with us, or...

"The concept of a collective guilt is a flawed morality," she says. "The idea that 'We're on the side of God and everyone else is evil' has and always will be disastrous."
Shadia Drury, a philosophy professor and Canada Research Chair for Social Justice, and author of "Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics and the Western Psyche."
Another book for me to read (someday).

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=249e7155-1044-463f-a1d4-6f5cafa5912b&k=80884

value of recycling paper

By Recycling 1 ton of paper you save:
17 trees 6953 gallons of water
463 gallons of oil
587 pounds of air pollution
3.06 cubic yards of landfill space
4077 Kilowatt hours of energy
thanks toiletpaperworld

correlations do not imply causal relationships!

After receiving a chain mail about the "dangers" of microwave ovens and then pointing out that Snopes.com proved it to be a cheap emotional attempt to promote nonsense, the sender mentioned that "microwaves for being around for several decades....hasn't cancer also been on the rise in the last couple of decades......"
Those that know me know that I can't let that kind of invalid association go unchecked. I replied the following:

as are synthetic fabrics, plastics, toxins from industrial processes, processed foods, and the erosion of natural habitats that buffer human pollution. On the "up" side, we have longer life expectancies, political stability, education, careers, internet, ample food and clothing, infrastructure to keep us warm in winter, cool in summer... the only thing you can sustain indefinitely is balance, but nobody seems to agree as to where the right mix is or what factors to include. why? because human nature does not appear to be programmed that way since, sadly, the only way we can keep our mental and physical skills at their best is through continued conflict.

This is why civilizations rise and fall, and ours has already peaked.

pride versus responsibility

I recently asked the following question after reading a ridiculous disclaimer buried deep within a website that claims a more natural lifestyle while denouncing big industry.

If you believe in your message as much as your products, why the lengthy and extensive disclaimers?

This is nicely linked with my general observation that once marketeers or accountants take over a business, the company is doomed because their product is no longer the focus of operations, becoming an annoying detail that they need to hire lawyers to protect them from if ever their neglect or misleading claims leads to someone's harm.

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day
"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration."

INTERESTING STATISTIC

Along the lines of the Queen revoking their independence:

INTERESTING STATISTIC
Regardless of where you stand on the issue of the U.S. involvement in Iraq, here's a sobering statistic:

There has been a monthly average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths. That gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 persons for the same period. That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capital than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion: The U.S. should pull out of Washington

Senate defamation

In the conclusion to his speech to the Senate on bill S-4 on Sept 7, 2006, Prime Minister Harper said:

In conclusion, I would like to read a quote from a book I reviewed recently. On page 206, the author writes, and I quote:
"Probably on no other public question in Canada has there been such unanimity of opinion as on that of the necessity for Senate reform."
The author is Robert MacKay.
The book is The Unreformed Senate of Canada.
The year is 1926.
Honourable Senators, this institution, the Senate of Canada, must truly change.
And I hope you join us, the Government and the Canadian people, in being a constructive partner in that change.
Passage of S-4 would be a modest move forward.
And after that, we will continue to move forward with further proposals.
- As part of our plan to give Canadians the accountable, democratic institution they desire - and deserve.

Why does he imply that the Senate has not undergone any change since 1926? I cannot bring myself to believe that he is not aware that:

In 1927, Canada's highest court ruled that women could sit as Senators. Four months later, the government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King recommended for appointment Canada's first female senator;

Since 1965, newly appointed members may not sit in the Senate after reaching the age of seventy-five; and

Since 1985, the Speaker is authorized to appoint another Senator to take his or her place temporarily. (This last change appears minor, but is significant in that it allows the Senate to continue functioning despite the absence of the official Speaker.)

Despite the fact that there have been many attempts at revamping the senate, all of which have failed, it drives me nuts to witness deliberate misinformation. All the more so since it originates from the most influential office in Canada.

There are many other reasons why Senate reform should be pursued. Why did he choose to invoke such an outdated assessment? Why doesn't the Senate sue the PM for libel/slander? Now THAT would be exciting!

