Bertrand Russell was an atheist.

You might not know who he was, but as a mathematics professor, author, and philosopher, he did a great deal of thinking on many topics. He was not a rash person so his loyalty or disloyalty to any idea or belief did not appear or disappear lightly.

If you are a Christian, and think atheists are godless ingrates then read Bertrand Russell's speech: Why I am not a Christian

The Government is broken, more cracks appear as the spackle hides the older cracks....

There are lots of things wrong with the government that the Conservatives don't want you to dwell on or care about.  Immigration programs that don't work, the military stretched beyond breaking, contracting that doesn't work...

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/12/28/five-visas-in-20-months-is-canadas-startup-visa-program-achieving-what-it-set-out-to-do/?__lsa=f8be-1c0d

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/12/30/national-post-editorial-board-stop-starving-the-navy/

 http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/12/03/national-post-editorial-board-falling-crime-filling-prisons/

 They said that they wouldn't cut important jobs and that veterans were important but:

"Departmental performance reports stretching back to 2009 show that roughly 897 positions have been eliminated across Veterans Affairs, with 33% coming out of the section that administers pensions and awards."

 http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/12/08/veterans-affairs-disability-branch-not-backroom-administration-saw-biggest-job-cuts-records-show/

 Did they cut overpriced managers and executives? No, they cut the people that make a difference and spend money on veterans. They brought in an underspend of $1.1 billion in Veterans Affairs, that's not good management that's mismanagement and Executives should be fired for that. They closed offices and said it was a good thing, then rushed to reopen them when the real problem was not enough personnel to take care of claims.  Is that good management?

If you think that bringing in a surplus is the only issue that matters, then you might neglect these issues.  But consider this:

Two years ago, anticipating the winding up of the 10-year deal, the Harper government announced its own long-term funding agreement for health care. The deal was that they would continue with the 6% annual increases -- which is roughly twice as much as provinces are spending on health care -- until 2017. After that, the increases would be tied to economic growth with a minimum guarantee of 3% a year

HEALTHY PAYMENTS
Federal health transfers to provinces:

1. 2006 — $20.1 billion
2. 2007 — $21.7 billion
3. 2008 — $22.8 billion
4. 2009 — $24.5 billion
5. 2010 — $25.7 billion
6. 2011 — $26.9 billion
7. 2012 — $28.6 billion
8. 2013 — $30.3 billion
9. 2014 — $32.1 billion
10. *2015 —$34.0 billion
11. 2016 — $36.0 billion
12. 2017 — $38.1 billion

 http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/03/26/anti-harper-crowd-off-base-in-health-care-debate

The surplus they wrecked operations for and all the cuts they have forced on the bureaucracy, and all debt repayment, is swamped by the bribery to provinces for health care. Bribing voters not to vote them out but leaving the country jeopardized in many areas including taking care of the veterans of Afghanistan.   Is that good management?

Angering Russia with lots of talk that even the Russians know is talk, at a time when they have mistreated veterans and the military is weak  Who wants to go and fight the Russians risking their life for a lump sum payment to your family? Brave Canadians know the government will likely mismanage their claims if they get injured.  Does that make sense? Is that prudent policy?

God might strike planes from the sky...

But it is humans that find the lost people, pay them respect, comfort the victims, and try to carry on without their loved ones.

Read about the Sci Fi that's almost here... including the ansible....proving science is cool

The Craziest Sci-Fi Fantasies That Got Closer to Reality This Year

Why do ghost hunters exist?

I now understand why there are ghost hunters.  Because it beats working at Walmart and all you have to do is ruin your own credibility, like Walmart.

http://www.syfy.com/ghosthunters/

Prayers are the problem.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/pm-harper-asks-canadians-to-pray-for-troops-fighting-isis-1.2162220

With all due respect, asking people to pray for the safety of our troops is the same mentality that causes a North American nation to drop bombs on a distant religious people. Praying that we safely bomb other people is non sequitur.

Prayers are the problem and not a solution.

