mathjax

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Rand Paul is now bought and paid for by the telecommunications companies

Once a shining beacon inside the Republican ideology, Rand Paul has turned to the dark side.  He wants the government to regulate that the government shouldn't regulate the internet.  Huh?



Rand Paul, you don't know what you are talking about so clearly you have a hidden political agenda.  In fact, the libertarian viewpoint on net neutrality should be to make sure the government forces companies to keep all internet traffic neutral. That requires no more government. That levels the playing field for startups and people. To do otherwise is to make the internet unfair.

And more importantly, the libertarian viewpoint on the internet should be to allow technical people to govern the internet NOT the politicians. So why are you involved?

To force the Senate to regulate the internet by challenging the FCC's rules is to throw your lot in with the companies and not the people.  Not a very libertarian attitude at all.

I conclude therefore that Rand Paul is bought and paid for.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Thugs didn't start Baltimore Riot







A riot started to protest the violence of police against citizens was started by thugs?

So you are saying the people that are the MOST FAMILIAR with the brutality and unfairness of the police and the justice system would voluntarily riot in front of a wall of cameras and an army of police officers?  To do what, get arrested? The people that have criminal records and almost certainly would be re-offending? Breaking parole?  Going to jail?

No the riots were started by people that have NO IDEA how bad the system can be.


What arrogance!

Premier Jim Prentice claims Alberta is not an NDP province:



"This is not an NDP province," Prentice said after touring a Calgary bakery. "I don't believe that the voters of Alberta want to see an NDP coalition or an NDP government. I think they take pride in our province as the economic engine of this country."

Oh? NDP is the party of unions. Maybe you've been away too long but unions are the people that BUILT the economic engine of Alberta. You don't have a pipeline without welders.  You don't have a refinery without trades workers putting it together.

This is the total disconnect from reality and demonstrates total arrogance and entitlement.

I'm voting NDP. And I am a small c conservative.  If Prentice wanted to energize the economy, he'd legalize marijuana and take taxes from all those trades.

Harper Government stalling Rememberance Day as legal holiday






The Harper Government won't support Remembrance day as a legal holiday:


“It certainly seems like they've hit the brakes hard on this bill,” said Harris, who accused Conservatives of tying it up by asking the veterans affairs committee to study the matter after it had already been reviewed.
“They seem to be doing everything they can to stop it.”

What do they need to study? A one clause bill.  To take longer than needed on a simple matter wastes government resources.

So to claim they support veterans while not jumping all over a simple bill to recognize Remembrance Day is nonsense.






Monday, April 27, 2015

A poor man is dead, so let's burn down the things poor people rely on?



http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2347477.1430180662!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg


You are angry at an injustice, so you ruin what little poor people have around you? And you wonder why your cause has no traction?

The Government is running on ideology alone

How many jobs will the budget create? Finance minister admits he doesn't know:

 http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/how-many-jobs-will-the-budget-create-finance-minister-admits-he-doesn-t-know-1.2345313

The government is no longer thinking ahead for the people, it is in maintainer mode. It is not predicting what will be needed, it isn't investing in the future, it isn't taking advantage of low interest rates to renew infrastructure, it isn't dreaming of a far reaching improvement for the people.

 

 The conservative government's idea tank is empty and it is running on ideology. 

 

It's mantra is to deliver a balanced budget no matter how screwed that might make the people. They don't care how many people will lose their jobs. They don't care how much worse your finances are getting.  They aren't going to help anyone other than the main groups they think will help them win election.

 Think I'm joking?


Oliver responded to criticism for a comment he made last week about leaving any long-range fiscal problems resulting from the near doubling of the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) to future generations. The measure was tabled in the budget.
"I hear that by 2080 we may have a problem," Oliver said in a broadcast interview last week. "Well, why don't we leave that to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's granddaughter to solve?"
  http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/how-many-jobs-will-the-budget-create-finance-minister-admits-he-doesn-t-know-1.2345313

  Or this one:

Two months after Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to consult widely on doctor-assisted dying, the federal government has yet to reveal how it intends to canvass Canadians' views on the emotional issue - much less how it intends to legislate on the subject.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/promised-gov-t-consultation-on-doctor-assisted-dying-hasn-t-materialized-1.2346204 


Or this one:
Health Minister Rona Ambrose made a public challenge to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson on Friday over the city's plans to regulate its marijuana dispensaries, saying the city has no jurisdiction to do so.

