Oh Kermit the Frog, you lamented being green and blending in with the trees.
What am I getting at? Oh yeah, it's easy to be green.
When I moved over five years ago I would have hopped (obvious frog pun) at the chance to have Frogbox supply boxes for my move.
I remember roving around Costco, which leaves boxes out for people to grab, and ending up with boxes of varying sizes and quality.
Frogbox not only offers convenience for your next move by delivering rugged reusable plastic boxes to your door and picking them up after, but the solace that your recycling box or bin won't be overflowing with cardboard, making it easy to be green.
Alright, to end this post I will string together as many frog puns as I can.
The next time you're jumping from one lily pad to another and you don't want to leap from swamp to swamp to try and find boxes to put the origami frogs you made in elementary school in, go with Frogbox.
Peace out!
https://www.facebook.com/FROGBOXWinnipeg/app_208195102528120
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Tax Haven Heaven
Welcome to the Cook Islands ... Sun, sand, surf, and hiding your money from your government.
Numerous leaked documents about offshore tax havens that finger hundreds of individuals seems astonishing but is really nothing new.
I recall years ago someone was fighting to have the Bronfman family, most noted for making a fortune with the family run Seagram Company Ltd., pay taxes on a trust worth five million that was moved out of Canada.
This was under the Liberals 10 year plus fiefdom in federal politics in the nineties.
It seems the Conservatives are just as inept or unwilling do anything about wealthy tax evasion either.
Estimates for loses in Canadian tax dollars runs upwards of seven billion for wealthy tax evaders.
Cutting funding to the Canada Revenue Agency means the agency has less teeth to go after the big fish, if they ever were really going after the big fish at all.
No one should get away with tax evasion, but when you predominately prosecute the little fish you set a double standard by worrying the poor and middle class about the specter of being audited while telling the wealthy upper class you shouldn't be tax dodging but we really aren't going to do anything about it anyway.
I say that if within the next year if the current federal government does not rectify this rampant wealthy tax evasion then we have an all out tax revolt where on mass we refuse file our income tax.
Numerous leaked documents about offshore tax havens that finger hundreds of individuals seems astonishing but is really nothing new.
I recall years ago someone was fighting to have the Bronfman family, most noted for making a fortune with the family run Seagram Company Ltd., pay taxes on a trust worth five million that was moved out of Canada.
This was under the Liberals 10 year plus fiefdom in federal politics in the nineties.
It seems the Conservatives are just as inept or unwilling do anything about wealthy tax evasion either.
Estimates for loses in Canadian tax dollars runs upwards of seven billion for wealthy tax evaders.
Cutting funding to the Canada Revenue Agency means the agency has less teeth to go after the big fish, if they ever were really going after the big fish at all.
No one should get away with tax evasion, but when you predominately prosecute the little fish you set a double standard by worrying the poor and middle class about the specter of being audited while telling the wealthy upper class you shouldn't be tax dodging but we really aren't going to do anything about it anyway.
I say that if within the next year if the current federal government does not rectify this rampant wealthy tax evasion then we have an all out tax revolt where on mass we refuse file our income tax.
Monday, March 4, 2013
120 Volts Please
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, got into a tiff with a journalist who was reviewing one of Tesla's cars on a long endurance run out of city limits.
The jist of the story is that Musk claims the journalist ignored tips to increase the life of the battery.
I've heard that there is some movement on building electric car infrastructure on the prairies for increasing the range of electric vehicles.
I had to get my car an oil change so I went down to a licensed Ford service centre and while I was looking through the lavishly laid out vehicle brochures, I noticed that the Ford Fusion has the option to charge on a 120 volt outlet versus a 240 volt outlet.
So we see the slow rise of the electric vehicle beginning.
Here is one conundrum that needs to be addressed when it comes to electric cars and range.
If your on the highway and your gas tank is about the hit empty, you fill up and go on your merry way.
No such luck with an electric battery which needs a few hours to charge to give you any range.
This is the Achilles' heel of electric cars for long distance travel.
Certainly battery technology will keep improving, but without a near instant recharge that allows someone to get going at least as quickly as filling an empty gas tank, electric cars will be a hard sell to a large number of the general public.
So how do we get a 120 volt recharge quickly?
I remember seeing a commercial where someone is developing a way to wirelessly recharge a battery.
Crazy that you can recharge a car battery as you drive with 1's and 0's!
So that's a possibility, hmm, what about a solar power 'skin' that can cover the vehicle that is wired into the battery? That can certainly top off battery life albeit only during the daytime.
I've got it! This is mad scientist territory where we harness the power of a lightning bolt.
Certainly we don't need all the power of a lightning bolt, but that's the instantaneous charge idea we need to develop.
I'm going to start working on a prototype. Patent pending!
The jist of the story is that Musk claims the journalist ignored tips to increase the life of the battery.
I've heard that there is some movement on building electric car infrastructure on the prairies for increasing the range of electric vehicles.
I had to get my car an oil change so I went down to a licensed Ford service centre and while I was looking through the lavishly laid out vehicle brochures, I noticed that the Ford Fusion has the option to charge on a 120 volt outlet versus a 240 volt outlet.
