Break the Habits of Living

Coming out of the closet

2011-08-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

I'm getting tired of having to defend my stance as an atheist. I'm not supposed to argue against the existence of god because it might offend and upset people.
You know what? The fact that a huge percent of the populace blindly subscribes to the theory that an omnipotent being in the ether raised his "son" (who was borne of a virgin, no less) from the dead and ascended him to heaven - and that this same being created a woman from the rib of a man - scares the shit out of me.
That some countries (cough, the US) can't even separate church and state? Terrifying. That the leaders of powerful countries believe in a great sky fairy? Even more so.
Blind faith is just that: blind.

Update: Voting in North Vancouver

2011-04-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Thinking the North Vancouver lifestyle paired with a Conservative government rather incongruous, I dug a little further.
A friend of mine once told me that it is very important to vote at the local level and I didn't realize exactly how right he is. The municipal government is responsible for a lot of things, including transportation, education management, planning and development. Per Wikipedia "In Canada, 83% of the municipal government revenue is raised through their own sources, and legally their accounts cannot go into deficit", so that's where my property taxes are going.
So basically I am very pleased with North Vancouver because Mayor Darrell Mussatto and his councillors are doing an excellent job.
The digging continues.

Voting in North Vancouver

2011-04-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

The deadline is coming up, and you need to vote.
If you live in North Vancouver, here are your options( tainted, naturally, with my barbs and remarks).
- Michael Charrois (NDP). He is a professional actor and drama teacher. Yeah. I want him to represent me fiscally. FastCat Ferries say what? I don't want to be bankrupted (again). The NDP have nice ideals, but they're not economically feasible. Next.
- Greg Dowman (Green Party). Nelson is awesome. But really, who knows. The Green Party is untried and untested. They might botch things horrifically. But the NDP, Liberals and Conservatives have all had a stab at it, so we might as well try Green.
- Nick Jones (Independent). I am always happy to see an Independent and I would gladly throw in my lot, but he's a bit wishy-washy on the tax burden for corporations versus individuals, and he makes mention of private health care, while also stating that all Canadians should have access to excellent health care. Well, when one person has $1,000,000 and one person has $1,000, guess who has access to the best health care?
- Taleeb Noormohamed (Liberal). What the hell is his platform? I spent too much time on his site trying to figure out what he was about, but instead ended up reading about his battle with Saxton and Jones. I don't care: what do you stand for? I can't vote Liberal because I'm still pissed that the provincial Liberals (Gordon Campbell) were going to privatize public rivers and sell off our power. I went out and boycotted that. That was wack. I am still not cool with the Liberals.
- Andrew Saxton (Conservative). I fucking loathe the Federal Conservatives. Hello excessive G8 and G20 and military spending and throwing people out of the audience because they don't agree with your point of view. Harper (Bush-lite) needs to go. However - and surprisingly - North Van is a Conservative riding. How that happened I don't know. But I do know that I am happy here, and am pleased with the environmental nature of the city and the proposed green ways. So... I'm stymied here. Need to research more because Saxton's site mentions our "sovereignty" regarding the Arctic and he worked for Credit Suisse in New York and those things raise my hackles while, at the same time, I do covet a nice jogging path that links North and West Vancouver.
Clearly I have more digging to do.
Thinking hurts.

Fukushima

2011-03-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

I am posting the entirety of a recent BBC news article because the links get removed with time.
Seawater near Japan's crippled nuclear reactors is said to have a much higher level of radioactive iodine than previously reported.
Water near the Fukushima Daiichi plant's reactor 1 contained radioactive iodine at 3,355 times the legal limit, Japan's nuclear safety agency said. However, an official said the iodine would have deteriorated considerably by the time it reached people. Meanwhile, the president of Fukushima operator Tepco has been hospitalised. Masataka Shimizu is being treated for high blood pressure and dizziness, a Tepco spokesperson said. Mr Shimizu has barely been seen in public since the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March which damaged the Fukushima plant. Tepco officials have announced a press conference for 1500 local time (0600 GMT).
Half-life
Earlier samples had put the iodine level at 1,850 times the legal limit. "Iodine 131 has a half-life of eight days, and even considering its concentration in marine life, it will have deteriorated considerably by the time it reaches people," Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of Japan's nuclear safety agency told a news conference. Radioactive materials are measured by scientists in half-lives, or the time it takes to halve the radiation through natural decay. Half-lives range from fractions of a second to billions of years. Iodine 131 was blamed for the high incidence of thyroid cancer among children exposed to fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Alongside uranium, other elements of greater concern are those with much longer half-lives. These include caesium, which is easily taken up by plants and animals and can be inhaled through dust, ruthenium, strontium and plutonium.
'Unpredictable'
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan discussed the crisis at Fukushima with US President Barack Obama. Mr Obama also pledged to help the people affected by the earthquake which damaged the Fukushima plant earlier this month, the Jiji news agency reported. Workers at Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant are trying to prevent radioactive water from seeping into the sea. Highly radioactive liquid has been found inside and outside several reactor buildings. Small amounts of plutonium have also been detected in soil at the plant - the latest indication that one of the reactors suffered a partial meltdown. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said his government was on maximum alert, and the situation remained "unpredictable". Plant operator Tepco and the safety agency say the exact source of the radioactive leak is unknown. But, like the discovery of plutonium, the high levels of radiation found inside and outside reactor buildings are likely to have come from melted fuel rods. Theories for the leak centre on two possibilities: steam is flowing from the core into the reactor housing and escaping through cracks, or the contaminated material is leaking from the damaged walls of the water-filled pressure control pool beneath the No 2 reactor. The plutonium - used in the fuel mix in the No 3 reactor - is not at levels that threaten human health, officials said. Engineers are battling to restore power and restart the cooling systems at the stricken nuclear plant. Tepco has been accused of a lack of transparency and failing to provide information more promptly. It was also heavily criticised for issuing erroneous radiation readings at the weekend.

So, this is happening right now. Is anyone scared out of their minds about this? Is anyone worried about the lack of information and the sketchy media coverage of this major event? No one is even discussing it where I work, or even in my personal life. Is it because it's too overwhelming to comprehend? Have you looked to see how close you are to the nearest nuclear reactor?

Know your rights

2010-11-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

As someone that has a problem with figures of authority I must say I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the police. I certainly want them to come to my aid when I need them, but I prefer not to have to deal with them unnecessarily.
And yes, allow me to put forth the pat statement that I believe that most police officers are upstanding citizens and do their job within the confines of the law and try to walk what must be a sometimes greying and wavering line between upholding the law and respecting the rights of the individuals. But allow me to further posit that sometimes the various news items of the police breaking in and roughing up the wrong guy, cutting a woman's shirt and bra off and leaving her half naked in her cell, drinking and driving, beating up their partner because they suspect she is having an affair, beating the crap out of a cabbie while in a drunken rage, helping to quell any inkling of dissent while foreign dignitaries visit, et cetera, et cetera, make me a little leery.
And so, as Stacy Bonds has had to go through what none of us ever should, here is a document laying out your rights when confronted, detained and arrested by police.

The invisble hand is not unfettered

2010-11-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I haven't been much for deductive thought lately.
I have, however, been watching a lot of "Mad Men", and several times the novel "Atlas Shrugged" has been mentioned; namely by the sage mentor of the advertising firm as he speaks to his ambitious underling.
I remember reading "Atlas Shrugged" for book club. We went to Coco's and it was a six hour long discussion. It was fantastic. Here's a bit of a synopsis from Wiki:
"The book explores a dystopian United States where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. The protagonist, Dagny Taggart, sees society collapse around her as the government increasingly asserts control over all industry, while society's most productive citizens, led by the mysterious John Galt, progressively disappear. Galt describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the "minds" that drive society's growth and productivity. In their efforts, these "men of the mind" hope to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed, that civilization cannot exist where men are slave to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society. "
I was so for this book. I wanted to sign up for Objectivism classes. The invisible hand, man.
Then, a while ago I read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine". I understand (per Wiki again) that the "practitioners of the shock doctrine tend to seek a blank slate on which to create their ideal free market economies, which inevitably requires a usually violent destruction of the existing economic order", and that certainly wasn't the case in Rand's book, but is it not a fair theory that the "minds" that drive society's growth and productivity, and our individualistic pursuit of profit ultimately led us to this place? To a shock doctrine?
I don't think Rand saw it ("it" being predatory developers buying up prime beach front after the tsunami wiped the beach clean of fishermen, and other equally nauseating examples of Friedman's economic policies at work) coming and I value entrepreneurialism and the pursuit of one's happiness. On the flip side: I work for a union and I see the elements of communism and how, as we are all treated the same, motivation diminishes because you are not rewarded for your individual endeavors.
I suppose what I'm driving at is that it's always good to explore both sides of the argument. I worked for years in the private sector and was rewarded handsomely for my performance. I work now in an environment that treats all its members with the utmost respect and believes in equality and that we're all entitled to a piece of the proverbial pie, seemingly regardless of our contribution.
And while I still am not a fervent union supporter and I do believe in risk and reward (though you certainly wouldn't gauge that given my career choice for the past 2 years) I continue to believe that if we didn't have unions and if unions didn't push the envelope and "fight the good fight", we'd face increasing privatization and diminished safety nets. I like my health care system. I want my teacher's to earn a livable wage.
I'm not sure what John Galt would say.

A question.

2010-09-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

This plus this equals serfdom.
I'm not saying that Vancouver isn't an obscenely expensive place to live, but rather I'm saying given that, what are you going to do about it?

Rewarding good behaviour

2010-04-26T18:55:00.001-07:00

It's easier to complain and criticize than it is to be positive.
Additionally, it's easier to wax disgruntled about one's lot in life than it is to be proactive about it.
The other day I exited in the balmy warmth of that particular Monday morning, full of connubial bliss and coffee and saw something tucked under the windshield wiper of my car. Having received a parking ticket a few weeks ago (under such lame pretenses: whatever, I paid it) I thought "What the fack did I do wrong now?".
Only twasn't a parking ticket. It was a note from the person that had backed into my car, causing $1,300 damage.
This person left me her full name, accepted responsibility for having hit my vehicle and left me her phone number. I called her and she sounded a little beleaguered. I thanked her for having the balls to leave her name and number on my car because she could have simply driven away sticking me with a nice deductible. She said she had been in a situation whereby someone had hit her car and drove away without leaving a note and it had left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Speaking with Michael later that I day I said that I was so impressed with her honesty that, providing she didn't recant her admission and all went seamlessly with ICBC (imagine!), I would send her a thank you note. He said he thought that was a nice and admirable thing to do.
It's easy to talk about doing nice and admirable things. And I've had my car back for a week or two now. And it did go seamlessly with ICBC.
So today I got out the stationary that my parents gave me when I was a little girl (that I still have it kicking around probably says more than I would like to admit about the diminutive number of friends I had as a kid) and I wrote her to say thanks for her honesty and that I hoped good karma was coming her way. And I took in a scratch 'n win that had I won $1 on and traded it for a new one and shoved it in the envelope as well.
It's small and inconsequential, but who isn't happy to receive an effusive thanks or an unanticipated letter that isn't a bill from time to time?

Household debt is a crisis, but the Vancouver Sun is banking that you have a fourth grade education and don't understand how a balance sheet works

2010-02-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

I read this article yesterday morning and it has taken me this long to ponder and ruminate while wandering around some of the most pricey and coveted areas that Canada has to offer to sufficiently calm myself to draft a response that isn't rife with expletives.
Paragraph three of what I can only assume is a Real Estate-funded article states "household debt should be measured against household assets, and that gives us a far less ominous picture. Household net worth has been climbing since last March, hit $5.7 trillion ($168,800 per capita) in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 1.8 per cent over the previous quarter".
Neat. That's what we accountants call "creative accounting" and is rather adequately described in a Vanity Fair article summarizing the implosion of Iceland's economy:

"Since the entire world’s assets were rising—thanks in part to people like these Icelandic lunatics paying crazy prices for them—they appeared to be making money.
Yet another hedge-fund manager explained Icelandic banking to me this way: You have a dog, and I have a cat. We agree that they are each worth a billion dollars. You sell me the dog for a billion, and I sell you the cat for a billion. Now we are no longer pet owners, but Icelandic banks, with a billion dollars in new assets.
“They created fake capital by trading assets amongst themselves at inflated values,” says a London hedge-fund manager.”

If you want to base the asset side of your balance sheet on what your property is - conceivably - worth right now, and then leverage your liabilities accordingly? Please. Email me. I will take your house from you when either: the market dips; interest rates rise; or you lose your job.
The article goes on to take issue with the Vanier study which inclines that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. Woe is me that I thought that, like global warming, this was pretty much a given and generally accepted fact. Statistics Canada (hint: this is easy and free info to access if you have any journalistic credibility!) revealed that "between 1980 and 2005, median earnings among Canada's top earners rose more than 16 per cent while those in the bottom fifth saw their wages dip by 20 per cent". This sentiment was reported again in the Globe and Mail which, granted, targets readers that are looking more for content than what an article titled "Household debt is not a crisis. Let's make sure it stays that way" and ends with the vague and ambiguous "Despite its obvious bias and flaws, the study serves as a timely reminder to be frugal in money matters. The increase in household debt may not be the crisis the Vanier Institute says it is, but policy-makers need to keep careful watch. There is a tipping point and we don't want to go there" has to offer.
I don't know why I'm taking issue with a shoddily written article in a crap newspaper.
Oh wait: I do know why. Because the Vancouver Sun is a watered down, right wing newsrag written for people all too riveted by its sensationalistic headlines and in this most recent article it seems to be be making light of a scenario that has seen people get into unmanageable debt situations that they can't handle so that people like me who have taken a very prudent and manageable course of action can foot the bill via the CMHC when people start to default on their government backed mortgages.
Just like Wall Street.
And so the debt load will be transferred from the banks to the tax payers like what just happened across the border, taxes will go up, a secondary recession will occur and, uh, the rich get richer and I'm yet again left with the bill.
I strongly encourage you to watch this video. I applaud Danielle Park's poise and grace on a subject that would incite me to call for Jim Flaherty's head.

