Articles in Ideas

Find Out if You Have a Radon Problem
Radon is responsible for 1,000 preventable deaths a year, even though the one-time cost of testing your house for radon is $30 or less.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 17, 2016 in Ideas (0 comments)

The Math of Taxes: Pricing and Cost of Services
The way we pay for municipal services and roads is a bizarre system of hidden subsidies which encourage waste.
by Ted Mitchell
Published October 25, 2014 in Ideas (6 comments)

A Multi-Use Trail on Our Hydro Corridor
Imagine a trail that encircles the city and connects with the Hamilton-Caledonia Trail, Chedoke Radial Trail, Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail, Red Hill Trail, Escarpment Rail Trail and several conservation areas and parks.
by Jason Leach
Published March 04, 2014 in Ideas (14 comments)

The Experimental Lakes Area: War on Science, or War on Canada?
Stephen Harper's this ideological war is part of a larger worldview, one that seeks to remove everything but economic interests from his version of reality.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 11, 2013 in Ideas (8 comments)

Repositioning Hamilton As The Gateway To The Niagara Region
As we seek to establish our place and identity, Hamilton tends to orient itself with relation to Toronto - but if we chose to, we could look east to the Niagara Region instead.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published February 17, 2013 in Ideas (17 comments)

The 'Idaho Stop' and Why Some Cyclists Disobey Stop Signs
There's a good reason cyclists want to conserve momentum, particularly when there are no other vehicles around.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published November 16, 2011 in Ideas (46 comments)

Enjoy The Present Golden Age
You are living a life that future generations may greatly envy.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published October 29, 2011 in Ideas (17 comments)

Bridging The Gap Between The City And Its Citizens
There is a fundamental disconnect between how Public Works views the city and how residents view the city. To Public Works, the city is infrastructure, but to citizens, it's living space.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published June 05, 2011 in Ideas (17 comments)

The Future of West Harbour and Barton-Tiffany
A re-imagined Rheem Factory is worth examining. Hamilton has an exciting opportunity to resurrect a piece of our industrial past and weave it into the fabric of new residential development.
by Matt Jelly
Published May 18, 2011 in Ideas (116 comments)

The Demotechnic Index: Human Energy Units
What if it was easy to compare energy from the food you eat, exercise you do, fossil fuels you burn and household electricity you use?
by Ted Mitchell
Published April 11, 2011 in Ideas (9 comments)

In Which the Dreaded Leaf Blower Gets its Comeuppance
Ted Mitchell explains in painstaking detail exactly why you find leaf blowers so damned annoying.
by Ted Mitchell
Published October 27, 2010 in Ideas (66 comments)

Dave Braden: Interview with the Guru of Efficient Home Design
Dave Braden's own house might be the most energy efficient in the whole country when it is fully completed, but there is nothing especially high tech or secret about this style of building.
by Ted Mitchell
Published December 16, 2009 in Ideas (12 comments)

The HST Does Not Matter
Never mind the HST. We need to talk about an unsustainable fossil fueled economy, health care, poverty, transportation infrastructure, the role of cities, foreign policy, and the military.
by Ted Mitchell
Published December 06, 2009 in Ideas (38 comments)

Too Fast for Conditions
With some high school physics, we can roughly determine a safe vehicle speed given weather conditions for various tires on various surfaces and at various speeds.
by Ted Mitchell
Published February 11, 2009 in Ideas (9 comments)

Home Renovation Tax Credit: Clever but Harmful
Any renovation program should put highest priority on retrofits of existing leaky buildings to make them more efficient, reduce pollution, contribute to urban renewal and enhance housing values.
by Ted Mitchell
Published February 11, 2009 in Ideas (2 comments)

What's Up With Fluoride?
My take on water fluoridation, based on current scientific knowledge, is that the benefits outweigh the risks.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 26, 2008 in Ideas (45 comments)

Three Inconvenient Things
There are three nasty sources of air pollution very close to home that nobody seems to recognize as a problem.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 04, 2008 in Ideas (13 comments)

LHIN Hammers McMaster
The plan to convert McMaster to a pediatric ER and ICU is marred by narrow administrative agendas, the absence of meaningful public consultation, and missing mechanisms of accountability.
by Ted Mitchell
Published October 02, 2008 in Ideas (1 comment)

Bring on the Gas Tax
Let's stop paying the high price of fossil fuels through the subsidized method of general taxation.
by Ted Mitchell
Published September 11, 2008 in Ideas (2 comments)

HHS Proposal Defenders Dodge Questions
Providing quality health care is not about sacred packages of philosophy which must not be tainted! You need to listen to feedback from the public and community physicians.
by Ted Mitchell
Published September 11, 2008 in Ideas (15 comments)

Not My Problem: Taking Responsibility for Air Quality
How long can we say "Not my problem"?
by Ted Mitchell
Published June 05, 2008 in Ideas (6 comments)

Air Quality: Catching the Turkeys
Broad improvements produce underwhelming results, while replacing the really bad polluters is mandatory if we are serious about improving air quality.
by Ted Mitchell
Published March 24, 2008 in Ideas (0 comments)

HHS Restructuring: Trading Medicine for Administration
Physicians need to deal with complex issues that encompass the whole of human experience, but business people live in a more narrowly defined world.
by Ted Mitchell
Published February 14, 2008 in Ideas (8 comments)

