Canadian Health Care Headline

Whenever my American friends tell me how much they're dreaming of having a "perfect" health-care system like in Canada, I just shake me head. Here's one more reason why:

Computer Tip

Owning a router/firewall like this one is HIGHLY recommended for anyone using a home computer these days. Such a device gives you a great deal of protection from those nefarious folks systematically examining every Internet modem they can find.
I own this specific WRT54G Linksys device and have installed many of them in the homes of friends. They're easy to setup and start using immediately. But they do have one inherent problem. Over time they start slowing down Internet traffic. This is especially the case when you have multiple computers connected. I do not know the technical reasons why but have significant anecdotal evidence that it occurs.

Resolving the problem is simple: Just unplug the power cord, wait a few seconds, and plug it right back in. Immediately you'll notice a sudden rejuvenation of Internet speed.

This remedy is also likely effective for other brands of similar devices.

Typical Liberal Voters

This is an incredible video that shows you the complete ignorance of Obama supporters and how the liberal media has shaped their views:
Here are the results of a larger poll connected with this video:

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points

97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions

57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)

71.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)

82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)

88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)

56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).

And yet.....

Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes

Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter

And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her "house," even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!

Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.

Only 0.5% got all of them correct. (And we "gave" one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)

More on all of this can be found at HowObamaGotElected.com

Scenes from Miami

I think that CSI:Miami is a rather silly show. Fun to watch, yes, but the storylines are rather simplistic. What I love though is the filming. Never before on television have I seen such lush, vibrant colour. I'm guessing they must run it through some sort of computerized process.

Having lived down there for 2 months not too long ago, I'm very familiar with many of the buildings, especially the exceptionally colourful ones in the Brickell area, which sits directly south of downtown. Here are some screen captures from a recent episode.

The Never-Ending Vitriol of Liberals

This evening I heard an interesting interview with the author of this article, Chris Hedges. He explained how messages from politicians are not much different than marketing for consumer products and that all are designed for the intellect of 10 - 12 year olds. He focused mostly on the rather mindless marketing message of the Obama campaign, with the never-ending "Hope & Change". He then predicted that next year, as the recession sets in, and people realize that Obama isn't the Messiah and can't possibly deliver everything he implied he could, there's going to be a strong backlash.

To this point I agreed with everything he said, as had the interviewer, Charles Adler.

But then he took a huge swerve to the left and stated that the ones who would be the most disappointed would be the Religious Right in America. <insert screeching car brakes here>

After I got my head on straight again, for it had clearly spun entirely around after hearing this, I listened further. Thankfully Adler didn't let such B.S. go without being challenged. "Why would the religious right be disappointed? They never voted for him!", he said [paraphrasing].

Hedges seemed somewhat shocked that an Olympic Stadium sized hole had just been shot through his conclusion. Yet he couldn't get himself to state publicly that fellow liberals like himself were the ones completely taken in by Obamamania.

And I had such hope in the days after the U.S. Election, how liberals were going to open their hearts & minds and really try to understand the viewpoints of conservatives. Unfortunately arrogance, smugness, and downright hate always gets in their way.

To Pay or Not to Pay

Imagine getting together with 3 to 5 acquaintances at a restaurant for dinner; not close friends, but acquaintances. The dinner is enjoyable. It's just one table and the bills are not separated (everything's in one). One person looks at the bill, does some quick math and says, "Why don't we just split it evenly?" For example, $20 each or $30 each, or $50 each.

You take a quick look at it and realize that yours was a more inexpensive dish, you had no alcohol unlike your companions, and you had no dessert, unlike your companions. So in the $20 scenario your portion was really only $15. In the $30 scenario, yours was only $20. And in the $50 scenario, yours was only $35. More or less.

Would you speak up and say, "Ummmm, actually, I only owe '$X.XX'" ? Or would you let it go and just pay the extra bit.

If the next time you all got together the same person said the same thing, and once again clearly consumed more, would you say anything this second time?

I'm most curious how normally handle this. I'm also wondering if there are any cultural differences in regard to how it is handled?

True Freedom

I don't usually repost comments but one was just left that is so eloquent and brilliant that not reposting it would be an injustice! It concerns this posting.