The world can watch me beat up Quatchi!

2010-01-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry.
I dropped the ball. When Vancouver won the bid for the 2010 Olympics I was displeased because I'm not a big fan of the Olympics to begin with, and because the funding could be better spent on... well, on anything besides the Olympics.
I didn't know that people would be harassed for simply knowing political protesters.
I didn't know that protesters would be relegated to free speech "zones".
I didn't know that they would start marginalizing the homeless.
I didn't know that they would whitewash public art and go after any company displaying the Olympic logo, even if it was visibly displayed long before it was determined that the Olympics were coming to town.
I didn't know it would cost us over SIX BILLION DOLLARS (now, two billion of that was to build the Canada Line which was sorely overdue, so we're down to a mere four billion now).
I'm not sure how much it cost for the hand guide on proper protocol during the Olympics, which was recently handed out to City of Vancouver workers and includes such gems as "You never say, 'That's not my job.' There is nothing too demeaning, too demanding, or just plain beneath you. … If you are not comfortable opening car doors, holding umbrellas or pitching baggage, then you need to find another job."
I didn't anticipate that residents of Vancouver would be strongly encouraged to stay at home during the event to help minimize traffic.
Oh, remember VANOC's ridiculous plea to the private sector to lend them some management types for free?
Meanwhile, the powers that be are cracking down on the homeless, as well as relocating them to other locales so they don't bother the World that is Watching come February.
If I had paid attention, if I had been on the ball, I would have fought against this from the outset.
My brother, who is uncommunicative at best, sent me an email today pondering, given this excessive outlay of cost, where the revenues are going.
I can't rightly say.
I can say that I'm fed up with private citizens and businesses being hassled. I'm fed up when I hear about the lavish parties that are being thrown for people that have worked on 2010. The traffic jams are going to be nightmarish. I'm sick of the myriad of shiny new GM vehicles that I see on the road emblazoned with the VANOC logo.
If you were poor and lived in Vancouver and saw the lengths to which your government would go to make sure things went off without a hitch (they're thinking of helicoptering in snow) for a bunch of corporate, bureaucratic assholes, how would you feel?
Probably not too good.
Which is why you should attend the Vancouver Poverty Olympics!
I am.

A glutton for punishment

2010-01-24T00:29:00.001-08:00

I submitted two more (very) short stories. One I wrote months ago, one I wrote over the past week.
It's funny: the last time I submitted I was filled with such hubris that I sent my story on to the New Yorker.
Go big or go home, right?
They were much delayed in sending me their rejection notice.
This time around? Definitely much more cowed.
I'm glad that, though I am delusional most of the time, I have never been so off-base as to think that I could live off my writing.

Vancouver 2010: VANOC and the IOC can kiss my (athletic) ass

2010-01-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

This blog is all about bias, so allow me to share my anti-Olympic bias with your right off the bat: the Olympics are a ridiculous waste of time and money. It's not about athleticism - it's about who has the best designer drug that will escape detection (for now). I don't understand how an athlete can take Stanozolol, win a gold medal and actually consider themselves a winner.
The long and short of it is that supreme athleticism is something that is expensive to achieve and only very elite people have it, yet the entire world tunes in as though something of significance is occurring. The Olympics are senseless. Why don't we compete with other countries to see who can decrease their levels of homelessness or increase the percentage of kids that graduate high school? I'd cheer for that.
Alright. Time for the looming debacle that is the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Ping me if you've seen any cool anti-Olympic shirts, because I want to wear a different one for every day that this monstrosity is unfolding within my fair city.
Per the above bias: I didn't want the Olympics here. But Vancouver was awarded that very dubious distinction and I shook my head and went on with life. I did not realize just how totally out of control this event will be.
I like to think that, living in Canada, we're pretty democratic. I was astounded when VANOC went after Olympia Restaurant because of their signage (excellent article here). When the friend and the ex-wife of Olympic opponent Chris Shaw were visited by "Olympic security officers" (what does that term even mean?) I had a nightmarish flashback to Chretien and his flippant comment about putting pepper on his eggs after protesters were pepper sprayed during an APEC summit when they were trying to voice their concerns about president Suharto.
People that were upset about West Vancouver's Eagle Bluffs being bulldozed to make way for a highway up to Whistler, taxpayers that thought their tax dollars could be better spend on things like health care and education, citizens that live in more remote areas of British Columbia that will not benefit from the addition infrastructure - but will be footing the bill nonetheless - were recently informed that, if they display anti-Olympic signage, they could face fines of up to $10,000 a day and six months in jail if the amendments to Bill 13 go through.
Let's pause for a minute and say that the amendments don't go through. At the end of the day, some elected official, some judicious officer, some person with some duty to the citizenry put forth the changes to this Bill. That scares the bejesus out of me. This is Canada. This isn't post 9/11 America. This isn't China.
You should be scared too.
But let's fast-forward. The Olympics will be here next month. We've got excessive road closures. Residents are being encouraged to "stay at home" for the duration of the Olympics. I'd love to: shall I send the invoice for my time to VANOC or to the IOC?
During the last cold snap which saw the wires on Vancouver's trolley buses become iced which caused a huge disruption to the tens of thousands of Vancouverites (who pay taxes and pay Translink fares) just trying to get to work on time, the subsequent press release was that this issue should be resolved before the Olympics kick off. Long story short: you don't rate if you live here, but we'll get it straighted before "the world" arrives.
I need a permit to drive on the damnable highway that my tax dollars paid for that decimated an ecologically sensitive area in order to host a ridiculous event that I didn't want from the very beginning.
Are you starting to get an idea of what the 2010 Olympics really mean?
London is.
And hey, I haven't even touched on the issue of the homeless in Vancouver, or the opulence and excess of the people that work for VANOC and the IOC. I'll get to that later.
I do not welcome the 2010 Olympics to my city.
Allow me to extend a giant, warm, wet Fuck You to the IOC and VANOC.
I hope you're caught, unawares, late at night, walking down some darkened alley in Vancouver, hearing the shuffling of feet behind you, your heart jumping into your throat as you quicken your pace even though you know your pursuers are closing ground on you and, fumbling for the swipe pass to your exorbitantly priced hotel room you are set upon by the female ski jumpers.

Rafe Mair

2010-01-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

Michael and I are going to see Rafe Mair this month. Reading his Wiki page I was surprised to see how politically similar we are, except I just can't cross the line and vote NDP just because I still think they're too economically irresponsible.
I was there, though, when he gave this speech:

I think it will be a great, informative, passionate night and I'm looking forward to it.

Sigh. Scratches head.

2009-11-23T14:41:00.000-08:00

Someone once said that when offering up criticism you should deliver it in a sandwhich format: offer some positive feedback, sandwhich that with your critique, and then top it with some more positivity.
I will attempt to do that today.

* * *

The artwork featured in this post is from Obey Giant which I have mentioned before. I am very proud and grateful to say that I saw Shepard Fairey's exhibit at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston. I will never forget walking into the main room of the exhibit and seeing a giant wall filled with his beautiful, politically charged prints. As much as the world can be profoundly overwhelming sometimes, I am so thankful that artists like Fairey are producing such dynamic work and that we live in a country where they can do it (relatively) freely.

Which, naturally, brings me to the War on Terror (am I supposed to capitalize that?) and Tamiful. Allow me to quote from Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine:

As proto-distaster capitalists, the architects of the War on Terror are part of a different breed of corporate-politicians from their predecessors, one for whom wars and other disasters are indeed ends in themselves. When Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld conflate what is good for Lockheed, Halliburton,Carlyle and Gilead with what is good for the United States and indeed the world, it is a form of projection with uniquely dangerous consequences. That's because what is unquestionably good for the bottom line of these companies is cataclysm - wars, epidemics, natural disasters and resource shortages - which is why all their fortunes have improved dramatically since Bush took office...
...When it came to Gilead Sciences, the company Rumsfeld used to chair and that held the patent on Tamiflu, the secretary of defense put his foot down. Asked to choose between his business interests and his public calling, he simply refused. Epidemics are national security issues and therefore squarely within the portfolio of the defense secretary. Yet despite this glaring conflict of interest, Rumsefeld failed to sell off his Gilead stocks for his entire term in office, holding on to somewhere between $8 million and $39 million worth of Gilead holdings.

This the part where I end on a positive note. Remember that global pandemic of swine flu that saw every country stockpile vast amounts of Tamiflu? Well the global death toll seems to be approximately 11,750.
I know the media in my country and especially in the United States does a great job of not being sensationalistic and it is certainly not controlled or influenced in any way by the government (which, in turn, is certainly not controlled by corporate interests), but I do find the news coverage of the H1N1 virus somewhat out of proportion with another disease which, worldwide, has 350–500 million annual cases and kills over one million people.

It's called malaria.

The war to end all wars

2009-11-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

World War II was supposed to be the war to end all wars.
Then we had the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm (I was here for that one) and our current, ongoing "war" (illegal occupation) in the Middle East (that somehow started in Afghanistan and ended up where the oil is: Iraq).
Full disclosure: I have never fought in a war. I don't think I've ever seen a dead body. I have had an exceptionally brilliant and wonderful life with minimal suffering. I've never killed anyone. I don't know what it's like to aim a gun and take a life and I've never had lice or trench foot or rations or been awakened by rats scurrying over my filthy, muddy body. I haven't seen my friends have their head blown off or heard them pleading from death because their wounds were so excruciating. I've never had to wait until the coast was clear to make my way across no man's land to retrieve the rotting bodies of the men that I had fought with that were laying in muddy holes or were caught up in barbed wire.
What was it like to be given a reprieve from the waiting, from the cresting out and over the trenches to be met with a hail of gunfire, to see your brethren die, to receive letters from your loved ones that couldn't comprehend the horror of what you were facing on a day to day basis and to go on some R&R, only to be told that in a few days you would have to be back at the front again? And if you weren't there, and if you didn't scramble up the ladder with your helmet secured and your rifle wrapped round your body to charge, to serge forward in order to gain scant feet in this war you would be shot for desertion?
I just try and imagine how much these men must have loved their country and their freedom to make the ultimate sacrifice. To give up their lives and their limbs for our country and for our freedom.
I think about the Holocaust and the images of the stunned Nazi camp survivors, utterly emaciated and staring at their rescuers, unable to believe they had been liberated.
And we said never again.
And then we had Cambodia, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda and Darfur (to name a few).
I was thinking today, as I ran through one of the more beautiful cities in Canada in my $200 New Balance running shoes that were likely made in a sweatshop overseas for a pittance of their selling price, fully utilizing my body's potential and inhaling the crisp autumn air as I enjoyed this day off (with pay) and ruminating that, though I still don't make as much as my male counterparts I at least have not be raped or had my clitoris cut off as in the custom in some places. And, though it is rather curtailed in Canada even, I still have certain elements of democracy available to me (though journalists still get raided and have their computers taken from them and protesters are treated poorly as when Suharto came to town in 1997).
But I wonder: what do the veterans think? They fought and died and were maimed for us. They saw unspeakable things. They endured something that the majority of us will never fully understand or comprehend.
And we're still making the same mistakes.

Republicans are scarier than swine flu

2009-10-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Are you worried about contracting swine flu? Then stop reading this, because you're clearly an ass hat.
I hate Republicans more than I hate it when I show up to work only to find some dumb bastard has left 1/4 cup of coffee in the coffee pot first thing in the morning.
Ironically? This is from CNN:

NEW YORK (Fortune) - The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world.

Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)'s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.

The forms don't reveal the exact number of shares Rumsfeld owns, but in the past six months fears of a pandemic and the ensuing scramble for Tamiflu have sent Gilead's stock from $35 to $47. That's made the Pentagon chief, already one of the wealthiest members of the Bush cabinet, at least $1 million richer.

Rumsfeld isn't the only political heavyweight benefiting from demand for Tamiflu, which is manufactured and marketed by Swiss pharma giant Roche. (Gilead receives a royalty from Roche equaling about 10% of sales.) Former Secretary of State George Shultz, who is on Gilead's board, has sold more than $7 million worth of Gilead since the beginning of 2005.

Another board member is the wife of former California Gov. Pete Wilson.

"I don't know of any biotech company that's so politically well-connected," says analyst Andrew McDonald of Think Equity Partners in San Francisco.

What's more, the federal government is emerging as one of the world's biggest customers for Tamiflu. In July, the Pentagon ordered $58 million worth of the treatment for U.S. troops around the world, and Congress is considering a multi-billion dollar purchase. Roche expects 2005 sales for Tamiflu to be about $1 billion, compared with $258 million in 2004.

Rumsfeld recused himself from any decisions involving Gilead when he left Gilead and became Secretary of Defense in early 2001. And late last month, notes a senior Pentagon official, Rumsfeld went even further and had the Pentagon's general counsel issue additional instructions outlining what he could and could not be involved in if there were an avian flu pandemic and the Pentagon had to respond.

As the flu issue heated up early this year, according to the Pentagon official, Rumsfeld considered unloading his entire Gilead stake and sought the advice of the Department of Justice, the SEC and the federal Office of Government Ethics.

Those agencies didn't offer an opinion so Rumsfeld consulted a private securities lawyer, who advised him that it was safer to hold on to the stock and be quite public about his recusal rather than sell and run the risk of being accused of trading on insider information, something Rumsfeld doesn't believe he possesses. So he's keeping his shares for the time being.

