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 Why did he choose to invoke such an outdated assessment?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

human rights

"Canada has not got a very good track record, that's very well known," she said, blaming its spotty commitment on the politics of a minority government "trying to keep its job, rather than do its job."
Canadian activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Well said.

Merck bows to public pressure

...or at least, they are regrouping to focus on another, less socially unacceptable, demographic target.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001335.html

Rockin' Rona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j0qFWizl6c
work it baby, work it, yeah that's it!

thanks Maclean's

realistic clean air approach

There are a few approaches to clean up our air being discussed in the public forum, but each has significant flaw:

charging a $10,000 tax on gas-hogging SUVs and a $10,000 tax rebate for gas-sipping hybrids would never work because (a) it's not the class of vehicles that pollutes, it's their consumption (mpg or L/100km), and (b) north-american carmakers would find all the little loopholes that their friendly/bankrolled legislators left in there for them anyway;

setting meaningless 40-year targets that everybody knows are completely unenforceable;

tax fuel at the pump for the cost of sequestering the corresponding amount of pollutants it would release, but any econo-political leverage mechanism (e.g., to ease the burden on politically-strategic industries suddenly unsustainable) would no doubt require at least a few hundred or so dedicated bureaucrats to manage, and last I heard methane was still on the "bad" list.

Here's my idea that I think everybody could accept: a proportional tax program on new car sales with progressive targets. Say 9.0 L/100km is the mark for 2008. Cars consuming more than that (on the label) are flat-taxed relative to that, and those that consume less than that get a flat credit relative to that. Then every year the target gets lower: 8.8 in 2009, 8.5 in 2010, 8.1 in 2011, 7.6 in 2012, 7.0 in 2013 etc. Competition (and profit margins) under these more-representative-of-true-cost conditions would shift the auto-industry's attention to more efficient engines rather quickly. The progressive target would also give everybody - the auto-industry, investors, the alternative technology industry and consumers - time to adjust.

Of course, the penalty/incentive amounts would have to be important enough - other parents looking for daycare spaces can attest to the ineffectiveness of symbolic economic measures...

shooting from the hip

wow, this is the first time anything Arnie leaves me with a favorable impression!
Open Mike Arnie (note: French article)

charter of rights and freedoms

If this continues, the Supreme Court will soon hear the case of an American-Canadian soldier fighting for his right to wear the latest Armani suit on parade, rather than the GI uniform, citing freedom of religion.

If I had to ask...

Intelligence: one part ability to think things through, weighing the evidence, and one part ability to read the audience. Put them together and you can effectively voice ideas. Not enough of the former and you're a bluffer; but what if you don't have enough of the latter?

Updated 9 Feb with:

Success is roughly 10% about what you know and 90% about how you present your case....
- Anonymous (cited on a toastmaster's ad)

Great. Thanks Toastmasters, that helps a lot.

need a new system

Capitalism - every man must fight for the right to make decisions for themselves, resulting in the rich and powerful lacking a sense of social responsibility.

Socialism - every man is born with the right to everything, resulting in the poor lacking a sense of individual responsibility.

Somehow we have to figure a system that can better balance these two, because as the wealth gap widens, the increased polarization increases the social risk (revolutions, unrest, etc) of international investors, who will seek other (more stable) countries to exploit and leave us with sore behinds and not so much as a courtesy wank.

Best Little Whorehouse Clinic in Texas

Capitalism: unbalanced runaway economic system focused more on standard of living than quality of life, and in which the rich are encouraged to buy power to make more money without regard to human costs. (and they say socialism begets irresponsibility - bah!)

On Friday, Feb. 2, Texas governor Rick Perry issued an executive order that bypassed the will of the people and the entire Texas legislature, mandating the vaccination of young girls with the HPV vaccine sold by Merck -- the same drug company that reportedly gave thousands to Perry's campaign efforts. The vaccine is absolutely worthless as a medical treatment according to top docs in the alternative health field, and in my opinion, the so-called "science" supporting the vaccine as the only prevention for cervical cancer is an outright fraud.
[...]
Given this environment, is anyone supposed to believe we will see anything resembling honest debate or genuine science about this HPV vaccine? The entire industry, including drug companies, doctors, medical journals and the mainstream media, is twisting the facts to create the illusion that these vaccines are both safe and effective when, in reality, they are probably neither. Nor are they necessary.
[...]
It's really just a grand moneymaking scheme that exploits the bodies of young girls, marketed to look like compassionate health care.

Since they don't know how long the vaccine will last (it could be as little as 5 years, so by the time the majority of these girls start becoming sexually active, they'll have to pay for a booster.)

But hey, first one's free!

More on this contempt of humanity at NewsTarget.com

Humble Hubble

After correcting an initial problem with the lens, when the Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990, the floating astro-observatory began to relay back to Earth, incredible snapshots of the "final frontier" it was perusing. Recently, astronomers voted on the top photographs taken by Hubble, in its 16-year journey so far. Remarking in the article from the Daily Mail, reporter Michael Hanlon says the photos "illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful."
http://tinyurl.com/tzk5x

This is one of the reasons why I don't believe most earth-based religions - I just can't understand why they would shun science so when the worst it can do is expose even greater mysteries and wonders to humble us!

Cause (et solution) mal comprise

Hier soir à Tout le monde en parle un auteur français (Pascal Bruckner, "La tyrannie de la pénitence") disait que "la laïcité était la meilleure façon qu'on connaisse pour permettre à des gens de religions et descendences différentes de cohabiter pacifiquement." (de mémoire, donc à peu près). J'y crois. Bravo au conseil municipal d'Hérouxville. (Note à ceux qui prétendent que la leur est une position raciste ou xénophone: laissez-faire les diverti-jounalistes et prenez le temps de lire le texte original pour vous-mêmes.)

muzak limbo

"...and one of our agents should be free in a moment OR TWO."
that double uncertainty is a quadruply disconcerting.

la cause de la controverse...

... mais quand même pas sa source:

Hérouxville's Statement of Cultural Expectations

J'aime bien comment ils présentent ça - "pour que les conditions qui leur ont fait fuire ne sauront se reproduire ici."

Mais je ne comprends pas pourquoi les portes-paroles religieux s'y opposent tant - les pratiques interdites (explicitement non-désirées) ne sont pas des pratiques spirituelles mais bien culturelles. La laïcité force la suppression des expressions culturelles justement pour permettre l'harmonie entre tous et chacun, et consacre la religion à son état pur, c'est-à-dire à la spiritualité (communion entre soi et son dieu) en privé. Les artefacts (armes, bijoux, habits) sont des traditions culturelles provenant d'époques lointaines et qui ne sont pas justifiées s'ils violent leur raison d'être originale en créant un désaccord dans notre société.

Big Pharma

I'm just as leery of Big Pharma (and the entire stock market approach to capitalism) as I am of little witch-doctors popping up everywhere looking for a quick buck. At least you can (or at least try to) sue big pharma if something goes wrong, and hope for a settlement to keep it quiet if there is evidence (or credible appearance) of wrongdoing or negligence... try doing that with the local snake-oil salesman!