Councillor Kerry Jang has said the city is forced to take action because the federal government's medical marijuana laws are so restrictive. Jang also said the new rules are designed to protect children, rather than to expose or normalize them to the drug.


http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/rona-ambrose-vancouver-at-odds-over-regulation-of-marijuana-dispensaries-1.2343943

Malcom X and President Obama are eloquence equals.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Mark Cuban is wrong on Net Neutrality



All bits are not the same bits. Mark Cuban forgets that TV technology is a custom network.  The Internet is a NON CUSTOM network developed to be common and open.

Mark Cuban has done a conflation of facts without establishing the truth of his facts.

He claims that since binary is binary they all will get regulated together.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102459578

His proposition is wrong, he is motivated because he wants any company to be able to sell its bits on the Internet. But the fact is nothing stops a company from setting up a CUSTOM network to sell content or whatever. He wants to make money cheaply leveraging the Internet to do what he wants. But that's not what the Internet is.   Fair and open means it does not favour one set of bits over another.  If you can't make your application work on the Internet, go make your own network.  Like a TV company that uses its TV technology.  A TV network that predates the Internet by 80 years.

If an application can co-exist on the Internet then great, if not the write then business case to justify a custom network. 

Here is a truthful retelling of his logic.

All TV bits are TV bits.  All Internet bits are Internet bits.

But;

NOT All Internet bits are TV bits.



Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Invasion of English into Europe

 English is becoming more pervasive into the European cultures, this is in Poland. This is another data point on a trend line that documents how people are choosing to incorporate English.

Now in this sign there is one English word that must be a very good simplification to force people to think it's better than the Polish version. 

 Language purists would get upset at someone using the improper words.  But memory of proper words lasts about as long as a lifetime.

Centrum is a Latin word, so should it be here in this Polish sign?

The imperceived insult



I've noticed I've veered too far into ranting and away from the balance of rant and philosophical explorations.

So here is one thought:

If an insult is not understood, not perceived, then how is it an insult?

I was walking down the street in Rzeszow Poland, and this young guy leans out of a car and says something at me. His friends all laugh and they drive on.

I look at them confused, and then walk on.

He spoke in Polish and said something to me. He understood what it meant and what it might mean to the listener.

From the other side, I was hearing something that sounded little more than mumbling.  There was no comprehension.  From the context, his friends laughing, the fact he was saying something on the move and I couldn't respond, he was directing it at me the only person on the street,  I can only guess that was what he was doing.

I had no reaction.  I didn't know what to do.

Even if he had called me a dirty drunken foreigner, or a retard, or a mother fucker, or something understandable, then at least I could understand the intent of the communication.

In any case I would have smiled and waved. Instead I did nothing but stare because I couldn't tell what was an appropriate response. If one was needed.

But would it be an insult?

To be something, it must have all the properties that match up to the cognitive synonym - that's a fancy way of saying an understood comparable. Apple to apple and so on.

A bird is a bird because it flies.

But an insult without comprehension is not an insult. 

 http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/276/8/6/futurama_fry_meme_insult_or_compliment__by_maxridefangirl-d5gpd09.jpg

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Separation of Church and State, but before Parliament works they pray


Speaker Scheer has 'no intention' of changing House of Commons prayer

We are supposed to live in a multicultural society, the Supreme Court has just ruled that a prayer before a Town council meeting was ruled against government principles:


“Sponsorship of one religious tradition by the state in breach of its duty of neutrality amounts to discrimination against all other traditions,” Justice Clement Gascon wrote.
http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/wellesley-township-may-scrap-prayer-before-council-meetings-1.2340086

And yet Parliament refuses to alter their practice of prayer. This is arrogance of religious people flouting fair treatment to continue biased business towards one religious group and against the majority because they refuse to give up their traditions.

What is lost on any religious group is that it's BECAUSE we live in a sectarian society they are free to practice religion.

If we lived in a Catholic society then what would be the rights of Muslims?
If we lived in a Muslim society then what would be the rights of Catholics?