If god is on both sides then we're all insane. And if god is on both sides then we know who the common enemy is.

The single best phrase in the English language

On this significant day, I can relay to you the single best phrase that came out of the Christian tradition,

Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards mankind.

Have a Merry Christmas, Christians!

The hypocrisy of religious institutions

Pope Francis is an honest man, beliefs notwithstanding, and intends to shine light on the harsh reality of life inside a religious institution. He has condemned his institution for what it really is:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/pope-francis-issues-blistering-critique-of-vatican-bureaucracy-1.2158180

This is what Friedrich Nietzsche warned about in The Will to Power.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that what Jesus had in mind for mankind was a kibbutz - a pluralist shared commune - and not a religious institution of bureaucratic antipathy.  Uncaring towards the people they are there to support.

 "If Jesus was alive today, and looked at the Roman Catholic Church, he would not be happy."

This can't be just one religion - it has to be all of them.  All human organizations are fraught with selfish stupidity.

The Wittgenstein Name

In case anyone wants to steal my paper ideas... here it is as draft first.

Open Science Consortium

Science is a society on its own. Unfortunately, it has to exist inside a capitalist society. This perverts the course of scientific exploration and human understanding.

Science as a slave of capitalism needs to make a profit for its masters. It must store knowledge for one interest's exclusive use.  This competition leads to mistrust, inefficiency, and a loss to mankind. It leads to redundant pointless effort. It stops sharing and builds walls between people trying to solve the same problem. 

Think how much more could be achieved in one lifetime without this proprietary encumbrance. Shared knowledge is better for mankind. We build directly on work accelerating the state of the art.

To accomplish this it takes a concerted effort by fellow scientists to establish a joint partnership that protects the rights and work shared by the group. If there was an open system that could provide the backbone for all, then it would make collaboration a shared goal and not a competing one. 

The simplest way, although perhaps not as easy to construct, is for all scientists, engineers, and free thinking inventors should band together in a global partnership - a global open science joint venture.


I propose to call this the Open Science Consortium.


If all scientists/engineers (STEM) workers share in the proceeds of the work, then all can benefit from free and open collaboration.

Below is a mind map of the idea.  There is a lot to consider, but this is the main point;  construct a company - a joint venture, that scientists can join if they don't work for any one company or organization.  If you do take a job at a corporation, then any work you did for the Open Science Consortium may live on and might even get recompense from your new corporation.

For those living and working on their own, this provides a way to be an active participant without fees or association. 

Here is how this all might work.  Let's say there are problems that need to be solved by society, either by corporations or government, that are not business specific, critical,  or of any great corporate significance. Still they might be fundamental to all areas of the economy.   Those organizations could fund challenges that try to solve those problems.  They could transfer money in the form of bitcoins to the Open Science Consortium.  Challenges can be worked on by members of the consortium or the public at large using the open resources or other resources.

The challenges can then be broken down into engineering challenges and / or science challenges and rules and judge criteria are set. There are periodic challenges posted with a time window, say 2 years.  All entrants must work on the project and record their findings for all.   At the end of the challenge, the funds are awarded proportionally to all members participating.  It does not matter if you worked on the simulations, the documentation, and so on you are awarded some value based on tangible contribution. The bitcoins are transferred to individuals wherever on the globe through their personal bitcoin wallets.


All work that is done on challenges gets hosted by the consortium.  All papers, experiments, data sets, and so on are kept and maintained by the consortium.  All software is pooled. All documentation is pooled. 

Any intellectual properties that arrives out of the foreground work is owned by the Open Science Consortium.  All consortium members are shareholders and are entitled to any dividends from licensing that work. Less operating expenses and so on. 


Any government or corporation that funded the challenge in the first place, or subsequent work that is related, has the right to use that intellectual property royalty-free from the Open Science Consortium.

All work published inside the  Open Science Consortium could also appear in other technical publications and journals. 

