http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/10/17/fiscal_imbalance_051017.html?ref=rss Um, yet again, another example of the failure of any and all socialism no matter the supposed positive intent. The only thing wrong with the article is that the guy that did the study doesn't point out that transfer payments are evil. Instead it treats it as an axiom that Ontarioians should be helping the poorer provinces. Hello! It doesn't work because you're handing people money and they haven't earne...
The reason why you’re bored with Politics is because there’s no real difference between a democrat and a republican. The only significant difference is your level of love of religion or distain for it. If the neo-republican party had their way the US would be a Christian state with quasi-socialist values based on Christian morality. If the democrats had their way, the US would be a socialist state al-la France or worse the Soviet Union and people would be dying or enslaved for “the great...
Several objectivist web sites are linking to this article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html Why? Because it's proves what they instinctually know or want to believe is true. If you read that article you’ll see the flaws. Tiny sample, and absolutely no control over any other variables etc., etc. It is far more likely that the reason why there is less violence in Britain and much less in Europe is because they’re far less free than Americans and because of g...
The headline/subtitle is so true. Terry Goodkind’s first rule is one of those most important lessons in life. You can see it happening all around you all of the time. Almost everything human beings do is not the result of logic and reason, but fear and wishful thinking. Case in point: This last week a gas station in Southern Ontario accidently posted a gas price of >$2 a litre because the stock boy behind the counter hit a 2 instead of a 1 on the good old number pad. Big deal right? H...
http://www.countercurrents.org/us-richardson060905.htm The scary thing is that this kind of bullshit is becoming all too common. Chuck Richardson needs to get a clue. Once again, the rage he feels and vents at Objectivists and business people is misdirected. It is precisely the socialist values taking everything that he works for and giving it to someone more pathetic than him, that is causing this. It is the socialist left pushing people onto the welfare doll ( http://www.timesonli...
(To those of you that got stuck in New Orleans as tourists or through no fault of your own because you really did try and leave, this is not directed at you. My thoughts are with you and I hope that you can use your ingenuity and leadership to keep yourselves safe and get out.) For the last week basically I've been at a loss for words as to what has been happening in the southern United States. We've been getting ridiculous commentary from the media here in Canada, even from the most right...
One of the things that a great many people (especially socialists trying to argue against a capitalist and the empirical evidence that is micro-economics) get confused is the difference between Capitalism and Corporatism. Put simply: Capitalism is the way the universe works. Newton put it thusly: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Rand put it this way: You can’t have something for nothing. Simple example: A baseball can’t move through the air without someone/thing...
So last week the supreme court of Canada ruled that a Quebec law preventing insurance companies from insuring Quebec residences against things that were already covered by Canadian Medicare was unconstitutional under Section 2 of our Constitution. In their ruling they were very careful in what they said but the newspapers and TV News all got the message and have (rightly, as I’ve read the first 20 or so pages of this monster decision) reported that the supreme court said that because of the h...
In a move that stuns me and makes me actually believe just a little in politicians the government of the United States actually overruled Bushes idiotic stem cell research law. Amazing. Fantastic. Wonderful. In other news: Bush vows to veto bill. *sigh* So much for that little belief in politicians to actually do something useful. W. has the same bogus, life hating view that comes from all religions, but most specifically Christianity. He is putting what might be ahead of what I...
Gotta love stories like this: http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/05/11/SlaveLabour_050511.html?ref=rss An international convention 75 years ago defined forced labour as all involuntary work extracted from a person under threat of punishment or penalty. Let's see. By the definition given 75 years ago, North American taxation policies definately fit. In involuntary work extracted from a person under threat of punishment or penalty. HELLO IRS! Tip: North America, and Europe...
I didn't know what to expect when I went to see this today with my mother. I mean, it's a movie about the crusades. I figured it was going to be something to do with Christianity and the holiness of the whole thing. Man, was I wrong. At the very beginning we get an inkling of what this is about. On one of the beams of the blacksmith's forge in Latin is a phrase (sorry for the killing of it, I can't remember it exactly) "A man is not a man who has not made the world a better place." We l...
What do I mean by this statement? Well I’ve touched on this before. But consider the concept of video. There are basically two ways to produce video that we can watch. The first uses successive frames of a complete image drawn (or otherwise) frame by frame. Run them fast enough and the human brain can’t deal with it and it sees it as fluid motion. The second way is to use pixels. Each pixel contains 3 sub pixels. Red Green and Blue. Each of these sub pixels can either be ON or OFF. (In...
If Peace Be Your Purpose then the inevitable outcome is death. If freedom, absolute, non-contradictory freedom, be your purpose the inevitable outcome is peace. If you care, think on these statements and tell me why they are right.
How to Spot Crapware Crapware is my pet term for really badly written software. There’s a lot of it out there. All spyware falls into this category because it doesn’t serve a useful purpose and is just a pain in the ass. But then there is other stuff that fits into this category. MS has been pushing this stuff out as of late. The beta of SQL Server 2005 is a perfect example. (or rather, it’s setup and uninstall routines) Windows Installer is ...
When I go somewhere for a business trip or just a trip in general I try and understand what makes that place unique. What makes it special. I will even adopt whatever the uniqueness is as much as possible when I’m there. I don’t mean that I change myself, or affect airs, but I do try and accommodate the people there. It helps me to learn. Both learn what makes their way better, and what makes my way better. Only by embracing this change can you better yourself. You have to be open to a b...