The Hadron Collider and Time

The news is saying that the Large Hadron Collider is going to be fired up. This after a number of what can only be described as 'epic fails'. It is ready to discovered the mysteries of the universe, or something like that, it's not going to cause a black hole and suck our planet into it and destroy all life. That's the good news, at least we think so.



However there is something odd going on with the devise. A number of newspaper articles have been reporting that there's something wrong and it may have to do with the fact the Collider is successful. Right now the Collider is going to search for the Higgs Boson, also known as the "God Particle". This particle is the elemental building block of all creation.

It is this search that may be the cause of all of the Hadron Colliders problems. Two scientists, Dr Holger Bech Nielsen and Dr Masao Ninomiya have written a paper entitled: "Test of Effect in Large Hadron Collider: A Proposal". In this article, the authors state that either nature or God hate the very thought of the Higgs Boson, that the very creation, which will take place in the future, causes a ripple in the time-space continuum so that it returns to the machine that made it to destroy it. The ripple tears through the fabric of creation to eliminate such a monstrosity from happening. It is odd to consider that it has been beset with some rather odd bad luck, such as that magnet overheating and failing, or the fact that one of the people involved has been recently arrested for terrorism.

The question must now be directed to the thought, what would happen if a Higgs Boson was created in its purest form in the labratory, would it bring about the end of the world, open a portal to another dimension, wipe out life and start over, or be the trigger which opens the Earth to invasion by others.

Another theory, which is being popularized is the fact the Collider is being sabotaged by time travelers. They are returning to destroy the Collider because they have lived through the creation of Higgs Boson. The two things will be the creation of time travel and the second is, something nefarious. Something that would make two brave time travelers through the centuries to bring about the end of their enslavement. If successful, the Higgs Boson will not come into being and it will be the Earth shall be saved. Of course, it will mean the end of Time Travel and thus the two who returned will be blotted out because they can't travel in something that hasn't been created.

If you don't believe me, then perhaps you should read the essay in the New York Times.

You know, people will watch very lame 'horror' movies and miss the real horror, the creation of the Higgs Boson. Those sad people will lay their heads on their pillow tonight, oblivious of the great struggle taking place throughout time, to keep them safe.

Makes one think.

A Night in the Vinyl Cafe

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of going to the Sanderson Centre here in Brantford to watch Stuart McLean and his traveling Vinyl Cafe show.

The Vinyl Cafe is one of those gems that gets produced by CBC Radio. While it might be said that CBC TV is dismissed as a wasteland of bad Canadian programming and a hotbed of anti- Conservatives and Separtists, the Radio is the crown jewel of Canadian Culture. If there is a glue that keeps this nation together it is the CBC and through programs

The Vinyl Cafe, if you follow the link, is a show that centres around the life of Dave and Morley. Dave owns a record stored with the name of the show, which is considered the smallest record store in the world, area.

The show was a delight, the Sanderson was filled with fans and the show, which lasted around two hours, with a intermission, featured stories and music. The music was provided by three travelling musicians who offered songs of the land.

With the music and stories, Stuart also shared some of his life. He gave the background of his parents and something of his growing up years. Then he told of his trip from Montreal to Toronto where he started work as a producer with a new radio show that didn't even have a name. Eventually they decided on the name 'Morningside' and after a few years, a man by the name Peter Gzowski, from that point the rest, as they say, became history. He worked close with Peter, even having his own segment each week and later developed the Vinyl Cafe as a series of stories as well as a summer replacement.

After the show, Stuart McLean came out and signed autographs. Part of the show featured the new CD and one of the Vinyl Cafe books, "Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe". Here are a few photographs of that time:







A number of the fans stayed and chatted with Stuart. I got to thank him for his work on Morningside, telling him that although I lived in a number of places in Canada, it was Morningside that was the constant of my life. His stories as well as the stories and interviews of Peter Gzowski, kept me in touch with Canada. For that I truly thank him.

The Colors of Autumn

Last year I spent most of the autumn in the hospital, so this year I am making the effort to get out and enjoy the season. This afternoon, I took my camera and walked around the neighbourhood.

There are some of the pictures I took today:








It was a great day for photographs, as you can see. The sun was shining and for the most part the sky was blue. I don't know how many more of these sorts of weekend we'll have, so it was a case of making the best of it.

Blog Action Day 2009- Climate Change

I've been around a few years, I've heard about global cooling and global warming. I know detractors of climate change will always bring up the fact that 'we've had dire warnings in the past...'.

If you're an environmentalist, you may feel that you are nothing but a Chicken Little type, always warning that the sky is falling and getting no results. It's easy, if you are such a person to dismiss everything with a swish of the wrist and mock the latest findings of scientist as more of the same old, same old.

Today, bloggers around the world have united with the same theme and that is to bring attention to climate change. Whether we like it or not, things are changing. But perhaps a bit more information. I'm not a scientist, nor do I have a degree in any biology or meterology, but I do know this- things are different. Just consider all the seasons, they seem to either start later or arrive earlier. Now I know within any given time, things like the arrival of spring can change by a few degrees now and then. Or a winter can be harsh or mild, just like summer can be wet or hot and dry. There are variables, and that is a given. But have you noticed how the variables are always changing. It's as if we're heading for extremes, and this may be the proof of climate change- if a summer is going to be hot, it will be a scorcher-breaking all records and becoming unbearable. We've had hot summers, but how about summers that are so hot you simply can't enjoy them at all.

As for winters, yes we can have the occassional green Christmas and then the next week record snow dumps are recorded. That's it isn't it. Records that have lasted 50+ years are being broken. It's almost as if we should expect unsettling weather to be the norm. Then there is spring and fall, they are almost forgotten now, they come later and last not as long. Perhaps we get a month of each, if we are fortunate.

I know a great deal has been written about social justice, and if you think about it, climate change may be the greatest cause of social injustice. If I'm unable to access clean drinking water for myself, my family and my livelihood, that is a violation of my civil rights. If climate change means the weather patterns have changed so that I either don't get the water I need when I need it, or I get too much rain at the wrong time- then I have a problem.

