We are very often told about the importance of backing up your data. Like most people, I've relied on 20 years of experience which tells me that hard drives are very reliable and rarely fail. In fact, I've never seen a hardware failure in a drive during those twenty years. Until now.

Back on April 29, I participated in a tree planting event (along with members of the union I belong to). Nobody seems to believe that I planted trees. Well, OK, tree. I helped with a couple of others too!  Anyway, here's the proof naysayers!

There is a letter (about half way down the page) in today's local paper about a small act of kindness. Someone in a Tim Hortons drive-through line paid for the coffee order of the person behind then. This small act of kindness made the second person's day.

We spend most of our lives absorbed in our own small worlds, rarely peeking out to see what is happening around us (unless it is to complain about how the things happening around us are interfering with our own little worlds). Don't get me wrong - I'm as guilty as anyone in this regard. But it is lamentable, at least.

A small act of kindness seems so big in this light. A challenge to all: Do the same thing, or something else, on your way to work tomorrow.

avaaz.org is sponsoring a petition about climate change.  The petition will be delivered at the next G8 summit.  It can be found at http://www.avaaz.org/en/climate_action_g8/?cl=3268117.  Please consider signing it, and forwarding it to others.

I recently spent a day at Point Pelee National Park. One of the great things to do there is wander through a marsh along a boardwalk. In doing so, I came upon the sign pictured below.

So, naturally, I proceeded quickly and cautiously. My caution may have mitigated by the size of a black tern - I mean, how frightened can you be of a rather small bird? I mean, they may not be sparrows, but they aren't eagles either! The decidedly calm attitude of the couple in front of me may have had something to do with it too. But their demeanor was about to change!

Suddenly, I noticed the couple running (in a less than entirely dignified fashion) along the boardwalk, holding their hands over their heads. And these little birds were "dive bombing" them in the most menacing way. How cute, I thought, the little birdies are playing with the big humans. City folks. Huh! So, on I went.

Not far along - at about the point the couple ahead began running, I saw these birds taking some notice of me. And then, one of them began his "run". And then another. And another. At first, I continued on. But they came and they came! Then, I did what any self-respecting coward would do. I turned tail and ran. Let me tell you, a tern may as well be a pterodactyl when it gets mad. While they never actually hit me, they came very close!

It seems there are several lessons to learn here.

1. The Pelee Park people aren't kidding when they post signs.
2. Terns  really really don't like their nesting areas being invaded by people.
3. Terns appear to be proof positive of the notion that birds are descended from dinosaurs. The really ferocious kind.
4. While the black tern may be endangered, it isn't clear that it isn't us that need protection from them!
5. Much to my chagrin, I'm clearly one of those "city folks".

Oh, on my way back to the beginning of the path, at the point where the warning sign is posted, I came upon another couple reading it. I tried to warn them.  I pleaded with them. But, no, on they went. One can only hope they've been heard from since!

I've written here previously about my decision to run for municipal office.  I've recently decided to withdraw from that campaign and support another candidate - Greg Thompson.

Here is my press release of June 14 on the subject:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

“David Empey Throws Support To Greg Thompson In Ward 4”

London, Ontario – David Empey, a candidate for London City Council in the new Ward 4, announced today that he is withdrawing from the race to support Greg Thompson.  Thompson joined the race late last week.

In explaining his decision, Empey made the following statement:

“From the beginning I’ve been saying that this is about a better City, and a better Ward 4 - not about any personal ambitions. I’m living up to what I’ve been saying. The Ward 4 slate is getting very busy with candidates, with a number of us staking out progressive territory. This is a recipe for splitting the vote, and electing a candidate who does not share the values I think are important. Greg Thompson shares those values, and has a strong history of community involvement. In the end, I looked at the progressive candidates on the list, and Greg is the one of us most likely to win a seat at Council in November. I would also like to thank those who have expressed support for my candidacy. I appreciate the effort which has been expended on my behalf. I would ask you now to look at the field of candidates in Ward 4. When you do that, I think you will come to the same conclusion I did. I hope you will join me in working to elect Greg Thompson as (the new) Ward 4’s first Councilor.”

Empey also urges other progressive candidates to consider the consequences of vote splitting. "We need a Councilor committed to this Ward, and I hope that other candidates will give some thought to that – politics doesn’t have to be about personal ambition” he added, “it ought to be about what is best for our communities.”

I’ve thought about faith on and off for a long time, and a conversation with a friend over the weekend has the concept taking up a lot of my mental real estate. By ‘faith’ I mean the concept invoked by religious people to explain the mechanism through which they come to accept the teachings of their religion as the only valid explanation for the nature of, and origin of, the world.

