Nebraska Baby Drop Off

Nebraska passed a law that went into effect this past summer that gives parents immunity to child abandonment laws if they drop their child off at a state hospital. The law, I assume, was to slow down an epidemic of dumpster babies. The problem being lawmakers failed to put an age limit on the term 'child' so half of the children dropped off thus far have been teenagers! Most lawmakers have agreed to change the de facto age restriction from 18 years to 3 days old. Imagine staying out past curfew when you were in high school and as punishment your parents could threaten you with abandonment?

Palin is the future?

There has been a lot of talk about Sarah Palin since she was picked, seemingly by random draw, by McCain to be the vice presidential candidate. The interest in Palin has far overshadowed that of Biden for two reasons. The first being Palin is certainly less known being that she is new to politics, is situated in state, not federal, politics, and the state she is from is quite removed. The second being that as vice president she would be far more likely to become president (due to McCain's age) than Biden.
With the election nearly finished and Obama almost certainly going to win I was looking forward to Palin reverting back to obscurity. But, shockingly, the ultra-conservative cadre that runs the GOP is not saying that the future of the party is Palin. Is this what cultural politics in America has resorted to? Even with all the preparation done on Palin's behalf she still struggles to be a half-wit. You can put lipstick on a pig, but Palin is still a fucking idiot.

Paul Schlesselman

I recently noticed that this potential assassin does not yet have a Wikipedia article so I decided to submit a stub of an article to the people working there in hopes that it will be added. It will certainly be popular for a little while as people try to learn about this guy and his friend/ co-conspirator.
If you don't know who he is, this is one of two Neo-Nazis who were arrested recently for planning to kill Obama. They were from small towns and therefore Palin thinks they are part of 'Real America'.
Click below to see if my article was made!
My potential Article

Grandmother gives birth to triplets

I recently had the pleasure of reading a headline on the Yahoo website about a grandmother giving birth to three daughters. Now before you try to wrap your head around this concept and start laughing at the other southern states for their long, glorious, tradition of incest you need to know this actually happened in Ohio. Which of course means that a mother and son did no propagate a new generation of the family but that in fact the title of the article was misleading and the grandmother was in fact a surrogate.
But does this make it any better? Well yeah, I guess it does but still consider that a daughter decided to inject her husband's sperm and her egg into her own mother's vag. Is nothing sacred?

"I thought she was 16".... oh Canada

A man in Alberta has been found not guilty of raping a 13 year old girl by using the excuse "I thought she was 16". The 26 year old man succeeded in having his charges thrown out on the grounds that the girl sent him nude photos and convinced him of her sexual experience and therefore she must be 16.
I think if you are at a club, especially in America where people are supposed to be 21, it is conceivable that you could hook up with an underage girl completely by accident, and this could be forgivable. In those situations the girl is clearly lying about her age, a sober bouncer has checked her ID, she has been ordering drinks, and you are likely intoxicated. But that being said it is probably a 16-17-18 year old girl pretending to be 19-20-21 depending on where the act occurs.
This man was happy to sleep with a 16 year old. What else can you say about that?

Edmonton, Alberta (AKA Houston, Texas)

Discussions on the future; Or: I is living in the future

Bryce says: maybe for you because you're in the future; over here its still November 17 1985
Tim says: yeah its like 2130 here
we are watching the elections between George bush Jr's head in a jar and a sexbot that looks like Bill Clinton
Bryce says: That's one sexbot you can really jam your economy into
Tim says: they are really fighting for Robot vs Wade - the rights of robots to adopt human children. Its a big issue because human babies can be liquefied into alternative robot fuel
Bryce says: can robots there have jobs, bank accounts, houses etc?
Tim says: they can have jobs but most do not pay enough for a full house. They must settle for shitty apartments like all the rest of us. They can open bank accounts but most have built in ass safes so they don't need to.
Bryce says: Is there any fear over robots taking over all the jobs at a lesser pay, much like Mexicans? Oh god... are Mexicans robots?
Tim says: Although it does happen, nobody fears it. They have accepted it. Mexicans are in fact robots. They are the Honda 1.0s reprogrammed to speak Spanish. But a common fault in the voice activator makes their Spanish somewhat garbled
Bryce says: That is scary. robots would have the ability of telepathy due to wireless technology. they could be plotting against you- binary stylez

Leave it to the British to be arrested for drunken public fornication

A British couple in Dubai are going to jail for public fornication. I don't think this should be a crime.... unless the couple is obese.

