tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55213292024-03-13T00:02:37.879-06:00Cole's Notes - The Sunday JournalistOMNIA MEA MECUM PORTO
"I carry with me all my things"
Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.comBlogger1052125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-23337172198227129132024-01-08T17:11:00.000-07:002024-01-08T17:11:03.083-07:00Back for 2024 - Maybe - sites on the way.<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi7e4imOvIhHfQ61efpKxvJGqq5PejkkjIniEt0H6KdFsqSNDrVlLHavF9aGloDMtwv0IuPK4Bj8Y-615IlBMrTefwXKhzvOLJl1sPmoU4nBy0LTev0SI0A-HVh9TOwguD6XWtv4HxUOoJOHlQNFxQxmq-yeCdj5E9VeEmFmxIMmspdTqmR7I/s960/IMG_0150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="960" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRi7e4imOvIhHfQ61efpKxvJGqq5PejkkjIniEt0H6KdFsqSNDrVlLHavF9aGloDMtwv0IuPK4Bj8Y-615IlBMrTefwXKhzvOLJl1sPmoU4nBy0LTev0SI0A-HVh9TOwguD6XWtv4HxUOoJOHlQNFxQxmq-yeCdj5E9VeEmFmxIMmspdTqmR7I/w640-h197/IMG_0150.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A recent meeting at the end of 2023</td></tr></tbody></table></p><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So it goes....</h2><div>Cleaning up the gmail account contacts - etc. New direction for 2024 stuff to come. Instagram, Facebook and Substack to come this year.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Cole's Notes<br />Blog address: <a href="http://colecoop.blogspot.com">colecoop.blogspot.com</a></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjottK4YS0eWxvHfOqKk1qYVWyiVjursiPALlPeuH50TD38X85UQ1R1neFTALLHBhrOsMCbE3DJYghUwUWjBue2ncqmaPFiUBDa8Elsn5oF2SlA80vR9IJycFl4_Y7b5KR6O7kDkQbs3DUrWheBYC5XYGw1tB_qNZaLh3JYwPsT75lOjdyHCtWN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="268" data-original-width="995" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjottK4YS0eWxvHfOqKk1qYVWyiVjursiPALlPeuH50TD38X85UQ1R1neFTALLHBhrOsMCbE3DJYghUwUWjBue2ncqmaPFiUBDa8Elsn5oF2SlA80vR9IJycFl4_Y7b5KR6O7kDkQbs3DUrWheBYC5XYGw1tB_qNZaLh3JYwPsT75lOjdyHCtWN=w640-h172" width="640" /></a></div></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;">Facebook facebook.com/colecoop</h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO4S7eyUX17uz9cd_xoZh3RZVdOmYwjxcxVDImajjKn_3ZwezNI-E4UUnmVWCstkEc71w7VeNR1zozmb8NYfB4bqbMJP9ukKnkpJUnAvbw7bXwg1Ph37J61TNcnYQiLSsY_PljHxnnuPvSChCt4cERtjOweAD--sAyBIA3_SOVgLP8pPbsHO1B" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="503" data-original-width="1137" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhO4S7eyUX17uz9cd_xoZh3RZVdOmYwjxcxVDImajjKn_3ZwezNI-E4UUnmVWCstkEc71w7VeNR1zozmb8NYfB4bqbMJP9ukKnkpJUnAvbw7bXwg1Ph37J61TNcnYQiLSsY_PljHxnnuPvSChCt4cERtjOweAD--sAyBIA3_SOVgLP8pPbsHO1B=w640-h284" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_BbrYve9sq49u71vgllLVhdmH2kR20KnW_XEACdq-0h8Y3lHTdlByQgo4tDX_VOHNtOC3SQK0QRxk3YZZHmKdgedoUrbP7UdDocC7zcQzH7IDkATzJmjCnDcANxyCbPEgDN8hDs0dwFJMmJOTvPqkVRWdkz83e-4-uL2iPT71bFSKJi_SWqG6" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="2350" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_BbrYve9sq49u71vgllLVhdmH2kR20KnW_XEACdq-0h8Y3lHTdlByQgo4tDX_VOHNtOC3SQK0QRxk3YZZHmKdgedoUrbP7UdDocC7zcQzH7IDkATzJmjCnDcANxyCbPEgDN8hDs0dwFJMmJOTvPqkVRWdkz83e-4-uL2iPT71bFSKJi_SWqG6" width="209" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;">Instagram</h2><div> https://www.threads.net/@thesundayjournalist</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And of course</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.twitter.com/colecoop">www.twitter.com/colecoop</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-52745023554054961072023-12-14T11:17:00.000-07:002023-12-14T11:17:15.630-07:00OMNIA MEA MECUM PORTO: "I carry with me all my things." <article class="f174eoj5" data-active="true" data-card-type="prompt-result" data-card="true" data-name="result-59" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-radius: calc(0.375px * var(--rem)); border: 0.5px solid rgb(205, 209, 220); box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; gap: calc(0.5px * var(--rem)); padding: calc(0.75px * var(--rem));"><div class="f1yzq0lr" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); font-feature-settings: "ss03"; font-size: calc(0.875px * var(--rem)); line-height: calc(1.3125px * var(--rem)); overflow-wrap: anywhere; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fewOby4H3tLtXc_Dk7YqDUV6Up3YTsHKE_zQQKlU17uCA-d9u_9G6LofD5M5XRaJlh2lYxa6RkKHREJN0XFez_t8tDI_69zJubJR8GSh1QdDtuOnUujtLvOaQ2Gbv8KmbRFAeM7klrdV82C-ouRmFvPYHoc1tnRt9ZJgtQTh84SDt46552CQ/s940/the%20real%20teams.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Humans doing the hard jobs on minimum wage is not the future I wanted" border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="940" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fewOby4H3tLtXc_Dk7YqDUV6Up3YTsHKE_zQQKlU17uCA-d9u_9G6LofD5M5XRaJlh2lYxa6RkKHREJN0XFez_t8tDI_69zJubJR8GSh1QdDtuOnUujtLvOaQ2Gbv8KmbRFAeM7klrdV82C-ouRmFvPYHoc1tnRt9ZJgtQTh84SDt46552CQ/w640-h426/the%20real%20teams.png" title="The Real Ai future" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></i></span></div><div class="f1yzq0lr" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); font-feature-settings: "ss03"; font-size: calc(0.875px * var(--rem)); line-height: calc(1.3125px * var(--rem)); overflow-wrap: anywhere; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: "ss03"; overflow-wrap: anywhere;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">I am bringing an issue to your attention that has been causing confusion lately. My name is quite common and shared by many people worldwide. While it's always interesting to see how many other Cole Coopers are out there, it can also lead to confusion.</span></h2></div></article><article class="f174eoj5" data-active="true" data-card-type="prompt-result" data-card="true" data-name="result-61" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-radius: calc(0.375px * var(--rem)); border: 0.5px solid rgb(205, 209, 220); box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: Inter, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; gap: calc(0.5px * var(--rem)); padding: calc(0.75px * var(--rem));"><div class="f1yzq0lr" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); font-feature-settings: "ss03"; font-size: calc(0.875px * var(--rem)); line-height: calc(1.3125px * var(--rem)); overflow-wrap: anywhere; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">
The primary issue is that my Gmail address, colecoop@gmail.com, has become a catch-all for people trying to contact other Cole Coopers. When someone with a similar name gives out a slightly different email address, sometimes that email ends up in my inbox instead. This can frustrate me and the person trying to reach their intended recipient.
Sadly, this also means I can only sometimes respond to emails as quickly as I'd like. I receive many misaddressed emails, and it can take some time to sort through them all and ensure I'm responding to the right person. However, I'm committed to doing my best to reply to every email quickly.
To help alleviate this issue, please re-address all emails to my new email address associated with my <i>Cole's Notes blog</i>, <b>cole.cooper@gmail.com.</b> The other Gmail accounts, colecoop@gmail.com, colecooper@gmail.com, and cole.cooper@gmail.com, are terminating here and are not monitored.
I appreciate your understanding and patience as we work through this together. I always welcome your feedback and thoughts on my blog posts or topics.
Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!</span></div><div class="f1yzq0lr" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); font-feature-settings: "ss03"; font-size: calc(0.875px * var(--rem)); line-height: calc(1.3125px * var(--rem)); overflow-wrap: anywhere; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></div><div class="f1yzq0lr" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); font-feature-settings: "ss03"; font-size: calc(0.875px * var(--rem)); line-height: calc(1.3125px * var(--rem)); overflow-wrap: anywhere; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Best regards,
<i>
The original Cole Cooper</i></span></div><div class="f1yzq0lr" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-text-base-default); font-feature-settings: "ss03"; font-size: calc(0.875px * var(--rem)); line-height: calc(1.3125px * var(--rem)); overflow-wrap: anywhere; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">
Email: <a href="mailto:cole.cooper@gmail.com">cole.cooper@gmail.com</a>
Cole's Note Blog at <a href="https://colecoop.blogspot.com">https://colecoop.blogspot.com</a>
Linkedin Profile <a href="https://ca.linkedin.com/in/colecooper">https://ca.linkedin.com/in/colecooper</a></span></div></article>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-68205728626685571362023-10-04T22:05:00.000-06:002023-10-04T22:05:54.764-06:00Starting Over<h1 style="text-align: left;"> Substack and Cole's Notes</h1><h2 style="text-align: left;">Something is coming...</h2><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnu_lvUvgBDfKW09ch5Fkg1HvQ3gQLt0z8gF1rzmE6RGSOH-CBPdCmqu4I_6Hsf5RJP_KWelZoE2A-MC1X9UN4XLQXdFvn1Pop3vvaWca8tmTplNHOxDmlONNpDUl7mgijeq9VOBOKE29onu98GaO_dG_XnFsKEdDYWPlu9p9CfJFVunAi1QP/s709/groucho%20on%20politics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="709" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnu_lvUvgBDfKW09ch5Fkg1HvQ3gQLt0z8gF1rzmE6RGSOH-CBPdCmqu4I_6Hsf5RJP_KWelZoE2A-MC1X9UN4XLQXdFvn1Pop3vvaWca8tmTplNHOxDmlONNpDUl7mgijeq9VOBOKE29onu98GaO_dG_XnFsKEdDYWPlu9p9CfJFVunAi1QP/s320/groucho%20on%20politics.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It was once said that regarding the press, you should never fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel. </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, that would be: never pick a fight with someone with a Substack.</div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Subscribe to me on Substack: <u><a href="https://substack.com/@colemanmarkcooper?utm_source=edit-profile-page " target="_blank">https://substack.com/@colemanmarkcooper?utm_source=edit-profile-page </a></u></i></div><div><br /></div><div>There is not anything there at the moment - I'm busily hooking up my Social media accounts and working on building my audience - so this is just a heads up that I'm updating things this fall and adding in new content as I update this blog and the other social media sites.</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Why am I doing this?</h3><div>Well, the comic strip Shoe has it, ideally.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBo4oUMroHOeVPnb3AGSCEGgFlnIbCD0Em6sKVZupvo5hSvZSefH-a-L1kdliSgIwJsp6sVskNXcvvlO1NJ-pUGVnHVhohsSJ61Da65eQ_KmBOi6c8zuFE3m3zsYunHqevZqQV3yjtUl583jZPl-1u0QrqEeaPgPdiOjUqGcDeNQViIYLGUgKO/s942/writer.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="942" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBo4oUMroHOeVPnb3AGSCEGgFlnIbCD0Em6sKVZupvo5hSvZSefH-a-L1kdliSgIwJsp6sVskNXcvvlO1NJ-pUGVnHVhohsSJ61Da65eQ_KmBOi6c8zuFE3m3zsYunHqevZqQV3yjtUl583jZPl-1u0QrqEeaPgPdiOjUqGcDeNQViIYLGUgKO/w640-h194/writer.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>So, I'm looking at various income sources from my writing. Substack is one. </div><h3 style="text-align: left;">So what is Substack?</h3><div><div class="content" tabindex="0"><div class="ac-container ac-adaptiveCard" streaming=""><div class="ac-textBlock"><p>Substack is a platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers.</p><p>This is very similar to how Cole's Notes started in 1992 when I published an email newsletter on telecom for corporate communications at the telco where I worked. Around 1998 - when I was packaging out from said corporation - the "career counsellor" recommended blogging. So Cole's Notes was slipped over to Blogger - where it remains.</p><p>However - I also started hanging around on other sites - the early Twitter - some Canadian blogs - and technology blogs posting and writing articles. In addition to lurking and linking - I did some web work for small businesses and communities pro bono, using my writing skills to help out where I could. Substack interests me as I want to monetize my work to help me support myself.</p><p>An extremely long time ago, back when I was pounding a typewriter in Journalism School, my dream was to have a career as a photojournalist, editor-publisher and someday own a small-town newspaper. The early Blogs I worked on and Cole's Notes scratched that itch to write news stories and satisfy my inner journalist.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div><div><pre class="frontend-publish-settings-EmbeddableFormElement-module__codeBlock--anBRL" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border-radius: var(--border-radius-6); box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-primary) !important; font-size: 19px; margin: var(--size-32) 0; padding: var(--size-16); position: relative; word-break: break-all;"><br /></pre></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-80216723103313674692023-03-29T21:08:00.000-06:002023-03-29T21:08:05.846-06:00The real Cole Cooper- 2023 GPT edition <h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 21px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNueob4v3Nt7Mvrj5mbV23wUr9bPpnknZypph2Ozo24SV140VDmT9_gSLe2cDio7QVZwqTm_uuiO-Np9X7T0cdIl1Co1XyP7k79JWpste_HMpowxWmGA9ZHoU7MBHvzJNqHBhp2NA2W0fAHajwZ0xnHgov6ep9fUpC2IgmC5U5_6608uAW1w/s300/IMG_3539-760781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="300" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNueob4v3Nt7Mvrj5mbV23wUr9bPpnknZypph2Ozo24SV140VDmT9_gSLe2cDio7QVZwqTm_uuiO-Np9X7T0cdIl1Co1XyP7k79JWpste_HMpowxWmGA9ZHoU7MBHvzJNqHBhp2NA2W0fAHajwZ0xnHgov6ep9fUpC2IgmC5U5_6608uAW1w/s1600/IMG_3539-760781.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /> The Challenges of Having a Common Name on Gmail</span></h3><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Hey there,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">As an early adopter of Google email beta, I was one of the first users to sign up for a Gmail account. At the time, I had a Hotmail address and a Shaw@home address, but I ended up with my name in Gmail as <a href="mailto:cole.cooper@gmail.com"><span class="s2">cole.cooper@gmail.com</span></a>. With this account, I set up my blog, Google+ services, and my Google Plus page.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Back in 2004, there were not many Cole Coopers on the internet, so it was a fairly uncommon name. However, over time, more people with the same name have emerged, including a football player on Twitter, a Marvel character at the Daily Bugle, Facebook pages, and even a colecooper.com website. While I don't mind sharing my name with others, having a common name like this causes issues with Gmail.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">When companies take down email addresses for multiple people with the same name, they often get it wrong. Since I was the first Cole Cooper on Gmail, any emails sent to <a href="mailto:colecooper@gmail.com"><span class="s2">colecooper@gmail.com</span></a> come directly to me, even if they weren't intended for me. This can be frustrating, especially when I receive personal or confidential emails that clearly were not meant for me.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Recently, I received sign-in instructions for an Allstate account meant for another Cole Cooper in the US. If I were a less honest person, this could have been an opportunity to steal someone's identity. But, of course, I did the right thing and informed the insurance company of their mistake. This situation could have been avoided if they had double-checked the email address before sending the information.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">So, if you have a common name like me, please be careful when signing up for online services and ensure that your email address is accurate. To the other Cole Cooper who keeps using my email address to sign up for school, please update your information as I'm not going to do your homework for you.</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">If you're interested in learning more about my struggles with having a common name on Gmail, check out my blog post on Cole's Notes: <a href="http://colecoop.blogspot.ca/2016/05/the-will-real-cole-cooper-please-stand.html"><span class="s2">http://colecoop.blogspot.ca/2016/05/the-will-real-cole-cooper-please-stand.html</span></a></span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">Take care,</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">The Real Cole Cooper</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="mailto:cole.cooper@gmail.com">cole.cooper@gmail.com</a></span></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-31259720817136889672023-02-11T17:26:00.003-07:002023-02-11T17:26:25.243-07:00Why I've Been M.I.A.: Revamping My Security After the LastPass Breach<p><br /></p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear readers of The Sunday Journalist,</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope this blog post finds you well. It's been a while since I last posted, and I wanted to share with you why that is.</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As many of you know, there was a recent security breach at LastPass, a popular password manager. The breach was a wake-up call to me and many others who have relied on these services to store our sensitive information. In light of this, I decided to step back from blogging and focus on revamping my security.</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked closely at all my online accounts, from email to social media, and evaluated their privacy and security settings. I used strong, unique passwords for each account and enabled two-factor authentication wherever possible. This involved updating all of my passwords, which was a time-consuming but necessary task. Which I am still working on.</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition to these steps, I also took the time to educate myself on best practices for online security, the dangers of phishing scams, the importance of keeping software up-to-date, and how to spot suspicious activity on my accounts.</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I understand that these types of breaches can be concerning, and I wanted to take proactive steps to protect my information. I hope that sharing my experience will encourage others to do the same.</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My security revamp is now almost complete, and I will be back to blogging soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Best regards,</p><p style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 transparent; --tw-shadow: 0 0 transparent; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #f7f7f8; border: 0px solid rgb(217, 217, 227); box-sizing: border-box; color: #374151; font-family: Söhne, ui-sans-serif, system-ui, -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Noto Sans", sans-serif, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 16px; margin: 1.25em 0px 0px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sunday Journalist (post authored by ChatGPT)</p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-3486337166466633232022-12-24T18:36:00.000-07:002022-12-24T18:36:20.464-07:00Merry Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVTyWHr3boi5xBntYXz8jYOMWaSTPevoYvOax6Sd2HgTtnuFv0gB6q-cfXUqkNeK6HaGEKSBlouUepq-lB-8AcUuBRbI--7XxDy-t5Ni6tQxV0DRNavtt0V_lwcgeU5Y6-Ao4LlDxI3DTCPnHWCU3gV758W53nHOIBh79Jlaizrhimw3NUA/s1600/IMG_0564.