Canada’s Debate

I grabbed this from April Reign…

The rules are as follows:

1. I routinely pull my big-toe nails back to the point I draw a bit of blood.
2. I think about the exact same thing every night before I go to bed, and have for almost ten years.
3. I love to spend money when I don’t earn it; and hate to spend it when I do.
4. If I don’t eat breakfast within 20 minutes of waking, I get violently ill.
5. I’ve been going bald since I was 18, but I didn’t start shaving my sideburns until I was 19.
6. My most prized possession is a reproduction of a photo of Trudea playing frisbee.
7. I’m terrified of bears, and spending 4 months in Lake Louise made it worse instead of better.
8. Due to some adnoid “complications” I breathed entirely through my mouth until age 11, and still do when I sleep or am deep in concentration.

I’ve always regarded the “Letters to the Editor” section of the newspaper (any newspaper) in much the same way that people look at car wrecks. Beyond the fact that the sub-human blithering frequently bolsters me when I begin to doubt my own meagre insights of the human condition, it is extremely enjoyable to watch the delicate high-wire act that people engage in to demonstrate their own rationalism, artfully rendering a given story in an entirely unrealistic manner so as to provide the foundation for what seems like a sensible argument. In fact, I can think of no better example than the letters I’m seeing in response to the “Native Day of Protest” issue which is making the rounds. (Continue reading…)

Well I got canned yesterday. It’s not an entirely surprising move, and it’s certainly one I can understand. The recruitment market has shifted away from generalists to specialists; and I as general as they come.

Either way, I’m now unemployed… although hopefully not for long. Either way, I find myself with some free time with which to pollute the intarwebs again.

Reading this post got me thinking about my sister. Now, my sister is neither Anglican or gay (and hopefully she is not reading this.) However, she is a feminist… a trait for which I admire her. Every year during passover she places an orange on the seder plate. While the story she uses is apocryphal, I get her point. I just don’t agree with it; not because I think Judaism should exclude women, gays, transexuals, etc., but because changing Judaism in order to include yourself means you’re not actually being a Jew.

I will explain, in the context of this same-sex marriage story. Regardless of whether or not the Anglican church decides to bless gay marriages, the idea of “pressuring” the church kind of irks me. Naturally religions change, so if they choose to change then there is no problem. However, religions are not public institutions (or, rather they shouldn’t be) and as long as they break no laws the state or civil society has no right to intervene. That’s fairly basic libertarianism right there… no surprises so far.

What does bug me is this idea that religion needs to change to suit the demands or desires of those who are otherwise excluded by said religion. (Continue reading…)

I get to play Doctor Frankenstein at some point in the next two weeks… I bought a new computer; or at least the makings of one. In no particular order this is what I’ve ordered. I didn’t buy them all from NCIX however.

• Intel Core2 Quad 6600 2.40ghz quad core processor
• XFX Nforce 680I SLI, PCI-E, etc… I could list acronyms for hours.
• 2gb Corsair RAM Uh… it’s 4-4-4-12… whatever that means.
• ANTEC Sonata 2 Couldn’t they just say “black” instead of piano?
• BFG GeForce 7900GS Not nearly as shiny as my other components… But I don’t care.

Just tossing my old (since boxing day at least) 500gb HD and optical drive in there. Of course there’s a heatsink going in there too… after I get my rebates back (and I will, come hell or high water) the whole thing will cost approximately $1130.

You know, the more I work (more on that when I have good news to share) the more I find myself feeling stagnant during my free time. For some reason playing the same old computer games and watching the same old tv shows doesn’t satisfy (even if they are among the best) as much as honest intellectual endeavours. Now, as it turns out I’ve had this blog-thing all this while… and that seems like a pretty good way to involve myself a bit. So I’m going to get back to more regular posting… for what it’s worth. Just a few quick hits for tonight:

1. Are these the dumbest people on earth?

   The intensified discussions are being prompted by several deputies of Cabinet members and reflect a growing belief that the continued use of the detention facility is tainting the image of the United States, and as a result hampering America’s campaign against terrorism, the officials said.

   This is a realization? Where have these “leaders” been for the last five years? Every single conflagration of Muslim anger (or political anger in general) directed towards the United States has carried mention of Guantanamo Bay. It is beyond comprehension that this is news… which begs the question? Does the Bush administration not care, or are they all in some sort of prolonged spell of hysterical blindness?

(Continue reading…)