Wondering where the world of computing is going in the near future? This video will blow you away. Watch Pranav Mistry (an inventor) explain his ideas. Wow!
http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
ClimateGate on the People's Network
Last night we may have witnessed a turning point in the Canadian discussion of Anthropogenic (human caused) Global Warming (AGW). Readers of the Toronto Globe and Mail have long known that two regular columnists Margaret Wente and Rex Murphy are AGW skeptics and have written courageous columns to that effect on many occasions in the past. Rex Murphy also happens to be an employee of the CBC, and has a regular opinion piece every Thursday on The National led by Pastor Peter Mansbridge. As a regular viewer of The National and a fan of Rex Murphy's way with words, I don't recall a broadcast where Rex has been unleashed and spoken so bluntly about his views on AGW.
CBC and AGW have been like peanut butter and jelly, that close and supportive of one another. To see Rex Murphy let loose finally on one of his pet peeves was jaw dropping. Have a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am3-HpSnE9Y
CBC and AGW have been like peanut butter and jelly, that close and supportive of one another. To see Rex Murphy let loose finally on one of his pet peeves was jaw dropping. Have a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am3-HpSnE9Y
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Change you can't believe in!
Canadian and American news media paused last night from speculating about Tiger Woods’ domestic distress as Barak Obama announced that an additional 30 000 US troops will be sent to Afghanistan soon. No surprise really, since that information had been leaked last week. The only surprise was that troop withdrawals would begin in the summer of 2011 just in time for Obama’s run at a second term. This time of course will be different, the US and NATO’s ISAF (including Canada) will expunge the Taliban, train the Afghan army, restore the Afghan government (after getting all the warlords to become democratic) and leave Afghanistan to take care of itself. That should keep us all safe.
The Globe and Mail editorial today called this new surge of troops “a welcome move by Obama”. The editorial said that this surge will take pressure off Canadian troops and Obama’s speech was “a necessary reminder that this remains a necessary war”.
Afghanistan has had a tortured past of war and conquest going back to pre-Islamic times. In the 2500 years for which there are records two things stand out; Afghans don’t like foreign occupation and the place is run by warlords. At no time in its history was there a grassroots democratic movement that sought to bring the rule of law to the entire country. Expecting the puppet government now in Kabul to have full control of that country is wishful thinking. Expecting the future Afghan army to keep order against the Taliban and Al-Qaida is ridiculous. Expecting American troops to leave Afghanistan once the mission is accomplished is equally insane. Afghanistan has been the place where previous empires have died; I fear the US will be no different.
Mr. Obama has disappointed us yet again but this month he will pick up his Nobel Peace Prize. What’s wrong with that picture?
The Globe and Mail editorial today called this new surge of troops “a welcome move by Obama”. The editorial said that this surge will take pressure off Canadian troops and Obama’s speech was “a necessary reminder that this remains a necessary war”.
Afghanistan has had a tortured past of war and conquest going back to pre-Islamic times. In the 2500 years for which there are records two things stand out; Afghans don’t like foreign occupation and the place is run by warlords. At no time in its history was there a grassroots democratic movement that sought to bring the rule of law to the entire country. Expecting the puppet government now in Kabul to have full control of that country is wishful thinking. Expecting the future Afghan army to keep order against the Taliban and Al-Qaida is ridiculous. Expecting American troops to leave Afghanistan once the mission is accomplished is equally insane. Afghanistan has been the place where previous empires have died; I fear the US will be no different.
Mr. Obama has disappointed us yet again but this month he will pick up his Nobel Peace Prize. What’s wrong with that picture?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Give me a break
The Copenhagen Climate Conference is coming up. Ready to have your pockets picked some more? Watch this John Stossell video, it will help get you into the mood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHCJ-UhZFT4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHCJ-UhZFT4
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Ammunition to use on your Eco-tard friends
The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference starts Dec. 7 and goes until Dec. 18, 2009. Prepare for a media onslaught that highlights the urgency of the situation. Armageddon is on our doorstep.
So just how much of an impact will the proposed reductions in Greenhouse gases have on your life? How much will it cost? How much do you know about our dependence on fossil fuels up here in the Great White North?
Here is some ammunition to increase your energy literacy care of Gwyn Morgan, former CEO of EnCana Corp. from ROB.
So just how much of an impact will the proposed reductions in Greenhouse gases have on your life? How much will it cost? How much do you know about our dependence on fossil fuels up here in the Great White North?