One day, by promoting independent thought and awareness, the internet is going to re-democratize our institutions and restore the sustainability of our economy. That is, unless/until Big Telecoms succeed in overturning Net Neutrality.

Assume yourselves!

Most logical, rational people make a decision based on the best possible outcome, take ownership of it, then focus their energies on accomplishing it. Others, however, focus on their energies into maneuvering all stakeholders into eliminating all options but one, so they can get what they wanted without taking any responsibility for it. That disgusts me.

Star Wars - in today's world

Chavez getting powers to rule by decree reminds me of Senator Palpatine scheming to get the council to grant him "emergency powers" to deal with the rebels...

All hail Darth Hugo!

Hedonism

"Mankind is safer when men seek pleasure than when they seek the power and the glory."
-Geoffrey Gorer, as reported by Michael Kesterton of the Globe and Mail, 2006-12-05

Plainte ridicule (part deux)

The Christian group challenging the supposed blasphemy Madonna's in show is not unlike some people's reactions to certain words (nigger, wetback, honky, jew, wop, etc). These are trigger words for people who have associated them with very strong emotions, but for everyone else, they are relatively harmless (if not indicative of poor taste and/or insentivity).
Emotions, good or bad, are what energize us to seek change (some degree more, or less) of their cause; although sometimes it may not be easy or possible to channel it appropriately, leading to further hurt of self or others.
I see no harm in the innocent use of these words, as long as there isn't any deliberate blame or derogation association, either explicit or implicit, intended specifically to arouse these emotions.
For example, calling me a honky means nothing; call me that if you want. but if you say I am nothing but a stupid honky or that I do/did something because I'm a honky are thoroughly inappropriate and unfair gross associations, whether accurate or applicable in that instance or not, that I simply will not stand for. Mel Gibson, I hope you're listening!

Plainte ridicule

It pleases me to see that specific interest groups can get sufficiently mobilized to challenge a perceived injustice through official channels, doubly so in that it also means the official channels have the respect and the credibility to make the challenge worthwhile.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070129/CPARTS03/701291087/1017/CPARTS
In this case, the court decided to halt the challenge, but even if the missile was a dud, I'm certain the intended recipient heard the shot being fired and expect that it caused her to reflect somewhat on her actions.

5-minute break for climate change

just received this tonight. I'm in! hard to say how effective it might be but hey, it's free and you have to do basically nothing for 5 minutes!

> Be part of the widest action plan of world's citizens against global
> warming and climate change!
>
> To protest against Climate change around the world, give the earth a 5
> minutes break. February 1st from 7:55 pm (19:55) to 8:00 pm (20:00),
> Everyone should close all lights and electric facilities for 5 big
> minutes. Do it respecting your local time zone, therefore the
> demonstration will be active according to time zones around the world.
>
> This isn't about sparing 5 minutes of hard labor and energy use, it is
> about protesting about something bigger. It is about raising the issue
> into political debates, be it in Canada or in Europe... or anywhere
> else.
>
> We hope for an important media coverage of this action, but for it to
> happen, we need everyone's participation.

the Desperates - misguided at best

posted the following on a CBC.ca article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_mallick/20070126.html
First off, I must say that this is the best description of the horrors of socially unacceptable addictions that I have ever read. However, I strongly disagree with the position that all drugs should be available to all adults: many leave trails only of destruction and despair, hurting not only the consumers but those that love them, more dangerous than alcohol in their extreme addictiveness. And how exactly would making all drugs available at fancy little boutiques prevent atrocities such as the one that inspired this article? I posit that official red-light districts offer much greater protection to these Desperates: routine medical exams, safe worksite, and more importantly, social acceptance (if at least from a peer support group) and a modicum of dignity. Fighting the conditions that lead to addictions is far more effective than picking up the pieces of the lives they have destroyed.

product ideas/patent suggestions for the clothing industry

In these days of low-rise pants, surely I am not the only one bothered by undershirts and shirts that creep up and out all the time. I would seriously consider buying adult-sized onesies (onepiece undershirt and briefs with appropriate uhm, logistical features).
Alternately, shirt restraints (imagine suspenders) that fasten the front and back shirttails together (although this would probably lose the tradeoff battle between logistic simplicity and crotch comfort).
Should either of these products make a credible (or even noteworthy) appearance on the market, it would encourage shirt manufacturers to counter-attack with an extra couple of inches along the torso. Either way, tall people win (or at least, catch up with what short people have been taking for granted for so long).

daylight technology

here's an example of a brilliant concept (though not cost-effective for residential applications): two parabolic mirrors focusing light on a large bundle of smaller bundles of optical fibers (each connected to a light "fixture" inside the house). It can even track the movement of the sun for optimum light! image

reinventing the wheel, using what's freely available, cutting out transformation processes, and undoing decades of bad economic modeling:

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060806/ft/4.0.html

I love it.

Khan's "Coming Out" Hurrah and Conservative "Accountability"

Closet cases all around the world can follow his example:

-----Original Message----- (pared down and emphasis added)
WAJID KHAN JOINS CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS
January 5, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today welcomed Wajid Khan, Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville, as a Conservative member of Canada’s New Government.
The former Liberal MP volunteered to serve as the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Affairs last June. As they worked together, the Prime Minister said, “both of us began to realize that politically, we have a lot in common.”

“I have come to admire the Prime Minister and his government over the last year,” said Mr. Khan. “Eventually I came to the conclusion that my ideals and priorities, and the interests of my constituents, would be better served if I sat as a Conservative MP.”

I can just imagine the setting in which they came to this realization: a little gazebo at twilight, Harper in a little Austrian postboy's outfit, Khan in a dress handmade from old curtains...


Anyway, I did a little research and pulled this discussion from Hansard:

Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a democratic right to be represented by the political party that they elect to represent them. The Prime Minister offended all Canadians when he seduced the member for Vancouver Kingsway over into his camp and talked him into crossing the floor.

Floor crossing undermines the democratic process and fuels cynicism. Will the Prime Minister use his new accountability act to put an end to floor crossing and these musical chairs once and for all?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I do not think I have ever been accused of seducing anyone, even my wife.

Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I do not think the government believes in true transparency and accountability any more than the last gang did. The Prime Minister will not even talk to the media. He holds his secret cabinet meetings at midnight in the Diefenbunker and he is stripping out the ATI provisions from the accountability act.

There is plenty of room in the accountability act to answer this serious concern that Canadians have. They care about this. They want the practice stopped. Will he commit today to ending the practice of floor crossing once and for all?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, I believe members of Parliament should have that freedom and be accountable to their constituents for their decisions at the next election.

Harper's smugness makes me sick; you could deepfry entire turkeys with that kind of crap.

courtesy wank

at least Canada's (self-proclaimed) New (ugh) Government has the finesse to tell us they are taking "real action our Government is taking to protect the health of Canadians and the environment" in curbing residential pollution, while committing to quintupling the dirty power-hungry exploitation of tar sands for our neighbour's Mall-Terrain-Vehicles and enable them to "punish" their current suppliers of oil who don't toe the line well enough.