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="753" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVTyWHr3boi5xBntYXz8jYOMWaSTPevoYvOax6Sd2HgTtnuFv0gB6q-cfXUqkNeK6HaGEKSBlouUepq-lB-8AcUuBRbI--7XxDy-t5Ni6tQxV0DRNavtt0V_lwcgeU5Y6-Ao4LlDxI3DTCPnHWCU3gV758W53nHOIBh79Jlaizrhimw3NUA/s1600/IMG_0564.JPG"/></a></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-21372818392257786182022-11-29T10:26:00.000-07:002022-11-29T10:26:09.008-07:00 Why are there no new postings on Cole's Notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vIrBgDkTxlLzxtfpsYIhHjk1PrUsDzTzWmsbpn6N-r29bbkqmjJnYX8bQXmxj6Vbvb7Cy10zU2o-rMKOXmMRR18p7WTYS5k6FomQuD_3NlHo_dyc7QuAdrhdlmhOj9Y-gXs8DMVREVxEAg5NRa_MTSwzKRPo8-Ix5KoKg4e2lRnyKpuxQg/s900/IMG_0432.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vIrBgDkTxlLzxtfpsYIhHjk1PrUsDzTzWmsbpn6N-r29bbkqmjJnYX8bQXmxj6Vbvb7Cy10zU2o-rMKOXmMRR18p7WTYS5k6FomQuD_3NlHo_dyc7QuAdrhdlmhOj9Y-gXs8DMVREVxEAg5NRa_MTSwzKRPo8-Ix5KoKg4e2lRnyKpuxQg/w640-h200/IMG_0432.GIF" width="640" /></a></div><a href="http://Dilbert.com">Dilbert</a><br /><h1 style="text-align: left;">Why are there no new postings on Cole's Notes</h1><div>Well - for the longest time I've been working offline. It's been a strange year with only my iPhone to post to Facebook and now with 2022 almost done I'm trying to get caught up - HOWEVER - unlike Dilbert I've gotten over 4,500 emails over the email accounts I look after, and working as I do offline - the inboxes are heavily clogged. Plus, my systems have been having hardware problems. Now that I'm no longer working in a corporate office the IT support guy is me.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div dir="ltr"> <br /> <div id="ms-outlook-mobile-signature"> <div><br /> </div> <div style="direction: ltr;"><br /></div> <div><br /> </div> </div> </div> Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-40422013725949032202022-06-26T14:49:00.001-06:002022-06-26T14:49:00.205-06:00Cole’s Notes - the Sunday Journalist<h1 style="text-align: left;">Introducing The Sunday Journalist</h1><h1 style="text-align: left;"> C. Mark Cooper</h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeg_u-0GVe-vWvA-sBin517m2UerpqKNdw7atNtsktJ6lnEQwQOi265bq-l92qpDmFtPYXYPEd-eLcflv5Oisf7XEiArIzBXHS5Nxf-YK4Yxme9Dmk_NsPUyaV-_TO8wuf4ozTLMMtPAiuOxa-T0JrTtaN6AbJ2jO_2qVfMR3I57ND-OBSCA=s1600" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1242" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeg_u-0GVe-vWvA-sBin517m2UerpqKNdw7atNtsktJ6lnEQwQOi265bq-l92qpDmFtPYXYPEd-eLcflv5Oisf7XEiArIzBXHS5Nxf-YK4Yxme9Dmk_NsPUyaV-_TO8wuf4ozTLMMtPAiuOxa-T0JrTtaN6AbJ2jO_2qVfMR3I57ND-OBSCA=s320" width="248" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;">As you can tell - there wasn't much going on in 2022 for my Blogging. I did (and still do) most of my posting on Facebook. Both </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Quotes of the day</i><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Column of the day </i><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;">are part of what I have been doing as a hobbyist communication and content creation blogger. But I have been spending more time reading and cross-posting than creating. Passing on other people's writing rather than creating my own.</span></div><br style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400;" /><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400;">While it gave me a more significant following and audience than posting in the </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400;"><b><a href="http://colecoop.blogspot.com/" style="background: transparent; color: #2196f3; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Cole's Notes</a> </b></i><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400;">Blog, I was doing it the lazy way by using my iPhone to curate and post on Twitter and Facebook. I was spending more time browsing Facebook and Quora than doing any writing for myself. </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400;">So today - I'm starting to revise this Blog and my online profiles to reflect my new Pen name.</span></h3><h3><div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;">Well, back in 2020 - I was working two jobs unrelated to journalism and had reached the age where I look back on what I'm doing with my life.</span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;">I'm a visual communicator - they call folks like me these days. My lifelong dream was to be a LIFE magazine photographer/reporter in the long-ago days. </span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;">Well, back when I entered Journalism school - it was the year that LIFE magazine folded.😒 However, I persevered and came out of SAIT and went to work at the Calgary Herald as a Colour Lab Technician and News Photographer. Following a career in the IT/Telecom industry in Operations Management - I started writing and blogging in my spare time. </span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;"> </span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;">Then, I moved on to corporate communications, project management and document management for IT, using my skills in writing and photography. And as such, I picked up a lot of skills in Business, Telecommunications and IT. Not to mention Photography and Graphic Arts skills, including film processing and desktop publishing. All of which I've used to create and manage websites, intranets, and corporate IT and Telecom networks. So I have profiles on Linkedin, Twitter, Gmail, et al. that need to be cleaned up, and I want to expand my writing to other pages.</span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJPN3eAma17X80U58GfbnIP0Cjq1s992-0ebCZuYhb56PGUMm2JatY-b-o0YVSv8GG6vZlxCkCNJNm5UdvtGMZx-TlDxbTT_ayNZvr8pPjxRWg_wyPRzt135N4pAscPTeUziv-PNmmF45hkDt4wkNLHy3POLHTUJwe7HM2SH9HjlFOkkH2Q/s221/IMG_0055.JPG-774526.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="78" data-original-width="221" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJPN3eAma17X80U58GfbnIP0Cjq1s992-0ebCZuYhb56PGUMm2JatY-b-o0YVSv8GG6vZlxCkCNJNm5UdvtGMZx-TlDxbTT_ayNZvr8pPjxRWg_wyPRzt135N4pAscPTeUziv-PNmmF45hkDt4wkNLHy3POLHTUJwe7HM2SH9HjlFOkkH2Q/s1600/IMG_0055.JPG-774526.jpeg" width="221" /></a></div><div><b><i>The original Cole Cooper</i></b></div><div>Email: <a href="mailto:cole.cooper@gmail.com" rev="en_rl_none">cole.cooper@gmail.com</a></div><div>Cole's Notes Blog at <a href="https://colecoop.blogspot.com/" rev="en_rl_none">https://colecoop.blogspot.com</a></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">LinkedIn Profile https://</span><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/in/colecooper" rev="en_rl_none" style="text-align: left;">ca.linkedin.com/in/colecooper</a></p></div></div></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-35874496388958709812022-06-21T14:43:00.000-06:002022-06-21T14:43:35.048-06:00Email of the Day - Let's Opt-Out Of Ottawa Laws!<div dir="ltr"> <div></div> <div> <div> <br /></div></div></div> <style type="text/css"> <!-- div {background-color:#eef0f3} div {color:#2a313c; font-family:Arial,'Helvetica',sans-serif; margin:0; padding:0} table {border-spacing:0; border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0} table td {border-collapse:collapse} p {margin-bottom:1em} .x_body-content img {max-width:100%} --> </style> <div leftmargin="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" style="background-color: #eef0f3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" topmargin="0"> <table bgcolor="#eef0f3" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="height: 100%px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#eef0f3" valign="top"> <table bgcolor="#eef0f3" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="x_container" style="background-color: #eef0f3; width: 600px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border-bottom: 4px solid rgb(69, 105, 211);"><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.projectconfederation.ca%2F%3Fe%3Da4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea%26utm_source%3Dalbertainstitute%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpc_aa_2022_06_09_ab%26n%3D1&data=05%7C01%7C%7C37a808e4b0a3494b619808da4a207b08%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637903800605712944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=y4fVnlEFtnooUjI39JdG9frJ78T7I4gobocmqhroahA%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.projectconfederation.ca/?e=a4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea&utm_source=albertainstitute&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pc_aa_2022_06_09_ab&n=1" shash="Ikxr7elHxeINgrlCNK+VxG60YBVt5E7LxNcEh5uKwY1XwJ08klAnv3A5406YF7TPCJUOmIAzsiEuVfKnm6R9YO3V0VrNogVO5ZlJoCVQ7bnXoLeuCYHn4+JP3nELYDSXx0R3iSlCkS83TdREnR+jIkL3NWfjAag3NP2W3XdjPIU=" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Project Confederation" border="0" src="http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/5db7e2e606dee3f2e3bd4e56/attachments/original/1574893240/email-header.png?1574893240" style="display: block; width: 100%;" title="Project Confederation" width="600" /> </a></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff" class="x_body-content" style="background-color: white; border-left: 1px solid transparent; border-right: 1px solid transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 20px; padding: 20px 15px; text-align: left;"> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Coleman</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="x_p1">Last week, there was a story in the news that, at first glance, may seem unrelated to Alberta's fight for fairness.</p> <p class="x_p1">However, when we dug into the details, we realized that it could have major implications for our province and our relationship with Ottawa.</p> <p class="x_p1">On the last day of May, British Columbia Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Sheila Malcolmson, and her federal equivalent, Carolyn Bennett, held a joint press conference in Vancouver to announce that the federal government would be giving the British Columbia government an exemption from the enforcement of Canada's federal drug policy.</p> <p class="x_p1">This is an exemption that the British Columbia government has been pushing for, for quite some time, and means that in British Columbia, it will no longer be a criminal offence for Canadians over the age of 18 to possess up to a cumulative 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA.</p> <p class="x_p1">Now, whatever your opinion on this particular policy, the idea of the federal government giving a province an exemption to federal law is a unique and intriguing idea and this exemption to one law for one province could very well set a very important precedent.</p> <p class="x_p1">I mean, if British Columbia can do it, why not us?</p> <p class="x_p1">If the federal government can give British Columbia an exemption to one federal law, it seems only logical that they could give Alberta an exemption to a federal law too, right?</p> <p class="x_p1">In fact, there is a litany of federal laws with which our provincial politicians - of various political stripes, I might add - have taken issue when it comes to our dealings with Ottawa.</p> <p class="x_p1">Equalization immediately comes to mind - if Alberta doesn't want to ship $22 billion per year to bribe Quebec to keep them in Canada, then why should we?</p> <p class="x_p1">Perhaps Alberta could ask for an exemption to the "No More Pipelines Law," formerly Bill C-69, which creates a shifting environmental review process and effectively kills all future pipeline and major energy projects?