has been chosen, over the more common Russian transliteration, vatnik. Vata in plural. The term refers to a steadfast, jingoistic follower of Russian government (Kremlin) propaganda. Jingoism is a violent, or at least threatening, form of nationalism.
The use of the word originates from an Internet meme first spread by Anton Chadskiy, using the pseudonym Jedem das Seine on VK in 2011. BK in Russian = VK in English refers to ВКонтакте (VKontakte = InContact), a Saint Petersburg based Russian online social media and social networking service. It was later used in Russia, Ukraine, then in other post-Soviet states. The name refers to a cartoon character with a black eye, who wears a padded cotton wool jacket.
During the cold war (1947 – 1991), tankie referred to members of communist parties in western countries, notably the United Kingdom, who followed the Kremlin line, agreeing with the crushing of revolts in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968) by Soviet tanks. It was used, especially, by Western Marxists who wanted to distance themselves from hardliners.
Vatnik emerged because tankie was seen as an outdated reference, too limited in its ability to insult people on the far left. Because Russia is no longer communist, but still an authoritarian aggressor, tankie lost its political effect. As a result, those previously referred to as tankies are now called vatnik/ vatna.
Supporters of the Russian government, have described vatnik as an ethnic slur, in Wikipedia, and on social media networks. Evidence does not support this position.
Norwegian word of the year – Dupes
According to Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) journalist Ragnhild Laukholm Sandvik, dupes was the biggest shopping trend in 2023. A dupe (duplicate) is a fairly similar but much more affordable alternative to an expensive product.
In 2023, the number of Google searches for the word dupe has set a new record. In addition, more than a third of Norway’s population between 15 and 25 have bought dupes in the past year. Dupes is about making a good deal, but it requires an awareness of rapidly changing online trends. It also helps to make some smart discoveries, as well as being aware of what one can afford.
Final comment for 2023
In 2023, the big three languages I have studied with Duolingo are Ukrainian, Finnish and Gaelic. After visiting the Faero Islands and Iceland, I realized there was less of a need to continue any study of Icelandic, because it is doubtful that I would return there again. Previously, I have used Icelandic online.
I have also signed a Welsh petition that protested Duolingo no longer updating its Welsh course from the end of 2023-10. This petition calls for the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, to personally intervene with Luis von Ahn, the CEO of Duolingo, with the aim of saving the Welsh course. There are currently over 650k active learners of Welsh on Duolingo & over 2 million have learned some Welsh on the course. The Welsh Government’s target of 1M people with B2 & better skills by 2050 will be negatively impacted by this. If this can happen to Welsh, it can happen to Gaelic! Except …
The National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, has taken over development of the Gaelic language course for language app Duolingo.
Scottish Gaelic was added to the app in 2019, with the course originally being built by a team of volunteers including Skye-based architect Màrtainn Mac a’ Bhàillidh, who is also a member of Gaelic campaign group Misneachd = courage.
Mac a’ Bhàillidh will continue to lead the team working on the course now it has moved over to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, which is based in Sleat on the Isle of Skye. Sleat is not shown on the map below, but it is a peninsula furthest south on the island.
Dr Gillian Munro, principal at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, said the partnership with the app, which has attracted 1.1 million Gaelic learners from across the globe, is to align the language courses both organisations offer.
“The success of Scottish Gaelic on Duolingo demonstrates the growing demand to learn Gaelic both in Scotland and internationally, and we would like to pay tribute to the dedicated volunteers for developing such a great course – ceud mìle taing dhuibh [= a hundred thousand thanks],” she said.
Colin Watkins, UK country manager at Duolingo, added: “As the Scottish Gaelic course grew in popularity, it was important for us to find the right partner to continue its development. The fit with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for the Gaelic Language and Culture, is perfect.
“We’re confident the course will continue to go from strength to strength under the direction of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, who are taking the original development team on board to work on the course.”
I believe my McLellan paternal grandfather, Alexander (1869 – 1935) had Gaelic as his first language.
I turn 75 years old today 2023-10-31. I am told, and periodically experience, that old age brings about frailty. Looking it up in an online dictionary, its definition sounds worse than I feel: as an aging-related syndrome of physiological decline, characterized by marked vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Frail older patients often present with an increased burden of symptoms including weakness and fatigue, medical complexity, and reduced tolerance to medical and surgical interventions. My own definition is much simpler, frailty = reduced capabilities.
I notice that my renovation/ construction projects are taking longer to complete. It is not just because I have less energy in the day to work actively at them, but equally, there is less enthusiasm. The latest project involves the kitchen, with changes to the plumbing and electrical system that included some work by others. It took much longer than planned.
I have said that I will retire from construction projects starting 2024-01-01. I am aware that this will not be a complete stop. Additional work is needed in the attic to make it a suitable place to store things. This activity will continue, but only when I want to do it, and feel capable. I will accept no imposed deadlines.
Things
Things can be a polite term for junk. Every time I think about storage, I recall Allied Van Lines, and their advertisements in the 1960s where they stated that they did not mix other people’s junk with your valuable possessions. In my dreams, I regularly see myself as a child peering into the back of a moving van, filled with increasingly irrelevant technology. The moving van gradually transforms into a dumpster.
Today, millennials are storing less junk because books, music, videos, games and more, are digital files stored on servers and distributed as needed to other devices.
In my old order universe, there were physical things: books were printed documents; music was long-play records or CDs or many other things; videos involved Betamax and VHS formats, DVDs and even laserdisks; games involved dice, pieces and folded cardboard sheets representing the game universe. In my preferred new order universe, things are files on a computer. I have not yet accepted that files should be kept on clouds = some stranger’s computer/ server. My solution is to encourage family members to cooperate, by storing encrypted backup data on each other’s servers.
Duolingo/ Sudoku/ Books
Duolingo and Sudoku are two activities I engage in on a daily basis, even though recent news reports tell me that these may not prevent dementia.
With Duolingo I regularly change languages. Within days of the start of the current war in Ukraine, I began to study Ukrainian. In 2023, I alternated between Ukrainian and Finnish. I used to change between these two languages, up to several times a week. Then, I stuck with each language for a month, before switching. For me, it was much easier than working with both languages every day.
