WeKey - User contributions [en]

Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott

2024-04-19T22:51:00Z

Jess:

[[Personal Memories of Tony Arrott]] --> here
----

If only I had Tony's memory capacity! Every time we talked he would tell me fascinating, exciting stories of his exploits and adventures until my brain reached saturation and began to swell. Alas, it was like trying to load an entire operating system onto one floppy disk. (You remember floppy disks, don't you?) I retain only blurry memories of great discoveries, famous people and stupendous events. Revolutions in magnetism! Russian cosmonauts! Miraculous computer programs! Unsolved problems in physics! Life with a great artist!

My daughter insisted that I should take a recording device to my next meeting with Tony, and I harbored good intentions for the last year or more, but never followed through, to my deep regret. If I had managed to capture a few hours of his enthusiastic story-telling, it would have compelled me to find collaborators to work on his biography, which would surely have run to many volumes -- page-turners all! Perhaps there are other friends with better memories than mine who could undertake such a project? I'll help!

I'll never forget the night Tony stayed up until dawn glueing crystalline whiskers of pure iron onto a backing to be studied with muons at TRIUMF, and fell asleep at the wheel on his drive home. His beloved Mercedes was wrecked, but he survived to recount that testament to his commitment whenever any of us complained about Owl Shifts.

Others may remember Tony's answer to the NRC panel who asked how his Thermal Neutron Facility at TRIUMF could hope to compete with reactors whose neutron beams were orders of magnitude more intense: "I'm a lot cleverer than they are!" he said. And so he was. His self-assurance was entirely justified, but did not interfere with his generosity and kindness the way it does with so many others.

My family will never stop missing Tony.

Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T20:42:22Z

Jess:

If only I had Tony's memory capacity! Every time we talked he would tell me fascinating, exciting stories of his exploits and adventures until my brain reached saturation and began to swell. Alas, it was like trying to load an entire operating system onto one floppy disk. (You remember floppy disks, don't you?) I retain only blurry memories of great discoveries, famous people and stupendous events. Revolutions in magnetism! Russian cosmonauts! Miraculous computer programs! Unsolved problems in physics! Life with a great artist!

My daughter insisted that I should take a recording device to my next meeting with Tony, and I harbored good intentions for the last year or more, but never followed through, to my deep regret. If I had managed to capture a few hours of his enthusiastic story-telling, it would have compelled me to find collaborators to work on his biography, which would surely have run to many volumes -- page-turners all! Perhaps there are other friends with better memories than mine who could undertake such a project? I'll help!

I'll never forget the night Tony stayed up until dawn glueing crystalline whiskers of pure iron onto a backing to be studied with muons at TRIUMF, and fell asleep at the wheel on his drive home. His beloved Mercedes was wrecked, but he survived to recount that testament to his commitment whenever any of us complained about Owl Shifts.

Others may remember Tony's answer to the NRC panel who asked how his Thermal Neutron Facility at TRIUMF could hope to compete with reactors whose neutron beams were orders of magnitude more intense: "I'm a lot cleverer than they are!" he said. And so he was. His self-assurance was entirely justified, but did not interfere with his generosity and kindness the way it does with so many others.

My family will never stop missing Tony.

Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T19:43:52Z

Jess:

If only I had Tony's memory capacity! Every time we talked he would tell me fascinating, exciting stories of his exploits and adventures until my brain reached saturation and began to swell. Alas, it was like trying to load an entire operating system onto one floppy disk. (You remember floppy disks, don't you?) I retain only blurry memories of great discoveries, famous people and stupendous events. Revolutions in magnetism! Russian cosmonauts! Miraculous computer programs! Unsolved problems in physics! Life with a great artist!

My daughter insisted that I should take a recording device to my next meeting with Tony, and I harbored good intentions for the last year or more, but never followed through, to my deep regret. But if I had managed to capture a few hours of his enthusiastic story-telling, it would have compelled me to find collaborators to work on his biography, which would surely have run to many volumes -- page-turners all! Perhaps there are other friends with better memories than mine who could undertake such a project? I'll help!

I'll never forget the night Tony stayed up until dawn glueing crystalline whiskers of pure iron onto a backing to be studied with muons at TRIUMF, and fell asleep at the wheel on his drive home. His beloved Mercedes was wrecked, but he survived to recount that testament to his commitment whenever any of us complained about Owl Shifts.

Others may remember Tony's answer to the NRC panel who asked how his Thermal Neutron Facility at TRIUMF could hope to compete with reactors whose neutron beams were orders of magnitude more intense: "I'm a lot cleverer than they are!" he said. And so he was. His self-assurance was entirely justified, but did not interfere with his generosity and kindness the way it does with so many others.

My family will never stop missing Tony.

Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T17:43:41Z

Jess:

If only I had Tony's memory capacity! Every time we talked he would tell me fascinating, exciting stories of his exploits and adventures until my brain reached saturation and began to swell. Alas, it was like trying to load an entire operating system onto one floppy disk. (You remember floppy disks, don't you?) I retain only blurry memories of great discoveries, famous people and stupendous events. Revolutions in magnetism! Russian cosmonauts! Miraculous computer programs! Unsolved problems in physics! Life with a great artist!

My daughter insisted that I should take a recording device to my next meeting with Tony, and I harbored good intentions for the last year or more, but never followed through, to my deep regret. But if I had managed to capture a few hours of his enthusiastic story-telling, it would have compelled me to find collaborators to work on his biography, which would surely have run to many volumes -- page-turners all! Perhaps there are other friends with better memories than mine who could undertake such a project? I'll help!

I'll never forget the night Tony stayed up until dawn glueing crystalline whiskers of pure iron onto a backing to be studied with muons at TRIUMF, and fell asleep at the wheel on his drive home. His beloved Mercedes was wrecked, but he survived to recount that testament to his commitment whenever any of us complained about Owl Shifts.

Others may remember Tony's answer to the NRC panel who asked how his Thermal Neutron Facility at TRIUMF could hope to compete with reactors whose beams were orders of magnitude more intense: "I'm a lot cleverer than they are!" And so he was. His self-assurance was entirely justified, but did not interfere with his generosity and kindness the way it does with so many others.

My family will never stop missing Tony.

Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T17:41:04Z

Jess: Created page with "If only I had Tony's memory capacity! Every time we talked he would tell me fascinating, exciting stories of his exploits and adventures until my brain reached saturation and..."

If only I had Tony's memory capacity! Every time we talked he would tell me fascinating, exciting stories of his exploits and adventures until my brain reached saturation and began to swell. Alas, it was like trying to load an entire operating system onto one floppy disk. (You remember floppy disks, don't you?) I retain only blurry memories of great discoveries, famous people and stupendous events. Great discoveries in magnetism! Russian cosmonauts! Miraculous computer programs! Unsolved problems in physics! Life with a great artist!

My daughter insisted that I should take a recording device to my next meeting with Tony, and I harbored good intentions for the last year or more, but never followed through, to my deep regret. But if I had managed to capture a few hours of his enthusiastic story-telling, it would have compelled me to find collaborators to work on his biography, which would surely have run to many volumes -- page-turners all! Perhaps there are other friends with better memories than mine who could undertake such a project?

I'll never forget the night Tony stayed up until dawn glueing crystalline whiskers of pure iron onto a backing to be studied with muons at TRIUMF, and fell asleep at the wheel on his drive home. His beloved Mercedes was wrecked, but he survived to recount that testament to his commitment whenever any of us complained about Owl Shifts.

Others may remember Tony's answer to the NRC panel who asked how his Thermal Neutron Facility at TRIUMF could hope to compete with reactors whose beams were orders of magnitude more intense: "I'm a lot cleverer than they are!" And so he was. His self-assurance was entirely justified, but did not interfere with his generosity and kindness the way it does with so many others.

My family will never stop missing Tony.

