Canadian Foreign Policy
2003.02.28
I agree completely with everything in that piece. It's all true, and it's a shame. There really isn't much to say about it.
Anti-War
2003.02.27
If the Anti-War protesters succeed
I've never understood the notion that nothing is worth the cost of war. Looking back into history, it's obviously not true, so why would it be true today? I'm not against war on Iraq, I'm against the way this war has been formulated. It makes me wonder who the US is going after next, and how much someone is allowed to do before attracting US military attention. Is Iraq not allowed to have weapons of mass destruction because of the surrender it signed in 1991? Or is it simply enough to try and develop them? If another country should choose to develop these weapons, but have done nothing wrong, will they to be the target of US aggression? We'll see.
In the case of Iraq, and many other countries, I'm pro-war simply because they have consistently violated basic human rights as the above article describes. It's the same with North Korea. The UN should have the guts to confront these nations about their crimes, but it seems there are either far too many cowards in the world, or far too many people doing business with these criminal nations. If a person suspects their neighbour of abusing their children, and they call the police, the police intervene and the abuse stops. The UN should have a similar system, so that the Americans don't get put into the police role and end up liking it too much.
I know it's hard for the staunch anti-war crowd to swallow, but there are people who cannot be reached by words alone. It's simply the way it is.
Anti-Americanism
2003.02.26
Leading US public health groups tell US to leave Tobacco Treaty negotiations
Listen up America, it's time to go back to school. The subject of the above article represents exactly why the rest of the world "hates" you. While almost the entire planet looks towards a bright future of a cigarette free world, you try as hard as possible to sabotage that vision in defense of tobacco corporations' parasitic interests. Does it matter than smoking costs the American health care system $157 billion every year? Does it matter than 1200 Americans die every day from smoking related illnesses? Apparently not.
Oh sure, you're willing to bring up the constitution to defend your actions, so long as it's to your advantage. Of course, when it comes to something like the Department of Homeland Security, warrantless wiretaps and searches, or arrests without charges, that shriveled old piece of paper can't fall to the wayside quick enough. America isn't getting its way in an International treaty? Better slap some trade sanctions on those disapproving countries to get them back in line. Don't like what America is doing in your back yard? Fine, no problem, there goes your humanitarian aid.
America really is a big bully. Oh sure, it's nice to have them around for protection and economic strength, so long as you're willing to be a pushover. These are the reasons the world "hates" America. These are the reasons the world scowls at the US flag. People don't put up with bullies forever, and when America's time runs out, it's going to be quite a show.
New remix today, check it out.
Olympics
2003.02.25
So the people of Vancouver voted "yes". Thank God. I don't know if I'd want to live in a city that wouldn't want to host the Olympics. While I'm pleased with the result, I can't help thinking that the vote never should have happened in the first place.
Supporting the Olympic bid is not a Vancouver issue. It's at least a Provincial one, if not a National one. I live in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver that would be just as effected by the presence of the games, but I didn't get to vote. The people of North Vancouver didn't get to vote, and neither did the people of Surrey, Burnaby or Whistler. Oh sure, our municipalities decided to back the bid outright, but no one can say that if Vancouver had voted "no" it wouldn't have crippled any chance the city had. The residents of Vancouver were voting in a plebiscite that could have affected the lives of literally millions of people across the Province; people who weren't allowed to vote themselves. Sounds ridiculous to me.
While the Olympic games are certainly bigger than Expo '86 was, there is the same potential for the city to benefit. Oh sure, the city and the Province lost money on Expo, but it opened the entire Vancouver area to the world. If it had not been for Expo, Vancouver would still be the west coast backwater of Canada that it once was, keeping company with cities like Winnipeg and Regina, instead of the modern metropolis and world renowned vacation and living destination that it is today. Will the Olympics have a similar effect? Who knows, but I'd say it's worth the risk.
The sad thing is, there are people in this city who wish that it had stayed a hippie friendly backwater.
My buddy Jeremy Hoey has a new "rant-o-rave" site up. Check it out. I imagine you'll find a lot of his opinions quite different from mine or Chris Wren's, but that's part of the fun.
Martian Life?
2003.02.21
Melting snow may support life on Mars.
