Free Virtual Course!

We present here the first in a series of Reinvented Virtual Courses®. Today’s topic: “Important Vocabulary Distinctions for French-Speaking Cabinet Ministers Discussing New Drug Legislation”.

Persecution — The act or practice of persecuting; especially, the infliction of loss, pain, or death for adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship. (From Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913)

Prosecution — The institution and carrying on of a suit in a court of law or equity, to obtain some right, or to redress and punish some wrong; the carrying on of a judicial proceeding in behalf of a complaining party, as distinguished from defense. (From Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913)

Used in a sentence: “The members of the sect were persecuted by their neighbours for their belief in a higher life force controlled by a racoon overlord.” vs. “The teen ruffians were prosecuted by the police for burning down the local elementary school.”

This concludes this course. For more e-learning opportunities, be sure to visit TownSquare.ca.

Comments

Kevin's picture
Kevin on May 28, 2003 - 09:27 Permalink

Education is of utmost importance to Islanders.” That exists at Virt Charl. I’ve mostly stopped grinding this edge (can’t seem to sharpen it) but this one is too bold in it’s “complete unnecessarieness”

Who writes this stuff? Has the research been done? At what point does falling literacy leave us unqualified to use the word “utmost”?

Just because a phrase “couldn’t possibly be anything but true” does not give a writer the right to use it unless a) it has been investigated and found to be true for that use, b) contributes something, and c) doesn’t contain the word “utmost” (unless you are Dick Loudon).

How much “ut” does one need before adding “most”? After grammer comes style; and it should come.

Alan's picture
Alan on May 28, 2003 - 12:44 Permalink

My favorite was that the courses about that Uxbridge, Ontario writer being first on the list!

The real beauty of the densosity shown is the presumption that the market is people in the province/city taking courses in the province/city via the information super highway. Vroom-vroom. That’s some big thinkin’ going on.

Wouldn’t the people of the province be better served by a list of useful courses available from anywhere which can assist in strengthening the provincial/city economy? But that would break the prime unwritten law — the other side of the big water is bad and worse. Don’t look there.

Ken's picture
Ken on May 28, 2003 - 14:09 Permalink

Persecute and prosecute both have the same roots in the word sequence, and in French both are pronounced pers

Ken's picture
Ken on May 28, 2003 - 14:32 Permalink

Town Square is funded by the government, my PEI web index is not.

From box factories to call centres how come so much money is given out to big companies? It is so the province can create jobs, using public funds, in the guise of a private company. This is job laundering.

And these jobs don’t seem to ‘prime’ our economy — in fact at Testori they simply increase the stakes by announcing an expansion plan, and now threatening to leave PEI, unless a deal is struck to keep them here with more government funding.

In fact, since so many workers are in these laundered jobs, it becomes more difficult to find labour, costing more for the company that goes without grants, interest free loans, etc.

Has anyone done an audit to find the total funds given as corporate welfare? Millions of dollars which could go into the foundation of our economy — education, instead used to populate the province with ‘showcase jobs’ that leave us voting for more — and knowing who to vote for.

Alan's picture
Alan on May 28, 2003 - 15:18 Permalink

You are right, Ken, but we can be overwhelmed by the overall stats. Better to start with a specific evaluation of cost and benefits of, say, the 2002 implementation of a 1996 idea like portals and TownSquare. You may still be in the state of shock and awe given the outcome but, if so, it will be managable, describable and remediable indignation rather than general dismay.

Ken's picture
Ken on May 28, 2003 - 15:28 Permalink

General dismay — you said it.
Good idea to use specific evaluations, a new index could be created called the ‘Public Contribution’ or PC investment.

Read my rant about Job Laundering

Alan's picture
Alan on May 28, 2003 - 15:53 Permalink

A real difficulty exists for PEI.

If you go to Guysborough Co or the Great Village area of Nova Scotia you will see areas which, lacking the political rather than economical advancement of funds PEI has received, have suffered economic and community collapses though the 1900’s  — where once thousands and thousands lived and worked there are forests.

Without the intrusions of non-market funding, what would the provincial economy look like. PEI, through no wrong of its own, lacks the presence and history of mining, off-shore fishing, traditional industry, pulp and paper and many other sources of economic wealth in Atlantic Canada. It also lacks the soil, climate and markets of the Holland Marsh. The wacky idea of the IT economy, the aerospace economy, the food industry as an ultimate replacement for these government fundings just makes no economic sense. PEI is a public sector entity and in funded publically. A pal’s MPA prof in the 1980’s stated there was more private sector activity in East Germany than PEI.

This is not a bad thing as it has kept back the forest. PEI’s last provincial audit shows federal funding of provincial government at 41%. This does not include the massive direct federal funding such as the presence of the Summerside Tax Centre and DVA/VAC HQ. Given the alternative of being a scrubby pine woodlot, can it really be changed?