Faith is a terrific notion. It seems to me to mean that absolutely anything at all can be explained – if there is no other (reasoned) basis for it, then it can be believed on faith. Wow. I may sound sarcastic, but I don’t mean to – used this way, faith is a powerful thing, and it is easy to understand it psychological appeal.

But surely its appeal is only psychological. We can come to no real understanding of our world through faith. We can come to accept it, to be happy in it, and so on; but, we can’t really understand it. Faith just says it is like this because god (the existence of which is also accepted on faith) says so, it doesn’t tell us why god would want it that way.

And isn’t it the why we really want to know? This is what science is about. That is, the reasoned explanation of things through testable hypotheses. And science is not incompatible with religion – you can believe in a god as the creator of all things, but that it created a world which could be understood through reason. And science is the mechanism for that understanding.

I know that those who experience faith will retort that I just don’t get it – that you have to have faith to understand what it is about. That is isn’t just a blind belief in the teachings of a religion, but something that you somehow know to be true (perhaps as a result of some personal and wondrous connection to god). To be fair, they may be right, and if they are, I will never know. On the other hand, if they are wrong, and faith is really just a psychological phenomenon, then they will never know (at least, as long as they live).

And about what happens after we die, none of us will know until we get there. Either it will just be the end – our consciencious will wink out, our bodies decomposing and returning to the earth in an endless cycle (thanks to the friend mentioned above for that point); or, we will move on to a new existence.

I guess there is the part about the status of each of us in regard to that new existence, and the notion that we must do something (say accept god) in order to get the good stuff. But that is a topic for another time.

Oh, and I used a small ‘g’ on ‘god’ because I’m trying to be generic, and not refer to any particular religion.

There is a hilarious ‘Speed Bump’ cartoon in today’s Globe & Mail. It depicts a man standing in front of the door to the National Association of Telemarketers. A sign beside the door warns “No Solicitors”. Irony indeed.

I try to be at least pleasant to telemarketers when they call. And they call a lot – hardly a day goes by without at least one call. Sometimes it’s a cold call (a horrible way to make a living), but often it is from an organization I support – a charity, political or social organization, or some such. Oddly, it annoys be more when it is from one of these organizations – it seems at least a bit like betrayal.

But it is more than just the calls. Most of the mail I get goes directly to the recycling box because it aims to sell me something. And, interesting, I can detect changes in where they come from when I make a new donation. Donate to a nature organization, and you’ll be inundated with mail from dozens of them.

And then there is SPAM email. I have 6 email addresses between home and work, and I get hundreds of such messages every day. And some of them would embarrass… well, you get the idea.

On one hand, I understand that all of this activity happens because it works: Some people respond by buying what is offered. But the rest of us pay the price. There are ways you can limit some of this activity – you can have a service installed on your phone line to prevent telemarketing calls. But you have to pay for it. And we all pay more – for internet services, for example – because so much bandwidth is used to carry SPAM.

Surely it is reasonable to expect not to be inundated with unwanted advertisements. I don’t pretend to know what can be done to stop all this – short of making these activities illegal, an untenable solution. But not responding to these calls, mails, and emails is a good start.

I’ve been away from home for 5 days, and am heading home this morning. Returning home is always an interesting thing. Whenever I travel, I begin to anxious to be home after about 4 days. It doesn’t seem to matter where I’ve been, or how much I’m enjoying myself, home just starts to draw me.

The idea of ‘home’ is an interesting notion. Perhaps it means something a little different to each of us, and it may be more or less important in individual cases. For me, it is about being truly comfortable. Home is that place I always return to, the place where the things most important to me are, and where I can be completely relaxed.

Do we need a ‘home’, though? It seems to me we do. There are people who live much of their lives without something I’d call a home. But perhaps they just find a different way to make a home.

I’ve just read, in this morning’s Globe & Mail, about the Bali Bombing. I am currently traveling around Ontario on holidays, so this is the first Globe I’ve seen since Friday. I would normally listen to CBC Radio One while I’m driving, but have replaced it with CDs because of the lockout. I’m feeling a little out of touch! Who knows what else I’ve missed! Is Dubya still President? Has cancer been cured?

So, to the half-witted nincompoops running the CBC, I have this to say. Get Radio One back on the air (along with the rest). End the lockout, stop trying to obliterate permanent jobs (who know, the good kind you have), and get back to doing what you are supposed to do (you know, that pesky business about being a public broadcaster). Your Guild colleagues get it. Try really, really hard, and maybe you’ll figure it out too.

Oh, and yes, the Bali business is bad. It would be terrific if we could figure out how to stop killing each other. “Why can’t we all just get along?” If you know where that quote comes from, you have good taste in movies. Hint: The character saying it is the President of the United States and dies soon after saying it.

It is nice to have a Blog, and be able to rant. Ain’t technology grand!