After my son, Alasdair, asked for my company on a trip to the Outer Hebrides for five days in the summer of 2024, I decided to focus my attention exclusively on (Scottish) Gaelic. This does not mean that I am prepared to eat guga = salted gannet, on these travels. Fortunately, Is toil leam brocham gu mor! = I like porridge a lot!
Sudoku involves filling in squares in a printed book. Within each square I can code numbers using dots following the same numerical sequence used on touch-tone telephones, with 1-2-3 on the top and 7-8-9 on the bottom. There is no need for 0, or operation keys +,- x, / or =. I have decided that when the puzzles in my current book are used up, I will just use a Sudoku program found on my laptop or hand-held device. I say this every time…
Apart from Sudoku, I do not find games fun at all. I include crosswords as a type of game. My significant other plays card games on her laptop. I agree with Art Vaughan, that real-world challenges are more interesting problems to solve than constructed games.
Reading books in Norwegian
The Volga and its tributaries.
I attempt to read at least a chapter a day of books written in Norwegian. In part, this is to keep my Norwegian vocabulary active. This decision came about because of a conversation. I wanted to use the Norwegian word for jam, syltetøy. However, all that came out was French, confiture.
One newly read book was written by Norwegian author Geir Pollen (1953 – ), who lived in Russia from 2007 to 2020. Volga : En russisk reise (2021) = Volga : A Russian trip. It actually involved many trips over many years, but is organized geographically from the Volga headwaters north-west of Moscow, until the river enters the Caspian sea.
Reading about Russia is my attempt to understand the most extensive war in Europe since the second world war. I find that it helps to have it explained by someone from a culture where I have lived for over forty years. I am not so sure, I would be equally receptive to a book written by someone who has an American perspective. The book was written before the second Russian incursion into Ukraine.
The title of chapter 65, the last about the middle section of the Volga, can be translated as the world as a listening exercise. It is about Sofia Gubaidulina (1931 – ) born in Chistopol, in Tatarstan, Russia with Tatar and Russian heritage, a composer who has lived in Appen, a village near Hamburg, Germany, since 1991-02. Here is one shorter work: Vivente – Non vivente, for ANS Synthesizer (1970).
Pollen says that Gubaidulina describes her music as: a journey in a soundscape where the composer is just as exposed to the unknown as the musician and the listener. In the universe it sounds like: the things, the plants, the trees, the people, the animals, the earth, the stars. It is the starting point of music. If the people concentrated and did not surround themselves with so much noise, they would hear it. She compares modern life to a city where the artificial lights make it impossible to see the starry sky. The loss of the height dimension, the vertical in existence, is the greatest threat to mankind today, because we cannot live only in the horizontal, on the surface (p. 323).
I concur. The world is challenged by noise. I dislike noisy motorcycles. Yet, even more disturbing are subwoofers played inside assorted vehicles. They are especially annoying when I am walking through a natural environment. I may not be able to hear the sounds emanating from them, but I can feel them, and am looking forward to limits being placed on their noise levels.
The tragedy of the commons is an economic theory that states that individuals use up resources shared by many to benefit themselves. Because individuals generally act selfishly, shared resources are misused so that everyone ends up suffering in the end. I regard quiet and darkness as important shared resources. Other important shared resources include the atmosphere, the oceans, forests and wildlife. I am almost successful at unlearning the value of densely populated urban spaces. The British economic writer, William Forster Lloyd (1794 – 1852), introduced the concept in a pamphlet in 1833.
American ecologist and philosopher Garrett Hardin (1915 – 2003) wrote about the tragedy of the commons in a 1968 paper, calling attention to the damage that innocent actions by individuals can inflict on the environment. He is also known for Hardin’s First Law of Human Ecology: We can never do merely one thing. Any intrusion into nature has numerous effects, many of which are unpredictable. He is also regarded by many as a white supremacist/ racist. For example, he wrote: Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor, that appeared in Psychology Today, September 1974.
Global warming is another example of the tragedy of the commons theory. At least since the start of the industrial revolution, individuals, companies and societies around the world have been engaged in activities that have a serious impact on the atmosphere. In many cases, there is no disincentive for a company to stop releasing toxic chemicals into the air. Indeed, they have an incentive to do so because it allows them to increase their profits. They seem to have no obligation about how their actions will affect others. These actions can have a lasting effect on the planet, and everyone and everything on it, for generations.
I have already bought my next Norwegian language book by the same author, about a failed Swedish invasion of Trøndelag, aka the Carolean Death March, in the winter of 1718-19, led by Karl Gustav Armfeldt (1666 – 1736). Armfeldts Armé : historien om en katastrofe (2014) = Armfeldt’s Army : The history of a catastrophe.
Reading books in English
I regularly read books written by Obi Kaufmann (1973 – ): The California Field Atlas, The State of Water: Understanding California’s Most Precious Resource, The Coasts of California, The Forests of California. I am also looking to two forthcoming books, The Deserts of California, and The State of Fire: How, Where and Why California Burns.
I am also reading: Russia Against Modernity (2023), by Alexander Etkind (1955 – ): “Communism was modernity’s most devout, vigorous and gallant champion … It was under communist, not capitalist, auspices that the audacious dream of modernity … was pushed to its radical limits: grand designs, unlimited social engineering, huge and bulky technology, total transformation of nature.” Zygmunt Bauman (1925 – 2017), Intimations of Post-Modernity (1992) p. 179.
Modernity takes various forms. Etkind names a bureaucratic modernity, as proposed by Max Weber (1864 – 1920), in the 19th century, which was replaced by a paleomodernity, in the 20th century, with an emphasis on using nature for resources and energy. Now the world has encountered a gaiamodernity, from a theory proposed by James Lovelock (1919 – 2022) and developed in cooperation with Lynne Margulis (1938 – 2011) that is focused on using less resources and less energy. Small is beautiful, is a catchphrase for this era, as well as a book from 1973, written by Ernst Friedrich Schumacher (1911 – 1977).
In contrast, Russia is attempting to reverse modernity with its own special operation: stopmodernism. Anthony Giddens (1938 – ) expressed many of the ideas behind it, in his theory of structuration. Etkind views the 2022 war in Ukraine as structuration in practice (p. 8), and the war as a campaign against modernity. The major issue is trust.