So we see the slow rise of the electric vehicle beginning.
Here is one conundrum that needs to be addressed when it comes to electric cars and range.
If your on the highway and your gas tank is about the hit empty, you fill up and go on your merry way.
No such luck with an electric battery which needs a few hours to charge to give you any range.
This is the Achilles' heel of electric cars for long distance travel.
Certainly battery technology will keep improving, but without a near instant recharge that allows someone to get going at least as quickly as filling an empty gas tank, electric cars will be a hard sell to a large number of the general public.
So how do we get a 120 volt recharge quickly?
I remember seeing a commercial where someone is developing a way to wirelessly recharge a battery.
Crazy that you can recharge a car battery as you drive with 1's and 0's!
So that's a possibility, hmm, what about a solar power 'skin' that can cover the vehicle that is wired into the battery? That can certainly top off battery life albeit only during the daytime.
I've got it! This is mad scientist territory where we harness the power of a lightning bolt.
Certainly we don't need all the power of a lightning bolt, but that's the instantaneous charge idea we need to develop.
I'm going to start working on a prototype. Patent pending!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
CGI and 48 FPS
OK, I've been silent about this long enough.
For many the release of the movie The Hobbit: And Unexpected Journey was a much anticipated and awaited film from Peter Jackson.
I'm at the age where I can't be bothered to go see a movie on opening night and even though The Hobbit made a ton of money, complaints poured in about the 3D experience.
I kept hearing that the film, and more specifically the CGI, looked, well, too much like CGI at 48 frames per second in 3D.
That coupled with all the goblins being rendered in CGI rather than in costume and makeup like the orcs in the first three Lord of the Rings movies made me uneasy about wanting to see the movie at all even in 2D. Insert nerd alert joke here!
New technology always has some kinks to work out, and perhaps the fault is not in direction, but what most people are used to.
Let's face it though, CGI has been overused or not used well in countless movies. Ahem, I Robot!
You do get some top of the line productions that make a breathtaking go at it, though I wonder if Peter Jackson could have anticipated the combination of CGI and 48 FPS would be judged by many as to be unrealistic.
In the end I don't think anyone goes to a live action movie to get CGI imagery that you can find in a top tiered video game release, you anticipate that the realism is going to be top notch.
Who knows when one will be able to tell the difference between a live action movie or a video game in the future though.
Here is a link to an article with other links about 48 FPS
For many the release of the movie The Hobbit: And Unexpected Journey was a much anticipated and awaited film from Peter Jackson.
I'm at the age where I can't be bothered to go see a movie on opening night and even though The Hobbit made a ton of money, complaints poured in about the 3D experience.
I kept hearing that the film, and more specifically the CGI, looked, well, too much like CGI at 48 frames per second in 3D.
That coupled with all the goblins being rendered in CGI rather than in costume and makeup like the orcs in the first three Lord of the Rings movies made me uneasy about wanting to see the movie at all even in 2D. Insert nerd alert joke here!
New technology always has some kinks to work out, and perhaps the fault is not in direction, but what most people are used to.
Let's face it though, CGI has been overused or not used well in countless movies. Ahem, I Robot!
You do get some top of the line productions that make a breathtaking go at it, though I wonder if Peter Jackson could have anticipated the combination of CGI and 48 FPS would be judged by many as to be unrealistic.
In the end I don't think anyone goes to a live action movie to get CGI imagery that you can find in a top tiered video game release, you anticipate that the realism is going to be top notch.
Who knows when one will be able to tell the difference between a live action movie or a video game in the future though.
Here is a link to an article with other links about 48 FPS
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Justice & Sponsorships
Oscar Pistorius was granted bail.
I doubt a soul connected to TV or the Internet has not heard about the case that Pistorius is facing so I wont rehash anything you don't know.
What I want to briefly talk about are athletes and sponsorship.
The first most obvious thing to point out is that a premeditated murder charge is big. For a sponsor to stick with any athlete, even if said athlete is found innocent, would be nothing short of a miracle when the charges involve murder.
Nike has distanced itself from Pistorius, releasing a rather reassuring and non committal statement stipulating that Pistorius is owed due process.
So does that mean if Pistorius is found not guilty that Nike would gladly have him back?
I somehow doubt it.
From Kobe Bryant's sexual assault charges, Tiger Woods philandering, and Serena Williams telling a Line Judge to shove it you no where, you see an ever growing hierarchy of public relations headaches that agents and lawyers are called upon to deal with.
Social media is even more of a headache when you think of the time when all you could do was slam a phone down on someone, or write an angry letter, calm down and not mail it.
We have gone from that to angry emails that can be CC'd and printed off to a 140 character bought of Twitter diarrhea that is not so easily retracted and can reach a huge audience.
PR lesson, if it's on the Internet, it might very well be there forever!
The Pistorius case I think will show that even if you are found innocent on a charge of murder, your sponsors are not going to want to have you hocking their wares.
I doubt a soul connected to TV or the Internet has not heard about the case that Pistorius is facing so I wont rehash anything you don't know.