They Fucked Up

Voter Turnout

It is interesting to see that the green party's vote count in real numbers was the only party to see an increase during the worst voter turnout in Canadian history.

Greens Go Up!

what does a low voter turnout signal? Is it really just apathy? Because I would have to think now, during what looks to be a second great depression (GDII), apathy would be at an all time low. Surely now, when everybody's finances are in turmoil, change would be important?
Is it complacency? People look at the Liberal alternative and just think "Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss"? With none of the other parties realistically having a chance of winning, at the top it is a two person race and perhaps complacency was felt when looking at Dion? If the leader matters much at all I would have to say Dion seems weak.
Is it a sign that people are happy? Believing the Conservatives are doing a good job and they can win with or without an individual's vote?
What if the answer is a little bit more sad? Canadian law assures people the right to leave work to go and vote but with an economy slowing is it possible people feared exercising that right might put them on an axe list as someone who doesn't put the company first?

Any thoughts?

Super WASP!

Proving once and for all what kind of people become astronomers, a group of people working for the project "SuperWASP" have discovered a new planet. Its hot and fast and close to its star which is far from ours.


The Article

This Side of Paradise (The Romantic Egoist) F Scott Fitzgerald

This book required me three attempts to finish reading it. The first attempt I don't count because I lost the book poolside in Cuba and it took me a few months to find a new copy. But, anyways, the book is not a simple read but it is quite rewarding. I think the art of writing a romantic novel is dead.
The constant allusions to the troubles of the time, the depression and WWI, are frighteningly relevant now. The main character, Amory, struggles through the end of his family wealth in such a terrible way that it really questions the cliche 'it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all' as it is clear that Fitzgerald, mirrored in this character, does love money.
Reading the book helped me form an idea about growing up. About how simple it is to read a novel at my age, even if both the language and content are difficult like in a Fitzgerald novel, because of how we are conditioned as we grow up.
Its not just that we learn and therefore novels become easier to read as we get older and increase our education, though it certainly is part of the process. I think it is as much our tolerance for the unknown as it is our knowledge about the topic that makes the novel easier to read. Certainly we understand more but, also, do we not just keep reading when we don't understand something instead of stopping the progress of the book and figuring out what is meant?
Of course my book has been dogeared and dissected as much or more than I would have taken the care to do in high school but I wouldn't stop reading to do research, I would wait until some later time.
Anyways, it is worth the read if you have the patience and time to do give it a try. I think the American classic is hard to find but when you can, it is quite nice.
The only other one I have read in the past year is "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour: An Introduction" by JD. Salinger. (Thanks to Ken as this was a Christmas present about 5 years ago).

Head of State, Head of Government

I think everyone here knows the difference between the Head of State and the
Head of Government, so I will just skip over it with the links to Wikipedia for anyone who wants to read up on it. It is quite interesting and there is a lot of variety.

Anyways I think there is a folly in Places, like America, where the Head of State and Head of Government are the same person. I think these presidential republics are flawed. In my previous post, Obama vs. McCain, I talked about how stupid it was that in the middle of all this turmoil in the markets someone took the time to make poll people on who is the better 'football buddy'. But later I had the revelation that, aside from Bush Sr., I think every presidential pick has been the better football buddy.