The Open Science Consortium wouldn't fund travel, executives, administration beyond the basics, and won't fund any salaries.  All shareholders are entitled to is a percentage of the dividend.

Using bitcoins reduces overhead and allows someone in remote locations a way to get the funds without banking.  Any science team can be global, and all achievements are shared equally.

For those interested in the idea, I have started a specific blog here:

http://openscienceiscool.blogspot.ca/2014/12/open-science-consortium-stockholders.html

Pakistan and the Taliban: Bedfellows with vipers

Pakistan's dual relationship with radical Islamic groups - officially against but secretly for -  has brought about the tragic event in Peshawar yesterday, when seven gunman ran around a school full of children of serving military personnel and slaughtered them.  It is an attack without conscience against the innocent for a reason that doesn't even make sense, publicity of their atrociousness. It does underline exactly what terrorists we are dealing with.

For many years, while the US poured money and effort into helping the Pakistani government weed out terrorists, as part of the strategy to support Afghanistan, they dithered.  Pakistan wanted to play on both sides of the game. Inciting anti-US sentiment to remain in power and taking the bribes from the US government. Blaming the CIA and protesting drone attacks, yet lining up targets. Supplying cover and safe passage to terrorists crossing into Afghanistan and back. Like stoking a fire but hoping it doesn't burn the house down around it.

The tribal region excuse is hollow, Pakistani intelligence was complicit as well. 

Trying to keep both sides happy made no one safer.  The fact is the terrorists treat the Pakistani government and people with the same contempt they treat Americans.

It should be a lesson learned that even Saudi Arabia, a country that has the same love-hate relationship with America - crushes insurrectionists without mercy.  The Saudis round up or shoot terror cells on sight.  Without regard and without compassion. Saudis meet savagery with equal savagery against radical Islam.

This is what you get for making vipers your bedfellows.  You chose not to weed them out but to accept them as fellow countrymen.  Radical Islam is only neutral and never your friend when you are giving them aid and comfort.  Once you decided to move against them, they were going to move against you.

How much easier would this have been if you had taken the aid and support of the US 5 years ago before they gave up? How many schoolchildren would be alive because TTP was out of existence?

The single worst phrase in the English language...

If you want to pile all the worst qualities of people and their language into one truly bad idea, then use the phrase:

I feel like they should ...

The speaker feels something towards an issue.  This feeling has no research, no survey, perhaps even no understanding underlining an expectation. The speaker feels and it is up to the rest of society to humour this person's whim.

The second ergregious flaw is the next word: like. Whatever the idea involves that is the subject/object of the feeling cannot be explained as exactly and concisely as a specific direction. Whatever we are supposed to do to meet this whim, it rests on a guess about what might satisfy that feeling. Again no effort is made to clarify what is at stake.

The last part of this phrase is the most damning indictment of the utterer. The expectation on the rest  of society is to fulfill snowflake's wish without the participation of the speaker.

I feel like they should  is the rallying cry of the anti intellectual.

If you start speaking to me and use that phrase, I will discount everything that follows.

Because I feel like you should put more thought and care into your ideas if you want other people to take them seriously. You will never see or hear that phrase from me except to point out an anti intellectual. 

ISIS are the new NAZIs

ISIS, ISIL, IS, da'esh; these are the names of the new national socialists - NAZIs. The ISIS government is a religious fascist regime. They aren't the master race, they are the master religion.  They intend to expand their nation towards global domination.  While the local Sunnis are either fearful of reprisals or they are neutral towards ISIS if they believe they are better than the Baghdad government. Either way they are complicit in the acceptance of a fascist regime bent on torture, rape, murder, and destruction.

They have become the new NAZIs.

ISIS Attacks will continue until the Caliphate is destroyed

Until we stop the caliphate once and for all, lone wolf attacks will happen over and over.  This latest on in Sydney Australia - the lone wolf "Brother" wants an ISIL flag and a call to the Prime Minister of Australia.

While we would like to let Iraq handle it's security, we will not be safe from terror attacks because of the symbol it represents.