What I want to briefly talk about are athletes and sponsorship.
The first most obvious thing to point out is that a premeditated murder charge is big. For a sponsor to stick with any athlete, even if said athlete is found innocent, would be nothing short of a miracle when the charges involve murder.
Nike has distanced itself from Pistorius, releasing a rather reassuring and non committal statement stipulating that Pistorius is owed due process.
So does that mean if Pistorius is found not guilty that Nike would gladly have him back?
I somehow doubt it.
From Kobe Bryant's sexual assault charges, Tiger Woods philandering, and Serena Williams telling a Line Judge to shove it you no where, you see an ever growing hierarchy of public relations headaches that agents and lawyers are called upon to deal with.
Social media is even more of a headache when you think of the time when all you could do was slam a phone down on someone, or write an angry letter, calm down and not mail it.
We have gone from that to angry emails that can be CC'd and printed off to a 140 character bought of Twitter diarrhea that is not so easily retracted and can reach a huge audience.
PR lesson, if it's on the Internet, it might very well be there forever!
The Pistorius case I think will show that even if you are found innocent on a charge of murder, your sponsors are not going to want to have you hocking their wares.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
The Shale Wars ...
If fracking isn't on your list of common words then I guarantee in the next decade or so it will be.
The end of all the easy oil has already happened, we are using all the dirty oil up such as the Alberta Tarsands, and now we are being told not to worry because there is a huge abundance of shale gas underneath our feet around the world.
First thing to note is that said shale deposits are very far underground and the amount of water that will be required to process it is immense as in trillions of liters.
The wells for processing shale are also notorious for releasing a cocktail of carcinogens into the atmosphere with some companies investing heavily in minimizing the fallout while other smaller companies don't have the financial means to be as clean.
Fracking has been going on for some time and has inadvertently created a glut of natural gas which has tanked prices in North America.
Add to that a lack of communication and transparency with the general public about the dangers versus the benefits of fracking, and we have a communications conundrum that the industry will have to work hard to fix.
The BP oil spill isn't that far from peoples minds and with the climate getting ever so warmer and a growing energy hungry population, it behooves the oil industry to be a little more diligent in how it sells fracking to the masses.
I personally am weary of relying on another finite resource to power a large portion of our way of life.
There are predicted to be another three billion people joining the world population by 2050 so I have to reasonably ask if all this shale is going to be able to meet that demand.
The short answer might very well be a yes, but the long answer is most certainly no.
The end of all the easy oil has already happened, we are using all the dirty oil up such as the Alberta Tarsands, and now we are being told not to worry because there is a huge abundance of shale gas underneath our feet around the world.
First thing to note is that said shale deposits are very far underground and the amount of water that will be required to process it is immense as in trillions of liters.
The wells for processing shale are also notorious for releasing a cocktail of carcinogens into the atmosphere with some companies investing heavily in minimizing the fallout while other smaller companies don't have the financial means to be as clean.
Fracking has been going on for some time and has inadvertently created a glut of natural gas which has tanked prices in North America.
Add to that a lack of communication and transparency with the general public about the dangers versus the benefits of fracking, and we have a communications conundrum that the industry will have to work hard to fix.
The BP oil spill isn't that far from peoples minds and with the climate getting ever so warmer and a growing energy hungry population, it behooves the oil industry to be a little more diligent in how it sells fracking to the masses.
I personally am weary of relying on another finite resource to power a large portion of our way of life.
There are predicted to be another three billion people joining the world population by 2050 so I have to reasonably ask if all this shale is going to be able to meet that demand.
The short answer might very well be a yes, but the long answer is most certainly no.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Some Light Reading ...
I remember going over to my grandparents house as a child and when I had to use the bathroom there was always a pile of Readers Digest sitting on the countertop by the toilet.
I suspect that was a common place to find a copy of Readers Digest in any given house aside from tattered copies that have been fingered through too many times in a doctor or dentists office.
Today I saw on the news that Readers Digest is over $400 million in debt and filing for bankruptcy.
The first thing that jumped to my mind is that Readers Digest did not embrace the digital age or they did too late to stop the bleeding.
As I understand it, The New York Times is making more money off of digital purchases versus paper purchases.
This is a sign that every magazine and newspaper publisher needs to heed, as well as book publishers in the near future as well.
I remember hearing from a representative of the Winnipeg Free Press suggest that they haven't gone to a full online edition of the paper because many of their clients aren't convinced their advertising dollars are going to pay off online.
I suppose a large paper like The New York Times with huge name recognition can pull off the full online edition while smaller papers might have a tougher time of it.
So I understand the conundrum that many smaller papers are facing if your clients who give you precious advertising dollars are not keen on investing fully in online while customers are spending less money on paper copies, ironically, because the news is all online in some form.
I just thought that maybe tiered online versions of a paper would be a good idea; you pick the sections you want and pay a rate commensurate with that and the advertising would be more targeted and perhaps you give the customer some choice in the ads they see, and charge a larger price for a customized edition of the paper with no advertising at all.