(sidenote: this came close:

Bellavance, “Senator Files Defamation Suit against Bloc MP," A8. In April 1998, then Bloc Québécois MP Jean-Paul Marchand sent his constituents, at taxpayers’ expense, an anti-Senate leaflet in which certain Senators, myself included, were named as collecting a House of Commons pension along with their Senate salaries. In response, I launched a defamation suit in Québec Superior Court. Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette, who was also smeared by the leaflet, filed a similar action. Mr. Marchand later apologized, calling his own actions “a deplorable mistake.” Eventually, he agreed to pay an out-of-court settlement. On the other side of the chamber, former Senator Ron Ghitter (PC – Alberta) successfully filed suit against Rob Anders for remarks made by the Calgary MP in a Reform Party fundraising letter.

Unfortunately, despite any possible excess of self-interest, I really don't think the Senate has enough influence to compete against Harper and the best lawyers oil money and tithing can buy.

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Senate
http://www.sen.parl.gc.ca/sjoyal/Joyal's%20book%20docs/Introduction%20(Eng).htm

Templeton Prize

I could have come up with this too! Wait a minute, my ENTIRE BLOG (nearly) is about this!
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/03/14/taylor-templeton.html?ref=rss

Geekiness

1. Happy Pi day !~!
2. Physics graffiti: "Heizenberg may have been here"
3. Engineering mantra: "Cows are round"

mercury fillings

When the universal quest for health collides with greed, the collision is loud and dangerous. People get hurt by those they expect, at minimum, to do no harm.

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mercury.html

I love this text despite how much I hate:
a) the snake-oil salesmen it exposes,
b) the infotainment "news" industry that shines a spotlight on them and attract the naive, and
c) the bottom-line-hungry scammers that try to capitalize on the resultant yet unfounded shift in public desire.

reasonable accommodations

Neat - this more of less explains the social framework for reasonable accommodations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laïcité

It also puts a finger squarely on my strong but heretofore inexplicable resentment toward Harper's speech-enders:

Laicite relies on the division between private life, to which religion belongs according to it, and the public sphere, in which each individual should appear devoid of ethnic, religious or others particularities, and as a simple citizen equal to all others citizens.

federal bilingualism - a constitutional supply and demand problem

Le livre "Sorry I Don't Speak French" dont traite cet article est un constat intéressant et franc de la politique fédérale de bilinguisme; surtout l'énoncé sur les aspirations des étudiants universitaires. La fonction publique a beau essayer d'être bilingue, les institutions académiques gérées par les provinces n'y accordent aucune importance.

Comment alors régler ce problème d'offre et de demande constitutionellement au-délà des compétences fédérales?
Meanwhile, if somebody wants to buy/or lend me this book... :)

democracy - where it isn't today

Been thinking lately about "democracy," what it means and why it arose.
Why? Well, doing the same thing and expecting a different result is insanity.
I find it helpful to examine a problem from a different perspective, and a higher-order point of view provides me with a clearer sense of the purpose and the overarching aims of the situation at hand.
People don't usually have a problem with facts, but Truth (being "what you believe" according to George Costanza) is a matter of Faith and cannot be justified nor debated rationally without compromising one's feeling of integrity and place in the world. Traditionally, when societies believed they needed more control out of fear of lack of resources or to counter a perception of weakness, the leader (whether self-made, appointed, selected or inherited) would send people to fight so that the one "perspective" could be imposed (and -what a coincidence!- the power structure that it justifies) allowing for the majority to enjoy peace through oppression. Economic stability depended on this social stability, which typically is short-lived because power corrupts and the system collapses. A better model was required.

Democracy provides a forum where people of different ideas, different ideals, different values, can (and should be encouraged to) share their views, exchange their experiences, discuss their priorities, and come to a greater understanding of the problems affecting each group/region and find solutions for the greater good. In principle. In practice, proportional representation democracies are too unstable to advance any particular cause, and the major parties in first-past-the-post democracies become too self-absorbed to actually work for the greater good or establish programs beyond the next winner-takes-all election.

I feel Canadian politics is in this particular state. Ottawa is becoming stale. The Conservatives, barely on life-support during the Chretien years, have been born again and came back to the Hill like a starving rabid dog finally let loose in a schoolyard. The Grits are still finding themselves after too many years under one man. Canadian voters are on the brink of sending them through the same purgatory. This would not be to anybody's benefit beyond the sadistic pleasure of revenge of a few, as we would be hit with too many changes too far in the opposite direction, the government will lose what little precious respect it has left, and people will start turning to other forms of authority (like - gasp - religion).