-----Original Message----- (pared down and emphasis added)

PRIME MINISTER HARPER UNVEILS ECOENERGY RENEWABLE INITIATIVE
VICTORIA, January 19, 2007
[...]
"The ecoENERGY Renewable Initiative is yet another example of real action our Government is taking to protect the health of Canadians and the environment," said Minister Lunn. "It will help make renewable sources of heat and electricity a more affordable and realistic choice for more Canadians. We expect to add enough clean renewable electricity to power about one million homes."
[...]
This investment will create up to 4000 megawatts of renewable energy and is expected to deliver greenhouse gas emissions reductions equivalent to taking one million cars off the road, as well as significant reductions in other air pollutants. As such, it is an important part of the Government's suite of ecoENERGY Initiatives to boost clean energy supplies, help Canadians use energy more efficiently and reduce air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from conventional energy sources.

pfah!
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Liberal party was finally able to pressure them into doing at least SOMEthing about the environment. Although such prostitution may be good for western pocketbooks, raping the environment such does nothing for our national credibility!

normalization

Collaboration and group cohesion requires normalization of its members' expectations/behaviours/attitudes.
When there is no rational basis for either of two arguing parties to be right, but inexplicably, they both agree the "truth" needs to be determined and enforced.
They can:
(a) each hold their respective positions, agree to disagree and live parallel lives, forever guarded and cautious of not crossing each other's paths for fear of offending/insulting each other;
(b) agree to codify that blue is last, with exceptions made for purple, keeping bureaucrats, lawyers and journalists gainfully employed and future generations perplexed;
(c) recognize that the colour sequence is really a non-debatable personal aesthetic issue, ignore it, and move on to higher order needs for collaboration and social cohesion; or
(d) refuse to recognize the stupidity of the argument and nuke the hell out of each other until one emerges victorious (whether he/she still has their sense of sight at that point is moot).
Either way, there isn't a problem if all parties (and their respective supporters/followers, plus innocent bystanders) agree to the same solution and abide by the result. But that doesn't happen when one side has the arrogance to ignore what they're told and the other the desperation to do whatever they're told, now, does it...

Appalling Silence no more

We will have to repent in this generation,
not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people,
but for the appalling silence of the good people.
-Martin Luther King, Jr., (1929-1968) American clergyman and civil rights leader.

Couldn't agree more. Good thing the world invented blogs, else we'd all be going deaf.

card houses

Oppressive regimes give people a reason to free themselves; and
Benevolent regimes give people the means and the confidence to be free.
Either way, all socio-political structures are destined to fail.

Success

I recently read the "newsmaker of the year" article on Harper in Time Magazine (or was it Maclean's?). Aside from the suspiciously overly pro-conservative slant, the statement that Harper really started shining when he finally learned to trust his instincts struck me.

One or two days later, I read that one of Warren Buffet's words of wisdom is something like "Don't do anything you can't defend; if you don't understand why you're doing somehting, don't be doing it." This struck me too.

One highly rational, the other highly intuitive. Both are shining examples of success. There is no "best" between them, as the choice depends on the context (achieving authority/attaining power, or investing). Whose guidance should I follow? It probably depends on what objectives I seek and what kind of company I will have on that journey: the rich with an unquenchable thirst for money, or the societally ambitious and power hungry? Trouble is, I can't really stand (competition with) either crowd. I've long and often struggled between the two, never quite satisfied with either, and I suspect I am not alone, and this is probably one of the reasons these men have achieved such success. There must be another dimension in which I can exploit my potential; I just have to find it, quick and stick to it!

Warren Buffet's words of wisdom on Journalists and Society

from Forbes.com

Let's talk about the words of wisdom in your book. I like No. 44: The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is.

It's true. I mean, all of our information that we get now, whether it's for investment ideas or just the morality of life comes from the media. So we're really dependent on journalists for accuracy, and for the analysis of what's going on. You want intelligent people doing the job.

I would add: Intelligent people doing the job, with access to accurate information, and the freedom to print it.

religious (mis)understanding

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."
-Marie Curie

Increasingly distant government

Touting increased accountability, yet creating another hierarchical level to further distance the select few ministers he appointed to cabinet with so many responsibilities that they can't discharge them efficiently by themselves. what a power hog. sigh.

PM Harper strengthens ministerial team
PM pledges active agenda for second year in office
4 January 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today presented a strengthened ministerial team to lead Canada’s New Government during its second year in office.
[...]
Six Secretaries of State have been appointed to play an important part in the Ministry.

Each of the Secretaries of State has been given a specific area of responsibility, in order to assist one or more Ministers consistent with previous Canadian practice and the practice in other Westminster governments. Secretaries of State will discharge this role in a number of ways, including:
• representing their Minister, or the Government, at events;

• meeting with stakeholders and other groups;

• demonstrating policy leadership on one or more specific initiatives relating to their assignment, and at the direction of the responsible Minister; and

• appearing on behalf of their Minister in Parliament and before its committees as may be required.

The Secretary of State and Chief Government Whip has been made a member of the Ministry in order to reflect the critical role of the Chief Government Whip in advancing the Government’s legislative and House agenda. This reflects the practice of some previous Canadian Ministries, as well as similar long-standing practice in the U.K.

Unlike Ministers, who will remain full members of the Cabinet, Secretaries of State will not be members of the Cabinet. (Senator LeBreton will remain a full Cabinet Minister). However, each Secretary of State will attend meetings of a Cabinet Committee, in keeping with his or her specific areas of responsibility.

As members of the Ministry, Secretaries of State have been sworn to the Privy Council. They will be bound by Cabinet solidarity, and will be bound to respect Cabinet confidences. Ministers will remain fully accountable for the powers vested by statute, and for the direction of government departments and agencies within their respective portfolios.

conservative spinning mills

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=4&id=1480

Prime Minister Harper will deliver a brief statement as Canada's New Government prepares to enter its second year in office.

wow - seems to me they just stopped celebrating their "100 days in office" - how quickly they change gears! but how much longer do we have to wait until they stop calling themselves Canada's "New" Government?
I'm pretty sure the parliamentary year does NOT start on January 1, so technically it would be rather misleading to call this a 'second' year in office... They must have recruited their media advisors from the infomercial/shopping networks.

revenge of the nerds

"F*** you and your H2!"

"How to honour the Sabbath in space"

The Globe and Mail (5 Dec 06, page B7) printed this article written by Jonathan Saul in Jerusalem (through Reuters). I have no idea what his particular background, beliefs or motives are, but he wrote about the Institute for Science and Halacha, and all the solutions their scholars have found for observant Jews to use today's technology without disrespecting the Torah. Examples range from using disappearing ink for doctors to write prescriptions on the Sabbath (forbidden to make permanent markings) to doorbells that work on air pressure rather than electricity (forbidden to make a fire), to wrapping coffins in thick corrugated cardboard prior to takeoff so they can be considered "enclosed" and therefore "unable to spread impurity" during a flight (the Kohanim (members of Judaism's priestly caste) are banned by ritual law from coming in close proximity to the dead).

