For the first time that I can remember in my life, I’m reading fiction of my own free will. I’ve a prolific reader, I love reading, but I always read with a purpose and I see little purpose to reading fantasy. I’ve always been this way.

I remember at age 8, my grade two teacher assigned a book report project. The class went to the library to pick out a small book. I managed to sneak away into the section of the library dedicated to the middle school teenagers (grades 6 –8) and I found a gigantic National Geographic book about The Solar System. It was huge, I could barely carry it. I was told to get a book from the children’s section instead. I refused and eventually I was allowed to sign out this non-fiction tome.

I remember reading it and the enjoyment I received from doing so. The book was 284 pages and entitled National Geographic’s Picture Atlas to Our Universe. I learned a lot reading those pages and felt pretty smart afterwards.

This continued for the rest of my elementary and secondary education. If I could get away with ditching a fiction book for non-fiction I would. I never bothered to do much with fiction, when forced to read it, I only did so because it was a requirement and only did a minimal book report in the end.

Near the end of high school, I did read some Star Wars science fiction. I found books by Timothy Zahn to be engaging and I always buy Star Wars books written by him. …

So, after much peer pressure, I’ve reactivated my Facebook account. I don’t intend to use the site as much as I used to and my use will be limited. No more sharing of my YouTube favourites, no more status updates, and no more uploading of photos.

Many of my friends complained about not being able to invite me to events and that I was being anti-social by not commenting on their statuses and such. I’ll probably still be anti-social, but at least they’ll be able to invite me to events I probably be too busy working to attend. …

The Toronto Star ran a piece on this topic on Sunday. It did not appear in any of the Google searches I ran prior to posting my own piece entitled “Why the Canadian media is increasing irrelevant”. The graphic attached to the article shows the potential area of the debris field which does not cover a major urban area. The plane flew near Midland, but at no point was Midland below the flight path. I choose Midland as the example based upon the flight arc I linked to. …

The big news story of the last few days was the terror attack against Northwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day. It is yet another story that reveals why the Canadian media is becoming irrelevant. There hasn’t been much of a Canadian angle to the story published by our news outlets beyond the regurgitation of statements by the Canadian government.

All of our major news outlets are republishing and broadcasting reports primarily from American wire services. There is very little original reporting on the Canadian aspects to this story. Yes, Canadian media outlets have interviewed the Canadian passenger on the flight, but they haven’t gone much further than this.

Transatlantic flights follow a great circle route that takes them though Canadian airspace en route to their destinations. The Amsterdam to Detroit flight path is no different. (NWA 253 Flight Route)

When the terrorist attempted to blow up Flight 253, he did so over Canadian airspace. This is an extremely important angle to the story. The Lockerbie bombing resulted in 270 deaths after a terrorist exploded a device in mid-air resulting in the break-up of the Pan-Am Boeing 747.

Eleven of those deaths were on the ground when the remains of the aircraft fell to the ground.

Here’s the question I’d like to see answered in the Canadian media; where was NWA 253 over Canadian airspace when the terrorist attempted to combust his explosive device and does the Canadian government have the capability to respond to a Lockerbie-like incident?

A plane falling apart over Midland would require a massive emergency response. …

I’m a fan of The Ting Tings, so I generally like anything new they put out. They released a variation of their song Shut Up and Let Me Go. Not a big fan of it, but I’m going to share it anyway.

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It’s really the thought that counts

• Francophones less likely to see value in university education: http://tgam.ca/F5k #cdnpse #
• Woman's groups making themselves heard about gender imbalance in higher ed. http://bit.ly/5BSFP7 and http://bit.ly/8bYHwz #cdnpse #
• Confusing CBC article Halifax city councillor who doesn't want anti-student bylaw similar to Oshawa: http://bit.ly/4MtEm8 #cdnpse #
• If I read another "people talk on Facebook about [subject]," I'm going to scream. So what, my dog has an opinion too. #
• @danigirl1987 yes, as part of a bet in high school. Lasted only about an hour before I decided my spine was important to me. in reply to danigirl1987 #
• Wow, Michigan State BB coach makes $8.7 million in 2006: http://chronicle.com/article/B…..ate/62636/ #
• @alexsevigny What are the fringe benefits in your lab? Free food? Cool furniture? Proximity to campus pub? Unlimited supply of coffee? #
• @danigirl1987 heels? Seriously, women amaze me. I can't walk in heels and can barely avoid slipping in winter boots. in reply to danigirl1987 #
• The European Union is looking to fund partnerships between EU and #cdnpse institutions. Call for proposals here: http://bit.ly/4CaXLL #

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Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is looking to take a break from his troubles on Parliament Hill in the new year by returning to the ivory tower, sorta.

No, he’s not leaving politics for the sanctuary of an academic posting, he’s going to visit 11 university campuses during the second week of January to speak with students. The Liberal news release is available here.

Last year, both Jack Layton and Elizabeth May conducted speaking tours visiting campuses across the country. May’s visits were extremely successful in generating media coverage for her and, to a lesser extent, her party.

With Iggy needing to rebrand himself and rebuild his party, visiting campuses seems like a smart move. Combined with the “Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge” conference his party is organizing to occur in Montreal during March, it appears the Liberals may be embracing Ignatieff’s intellectual nature and promoting themselves as the party of thinkers.

One of the downfalls of Stephane Dion was the failure of the Liberals to embrace Dion’s intellectual nature and to make that a positive about him. Instead, they tried to hide this and Dion appeared to be fake to the public. I remember meeting Dion during his first visit to Hamilton as Liberal leader. I remember distinctly how awkward he was and how he tried to make statements that reflected what spin doctors were advising him to say instead of what he thought.