Oral fixation

2009-09-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

The long and the short of it is that the Ontario government is suing the tobacco industry for "$50 billion to recover the costs of treating citizens with smoking-related illnesses since 1955".
The tobacco industry has said "it's 'sheer hypocrisy' for the government to go after a legal industry that pays taxes into public coffers while the government itself has casinos and sells alcohol, which create problems with gambling and addiction".
Full disclosure: the author is currently drinking wine; has the Mucha "Job" picture hanging in her bathroom; has smoked cigarettes in the past (and will probably smoke more in the future); and loves pot.
It's interesting. I mean, if the Ontario government was seriously concerned with the welfare of its taxpaying citizens they would ban the sale of a product which is known to be highly addictive and which contains formaldehyde and arsenic.
But why ban something that brings in such high revenues? A 2007 CBC report stated that "in Canada, between 63 and 79 per cent of the price of a package of cigarettes is tax". It's currently around $9 or $10 to buy a pack of cigarettes. So, let's just use really simple math and say that for every pack of cigarettes that is purchased, five dollars is tax. Where is that five dollars going? Because if that five dollars is going to offset the cost of the financial burden borne by our health care system as a result of smoking related illnesses, what is the $50 billion for?
A scarier thought? What if that $5 a pack is going to finance other things like schools and roads? What if every puff that Joe Smith takes helps to finance your garbage pickup and your local police department?
The government won't ever ban smoking because: a) it will lose out on too much revenue; b) it will lose its ability to sue the tobacco industry; c) it will become a black market commodity which will penalize the addicts.
Smoking is dirty. Smoking has become uncool. In the past few years I have seen a vast decrease in the smoking populace: it is no longer socially acceptable, and it's becoming harder and harder to find a public place to have smoke.
But what about alcohol? StatsCan says that, in British Columbia "there were 1,818 deaths that were directly or indirectly related to alcohol in 2002 and 9,104 deaths in the five-year period, 1997-2001". Is someone suing Anheuser Busch? Who pays for the innumerable domestic disputes that are a result of alcohol? The missed time from work? The car accidents?
And let's push the envelope one inch further: why am I paying for your knee or hip replacement because you've had a sedentary life or are obese? Why do I have to pay for your heart attack because you can't lay off the fast food?
Lastly (and because I'm a cynic): is this not a recessionary, amorphous tax grab? Who is to say that the taxes levied on cigarettes don't already cover their impact to our health system and that, in our current economy which consists of budgetary shortfalls and massive funding cuts, this isn't just another way to ride the wave of anti-smoking sentiment in order to finance the next round of FastCat Ferries?

Well, that took a bloody long time

2009-06-30T23:36:00.000-07:00

Yay!

Man, I would love to see this guy in action. He's so smart and quick and witty.

I have this secret fantasy where he is locked in small room with Ann Coulter and Tucker Carlson and emerges bloody and shirtless and then we embrace and listen to KCSM.

I'm out of the closet

2009-06-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

I know I have touched on this in the past, but I have been thinking a lot more about monogamy of late.
I am someone that likes to question things. I question where the concept of an eight hour work day and a five day work week comes from. I question religion. I question authority. I question the media and politicians and mass mentality and habits steeped in tradition and blind faith. I am someone for whom most of life is made up of varying shades of grey. I have come to few concrete decisions in the 32 years that I have been around. Those concrete conclusions are as follows:

there is no god
do not believe the media: form your own conclusions about everything
your government is not as transparent as it should be, and you should always be wary of it
independent music, art, journalism, books and thought are paramount
you could die tomorrow
people are inherently good

The other thing that I have fully embraced is non-monogamy.
I didn't think up a 40 hour work week, nor did I come up with marriage or religion or any of these things that people tend to subscribe to because a) they don't question it or b) it is the societal norm (I will interject here that if you have thoroughly explored any of these concepts and still choose to embrace them and are happy with them, than I am happy for you).
I question it. I have laid out this argument before. The difference is that, today, I have made it part of who I am. I do not believe that love and sex are always necessarily related. Have you loved everyone that you have ever had sex with? Have you had sex with everyone that you've ever loved? Wikipedia says that 7% of the mammal population is monogamous. The divorce rate is hovering around 50%. And I wonder: if people weren't tied up financially with their significant others, or if children weren't involved, would they still try to "make it work"? I doubt it.
So people have affairs. And they do this in secret because there's something wrong with you if you have sex with someone else. I honestly can't say what exactly is wrong with you, but society says it's wrong and you're a whore (or maybe a playboy) if you fuck around. Because... yeah, I'm not sure why.
No wait, I've got it: you need to suppress your natural, animal desires for some societal convention that was dreamed up years ago to go hand in hand with marriage to, I dunno, prevent disease or to ease the burden of child rearing or because women were treated as chattel? I'm not sure. I have an inkling, though, that monogamy is something that has been passed down to us through the generations and, when our partner "cheats" on us, we have a knee-jerk reaction that the end is nigh and we should leave them immediately.
Why? Your partner just cheated on you and they likely didn't tell you about their feelings beforehand because, in today's society, non-monogamous relationships are still totally taboo because... yeah. Are you getting my point here?
You're pissed because your partner fucked someone else. Why? When did you ever start to own or control your partner's sexuality? When did it become evident to you that you should be the only person that your partner should ever be able to have sex with? If you love someone, why would you ever deny them something that might bring them joy or pleasure?
Life is this incredibly random and chaotic event and I think the best that we can all do before we get hit by a bus or get diagnosed with some freak disease is to have the best time we can. And if you love the person that you are with, then you should wish nothing but happiness and joy for them. I never, ever want someone to do something for me out of a sense of obligation.
I hope that every day when I wake up my partner still chooses me. I would never want to deny him anything that would bring him pleasure or joy, and I know that he feels the same way towards me.
And if along the way, he was to encounter someone that were to bring him more joy or happiness, I would rather have him be happier with someone else than to be with me because he feels responsible or obligated towards me.

I want some

2009-06-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

Air Miles? For bus passes?
Hells yeah! Why isn't Vancouver doing this?!?
Hmm... do I want to amass my Air Miles so I can get gift cards that encourage me to spend too much money on overpriced beverages served to me by interchangeable waitresses in interchangeable restaurants, or do I want free bus passes??
Neither. I want to swap my Air Miles for BC Liquor Store gift cards.
I kid.
I want the bus passes.

No we can't!

2009-05-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

I don't understand it.
A few decades ago blacks were not allowed to use "white" water fountains and they had to sit at the back of the bus.
A bit further back 6 million Jews were killed (not to mention gays, Jehovah's Witnesses, disabled people and who ever else the Fuhrer deigned not fit to occupy the new lebensraum).
In Canada, the right to vote was not extended to all women until 1919.
And when we look back on these events in history, do we regret them? Were they bad decisions? If anything we are (or should be, if we have any modicum of decency, empathy and intelligence) ashamed that we as humans allowed such abuses to be perpetuated for so long.
I don't even know where to start on the gay marriage issue. Gay marriage is a no brainer based on: equal rights; nature; population control; and the fact that marriage is a failing and antiquated institution.
I can't think of one legitimate reason why two men or two women can't get married. A lot of it boils down religious beliefs to which I say fine: marriage in churches should be up to the belief system of that particular church and congregation. But on a federal, legal level? Please, someone explain this to me.
I am just appalled that we're still embroiled in this issue in 2009.
But hey, looking at the people that are in charge and that espouse the great and veritable ideals of marriage, maybe all the gays are better off without it.
Half of the population has fucked around in a relationship they've been in.
Half of marriages end in divorce.
I mean really, Britney Spears was accidentally "married" and had a quicky annulment to cover up that minor indescretion. Sanctity of marriage? No. It's just the the usual rhetoric spewed by the Conservative right wing fuck nuts that can't think for themselves and, when in doubt, pound their badly misinterpreted Bible instead of putting aside their homophobic tendencies and, for once, questioning their horribly flawed belief system.

Voting

2009-05-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

This is the response I got from my brother last night, which I'm inclined to agree with:

So the Liberals suck and the NDP will put us in a debt that will take years to dig out of. Why would you vote for either? That means you support one. Vote Green. Voting for the Liberals or NDP tells them, what they did in the past is fine and you still support them. It's not going to come down to your one vote anyhow. I believe every time you vote for a party, they get a small amount of money to use on their next campaign. So, who do you want to give your money to? The only reason the Green party doesn't do better, is because you say they will not win. Just like the "recession". It's only real because you made it real. If everyone wasn't so busy voting for "the lesser of two evils" and tried voting for who they support, the Green party would already be in. The media shouldn't be allowed to report who's "ahead in the polls" because that changes votes. The Liberals are probably paying the media to say the NDP is doing well in the polls, just to freak people out so they don't vote green and vote for the Liberals instead.Screw the media! Use your brain.

So... May 12th should be interesting

2009-05-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

People have been asking me how I'm voting in the upcoming election.
It's currently a close race between the NDP and Liberals. I do not want the NDP to be in power again. Like, ever. Their union mentality have given us such wondrous things as the fast cat ferries as well as Glen Clark and BingoGate. They have bankrupted our province before and I am sure if, put at the helm, they will do so again. On the flip side I am not impressed with some of the things you can view in the below video (put out by an NDP supporter). It's worth a look. Know thy enemy.
I don't know about oil tankers on our coast. I think salmon farms should be HANDS DOWN banned immediately (though the NDP doesn't propose to actually do this, they'll just somehow do a "better" job than the Liberals are at preventing farmed salmon from escaping). Selling off our natural resources to private companies so that they can turn around and charge us more for Hydro? Hell no.
I will not vote NDP in this election. But I'm not sure I will vote Liberal either. I may split the vote and go Green. It would suck if the NDP got in because after four years of their mismanagement we would be hauling ourselves out of a colossal deficit once again. But occasionally this must happen.
If anyone else has some interesting info they'd like to share to help in the decision making process, please pass it along. I will say that I will be voting against the current "first past the post" voting system, because it's not representative (and then my Green vote would be worth more).
Sucks to be a voter this May 12th, doesn't it!

Believe in yourself

2009-04-27T00:29:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching "Religulous" with Bill Maher.

It should be no surprise to anyone (that knows me) when I say I'm atheist and that I have a lot of issues with organized religion.

I won't get too into the whole issue I have with religion at this point, maybe I'll just trot out a few of my favourite arguments if anyone needs a refresher course: the Crusades; the Spanish Inquisition; you subscribe to the religion that prevails in your geographic locale making your specific religion arbitrary; why aren't dinosaurs mentioned in the bible; and if Adam and Eve had kids and their kids had kids then they'd be all inbred and whatnot; everyone thinks their one true god is the one true god, so how do you know if you're right?

It was a good movie. Basically I would like to posit that religion is a really great way to go through life without have to think for yourself or have to question anything. If you can believe something so whole-heartedly and without question just because some random book tells you to, then you really, really need to reflect on that. Because, instead of the bible, what if someone had handed you and instructed you with the Koran? Or the Talmud? Do you not realize the randomness of it all? Question everything.

Hey, I don't discount these books entirely: there are some interesting parables about how one should live their life (perhaps) and how to be a better, more moral person (depending on what your idea of immorality is). But it should all be taken with a grain of salt, like any other tidbit of information that is imparted to you that you aren't able to verify on your own.

And I came to this other understanding the other day: these people that believe so fervently in god, that close their eyes and pray and draw on this strength that is their faith to get them through tumultuous times? They are really drawing on their own inner strength, because god doesn't exist. So this stalwart backbone of faith that they have and that they celebrate and that they cling to and that guides them through life is nothing more than their inner morality, which we are all imbued with, that they are projecting onto some fake god head.

How's that for a mind fuck?

Have you heard of the Boxmasters? Do you like gravy?

2009-04-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Maybe Thornton's way of drumming up media exposure is to be a huge asshole to Jian Ghomeshi (do yourself a favor and listen to or read the interview: it's unreal), but it worked: he made headlines and was perceived as an asshole.

Before the infamous Q interview I had not heard of the Boxmasters.

Also, I do not like gravy on my potatoes.

But I would like gravy if it was on Jian Ghomeshi.

Hawt.

Huzzah!

2009-04-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

Al Franken inches forward on a seemingly endless trek to the US Senate.
Goshdarnit, I can't believe the hurdles this guy has to jump.

Way more exciting than reality t.v. and hockey

2009-03-31T22:47:00.001-07:00

Go Franken!!!

Worry. Don't be happy!

2009-02-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

Is anyone still watching the news? Cause I have a sinking feeling that one could air this on main stream media and no one would bat an eye (props to Michael for the link).

If you build it, people will be employed

2009-02-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

Yes. This is a good move. Instead of the typical recessionary moves to build dams and roads, let's use these trying economic times to foster job creation in an area that we know we're going to have to look to in the very immediate future.

This is the perfect time.

I hope British Columbia (and the rest of Canada) gets on board with this.

It's inevitable.

Obama is left-handed

2009-01-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

Alright. So the first black president of the United States started this ball rolling the day he took office.

Fantastic. A tremendous first step.

I think that we're all holding our collective breath, waiting to see how his presidency unfolds, but I think reevaluating the concept of Guantanamo Bay and lending some jurisprudence to such a contentious issue is heartening.

Al Franken vs. the Lying Liars

2009-01-14T23:43:00.000-08:00

Come on, come on already! I can't wait!

Boy. I'd give my left nut to see Coulter, O'Reilly and Limbaugh's faces when the decision comes down in Franken's favour (how these people have made it in main stream media is beyond me, though it does strongly embolden the fact that the media is most fundamentally right wing, hysterical and utterly biased).

Gosh darnit, I like him!

2009-01-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

I sure hope Franken makes it!

I laughed

2009-01-04T22:34:00.001-08:00

When, after two previous flights had been cancelled, the pilot came on and announced to us that the plane we were currently on was suffering from electrical issues and would have to taxi back to the terminal, I laughed.
It's quite interesting how your perception of time changes when you really have nowhere to be.

Fucking awesome

2008-12-19T00:23:00.000-08:00

Climate Friendly Banking, anyone?

2008-12-04T10:43:00.001-08:00

"With more than $3.6 trillion in assets, the financing decisions of Canada’s top banks greatly impacts Canada’s $1.3 trillion economy and the trajectory of the country’s future greenhouse gas emissions. When bank funding goes to dirty energy projects like tar sands expansion or new coal-fired power plants, it locks in a polluting infrastructure that will cast a long carbon shadow over the country for decades to come."

Switch to Vancity.

More here.

And here is the pat response

2008-12-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your email regarding coal bed methane extraction in the Klappan Valley.