My next work on Russia will be by Masha Karp (1956 – ) about George Orwell = Eric Arthur Blair (1903 – 1950). George Orwell and Russia (2023). She claims that Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty Four (1949) were not dystopias, but accurate fictional depictions of reality. Her book explores how Orwell’s work was received in Russia, and how it affects the totalitarian political reality today. It also why The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), Orwell’s exploration of British poverty, was never published in Russian. In this context, Vladimir Putin’s actions are simply the next transformation of totalitarianism, as predicted and described by Orwell.
Tony Judt’s (1948 – 2010) Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 (2005), is also scheduled to be read. Judt decided to write this in 1989 while waiting for a train at Vienna central station, inspired at least in part by having witnessed the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. While the work has been highly praised, it has also been criticized.
Fiction has been missing in my diet. However, The Sycamore Gap Tree incident has inspired a change. On 2023-09-28, a sycamore tree standing next to Hadrian’s Wall near Crag Lough in Northumberland, England was felled, illegally. It was located in a dramatic dip in the landscape, which was created by glacial meltwater and was a popular photographic subject, described as one of the most photographed trees in the country and an emblem for the North East of England. As a steward to another sycamore tree, grown from a seed, I understand the loss.
Shortly afterwards, I discovered that Louise (LJ) Ross, had written a romantic crime novel taking place there. I am not quite sure what a romantic crime novel is, but decided I could experiment with it. Unfortunately, Sycamore Gap is the second book in the series, so I am first having to slog my way through her first book, Holy Island, about crime on Lindisfarne.
Local Issues
Sometimes I cannot appreciate the world without reflecting on local issues. Trust was eroded in Inderøy, this past summer, on the recreational hikes, as up to several people opted to drive between posts, rather than walking, using wheelchairs or kayaks to access them. Driving is not part of the social contract! As I write this, I think of Vic Leach, in New Westminster, encouraging people to walk more.
Trust is also being eroded in Norwegian political parties at the national level. There was a municipal/ county election in Norway on 2023-09-10. For the first time since 1924, the Labour Party was not the most popular party. In recent years there have been too many issues arising involving politicians, in this and other parties. For example, the leader of the political party I voted for in the national election in 2021, admitted to shoplifting a pair of sunglasses at a taxfree store at Oslo airport. I voted for another party in the municipal elections, and will probably continue to do so in the national elections to be held in 2025.
Meanwhile, some Norwegian government ministers have been criticized for their failure to follow rules, most often, recently about stock purchases, that could involve insider information. Sometimes, it is not the minister who is purchasing stocks, but their spouse.
Ulrich Bech (1944 – 2015) wrote that “social inequalities and climate change are two sides of the same coin”, Climate for Change, or How to Create a Green Modernity? in Theory, Culture & Society 27.2-3 (2010): 254-66, quoted from p. 257. Somewhere I read that members of the billionaire class use one million times more energy than the median earthling. Every time I read about energy inequality, I think of Technocracy, which aimed to give people an equal share of energy. Technocracy and light pollution are two topics that I intend to address in the next 99 upcoming weblog posts.
I Touch Myself
Chrissy Amplett of the Divinyls, co-created a song, I touch myself, in 1990, that has become an anthem for breast health in a project that started in 2014.
Time is different now, than it was in my childhood and long into adulthood. Before, others dictated the timing and sequence of events. It applied to most activities involving more than one person. In addition, people listened to radios, and allowed stations to determine what songs were played when. Television was similar. There was a schedule that had to be followed, if one wanted to watch, say, The Avengers, that British espionage series, created by Canadian Sydney Newman (1917 – 1997), one had to be available at a specific time each week. In the days before the internet, libraries provided a source of information, as well as entertainment. There were some places that allowed, even encouraged, a greater freedom. I was fortunate to live less than three blocks from New Westminster Public Library, that I could visit to increase my knowledge about various topics, even those of marginal interest to most other people. Yes, I would like to thank the librarians at New Westminster Public Library for their engagement, particularly in the period 1958 to 1979, when I was an active user there.
We have lived without radio and television for most of the current millennium, and have not missed it. The Norwegian government replaced FM (frequency modulation) radio with DAB+ (digital audio broadcasting) in 2017. This had no effect on my life. We purchased a DAB+ radio so that we could listen to emergency broadcasts, should that ever be necessary. The radio is tested about once a year, but otherwise remains silent. This technology is already outdated, as emergency conditions are now communicated with SMS (short messaging service) messages. I experienced this recently in Iceland, when I received an earthquake warning.
Today, the age of instant gratification is upon us. We have experienced three iterations of the internet, so far: dial up; ADSL (asymetic digital subscriber line); and, fibre optic cable. People are becoming increasingly dependent on assorted web engines and their algorithms to propose content. These engines seem to know a great deal about my interests. Sometimes, I am intrigued more by these algorithms, and their proposals, than the actual content.
At the beginning of October, at the top of my YouTube suggestions was I Touch Myself (1990) by the Divinyls. I later learned they were an Australian band from Sidney, active in the 1990s. I wondered why this particular song was proposed. I had never heard of the band, or the track. Of course, from the photo provided, I wondered if it has something to do with my interest in female vocalists. I decided to explore it, by viewing and listening to that proposed track from 1991.
Resetting the YouTube start menu, brought forward several versions of the same song, some by the Divinyls, as well as others. I then viewed two other versions, another from 1991 and one from 2006. Also among the content proposals was a short video version from the film, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). I viewed it, but unlike the music videos, it repulsed. Like so many things in life, my sense of humour has also evolved.
After consuming these four versions, I delved deeper into the song, to understand better why this particular track was at the top of my YouTube list. It is easy to discover context today, because information is so much easier to access. Wikipedia and other sources of information are as close as one’s smartphone or laptop. Thus, within a few minutes I had discovered that the I Touch Myself Project was launched in 2014, a year after the death of Divinyl singer, Chrissy Amphlett (1959 – 2013) from breast cancer. Wikipedia could tell me that Amphlett wanted I Touch Myself to be adopted as a global anthem for breast health. The project was created in her honour with its mission to create educational forums to promote self-examination. In another few seconds I learn that October (every year) is breast cancer awareness month.