The ironic point is lost on people blindly following dogma, they should be grateful that society is free to them. How can they be unfair to the majority?

There is no reason to force government business to be held up for dogma.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Harper has learned little from Afghanistan


It seems like all those sacrificed soldiers,


http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-proud-of-troops-who-fired-back-at-isis-in-iraq-1.2927706

their valiant sacrifice for what we believe, was lost on the Harper government. The concept of risks and perils when engaging in warzones has not sunk in to the Harper government.

The military is on a training mission in Iraq, which means no combat.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/isis-fight-canadian-advisers-guiding-airstrikes-but-u-s-barred-from-doing-same-1.2934056

When the US won't do it why are we allowing it?

Harper is sending troops into harm's way while at the same time dropping the defence budget.


http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/opposition-parties-blast-boost-to-defence-spending-that-doesn-t-kick-in-for-2-years-1.2338344

That was exactly the same mentality applied by the Liberals that wanted to get some PR points sending soldiers to Afghanistan's Kandahar province. Just another peace keeping mission... How well did that go?


Just because Ukraine is stable now doesn't mean it won't erupt.

Just because ISIS is being blunted doesn't mean you won't need more reinforcements to keep them moving backwards.

If you are going to cutback, then why involve us in TWO warzones voluntarily? This defies logic.

Where will that money come from if you are starving your Army?

Where will those volunteers come from when you mistreat veterans?

Will a token force with no budget scare Putin?


Where will our allies be if we don't keep our commitments?

All this means is that without preparation the ultimate cost for us to prevent more conflict will be higher than if we are ready to move in instantly. That means another billion dollars down the road that might be spared not to mention the ultimate sacrifices. That is good fiscal policy?

Taking money away from forces while putting them into two war zones demonstrates the lessons of Afghanistan's losses were not learned by the people that need it the most.

This isn't good management; this is not predicting and planning to avoid catastrophe. This isn't accepting the worst-case scenario. This is teetering on an abyss and hoping you won't fall in.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Iran doesn't want the bomb for Saudi Arabia.

Iran might assuredly be working to gain a nuclear weapon.  But the point of any nuclear weapon isn't to attack Saudi Arabia.  Or even Israel. Those might be a secondary political objective.



The point of a nuclear weapon for Iran is to stave off any right-wing American inclinations to attack. 

Iranians understand a nuclear war with Israel is a mutually assured destruction scenario. That is off the table as well. They know Israel won't start a nuclear war, so that's a secondary reason.

The fact is Iran was labelled part of the "Axis of Evil" by the right-wing controlled United States of America. That is what Iranian hard liners are concerned about. They are worried about American hard liners...




Iran has watched how American foreign policy changes the second a nation, North Korea for example, enters the nuclear club. Once a nation can inflict massive nuclear fall-out casualties - even if it against its own people alone - it makes them outside military intervention realm. Outside the military option so long as the conflict is non-existential (if Iran could wipe out the USA - all bets are off).

Iranians know that America is a Schizonphrenic Empire - swinging from isolationist to empire and back again. And they know that American politicians can win votes by rattling sabres at nations that are not liked.  They know how easily a "Hawk" can win support taking on a foe.  What better foe than an Evil Axis member? They do the same tactics in house. So why expect different?

Iran want to preserve itself from aggression.   If Iran wanted to become aggressive then when ISIS formed a caliphate they would have formed their own caliphate and denounced ISIS as imposters.


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Oh Sure, Islam gets along...

Hello from Rzeszow, Poland!



Ok, so Islam is the religion of peace, unless you are a desperate migrant, then you throw the Christians overboard...while fleeing to a mainly Christian country.

Italian police: Muslim migrants threw Christians overboard




http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/16/europe/italy-migrants-christians-thrown-overboard/index.html

"Muslim migrants threw 12 Christians overboard to their deaths because they were not praying to Allah when they asked God for help when their dinghy suffered a puncture..."



Wait it gets better:

Those who witnessed the African Christians being murdered on the crammed dinghy told investigators how Nigerian Muslims became angry at Christian who started praying.
'They told him that they would throw him overboard if he didn't stop praying to God,' he said, according to La Republica
The witness added: 'They started shouting, two pushed the lad and he fell in the sea and drowned.'


