taxes

I like taxes. It reminds me that I'm fortunate enough to make money and gives me the (false?) good feeling that the money is going towards making the whole of our society better by giving to the needy so they don't break into my house or mug my friends or family in the street.

Now, if only the government could tap into the gazillions of profits our oligopolous banks are making off our backs as effectively as it taxes us at the gas pump (right now they're all being declared in offshore tax havens), maybe that money could we finally go to fixing the health care system rather than buying new plasma TVs and collection Ferrarris for the already uber-rich foreign mega-shareholders...

five things

I think the five following things are necessary for motivation and success, at any level, be it personal, professional, industrial, cultural, even national.

1. talent (capability)
2. capital (have the means to apply, e.g., pay the entry fee, start a business, or bribe a diplomat to "join the club" whatever that club may be)
3. desire to achieve (desire to apply)
4. vision (direction, guidance as to apply it wisely to improve chances of achieving the desired impact)
5. confidence in your chances of achieving (believe it is accessible)

The USA has more of all of the above than any other country today, which makes them appear a little arrogant (could it be jealousy?). I believe that collectively, we canadians have the talent, capital, vision and confidence (1,2, 4 and 5), but for some reason we content ourselves with doing little more than shipping our natural resources to the USA so we can buy back finished goods. That's fine if you're content to be no.2 in North America, and somewhere in the top 10 in the world, but I think we could be a lot better, if we only had the couliones (sp?) , the desire to take a little risk and be no.1 in a few things (other than things the rest of the world has banned, like GM foods).

I might have snubbed our yankee neighbours on a few occasions, but in all fairness, I think we have to admit economically we're about as adventurous as buzzards, living off the remains of the kill once the yanks are done with it.

(Thanks NN, RW, DL for helping me come about to see things this way.)

you will respect my authori-tie!

Ref:South Park featuring bleeding statue
Since when do people get so riled up about cartoons?
I can just imagine how much self-restraint it took Parker/Stone NOT to sketch a face-off between Cartman and a Zoo-Kneeland bishop!
Luckily, it backfired, restoring my "faith" in the world. :)

too simple for government

Clarification: When I previously mentioned that I don't expect a city to be run like a private enterprise, I meant a "for-profit" private enterprise.
There are a lot of things the city could learn from not-for-profit organizations like fan clubs. (DL: I'm with you on this one, all the way)
BTW, weren't not-for-profit orgs once called "non-profit"? Does it mean that if they accidentally-on-purpose make a profit, is that ok now?

rest in peace; Good Government on back-order

Why is the CDS meeting with aghan village elders?
Now I know it's important for the 4-star general to support his troops, but to do their job for them? Hillier is not the mission leader, there is another canadian general in charge of that, PLUS he himself has appointed another general in charge of all foreign operations. Why is Hillier intervening/ interfering like that with his own generals?
Afghanistan isn't the only place in the world we've got troops committed to. And meanwhile, who's looking after all the rest of the Canadian Forces that he's in the process of breaking and re-organizing, not to mention the brand-new defence minister? Is he trying to create a diversion from more important but thorny issues? This, combined with the recent splurge of state VIP appearances at military ceremonies and funerals, appears to be yet another unfortunate exhibit that our government is following the US example of favouring political spins and fancy photo ops over good governance. >:(
Note that despite my opposition to these alleged photo-ops, I very much appreciate how important all this is for the families of the deceased. However, I'm concerned that the government (and the media and the general culture) become more focused on glorifying the dead and the mission, than determining whether the mission (and the means) really is in the world's best interest...

today's online poll

Submitted to metronews.ca editor earlier today:

In addition to the poll whether Canada should pull its troops out of Afghanistan or not, you should poll your readers whether Parliament should have a vote so our elected representatives can decide what's in this country's best interests. After all, aren't they the ones we entrusted (and pay a lot of money to) to make these decisions for us?
While I commend you for raising social awareness on this contentious issue, offering people the chance to express their opinions in such a convient pill-popping manner (outside of the system) is damaging to our democracy.

M.Labreche
Ottawa

I just don't get it

What is peoples' obsession with the rich and famous? Is it because they are symbols of everything that we might achieve one day? Is it because people so bored with their own lives that they live the glamour life vicariously through the RAF? Why do people buy magazines about them or obsess over their movies or buy their products? What is it about human nature that makes us instinctively rally around somebody RAF and make them even more RAF? What's in it for us? Gratification when we see them succeed even more?

I find it all so, illogical... and silly... and shallow.

Centuries ago it was royalty, then it became politicians, now it's becoming celebrities. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why can't we content ourselves with what we have, and work hard at making it better for ourselves and those in need? What is the benefit, other than amusement of the poor and the desperate in this completely perverted version of Robin Hood, or this passive-aggressive attempt to destroy our society by rotting it from the inside out?

On this note, the teaser for Mel Gibson's Apocalypto had an applicable quote, something like: "A civilization can only be conquered from the outside when it has already been destroyed from within."

what's good for the good is good for the gander

This is plain senseless:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/03/08/plagiarism-software060308.html
What is wrong with teachers checking their students' papers against a plagiarism service when there is a doubt? Of course any respectable student will string together eight consecutive words from another source, and he/she has the responsibility to give the original author credit for it. If he/she doesn't, then its plagiarism. Copyright and author's rights aside, does the freedom to cheat override the right to an education? With the increased availability of others' materiel online to students, teachers should have access to an increased ability to check!

