accu-wrath with bill maher

is it safe to poke fun at people who take things too seriously?

in the public interest?

haven't been keeping up with quebec politics much, so I wasn't aware that the province removed catechism from the curriculum as a gesture toward political correctness (or more probably, fiscal responsibility since they would have had to offer dedicated precious state resources to establish and implement curricula for the other principal religions (though non-RC accounts for less than 17% of the population). many surely agree with this move, saying that the state has no business teaching silly things like religion when half the kids in high school can barely spell their own names.
I disagree.
And not just because I think too much focus on the problem areas probably makes performance in those areas worse.
I disagree because it weakens the state and redirects those seeking that kind of instruction to the Church, thereby re-establishing the influence of religious leaders in society, one that the quiet revolution tried so hard to curtail.
This may sound big-brotherish, but I much prefer a well-rounded education, including religious instruction (and regular classes in gym, music and arts), in state-funded (and therefore state-supervised and accountable to the public) setting. That way all students can taste everything and knowingly choose what they want/don't want to pursue (as opposed to getting spewed out of a meatgrinder with a generic vanilla diploma and no personal, social, nor professional orientation).
And the fact that Radio-Canada is showing off how well the Montreal diocese is recruiting those "abandoned" by the curriculum (so they can teach what was deemed not-in-the-public-interest and actually teach things that may quickly become AGAINST the public interest) without balancing the piece with a counterpoint, really tees me off.

angry mice

I tried signing up for a trade show on national security scheduled for the near future, but when I called them with problems with the online registration process, they told me the event was canceled due to security concerns.

ironic (and scary) what happens when you try to build a better mousetrap these days...

negative motivation and leadership

from http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/bsp.2008.0008

"...refusal rates [of the anthrax vaccine] were related to perception of the threat [of exposure]."

Nothing new there, but this next part (the conclusion, with added emphasis) is particularly interesting:

"The findings provide evidence that for some people, the policy to increase confidence in the anthrax vaccination program may have led to a decrease in levels of trust."

So - what are campaign promoters going to retain from this? Don't focus on the program - instead, distract them with fear! One small step for marketers, another giant leap backward for mankind (it was bad enough when certain political parties were already doing this).

violation of democracy

Right-wing policies accelerate polarization - widening the social gaps between cultural groups and between haves and have nots.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080917/CPMONDE/80917025/-1/CPMONDE
Their premise that "trickle-down economics" works is faulty - people generally only like dealing with perceived social equals, the rich club becomes more and more exclusive and money (and automatically power) becomes more and more concentrated. What a shameful violation of the one of the basic principles of democracy and a fair market - all should have equal access to the means and opportunities to succeed.
At least I can console myself with the web 2.0. Long live net neutrality!

best.SNL.openingskit.EVER

Part of me is feeling guilty about the other part of me that is tempted to support McCain just so I can see more of Tina! Oy Fey!
I guess I could buy myself a few of these action figures to pass the time.


More on this skit from The Gazette:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=2232e2cd-d3c6-4c4b-bb98-e79c052ab03e&p=1

for those who are picky about spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.

this is tow funny:
http://wordsplosion.com/

Stonehenge mystery solved?

gotta wonder if Stonehenge wasn't just another case of a clever druid guy showing off or a frustrated druid wanna-be trying to prove something!

For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, people have been trying to
figure out how primitive people could build huge structures such as
Stonehenge and the pyramids out of stone blocks weighing thousands
of pounds. Scientists have been stumped.

Then along comes a normal guy - a retired construction worker - and
he says well, I would do it like this. And he does. This guy uses
the simplest tools known to man and shows how simple and easy it
would have been to create Stonehenge .

This is a really great video clip. Amazing how this guy could figure
out something that has confounded scholars for centuries. And not
only figures it out, but demonstrates it!

This guy could build a replica of Stonehenge single-handedly, while
a committee of 20 or 30 Civil Engineering professors from leading
universities would be debating how it might be done.

http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks

on shortsighted policies and campaign promises

Buying votes with tax cuts amounts to little more than blowing your kid's tuition fund on a popularity contest.
It amazes me what some of today's parties (not unlike yesterday's Republicans) will resort to in order to support their addiction to power.

ah - the joys of an unregulated market!!

from http://russiatoday.com/features/news/30486:

Large-scale construction work is in full swing near the burial sites of anthrax-infected animals, which were disposed of a century ago.

"This cemetery dates from 1882. Fifteen years ago the construction of summer houses started near it, expanding the village. Although the safety zone is one kilometre away from the cemetery, every house drills a well," Sharapov said.

The diseased animals were usually burnt and buried two metres deep. But the spores of anthrax can live in the soil for decades. If mixed with dust they can be inhaled by humans and animals. But the fact doesn't seem to bother Russia's rich, who are ready to pay up to $US 300,000 an acre at what has become Moscow's Riviera.

Tver's veterinary authority says it didn't give its approval for building projects in the area.

Amazing how some people demand freedom then get carried away with greed. It's too bad others have to suffer for it though.

Adolph Harper loses it