Architecture of Isolation
Can social architecture find an optimal balance between privacy and community?
by Ted Mitchell
Published January 18, 2008 in Ideas (3 comments)

A Shovel in Hand
Maybe the real battle is not to be found in this newsworthy stuff. Maybe real change comes from right there inside you.
by Ted Mitchell
Published December 20, 2007 in Ideas (1 comment)

Measuring Progress on the Red Hill Parkway
Improvements in net economic development, municipal taxes, road congestion, and air quality helped sell this project and need to be verified or refuted.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 27, 2007 in Ideas (14 comments)

Washout
Does the Radial Trail closing represent a legitimate threat or some CYA by the city?
by Ted Mitchell
Published October 22, 2007 in Ideas (3 comments)

Bad Intensification Hurts Good Intensification
The Chedoke development proposal amounts to more residential development within a uniformly residential area.
by Ted Mitchell
Published September 28, 2007 in Ideas (6 comments)

Stay In Your Lane
On plucking the low-lying fruit of safe driving.
by Ted Mitchell
Published June 27, 2007 in Ideas (4 comments)

Harm and Offense
Every contentious issue can be constructively approached only if the concept of harm is acknowledged and acted upon.
by Ted Mitchell
Published May 18, 2007 in Ideas (3 comments)

Alternative Power: Making Sense of New Technologies
The internal combustion engine's days are numbered. What will take its place?
by Ted Mitchell
Published April 10, 2007 in Ideas (15 comments)

Why Trucks Suck
Far too many people make irrational choices of vehicle, and manufacturers continue to use obsolete engineering in their trucks.
by Ted Mitchell
Published February 26, 2007 in Ideas (75 comments)

The Decision Matrix: Buying a Car
Use a decision matrix to compare criteria and identify the choice that best meets your neds.
by Ted Mitchell
Published January 10, 2007 in Ideas (5 comments)

It's a MADD World
MADD Canada compromises its integrity by endorsing an automobile company focused on building unsafe SUVS.
by Ted Mitchell
Published December 13, 2006 in Ideas (17 comments)

The No Feedback Culture
In this state of denial, you are not responsible for the consequences of your actions as long as no one exposes the real you.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 23, 2006 in Ideas (0 comments)

Science, We Need You Back
People have lost the ability to think now that they are firmly in the grip of the cult of technology.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 08, 2006 in Ideas (9 comments)

Straight Talk About Clean Air
The federal Conservatives want to change the environmental focus from a climate change strategy to a clean air strategy. I'm with Mr. Harper on this one, if he really means it.
by Ted Mitchell
Published October 20, 2006 in Ideas (6 comments)

Crimes Against Vanity
Ted Mitchell is guilty as charged, and here's the evidence to prove it.
by Ted Mitchell
Published July 05, 2006 in Ideas (0 comments)

GRIDS and Lost Opportunity
Outer greenfield development takes people and money out of the core. It is a zero sum game or worse, and the empirical proof is in your taxes.
by Ted Mitchell
Published May 26, 2006 in Ideas (1 comment)

Wheel of Misfortune: Religion, Conflict, and Cooperation
Religions exist on a continuum from deep contemplation and thoughtfulness on one end to superficiality and vanity on the other.
by Ted Mitchell
Published March 01, 2006 in Ideas (0 comments)

Dictating Democracy
Canadian voters are poised to offer up another minority government. That just might mean we are fed up with dictators.
by Ted Mitchell
Published December 14, 2005 in Ideas (1 comment)

Diagnosing our Health Care Woes
Health care privatization misses the real cause of Canada's health care funding problem: Big Pharma.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 28, 2005 in Ideas (0 comments)

Reclaiming Reality
Every time you go for a walk and get more enjoyment from it than by buying into the latest fad, you vote against economics defining your life.
by Ted Mitchell
Published November 10, 2005 in Ideas (0 comments)

The Death of Imagination and Debate
The real enemy of progress and democracy is not the "other guy", the one on the right or left, but decisions to stifle discussion, sling mud, and reduce argument to ad-hominem attacks.
by Ted Mitchell
Published September 15, 2005 in Ideas (1 comment)

How to be a Scientist
Anyone can think like a scientist, and I urge you to try it because there is precious little good scientific thinking around.
by Ted Mitchell
Published June 16, 2005 in Ideas (6 comments)

Truth, Lies and Marketing
Since we are generally lazy, we don't bother to go looking for the truth. Automobile marketers take full advantage.
by Ted Mitchell
Published May 31, 2005 in Ideas (0 comments)

Giving Up Our Independence
Losing one's driver's licence is only devastating because we've become so completely dependent on our cars.
by Ted Mitchell
Published May 16, 2005 in Ideas (0 comments)

True and False Freedoms
To most of us, true freedoms are exceedingly boring. That is, until you are held up at the border based on your surname or skin colour, or falsely accused of a crime. The stakes are suddenly very high.
by Ted Mitchell
Published January 14, 2005 in Ideas (0 comments)

In Defence of Generalists
The science of organized complexity is interdisciplinary and best integrated by generalists, but its problems are often oversimplified by mistakenly - or deliberately - applying the wrong tools to understand those problems.
by Ted Mitchell
Published December 14, 2004 in Ideas (0 comments)

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