</p> <p class="x_p1">Maybe Alberta's newly appointed Chief Firearms Officer, Teri Bryant, should immediately seek to obtain an exemption for Alberta to Bill C-21, a gun control bill described by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "some of the strongest measures in Canadian history" when it comes to the government seizing private property.<span class="x_Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="x_p1">Why not get an exemption to the rules that require federal taxes to be collected federally, and then an Alberta Revenue Agency could collect both federal and provincial income taxes right here in Alberta?</p> <p class="x_p1"><em>(Heck, while we're at it, how about an exemption from federal income and GST taxes entirely - we can dream, right?)</em></p> <p class="x_p1">Now, of course, none of this means that the federal government would have to <span style="text-decoration: underline;">agree</span> to give Alberta these exemptions.</p> <p class="x_p1">That's a different matter entirely and would have to be subject to intense lobbying, pressure, and negotiation.</p> <p class="x_p1">But you don't get anything you don't ask for, so we might as well start now.</p> <p class="x_p1">Besides, the current federal government won't be around forever, and a future federal government could very well take this precedent in some interesting directions.</p> <p class="x_p1">If it becomes the accepted norm in Canadian politics that provinces can seek and obtain exemptions when it comes to the implementation of federal laws, then this could dramatically shift the balance of power in Confederation, and Alberta should be using this technique to seek as much autonomy from the federal government as is possible.</p> <p class="x_p1">Perhaps most importantly, developments like this clearly demonstrate what Project Confederation has been saying all along.</p> <p class="x_p1">Whenever Alberta has asked for more autonomy, we get pushback, and sometimes even ridicule, from Ottawa, academics, and the media, who all like to say that that's not how the constitution works.</p> <p class="x_p1">But, clearly based on this precedent, Canada's constitution is not fixed, and politicians are perfectly able and willing to bend it to suit whatever happens to be politically convenient to them at that particular time.</p> <p class="x_p1">That can cause major problems, as federal politicians ignore precedents to take advantage of Alberta.</p> <p class="x_p1">Historically, Quebec has been given incredible latitude to do whatever they want - whether constitutional or not - and now British Columbia is joining in on the party.</p> <p class="x_p1">But we can also use this same pliability to advantage Alberta and push for changes that benefit Albertans.</p> <p class="x_p1">We are not asking for anything unique or radical.</p> <p class="x_p1">We are just asking for the same treatment as the rest of the country. </p> <p class="x_p1">We need to create the political pressure required to ensure politicians see it as politically advantageous to help, rather than harm Alberta.</p> <p class="x_p1">You can help us create that pressure and achieve the necessary reforms that Alberta needs in order to make this confederation work in three key ways:</p> <ol> <li class="x_p1">Ask your friends, family, and co-workers to <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.projectconfederation.ca%2Fsubscribe%3Fe%3Da4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea%26utm_source%3Dalbertainstitute%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpc_aa_2022_06_09_ab%26n%3D2&data=05%7C01%7C%7C37a808e4b0a3494b619808da4a207b08%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637903800605712944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Qx9EEcH8n6z6jtY4T8N19wRFzlNOUcycU7%2Fkp4y%2FgX0%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.projectconfederation.ca/subscribe?e=a4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea&utm_source=albertainstitute&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pc_aa_2022_06_09_ab&n=2" shash="j8HcJe0bg6nlcZAZ4dW/mthSLCFqfuaF/xATiGYlegKnyJtuTgMYMs4eLlTz+9nvCwJIpdusKxdK7+v9XcwdCOBCnnA+QbS8q1fL3p9F+74VcB9o31p0Hl1w2BXeUSQUx9UbPQ+alzLEwLY/qBY0iz+7VWX7Y46ItNLKUqCgAr0="> sign up for our newsletter</a> to learn more.</li><li class="x_p1">If you haven't already, <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.projectconfederation.ca%2Fvolunteer%3Fe%3Da4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea%26utm_source%3Dalbertainstitute%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpc_aa_2022_06_09_ab%26n%3D3&data=05%7C01%7C%7C37a808e4b0a3494b619808da4a207b08%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637903800605712944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sAr217t93XYT4X6Po8MfqNGwkHr60cd4F%2BuhJTGFyHg%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.projectconfederation.ca/volunteer?e=a4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea&utm_source=albertainstitute&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pc_aa_2022_06_09_ab&n=3" shash="fLJz0s4FP9INFAy7ABm2E93Co4luGb4fffRxNNbVYOGaQCqhXwAg1rRea4daxpkEwHODHqkHkxzr7gwaB5pTntTE5BvD7+gwrUC/9ePXPZoAHCMmjdOt8KfUJKSWeXJk8G4BdbENgiC5k8Zu2uP+nhmEonn6KqBd8kWVqjxSkRM="> sign up to volunteer</a> in a variety of online/phone/in-person ways.</li><li class="x_p1">Make a <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.projectconfederation.ca%2Fdonate%3Fe%3Da4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea%26utm_source%3Dalbertainstitute%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpc_aa_2022_06_09_ab%26n%3D4&data=05%7C01%7C%7C37a808e4b0a3494b619808da4a207b08%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637903800605712944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yxgXihvL5h8ZcZ6Vs93gHK58dEXXSDcETKIWQnVxW%2FA%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.projectconfederation.ca/donate?e=a4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea&utm_source=albertainstitute&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pc_aa_2022_06_09_ab&n=4" shash="Z3BHlDcKq23QdfiDxFvG1yLkKIQ1HBUeOG5TXJqnnbQRSNaaK1lLI2/XeZ/zqeO1eGTphZnnT+X7q40zoxMEBlM/TfI6/KbXmI/qZOvou9bdJnRQUMnzoKfQ2yjeJADsrtE36AerMI7Oom44tbFsowqmzPiBWwAX5ZuLDDTSXAk="> donation to support our vital work</a> over the next five months.</li></ol> <p class="x_p1"><span>Alternatively, please consider forwarding this email to your friends and family and ask them to get involved.</span></p> <p class="x_p1"><span>Thank you all for your continued support!</span></p> <p>Regards,</p> <p>Josh Andrus<br /> Executive Director<br /> Project Confederation<strong></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>PS: Project Confederation doesn't accept any government funding and never will. We think you should be free to choose, for yourself, which organizations to support. If you're in a position to contribute financially to our important work fighting for Alberta, <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.projectconfederation.ca%2Fdonate%3Fe%3Da4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea%26utm_source%3Dalbertainstitute%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpc_aa_2022_06_09_ab%26n%3D5&data=05%7C01%7C%7C37a808e4b0a3494b619808da4a207b08%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637903800605712944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=GVrJi4chx5jDu%2FOpVlqwzfOdiErGKWgDh%2FmB%2BtEs6f0%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://www.projectconfederation.ca/donate?e=a4fad9678fbcd313ca827609dcd3fcea&utm_source=albertainstitute&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pc_aa_2022_06_09_ab&n=5" shash="XnOd6JxLNT/PHDeDVrdjnC+fbDc5jAj2NaY8V7jitH8SSOA1FhvsSY43ahulBKSi20repQD0jnxumgny9DRa9IA3OglhV9GSAM4LLKFwKWNsaAAa8gJlhTXqVNt7eOTuyBzavksw4HP6jtE+lMt6mbHIspzAAKno9s9nNDJwRbw="> you can make a donation here</a>.</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table bgcolor="#eef0f3" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="x_container" style="background-color: #eef0f3; 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height: 1px; margin-bottom: 0!important; margin-left: 0!important; margin-right: 0!important; margin-top: 0!important; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0!important; padding-left: 0!important; padding-right: 0!important; padding-top: 0!important; padding: 0px; width: 1px;" width="1" /> </div> Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-73648383130810422432022-06-21T14:41:00.001-06:002022-06-21T14:41:43.593-06:00The Importance of Being Ethical, with Jordan Peterson<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/DcA5TotAkhs" width="480"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Uncommon Knowledge podcast from the Hoover Insitute </h2><div><br /></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-14416133854204684672022-04-09T11:44:00.000-06:002022-04-09T11:44:04.416-06:00Tests from an ex-blogger<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdyhJJjpub1HV0ViJHCWZUYTR6oPT9TFfCD5lPcstv2N6cT1y6aAbcaRZbX0PR7y_Qux_H2zOFAucuSBhq6O85haiiZhEVlbX81PH2iyBV0ClDgBKI1boSheg-Dig4FkBhJv3OqIzPuF76VW5BJNPjJbmUL0D-_UT1lGOWxMzBzjm00yyqA/s2048/IMG_4810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="2048" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdyhJJjpub1HV0ViJHCWZUYTR6oPT9TFfCD5lPcstv2N6cT1y6aAbcaRZbX0PR7y_Qux_H2zOFAucuSBhq6O85haiiZhEVlbX81PH2iyBV0ClDgBKI1boSheg-Dig4FkBhJv3OqIzPuF76VW5BJNPjJbmUL0D-_UT1lGOWxMzBzjm00yyqA/w640-h342/IMG_4810.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"> Well - that was a bit of a break.</h2><div>I'm getting back into routine of things now, and found my blog has been sadly neglected. This is a test post to shake the dust out of the software and get things moving again.</div><p></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-69626045560473420562022-01-08T23:00:00.000-07:002022-01-08T23:00:41.724-07:00The best Thezman post of 2020<h3 style="text-align: left;"></h3><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Cole's Note from The Sunday Journalist</span></h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicpAfoYsM1oHkEE6KHO2CGpMwsofZ2049_OVUlgl04pVe-_BGv3Xd9R5Bf8JlO5IFZ9l3y7HQJSkaGM0iZZwZ7B6hWb3wopMrUD5VYN-aLqTzxhKkYwHHIAxWs5TTgnY5O1O2GCQVowotRFDKTiLGcUlO1HYhZ7IS9hVSQ13TiTp69GTN9EQ=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Not the Sunday Journalist" border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="2048" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicpAfoYsM1oHkEE6KHO2CGpMwsofZ2049_OVUlgl04pVe-_BGv3Xd9R5Bf8JlO5IFZ9l3y7HQJSkaGM0iZZwZ7B6hWb3wopMrUD5VYN-aLqTzxhKkYwHHIAxWs5TTgnY5O1O2GCQVowotRFDKTiLGcUlO1HYhZ7IS9hVSQ13TiTp69GTN9EQ=w320-h223" title="The Sunday Journalist?" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">I realized that in 2020 and 2021 where madness reigned in the Journalism profession - and in the governments in Canada so I stopped blogging as the Sunday Journalist.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As a result - I turned to lurk on Social media - mainly watching the Covid Theatre and reading the non-mainstream media. While there I ran across a unique columnist/blogger and author - thezman. So for my first post for 2022 - I'm reproducing what I think is his best post of the year. If you agree - buy him a beer.</p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk--qEt4JUJwcyd38yzliUliXNMDkxUhyuwLcFRsBqIcyxXzgMepVYyKkNDKbMGodERs8kw23OxYRyUWgNWRW7U5MIh37uYEoTdNV5C1iFxFJOrSeUcqXhMhnZ5xTHWa-NxEDka3LLXHZWhdHTYdIEMMuyFmUpsVSH0IlEjZZFgUHVzvjdFA=s221" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="78" data-original-width="221" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk--qEt4JUJwcyd38yzliUliXNMDkxUhyuwLcFRsBqIcyxXzgMepVYyKkNDKbMGodERs8kw23OxYRyUWgNWRW7U5MIh37uYEoTdNV5C1iFxFJOrSeUcqXhMhnZ5xTHWa-NxEDka3LLXHZWhdHTYdIEMMuyFmUpsVSH0IlEjZZFgUHVzvjdFA" width="221"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghd8pZEEHOUpY1WK_HLfNLhQDafJ4YbS4GEOtg-odA7FN_iaDxAslrYqz6u9uS9fvP8o_zVyyE4OXkndiHuEFoGviEvKNtooB7ZF68AR4pqd5aAxIgDjsTsPMosVkepLSjqosf/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="1000" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghd8pZEEHOUpY1WK_HLfNLhQDafJ4YbS4GEOtg-odA7FN_iaDxAslrYqz6u9uS9fvP8o_zVyyE4OXkndiHuEFoGviEvKNtooB7ZF68AR4pqd5aAxIgDjsTsPMosVkepLSjqosf/w810-h232/image.png" width="810"></a></div><br><span></span><a href="https://colecoop.