Government takes the management of British Columbia’s natural resources very seriously. We are committed to working with communities, industry, First Nations and environmental organizations to ensure that exploration and mining in all areas of our province are undertaken in a responsible manner. Proposed resource extraction projects in British Columbia are also subject to environmental reviews and assessments which take their impact on surrounding wildlife, habitat and communities into consideration, before they are approved. Government realizes the environmentally sensitive nature of this region and we are doing our best to ensure that our natural environment and wild places will remain a source of pride to British Columbians for many generations to come.

Your email has been shared with the Honourable Richard Neufeld, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and with the Honourable Gordon Hogg, Minister of State for Mining, so that they, too, are aware of your concerns. Please be assured that your views will be given every consideration during related discussions between the Ministers and their staff.

Again, thank you for writing. We appreciate your input and hope that you will find this information helpful.

pc: Honourable Richard Neufeld
Honourable Gordon Hogg

I am against Shell drilling in the Klappan Valley

2008-12-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a letter that I wrote to Premier Gordon Campbell regarding Shell drilling in the Klappan Valley:

Dear Mr. Campbell,

Like many of my friends and colleagues, I am saddened and outraged that Shell is being allowed to drill in such a pristine area of my home province.

I have read many articles on how Shell has "dealt" with the local people in the Niger Delta. And even though they appear cognizant of the environmental ramifications of their project, I would not be doing my due diligence as tax paying voter by accepting their assessments and plans, which are utterly biased.Mr. Campbell, you and I are fortunate enough to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and yet we are failing as stewards of this land. We are continuing to throw good money after bad and we are compounding bad decisions. What we have on our hands is not a problem, it is a potential asset: the chance to do good.

Please, let us not continue on in our archaic ways, destroying the environment in which live for short-term gains. We need to pioneer, to get off the grid. Instead of modelling ourselves after the US, our closest neighbour and one with a disastrous environmental record, we need to embrace change and look to countries like Germany, which looks to have 100% of its energy coming from renewable resources by 2030 (http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/the_gospel_of_green/video.html).

Drilling in BC, destroying nature is not the best we can do. Please help other concerned citizens to stop it.

Thank you,
Duder

Just (don't) do it.

2008-11-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Forwarded to me from an esteemed coworker:

BUY NOTHING DAY ORGANIZERS CONFRONT THE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN HEAD ON
Now in its 17th year, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated every November by environmentalists, social activists and concerned citizens in over 65 countries around the world. Over the years, Buy Nothing Day (followed by Buy Nothing Christmas) has exploded into a global movement, inspiring the world’s citizens to live more simply and buy a whole lot less.
Designed to coincide with Black Friday (which this year falls on Friday, November 28) in the United States, and the unofficial start of the international holiday shopping season (Saturday, November 29), the festival takes many shapes, from relaxed family outings, to free, non-commercial street parties, to politically charged public protests, credit-card cut-ups and pranks and shenanigans of all kinds. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending.
Featured by such media giants as CNN, USA Today, MSNBC, Wired, the BBC, The Age and the CBC, Buy Nothing Day has gained momentum in recent years as the climate crisis has driven people to seek out greener alternatives to unrestrained consumption.
This year, Buy Nothing Day organizers are confronting the economic meltdown head-on – asking citizens, policy makers and pundits to examine our economic crisis.
"If you dig a little past the surface you'll see that this financial meltdown is not about liquidity, toxic derivatives or unregulated markets, it's really about culture," says the co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation, Kalle Lasn. "It's our culture of excess and meaningless consumption — the glorified spending and borrowing of the past decade that's at the root of the crisis we now find ourselves in."
Economic meltdown, together with the ecological crisis of climate change could be the beginning of a major global cultural shift — the dawn of a new age: the age of Post-Materialism.
"A simpler, pared-down lifestyle – one in which we're not drowning in debt – may well be the answer to this crisis we're in," says Lasn. "Living within our means will also make us happier and healthier than we’ve been in years."

I am still a fan of Eliot Spitzer

2008-11-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Wow, they're not gonig to forge ahead with the charges against Spitzer? Super duper (.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/nyregion/07legal.html?ref=nyregion). Hey, puritanical numbnuts: maybe if you'd spent less time concerned with what Spitzer was doing in the bedroom (and paying for it with his own money) he wouldn't have resigned and would've helped prevent the Wall Street meltdown because before Spitzer was a guy that paid for sex, he was a guy that took down fat cats on Wall Street.
Anyways, enjoy your $700 billion tax bill.
I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot these days.

I haven't forgotten, you bastards

2008-11-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

What? Private companies have an interest in the scientific studies being done that might affect their ability to get run-of-river power projects licensed? http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/11/06/bc-miller-creek.html
Hydro is great, but it has to be sustainable and, um, stop selling our public rivers to private interests. Don't make me repeat myself.

The media sucks (but we all knew that)

2008-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

I read this article and wasn't surprised: Sarah Palin is an ignorant hick (http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/Story?id=6196407&page=1). This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. What does surprise me is the way that, instead of reporting just how terrifyingly unsophisticated a prospect she was as the potential Vice President of the United States, Fox News (and I'm assuming scads of other media conglomerates) didn't make this public until after McCain was defeated.
What the hell is that? Does the media not have an obligation to report something of such magnitude leading up to such a critical event as a presidential election?
I guess this shouldn't be surprising, as Rupert Murdoch didn't back Obama.

I was there

2008-11-05T07:22:00.000-08:00

I don't know if he'll be good or not (man, I hope so), but I was there when the United States elected a black president.
Seriously. What a giant step in the right direction, regardless of politics, and a very historically significant day.

Here's why the US voting system allows people like Bush to get in

2008-11-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

This has been taken from the "live text commentary" covering the US election on the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7700298.stm). I think it's important to highlight this, in the event that McCain actually wins.

1945 The BBC's Philippa Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, says: The official line in this state - an absolute must-win for Mr McCain - is that voting is "orderly and brisk". But there are some reports of confusion, stemming from the fact that voters are allowed to choose between the touch-screen electronic option or the old-fashioned paper ballot. The Election Protection coalition, which is non-partisan, says some voters asking for a paper vote are being directed to cast "provisional ballots" instead. These won't necessarily be counted, and can get disqualified in the legal squabbles that follow a close contest. To show you why this could matter - in 2004, there were more provisional ballots cast in Ohio, than the margin of George W Bush's narrow victory.

The choice is NOT between McBain and Obama

2008-11-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

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

We stand on a precipice... or do we?

2008-11-03T22:10:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we will watch as the United States elects either another Republican president (with a VP that I actually thought was a joke for the first week or two), or a black Democratic president that seemingly stands for hope and change.
Is there a fundamental difference between either choice? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21143.htm
It's $700 billion of heady goodness either way.

Hip hop

2008-10-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Like South Park? Hate the Pope? Don't understand how coloring eggs at Easter has anything to do with Jesus? Then you'll love this: http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/1105/Fantastic-Easter-Special.html

Reform Canada's voting system!

2008-10-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

This guy is right on the money: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/letters/story.html?id=8589cb52-a4a7-4f89-9199-d936341d98df
Harper saddled us with another minority government: the bastard only got 37.64% of the vote, but gets 46.4% of the seats. The Green party had 6.8% of the vote (almost a million votes) but received no seats.

I qualified for Boston

2008-10-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

And I'm registered for it. And this weekend Michael and I are booking the hotel and the flight and then we're going to run it. And when I get to the finish line I am going to run past the crowd (which I hear is out in full force and screaming and is amazing) and I'm going to high five them all. I'm going to have a shit time because I'm going to be twirling and buzzing around the course. I'm thinking about taking my camera with me on the run.

It's a once in a lifetime thing and I made it (again).
Asics redux, indeed (http://breakthehabitsofliving.blogspot.com/2008/09/can-asics-save-day-againpraying-for-oim.html).
I have to remember to view this as evidence that you can accomplish much more than you think you're capable of. Much, much more.
And I guess I have to change the wording on the intro to this blog.

Surveying our way into a democracy

2008-09-29T09:26:00.001-07:00

I received a survey last week about what we should do with Metro Vancouver's farmland. The survey basically boiled down to whether you were in favour of developing some or all of the farmland, and if you were not, then would you consider paying an annual fee to keep it green. The letter that accompanied the survey made mention that Metro Vancouver is surrounded by mountains, water and the US border, so we're running out of space.
Right. I am incapable of filling out a survey, so I attached an angry letter (I love angry letters). I will posit this: why the fuck should I have to pay to keep Metro Vancouvers' green spaces green? (Inept) city planners have created a horrific amount of urban sprawl. We have strip malls galore. We have low density housing. But I have to pay more taxes to keep the green space because city planners and the bureaucrats that rubber stamp their projects did a shitty job? No. No, no, no. I didn't create this mess. And why is it acceptable to churn up green space in order to build more houses and strip malls (to increase the tax base, you see) when it's clear that's not working? Churn up parking lots! Churn up useless strip malls! Rebuild them the way they should have been built if logical, reasonable people with an eye to a sustainable future had built them.
God, I'm pissed off. And here is the associated letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

RE: FARMLAND IN METRO VANCOUVER SURVEY

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for choosing me to participate in the survey regarding farmland in Metro Vancouver. My problem with this survey (and surveys in general) is that you ask black and white questions when in fact there are a myriad of grey shades. The thrust of your questions seem to be: do I want to protect Metro Vancouver’s farmland and, if so, am I willing to pay for it: yes or no.
Why should anyone have to pay for it? We should keep the farmland. We should grow local produce within Metro Vancouver to feed people that live in Metro Vancouver. Yes, I would pay more for locally grown corn than that trucked up from California, but I shouldn’t have to if my corn is simply brought from Tswassen to North Vancouver.
Secondly, urban sprawl is an issue that needs to be dealt with immediately. No future development of any green space should be embarked upon without considering what David Suzuki refers to as a “critical issue”. Why are we building on farmland? Let’s build on parking lots first. Let’s bulldoze the useless, inefficient and endless strings of strip malls and build mid-density housing with commercial along the bottom.
The letter enclosed with this survey says we are “in a valley bounded by an ocean, mountains and an international border”. Yes, we’re running out of space. So let’s look to what other countries in similar situations have dealt with it. We’ve been making wrong choices continually and it needs to stop now. The answer lies not with what we are to do or not do with farmland, it lies with us as a community making educated, well-informed decisions that benefit us (the public, the tax-payers, the citizens) by creating a sustainable place to live. Not just for now, but for the long term.

Sincerely,
Duder

Agree or Disagree

2008-09-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

Aside from the overall loquaciousness of the prose, and the references to Heidegger, Hume and Dante (cause we're all well-versed in their arguments, right?), I'm really digging "The Unconscious Civilization" by John Ralston Saul.
Here are some fun quotes to mull over and to agree or disagree with - I'd love to hear your feedback.

"What I am saying is that we are faced by a crisis in language and communication. This crisis is being accentuated, not eased, by the universities. We are faced by a crisis of conformity brought on by our corporatist structures... The universities, which ought to embody humanism, are instead obsessed by aligning themselves with specific market forces...
As for the alignment of education and market forces, of course in some circumstances it may actually be useful. But in general those circumstances involve trade school disciplines - such as the schools of business management - which don't belong in the university all. They would be far more effective if they were funded and run directly by industry as independent apprenticeship institutes.
What the corporatist approach seems to miss is the simple role of higher education - to teach thought. A student who graduates with mechanistic skills and none of the habits of thought has not been educated."

What do you think? Should I toss my Accounting diploma?

Here's the next fun quote:

"Our entire education system is aimed at creating managers of every sort. Managers of the government, yes, but business is also dominated by a top-heavy bureaucracy. I would suggest that today the problem of managerial dead weight is far great er in the private sector than in the public. I would suggest that one of the key reasons that the private sector has been unable to revive and reinvent itself over the last two decades has been a lack of creativity brought on by a managerial rather than a creative owner-based leadership. A second key reason is that the cost of the managerial superstructure is now far too heavy for the producing sub-structure. The managers are weighing the economy down."

Well, I wanted to overthrow the government, but I guess I'll have to first do away with the overabundance of corporate elite. Who's with me? (I lie, I'll do nothing and continue to be passive and complacent)

Okay. I'll probably post more on this later. I knew when I picked this book up it would get me thinking. I'm hoping at the end he provides the reader with "Ten Simple Steps to Take Back Language and Democracy". I hope it involves a lot of wine drinking and talking about the matter at hand without necessarily getting one's hands dirty.

Al Gore for President!

2008-09-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yay Greenpeace!

2008-09-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Now They've Gone and Gordon It

Greenpeace protesters acquitted in coal-activism case

In a decision that anti-coal activists say is a game-changer, six Greenpeace protesters have been acquitted of nearly $53,000 in criminal-damage charges for painting "Gordon" on a British coal plant. The activists climbed a 650-foot coal-plant chimney last year with the intent to paint "Gordon bin it" in huge letters, aiming to pressure Prime Minister Gordon Brown to disallow new coal plants. They only got to "Gordon" before being served with a high court injunction. In court, the six used a "lawful excuse" defense, arguing that burning coal exacerbates climate change, thus putting property around the world "in immediate need of protection." Climate scientist James Hansen testified on their behalf, and the jury found in their favor. "This verdict marks a tipping point for the climate change movement," says chimney-scaler Ben Stewart. "If jurors from the heart of Middle England say it's legitimate for a direct action group to shut down a coal-fired power station because of the harm it does to our planet, then where does that leave government energy policy?"

Interesting emails from the PM and NDP offices

2008-09-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the email I received back from Stephen Harper's office:

"Please know that your e-mail message has been received in the Prime Minister's Office and that your comments have been noted. Our office always welcomes hearing from correspondents and being made aware of their views.
Thank you for writing."