Personal Memories of Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T17:07:53Z

Jess: Created page with "Tony Arrott --> here ---- ==Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott=="

[[Tony Arrott]] --> here
----

==[[Jess Brewer's Memories of Tony Arrott]]==

Obituaries and Memorials of Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T17:06:19Z

Jess: Created page with "Tony Arrott --> here ---- ==Tony Arrott's Obituary== ==Tony Arrott's Memorials=="

[[Tony Arrott]] --> here
----

==[[Tony Arrott's Obituary]]==
==[[Tony Arrott's Memorials]]==

Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T17:04:33Z

Jess:

[[Memorials]] --> here
----

==[[Obituaries and Memorials of Tony Arrott]]==
==[[Personal Memories of Tony Arrott]]==

Tony Arrott

2024-03-15T17:03:31Z

Jess: Created page with "Memorials --> here ---- ==Obituaries and Memorials== ==Personal Memories of Tony Arrott=="

[[Memorials]] --> here
----

==[[Obituaries and Memorials]]==
==[[Personal Memories of Tony Arrott]]==

Memorials

2024-03-15T17:02:04Z

Jess:

=[[Marj & Willard]]=
=[[Keith Hoyle]]=
=[[Ken Crowe]]=
=[[Erich Vogt]]=
=[[Michael Jones]]=
=[[Carey Stronach]]=
=[[Jack Pearson]]=
=[[Tony Arrott]]=

OFC Meetings

2023-01-18T18:07:20Z

Jess: /* Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress */

[[Oceanside Futurological Congress]] --> here
----

<center>
==Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress==
</center>
This group was originally formed of, by and for the participants in Jess Brewer's Elder College course "'''''[http://jick.net/futures Possible Futures]]'''''", held in the VIU classrom in the Parksville Community Center (above the Library). That course was just for fun (speculating about what the future might be like in several decades) but we opened more doors than we could explore, so we decided to continue on our own.

For two years we met from 2-4 PM on (unless otherwise specified) the '''second''' Tuesday of each month, starting on 13 Feb 2018, in the meeting room upstairs at the ''Qualicum Foods'' grocery store in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. (The first session on 16 Jan was at ''Serious Coffee'' located in south Parksville where Northwest Bay Road intersects the East Island Highway; but it was too noisy for a thoughtful discussion.)

We then were offered the Board Room at Qualicum Foods in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. It has no A/V facilities, but it has a nice big table with comfortable chairs, ideal for plain talk -- which turns out to be a pretty productive medium! See [[OFC Venue Options]].

On 08 Aug 2018 I disabled self-registration, following a flurry of new users with suspicious-looking email addresses (from which none of them have replied in response to gradually less welcoming greetings). If you want an account, ask [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com me] for one, sending me all your information by email. -- '''Jess'''

Then in March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into physical isolation, along with most of the world. But we were not to be diverted so easily from our discussions! Since then we have been meeting ''weekly'' using ''[http://zoom.us Zoom]''. The meetings have no longer been rigorously adhering to the format below, but we all have pretty good habits by now:

====Standard Agenda for Meetings====
* 2:00 Logistics
* 2:05 Presentation by Convener/Moderator (projector provided; BYO computer)
* 2:20 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 2:50 Coffee (etc.) Break
* 3:00 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 3:30 Summary & Conclusions (if any)
* 3:40 Selection of next month's Topic & Convener/Moderator
* 4:00 Adjourn (private discussions may continue)

[[OFC Meeting 1]] (16 Jan 2018 at Serious Coffee): FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 2]] (13 Feb 2018 at Qualicum Foods): PHILOSOPHY AND OUR FUTURE - [mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca Hendrik Witmans]

[[OFC Meeting 3]] (13 Mar 2018 at Qualicum Foods): STUFF -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff] & [mailto:jane.juda@gmail.com Jane Juda]

[[OFC Meeting 4]] (10 Apr 2018 at Qualicum Foods): SENIORS - [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 5]] (08 May 2018 at Qualicum Foods): BACK TO THE FUTURE -
[mailto:donthecoach@rogers.com Don Giberson]

[[OFC Meeting 6]] (12 June 2018 at Qualicum Foods): DEATH IN THE FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders]

[[OFC Meeting 7]] (10 July 2018 at Qualicum Foods): The FUTURE of TRANSPORTATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 8]] (14 Aug 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 9]] (11 Sep 2018 at Qualicum Foods): CHINA of the FUTURE -
[mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 10]] (09 Oct 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Toward a FUTURE MERITOCRACY -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff]

[[OFC Meeting 11]] (13 Nov 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 12]] (11 Dec 2018 at Qualicum Foods): POPULATION and IMMIGRATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

Meeting on 08 Jan 2019 ''cancelled'' due to possible icy roads.

Meeting on 12 Feb 2019 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 13]] (12 Mar 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 14]] (09 Apr 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") with an initial focus on Future Farming

Meeting on 14 May 2019 at Qualicum Foods: Informal Discussion between Hank & Keith on assorted topics (everyone else was away)

[[OFC Meeting 15]] (11 Jun 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all")

[[OFC Meeting 16]] (09 Jul 2019 at Qualicum Foods): DEMOCRACY in the FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders] & free-for-all

[[OFC Meeting 17]] (13 Aug 2019 at Qualicum Foods): ENERGY in the FUTURE - Another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 18]] (10 Sep 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 19]] (08 Oct 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 20]] (12 Nov 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Still another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 21]] (10 Dec 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Starting a NEW free-for-all!

Meeting on 14 Jan 2020 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 22]] (11 Feb 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Starting another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 23]] (10 Mar 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 24]] (14 Apr 2020) was held by videoconference ([http://zoom.us Zoom]) and '''on this wiki'''.

Subsequent meetings were held ''via'' [http://zoom.us Zoom] '''every''' Tuesday at 2 PM for some time, until people decided that was ''too'' often. Then we tried ''every other'' Tuesday for a while; and eventually we went back to ''once a month''. When the pandemic was declared "nearly over" in 2022 there was a movement to return to F2F meetings, the first few of which were at Keith's house in Qualicum; after a while we alternated between F2F and Zoom, and then the F2F contingent dwindled, leaving monthly Zoom meetings... which tended toward more informal discussions of past, present and future topics.

Obviously this "History" is incomplete and needs updating.

[[OFC Meeting 25]]: (21 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 26]]: (28 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 27]]: (05 May 2020 ''via '''Zoom''''')

[[OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music]]

[[OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art]]

[[OFC 13 May 2020: Robots]]

[[OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics]]

[[OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Voting]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Food]]

[[OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine]]

[[OFC 25 May 2020: Economics]]

[[OFC 26 May 2020" UBI]]

[[OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art]]

[[OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]

About this time <tt>DokuWiki</tt> died on jick.net and I was unable to restore it... until now!
Consequently there are 2 years missing from the OFC record; but our meetings continued nonetheless, and now we have to decide whether to go back to keeping records, or just go on "winging it" with none.

As of Summer 2022, we have settled into meeting ''via Zoom'' on the '''fourth''' Tuesday of each month. Responsibility for the Agendas of meetings has passed to '''[mailto:susanosso@shaw.ca Susan Osso]''' except when she is unavailable. [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess] is of course always "hogging the pulpit" <tt>(</tt>with notable competition from others <tt>;-)</tt>

----

'''[[OFC EXTRAS]]: Spin-Offs, Notices, Polemics ''etc.'''''

OFC Meetings

2022-09-27T18:42:51Z

Jess:

[[Oceanside Futurological Congress]] --> here
----

<center>
==Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress==
</center>
This group was originally formed of, by and for the participants in Jess Brewer's Elder College course "'''''[http://jick.net/futures Possible Futures]]'''''", held in the VIU classrom in the Parksville Community Center (above the Library). That course was just for fun (speculating about what the future might be like in several decades) but we opened more doors than we could explore, so we decided to continue on our own.

For two years we met from 2-4 PM on (unless otherwise specified) the '''second''' Tuesday of each month, starting on 13 Feb 2018, in the meeting room upstairs at the ''Qualicum Foods'' grocery store in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. (The first session on 16 Jan was at ''Serious Coffee'' located in south Parksville where Northwest Bay Road intersects the East Island Highway; but it was too noisy for a thoughtful discussion.)

We then were offered the Board Room at Qualicum Foods in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. It has no A/V facilities, but it has a nice big table with comfortable chairs, ideal for plain talk -- which turns out to be a pretty productive medium! See [[OFC Venue Options]].