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-best-thezman-post-of-2020.html#more">Read more »</a>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-41507336659437243882021-09-06T18:26:00.001-06:002021-09-06T18:31:46.861-06:00Random thoughts on Labour Day<p><i><b> Dilbert of the Day</b></i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXJQMimvMoSVppd9sLISbLeXWE6zgJfWvOGvO_1JxcKQcqNU0nwSgzs-0gGiA6HP4Xz3fpM7v_NiF5NSm2r2uuMMpBziwlVcbrLD664_o_mD9_mCLVSgNmrVMCdr4ewQsB32j/s1000/2FB74708-C929-4C20-9FAF-FB9B2BE8A9C6.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="1000" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXJQMimvMoSVppd9sLISbLeXWE6zgJfWvOGvO_1JxcKQcqNU0nwSgzs-0gGiA6HP4Xz3fpM7v_NiF5NSm2r2uuMMpBziwlVcbrLD664_o_mD9_mCLVSgNmrVMCdr4ewQsB32j/w640-h198/2FB74708-C929-4C20-9FAF-FB9B2BE8A9C6.jpeg" width="640" /></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Einstein's Chalkboard</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The three rules of work - out of clutter, find simplicity</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From discord, find harmony </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" -</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Albert Einstein.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Things should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." -- Albert Einstein</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.63; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #857251; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></h3><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.63; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: #857251; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some Thinking on Stuff.</span></h3><div><span style="color: #857251; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right now - I'm in the middle of reviewing and updating all my computers. All my Windows-based machines are in the process of being reviewed and updated to the 20H1 versions where applicable and checking to see if they are going to be able to be updated to the new Windows 11.</span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm decluttering my IT life as well. Or trying to. Right now - I have four Laptop computers and one desktop PC, which are running Windows 10, which were the iStudio101 assets for doing my consulting on IT. Since the Lockdowns started taking effect in late 2019, my consulting business moved to my living room and died. My main IT work was helping folks get their PCs up and running and helping them set up their systems. "Have laptop - will travel" was my tagline - I could do video, websites - or whatever was needed. However, being in lockdown meant that I couldn't go to client sites to set up hardware, so the hardware part of my business died.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFBOJzfc6KEMgpLPx4Fh1GUO_l2p3Gia5IvlliEpAJWcOcUSn-WYba7SSltP7s55QZmZqZbHoaVBHwPHMA2w9CEJYg3V8VpTv8CAhocMxv34-SvQXNHUWE2Szu6SHPCGtCfVY/s2048/HP+laptops+and+chromeish.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFBOJzfc6KEMgpLPx4Fh1GUO_l2p3Gia5IvlliEpAJWcOcUSn-WYba7SSltP7s55QZmZqZbHoaVBHwPHMA2w9CEJYg3V8VpTv8CAhocMxv34-SvQXNHUWE2Szu6SHPCGtCfVY/s320/HP+laptops+and+chromeish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now my machines are badly outdated - so much so that I'm actually writing this blog post on a Chromebook. So far, the Lenovo ThinkCentre desktop, which was the main unit, has failed spectacularly and is now sulking in the corner of my desk with the video camera and the two monitors, waiting for me to resurrect it. The HP laptops are currently being upgraded to the latest Windows 10 versions, and I'm looking at upgrading the hardware, but I fear they might be too old. Already, Crucial is out of stock for the RAM upgrades and doesn't know when they will be available. Plus, they need new nicad batteries, which are in short supply right now.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0Zs4-CwwKy2gWH47cIsfsyqwy9PXweSq021hU85EIfKjolBYiDRClngm4uEmdZXNMO4U4cX6CYu1Q4mLeCFt8t5-ZpG1mVBqCNlyKUEg4c0sYFEm9EbE6qvf8FQJVxFyeXzC/s2048/working+machines.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0Zs4-CwwKy2gWH47cIsfsyqwy9PXweSq021hU85EIfKjolBYiDRClngm4uEmdZXNMO4U4cX6CYu1Q4mLeCFt8t5-ZpG1mVBqCNlyKUEg4c0sYFEm9EbE6qvf8FQJVxFyeXzC/w200-h150/working+machines.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, I'm working on consolidating on to the 15" Toshiba shown in the middle of the machines. On the left is the Chromebook I'm using to write this blog, and on the right is the iPad that I use for Social Media. (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Lurking in the background was the Lenovo ThinkCentre with two screens offline and powered down. Not shown are the HP 7500A network printer and the Brother MFC-J4700 printer, or the HP tablet PC, from 1995 I call the Moses tablet, as it has been my beta test mule starting from Windows 95, all the way up to Windows 10.<br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The iPad mini is one of the four iPads I've been using. The two iPad ones are doing duty as digital picture frames and kindle book readers. And the iPad two is doing duty as an audible and kindle book reader and photo editor with Google.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">All in all, a lot of money in old IT gear - that is working perfectly fine for what I want to do - except now both Apple and Microsoft are pushing to upgrade. The iPhone and the iPad are being upgraded, and of course, the iPad I have now can't get the IoS upgrade. And the iPhone SE is on version 14.71 of Ios, so that won't be relevant much longer. And don't get me started on the Apple TV. Gen 1 is toast, Gen II still works, but the succeeding apple TV systems offer nothing I want. Like I have no need for Alexa - even though I have Amazon Prime. Even my Kindle is an old version, with my reading done on the iPads.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">But for all of that - my profiles and tech are really in need of some maintenance. Working so much as a driver, I've not had time to do more than fiddle around with Facebook and read some social media.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.63; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 13.5pt;"><br /></h3>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-14160964302501202632021-05-20T20:49:00.000-06:002021-05-20T20:49:25.475-06:00The end of a Annus Horribilis<h1 style="text-align: left;"><span face="DDG_ProximaNova, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_0, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_1, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_2, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_3, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_4, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_5, DDG_ProximaNova_UI_6, "Proxima Nova", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Segoe UI", "Nimbus Sans L", "Liberation Sans", "Open Sans", FreeSans, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 24.048px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 24.048px;">Annus horribilis</span></div></span></h1><h4 style="text-align: left;">Annus horribilis is a Latin phrase, meaning "horrible year". It is complementary to annus mirabilis, which means "wonderful year".</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zXOCDH_qLiVvHo4GP5f3-sM1WGyrUhm7erxIkEq1vsP0-sRof4roa0XVtZQ6tpwUPUxxMO0uKBUQ-yRRrQUDC-yGymaAdF0Zvgd3qQPmgybv3lBWBcGcGix3jrn4sA7zagEo/s1335/5A6FFD03-576B-4466-A69F-A9A4A251F8F6.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1335" data-original-width="989" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1zXOCDH_qLiVvHo4GP5f3-sM1WGyrUhm7erxIkEq1vsP0-sRof4roa0XVtZQ6tpwUPUxxMO0uKBUQ-yRRrQUDC-yGymaAdF0Zvgd3qQPmgybv3lBWBcGcGix3jrn4sA7zagEo/s320/5A6FFD03-576B-4466-A69F-A9A4A251F8F6.jpeg" /></a></div><p>As usual, this cartoon nails it. My year has been like this. Stuck in March of 2020 under lockdown due to hygiene socialism. The year 2020 was when all levels of government, politicians, media, academics, companies and social media went insane.</p><p>Future historians will shake their heads at the madness that came from the fall of Journalism. It has been replaced with the dumpster fire of the "Woke revolution" sensitivity and the Cancel Culture of the Internet Mob. The loss of credibility of all levels of government and mainstream media and the outright suppression of opposing viewpoints have been the hallmarks of this past Annus Horribilis.</p><p>On the plus side - I finally got the first flu shot on May 4 - and now I’m scheduled for the second on August 4 - yeah. I probably get a bunch of anti-vaxxers calling me an idiot - but I don't care. What I do care about is why the media and the Alberta government is keeping insisting there is a crisis - when their own information they put out shows that the pandemic is passing.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A question of Numbers</h3><p>Case in point - On the Alberta.ca Covid website they boast that as of May 19th - there are 4,450,645 Covid tests been done in Alberta, Interesting - as of January 2021 - the province's population was listed as <b><i>4,428,112</i></b> a difference of 22,533.</p><p>So how come there are more tests done than the whole population of the province? As well, according to the website vaccine has been delivered to 2,312,821 or 52% of the population. Is AHS exaggerating the numbers to keep an environment of panic or to justify their draconian actions?</p><p><br /></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-13569100155881109272021-02-05T09:43:00.000-07:002021-02-05T09:43:13.450-07:00Who are you?<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/GWGbOjlJDkU" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps - it's time to get going again..</div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-10721768682850994612020-06-13T11:03:00.004-06:002021-05-20T20:55:55.615-06:00A public Service announcement from The REAL Cole Cooper<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uZ62avvwwd6NJ_IlLbtWhXqxAe1fLre6brJLIzWr7LUcjbm-DSb6LzIJ95bITYNu1VubkcXz2iskxj3c7BiYPoMebIZIStX_XxYDRHo_6OwALhXAvZsCoOKNp5UjG1tFeitx/s1219/IMG_3026.PNG" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="1219" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8uZ62avvwwd6NJ_IlLbtWhXqxAe1fLre6brJLIzWr7LUcjbm-DSb6LzIJ95bITYNu1VubkcXz2iskxj3c7BiYPoMebIZIStX_XxYDRHo_6OwALhXAvZsCoOKNp5UjG1tFeitx/w575-h169/IMG_3026.PNG" width="575" /></a></h2>
