To Spread Peace

Plans to build a mosque at Ground Zero set my teeth on edge, as I have detailed before, but I have no control over that. I can not stop the plans for such an insult to the memory of those who dies on 9/11. I can not single-handedly stop the hate that swirls so violently through the supposed religion of peace, but I can still let my little candle against the dark. I can do what I can to make the world a better place for me and mine, you and yours. To that end, I will be returning yet again to Kiva, a place I already frequent. Once there, I will be delighting in the loaning of another $50. I have already made enough loans that I've lost track of just how many. The two new loans I will be making will be part of my effort to spread peace; to let others know that there is goodness and caring in the world. I want others to know that there are those who stand ready to help, simply because it is the right thing to do; not because the person to whom I will make this loan has been first coerced into behaving in some way I decree they should or believing some dogma that I demand they accept. I want them to know that they are important, even to people whom they will never meet. They are valued, simply because they are alive and part of my global family.

A Mosque in Death Valley, Indeed

Plans are being made to build a mosque at Ground Zero. Those plans raise every hackle I own. I want to start with WTF and then go on to use every profanity and all the vitriol I can manage in response, but I think I'll save myself the time and effort and let Pat Condell say it all for me, instead.
Watch the whole thing before you make any decisions. If you're a person who is normally ready to be open-minded and fair, some of the video's content can be a little difficult to sit through. Remind yourself of how pretty much the whole world backs off of their plans when some islamic fundamentalist threatens jihad,and you might just be able to view the plans for the mosque in exactly the terms Condell uses.
The islamic world is not known for its tolerance of others, or for fair treatment of anyone who dares to offer less than obsequious deference to their "religion of peace". Surely it is time for the rest of the world to stop bending over backward in their efforts to be seen as tolerating islam.
Don't let this mosque be built.

Idiot Alert Files Updated

I'd like to extend membership to a group, again. This time the membership honours go out collectively to the cretins who litter. This network of ninnies was brought to my attention today when I walked across the street to the food store to pick up an item or two at a store in a little mall that includes a Tim Horton's. As I made my way back home, I found myself passing the area where people stand every day, waiting for the bus to stop. Unfortunately, the ground was littered with Tim Horton's cups, paper bags, and plastic water bottles. The mindless morons who dropped them there are only a small part of the brotherhood of environment destroyers, I know, but I would love to be able to set up a small surprise for each one and every one of these effen idiots. It would be so incredibly wonderful to be a fly on their kitchen wall for just a moment tomorrow morning, if only I could be there to see their face when magic happened. The magic I have in mind would be the sudden appearance of the lousy litter they dropped the night before, right smack in the midst of their bowl of breakfast cereal. It would be like icing on a cake, of course, if some dog had pissed on the litter while it lay where they had dropped it. You know, just an added touch of flavour to titillate their taste buds!
The fact that these muttonheads thoughtlessly drop such items when they're through with them bespeaks a mindset of meagre mentality. Out of sight, out of mind, for these imbeciles. They don't likely give it much of a thought, but if they do, I suppose they assume since they don't see the garbage anymore, it somehow just disappears. They obviously haven't read much - if at all - about the disappearance of natural resources on the planet they treat as their own personal garbage dump. They allow themselves to dwell in blissful unawareness, for instance, of the calculations done by the Global Footprint Network. The Network has calculated nature's supply in the form of biocapacity, the amount of resources the planet regenerates each year, and compared that to human demand, the amount it takes to produce all the living resources consumed, and to absorb carbon dioxide emissions. The Network's data shows that, as of August 21, humankind will have demanded all the ecological services - from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food - that nature can provide this year. That means that from this past Saturday until the end of this year, humankind will meet the rest of its annual ecological demand by depleting the existing stock of natural resources. That's pretty heavy-duty news for anyone with the intellect to understand and be frightened by it. There's the rub, however, when we're talking about the kind of mental midget who marks their passing with a trail of garbage. They lack intellect. They are quite likely incapable of the thought needed to process the info published by the Global Footprint Network; quite likely unable to comprehend the concept of depleting.
Idiots, indeed.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.

