I lied. Say hello to Sgt. Savage.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Contention
Sorry, no pics today. You'll just have to live with my incessant rambling instead.
Topic of today's post? Well, I would be stupid not to comment on Canada rejecting to take part in the NMD plan.
Turns out, Cellucci thinks that us not giving into the bully of the US administration is actually us handing the reigns of our sovereignty over to the US. To be blunt, such awkwardly stupid outbursts can lead to horrible political backlashes, namely the 450 million dollars worth of trade embargoes that are currently being considered against the US for the Mad Cow fiasco, and others such as the Softwood lumber dispute, among other things.
Perhaps, you know, hitting back isn't the right thing to do, what with the US being our closest ally. However, when brother starts getting bossy, we don't have to listen. Thats what sovereignty is all about. I can hardly wait for these four years to wrap up, and the bills to be tabulated. The citizens of America are leaving their children with a hefty tab to pay off, and they will be looking for help.
Help which, if things continue as they are, we will be hesitant to give.
On a side note, a buddy of mine in a computer science course likened the Patiot Missile to a pin, flying at mach 4, trying to hit another pin, travelling at mach 6. Not bloody likely. Bush, whom we all know and hate, has said that the NMD is necessary for the US's protection.
Maybe 40 years ago. Somebody needs to update that boy into the modern times. The Cold War is over, and if he had been paying attention in history class, he would know that we are actually supposed to be reducing the number of nukes in the world.
But he says they're in the hands of terrorists, and we need to "bulk up" to protect ourselves.
Careful Mr. Bush. You can get cavities talking bullshit like that.
Topic of today's post? Well, I would be stupid not to comment on Canada rejecting to take part in the NMD plan.
Turns out, Cellucci thinks that us not giving into the bully of the US administration is actually us handing the reigns of our sovereignty over to the US. To be blunt, such awkwardly stupid outbursts can lead to horrible political backlashes, namely the 450 million dollars worth of trade embargoes that are currently being considered against the US for the Mad Cow fiasco, and others such as the Softwood lumber dispute, among other things.
Perhaps, you know, hitting back isn't the right thing to do, what with the US being our closest ally. However, when brother starts getting bossy, we don't have to listen. Thats what sovereignty is all about. I can hardly wait for these four years to wrap up, and the bills to be tabulated. The citizens of America are leaving their children with a hefty tab to pay off, and they will be looking for help.
Help which, if things continue as they are, we will be hesitant to give.
On a side note, a buddy of mine in a computer science course likened the Patiot Missile to a pin, flying at mach 4, trying to hit another pin, travelling at mach 6. Not bloody likely. Bush, whom we all know and hate, has said that the NMD is necessary for the US's protection.
Maybe 40 years ago. Somebody needs to update that boy into the modern times. The Cold War is over, and if he had been paying attention in history class, he would know that we are actually supposed to be reducing the number of nukes in the world.
But he says they're in the hands of terrorists, and we need to "bulk up" to protect ourselves.
Careful Mr. Bush. You can get cavities talking bullshit like that.
Monday, February 21, 2005
The Sky
The Sky at home, around 4:00 in the middle of winter.
This was a phenomenal sunset, problem is it just started in the middle of the afternoon, about two months ago. Haven't seen one like it since. Plenty of good sunrises though, I'm just too tired to pull my camera out at that time of day.
Think of this for perspective, everyone around the world witnesses something like this at least once in their life. What makes it so great? A) It's colourful. B) It's bigger than anything we've ever built or done.
Pictures!
The last plant of last fall of last year.
I finally have images! You can see no? I suppose I better put copyright info up then.
For now, all pictures are my property, and will be my property until 50 years after my death. Do not use my pics unless you ask first, or properly cite me as the creator, and provide a link to this website.
Thanks, enjoy.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Wants
Media corporations, whether it is newspapers, TV, radio, or tabloid, all have one thing in common. They want to give you something that you want, in order to earn money to live. We'll forget that second part for now, and focus on the onus, they want to give you something you want.
As an aspiring journalist of sorts, I have discovered that I have a difficult time giving you what you want. My instructors have all told us what the guidelines are for what sells. Blood, war, controversy, and interest, they all sell really good. For an exercise, we had to imagine ourselves at the scene of a major news event, and figure out what we would do (remember that local angle jeebs, it's what makes the papers sell at home), in order to take a news event and make it into a news story.
Bloody car accident? I would report the story, and maybe take a picture of the wreckage. That's all good, but to really get the story to sell, I would have to try and find out who was responsible, and maybe take some pictures of the bloody body getting carted away and whatnot.
Now, here is my problem. You, the consumer, like what you like, and being without a concience as you are, you like a lot of things that I would have a hard time providing for you (see, feeling guilty about snapping a picture of a dead mother is something I have to deal with, and you don't).