Right now, wars are being fought, or soon will be over water rights and access to rivers, lakes and aquifers. Why? Because the weather and climate is changing.

Continue to deny if you will; you have that right. Just consider this, open you mind, look around and ask yourself- are things different? That's all.

So you've done that and you agree, there is something happening with our climate. What next, and this becomes the exciting part. You can get involved. You can make a difference. You've heard about carbon footprints. You can read what it means, how about doing something to reduce yours. You can use this calculator to do your own math.

Learn more, get involved with some of the sites that consider climate change and discover what you can do beyond your own home.

Agitate, I don't mean going to the streets, but how about a few letters to all levels of government. Let your voice be heards. Write them a letter, express in your own words what your concerns are and some suggestions that they should consider. Ask your government to be involved with the UN Climage Change Conference this December. Right now the major economic nations are doing a little jiving and shucking, how about address them now, get out, learn what you can and tell your government, climate change is important and is not just economical. It deals with all of us as human beings. We share the same world, let's not ruin it for each other.

Steve Forbert wrote a song entitled "Good Planets are hard to find". We found the best, let's ensure it stays that way:

Good planets are hard to find,
Temp'rate zones and tropic climes,
True currents in thriving seas,
Winds blowin' through breathing trees,
Strong ozone and safe sunshine,
Good planets are hard to find.

Good planets are in demand,
Clean beaches and sparkling sand,
Land masses with room to spare,
Jet streams and perfect air,
High forests and low wetlands,
Good planets are in demand.

And the mind don't know
If the heart can't see;
Let the blind man go
To his destiny...

Good planets are rare indeed,
Rain fallin' on crops and seed,
Big rivers and good topsoil,
Fuel sources from cane to oil,
Green gardens of all we need,
Good planets are rare indeed.

And the mind don't know
If the heart can't see;
Let the blind man go
To his destiny...

Good planets are scarce and few,
Earthworms and caribou,
Strong food chains and tasty meals,
Textiles and plants that heal,
Iron mountains and skies of blue,
Good planets are scarce and few.

United Nations Climate Change Conference
Blog Action Day '09
Bloggers vs Climate Change

This Just In: Harper is Cool

By now we've all seen it, our Prime Minister strolling onto the stage of the Nartional Arts Centre and belting out the Beatles' song "With a Little Help from my Friends" with the great cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Celtic rock group Herringbone. In one move, Prime Minister Harper appealed to classical music, Beatles and Celtic Rock fans, now how's that for a voting demographic.


Let's be honest, this could have been a huge mistake. First of all, as a 'hater' of the arts, Stephen Harper could have unleashed members of the Alberta arm of the Young Conservatives to pillage, rape and burn the NAC to the ground. After all, it's filled with art snobs which translates into "Liberals" in that part of Canada. Second, he could have flubbed the piano or he could have sung out of key. You know that such a bad performance would have been even wider over the place. I mean its okay to sing out of tune if you're doing a Bob Dylan number but that's about it. Instead he comes across as doing a good job and having fun. In the end that's all one could hope for.

A disaster would have been a disaster. If you can remember way back when, the then leader of the Progressive Conservatives, Robert Stanfield was shown dropping a football. He was playing catch with some people, it was a photo op, and apparently was doing a good job of throwing, kicking and catching. However he dropped it once and that was the photograph that made it into all the newspapers around Canada:


Mr. Stanfield was considered a true gentleman and many have referred to him as the 'Best Prime Minister Canada never had'.

What has interested me is the reaction of the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, our friend Michael Ignatieff. Seems he can't do anything right lately. When news of Mr. Harper's piano playing gig, he responded with the usual fulmination:

This is a prime minister who a year ago was trying to make you embarrassed if you liked opera or classical music or the ballet or poetry," Ignatieff said. "I mean, come on, let's get over this. You can like hockey, you can like classical music. Let's stop playing Canadian against Canadian and taste against taste

Seems Iggy has been a doing a lot of that lately.

Consider:

he complains that the Prime Minister isn't doing enough for the Unemployed and threatens to bring down the government. That fails and so;

he complains the government isn't doing enough to protect Canadians against H1N1, and the the various provincial Ministries of Health come up with the convoluted plan to protect Canadians, the federal government promises to have enough vaccines ready. So he:

complains that the Prime Minister would rather spend time with ordinary Canadians, drinking coffee at the local Tim Horton's instead of being at the United Nation where he could represent Canada and put up with Muammar Ghaddafi's bizarre monologue or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bizarre re-writing of history. "The Holocaust? Get outta Here..."

Although Mr. Harper did attend the G20 summit, which was how he got to do a gig with Yo-Yo Ma, his wife asked Yo-Yo about doing some song. Which is quite interesting.

What does all this mean? On the one hand, you had a good weekend for Stephen Harper and on the other, another bad one for Michael Ignatieff. He's trying to look decisive when all he managed to do was annoy the Quebec wing of his Party and do an about face. He first said he was in no hurry to appoint a Lieutenant for the Quebec wing, until he read the constitution which requires just such a person. Now whoever he chooses, will bear the brunt of being the "Bloc Toronto" man, just when the leader of the Bloc Toronto continues to shoot himself in the foot.

By the way, Iggy also sang the same song.

This leads me to the question of the day;

"What song will Iggy sing in his next political act?"

I'm thinking "You gotta fight for your right to Party", by the Beastie Boys

John C Dvorak-the Tech Grouch

Those of you who follow my blog know that I'm a big fan of John C. Dvorak. I watch his show, "Cranky Geeks" each week, in fact I own the t-shirt. It's both a great laugh and a great conversation piece. I also read his column in PCMag.com, I would say I read it in the magazine, but as you know PC Magazine went all digital like early this year and yes I'm still bitter about it.