On 08 Aug 2018 I disabled self-registration, following a flurry of new users with suspicious-looking email addresses (from which none of them have replied in response to gradually less welcoming greetings). If you want an account, ask [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com me] for one, sending me all your information by email. -- '''Jess'''

Then in March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into physical isolation, along with most of the world. But we were not to be diverted so easily from our discussions! Since then we have been meeting ''weekly'' using ''[http://zoom.us Zoom]''. The meetings have no longer been rigorously adhering to the format below, but we all have pretty good habits by now:

====Standard Agenda for Meetings====
* 2:00 Logistics
* 2:05 Presentation by Convener/Moderator (projector provided; BYO computer)
* 2:20 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 2:50 Coffee (etc.) Break
* 3:00 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 3:30 Summary & Conclusions (if any)
* 3:40 Selection of next month's Topic & Convener/Moderator
* 4:00 Adjourn (private discussions may continue)

[[OFC Meeting 1]] (16 Jan 2018 at Serious Coffee): FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 2]] (13 Feb 2018 at Qualicum Foods): PHILOSOPHY AND OUR FUTURE - [mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca Hendrik Witmans]

[[OFC Meeting 3]] (13 Mar 2018 at Qualicum Foods): STUFF -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff] & [mailto:jane.juda@gmail.com Jane Juda]

[[OFC Meeting 4]] (10 Apr 2018 at Qualicum Foods): SENIORS - [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 5]] (08 May 2018 at Qualicum Foods): BACK TO THE FUTURE -
[mailto:donthecoach@rogers.com Don Giberson]

[[OFC Meeting 6]] (12 June 2018 at Qualicum Foods): DEATH IN THE FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders]

[[OFC Meeting 7]] (10 July 2018 at Qualicum Foods): The FUTURE of TRANSPORTATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 8]] (14 Aug 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 9]] (11 Sep 2018 at Qualicum Foods): CHINA of the FUTURE -
[mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 10]] (09 Oct 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Toward a FUTURE MERITOCRACY -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff]

[[OFC Meeting 11]] (13 Nov 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 12]] (11 Dec 2018 at Qualicum Foods): POPULATION and IMMIGRATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

Meeting on 08 Jan 2019 ''cancelled'' due to possible icy roads.

Meeting on 12 Feb 2019 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 13]] (12 Mar 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 14]] (09 Apr 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") with an initial focus on Future Farming

Meeting on 14 May 2019 at Qualicum Foods: Informal Discussion between Hank & Keith on assorted topics (everyone else was away)

[[OFC Meeting 15]] (11 Jun 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all")

[[OFC Meeting 16]] (09 Jul 2019 at Qualicum Foods): DEMOCRACY in the FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders] & free-for-all

[[OFC Meeting 17]] (13 Aug 2019 at Qualicum Foods): ENERGY in the FUTURE - Another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 18]] (10 Sep 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 19]] (08 Oct 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 20]] (12 Nov 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Still another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 21]] (10 Dec 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Starting a NEW free-for-all!

Meeting on 14 Jan 2020 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 22]] (11 Feb 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Starting another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 23]] (10 Mar 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 24]] (14 Apr 2020) was held by videoconference ([http://zoom.us Zoom]) and '''on this wiki'''.

Subsequent meetings were held ''via'' [http://zoom.us Zoom] '''every''' Tuesday at 2 PM for some time, until people decided that was ''too'' often. Then we tried ''every other'' Tuesday for a while; and eventually we went back to ''once a month''. When the pandemic was declared "nearly over" in 2022 there was a movement to return to F2F meetings, the first few of which were at Keith's house in Qualicum; after a while we alternated between F2F and Zoom, and then the F2F contingent dwindled, leaving monthly Zoom meetings... which tended toward more informal discussions of past, present and future topics.

Obviously this "History" is incomplete and needs updating.

[[OFC Meeting 25]]: (21 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 26]]: (28 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 27]]: (05 May 2020 ''via '''Zoom''''')

[[OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music]]

[[OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art]]

[[OFC 13 May 2020: Robots]]

[[OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics]]

[[OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Voting]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Food]]

[[OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine]]

[[OFC 25 May 2020: Economics]]

[[OFC 26 May 2020" UBI]]

[[OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art]]

[[OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]

About this time <tt>DokuWiki</tt> died on jick.net and I was unable to restore it... until now!
Consequently there are 2 years missing from the OFC record; but our meetings continued nonetheless, and now we have to decide whether to go back to keeping records, or just go on "winging it" with none.

As of Summer 2022, we have settled into meeting ''via Zoom'' on the ''last'' Tuesday of each month. Responsibility for the Agendas of meetings has passed to '''[mailto:susanosso@shaw.ca Susan Osso]''' except when she is unavailable. [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess] is of course always "hogging the pulpit" <tt>(</tt>with notable competition from others <tt>;-)</tt>

----

'''[[OFC EXTRAS]]: Spin-Offs, Notices, Polemics ''etc.'''''

OFC Meetings

2022-09-24T23:51:04Z

Jess:

[[Oceanside Futurological Congress]] --> here
----

<center>
==Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress==
</center>
This group was originally formed of, by and for the participants in Jess Brewer's Elder College course "'''''[http://jick.net/futures Possible Futures]]'''''", held in the VIU classrom in the Parksville Community Center (above the Library). That course was just for fun (speculating about what the future might be like in several decades) but we opened more doors than we could explore, so we decided to continue on our own.

For two years we met from 2-4 PM on (unless otherwise specified) the '''second''' Tuesday of each month, starting on 13 Feb 2018, in the meeting room upstairs at the ''Qualicum Foods'' grocery store in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. (The first session on 16 Jan was at ''Serious Coffee'' located in south Parksville where Northwest Bay Road intersects the East Island Highway; but it was too noisy for a thoughtful discussion.)

We then were offered the Board Room at Qualicum Foods in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. It has no A/V facilities, but it has a nice big table with comfortable chairs, ideal for plain talk -- which turns out to be a pretty productive medium! See [[OFC Venue Options]].

On 08 Aug 2018 I disabled self-registration, following a flurry of new users with suspicious-looking email addresses (from which none of them have replied in response to gradually less welcoming greetings). If you want an account, ask [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com me] for one, sending me all your information by email. -- '''Jess'''

Then in March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into physical isolation, along with most of the world. But we were not to be diverted so easily from our discussions! Since then we have been meeting ''weekly'' using ''[http://zoom.us Zoom]''. The meetings have no longer been rigorously adhering to the format below, but we all have pretty good habits by now:

====Standard Agenda for Meetings====
* 2:00 Logistics
* 2:05 Presentation by Convener/Moderator (projector provided; BYO computer)
* 2:20 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 2:50 Coffee (etc.) Break
* 3:00 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 3:30 Summary & Conclusions (if any)
* 3:40 Selection of next month's Topic & Convener/Moderator
* 4:00 Adjourn (private discussions may continue)

[[OFC Meeting 1]] (16 Jan 2018 at Serious Coffee): FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 2]] (13 Feb 2018 at Qualicum Foods): PHILOSOPHY AND OUR FUTURE - [mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca Hendrik Witmans]

[[OFC Meeting 3]] (13 Mar 2018 at Qualicum Foods): STUFF -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff] & [mailto:jane.juda@gmail.com Jane Juda]

[[OFC Meeting 4]] (10 Apr 2018 at Qualicum Foods): SENIORS - [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 5]] (08 May 2018 at Qualicum Foods): BACK TO THE FUTURE -
[mailto:donthecoach@rogers.com Don Giberson]

[[OFC Meeting 6]] (12 June 2018 at Qualicum Foods): DEATH IN THE FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders]

[[OFC Meeting 7]] (10 July 2018 at Qualicum Foods): The FUTURE of TRANSPORTATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 8]] (14 Aug 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 9]] (11 Sep 2018 at Qualicum Foods): CHINA of the FUTURE -
[mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 10]] (09 Oct 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Toward a FUTURE MERITOCRACY -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff]

[[OFC Meeting 11]] (13 Nov 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 12]] (11 Dec 2018 at Qualicum Foods): POPULATION and IMMIGRATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

Meeting on 08 Jan 2019 ''cancelled'' due to possible icy roads.