I find it curious that I have to provide you, the readership, with your daily dose, while you in turn complain about the lack of Journalistic integrity and morals. Guess what? We're giving you what you want. If some right-wing political pundit is espousing bullshit and gospel, he's doing it to give you what you want, what you are paying to hear, what you want to hear.
Call me old fashioned, but I am, from this day forward, trying to live in the footsteps of journalists like Robert Fisk. He's not putting out what people want to read, quite the contrary. If I was a megalo-corporate entity seeking to invest in the volatile middle-east, Fisk's works would not be something that I would want to read, let alone know the name of the author.
As for integrity and morals, it says something when Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man on the planet, and Anti-America himself, says that "Fisk is Neutral." That's a newsflash right there. Now, I don't want to flaunt that too much, as Osama declaring he can tolerate an American is directly equivocal to treason by that American, at least in the minds of some slack-jawed yokels ("if you are not with us, then you are with the terrorists") who happen to be in the possession of firearms or other pointy, choppy, or hacky bits.
Now, you are probably wondering, where have all the other good journalists gone? That's a good question, but I have faith that they are out there, and like good journalists, they are keeping focused on the news, and keeping themselves out of the picture. Also, many good journalists have recently retired, and I even have some of them as instructors for my course.
As an aside, before wrapping up, I'm curious how well a magazine would sell, if it's entire content was material we didn't want to see, read, or have anything to do with?
My guess is pretty well, if Fox News can make a killing.
As an aspiring journalist of sorts, I have discovered that I have a difficult time giving you what you want. My instructors have all told us what the guidelines are for what sells. Blood, war, controversy, and interest, they all sell really good. For an exercise, we had to imagine ourselves at the scene of a major news event, and figure out what we would do (remember that local angle jeebs, it's what makes the papers sell at home), in order to take a news event and make it into a news story.
Bloody car accident? I would report the story, and maybe take a picture of the wreckage. That's all good, but to really get the story to sell, I would have to try and find out who was responsible, and maybe take some pictures of the bloody body getting carted away and whatnot.
Now, here is my problem. You, the consumer, like what you like, and being without a concience as you are, you like a lot of things that I would have a hard time providing for you (see, feeling guilty about snapping a picture of a dead mother is something I have to deal with, and you don't).
I find it curious that I have to provide you, the readership, with your daily dose, while you in turn complain about the lack of Journalistic integrity and morals. Guess what? We're giving you what you want. If some right-wing political pundit is espousing bullshit and gospel, he's doing it to give you what you want, what you are paying to hear, what you want to hear.
Call me old fashioned, but I am, from this day forward, trying to live in the footsteps of journalists like Robert Fisk. He's not putting out what people want to read, quite the contrary. If I was a megalo-corporate entity seeking to invest in the volatile middle-east, Fisk's works would not be something that I would want to read, let alone know the name of the author.
As for integrity and morals, it says something when Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man on the planet, and Anti-America himself, says that "Fisk is Neutral." That's a newsflash right there. Now, I don't want to flaunt that too much, as Osama declaring he can tolerate an American is directly equivocal to treason by that American, at least in the minds of some slack-jawed yokels ("if you are not with us, then you are with the terrorists") who happen to be in the possession of firearms or other pointy, choppy, or hacky bits.
Now, you are probably wondering, where have all the other good journalists gone? That's a good question, but I have faith that they are out there, and like good journalists, they are keeping focused on the news, and keeping themselves out of the picture. Also, many good journalists have recently retired, and I even have some of them as instructors for my course.
As an aside, before wrapping up, I'm curious how well a magazine would sell, if it's entire content was material we didn't want to see, read, or have anything to do with?
My guess is pretty well, if Fox News can make a killing.
Monday, February 14, 2005
It's getting Drafty in here
Holy Shit. Citizens of America, you have nothing to fear from a draft, unless you are a skilled worker in some aspect.
Read more here:
Draft Coming?
I'm all for freedoms. That much should be clear by reading my blog, but your government keeping tabs on your skills (something you learn, and pay money to learn) simply so they can draft you, seems kinda like a penalty for those who bothered to pursue first-aid or computer networking as a field of expertise.
Google the US Draft, see what you can come up with.
Read more here:
Draft Coming?
I'm all for freedoms. That much should be clear by reading my blog, but your government keeping tabs on your skills (something you learn, and pay money to learn) simply so they can draft you, seems kinda like a penalty for those who bothered to pursue first-aid or computer networking as a field of expertise.
Google the US Draft, see what you can come up with.
Friday, February 11, 2005
The Doom of Mortals
Nobody seems to care about consequences. We like to try and hold our governments and politicans accountable, when we ourselves refuse to play bigger. We try to weasle out of the speeding ticket, even though we knew we were doing 140 in a playground zone. We like to point fingers at others, when we know damn well it was our own greed and laziness that brought our downfall. We like to champion causes that we don't even know anything about.