Here is some ammunition to increase your energy literacy care of Gwyn Morgan, former CEO of EnCana Corp. from ROB.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Lessons missed twenty years after the Wall fell
Twenty years ago this month the Cold War ended with ballyhoo and beer, not a shot was fired. The Iron Curtain was breached; the Berlin Wall became a gateway to the West instead of a barrier. The decades long sham battle between free market capitalism and centrally planned statism was all but over, or so it seemed. This most extreme form of statism or socialism we called communism was revealed to be a paper-mache façade crumbling in a rainstorm. Its infrastructure rotten to the core, its ideology was as many of us suspected, a lie. By the time the final dominoes had fallen, hundreds of millions of formerly repressed people had freedoms restored that you and I take for granted every day.
The Cold War was the overriding paranoia of my generation. Soon after the Second World War, governments in Canada, the United States and Western Europe created a military alliance called NATO to defend from what everyone feared would be eventual certain attack by the communist hordes. It was soon clear the Soviet Block Iron Curtain countries we feared made prisoners of their own people, and the Berlin Wall was the physical manifestation of this. In the West governments were obliged to fan the flames of fear to keep funding their military spending over the next 30 years, especially in the United States. The fall of the Wall left a vacuum, the enemy was really a mirage and NATO was redundant, and needed new enemies. We all know now where NATO’s new enemies are. Paranoia still lives in the West, but that is another story.
Is there a lesson for us here? In 1992 it took 52% of Canada’s GDP to support government programs at all levels. Mercifully that number has fallen a bit since then, but the bloated size of our governments along with its numerous layers qualifies Canada as a statist country, albeit a kinder gentler statism, statism-lite if you will. Yes we still enjoy most of the freedoms that our cousin’s in the former East Block lacked. But our economic freedom is severely restricted by government spending and taxation. Today 45% of the income of the average Canadian family goes to some level of government for services delivered whether wanted or not. Now, you will say that we get services for that price, but are we getting value for money spent? Does government deliver essential services most efficiently, free of the corruption and cronyism that characterized our former Soviet block enemies. If statism/socialism was repudiated 20 years ago why does Canada still practice aspects of it? Do we think by tweaking it just right it will work to our benefit or are we deluding ourselves like the Eastern Block nations did before the Wall came down? In 2007, the most recent year I could find, Canada’s Federal government had 87 departments or agencies employing almost 334 000 people, including Assisted Human Reproduction Canada and the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, both vital to our democracy I’m sure. Remember that’s just the Federal layer of government and it keeps growing.
In his book Fearful Symmetry the fall and rise of Canada’s founding values, Brian Lee Crowley explains why he thinks government in Canada grew so large and ultimately needs to shrink. He compares Canada to the Americans; we are each others greatest trading partners, have similar lifestyles and once had a similar standard of living. According to Crowley, in 1960, Canada and the U.S.A. spent similar amounts of their GDP to support government programs at all levels (Canada 28.6%, USA 28.4%). Our standard of living was similar, differing by just 8% less for Canada. Take a snapshot 40 years later, American government spending increased by 6%, Canada’s by over 20%. Over those same 40 years American per capita income increased by 222% while in Canada just 126% over the same period. Clearly there was a cost to having a big government.
The Cold War was the overriding paranoia of my generation. Soon after the Second World War, governments in Canada, the United States and Western Europe created a military alliance called NATO to defend from what everyone feared would be eventual certain attack by the communist hordes. It was soon clear the Soviet Block Iron Curtain countries we feared made prisoners of their own people, and the Berlin Wall was the physical manifestation of this. In the West governments were obliged to fan the flames of fear to keep funding their military spending over the next 30 years, especially in the United States. The fall of the Wall left a vacuum, the enemy was really a mirage and NATO was redundant, and needed new enemies. We all know now where NATO’s new enemies are. Paranoia still lives in the West, but that is another story.