Here is the email I received from Jack Layton's office:

"Thank you for taking the time to register your views regarding the televised Leaders’ debates. This afternoon Jack went on record stating, "As long as Stephen Harper is there, I don't care who goes." Jack’s statement is in line with our focus to fight the Harper agenda. With the consortium’s decision to include Ms. May in the debates, we are now able to focus on other issues of concern to Canadians – the economy, health care, and the environment – and above all, hold Stephen Harper accountable for his record. It is worth noting that Canada's New Democrats have long advocated for electoral reform and a proportional system of representation that would improve the chances of smaller parties - like the Green Party - of gaining federal seats. This remains our position today. In this 2008 election, New Democrats are proposing real change. We will stop tax cuts for companies who don’t need them or who ship jobs overseas. Instead, we will invest that money to provide training and innovation in the new energy economy. We invite you to visit our website at http://www.ndp.ca/ to learn the latest about our team of New Democrats and the campaign. As always, we appreciate the time you have taken to write."

Interesting, no? I still won't vote NDP because they will bankrupt the country (and I will never forgive them for the Fastcat Ferry debacle), but at least they've got their pulse on what is important to a large segment of Canadians.

Going Green

2008-09-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! http://www.torontosun.com/canadavotes/news/2008/09/10/6726606.html

My favourite part of the article:

"For this I have just one overwhelming thought, which is enormous gratitude to every single Canadian who has expressed outrage on call-in radio lines, on websites of news media, phoned Stephen Harper, people who wrote notes to Jack Layton's facebook," May said after the decision. "It's grassroots power of the people."

It's nice to know the concept of democracy isn't entirely dead.
Sardonic snort.

Another reason to stop eating (meat, especially)

2008-09-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1839995,00.html

And this would not be complete without an angry letter...

2008-09-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

... to Layton, Duceppe and our beloved Prime Minister:

Are you scared of the Green Party? You must be. I can't fully understand why you would wish to exclude the Green Party from a the televised leader's debate. This move is totally unjustified and, in my mind (and the hundreds of thousands or perhaps even millions who think like me) you have taken yourselves to a new low. I am embarrassed that the Prime Minister of a great country like Canada would commit such an effrontery to the democratic process as this. Why would you move to block transparency? Why would you wish to keep Canadians uninformed and to take away their choices?
Thank you for effectively confirming my justification in not voting Conservative or NDP in the upcoming election. My choice will now be Liberal or Green. Thank you also for motivating me to rally my friends, family and coworkers against voting for you, since it is clear that democracy isn't on your agenda.
What a tremendously idiotic move on your part.

The Conservatives, NDP and the Bloc are scared of the Green Party

2008-09-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

I love politics. No, I don't. It's all odious and one can do little more than attempt to pick the best out of a bad lot. That said, next month I will be voting Liberal or Green (likely Green). This is because the Bloc, the NDP and the Conservatives aren't running a clean, transparent campaign. Even if you aren't a fan of the Green party, the tactics of the other parties should scare the shit out of you.

Here is an email from an esteemed co-worker of mine, whose opinions I respect deeply:

Folks,

You may or may not know this, but today, the Conservative party of Canada, NDP and Bloc Quebecois have decided to exclude Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada from the televised leader’s debate. They have done so by threatening to boycott the talks if May is included. Whether you believe the Green party represents your views or not, it is important that the Greens be allowed to debate and provide their point of view. We are not in third world party to expect this kind of behaviour from both our ‘leaders’ and the media.

Below is an email explaining the issue in more detail.

Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns over the undemocratic actions consistently displayed by the major parties in this Country.

------

Letter to Green Party Friends and Supporters,

Today's decision by the broadcasting consortium is an inexcusable mistake and a slap in the face to all those who care about democracy and freedom of speech in this country. They have bowed to crass partisan politics from three other federal parties. Elizabeth May deserves to be in the included in the nationally-televised leaders' debates. She has jumped through every hoop that has barred her way and she still is being kept from presenting the Green platform to a national audience by the Conservatives, NDP and Bloc.
The Green party is a truly national party that has run candidates across the country for the past two elections. We have a sitting MP. We had the support of nearly 700,000 Canadians in the last elections and are polling at over one million votes in this election. There is no logical reason why Elizabeth May and the Green Party should be kept out of this important national forum.No other party has been as successful as the Green Party and still be blocked from public national debates. In 1993 the Reform and Bloc Parties were included in the debates with only one MP and no official party status. Neither ran candidates across the country. There is no precedent for this private decision to exclude the Green party from the leader's public debate. In fact, all the precedents support our inclusion in this public forum. Partisan politics has kept her out, this is an insult to the Green party and called the fairness of the election into question.
It is so important for Elizabeth May to be present at the debates. The majority of Canadians make their voting decisions based on them. The Green party needs your help to remedy this situation. We need you to write, call and contact the Broadcasting Consortium and tell them they are wrong. Tell them that Canadians deserve to hear the voices of all national leaders.Most importantly, you should phone, fax or email the party leaders who kept Elizabeth May out of the debate. Make them accountable for this outrageous, antidemocratic act.

Stephen Harper:Conservative Party of Canada
Election Headquarters
#1204 - 130 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5G4
Toll free: (866) 808-8407
Phone: (613) 755-2000
Fax at: (613) 755-2001
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Constituency Office
1600 - 90th Avenue SW
Suite A-203
Calgary, Alberta, T2V 5A8
Telephone: (403) 253-7990
Fax: (403) 253-8203

Hill Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario; K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900

Jack Layton:Canada's NDP
300 - 279 Laurier
WestOttawa, Ontario K1P 5J9
Phone: 613-236-3613
Toll Free: 1-866-525-2555
Fax: 613-230-9950
Email: Layton.J@parl.gc.ca

Constituency Office
221 Broadview Avenue
Suite 100 (Main Office)
Toronto, Ontario; M4M 2G3
Telephone: (416) 405-8914
Fax: (416) 405-8918

Hill Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 995-7224
Fax: (613) 995-4565

Gilles Duceppe:Bloc Québécois
3730, boul. Crémazie Est
Montréal (Québec) H2A 1B4
Téléphone : 514 526-3000
Télécopieur : 514 526-2868
Email : Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca

Constituency Office
1200 Papineau, # 350
Montreal, Québec; H2K 4R5
Telephone: (514) 522-1339
Fax: (514) 522-9899

Hill Office
House of Commons
ttawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-6777
Fax: (613) 954-2121

You can visit http://demanddemocraticdebates.ca/ to sign a petition to pressure the Broadcast consortium to make sure that Green Party leader Elizabeth May is included in the leaders' debates. You can also let the broadcast consortium know of your disagreement by contacting them at:

John Cruikshank, Publisher, CBC news(416) 205-6300

Robert Hurst, President of CTV News416-332-5000

Troy Reeb, Senior Vice President of News Canwest Global(416) 967-1174

Pierre Dion, President, Groupe TVA Inc.514-526-9251

Ronald Cohen, National Chair, Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
P.O. Box 3265, Station D Ottawa, ON K1P 6H8
613-233-4607

Glenn O'Farrell, President and CEO, Canadian Association of
Broadcasters
P.O. Box 627, Stn. B Ottawa, ON K1P 5S2
613-233-4035 ext: 326

Can Asics save the day again?/Praying for an OIM redux

2008-09-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Since August 6th I have completed a: 14 mile run; 6 mile run; hour long kayak; hour and fifteen minute weight training session; and a 9.5 mile run. Um, that's something that I should have accomplished in a week, not nearly a month.

Given that I have somewhat fallen out of shape I had decided to pull out of the marathon and instead try for my personal best for the Victoria half.

Then Michael and I went for dinner and a couple of beers and totally started smack-talking each other.

I've decided to shoot for the marathon.

It's just totally retarded. I have 40 days to train, I will be peaking right before the marathon, I'm going to have to work out twice a day on occasion, re-focus on nutrition, avoid injury, and do most of it myself since my schedule will be quite different from that of my clinic.

This is the biggest physical challenge I have ever faced.

Do you like my new shoes? They're pretty.

It's not much

2008-08-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I bought an eggplant today. I have, heretofore, never purchased an eggplant. I cooked it with some onions, garlic, carrots, yams, tomatoes and red peppers and I'm going to eat it.
Eggplants aren't scary.
I also sharpened my kitchen knife. My dad was an expert knife sharpener. When I was up at Lasqueti a few days ago I went to go cut a tomato and it sliced without me having to squash and mash it (like what I do). So I sharpened my own knife. And then I cut the tomatoes instead of pulping them.
It's amazing what I can do when left to my own devices.

The Gateway Project

2008-07-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

Oil prices are greatly increasing the cost of shipping goods from China to North America (http://research.cibcwm.com/economic_public/download/smay08.pdf). Have you noticed the price increases at your local grocery store lately? I certainly have, and in the aforementioned article, CIBC analysts are expecting oil to hit $200 a barrel, and they don't think we've seen the full trickle down of our grocery prices based on current oil costs.
The Gateway Project aims to: twin the Port Mann; widen Highway 1 from Vancouver to Langley; and triple Deltaport's capacity (http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/gateway/1_program.htm). That goes against Metro Vancouver's Livable Region Strategic Plan (http://www.metrovancouver.org/planning/development/lrsp/Pages/default.aspx), the four main strategies of which are:

Protect the Green Zone: The Green Zone protects Greater Vancouver's natural assets, including major parks, watersheds, ecologically important areas and resource lands such as farmland. It also establishes a long-term growth boundary.
Build complete communities: The plan supports the public's desire for communities with a wider range of opportunities for day-to-day life. Focused on regional and municipal town centres, more complete communities would result in more jobs closer to where people live and accessible by transit, shops and services near home, and a wider choice of housing types.
Achieve a compact metropolitan region: The plan avoids widely dispersed and accommodates a significant proportion of population growth within the "growth concentration area" in central part of the region.
Increase transportation choice: The plan supports the increased use of transit, walking and cycling by minimizing the need to travel (through convenient arrangement of land uses) and by managing transportation supply and demand.

This isn't sustainable. Oil prices are rising and we need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. Creating more roads and increased capacity for a transportation system already beleaguered by rocketing fuel costs is akin to shutting the barn door after the horses have left. The tide is turning. We cannot spend millions or billions of dollars to shore up an infrastructure to support an archaic way of transporting humans and goods.

Minister Penner will be making a decision on this on August 11th. Please take five minutes of your day to call, fax, email or write to him to oppose this disastrous project.

Phone: 250-387-1187

Fax: 250-387-1356

Email: env.minister@gov.bc.ca

Address: PO Box 9047, STN PROV GOVT, Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

I want to marry this man (but I'll just send him my garbage instead)

2008-07-23T22:28:00.001-07:00

People are innovative. Innovative people rock.

Let the rejection begin (no, I'm not single again)!

2008-07-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Submitted three short stories for publishing today. I have never submitted anything for publishing before.
So, um, if I never mention it again... let's never mention it again.

Winning some, losing some

2008-07-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

Okay I'm off (on?) the wine bandwagon again. Damnit. I just really love wine, and do you want to take that away from me? I would be lost without my Spanish Tempranillo, my Okanagan Riesling.
Hugged my brother on Saturday night. I guess that doesn't necessarily constitute me breaking a habit of living, it was more like he broke a habit of living by allowing himself to be hugged by me, but it was an amazing breakthrough nonetheless.
Oh, and instead of running the same maze over and over again, I ran down a road that I'd never traversed before and was rewarded by some amazing views of downtown.
And finally, after running for three or four years now and taking innumerable glasses of water and Gatorade from smiling, encouraging volunteers, having a myriad of timing chips cut off my shoes, madly devouring post-race snacks and picking up a plethora of race packages from helpful, efficient people, I gave back. Michael and I volunteered for the Knee Knacker 2008 and directed about 200 runners down the Baden Powell trail at what is known as Keith's Corner, since allegedly a guy running the Knacker (named Keith) was in the lead one year and made a wrong turn at this very junction and didn't win the race. No one made a wrong turn on our watch, baby!

Stagnating

2008-07-08T11:43:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have been breaking some of my habits of late. So far this month (yeah, yeah, it's only the 8th) I have consumed three alcoholic beverages only. This is a decrease of astronomical proportions which only NASA could conceivably calculate. I am also trying to eat less, which is proving difficult. I have lost one sad pound in one long week.
Also, I am trying to be amiable to my new boss at work which a) does not come naturally and b) I expect many accolades for, even though one should never be rewarded for simply being nice.
Lastly: I have made a concerted effort to stop buying things. That is going really well and the interesting thing is that there's nothing that I'm missing (except for a nice Gewurztraminer).

Non-toxic cleaning recipes

2008-06-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

Can't say enough about the toxic garbage that we unwittingly allow into our households on a daily basis. Once I cycle through the existing cleaning agents in my home, I am going to commit to finding non-toxic alternatives - starting out with these recipes. Seventh Generation products are also a great choice.

http://www.ecocycle.org/hazwaste/recipes.cfm

That goddamn Bill C-51 I'm always talking about

2008-06-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

Got a link from a colleague this morning and it appears as though our beloved government is taking another look at Bill C-51 due to public pressure. This bill isn't dead, so please - if you have five minutes - read the below article, and look up the actual bill online. There is a reason many people liken it to the heavy handed antics of a totalitarian state.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=7c0782b9-1e34-4d39-8cc3-688bdb1e0b53

Toxins in your home

2008-06-10T20:54:00.001-07:00

Good evening, music lovers!
Toxins are shitty. We should avoid them. Household cleaning agents don't have to list the ingredients due to "trade secrets" therefore we don't really know what we're spraying and wiping and cleaning our pads with (and then inhaling and coming into direct contact with). Here's a quick clip on how to make them organically.

Here is a picture of me with mascara

2008-06-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

I never wear mascara.

The point, though, is that I went paperless with BC Hydro. And my recent bill was $28 for two months, so I'm using $14 of electricity a month which I think is pretty decent. Though I could be wrong.

Lastly? I watched television last night and a bit this morning and oh my god, allow me to rejoice in my decision not to get cable. Television is horrible with the exception of CBC, BBC, PBS and the Knowledge Network.

Toxicity: The Thing that Happened to that Fish on “The Simpsons”

2008-06-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

The Free Dictionary defines the term “toxic” as “capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; poisonous”. Then it makes a couple of references to Lindsay Lohan.
Toxins are bad for us and are bad for the environment, and we introduce them into our lives – likely more often than we’re aware of – without thinking too much about it. From nail polish, to cleaning products and plastics, there’s a lot of room for improvement in the way we treat ourselves and the environment. Below are some helpful hints and resources for a healthier, less toxic lifestyle.