"Free people can never be equal. Equal people can never be free." I don't know who said that or if it is simply a time-proven proverb. But truer words were never spoken or written.

In order to GIVE something to one, there must be an authority powerful enough to take it from others. When there exists such a power, then neither the receiver nor the giver is free.

The greatest equalizer of all is freedom. Freedom is a state of existence in which each man and woman is unencumbered by any power or authority, save God's, and is free to succeed or fail based upon his/her own efforts and talents.

We don't have any such freedom in this country because we have foolishly commissioned government to take from the producers and give to the non-producers, I suppose to boost the fragile "self-esteem" of the non-producers. Doing that, however, dampens the morale of the producers, the very people who should be encouraged and cheered on.

When a test is given - - one for employment for example - - and one group of test-takers is credited with a ten-point advantage (based solely upon their grouping), then the better qualified applicants (the ones who should be getting the jobs) must score 10 points higher than the lesser qualified applicants just to maintain parity. Achieving a respectable score of 85 loses out to a dismal, barely-passing 76, and the lesser-qualified - - often unqualified - - gets the job and the employer and his customers lose, right along with the people who should have been employed in the first place.

Call it what you will, but that is socialism, Communism, Marxism and it doesn't work for the PEOPLE, it only works for the elite who seek to dominate and control the people and profit from their toil.

Common people are such fools.

Written by Fred Marshall

David Berner's Special Day!

Today is the birthday of a great citizen of Vancouver! Happy Birthday, David!

Has Love Been Destroyed by Darwinism?

Here's an absolutely fascinating article about love, dating, & relationships in the New Millennium. I think I'm more depressed after reading it.

If you're interested, two fellows in Texas discuss the article here.

Call on Me - Steve Winwood & Eric Prydz

Here's an altered version of Valerie, by my favourite musician of all time, Steve Winwood. This techno version, renamed Call on Me, was produced by Swedish DJ & producer, Eric Prydz. Winwood worked with him to re-record the lyrics.



However, here is the video that made the song famous, though I have no idea why! ;-) Incidentally, Radical Left Liberals in places like Manhattan, Toronto, San Francisco, and Seattle, who know nothing about non-neurotic sex, might want to avoid watching this! LOL



If you're a purist, like me, then you'll enjoy the original version of Valerie:

The Big 3 Automakers: Let Capitalism Be Allowed to Work!

Today, I listened to a fascinating discussion on the financial crisis and what to do with the Big 3 Automakers. You can listen to it here (starting at 7:00). Afterwards I sent the host, Sean Leslie, this letter, which he read on-air:
I agreed with every criticism you laid at the feet of the Big 3 Automakers ... until you said that they can't be left to die.

I disagree with that last part and here's why: They are inefficient, unproductive organizations building products that most people don't want. If they were allowed to fall into bankruptcy protection then:

1. Things eventually would sort themselves out.
2. The incompetent current management would be sent out to pasture.
3. Most of the people working directly or indirectly for these companies would find employment with whatever Phoenix rose from the ashes.
4. These workers would be hired at wages that the market can bare, not overinflated wages that only exist because of dumb management decisions.
   

Capitalism needs to be allowed to work. When profits are privatized but risk is made public then we have an untenable situation that cannot be sustained.

So not only can the Big 3 be left to suffer the consequence of bankruptcy, they must be forced to do this.

Maybe Free Speech will be Restored in Canada

There are some very interesting developments on the infamous (and horrendous) Section 13 of the "Human Rights" Commissions across Canada. This section, in its various flavours, permits a group of Radical Left kangaroo court "judges" to make up rules as they go along - not based on precedent, not based on facts - to shut up anyone who they disagree with. These pathetic individuals are an embarrassment to Canada, as is Section 13.

But there are some positive lights on the horizon:

• Rex Murphy
• Mark Steyn
  
• Noam Chomsky
  
• Ezra Levant
  
• 99.5% support from the Conservative Party convention for repealing Section 13

I will keep my public promise of donating $250.00 to the Conservative Party of Canada once they make this change - not talk about it, but actually make the change. I believe this will be the first time I've ever donated to a political party in my life. That's how strongly I feel about this issue.