"The Torah was given to us 3,500 years ago in the desert," says 73-year-old Rabbi Levi Yitzchack Halperin, the institute's executive director and chief theological scholar. "Each generation takes up the challenge to apply it."
[...]
Rabbi Halperin dismisses any notion of theological cheating in the workarounds. "If there are loopholes in the Torah they are there for a reason," he says, stroking his flowing white beard.

Now I'm far from being a scholar, but I've always believed these religious laws originated as practical sense: basic rules to protect public health and thus ensure strength and survival, even under the harshest of conditions. So I can't help but wonder if Rabbi Halperin and others at the institute have somehow profoundly missed the point?
Another thing I can't help but wonder, aren't the Kohanim one of the groups in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?

Why top government officials should read newspapers more often

thanks to Treck for bringing this shameful (if true) interview transcript to my attention.

inquiring minds want to know

There's a glove sizing chart on top of a filing cabinet in the hall near my cube. As I walked past it for the nth time today, resisting the temptation to see if my hand size changed, I began contemplating the number of people that must have done the same, and how it could be an amusing webcam project. I'm just not sure that anybody would perceive that as valuable...

(perceived?) value for money

Expanding on the "what gets measured gets done" idea, one of the inherent weaknesses with the current economic system is the reward system (since the only things that ever get measured are those that get rewarded, because they are perceived to be valuable):
I just don't see how anybody can think this is sustainable.

I (heart) Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words#Improving_weasel-worded_statements

Consider the sentence "The Yankees are the greatest baseball team in history."
[...] There are millions of Yankees fans and hundreds of baseball experts who would pick the Yankees as the best team in history. Instead, it would be better to eliminate the middleman of mentioning this opinion entirely, in favor of the facts that support the assertion: "The New York Yankees have won 26 World Series championships -- almost three times as many as any other team." This fact suggests that the Yankees are a superlative baseball franchise, rather than simply the greatest baseball team in history.
The idea is to let the reader draw their own conclusion about the Yankees' greatness based on the number of World Series the Yankees have won.
Objectivity over subjectivity. Dispassion, not bias.

(contented sigh)

view of society

The conservative trend in society is nothing short of driving in the rear-view mirror: distorted views of where you've been with no idea of where you're heading.
To me, this indicates people have either (a) lost their faith in their ability to collectively control where they're going (a failure of our "democratic" system) and/or (b) become aware of something terribly awful, given up hope, and chosen to revel in media-romanticized memories on their way to the equivalent of an elephant graveyard.

As usual, I am in neither of these camps. I firmly believe it is in our power to influence where we are going - and how we get there. (I just don't know how or where to start.)

fact-pushing vs emotion-tugging

I sent the following comment to this excellent editor's year-end review earlier today (with minor edits): http://www.cbc.ca/news/about/burman/letters/2006/12/the_five_big_media_moments_of.html

My interest in straight unbiased facts is the reason I keep coming back to CBC for news. Kudos for continuing to push facts (despite the rising trend of tugging emotions) and recognizing how important it is to enable the electorate to make its own informed decisions in order to maintain a healthy democracy.

peace my way, or no way!

WARNING: The following story involves some inexplicable human behaviour.

From The Ottawa Citizen, 2006.12.21, page A6
SOURCE: The Associated Press

Monks battle with crowbars, sledgehammers: 7 injured in Greece
THESSALONIKI, Greece - Rival groups of monks wielding crowbars and sledgehammers clashed yesterday over control of a 1,000-year-old monastery in a community regarded as the cradle of Orthodox Christianity, police said.
Seven monks were injured and transported by boat to hospital to receive treatment. They were released after several hours, police said.
No one was arrested, but three monks were banned from re-entering the Orthodox sanctuary Mount Athos, located on a self-governing peninsula in northern Greece.
Esphigmenou monastery is the scene of a long-running dispute between Orthodox authorities and rebel monks who occupy the facility. Both Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, leader of the Orthodox Christian church, and Greece's highest administrative court have ordered their eviction, but the monks have refused to budge.
The rebel monks vehemently oppose efforts to improve relations between the Orthodox church and the Vatican.
The fighting yesterday broke out between the rebel monks and a group of legally recognized monks who were outside. The outsiders attempted to force their way into the monastery's offices in Karyes, the administrative centre of the monastic community, to begin construction of a new building.
Occupying monks attacked those outside with crowbars and fire extinguishers.
Esphigmenou's rebel abbot, Methodius, said his monks had been provoked.
"We were attacked and had to respond," he said. "They should be ashamed to call themselves men of the cloth."
In October, a court in the nearby city Thessaloniki handed down two-year suspended sentences against nine monks and former monastery members for illegally occupying Esphigmenou's offices.

Evolutionists would expect the religious gene to be extinct in humans by now, with all the wars and such that have been fought over millenia... Darwin must be rolling in his grave!

which counts more: the destination or the journey?

According to accounting folk, there is a very important difference between investing for "cost avoidance" and investing for "pursuit of potential profits." (I'm sure it's a tax thing.) So, since hearing that lottery/casino paybacks hover around 40% (give or take 20% given local competition etc), I decided that I could afford the "social" cost of bowing out of the office lotto pool and avoid the two dollar cost every week. Nonetheless, I heartily encouraged them to continue subsidizing my taxes. :)

information

Something (well, one of the things) I have to remember to keep in mind:
The absence of information is information, in and of itself.

another one i want to see

Children Of Men, the latest film from Oscar-nominated director Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban) and set in a semi-totalitarian Britain in the year 2027, examines a world where mankind has become infertile and the extinction of the human race is imminent.
I can't wait! :)

The meaning of it all

I must now see this movie for myself:

-----Original Message-----

Two of my favorite scenes in any recent movie comes from "Kingdom of Heaven" (Director's Cut), in which Orlando Bloom (as the knight defending Jerusalem) and the older English actor playing the patriarch of Jerusalem look out over the plains and see the enormous army of Salah-ud-Din preparing to assault the city. The knight (who was NOT a religious firebrand) starts making practical decisions for the defense of the city (as he did in reality); the patriarch counsels that the defenders should convert to Islam to save themselves, and then convert back later on the grounds that the conversion to Islam was done under duress and therefore invalid. Orlando Bloom's character looks at the patriarch, says "You have taught me much about religion," and then proceeds to continue planning the defense of the city. Simple, and priceless.

Toward the end of the movie, after the Crusaders surrender to Salah-ud-Din on the promise that the inhabitants would be spared (which they were), Orlando Bloom's character asks Salah-ud-Din, "What is it about this city that drives men crazy? What does Jerusalem mean?" Salah-ud-Din's character (an incredibly authentic Arab actor) smiles, looks at the ruined walls, and says "Nothing." He walks away, turns around, smiles again, crosses his arms. "And everything."

To me, that captures the lunacy of it all very well.