Sole source hypocrisy; why does Canadian government not open bid office software suites?

The Canadian government has strict rules on contracting, one cannot get a sole source contract without justifying that there is no other supplier that can compete. That regulation is to improve competition and reduce cost for items.

But there is a huge hypocrisy when it comes to Microsoft. Can anyone claim theirs is the only software and Microsoft is the only company that can make office software like word processors and spreadsheets? Google gives away cloud based office apps for free. Linux is free and open. Even apple can do it. Open office is free.  I'm sure any large tech mop any could setup a cloud service for less than we pay for office.

I'm sure some smaller company would spend many man years effort if they could undercut Microsoft.  

What makes it worse is that all file formats that Microsoft protects have been duplicated at will by everyone.  So there is no technical reason to justify sole source.

Legally, the government can fair use for anything, they aren't locked in. They can even use eminent domain.  By deferring to Microsoft they are not competitive friendly, not business friendly but monopoly friendly.

So why doesn't the government open tender for all government?  The answer lies somewhere between reverence for Microsoft (misplaced since it makes crappy software ) and a refusal by office staff to change.  And perhaps some argument about the retraining and renewal process. But here's reality, if you pay less for software you can use that same budget for all.

All this adds up to waste that the conservatives promised to deliver.

Biased outcomes and junior sports leagues

If you want to bias the outcome of a game played with juvenile players, there is no factor more critical than fair and equal refereeing.

If one team gets a small advantage in fouls or penalties in the first five to ten minutes of play it increases the odds that team will win. I've coached soccer and played a lot of sports and the referees make the bigger difference; more than than skill, race, wealth, school population whatever combined. The reality with most kids at the same level is their relative skill difference is minimal and they are all fresh athletes so it comes to minor culmulative advantages

When one team gets that advantage and runs up a score it demoralizes the trailing team. Distraction leads to compounded mistakes and a difficult lead. If refs wants the kids to decide it unbiased calls in the first period are critical. 

Greenpeace is counterproductive at best, a parasite at worst.

Greenpeace has two priorities;

1. Make people aware of Greenpeace and donate to Greenpeace; and
2. Save the planet. 

As noble as priority 2. is they often ignore it if it conflicts with 1.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/12/13/world/americas/peru-is-indignant-after-greenpeace-makes-its-mark-on-ancient-site.html?ref=science&_r=1&referrer=#modal-lightbox


Greenpeace damages ecosystem for publicity.


This is the most obvious case. But a more egregious case was scaring North America against nuclear energy. That is what caused a portion of our dependence on fossil fuel. Look at France's nuclear industry.

• France derives about 75% of its electricity from nuclear energy, due to a long-standing policy based on energy security. This share is to be reduced to 50% by 2025.
• France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over EUR 3 billion per year from this.
• France has been very active in developing nuclear technology. Reactors and fuel products and services are a major export.
• It is building its first Generation III reactor.
• About 17% of France's electricity is from recycled nuclear fuel.

Greenpeace worked to make nuclear power a vilified industry. That damages us all and forces more climate change which is contrary to the stated role of Greenpeace. The fact is Fukushima was a 1950s reactor that should have been mothballed. But histrionics makes it the poster child for the nuclear boogie man. Meanwhile, France is building more modern reactors and our uranium decays in the ground.

Greenpeace ignores it's own principle when it suits them. They work to make fearful grannies upset with misleading non factiness emotional fear uncertainty doubt (FUD) campaigns. And if you side against Greenpeace you must be against the planet. Just because they are emotional and well intentioned doesn't mean they know the facts.

By ignoring viable options they punish all of us for their religious emotional zeal. The mouth frothing demagoguery should not be listened to. 

Liberals; as slimy as ever...

Trudeau promised open nominations in every federal riding during his run for the Liberal leadership last year as part of a commitment to making his party one of the most democratic in the world.
Yet the nomination process has been plagued with complaints. Trudeau has faced criticism for publicly supporting some nominees, while there have been allegations of backroom manipulation to block others from running.

