plantilla iconos 30

The Mounties and the English language.

Read what you want – and pay what you will.

 

For the past three years the Omnium-Gatherum blog has opened your Saturday morning Inbox with news of driven people, eye-popping places, and new ideas that may have escaped your gaze.

 

These blog posts have been free for you to receive and read. But some readers have said: “How can I pay?” So if you’d like to make a non-tax-deductible contribution to support this blog, please pay what you will.

 

If you don’t want to pay anything, that’s fine too. We’re not going to withhold our affections, and you’ll keep getting your blog post on Saturday no matter what. But if you think what you read here is worth your time, then please share in what you think it’s worth.

 

Many thanks, and here’s to curiosity and the freedom to pursue its joys down any lane.

 

I’ll pay:

$20$50$100,  $250$999,999.99 or Pay What I Can

 

Now, for this week’s Omnium Gatherum…

 

********

 

THE MOUNTIES AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

 

I’ve never been a fan of Brenda Lucki, the Commissioner of the RCMP who decided to retire next month. Far from being an empathic female leader, she struck me as more of an old-fashioned, command-and-control leader who had a great deafness to politics and people.

 

But maybe the Mounties’ current state of disrepair is not just about leadership, but language. George Orwell’s famous essay, Politics and the English Language  comes to mind when I read that, instead of abandoning a controversial neck restraint, the Mounties issued new guidance in November that “strengthens and clarifies definitions, oversight and accountability measures, the risks of applying the technique on medically high-risk groups, requirements for medical attention, the threshold for use and requirement to recertify annually on the policy regarding application.”

 

Meanwhile…

 

1. Where are the killer earthquakes? This chart shows another reason it’s good (or at least safe) to live in southern Ontario.

 

2. “Pro-gun lawyer shot with own weapon by MRI scanner dies.” I didn’t understand that headline either. But once you read the story, you’ll get just on how many levels it pays not to bring your gun to the hospital. As one friend suggested, he could win a Darwin Award.

 

3. Twice as many 40-plus women as teenagers are having babies. At least in Britain, and likely in Canada. The tipping point was in 2016 when more 40-plus women than teens had babies. The last time this happened was in 1947, sparking the baby boom after World War II.

 

4. How to live longer? Eat like the Japanese and try to avoid being abused. Childhood abuse plays a huge role not just in living an unhappy life, but a shorter one as well. As does what you eat. Like compound interest, they work quietly in the background, creating huge differences in how well and how long your life can be.

 

And speaking of long lives, you can still catch this film about centenarians  by Susan Papp from the Ageless Film Festival.

 

5. The end of the McLuhan Centre. In many ways, Marshall McLuhan is still the University of Toronto’s most enduringly ‘famous’ figure. So it’s sad that the U of T has cut ties with a man who first defined what technology does to us – back in the 1960s.

 

6. “You can cheat on a paper. You can cheat on an exam. You can’t cheat on a disease.” One reason the acceleration of Alzheimer’s is so terrifying is that its cure seems so very far away. Scarier still is to learn that the reigning theory of what caused the disease – beta-amyloids — was based in part on fabricated research.

 

7. Big names voice great series. One of the top science fiction podcasts in the world also happens to have some of the world’s top actors. Spark Hunter is about an advanced robotic AI who’s having an existential crisis. She needs to meet with her Maker to iron out her existential issues over dinner. In the cast are Mark Rylance, Kathleen Turner, Sting, Vanessa Redgrave and many more.

 

8. Some people are lucky, then there are these people. A compilation of luck. But no one’s luckier than these two pilots who walked away when their Boeing 737 crashed in Australia this month.

 

9. How America took out the Nord Stream pipeline. Seymour Hersh is the world’s most lauded investigative reporter. Here’s his latest, on how America blew up Russia’s Nord Stream underwater pipeline, which cuts off its oil from Europe, and thus its power to hold Europe hostage. Hersh is now 85 and even some of his fans are skeptics on Nord Stream. But he hasn’t lost his skill at shaping a great story.

