"Disgraced integrity czar walks away with $ 500,000".
The headline troubled the Slo-Man at multiple levels.
Firstly, the use of the term "czar" to imply a senior-most position. The media is tempted to use this indiscriminately, with seemingly no regard to the history behind the term. Is the position really as autocratic as the term would imply? This is another instance of connotations being changed. Over time words lose their original meanings and North American driven political correctness has been the driving force behind much change in recent years. Sadly, though not all the changes makes sense, "sex worker" being one that particularly irritates the Slo-Man with it's forced air of desperation.
Secondly, some government apparently had a well-compensated officer charged with monitoring the "integrity", presumably of the staff. What qualifications would someone need for such a position? Would hall monitor for 2 years in high school add any value? How exactly is the integrity officer supposed to execute on her brief? Send out emails and flyers and a website exhorting staff to keep their hands out of the till? How about the integrity officers political masters? Does the officer's influence extend to them too? Most people will not bother to answer that question and the Slo-Man can see the wry and cynical smile on the readers' faces.
Thirdly, for someone with that level and type of brief to be given compensation for doing a bad job, is something that really upsets the Slo-Man. Surely, an integrity officer, responsible for the collective conscience of the government, should be set to a higher standard of accountability?
And then there is the delicious irony of the situation. "Disgraced" and "integrity czar".
Once again - the Slo-Man shakes his head as yet another instance of his impotence and influence is highlighted.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
if people have become stupidly reliant on technology
The Slo-Man recently had some time on his hands to read the interweb and he stumbled upon this news story.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/101006/canada/canada_transport_police_offbeat
The Slo-Man is, frankly, appalled. Is the world we created?
The Slo-Man wonders - was this her first time driving to work? Surely, she must have gone there at least once before for her interview? Did she consider getting directions from friends, her supervisor or another website - even to cross check? At at what time of the night was this drive to work? Was it too dark to see that there was no turning? Was she new to the area? How long has she lived in that city? And how fast was she driving?
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/101006/canada/canada_transport_police_offbeat
The Slo-Man is, frankly, appalled. Is the world we created?
The Slo-Man wonders - was this her first time driving to work? Surely, she must have gone there at least once before for her interview? Did she consider getting directions from friends, her supervisor or another website - even to cross check? At at what time of the night was this drive to work? Was it too dark to see that there was no turning? Was she new to the area? How long has she lived in that city? And how fast was she driving?
As always in times such as these, the Slo-Man called upon the LLBF. And the LLBF told the story of a time in Cape Cod when he, the LLBF, watched his nephew turn right instead of left, disregarding the LLBF's directions and following instead instructions from his GPS. The nephew was the last to arrive at the Olive Garden, 20 minutes after anyone else. The nephew, however, is highly intelligent and so there was never any danger of his finding himself in the Atlantic Ocean at any time. It remains a mildly amusing story, the only after effects being some good-natured chaff at the hands of the family.
Humans have created technological tools out of their talent for thought. However, stories such as this demonstrate that humans forget that these are but tools, the responsibility for thought cannot be transferred to that unreasoning tool.
And, the Slo-Man thinks of Freddie, hums the tune and shakes his head in wonder.
Humans have created technological tools out of their talent for thought. However, stories such as this demonstrate that humans forget that these are but tools, the responsibility for thought cannot be transferred to that unreasoning tool.
And, the Slo-Man thinks of Freddie, hums the tune and shakes his head in wonder.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
The Obsolescence of phrases and the "t-Shirt bra"
The English language evolves continuously, words change their meanings almost from generation to generation. “Sick” used to mean unwell, ill, under the weather. For anyone over the age of 20 it still does. Somewhere, somehow, subtly sentences sustained a serious setback in their construction.
Parsing, clause analyses and the parts of speech are no longer taught as grammar and spelling have taken a backseat to the immediacy and intimacy of the internet. Parsing as a term alone remains as a term understood now by some computer programmers, a term that was replaced by software developer and software engineers. A modern generation of young students would, the Slo-Man expects, be hard-pressed to explain the difference between a gerund and a present participle and who, in a support of “free expression”, never have been enjoined to not split the infinitive.
These are examples of changed meanings or lost meanings, but the Slo-man is concerned here about terms that are no longer generally applicable or commonly usable, phrases that are obsolete because the situations or conditions they describe are no longer extant.
All this was brought to the attention of the Slo-Man by the LLBF, who was visiting after a recent trip to the shopping mall, in itself a concept less than 100 years old. On a cool late summer day in his adoptive city, reminiscent of the advent of the festival season of his far away foster city, waves of nostalgia washed over the LLBF. On such a day as this, the LLBF was wont to remark gently “Ahh, my dear, a nipple in the air, eh?”.