Oh sure we can all accommodate for Islam, until Islam outnumbers us....

This life boat tragedy is also a message: it says that when push comes to shove, Islam will do whatever it believes is best.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

You are on your own with the Harper Government

 http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2309499.1427992740!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

People are starting to realize the conservative government is not reaching out to help people as they expect. A Canadian man convicted in a perhaps corrupt country (Indonesia) yet the Canadian government won't intervene to make them aware they are concerned. Not interfering, but making sure Jakarta realizes they are being watched.

The US government has done more.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/teacher-convicted-in-indonesia-speaks-out-against-canadian-government-1.2330691

So now people realize they are on their own.  Locked up abroad? Your problem. No job? Not their job.  Crumbling infrastructure? Patch it yourself.

If it involves bombing someone they will spare no expense. But if it's a normal responsibility they are always finding ways to not do their job.

This is a very mean spirited form of national identity.  When most Canadians will naturally roll up their sleeves and help without question.  This is a stark contrast.


To blindly follow Christianity is to play Middle East Politics

"1581 Bunting clover leaf map" by Heinrich Bünting - [1]. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1581_Bunting_clover_leaf_map.jpg#/media/File:1581_Bunting_clover_leaf_map.jpg

One of the less marketed aspects of Christian following is the unbreakable link to the Middle East, its politics, and its warring factions. It's genocides, it's ethnic cleansings, its inhumanity towards fellow men.

All of the monotheist religions descended from Abrahamic tradition, all from the same small corridor of emotionalism, draw upon the same tit-for-tat justifications for their adherents to obey the law of god, to avenge aggression, to perpetuate the suffering of innocents unto the future.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Dr. Gupta on multi-tasking

For some reason I don't agree with, Blogger won't let me post a video not from YouTube on here.  Until I find one please watch the link to the CNN story where it explains why you are less able when you multitask.

Your brain loses focus the more tasks are taken on. He shows the MRI to prove it.  For all those text-drivers out there you are more dangerous not less!

And ladies, while women are reported to be better multitaskers only 2% of the the population are true multitaskers. So you have to decide which one of you that is.


http://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2015/04/08/your-brain-on-multitasking-gupta-orig.cnn/video/playlists/digital-studios-topicals/

Monday, April 13, 2015

Watch an Intellectual take on Bill Maher over Islam









Fareed Zakaria has the brain power that Ben Affleck wishes for.  At least Fareed makes a better attempt at the same point without all the emotionalism.

Fareed has a point that calling Muslim's acceptance of their own religion counter productive, that it causes an emotional response to defend their religion. He is successful at putting Bill on his back foot.

The problem is, Fareed, that this is the problem with all religions as was pointed out by Richard Dawkins amongst others.  Just because there is something to complain about with religion, free thinking rational people don't need to spare their feelings if they get upset.  When we stop the argument, they get away with not really examining their religion. They get a free pass to keep going with silliness because of politeness. 

Politeness is not an option, these issues are too important for our future to let them go like has been done in the past.


Fortunately for us, Bill is not one to stop complaining.


Sunday, April 12, 2015

Conservatives will sell out the public service the second the election is over.




It may seem like the government is done cutting but take care.  Before an election  they have no power.  After that election for those that think they can trust them there is no promise they won't continue ideology.

They want to get away with inaction on climate change, on no east-west pipeline, on ignoring science, on everything they've done.

Look at how quickly Harper turned on Senator Duffy.

The only way to hold them to account is to kick them out. 

How does a Millionaire convince people they understand everyone else?

http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2323452.1428865529!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

Hillary Clinton is a millionaire that charges more (\$50,000+) to show up and speak for a few hours than most people make in a year. She is worth \$21 million plus.



http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-politicians/democrats/hillary-clinton-net-worth/

In one instance, she charge $300,000:

The latest story came last week, when the Washington Post reported that Clinton received $300,000 for a March speech at the University of California-Los Angeles. Some of the details weren't flattering. Clinton's representatives told the university that this was the "special university rate" and they had some very specific requests: a spread of hummus and crudités along with some cushions to be kept backstage in case she got uncomfortable.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hillary-clinton-speaking-fees-trend-story

So how can she claim to understand the middle aged soccer mom that's trying to get two kids through college? I don't see the truth in her "understanding".