Have you ever really thought about what must go into nail polish and nail polish remover? You might want to try natural cosmetics. There are a lot of sites online: http://www.jennconsulting.com/ and http://www.aviva.com/ are just a couple. Also, your local Capers store offers a natural line of cosmetics and hair coloring (though when you’re 26, like me, hair coloring is such a long way off!).

About cleaning products, Gillian Deacon, author of “Green Tips” says “as the skull and crossbones warning would suggest, they’re pretty dangerous to human and animal life”. Avoiding things that showcase skull and crossbones does seem like a good idea, one right up there with oh, say, deciding not to stick a fork into a toaster (that’s a mistake you make only once). Her book recommends the following alternatives for various products:
- Liquid detergent – look for phosphate- and chlorine-free detergent ingredients derived from plants, not petroleum (Seventh Generation is a widely available brand)
- Window cleaner – mix 2 tbsp. of vinegar in 1.5L of warm water
- Fruit/red wine stains – immediately cover stain with salt or soda water; then soak in milk before washing
- Bathtub cleaner – use baking soda
- Chlorine bleach – use hydrogen peroxide or sodium borate (Borax) instead
- Furniture polish – mix 1 tsp. lemon oil in 0.5L mineral oil
- Kids eat glue: make sure it’s not toxic! - http://www.make-stuff.com/formulas/glue.html

Avoid bisphenol-A in plastics! In April of this year Canada announced that it intends to ban the import, sale, and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles containing bisphenol-A over safety concerns. Stay away from plastics #7 and #3. Here are some tips from the National Geographic Green Guide on what you can do to reduce your exposure: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa/4.

I know, I know: who has the time to look at all the ingredients on every purchase? American Idol’s on! Our government is looking out for our best interests and our health. If something was harmful and totally toxic, it wouldn’t be available to us to buy. Right? Not so much. Here are just a few of the fun toxins available in cigarettes: ammonia; arsenic; formaldehyde; and lead. That’s awesome. I can’t believe that more of us don’t glow in the dark when then lights go out.

You’ve only got one body and we’ve only got one earth, so it makes sense to take care of them both, right? Don’t stick forks in toasters and avoid the three eyed fish.

Bill C-51

2008-05-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

A copy of this letter was sent to the North Shore News, and to the MP of North Vancouver. I encourage you to read the bill online.

RE: BILL C-51

As a tax-paying, voting resident of North Vancouver I was appalled and extremely disappointed to read the comments made by North Vancouver MP Don Bell. He indicates that he has received much feedback surrounding the controversial Bill C-51, but then goes on to state that he will nonetheless be voting in favor of this bill. Given the nature of this bill, that people are staging protests against it, and that – as Bell himself mentions – the public isn’t sufficiently educated about the bill, should a higher level of due diligence not be undertaken? After all, it is the government’s role to protect the public’s health and safety. And it is the public that elects the government.

In an effort to arm myself with more information about Bill C-51, I looked up the bill online. I would like to draw attention to the parts of the bill which read like something one might find in a totalitarian state (but don’t take my word for it – look up the bill yourself):
-Section 23 states an inspector may: enter a place without a warrant; examine or test anything; take free samples; seize things; have the owner move or store things at their own expense
-Section 30 will allow laws to be created in Canada, behind closed doors, with the assistance of foreign governments, industrial and trade organizations

One must ask: why the push for this bill? Has there been a spate of health issues relating to natural products? No, though currently Canadian hospitals are struggling against superbugs caused by the overuse and over-prescription of antibiotics. Who stands to benefit from this bill? Per the CBC “[critics of the bill] also argue that the government could designate any natural health product a prescription drug, making it available by prescription only. They say these types of provisions will force small companies out of the market.” So it would appear that the pharmaceutical industry stands to benefit.

Bill C-51 boils down to an effort by our government to take away our choices, to promote a more toxic environment, to give more to big business, and to take away the laws put forth to protect us. I did not vote for this. I, like many others, fundamentally disagree with this heavy-handed initiative.

I ask the public to please read this bill and act accordingly since the government – your government – seems quite content to push this bill through whether you understand all its implications or not.

And now with more humor

2008-05-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a little write up I contributed to our Eco Corner at work. Who says environmentalism can't be funny?

The Environment and Your Car

“Most people in this country are exposed to harmful levels of airborne pollutants every day, and motor vehicles generate more air pollution than any other human activity. And where there are cars, there must be roads eating up huge amounts of land that should otherwise be agricultural land or wilderness.” – From Gillian Deacon’s “Green Tips”

So what can you do? Well, if your ultimate material purchase would be a Hummer with some slick rims which you would double (triple?) park at the supermarket which is only a ten minute walk from your house – and you were only going there to buy some Styrofoam cups for your weekend BBQ anyway – you should probably stop reading here. If this doesn’t sound like you (and you’re vaguely insulted at the insinuation in the first place), read on!

If you have a car:
-Keep it properly maintained to avoid leaks and reduce wear. And avoid intellectually stunted bumper stickers.
-Reduce idling – idling for any more than 10 seconds uses more gas than it would take to restart the engine.
-Dispose of used oil properly. (http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/engsvcs/solidwaste/landfill/alternative.htm#o)
-Organize your errands to make one trip instead of several. Remember to pick up the ice cream last.
-Carpool – it’s a great way to help the environment and to discover things about your coworkers, such as the belly-dancing class they’re taking, and how many deviled eggs they can fit into their mouth at one time.
-Don’t be a Chad Kroeger – driving 120 km/hr instead of 100 km/hr increases your fuel consumption by 20%. And don’t listen to Nickleback, either.
-Make sure your tires are properly inflated. (http://www.eartheasy.com/live_fuel_efficient_driving.htm)
-Wave at Prius drivers – I’ve heard they like it!

If you take public transit, carpool, walk or bike to work: feel proud! You’re enjoying tax credits with your bus passes, you’re cutting your gas costs, and you’re getting exercise, all while helping out the environment.

Saving the world

2008-05-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Our environmental committee (of which I am a member) presented "The Story of Stuff" at lunch today. I was happy with the turnout and there was a lot of good conversation. here are a couple of websites that are definitely worth checking out:

www.reddotcampaign.ca (eliminate junk mail)
www.rcbc.bc.ca (how to recycle what, and where - also has a toll free number)

Pretty

2008-05-19T22:10:00.001-07:00

I saw this light near Burrard and 14th and liked the detail. I thought it ornate and romantic.

I endeavor to consume less

2008-05-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already seen this video I encourage you to watch it. None of it is really surprising, but it bears repeating and it has recommitted me to the process of opting out of "materiality".

The now. In the rain.

2008-05-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

I wore capri pants today even though I knew it was going to rain. I like to wear shorts, skirts and capris in the rain. I like to run through the wet streets, knowing that the back of my legs are splattered with muddy puddle water. I'm not even kidding. I only like to do this during the spring and summer, of course.
So today. Fun! Had three hours to kill after work and Po was kind enough to meet me for a drink after work before C joined me for a movie. What an easy, breezy kind of impromptu day. La, I think I shall meet up with a friend for drinks, la, I think I shall meet up with another friend for a movie. Best. Life. Ever.
Okay, so then C and I part and it's pouring out (but I like that cause I have my capris on). I always seem to manage to mess up the seabus departing times: I think it's either every half hour on the :02 and :32, and then it's actually on the :16 and :46, or vice versa. So basically I thought I would run because I would either just make it,or have have 15 minutes to spare. And so it's 9:45 and I'm running down the slick and illuminated and mostly empty sidewalks of downtown Vancouver and I'm kind of having fun trying to balance my umbrella and my purse and my bag with my six pound Ayn Rand book in it and then this voice pops into my head, taking me out of the "now" and it says, "it's downtown Vancouver and you should be worried!". And I looked at the people that I passed by and no one was worth worrying about and those that I might have had to worry about I stormed by in a flash and people were looking at me like I was mad, but by this point my calves were sufficiently dirty and I had stowed my umbrella in my bag because who cares if my hair is dishevelled at this point and I'm just running because it feels good and because it's a beautiful city on a beautiful night and because it's the first time I've run in over a week and I'm having a good time.
I ended up being fifteen minutes early and my book was a bit waterlogged because it shared a space with my dripping umbrella.
I had three voicemails in the four hours that my phone was off tonight. Two were from Michael wondering if I was ignoring him. I saw him for lunch yesterday.
It's nice to be loved when you're wet and in the now.

Active participation

2008-05-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today, as I limped out of my apartment to catch the 10:30am bus down to the Quay to get to work, I felt oddly happy. It was a happiness that went beyond that which I felt when I crossed the finish line, and it was greater than the relief I feel that another four months of training and another marathon is under my belt.
I puzzled over it. I was happy it was sunny. People seemed less irritating. Even the spinny kid on the seabus was kind of cute. The downtown skyline was amazing. My coworkers mobbed me for details and I felt happy I had something interesting to share with them and that they remembered (one of them had even left a voicemail on my phone on Friday night, wishing me good luck). Where was this extra happiness coming from?
It was another positive externality from the marathon (beyond health, fitness, personal achievement and elitism). It was this feeling of having participated in something. I guess that something is called “life”. I participated in life, quite actively, for almost four hours on Sunday. Actually, I can say I was tapped in all day on Sunday. After the marathon I got to spend time with people I love. Maybe I unplugged for a bit while napping, but then I plugged back in for a couple of hours at the marathon party and shared my experience with everyone else who had just had a similar experience. I know it’s corny, but there was much love and a lot of positive vibes at the party last night (and I’m not just referring to the two ladies that kept on fawning over Michael and grabbing his biceps and no, I’m not even kidding about that).
I think that today, when I walked out into the world I felt that I was a little more involved in it. It’s just all there, waiting for you. I think that marathon running is like traveling, is like having great conversations, is like volunteering, is like creating art: it helps to connect you more deeply with life.
No, I haven’t taken too much Ibuprofen.
For this feeling of interconnectedness and well being (with a nice side dish of muscle pain and sleepiness) I am so happy to have participated yesterday, in the marathon. And, moreover, in my own life.

Good things beget... more good things!

2008-04-25T11:54:00.001-07:00

Since my boss's last day was last Thursday I have been stretched pretty thin at work. Not only do I have a huge increase in my workload, but the audit is scheduled to start May 5th and I only started working on it this past Monday. Add to this that I'm fighting sickness and I have a to run a marathon on May 4th and you could say I'm feeling a little embattled.
But here's what happened. When Michael was over on Wednesday he said his company had gotten a bouquet of flowers for their office administrator. I thought that was nice, but asked why they had done that. He looked at me as though I was stupid and told me that Wednesday was office administrator's day. I panicked. I have been trying to offload as much work as possible to our office admin who constantly steps up to the plate with a great attitude and a smile on her face... and I forgot to acknowledge her on the day specifically for that.
The next day I asked the CFO if we could get her a coffee card for her favourite coffee shop and he said yes, so I bought it for her and sent out an email to all the staff thanking her for her hard work and great attitude (it turns out she didn't even know it had been office administrator's day the day before). I gave her the card and she was really happy about it. It felt good to do it. I think it made her day and seeing her happy made me happy.
Today I came in and the CFO gave me a gift card for the Running Room (enough to buy a really good pair of shoes!) to thank me for all the hard work over the past week. I was surprised and really happy to get it. It also helped to explain why he was asking me where was the best place to buy a good pair of running shoes yesterday.
Then the office administrator reminded me it was one of the business team members birthday so I said we should pick him up a little cupcake and put a candle in it. When she came back from running errands she brought me a vanilla latte. She said, "I see you're working really hard and you're busy so I thought you'd like it". I was just so touched. It was such a considerate, thoughtful, wonderful thing to do and it made my day.
So the moral of this sappy blog is that it is the little kindnesses that make life great, and that make you appreciate the people around you. Something that can take such minimal effort can make someone else so happy.
I love everyone.
Though it could be the extra strength sinus pain and nasal congestion relief pills I'm taking talking here.

Poor China

2008-04-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

They just can't get a break. They're dealing with the quasi-terrorist Dalai Lama, fighting angry mobs of Buddhist monks, having to re-route the Olympic torch through San Francisco with the aid of thugs, and now their arms shipment to Africa may be recalled. How now, brown cow? How now will China, with its spotless human rights record and love of individual freedoms and speech and religion be able to arm whichever faction in Africa will enable them the greatest access to that which their immense economy is thirsting for? My heart bleeds. http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-33183520080422?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0 and http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/international/slot2_011806.html
Ah. And I have to give kudos to the American government for taking such a strong stance on China. As State Department Tom Casey says, "Right now clearly is not the time that we would want to see anyone putting additional weapons or additional material into the system when the situation is so unsettled and when we have seen real and visible instances of abuses committed by the security forces". Yay Tom! Yay! How's Abu Ghraib and Haditha these days? Found those WMDs yet? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001442.html
Anyone? Anyone?