Conclusions
This past year two of the websites I used regularly have closed down. For many years, my primary source of books was The Book Depository. I also used Ello, a social media platform, as a source of inspiration for various forms of artwork. Originally, there was a third, Kottke, but it came back to life, after its founder had returned from a sabbatical.
I do not follow sports, but sometimes read results so that I can interact with normal people. There are two counrties that are natural for me to support, Canada and Norway, not to mention Ireland, that has provided citizenship to the others in my immediate family. With the Women’s World Cup, I felt I could impress these people by reporting a select few game results. Already near the start, on 2023-07-20, with Norway losing 1-0 to New Zealand, and Ireland losing 1-0 to Australia, I realized that backup could be necessary, in order to be on the winning side. Fortunately, Denmark and Sweden were also playing. By the end of group play, Canada and Ireland were out, but the Scandinavians were still in. On 2023-08-05, Norway lost 3-1 to Japan, and was out. The next day, Sweden beat USA on penalties, and was still in. The day after that, Denmark lost 2-0 to Australia. All hopes were on Sweden. In the end, on 2023-08-19, Sweden ended up in third place. On 2023-08-20 Spain won with England in second place. The scene was set for the main drama…
Dear Luis Rubiales: sportswomen are not dolls to be kissed, touched and patronised. Those are the words of Barbara Ellen in The Guardian.
Yes, I eagerly awaited the resignation of Luis Rubiales (1977 – ) for forceably kissing Jenni Hermoso (1990 – ), a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Liga MX Femenil club CF Pachuca (Mexico) and for the Spain women’s national team. She has previously played for teams in Spain, including Barcelona, and is the all-time top scorer for both Barcelona and Spain, at the end of the Women’s World Cup. She did not consent to be kissed.
Rubiales is president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and one of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) vice presidents. He refused to resign, and was dumb enough to say, “A social assassination is taking place. I don’t deserve this manhunt I have been suffering.” It took Fédération Internationale de football association = FIFA to remove him, if only temporarily. FIFA will look at whether his actions constitute violations of Article 13 in its disciplinary code, concerning offensive behaviour and fair play.
The Spanish government was also taking action to force his removal. It was asking Rubiales to explain himself to a Spanish administrative court as soon as possible. If it deems he violated the professional sports code, he could then be suspended.
Hermoso stated: “I want to make clear that at no time did the conversation to which Mr Luis Rubiales refers to in his address take place and, above all, his kiss [was n]ever consensual.”
She added his claims were “categorically false and part of the manipulative culture that he has generated”.
“I feel the need to report this incident because I believe no person, in any work, sports or social setting should be a victim of these types of non-consensual behaviours. I felt vulnerable and a victim of impulsive-driven, sexist, out-of-place act, without any consent on my part”.
“Quite simply, I was not respected.”
She was put “under continuous pressure” to help with a “statement that could justify” Rubiales’ actions – and so were her family, friends and team-mates.
“These types of incidents add to a long list of situations that the players have been denouncing. This incident is the final straw and what everyone has been able to witness on live television also comes with attitudes like the one we saw this morning [Friday, 2023-08-25] and have been part of our team’s daily life for years”.
81 players confirm they will not play for Spain’s women’s team until he is removed from his post. In addition, two Spanish men’s national team and Real Betis players, Héctor Bellerín and Borja Iglesias, criticised Rubiales on social media, with the latter refusing to play for Spain until Rubiales resigned.
By Saturday, 2023-08-26, RFEF had threatened to sue Jenni Hermoso, accusing her of lying and defamation, and the women football players who signed a letter in which they refused to play for their country as long as Luis Rubiales remained its leader. Obviously, a lot more people in the RFEF need to be replaced.
Then, Ángeles Béjar (? – ), Rubiales’ mother, entered the Church of the Divine Shepherdess in Motril, Granada, Spain on Monday morning, 2023-08-28, to begin a hunger strike to protest what she describes as her son’s unwarranted, inhumane and bloodthirsty hunt.
2023-09-11 Update:
Ángeles Béjar was taken to hospital on 2023-08-30.
On 2023-09-05, Jorge Vilda (1981 – ) was fired as head coach of the Spanish women’s national team.
According to a Guardian article, Luis Rubiales’ uncle, Juan Rubiales, told El Confidential: “We Rubialeses are absolutely committed to the idea of dignity. And dignity is to defend Jenni, to understand her, and to reproach the shameful behaviour of this president…. I think [Luis Rubiales] needs a social re-education programme and a re-education in his relationship with women.” He described his nephew as a man “obsessed with power, luxury, money and women”. In a separate interview with the newspaper El Mundo, he added that his nephew was a “man with a clear machista [sexist] tinge”.
Irene María Montero Gil, MP is a Spanish politician and psychologist, member of the Podemos party. She has been the Spanish Minister of Equality since 2020-01-13. She described the kiss as a “lower-intensity” form of sexual violence that is often invisible and normalised in society.” On 2023-09-10 she tweeted: “Se acabó [It’s over].”
On 2023-09-10, Gary Lineker, former England footballer turned BBC broadcaster who played in Spain for three years, tweeted about Rubiales resignation: Rubiales: “No voy a dimitir. No voy a dimitir. No voy a dimitir. No voy a dimitir.” “Voy a dimitir [I resign].”
Rich Men North of Richmond
Oliver Anthony, playing Rich Men North of Richmond
At the start of the first American Elephant Party television debate on 2023-08-22, an excerpt was played of Oliver Anthony’s (1992 or 1993 – ) song, Rich Men North of Richmond, then discussed. Fox News host, Martha MacCallum, said Anthony’s “lyrics speak of alienation, of deep frustration with the state of government and of this country. Washington DC is about 100 miles north of Richmond.”
On stage stood seven current or former governors and congressmen and one venture capitalist, all members of the Elephant Party.
McCallum asked: “Governor DeSantis, why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now?”
Ron DeSantis, replied: “Our country is in decline. This decline is not inevitable. It’s a choice. We need to send [Donkey Party member and US president] Joe Biden back to his basement and reverse American decline.”