Is there a lesson for us here? In 1992 it took 52% of Canada’s GDP to support government programs at all levels. Mercifully that number has fallen a bit since then, but the bloated size of our governments along with its numerous layers qualifies Canada as a statist country, albeit a kinder gentler statism, statism-lite if you will. Yes we still enjoy most of the freedoms that our cousin’s in the former East Block lacked. But our economic freedom is severely restricted by government spending and taxation. Today 45% of the income of the average Canadian family goes to some level of government for services delivered whether wanted or not. Now, you will say that we get services for that price, but are we getting value for money spent? Does government deliver essential services most efficiently, free of the corruption and cronyism that characterized our former Soviet block enemies. If statism/socialism was repudiated 20 years ago why does Canada still practice aspects of it? Do we think by tweaking it just right it will work to our benefit or are we deluding ourselves like the Eastern Block nations did before the Wall came down? In 2007, the most recent year I could find, Canada’s Federal government had 87 departments or agencies employing almost 334 000 people, including Assisted Human Reproduction Canada and the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, both vital to our democracy I’m sure. Remember that’s just the Federal layer of government and it keeps growing.
In his book Fearful Symmetry the fall and rise of Canada’s founding values, Brian Lee Crowley explains why he thinks government in Canada grew so large and ultimately needs to shrink. He compares Canada to the Americans; we are each others greatest trading partners, have similar lifestyles and once had a similar standard of living. According to Crowley, in 1960, Canada and the U.S.A. spent similar amounts of their GDP to support government programs at all levels (Canada 28.6%, USA 28.4%). Our standard of living was similar, differing by just 8% less for Canada. Take a snapshot 40 years later, American government spending increased by 6%, Canada’s by over 20%. Over those same 40 years American per capita income increased by 222% while in Canada just 126% over the same period. Clearly there was a cost to having a big government.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Vatican searches for ET
Looks like the Pope and the Jesuits want to get ahead of the curve this time. Almost 400 years after putting Galileo Galilei under house arrest, the Inquisitors in Rome seem to be becoming more inquistive.
For daring to disagree with the Vatican in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo was charged with heresy, forced to recant and spend the rest of his life in his home. What did he do? He had the temerity to agree with Copernicus that maybe the earth went around the sun rather than the other way round.
Now the Vatican thinks that E.T. (if he exists) should phone Rome. Just in case there is anyone out there the Church wants us all to know that they are "part of creation" too. Hallelujah and lets cover all the bases.
For daring to disagree with the Vatican in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo was charged with heresy, forced to recant and spend the rest of his life in his home. What did he do? He had the temerity to agree with Copernicus that maybe the earth went around the sun rather than the other way round.
Now the Vatican thinks that E.T. (if he exists) should phone Rome. Just in case there is anyone out there the Church wants us all to know that they are "part of creation" too. Hallelujah and lets cover all the bases.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The H1N1 debacle
I wrote this letter to the Globe & Mail the other day:
Marcus Gee seems to think that the H1N1 vaccine debacle is beyond anyone’s control in his column Panic and blame won’t help cure the flu (Nov. 3). Blaming the various layers of the government administered public health authorities is “simplistic and unfair” and according to Mr. Gee “they have done reasonably well”.
This reminds me of the current I’m a Mac and I’m a PC ad. PC implores viewers to “trust us” for each new and improved version of the PC operating system. But in that case consumers have a real choice PC or Mac.
What choice do we as consumers of the vaccine have? The Federal, Provincial, Regional and Municipal layers of government health authorities have colluded with the vaccine manufacturer to control production and distribution for the good of everyone.
Wait your turn is the operative phrase even if you get the flu odds are you will survive, don’t panic. These are reassuring words aren’t they? Maybe central control isn’t the best way to go, maybe its time to think differently.
It’s great to know we have choices in trivial matters like a PC operating system but when it comes to matters of possible life or death, trust us.
Marcus Gee seems to think that the H1N1 vaccine debacle is beyond anyone’s control in his column Panic and blame won’t help cure the flu (Nov. 3). Blaming the various layers of the government administered public health authorities is “simplistic and unfair” and according to Mr. Gee “they have done reasonably well”.
This reminds me of the current I’m a Mac and I’m a PC ad. PC implores viewers to “trust us” for each new and improved version of the PC operating system. But in that case consumers have a real choice PC or Mac.
What choice do we as consumers of the vaccine have? The Federal, Provincial, Regional and Municipal layers of government health authorities have colluded with the vaccine manufacturer to control production and distribution for the good of everyone.
Wait your turn is the operative phrase even if you get the flu odds are you will survive, don’t panic. These are reassuring words aren’t they? Maybe central control isn’t the best way to go, maybe its time to think differently.
It’s great to know we have choices in trivial matters like a PC operating system but when it comes to matters of possible life or death, trust us.
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