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Now this is an idea I've had for a while, probably I'm not the only one but to read the media - well, my point of view is seriously underrepresented.
That is - given the climate of economic cutbacks, budgets, politics, etc - the priority for government funding should be education.
Education first, as it were.
Now this is not a popular choice, especially in Alberta, where the Conservative Party has had sway for some 40 odd years.
It makes sense that the Conservatives would underfund education - if only in the fact that educated - by this I mean properly educated - well rounded educated - people - generally don't vote Conservative. I say generally, there are always a few...
To quote John Stuart Mill:
"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
So the legacy of the Conservatives is explained.
But I'll explain it in an even clearer way, that should make it obvious to all but the most stubborn and conservative.
Invest in Education, and you can reduce your expenditure in any number of other areas - some examples: Welfare, Social Services, Healthcare, EI...
I could go on.
The fact is, any investment in education - be it elementary through to University - always pays off, if only in increased taxes. But it has spinoff benefits as well - The bulk of healthcare spending is on people of lower education. Educated people take an interest in their own health and maintain it at their own expense.
Welfare, Social Services, EI - all these claims can be directly and inversely correlated with the amount of education people have received.
Invest in education, and over time you'll be able to reduce funding to the other sectors.
Now there are other reasons too, far too esoteric to go into here, things such as quality of life, community, etc, but - it all begins with education. So - on any government's list of priorities - it should always be "Education First". Any talk of cutbacks to education should be considered a flag that the government needs to be replaced.
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Now this, because it's Xmas and I'm not even slightly in the Xmas spirit (what waiter is? Who has time?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLnl5ZWG4tg
The Austrian version of Christmas, compete with Krampus, this year I am Krampus, and I marvel (briefly) on how pasteurized, homogenized our version of Xmas has become....
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In which someone makes the case for Enkidu being a Neanderthal. Whether you buy it or not, it's an interesting read:
Link: http://architecturalwatercolors.blogspot.com/2011/10/gilgamesh-new-interpretation.html
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And these are fascinating (probably you're already aware) - the religions that sprouted all over the South Pacific following the interactions of primitive indigenous peoples with Allied Servicemen.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,892609,00.html
http://www.damninteresting.com/john-frum-and-the-cargo-cults/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2267426
Quoting Time Magazine: "Imitation radio antennas made of rope and bamboo were set up to receive news of the millennium, when black skins would turn white and all the harsh demands of life would miraculously disappear." & "All of them share the belief that black men will acquire the white man's magic to materialize goods from overseas without doing a lick of work.
John Frum: Probably a corruption or pidgin version of "Hi I'm John from /OHIO/NEBRASKA/IOWA/WISCONSIN" - reduced to John Frum.
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This is an old one, but a great one. Apparently in some places in South London (Brixton), New York, Chicago, anywhere where drugs is a bit of a problem, there are these squirrels that have become unusually aggressive in their search for drugs - having become, as it were, addicted to crack. Or, as I like to say, crack-addled squirrels.
Now there's more than a slight whiff of Urban Legend to this one, but it's been so widely reported that one can't held thinking that maybe, just maybe there's a slight grain of truth to it...but..., well, it's the media after all. Read with caution.
Links: The Sun (UK) - Squirrels go nuts on crack, The Guardian, The NY Times, Various YouTube videos on the Crack Squirrel Problem, Christine O'keefe Aptowicz performs Crack Squirrels, and finally, a seemingly irrelevant connection to Russia where they don't seem to have made the connection - Russian Squirrel Pack Kills Dog.
I couldn't make this stuff up.