However, on Friday 2023-08-25, nonpartisan Anthony released a 10-minute video, in which he rejected that answer and denied that he was a conservative figure. “The one thing that has bothered me is seeing people wrap politics up in this. I’m disappointed to see it. Like, it’s aggravating seeing people on conservative news try to identify with me, like I’m one of them. That song has nothing to do with Joe Biden. You know, it’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden. That song’s written about the people on that stage and a lot more, not just them.”
It was hard, Anthony said, to “get a message out about your political ideology or your belief about the world in three minutes and some change. But I do hate to see that song being weaponized, like I see. I see the right trying to characterize me as one of their own. And I see the left trying to discredit me, I guess in retaliation. That’s got to stop.”
He said the response to his song had crossed party lines and that he welcomed a diverse audience.
“If you watch the response videos on YouTube, it’s not conservative people responding to the song. It’s not even necessarily Americans responding to the song. I don’t know that I’ve seen anything get such positive response from such a diverse group of people. And I think that terrifies the people that I sing about in that song. And they’ve done everything they can in the last two weeks to make me look like a fool. To spin my words. To try to stick me in a political bucket.”
Wikipedia tells us, that Anthony is the first songwriter to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with no prior chart history in any form, Anthony is the first male songwriter to chart 13 songs all simultaneously in the top 50 Digital Song Sales while still alive—Prince and Michael Jackson exceeded that count only following their deaths.
Confession 1: I have not actually listened to Oliver Anthony’s track. After about 10 seconds I find the raspy voice and Piedmont dialect , along with a resonator guitar so unpleasant that I turn it off. I was able to listen to Johnny Cash (1932 – 2003), or more likely his artificial intelligence alter-ego, singing it.
Confession 2: I find the names of political parties difficult to accept. I am not sure what makes, say, the Democratic party, more democratic than another party. I frequently avoid that aspect of political debate, by codifying their real names. In this alternative universe, the party that is closest to me is the Marmot party. Why? The marmots I know best, those living on McArthur Island in Kamloops, British Columbia are enthusiastic and engaged, but without direction. I often rename parties after party symbols.
Wildfires
The effects of the Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii wildfire. Photo: 2023-08-17 at 10:02, taken by Glenn Fawcett, for the United States Department of Homeland Security, and released into the public domain.
Wildfires have become an issue. To call them a serious problem is to undermine their destructiveness. I think especially of the village of Lytton in British Columbia, but also Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, not to mention Lahaina, on Maui. On 2023-08-19, West Kelowna, across Okanagan Lake from Kelowna, where I spent most of my childhood summers, was experiencing wildfires. Kelowna, was being threatened by them. They experienced the wildfire of a century twenty years earlier, on 2003-08-16. Yes, I too am amazed at how short centuries have become!
We have to improve the terms used to describe wildfire events, removing the time scale. A once in a century fire, could be more accurately described as a 1% chance wildfire event. This, has now become a more common 5% chance wildfire event. In another ten years that might increase to a 10% chance wildfire event. These percentages indicate that there is no regularity to these events.
Historically, there have also been large wildfires in the past, such the Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin in 1871 and the Sudbury fire in Ontario in 1916. At times in Australia, Indonesia and other places there have seen multiple fires burning simultaneously, causing significant harm and loss of life. Cities have also burned, notably, the Great Fire of London on 1666-09-05 and Chicago, that started the same day as the Peshtigo fire, 1871-10-08. New Westminster, where I grew up has experienced two massive fires that started on 1898-09-10 and 2020-09-13, respectively.
While I avoid expletives, I am thinking of introducing one for dramatic effect, combustion! (with variants). For example, “It was a combustive mess”. Like most other expletives, it adds no truthiness to a basic statement. Here, a mess is a mess. Combustive simply adds emotional flavour. While some forms of combustion are necessary, the world in my lifetime has produced too much of it. My hope is that by making it an expletive, people will reflect on their combustive behaviour and reduce or eliminate it.
Despite being as much of a NIMBY (not in my backyard) as the next person, I am a proponent of decarbonization, including the total elimination of fossil-fuels, such as natural (and unnatural) gas from houses. Induction stovetops are a more effective (but not necessarily cheaper) way to cook. Hydro, geo-thermal, solar and wind are effective ways of producing clean electricity.
Hawaiian Electric irresponsibly claimed that they could not turn off the electricity on Maui because some customers were dependent on electrical power for medical devices. In addition Maui uses electricity to provide water for residents. My reply is that batteries have been invented that can provide power to medical devices, in situations where it is unsafe to have grid power on. Yes, I am aware that someone has to think of that solution, and that batteries cost money. So does an enormous loss of life, with so many people unaccounted for! Where I have lived water relies on reservoirs and tanks at higher levels, and uses gravity feed to provide water to consumers. Admittedly, water may have to be pumped into these storage places.
Somewhat later, I received the following reply from a friend: Appears Hawaii Utility removed downed power poles, equipment, suspected of possibly causing the devastating fire …. therefore jeopardizing offficial investigation. Cover up?
Maui County is suing Hawaiian Electric over the fire that leveled Lahaina, The lawsuit includes a demand for a jury trial. It alleges the destruction could have been avoided if power lines had been shut off. This is part of a growing critical focus on the utility with videos apparently showing downed cables setting fire to vegetation. There were ample warnings of strong winds from a nearby hurricane, but Maui County claims which that Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries negligently kept power lines live. Some quotations: “These power lines foreseeably ignited the fast-moving, deadly, and destructive Lahaina Fire, which completely destroyed residences, businesses, churches, schools, and historic cultural sites.”; “Defendants knew that the high winds the [National Weather Service] predicted would topple power poles, knock down power lines, and ignite vegetation.”; “Defendants also knew that if their overhead electrical equipment ignited a fire, it would spread at a critically rapid rate.”
Maui County is not free of blame. Critics say it was not prepared for the event, and provided an inadequate response. In other place, such as California, electric utilities routinely shut down large stretches of above-ground power lines in strong winds. One has to question whether above-ground power distribution is suitable in the 21st century.
This 2023-08-08 fire was the deadliest wildfire in the United States for more than a century. It burned through about 800 hectares destroying the historic town of Lahaina, a former Hawaiian royal seat. It has rendered thousands of people homeless. Maui County released a list of 388 names of people who remain unaccounted for. Recovery is expected to take years. Federal estimates suggest the fire caused $5.5 billion of damage.