Saturday, April 11, 2015

Putin's Russian is a Virus that must be contained



There was a very good interview with Garry Kasparov is very insightful into the reality of Vladimir Putin's Russia.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/kasparov-vladimir-putin-s-russia-a-virus-that-must-be-contained-1.3028577


"Putin's Russia is a virus. You don't engage the virus, you have to contain it," he told me.
Kasparov is one of four debaters Friday night in Toronto questioning the West's response to Russia: 'engage or isolate?'


So basically, to engage militarily would place middle class Russia into Vladimir Putin's hands as the saviour of the people. Rather, it makes more sense to cleave them from his influence.

To underline to the Russian middle class they will get screwed in the end by Putin's policies is the way to remove him. Ironically, to compare Putin to Bush might be a good start

Friday, April 10, 2015

Vancouver Oil Spill: Conservative Cutbacks To Services Have No Impact?

So, BC, how's that reduction of federal services working out for you? Are you going to pay attention to federal politics now? Remember the promise front line services would not be affected?  This is the Mayor of Vancouver:

"While he thanked first responders and cleanup crews for their hard work, Robertson said the slow response to the spill goes back “to the lack of leadership from the federal and provincial government to make sure that these efforts are co-ordinated, that there is an immediate response.
“That response was lacking,” he said.
Robertson said city officials still don’t know how dangerous the fuel is, how much of the substance has settled at the bottom of the English Bay and how that will affect the wildlife and residents in the region.
“My real questions go to the resources available,” Robertson said.
He said the federal government has made cuts to the nearby Kits Coast Guard base and to the local oil spill response centre.
“Those are unacceptable,” he said. “Here we have an example of a spill taking place and the response was inadequate. Too slow, not enough information and citizens in Vancouver are very frustrated.”


http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/totally-inadequate-vancouver-mayor-slams-response-to-fuel-spill-1.2320823

Evolution throwback: Former Conservative MP James Lunney Demands to Stop Bullying of Religious People

'Stop calling evolution fact!'


Ontario PC house leader Steve Clark and leadership candidate Christine Elliott also disowned the remarks.
But Lunney has come to Nicholls's defence.
"[Just] stop calling #evolution fact!" tweeted Lunney, who said he had no problem calling it a "theory."


This MP, who is too conservative to stay silent, is accusing people and the media of bullying him based on his belief that evolution is not a fact.  He quit the government so as to stay true to his beliefs. But what self-serving political motivation made him remain silent while he was enjoying the power of being a politician?  Only when he is retiring, he stands up for his core beliefs.  His self-serving blog post

http://www.jameslunneymp.ca/english/?p=3283

claims:


."..I share these concerns and I believe there is a growing and malignant trend by “cyber trolls” to engage, entrap, belittle and embarrass politicians of faith over false constructs of the word evolution.
In the past month, a few words were exchanged on social media, apparently inflammatory words: science, managing assumptions and theory or fact related to (macro) evolution.
My remarks were inflated by media, blended with other unrelated but alleged heretical statements and became a top-story on national media creating a firestorm of criticism and condemnation.  My profession and two institutes of higher learning were subject to slander and the constituents I have represented for 15 years were insulted in a fashion that most would find astounding in a mature democracy.  Two others were accosted at the provincial level; I see this as evidence of the developing phenomenon of “crowd–shaming”: what some call the “dark side” of the internet...."

"...Freedom of Religion and conscience are fundamental freedoms in Canada. Bigotry cloaked in defense of “science” is as intolerable and repugnant as bigotry from any other source.

It is contrary to our multi-racial, multicultural and multi-faith character and the tolerance for diversity that defines us as Canadians.
I know members on all sides of the house are concerned about bullying in general and cyber-bullying in particular. The government has brought in new legislative measures to address some aspects of this brutal phenomenon and there are many social actions like the pink shirt initiative that seek to shield the vulnerable."
Here is the reality of the situation, Mr. Lunney and other anti-evolution believers:

Your personally-held beliefs are not up for criticism if you hold them to yourself. Yet you claimed things you don't know any more about without proof in public. You said:

"Any scientist who declares that the theory of evolution is a fact has already abandoned the foundations of science. For science establishes fact through the study of things observable and reproducible. Since origins can neither be reproduced nor observed, they remain the realm of hypothesis," he said then.