Of course there is the main site, which is Dvorak Uncensored, his blog of all things which fascinate and infuriate him. The famous 'dvorak.org.blog' is almost a drinking game in itself and he plugs it on everything and anything he is on. If you watch This Week in Tech, for example he used to do it shamelessly for the show, of course at first he claimed to never get any spam by using a method of changing his email accounts every six months or so. It is all the news that he sees fits to report on and it has gotten him in trouble. He complains every so often that he is regularly blocked in China and Saudi Arabia, more so because of the title of the blog rather then any support he gives to the falung gong.

Now he has a new project, a project he was born to do and that is the tech grouch. As you can see from the first clip it is Dvorak at his best. He is at his ultimate grouchiest, spewing out the vitriol and not caring a whit who gets sprayed. As Leo Laporte mentioned on the recent TWIT, this doesn't come easy to John C but it is based upon years of disappointment and disillusionment. Only a person who has lived a life such as John C can vent as he can, and wear that costume. No doubt he wears it for the sake of modesty, after all, if he was to appear as he normally does, the crowds would have gone wild.

I expect a long and fruitful career with this new iteration of John C. Long may it continue

Congratulations Chicago!!

That's right, let me be the first to congratulate Chicago on NOT winning the 2016 Olympic Bid, it may be the best thing to happen to the City. Now I know most people would think it should be a time of sadness for the city, after all, aren't the Olympics a way to showcase a city on how wonderful it is and all that great stuff. Right and it's all about the motto: "Citius, Altius, Fortius".

We all know what that's supposed to mean, in fact here is the meaning listed on the Olympic website:

These three words encourage the athlete to give his or her best during competition, and to view this effort as a victory in itself.

The sense of the motto is that being first is not necessarily a priority, but that giving one's best and striving for personal excellence is a worthwhile goal. It can apply equally to athletes and to each one of us.

Great words, wonderful ideals. Now let's put it away and understand what the modern Olympic movement is all about: it's about a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy that is answerable to no one and it's the ultimate old boys and girls club. It's about xenophobia, jingoism and all the excesses of 'isms' we thought we could finally escape. It's about people winning medals one year and having them stripped away the next when it is learned they cheated. The only good out of this is for those athletes at the bottom of the list, just finish guys and gals and you may eventually, when all the elites are exposed as frauds, you might win a bronze. Mind you, there will be no official flag ceremony and most people will have forgotten all that, but at least you will have a medal.

So the winner is Rio De Janerio, a fabulous city in the Republic of Brazil. It is the second largest city in Brazil and one of the largest in all of South America. It is known for it's beautiful beaches, people, music and Carnaval. It is also known for its crime,

Rio has high crime rates, especially homicide, in poor areas dominated by drug lords, primarily in the North Zone.[80] As of 2007, the homicide rate of the greater metropolitan area stood at nearly 30 victims per week, with the majority of victims falling to mugging, stray bullets or narcoterrorism.[81][82] In 2006, 2,273 people were murdered in the city giving it a murder rate of 37.7 cases for every 100,000 people.[83]

According to federal government research,[6] the city itself ranks 206th (out of a total of 5,565) in the list of the most violent cities and municipalities in Brazil and first in total number of firearm-related deaths. Between 1978 and 2000, 49,900 people were killed in Rio.[84] The Urban Warfare involves drug-traffic battle with police fighting against outlaws, or even corrupt policemen on their side.

Rio de Janeiro's low paid and ill-equipped police are violent as well, it has been said.[85] In 2007, the police allegedly killed 1,330 people in the state,[86] an increase of 25 percent over 2006 when 1,063 people were killed, in 2003 that number plateaued at 1,195. In comparison the American police killed only 347 people in whole of the United States during 2006.[87][88] The average Rio policeman earns only R$874 a month or R$10,488 (around US$6,000) a year.[89]

Into this safe environment, thousands of people will descend in about 7 years to enjoy the various sports such as ducking bullets, handling wounds and calling the equivalent of 911. I suspect the IOC only saw the beaches and the beautiful people and thought this would be a great place for an Olympics.

No doubt the supporters of Rio will say the money used to build the infrastructure will also be used to build up the neighbourhoods and to make them safe. Also, they can meditate on the fact that the government will have to begin to pay the police a more humane and human wage so they won't be in the pockets of the local drug lords.

There will be the usual talk about this being a 'green' game- green as in moola, although people will speak of the environmental sensitivity of the Games.

Chicago, what did you lose? You lost the right to spend money that could have gone to infrastructure, public transit, parks, schools and libraries, and wasted it on facilities that would have been of no use. You can build community centres that will help the community, rather then a few.

You lost the right to squander the future of your young people on stuff that will be alledged for the 'youth of tomorrow'. You lost the right to have all those self-important members of the IOC strutting their stuff like they 'own' the place. You lost the right to put needed social services on the backburner and cause all sort of suffering for the people who are the most vulnerable.

Yeah Chicago, you lost a lot. Now go have a party.

Growing Up Jazz

You could say this blog is a continuation of last week's blogs on the Brantford International Jazz Festival. I was discussing jazz and brass banding, under the topic that some think it's a style of music no one is familiar with, it's a topic in churches. Some people want to get rid of or at least minimize the influence of brass banding and music in church services.

As I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that we in North America don't have a problem with brass music for one simple reason, we've grown up listening to it.

I'm not saying we were forced to listen to jazz, but it was an important part of growing up with television. I was impressed with the number of cartoons that had jazz as the music. Let me give some examples, the first is

Jonny Quest: I'm talking the original here, not the "New Adventures"



Very strong jazz influence in that theme

I could move on to Spiderman, the cartoon



Perhaps the greatest jazz influence has to be the Peanut's franchise. If you are old enough to remember the first Peanut's television show: "A Charlie Brown's Christmas". Here was the show that forever cemented the relationship between jazz and Peanuts. In fact the musical score for the show was made by Vince Guaraldi, a jazz pianist. He composed the song "Linus and Lucy", which is the most recognized song of the Peanuts shows.



In fact, a special CD was released in 1987 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Peanuts and it featured all jazz. One artist spoke of the fact that Charlie Brown was cool and how else to you define cool but through jazz.

So growing up, jazz was very influential. Probably none of us realized it was jazz, but we recognized it was cool, since all our favourite shows had this style of music.