But I try not to care. I try to remind myself that people need to come to their own conclusions and if that means cutting off their noses to spite their faces, so be it. It just hurts so much to watch them bleed and stain the rest of us and then claim that this is His will.

path of least resistance

Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.
-Albert Einstein

That makes me feel better about always taking the path of greatest resistance.

the importance of sunset clauses

"There is a momentum behind change - we cannot put the genie back in the bottle."
-Jack Straw, British Commons leader, cited in http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=8f0ef114-32bc-4f0a-8e1c-cabfe7059461&k=26337

Sober second thought has always been one of the main functions of the Senate, but since that is changing too, I think it is extremely important that sunset clauses be added to all major new laws, especially reactionary laws, so they may be revisited in a few years' time once tempers have cooled. Otherwise we might end up too far down a certain path before realizing that's not where we were wanted to go.

Canada's Best Think Tank

At least, so believes Thomas Axworthy, once executive director of the Historica Foundation.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=ArchivedFeatures&Params=A254

Aside; I highly doubt Mr. Axworthy is an avid reader of www DOT canadafreepress DOT com. I'm not endorsing them by providing a hyperlink for two reasons: (1) their website is loaded with popups and advertising; and (2) the content is mere right-wing pomposity. Peruse at your own risk.

how computers are revolutionizing the world

Fascinating how technology, that is to say those in control of technology, creates/sets the standards and changes the world. just like the romans did with their calendar 2000 years ago and the french with the legal system 1000 years ago, the anglo-cum-american empire is synchronizing the drums to which the world beats via programming and networking standards.

http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/openbsd/2005-06/2259.html

This thread illustrates the problems with regional peculiarities. Sooner or later people will figure out it's a heckuvalot easier to simply adopt a standard and get on with it, cuz the local customs just aren't worth the hassle of accommodating. The unfortunate thing is that this takes time and cannot be imposed; it is a grievous process and everybody has to have their chance to decide when they're ready to let go.

wrongful claims

Red Cross denies Tory claims about detainees

Hmm. Minister O'Connor is normally pretty solid, so I wonder: is
(a) somebody in his department intentionally trying to discredit him? if so, why?
(b) somebody in the PMO trying to discredit him? if so, why?
(c) he signing secret agreements with dissident elements within the ICRCross/Crescent? not likely, but highly unethical.
(d) he making stuff up to make him/his party look good and its backfiring?

I find this titillating because I am sympathetic toward this gentleman, and believe something fishy must be going on because this is quite out of character for him.

Defining Success: update

Well, I applied for the higher position within the project, and met with the client to discuss my motives. I don't think I'll get the job (if all the experience etc he said of candidate no.2 is true, which I have no reason to doubt) then I see no reason why he should accept me in this new position, unless he really values my frankness.

delusions of grandeur and self-righteousness

Ref. Prime Minister Stephen Harper attends the Chinese Lunar New Year Event
ugh - this would be an excellent speech if it wasn't for the open and uncalled-for display of contempt for the opposition parties at the beginning, and the closing statement "May God keep Canada strong and free." Sure, it's in our national anthem, but it's about as relevant today as the crucifix in the Quebec National Assembly. I am thoroughly against that because he appears to be posturing to take it upon himself to restore God's plan if anybody or anything threatens the "strong and free." Delusions of grandeur and self-righteousness are not traits becoming of a PM - we all remember the financial mess the Trudeau government left us with - but at least a debt can paid back. It's much harder to mend the tears in the social fabric that holds Canadians together after it has been subjected to such polarizing forces.

the politics of "religion" and profit

I truly admire these guys for what they did:
2 Florida men charged with using religious fraud for travel to Cuba

Papal Impropriety

Monumental indiscretions at the highest level of the Christian heirarchy
Not altogether surprising, but still rather disturbing. Makes the people behind the Prayer Palace in Toronto look like Boy Scouts.

MADD about fundraising

MADD's `exorbitant costs' anger charity's volunteers
Senator Marjory Lebreton (Leader of the Conservative Government in the Senate) is chair of MADD's board of directors... Sounds like a Conservative Shawinigate to me.

if only...