44th 1960 John F. Kennedy* (Democrat) Richard Nixon (Republican)
45th 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) Barry Goldwater (Republican)
46th 1968 Richard Nixon* (Republican) Hubert Humphrey (Democrat)
47th 1972 Richard Nixon (Republican) George McGovern (Democrat)
48th 1976 Jimmy Carter (Democrat) Gerald Ford (Republican)
49th 1980 Ronald Reagan (Republican) Jimmy Carter (Democrat)
50th 1984 Ronald Reagan (Republican) Walter Mondale (Democrat)
51st 1988 George H. W. Bush (Republican) Michael Dukakis (Democrat)
52nd 1992 Bill Clinton* (Democrat) George H. W. Bush (Republican)
53rd 1996 Bill Clinton* (Democrat) Bob Dole (Republican)
54th 2000 George W. Bush* (Republican) Al Gore† (Democrat)
55th 2004 George W. Bush (Republican) John Kerry (Democrat)

Even when we look at Bush Sr., Dukakis is not all that entertaining a guy. It is the reason that the Republican's have been so successful in making each election a 'Clash of Civilizations' in essence by rallying the far religious right. They have managed to run and win as the Head of State even though the Presidential role as Head of Government seems so much more important.
If America elected a Head of State and Head of Government separately, it is likely that the result would be better.

Third Debate (Review part 1)

I will do something serious later as I am only half way through watching the debate now but I am pretty sure McCain accidentally said "Breast and Fresh Hair" instead of "Breath of fresh air" when explaining why he thinks Palin would be a good President. Can anybody confirm this?

Canadian Election Results

The results:

Conservatives - 143
Liberals - 76
Bloc - 50
NDP - 37
Greens - 0
(from cbc.ca)

Now it is time to get my pundit on.

First, this was an important election for Canada. But, unlike usual, it was an important election for the world. It was a verdict on our economy and the world economic crisis. This was the first election to follow the collapse of the world economy. The verdict, though not the one I personally would have liked, is probably the best for world stability. It says that Canada has decided it is pleased with the current situation.
Why shouldn't it be? The dropping Canadian dollar will help rebuild our export base, by reducing the price of our goods in America at a time when Americans need cheaper commodities, our banks are considered the strongest in the world (thanks in part to very heavy regulation), and our current account and fiscal balance are quite good.
Is this all the Harper administration's doing? No. As Harper himself once said 'It wasn't raining when Noah started building the Ark'. Which, apparently, means that the plans to protect the economy have been in place for a long time. The policies that are keeping Canadians wealthy started back with Trudeau (unless you are NDP, then Tommy Douglas). Trudeau helped shape the welfare state that keeps people safe, secure and healthy. This, furthered by a strong boom in first manufacturing, then energy, allowed Canada to become a first rate economy. The Chrétien administration is to be thanked for balancing the budget. But all of this is really beside the point which is Canadians said they are confident we can weather the storm.

Party by Party:

Conservatives: Harper should be disappointed. He came very close to a majority but failed to achieve it because of his inhuman demeanor. Politicians, everywhere, need to relate to the masses. If a leader is not trustworthy, compassionate and understanding, they face an uphill battle at the polls. Yes Canada has a better position than almost every other country in this crisis but you need to be able to speak to the people about this. The leader of Lockheed Martin, may need to be secretive but as the leader of a nation you need to be more open. I understand that there are security concerns that sometimes lead to silence but on a day to day basis this is unnecessary.

Liberals: This is essentially a deathblow to Dion's leadership. Unlike Harper whose French has improved greatly over the years, Dion has failed to get comfortable in English. His environmental policies are far better than previous Liberal leaders and that should be commended. He is clearly not electable. The Liberals failed to capitalize on the issues that differentiate them from Conservatives. Dion's best hope at retaining power in the long run may be to put his money where his mouth is and cross party lines and become a green party member in Parliament.

Bloc: Like every year, Duceppe ran a good campaign. He has moved his party from a Separatist party to a more relevant special interest party. This is an important deviance. It has become apparent that Separatist feelings are waning. The Bloc are helping to shape policies in a way they could never do before with a more antagonizing leader. Especially in a current administration where the conservatives only need the support of one party to pass legislation. Harper may find it easier to bargain with the Bloc than the Liberals or NDP.

NDP: Layton should be happy with his results. but, then, it is his tenacity that both helped him gain his party's influence and will deny him pleasure at the results. The NDP should be able to push through a couple of their policies in the new house. I think one specifically they could work on is a compromise with the Conservatives where there would be some sort of duel child care system. This would result in tax deductions for single earning families and free child care for other families. Or something else akin to this.