Just a few thoughts for today.

Brantford Jazz Festival- Day Two
The Shuffles Demons Conquer the Bell Stage

So after two days, twelve hours+ of live performance, the Second Annual Jazz Festival of Brantford is over. With the crowds of this year, I suspect there will be a Third Annual Brantford International Jazz Festival. There has to be, you can't bring over 2,000 into downtown Brantford and not say it was a success.

With three stages, one for the headliners, one for youth jazz groups and the third for local musicians, it meant a person had to keep moving, and with the weather again being perfect, it was not that difficult to do, and it kept one busy. The music overall was great.

Today one of the headliners and the group I wanted to hear was the Shuffle Demons. They did not disappoint. They arrived by coming not onto the stage, but off to the side and wandered through the crowd:





They played a combination of some new works, classic jazz and be-bop, plus the classic hits. A good time for sure. The brought the house together when the ended their last song with another walk through the crowd, Shuffle Demon Style



The next group on the Bell Stage was Caché, a group which calls itself `Toronto`s Fiercest Salsa Band`. Salsa music is:

Salsa music is a diverse and predominantly Cuban Caribbean genre that is popular across Latin America and among Latinos abroad that was brought to international fame by Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians. Salsa incorporates multiple styles and variations; the term has been used to describe most any form of popular Cuban/Puerto Rican-derived genre, such as chachachá and Son.

They brought the heat that is salsa to the stage and got people up and dancing:






The third performer on the main stage was Peter Appleyard. This was the legend, the veteran, the classic jazz performer. He brought his style that had been honed over the decades to the stage and to the enjoyment of all. The stage was surrounded by photographers and so Peter decided to take a picture of them:






With the weather in full cooperation and good crowds, the 2nd Annual has to be considered a success. Mark on your calendar the 3rd Annual, next year, same time, same location.

Brantford Jazz Festival 2

It was one of those perfect late summer afternoons. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the jazz was a mixture of old favourties and new creations. The stages had both veterans with pedigrees that featured the giants of Jazz, to the newcomers, attempting to garner appreciation for their craft and new fans.

This describes the afternoon of the first day of Brantford's second annual jazz festival. Last year inaugeral presentation was so well received that everyone decided to do it all over again the next year but this time, all of us were to be treated to double the fun. It was going to be two days instead of one. So Harmony Square and area was again filled with the sounds of Jazz.

The great thing about the second year of living in Brantford, is getting to know people, I had the pleasure of meeting and thanking Frank DiFelice, one half of the duo that has brought this festival to downtown Brantford. He and his wife have been involved with jazz for many years and last year they decided Brantford should be put on the jazz map. The three thousand or so people, according to the estimate of Art Means, one of the sponsors, obviously agree with the DiFelice's.



The crowd was very appreciative of the music being performed:



Even towards the end of the day's events, the crowd stayed large and involved.





It was also Isabelle's first jazz festival and she enjoyed herself.



The good news, there's still one more day of Jazz.

The Real Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

Stephen Harper is a Commie!

If Michael Ignatieff is to be believed in the latest article on CBC.ca, our Prime Minister is in fact a socialist loving Commie. That's right, you heard Michael (Rush Limbaugh) Ignatieff has exposed the great secret of Canadian politics. Just think about it, we've been wrong all these years about Prime Minister Harper, he's not a dangerous right-wing extremist, but a card carrying member of the Communist Party of Canada. Well, perhaps even that statement is a bit extreme for Iggy, still there must be some flirting with socialism. After all, the Prime Minister was born in Toronto! Not just anywhere, but probably one of those socialist latte slurping ridings in the City! No doubt that explains why he is always leaning to the left in photographs. Thta explains why "Comrade" Harper won't go to China, he's a doctrinaire Maoist. This explains so much.

So what we have is Ignatieff has decided to return to his American Right Wing roots and follow the lead of the Birthers and the other Patriotic Americans who are fighting against the creeping socialism of President Barak Hussain Obama.

So here is the reason why Mr Ignatieff wants to bring down the government, because he wants to save Canada from the dangers of the Socialist Front of Harper future government. He knows if Harper gets his wish and gains a majority, we will soon be greeting each other with the word 'Comrade', and our fair Dominion will degenerate into a 'People's Republic'. As well, our national anthem will change from "O Canada" and replace it with:



So you have been exposed "Comrade" Harper. We can thank that great Right Wing Patriot, Michael Ignatieff for having the courage to speak out with the truth.

It's only Rock and Roll, but... I don't know what that means

We were all made aware of the great event that was taking place on September 9th, or 9-9-09. It was a Apple keynote that was supposed to be something incredible in the world of Apple.

There was rumours, oh yes a lot of rumours, including such things as a Beatles reunion thta would announce the launch of the complete catalogue on iTunes so people could finally download all the Beatles works legally. Certainly when one considers the great release of their material in remastered CD, plus in Guitar Hero and Rock Star. It was a great time to be a fan of the Beatles and when one considers the fact that Steve Jobs is thought to be a huge fan, it made sense.

Of course, every Apple blog worth its salt had its opinions, thoughts and rumours.

In the end, the big news was the re-appearance of Steve Jobs. He's back. He survived his liver transplant and while not looking good, he was good enough and had enough health to do the keynote.

What was the result: well, there was no camera in the itouch. The blog Apple Insider took one of the new ipod touchs and discovered there was a place for a camera and a few other surprises.

This did not happen. There is some thought of a hardware challenge, the camera simply didn't work in the touch. Although i wonder if that's the truth, since the ipod touch is simply an iPhone without the capability to make a phone call. If there is a camera on one, there should be a camera on the other. What is the problem. If they can have the hardware work for one, what's the challenge. There must be another reason, perhaps it is because of the news which was the nano would have a camcorder on it. Which is another challenge and surprise, why a camcorder. I supppose Jobs looked around and noticed that one of the fastest moving part of the technology world is the small inexpensive camcorders that allow people to video and upload to YouTube. So the nano is a camcorder. It seems to be part of Jobs strategy to make an all purpose device. Farhad Manjoo of Slate suggests the ipod is dead. But why do people want this when there are devises that are cheaper and offer HD or at least close to HD. The camcorder is there, but I wonder why this and not a regular camera? There seems to be a lot of steps which are missed and others that make no sense. Although it should be pointed out there is a radio and a pedometre, which would be quite good since fitness is becoming increasingly important, it is not ground breaking.