Justin Trudeau promised to hold open candidate nominations back in March:

http://t.thestar.com/#/article/news/canada/2014/03/18/justin_trudeau_promises_clear_rules_for_liberal_candidates_in_wake_of_controversy.html

Now his party's caught parachuting in candidates:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/justin-trudeau-denies-forcing-sikh-candidate-from-nomination-race-1.2871455

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/20/trinity-spadina-riding-exec-condemns-trudeaus-blocking-of-candidate-absolutely-no-due-or-fair-process/

So this time the Liberals haven't even been elected and he is breaking his word... typical...

Billy Talent's Kingdom of Zod is about Christianity.

In case you haven't had time to ponder it, it's an indictment of the church not government. 

Pope says you will see syphyllus in heaven...

"Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures," he told the boy, whose dog died recently.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pope-francis-tells-boy-whose-dog-had-died-that-heaven-is-open-to-all-1.2870888

Creatures are living things, created. If god created all creatures then syphyllus is a creature created. All of god's creatures are welcome in heaven. The pope is infallible. Therefore, you will see syphyllus in heaven.

Not a place I want to go.

Conservatives aren't fiscal conservatives they are moral conservatives

The best example of why the Canadian Conservative party is a morally conservative party is their position on legalizing marijuana.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/camh-calls-for-legalization-of-marijuana-1.2793460

The evidence that the experts observe, and that has never stopped the conservatives from ignoring, is that it's better for society to legalize it.

Legalize marijuana and you produce a crop that makes jobs, funds the economy not the black market, weakens crime income, and lets citizens do what they want. It frees up officers to work on real crime. It frees the court system. How can a fiscal conservative justify this stance?

How can you claim to be a supporter of liberty when it comes to  sugar or salt intake freedom in diets and then reject an herb based on 1920's prohibition stupidity?

By criminalizing pot, you waste taxpayers' money prosecuting the smallest infractions. You are dictating to adults when the evidence shows the contrary, and you are perpetuating this nonsense based on inertia and what's  more offensive the dictation of the church that warns against vice but is OK with alcohol.

A government that regulates personal behaviour wastes resources on a task it should not be doing in the first place. The war on drugs is a failed US policy. Even they've admitted defeat. Why would we follow them?

The Conservatives take their marching orders from the church. That's why they won't live up to their so-called freedom and commerce ideals.

Ideology can't replace facts; more veterans dying at home than Afghanistan.

How can any one say the conservatives are the best stewards of the government?

OTTAWA—Canada’s military is under pressure to do more to look after the mental health of its soldiers after new statistics show the armed forces have lost more personnel to suicide than those killed in combat in Afghanistan.

http://t.thestar.com/#/article/news/canada/2014/09/16/suicide_claims_more_soldiers_than_those_killed_by_afghan_combat.html

The Canadian Forces did their best in Afghanistan to minimize casualties. It's the government's job to take care of veterans. Which it is failing to do. 

Ideology can't take the place of facts.

The Conservatives claim they are the best party to lead Canada. Since they took over manufacturing have disappeared overseas en masse. With that, the science and technology jobs that power that growth in manufacturing have also disappeared without a manufacturing base.

If you believe in ideological-based decisions you ignore facts.  In this case, the lower number of patents is the evidence that things are not better under the conservatives. I would rather have an evidence-based decisions for my government.

Canada in Nobel drought. 20 years since Canadian awarded Science's top prize.

What I don't understand is that conservatives claim they are pro business. But no business manager makes ideology decisions. He or she looks at the numbers.  In this case, the numbers suggest the opposite. Here is what the the report given to the Conservative says;

 Canada’s S&T Strength, Overall

Participants in the online survey were asked to rate Canada’s overall strength in S&T, and its trend. The results, reflecting 1,490 responses to the question, are depicted in Figure 8.1, disaggregated by age and affiliation.