Meeting on 12 Feb 2019 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 13]] (12 Mar 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 14]] (09 Apr 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") with an initial focus on Future Farming

Meeting on 14 May 2019 at Qualicum Foods: Informal Discussion between Hank & Keith on assorted topics (everyone else was away)

[[OFC Meeting 15]] (11 Jun 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all")

[[OFC Meeting 16]] (09 Jul 2019 at Qualicum Foods): DEMOCRACY in the FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders] & free-for-all

[[OFC Meeting 17]] (13 Aug 2019 at Qualicum Foods): ENERGY in the FUTURE - Another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 18]] (10 Sep 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 19]] (08 Oct 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 20]] (12 Nov 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Still another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 21]] (10 Dec 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Starting a NEW free-for-all!

Meeting on 14 Jan 2020 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 22]] (11 Feb 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Starting another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 23]] (10 Mar 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 24]] (14 Apr 2020) was held by videoconference ([http://zoom.us Zoom]) and '''on this wiki'''.

Subsequent meetings were held ''via'' [http://zoom.us Zoom] '''every''' Tuesday at 2 PM for some time, until people decided that was ''too'' often. Then we tried ''every other'' Tuesday for a while; and eventually we went back to ''once a month''. When the pandemic was declared "nearly over" in 2022 there was a movement to return to F2F meetings, the first few of which were at Keith's house in Qualicum; after a while we alternated between F2F and Zoom, and then the F2F contingent dwindled, leaving monthly Zoom meetings... which tended toward more informal discussions of past, present and future topics.

Obviously this "History" is incomplete and needs updating.

[[OFC Meeting 25]]: (21 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 26]]: (28 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 27]]: (05 May 2020 ''via '''Zoom''''')

[[OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music]]

[[OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art]]

[[OFC 13 May 2020: Robots]]

[[OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics]]

[[OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Voting]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Food]]

[[OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine]]

[[OFC 25 May 2020: Economics]]

[[OFC 26 May 2020" UBI]]

[[OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art]]

[[OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]

About this time <tt>DokuWiki</tt> died on jick.net and I was unable to restore it... until now!
Consequently there are 2 years missing from the OFC record; but our meetings continued nonetheless, and now we have to decide whether to go back to keeping records, or just go on "winging it" with none.

----

'''[[OFC EXTRAS]]: Spin-Offs, Notices, Polemics ''etc.'''''

OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art

2022-09-24T23:45:38Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====Artificial Intelligence in Art & Music=====
</center>
* A little essay on the philosophical implications of '''[http://jick.net/~jess/LOoW/Jess/ArtificialWonder.pdf AI Art]]''' by '''[mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com|Jess]'''

OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics

2022-09-24T23:43:40Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====Plastics=====
</center>

'''[mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca|Henk]''': Hi all,
Trying to get some information for you here for the next zoom meeting, this Tuesday. I'm doing a small presentation, about five to ten minutes on Plastics. Afterwards , we can discuss it and move on to the next topic. Here is some reading and viewing material:

* '''[https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2018/04/23/five-ways-that-plastics-harm-the-environment-and-one-way-they-may-help/#7f32d28a67a0 Five ways plastics harm the environment (and one way they may help)]'''
* '''[https://www.eartheclipse.com/environment/environmental-effects-plastic-pollution.html Plastic Pollution]'''
* '''[https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-how-planet-earth-environment-oceans-wildlife-recycling-landfill-artificial-a7972226.html How plastic is damaging planet Earth]'''
* The Knowledge Network has a great mini series on right now: ''War on Plastics''. Episode 4 will be aired May 12, but you can stream earlier episodes from [http://www.knowledge.ca their website].

This will give you an idea about this wonderful and at the same time deadly material. See you next Tuesday (If we can get connected!)
-- '''[mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca|Henk]'''

A few days after our discussion, ''The Guardian'' published "''[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/16/the-end-of-plastic-new-plant-based-bottles-will-degrade-in-a-year?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail New plant-based bottles will degrade in a year]''".

OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC

2022-09-24T23:40:18Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====Anthropic Global Climate Change (AGCC)=====
</center>

* The '''[https://canada.citizensclimatelobby.org/ Citizens' Climate Lobby]''' has a branch in Nanaimo. Their current focus is on promoting Carbon Fee & Dividend legislation.
* Jeff Gibbs' and Michael Moore's "''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE Planet of the Humans]''" (PoH) rudely exposes flaws in various "Renewable Energy" schemes, with Moore's usual flair for dramatic excess.
* ''[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/28/climate-dangerous-documentary-planet-of-the-humans-michael-moore-taken-down The Guardian]'' reports strong negative reactions to the PoH film.
* Kristine Mattis writes a thoughtful '''''[https://medium.com/@k_mattis/climate-crisis-940755bcdd2d review]''''' of the PoH film.
* [https://flowingdata.com/2020/05/13/climate-change-displayed-with-shower-tiles/ Cool shower tiling] of Gretchen Goldman and Tom Di Liberto shows global warming by country, but lack a good figure caption!
* A [http://www.pnas.org PNAS.org]] report on [https://www.pnas.org/content/114/48/E10301.abstract?fbclid=IwAR3EZzJ7HV2Zzfm0rEH3Xg1H9rEgZnbIZbGqnsmHvbsKuuDDCQswaS2f_eY Nutritional & GHG Impacts of Removing Animals from US Agriculture] contradicts some vegan claims.
* NASA study of [https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4565 Seasonal Changes in Carbon Dioxide].

OFC 23 May 2020: Voting

2022-09-24T23:36:44Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====ELECTION REFORM=====
</center>

This topic has come up many times, and will continue to do so. Here are a few choice subtopics:

The [https://www.negative.vote/ NEGATIVE VOTE] ('''Jess'''): Decades ago I proposed the idea of a [http://free-ideas.org/pol/NegVote.html Negative Vote] option -- in my version, each person still gets one vote in a "first past the post" election, but they can either cast their one vote '''''for''''' the candidate they like best or '''''against''''' the one they despise most. There has been quite a bit of discussion on the practical pros and cons of this idea, and a group in Taiwan has been attempting to implement it for years. It is also under consideration in [https://www.facebook.com/groups/BalancedBallotBerkeley/ Berkeley]] and [https://www.negative.vote/ another team]] is trying to raise money for a national drive in the USA; however, there is considerable disagreement about the details of implementation: should it be the version I originally described, or should every voter get '''''both''''' a positive vote '''''and''''' a negative one, or should it be combined with a "proportional representation" ballot in some way? I would love to dig into this topic, if anyone else is interested. And it is sort of relevant to the Future of Democracy.

''Addendum'': in May 2020, Paul Cohen (a retired mathematician and engineer living in Maine) published ''[https://thefulcrum.us/voting/balanced-approval-voting Why should we adopt balanced voting?]'', an eloquent advocacy for the Negative Vote.

Another article by Cohen explains [https://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Electoral-College-by-Paul-Cohen-Duopoly_Electoral-College_Electoral-Politics_Government-200521-71.html&series=326?fbclid=IwAR1VvjNOx_aUVWXQ2YQXsmeVitnmDdoG_Ia4iaI5ZTNl2a2t-tibHseIcGo How Balanced Voting could Remedy the Electoral College].

OFC 23 May 2020: Food

2022-09-24T23:34:03Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====HEALTHY FOOD and the IMMUNE SYSTEM=====
</center>

* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAtFBvKrVw Interview with Dr. Zach Bush]''', a multidisciplinary American medical doctor addressing the microbiome as a key to well being as it relates to health, disease, the production of food and gut/brain communication. In this interview he speaks on the COVID virus and what we can learn from our own mistakes.
* Michael Pollan: '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c31cAdYUvT8 Food Rules for Healthy People and Planet]'''.
* '''[https://ourworldindata.org/agricultural-land-by-global-diets World Map of Land Use for Food Consumption]'''

From '''[mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess]''':
* A [http://www.pnas.org PNAS.org] report on [https://www.pnas.org/content/114/48/E10301.abstract?fbclid=IwAR3EZzJ7HV2Zzfm0rEH3Xg1H9rEgZnbIZbGqnsmHvbsKuuDDCQswaS2f_eY Nutritional & GHG Impacts of Removing Animals from US Agriculture] contradicts some vegan claims.
* The "'''''[https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0070383 Stella Study]'''''" provides some solid scientific support for my nutritional strategy: "''Eat what you're really hungry for!''""

OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine

2022-09-24T23:31:11Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====Medical Information on COVID-19=====
</center>

* [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith]] found this nice article on "''[http://jick.net/~jess/tmp/VagusNerve.PDF Love Medicine]]''" and the Vagus nerve.
* '''[https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them?fbclid=IwAR16gfXArnK0nMakdhIy_Bzdtk7r9cArh8C1WIlc7vOY8EaPCdN1usQMwyg Know the Risks!]'''
* Ingenious idea from the U.K.: '''[http://jick.net/~jess/tmp/CovidDogs.mp4 COVID Dogs]'''

OFC 25 May 2020: Economics

2022-09-24T23:28:53Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====ECONOMICS=====
Various theories, speculations and opinions...
</center>

* '''[http://qualicuminstitute.ca/money-creation/ Money Creation]''' - ''Qualicum Institute'' - Worth discussing how money is created as I believe most people (including many bank branch managers) do not fully understand. I too could use another lesson. -- [mailto:dougbzowy@gmail.com Doug]
* '''[http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~nroubini/ Nouriel Roubini]''' at NYU Stern School of Business predicts an "[https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/roubini-warns-of-l-shaped-greater-depression-1.1431864 L-shaped 'Greater Depression'] by the mid-2020s. [Paywalled.]
* '''[https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/05/1001142/ai-reinforcement-learning-simulate-economy-fairer-tax-policy-income-inequality-recession-pandemic/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=topic+optin&utm_campaign=awareness&utm_content=20200511+ai+nl&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT0daaFptTTBaRGs1TVRKbCIsInQiOiJLMTZ0R1NOSmM2VVM5SjNjTjRlYTI4UkJkSFhRbnRrY0JDcWZDMzFGSEc1aDBBWlBhV0JqWTY5TEZsaW1mbkt1SGFTbFVoZDRFdGFsN3k3OWMrMFZqRmxKeWl0QWgrNDdURnBNNyt3OWhOdENtTW1WeWdUWjVmVzJjZ05OTW9oVSJ9 Using AI to find a better way]'''
* Thomas Piketty on '''[https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/03/pikettys-new-book-explores-how-economic-inequality-is-perpetuated/ the historical roots of economic inequality]'''
* [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-banks-rates/germans-paid-to-borrow-as-negative-rates-reach-consumers-idUSKBN22W2BG?fbclid=IwAR3KXyjezWm9t3Gj74fBbGsYlUA5kvVxBXrbncRRf3hIa30kOmYzWCWaQSs Germans paid to borrow as negative rates reach consumers].
* [https:''www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/02/age-of-surveillance-capitalism-shoshana-zuboff-review Review] of Shoshana Zuboff's book, "''The Age of Surveillance Capitalism''"

====UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME====
This deserves '''A Page of its Own'''....

OFC 26 May 2020" UBI

2022-09-24T23:24:33Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME=====
</center>

Glossary:
* '''UBI''' = Universal Basic Income; '''GBI''' = Guaranteed Basic Income. (What's the difference? Any other acronyms for the same idea?)

* Thomas Piketty on '''[https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/03/pikettys-new-book-explores-how-economic-inequality-is-perpetuated/ the historical roots of economic inequality]'''
* ''Sun'' article: [https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-explores-universal-basic-income-for-post-pandemic-world/wcm/3a159b1e-dae0-4621-be21-e93ec5d333e9/amp/ B.C. considers post-pandemic UBI]
* On April 17, 2018, ''Global News'' published an [https://globalnews.ca/news/4149318/guaranteed-income-43-billion-a-year/ analysis of a GBI in Canada].
* '''[https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/universal-basic-income-pros-cons Pros & Cons of UBI]'''
* ''Global News'' article "[https://globalnews.ca/news/6804097/canada-basic-income-policy/ Coronavirus pandemic raises question: Is it time for a basic income?]
* ''The Guardian'' calls for a post-COVID-19 '''''[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/24/covid-19-has-changed-everything-now-we-need-a-revolution-for-a-born-again-world Revolution!]''''' (of sorts).
* ''Bloomberg'': Poloz says a '''[https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/cerb-like-mechanism-could-help-country-respond-to-future-economic-shocks-poloz-1.1439551 CERB-like]''' UBI could benefit Canada.
* ''Tamarack Inst.'' is hosting a '''[https://events.tamarackcommunity.ca/basic-income-youth webinar]''' on "Basic Income and Youth" at 9AM PT May -- ''[https://events.tamarackcommunity.ca/basic-income-youth register here]]''.

OFC 13 May 2020: Robots

2022-09-24T23:20:11Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====ROBOTS=====
</center>

Since the invention of power looms in the 18th Century, people have been losing their jobs to automation and complaining bitterly about it. In the 21st Century the machines have been taught to behave "intelligently" and the new boogeyman is the '''robot''' that can not only clean your house and build your car but also ''drive'' your car — probably better than you can. So-called "AI"s have been taught to ''learn like a child'', and as a result are now able to play ''Go'' better than any human, as well as create original poetry, music and art. Philosophers are already locked in debate over whether such simulations of human creativity are ''real'' creativity and whether a machine can be ''conscious'' (whatever that means).

Today a huge number of people have lost their '''jobs''' — usually because those jobs, by their very nature, make physical distancing difficult or impossible, and so have been shut down. Many such jobs could be done by robots, and perhaps ''should'' be done by robots, if they would do them at least as well and more economically.

''But that would put people out of work!'' Well, they already ''are'' out of work.

''But they would lose their income!'' Well, their income is presently being supplemented by what amounts to a Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI).

This situation is meant to be temporary, but what if it became permanent? What if the people who were doing jobs that would be better done by robots had a chance to train for ''better'' jobs while the robots took over their old ones? If the robots really did them better, “productivity” would go up and the government would collect more taxes to continue the GMI.

-- '''[mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess]'''

OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art

2022-09-24T23:18:02Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====ART=====
Post [a link to] your best artistic work here.
</center>

''Please identify yourself'' so we'll know who's presenting what.

I've been having trouble with my browser crashing every time I try to access local files, so rather than trying to manage image files within DocuWiki I've been putting them on [http://jick.net/~jess/OFC/art/ my website] where you can peruse them. So far there are a few of Shel Silverstein's poems (from Jane) and songs (from me) plus a few of my other favorite songs. Just Email me anything you'd like added. -- '''[mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess]'''

* '''??''' will play a recording “Alexandra Leaving” by Sharon Robinson, introduced by Leonard Cohen.

Hello all,
I'm still having problems with this Wiki, so bear with me. First of all, I'm not too excited about artistic work on a philosophy group, but well, it's a free for all, so I am trying to upload a small video about a puzzle that has completely mystifies me. If any of you can find the answer we can discuss it tomorrow. It there is time left, I could read a few pages of one of my novels I published. So here goes. Ok, another problem. I am logged on, yet I get the message I cannot upload files. Jess, if you can tell me how to upload my mystery file, I'd be grateful. -- '''Henk'''

'''Jess''': Can you email it to me, Henk?

OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work

2022-09-24T23:13:07Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
====="WORK" in the Future=====
</center>

* '''Robots'''
* [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-may-24-2020-1.5575621/to-rebuild-the-economy-after-covid-19-we-ll-need-more-government-not-less-jim-stanford-1.5575638 Jim Stanford's opinion]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/30/microsoft-sacks-journalists-to-replace-them-with-robots?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail Microsoft sacks journalists to replace them with robots].
* Semi-relevant essay by [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess]: "[https://medium.com/@jessh.brewer/confessions-of-a-cyborg-db6658e16ce4 Confessions of a Cyborg]"
* Blast from the past (2017): "[http://jick.net/lect/futures/lectSel.php?course=Possible%20Futures&topic=Future%20Economics&lecture=Economics%20of%20the%20Future&lnum=6 Economics of the Future]" (Lecture #6 of Jess' ''Possible Futures'' course)

OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS

2022-09-24T23:09:16Z

Jess:

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
=====TOPICS=====
Enter your favorites here:
</center>

* basic annual income: will not present history or dollar cost. Will summarize end of 2019 situation and propose that an adjustment on income and corporate taxes pay for this BAI. Advocate for universal payments to all and have taxes recapture. Will only speak generally about costs.
* '''Psychological Effects of COVID-19 Social Isolation'''
* '''Medical Information on COVID-19'''
* '''[https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/how-a-landmark-physics-paper-from-the-1970s-uncannily-describes-the-covid-19-pandemic/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=week-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2020-05-01_top-stories Phil Anderson on Emergence]'''
* '''Politics of COVID-19'''
* '''COVID-19 Debt'''
* '''[https://trust.support/watch/inhumanism-rising "Inhumanism"]''' -- Benjamin Bratton
* '''Anthropic Global Climate Change'''
* '''Political (and COVID-19) Music'''
* '''Election Reform'''
* '''Economics'''
* '''Artificial Intelligence in Art & Music'''
* '''Plastics'''
* '''Robots'''
* '''Humanity'''
* '''Healthy Food & the Immune System'''
* '''Universal Basic Income'''
* '''Art''' (visual, audio or written)
* "'''Work'''" in the future
* '''Soil, Carbon & Farming'''
* '''Racism''' in North America and beyond
* '''Internet''' Access as a Basic Human Right?