FW: News Release / Communiqué

WRT yesterday's post about the Mirabel airport land being sold back to private hands amid first nations land claims: apparently there are wetlands there too that also need to be protected somehow... I agree it might have been excessive, but gee, do you think these might have been contributing factors the Trudeau government considered to go ahead and expropriate all this land, supposedly (or at least primarily) for an airport?

Regardless, how many people think the government will actually set an accessible price for the farmers to buy back their land? Or will it be so expensive only (Tory-friendly?) big developers will be able to afford it, so they can lease it to the farmers for twice the price until the construction permits are approved? Government has not shown itself to be a cost-effective custodian, but at least it has ethics and answers (more or less) to the public for its custodial duties.

(emphasis mine)

PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: CANADA'S NEW GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES SALES PROGRAM FOR THE 11,000 ACRES OF LAND IN MIRABEL, QUEBEC
December 18, 2006, Mirabel
Prime Minister Stephen Harper fulfilled a longstanding commitment today by announcing the establishment of a sales program for the 11,000 acres of farmland in Mirabel. In November 2004, while in opposition, Prime Minister Harper tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to sell these acres, which were "needlessly" expropriated in 1969. "I'm pleased to announce today that our new government is going to allow Mirabel farmers to buy back the land they are currently leasing," said Prime Minister Harper. "We made a promise and we kept our word."
"Today's announcement finally gives Mirabel farmers the chance to own the land they have worked for so many years," added Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Communities Lawrence Cannon. "For some, this means a chance to reclaim the land that has been in their family for generations, as well as an opportunity to close one chapter and open a new one."
A transition committee made up of representatives of the Union des producteurs agricoles, tenants, Transport Canada, and Public Works and Government Services Canada will be set up within the next few weeks to develop the details of this sales program.
The transition committee will be responsible for recommending the terms of the program implementation for selling land to farmers and for proposing solutions to any issues that may arise. Daniel Picotte, a lawyer with a thorough knowledge of issues related to the airport's transactions and acquisitions, will serve as chair of the body.
In accordance with the government's commitment to the environment, a management partnership between Transport Canada and Environment Canada will also be created to protect wetlands located within the 11,000 acres.
The 11,000 acres of land are now part of a lease between Aéroports de Montréal and Transport Canada. Discussions between the department and Aéroports de Montréal to remove these lands from the lease are already underway.

Nationhood - explained clearly

Here is what Dion said in the Commons on November 27, 2006 speaking to the motion: "That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada":

Mr. Speaker, the motion that the Prime Minister has put before us reads as follows: Que cette Chambre reconnaisse que les Québécoises et les Québécois forment une nation au sein d'un Canada uni.

In English, that this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.

Before voting on a text that some of our fellow citizens believe will be of great significance, we have a duty to tell them clearly what that text means. In French, according to Le Petit Robert, “nation” has at least three meanings.

First, “Group of men presumed to have a common origin”, the ethnic sense of the word nation; second, “Group of people constituting a political unit, established in a defined territory …, and personified by a sovereign authority”, the state sense of the word nation; and third, “Group of people, generally large, characterized by awareness of its unity and a desire to live together”, the sociological sense of the word nation.

The sociological sense of the word “nation” is also found in Webster's Dictionary. In the first sense, the ethnic sense, Quebec and Canada are not nations, but French-Canadians are a nation, one that is concentrated primarily in Quebec but is present everywhere in Canada.

There are several other groups of people in our country that can also be considered to be nations in ethnic terms. I would therefore vote in favour of a motion that said: In Canada, including in the province of Quebec, there are several nations in the ethnic sense of the word.

In the second sense of the word “nation”, the state sense, the only sense that confers legal existence in international law, Canada and Canada alone is a nation. I would therefore vote for a motion that said: Canada forms a single nation which holds a seat at the United Nations.

In the third sense of the word “nation”, the sociological sense, we, the Québécois, are a nation, because we form a large group—nearly a quarter of the population—and we have an awareness of our unity and a desire to live together. In that sense, it is correct to say that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada. I will therefore vote for the motion that is before us.

However I add that the entire Canadian population is also a nation in the sociological sense of the term. As Canadians, we have the sense of our unity and the will to live together, and there is nothing that prevents the same individual to be part of different nations in the sociological sense of the term.

So I say, in this House, that I am a proud member of the Quebec nation and a proud member of the Canadian nation. I say that these identities are cumulative and indivisible, and that I will fight with every resource that democracy gives me against anyone who wants to make me choose between these two wonderful identities: Québécois and Canadian.

I know all too well the game that the independentist leaders want to play. They want to persuade us that we cannot be part of the Canadian nation because we, the Québécois, form a nation. In other words, they want to slide from the sociological to the state sense of the word “nation” : from the “community” sense to the “country” sense. As usual, they want to conflate the meaning of words in order to sow confusion in people’s minds.

Well, as usual, my country and my 33 million fellow citizens can count on me to counter confusion with clarity.

I know all too well that in the politics pursued by some people there is little regard for dictionary definitions.

Facing this motion, two quotations come to mind.

The first one is from the great Lebanese poet, Kahlil Gibran:Pity the nation divided into fragment, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

This is why the Bloc will vote for this motion. They hopes that it will help them to fragment Canada, but there is another interpretation of this motion, which is not only in accordance with the definition of the dictionary, but also noble and generous. It comes from José Carreras:

[Member spoke in Spanish as follows:] Cuanto màs catalàn me dejan ser, màs espanol me siento.

In other words, in proclaiming my identity as a proud Quebecker today, I am proclaiming my identity as a proud Canadian. Let us work together to make sure that this noble and generous interpretation of the motion that we will vote on today will prevail.

Thanks to New Quebec for posting this and bringing it to my attention.

Greenwashing their dirty ligerie in public

Victoria's Secret Catalog Goes Green
Finally, hairy treehuggers everywhere can order their catalogs with a clear conscience! :)

more deconstruction

Five Halifax women have started a campaign to decry funding cuts to a program important to them. "We don't want our government making decisions that reverse strides that have been made over the last 20 and 30 years" one of the founders states.
The most surprising thing about this story is that it appeared at the top of page A2 of the 20061204 edition of the Medicine Hat News (from the CP wire). Whodathunk this would've been printed in an Albertan paper, and not in the funnies section?

visionary, or deconstructionist?

The PM announced today that "Canada's New Government" (cringe) is initiating the transfer of land expropriated for the construction of Mirabel airport some 35 years ago back to the affected families (despite some Mohawk land claims still pending for the same land). I was impressed at how politically correct he was during the official announcement, but he let loose and generously derided Trudeau and Liberals in general during the ensuing Q&A.
One of the questions he was asked was to confirm if this meant that the government was closing the door on Mirabel airport for good. Harper replied (paraphrased): "Some think that in 40 years we will need to expand this airport again. The only thing I know for sure is that in 40 years, I'll be dead" to which the audience chuckled.