Popularity contests
At the end of August, Tim Anderson has written something I could never write, It has to do with the popularity of computer languages. This topic is easiest to explain by looking at fruits. Different fruits have different uses. Personally, I avoid apples and cherries because they don’t like me. I do consume citrus fruits, but they are not substitutes for each other. I would never eat a lemon or a lime with breakfast, like I would eat an orange or half a grapefruit.
Computer languages also have different uses. I regard scripting languages, such as JavaScript or Lua, as a type of glue, typically used to hold the components of websites together. There are database languages used to manipulate and organize data. In my mind, these are special purpose languages to be used restrictively, much like lemons or limes are used in cooking.
Then there are general programming languages, that can actually be used to make a software product. These are a totally different ilk, much like an orange or (for some people) an apple or a handful of cherries. There have been many generations of these, with Python being the most popular today. It was named after the British comedy group whose first name is Monty, rather than a snake. It first appeared in 1991. C, the language I use most, first appeared in 1972. Fortran first appeared in 1957.
I am now changing the advice I am giving to young people about which general purpose language to learn and use. My new favourite is Rust, named after the plant pathogenic fungi (order Pucciniales) with about 7 000 species. This programming language first appeared in 2015, but originated some years earlier at Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser. It is supported by a number of large tech companies including Alphabet (Google), Amazon and Microsoft. Apple uses Swift, a competing language and successor to Objective-C, in most areas, but uses Rust in robotics.
This hand-held device, complete with a photo of a smiling San Francisco resident, is a Taiwanese designed, but Chinese made, Asus Zenfone 9. It was purchased in 2022-09 to replace a Chinese designed and made Xiaomi Pocophone F1 purchased in 2018-12. It is an attempt to purchase products where more of the added value originates in democratic countries.
I use the expression, democracy tax to indicate a willingness to pay more for goods and services that are made in democratically governed countries, as opposed to paying less for equivalent goods from countries that are more autocratic. Despite its shortcomings, I generally use the latest Democracy Index, as provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), to determine a country’s relative placement.
The countries where I have the greatest emotional attachment had the following rankings on the first EIU Democracy Index, made in 2006: Norway (4), Canada (9), Ireland (11) and USA (17), listed in ranked order. In 2021, the ranks were: Norway (1), Ireland (7), Canada (12) and USA (26). Our nuclear family of two parents and two adult children are all citizens of Canada. My wife and children are citizens of Ireland. All but one child are citizens and residents of Norway. That one child lives in USA, along with numerous other relatives.
Countries where I also have some emotional attachment include other Nordic countries (ranked 1, 2, 5 & 6 in 2006, but 3 – 6 in 2021). This ranking pattern of 2006 followed by 2021 continues below. In addition, I attempt to support other democratic countries economically, where this is possible. These countries include many members of the European Union and Switzerland (10 – 9). In Latin America I am especially impressed with Uruguay (27 – 13) and Costa Rica (25 – 20). In Austral-Asia, New Zealand (11 – 2), Taiwan (32 – 8), Australia (8 – 9), South Korea (31 – 16) and Japan (20 – 17) are to be praised. In sub-Saharan Africa, I attempt to give theoretical support to Mauritius (25 – 19). Yes, Mauritius and Costa Rica were tied in 2006, as were Ireland and New Zealand.
Ranking for some of the larger European Union countries: Germany (13 – 15), France (24 – 22), and Italy (34 -31).
If countries should be mentioned where I feel an emotional detachment, not because of the people themselves, but because of their political systems: United Kingdom (23 – 18) for leaving the European Union, Russia (102 – 124) for its invasion of Ukraine, and China (138 – 148) for its oppression of Hong Kong, and threats against Taiwan. Note, figures presented were from 2021 before the latest, 2022-02-24, Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion, I have attempted to prioritize purchases from the most democratic countries, and to avoid the least democratic.
A democracy tax is voluntary. In many cases, there are few if no choices available. Such is the case in Norway about food stuffs. Many of these are produced by agricultural cooperatives in Norway. Unfortunately, Norway is incapable of supplying all of its nutritional needs. So products are imported into Norway by the major grocery wholesalers. Admittedly, in some areas it is easier to exercise one’s ability to choose where something is made, than others. Below are examples of attempting to pay the democracy tax on a big-ticket item, and smaller-ticket items often related, specifically, to computing in its various forms.
Big-ticket items
Our first application of the democracy tax was with respect to ordering a new electric vehicle. We decided to exclude cars from China, but to consider cars from France, Germany, Italy and South Korea. A Volkswagen ID.Buzz was ordered on 2022-05-23, and delivered on 2023-02-13.
There are cheaper EVs than the Buzz. There is also conjecture that next year’s EV will be cheaper this this year’s. Yet, as old people we felt we could not put off buying a new vehicle indefinitely. Similarly, it was announced that features we might appreciate would be coming after the initial release. These included four-wheel drive, and removable rear seats. We decided we could live without them, and accept something simple.
Smaller-ticket items
The residential charger we installed for our EV cost about 5% of the cost of the EV itself. It is possible to save money buying a charger from a less democratic part of the world. However, with about 2/3 of the price related to installation, this would not save much money. We opted to buy one that was made in Norway, the Easee Home. We also opted to increase the length of wiring needed so that we could park the car as we have done for the past thirty-four years.
We decided to buy Asus Zenfone 9 hand-held devices (cell phones), with 16 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage. Asus equipment is typically designed in Taiwan, but made in China. These were purchased in 2022-09 to replace a Chinese designed and made Xiaomi Pocophone F1 purchased in 2018-12. Because hand-held devices control so much of a vehicle’s functions, we decided we wanted to have phones purchased before the arrival of our new EV, even though the Pocophones probably could have lasted an additional year or two. One irritation with the Pocophones was the almost continuous request for tracking permissions, that had been previously denied. While the Zenfones cost over twice the price of the Pocophones, they still cost less than equivalent phones that our children buy. In the eight months of ownership, we have not had a single tracking request.
There are two types of keyboards, ANSI – used in USA, and ISO – used mainly in Europe.