It seems like every time someone looks at Mars more closely, the possibility of life existing on the planet, even to this day, becomes more and more likely. I find it immensely exciting that I could live to see the first discovery of life beyond our planet. I hope to wake up someday and see "LIFE ON MARS!" splattered across the front page of every major newspaper in the world. It'll be bacteria, or perhaps some other kind of simple life form, but it will be life none the less.
Most of all, it will stick it to all those people who used to say that life could only exist on a planet like Earth, and then only if the right ingredients were present in the first place. I think as Humans begin to explore the solar system, the galaxy, and the Universe, we'll find that life is much more resilient and impressive than we ever thought. Sure, life on Earth might not be able to survive on alien planets, but that doesn't mean alien life can't. It is alien life after all.
"Oh, but you need water". "Oh, but you need oxygen". "Oh, but you need sunlight". "Oh, but you need carbon". It's amazing that we can come to such logical conclusions based on a single example. Obviously advanced life on Earth will base itself on water, since it's so abundant here, but that doesn't mean life requires water. If there's one thing that has constantly surprised scientists about life here, it's the ability to adapt and survive in almost any environment on this planet. Is it so ridiculous to think it wouldn't be able to do so elsewhere?
Warp Speed?
2003.02.20
Last night's episode of Enterprise was actually pretty good, and only serves to reinforce my theory that they should keep doing more of the Temporal Cold War episodes. So far, they're the only ones which have been interesting. I was somewhat disappointed with the ending, since it's so abrupt, but hopefully future episodes will answer all of the lingering questions.
Unfortunately, the episode suffers from some extremely lazy writing; rearing its ugly head for about 30 seconds of the episode, but it was enough to get me pissed off at Berman and Braga and the rest of the writing staff.
Phasers can not be fired at warp speed. It's a limit of the technology which has been firmly cemented in Star Trek technical manuals since the original series. The Enterprise-D cannot fire phasers at warp, the Defiant cannot fire phasers at warp, and Voyager cannot fire phasers at warp (although knowing B&B, there are probably some episodes where it does). A simple verification of this with the Trek bible would only have caused the writers to change one piece of dialogue, and the VFX house to show Enterprise firing torpedoes instead. There's no excuse for this, and it proves to me that there isn't a single Star Trek fan writing for Enterprise.
A few seconds later, in the same sequence, Archer asks how far they are from the Vulcan ship. T'Pol says 600,000 kilometres. Think about that for a second. The ship is traveling at maximum warp, so almost warp 5. Warp 5 is supposedly at least 300-400 times the speed of light. The speed of light is 300,000 kilometres per second. Yet somehow, through the magic of television, Enterprise doesn't reach the Vulcans for at least 20 more seconds. I know it's a nit-pick, but once again, there is no excuse. Do your fucking research and change the number she spouts out. "57 million kilometres Captain". Is it really so hard?
The episode is mostly good otherwise. It pains me to think that the writers simply don't care about the franchise enough to even make sure that small technical details like that are correct. These things were mostly correct in TNG and DS9, and it's the little things that count. If the Enterprise writers really aren't interested in the history and mythos of Star Trek, it doesn't bode well for the future success of the franchise.
Random Ramblings
2003.02.19
I wonder if someday, when we fully understand how the Human brain works, we'll be able to bottle moods? I could sure go for a nice "motivation" pill right about now. Maybe it's not such a good idea. I'm sure there would be people screaming "moral foul" left, right, and centre. I suppose there are plenty of mood altering drugs available through prescription, but it's not quite the same.
Sometimes it seems like the world moves too slowly when it comes to the future. As much as people love using the line "The future...Now!" to sell stuff, it has always involved a bit of a wait. If only we could master time travel; people could choose to live in whatever time period they found most interesting. Maybe time travelers are doing that sort of thing right now, and we just don't know it.
I really don't know where I'm going with this. Mostly I couldn't think of anything to post. My mind tends to go off on tangents quite easily when it comes to things like these. I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't think of what it must be like to go through life without considering extreme theories of the Universe. "Gotta go to work. Gotta get the kids. Gotta pay the bills. Gotta do this. Gotta do that."
People actually do that! It's amazing!
Changes for NASA?
2003.02.18
NASA Is Held Down by its Own Bureaucracy
I'm not entirely sure how much of this article is an accurate assessment of NASA, but looking back on the space program of late, it sure seems to be. While it was horrible to lose another Shuttle; another seven lives, I certainly hope that it pushes NASA and the US Government to make some changes. Of course, it will help to have China in space as well, which they may do by the end of the year. At least someone on this planet still knows what "national pride" and "exploration" mean.