And that brought the Slo-Man memories of an age past and left him lamenting the lapsing of lace lingerie and yet another phrase.
Parsing, clause analyses and the parts of speech are no longer taught as grammar and spelling have taken a backseat to the immediacy and intimacy of the internet. Parsing as a term alone remains as a term understood now by some computer programmers, a term that was replaced by software developer and software engineers. A modern generation of young students would, the Slo-Man expects, be hard-pressed to explain the difference between a gerund and a present participle and who, in a support of “free expression”, never have been enjoined to not split the infinitive.
These are examples of changed meanings or lost meanings, but the Slo-man is concerned here about terms that are no longer generally applicable or commonly usable, phrases that are obsolete because the situations or conditions they describe are no longer extant.
All this was brought to the attention of the Slo-Man by the LLBF, who was visiting after a recent trip to the shopping mall, in itself a concept less than 100 years old. On a cool late summer day in his adoptive city, reminiscent of the advent of the festival season of his far away foster city, waves of nostalgia washed over the LLBF. On such a day as this, the LLBF was wont to remark gently “Ahh, my dear, a nipple in the air, eh?”.
And that brought the Slo-Man memories of an age past and left him lamenting the lapsing of lace lingerie and yet another phrase.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
about anger management
and the anger management experts. He was downtown in an elevator that had a news feed on a TV monitor and a news item caught his eye. An anger management counsellor pulled a gun on someone who had blocked his car.
Oh the irony! Too quote Sellers and Loren "Oh Doctor, I'm in trouble, well goodness gracious me! You may be very clever, but however can't you see?" You're flawed, human beings are flawed, your diet is flawed, your thinking that there is a silver bullet that will (a) help you lose weight (b) remove the wrinkles (c) reduce the cellulite (d) get you the admiration of the idiots on the streets is flawed. The perfect tomato, the milk that had all the goodness taken out of it (in the name of science) and for which we paid top dollar and now the milk with the stuff left in (for which we pay top(per) dollar), the GM food that will kill the planet, the anger management counsellor and the need for the supreme confessional in the sanctimonious Oprah are all ironies created by the lazy. Content to let someone else tell them the obvious about a situation, instead of exercising their own brains. Conditioned by big business and ads that sell products that seemingly have been "improved" by the simple expedient of adding fruits. Research? Ahh who needs it. If you're selling shampoo, just add pomegranate, or mango, or paw-paw or whatever.....
Anger management? Forget the classes, write a blog!
Oh the irony! Too quote Sellers and Loren "Oh Doctor, I'm in trouble, well goodness gracious me! You may be very clever, but however can't you see?" You're flawed, human beings are flawed, your diet is flawed, your thinking that there is a silver bullet that will (a) help you lose weight (b) remove the wrinkles (c) reduce the cellulite (d) get you the admiration of the idiots on the streets is flawed. The perfect tomato, the milk that had all the goodness taken out of it (in the name of science) and for which we paid top dollar and now the milk with the stuff left in (for which we pay top(per) dollar), the GM food that will kill the planet, the anger management counsellor and the need for the supreme confessional in the sanctimonious Oprah are all ironies created by the lazy. Content to let someone else tell them the obvious about a situation, instead of exercising their own brains. Conditioned by big business and ads that sell products that seemingly have been "improved" by the simple expedient of adding fruits. Research? Ahh who needs it. If you're selling shampoo, just add pomegranate, or mango, or paw-paw or whatever.....
Anger management? Forget the classes, write a blog!
Friday, February 5, 2010
how marijuana was found in a septic tank
The Slo-Man read this headline and called the LLBF for support. "Help me," he cried, "How could this happen?".
"Obviously, someone flushed it down", said the LLBF, who is known for being practical when he's not dreaming.
"But what possessed anyone to go through the goop to find it? What hapless handyman, what investigative individual came up with the idea to do so?" the Slo-Man exclaimed.
"Oh I see, what you mean." said the LLBF who had been lost in a reverie. "Surely the rest of the article tells you more?"
The Slo-Man, who, generally, did not do more than glance at the headlines, saw the merit of yet another practical suggestion from the LLBF and went off to his search-engine for the story.
"Obviously, someone flushed it down", said the LLBF, who is known for being practical when he's not dreaming.
"But what possessed anyone to go through the goop to find it? What hapless handyman, what investigative individual came up with the idea to do so?" the Slo-Man exclaimed.
"Oh I see, what you mean." said the LLBF who had been lost in a reverie. "Surely the rest of the article tells you more?"
The Slo-Man, who, generally, did not do more than glance at the headlines, saw the merit of yet another practical suggestion from the LLBF and went off to his search-engine for the story.
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