I use ISO, not ANSI. Yet, when I bought a laptop in 2019, I had not thought about that important fact, and ended up buying an Asus Vivobook with an ANSI keyboard. That choice was regretted almost every day. Thus, when Trish’s machine was over seven years old, I allowed myself the luxury of buying us both new laptops, with ISO keyboards, despite the fact that my laptop was only three years old.
Originally, I expected to buy Asus Zenbooks, like Trish’s older machine. However, it appears that Asus is only offering ANSI keyboards with their laptop machines. We ended up with Acer Swift 3 machines, which – because of their inferior screen technology – cost considerably less than a Zenbook. Both Asus and Acer machines are typically designed in Taiwan, but made in China.
I also use a desktop machine, in addition to a laptop. This requires the use of additional equipment. For a long time I avoided buying an ergonomic mouse and keyboard, despite their advantages. Most are expensive, and I didn’t think they were worth the price, despite an official diagnosis of osteoarthritis in a large number of joints in my hands. By 2021, I had changed my mind, transitioning from a Logitech M535 mouse and a K380 keyboard to a more ergonomic Logitech MX Vertical mouse and a K860 Ergo keyboard. Because of vision issues, I also purchased a better monitor/ screen/ display made by AOC. Logitech is a Swiss company. AOC is a Taiwanese company.
Not all of our capital expenditures are related to computing. More recently, the local yarn shop closed down. Patricia decided that she could afford to buy about five years worth of supplies, at half price. Here, she was able to purchase Norwegian brands. Yet, one wants to ask how much of these use Norwegian wool exclusively?
For some months I have been concerned about the inability to adjust my Ryobi mitre saw to compensate for cutting deviations I experienced. My solution was to buy a smaller, but more accurate Bosch mitre saw that will meet my needs. Previously, I had replaced a Scheppach table saw with a Bosch table saw, and am considering just one further replacement, a Coop brand track saw with yet another Bosch model. I have discovered that Bosch provides the product quality I need and appreciate. I also discovered that these products are made in China.
Reducing the democracy tax
There are ways to reduce the democracy tax. With retirement at the end of 2016, 2017-01-01 marked the beginning of a new era, with a (partial) set of new values. Our pensions were set at 60% of our final employment earnings. Since then they have been reduced by 0.75% per year. For us, there have never been any issues about living within our means. We have managed to save money every year of our retirement. We are not overspending, in terms of our income. However, I did look at ways in which I could save additional money without affecting the quality of our lives.
One of the things I did not want to do was to focus on buying sale items at sale prices. The easiest way to save money on something, is to avoid buying it.
Used equipment
Another way to reduce the democracy tax is to buy used items. Yet, sometimes one spends money and gets little in return. One of the first used items I purchased in my retirement was a Logitech K380 keyboard, on 2020-01-06. This keyboard was my favourite, so I wanted to make sure I had a duplicate in case it wore out. It hasn’t and it probably won’t so this was an unnecessary purchase. The only advantage in purchasing it, is that my two offspring can both inherit one.
A kitchen is not just a place for food storage and preparation, it is also a natural place for the accumulation of nutritional and food preparation information. I bought a used Asus All-in-One (AiO) computer on 2020-10-12 to become the interface for this information. In addition, it could act as a room control unit in the kitchen. One can never be completely certain how technology will be received. The kitchen is designed with an extra 2.5 meters of usable desk/ table top for food preparation purposes. I am intending to use less than 0.5 meters of counter space for the computer, yielding a net gain of 2 meters.
Starting with the pandemic in 2020, and continuing until today, it is no longer possible to buy everything off the shelf. There are major delays. In 2023, instead of buying new Raspberry Pi boards for projects, I am buying used Acer Revo desktop machines, with a minimum of 4 GB RAM, and a 120 GB SSD. Currently, I have 2 x RL70, 1 x RL85 and 1 x RN66 models, and hope to conclude my purchasing spree with a 1 x RN76 model, sometime later this year. These are cheaper, and adequate for all my needs. I have decided to buy one piece of kit a month, for a maximum of NOK 1 000.
The RL70 units are intended to work as combined controllers for both a greenhouse and a weather station. Once the hardware is built the two units will be given away. The software will be kept, and the details published, so that others will be able to use the insights (and code) developed.
The RN models will probably be used as a Windows machine for those programs that fail to operate properly using Linux Wine. Wine is often called a compatibility layer, rather than an emulator. It often works, but sometimes it doesn’t, meaning that it is appropriate to install and use Windows. The programs that fail to work were first developed when Windows XP was the most common operating system. I have a working copy of this that can be installed. In addition, I have a working copy of Windows 7, should it be needed. In both cases, the computer will be operated without any connection to the internet.
The RN76 will probably run a library program, and a slide digitization program. The RN66 will probably run a CNC machine in the workshop. Note: the workshop is being transitioned away from being a place to support building construction, to a fabrication centre. The first step was to replace the Ryobi EMS254L mitre saw, with a Tesaker CNC milling machine. A smaller Bosch GCM 8SJL mitre saw has been purchased that can be used on location.
In 2023-05, I discovered that Logitech was making at least some of its Nordic keyboards with an ANSI configuration. I found this disturbing. Thus, I decided to buy yet another Logitech ISO keyboard, this time as a Logitech MX keys mini in pink. This was purchased used at approximately half the price of a new equivalent keyboard. I will remind readers that pink was often regarded as a male colour in the 19th century, and even in the 20th century up to the 1920s.
I then read that Logitech would be making an improved version the MX mouse Anywhere 3 to be called the 3S. While this offered technical improvements, it would be more expensive. I decided to buy one using the old technology. It is not always necessary to have the best quality, everywhere. Indeed, I have no intention of using this MX keyboard and mouse immediately. Rather, they are reserve solutions should my current Logitech ergonomic keyboard (K860) and mouse (MX vertical) wear out, or otherwise fail.
A Logitech MX keys Mini keyboard in pink, with an ISO Nordic configuration.
Handcrafted
One of the reasons I prefer to make things myself, is that I prefer the simpler look that my projects provide. I prefer the handmade to the elegant.
