Is signing a petition a matter of public record?


The supreme court in the States decided that it is. My general inclination is to support the right to be anonymous. Speech is not really all that free if we are always forced to attach our name to our opinions. A name is generally used for harassment or for some other ad hominem assault on the opinion. Even despicable opinions should be heard, and the strength of the opinion should stand or fall on its own, regardless of the authorship.

For example, if somebody wanted to anonymously write about the over-representation of jewish people in various roles, I might disagree, but I would not suddenly demand that they publish their name.

Petitions, however, are not issues of free speech. By signing a petition, the signatory is publicly proclaiming support for the opinion expressed by the petition. To be honest, I am flabbergasted that anybody thought that they could sign a petition and then somehow hide that fact.

The only concern I have is that some people could be forced to sign a petition against their will. Unlike voting, petitions are not signed in a controlled context (which, as a sidenote, makes petitions pretty much worthless). However, in the balance, there is no reasonable right to privacy when signing a public opinion document. People will just have to learn to be more careful.

Recovered blog

Time to start posting again

You would think they would know what to do by now...

Spanish beaches were cleared after a bomb scare. The Spanish response to such a terrorist outrage is obvious... they should capitulate immediately. Obviously, if it wasn't for the continuous Spanish oppression of the Basque people (and their subsequent poverty) then the ETA would have no need to engage in terrorism. I look forward to welcoming the new country of Basque to the United Nations in the near future.

However, in the off chance that Spain does not in fact immediately allow the creation of a Basque country, then I propose that the UN form a special committee to discuss the Basque situation, or at least pass a few resolutions condemning Spain. I mean, if Spain wasn't guilty, then it wouldn't have to be worried about terrorism, right?

Amusing Domain Names

Surprisingly, this one wasn't taken. I do not necessarily endorse the topic of the site, I just like the URL.

Those crazy religious people

Paul over at Basically Nonsense likes to regularly review Jack Van Impe (or something to that effect). It amuses one and all because, well, some religious people simply don't make any sense at all. However, I think I have found somebody who takes religious dogma to new heights. Our winner is...

Jack T. Chick

Mr. Chick is an evangelical Christian, who, among other things, thinks that Roman Catholics, JW's, Muslims and pretty much everyone else is going to hell. Nothing too special there. However, he spices it up with a number of "tracts" that are drawn in a cartoon format, many of them designed for children.

I will excerpt a bit from two of the tracts. The first one is called "That Crazy Guy" and it discusses AIDS and HIV. Susan, the heroine of the story, has decided to meet up with Craig for a bit of premarital sex. Sure enough, he treats her like crap, but since she used a condom she is happy to discover that she is not actually pregnant... but then, she finds out that she has AIDS. The doctor starts off by giving Suzy a bit of medical advice:

Researchers have found holes in surgical gloves big enough to allow 10 AIDS viruses to pass through side by side, and most condoms are made of the same latex rubber!

And, now that we know that condoms can't possibly stop AIDS, the doctor decides to be a bit comforting

Suzi: So now that I've got AIDS, all I've got to look forward to is death, right?
Doctor: Wrong Susan! You'll soon face something far worse than AIDS...

Any guesses?

Doctor: If you were a true Christian, God's angels would be by your bedside... unfortunately, most people die in their sins, and their screaming souls are taken and thrown into that dark and uspeakably horrible place

Yup, not only is Suzi going to die young because of AIDS (that presumably pushed it's way through the leaky condom) but she is going to burn in hell because of it.

Ouch.

Later tonight, I will review one of my other favourites: Apes, Lies and Ms. Henn

Summer Blogging

I can't seem to keep up the blogging well in the summer, I don't have air conditioning which really cuts into my computer time. Well, hopefully things cool down soon, there is a reason I love Canada, and it has nothing to do with the beer.

Will the courts save us from the baby boomers?

There are two different types of pension plans that are popular these days. Defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. I will briefly explain the difference:

1. Defined Benefit: The benefits of the plan are fixed, and are usually based upon years of service to the company. Usually these type of pension plans require some sort of public or private insurance just in case there are any unexpected shortfalls. These type of plans are very nice for baby boomers because they can contribute very little to the plan and then sock it to the next generation when they retire. The kids have to make up any shortfall in the pension that came about due to insufficient funding by the boomers.
2. Defined Contributions: The contributions to the plan are fixed, but the benefits are not. This type of plan can never have a shortfall because the pensions can just be cut to match the amount of money available. This sucks for the baby boomers who like to get things without actually paying for them. Under this plan, if they don't contribute enough, they simply won't get a nice pension.