His self-deprecating humour resonates with his audience and is a respectable trait. However, I am not much of a fan of his brazen desire to rub every single genie-bottle (that the Liberals managed to cork despite the PR cost of the occasional scandal required to get it accomplished) that he can get his cold little fingers on.

public relations logic, or cynicism?

If for every truth there is an equal and opposite marketing spin, does every PR campaign indicate inherent weakness?

true north strong and free to toe party line - or else!

Hockey player fired for not signing flag for troops

I'm sure the troops are pleased to learn that the people back home are being forced to show their support. Where will this fascism end?

do we really need more of them?

In a Canadian Press article on Harper's Senate reform announcement last week, they quote him as saying "Senators will campaign like every other politician."

Tremors

CANADA'S NEW GOVERNMENT DELIVERS ON TEN PIECES OF LEGISLATION IN TWO WEEKS
December 14, 2006
[...]
The Government has delivered on its promise to establish additional measures to battle crime and terrorism. Bill C-25 amends Canada's Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act, which significantly strengthens Canada's ability to monitor and act on money laundering whether it's for terrorist activities or other illegal activities in Canada.
"Canada's New Government will continue to be relentless in its battle against money laundering and terrorism financing," said Prime Minister Harper. "One of the best ways of putting these criminals out of business is to starve them of the funds they need to finance their activities. Our amendments will improve our ability to act decisively."

If ever the day comes when an extremist organization takes control of Canadian government, these are great tools to prevent us from trying to re-establish the traditional "Canadian" way of life as I we/I know it.

[...]
The Federal Accountability Act was one of the Government's top five priorities since taking office. The Act, which makes substantive changes to 45 statutes and amends over 100 others, delivers on the Government's promise to put in place a five year lobbying ban, to eliminate corporate and union donations, and to protect whistleblowers, among other reforms.

One of the things that provides social and economic stability in this country is the system that allows/fosters/encourages individuals and organizations with a strong vested interest in preserving said stability a strong say in how this country is run. Eliminating Making corporate and union donations illegal will (a) shift the governing focus from corporate/economic stability to social stability, transferring power to religious, ethnic, cultural special interest groups, and (b) drive these monies underground, reducing lobbying transparency and precluding any requirement to make use of the famed new accountability act; we can hold them accountable for things we don't know they're doing, can we?
In the end, I'm concerned that this government, enthused with southern sales pitches, is making subtle yet dangerous seismic shifts in the name of peace, order and good government; giving Canadians a good warm and fuzzy while critically undermining the foundations of the socio-economic stability that made our quality of life one of the best in the world. Even the sponsorship scandal, though morally repulsive as it was, pales in comparison to the long-term damage that may occur from the Conservatives "fixing" what really ain't broke.

The great divide (of wealth)

According to StatsCan, the gap between rich and poor in Canada (yes, right here at home) is increasing. That surely isn't a surprise, many probably even think it is a long-overdue relief.

Wealth is a relative measure, but, like energy, cannot be created nor destroyed; merely redistributed. It also tends to gravitate toward itself, and therefore requires effort (leftist intervention) to keep the balance sustainable. If left unchecked, this gravitation will accelerate and the social comforts and stability that we currently enjoy will deteriorate, as the increasingly-rich have to protect themselves from the increasingly-exploited-and-pissed-off.

People bitch against taxes. ANY kind of tax. But seriously, how else can we fight these forces of social polarization? The rich didn't get rich by being charitable, after all...

Police shoot, kill teen Playstation robbery suspect

Well it seems you can kill people and get fair treatment, but heaven help you if you steal someone's Playstation.

"Come see the violence inherent in the system! Help help, we're being repressed!"

ya-WHO???

it would seem that my yahoo email address - in fact my entire yahoo ID and everything associated with it - was completely deleted. It's almost as if I never existed uh I mean had one. Assuming I am not going senile, it was either a glitch in the matrix or Yahoo is starting to suffer from Alzheimer's, because I only recreated my account a few minutes ago and already I have 12 spam messages in my bulk folder, and I highly doubt spammers are that quick to find new addresses...

I wonder, if I was the administrator of two yahoo groups, did they get nuked as well? If not, who will approve me as a new member?

Recreating myself, uh I mean my account, is all very surreal...

xmas ecards

I believe that it's just as important to curb the abuse of our
environment as it is to pay down the national debt.

If you care about the future of our society (especially our own kids)
as much as I do, please follow this link to Environmental Defence and
tell the top 10 greenhouse gas polluters what you think:

http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/action/ecard.asp

dear minister

Submitted the following via Environmental Defence Canada

The Honourable Rona Ambrose
Les Terrasses de la Chaudière
10 Wellington St., 28th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0H3
Tel.: (819) 997-1441
Fax: (819) 953-3457
E-mail: Rona.Ambrose@ec.gc.ca

Dear Minister Ambrose,

As a Canadian concerned about the environment, I am writing to express my support for increased government action to promote the reduction of pollution in our communities and to take action to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Using the PollutionWatch web site (www.PollutionWatch.org), I noticed that the pollution levels in Canada are very high. I also noticed that some facilities are reducing the amount of pollutants released to the air, water and land while other facilities continue to increase the amount of pollutants released to the environment or transferred. Across Canada, each and every year, large amounts of pollutants known to be carcinogens, suspected of being reproductive/developmental toxins and suspected respiratory toxins are released from facilities to our air, water and land. This is unacceptable.

In addition, the PollutionWatch web site also shows that many facilities are releasing greenhouse gases, which cause global climate change. I am very concerned about the amount of greenhouse gases that are being emitted into the environment and the amounts reported by Canadian facilities. What are the government’s plans to reduce these greenhouse gas levels? I believe that, as a minimum, Canada should live up to its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, and reduce greenhouse gases to meet the international targets.

I also firmly believe that the issue of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Canada should be a priority for all levels of government. The federal government must lead this effort and engage with its provincial and territorial counterparts to take action.

The federal government’s role in tracking and managing pollution in Canada should not diminish. The federal government programs that collect data on pollutant releases and transfers and emissions of greenhouse gases through the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) and the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program are of utmost importance to Canadians who want to see a cleaner and healthier environment for all of us. If Canadians are to promote a healthier environment, the NPRI and Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program must be expanded. Strengthening these programs is an essential element of Canada’s efforts to reduce pollution.

As matter of priority, Environment Canada should:

1. Ensure Canada takes immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas levels and fulfill its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. It is critical that Canada continues its long-standing practice of working with the international community to protect and improve the global environment, THROUGH, FOR EXAMPLE, A CARBON CREDIT PROGRAM.

2. Increase its activities to eliminate toxic substances from use, release, generation, disposal or recycling in Canada with defined timelines. Attention should be given to those pollutants that are persistent, bioaccumulative and inherently toxic, toxic under CEPA, carcinogens, respiratory toxicants and those pollutants suspected of being reproductive toxicants.

