The dangers of sleazy corporatism

America is unaware of how much of its freedom it has vested in the last few years from public institutions to private corporations, and individuals. Glenn Greenwald just needs to follow the trail -- unravel a not too complicated story, as exampled by Mike McConnell -- a man who moved easily between the government and a corporation, restlessly pursuing a single minded goal: the vesting of American intelligence capability from the government, to corporations. And he has succeeded.

The question the public, who pays for all of this, needs to ask is: when does a corporation's self-interest trump the interest of the public it is now charged with serving? The answer is simple. Time and time again, it has been proven -- and it's written into corporate law. A corporation has to service only the interests of its shareholders. Doing anything else, and the management team is in violation of their contractual obligations. And in the intelligence business, peace is not good for business.

in reference to: Mike McConnell, the WashPost & the dangers of sleazy corporatism - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

The war on Wikileaks

In our first world democracies, the general population nestles under the comfort of apathy, trusting that what our government does, is in our best interest -- in the best interest of our nation, our democracy and the world. Wish that was true. As with most power, the benefits pour to the self-interested -- and caters to the few close our elected officials -- including those elected to serve us. At the end of the day, we're sheep, making the rich, richer -- and the powerful, more powerful, and above the laws that govern the rest of us.

That is why, entities such as Wikileaks, exist. In fact, it is one of the few, where the powerful can be challenged and brought to their knees. And you know the powerful self-interest are afraid, when they've declared an open war on Wikileaks. The US government, along with the governments of China, North Korea and Iran -- as well as others, such as Australia and Britain -- are seeking to bring Wikileaks to its knees. Not only have their been court challenges -- but now, the American spy masters are out to take down Wikileaks. When you get come under the scope of the CIA -- can the end be too far off? Yes, the Pentagon has added Wikileaks to the list of enemies threatening the security of the US. Yes, an enemy of the US is now a website!

For those in blissful ignorance, Glenn Greenwald provides an excellent synopsis of the situation and the importance of Wikileaks. Governments shouldn't need to keep secrets from its people, unless it's up to no-good. Wikileaks has been a platform for whistleblowers around the world, to shine a light on plans, policies and actions of governments and businesses. They've revealed CIA plots to manipulate public opinion in foreign countries in order to win broad support for the war in Afghanistan. They've detailed the torture practices employed by the US in Guantanamo Bay. They've revealed the US violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a time when public institutions in our democracies should be acting to protect the public interest, but don't, Wikileaks fills a much needed void.

in reference to:

"As The New York Times put it last week: "To the list of the enemies threatening the security of the United States, the Pentagon has added WikiLeaks.org, a tiny online source of information and documents that governments and corporations around the world would prefer to keep secret.""
- The war on WikiLeaks and why it matters - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

The bleating gurgle of one drowning in his own shit

I love this comment from "anonymous" and I will leave it up here. If it was worth my time, I'd trawl through the server logs to find this little fucker's IP and respond in kind. But alas, I have much better things to do with my time.

Still, I'd like to keep this comment for the rest of us still living in the civilized society that is Canada -- a reminder of how fragile our civility really is. A comment like this could be nothing more than graffiti of a delinquent. Or it could be more. We should think of it as more, rather than be dismissive of the dangers that lurk right here in Canada. When Ann Coulter can travel to Canada and be welcomed to have an audience to spout similar hate, we should all be worried. The dangers are real when we tolerate such rants -- give it a platform -- and don't challenge its veracity.

To the "anonymous" who responded to my post: I'm assuming you're of European descent, since you refer to my skin colour as a "dark shit stain". The only group that has any justification to rail against continued immigration, are the First Nations people. The rest of us, including those of European descent, are just immigrants to this country. Therefore, to attack immigrants as "worthless pieces of shit, that should die", is to attack your own ancestry. Irony is indeed lost on the stupid.

Bring it on, "anonymous."

in reference to:

"These immigrants are worthless pieces of shit, that should die. They contribute nothing to society. It's like a dark shit stain on white skn that you can't get rid of. They're fucking lucky we even allowed them into this country."
- floccinaucinihilipilificate: Minorities to take over (view on Google Sidewiki)

Susan @ Gasabo Gatsata Kigali

With a recent repayment, I was today able to make my 11th loan via Kiva, to help someone in the developing world, help themselves. My loan of $25 was given to Susan, a 24-year-old mother of a 3-month-old baby. Susan runs a business selling spare parts, with her shop open from 7AM - 6PM, every day. Susan lives in Rwanda. Women like Susan give me hope that there is a way for Africa -- long and torturous it may be, they will be able to join the rest of the world with relative prosperity and stability.

