History

Halifax Citadel: Historic Site of Canada

With the outbreak of WW1, few blacks were serving in the Canadian military because of the racial attitudes prevalent at the time. Initially, some blacks attempted to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, but most were rejected. The Department of Militia and Defense’s policy towards recruitment was to defer to the judgement of the individual commanding officer, and since many held deeply ingrained beliefs about the inferiority of blacks, very few were accepted. 
 
 via Parks Canada. http://bit.ly/24LSVEF
via Wikipediai http://bit.ly/2agvrBv

A Brotherhood Of Hard Workers

Boilermaker

For more information viisit www.boilermakers.org

Sometimes I feel that modern digital technology has made our society forget about the original and real innovators in our time. Understanding the scope and importance of traditional trades is important to the long term stability, strength and integrity of our modern domestic city infrastructures.

Computers assist and aid in productivity of our work  there is zero debate about that, however in the end we need strong men and women to execute and build the things we dream of. Manpower is something that can’t be replaced no matter how much technologist try.

What is a Boilermaker?

Many boilermakers are employed in repairing, repiping, and re-tubing commercial steam and hot water boilers used for heating and domestic hot water in commercial buildings and multi-family dwellings. Sometimes these boilers are referred to as pressure vessels. Generally, a pressure vessel is a storage tank or vessel that has been designed to operate at pressures above 15 p.s.i.g. The two main tasks of boilermakers involve using oxy-acetylene gas torch sets to cut or gouge steel plate and tubes, followed by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), or gas metal arc welding (GMAW) to attach and mend the cut sections of tubes and steel plates. 

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Napoleon Hill – Think And Grow Rich

I had a meeting in Ottawa, ON with my mentor and fellow Mount Allison Alumni Isaac Goodine a few months ago, halfway into our conversation he in-trusted and handed me his personal copy of a book called Think and Grow Rich written by Napoleon Hill originally published in 1937. The copy in my hand was a 30th anniversary edition that was re-published in 1967. The book was in frail condition but well intact and over the next few weeks I would begin to learn more about this amazing person who helped inspire a generation to live with more  purpose and conviction in their life.  

Napoleon-Hill-Old-12

Napoleon Hill in Later Years.

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Top Documentary of The Week: America Before Columbus

America Before Columbus

History books traditionally depict the pre-Columbus Americas as a pristine wilderness where small native villages lived in harmony with nature.

But scientific evidence tells a very different story: When Columbus stepped ashore in 1492, millions of people were already living there. America wasn’t exactly a New World, but a very old one whose inhabitants had built a vast infrastructure of cities, orchards, canals and causeways. The English brought honeybees to the Americas for honey, but the bees pollinated orchards along the East Coast. Thanks to the feral honeybees, many of the plants the 

columbus_1772950bEuropeans brought, like apples and peaches, proliferated. Some 12,000 years ago, North American mammoths, ancient horses, and other large mammals vanished. The first horses in America since the Pleistocene era arrived with Columbus in 1493.

Settlers in the Americas told of rivers that had more fish than water. The South American potato helped spark a population explosion in Europe. In 1491, the Americas had few domesticated animals, and used the llama as their beast of burden.

In 1491, more people lived in the Americas than in Europe. The first conquistadors were sailors and adventurers. In 1492, the Americas were not a pristine wilderness but a crowded and managed landscape. The now barren Chaco Canyon was once covered with vegetation. Along with crops like wheat, weeds like dandelion were brought to America by Europeans.

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