• The integrated view of Canada’s strength overall in science and technology is somewhat more pessimistic than survey respondents’ opinion of S&T strengths in specific areas of research, technology application and infrastructure. Fewer than half of respondents ranked Canada strong overall in S&T (ratings 5, 6 and 7) and roughly a quarter believe we are weak (ratings 1, 2 and 3) relative to the average of other economically advanced countries.
  
• The perception of overall trend is rather pessimistic — almost 40% believe Canada is losing ground, while only 28% see us gaining. The net trend, again, is considerably more pessimistic than is the case for the (average) outlook in the specific areas of research and technology application (see bottom of Figure 8.1).
  
• The overall perception is reasonably consistent across affiliations and ages. Those under 35 perceive greater strength but are not much more optimistic than the average as to trend — i.e., 38% down vs. 33% up.
  
• The views of those with government and business affiliation are remarkably similar and are more pessimistic regarding both strength and trend than those with academic affiliation. 
  

Alisher Usmanov is a noble Russian

Russia's Usmanov to give back Watson's auctioned Nobel medal

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30406322

Andrew Leslie: General Entitlement?

The documents provide details on the $72,000 taxpayers shelled out to move retiring Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie to a new house in Ottawa’s Rockcliffe neighbourhood last year, just 2.5 kilometres from his old one.

When soldiers make far less than this a year, it seems highly cynical to ask the taxpayers to donate a house move on top of the pensions he will receive. 

I am glad Gen. Leslie decided to run for the Liberals, it seems fitting given that he made the highest moving claim of any general officer so far.  And we all know that Liberal politicians are entitled to their entitlements.  Remember another Liberal politician, David Dingwall - Mr. "I am entitled to my entitlements."

Does he deserve the nickname General Entitlement?

America: The Schizophrenic Empire - Part 2

At one moment America aims towards ideals then it forgets and overvalues the expedient. 


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/incoming/article22012148.ece/BINARY/w620/web-wededcar10co1.jpg

Report on CIA details 'brutal' post-9/11 interrogations

Project Gutenberg; Free e-books for e-readers!

It is the tradition to give money inside a gift wallet. But is it the tradition to fill a smart phone, e-reader, or tablet with e-books?

If you are looking for good books to give someone, there are classics that people should at least consider at Project Gutenberg:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

They boast:

Project Gutenberg offers 47,522 free ebooks to download.

 I have downloaded Wittgenstein, John Stuart Mill, and some Greek classics from this donation-based website. 

The Conservatives have become what they beheld.

I

All credit to Harper for not going through with Liberal plans when he took over, but times have changed. A man and a party once full of new ideas and vigour now has become as cynical and mean spirited as what their predecessors turned into.  Now they don't seem to care how false their statements are.

No Stephen Harper, the CIA report into torture does matter to Canadians. We turned over captured fighters on the battlefield to the US based on orders from Ottawa. That means tortured detainees had as much contempt for Canada and Canadian soldiers as they did Americans. It was Ottawa's job to  ensure the rules are followed. That makes us all complicit in torture against the Geneva convention. That is not Canadian.

One might say that's moot since they hate us anyway. But you represent the soldiers that serve the nation. You protect the rights and freedoms that everyone including our adversaries expect Canadians to believe in.  Instead of dismissing this you should be demanding answers from the US and assurance this will never happen again. And you could have even blamed the Liberals. Dismissing it when people were tortured was the least appropriate response. 

How much do the Conservatives believe in PTSD treatment for veterans? $4 million per year for all veterans for 50 years. That much but no more.

Government's shabby lie to veterans.

The Conservatives announced a $200 million dollar investments "over 6 years" for PTSD but it turned out to be $4 million dollars per year for all veterans all over the country over 50 years.  That's less than they spend on PILT payments to the City Of Ottawa.

I tried to apply for veterans support when I left the army post Bosnia. It proved to be lip service and a waste of time.  I gave up. I know that's not the right way to do things but once you hear no enough it seems less worth it.