 

10. You’re gay? You can’t sing here. The King’s Singers is a renowned a cappella group who performed in Montreal on Valentine’s Day and at Koerner Hall on February 16. But their performance in Florida on February 11 was cancelled because the venue, Pensacola Christian College, where the King’s Singers have performed before, discovered that one of the singers is gay and The college cannot knowingly give an implied or direct endorsement of anything that violates Holy Scripture…”

 

On a happier note, here are the very best ballads of Burt Bacharach who died on February 8 at 94.

 

********

 

It’s one thing to dream of the South Pacific. It’s another to go.

 

It’s still another to let Lindblad Expeditions take you.

 

This is why Jean and I are gathering friends like you, 50 in all, to join us as we sail from Fiji to Tahiti from February 23 to March 10, 2024.

 

You might think that’s a long way off. However, Lindblad’s expeditions are like opera stars; they book up a couple of years in advance.

 

We’ll be aboard the 102-guest National Geographic Orion, a beautiful expedition ship that’s a conduit to exhilaration rather than a temple of excess.

 

We’ve been on two of Lindblad’s luxury adventure cruises before, to Antarctica and the Spanish-Portuguese coast. On board and on shore, we were in the hands of the most experienced experts and crew on the seven seas. One evening during “Recap” with cocktails and appetizers in hand, we saw “The Monster of the Day” that our expedition divers filmed from the ocean floor. And if you think kayaking in Antarctica is riskier than on Georgian Bay, well, it’s safer in Antarctica because the Lindblad people are so on top of it.

 

All to say, we’ve come to expect the best in comfort, dining, adventure and safety from Lindblad. Our view is confirmed by Condé Nast Traveler who last year declared them to be the #1 Small Ship Cruise Line in the world.

 

As for where we’ll explore, the South Pacific is not just one of the most storied and exotic places on earth, it’s down the road from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China and all of Asia. So you can make this trip part of an even bigger foray into a purposeful global journey.

 

The cost is from $14,830 USD per person, depending on what cabin level you choose. This is less than $1,000 a day and includes a special saving for our group of 5% off the standard rates.

 

And, if you have kids or grandkids you’d like to bring, they’ll take $500 off for each one under the age of 18.

 

So, what you have is a good deal on a grand trip to a warm place at the end of the world, with nice people, in the hands of the best in the business.

 

You may have time to even lasso your family into a multi-generational odyssey. Or perhaps your best friends, and feel free to pass this invitation on to them. But bear in mind that the average occupancy rate for all Lindblad voyages before the pandemic in 2019 was 91%, and this South Pacific destination sold out. Lindblad expects the same in 2024.

 

I urge you to spend some time with the links above. Then, to confirm your place onboard, just complete the registration form and send it to the Lindblad team at groups@expeditions.com, or call them at 1-888-773-9007. Lindblad can also book your flights for you.

 

If you want to hear more about the trip, here’s the link to the recording from the information session we hosted last month. And here again is the link to the trip itself.

 

And, If you’re thinking of continuing on after our expedition, and heading to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and other Pacific Rim countries, you might want to connect with Emma Cottis from GoWay Travel in Toronto, at ecottis@goway.com, or 1-800-387-8850 ext 5376. She planned a wonderful trip for us to the Australian Outback five years ago and we have a high degree of confidence in both her and GoWay.

 

For more information on this and other RamsayTravels adventures, click here. And, please also forward to your like-spirited friends.

Share this post

Leave a Comment

RamsayWrites

Subscribe to my Free Weekly Omnium-Gatherum Blog:

  • Every Saturday the Omnium-Gatherum blog is delivered straight to your InBox
  • Full archive
  • Posting comments and joining the community
  • First to hear about other Ramsay events and activities

Get posts directly to your inbox

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign Up for Updates!

Get news from Ramsay Inc. in your inbox.

Name(Required)
Email Lists
Email Lists(Required)