Greens: First, congratulations to Mike Nagy for 21% of the popular vote. It was not enough to be the first Green MP but I have confidence that he will be one of the first to be elected. I am disappointed by the Green's portion of the popular vote. I thought they could get 3% more. I believe that Elizabeth May is correct in saying that the Greens will win in a landslide in 10 years time. I, however, need to fault Elizabeth May. She made a decision to make a deal with Dion to have no liberal candidate in her home riding. She was running against MacKay, who is probably my favourite Conservative politician, and lost. She should have done one of two things. Either make a similar deal with the NDP which likely would have resulted in her being elected or move a riding over which probably could have resulted in her winning. She had already risked her scruples on the deal so she wouldn't have been too much worse for wear if she did either of those things. Or why not make a deal with Dion for 3-4 ridings. Mike Nagy may have won if there was no Liberal candidate.

In conclusion, congrats to Harper. I hope this time you are less autocratic and adversarial. It would be helpful if you were more compromising and less inclined to force an election. Your denial of environmental problems is concerning. I have said it before and will again; ignoring environmental problems is the most selfish thing you can do. You are harming your own children for personal gain. Hopefully this government can last a year. If you have to raise taxes, consider consumption taxes. That was your worst decision. With the economy the way it is we do not have to worry about your social agenda and your economic policies may be helpful in the short run.

United States Cabinet

The American election looks won. I would be very surprised in Barack loses. Even if all the secret racists lied to the pollsters and vote McCain on election day. So it comes time to pick the cabinet. Since it appears that Hilldog and her hubby are hard on the campaign trail, I can't help but think she was guaranteed a spot in his cabinet. Though Secretary of State is the top prize, I think that Hillary could do some good as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

While looking into this I visited the Wikipedia site for the American Executive Branch (below) and one thing struck me as humourous.

Current US Cabinet

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. No?

Global Electoral College

The Economist has a fancy little application on their website. It is a map of the world and asks the question who would the world vote for in the American election? The world, by country, is divided up similar to the Electoral College in America. Each country receives a minimum of 3 votes with their true number weighted by population.

Electoral College

It is quite clear who the world wants to be president. It also looks like America may agree. This will help American foreign policy gain legitimacy by implicitly saying they are on some sort of level ground, morally, with their world community.

NRA

The NRA have officially endorsed McCain for president. Here is the article:

NRA Article

I always suspected the NRA as an organization had a high RQ but here is some proof. Firstly, they like Palin!
"Palin, an NRA member, received an A-plus rating from the group when she ran for governor in 2006. That compares to an NRA grade in the average range for McCain in his last Senate race. McCain isn't an NRA member."

Second, did you notice the scale? A good score is an A-plus; McCain scores and average. I guess the scale ranges from a high of A-plus to a low of Hippie? This is a pretty big deal since the NRA do not always endorse candidates. Bush Sr. was never endorsed - perhaps the fact that he bombed Japan, had his plane shot down and still continued to fight is not enough for the NRA to think he likes ARMS? So what is wrong with Obama?

"Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment but doesn't think it precludes "some commonsense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago.""

Yes! The NRA is pro gang violence - but only when guns are used. They don't want gangs to have to resort to the Nancy tactics of knife fights.


What are my view on guns? I don't really know. I guess I could see how hunting could be fun, I have shot guns before and it is exhilarating. Though, I don't know if I would want to kill an animal? That being said I do like the taste of Deer, Moose and the like. I fish and have no problem killing fish. They are really delicious. There is something to be said about the fact that restricting gun ownership only affects those who have them legitimately since the gangs are not exactly registering their guns.
Considering how many people the Canadian, and I presume American too, police kill with Tasers, I don't think they can be trusted anymore than the criminals to use their weapons safely. For military purposes it is understandable but I think that most people would rather live in a world without wars but that will probably never happen.
The idea that guns don't kill people, people kill people is especially stupid. If someone attacks you with a bat, you can run, you can scream for help, you can try to fight back; but with a gun you have no chance.