My grandfather, Squadron Leader Frederick Charles Kruger, flew bombers in WWII and received the Distinguished Flying Cross from the King of England himself, and fought with Veteran's Affairs for 20 years to get a pension for hearing loss due to flying planes with 4 * H-24 1500HP engines outside his ears for nine to 10 hour missions.  They argued he couldn't prove that his hearing loss was job-related.  But he refused to give up and finally he got what he was owed.  What he deserved.  He was as entitled to his entitlements as any politician is.

My logic was I didn't suffer near as much trauma as my grandfather did, nearly shot down many times,  and I could make so much more working than not so I felt it was pointless.  That's how they cut costs because we are honorable, and they exploit that so they are not. Because we are willing to sacrifice everything, and they want to balance the books. And give themselves bonuses for keeping costs down.

It's shameful to talk up their support yet deliver nothing. It's mean-spirited and dishonest. It's sociopathic.

I want all fellow veterans to remember how much your pain and suffering post trauma means to the Conservatives.  It means less than 11,000 pairs of Danner leather combat boots.   It means less than 1 LAV Light Armoured Vehicle per year.  It means less than the advertising budget for how well Veteran's Affairs is doing.

What their ideological goggles don't see is that the more mean spirited and careless they are towards previous veterans makes it far less likely to get the next generation to commit to something as permanent as death on a foreign shore for a cause that means nothing to you personally.  Who wants to die for the Conservatives?

The Caliphate wants to take your life from you

People think that ISIS is far away, that we can ignore the risk.  ISIS doesn't think that way, they think all you have is there's and it's a matter of time before you are part of their caliphate. They are threatening you in advance, that should be all the justification we need to eliminate them all. 

ISIS represents anti-society. It does not want this century. It wants the 9th century again. 

Frankly, I'd rather all Canadians that feel like joining ISIS should be allowed to leave and join them.  That saves on bombs.

The Internet: A refuge for pubescent nerds

It may seem hard to be a nerd growing up now, but imagine how much harder it was back 30 years ago when being an outcast nerd / geek was the equivalent of being a social pariah.  Without the knowledge that there were lots of the same kind of people, just distributed thinly over large areas, it might seem that there was something wrong with you. It made it easier to assume that when the only things on TV are sports.

To avoid some of the hazing, I played rugby and football with jocks and studied with my nerd friends in International Baccalaureate classes.   I avoided hostility because I could exist in both worlds.   But I still played D&D and watched Dune. I was lucky so it made it easier.

The internet has made all kinds of improvements to mankind.  Some are harder to see.

Body Camera Rule: How do you stop a policeman from turning off a camera?

 

My suggestion for the laws around body camera use is that body cameras should be enforced by law.  If the officer turns off his camera, then his testimony is discounted versus other witnesses.  That should be the law; turn off the camera, then you are treated as suspect. 

Body cameras should also have a log of when the device is turned off, turned on, and complete GPS location for the entire shift.  The more data the better.

Chokeholds: Let UFC fighters train police on proper technique

I am horrified by Eric Garner's death, it's tragic and it's not fair to the victim. But it's also unfair to police to ask them to subdue a giant man without the proper skills.   Police are ordered to execute their function on our behalf so we need to make sure they have the proper training not just oversimplified rules.

The best people to train police are the mixed martial artists. They know how to do it professionally.  UFC fighters should offer to train police on the proper technique rather than some idyllic "thou shalt not" choke an individual guideline that doesn't help in the real world.

Race Justice or Rich Justice?

Eric Garner: Killed (not murder since it was unintentional?) for being too big to subdue and choked to death (accidentally) for trying to sell loose cigarettes without paying tax. A crime amounting to a few dollars.	OJ Simpson: Acquitted of murder for premeditated double knife murder of his ex-spouse and her friend. Lost civil case and owed victim's families. Won his freedom using his money to beat the rap. A crime that was worth millions in costs and legal fees.

