Wil's Rant

Microsoft Again:

It's a real shame Microsoft couldn't have used some of its billions to rent a couple of ethics advisors. Perhaps they could have avoided the slew of anti-trust class-action lawsuits that they are now facing, the latest being the state of California. The final straw for me was when they started charging for support for a new system. That's right... they sell a broken product and then charge you to help you fix it. Sweet. I wish I could have thought up something like that and be able to get away with it. However, my sense of morals and ethics would have stopped me, as well as my belief, foolishly, that anyone trying something like that would end up in jail. Not so with Microsoft. We certainly must give them credit for innovative thinking. It unfortunate that they didn't apply equal zeal to providing an excellent product as they did to preventing anyone from competing with the one they already had.

Who, Us...No Not Ever!

Israel is denying that they use spies in the U.S. In fact they say they have a ban on any such activities against the U.S. No... really.... their really saying that. I can imagine that they might not want to piss off the Americans who have been pretty much the sole supporters of some of the more outrageous of the Israeli actions in the past. Add to this the significant amount of military aid the U.S. provides and you have a real good reason not to upset them. The state of Israel is a wonderful concept. It appears, however, to be somewhat lacking in its execution. It has been said that should Israel ever stop fighting the Palestinians, the country would pull itself apart due to the major differences in thinking amongst its power base. That would be the real shame. Israel should be a paradise for those seeking to escape thousands of years of persecution. The actions of its leaders ensure that it will be some time before it becomes anything like that, if ever.

Open-Source:

Even the U.N is now pushing open-source software as a remedy for the problem of equipping developing nations with inexpensive solutions to their computing needs. I agree 100%. Hell, I want to use Linux just to get away from Microsoft. I'll figure it all out sooner or later. Hewlett-Packard is supposed to be selling Linux based boxes now. Maybe Apple is my best alternate choice. from everything I've heard, Apple seems to be a very good choice except for the price. I also don't know if they offer free support with your purchase or whether they make you subscribe to their service in order to fix the little glitches that seem to ship with every new system. If they do charge to fix the problems, just like Microsoft, then it is most unlikely that I would buy from them either.

Arctic Pollution:

It appears that much of the toxic pollutants created in the world head North. Levels of toxins have been measured in fish, mammal, and humans in the arctic. They have been found to contain levels of toxins, in some cases, more than 80 times higher than what is found elsewhere. Check out the article for yourselves and I think you will agree that we are talking about some pretty nasty stuff here. Sooner or later someone's going to figure out that in the end we must produce a net zero effect on the environment or there simply will not be one.

The Poor Keep Getting Poorer:

Looks like Bush hasn't been friendly to the poor. According to the U.S. Census report the number of defined poor people in the U.S. has gone up under George's leadership. Now there's a surprise. Does anybody still think this gut represents the average American? I never have.

My Links!:

My links haven't been working! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! I have corrected alot of them, I'll do the rest later as I'm not sure how long it's been since they were working. Anyway, I've gone back to Aug 13, so all the links sinve then should be fixed. Sorry about that folks. Guess I should be checking these things more often.

Even Bush Sees It:

The white house now admits that global warming is likely being caused by human activities. O.K. Now I'm really getting scared. When the situation gets so blatantly obvious that even George Bush has to admit it!!!! Perhaps it's time to step up the old alternative energy research dial before it's too late. It might already be!

American Bounty Hunter:

Not so long ago, I discussed the American bounty hunter in Afghanistan. Well. the U.S. Dept of Defense is now admitting to meeting with him. Of course, they say that they didn't accept his offer of assistance! I might have much less problem with the American Gov't if they were much more hnest with their people. These affairs seem all too predictable for the government to keep spewing the same line to us time after time.