If you have some time, head over to Kiva and loan a little.

in reference to:

"With this additional business, Susan will hopefully earn more profits which, in turn, will allow her to start reserving for future reinvestment in her business as well as for the wellbeing of her family."
- Kiva - Susan Umuganwa from Rwanda has a loan fundraising on Kiva (view on Google Sidewiki)

Everything we know is probably wrong

Just when we think we've got a handle on what's going on, along comes some new knowledge that shakes our understanding of it all. NASA scientists have now confirmed findings reported a few years ago, that yes indeed, "dark flow", is real. Using a larger data set of 1,400 galaxy clusters and looking further out, they've been able to confirm that something has been pulling the known universe towards it -- at least to 2.5 billion light-years back -- and most likely, out to beyond the edge of the known universe.

in reference to: New Proof Unknown "Structures" Tug at Our Universe (view on Google Sidewiki)

Forget CFLs and LEDs ... Quantum dots are the future!

OK, so they're still LEDs, but this new form of LED is so much better than your daddy's. While very efficient, today's LEDs can produce various wavelengths of light only when they hit the coating of the bulbs that house them, excite the atoms they encounter (usually phosphorus for white light) and of course, lose energy as heat. Not so with quantum-dot lighting.

Quantum-dot lighting works by employing quantum-dots (semiconducting material a few nanometers in diameter) of various sizes, that get excited by a light source and radiate wavelengths corresponding to their size. The white light produced by quantum-dots is far superior to current LEDs -- approaching that of full spectrum light. That should be a great selling point for people who simply can't get over the "cold" light produced by today's LEDs and CFLs. On top of being more visually pleasing, quantum-dot lighting is about 50% more efficient than current LEDs.

in reference to: Quantum dot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (view on Google Sidewiki)

This video was compiled from fluorescing colloidal quantum dots of different sizes excited by an argon laser. The dots are invisible (with one exception in a microscope at 2:14) but they produce the bright colors in the beam. The bits of bright blue flashes are dust particles in the solutions.

Netanyahu does whatever he wants

Israel will continue to do whatever the hell it wants in Palestine -- and anywhere else in the world for that matter -- because it can. Because it is the only country in the world that can give America the finger; because America is Israel's bitch. It's simple as that.

Israel can continue to use foreign cover to launch assassinations; it can even spy on America; steal from America; and blow up American navy ships; and get away with it, because Israel know it can. It knows it can because it has control over American politicians -- and the American public opinion. It is the only nation that has such a large lobby effort in the US, and the Americans can seem to do nothing about it.

The fact that Netanyahu wants no solution to the Palestinian problem that involves returning what it seized from the war -- or for that matter a Palestinian state -- is not news. Israel of course, will pay for this shortsightedness. You only need to look at the demographic changes in Israel/Palestine to know that the Palestinians will outnumber the Israelis eventually. Immigration is not going to help Israel. Change will come. It's inevitable -- only when it does, it will be more painful for the Israelis.

in reference to:

"Mr Netanyahu however believes he can call Mr Obama's bluff and ride out the storm. The plan to build 1,600 settlements, he says, will go ahead, whatever Washington's demands to the contrary. And on all counts, he's probably right."
- Rupert Cornwell: Obama won't restrain Israel - he can't - Rupert Cornwell, Commentators - The Independent (view on Google Sidewiki)

We're morons

The collective "we" that is -- you may not be a moron (although, if you choose to not have a choice, you're a moron in my book). That's the suggestion from Ian Brown in the Globe and Mail, in reference to Canadians apparent preference for Stephen Harper in latest Ekos poll. Apparently, Harper has a "macho, emotional image" which really is a turn-on for the general voter -- who are turned-off by the intellectual image of Michael Ignatieff.

Yes, in general, the country is populated by morons. They prefer the man who has no doubts about what he's doing, because that makes them think he does know what he's doing. In fact, 86% of the morons believe that his political decisions are based on reason.

WTF is wrong with you people? Courage isn't the only trait needed in a leader -- and I'm using that word liberally in reference to Harper. How about a little intelligence? Intelligence to know that you don't always have all the answers? That sometimes you need to rely on experts -- and you need to heed them -- despite a personal preference. You know, the same strengths that make us all go ga-ga over Obama.

Sigh. People can be morons. Then they vote.

[Thanks for the link, Naj.]

in reference to:

"As a matching crock to the impression Mr. Harper gives that he's never wrong, 86 per cent of Canadians believe their political decisions are based entirely on reason. "Men over 45 seem to think we live on Vulcan, that we're all like Spock," Frank Graves, the Ekos pollster, told me. "And there's a bit of Klingon, too, because we think courage is the most important trait in a politician.""
- We're Canadians, not Vulcans - The Globe and Mail (view on Google Sidewiki)

Minorities to take over

Bwah-ha-ha-ha! It's the end of the -- uh -- white Canada? StatsCan has projected that by 2031, the visible minority population will rise to one-third of Canada's population. And that has got the good ole boys and girls raging mad. Forget the wealth these new Canadians generate. Forget that Canada is a country of immigrants. Forget that immigrants will be slaving away to pay for social security when the boomers are out on the pasture. Forget all the facts as to why Canada needs immigration. Facts don't deter from irrational fear of the unknown and change.