Obviously, for our generation, defined benefits plans are one last big "screw you" from the baby boomers. However, a recent court ruling might be putting those type of plans in jeopardy:

Given the huge headaches and costs that may result from the ruling, many predicted employers will increasingly move to defined contribution plans or abandon pension plans altogether

Who cares about the reasoning behind the ruling and that the unions scored a victory. If the end result is the demise of the screw you pension plans, then that can only be a good thing.

Middle East by the numbers

A cute (but rather biased) look at some of the interesting stats regarding the situation in the Middle East.  I will excerpt some of the interesting points:

• Number of times Jerusalem is mentioned in the Old Testament: over 700
• Number of times Jerusalem is mentioned in the Koran: 0
• Number of Arab refugees who fled the land that became Israel: approximately 600,000
• Number of Jewish refugees who fled Arab countries: approximately 600,000
• Number of U.N. agencies that deal only with Palestinian refugees: 1
• Number of U.N. agencies that deal with all the other refugees in the world: 1
• Number of Christian or Jewish prayer services allowed in Saudi Arabia: 0
• Number of Muslim prayer services allowed in Israel: unlimited
• Number of Arabs Israel allows to live in Arab settlements in Israel: 1,250,000
• Number of Jews Palestinian Authority [would allow] to live in Jewish settlements [under] Palestinian Authority: 0

Some of his statistics are obviously facetious, but the ones I mentioned above are sufficiently interesting in their own right I believe...

So, what does 1.5 billion dollars buy these days?

Either about half of google's IPO, or one beautiful missile defense system (among other things) to defend the Olympics from attacks.
 
The patriot missiles kinda amuse me.  If I was a terrorist, a nice big truck bomb, some anthrax (not all that deadly but certainly paranoia inducing), or, best of all, some chemical weapons would be the best bet.  Launching a missile from my home base in Cyprus wouldn't be very high up on my "practical ways to attack the Olympics" list.
 
(Of course, just like you can't spend too much on health care, you can't spend too much on security either.  Even Wonderland now employs about 50 people at the front gates to check all bags, because nobody would think of tossing a weapon over the low fence to his buddy on the other side.  In Greece, there are hundreds of ways to attack the athletes for a determined would-be terrorist.  While I agree that it is important to stop the most obvious methods of attack, setting up a missile shield is tantamount to defending against ghosts and dreams.)

Litmus test for the UN fast approaching

As we all know by now, the UN voted massively in favour of the latest anti-Israel resolution.  The actual voting tally was:

• For: 150
• Against: 6
• Abstain: 10

Now, we have a vote coming up to see if the UN will do anything about the impending (or possibly already occurring) genocide in Sudan.  Will more than 6 people vote against that resolution?  That would be fascinating.  Here is my random prediction:

• For: 102
• Against: 28
• Abstain: 36

Most importantly, I believe that more countries will vote in favour of a genocide in Sudan than voted to allow Israel to defend itself from suicide bombers.  Am I wrong?  Should I have more faith in the UN?  Should I have less faith in the UN (after all, I still think the resolution will pass). 

We shall see...

The Assault on young people continues unabated

I will comment on this more later since I have to go, but restricting the freedom of segments of Canadian society based solely on their chronological age is completely unacceptable.

Bush/Kerry Flash Humour

I think that it is moderately amusing, but you can judge for yourself.  (3.7 Megs for those on dialup, so not for you guys). 

Religious Sensibilities

This is the story detailing (rather generally) how my younger brother got screwed over by the professed religious beliefs of some other people.  He is a lifeguard at a pool, and the busiest day of the week is usually Saturday.  There is a team of about 10 lifeguards or so (I'm a little hazy about the details, but the point will be valid) and, as a rule, none of them really want to work on Saturday.  You spend more shifts on the chair, the shifts are more stressful, and it more or less just sucks.

The obviously fair solution to this dilemma is to rotate who has to work on Saturday.  If 6 people are required to work every Saturday, then 4 people will get Saturday off every week, which seems mostly fair.  However, no less than five of the lifeguards are Jewish people who are religious enough to not work on Saturday.   They demand to have every Friday off (presumably so they can go pray in a specific place in the morning, because God doesn't listen to people at swimming pools).  That leaves only 5 non-religious people to cover a shift that normally takes six people. 

So, not only is my brother forced to work every single Saturday, but the pool has a lifeguard shortage during that day as well since they can't get enough staff to fill all the positions.  As a result, he pretty much doesn't get any breaks during the day.

Offhand, this is completely unacceptable.  Religion is a personal choice that you inflict upon your own life, not somebody else's.  If those religious lifeguards felt that they would not be able to fulfill their duties (which includes being available on the busiest day of the week), then they should not have applied for the job.  If they refuse to work on Saturday, they should be fired and alternate lifeguards should be found who would be willing to actually do the job that they were hired to do.