Democracy v. Religion

Cet article m'a fait réfléchir...
La raison principale pour laquelle je suis contre les fusions municipales, c'est l'anonymat que ressentent les élus et les employés face aux citoyens qui les emploient. Il est très difficile pour qques conseillers surchargés de changer la "culture du moindre effort et des droits acquis." Toutes les réductions de poste de conseiller ont eu pour effet de transférer le pouvoir décisionnel des élus aux non-élus, qui a eu comme conséquence certaines décisions controversées et donc le besoin croissant d'accomptabilité. Me semble que quand t'as un bon ratio citoyen-conseiller, et que les employés de la ville sont chargés du bien-être de leurs propres cartiers, me semble que ces gens seraient mieux disposés à bien servir, si ce n'est que par la pression des voisins...

Comme j'ai déjà dit: plus les élus sont eloignés, moins les citoyens se sentent impliqués, plus les gens se tournent vers d'autres formes de pouvoir, notamment la religion. C'est triste car les religions sont fondamentalement anti-démocratiques, et plus un groupe est fanatique, moins il encourage l'éducation et la liberté de pensée, confiant l'autorité sociale à certains individus qui n'ont pas de "check and balance" autre que la guerre. Cela suggère qu'ils sont contre la guerre mais pas juste pour le bien-être des gens, plutot pour le statu quo de leur pouvoir...

History repeating itself

Isn't it something like this that resulted in the anglican church?

Down another notch

"Back in Ottawa, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton is calling for a parliamentary debate on what he calls a changing and increasingly dangerous mission. But Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said on the weekend that, with more than 2,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, the time for debate and a vote in Parliament has passed."
Source: CBC News

What good are greater accountability and transparency if the government is only going to do what it wants to do anyway?

if I could set the rules... (2)

In schools:
-No junk food in school cafeterias. I don't care that it would violate the freedom to choose what you eat. It's dumb, the kids have little control over it, and many of them will regret it later.
-More general primary and secondary education: it's the time to learn and appreciate various activities and discover your passions (or realize you have no interest in certain things at all). So more languages, music, art, logic, math, philosophy, ecology, geography, etc.
-More phys.ed. in school: team and individual sports, gym, field and pool sports. Especially for those like me who sucked at it. I wish I knew how not to score in my own goal at soccer, for example.
-Find a way to change university funding programs to reduce the incentive on them to drop their standards, recruit like mad, and pump out grads that really won't be able to apply much of what they learned cuz they never got it. That's not doing anybody a favour, plus it's expensive.
More to follow...

if I could set the rules...

• no more stupid pennies
• bury the sales tax in the sticker price: no more guessing if you have enough change to buy something or time wasted counting pennies at the cash
• state broadcaster would air shows about the wrongs english canadians did to french canadians on ENGLISH channels, and vice versa on french channels. We don't gain much by them showing same-sided propaganda.
  
• french canadian film crews would spend more effort publicizing on english media (try to find "les invasions barbares" at a Kanata blockbusters, or even a clerk there who's heard of it). There are a lot of great french canadian movies; english canada could learn a thing or two.
• Increased funding for sistering cities across the country and student exchanges between them - we have a lot to learn from each other.
• Put municipal power back into city council - city amalgamations made the reduced number of councillors a bunch of high-profile rubber stampers who don't have time to actively get involved in real decision-making, resulting in more bureaucrats preserving their self-interests.
• No more splitting utility bills into fourteen different line items - just show me the bottom line. Ditto for marketing campaigns - advertise the bottom line dammit!
  
• Governments at all levels should remind us gently that we all have a responsibility to share what we can with society to make our cities great places to live.
  
• If I wanted our governments to be run like private businesses, I'd live in a timeshare.
  
• I'd have a closer look at companies that post record gains and multi-billion dollar profits quarter after quarter, while their clients (us) have to pay more and more for less and less so their shareholders can further fatten their own pocketbooks. I call that gouging.
• I'd also want to take a closer look at the benefits ratio between CEOs and their lowest employees. As mens' hockey Team Canada proved in Torino, you don't necessarily get someone's heart into something if you only lead them by the chequebook.
• No more celebrity TV shows, if nothing else at least stop the "star sightings". Why are we discouraging multi-million dollar movie stars from leisurely touring and shopping (i.e., redistributing some of their wealth)? To benefit pre-pubescent girls? c'mon! After all, they're real people who happen to be connected, and no matter how much you follow them and shop in the same stores, you won't be any more famous. Get real.
• Everybody should lighten up, not take themselves so seriously. It's ok to be wrong sometimes, it's even better to simply admit you're not sure in the first place. Oh and don't trust anybody who says they have "the truth". Turn around and run. Run like hell. Screaming. And make sure everybody else notices so they remember not to get suckered in next.
• More to follow...
  

even if this isn't how it started...

... most organized religions seem to have evolved as if it were...
(This is a more cynical view than even I usually take!)

life and taxes

Tax is a good thing. It ensures that some of our money gets recirculated in our society, so that not all our money gets turned into profit for a select bunch of already super-rich foreign investors. Taxes keep the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer. Now if only there was a way to prevent bureaucracy from taking such a generous cut...

human rights vs social responsibility

The CRTC is considering granting licences to Chinese state-run television station(s). Protestors demonstrated outside the CRTC today against turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses and licencing the "communist propaganda outlets." The CRTC is proceeding because apparently they have received thousands of requests, which somehow brings me to ponder the larger issue whether stupidity a basic human right, or does the state (i.e., society) have an obligation to curtail self-destructive behaviour?