So goes the African proverb that declares, "A person is a person because of other people." Not being of African heritage myself, I have to admit that I do not know for certain in what context the saying is normally used, but it seems to me a rephrasing of John Donne's declaration that no man is an island, entire of itself. Donne declares, "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind" and I think those who do know when best to use the above saying must surely believe the same as Donne did about our interconnectedness.
The problem is, the number of those now acting as though they truly believe seems to be so small. Witness the current desperate straits in Pakistan and the international community's aid response. The flooding began in Pakistan almost three weeks ago and the waters are not expected to completely recede until the end of August. An estimated 1,600 have been killed and 8 million people have been left in urgent need of assistance. Highways and bridges have been washed away, and left hundreds of villages marooned. Millions are now living with the threat of diseases such as cholera, carried by contaminated water, and the need for clean drinking water, food rations and shelter is desperate. "Heart-wrenching" and the worst disaster he has ever seen was how UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon described it on his visit to Pakistan.
So why is the international response to this disaster lagging so far behind what the UN has appealed for? Is it because people suspect aid dollars will be diverted by corrupt officials? Such an occurrence has plagued international aid responses before, but it should not be enough of a reason for people not to open their wallets. Since Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari saw no reason to cancel his visit to Europe or yet declare a national disaster, it might be that the world doesn't quite understand the scope of the disaster.
Kilian Kleinschmidt, deputy to the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy to Pakistan, has stated of the international community, "Pakistan will require our continued and sustained engagement to recover." Our engagement, however, has not gotten off to a good start. Perhaps, sadly, it is the low death toll. The Haitian government, for instance, estimated the death toll in the 2010 earthquake to range between 100,000 and 270,00 although the true number may never be known. Compare that to the death toll in Pakistan. Perhaps some decide their response or lack thereof based on the number of dead.
After having given to the aid effort for Haiti, many are feeling they have nothing left in their budgets with which to respond to the need in Pakistan. This may be true for some, but I would question if it is for all those who say the coffers are empty. I have to wonder just how many might be making such a declaration with the latte of the day clutched firmly in their hand.
Certainly, there are those who are responding with an open heart and open hands. ike Asma Mahmood, of Mississauga, Ontario is a good example of the people who understand the need. She has organized "Tents from Toronto", a drive to collect tents that will help provide shelter for the estimated 20 million who have been left homeless by the flood waters, but it just seems too easy for many who live the privileged life of the western world to turn their back on their stricken brothers and sisters. I know there are those who have much less than others here in the west. I know that there are those on welfare, and the homeless on the streets, but they are not the majority. The majority of us do have the cash in our pockets for that latte, day after day. Far too many have confused luxury with necessity. They do not care to listen to Gandhi's admonition to live simply so that others may simply live. They do not care to listen to Donne's warning that if "if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less". They think they live far enough away that they are granted a kind of immunity from the social-conscience imperative to respond when there is desperate need.
Perhaps those who have decided to ignore the need in Pakistan should pause for a moment over their next latte. They should take that moment to pray that they never experience such need in their own lives, or in the lives of those whom they love. They should pray they are spared the need ever to ask for which of their kindred the bell tolls, lest they find themselves hoping for aid from others as disconnected as they.

Cracking Open a Cold One

Ontario's summer this year to date has been a sizzler. According to Environment Canada's records, July 2010 saw 10 days with temperatures that were over 30 degrees celsius. There weren't any days last July that reached such highs. Peterborough experienced the highest humidex value of 45 on July 8 but values of 44 were recorded at Toronto Pearson on July 5, and in London on July 7. The UV index - the strength of the sun's ultraviolet rays - has also been setting records. Using that index, a reading of 6 or 7 is "High" while 8 to 10 is "Very High". During that same period, "Extreme" UV index readings of 11+ were forecast for more than one location, an occurrence that is rare, indeed, in Canada. All the while, the government has been issuing air-quality warnings and extreme heat alerts.
Now, it seems that August will head in the same direction, with yesterday's humidex talking Toronto temps into the low 40's. How to survive the heat is becoming the topic de jour around the water cooler, but being Canadian generally means taking a phlegmatic approach to most problems, including those posed by the weather. Of course, everyone with air conditioning has been keeping it cranked up, but many have sought out another antidote to the high temps; a relaxed, laid-back one that doesn't strain the power grid. A recent Ipsos-Reid poll shows that 33 per cent of Canadians choose the brown bottle as their favorite summer drink, and the latest figures from the LCBO more than back that up. The figures show that sales of barley pop have been pushed to new highs by the heat baking Ontario so far this summer. Chris Layton, an LCBO spokesperson, says that, "(T)he volume sales of beers and ciders were up 11.5 per cent or 2.4 million litres." for the past month, Layton explained that's a million more six-packs this year than last, in the same four-week period. He also announced that sales of single cans of Ontario brewskis have shot up by 46 per cent.
If you find yourself this summer in the same straits as Ontario, baking in a heatwave that brings new meaning to "prickly heat", there's really no need to get your knickers in a knot. Just do like the Canucks - head to the fridge, or your favourite watering hole, and crack open a cold one. It should help you get by 'til the weather changes and the summer's heat is gone.