I wonder if this is a partial step for Apple. Certainly the idea of a multi-purpose device seems to be the direction of Apple. There is a belief that the one purpose device is now dead. We have cellphones that seem to do everything but make calls.

So the show i over, it's time to move on and wait for the next step.

That's all.

Election 2009 (Part 2)

In yesterday's blog, I looked at the reasons why the various political parties may be interested in a fall election. After all, we went through a whole summer without being bothered by them and I guess it's inevitable. According to one article, a vote of confidence could happen by the 30th of September, which would mean an election some time in early to mid-November.

That could be exciting although most pundits think the result will be more of the same, so you have to wonder, why? This is not the worry for this blog but to consider some of the thinking which might inspire the various parties not to pull the plug on this 40th Parliament since Confederation.

I'm not posting too many links since a lot of them are on yesterday's blog.

Opposed

The Conservatives: Stephen Harper is probably getting tired of being nice to those people in the House of Commons. He has to entertain the likes of Jack Layton, Michael Ignatieff and Gilles Doucette. I believe he would rather cut their heads off and drink their blood. But because he has a minority government, he has to smile a lot. He desires to have a majority government. This is his dream and could become his obsession. If he is not careful, this could be his downfall. Perhaps instead of dreaming about a majority, he should read up on the life of Lester B. Pearson, he served five years as PM and never had a majority. Yet he was able to have a successful career.

So why wouldn't they want an election? One word: the Economy. The great meltdown of 2008 took place during the election and he managed to avoid having to deal with an election when the bottom falls out. Think a governing party wants to have that on their plate, just look at the campaign of John McCain, the economy killed his chance of election.

While things may be starting to look well, the recovery is still fragile. It could just as easily go south and sideways all at the same time. I suspect the Conservatives would like a couple of quarters of growth before dropping the writ. If you noticed they have been very careful about the recovery, no great crowing from any Minister. They have been very cautious about saying good things about the end of the recession. I think Stephen Harper is a master tactician and he likes being Prime Minister. With the autumn coming he wants to enjoy watching the colours over in the Gatineau's.

The Liberals: if this party has the most to lose in an election, then its leader Michael Ignatieff has the most to lose of everybody. If you recall he was crowned leader of the Liberal Party, I suspect a number of potential leadership hopefuls are angry and are keeping their anger within, if Iggy slips up, trust me it will be a nasty few months. If the Liberals have learned one thing its this; they hate losing and they hate losers. They dumped Dion because he was a loser. They thought they were getting the new Pierre Trudeau instead they may have gotten the English clone of Stephane Dion.

Consider their platform, they want to reform EI and make it standard across all reasons. They want to lower the requirement to 360 hours. So consider what their platform is all about, they want to make it easier for Canadians to get on the dole. Now that's a profound and moving policy, you can almost hear the Liberals on the stump trying to sell that to the average Canadians: "Vote Liberal and get onto EI sooner". Mind you it probably won't help anybody already on EI and doesn't seem to include topping up the percentage you receive or the length of time you can receive it. It will probably cost the average worker and average employer more in EI deductions. Let's face it, this is not scintillating stuff. This isn't the "National Dream" or "Just Society". Got news for you, Gordon Lightfoot isn't writing any songs about 360 hours to the dole, nor is the late and missed Pierre Berton writing a two volume definitive history on the EI reform. May be an epic fail.

Iggy tried to challenge the PM but blinked. He could have pulled the plug but couldn't. He knows the Party is not ready to take on the Conservatives.

The NDP: Jack has trimmed down his goals. The last election he was going for Prime Minister, this time he wants to be a coalition partner and a cabinet seat with his junior party, the Liberals. The problem is, some in his party are attacking Ignatieff as much as Stephen Harper, not a good move when you wish to be nice to each other after the election. That will make things interesting around the cabinet table, you will have two forces trying to stick it to each other at every second. That will make a stable government.

The are bolstered by reports from themselves about their successful convention. They love Obama and hope it will rub off on them, as long as they don't make mention that Barak wants to stay in Afghanistan and the NDP doesn't. An election could give them some problems.

The Bloc Québécois : again, meh. Who honestly cares what they think.

So this is my thoughts. Will there be an election this year? Hard to say.

Elections 2009

As the summer draws to a close and the Zucchini plants begin to wilt, their summer of producing delicious vegetable coming to an end, we now consider what has to be the topic at hand and that is, will there be an election this year. On one hand, we haven't had one in nearly a year and after four this decade alone that makes it one of the longest stretches we enjoyed in this new millenium. But before I say anything further, a word of thanks has to go to the leaders of all the major political parties for not subjecting us to a summer election. With this summer of either too dry or too wet conditions, either too hot or too cool with almost no weekend that had the right weather to be enjoyed, the last thing we needed to see was any of you clowns on our doorsteps. So thank you for not annoying us because if you had, we as a nation would have thrown all of you out and voted Rhino.

However all good things must come to an end and since Canada wants to have as many elections in the space of one year as there will be parts to the last Harry Potter movie, it seems the leaders are all beginning to drop the "E" word. Before you gather the pitchfork and light up the torches and march to Ottawa, perhaps we should consider whether an election will come to pass. To do so, I want to examine for the next few minutes, who would favour an election and why.

In Favour

The Conservatives: their numbers are starting to climb in opinion polls. The latest shows them with an 11 point lead over the Liberals. Plus they are beginning to portray Michael Ignatieff as the new Stéphane Dion. As well, the economy is starting to turn around, it may be a weak recovery but it is a recovery. Plus with it being weak, it could easily go the other way may be best to strike while the iron is hot sort of thing. Stephen Harper had a pretty good summer both on the domestic and international front. He might just get his wish and gain that majority.