The Shuttle is expensive, there's no question about it. China's entire manned program has only cost them about $450 million so far; less than NASA spends on a single Shuttle launch. The idea of stripping the Shuttle bare and inspecting every single component between missions is ludicrous. If we did that with airplanes, airline tickets would cost $50,000 each and flights would only happen every few days. While space flight is more dangerous, we shouldn't keep looking at it that way. People said the same thing about flying in early airplanes, and plenty of pilots were killed, but look at where we are now. As the article points out, plenty of European explorers set out 500 years ago and never came back. There must have been people saying "it's too dangerous, we shouldn't be doing it" back then. Imagine what the world would be like if we'd listened to them.
It seems unlikely anything will cause a rebirth of NASA anytime soon. They've committed themselves to flying the three remaining Shuttles for at least 20 more years, which seems utterly foolish to me, but maybe I'm just ignorant. I can only hope than a larger Chinese presence in space will motivate the Americans to light the fires of space travel in the public eye yet again. We should have a Moon base by now for crying out loud. Let's go!!!
Peace Man
2003.02.17
While the anti-war demonstrations were impressive, they simply could not sway me. At this point, I think everyone has made their arguments, everyone has had plenty of time to debate. I think we all know what's going to happen, whether we like it or not.
I spent all of Sunday playing Super Metroid with my friend Chris. The game was one of my bigger ticket purchases on eBay, and it is worth every penny. I still think it's my favourite game of all time, and playing is yesterday was just as enjoyable as the first time. Well, almost.
New remix today. It is the first of what will be many future Super Metroid remixes, so have a listen and enjoy.
Hackers
2003.02.13
I hate Hackers. First of all, let me make sure you know what I mean by "hackers". I'm not talking about people who crack software and distribute is, since they are "crackers" or "pirates". I'm not talking about people who find security flaws in computer systems and report them, since they tend to be more like "security analysts" or "IT security managers".
Hackers are in the same group as virus writers. They are the Terrorists of the Internet. People who derive pleasure out of the suffering of others. Using viruses, DOS (denial of service) attacks, and other means, they seek to disrupt Internet traffic in the biggest, most flamboyant way possible. It's a game to them, something they can brag about to their loser friends so they can all join in a big circle jerk and tell each other how fantastic and brilliant they are. "Yeah, fight the power! Stick it to the man!" It's not a game.
I'm sure that when people say "it's just harmless fun", it's a real comfort to the guy who missed a deadline because his FTP server crashed or was too slow. I'm sure it's a real comfort to the stock brokers who lose money because transfers are interrupted. People depend on the Internet to make a living, to feed their families, and disrupting it is no different than disrupting the telephone system, or the power grid. Like it or not, the Internet has become essential to our civilization, and any Hacker who things it's cool to try and shut the whole thing down might as well be blowing up a building somewhere.
No better than Terrorists.
More Enterprise
2003.02.13
The latest episode of Enterprise wasn't too bad. I really do wish they would do more of the "saga" episodes, telling the birth of the Federation and this mysterious "temporal cold war". The stand alone episodes just aren't as interesting. Personally, I think the reason they don't do more "saga" episodes is because they can't think up the stories fast enough.
If Enterprise really wanted to improve its ratings, B&B would make every third or fourth episode a "saga" episode. Maybe even more. If there's one thing prime-time dramas and soap operas have proven time and again, it's that people will tune in to find out what happens, even if the story itself isn't anything special.
Following the Voyager formula will produce nothing but more Voyager-level ratings and sub-par scripts. You'd have to be a moron to screw up and story like the birth of the United Federation of Planets, but then again, we are dealing with Berman and Braga here.
Thoughts
2003.02.12
My mind has been blank for the last couple of days about what to post. It's been fairly slow in the news. Well, perhaps not slow, but certainly nothing we haven't heard before. I'm almost finished with my vintage game collection, and I'd guess I've got less than 10 titles to find. I'm not exactly sure how much money I've spent on eBay in the past two months, but it's certainly more than I'd care to tell anyone about.
