Fucking Unions

2004.04.30

I fucking hate unions. The local health employees union, which represents the various hospitals' support staff, has been striking for the past week or so over their wages being rolled back. Fair enough, I don't have much of a problem with that, and I'm not going to get into whether or not I think someone should make $20 an hour for making soup. The government rushed through some back-to-work legislation yesterday, since the hospitals can barely function, which the union is obviously going to ignore. Now, however, almost every single fucking union in the province that represents government workers of any kind is striking in some kind of show of solidarity with "our HEU brothers".

That is why I fucking hate unions. Ten unions will go on strike just to get the demands of one of them met. They're willing to shut down education and hydro systems so that some fucking hospital support workers can get their money. They have nothing to do with each other, at all, other than being filled with left wing socialists who want to be able to raise their families on a floor sweeping job. That kind of thinking is what bankrupted this province under the NDP, so why the fuck should we go back to it?

The idea of the union is sound, but they have become a perversion. They hold services and social structure hostage to get what they want, the same way terrorists hold people.

Balance

2004.04.29

I've never really understood the argument that Humans are the only mammals who do not establish a natural balance with their environment. In the short term, it is true that we consume resources at a huge rate and do not allow them to replenish themselves. However, in the long term, I think you'll see that Humans will establish just as much of a balance as any other creature. The difference with us is that we're taking thousands of years to establish it.

The Earth is no longer in danger of dying, as far as I'm concerned. Our rate of technological advancement and understanding of the environment is about 100 years ahead of where it would need to be for the Earth to be permanently damaged. Technology is constantly pushing to be faster, cheaper, and cleaner. In fact, as our technology becomes more advanced, it is actually becoming easier to produce goods in an environmentally friendly way. It's won't be long before the mass production of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles becomes a smaller undertaking than drilling for oil in the middle of the ocean. Actually, it's probably already easier.

Personally, I'm not worried. About the only things that could destroy us now would be an asteroid, an ice age, a massive solar flare, or maybe a terrorist released bio weapon that mutates out of control and kills every living creature on the planet. Hey, it could happen.

Bumped

2004.04.28

Both of the hockey teams I have been playing for this year are out of the playoffs now, with spring hockey starting up next week. I should be playing organized hockey until the end of June, with some pickup rollerhockey games during the summer months. That's ten months of the year with some kind of league play happening, which has been great. I still need to get new goal pads however, which costs a fair amount of money.

It's shaping up to be the best summer ever, as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully the weather is as good as it was last year, despite the nervous warnings of the city's water usage Nazis. I suppose I would want to be cautious if I were in their position, but people simply take the idea of water conservation too far. Sure, if it doesn't rain all summer, and doesn't rain until October or November, we'd probably run out. Seriously though, you don't need to peek out from behind your curtains and call the police because your neighbor is washing his car.

Dry Water

2004.04.27

Scientists create "water" that isn't wet

Pretty neat stuff. I must admit the idea of a liquid not being wet is more than a little strange, but that's what makes it so cool. It makes me wonder what other substances could be created which would never be found in nature. There's still a lot we can do with chemical engineering, I imagine.

Robo Cop

2004.04.23

Could this be the future of a Western presence in the developing world?

Robot proposal video by The Embassy Visual Effects

Nice work by The Embassy for sure, but the visual effects are far less interesting than the idea. I'm confident that the technical problems associated with building a robot like this could be overcome. Even the power issue could be overcome. The real question is, would we want robot police? It almost becomes a software issue. How can a robot do a better job of judging when to use deadly force than a Human? How can a robot tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys in a place like Johannesburg?

Robot warriors have the potential to be extremely effective. As the voice over says in the video, a well trained Human soldier or skilled gunman can almost match the capabilities of the machine, but once you introduce the effects of heat, cold, and mental distress, the Human suddenly finds himself at a huge disadvantage. Would our robot warriors look like people? Makes sense, so that they could operate all of the same equipment and move around in the same world. Besides, the Human form is reasonably well designed, so why not copy it?

We're a long way from seeing robots like this one, but maybe not as far as some might think. The problem isn't making them, the problem is making them think. A fully functional robot that can run, jump, fire a weapon, and operate in any environment or weather condition, with a long battery life, is the easy part. Making a robot that can judge when it has to do those things? That's hard.

Next-Gen Games

2004.04.22

Getting a new computer has been in the back of my mind for a while now, but it hasn't gotten serious attention yet. I'm looking at getting new goalie gear first, and of course there's the whole "pay off the car" thing. Another reason I haven't thought seriously about a new machine is that there aren't any PC games out at the moment that I want to play. That's all going to change at the end of the year, however.

Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Battlefield 2 present three games that I simply have to play, and each of them will require a new machine. Battlefield 2 sounds especially interesting, with it's modern day combat, commander mode, and maps which scale depending on the number of players, which can be as high as one hundred. Sounds like pure enjoyment to me.

Lazy Play

2004.04.20

I wonder if the Canucks will figure out, after losing last night, that you simply can't get away with a lazy effort in the playoffs? It seems to be something they completely and utterly refuse to learn, and I find it baffling. Their loss doesn't feel as heartbreaking or disappointing as it should because they didn't deserve to win in the first place. Oh well, there's always next year...wait a second...no there isn't!

Losers!

AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

2004.04.19

Mom sues Coors over Son's death in accident

Give me a fucking break. Americans' lack of personal responsibility strikes again. If it's true that his Girlfriend allowed him to drive, then she might be considered partially responsible, but the person who is most at fault here is the woman's stupid fucking Son.

You don't sue gun makers when someone gets shot, so you sure as hell don't sue beer brewers when someone drinks and dies.

Drinking A Lot Makes You Stupid

2004.04.15

Heavy social drinkers show brain damage

As far as I know, I don't know anyone who drinks this much, this often. 100 drinks a month is an insane amount of alcohol, and probably an insane amount of money. It doesn't surprise me at all that people who regularly get completely wasted show signs of brain damage significant enough to impair their daily functions. Even if the effect isn't noticeable, it's there, just the same as a small amount of alcohol causes impairment.

The dangers of excess are one of the drawbacks of living in a free society. Most people never have a problem, but always end up paying for those who do.

Off Week

2004.04.14

I'm having an off week this week when it comes to posting. I can't think of anything at the moment. 9/11 commission? Bleh! Seal hunt? Who cares?

Iraq?

Hahahaha!

Oh Yeah!

2004.04.13

Weekend

2004.04.07

I'm taking tomorrow off, and obviously Friday is a holiday, so that means a four day weekend. Playoffs start tonight, so any free time I may have had recently is going to be taken up by following the games. I became a big fan of Internet radio last year, when I could listen to all of the games online at work. I'm hoping for some surprises this year. As long as Toronto, Detroit, Colorado, Dallas, and New Jersey don't win the cup, I'll probably be reasonably happy. It's about time someone new had a turn, and it sure would be nice if it were a Canadian or lesser known American team.

The last thing we want is for hockey to become like baseball, where there sure are a whole lot of teams, but only 5 of them really matter.

Turning Point

2004.04.06

If Spain brings their troops home from Iraq in response to the recent terrorist attacks and threats, then they might as well bend over, because they're going to get fucked. Assuming it happens, and at the moment it seems likely, it will be the final proof in my eyes that Europe won't survive the war on terror. Oh, we'll eventually win, and Europe will still be around, but they'll be given France-like status by America and its allies for having to be saved once again by "American pigs".

No worries here, I couldn't care less about Europe. It could up and vanish from the face of the Earth and I might not even notice. I guess it would be hard to miss the headlines, but other than that, no big deal. As the Americans and Brits, and hopefully someday the Canadians, increase their defense against terrorism, Europe will become the primary front in this war.

It's not too late for them, but they don't have forever.

Hellboy

2004.04.05

I went to see Hellboy this weekend, and enjoyed it quite a bit. As far as comic book movies go, it's pretty good, although it probably could have benefited from being 15 minutes shorter. The effects were excellent, except for a couple of minor things in two or three shots. The makeup for both Hellboy and Abe is fantastic.

Comic book movies are hard for a lot of people to enjoy, simply because they can't suspend their disbelief. Either that, or they keep focusing on the inevitable plot holes and cheesy dialogue, completely missing the point of the show. A comic book movie is to a best picture contender what a comic book is to a New York times best selling novel. The plot holes are supposed to be there, the cheesy dialogue is supposed to be there, and the ridiculous situations are supposed to be there. They're the whole point. It wouldn't be much of a comic book movie without that stuff.

Lighten up and enjoy things for what they are, instead of focusing on what you think they should be. The only exceptions are the new Star Wars movies, there's no excuse for those.

Who's Worse?

2004.04.01

Who's worse?

The war supporter who advocates the bombing and invading of foreign countries to preemptively protect his own, or the antiwar protester who's willing to let people be tortured and murdered daily by their governments so he can live a life without war?