Downsizing
Even dreams should be downsized. For the past twenty years I have imagined myself using a computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine. It is useful to make all sorts of things. The question is, how big should its bed be? The standard answer is 1 250 x 2 500 mm, which will accommodate 48″ x 96″ sheets of plywood, or their slightly small metric equivalents. Sometimes, the standard answer is not the best answer, for three reasons. First, the mill may be larger than required to make interesting products. Second, it may be too expensive, relative to the benefits it provides. Third, it may not turn out to be as useful as one imagines. Fortunately, a professional CNC machinist in Inderøy had decided to get rid of his student project, a Tesaker CNC milling machine, because he had purchased something larger. So, I was able to acquire this at a fraction of the price of a larger machine. Of course it only has a working surface of 300 x 500 mm, which is more than adequate.
Acceptance
My workshop is a converted single car garage, about 3 x 6 meters with a small annex originally used to store firewood, providing about 20 square meters of space. There are times when I think that it would be better if it were twice the size. As an auxiliary workshop to complement building construction, it has been adequate. It will also be adequate for the manufacturing of smaller objects. But it cannot be both simultaneously. I have had to learn to accept that fact.
This is the situation through much of life. One has to accept that one is born at a particular time in a particular place. Throughout one’s childhood, one’s abilities to make decisions are restricted, notably by parents and teachers. Increasingly, one is able to take greater control over one’s own life, but that control is not total. Various institutions, authorities and other people want a say in what happens, and can exhort pressures to enforce it.
An aspirational digression
Some of the issues involved in a democracy tax, and globalization more generally, can be discovered by looking at the Ever Given, the container ship that decided to shut down the Suez canal from 2021-03-23 to 2021-03-29, but remained within the canal system until 2021-07-07, when it was released after agreeing to pay an estimated US$ 600 million in compensation to the canal authorities. With a displacement of almost 266 Gg, a length of almost 400 m, a beam of almost 60 m, and a draught somewhere between 14.5 (design) and 16 (maximum) m it is Suezmax size, indicating that its dimensions are the largest capable of transiting the Suez Canal in a laden condition. The ship was one of 13 Imabari 20 000 container ships designed and built by Imabari Shipbuilding of Japan, and owned by its subsidiary Shoei Kisen Kaisha. The vessel is registered in Panama, has technical management by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement of Germany, is time chartered and operated by Evergreen Marine of Taiwan. The ship was sailing with an Indian crew of 25, led by Krishnan Kanthavel, from the container port at Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia to Rotterdam in the Netherlands with Felixstowe in England, the next port of call.
In the Suez canal, Kanthavel was nominally in charge, while the vessel was under the effective control of Egyptian pilots. Once the Ever Given arrived at its European ports, the estimated US$1 billion worth of goods onboard in up to 20 124 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) containers, would be shipped by ship, rail and truck to a large number of different countries located throughout the European Union, and its former member, the United Kingdom.
The transport of goods involves many corporate participants located in many divergent countries. It is difficult to know how fair any contracts are. For example, the captain of the container ship is responsible for all of its operations, even if the commands are given by pilots. It is difficult to know if the staff onboard a container ship are paid living wages, if taxes are being paid, if the environment is being respected. All we can guess, is that massive profits are being made, transporting goods from some distant point of origin to some other distant destination.
The same lack of detailed knowledge surrounds every item being transported on the ship.
During the pandemic, people have experienced that just-in-time inventory management is not compatible with the world’s current economic disruptions. A democracy tax involves a willingness to pay more to buy something made locally. How local, probably depends on the product. Our eggs and milk come from neighbouring farms, our new car from a slightly more distant European country, our computing equipment originates in an Asian democracy, but are manufactured in China.
People should not expect a market economy to last. It is dependent on having a surplus population that opt to compete with each other. Fertility rates indicate that most developed, democratic countries have fertility rates of about 1.5 births per woman, or lower. This means that countries will have to ensure that vital services, such as basic infrastructural needs, food, health care and education are met, before governments should encourage more competitive activities.
This may also mean that governments may be required to intervene in markets. In 1980s Norway, price controls were still in effect, but they were over by 1990. Some older people, and those with origins in other cultures may have experienced the benefits of rationing, or the detriments of extreme inflationary prices, possibly even famine, if countries chose not to implement rationing.
There is no need for prophetic gifts to understand that there will be limitations placed on market economies. If it has not already started, it will in the near future. In addition to the demographic issues noted in the previous paragraph, there are two other reasons for this. First, two years of supply issues has shown that people want to place restrictions on trade, they want to avoid price gouging, but are willing to pay fair prices. Second, globalization has not yet died, but it is being transported by ambulance to an economic hospital, where it will undergo tests to determine its economic viability.
Notes:
Depending on size, either meters (m) or millimeters (mm) are most often used to specify product length/ width/ height without any further need to specify units. Mass is more difficult to specify. Depending on purpose, some people like: the stone = 14 pounds (lb) = ca. 6.35 kg; the long/ imperial hundredweight (cwt) = 8 stone = 112 lb = ca. 50.8 kg; the long ton = 20 cwt = 160 stone = 2 240 lb = ca. 1 016 kg; the short ton = 2 000 pounds = ca. 907.18 kg; or, the tonne = 1 000 kg = 2 204.6 lb = 1.102 short tons = 0.984 long tons. In the metric system, the kilogram is the base unit of mass. This is ideal in many circumstances, including measuring body mass.
When dealing with heavier objects beyond the range of the kg, there is the megagram (Mg) = 1 000 kg, commonly referred to as a metric tonne (t), which is approximately the same mass as a (non-metric) short ton. Ships are often specified by their tonnage: gross (GT)/ net (NT)/ dead-weight (DWT), or their displacement. Large ships can have their displacement expressed in gigagrams (Gg), which some people would recognize as being thousands of tons/ tonnes.
Americans should get the impression that they are encouraged to start/ continue using metric units! As a Canadian, I started using them in science classes in school starting in the early 1960s, but used them more systematically after 1970. In Norway, I had no option but to use them for almost everything. Exceptions: Boat lengths are measured in feet. Timber, width and thickness were measured in inches, but the Norwegian inch is longer than the imperial inch. It was used to compensate for the shrinkage timber/ lumber would experience between being cut and delivered to England.