3. Strengthen and expand pollution prevention strategies through effective regulations and programs.

4. Strengthen and expand the NPRI and GHG programs through an effective multi-stakeholder consultation process.

5. FIX THE SHORTCOMING OF THE CANADIAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM BY ADDRESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. "ECONOMIC" DERIVES FROM L. oeconomia AND Gk. oikonomia, MEANING "HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT" - AND CLEARLY IT (THE AIR WE BREATHE, THE LAND WE CULTIVATE, THE WATER WE DRINK, AND THE RESOURCES WE EXPLOIT) ARE PART OF THE CANADIAN "HOUSEHOLD" AND MUST NOT BE IGNORED NOR OMITTED FROM THE CALCULATIONS. ONE POSSIBLE SOLUTION WOULD BE TO TAX THE PRODUCTS AT TIME OF ACQUISITION FOR THE COST OF THEIR EVENTUAL DISPOSAL (INCLUDING ANY PACKAGING). SIMILARLY, FOSSIL FUELS SHOULD BE TAXED FOR THE COST OF SEQUESTERING CORRESPONDING AMOUNTS OF CARBON AND OTHER POLLUTANTS. THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD EXPLOIT MARKET FORCES TO PROMPT MANUFACTURERS OF GOODS TO REDUCE THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF THEIR PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES, AND GIVE CANADIAN MANUFACTURING AND RECUPERATION INDUSTRIES AN OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME WORLD LEADERS WHILE CONTRIBUTING TO THE PRESERVATION OF OUR ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR CHILDREN.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL RAMPAGE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY IS A TRAIN WRECK IN THE MAKING. FIXING THE ECONOMIC (HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT) IMBALANCE AT THE SOURCE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT TO THE FUTURE OF OUR SOCIETY AS PAYING DOWN THE DEBT.

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely yours,

I really do look forward to the reply.

one of these words is not like the others...

Excerpt from an article by The Endocrine Society:

[...]Atrogin-1, also known as MAFbx, is a member of the SCF (Skp-cullin-F box protein complex) subfamily of E3 ligases; MuRF1 belongs to the RING (really interesting new gene) finger E3 ligase subfamily. [...]

Seriously, this is what it says.

new liberal leader

Looks like Stephane Dion won the liberal leadership race. Interesting.
I couldn't help but notice a lack of enthusiasm in the crowd. Interesting.

I just hope the liberal delegates actually wanted Dion rather than being struck with the "anybody but him" panic against Ignatieff.

Tribute to Canada

This is a good read - funny how it took someone in England to put it into words...
-RK
So much of it so true, and yet my favorite line is the one about Celine Dion.
-RW

Sunday Telegraph Article
From today's UK wires: Salute to a brave and modest nation
Kevin Myers, The Sunday Telegraph

LONDON - Until the deaths last week of four Canadian soldiers accidentally killed by a U.S. warplane in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops were deployed in the region. And as always, Canada will now bury its dead, just as the rest of the world as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.
It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored. Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.

That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts. For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.

Yet its purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.

Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, its unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the "British." The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone. Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth-largest air force in the world.
The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time. Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of ourse, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.
So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British. It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.
Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.
Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular on-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.
So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan? Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun.

It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. Recently four more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.

**** ****

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

JOHN LENNON

municipal democracy at it's (ahem) finest

I love it when a municipal government gets legacy ideas in its head that go against the interest of the locals (and common practical sense), even if there are 42,000 of them against it.

Inaugural visit

Isn't it a little presumptuous of harper to attend another country's presidential inauguration?

Notice / Avis
From the Prime Minister's Web Site
Public events for December 1st, 2006
November 24, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Mexico to attend the inauguration of President-Elect, Felipe Calderon.
When: December 1, 2006
Where: Mexico City, Mexico
Note: Media are welcome to attend but will have to make their own arrangements. More details to follow.

It just seems to smack of favoritism and meddling with another country's choices. I don't know, maybe it's the custom, but I just don't find it appropriate for him to pay an international visit to another head of state until he's had a chance to form a comfy ass-groove in his presidential chair, you know?

this ain't no "all you can eat"

It would seem that a 33% raise over 10 years isn't enough for the association/federation/whatever representing Quebec's 8000 specialist doctors who are refusing to negotiate and are applying pressure tactics until the ministry gives them a 44% pay increase to "catch up to the Canadian average."

Kudos both to the increasingly exasperated Quebec Minister of Health for telling them "This [our society] is not a buffet where you can pick what you like and skip what you don't like." Kudos also to the team at Radio-Canada (french CBC) for using and reusing this truthful soundbite in their lead-up to the news segment.

Hopefully enough of these specialist doctors will get the message so that they go back to work and get people off their waiting lists so everybody can get back on with their lives as happy productive citizens, respectful of one another.

(increasingly aware)2

Four things I very much appreciated on tonight's Tout le monde en parle:
1. There are still many people committed to protecting the natural heritage of Mount Orford Park (a parcel of which is being sold by the Quebec government to build condos);
2. There will be a single, common, mandatory course on all the world's major religions scheduled to replace catechism and other such religion-of-belonging courses, and the Quebec minister of Education was able to strongly refute the suggestion that any teaching on religion be eliminated altogether from the curriculum until CEGEP, saying that education, awareness, and understanding are fundamental enablers for integration and social harmony;
3. At least one of the GG's literary award recipients has a beautiful way with spoken words, not just written, and that such talent is well recognized and rewarded (doubly pleasing in that it also reflects well upon the institution awarding the prize); and
4. There is a song "Dégénération" (play on words with des générations) that speaks about how people today seem to be shirking their responsibilities (even toward their own kids) and taking it easy on the backs of all our ancestors who worked so hard to provide for their families and communities, and that this song is currently on the top of the pop charts in Quebec.

These are the kinds of things that make me proud - and it's lot deeper than any feeling of vindication or validation - I'm glad to see there are so many people (with actual talent) investing themselves in fighting injustice and promoting what they too know deep down is the right thing.

Social (dis?)order

Kissing couple arrested under the Patriot Act

Social order at the expense of liberty is hardly a bargain.
~Marquis de Sade

wannabe? WANNABE??!?

Nation building defining exercise

I think part of the confusion and resistance to the motion tabled that recognizes the Quebecois as a nation within a united Canada stems from the different meanings the word "nation" has in English and in French. Most anglos would define it in terms of a country (in the historical and geographical sense), whereas the Quebecois understand it to mean "a self-empowered people with a common destiny." I suspect these radically different views originated in the French Revolution, when the people of France disposed of their aristocracy. Meanwhile, the English continued to peck away at their own aristocracy crumb by crumb, never wholly confident that they could do without. If that is at least partially true, it could explain the very close relationship Quebeckers have with their government while English Canada continues to mistrust and work in spite of it. If that were at least partially true, Quebec should recognize that it is not that distinct from certain other provinces!

PS. Note he distinct(ahem)ly referred to the people (the Québecois) as a nation, not the province!

the reality some people call TV

I wonder how much snow it takes to not sprain your ankle when jumping out of a plane...