Girls, Drugs, and Older Men:

Drug use in girls has been linked to dating older men. Not only that, they are also more likely to drink and smoke. I really love the way statistical analysis is presented in the media. This is like saying that child sex abuse is related to birth ( in virtually 100% of child abuse cases, it has been learned, that the child was at one point born). This is not the same as saying that 100% of children born will be the victims of abuse. Would it not be more appropriate to say that some girls are more curious and confident than others. One might then go on to say that it has been found that girls who demonstrate this trait have been found to be more likely to experiment with men, drugs, drink, and smoking. So while it has been found that they are "linked", the link is in fact a very indirect one. You could also say that these tendencies also lead to a greater risk of early pregnancy. not really surprising considering it has also been found that being a girl has also been statistically linked to early pregnancy. It has been found that virtually 100% of humans experiencing early pregnancy have been found to be girls! Does this mean that every girl will experience early pregnancy? I love statistics. Presented in the right way, we can link pretty much anything to anything. Sure explains why the politicos like to throw these numbers at us so much. Without the proper explanations and background data on the statistic, the numbers presented are quite useless.

It Just Keeps Getting Worse:

So now they are saying that virtually every river and lake in the U.S. is polluted to the point that fish taken from them is not fit for human consumption. Ocean stocks have been in decline for decades. The Canadian cod fishery has been decimated from over- fishing. Is anybody else hearing the message? When ocean and fresh water foods become inedible or simply don't exist at all, can the rest of the environment really be that far behind?

And on That Survival Note:

Reportedly it takes much more water to eat meat than other things. In the new world we are creating, water will be in very short supply. In the modern world we tend to eat much more meat than in the less developed world. I think I heard something in the order of 200 pounds of grain needed to produce each pound of beef. Even if it were 20 instead of 200 pounds of grain, the results are obvious. You can feed a lot more people with 20 or 200 pounds than you can with one. I've always believed that less meat and more fruit and vegetables was more healthy anyway( most likely because my diet is mostly meat). One might come to the conclusion that those in the developed nations have a moral responsibility to reduce their meat consumption simply to re-direct those resources needed to raise the cattle towards the many millions who are hungry( starting with myself).

Global Warming:

So they are now saying that the world will warm by more than 3 degrees by the year 2050. At this level the experts are not sure whether our lives will be sustainable. By that point, the question is also whether we would want to. As we continue in our suicidal path towards filling the air with as much hydro-carbons, among other things, as possible the acidity levels in the ocean are rising. Scientists can only guess at the deep long term impact of this. Has anybody noticed that the weather pretty much all over the world has been acting a little strange lately. Get used to it and expect much, much worse in what would appear to be the very near future.

Gay Marriage in California:

So, the supreme court in Calif. has decided to invalidate the over 4,000 gay marriages that have taken place there. Only in America you say...pity. Firstly.. to the gay community.... ignore them. A court one way or another does not give validity to a relationship. This is given by the persons in the relationship and can not be validated one way or another by anyone else. I understand why the gay people would want the legal advantages of their union being accepted. I wouldn't hold my breath for the American people as a whole to take the more enlightened view. We are after all talking about a nation where reportedly 60 % of the people believe the Earth was created by God 6,000 years ago, and no amount of scientific fact, apparently, is going to change this view. A country were Bush has been described by one of his top aids as being sent by God to protect Christians, using a Christian Army, from the heathens of the world. Damn scary stuff if you ask me. A country where history books are written and studied with the primary goal of showing the U.S. in the best light as opposed to actually, factually describing history. How can anyone really learn anything in this kind of setting. The history books available in schools in the U.S. are regarded by the rest of the world as virtually useless for anything other than brainwashing American children into believing the bullshit of their leaders. This is not the way to move forward and evolve.... kids. We must all face our true past if we are to really learn anything. But anyways, back to the topic at hand. I feel very sorry for the gay community in the U.S. They have shown great courage in the face of such opposition. Some of these couples, I'm sure, will find this news devastating. My only advice to them would be to not look to the hearts of ignoramus' for acceptance, for it is unlikely you will find it there. I share in your hope that one day all such prejudice will be eliminated all over the world. However I suspect that this will not come until an order of magnitude change in thinking occurs.