Well, only time will tell if hard copies of newspapers are available at all in another decade or so, but in the meantime, if you don't mind, I'm going to the bathroom to read an article on my iPad.
I suspect that was a common place to find a copy of Readers Digest in any given house aside from tattered copies that have been fingered through too many times in a doctor or dentists office.
Today I saw on the news that Readers Digest is over $400 million in debt and filing for bankruptcy.
The first thing that jumped to my mind is that Readers Digest did not embrace the digital age or they did too late to stop the bleeding.
As I understand it, The New York Times is making more money off of digital purchases versus paper purchases.
This is a sign that every magazine and newspaper publisher needs to heed, as well as book publishers in the near future as well.
I remember hearing from a representative of the Winnipeg Free Press suggest that they haven't gone to a full online edition of the paper because many of their clients aren't convinced their advertising dollars are going to pay off online.
I suppose a large paper like The New York Times with huge name recognition can pull off the full online edition while smaller papers might have a tougher time of it.
So I understand the conundrum that many smaller papers are facing if your clients who give you precious advertising dollars are not keen on investing fully in online while customers are spending less money on paper copies, ironically, because the news is all online in some form.
I just thought that maybe tiered online versions of a paper would be a good idea; you pick the sections you want and pay a rate commensurate with that and the advertising would be more targeted and perhaps you give the customer some choice in the ads they see, and charge a larger price for a customized edition of the paper with no advertising at all.
Well, only time will tell if hard copies of newspapers are available at all in another decade or so, but in the meantime, if you don't mind, I'm going to the bathroom to read an article on my iPad.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Vine Multimedia - Stand Up & Stand Out
I applied for the position of PR Assistant at Vine Multimedia and when I was doing some research on Vine Multimedia's website, what sets Vine Multimedia apart from other agencies in the city of Winnipeg is Vine Mutimedia's focus on Social Business.
What also stood out for me is how Vine Multimedia tries to minimize its carbon footprint through the use of green energy and encouraging working from home.
Most importantly though, I think I can contribute to Vine Mutimedia's team and culture via my passion for feeding into the creative process, and my connections to Transition Winnipeg, a local non-profit with a mandate to ween Winnipeg off of our finite fossil fuel way of life.
I've been doing pro bono work for Transition Winnipeg which includes writing a creative brief, crafting business cards, and most recently a promotional video.
I see a natural bridge between what Vine Multimedia cares about and what Transition Winnipeg wants to accomplish, and nurturing connections to clients is what I can do in the position of PR Assistant.
I want to end this post by plugging Vine Multimedia for an amazing corporate culture that I think more businesses should adopt, and Vine Multimedia would be an incredible work environment for me given that I strongly suspect that the people at Vine Multimedia are as quirky as I am.
For more info on the work Transition Winnipeg is doing go to their website:
Transition Winnipeg
What also stood out for me is how Vine Multimedia tries to minimize its carbon footprint through the use of green energy and encouraging working from home.
Most importantly though, I think I can contribute to Vine Mutimedia's team and culture via my passion for feeding into the creative process, and my connections to Transition Winnipeg, a local non-profit with a mandate to ween Winnipeg off of our finite fossil fuel way of life.
I've been doing pro bono work for Transition Winnipeg which includes writing a creative brief, crafting business cards, and most recently a promotional video.
I see a natural bridge between what Vine Multimedia cares about and what Transition Winnipeg wants to accomplish, and nurturing connections to clients is what I can do in the position of PR Assistant.
I want to end this post by plugging Vine Multimedia for an amazing corporate culture that I think more businesses should adopt, and Vine Multimedia would be an incredible work environment for me given that I strongly suspect that the people at Vine Multimedia are as quirky as I am.
For more info on the work Transition Winnipeg is doing go to their website:
Transition Winnipeg
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Invade my Privacy! Just a little though ...
It doesn't take a lot of TV watching of a particular channel to realize that every station has a certain demographic that businesses are spending big bucks to hock their wares to.
For example, CBC Newsworld is chalked up with a lot of elderly related safety products and 'you better by life insurance for your grandchildren before you keel over and die' financial products.
We've been hearing rumblings about targeted advertising on TV akin to what Facebook is trying to do to appease their many fairly recent shareholders.
How do I feel about targeted advertising?
Well, to be honest with you, I would prefer it.
Let's face it, as someone watching TV, regardless of the actual channel, I am less likely to get up and walk away or switch to another channel if the product and/or service being advertised is relevant to my age, marital status, and hobbies.
As a company, it makes more sense to enhance reach with increased probabilities of honing in on your target audience.
What would this look like?
Most of the information about you could be gleamed from existing social media accounts.
Where you check in on Foursquare to what brands you like on Facebook, even if it was just to enter a contest to win a big screen TV can be data mined.
I envision the future having one central multimedia device in the house, possibly a very sophisticated smart TV that will have massive storage, for everything from jpegs to movies and video games, which will eliminate the need for other separate devices such as a Blu-ray player.
This device will be wired to the Internet so every move you make and every breath you take in that world can be categorized and referenced.
I personally don't think that's so bad.
It's not like were talking about a 1984 type telescreen are we?