-----Original Message-----
FW: Ottawa on Days of Our Lives.. Portrayed as wilderness...according to Sandy Sharkey

I’ve never been a soap opera fan, but I have been hooked on ‘Days of Our Lives’ this week. Why? Because the city of Ottawa has been part of the plot line! Here’s this week’s ‘Days of Our Lives’ Ottawa story-line, and I am not embellishing in any way: a woman by the name of Kayla was exposed to poison gas in a hospital, and the only doctor with the serum to save her life lives in Ottawa, BUT WAIT, there’s a huge blizzard in the lower provinces of Canada, so all commercial planes have been grounded, including all planes in Ottawa, which of course is located in the lower provinces of Canada. So a pilot named John volunteers to fly his private jet to Ottawa to get the serum to save Kayla’s life, snow storm or not!!! Away he goes, with his girlfriend Marlena along for the ride, flying through the blizzard until, ENGINE FAILURE!!! The plane is going down!!!! Marlena thinks that the plane will be OK if the load is lightened, so she JUMPS from the plane on the way to Ottawa, and lands on the snow somewhere near Ottawa!! A distraught John the pilot continues on, lands safely in Ottawa, and gets the serum! Meanwhile, his girlfriend Marlena is lost in the wilds of Ottawa!! Back home, Marlena’s daughter is horrified that her mother is missing! How can her mother survive the ‘THIRTY FEET OF SNOW and temperatures below zero’, she exclaims!! John the pilot flies back home with the serum, saves Kayla’s life, but still no sign of Marlena. As luck would have it, a man in a big parka stumbles across an unconscious Marlena in thirty feet of snow in the wilds around Ottawa, and takes her back to his cabin!! Marlena awakes, make-up and hair perfect! As luck would have it, the man in the parka is none other than ‘Smokey Robinson’! One of Marlena’s favourite singers! He gives her food, bandages up her sprained ankle (after all, she did jump from a plane) and then he sings a couple of songs! Saved by Smokey Robinson, who happens to have a cabin in the wild near Ottawa! Wow. ‘Days of Our Lives’ just became my favourite show of all time.

fighting for peace abroad...

One of the very real dangers of "exporting peace" is that it actually generates conflict at home.

The state has, in order to control us, introduced division into our thinking, so that we come to distrust others and look to the state for protection.
~Butler Shaffer

The seeds of ill-will sown in war all too often trump any hope for peace.

new mayor in town

In an article by Spencer Callaghan, The News-EMC (one of the local papers), mayor-elect Larry O'Brien was quoted as saying:

I think the city has a huge appetite for change and they wanted to get away from the politics of the same old, same old, and I think they saw in me someone who is focused on bringing a business-like approach to the management of city affairs.

That appears rather disrespectful toward the outgoing mayor, and awfully presumptuous toward the runner-up, who campaigned actively and hard to make this a greener, nicer, more effective city, with tax increases at or below inflation. (O'Brien, at the opposite end of the spectrum, touted zero tax increases for his entire mandate, while adding more police officers on the streets and without cutting services...)

We have to get back to basics in the city, we have to get the decision making right and we have to get the economic sustainability of this city right, and then we can afford the luxury of examining what our options are in mass transit.

As if we really needed yet another politician who believes mass transit is a "luxury" that should be sacrificed in favour of "economic sustainability."

What saddens me further is that he garnered 47% of the vote, while the runner-up only got 36%; the consolation prize being that this was one of the highest voter turnouts in recent history.

I just hope there is enough influence among all the incumbent city councillors to actually do the right things for our city, not just say the right things for his new political career.

From the Desk of Steven MacKinnon

in a newsletter dated 10 Nov 06:

In London North Centre, popular food bank director and firefighter, Glen Pearson is already running a strong campaign -- While the Conservative Party has parachuted a candidate into the riding (From Washington D.C. where she worked as a Republican strategist), Glen lives and works in the city. [...] When accepting the nomination, Glen made reference to his Conservative opponent who was dispatched by Stephen Harper from Washington D.C. by saying, “Mr. Harper was brazen enough to bring up an operative from Washington. This isn't Bush Lite, this is Bush Regular, or Bush on tap."

Could this possibly be true? Why haven't I heard any noise about this?

dealing with waste at the source

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20061119/CPSOLEIL/61119124/5803/CPSOLEIL

« Nos comportements de consommation favorisent le grand nombre de déchets que l'on produit. Il faudrait s'en préoccuper », dit Manon Lambert, secrétaire générale de l'Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec.

I couldn't agree more.

residential energy efficiency

I just got my house audited for energy efficiency.
It is "surprisingly airtight for a home of its age (32years) in this neighborhood."
There were a few obvious air leaks (around attic hatches) and some surprising air leaks (like through the electical outlets and between the quarter-round and the floor below the patio door). Despite these easily addressed leaks, total air leakage is only the equivalent of a single 150sq.in. opening. Below 100sq.in is considered too airtight, and if you don't have a Heat-Recovery Ventilator, Health Canada recommends running bathroom fans and opening windows, even in winter.
I'll be getting an EnerGuide rating for the house and access to an online summary that I can project new ratings after various home improvements. Pretty neat stuff. People usually put their EnerGuide ratings in their furnace room but I think I'll be posting it on my lawn to spur a little competition with the neighbors. :)

No.1 on the energy-efficiency hit list: FURNACE
Currently have mid-efficiency (approx 80%), while high-efficiency furnaces are rated at 94%.
New furnaces are also direct-vented so they don't require a fresh air intake (obvious source of air-leakage).

Number 2 on the hit list: HOT WATER TANK.
Tanks with a pilot light have a constant flow of air to the chimney, actually drawing a lot of heat out of the water when the burner is not on! Better tanks have electronic ignition and exhaust blowers so air doesn't flow through the core unless the burner is on. This could also be direct-vented so the fresh-air intake could be eliminated altogether.

Cherry picking: weather-stripping the attic hatches and using childproof plugs to cap all the outlets on the outside walls.

Other interesting things I learned:

• 76% of all energy consumption in a house is due to heating, while appliances and lighting only account for 12% each (in the average home, according to StatsCan).
• Adding plastic wrap over windows only increases the R value from R2 to R3, iff installed properly, and can improve air-tightness (again, iff installed properly).
• Changing exterior doors only improves overall energy efficiency by ~1%.
• Refinishing hardwood floors also does a great job of sealing them and the baseboards.
• Gas hot water heaters are approx 65% efficient when operating, but only approx 50% efficient overall since cool air flows steadily through the core the rest of the time, drawing the heat out.
• Furnace efficiency is rated at steady-state, and there is a lot of energy lost when the burners first come on. For this reason, dual-stage furnaces are more efficient since they only use half the burners, at peak efficiency, for much longer periods of time, and only fire up the other two when it can't keep up.
• Traditional AC blower motors (forced air systems) consume approx 250W while their DC equivalent only consume 75W. This can make a significant difference especially if the blower operates continuously all day long.

I asked tons of questions throughout, and he wasn't afraid to tell me like it is (unlike house inspectors who fear any liability). I highly recommend doing this audit before starting any home improvements!