Second American Presidential Debate

Obama: Fundamental difference
McCain: My friends
Repeat

The preceding dialogue is essentially the entire debate.

McCain really started off strong. His rhetoric resonated through the first two questions and really his answers were better. The problem is, as he was walking around he looked as stiff as a 72 year old. He looked feeble!
Obama really picked it up through the middle hour of the debate. What is more important to my feeling that Obama won is that McCain started to sound pandering. Calling the crowd 'my friends' repeatedly ws ludicrous. He should have called everyone my 'children' or maybe 'grandchildren'. But, more importantly, his mannerisms changed, he cracked his old man smile and his voice sounded like he was looking for an emotional response. This is something that works with Obama but not McCain. McCain is running on the tough, experienced, guy platform and he should not try to move out of that range. It is not believable.

Bloc Quebecois Party of Canada

Why is it the Bloc only run in Quebec? I know it sounds like a stupid question because the Bloc's ultimate goal is to separate from Canada. However they also wish to strengthen French Canadian values and culture. Frankly if separatism was no longer part of their platform I would say they are a very good party. Most of the social justice claims they bring forward are far more reasonable than The NDP.

Two things to consider; First, there are many french people out east, especially New Brunswick, as well as in Northern Ontario and Winnipeg. I imagine if Quebec separated many of the people would, at least, consider migrating to the newly formed French nation.
Secondly, There is government financing in Canada for elections so every vote raises money for the party. If these French people good vote for the Bloc, the Bloc's coffers would be filled. further they could cash in on the racist who might vote for the Bloc in hopes that Quebec does leave.

MMORPGH (Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Gamer's Health

Though not the most obvious threat to the world, nor the greatest, the following does strike me as something to worry about. Apparently people who are addicted to online gaming are now more fit than the general population.
War, financial stress, regime change and the like are all commonplace in this world but if there is one thing that I thought would remain constant, it is that people who play World of Warcraft, on average, are the most slovenly people around. Admittedly the few that I know do not fit into this category, but I assumed they were the exception.


They Are Less Fat

The article in question is actually about a different MMORPG and not about WOW and therefore you would expect the people to be even more fat. I mean the less people the MMORPG you play, the lamer you are and therefore the fatter you should be.

I am now wondering if the world is coming to an end... No I am not but I think the world makes more sense when gamers are fat, covered in acne (and pizza pop crumbs) and live in their mother's basement. Maybe some of it is still true?

Canadian Alliance Caught Plagiarizing

Bob Rae recently released information proving that a crucial speech given by the Leader of the Opposition in 2003 was stolen from a speech given by the Prime Minister of Australia. What makes the act of plagiarism worse is it pertained to the issue of the War in Iraq. The speech was pro the war which at the time, and even more so now, the majority of Canadians oppose. Bob Rae is quoted as saying, “How does a political leader in Canada’s Parliament, on such a crucial issue, end up giving the exact same speech as another country’s leader, let alone one who was a key member of George W. Bush’s Coalition of the Willing?”

Plagarism in da House

Now this is an interesting one to pin down. I have to say first kudos to the liberals. I am sure the campaign ads showing the former Australian PM and the former Leader of the Opposition saying the speech as a duet will be very influential. But, then, people are fickle and really, overall, it doesn't seem all that pertinent to the current political climate. After all we are talking about the PM not the Leader of the Opposition, the Conservatives not the Alliance, etc, etc. On the other hand, Harper was the leader of that defunct party as well.

Considering the speech was given in Australia just 36 hours before Harper performed the encore, how is it nobody noticed? Surely someone in the Liberal caucus noticed the similarities. To say they didn't would mean nobody follows Aussie politics and that is a little bit frightening. What I am trying to say is at the time the Liberals did not need to smear the Canadian Alliance because the Alliance was never going to win. But now that the Conservatives have won the previous election, and could end up with a majority in this election, the Liberals are releasing the information.

Oh and did I mention Bob Rae used to lead the Ontario NDP? So in conclusion vote Green!