Oh wait ...
For example, CBC Newsworld is chalked up with a lot of elderly related safety products and 'you better by life insurance for your grandchildren before you keel over and die' financial products.
We've been hearing rumblings about targeted advertising on TV akin to what Facebook is trying to do to appease their many fairly recent shareholders.
How do I feel about targeted advertising?
Well, to be honest with you, I would prefer it.
Let's face it, as someone watching TV, regardless of the actual channel, I am less likely to get up and walk away or switch to another channel if the product and/or service being advertised is relevant to my age, marital status, and hobbies.
As a company, it makes more sense to enhance reach with increased probabilities of honing in on your target audience.
What would this look like?
Most of the information about you could be gleamed from existing social media accounts.
Where you check in on Foursquare to what brands you like on Facebook, even if it was just to enter a contest to win a big screen TV can be data mined.
I envision the future having one central multimedia device in the house, possibly a very sophisticated smart TV that will have massive storage, for everything from jpegs to movies and video games, which will eliminate the need for other separate devices such as a Blu-ray player.
This device will be wired to the Internet so every move you make and every breath you take in that world can be categorized and referenced.
I personally don't think that's so bad.
It's not like were talking about a 1984 type telescreen are we?
Oh wait ...
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Fix the Problem, Not the Blame ...
I couldn't post about another mass shooting in the US ...
Not least until all the wags, pundits, and anachronistic types had their say.
Having digested the bipolar disorder that is gun culture in the US for so many years, I must say that it never fails that you will hear the same tired arguments.
For example, let me play devils advocate and take the head of the NRAs solution to prevent another Newtown seriously.
You know what, your right!
The variables of a gunfight taken under serious consideration, the Newtown massacre might not have happened, or the deaths might have been minimized had a first responder in the school with a firearm been there to confront the shooter.
I get it, a gun meets a gun and it MIGHT not get any worse than it already is.
But is that seriously the only answer the NRA can come up with?
A truly enlightened society would have NO guns. No citizen or civilian has access to any type of firearm whatsoever accept weapons manufactured and marketed for hunting.
(Philosophical considerations for a no-gun society cannot be covered in this post)
If Adam Lanza had NO access to an arsenal of weapons that riot police and soldiers might very well have, there is no way he would have inflicted the death toll he was able to.
Even if he had a machete, and heaven forbid a machete is still a weapon, Lanza would not have been able to inflict the level of death he was able to.
The moral high ground of no guns wins over the solution of putting armed guards in schools.
What's the cost and coordination of such a plan by the way?
Here's a scenario for the NRA to ponder ...
Does everyone remember Trayvon Martin being shot and killed by neighborhood Robocop George Zimmerman?
It turns out Martin was a law abiding young citizen out to buy some Skittles but was assumed to be a thug by Zimmerman.
What if Martin had a concealed firearm and shot and killed Zimmerman during the struggle that Zimmerman uses as his defense that no one else witnessed?
What's the NRA response to this?
"Well, it's a case of a good guy with a gun meeting another good guy without a gun, but the good guy with the gun thinks that the good guy without a gun is actually a bad guy potentially with a gun and, uhh, well the kid should have just had a gun of his own!"
Ohh!
So let's see here ...
Perhaps EVERYBODY should be packing, even law abiding non gangster teenagers who might get innocently mistaken for some degenerate reprobate by some over caffeinated suburbanite who shudders at mass media reports on crime.
Sorry NRA, you need to come up with something more convincing before I can even fathom putting armed guards in every public school.
Not least until all the wags, pundits, and anachronistic types had their say.
Having digested the bipolar disorder that is gun culture in the US for so many years, I must say that it never fails that you will hear the same tired arguments.
For example, let me play devils advocate and take the head of the NRAs solution to prevent another Newtown seriously.
You know what, your right!
The variables of a gunfight taken under serious consideration, the Newtown massacre might not have happened, or the deaths might have been minimized had a first responder in the school with a firearm been there to confront the shooter.
I get it, a gun meets a gun and it MIGHT not get any worse than it already is.
But is that seriously the only answer the NRA can come up with?
A truly enlightened society would have NO guns. No citizen or civilian has access to any type of firearm whatsoever accept weapons manufactured and marketed for hunting.
(Philosophical considerations for a no-gun society cannot be covered in this post)
If Adam Lanza had NO access to an arsenal of weapons that riot police and soldiers might very well have, there is no way he would have inflicted the death toll he was able to.
Even if he had a machete, and heaven forbid a machete is still a weapon, Lanza would not have been able to inflict the level of death he was able to.
The moral high ground of no guns wins over the solution of putting armed guards in schools.
What's the cost and coordination of such a plan by the way?
Here's a scenario for the NRA to ponder ...
Does everyone remember Trayvon Martin being shot and killed by neighborhood Robocop George Zimmerman?
It turns out Martin was a law abiding young citizen out to buy some Skittles but was assumed to be a thug by Zimmerman.
What if Martin had a concealed firearm and shot and killed Zimmerman during the struggle that Zimmerman uses as his defense that no one else witnessed?
