The Rintrarian Archive » 2008

Monthly Archives:
October 2008

News Roundup

News Roundup – October 10, 2008

Sometimes no one can win. The Nobel Peace Prize might go to a Chinese activitist. This would further cement the idea that China is acting inhumanly. While true, this is also a terrible way to go about this and will ultimately minimize the Peace Prize even further.

China may try but no one should minimize this man. I hope he gets better. After all, he is a Blue Bomber fan.

First the Asians jumped. And then… They plunged. The stock market is a stupid game.

Why is it that someone who lives in the past seems to think that he is the best person to help the US move into the future?

Anger is a confusing and complicated thing. This is true if the person you are angry at is the wrong person. It is especially true when you know it is the wrong person but you want to be angry anyway.

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News Roundup

Tory Roundup – October 8, 2008

I wanted to see what the Tories were promising but their website provides almost no information.

From the menu, under Policy >> Plan, you would think you would be able to read what they have in mind. What you get instead is a statement which tells us that Harper has been clear, concise and consistent. Then it tells us that Dion and Layton do not have a plan. If the financial crisis is our enemy, then we don’t want to divulge any of our secret weapons. But Harper is willing to tell us what he will not do. But stating what won’t happen does not tell us what will.

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Uncategorized

Election News Roundup – October 6, 2008

WHEREAS crime is at its lowest point in 25 years; WHEREAS violent crime has steadily dropped over the last 15 years; WHEREAS car thefts have decreased in the last 10 years; And WHEREAS youth crime has dropped; BE IT RESOLVED THAT all candidates must continue to play on peoples fears. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT all candidates must increase budgets and staffing as well as changing or enlarging the definition of crime. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT all proposed courses of action must ignore the root causes of crime.
If the public service has need to speak during a campaign, they must shut-up. Speaking provides information. Information can be interpreted in ways which the government does not want for the electorate. Governments speak for Canadians and do not need Canadians speaking or thinking for themselves.
A long sentence is often hard to understand. It is often even harder to understand when the person constructing the sentence is trying to sound intelligent. The use of long sentences generally is a direct result of the speaker forgetting and ignoring the audience. Case in point: Stephen Harper and Prison Sentences.
The European and Asian markets are tumbling. The US has a crisis. But, from his armchair, Harper does not see any problems in Canada and offers several dollars a month more to parents. Because, as we all know, when the world burns you want to be able to choose which daycare you can’t afford.
The way to stop the world from burning is to slow the growth (Cons), tax the polluter (Libs), sell the atmosphere (NDP), use bandaids (Bloc), tax the polluter and the commuter (Greens). And while these solutions are more complex than I describe, none of them come close to dealing with the complexity of the issue itself.

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News Roundup

News Roundup – October 6, 2008

This makes me sad. But it explains why farmers and fishermen are always complaining.
I doubt I will ever understand nationalism or why people fight over where a border is drawn. The idea of a nation-state is a failed idea. Nationalism, statism, regionalism, capitalism, socialism, and all other political religions breed contempt.
I sincerely do not think that a fair election can occur when there are still muzzle-flashes and bombs going off. It is hard enough for people to make an informed decision without the extra-curricular activities.
I also do not think that a fair election can take place unless everyone receives all the information about the candidates in a timely fashion. Politics and politicians do not view people as people and the regular Canadians to which they refer are merely commodities to be bought and sold with promises. But even so, this is good news.
Learning the ABC’s is important. Now it is moreso than ever before.
Maybe this proves that Canadian real-life satire is better than the American version. The caricatures we choose to depict us to the world seem to be more important to Canadians. Or maybe the Americans are unable to roll their eyes far enough into the back of their heads.
I went to buy some juice from Home Plus (owned by Tescos) and at the till the teller said no, it has “Chinese Melamine.” So I could not buy my favourite brand of pure, unfiltered, squeezed apple juice. It is called “Straight Juice,” because (I guess) you can never be heterosexual enough. (I just don’t know why it was still on the shelf.)

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News Roundup

News Roundup – October 4, 2008

Forgiveness is not real if it is coerced. Coercion can look like lots of negative press. Maybe I am cynical. But this is not really an altruistic act.
From the book of “Entirely Useless and Stupid Ideas Which Waste Money, Resources and Energy” comes this elevator. An even dumber idea than the escalator to nowhere.
In the midst of a recession, Bush is forced to put away his crayons and sign this bill. The problem is that this is not a recession. It is worse, and will get even more so, than the Depression. Thinking otherwise is unwise.
It seems the speculators are skeptical. I doubt the spectators expected anything spectacular other than Specter that haunts Wall Street (Socialism for the Bourgeoisie).
He might have won, but everyone will lose unless someone can do something, anything that is more drastic than what I have already heard or read. He might be an economist but I have not heard anything that follows the S.M.A.R.T principle. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
Harper claims to have foreseen this crisis. He also says that if there was going to be a Canadian recession it would have happened already. The thing is that I don’t think that it has actually fully hit the US yet. At any rate, Harper is a carnival fortune-teller who can see the future but can’t offer any concrete advice.

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Korea Journal

44 days to write.

I left Canada on August 20 and arrived in Seoul, South Korea on August 21. I arrived in the island paradise of Jeju Island on August 29. I started teaching English the following Monday. I live on the scenic south side of the island and am enjoying myself. I have been forced out of my comfortable reclusive and semi-hermitic lifestyle.

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News Roundup

News Roundup – October 2, 2008

I thought I would try creating posts using Twitter. Twitter, while quick and easy is not what I want. So I will try something else. For now I deleted my Twitter posts and aggregated them here.

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Continuously proving that conservatives have nothing new to offer the world. Same old, same old. Copy and paste.
How many times do we have to hit the electrocuted button until we realize we ain’t getting any candy? An idea is no longer useful when it continuously proves otherwise.
The Olympics do nothing for humanity except promote nationalism. Nationalism does not promote peace. And, by the transitive property, you should be happy you are not involved.
The Stock Market provides and produces nothing. It is useless and is mere speculation. Why does something that controls our lives have to be something so flippant and idiotic?
Alleged? Huh? Why is it such a crime to believe something which is so very unpopular? The definition of freedom should not include these kinds of qualifiers. Qualified freedom is not real freedom.

This takes voyeurism to new heights.

Things were hot. Then they got hotter.
I don’t understand why she keeps so many secrets from me. She wooed me with her beauty, her acting and her singing (I think the album is stellar).

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Monthly Archives: October 2008

Monthly Archives:
October 2008