>if only the rest of the world could be like this:
>
> Muslims Find School Kosher
> About half the students who attend the Jewish primary school King David, in Birmingham, England, are Muslims, and in fact, their parents work hard to get them in because they so respect the school's ethos and its halal-like diet. All students learn Hebrew, recite Jewish prayers, and celebrate Israeli independence, but there is a Muslim prayer room, also, and Muslim teachers are hired for Ramadan. However, confided one parent, the school tries to keep a low profile so as not to inflame the religious rabble-rousers. [The Independent, 2-4-07]
>

Heb: thanks for digging this up.

coincidence?

After spending most of the day thinking about career planning and making changes (and then blogging about it to affirm it to myself), I just watched this clip that somebody emailed me last week. Is there really such a thing as mere coincidence?
http://www.212amovie.com/

South Hérouxville Park

I got this in my email today, it looks like something presented on the news. Very South-Parkish:

fertility futility

I found this joke quite funny (sadly, really) since it illustrates the sheer ridiculousness of hollow technological progress:

Avec toute la nouvelle technologie concernant la fertilité, une femme de 75 ans a donné naissance à un bébé. À sa sortie de l'hôpital, ses parents et amis vinrent la visiter à la maison et tout naturellement lui demandent:
« Pouvons-nous voir le bébé ? »
« Pas tout de suite » dit-elle. Je dois d'abord faire du café et nous jaserons un peu, d'accord ? »
Trente minutes plus tard, quelqu'un lui demanda encore « Pouvons-nous voir le bébé maintenant? »
« Pas encore » . . . répondit la mère.
Quelques minutes plus tard, ils demandèrent avec impatience «Bon, quand pourrons-nous voir le bébé ? »
« Quand il pleurera » dit-elle.
« Quand il pleurera ? Mais pourquoi devons-nous attendre qu'il pleure? »
« Parce que je ne me rappelle pas où je l'ai mis, Saint-Cimonack!!!»

Defining Success

I'm not entirely happy with my career status.
I feel like I've been meandering from one job to the next, with ad-hoc jumps based on convenience or flattery (i.e., I take something if somebody thinks I'm good enough for it).
This approach hasn't taken me where I want to be, nor do I like where I expect it to take me.
I want something that I can be more passionate about, since passion captures the imagination, unleashes creativity, and fuels perseverance. (Anybody who watched the first two seasons of The Apprentice might find that sounds familiar.)
The following Einstein quotes indicate that this is something that preoccupied him somewhat also (enough to make these statements, anyway):

Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.

Love is a better teacher than duty.

I'd rather find something that deals with promoting and protecting the environment - jump into the green revolution, so to speak - and make keep ensure this world is one where humans and nature coexist harmoniously, a place where honour, happiness, righteousness, and responsibility are all valued more than the vain pursuit of the American Dream, which has been instant-satisfactionized to winning the lottery by hollow technological progress, an endless barrage of marketing drivel, and political pandering to the rich and poor at the expense of the increasingly frustrated middle class.
I believe that knowledge and honour can never be eradicated, merely suppressed, even as we descend into the next dark age, blinded by the fantasies of a corrupt system rotting from the inside out like a drug addict on overdose. Like so many authors portrayed themselves in their characters (the Encyclopaedia Galactica, the Jedi, Winston of Oceania, the lovely-filth-collecting Dennis of Monty Python's Holy Grail, Neo, and countless others), I refuse to accept the pre-fabricated just-add-water world that corporate america is promoting, and I do not want to take part in it either.
Ok, enough armchair-philosophy. Back to the green revolution and the career plan. Where do I start if I want to have the most effective leverage (i.e., positively influence the behaviour of the masses)? What experience do I need to establish the credibility required to eventually make that possible?
My first priorities are to get some form of "manager" title on my resume and tap into the local environmental sustainability networks (without getting caught-up in the tree-hugging bear-legged hippie clubs content with living off the grid). Like Henry Ford did with the automobile and Honda and Toyota are doing with hybrid cars, I want to make environmental sustainability accessible to all.
Anything less is mere ego-flattering self-deception.

Quotes on society

The mark of society is not by the actions of the few, but by the response of the many.
-me, trying to remember the next one.

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
-Albert Einstein