What's the NRA response to this?
"Well, it's a case of a good guy with a gun meeting another good guy without a gun, but the good guy with the gun thinks that the good guy without a gun is actually a bad guy potentially with a gun and, uhh, well the kid should have just had a gun of his own!"
Ohh!
So let's see here ...
Perhaps EVERYBODY should be packing, even law abiding non gangster teenagers who might get innocently mistaken for some degenerate reprobate by some over caffeinated suburbanite who shudders at mass media reports on crime.
Sorry NRA, you need to come up with something more convincing before I can even fathom putting armed guards in every public school.
Friday, December 14, 2012
No Extreme Capitalism Please ...
If you've ever watched the Lang & O'Leary Exchange on CBC it is obvious that Kevin O'Leary is a zealous right wing capitalist.
First as an aside, hats off to the CBC which is accused of being left wing of having such a staunch right wing character on an insightful program.
Now on to business.
Kevin O'Leary is living in a half fictitious world predicated on an ideology that needs to be very closely scrutinized and examined.
Capitalism has failed to live up to it's expectations.
The extreme capitalists would have us believe that unfettered free markets guided by the invisible hand of greed is good will provide everyone with a nice sized house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and two SUVs in the drive way.
OK, so I'm stretching it a bit right? After all, why would a janitor get paid as much as a neurosurgeon?
That has to do with how the free market, and by extension 'we', value labour. But that's another blog post entirely.
Capitalism has failed because it treats everything and everyone like private property.
Enclosing resources like water or wood in a free market vein is lunacy because we are slowly but surely eating ourselves out of house and home. The market only values short term profits with no foresight into how we will survive in the future.
This mentality is on top of corporations desire to pursue profits relentlessly and has led to a shrinking of wages/salaries for the middle class and poor. Yeah, I'm looking at you Caterpillar! We ought to wring those corporate tax cuts from the CEO of Caterpillar's neck!
I'm calling out Kevin O'Leary specifically because in a very recent episode of the Lang & O'Leary Exchange, O'Leary more or less stated that human activity isn't having ANY impact on the environment.
At least three times he asserted that we shouldn't mess with mother nature while contending as a species we are not having an impact on the very environment that sustains us.
O'Leary directly contradicted himself in respect to an episode of the Lang & O'Leary exchange from a year or so ago where he was in a tiff with Amanda Lang about the future of the electrical car and asserted that putting more electrical cars on the road would cause more carbon and 'that's just dumb' to paraphrase.
Well O'Leary, given your recent assertions about us having NO impact on the environment what does it matter if we go electrical in the car route and release more carbon?
Cuz the carbon ain't causing any problems right?
A word to wise O'Leary, be aware of what you say one day because you are rife with little contradictions and I and others will call you on it.
I'm not done with this by a long shot.
First as an aside, hats off to the CBC which is accused of being left wing of having such a staunch right wing character on an insightful program.
Now on to business.
Kevin O'Leary is living in a half fictitious world predicated on an ideology that needs to be very closely scrutinized and examined.
Capitalism has failed to live up to it's expectations.
The extreme capitalists would have us believe that unfettered free markets guided by the invisible hand of greed is good will provide everyone with a nice sized house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and two SUVs in the drive way.
OK, so I'm stretching it a bit right? After all, why would a janitor get paid as much as a neurosurgeon?
That has to do with how the free market, and by extension 'we', value labour. But that's another blog post entirely.
Capitalism has failed because it treats everything and everyone like private property.
Enclosing resources like water or wood in a free market vein is lunacy because we are slowly but surely eating ourselves out of house and home. The market only values short term profits with no foresight into how we will survive in the future.
This mentality is on top of corporations desire to pursue profits relentlessly and has led to a shrinking of wages/salaries for the middle class and poor. Yeah, I'm looking at you Caterpillar! We ought to wring those corporate tax cuts from the CEO of Caterpillar's neck!
I'm calling out Kevin O'Leary specifically because in a very recent episode of the Lang & O'Leary Exchange, O'Leary more or less stated that human activity isn't having ANY impact on the environment.
At least three times he asserted that we shouldn't mess with mother nature while contending as a species we are not having an impact on the very environment that sustains us.
O'Leary directly contradicted himself in respect to an episode of the Lang & O'Leary exchange from a year or so ago where he was in a tiff with Amanda Lang about the future of the electrical car and asserted that putting more electrical cars on the road would cause more carbon and 'that's just dumb' to paraphrase.
Well O'Leary, given your recent assertions about us having NO impact on the environment what does it matter if we go electrical in the car route and release more carbon?
Cuz the carbon ain't causing any problems right?
A word to wise O'Leary, be aware of what you say one day because you are rife with little contradictions and I and others will call you on it.
I'm not done with this by a long shot.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Lazy Politicians ...
Omnibus Budget Bill = Lazy Politicians
It's lazy because Bill C-45 is not all about the budget and has 60 different changes to legislation in it.
I don't know where the Conservatives get off thinking this is acceptable.