The same goes with any other religious beliefs.  If you want to carry a dagger around with you, fantastic!  However, don't apply to be a steward on a plane if they have a "no weapon" policy that you don't want to follow.  If you need to get 5 breaks a day to pray, don't work on an assembly line that can't really handle that type of interruption.  If God tells you that Sunday is a day of rest, don't work for an establishment that is open on Sunday.  If your special holy book says that you need to wear a big black covering because men become sex-crazed animals if they see your naked face, then by all means wear it.  However, don't join an organization that has uniforms and expect to be given special treatment.

If you have religious beliefs, then it is up to you to follow them while conforming to the rules of the job that you have freely chosen to undertake.  It is not up to your employer to conform to you.  Freedom of religion cuts both ways, you are free to do whatever you want in the name of your God, but don't expect me to change the rules for you.

New Comments

In the spirit of things I have decided to try and use the blogger commenting system.  We will see how it works.  I saved my old template so I should be able to revert back to the old blog if need be.

More Canadian Cabinet News:  The important stuff!

There was a fascinating graphic in the Globe and Mail yesterday.  First there was a breakdown of the ministers by Province of origin.  Presumably the idea was to show how fair and balanced Paul Martin was in deciding the makeup of the Cabinet.  But that wasn't the interesting part, the graphic also included a vital statistic, one that lets us know immediately if a cabinet is acceptable.

Gender.

That's right.  Some minsters might have more experience than others, or they might possess special qualifications for the post.  However, as we all know, none of that really matters.  The worthiness of a federal Canadian cabinet is decided by the genitalia of its members.  In particular, your grade is based on the number of female members.

• Previous Cabinet: 11/38 = 29%
• New Cabinet: 9/39 = 23%

As you can see, there was a shocking decline of 6%, which makes this cabinet racist, sexist, homophobic, disablephobic, maltaphobic, and, most important, discriminates against Ukrainians. 

It seems that the idea is that the cabinet should reflect the population of Canada.  For example, about 50% of our population is female, so 50% of the cabinet posts should go to women.  In that spirit of things, therefore, I demand the following Cabinet makeup:

• 15 "real" Canadians
• 8 English Canadians
• 6 French Canadians
• 5 Irish Canadians
• 3 German Canadians
• 1 Italian Canadian
• 1 Chinese Canadian
• 1 Ukrainian Canadian

That is a cabinet of 40.  I had to add one member to the Cabinet because I didn't want to leave the Ukrainian out, but unfortunately our "North American Indians" get screwed out of a Cabinet member.  Perhaps they should procreate more.  Jews don't even come close, we should probably get a quota system going to keep them out, since they are really overrepresented.  Now, there should obviously be 4 male English Canadians, and 4 female English Canadians, but I'm not sure what to do about the Italian.  Should it be a male or female Italian?  Either way, about half a million Italians will be screwed out of their representation.

And, finally, my absolute pet peeve.  How many cabinet members are under 30?  Huh? And you call that representative?

Some people might say that ethnic origin doesn't matter, but I figure it matters just as much as gender.  So, I leave it open to to everyone... either judge the minsters on their qualifications, or be consistent in your demands for a proportional cabinet.

Coincidence or not?

Bill Graham is kicked out of the Foreign Affairs department, and Canada doesn't vote in favour of the latest anti-Israel UN Statement.    Obviously, Canada should have joined Australia and voted against such an obviously flawed resolution, but we will take what we can get.  Perhaps this is the start of a whole new international relationship...

New Blogger System Sucks

Or at least that is what I think my evaluation is going to be.  I was getting a good handle on the HTML required, but then they decided that HTML was too complicated for the would-be bloggers and now they have zapped my nice template in favour of this WYSIWYG stuff.  Ah well, I will live and learn, at least until I figure out how to use Perl.

The Phillipines contemplates Murder

A dark day in history. I have usually been impressed with the actions of Filipinos. They ousted a dictator, fashioned a democracy, kicked some terrorist ass in the South of their country, produced some lovely women one of whom I married, and then...

"In response to the demand by the group Khaled ibn al-Walid (Islamic army in Iraq), the Philippine government... will pull its humanitarian forces out of Iraq swiftly, in the time it takes to carry out the necessary preparation for their return to the Philippines," he said on al-Jazeera television

If they do pull out, it will be open season on foreign nationals in Iraq. Essentially, the Phillipines is saving one person while condemning possibly dozens or hundreds of others to death. It is the ultimate selfish act, and one that should be punished by the world through economic means.

Even Spain was not this direct, and their cowardly submission to terror is possibly a strong factor in the current round of beheadings. The Phillipines is not saving anyone. This is murder.