There is more proof of evolution than the evidence for the existence of god has ever been made.  Period. Full stop. Unless you have proof of god, god is a theory. Evidence supporting evolution is proven and publicly available.

You claim you are being bullied, but you claim the existence of things you can't prove while publicly doubt things that are proven.


How can you accuse people of bullying when you don't apply the same rigorous "foundations of science" to your own beliefs? How can you claim one and not claim the other? That isn't bullying, Mr Lunney, that's taking you to task for a lack of consistency.

Your beliefs are up for criticism and your hypocrisy is the source of the problem. 

For too long, religious people have had the run of democracy criticizing what they don't believe with impunity so now they are insulted when rational people push back. You wouldn't get bullied if you didn't hold such unsupported and silly beliefs.



Thursday, April 9, 2015

Bertrand Russell: humanist



The government is gettting bold about muzzling scientists.

The government is getting pretty bold at stifling people trying to do their job.

http://www.pipsc.ca/portal/page/portal/website/news/newsreleases/news/03232015

In December, PIPSC science members launched a well-publicized initiative calling on the federal government to bargain “scientific integrity” agreements as part of the current round of collective bargaining. The union hopes the proposed agreements would help ensure that standards in federal government science are maintained despite ongoing and widespread cuts to jobs, programs and services.

In the past, managers have not demanded scientists not meet at the workplace for issues surrounding bargaining. So that means they are actively muzzling them from discussing the issues that they want the unions to bargain on. Huh?

The government pays scientists to do work, and now stops them from publishing that work for governmental policy reasons.  But you the taxpayer paid for it. They are stopping your access to what you paid for.  And the only people that can stand up to it are being muzzled. 

 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Again, MAKE POLICE WEAR CAMERAS



A policeman that know he's being watched can be saved from his own bad behavior. It's called the Hawthorne effect, and it improved behavior 75 years ago. It's a scientifically demonstrated, although disputed, effect on human behavior.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2316555.1428463384!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_300/image.jpg



Here is the reality, the policeman will know he is not being observed all the time, but if there is an incident that warrants review the imagery from a camera will be reviewed.  If the imagery conflicts with the story he explains to his superiors he knows he will be caught.  Knowing that any inconsistency may be found out, what is the reason one would have to make up a story about an incident? If one knows they cannot lie their way out of a situation, then they know that they will be found out.

If they can't get away with the crime, then the cost-benefit analysis of any grey area situation is slanted to not acting badly.

If you want to read what the Hawthorne effect has done in other areas of crime prevention:

http://www.popcenter.org/library/CrimePrevention/Volume_13/Anticipatory_Benefits_in_Crime_Prevention.pdf


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

The Evil Ideology is Islam



A Kenyan politician complained about al-Shabaab but missed the point.

A leading member of parliament, Aden Duale, said work must be done to prevent Kenyan youths from becoming followers of extremism.
"Some of our youth have fallen victim to this evil ideology of al-Shabaab," he said. "We will embark on an immediate, massive and sustained campaign to win back the hearts and the minds of our youth within our constituencies and the countries as whole. We recognize that some of our religious institutions have had some role in radicalization and propagation of this ideology."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/kenyan-air-force-bombs-al-shabaab-camps-in-retaliation-for-garissa-attack-1.3022109

The evil ideology is Islam, it is carried out by al-Shabaab.

This is how politicians self-delude and deflect from the main issue.

Monday, April 6, 2015

The exponential cost long con; why monotheistic religions exaggerate.



"Gateway Church 114 Campus" by Jared Stump - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gateway_Church_114_Campus.jpg#/media/File:Gateway_Church_114_Campus.jpg

This post explains a fraud perpetrated as the victim is made to propose the  solution beneficial to the con artist. This was the plot of a movie called "The Sting"  and an episode of "Lost" called "The Long Con".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Con

If I was a priest and I wanted to make you believe in god, I might start by telling you about this wondrous deity that lives in the heavens above.

Ok that might draw some mild interest, but who's going to get upset about celestial neighbors?