It should be noted that if the Liberals were in power we might very well be seeing the same thing happening. When a party is majority territory, it can basically pass anything it wants without much of a fight unless there is something really amiss, while the official opposition clamors you can't do that and would most likely do more of the same if they are in control.
So methinks that when the next federal election is held I will press every candidate that comes to my door or I run into if they are willing to pass legislation banning omnibus bills.
Canadians need to send a clear message to Ottawa that politicians are elected to preserve democracy by having open debates on reasonable pieces of legislation rather than a ramshackle all-in-one approach.
Democracy and our taxpayer dollars demand it!
It's lazy because Bill C-45 is not all about the budget and has 60 different changes to legislation in it.
I don't know where the Conservatives get off thinking this is acceptable.
It should be noted that if the Liberals were in power we might very well be seeing the same thing happening. When a party is majority territory, it can basically pass anything it wants without much of a fight unless there is something really amiss, while the official opposition clamors you can't do that and would most likely do more of the same if they are in control.
So methinks that when the next federal election is held I will press every candidate that comes to my door or I run into if they are willing to pass legislation banning omnibus bills.
Canadians need to send a clear message to Ottawa that politicians are elected to preserve democracy by having open debates on reasonable pieces of legislation rather than a ramshackle all-in-one approach.
Democracy and our taxpayer dollars demand it!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Notes on a Human Rights Museum Scandal
McDonald's got a credential in the article 10 epic marketing fails of 2012 on LinkedIn penned by freelance writer Michael Estrin.
It involved a twitter hashtag #McDStories.
It was supposed to garner good feelings about the farmers that McDonald's buys potatoes and beef from but was quickly hijacked by people with not so pleasant gastronomical stories related to eating at McDonald's to animal rights groups and activists lashing out at McDonald's business practices.
Most people proceed with good intentions but in the online world if there is ever any doubt about how something might be construed or interpreted, then you should stop right there.
What does this have to do with the human rights museum slated to open in a couple of years in Winnipeg?
It has to do with the Canadian Museum for Human Rghts posting communications job positions asking for seven years worth of experience and the fact that whoever was in charge of communications and/or management thought it was a good idea to source a garment producer in a country with a poor human rights record.
The country in question is Vietnam and the blowback got national coverage.
I think are you serious?
I don't have several years of communications experience and even I know that if you are constructing a human rights museum which in of itself is subjectively subject to controversy and interpretation that your choice of a vendor for swag is going to be put under a microscope.
Again, nobody was trying to be slave driver, but come on!
It will be a cloud over the museums head if they don't make a PR opportunity of ensuring that all the swag made for the museum is produced in an ethical and even environmentally responsible way regardless of public opinion because it is the smart thing to do.
It involved a twitter hashtag #McDStories.
It was supposed to garner good feelings about the farmers that McDonald's buys potatoes and beef from but was quickly hijacked by people with not so pleasant gastronomical stories related to eating at McDonald's to animal rights groups and activists lashing out at McDonald's business practices.
Most people proceed with good intentions but in the online world if there is ever any doubt about how something might be construed or interpreted, then you should stop right there.
What does this have to do with the human rights museum slated to open in a couple of years in Winnipeg?
It has to do with the Canadian Museum for Human Rghts posting communications job positions asking for seven years worth of experience and the fact that whoever was in charge of communications and/or management thought it was a good idea to source a garment producer in a country with a poor human rights record.
The country in question is Vietnam and the blowback got national coverage.
I think are you serious?
I don't have several years of communications experience and even I know that if you are constructing a human rights museum which in of itself is subjectively subject to controversy and interpretation that your choice of a vendor for swag is going to be put under a microscope.
Again, nobody was trying to be slave driver, but come on!
It will be a cloud over the museums head if they don't make a PR opportunity of ensuring that all the swag made for the museum is produced in an ethical and even environmentally responsible way regardless of public opinion because it is the smart thing to do.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Startup Winnipeg
I went to Startup Winnipeg Weekend which ran from Friday evening to Sunday evening.
After attending the first Startup Winnipeg, and getting reamed out by the judges, I was a little older and wiser about boiling down 54 frantic hours of work to vet and present an idea in five minutes to judges who are just as ferocious as the investors on Dragons Den.
The team I was on worked well together and I was on the business model side of things trying to make sure the presentation was top notch, and while we didn't make it into the top three, the app idea our team presented is still worth pursuing and who knows where it will go.
In some respects the educational and networking potential of Startup Winnipeg is more important to me then winning any of the top three prizes aside from bragging rights.
Oh, a couple of groups really did get reamed out this time still.
The next Startup Winnipeg might be happening in April.
Time to think of some new biz ideas!
After attending the first Startup Winnipeg, and getting reamed out by the judges, I was a little older and wiser about boiling down 54 frantic hours of work to vet and present an idea in five minutes to judges who are just as ferocious as the investors on Dragons Den.
The team I was on worked well together and I was on the business model side of things trying to make sure the presentation was top notch, and while we didn't make it into the top three, the app idea our team presented is still worth pursuing and who knows where it will go.
In some respects the educational and networking potential of Startup Winnipeg is more important to me then winning any of the top three prizes aside from bragging rights.