Super Ants in Australia:

And yet another effect of our modern world. Argentine ants have invaded Australia. As could be expected they have had disastrous results. While migration of species is a natural thing, the rate at which this occurs today is not. Australian species have been devastated in the past by non-native species. Rabbits, cats, dogs, and now ants have had a terrible effect on the unique eco-system there. They are not alone. Canada is currently fighting several invasions of this type, not the least of which is the Japanese Horned beetle which is devastating trees in Ontario. The fact is, we will not win this fight. Once a species is established, fighting them is mostly a losing battle. In most cases the damage done by the fight is worse than the infestation itself. Sooner or later the native species will adapt to the new conditions. That doesn't mean that they will all survive in the new circumstances. Evolution can take many years to stabilize a new environment. Once the damage is done, it is done. We should probably just let nature take care of itself. Most of our efforts to stop this in the past have been a miserable failure resulting in much more damage than would have been the case had we just left it alone. The real solution is to not let it happen in the first place. Humans will not likely learn this in reality until we assist in the spread of a human disease which wipes out a great portion of the population. This day is coming. It is inevitable in a world with so many people traveling from so many places to so many places. The world is not a sterile place, there are many virus' and bacteria that we don't even know about yet. For some of them, once we do, it will be far far too late. Survival is going to become more difficult, especially for those of us who live in relative safety. The world most certainly start to react to us as if we were the virus. The results of this are only just beginning to be felt. The only way to stop the process is for us to stop acting like a disease on the planet. Don't hold your breath. There are still far too many people who prefer to stick their head in the sand and pretend that there is no problem. It is these individuals who create the greatest danger of all. While we fail to recognize the problem, there will be absolutely no solution... just debate.

German Genocide in Namibia:

Germany has taken responsibility for a genocide that took place 100 years ago in Namibia. The relatives are attempting to get compensation from the Germans for the crime. I don't hold out much hope for them. While it is appropriate and mature of the Germans to admit the truth, it is difficult to hold them responsible today for what happened so long ago. Every nation has similar events in their past. Trying to correct these actions today is mostly futile. While we must all accept the horrors in our past in order to heal..... punitive actions should be reserved for crimes in which the perpetrators are at least still alive. We are not responsible for the actions of our great- grandparents. Many ancient crimes must go unpunished, at least in this life. Even if we wanted to take it further, it is very difficult to understand the situation as it existed in the past. That wrongs have been done goes without question. History is full of them. Acceptance of these actions as fact is a must for us to grow and evolve as well as preventing re-occurrences. However, we must focus on the crimes of today, in terms of justice and prevention. There are plenty of crimes going on everyday which could be prevented or failing that at least prosecuted. Alas, many of the current crimes are ignored until far too late to prevent. This should be the focus of our efforts. We must learn from the past and apply it to the present for any good to come from it at all. Genocides are being committed everyday. As much now as at any time in the past. The Germans have taken a step forward by trying to come to terms with their past. There are many nations who might take their example and deal with the crimes in their own past. Not in an effort to make up for it, because frankly we can't make up for this type of crime no matter what we do. The best we can do is try to make sure it doesn't happen again. It is in this regard that we are still failing terribly.

Execution in India:

A group of women in India took justice into their own hands by killing the accused in court. I can't say I really blame them. In Canada we hear over and over how released pedo's and rapists go out and do it all over again. I can't say that I agree with the action but I sure can understand it. Once convicted of certain crimes, there should by absolutely no chance of doing it again.

It's Getting Hot in Here:

The world is getting hotter and hotter. But not everywhere. In Ottawa this year it has been one of the coldest in the last twenty years. My pool hasn't gone above 22 degrees Celsius( around 74 F) once. Only 2 days in July where the temp. went above 30 Degrees C. It's all part of our new world. Hotter sometimes someplace, while colder in others. No real way to predict where and when accurately. I actually had someone argue with me that this is all part of a global cycle that we can't do anything about. While the earth does go through these cycles.. they take thousands of years to change, not decades. There is no way to tell what the total effect such a drastic and fast change might be. The result could be anything from an ice age to a new Mars. I would have thought this so obvious that debate on at least this issue could be put aside. There is absolutely no way we are going to make changes so long as people bury there heads in the sand and pretend that we are not responsible for these changes. It's time to take this responsibility and to make the changes that may save our planet and ourselves. Any other thinking than this is simply lunacy( I would say wishful thinking.. but somehow I think this just does not reflect the seriousness of the situation). The balance of the eco-system worldwide has been significantly disrupted. We must either restore this balance or find a new balance or find a new world to live on. There really is no debate anymore. In the seventies, there was much debate among the experts about these points. Very few are arguing about it anymore. Those who still do put all of us at risk by slowing the potential for finding solutions to the problem. Many of these solutions already exist. Fortunately the price of fuel may force us to do what our ignorance prevents us from doing. As the price of gas skyrockets due to diminishing reserves we will be forced to use alternatives. Solar and wind power, hydrogen fuel cells, geo-thermal heating, and disciplined use of available power all can have a dramatic effect on the environment. We must reach the point where we have a net impact of zero on the planet. But before we reach that point, we must first reverse the impact we have already had. Only then can we become a truly sustainable civilization. Until that time comes we will become more and more in decline as the world desperately tries to save itself by becoming more hostile to humans. There are many signs that this is happening. Everything from the climate to shark attacks to the aggressiveness of the animals and insects points to this. And it's going to get worse....much worse. We haven't really felt the impact of new diseases, viruses and toxic stress. But we will...it's coming to a theatre near you soon enough. The question remains whether we will stop ourselves or will the planet do it for us. How many of us and our children will survive these changes is very much unknown. I think it really will depend on whether the planet sees us as a threat that it will evolve to combat or whether we make them ourselves so as not to continue to be a threat to the environment. We must learn to live symbiotically with the rest of the world to save ourselves. Failure to do so, and soon, will result in a world quite different from the one we have now. Whether we can live at all in this new world is the question.