My Views on Abortion

In responding to this post on abortion by columnist, Amy Alkon, I was libeled as a "religious nut job" by one of her other readers. I left a comment in response. I'd like to repost the gist of it here, as I feel it is important to publicly state one's views on controversial issues.

I firmly believe that human life begins at conception, when the sperm fertilizes the egg. I make this based on science and logic rather than religion. For when this occurs, if it isn't human life (admittedly in its very rudimentary stage) then what kind of life is it? The makings of a kitten perhaps? Or maybe a frog?

Be honest with yourself and get real. In the same way that a newborn baby is the precursor to a 1 year old, so is a 7 month old fetus the precursor to a newborn baby. And so is the solitary cell at conception the precursor to a 7 month old fetus. If anyone can fault the logic of this, I'd love to hear it!

With all that said, I do not agree with the Sarah Palins of the world that all abortions should be prohibited. Make no mistake though, I very much respect the moral consistency of their beliefs - essentially that all pregnancies are God's will. I just don't agree with them.

I was raised as a Roman Catholic but began questioning some of the teachings in my teens. One of the biggest questions I could not get a suitable answer for was this: "If a woman is raped and gets pregnant, is that God's will?" I could simply not get past my belief that no benevolent God would ever expect a woman to carry through with such an unwanted pregnancy, forced upon her through violence.

Further to that, I've also come to realize that women and/or couples may not want to carry through with a pregnancy for many reasons. And so I've come to the conclusion that a pregnant woman should be allowed to have an abortion in the first trimester for any reason, no questions asked.

In the 2nd trimester, I believe she should have to get permission from a doctor. And I have no problem if the law states that she must first watch a government sanctioned presentation which shows the pros and cons of having an abortion ... and then she has to wait for 48 hours.

In the 3rd trimester, I believe that something more stringent than just permission from a solitary doctor is needed. Perhaps a panel of doctors and some others from different walks of life.

I believe this proposal to be well thought out, moderate, and balanced.

Contrast it with the likes of one commenter on Alkon's blog who stated that "human life is not sacred until the moment a child draws breath". If one believes this then that means that a perfectly healthy mother with a perfectly healthy fetus and no expected complications would be perfectly fine to abort her baby 5 minutes before she is due to give birth. Such a viewpoint is sickening to me and I bet to most other people in our society. It is not balanced whatsoever but more a reflection of the Radical Left's hatred toward Fundamentalist Christians. A society should never create policies based on hatred.

Vancouver Political Predictions

Here are the civic election results from yesterday - a definite landslide for [Lack Of] Vision Vancouver:

And what was this election about? A rather confused (and possibly fabricated) issue concerning a $100 Million loan guarantee to a private developer. Who was in the right and who was in the wrong with this, few people actually definitively know. To establish the truth of the matter one needs all the facts. No one in the general public is so equipped.

In the drug fueled illusions of many on the Radical Left in this city, newly elected mayor Gregor Robertson is B.C.'s own Barack Obama. In the "lack of actual experience" department, I would agree wholeheartedly. Beyond that, give me a break!

What's most disappointing is that less than 31% of eligible voters bothered to put aside their busy little lives in order to exert their democratic right (and responsibility). Based on my calculations, 87.9% of citizens (16.7% voted and 71.2% abstained) have given Robertson & co. carte blanche approval to do whatever they please:

• Permanently shut down 2 lanes of the Burrard Street bridge so that a few bicycles can ride in their own lane morning, noon, & night. Why stop there, go for four!
• Follow Toronto's social engineering agenda and ban disposable coffee cups and introduce "shade audits".
• Dramatically increase property taxes for those "greedy capitalist business owners".
  

Now over the next 6 months ahead, watch for dirty, dirty politics in this province. The Robertson Regime will seize every opportunity to blame the Provincial Liberals:

1. All homelessness will be Gordon Campbell's fault.
2. The city's lack of police will be Gordon Campbell's fault.
3. All infrastructure problems will be Gordon Campbell's fault.
4. And so on & so on & so on.
   

This little game will be so blatantly obvious yet watch the media in this province to amplify it to full volume and the sheeple to buy into it hook, line, and sinker. On May 13th, 2009 do the majority of British Columbians really want to utter the words "Premier Carole James" ?!