The Liberals: they are sick of propping up the Conservatives, they are sick of being seen as indecisive, they are tired of being in the Opposition. The "Natural Governing Party" has had it, they think they can win an election, plus they have Michael Ignatieff who probably doesn't want to be the answer to the trivia question, "what two Liberal leaders failed to become Prime Minister of Canada during the first decade of the 21st Century?" The party's debt is coming down and they are able to raise money, plus another opinion poll shows them tied with the Conservatives. As well, Iggy may be getting bored quickly with life as Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, Harvard is starting to look real good. Better win now or its back to the States. He misses the intellectually stimulating discussions, something lacking in the weekly Liberal Caucus meeting, plus he has learned much to his chagrin, Canada doesn't believe in torture.

As an aside, Bob Rae is secretly hoping for an election because he knows the Party will probably lose and then he can do to his former BFF what Iggy did to him by manoevering the party to annoint him leader. I suspect Bob travels with his portable knife sharpener always close at hand.

The NDP: they want an election because they think the results will be a minority and they can force the Liberals into a coalition. Jack Layton wants a cabinet seat. The party had a great convention, at least in their eyes, most of Canada, if anyone really paid attention, remember it as the 'convention the NDP almost dropped the N in their name'. Plus they had a couple of people from the Obama campaign and think they can learn from that team how to win an election. Jack still will add you on Twitter, so he thinks he's got the social networking thing down. As well, the NDP now govern two of Canada's ten provinces. Even though its; Manitoba and Nova Scotia, it's still two. They think by identifying themselves with Barak Obama and the United States some of that success might rub off, as well, they know they must hurry before their kneejerk anti-Americanism surfaces. They can't smile around Americans all the time like that, it hurts their faces.

The Bloc Quebecois: meh, they will win the same number of seats as previous elections. They will have the same opportunity to complain how mistreated Quebec is in Confederation. Wants an election because they can't lose because they don't have to worry about winning.

So that's the reason why all the parties want an election in November, before the snow starts to fly. My next blog will examine who doesn't want an election.

The End of Food- A Review

I picked up the book "The End of Food" by Thomas Pawlick. I point out the author because there's another book of the same name by Paul Roberts.

What can be said about a book in which the author suggests that gardening can be considered an act of subversion (pp184-185). He writes:

For thousands of years, in every unjust society, those who, from Robin Hood on down, have affirmed life over the version of reality promoted by the 'powers that be', have been seen as outlaws. There is no reason why gardeners should be exceptions. Guerrilla gardeners. It has a nice, allitertive ring to it.

He believes that if we want good food we need to grow our own and doing so can be thought of an act of subversion.

The second thing to enjoy about the book is his review of the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. He suggests:

In today's corporate America, Thoreau would likely have been arrested, stripped of his citizenship and shipped off to a cage in Guantanamo Bay, by defying the corporate 'will to power'.

And if they got hold of his writings of "Civil Disobedience", it would have been waterboarding.

The book begins with Thomas recounting a story of buying a tomato that was so red, so attractive but too hard to eat. He bought the ingredients to make a salad but discovered the tomato was impossible to cut. So he left it out to ripe. He waited one week, two weeks, but nothing happened. He got so frustrated he eventually threw it at his fence. He thought he would get a vaudvillian splat, but instead, it bounced back. It didn't break, he described it as a red tennis ball. He picked it up and threw it again, this time it cracked, still no splat. He examined the inside and some of the seeds had started to germinate. In an interview he did at Gremolata.com it happened in Windsor, which he reminds us is close to the tomato capital of Canada, Leamington. This started his study of the food industry as it exists today.

As for tomatoes, he discovered there are only a handful of companies involved in the production of the fruit. These companies have had as their motive, to produce tomatoes that are good for shipping. In fact the wish list does not include ripeness, taste or nutrition.

His target is the transnationals that control food production and distribution, their motive is not taste but profit. Feeding people is not part of the equation in their quest for profit. In fact, the food industry has brought about food which over the last fifty years, has had a decrease in nutrition. He gives information on how the vitamins content has decreased and not just by a little, but a great deal. Again, food value is not part of the equation.

But, nature abhors a vacuum and the food industry as well, when the level of vitamin C has increased, sodium and some very nasty chemicals have increased. One of his chapters give us what we can find in our food. One might think that he is talking about meat, but he does bring in vegetables into the picture, so if you think you can become a vegan and miss it all, think again. It's all affected and it is all troubling.

The food industry has changed the relationship between the producers and the markets. He spends time considering how the food industry has impacted the production of pork, chicken and beef. In all three, the emphasis is profit and the animals are commodities to be used, and abusd and then eliminated. He considers the case of mad cow and the source of it all is the adding of beef 'stuff' into the feed of cows. So this is what the industry did:

What could be more unnatural than to turn herbivores into carnivores- and worse, into cannibals of their own kind.

The result was Mad Cow and people got sick. The blame for this can be laid no place else then simple human stupidity, the belief we could do better, cut corners and cost and wring out another penny of profit.

It is this desire for profit which motivates everything and it seems, according to Thomas' writing to bring disaster and potential disaster. He considers how for the millenia, farmers practiced the method of either allowing a field to go fallow or rotate crops. For the latter after one harvest, the next food grown would be one that would restore a balance to the field. Also there was the use of natural fertilizer in the form of manure from only a few cows. The practice of the transnationals is to never take a crop out of production, but to grow the same one over and over- and to compensate for the demand on the ground by dumping a huge load of fertilizer and pesticide as part of the planting regimine. The downside is the killing of the soil, by killing the worms and benigh bacteria that restore the soil. It is also expensive to add the petroleum based fertilizer, which puts the regular farmer into debt and makes the family farm easy picking for corporations looking to expand.