So my questions are: are all black people treated equally? Is race the real issue here? And shouldn't poor black people be just as upset at how rich black people are treated? Are rich people happy that the problem turns into race relations rather than rich versus poor? Are we doing anyone any favours by ignoring the justice inequality?  

How do you know you're a coffee snob?

You take more time deciding while a line drags on behind you, pick up and read the labels on all granola bars, fumble with your phone for your Starbucks app, ask for the most obscure version of a latte so that your espresso is ready before you are.

Holding Sway inside the Beltway

If you are a foreign leader and you want to influence American Politics you do go to the White House, you do have a photo oppurtunity with the Speaker of the House.  That will get you some credit.

But if you want to appeal to the American people, you bypass all of the politicians and talk to Jon Stewart. That's the fastest way to ratchet tension inside the Beltway.

Russell Brand is in denial

Russell Brand, you are a facile soul. I liken you to the Sloan song, "The Good in Everyone". But some people have no good as you define it.

  You like to think in reasoned terms, but sometimes you miss the supporting facts underlining the real issue. Christopher Hitchens pointed out 10 years ago that ISIS and al-Qaeda hated us long before Gulf War I. If ISIS members were only victims of US/coalition violence, then why are foreign fighters spending their time and money going to join ISIS? ISIS is a Muslim movement to reinstate the caliphate.  So what makes you think there is a simple peaceful solution?  The caliphate has an agenda, and it is to behead you eventually. ISIS has started killing Muslim Imams they declare are infidels, so no one is safe. So when you will stand up?

You like to think your superficial review is factual, but really superficial conclusions are more like the old addage, "when you are holding a hammer, everything is a nail".  You are spinning this as a commercial agenda to attack ISIS and Syria. If that is true then why didn't the US pivot and attack Syria upon exit from Iraq?  Why evacuate and then return? The US refused in the past  because the people refuse to see more body bags. The difference is not a corporate agenda, it's the images of beheadings and pillaging. These people, ISIS, are never going to stop, calm down or treat you like an equal.

Even in Buddhism, it is a just cause to promote violence by preempting violence. That reduces global suffering.

Society's Money Sink - Healthcare

People are fixated on the topical problems of the day.  But the biggest problem is not ISIS, it's not Ukraine, and it's not the banking system; more people will die from car crashes than ISIS and China won't let the West go into bankruptcy. They lose their principal in that event.

It's healthcare.  The demand for healthcare is unlimited. It is society's money sink (as in the opposite of a source not the kitchen variety).  That means if everyone came forward with a need for some covered condition it would bankrupt the system.  No system can afford to cover all expenses.  So the reality is that every year the system tries to make efficiencies but also tries to slow down demand to meet the existing budget.

Demographics is the biggest forcing function in society; the age histogram dictates what costs are prevalent to society.  And the aging population is risking society's fiduciary status.  Healthcare costs will go up not flatten.

Healthcare can bankrupt us.  

What we need is mandatory innovative changes forced on the system.  We need to force creative solutions outside their comfort zone, technology, robots, any and all improvements to squeeze every efficiency out of our tax dollars. 

We need e-visits to doctors,  we need automated sample surveys, we need Artificial Intelligence doctor's assistants, e-files, we need doctor teleconferencing for remote locations. 

Any government that is not focused on healthcare is a liability to its citizens. 

Minister Fantino's Performance Agreement

According to the Treasury board agreement, Treasury Board Performance Agreement, the objective of these forms is to:

"The objective of this directive is to promote a commitment, shared by managers, employees and their organizations, to sustaining a culture of high performance in the public service."

So when the auditor general reports that:

"Ferguson’s report says 80 per cent of veterans face an eight-month wait to find out if they are eligible for benefits -- a period of time that’s twice as long as Veterans Affairs Canada’s four-month standard.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ag-report-vets-face-long-waits-complex-process-for-benefits-eligibility-1.2118010#ixzz3KgbYmyiU

"

Then will the government rate his performance by the same standard they expect from everyone else? A civil servant would be treated as an underperformer.   Will they follow their own rules and lead by example?