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<strike></strike>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-90631420252205736862020-04-10T12:04:00.001-06:002020-05-20T22:44:20.822-06:00Cartoon of the day<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Yh0Loj41cbhrtcpHkajoJpu1agsdt_gELrOiVR0Y6acDlmluFRqz5OwmT2dZFNl_1nbhiqDB4nJKHwVIaXPrZwLdq9TxJXfy4mAHaPO3A54aNoHP-XKUocM6gf35sTZM2ZIf/s1600/IMG_2525-799328.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Yh0Loj41cbhrtcpHkajoJpu1agsdt_gELrOiVR0Y6acDlmluFRqz5OwmT2dZFNl_1nbhiqDB4nJKHwVIaXPrZwLdq9TxJXfy4mAHaPO3A54aNoHP-XKUocM6gf35sTZM2ZIf/s320/IMG_2525-799328.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6814145574579601026" /></a></p>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-2085620986386188852020-04-05T12:48:00.002-06:002021-05-20T20:54:28.417-06:00We’re Paying The Price For The Death Of Journalism<div><div class="article-header" style="border-bottom: none; float: left; font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21.3333px; padding: 10px 0px; width: 946px;"><div class="head"><div class="title" style="float: left; width: 600px;"><h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHLJ5dOkdQO5L30z-uxMvBrgWRQFaLkk0eCT6LssatFbfzbQjqM5kqau4Aft-yiR5ZRwLUVRxd_PvvNGS1xxh8JppU0_RW-4sDmdN9C0Wdiy-bfok4xchk1gx1dH9R1D1B6M-/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHLJ5dOkdQO5L30z-uxMvBrgWRQFaLkk0eCT6LssatFbfzbQjqM5kqau4Aft-yiR5ZRwLUVRxd_PvvNGS1xxh8JppU0_RW-4sDmdN9C0Wdiy-bfok4xchk1gx1dH9R1D1B6M-/" /></a></div>We’re Paying The Price For The Death Of Journalism</h1><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px;">Derek Hunter</h2><h5>3/15/2020 12:01:00 AM - Derek Hunter</h5><div><p style="font-size: 21.3333px;">That journalism is dead has been a punchline for so long that we’ve forgotten how that fact has real world consequences. We’re now paying the price for the failure of that profession to hold itself to any semblance of standards. As worry and straight-up panic sweep large swaths of the country, causing irrational toilet paper hoarding and runs on canned goods, there is no outlet and no journalist worthy of trust when it comes to conveying truthful information to the public or to hold anyone in power accountable.</p><p style="font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></p><p style="font-size: 21.3333px;"><a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2020/03/15/were-paying-the-price-for-the-death-of-journalism-n2564967">Read the rest at Townhall</a></p>permalink<br style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" /><a href="https://pocket.co/xdLRu7" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;">https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2020/03/15/were-paying-the-price-for-the-death-of-journalism-n2564967</a><br style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" /></div></div></div></div><p style="font-family: Georgia, "times new roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></p><br /></div><div></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-40762728906144207082020-04-05T12:43:00.000-06:002020-04-05T12:43:10.513-06:00The Two Middle Classes<div dir="ltr"><div class="site-content cf" id="primary" role="main" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; float: left; font-family: "libre baskerville", georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 720px;"><article class="post-97573 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-economics category-must-reads category-politics category-top-stories" id="post-97573" style="border-bottom: none; border-image: initial; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 0px 85px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="entry-header" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="entry-cats" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: karla, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 1.5px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 13px 0px 38px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibekgULM14h-K_s7vyPnX8vrH4i1UklpkLVsjflhJSft94lEA4tWRI3M0NdxE8AHCDjXObpDnA6_-hiDrLjfNSbHp4g08TkaJGALEpfcTGabSFXlf1R992utZMk6FQJWnDn01V/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibekgULM14h-K_s7vyPnX8vrH4i1UklpkLVsjflhJSft94lEA4tWRI3M0NdxE8AHCDjXObpDnA6_-hiDrLjfNSbHp4g08TkaJGALEpfcTGabSFXlf1R992utZMk6FQJWnDn01V/s320/quillette+logo.png" width="320" /></a></div>https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/</div><div class="entry-cats" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: karla, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 1.5px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 13px 0px 38px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://quillette.com/category/politics/economics/" rel="category tag" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ECONOMICS</a>, <a href="https://quillette.com/category/must-reads/" rel="category tag" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MUST READS</a>, <a href="https://quillette.com/category/politics/" rel="category tag" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">POLITICS</a>, <a href="https://quillette.com/category/top-stories/" rel="category tag" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">TOP STORIES</a></div><div class="entry-date" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-size: 0.6875rem; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Published on <a href="https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">February 27, 2020</a></div><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 2.625rem; font-weight: normal; hyphens: none; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 15px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Two Middle Classes</h1><div class="entry-author" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: karla, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 25px; vertical-align: baseline;">written by <a href="https://quillette.com/author/joel-kotkin/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="All posts by Joel Kotkin">Joel Kotkin</a></div></header><div class="entry-thumbnail" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #191919; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Permalink to The Two Middle Classes"><img class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" height="213" src="https://d24fkeqntp1r7r.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/25183835/1280px-Paris_Gilets_Jaunes_-_Acte_IX_46724068321.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="entry-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; max-width: 680px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.73; margin: 0px 0px 26px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Politicians across the Western world like to speak fondly of the “middle class” as if it is one large constituency with common interests and aspirations. But, as Karl Marx observed, the middle class has always been divided by sources of wealth and worldview. Today, it is split into two distinct, and often opposing, middle classes. First there is the yeomanry or the traditional middle class, which consists of small business owners, minor landowners, craftspeople, and artisans, or what we would define historically as the bourgeoisie, or the old French Third Estate, deeply embedded in the private economy. The other middle class, now in ascendancy, is the<i><b> clerisy</b></i>, a group that makes its living largely in quasi-public institutions, notably universities, media, the non-profit world, and the upper bureaucracy.</p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.73; margin: 0px 0px 26px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://quillette.com/2020/02/27/the-two-middle-classes/">Read it all at Quillette</a></p></div></article></div><br /><div class="cf" id="footerwidgets-wrap" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #191919; float: none; font-family: "libre baskerville", georgia, serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="default-sidebar widget-area" id="footer-one" role="complementary" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px 30px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 216px;"></div></div></div><div dir="ltr" id="AppleMailSignature"></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-16211746206005518382020-04-05T12:21:00.001-06:002020-04-05T12:21:19.314-06:00How Do We Flatten the Curve on Panic?<div style="text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: justify;">"We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as dangerous."</span></div><br /><a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2020/03/25/how-do-we-flatten-the-curve-on-panic-n2565739">https://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2020/03/25/how-do-we-flatten-the-curve-on-panic-n2565739</a><br /><br /><br />Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-20587505152773464502020-04-05T12:20:00.000-06:002020-04-05T12:20:05.103-06:00The Press Corps' Sturm und Drang<div><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0"><style type="text/css">*{max-width:100%!important;word-wrap:break-word!important;}html{-webkit-text-size-adjust:none;}img{height:auto!important;}embed{width:100%!important;}pre{white-space:pre-wrap!important;}a{text-decoration:none!important;color:#489696!important;}</style><br><div style="margin-left:16px;margin-top:9px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-width:0.5px;border-bottom-color:#c8c8c8;-webkit-user-select:none;"><div style="margin-right:16px;color:#8e8e8e;"><div style="padding-bottom:3px;">RealClearPolitics - Articles – Erick Erickson</div><div style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.2em;padding-bottom:4px;"><a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/03/27/the_press_corps_sturm_und_drang_142786.html">The Press Corps' Sturm und Drang</a></div><div style="padding-bottom:15px;">Mar 27, 2020, 4:32 AM</div></div></div><div style="margin:16px;margin-top:-10px;overflow-x:hidden;"><p></p>If there is one thing we know for certain about the American press corps' interaction with President Donald Trump, it is that they presuppose him an unserious and very vain dolt. If anyone grabs too much of the spotlight or utters anything disloyal, the President throws them out the door. That is what so much of the press believes. In fact, I suspect some of you readers believe it, too. Certainly, some in the White House believe it. They have tried to exploit it by circulating rumors about various people riding too high in the saddle. The press has tried to drum up divisions between the...</div></div><div><br><br>Coleman Cooper<div>iPhone <a href="mailto:coleman.cooper@icloud.com">coleman.cooper@icloud.com</a></div></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-82979421376984006462020-04-05T12:18:00.001-06:002020-04-05T12:18:58.752-06:00Sickness and Stoicism<div dir="ltr"><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"></meta><style type="text/css">*{max-width:100%!important;word-wrap:break-word!important;}html{-webkit-text-size-adjust:none;}img{height:auto!important;}embed{width:100%!important;}pre{white-space:pre-wrap!important;}a{text-decoration:none!important;color:#489696!important;}</style><p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="6"><b>Sickness and Stoicism</b></font></span></p> <p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"There's nothing to stop you from enjoying the company of absent friends, as often as you like, too, and for as long as you like. This pleasure in their company...is one we enjoy the more when we're absent from one another…" <i><b>Seneca</b></i></span></p><div style="border-bottom: 0.5px solid rgb(200, 200, 200); margin-left: 16px; margin-top: 9px; padding-top: 5px; user-select: none;"><div style="color: #8e8e8e; margin-right: 16px;"><div style="padding-bottom: 3px;">Quillette – Roy Wayne Meredith III</div><div style="font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2em; padding-bottom: 4px;"><a href="https://quillette.com/2020/04/04/sickness-and-stoicism/">Sickness and Stoicism</a></div><div style="padding-bottom: 15px;">Apr 5, 2020 at 8:58 AM</div></div></div><br /><div style="margin: 16px; overflow-x: hidden;"><p></p><p>In less than three months, COVID-19 has changed from a peripheral concern, barely registering in presidential debates, to the greatest global crisis since World War II. We are living in extraordinary times, and there is scarcely an industry or country that has escaped the impact of the new virus. In the United States, the Federal Reserve estimates that the <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/coronavirus-unemployment-estimates-32-percent-federal-reserve-jpmorgan-goldman-sachs.html">unemployment rate could briefly skyrocket to 32 percent</a>—higher than anything the country experienced during the Great Depression. People have lost their livelihoods. Many others are scared about what is to come when they develop a fever or cough.