Workplace Harassment

For an interesting take on the question of how to handle the harassment of an employee, follow this link. A vexatious course, indeed.

Metronews.ca and the Catalan Parliamentarians

On Wednesday of this week, the members of the Catalan parliament in Spain voted 68 to 55 to ban the barbarism of bullfighting from their region. The move made Catalonia the first region in mainland Spain to take this historic step. Josep Rull, a lawmaker from Convergence and Union, a Catalan party opined, “We can be proud to have demonstrated today that Catalonia has a more dignified and respectful society that believes in eliminating the torture and suffering of animals.” Obviously an intellect, as is everyone else who voted with him.
Not to be outdone, of course, the voice of the mental midgets arguing to keep the cruelty going for the entertainment of discerning types, found a spokesperson. A bullfighter, Vicente Barrera spoke up for those who thrill to bloodletting. This cro-magnon denounced those who voted for the ban as abandoning "the tradition and culture that makes Spain so special." How sad that anyone should believe public spectacles that exist solely to kill for entertainment are all that distinguish the Spanish culture. How wonderful that the majority of those who voted in the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Wednesday have moved past the dark ages where Barrera and his ilk are mired.
Unfortunately, although Catalonia, a region previously steeped in the tradition of bullfighting, has been able to see the "sport" for the horrendous barbarism that is is, others are seemingly incapable of such forward thinking. I am not talking here about any citizen of Spain, more's the pity. No, I speak of intellectually challenged individuals at metronews.ca. Metro produces freebie newspapers distributed in six Canadian cities, not in Spain. These people are not part of the tradition that supposedly makes Spain so special. Those involved with the paper's Wednesday caption contest are simply idiots. On that day, the picture displayed for readers to caption was one of a bullring scene, showing a bull in the process of being tortured to death. The instructions to the left of the disgusting photo read, "Write a funny caption for the image to the right..." What kind of moron considers such a picture to be one that could actually have any humour to it at all?
Another very sad aspect to this display of inexcusable disregard for life is the fact that there will be captions submitted by far too many people. When the sanctity of life, in any form, is treated with such blatant disregard, even one person submitting a caption would be one too many.
I wonder - if those who chose the photo for the contest and those who submit captions could be plunked down in front of the spectacle; if they could be forced to watch the death throes of the poor beleaguered bull and listen to those who cheered while its life blood drained away ... would any of them upchuck their lunch at the gore, or would they all come out happily giggling and full of funny new captions to submit for the next photo of a death scene that metronews.ca digs up for its readers' amusement?

You're Going to Die Anyway, So ...

