Sunday April 29, 2007 5:00 am Lethbridge Sunrise 6:13 Sunset 20:44 Hours of daylight: 14:31

A. Morning Musings

5:00 am It is +5 C with a high forecast of +22 C. But the wind is supposed to rise to 60 kmh by this afternoon.

Here are the news.

CBC Headline: Baird Attacks Gore Over Criticism of Tories Green Plan

Environment Minister John Baird responded by attacking Gore's efforts while he was in office in the US. After Al Gore severely criticised the recently announced Tory plan for greenhouse emissions, saying, "I'm hearing a reduction in intensity is going to be presented to the Canadian people as a legitimate policy. In my opinion, it is a complete and total fraud. It is designed to mislead the Canadian people." A reduction in intensity means that big industrial emitters of greenhouse gases will have to reduce emissions for each unit of output, but total output could increase. This supports David Suzuki's claim that "the government is creating the illusion of attacking the problem by talking about reducing intensity, but the reality is it's really a cover for allowing industry to increase its pollution." Bairs counter-attack misses the point. We are not debating what happened in the US a decade ago, we are discussing Canada's current policies. I totally support Suzuki and would like to see the Conservatives do much more to show leadership in this area.

Canadian Headline: see above

Australian Headline: (from The Australian): Australia Wins World Cup

Australia has won a third World Cup, the first time this has been done. They totally dominated the event but it was difficult to get interested in it. It went on for far too long, and there was little suspense as no one was able to give the Aussies a challenge.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at noon.

B. Actual/Notes

6:00 am I have spent much of the past hour visiting the following website: http://weaselhead.org/ . The wildlife lists that it generates are superb, and would be spectacular if even more people contributed.

The weather forecast for today is not too promising. Cloudy and windy with possible showers in much of southern Alberta. We may as well stay put. Although a quick trip over to Henderson Lake may make sense if the light is good this morning.

	Literature 27 April 29
Literature Notes
6:20 am I completed reading Book Five yesterday. Now to make some notes. This will also give me an opportunity to review the chapters and see if I notice something that I missed on the first reading. Part II Book Five: Pro and Contra Chap. 1 A Betrothal Alyosha meets with Lise and they agree to get married in a couple of years. Chap. 2 Smerdyakov with a Guitar Alyosha then climbs over a fence to wait in a gazebo for his brother Dmitri but instead surprises Smerdyakov who is singing a song to visiting daughter of the landlady. Smerdyakov tells Alyosha that Dmitri had been invited to meet Ivan in a nearby tavern. Chap. 3 The Brothers Get Acquainted Alyosha arrives at the tavern and meets Ivan, but Dmitri has failed to show up. This is the first time since they were young boys that they have had an opportunity to talk together. " 'I think that everyone should love life before everything else in the world.' 'Love life more than its meaning?' 'Certainly, love it before logic, as you say, certainly before logic, and only then will I also understand its meaning.' " [p. 231] Chap. 4 Rebellion Ivan begins to discuss how horribly men treat one another (i.e. war, torture, etc.) and how this can be reconciled with a belief in God. Chap. 5 The Grand Inquisitor Ivan continues his views on religion with a story about a visit between God and the Grand Inquisitor where the Grand Inquisitor appears to have the upper hand. Ivan indicates that he is unable to accept the church's position and then leaves. Chap. 6 A Rather Obscure One For the Moment Ivan returns home but meets Smerdyakov at the entrance. Ivan is very upset with Smerdyakov, but Smerdyakov remains calm and seems to have the better of the exchange. Chap. 7 "It's Always Interesting to Talk with an Intelligent Man" Fyodor asks Ivan to run a small business errand for him on his way to Moscow but while on the way he changes his mind and continues on to Moscow without conducting the business for this father. SUMMARY of the session: The first chapter is a delight. It does a superb job of describing two young people who are just beginning to fall in love with each other. Chapter 5 is another delight, where Ivan (Dostoyevsky) does a spectacular job of examining the paradox between life on earth and that which the church espouses. The title of the last chapter refers to a quote by Smerdyakov to Ivan and gives a sense that Smerdyakov is a lot more intelligent than most people realize.

12:00 PM Here are two more photos showing the beginning of the spring activity of the May tree in our backyard.

C. Plan

Immediate
Mathematics	Continue reading "Algebra: Abstract and Concrete" by Frederick Goodman	1 hr
Literature	Read & make notes for book 5 of "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky	1 hr
Birds	Update database to include 2007 Mexico trip	1 hr
Later
Technology	Convert LPs to MP3 format
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Burn backup of images onto DVD
Mathematics	Read & make notes on The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems
	Read "Symmetry" by David Wade
	Make notes for "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor" ch 1
	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves
Model Trains	Add ground cover to oil refinery diorama
	Follow tutorial for version 8 of 3rd PlanIt
	Continue assembly of coaling tower
	Purchase DCC system
Birds	Create notebook pages birding in Mexico
History	Begin reading "Maya"
	Read Watson "Ideas"
Philosophy	Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell"
	Begin reading "How Are We To Live?" by Peter Singer
Literature	New York Times easy crossword puzzles
GO	Complete reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go"
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #10
Major Goals
Learning	Review week's pages each Sunday
	Review all pages for the month at the end of each month
Technology	Review & edit iPhoto files for 2006
Model Trains	Become proficient with 3rd PlanIt software
	Install DCC on model train layout
GO	Learn to play GO at something better than a beginner level
Drawing	Learn to draw!! (I keep saying this, yet I have yet to put a pencil to paper).
Mathematics	Continue to play with mathematics.
Literature	Continue to read Literature
Bird Watching	Continue to engage in bird watching activities.

D. Reflection