OFC Meetings

2022-09-24T22:58:54Z

Jess: /* Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress */

[[Oceanside Futurological Congress]] --> here
----

<center>
==Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress==
</center>
This group was originally formed of, by and for the participants in Jess Brewer's Elder College course "'''''[http://jick.net/futures Possible Futures]]'''''", held in the VIU classrom in the Parksville Community Center (above the Library). That course was just for fun (speculating about what the future might be like in several decades) but we opened more doors than we could explore, so we decided to continue on our own.

For two years we met from 2-4 PM on (unless otherwise specified) the '''second''' Tuesday of each month, starting on 13 Feb 2018, in the meeting room upstairs at the ''Qualicum Foods'' grocery store in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. (The first session on 16 Jan was at ''Serious Coffee'' located in south Parksville where Northwest Bay Road intersects the East Island Highway; but it was too noisy for a thoughtful discussion.)

We then were offered the Board Room at Qualicum Foods in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. It has no A/V facilities, but it has a nice big table with comfortable chairs, ideal for plain talk -- which turns out to be a pretty productive medium! See [[OFC Venue Options]].

On 08 Aug 2018 I disabled self-registration, following a flurry of new users with suspicious-looking email addresses (from which none of them have replied in response to gradually less welcoming greetings). If you want an account, ask [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com me] for one, sending me all your information by email. -- '''Jess'''

Then in March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into physical isolation, along with most of the world. But we were not to be diverted so easily from our discussions! Since then we have been meeting ''weekly'' using ''[http://zoom.us Zoom]''. The meetings have no longer been rigorously adhering to the format below, but we all have pretty good habits by now:

====Standard Agenda for Meetings====
* 2:00 Logistics
* 2:05 Presentation by Convener/Moderator (projector provided; BYO computer)
* 2:20 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 2:50 Coffee (etc.) Break
* 3:00 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 3:30 Summary & Conclusions (if any)
* 3:40 Selection of next month's Topic & Convener/Moderator
* 4:00 Adjourn (private discussions may continue)

[[OFC Meeting 1]] (16 Jan 2018 at Serious Coffee): FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 2]] (13 Feb 2018 at Qualicum Foods): PHILOSOPHY AND OUR FUTURE - [mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca Hendrik Witmans]

[[OFC Meeting 3]] (13 Mar 2018 at Qualicum Foods): STUFF -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff] & [mailto:jane.juda@gmail.com Jane Juda]

[[OFC Meeting 4]] (10 Apr 2018 at Qualicum Foods): SENIORS - [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 5]] (08 May 2018 at Qualicum Foods): BACK TO THE FUTURE -
[mailto:donthecoach@rogers.com Don Giberson]

[[OFC Meeting 6]] (12 June 2018 at Qualicum Foods): DEATH IN THE FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders]

[[OFC Meeting 7]] (10 July 2018 at Qualicum Foods): The FUTURE of TRANSPORTATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 8]] (14 Aug 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 9]] (11 Sep 2018 at Qualicum Foods): CHINA of the FUTURE -
[mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 10]] (09 Oct 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Toward a FUTURE MERITOCRACY -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff]

[[OFC Meeting 11]] (13 Nov 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 12]] (11 Dec 2018 at Qualicum Foods): POPULATION and IMMIGRATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

Meeting on 08 Jan 2019 ''cancelled'' due to possible icy roads.

Meeting on 12 Feb 2019 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 13]] (12 Mar 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 14]] (09 Apr 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") with an initial focus on Future Farming

Meeting on 14 May 2019 at Qualicum Foods: Informal Discussion between Hank & Keith on assorted topics (everyone else was away)

[[OFC Meeting 15]] (11 Jun 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all")

[[OFC Meeting 16]] (09 Jul 2019 at Qualicum Foods): DEMOCRACY in the FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders] & free-for-all

[[OFC Meeting 17]] (13 Aug 2019 at Qualicum Foods): ENERGY in the FUTURE - Another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 18]] (10 Sep 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 19]] (08 Oct 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 20]] (12 Nov 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Still another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 21]] (10 Dec 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Starting a NEW free-for-all!

Meeting on 14 Jan 2020 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 22]] (11 Feb 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Starting another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 23]] (10 Mar 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 24]] (14 Apr 2020) was held by videoconference ([http://zoom.us Zoom]) and '''on this wiki'''.

Subsequent meetings were held ''via'' [http://zoom.us Zoom] '''every''' Tuesday at 2 PM for some time, until people decided that was ''too'' often. Then we tried ''every other'' Tuesday for a while; and eventually we went back to ''once a month''. When the pandemic was declared "nearly over" in 2022 there was a movement to return to F2F meetings, the first few of which were at Keith's house in Qualicum; after a while we alternated between F2F and Zoom, and then the F2F contingent dwindled, leaving monthly Zoom meetings... which tended toward more informal discussions of past, present and future topics.

Obviously this "History" is incomplete and needs updating.

[[OFC Meeting 25]]: (21 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 26]]: (28 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 27]]: (05 May 2020 ''via '''Zoom''''')

[[OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music]]

[[OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art]]

[[OFC 13 May 2020: Robots]]

[[OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics]]

[[OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Voting]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Food]]

[[OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine]]

[[OFC 25 May 2020: Economics]]

[[OFC 26 May 2020" UBI]]

[[OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art]]

[[OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]

----

'''[[OFC EXTRAS]]: Spin-Offs, Notices, Polemics ''etc.'''''

OFC 17 Jun 2020: Racism

2022-09-24T22:58:15Z

Jess: Blanked the page

OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music

2022-09-24T22:46:28Z

Jess: /* Political (and COVID-19) MUSIC */

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
===Political (and COVID-19) MUSIC===
Note: apparently ''mediawiki'' rejects '''X = youtu.be''' as a '''spam''' site!
</center>

====Celebrations of POTUS 45====
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNrj87Q-4Yk Don't Lie To Me]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ue5F57dZMU The Day Democracy Died]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAlvBMwN_7U Mr. Tangerine Man]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57jRBt4h6ks Confounds the Science (part 1)]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bgTi1IXDYA Confounds the Science (part 2)]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIGzb_FI0AA Where Have All the Statesmen Gone?]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkU1ob_lHCw The Liar Tweets Tonight]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eR0ckpJ3bk The New Battle Hymn of the Republic]'''

====Celebrations of COVID-19====
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zla_0Wjk0aY Stay the F*ck at Home!]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPDPzbLFeP4 A Spoonful of Clorox]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrtwXqqc6g My Corona]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uDTs-9fq00 My Corona Home]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eo9M4-BrJA Coronavirus Rhapsody]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0HLUa4zTXQ Bohemian Virus Rhapsody]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOS7-4n12c Torn]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYk8dY2xrNo Do I Have the COVID Virus?]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XikW-8AiV5E We Didn't Spread the Virus]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kf-9kx_oSg I Will Learn (1000 Things)]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiAOS92bjeQ Wash Your Hands]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rESOKRRMrg This Is Quarantine]'''
* This '''[https://www.facebook.com/probablytomfoolery/videos/925284527912453/?v=925284527912453 Bedtime Story]''' isn't musical, but it does offer a glimmer of hope -- and from ''Facebook'', no less!

OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music

2022-09-24T22:36:56Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center> ===Political (and COVID-19) MUSIC=== Note: apparently ''mediawiki'' rejects '''X = youtu.be''' as a '''spam''' site! </center> ====Cel..."