The Liberal Party of Canada has an opportunity to rebrand Ignatieff in the new year. …

• I'm at McDonald's again. It's a great study spot, probably shouldn't be tweeting and spreading the word. #
• Only McGuinty can prevent college strike. My latest @globecampus: http://tgam.ca/F10 #cdnpse #
• @cdnpse It's more that I'm married to my school work and writing. in reply to cdnpse #
• @TerryFallis I thought you were playing Jeopardy. Guess I'll have to wait two hours. in reply to TerryFallis #
• @TerryFallis What is a book? #
• Me like cookie monster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYsi7Ro9ljQ #
• Damn, I'm out of chocolate. I can go to the store, but it was much more fun to raid the gf's gift last year. Being single sucks at times. #
• @cuppres I'd use something along the lines of "North American's oldest student media cooperative" This is why I'm not a copy editor in reply to cuppres #
• @cuppres We drink a lot in reply to cuppres #
• Okay, next week I'm writing about cute rabbits with waffles on their heads. #
• @SheenaGoodyear "Not by targeting the obese, but by targeting the real problem: poor lifestyles and eating habits." in reply to SheenaGoodyear #
• @SheenaGoodyear I agree, that's why I said Lincoln U was misguided (wrong) in how they implemented the course. in reply to SheenaGoodyear #
• @SheenaGoodyear: I've never said there should be a physical requirement or rules about body to graduate. I agree there should not. #
• @SheenaGoodyear Unis can make certain non-subject courses mandatory; no debate. I see a course focused on healthy living being similar.

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What purpose does it serve?

I’m working on a story related to Oshawa continued anti-student posturing tonight. As part of my story, I’m reading all the coverage I did for Maclean’s and getting nostalgic.

Erin Millar and I did an amazing job of covering higher education back in 2007 and 2008. She did an amazing job building that site and we were the top source for higher education coverage in Canada.

I like to think we raised the bar forcing the creation of GlobeCampus and the new University Affairs.

Anyway, my experiences as a journalist are another series of blog posts and not what I started this post to discuss.

Back to the point – as I was saying, I’m looking at my old articles and I miss the old Joey Coleman. You remember, the smart ass, fun loving guy. The guy who did nothing in life beyond blogging, working at the parking garage on weekends and evenings to subsidize that blogging, school, and sometimes slept.

While, there is no going back to those days. I work 8am – 12 noon M-F at the parking garage. I’m taking tougher courses, and have rediscovered my friends. (They’re nice people who like to see me every few weeks or so)

That said, I do want to return to blogging more often and doing some form of a regular higher education update on joeycoleman.ca along the lines of the ON CAMPUS DAILY UPDATES I wrote back in the Maclean’s days. Reading the update I wrote for 06 November 2007, I smile at how much fun I had. …

A couple of months ago, I experimented with Delicious in an attempt to share what I’m reading with others. I kept up with it for a few weeks, got busy, and never returned to updating the bookmarks.

Now that I’m finally rebuilding joeycoleman.ca, I need something to write about. I still wish to share what I’m reading with others. I’m going to do this on my blog in a new category entitled recent reads; this is the first post.

An amazing article published by the United Kingdom’s The Daily Mail expresses concerns about what appears to be the lack of social mobility in today’s British society. Due to the massification of higher education, the value of an undergraduate degree has greatly diminished resulting in less opportunity resulting from the degree. Despite the massification, the number of students from the lowest social economic groups has not grown significantly; it is the middle and upper classes which are benefitting. The column asks a great question: is increasing the number of students attending university actually boosting social mobility? The author, Ryan Shorthouse, notes that the graduate premium often cited (uni grads make more than high school grads) is based on the earning of students in the 70s before the age of purchased internships, non-paid internships, and the necessity of grad school, and student debt; all factors that hinder climbing the social ladder. As someone from the lowest social-economic classes, I read this with interest. I know that I haven’t been able to find an internship that pays enough for me to support myself during it. …

• @alexsevigny Spacing is a hot item these days, and leading the "community building" revolution for magazines. in reply to alexsevigny #
• @qui_oui yeah, Christmas parties are fun in reply to qui_oui #
• @alexsevigny According to @qui_oui status, she's at a CFS-O mtg. I'm working on my writing. Way to go us on a Saturday night. in reply to alexsevigny #
• @wolfewylie @danigirl1987 very nice tree! in reply to wolfewylie #
• @smilnar Sarah, you'll have to do better for an excuse than leaning on Word's spell check; blame an editor for eating my homework in reply to smilnar #
• Working on my personal website with very slow Rogers internet tonight. I can barely stream a radio station. #
• @Ubyssey is live streaming the AMS Council (Univ. Brit. Columbia) meeting. (TheUbyssey live › http://ustre.am/8G8R) #
• @taylorloren Now, that's the most fun I've had tonight. in reply to taylorloren #
• Interesting #amscouncil comment regarding Olympics; there will be protests. Does this incident rein in Frederick or not? #
• @DanPagan what, his multi-million retirement pay out isn't enough? in reply to DanPagan #
• @cup72 plus, being at the CBC, she's a contender to be the next Governor General! in reply to cup72 #
• @jasonachiu I know Erin's going in reply to jasonachiu #
• @TheAgenda With the political turmoil and economic situation, an exploration of Romania be informative #youragenda in reply to TheAgenda #
• @jasonachiu Millar…. oops in reply to jasonachiu #
• @emmagodmere did you get a picture?

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