Tasty treats

2008-04-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Starbucks has doughnuts now. And? Yeah, they're the good kind. Sourcream glazed. And some kind of chocolate concoction as well. I would have liked to partake today, but we only ran 5k and I'm probably in a deficit position after my biscotti and latte.
Alright. So I would like to dedicate this blog to all the people that rock in my life. I feel like I'm accepting an Academy Award, but please just let me ramble (queue the music after about ninety seconds).
Thanks, Po, for noticing that something was untoward and for checking in on me after I bailed on you on Saturday, and again on Wednesday, even though you've got enough on your plate right now. I really enjoyed our chat yesterday and you gave me some great advice and insight that helped to calm me down and step back a little. I felt a lot better after talking to you. And you even said to me, "Thanks for calling" after I called you. Thank you, man, and congratulations on your book hitting the shelves this week (http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Saffy-Paola-Opal/9781897476024-item.html)!
Big D. Thanks for chatting with me on Saturday when I bailed. It was good to unload and I think you could sense my frustration and anxiety. I feel bad for being a no-show, but like the fantastic friend you are you could sense that perhaps I needed to lay low. And thanks for all the text messages checking in on me to make sure I was faring well, and for pointing out the silver lining which I was consistently overlooking.
The dancing scene from "The Big Lebowski" made my day, God. Thanks. It was just totally perfect and I was really touched that you would put that up on your blog (http://nonosejob.blogspot.com/2008/04/smile-for-duder_7522.html).
N: thanks for your email today suggesting dinner and indicating that my friends love me. I'm not sure which friends you actually spoke to, because most of them have voted that their feelings towards me are tepid, or luke-warm at best (kidding!). It was good to hear from you and yes I do want to catch up and thanks for helping to draw me out of my cycle of being alone and pondering too much.
To Jupitergirl for sending me a postcard!! Who does that!? I haven't received a postcard in years. It took me ten minutes to finally determine that it wasn't a bill of some sort. It was totally random and unexpected and it came at the perfect time. I appreciate and value our friendship, and though we are far apart you are still a huge part of my life.
And, to my coworker A, who will likely not ever read this. Thanks for listening to me yell in the elevator while flailing my coffee mug around. And for pressing me for details, listening to me and not judging. And for divulging in me some of your own fears which helps me to understand that we're all human, we're all struggling with things and that we're likely not as bad or as hopeless as we tend to think we are.
Sometimes I do this. I feel like I'm alone and that I need to work through things on my own and that to tell people about my problems would be an inconvenience to them. And consistently, any time I've had a problem my friends have stepped up to the plate.
Thanks guys, for everything that you do for me. I know I'm edgy, ornery, vague, argumentative and often difficult to deal with, but for some reason you stick around. Your friendship and support is invaluable and I treasure you all more than you can imagine.

In the midst of it all

2008-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

I like that there are usually a couple of people less fortunate than you and I sitting on the benches in the seabus terminal in the morning. They’re there because it’s cold outside and they sit quietly, biding their time, flipping through a newspaper and it seems to lend a little bit of dignity to their situation.
Coming out of the terminal this morning, my sense of smell was inundated with that of fresh cut grass. I gave pause, thinking that the culmination of the EA, Vancouver Sun and seabus terminal buildings was an odd place to smell fresh cut grass, but there are a few grassy mounds there, and some cherry trees and it was a little bit of greenery and springtime first thing in the morning in the (sometimes) concrete jungle that is Vancouver.

Always with the touching

2008-04-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

I need to start hugging more. I was good for a while, and then it waned. I need to step it up a notch. See, if you make a move to hug me, I will automatically move into it. But if you don't make a move then I'm not likely to initiate it. But I should. I ought to. All the people I spend quality time with are extraordinarily important to me and I cherish them more than they can likely conceive, and so I need to show them this through hugging.
I push people quite a bit. And hit them. But it's not quite the same.
More hugging starting tomorrow.

Love is lovely

2008-04-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

Dodging out of the office to use the washroom on our floor I noticed something - or someone, rather - as I unlocked the bathroom door. Not feeling entirely comfortable that there was someone lurking outside the women's washroom I leaned back and peered into the alcove were the suspected pervert (because really, what other plausible explanation could there be?) was loitering.
The pervert turned out to be an attractive man in his mid twenties, holding a bouquet of red roses and looking rather sheepish. He was cute and was dressed casually and just looked like a really nice guy. My curiosity somewhat sated, I continued on to the washroom and then returned to my office to pack up my belongings for the day.
When I re-emerged a few minutes later I must have come out at about the same time that this young fellow's girlfriend left her office to meet her beau in the hallway (no doubt wondering what had brought him there).
I recognized the girl. I bump into her often in the washroom. She's also in her early to mid-twenties and she's a bit shy and somewhat mousy but strikes me as a very kind, caring and sensitive person. I think she works out nearby because sometimes I see her in exercise gear and she looks vaguely apologetic, as though she's embarrassed that I've seen her in her capris or something.
Anyways, I didn't overhear what was said, it was kind of muted, but I saw her just utterly fling her arms around this guy and I smiled to myself. I hate Valentine's Day and I believe it's because of the overall forced nature of it, the phoniness. There was nothing phony here. The good vibes, the happiness, it was almost palpable.
They were still huddled in the alcove as I silently willed the elevator to hurry up so I could at least leave them in private for a moment and, perhaps ten or fifteen seconds later when I did get onto the elevator, I looked back and saw they were still clinging to each other.
That made me happy. It made me happy because it was so pure and oblivious. He could have been there with a daisy or with a cup a of coffee and I think her reaction would have been the same.
I see a lot of facades, a lot of over the top and useless exuberance during the day. It's centered around materialism, and perhaps presenting a united front to the outside world. It showcases possessiveness and the perception of ownership.
This was love. And I didn't mean to stare, but it was lovely.

How to vote

2008-03-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

"In the election that's coming up - mercifully - in May 2009, we have to all say around this province 'We will support no candidate for office that doesn't declare his or her solid promise to protect our rivers and streams and the fish and wildlife they sustain'." - Rafe Mair at the March 25th Pitt Meadows rally against the proposed development slated for the Upper Pitt River.

Check out his speech here, it was excellent:

Rafe Mair is correct that the meetings that we attended were little more than formalities. That's why Jako Krushnisky, CEO of Run of River Power was shocked when Environment Minister Barry Penner announced he would block the project: Gordon Campbell already passed the bill that allows our rivers and streams to be sold to private corporations. Please: back up an re-read that sentence. Our river and streams. Are. Being. Sold. To. Private. Interests.
This issue will not go away. Private corporations will keep on trying on other rivers in other parts of BC and we need to continue to be there to stop them. And when May rolls around we can vote for a candidate that believes as strongly as we do that BC's rivers and streams are ours, and need to be protected and defended.

What's good for the goose...

2008-03-27T21:15:00.001-07:00

I’ve been thinking about monogamy a lot lately. I’m starting to question a lot of the values that I’ve always held fast: just because they’re a societal or cultural norm, or are steeped in tradition, doesn’t make them correct. As always, I welcome your feedback and comments: these are merely my insufficient ruminations that ultimately do nothing but send me spinning off in circles.
Here are some interesting facts that I gleaned from Wikipedia:
- Only 7% of mammals are monogamous
- The divorce rate in the U.S. is around 50% (I assume Canada’s is roughly the same)
- Sexual non-monogamy leads to jealous and insecurity in most couples’ relationships
- Though pinning down actual infidelity numbers is impossible, one study indicates 37% of men and 22% of women admit to having affairs (it would be my guess that these are conservative figures)

Here is an interesting point that I thought was worth further discussion:
“Marriage, like most useful things, was probably invented by men: Partly to keep the social peace, partly so they could be certain their wives’ children were also their own. The consequences of marriage must have appeared soon after its institution: the efforts previously spent fighting over mates were replaced by strenuous exertions to provide for, rear, and defend offspring. No doubt surrounding tribes wondered why one of their neighbors had recently grown so much stronger. When they learned the reason, imitation must have seemed a matter of survival." (Devlin, F. Roger (2006). Sexual Utopia in Power. The Occidental Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 2. Retrieved November 18, 2007 from http://theoccidentalquarterly.com/archives/vol6no2/DevlinTOQV6N2.pdf )

Given the small percentage of mammals that are actually monogamous, the horribly high divorce rate (which is somewhat of an indicator that we as humans are moving towards serial monogamy and the concept of “till death do us part” might go the way of the dodo bird), and the fact that at least a quarter of us are having affairs: what’s the point of monogamy?
The two downsides that were mentioned are the effect of divorce on children and people’s propensity for jealousy when their partner is unfaithful. I can’t say what it’s like to be the child of divorced parents because mine are still together. I will say that I was probably one of the few ten year olds in my school that wished their parents would get divorced because they clearly weren’t happy together. Obviously when dad boffs the nanny or when mom gets caught in a compromising situation with her tennis instructor it’s going to lead to problems and then, possibly to divorce. But what if the arrangement was already made between spouses as to the leeway of the indiscretions?
That leads to the next downside: jealousy. We are jealous creatures. I actually had a conversation with Michael whereby I said that I felt I could have a casual, random fling born from sheer lust, walk away from it and my love for him would not be changed, but on the other hand if it was Michael having the affair I would be jealous. Not necessarily because he had slept with another woman, but because I would be worried that he had felt a connection to her. Sex is sex. Sex is intimate. Intimacy is often equated with love.
One alternative is open marriages. Right off the bat you can see a myriad of issues with that concept (leaving STDs and unwanted pregnancies entirely out of it). Let’s say Bob and Jane decide to have an open marriage and in the first six month’s Jane has slept with five guys but Bob has only slept with one other woman. Maybe Bob is feeling a little insecure: why is Jane having so much sex? Possibly Jane has a higher sex drive than Bob and feels the need to seek it out more often. But what if Jane has sex with the same man five times? Then the lines start to get blurred: is Jane starting a ‘relationship’ with her lover? What if Bob is looking solely for uninhibited, casual sex, whereas Jane is looking for a deeper connectivity? And if Jane is looking for a deeper connectivity why is she not getting it from Bob and furthermore, why is she remaining with Bob?
So this is why affairs happen. It’s something two people can do, keep it under wraps and no one’s feelings get hurt: unless someone gets caught. We all want to have affairs, and we all have the opportunity to have them. Why would we have an affair? Why is the desire for sex so strong? It’s so strong that it causes divorces, it creates new relationships, and it makes people act irrationally. Whether it’s right or wrong it definitely needs investigation. It’s sort of like the prostitution issue: it’s been around forever, it’s not going away, so how can we deal with it fairly and stop treating it like such a taboo subject as though only a tiny portion of the populace participates in it.
Why would we not have an affair? Is our commitment to our spouse so strong, or are we afraid of getting caught? I do believe the quintessential question is this: you meet someone that you know that you will never see again. Your spouse isn’t there, you are incredibly attracted to this person and it’s a free pass: you won’t get caught. Would you do it?

B.C. environment minister vows to block controversial power project

2008-03-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

I kid you not, I actually googled "good news" today to try and find something uplifting to share with you, and then my coworker (and fellow environmental committee member) P came in to share with me the following: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/03/26/bc-upper-pit.html

I am so, so pleased with the turnout and am immensely honored to have been able to spend time with the Wilderness Committee and to share with them their passion for this cause. Like P said to me, "a drop of water is just a drop of water, but if you accumulate enough it becomes an ocean".

Thank god!

2008-03-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

I want to be a member of this woman's church! This article melds nicely with all the discussion we've been having about religion lately: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080322.CHURCH22/TPStory/National

Creating new religions

2008-03-21T14:00:00.001-07:00

Had the best conversation with Michael last night. It's one of those ones that start to give you a headache and could conceivably go on until 2am without having come closer to answers or truths.
The topic was: religion! I gave him a run down of the book club meeting on the book "The Year of Living Biblically" and the various points that we had discussed on Wednesday night. Michael and I are in agreement that organized religion is a man-made creation that stemmed out of the desire to create a moral code of ethics for humans to live by. Here are some fun questions that we started to delve into, but then had to shelve so we could pursue other things.

the bible was written at a point in time and the times have changed - can we not update our thinking a little? is the bible not malleable in any way? I think we touched on this in book club.
if you do start to modify and update the bible, does that become a slippery slope? our judicial system and our system of laws and norms come from the bible, so if you start to update it it really starts to get grey: what do you edit, improve or leave out?
if we were all to come to the realization that the bible - and all religious tomes - are simply works of fiction that were created to help guide us through our lives, and we were to try and re-develop our society without the bible's influence, what would come up with? for example, what if "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife" had been left out of the bible? would we then have a society where infidelity and polygamy were the norm?
what is the opposite of religion? if we hadn't immersed ourselves in religion, what would have brought the collective masses together, and what would they have discussed? would we have been more reasonable and philosophical individuals?

This, of course, led to a discussion about the Greeks and their intellectual, academic and artistic pursuits and how it's great to be a thinker, but if you don't have any brawn or might that you will be invaded by some warring horde. I then came to the conclusion that the point of our existence is to get back to where the Greeks had been (mulling deep thoughts over endlessly, versus believing random bullshit because we're told to), but on a pacifist, global level. Maybe instead of invading other countries and blowing shit up, we could send our best debaters over there and have heated arguments, and then ultimately agree to disagree and part with a hearty handshake. And then I announced that I wanted to go back to school and take philosophy and do nothing but dress in black and hang out and discuss our existence and our purpose while drinking bitter coffee in funky coffee shops. I might take up chain smoking.