More Dara Ó Briain

This guy is just hilarious!

Dara Ó Briain

The Kite Runner

This sad, and sometimes disturbing film, shows the history of Afghanistan from the late 1970's until now. It is an unbelievable tragedy what has happened to the people of that rugged, beautiful country, first during the terrible invasion by the communists from the USSR, and then by the subsequent horrific rule by the Taliban.

I challenge anyone to watch this film and then want to turn their backs on the Afghan people. That many on the Radical Left equate what Canada & America & Britain & Australia are doing there to what the Russians and the Taliban did is beyond reprehensible and more reflective of the knee-jerk emotional reaction that constantly comes from that sector of our society. Backed by ignorance and fueled by emotion - what a way to run one's life!

I do not dispute that the democratically elected government in Afghanistan is corrupt. In fact, they're way down at #121 in this list of 160 countries. But rather than walk away and let the Afghan people once again have their lives destroyed by the murderous pedophilia-laden hypocrites known as the Taliban, wouldn't it be better to work with them & insist they move up the corruption scale rather than down it?

When President Barack Obama does the right thing and sends more troops to Afghanistan, I will be the first to condemn anyone who criticizes him for it.

Please read the latest dispatch from Michael Yon.

In Support of Ethical Capitalism

The biggest disappointment I've experienced as an adult is the realization that too many public debates end up being hijacked by the two most extreme points of view. Abortion is probably the most glaring example of this. Rarely can an intelligent public discussion occur on this subject because the loudest voices tend to label those who disagree with them as extremists with the opposite point of view. This charge is most often not true but it serves to silence the debate.

Such is the case now with the discussion of how best America (and the West in general) should proceed forward in the aftermath of the failed financial sector. With so many people being personally hurt there are frequent calls to discard capitalism altogether and move to something else. This would be a tragic mistake.

Shortly after reading the long article I've previously discussed, I watched this video:


The gentleman on the right touched upon a key aspect of what has gone wrong in the financial sector: Lack of Ethics.

The extreme opposite of Marxism/Socialism is not Capitalism, but Capitalism WITHOUT ETHICS. The solution is not to move away from Capitalism but simply to severely penalize those who choose to operate without ethics. Many of us in the general public are shocked that anyone has been able to legally act so unethically in the first place but such is the case. Greed has corrupted a great many. Now it's time for them to pay the price ... that is if they haven't bought off too many of those who will be judging them.

Wall Street: Liars, Idiots, & Thieves

This is perhaps the most important article you'll ever read about the failure of Wall Street. It's long but well worth it.

Here are some quotes that will likely have you as stunned as they did me:

In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.

Eisman knew subprime lenders could be scumbags. What he underestimated was the total unabashed complicity of the upper class of American capitalism.

He explained that the rating agencies were morally bankrupt and living in fear of becoming actually bankrupt.

He had tried a thousand times in a thousand ways to explain how screwed up the business was, and no one wanted to hear it. “That Wall Street has gone down because of this is justice,” he says. “They fucked people. They built a castle to rip people off. Not once in all these years have I come across a person inside a big Wall Street firm who was having a crisis of conscience.”

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Some reading this article might conclude that all capitalism is evil. I don't view what occurred here as capitalism. The word that kept floating in my mind was instead this one:

Kleptocracy - A kleptocracy is a government or private system that extends the personal wealth and political power of a small elite class at the expense of the population.

The two most important questions I have are these:

Question #1: When will the criminals at the ratings agencies of Standard & Poor's, Moody's, etc. be put in prison?

Question #2: When will the criminals at investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers be put in prison?

CKNW An Attack Site?

When trying to go to the podcast page of CKNW today my Firefox browser displayed this:


Here's why:
It's clearly not a very smart PR move to have a corporate site identified as dangerous by Google. I will let CKNW know and see if they do anything about it!

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2008-11-24: It's now 10 days later and CKNW hasn't bothered to respond to my inquiry nor to fix the problem. One can only conclude that they're very comfortable having their website listed as an Attack Site. Strange corporate policy!

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2008-12-16: I just heard from Ryan at Corus. They've now fixed the problem. You can listen to their Audio Vault without any problems here: http://www.cknw.com/StationShared/AudioVault.aspx