As people age, lifestyles and habits that were less than healthy sometimes get left by the wayside in a later-years attempt to stretch out a lifespan. If you've decided, however, that longevity isn't necessarily what you're aiming for, you might still want to tweak your lifestyle just a little. Getting yourself out to the nearest bookstore, or even an online site like "Indie Bound" will help you make the necessary adjustment. There you can purchase your guide to going out happy, whenever it happens.
The book you'll need is "Old Man Drinks", a 160 page wealth of wisdom on how to pickle yourself with the kinds of drinks that grandpa used to knock back during his barstool days. Recipes for alcoholic age-defiers like Sidecars and Rusty Nails are included along with real photos of real ol' guys guzzling back their poison of choice.
If, however, you have decided that you do want to try and stretch out your allotted time as much as possible, you'll need to do your tweaking in another direction. While the jury is still out whether or not alcohol consumption can contribute to healthy aging, the verdict is definitely in on marriage. Researchers at the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging (NJISA) have announced in an article in The Gerontologist that being married is one significant factor in successful aging. Their findings are based on telephone surveys conducted with more than 5,600 New Jersey residents between the ages of 50 and 74. If you're single and decide to take the life-lengthening walk to the altar, you could enlist a little help from friends and family, get yourself right out there on the marriage market and maybe even be tying the knot before week's end! According to the good folk at NJISA, this is one modifiable indicator of healthy golden years to come. Just to be sure you're clear on this, however, there's a caveat. Successful aging is not something you can suddenly give all your attention to when you hit retirement in the expectation of reversing years of "pary hearty" attitudes that saw you helping to originate every recipe in a book like "Old Man Drinks". Nope. Unfortunately, as Rachel Pruchno, PhD, killjoy, and the director of research at NJISA says, "Our research shows how aging is a lifelong process. (emphasis my own) The person you become at a very old age is really a function of how you lived your earlier years."
The researchers also found other significant indicators like how much formal education subjects had acquired and whether or not they had served jail time. In other words, while getting hitched is a criterion of successful aging that you can still do something about a little later in life , what you did in your younger years can never be changed and it might just come back and bite you in the ass.
In case it does, consider getting yourself a copy of the abovementioned book. After all, no matter how successfully you age, you're still going to die sooner or later, so you might just want to throw caution to the wind and ride out on a wave of pickled glory!

Of Course He'll Appeal

Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, as his good buddies know him, served as the former chief jailer of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. He ran the S-21 prison where as many as 14,000 people were tortured and killed between 1975 and 1979. This week he became the first former Khmer Rouge leader to be tried for war crimes committed during the group's rule in the 1970s. A UN-backed tribunal sentenced him on Monday of this week to 35 years in prison for his part in the brutality. During the 77-day proceedings, Duch acknowledged responsibility and pleaded guilty, but the judges actually reduced the sentence to just 19 years to take into account the time he had been detained before the trial. Relatives of the victims present at the sentencing burst into tears at the reduced sentence.
Kar Savuth, Duch's lawyer, has said they will appeal the court's decision. Well, of course. Duch's expectation is apparently that he should be acquitted on the grounds that he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy. Now there's one hell of a good reason to be set free, no matter how many people you had a hand in murdering. It is farcical that he should make such an appeal; farcical that any lawyer would be so willing to sully his own soul as to take on this monster's defense.
Such a pity that some of his victim's kin could not have had an hour alone in some dark alley with this vicious criminal, just to maybe chat a little about what he did at prison S-21. Not that I'm suggesting any personal "killing field" for Duch. I'm just sure they could have all had a jolly old time, and the bereaved kin could have walked away feeling better. Any pieces of filth left after the chat could just have been thrown on the dung heap.

Should the MIT Learn from the IIT?

In 2005, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unveiled their prototype of a supposed $100 laptop for children in the developing world. Those laptops ended up costing approximately twice that amount. In May of this year, Nicholas Negroponte (MIT's Media Lab) announced plans again to develop a basic tablet computer for $99 through his non-profit association, One Laptop per Child. The western world keeps backing up and taking another run at it. It remains to be seen how this latest effort will do.
On Thursday of this week, the Indian government unveiled their prototype of an iPad-like touch-screen laptop, with a price tag of just $35, developed by the Indian Institute of Technology. It hopes to begin next year, producing these devices that have no hard disk, but use a memory card instead, and are able to run on solar power. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said the tablet, expected to run the Linux operating system, would be introduced to higher education institutions next year.
The device's developers say it supports web browsing, video conferencing and word processing, and is intended for use by students. If all goes according to the ministry's plans, the price for the laptop will drop to $10 in the future. Granted, the device has yet to enter production, but Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, says there are several global manufacturers already expressing interest in producing it.
This all begs the question: Why couldn't the mighty MIT manage this feat? Mr. Sibal might very well be right when he says, "The solutions for tomorrow will emerge from India."