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
===Political (and COVID-19) MUSIC===
Note: apparently ''mediawiki'' rejects '''X = youtu.be''' as a '''spam''' site!
</center>

====Celebrations of POTUS 45====
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNrj87Q-4Yk Don't Lie To Me]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ue5F57dZMU The Day Democracy Died]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAlvBMwN_7U Mr. Tangerine Man]'''
* '''https://X/57jRBt4h6ks Confounds the Science (part 1)'''
* '''https://X/2bgTi1IXDYA Confounds the Science (part 2)'''
* '''https://X/hIGzb_FI0AA Where Have All the Statesmen Gone?]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkU1ob_lHCw The Liar Tweets Tonight]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eR0ckpJ3bk The New Battle Hymn of the Republic]'''

====Celebrations of COVID-19====
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zla_0Wjk0aY Stay the F*ck at Home!]'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPDPzbLFeP4 A Spoonful of Clorox]'''
* '''https://X/ojrtwXqqc6g My Corona'''
* '''https://X/0uDTs-9fq00 My Corona Home'''
* '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Eo9M4-BrJA Coronavirus Rhapsody]'''
* '''https://X/K0HLUa4zTXQ Bohemian Virus Rhapsody'''
* '''https://X/6IOS7-4n12c Torn'''
* '''https://X/tYk8dY2xrNo Do I Have the COVID Virus?'''
* '''https://X/XikW-8AiV5E We Didn't Spread the Virus'''
* '''https://X/-Kf-9kx_oSg I Will Learn (1000 Things)'''
* '''https://X/oiAOS92bjeQ Wash Your Hands'''
* '''https://X/7rESOKRRMrg This Is Quarantine'''
* This '''[https://www.facebook.com/probablytomfoolery/videos/925284527912453/?v=925284527912453 Bedtime Story]''' isn't musical, but it does offer a glimmer of hope -- and from ''Facebook'', no less!

OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art

2022-09-24T22:21:56Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC Meetings

2022-09-24T22:21:45Z

Jess:

[[Oceanside Futurological Congress]] --> here
----

<center>
==Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress==
</center>
This group was originally formed of, by and for the participants in Jess Brewer's Elder College course "'''''[http://jick.net/futures Possible Futures]]'''''", held in the VIU classrom in the Parksville Community Center (above the Library). That course was just for fun (speculating about what the future might be like in several decades) but we opened more doors than we could explore, so we decided to continue on our own.

For two years we met from 2-4 PM on (unless otherwise specified) the '''second''' Tuesday of each month, starting on 13 Feb 2018, in the meeting room upstairs at the ''Qualicum Foods'' grocery store in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. (The first session on 16 Jan was at ''Serious Coffee'' located in south Parksville where Northwest Bay Road intersects the East Island Highway; but it was too noisy for a thoughtful discussion.)

We then were offered the Board Room at Qualicum Foods in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. It has no A/V facilities, but it has a nice big table with comfortable chairs, ideal for plain talk -- which turns out to be a pretty productive medium! See [[OFC Venue Options]].

On 08 Aug 2018 I disabled self-registration, following a flurry of new users with suspicious-looking email addresses (from which none of them have replied in response to gradually less welcoming greetings). If you want an account, ask [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com me] for one, sending me all your information by email. -- '''Jess'''

Then in March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into physical isolation, along with most of the world. But we were not to be diverted so easily from our discussions! Since then we have been meeting ''weekly'' using ''[http://zoom.us Zoom]''. The meetings have no longer been rigorously adhering to the format below, but we all have pretty good habits by now:

====Standard Agenda for Meetings====
* 2:00 Logistics
* 2:05 Presentation by Convener/Moderator (projector provided; BYO computer)
* 2:20 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 2:50 Coffee (etc.) Break
* 3:00 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 3:30 Summary & Conclusions (if any)
* 3:40 Selection of next month's Topic & Convener/Moderator
* 4:00 Adjourn (private discussions may continue)

[[OFC Meeting 1]] (16 Jan 2018 at Serious Coffee): FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 2]] (13 Feb 2018 at Qualicum Foods): PHILOSOPHY AND OUR FUTURE - [mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca Hendrik Witmans]

[[OFC Meeting 3]] (13 Mar 2018 at Qualicum Foods): STUFF -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff] & [mailto:jane.juda@gmail.com Jane Juda]

[[OFC Meeting 4]] (10 Apr 2018 at Qualicum Foods): SENIORS - [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 5]] (08 May 2018 at Qualicum Foods): BACK TO THE FUTURE -
[mailto:donthecoach@rogers.com Don Giberson]

[[OFC Meeting 6]] (12 June 2018 at Qualicum Foods): DEATH IN THE FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders]

[[OFC Meeting 7]] (10 July 2018 at Qualicum Foods): The FUTURE of TRANSPORTATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 8]] (14 Aug 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 9]] (11 Sep 2018 at Qualicum Foods): CHINA of the FUTURE -
[mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 10]] (09 Oct 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Toward a FUTURE MERITOCRACY -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff]

[[OFC Meeting 11]] (13 Nov 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 12]] (11 Dec 2018 at Qualicum Foods): POPULATION and IMMIGRATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

Meeting on 08 Jan 2019 ''cancelled'' due to possible icy roads.

Meeting on 12 Feb 2019 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 13]] (12 Mar 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 14]] (09 Apr 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") with an initial focus on Future Farming

Meeting on 14 May 2019 at Qualicum Foods: Informal Discussion between Hank & Keith on assorted topics (everyone else was away)

[[OFC Meeting 15]] (11 Jun 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all")

[[OFC Meeting 16]] (09 Jul 2019 at Qualicum Foods): DEMOCRACY in the FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders] & free-for-all

[[OFC Meeting 17]] (13 Aug 2019 at Qualicum Foods): ENERGY in the FUTURE - Another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 18]] (10 Sep 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 19]] (08 Oct 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 20]] (12 Nov 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Still another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 21]] (10 Dec 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Starting a NEW free-for-all!

Meeting on 14 Jan 2020 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 22]] (11 Feb 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Starting another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 23]] (10 Mar 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 24]] (14 Apr 2020) was held by videoconference ([http://zoom.us Zoom]) and '''on this wiki'''.

Subsequent meetings were held ''via'' [http://zoom.us Zoom] '''every''' Tuesday at 2 PM for some time, until people decided that was ''too'' often. Then we tried ''every other'' Tuesday for a while; and eventually we went back to ''once a month''. When the pandemic was declared "nearly over" in 2022 there was a movement to return to F2F meetings, the first few of which were at Keith's house in Qualicum; after a while we alternated between F2F and Zoom, and then the F2F contingent dwindled, leaving monthly Zoom meetings... which tended toward more informal discussions of past, present and future topics.

Obviously this "History" is incomplete and needs updating.

[[OFC Meeting 25]]: (21 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 26]]: (28 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 27]]: (05 May 2020 ''via '''Zoom''''')

[[OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music]]

[[OFC 12 May 2020: AI Art]]

[[OFC 13 May 2020: Robots]]

[[OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics]]

[[OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Voting]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Food]]

[[OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine]]

[[OFC 25 May 2020: Economics]]

[[OFC 26 May 2020" UBI]]

[[OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art]]

[[OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: Racism]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]

----

'''[[OFC EXTRAS]]: Spin-Offs, Notices, Polemics ''etc.'''''

OFC 13 May 2020: Robots

2022-09-24T22:21:01Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics

2022-09-24T22:20:42Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC

2022-09-24T22:20:22Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 23 May 2020: Voting

2022-09-24T22:20:05Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 23 May 2020: Food

2022-09-24T22:19:49Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine

2022-09-24T22:19:33Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 25 May 2020: Economics

2022-09-24T22:19:17Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 26 May 2020" UBI

2022-09-24T22:19:02Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art

2022-09-24T22:18:50Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work

2022-09-24T22:18:33Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS

2022-09-24T22:18:14Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 17 Jun 2020: Racism

2022-09-24T22:18:00Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center>"

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>

OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil

2022-09-24T22:16:41Z

Jess: /* SOIL, CARBON & FARMING */

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
===SOIL, CARBON & FARMING===
</center>

* '''[https://www.phas.ubc.ca/~gregory/RecentPresentations.html Phil Gregory's Presentations]'''
* '''[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]''' -- a poem by Seamus Heaney

OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil

2022-09-24T22:15:49Z

Jess: /* SOIL, CARBON & FARMING */

OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil

2022-09-24T22:15:26Z

Jess: /* SOIL, CARBON & FARMING */

OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil

2022-09-24T22:15:13Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center> ===SOIL, CARBON & FARMING=== </center> * '''[https://www.phas.ubc.ca/~gregory/RecentPresentations.html Phil Gregory's Presentations]''..."