I'm glad that while the Terrorists are busy hatching plots to blow things up, the rest of the world is learning about the nature of the universe. 13.7 billion years old, eh? I guess that's a lot. The thing I find so interesting about these discoveries is how certain the scientists always seem about things. Oh sure, there's lots they don't know, but even some of the stuff they think they know is based on stuff they don't know for sure.
How can we even begin to say that we know anything about the Universe when we can't even describe time. What is time? Answer that one, and I'm sure you'll get something from someone. We have conflicting laws of physics to describe different objects, which doesn't make any sense to me. If over 73 percent of the Universe is made up of "dark energy", which no one has any ideas about beyond a name, how can we really say we understand anything? As my friend Chris put it: trying to understand the Universe by only looking at matter is like trying to understand a building by only looking at the dust inside of it.
One of the reasons I like stories like Contact so much is because they put forward the idea that even alien races which have existed for billions of years don't have a clue about the nature of the Universe or how it works, let alone being able to explain something like the Big Bang. How do you explain the creation of everything? Why did it happen? How did it happen? To me, trying to answer these questions isn't like proving the existence of God, it's like trying to answer why there's a God in the first place.
Still, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
Terrorists Win!
2003.02.10
The US Government just doesn't get it.
Assuming something like this bill were actually passed and becomes law in the States, the Terrorists will be able to declare victory, at least partially. What would be really scary in this situation is if the people responsible for this bill weren't doing this to increase the personal power they have in office, but because they actually believed they were protecting America. If that were true, it would almost certainly prove that one needs no degree of intelligence to "serve the public".
There is some really scary stuff in that bill. Force suspects to prove why they should be released on bail, instead of forcing the prosecution to prove why they should be held? Deportation of US citizens if they become or help members of terrorist groups? A national DNA database of "suspects", people who have committed no crimes but somehow might be terrorists? I mean, this really is 1984 level, scary stuff.
All of it is exactly what the Terrorists want. It almost seems to me that the more the US government suspects its own citizens of being Terrorists, the more the Terrorists will slip below the radar. Terrorists aren't stupid after all (shoe bomb boy doesn't count, as he really was stupid).
"Answer the question. Are you now or have you ever been a member of, or associated with, a Terrorist group?"
Freedom indeed.
Oh, new remix today.
It's All About Oil
2003.02.06
Here is a very interesting theory.
Basically, the author theorizes that the US is pushing for war with Iraq in order to force the country to switch back to US dollars as its reserve currency, instead of Euros. At the moment, Iraq trades oil in Euros, a switch made several years ago which other middle eastern nations as well as OPEC are seriously considering. At the moment, almost the entire world does business in US funds.
If such a switch were to happen, and if it were abrupt, economists "forecast" the US dollar would drop in value 30-40 percent. Essentially, America would be faced with a depression almost worse than that of the 1930s, plunging the world's largest economic power into the doldrums of investment confidence.
Also particularly interesting is the idea that Japan's economy, the world's second largest and very sensitive to oil prices, could collapse entirely if a war with Iraq forced oil prices to spike for even a short time. A single nation, like Iraq, toppling the world's two most powerful economic forces in less than a few years? The European Union emerging as the dominant political and economic superpower?
For the Americans, it would be the end, at least for several decades. Exciting!
Justice?
2003.02.05
It seems like every time I read a paper these days, there's a story about someone being sentenced to "probation". Ooohhhh! Hard time! I'm sick and tired of sentencing being dependent on how sorry the criminal is. This is especially true in Canada.
A story in The Vancouver Sun yesterday reported a pair for young men, 21 and 23 I believe, being sentenced to two years confined to their homes, along with driver's license suspensions for five years, for street racing and killing a woman. They were convicted of criminal negligence causing death, and they don't even go to prison? Whatever judge handed down these "sentences" should be sent to prison themselves for obstruction of justice.
Apparently judges in Canada are under pressure to keep criminals out of prisons, since they are so crowded, so they're handing out light sentences. Kill someone with your car? No problem, here's a $100 fine, and you're grounded for two years. Kill a restaurant owner and a server, stabbing them each twelve times, because you were caught stealing from the till, and you're off to a minimum security resort, errr, prison for 15 years before parole? All of this simply because you said "I'm sorry"? Is this justice in the 21st century?
A person being sorry doesn't reverse time, and should have no weight whatsoever on sentencing. The law exists for a reason, and when people start to realize that the benefits of an act outweigh the punishments, they'll be a lot more willing to do it.
