Topic: Learning English (87 articles)
BP Oil Spill: A Disaster of Leadership and Strategy
A Failure In Leadership This article is based on a historically important article in the New York Times on the BP oil disaster. I will be referencing this article. Point of Failure #1 The article, which is important and should…
9th Innings, Closers, and Politics
Baseball Idioms In Politics Here’s an excerpt from this article on a bill to boost health compensation to “first responders” (health workers, firefighters, police officers) who responded to the World Trade Center attacks and are believed to have suffered higher…
So-Called Canadian Culture
A Contradiction In Terms The problem with trying to write an article about Canadian culture is rather simple. As a Canadian, I am well placed to be fully aware that most Canadians have renounced any concept of a Canadian culture….
American Culture: The Imperfect Hero
Movie Logic In American television and film culture, or put another way, movie logic, we encounter, with overwhelming frequency, the flawed, imperfect action hero. The flaws in this hero are usually obvious. They are easy to see, and easy to…
A Flower Pot
A Flower Pot By Jeremiah Bourque This is a flower pot. What is a flower pot for? It is not for cooking. It is for holding flowers. One puts the flowers into the pot. The flowers are displayed while in…
Mongering Hope
Deny Not Others Their Hope. Semi-occasionally, I glance at the blog by Andrew Sullivan. Not that this is his fault, as he’s quoting two other people having an online argument, but this post is grievously depressing. Essentially, it began with…
The Ass In The Lion’s Skin
A Fable from Aesop It’s this kind of “ass.” As in, a donkey. The Ass in the Lion’s Skin AN ASS, having put on the Lion’s skin, roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish…
Living Outside the Box
We’ve heard it so many times it has become a cliché. “Out of the box” thinking is praised and demanded everywhere. Especially in the so called creative industries it has become synonymous with “come up with new ideas to sell…
Zen and English, Part 5: Intangibles
The Post of Intangibles The void of space represents that which is intangible. Though objects exist within this otherwise empty space, it is filled by neither water, nor air; it is for this reason that it is known popularly as…
Zen and English, Part 4: Wind
The Post of Wind Wind represents not only the flow of air, but the sky itself; that which is real, which we can feel, but which cannot be held by the hand. We know it is there, we see it…
Zen and English, Part 3: Fire
The Post of Fire Fire represents the agent of active change. Fire, originally a force for destruction, is used daily by mankind for the forging of metals, the heating of homes, and the illumination of city streets. It is a…
Zen and English, Part 2: Water
The Post of Water Water represents motion, mobility, and subtlety. Water takes many forms, from oceans, to steam, to clouds, to rain, to raging torrents, to snow, to ice bergs, to tranquil lakes. Water follows the path of least resistance….