OFC Meetings

2022-09-24T22:12:40Z

Jess:

[[Oceanside Futurological Congress]] --> here
----

<center>
==Meetings of the Oceanside Futurological Congress==
</center>
This group was originally formed of, by and for the participants in Jess Brewer's Elder College course "'''''[http://jick.net/futures Possible Futures]]'''''", held in the VIU classrom in the Parksville Community Center (above the Library). That course was just for fun (speculating about what the future might be like in several decades) but we opened more doors than we could explore, so we decided to continue on our own.

For two years we met from 2-4 PM on (unless otherwise specified) the '''second''' Tuesday of each month, starting on 13 Feb 2018, in the meeting room upstairs at the ''Qualicum Foods'' grocery store in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. (The first session on 16 Jan was at ''Serious Coffee'' located in south Parksville where Northwest Bay Road intersects the East Island Highway; but it was too noisy for a thoughtful discussion.)

We then were offered the Board Room at Qualicum Foods in (you guessed it) Qualicum Beach. It has no A/V facilities, but it has a nice big table with comfortable chairs, ideal for plain talk -- which turns out to be a pretty productive medium! See [[OFC Venue Options]].

On 08 Aug 2018 I disabled self-registration, following a flurry of new users with suspicious-looking email addresses (from which none of them have replied in response to gradually less welcoming greetings). If you want an account, ask [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com me] for one, sending me all your information by email. -- '''Jess'''

Then in March of 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into physical isolation, along with most of the world. But we were not to be diverted so easily from our discussions! Since then we have been meeting ''weekly'' using ''[http://zoom.us Zoom]''. The meetings have no longer been rigorously adhering to the format below, but we all have pretty good habits by now:

====Standard Agenda for Meetings====
* 2:00 Logistics
* 2:05 Presentation by Convener/Moderator (projector provided; BYO computer)
* 2:20 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 2:50 Coffee (etc.) Break
* 3:00 '''Free Discussion''' (No "monopolizing", please!)
* 3:30 Summary & Conclusions (if any)
* 3:40 Selection of next month's Topic & Convener/Moderator
* 4:00 Adjourn (private discussions may continue)

[[OFC Meeting 1]] (16 Jan 2018 at Serious Coffee): FUTURE DEMOGRAPHICS - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 2]] (13 Feb 2018 at Qualicum Foods): PHILOSOPHY AND OUR FUTURE - [mailto:hwitmans@shaw.ca Hendrik Witmans]

[[OFC Meeting 3]] (13 Mar 2018 at Qualicum Foods): STUFF -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff] & [mailto:jane.juda@gmail.com Jane Juda]

[[OFC Meeting 4]] (10 Apr 2018 at Qualicum Foods): SENIORS - [mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 5]] (08 May 2018 at Qualicum Foods): BACK TO THE FUTURE -
[mailto:donthecoach@rogers.com Don Giberson]

[[OFC Meeting 6]] (12 June 2018 at Qualicum Foods): DEATH IN THE FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders]

[[OFC Meeting 7]] (10 July 2018 at Qualicum Foods): The FUTURE of TRANSPORTATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

[[OFC Meeting 8]] (14 Aug 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 9]] (11 Sep 2018 at Qualicum Foods): CHINA of the FUTURE -
[mailto:kebarnes@shaw.ca Keith Barnes]

[[OFC Meeting 10]] (09 Oct 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Toward a FUTURE MERITOCRACY -
[mailto:2rolandu3@gmail.com Roland Uphoff]

[[OFC Meeting 11]] (13 Nov 2018 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 12]] (11 Dec 2018 at Qualicum Foods): POPULATION and IMMIGRATION - [mailto:jessh.brewer@gmail.com Jess H. Brewer]

Meeting on 08 Jan 2019 ''cancelled'' due to possible icy roads.

Meeting on 12 Feb 2019 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 13]] (12 Mar 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") about possible topics ''etc.''

[[OFC Meeting 14]] (09 Apr 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all") with an initial focus on Future Farming

Meeting on 14 May 2019 at Qualicum Foods: Informal Discussion between Hank & Keith on assorted topics (everyone else was away)

[[OFC Meeting 15]] (11 Jun 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Informal Discussion (a.k.a. "free-for-all")

[[OFC Meeting 16]] (09 Jul 2019 at Qualicum Foods): DEMOCRACY in the FUTURE -
[mailto:flyermanders@gmail.com Philip Manders] & free-for-all

[[OFC Meeting 17]] (13 Aug 2019 at Qualicum Foods): ENERGY in the FUTURE - Another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 18]] (10 Sep 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 19]] (08 Oct 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Yet another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 20]] (12 Nov 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Still another free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 21]] (10 Dec 2019 at Qualicum Foods): Starting a NEW free-for-all!

Meeting on 14 Jan 2020 ''cancelled'' due to heavy snowfall.

[[OFC Meeting 22]] (11 Feb 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Starting another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 23]] (10 Mar 2020 at Qualicum Foods): Another new free-for-all!

[[OFC Meeting 24]] (14 Apr 2020) was held by videoconference ([http://zoom.us Zoom]) and '''on this wiki'''.

Subsequent meetings were held ''via'' [http://zoom.us Zoom] '''every''' Tuesday at 2 PM for some time, until people decided that was ''too'' often. Then we tried ''every other'' Tuesday for a while; and eventually we went back to ''once a month''. When the pandemic was declared "nearly over" in 2022 there was a movement to return to F2F meetings, the first few of which were at Keith's house in Qualicum; after a while we alternated between F2F and Zoom, and then the F2F contingent dwindled, leaving monthly Zoom meetings... which tended toward more informal discussions of past, present and future topics.

Obviously this "History" is incomplete and needs updating.

[[OFC Meeting 25]]: (21 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 26]]: (28 April 2020 ''via'' ''''Zoom'''')

[[OFC Meeting 27]]: (05 May 2020 ''via '''Zoom''''')

[[OFC 02 May 2020: Political Music]]

[[OFC 12 May 2020: AIart]]

[[OFC 13 May 2020: Robots]]

[[OFC 17 May 2020: Plastics]]

[[OFC 19 May 2020: AGCC]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Voting]]

[[OFC 23 May 2020: Food]]

[[OFC 24 May 2020: COVID & Medicine]]

[[OFC 25 May 2020: Economics]]

[[OFC 26 May 2020" UBI]]

[[OFC 02 Jun 2020: Art]]

[[OFC 09 Jun 2020: Work]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: TOPICS]]

[[OFC 17 Jun 2020: Racism]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Soil]]

[[OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging]]

----

'''[[OFC EXTRAS]]: Spin-Offs, Notices, Polemics ''etc.'''''

OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging

2022-09-24T22:11:13Z

Jess: /* Digging */

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
===DIGGING===
====by Seamus Heaney====
</center>

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:

My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds

Bends low, comes up twenty years away

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills

Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft

Against the inside knee was levered firmly.

He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep

To scatter new potatoes that we picked,

Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.

Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

Than any other man on Toner’s bog.

Once I carried him milk in a bottle

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up

To drink it, then fell to right away

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods

Over his shoulder, going down and down

For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap

Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge

Through living roots awaken in my head.

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.

OFC 22 Jun 2020: Digging

2022-09-24T22:10:47Z

Jess: Created page with "OFC Meetings --> here ---- <center> ==Digging== ====by Seamus Heaney==== </center> Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Under my window,..."

[[OFC Meetings]] --> here
----
<center>
==Digging==
====by Seamus Heaney====
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Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:

My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds

Bends low, comes up twenty years away

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills

Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft

Against the inside knee was levered firmly.

He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep

To scatter new potatoes that we picked,

Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.

Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

Than any other man on Toner’s bog.

Once I carried him milk in a bottle

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up

To drink it, then fell to right away

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods

Over his shoulder, going down and down

For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap

Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge

Through living roots awaken in my head.

But I’ve no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I’ll dig with it.