Then he discusses the potential disaster that could come from GE foods. Europe has banned GE crops and food and hearing the initials scares a lot of people. While the industry may suggest all they are doing is making food that is resistent to certain fungus and viral strains, or more robust in dealing with frost or cold weather, many look at this as the food equivalent to Three Mile Island. The concern is there is no controls, the pollen of the GE food can enter other crop fields and become part of that genetics. Also issues such as turning weeds into super-weeds or the potential impact on our health as well as other parts of nature is gotten into. Don't expect Thomas to address the stockholders meeting of Mosanto any time soon.

The question when one reads a book such as this is, are we stuck with the status quo? Is the death of the family farm, with the end of the experience of farmers who treat the environment with respect the reality? Certainly an industry where the average wage is $12,000 there is not a whole lot of motivation to remain in the business.

He sees potential. He realizes that it will be a grassroot movement of people becoming concern with what they eat. It is people getting educated and learning the truth. He sees the change happening with the renaissance of the Farmers Market, where people can again enjoy properly grown food. It can be found in movements which are coming to the fore demanding proper packaging and labeling of food. In most of North America, for example GE food is not labelled as such, this could change and change quickly. Again, its the grassroots, Thomas does not have a high opinion of politicians, calling them political whores for example. He sees the act of gardening, either in a plot behind the house or involvement in a community garden as another means of taking food back. It is campaigns to boycott certain food or food produced by certain companies, after all, if the bottom line is all that matters, then anything that affects the bottom line gets their attentions.

He talks about his own experience in gardening and farming, he has done both, at times he waxes a bit too poetic, but then again, he views food as part of the spiritual existence of humanity. In fact food besides being the way we stay alive, is also part of our calling as social beings. It is not to be gulped down but shared with family and friends.

As an addded plus for me, Thomas is a Canadian so he gives a lot of information as well as facts and figures that apply to the Canadian scene specifically.

I want to conclude with one of his last paragraphs:

We dont need to turn cows into cannibals, or lace our meals with tiny, hrrid molecular machines, or destry the soil, in order to creat a higher quarterly return for some greedy set of imbeciles in hand tailored suits and Gucci ties, sitting smugly around the boardroom table in a highrise somewhere. We dont need to despoil the earth and end up eating soylent green. We need to take back control of our own food supply, our own meals, and our own humanity.

A book to read and to think about.

In fine bookstores and in your local public library.

What is in a Name?

What is in a name? Very much if the wit of man could find it out

You have to love the Dog Days of Summer as it pertains to news. Not only is August the warmest month and the month when gardens are in full bloom and displaying their wares, you have generally slow news. Yes there still are wars happening and celebrities are still doing stupid things. Certainly a study of any flyer reveals that stores have begun their push for all things school related. In fact one store is selling pencils for 39 cents.

What makes this season interesting is not the fact the Detroit Tigers are still in first place in the AL Central, way to go boys!

It's some of the nuttiness that seems to be happening on both sides of the border. For example, in the States you have the various town hall meetings that are dealing with people's opinion of Health Care Reforms. For the most part these seem to be civil affairs but then again, every so often the crazies take over and you have this:



Yes, all that has happened in the last forty something years have been manipulated by the Kenyans so that Barak Hussein Obama could become President. To say these Birthers are lunatics is in a way an insult to honest, salt of the earth lunatics everywhere. Of course you have to put them in the same catagory as the flat earth society and those who believe in Death Panels. As for the latter, even everyone's favourite former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has given an opinion of this matter:

As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we're saying not just no, but hell no!


The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

I could go on with the States, but this is not the theme of the blog. I want to talk about the silliness of Canada. Right now all sorts of attention, comments and news ink is being spilled over the NDP's Annual Convention in Halifax. HFX09, as its being called is the Party's annual meeting in which and I suppose it is possible, the Party will plan its election strategy for the next couple of elections, which should take place in the same time span as the next two Harry Potter movies.

One issue that seems to have captured the popular media is the potential name change for the Party. It seems after 49 years, there are some thinking its time for a change. The suggestion is going from NEW Democrats to Democrats. So that the party would change from NDP to DP.

There is a few reasons for this, besides the fact that 'New' seems odd for a party that's been around since the 1930's, perhaps a name should be changed. After all this would not be the first time, since it started out as the CCF.

I suppose the question, why just Democrats? There are some who suggest it is an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Barak Obama and the Democratic Party of the United States. Canadians love Barak. In fact had we been able to vote, it would have been a total runaway with all 20 electoral votes of Canada going to President Obama. This may be the reason why there is so much popularity for the change. A recent poll discovered this:

45 per cent of Canadians and 59 per cent of federal NDP supporters are in favour of the name change. One in five, or 20 per cent, are opposed, and more than a third, or 37 per cent, are undecided.

62 per cent of Canadians and 75 per cent of federal NDP supporters believe that if the federal party changes its name, the provincial NDPs should also adopt the Democratic Party name.

Another good reason is the fact that so often, the Party is mistaken for the New Democratic Party of Sri Lanka, I mean its bound to happen.

As the columnist Cathal Kelly wrote:

There is the whole apathy-of-the-electorate thing to shake off. Then there's the allure of hitching your wagon to a rock star politician.

"I guess they're hoping for some kind of subtle link," says Roger King, the Toronto-based spokesperson for Washington's Democrats Abroad.

The problem I have with dropping "New" is it does not stake out what the Party believes. Think of the other names, when we hear Liberal, we take it the party follows the policy and programs of liberalism. The Liberals Party of Canada follows that ideology for the most part throughout its history. It is what is accepted when we hear that name.

The Conservative Party has had a number of changes, it was Conservative, then it went Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and now, through the merger between the Reform/Alliance Party and the Progressive Conservatives has come full circle. But through it all, it was seen as the party of conservative ideology.

What does the Democratic Party believe? Democracy? I would assume almost all of the Canadian Political parties believe in Democracy. Even those who hate Stephen Harper and think he's the love child of Adolph Hitler and Attila the Hun must admit he believes in democracy. In other words, the name means nothing. I'm not going into the issue that the initials DP (Dee Pee)is actually a rude swear word in French, because everything is eventually a rude swear word in some language. It's a throw away word, it speaks of nothing different, all it says is the party believes in democracy. What else?