</p> <p>Illness, financial hardship, and loneliness are, nevertheless, well-trodden paths. One man who can guide us along the way is Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher and statesman and contemporary of Jesus. Seneca suffered from asthma, and his condition sometimes left him bedridden and gasping for air. As he grew older, he even contemplated suicide because his affliction was so severe. Seneca's lifelong illness, as well as his background in Stoic philosophy, gave him the insight he needed to find dignity and joy in periods of extended hardship. "There are times," he once wrote, "when even to live is an act of bravery."</p> <p>You don't have to test positive for COVID-19 to appreciate the consolation offered by Seneca's wisdom. Pandemics are multitiered crises—the virus itself is only one among many serious disruptions in our lives. Maybe you lost your job after the economy in your country fell into a coma. Or perhaps you've recently been diagnosed with diabetes and you're worried about how the virus might aggravate it. You may also be unsure how to endure physical isolation in the months ahead, even though you already know that several months of suppression and social distancing is vital if the spread of this highly infectious disease is to be contained. Seneca, who was once exiled to Corsica by Emperor Claudius, would have a word or two to say about separation from friends and family.</p> <p>The starting point is to have compassion for ourselves. We are not, after all, in complete control of our initial reactions to a diagnosis or an unexpected layoff. As Seneca writes in his 11th letter to Lucilius:</p> <blockquote><p>When they face a crowd of people some men, even ones with the stoutest of hearts, break into a sort of sweat one usually sees on persons in an overheated or exhausted state; some men experience a trembling at the knees when they are about to speak; some a chattering of the teeth, a stuttering tongue or stammering lips. These are things which neither training nor experience ever eliminates. Nature just wields her power and uses the particular weakness to make even the strongest conscious of her.</p></blockquote> <p>Here, Seneca is meditating upon the terror induced by public speaking. Nevertheless, his lesson about humility before nature is broadly applicable. The true test of resilience lies in how we cope with our subordination.</p> <p>It helps to clarify our thinking and identify threats. In his 78th letter to Lucilius, who at the time was fighting his own battle with asthma, Seneca lists the three most common fears that attack us during illness: "dying, the physical suffering, and the interruption of our pleasures." With characteristic bluntness, he argues that to dread an illness because it might kill you is irrational. "You will not die because you are sick, but because you are alive," he points out. "That end still awaits you when you have been cured. In getting well again you may be escaping some ill health but not death." Seneca's point is not that life is unimportant, nor that we should be indifferent to medical advice. Rather, he is warning that fear of the inevitable only compounds our suffering, because "in illness, the suffering is always bearable so long as you refuse to be affected by the ultimate threat."</p> <p>Prolonged anxiety is a petri dish for all sorts of poor health outcomes, including, ironically, an elevated susceptibility to infectious diseases. Seneca placed supreme importance on managing anxiety by occasionally running through the worst-case scenarios in our minds, instructing Lucilius to "always take full note of fortune's habit of behaving just as she pleases, treating her as if she were actually going to do everything it is in her power to do so." Confronting what scares us in a safe environment is, of course, an established technique in cognitive behavioral therapy. Seneca's peers called this practice <em>premeditio malorum</em>, and there are <a href="https://www.njlifehacks.com/stoic-negative-visualization-become-mentally-stronger/">simple guides</a> to begin applying it immediately to our own situations. After doing this, "whatever you have been expecting for some time comes as less of a shock," Seneca promises his friend.</p> <p>Fear of mortality isn't only bad for the individual concerned. It also creates problems for others. Just a few days ago, a doctor from Farmington <a href="https://www.mainepublic.org/post/false-sense-security-physicians-concerned-about-number-people-fleeing-maine">sounded the alarm</a> about a large influx of New Yorkers fleeing their state to wait out the pandemic in Maine. In other words, people almost certainly already exposed to COVID-19 were so scared of the virus that they risked infecting the population of another state to find sanctuary. It is hard to imagine a more destructive and short-sighted response, although the frightened individuals who hoard cleaning supplies at supermarkets are doing their best.</p> <p>The second disruption Seneca identifies is physical suffering. He concedes that pain is a part of illness, but he promises Lucilius a more bearable experience if he separates the sensation itself from exaggerated perceptions of it:</p> <blockquote><p>Provided that one's thinking has not been adding anything to it, pain is a trivial sort of thing. If by contrast you start giving yourself encouragement, saying to yourself, "it's nothing—or nothing much, anyway—let's stick it out, it'll be over presently," then in thinking it is a trivial matter you will be ensuring that it actually is. Everything hangs on one's thinking. The love of power or money or luxurious living are not the only things guided by popular thinking. We take our cue from people's thinking even in the way we feel pain.</p></blockquote> <p>Seneca encourages Lucilius to fortify himself by thinking of famous individuals who have dealt with worse. "This is a time for recollecting all those individuals of exceptional courage who have triumphed over pain," he writes. Identifying role models is an important practice in Stoicism, because they inspire us and are benchmarks for measuring our own behavior. In this case, they also can provide us with perspective, which in turn shapes how we experience our own suffering.</p> <p>Literal pain, of course, isn't the only way that diseases can debilitate our bodies. We can also lose the ability to sleep, to walk, or in the most extreme cases of COVID-19, to even breathe without assistance. These set objective limits to what we can accomplish while we are ill. Seneca's answer is to shift our priorities. Or, as the modern Stoic author Massimo Pigliucci puts it, "we need to focus on abilities, not disabilities." In one deeply moving passage, Seneca writes:</p> <blockquote><p>[I]f you meet sickness in a sensible matter, do you really think you have accomplished nothing? You will be demonstrating that even if one cannot always beat it one can always bear an illness. There is room for heroism, I assure you, in bed as anywhere else. War and the battlefront are not the only spheres in which proof is to be had of a spirited and fearless character: a person's bravery is no less evident under the bedclothes.</p></blockquote> <p>The final disruption that Seneca acknowledges is "the interruption of our pleasures." We're all familiar with this, especially if we live in a state or a country that has imposed a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/stay-at-home-maryland-virginia-dc/2020/03/30/">stay-at-home order</a>. Acting on the best advice of epidemiologists and physicians, multiple governments have shut down cinemas, weddings, bonfires, beaches, and all other non-essential businesses. These shutdowns are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-cancel-everything/607675/">literally saving lives</a>.</p> <p>Still, all these interruptions working in tandem are potentially very stressful. Seneca argues that eventually, we'll stop craving what we used to desire. "And there is nothing harsh about having to do without things for which you have ceased to have any craving," he concludes. (What Seneca is describing is called hedonic adaptation, a well-attested phenomenon in human psychology.) Even with modern technology, however, physical isolation from family and friends is deeply unpleasant. Not to be deterred, Seneca asks us to reflect on the unique advantages of physical distance in another letter to his friend:</p> <blockquote><p>There's nothing to stop you from enjoying the company of absent friends, as often as you like, too, and for as long as you like. This pleasure in their company—and there's no greater pleasure—is one we enjoy the more when we're absent from one another… Possession of a friend should be with the spirit: the spirit's never absent. It sees daily whoever it likes. So share with me my studies, my meals, my walks. Life would be restricted indeed if there were any barrier to our imaginations, I see you, my dear Lucilius. I hear you at this very moment. I feel so very much with you at this moment that I wonder whether I shouldn't start writing you notes rather than letters!</p></blockquote> <p>Throughout both his life and his writing, Seneca showed that everyone has the strength to act heroically—even if it means doing something as simple as staying glued to your couch. And if indeed "everything hangs on one's thinking," as he and his philosophical heirs frequently remind us, then this pandemic is just as much an opportunity as it is a curse. We can all show our descendants that we were the generation who stopped everything to protect our society's most vulnerable.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Roy Wayne Meredith III is a recent graduate of the Columbia University School of Social Work and works as a case manager for a supportive housing program. He resides in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/ThoreauSquad">@ThoreauSquad</a></strong><strong>.</strong></p> <p>The post <a href="https://quillette.com/2020/04/04/sickness-and-stoicism/" rel="nofollow">Sickness and Stoicism</a> appeared first on <a href="https://quillette.com" rel="nofollow">Quillette</a>.</p></div></div><br /><br /><div dir="ltr" id="AppleMailSignature">Coleman Cooper <div>Email <a href="mailto:Coleman.cooper@icloud.com">Coleman.cooper@icloud.com</a></div></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-60611914142109739332020-04-05T12:15:00.001-06:002020-04-05T12:15:19.498-06:00The Problem with Experts<div dir="ltr"><p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="4"><b>Long quote -</b></font></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font size="4"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBK0sE-hePtj0rIzc6I_0OxAd6oOMiNg7WFSK8xUOBId7Uvlh4JlXVXwm5PNH-zHlhjAavmcfKFO3dBB8iqiC0ve2zMp_pzcw9NMhpqx3LDAY_VNofaz30r20hMlnO-KHK8bd/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="297" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBK0sE-hePtj0rIzc6I_0OxAd6oOMiNg7WFSK8xUOBId7Uvlh4JlXVXwm5PNH-zHlhjAavmcfKFO3dBB8iqiC0ve2zMp_pzcw9NMhpqx3LDAY_VNofaz30r20hMlnO-KHK8bd/w400-h229/images.jpeg" width="400" /></a></b></font></div><font size="4"><b> Beware of the experts. </b></font><p></p><p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Remember this when the next politician, celebrity, entertainer, AUPE or CUPE or journalist "working from home" encourages some more sacrifice to stop Covid-19. </span></p> <p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></i></p> <p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>"We now see that shared sacrifice has its limits. The fact is that half of our citizens are being asked to bear the costs of "flattening the curve." The other half continue to get their pensions, social security and salaries.</i></span></p> <p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13.8px;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></i></p> <p style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Would government workers be as quiet if they were furloughed in proportionate numbers to the layoffs in the private sector? Would some professors be demanding that colleges reopen if they weren't getting paid?"</i></span></p></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><b><i>The Problem with Experts</i></b><br /><br /><a href="https://pocket.co/xdTT3X">https://townhall.com/columnists/gilgutknecht/2020/04/05/the-problem-with-experts-n2566365</a><br /><br /><br /></div><div dir="ltr" id="AppleMailSignature"></div>Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-39620782048266892192020-02-17T09:39:00.000-07:002020-02-17T09:39:05.934-07:00My Vote for The Inked Cover Girl<h2>