Where are you people going, in such a rush to hit the fucking shit pile? Take a pill, sit down, take a breath, and take life one step at a time. I haven't got the patience (which is near infinite) to watch you chicken-brains scratch at the ground, trying to make a living out of whining, bitching, complaining, yelling, and frowning.
Do I sound whiny at this point? Is this one of those "The World Sucks Posts?"
Could be, but really, read, and if the shoe fits, consider yourself on the blacklist of your own making.
Doom, DOOM DOOM DOOM, doom doom dooom DOOOM.
Where are you people going, in such a rush to hit the fucking shit pile? Take a pill, sit down, take a breath, and take life one step at a time. I haven't got the patience (which is near infinite) to watch you chicken-brains scratch at the ground, trying to make a living out of whining, bitching, complaining, yelling, and frowning.
Do I sound whiny at this point? Is this one of those "The World Sucks Posts?"
Could be, but really, read, and if the shoe fits, consider yourself on the blacklist of your own making.
Doom, DOOM DOOM DOOM, doom doom dooom DOOOM.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Media Masters
It's been a means of contention in the last ten years, the status of the media, and just how much journalism has changed. Mind you all, change is not always a bad thing, but in this exclusive example, change has not been so kind.
Journalism, especially in the states, has been bent to heed the master, or masters. This, ironically, is not news, but the feats and the lying that have led to this point, are. The supreme masters, as education and experience have taught us, are the almighty dollar, for which without it, there would be no news, the governing leaders, for without them, we would be free to report and account the happenings of the world as we see fit, and finally, ourselves. We are the makers of news, the recorders of news, and the consumers of news, and yet we like to point fingers at the journalists for biasing and spinning the news to fit their masters.
A journalist in the United States might lose their credibility within a news agency, if they maintain anything that might even be remotely leftist bias. The opposite is true in Canada, a right-wing journalist might be shunned by their media if it so eschews the Conservative beliefs.
If the government deems certain types of news as unbeneficial to the public, despite our freedoms of the media, they can blind our eyes and plug our ears. It is their power as a government, and while such powers were invested with protection and safety in mind, their use has been usurped to new levels of misuse and self-servience in the last ten years. As the media, we bend to our masters, for they are out livelihood, but which master we kneel to is our choice to make. If the government demands our silence, but the public cry out for truth, it should be a non-choice to which side the media will sway. If money is tight, and both the government and the majority of people are of a like mind, we will heel... as is our job, and our only means of making a living.
Remember this, dear reader. If ever you are outraged by what you read in the paper, or see on the television, it is you for which it was made, sanitized, and portrayed. It is also you who contribute to this form media, such as it is, and it is for you whom we work hard to please. If you are outraged by such a horrible bias, speak out. Criticize the other masters, the government, the money-holders... we, the media, are listening, and if your message is strong, then you become our new master, and we will yield to you.
We are but the fish in the river, and the currents of government and money dictate where we swim. You, the reader, are the dam-master, and the keeper of the river. While you slumber, the currents choose their own path. If you should rise and command it of the water, it's current will shift to your will, and we will have but one choice, and that is to follow.
Journalism, especially in the states, has been bent to heed the master, or masters. This, ironically, is not news, but the feats and the lying that have led to this point, are. The supreme masters, as education and experience have taught us, are the almighty dollar, for which without it, there would be no news, the governing leaders, for without them, we would be free to report and account the happenings of the world as we see fit, and finally, ourselves. We are the makers of news, the recorders of news, and the consumers of news, and yet we like to point fingers at the journalists for biasing and spinning the news to fit their masters.
A journalist in the United States might lose their credibility within a news agency, if they maintain anything that might even be remotely leftist bias. The opposite is true in Canada, a right-wing journalist might be shunned by their media if it so eschews the Conservative beliefs.
If the government deems certain types of news as unbeneficial to the public, despite our freedoms of the media, they can blind our eyes and plug our ears. It is their power as a government, and while such powers were invested with protection and safety in mind, their use has been usurped to new levels of misuse and self-servience in the last ten years. As the media, we bend to our masters, for they are out livelihood, but which master we kneel to is our choice to make. If the government demands our silence, but the public cry out for truth, it should be a non-choice to which side the media will sway. If money is tight, and both the government and the majority of people are of a like mind, we will heel... as is our job, and our only means of making a living.
Remember this, dear reader. If ever you are outraged by what you read in the paper, or see on the television, it is you for which it was made, sanitized, and portrayed. It is also you who contribute to this form media, such as it is, and it is for you whom we work hard to please. If you are outraged by such a horrible bias, speak out. Criticize the other masters, the government, the money-holders... we, the media, are listening, and if your message is strong, then you become our new master, and we will yield to you.
We are but the fish in the river, and the currents of government and money dictate where we swim. You, the reader, are the dam-master, and the keeper of the river. While you slumber, the currents choose their own path. If you should rise and command it of the water, it's current will shift to your will, and we will have but one choice, and that is to follow.
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