Now to get you interested, I tell you that not only does he live up above but he created the universe.

Ok that might draw in the gullible because it might impress people looking for a higher power on their side.

But that still doesn't get many followers.

So I amp up my claims by saying do as god says and you can go to heaven when you die.

Ok now people are promised an extra life after  this one, seems like a good deal.

Now I have people hooked.

Then I say that you can see all your loved ones when you die because if they were good they are in heaven too.

Now you have a vested interest in expanding the ponzi scheme to include influencing your loved ones because otherwise they don't get in on this deal as well. The more people affected the greater the risk and reward. Like Pascal's wager but the cost is not infinite but grows exponentially the more people you affect. It's not just about your life alone, you care for and are cared for in return that cost is part of the equation.

Wait, that still isn't enough pressure, so now I tell you that if you do the bad things then you will go to hell and the your loved ones won't see you in heaven.  Now you really don't want to mess up the deal for your wife and kids, you' re really stuck.

Now someone comes up to you and says there is no god.

Now what?

The problem you face is the same one as a lottery ticket buyer and a  100 million powerball lottery.
You know the chance a ticket will payoff is so small it isn't worth the 1 dollar. But there is that slight chance you're going to win and not having a ticket means you don't even have a faint hope to get there.

It isn't a fair game either way.  Religious leaders make it the long con, the exponential penalty long con to force you into a no win situation. The stakes are so high that even if the chance its right is next to nothing how can you afford to not go along?

The only way to insure your obedience is to exaggerate the costs and benefits so greatly that even if you have doubt you can't afford not to play along.

That's how you know it's a con.






Why Science is Better Than Religion: Gravity and Torque and the Egg Carton Problem

Let me propose a real life practical example, very mundane but useful, that applies science to help with a real practical day to day life problem.

If anyone has picked up eggs and dropped them, then this will explain why.

Exhibit A:



I have dropped egg containers because they were weighted to one side and I didn't know it.

The problem is that with a hidden distribution of eggs inside the container, sometimes people take too many eggs from one side and that makes the inertial moment of the container off-balance or off centre.  When you pick it up, and didn't look inside first (who looks in the container first?) that can be a problem.  I don't look. You may experience an extreme inertial moment - or torque for simplicity - based on the distribution.

Let me explain as best I can with kitchen-sink physics:


Hold a mop or broom like this:



Feel the pull of gravity.  Now hold it like this:


Notice the difference in how much muscle strength you need? It will be lighter up and down rather than horizontal.  This is because when the broom geometry ( mass distribution geometry for you smarties out there) is near your hand it has a lower inertial moment therefore the torque force is less - put simply - to resist it falling than when the mass of the broom is spread out over distance along the broom centre axis when you hold the broom out horizontal.

The wider the weight distribution, the greater the torque you need to apply to stop the broom from falling. Your hand is zero point.  Simple?

Here's the equation of the inertial moment with respect to some zero location:


I = \int_m r^2 \mathrm dm

This is why torque is so much more powerful than a translation force of the same size. Torque is force-multiplied by distance (oversimplistically for those that know more). In the case of gravity acting on the broom weight away from zero:  mass * gravity * distance.  Torque is how car engines drive you and generators work. Torque rather than just force.  Inertial moment I varies as the integrated square of distance from the zero.  If that is gibberish then just please trust your experience with the broom. You experienced the difference your muscles needed to apply counter torque yet the weight of the broom did not change. Just the distribution did. The weight was farther away from zero.  This equation explains why the broom is heavier when the weight (gravity times force) is farther from zero. Your hand is zero point. You can only apply forces where your hand is.

It all can be explained with torque and gravity.  The counter torque needed is less if the weight is closer to the zero.

Now back to the egg container.  You don't know without looking where the eggs are. So when you pick it up from the "wrong side" it may be heavier than you expect and you might drop it.

If you pick up the eggs and they are distributed like this:


then the inertial moment from your hand zero (my poorly drawn hand is bottom left) will be smaller than if you pick up the eggs like this:


So if you don't want a surprise from the egg distribution then one way is to keep the mass at the centre of the container.  To do that, take the eggs out from the container from the outside varying left and right like this:



This will make it more likely you pick it up without a huge change in the inertia of the egg distribution and therefore it may be less likely you drop the eggs.  I call this the Erickson egg selection distribution but you can use it free of charge. You're welcome!