Just read some of the comments on the CBC article -- and for a good dose of fear, check out this thread in the CanChan (be forewarned -- chans tend to be nsfw). I'm already shaking in my boots -- and as of this moment, I'm avoiding any Canadian city, town or village with a minority population smaller than 10%.

in reference to: CBC News - Canada - Minorities to rise significantly by 2031: StatsCan (view on Google Sidewiki)

The death of little sisters

There are over 100 million missing women in the world. In rich countries, as well as the poor; in the educated ranks as well as uneducated; across all religious backgrounds -- women are missing in startling numbers. 100 million. That's like having one third of the American population going missing; our the entire population of Canada being wiped out three times. No only are women the poorest in the world; the most likely to experience violence within their lifetimes; but they are also the largest visible group to which the world wages a quiet war against.

It starts with the ancient prejudice -- males are preferable to females in all societies -- for a variety of reasons that are no longer valid today. Family names are passed down through males; inheritance of property favours males; males earn more women; traditional societies expect the parents of females to pay dowry; males are assumed to be the ones who would be capable of taking care of their parents in old-age; males supply the hard labour for families dependent on all members contributing; and so on. In effect, society values females less than males.

Combined with the modern preference for smaller families -- in the extremes, like China, where the law forbids having more than one child, this becomes a potent mix -- and the prevalence of modern medicine, such as ultrasound, allowing parents to determine the sex of a fetus -- less girls are being born today. And even when they're born, the danger isn't over. In places where the sex of the child isn't readily determine before birth, some parents opt to murder their baby girls to try again for a son.

What happens when society prefers boys over girls is horrendous. China implemented its one-child policy in 1978. As a result, across the country, baby girls started disappearing. They were either not being born, or dying a swift death after birth. It's now projected that by 2020, there will be 30 million men unable to find a mate in China. That's big. China's one-child policy however, doesn't carry the entire blame. In India, with a slightly smaller population than China, the figure is just as bad. By 2020, it's expected that there will be 25 million young "surplus males." In other Asian, as well as former Soviet countries, the disparity is the same -- and there is no governing policy discriminating against the size of a family -- or females -- in those countries. There are less females simply because they're being aborted or murdered.

For proof, one simply has to look at the preference for boys after the first child has been born. After the first born, regardless of sex, the preference for a boy increases dramatically. In South Korea for example, by the third child, parents are so desperate to have a son, that the ratio is nearly two boys being born for every one girl. That should be a 1:1 ratio -- but it's 2:1! And South Korea isn't an uneducated country. So ignorance can't be blamed. In fact, contrary to expectations, the better educated and higher earning the population, the worse the plight of females are. It's simple to understand. These parents know how to select for boys -- and they can afford ultrasounds to abort females before they're born.

It's easy to dismiss all of this as happening in those other countries, where people are ignorant; and are saddled with traditional cultures. But this is our problem too, since it's happening right here in Canada. As young Canadian couples, and chances are you're likely to hear a preference for boys over girls -- or simply, they would be happy with any child, but would like to have a son somewhere along the line. What needs to change is the attitude towards females in general. I feel the need to repeat this over and over -- females are valuable to our society and species. What don't you understand about that?

in reference to:

"all countries need to raise the value of girls. They should encourage female education; abolish laws and customs that prevent daughters inheriting property; make examples of hospitals and clinics with impossible sex ratios; get women engaged in public life-using everything from television newsreaders to women traffic police. Mao Zedong said "women hold up half the sky." The world needs to do more to prevent a gendercide that will have the sky crashing down."
- The war on baby girls: Gendercide | The Economist (view on Google Sidewiki)

For more:

• Distorted sex ratios in India
• Mothers in China
• Gendercide
• Son Preference and the Persistence of Culture: Evidence from Asian Immigrants to Canada (PDF)
• Explaining Asia's "Missing Women": A New Look at the Data (PDF)
• Sex Ratios and Crime: Evidence from China's One-Child Policy (PDF)

So much for papal infallibility

If you need any more reason to be pissed at the Roman Catholic church, here's another one. The revelations of the abuse of kids by priests in Europe continue. Now, it appears the once future pope, Archbishop Ratty, in 1980, assisted in quietly moving a pedophile within the church's ranks, away for a little bit of treatment to cure his sexual obsession with boys. The treatment didn't work.

(Dogma! Huh-yeah! What is it good for? ...) Now I know papal infallibility is just some bullshit the catholic church made up to make their sheep bleat in unison -- and I'm also very much aware that it doesn't mean that the pope can't make mistakes or (gasp!) commit a sin ... however ... let's think critically about this for a moment (if you're religious, don't try this, you'll find yourself incapable of doing this). If there is a god, and said god tolerates pedophiles in his ranks -- and further, lets his future right hand man assist in hiding the abuse -- what kind of god does that make?

