Statistics Never Lie

I came across an interesting article in New Scientist about the actual statistical biases apparent in the United States government. Obviously its not pointing out anything not known from political viewpoints, but now there's objective as well as subjective proof. Only what, three and a half years til something can be done about that again?

A friend also pointed this article from Yahoo News on parallels between Star Wars and the current U.S. government.

Cannes audiences made blunt comparisons between "Revenge of the Sith" — the story of Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side and the rise of an emperor through warmongering — to President Bush's war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq.

Followed by a comment by George Lucas himself:

In ancient Rome, "why did the senate after killing Caesar turn around and give the government to his nephew?" Lucas said. "Why did France after they got rid of the king and that whole system turn around and give it to Napoleon? It's the same thing with Germany and Hitler.

"You sort of see these recurring themes where a democracy turns itself into a dictatorship, and it always seems to happen kind of in the same way, with the same kinds of issues, and threats from the outside, needing more control. A democratic body, a senate, not being able to function properly because everybody's squabbling, there's corruption."

Squabbling and corruption in government? You don't say? Stay tuned for an impromptu Canadian Federal election.

Antiques Roadshow Circa 2095

I was going through a bunch of old computers today looking for a couple old cards to give to a buddy to test out, and a couple thoughts hit me. The first was that I really need to do something about my unhealthy urge to save anything and everything, particularly when it comes to electronics (stereo equipment, speakers, computers, keyboards etc.). The second, somewhat paradoxically to the first, was that some of this shit will show up on antiques roadshow some day, or maybe Google antiques roadshow. They will invent a way to make the search engine as glib and dry as those that host the show now, and then it will proceed to tell the unknowing posessor of an IBM 80386 motherboard that their piece of junk could fetch as much as 40 quadrillion dizzles (adjusted for inflation and ebonics spread in North America). Now I can't give you any relative terms, but chances are a bag of milk will cost 47 quadrillion dizzles at the same point in time. I really have to stop hanging on to this shit.

The Ultimate in Home Laziness

While home elevators make sense for those with mobility issues, I hardly think that that is the targeted group for this.

I guarantee I'll see them on "Cribs" while channel surfing past Much'Music'. On the Much note...apparently Ed the Sock is back with a new show this weekend, and being the only relevant, halfway intelligent entity ON that network anymore, I thought I'd point that out. I give it 2 weeks before he's cancelled again for being too in touch with reality. But I guarantee it won't be replaced by music, because after all, who would wanna tune into a music channel to see and hear music videos? That would be crazy!

"...I just don't know what to do with myself..."

A couple long trips to one of the field sites this week allowed me a lot of time to read, and I managed to finish 1984 (I can't read as quickly as I used to be able to). I loved it. If you haven't done so, read it, no questions asked, in the interest of the Party. But really though, while not wholly prophetic, it was never meant to be a prediction, just a commentary, and a good job is done at portraying a society of 'the future' that follows blindly what its leaders pass on, or what is the accepted norm. Obviously this aspect of the prediction isn't really far from the truth, at least in some parts of the world. I'm going to order Animal Farm on Amazon ASAP. I'm going to try to use this summer to catch up on some of the big literary pieces that I should probably have read by now, had I not shunned the whole overanalysis of writing in highschool english.

I'm looking into buying myself a domain and hosting for a year for my site. Photobucket doesn't seem to always like loading all the pics I have linked, and I feel guilty about throwing them on the host server for the site now. I'll be more free to put a bunch of content on and such, but I'll have to weigh whether or not I feel it worth the money. I could probably offer to host pictures and small sites for a select few people as well, depending on how much bandwidth and storage I am willing to pay for.

This is my first couple days of completely free time without exams or field work to worry about since late March, so I plan to spend this weekend watching basketball (Steve Nash for MVP) and baseball, and relaxing outside in this weather that is almost beginning to resemble decent spring conditions. I hope everyone else is enjoying the Yankees' sucking it up so far with their monstrous payroll full of old men with contracts too big to trade, and having already traded away all the good young talent.

April Showers Bring May....Snow Squalls?

I'm back home again, and besides feeling a little fatigued, I'm back in the swing of things. Started back to work at the university yesterday morning, and being with the same group I've worked with the last 2 work terms, it wasn't really difficult to adjust. The only difficulty I'm having with anything is this unseasonably cold weather, complete with hail, freezing rain, and snow squalls yesterday and today.

I finally got into 1984 like I had planned to on the field trip, and have found some really identifiable quotes...along with some of the more prophetic fictional observations that have curious parallels in today's Western society.

"Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness"

7:02am

Its been a week since I left for my geology field school, and most of it has been less than exciting. Snow, rain, 8a.m. departures every day and constantly changing schedules such that you can never plan anything worthwhile in your ‘free’ time make it difficult to be excited about anything, except getting home where I have a bit more control. The only news I’ve gotten since last Friday came via an awful FM ‘rock’ radio station out of Sudbury. Why do so many morning radio personalities try so hard to be funny, and sound like morons in the process? We tried tuning in an AM news station on the clock radio we have in our cabin, but after 3 times through the entire band we gave up. The news I have gotten has been less than relevant for the most part, and not at all comprehensive.

I’m writing this now cause I’m killing some time after waking up shortly after 6 with stomach cramps that are either a result of my steak last night, or the water up here catching up to me. Its amazing country up here; just about every view is stunning, but the water that tastes like salted peanuts leaves something to be desired. I took at least a hundred pictures of said views of the landscape, and posted the best of them here. I wish I’d remembered my camera for our quick trip down to Manitoulin Island yesterday. Driving through a native reserve just on the north side of the island we saw a doe eating grass at the side of a road cut. Like I said, its amazing country up here, particularly relative to Southern Ontario.

There’s actual sunlight poking out now, and the loons that were sitting on the water 50 meters from our cabin have gone elsewhere in search for food, or perhaps shade, but they’ll get plenty of that later as a wall of clouds is rolling in from the west, ensuring that we get one last April shower. I sure hope it’s the last. Bring on the May flowers, and June, July, and August girls in bikinis. There are after all various types of natural breathtaking views.

View from our cabin. 22/04/2005.


View from our cabin. Evening of 23/04/2005.


View from our cabin later that night...


Holed up in the cabin. 24/04/2005


Obligatory scenery shots (I have plenty more, but picked a couple of the best)

Fox News Inaccuracies? C'est Impossible!

Congratulations to Frank McKenna on taking a stance on this one from the CBC.

Speaking Tuesday on the Fox News political show Hannity & Colmes, Gingrich said: "Far more of the 9/11 terrorists came across from Canada than from Mexico."

None of the 19 hijackers entered the U.S. from either Canada or Mexico, information confirmed by former U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft and the 9/11 Commission investigating the attacks, wrote McKenna in his letter to Gingrich.

The comments "perpetuate an urban legend that can take on a life of its own, especially when repeated by people whose opinions are deeply respected in the United States," he wrote.

At least Gingrich had the smarts and humility to make an apology and retraction when realizing he was in error, unlike so many other guests of the Fox News network.

This will be my last post for a couple weeks, unless I manage to find a connection for my laptop up north when I'm not busy mapping rocks. I should have a ton of pictures that may or may not be interesting when I get back...i'm hoping for more of the former than the latter, cause then the trip itself won't have seemed like a waste of time, money and rest.

Another Term Down

And so another term ends. According to those ahead of me, this last term is the most demanding of all of them, so hopefully its all downhill from here, that is assuming I passed everything this term. I still have a 10 day field course to do near Sudbury. Its not for credit, but its still mandatory, yet another of those departmental things that just makes you shake your head. Hopefully it won't be too intolerable, although I'm not looking forward to waking my ass up to be on the road at 8 every morning, that's just not how I work. The day after I come back, I start work back at the University for the summer again, and I'm actually looking forward to it. Far less demanding, and a far more structured timetable compared with classes, evenings and weekends will be my own! A small break to relax would be nice, but working outside most of the summer, and with frequent summer long weekends, I have nothing to worry about.

Oh, and Catholics everywhere have a new spiritual leader to pass on his interpretations of the Bible on to the rest of the meek. I am awed at the fact that someone voted in to such a leadership position, suddenly gains the ability to understand and declare what is right and wrong to do. I personally have never seen the need to be told what is right or wrong, especially by the interpretation of a many times over translated document which may or may not have ever been based on actual historical events, or just conceived as philosophical conjecture. Translations, even now, are never perfect. One only need look as far as instructions in english for products imported from Asia and certain European countries to see that much. I, as much as with most logically thinking people, agree that one should go about their lives treating others as they expect to be treated, and all the other basic principles that follow, it is a rational interpretation of human nature. On the other hand, not eating certain kinds of meat, remembering that fish don't have feelings, and not using condoms to prevent disease spread, are both ancient and modern interpretations that seem completely irrational. This is why I find it difficult to 'practice' a religion, beyond thinking logically and treating others with respect. But hey, if in 400 years the Church can accept that Galileo was right about that whole world goin around the sun thing, then maybe, just maybe, it will be okay for us to go ahead and look at curing debilitating and fatal diseases with stem cells. And maybe by that time governments will be such that they don't feel themselves extensions of Christian 'law'.