Children in Danger?:

Reports out that children suffer the most accidents while using playgrounds. What really surprises me about this report is the need for the report itself. If I was asked to guess where most child injuries occurred, my first guess would be on a playground. Is it really so much of a mystery that kids get hurt while playing? I would suggest that the odds of getting hurt go up proportionally with the level of activity of the child in question. There are many dangers we face when growing up. Children have a great ability to recover from injury. I would hazard to say that it's a part of life- not something that should be addressed by new policy. What would they have us do? Ban playgrounds because kids get hurt there. Or better yet... re-design them so that no kid could ever get hurt there. We could just make them sit in chairs for their whole lives to prevent any risk! Big tip.... in order to grow and learn, kids must take certain risks to test their abilities and learn their limits. Take all this away and they do not advance. If we spend enough time and energy to rid the world of these risks we will cease to evolve and will become stagnant. Kids run, fall, bump heads, break bones, wrestle, fight, learn, etc. In other words, they live and learn. This is all part of growing up. Take away all the risks and you take away all the fun. It's really a question of managing risks..... another thing they learn in the process.

Yet More Explosions:

Another 2 terrorist bombs have gone off in Turkey! It's amazing to me that these guys, the terrorists, wouldn't be more careful about who and what they bomb. There have always been people who had sympathy for them and their cause. Do they not realize that when they bomb men, women and children who are merely just trying to survive in this world that they turn everyone against them? There are many signs that this in fact is becoming the case. Countries that have offered refuge to some of these groups are now starting to toughen up. This is not only due to the American's insistence on co-operation in the fight. It is largely due to the fact that the bad guys are shooting themselves in the foot. The way things are going, the terrorists are going to find themselves up against a united front worldwide with everyone out to stop terrorism. While this is a very good thing, the downside is that the message of the injustices that these groups are trying to highlight will be lost along with these organizations. The PLO and IRA recognized this fact long ago when they created their political wings. The situation can be compared with the outlaw biker groups in Canada. As these bikers became more violent in their war against each other more and more civilians were being injured and killed in Quebec. The result was a major push by law enforcement to shut them down- hurting very much the bikers ability to conduct their business. The old concept of bad publicity or good publicity comes into affect. Right now, the terrorists are generating completely bad publicity, resulting in the loss of support from those who may have sympathized in the past.

Benefits of the War:

There is one result of the war that I didn't expect. Every day I read in the news about the latest arrests of El Qaida or other terrorist suspects. Today alone it was New York and the U.A.E. It seems the war has shown them in their true light and as a result everyone appears to be more or less working together to solve the problem. Even the Saudis, whose actions on the matter have been suspect at least. However, the desperation that causes the creation of terrorists remain in much of the world. The resulting radical responses to this desperation will continue so long as these social conditions remain unchanged.

Deep Sea:

Scientists have discovered what they believe is at least one new species during exploration of the deep sea off Iceland. The ten year project is ongoing and promises more rewards. More ocean studies are desperately needed. If we are to understand the world, we must first learn more about our impact on the oceans. I'll be watching with interest for any new finds.