God may work in mysterious ways -- but his people? There is no mystery in self-interest. It's just self-interest.

in reference to: Pope Had Role in Moving Molesting Priest, Church Says (Update1) - Bloomberg.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

British libel law is twisted

British libel law is not working, stifles free speech, yet continues to be practiced. To begin with, the law requires the defendant to prove the truth of their statement -- instead of requiring the defamed to prove it false. You can see where this would lead. Anyone who doesn't like what you say and just sue you for libel -- even if they expect you to win, you still lose, as in the case of Simon Singh. The law considers the defendant guilty, until proven innocent. Further, the law can be used to settle scores in foreign countries. For instance, if a magazine article is published in Canada that reflects negatively on an individual -- said individual could sue in British courts for libel, if the magazine was made available for sale in England -- which only requires online access.

It's widely acknowledged that British libel laws stifle free speech. The Americans are considering a bill that would make British judgments on libel cases unenforceable in the US -- and the European Court of Human Rights has already ruled against it. So why hasn't it changed? Libel laws, especially that of British design, serves the rich primarily -- be they individuals or companies. They have the means to wield it as a tool to stifle free speech and curb criticism. Politicians, being individuals with the means to wield the libel tool, see no point in changing what clearly works in their favour.

in reference to: Simon Singh: This is goodbye | Science | guardian.co.uk (view on Google Sidewiki)

Elephunk theme or Unakkum Enakkum Aanandham by another name

Back in 2003, Black Eyed Peas released the Elephunk Theme on their Elephunk album. Of course, BEP has gone on to other things since then. But the Elephunk Theme -- ever wondered about it? The song samples liberally from a Tamil song -- Unakkum Enakkum Aanandham -- composed by Ilaiyaraaja for the movie Sri Raghavendra. Sample we're told. Listen to the original though, and you realize that it is more than a sample. They lifted the entire Elephunk Theme from the Tamil original. The Tamil original is below -- and you can find the BEP version on YouTube.

It's amazing that they get the amount of credit they do for this song, when really, they hardly did anything musically to it, other than a western pop/rap cover.

Now -- ever wonder about the female singer that lends her voice to both the Tamil original and the BEP version? Her name is S. Janaki. She's Indian -- Telugu by birth -- but sings in many languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Hindi -- and even Japanese and German. She has 30,000 songs sung, to her credit. She's currently 71 years old, and sang this song when she was 47 years old. She's currently semi-retired. See her in the video below, performing live. She, unfortunately, didn't get any credit for her performance on the BEP album. My guess is because she just didn't strut like Fergie.

Passivhaus

What a neat idea! This German standard for energy efficient houses, called passivhaus (passive house), requires an annual heating/cooling demand of not more than 15 kWh/m² per year! The typical house today achieves over 200 kWh/m², while low energy houses achieve somewhere around 60 kWh/m². The passivhaus standard dispenses with conventional heating and cooling sources, and instead relies on the house the heat and cool itself. The cost savings realized here is used to fund the higher than average construction cost of these houses -- however the Germans have now managed to bring the cost of passive houses down to the cost of conventional houses.

If this design catches on in a big way, energy consumption could drop dramatically. It does however require some willingness on the part of home builders, buyers and regulators to change conventional thinking. Already, there are estimated to be around 15-20,000 of these houses around. For an idea that makes so much sense, saves money and the environment, it's disappointing that there are only that many for an idea that's been since the late 80s.

in reference to:

"In the United States, a house built to the Passive House standard results in a building that requires space heating energy of 1 BTU per square foot per heating degree day, compared with about 5 to 15 BTUs per square foot per heating degree day for a similar building built to meet the 2003 Model Energy Efficiency Code. This is between 75 and 95% less energy for space heating and cooling than current new buildings that meet today's US energy efficiency codes."
- Passive house - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (view on Google Sidewiki)

Palin speaks the truth through lies

Yes Americans who like tea parties, you really are stupid, and this woman knows you are. The latest from Palin? On Leno, she admits that she joined Fox News because the "mainstream media is quite broken" -- in that there is too much "opinion interjected in hard news stories."

Does she even listen to what comes out of her mouth? Or does she just pinch her nose and daub her lips with tissue?

in reference to:

"I studied journalism, my college degree there in communications. And now I am back there wanting to build some trust back in our media. I think the mainstream media is quite broken and I think there needs to be the fairness, the balance in there — that’s why I joined Fox."
- Think Progress » Palin: ‘I joined Fox’ because there’s too much ‘opinion interjected in hard news’ in the mainstream media. (view on Google Sidewiki)