The point is, science is knowing about the universe the way it is. We all learn from dropping things.  When we understand how things work, we can apply it to things that mankind does to help everyone out.  If this blog saves one egg from the floor, then science has helped.

Can religion help you even in small little ways like science can?

Again for those out there that don't get the point of this blog post, name one religious book reference, chapter or verse, that explains gravity and inertial moment so as to help people with this problem.







Saturday, April 4, 2015

Drone intrusion fears are all relative

People in safe secure Western nations fear surveillance as an infringement of their rights.  Basically, no one wants to be caught picking their nose on camera.


Now imagine you are in a country like Kenya, where roving bands of murderers infiltrate into the middle of safe areas and attack unarmed people at random.

Would drone surveillance that protects people, that warns police that murderers are attacking, be too much government oversight?  How intrusive is safety?

We have the luxury of worrying over small things. The fear of rights infringement is a small worry when your life is in danger. 





Friday, April 3, 2015

What kind of monsters?


GARISSA, Kenya -- Somalia's Islamic extremist group al-Shabab warned Saturday of more attacks in Kenya like the assault on Garissa University College that killed 148 people.
"Kenyan cities will run red with blood," said al-Shabab according to the SITE intelligence monitoring group.
The Islamic militants said the attack on Garissa college was in retaliation for killings carried out by Kenyan troops fighting the rebels in Somalia.



What kind of monsters think it's acceptable to invade a university and slaughter innocent students?

What kind of religion justifies this sort of monstrous action?

Why do madrassas teach some evil?

And why does society accept Islam in remaining ?



Thursday, April 2, 2015

When one lives without dogma, good things happen.






This is what happens when you live without preconceived notions about what things mean, or assuming you know the intention of other people, then you can meet the good in anyone.


This is me and Albert.  I'm the white guy, he's the black guy. Albert is from Texas. 

On November 19, 2014, we were travelling from Toronto to Medicine Hat via Calgary in one of the worst blizzards that Toronto had this winter.  It was so bad that planes were delayed for hours waiting for de-icing fluid to clear wings for take-off.  We started out on time and then the backlog delayed so badly we missed our midnight connecting flight from Calgary to Medicine Hat. The plane normally takes off at 1155 and we landed at 1203.  For some reason, they didn't hold the plane.

There were several people that missed connectors.  We were the only two going to my home town. Air Canada said they didn't have any hotel rooms available because their rooms were filled up and the only ones available were over an hour away.   They told us to go get our bags and we could stay in the terminal. Then in the morning they would get us on a plane. With a few more apologies that was it we were on our own.

So there we were waiting for our bags.  So I got my phone out and tracked down a hotel room that wasn't' too far and wasn't too expensive with 2 beds.  I walked over to him and asked him if he wanted to share the room?

Do you know what he was doing?  He was on the phone with his travel agent trying to find a hotel with two rooms.  He couldn't find a room so he was destined to stay on a hard airport chair that night.

So we ended up sharing a taxi, chatting till 230 in that cold room, and then back for breakfast and the flight out the next morning.  I gave him a ride to his appointment and that was that. I think I've made a friend and I made sure a guest to my city and country was taken care of. And I didn't harm him as his wife feared, which we both laughed at when he told her he was going to a hotel with some random white guy. 

None of this would have happened if we both assumed the worst, nor assumed there was something to be concerned about. None of that would have happened if he had listened to his wife.  To live without preconceptions is to keep all possible options open.

So you can interpret me saying black guy is a racially-motivated epithet, or just a description of a person without knowing his name.  It's up to you and your preconceptions.











Wednesday, April 1, 2015

What can people turn to in a world without religion?

Many religious people complain that without religion, there would be a lacking in people's live that religion now fills. The argument assumes that people would not be able to find the same satisfaction without it.

For a start there's a lot of spiritual thought and humanist ideas in philosophy. There are many great stories and great ideas waiting to be explored.  There are many human thinkers to read, people that struggled and fought their own inner demons while striving to comprehend the universe.

Many works go unread while many fixate on testaments.