Destination: Mars!
2003.02.04
Some of the talk in the media right now revolves around the general public disinterest with NASA, and space flight in general. Interviews with children who aren't terribly interested in space, scientists saying we should focus on robots and probes instead of manned craft, Apollo astronauts remembering the "good old days" of exploration and adventure.
CNN's Arron Brown said "Does NASA need a new goal? A grand goal; something the entire nation can recognize and support?" Absolutely. Mars in 20 years! Back to the moon by 2010! Something, anything, to get people excited about space flight again. The last thing NASA needs right now to to focus on "hard science", which most people are barely capable of understanding. A grand mission would revitalize the spirit of NASA, and of the people, and push technology into a whole new realm.
Nothing will happen of course, since a small trip to the moon is a massive undertaking by itself and would cost billions upon billions of dollars. America doesn't have that money right now, despite the hundreds of thousands of jobs a program like that would create. Despite the cost, imagine a brand new generation walking on the moon, filming the entire voyage in glorious IMAX format for all the world to see for generations to come. The mission would have the added benefit of finally silencing those moronic "moon hoax" perpetuators. It's 2003 for crying out loud! Over thirty years have passed since Apollo 11. Human beings should have a permanent moon base by now, with a permanent and culturally diverse population.
What would you give to be alive when the first Human being sets foot on Mars? A date which, just like the moon walk, would be cemented in history for all time. I find it utterly pathetic that even a 21 year old like me may never see that day. In 1970 "Mars by 2000" probably didn't seem too unrealistic, and in 1980 "Mars by 2030" was almost a certainty. What now? "Mars by 2170"? What a sad state we are in.
We've been trying to solve our problems on Earth for more than ten thousand years. We aren't going to solve them, it's just the way it is. People's lives are always more enjoyable when they feel hopeful more often than not, and a flourishing space program is one of the best ways to do that.
New remix today. Check it out!
Space Program
2003.02.03
My weekend didn't start out very well, as I was woken up Saturday morning by a phone call from my father where he told me "I think they've just lost Columbia in reentry". I've been watching a lot of the CNN coverage these past two days, and it's still difficult to see the images of the shuttle breaking into pieces, and imagining what the crew must have experienced in those moments.
I was pleased to see most people supporting NASA and the space program through this though time. I was pleased that the people who spend all of their lives looking at their feet weren't getting any air time. I wonder how many of those people actually realize what humanity's various space programs have given to our civilization. Since they're obviously unaffected by the true meaning of the program, and the impact that a simple picture of Earth can have on a person's view of life, I'll try and stick to some "hard" evidence.
Try and imagine the world without advanced water purification systems, solar power, advanced fire resistance materials, radiation insulation, self-righting life rafts, or medical and industrial x-ray machines. Currently in development, thanks to the Shuttle program, are miniature heart-assist pumps, based on technology developed for the Shuttle's fuel pump systems, and a completed topographical map of the planet, to be used for improving worldwide navigation and communication systems. Imagine our civilization without the satellite, perhaps the single biggest communications discovery since radio.
All of these things were borne, either directly or indirectly, from the world's space programs. Who knows what technologies will be developed in the future, which may change the very nature of our lives. America spends less than one percent of its total, $1.5 trillion budget, on its space program. NASA creates hundreds of thousands of jobs and helps pioneer mankind's knowledge of both the universe and of our planet Earth, resulting in countless benefits, both inspirational and practical.
If the space haters were capable of living in a world where the space program never existed, I very much doubt they would choose to, but for any that would, I have nothing but pity for them.
Moment of Silence
2003.02.01
I hope everyone will pause for a moment today to remember the crew of the space shuttle Columbia, who lost their lives this morning when their ship disintegrated during reentry.
Despite our technological advancement, space flight remains extremely dangerous, and it is a pity that we consistently forget this. I was happy to hear Bush reconfirm America's commitment to their space program following this accident. Of the original 5 active shuttles, only three remain. Sooner or later they will have to be replaced, as each of them is as old and I am and can't possibly last forever. Let's hope that this will be the motivation NASA needs to take the next step.
Despite what has happened, it will be a good day if I don't hear one of those "space flight is a waste of money; we should fix our problems on Earth first" people. I hate those people. What a life it must be, for one's mind to be so small.