Vote for Jessica! who is truly deserving of being the Inked cover girl.</h2>
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<a href="http://cover.inkedmag.com/2020/jessica-54" target="_blank">Vote for Her - NOW!</a></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo by <a href="http://www.quinnteechmaphotography.com/" target="_blank">Quinn Teechma Photography</a><br /><br /></i></td></tr>
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What was your first tattoo?</h3>
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Obligatory 18-year-old tramp stamp that has since been covered! My favourites have to be my back tattoo for my daughter and the large thigh piece I had done for my mother that passed away.</div>
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Is it true that getting tattoos is addictive?</h3>
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Absolutely. So many plans for more.</div>
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If you were voted Inked Magazine's cover girl, what would you do with $25,000?</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://www.quinnteechmaphotography.com/" target="_blank">Quinn Teechma Photography</a></td></tr>
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I would definitely take my daughter on a wicked Disneyland vacation. More tattoos obviously, and then do the adulting thing and put the rest into my kids' college fund.</div>
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<a href="https://cover.inkedmag.com/2020/jessica-54" target="_blank">Vote for Jessica HERE</a></h4>
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Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5521329.post-59614125045076246302020-02-09T14:29:00.001-07:002020-02-09T14:29:03.526-07:00Islam's Hidden Role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade<div class="article_date" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", trebuchet, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
February 6, 2020</div>
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Islam's Hidden Role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade</h1>
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By <a href="https://www.americanthinker.com/author/raymond_ibrahim/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Raymond Ibrahim</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZ6EgfeYucsZdmNHuNGP-2FtOtQSKivGYWx30mYm79RonmAoSmuwCq5UByvFfldtQQDNjlN6t_U-yvx5pSMBfP4SoH3Hh9CKRqOKWzbW-XCVaNQx8kGyOE2l85PSiQ0vVTBbP/s1600/the-slave-market-by-otto-pliny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZ6EgfeYucsZdmNHuNGP-2FtOtQSKivGYWx30mYm79RonmAoSmuwCq5UByvFfldtQQDNjlN6t_U-yvx5pSMBfP4SoH3Hh9CKRqOKWzbW-XCVaNQx8kGyOE2l85PSiQ0vVTBbP/s1600/the-slave-market-by-otto-pliny.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">From its inception, Islam's history with the West has been one of <a href="https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/02/islam_the_wests_most_formidable_and_persistent_enemy.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">unwavering antagonism and seismic clashes</a>, often initiated by the former. By the standards of history, nothing between the two civilizations is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306825554/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0306825554&linkCode=as2&tag=raymondibrahi-20&linkId=0f925201768b161ae319879bb3fdf1d7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">as well documented as this long war</a>. Accordingly, for more than a millennium, both educated and not so educated Europeans knew — the latter perhaps instinctively — that Islam was a militant creed that for centuries attacked and committed atrocities in their homelands, all in the name of "holy war," or <em>jihad</em>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">These facts have been radically "updated" in recent times. According to the dominant narrative — as upheld by mainstream media and Hollywood, pundits and politicians, academics and "experts" of all stripes — Islam was historically progressive and peaceful, whereas premodern Europe was fanatical and predatory. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Whatever else can be said about such topsy-turvy claims — and there is much — they raise the question: if such a formerly well known, well documented, and bloody history could be revised in a manner that presents its antithesis as the truth — with little objection or challenge — what then of Islam's more subtle but also negative influences on history, the sort that, unlike the aforementioned centuries of violence, is not copiously documented or readily obvious but require serious historical investigation?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Take Islam's role in facilitating the transatlantic slave trade — which is otherwise almost always presented as an exclusively European enterprise.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Slavery is, of course, as old as humanity. Centuries before the coming of Islam, Europeans — Athenians, Spartans, Romans — were fully engaged in the slave trade. With the coming of Christianity, and as it spread all throughout the Roman and post-Roman empire (circa fourth–seventh centuries), the institution of slavery was on its way to becoming extinct. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Then Islam came. While hardly the first to exploit human flesh, it was the most effective to perfect and thrive on it in the post-classical, medieval, premodern, and even modern eras — with untold millions of non-Muslims enslaved throughout the centuries (one <a href="https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/09/time_to_set_the_record_straight_on_slavery.html" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">source</a> indicates that 15 million Europeans alone were enslaved). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;"><a href="https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2019/04/19/evil-medieval-christians-or-islams-victims-retaliating/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">As usual</a>, it was only natural for those near and in constant contact with Islam to be infected by the same vice of dehumanizing — and taking advantage of — the "other." After all, the few instances of Christians in Europe buying and selling slaves are largely limited to the long war with Islam. Malta's Knights of Saint John, for instance, responded to Islamic slave raids by enslaving the raiders and other Muslims. Similarly, those Europeans who first became involved in the African slave trade, the Spanish and Portuguese, were also the ones who for centuries lived side by side with — often in violence and themselves enslaved to — Muslims (those of al-Andalus). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Islamic slave raids into Africa began in the mid- to the late seventh century. Then, according to Muslim records, astronomical numbers of Africans — in the millions — were enslaved in the name of jihad. By the time seafaring Europeans reached the coasts of West Africa, the Islamic slave trade was bustling. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">While most Western historians are aware that it was African "tribesmen" who captured and sold enemy tribesmen to Europeans, left unmentioned is that the "tribal" differences often revolved around who was and was not Muslim. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">As John Alembillah Azumah, an African academic and author of <em>The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa</em> said in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=448&v=EjsLmv1N7i4&feature=emb_logo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">interview</a>:</span></span><br />
<blockquote style="background: rgb(245, 245, 245); margin: 10px 40px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 20px;">
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Slavery was a very important part of Islamic expansion in West Africa, and in fact in the Sudan, and from the very earliest period of Islamic penetration of Africa. ... Slavery was a very endemic part of Islamic interaction with Africa. And in West Africa, the jihad's period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries involved massive slave raiding and slave trading; and many of the slaves that were captured and sold and sent to the transatlantic slave trade [were captured by Muslims]; most of those who were doing the slaving at the time were Muslim communities.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">A look at historic maps seems to confirm this: the western coast of Africa, where captives were enslaved and sold to Europeans, was a hotbed of jihadi slave raids. The populations from Senegal to Angola — the regions where arguably most African-Americans trace their bloodlines — were roughly half-Islamic, half-pagan between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">More to the point, if today, when slavery has been formally abolished around most of the world, Muslims groups are <em>still</em> subsisting on the slave trade all throughout Africa — "Slavery Prevalent in Africa 400 Years After Transatlantic Trade Began" is the <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2019/08/08/slavery-prevalent-africa-400-years-after-transatlantic-trade-began/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">headline</a> of one report — the role Muslims played in facilitating the transatlantic slave trade should be evident. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Unfortunately, however, and as mentioned, if the obvious things of history — such as more than a millennium of unprovoked Islamic attacks on Europe — have been revised in a manner that presents the antithesis is truth, surely, Islam's more insidious o</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 14px;">r subtle role throughout history, such as its facilitation of the transatlantic slave trade, will remain unheard of.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;">Meanwhile, here is a rule of thumb to help cut through all fake, pro-Islamic histories: to know what Islam did in the past, simply look to what it is doing in the present.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", times, serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Raymond Ibrahim, author of </em></span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306825554/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0306825554&linkCode=as2&tag=raymondibrahi-20&linkId=0f925201768b161ae319879bb3fdf1d7" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West</span></a><span style="font-weight: 700;">,<em> is Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Judith Friedman Rosen Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute.</em></span></span></span></div>
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<br />Coleman Mark Cooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17192696123850565490noreply@blogger.com0