Happy Anniversary (from your 'retarded cousin' up north)

2008-03-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

I believe the American media leans to the right (turn on Fox news or CNN and listen for two minutes and I defy you to disagree with me). I do know that people have - and still do - protest the war (I have tremendous respect and sympathy for Cindy Sheehan), but I don't think that their actions get the media coverage they deserve which is ridiculous given the proportion of Americans who disagree with the invasion of Iraq. It also shows a lack of respect for those families that have lost loved ones overseas.
I think today's demonstrations were fantastic and I am thankful people are still putting themselves out there (and - unbelievably - getting arrested) for their beliefs.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbpZpzf22HQklONb49NWXybzhSAgD8VGOOJO0

The Spitzer thing

2008-03-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

Unless you live under a rock you know by now about the Eliot Spitzer scandal. He was caught – via wiretap – arranging for a prostitute to meet him at his hotel room. Allegedly this was not the first time for the married father of three, who was the governor of New York.
Over the years I’ve read articles about Spitzer’s hard work relating to corporate white collar crime, most notably suing Richard Grasso (the former chairman of the NYSE) over Grasso’s obscene compensation payout of $140 million, while Spitzer was the AG for New York.
Before I launch into today’s particular diatribe, I just want to say something about “prostitutes” and “hookers” and the semantics therein. When you say “hooker” or “prostitute” how do you feel? What kind of emphasis do you put on the word? Is it a noble word? What kind of connotations do those words have for you? Now say “john” or “client”: do those terms seem as harsh? Why is it that prostitutes are so heavily leaned on? I don’t know what the ratio of prostitute to john arrests is, but I bet more often than not it’s the former that is ending up in jail. Why? Who is really breaking a law here? Prostitution has been around since day one and will continue on indefinitely, and yet the profession is seen as dirty and distasteful and the women that work in that trade are looked upon with contempt and disgust. They would not be there but for the insatiable demand of men, and yet the mantilla of disdain and scorn seems to be placed squarely on women. Men get to stick to the age old adage that they aren’t meant to be monogamous when they get caught: it’s a biological imperative that they scatter their seed. Please take this as a bit of a backgrounder on my feelings on women that perform sexual acts with men for money.
So Spitzer gets caught, has the obligatory press conference with his wife by his side, both of their eyes brimming with tears. He doesn’t resign right away to the horror and indignation of a public utterly enraptured and astounded that a man has slept with a prostitute. I wanted him not to resign: he has done a lot of good work. The next day he resigns. The populace scoffs at his apology: it wasn’t enough.
I get it. I get that he railed against organized prostitution rings and fought to bring them down. I understand the hypocrisy. But in the post-Clinton era, here are my questions:
If he had not pursued prostitution rings and had instead kept to white collar crime, would we have forgiven him? If yes, then the public’s beef was really with his “do what I say, not what I do” strategy. It’s like trying to take down huge drug cartels while having a cocaine problem. But what if you do have a cocaine problem? Does that mean that you’re human? That you’re fallible? That maybe, given your job which engenders your contact with that which you are supposed to stop and abolish, the constant confrontation of that thing, that drug, that allure becomes too much and you succumb? Do we expect our leaders to be absolutely perfect? Could you be absolutely perfect? If I were a police officer I would have an obligation to arrest someone that I saw smoking pot in public: I am therefore a hypocrite. Does his misdeed undo all the good that he had accrued up to that point? No matter how he erred, his misdeed would have been unacceptable: if he had been caught for fraud the public would have critiqued him for his tough stance on corporate crime.
Does there exist a scenario whereby his behavior could be construed as acceptable? What if he had a certain preference in the bedroom that his wife wasn’t comfortable with and they both agreed that he could look outside their marriage to facilitate this? What if he and his wife were simply staying married because he wanted a shot at some higher echelon within the government? The president of France has a mistress: openly. Prostitution is legal and regulated in Amsterdam. How much of this is a product of our prudish culture?
I’m not condoning his behavior. If you are the governor of New York, don’t you think you ought to be more discreet? You likely shouldn’t cheat on your wife. I feel bad for his daughters.
I do, however, find it very interesting that Paterson - Spitzer’s replacement - has admitted to having and extramarital affair. So has Paterson’s wife. I doubt they would have made this announcement if not for the fall of Spitzer, so is the rule then to ask for permission instead of begging for forgiveness? I hope the state of New York hasn’t thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Spitzer helped bring down Enron: the company the bankrupted scores of people. Will we remember Spitzer for his stance on corporate crime, for his lobby for same-sex marriages, or will we remember him for doing what men have been doing throughout history (while at the same time marveling in the details of his mistress as though the concept of a concubine is both thrilling and foreign to us)?

Cleaning up my act

2008-03-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

Went to a nearby park and picked up garbage. It was an interesting experience. I kept waiting for the following to happen: a Parks employee to tell me to stop because I was doing someone's job for them; a curious individual to come up to me and ask if I was performing community service hours for some petty crime; or to be attacked by crows. Seriously. This huge crow was following me around as I picked and plucked. I think he thought I was getting all the good stuff and there wouldn't be anything for him to root through when I was done.
I'm glad I did it. Cigarette butts are the hardest, and I'm not yet humble enough to pick up dog feces. I filled a grocery bag with garbage, dumped it (in one of the numerous garbage cans situated throughout the park) and headed back up the street. And then started picking up garbage again. It's so easy! There's a little garbage bin never more than fifty footsteps from where you are all along Lonsdale.
People smiled at me and I smiled back.
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7

Crushing peoples' spirits (or souls, at the least)

2008-03-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Big group lunch today at work and I found myself situated next to P, who I greatly admire for his passion about the environment and his tireless efforts to make the world a better place for us, and for his child that will be born into the world any moment now. I was also positioned across from a relatively new addition to our company, the 22 year old, married, Seventh Day Adventist who is fresh out of university: D. He's so ridiculously young. I used to think that people that were my brother's age were young (he's 26). This kid makes my little brother look old. I asked him how old he was and he said 22 and P and I burst out laughing. Not in a mean way, but more in a oh-my-god-we're-not-the-younguns-anymore way.
Anyways, I know that D is a Seventh Day Adventist because he mentioned the impact of religion on his life and I asked what kind of religion he practiced and he told me. I've been searching for religion (and perhaps my definition of religion differs from yours, I think I define religion as a theory to believe in that helps us understand how we got here and what we're supposed to do while we're here that helps to lend structure and support to our tumultuous lives) for a long time now. I've sung in church choirs. I've gone to Sunday school. I've been a part of high school youth groups, so it's not like I'm entirely bereft of the whole educational experience. But I don't buy into it. I understand that, for whatever reason western civilization is based heavily on the Judeo-Christian tenets, but I can't subscribe to blind belief and I can't palate a religion that is so splintered and misunderstood and interpreted in a vast myriad of ways: what is the real truth?
I will state here my thoughts on Christianity and its concepts: I think Jesus might have a been a real person with some good ideas. I think the Bible offers a lot of guidance as to how we can lead good, caring, considerate lives, but is more or less a bestselling work of fiction. God didn't create the world: no one really is sure how that happened. The world is significantly older than 6,000 years. Any religion that excludes segments of people or leads to violence against other religions is not a religion worth following. The deity that you pray to seems to be influenced by your locale, so we're not really choosing our religions then, are we? Religion evolved as humans did, so while we once fought sabre-toothed tigers and revered fire we grew out of that, and in doing so we created a myth to help us lead "good" lives. Basically: I don't believe in organized religion.
Given that fact, I'm not sure what to say to D, my 22 year old coworker with big blue eyes and a kind, generous nature sitting across from me. Some people believe in this so dearly: it gives them a support network, something to believe in and to hold on to. It, perhaps, lends structure to their lives and helps them wade through the grey areas and see things a bit more in black and white. It gives them joy and happiness knowing that He loves them.
So as much as I embrace atheism and agnosticism and find no scientific basis (or, sometimes, rationale even) for organized religion, could I really take that believe system away from D? What if it was soundly proven that there is no God, that Jesus was just some hippy that had a few good sound bites? It would totally shake the belief system of a tremendous segment of the population. And while there are the fanatics (as there are in any belief system, be it political, religious or cause-based) that take things to an extreme and abhor gays or think black have smaller brains or that women are chattel, there are infinitely more people that are moderate and that take solace and comfort and joy in believing.
And while I believe, in my heart of hearts, that D has been sold a line, is it better to allow him to continue to believe this unabated?
What would happen if we were to extinguish religion?

Focus/Unfocus

2008-03-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was able to achieve this strange, zen-like state of being while looking, enraptured, out past the beads of rain slipping in rivulets down the seabus window, over the grey, churning and frothy water, back to where I live, noting the clouds cascading down from the mountains, wrapping my neighbourhood in a damp swath of wispy vapor. My heart felt slightly pained, slightly excited as I just let everything fall away and allowed the world to come in. It felt good to stop fighting, to stop thinking, and to just go with the flow for the briefest of moments. I actually loved everyone on the seabus.
I lost my focus later, when we were herded like cattle off the seabus and up the two escalators and I was thinking, "why can't these people walk faster?" and "why do people stop on the escalator?" and then a small man with gloves ringed with pink fur cut in front of me and I thought that was rude and the gloves were stupid and I questioned the bowlegged appearance of the young Asian girl in front of me.
And then I looked up, past the bogged down escalator, over the heads of my fellow commuters and I thought: we're all in this together. We're all moving towards the same goal. These people are all different from me and I would prefer their differences over the status quo, over the mundane, over the bland and repetitive. And I also thought: these people make this city run. They all have a use and a purposefulness and they are making things progress and push forward and I am thankful for all of them.
And then I thought the pink rimmed gloves were brilliant.

Yowsa

2008-03-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

"I don't understand why half the world is still cryin', man, when the other half of the world is still crying too, man, and I can't get it together. I mean, if you gotta care for one day, man... say maybe you wanna care for 365 days, right? You ain't got it for 365 days: you got it for one day, man. Well I tell you that one day man, better be your life, man. Because you can... cry about the other 364, man, but you're gonna lose that one day, man. And that's all you got: you gotta call that love, man. That's what it is, man. If you got it today, you don't wear it tomorrow, man... cause you don't need it. Cause as a matter of fact, as we discovered on the train: tomorrow never happens, man. It's all the same fucking day, man.
So you gotta... when you wanna hold somebody, you gotta hold 'em like it's the last minute of your life, baby."

- Ball and Chain, Janis Joplin

The secret of the eighth floor elevators

2008-03-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

I was waiting for the elevator on the 8th floor today and I noticed a husky black man with large headphones over his ears standing by another bank of elevators, shifting back and forth on his feet and affecting a level of agitation.
“These elevators don’t work?”
“No, they don’t,” I replied.
“I can’t go up to the ninth floor from here?” he asked, looking surly.
“No, you have to go back to the lobby and take a different elevator,” I replied, getting somewhat frustrated. Is my name Jeeves or something? “I’m going to the lobby now if you want to come.”
“Why don’t they work?” he asked me, ambling over to the elevator I had stepped into.
“I don’t know,” I replied, bordering on exasperation. Then I looked directly into his face and I saw that he really wasn’t being belligerent. He looked like he was genuinely confused as to why the other bank of elevators wouldn’t continue up past the eighth floor, and a little sheepish that he had obviously missed the signage that would have led him to this conclusion in the lobby. And he was right. Why wouldn’t they continue up to the eighth floor? At one time they obviously did, so why the change? When you get into the other bank of elevators on the ground floor the first stop is the ninth floor, what’s up with that? “It’s kind of dumb,” I said.
Then the elevator stopped on about four more floors during its descent. The girl that had got on on the sixth floor asked us how long we had been on during one of the innumerable stops. I said since the eighth floor and everyone had a laugh.
When, finally, the elevator doors opened into the lobby I pointed out the other bank of elevators (the ones that skip floor one through eight) and told him that’s where he needed to go. I half turned back, expecting to see him following me in that general direction, but he had stopped and was speaking to the concierge. I overhead him say, “I was just up on the eighth floor…” as I pushed out the lobby doors and walked out into the street. The guy was asking the concierge why the one bank of elevators was inoperable on the eighth floor. If I need to get to the tenth floor I would have to take a lift down to the lobby, exit, and then take another lift up to eleven, but heretofore I have never questioned it. It just is. And I still can’t answer you as to why it is, and yet I was starting to get angry at someone for questioning it.
Picked up a pair of shoes in Pacific Centre, and as I was walking down Granville Street I saw Mr. Elevator again. I wondered if he would notice me, or if he would pass me by the way some of my coworkers – enraptured in some cell phone conversation, or in their own thoughts – sometimes walk obliviously past me. He looked up at me and smiled.
“Hi!” I said, smiling and feeling absurdly delighted to see him again.
“How’re you doin’?” he nodded in acknowledgement, smiling back, beatific now that he was privy to the secret of the inoperable eighth floor elevators.
I'm thinking about asking the concierge about why the elevators don't work, but I think his explanation will take some of the romance out of it. I've enjoyed pondering the why. Perhaps they don't work so that on a random Thursday in 2008 someone would help me understand patience, and how it's okay to not know something and to admit to not knowing, but to be aware of the things that you don't know.

Greetings... from Europe?

2008-03-12T17:26:00.001-07:00

My neighbour held the elevator while I fumbled for my keys this morning. I don't think he speaks English but the act of being harried - and subsequently grateful - was evident on my face. I muttered a quiet "good morning" to the driver that I see pretty much five days a week and he heard me, smiled, and said "good morning" back. Can you imagine?

I love taking the seabus to and from work. The smell of cinnamon bagels and coffee that permeates Waterfront Station every morning is an olfactory heaven! One day, if I can drag myself out of bed early enough, I think it would nice to actually stop off and eat a cinnamon bagel instead of just smelling them and perhaps read a little and people watch a little. People watching is awesome. Me and Carrie Tetz used to go to the KMart at Semiahmoo mall, buy cheap candy, and then sit on the benches in the mall and make up phony conversations for the people that strolled past us.

As you can tell from my photo, I'm currently in... Switzerland? I haven't used my camera since the wine extravaganza of March 2008, and when I turned it on there were all these puzzling icons that I hadn't seen before. So I snapped a couple of shots and they all have this strangely European flair, so thanks to Skyhammer for that! I guess I should actually read my camera's manual one of these days.I wish I could take a picture of the icons displayed on my camera. Ooooh... that's getting a little deep.

Where does space end?

Can pigs look up?

First off...

2008-03-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

... watch "My Dinner with Andre". The name of this blog is derived from that movie. This blog is my alter ego, my attempt to break the habits of my own life. I want to try and go against the grain and do not what my instinct says, but what is correct.
What is the meaning of correct? I can't even begin to understand it. Shall we discuss utilitarianism, altruism and hedonism?
I hope this blog can be somewhat interactive. Please post comments, illuminations and your own insights. Argue with me, challenge me, support me, share with me.
The first bad habit I would like to confess is that of negativity, of complaining, of dwelling on the minutiae and not being able to see the forest for the trees.
Here are five things things that I am either thankful for or that brought me joy today:
1) that someone in my running clinic that I've never really taken the time to talk to told me that he "missed me on Sunday"
2) that my coworker took the time to remind me of a rally downtown and thanked me for caring. Even though I couldn't get away from work to attend it, I am thankful of his support and of the way he challenges me to be a better person
3) that another coworker made me laugh out loud in a coffee shop towards the end of the day as he acted out a few lines from "Office Space", and that I have the pleasure of working with him every day
4) I am grateful that I had the strength, health and time to be able to run hills with my clinic tonight
5) I am thankful for the love and concern of my friends and family.