Plus, historically speaking, the NDP has always had an anti-American slant to its ideology, so how identifying itself with the country they don't really like will do. Might make the party a bit paranoid that's for sure.

Some have suggested the name Social Democratic Party, which would put the party in line with most European Social Democratic Parties, which it is closer in ideology. It would allow the party to put itself and accept itself as a party of Socialism International, which also includes parties such as the Labour Party of the UK.After all, in comparison, the Democrats of the US, if put on the political spectrum would be some place between the PC and Liberal party. More of a Central- Central Right party. After all, it still is debates universal health care, which even the Conservatives believe.

So it will happen tomorrow. If you go to the NDP website you can watch the live stream, it should make for compelling watching.

God, Guns and ...WHAT!?!

So I was reading some blogs and news reports when this little bit of information came across my computer: Pastor Urges His Flock to Bring Guns to Church. This minister, Pastor Ken Pagano had, a couple of months ago a special meeting to celebrate the right to bear arms and to own enough firepower to put a small country to shame. He decided that the Church hasn't done enough to celebrate the Second Amendment and to obey the recently found 11th Commandment which reads in part, "Thou Shalt Carry a Glok when thou entereth the Sanctuary of the Lord", or words to that effect.

It promises to be a fun evening. If watching people carry heat in with their Bibles wasn't enough, there's other events:

The bring-your-gun-to-church day, which will include a $1 raffle of a handgun, firearms safety lessons and a picnic, is another sign that the gun culture in the United States is thriving

It's quite possible some people may wonder about attending that service. I mean if you have a small family do you really want to expose them to gunplay during the Children's story, for example. Not to fear, because Pastor Pagano will provide:

The celebration will feature lessons in responsible gun ownership, Mr. Pagano said. Sheriff’s deputies will be at the doors to check that openly carried firearms are unloaded, but they will not check for concealed weapons.

You see, you can bring your gun, just leave your amunition at home. Oh and this is only for the weapons he sees, if you conceal it, bring it and don't worry, no one is going to search you.

Let's put this into it's historic perspective, because its something the good Pastor seems to be lacking. What is so fascinating is the total callousness of the invitation and also where this is taking place. Last year, in the State of Kentucky, one individual decided, being the trendsetter he is, to do this very thing. Jim David Adkisson brought a gun into a church service, one that featured a childrens' concert, only he brought bullets. The result of this was the death of two people and the wounding of seven. The gunman was motivated by a hatred of:

After the shooting police found a letter in Adkisson’s car in which he described his “hatred of the liberal movement, liberals in general, as well as gays.”

Then there was the killing of Dr. George Tiller, who was an usher in his church that Sunday when a rabid anti-abortionist decided that he beliefs in the right to life included the right to kill. Look I disagree with abortion about as much as anything but right to life means everybody deserves the right to live and stay alive.

Of course, if you want the real history of why its wrong to be weapons in a church service, you need to go back to 1170, when Archbishop Thomas Becket wsa murdered by two knights who were working at the behest of King Henry the Second. Seems these two had heard the King complain about the Archbishop:

What sluggards, what cowards have I brought up in my court, who care nothing for their allegiance to their lord. Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest.

Clearly arming a congregant is never a good idea.

To say this is potentially dangerous is an understatement.

To say Pastor Ken Pagano is certifiable is also an understatement.

If all this wasn't enough and let's face it, having a raffle during a church service- so gambling and guns is okay in his church but I bet voting Democrat will get you excommunicated, he decides to justify himself this way:

“When someone from within the church tells me that being a Christian and having firearms are contradictions, that they’re incompatible with the Gospel — baloney,” he said. “As soon as you start saying that it’s not something that Christians do, well, guns are just the foil. The issue now is the Gospel. So in a sense, it does become a crusade. Now the Gospel is at stake.”

My question to him would be is 'how is the Gospel at stake'. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus dying on the Cross for the sins of humanity. The Gospel is the good news that we can have eternal life and enjoy life in all its fulness. How the Pastor now decides the validity, nay the very existence of the Gospel now depends upon the congregation bringing in the weaponry is beyond my understanding.

This is not an anti-gun screed. I don't own a gun, I'm not interested in owning a gun. I accept the fact that there are a lot of people who own guns for the enjoyment of firing one and also for the purpose of hunting. if you idea of a fun Saturday is going to a rifle range and shooting, good on you. If you like to go hunting, there's nothing wrong with enjoying outdoors and killing one of God's creatures. If you shoot a moose you're more then welcome to send me a couple of roasts.

What is also sad is that there is enough right-wing rabid religionists who would agree with the good Pastor.

Polaroid PDC 5355, thanks for the memories

I got for my birthday about 4 or 5 years ago, it was time to get a newer digital camera and it was a Polaroid PDC5355. It was a 5.3 megapixel camera and I truly enjoyed it. I took it everywhere and used it to develop what little skill I do have with a camera. I learned to enjoy taking photographs, walking around and snapping a quick picture was a great experience. As well, with the camera I took take pictures and videos where ever I went:



From Collingwood to Brantford and Ottawa, I was with the camera taking the photographs:


However, after all those photographs, it ceased working. It was a good camera and managed to last through the challenge of taking all those photographs of Isabelle:



With all the photographs taken during the first few days of her life, it did quite a service and made sure those first days, in fact those first minutes in a very admirable way. But, alas, all things must come to an end and like all things electronic, it reached the end of its life and simply stopped.

With Isabelle going to church for the first time, plus wearing a dress, it was important to purchase a new camera. Off to Future Shop and do some comparative shopping. Lots of very nice camera, with some very nice prices. So no camera. Then it was off to Wal-Mart.

There I found the Polaroid i1037, it was reasonably priced, had a nice spec, 10megapixel to start, plus a very nice sized LCD screen and a lot of features, such as image stablization, red eye and different modes of photographs. It's taking a bit of time to figure it all out, but its a nice learning process.

I must admit the name 'Polaroid' was one of the selling points, if it was like my former camera, I have a good one.




You'll see much of my work from that camera.

Later.