Oh, a couple of groups really did get reamed out this time still.
The next Startup Winnipeg might be happening in April.
Time to think of some new biz ideas!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Negotiations ...
Here is my rendition of talks between the NHL players and owners:
Players Union: Give us more of the revenue.
Owners: No.
Players Union: I guess will talk next week then.
Owners: Sure.
End of Act I
Players Union: Give us more of the revenue.
Owners: No.
Players Union: I guess will talk next week then.
Owners: Sure.
End of Act I
Friday, October 5, 2012
Flying Cars Part Deux
I was playing Mass Effect 2 which takes place a couple hundred years from now or so and flying cars are everywhere and much to my horror in relation to my last blog post, flying cars get shot at and nearly crash land!
I realized though that there is a way around the problem of policing the sky.
So, let's say there's a check stop in the sky where police are checking for drunk drivers, or pilots.
If someone freaks out and decides to b-line it any direction because it's the open sky we are talking about, the only way to prevent that is if there is a system in place that keeps the vehicle on the same 'path' and does not allow any deviation.
This would mean that the driver would actually have limited control, and rightly so, because we don't need maniacs doing donuts in the sky and flying cars falling out of the sky in random spots.
Imagine the infrastructure required for that kind of air way system.
In the movie Minority Report, vehicles are extremely slender and go up and down buildings and can be taken over by the police.
Perhaps that scenario is more realistic as a junction between cars on the road and cars in the air.
That's enough for this rant.
I realized though that there is a way around the problem of policing the sky.
So, let's say there's a check stop in the sky where police are checking for drunk drivers, or pilots.
If someone freaks out and decides to b-line it any direction because it's the open sky we are talking about, the only way to prevent that is if there is a system in place that keeps the vehicle on the same 'path' and does not allow any deviation.
This would mean that the driver would actually have limited control, and rightly so, because we don't need maniacs doing donuts in the sky and flying cars falling out of the sky in random spots.
Imagine the infrastructure required for that kind of air way system.
In the movie Minority Report, vehicles are extremely slender and go up and down buildings and can be taken over by the police.
Perhaps that scenario is more realistic as a junction between cars on the road and cars in the air.
That's enough for this rant.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
What's that in the sky? A flying car!
I realized driving home today that it would be so cool to be able to push a big red button and see my car sprout wings and cold fusion powered rockets to propel me home ...
Then I realized everyone else would want the same thing as me and the sheer logistics of flying cars sobers you up real quick.
It is a chore to manage traffic on the ground, just imagine all the cars on the road flying.
How do you police the air?
Not to mention that gravity makes things fall ... fast.
The flying car has been featured in movies like Bladerunner and the Fifth Element, and I read years ago that the flying car had been tested and works.
Perhaps I shouldn't be so cynical, but I think that the movies is the only place we will be seeing mass use of flying cars until technology has really advanced, road rage doesn't convert into air road rage, and the internal combustion engine finally goes the way of the dinosaur on a large scale, no pun intended.
That's all this for rant.
Then I realized everyone else would want the same thing as me and the sheer logistics of flying cars sobers you up real quick.
It is a chore to manage traffic on the ground, just imagine all the cars on the road flying.
How do you police the air?
Not to mention that gravity makes things fall ... fast.
The flying car has been featured in movies like Bladerunner and the Fifth Element, and I read years ago that the flying car had been tested and works.
Perhaps I shouldn't be so cynical, but I think that the movies is the only place we will be seeing mass use of flying cars until technology has really advanced, road rage doesn't convert into air road rage, and the internal combustion engine finally goes the way of the dinosaur on a large scale, no pun intended.
That's all this for rant.
Monday, October 1, 2012
NHL Lockout in Canada
I've started ranting and raving about imposing term limits on municipal, provincial, and federal politicians of up to eight years like in the US.
It is interesting to note that the eight year mark was not some studied and statistically agreed upon number for someone to be president in the US, but that the first US president, George Washington, stepped down after eight years because he didn't want to hold onto the highest position of authority any longer than that.
I digress to say that it is time for Gary Bettman to step down as commissioner of the NHL.
Come on, three work stoppages in the last what, 15 years?
And this last one is befuddling to me.
The NHL is a billion dollar plus a year industry.
The NHLPA wants a bigger cut of that billion plus dollars.
If Sydney Crosby has a multi year contract worth over a $100 million, it would seem that the players are the greedy culprits again, since the last bone of contention was the players association resisting the league imposing a salary cap.
Well, Sydney Crosby's blockbuster contract is the exception and not the rule player salary wise, and yet for the casual fan like me, I can't wrap my head around a couple of things.
1. Why do the players want/need more money?
2. Why do the owners want/need to hold onto their current cut of revenues?
From my perspective, all I see is two sides who aren't in dire financial straits wanting more money then they could individually need for two lifetimes.
It has nothing to do with stability, safety, or fairness.
Sure there have been other strikes and lockouts in other professional leagues from basketball to football, but the NHL seems plagued by playground territorialisim.
That's enough ranting for now ...
It is interesting to note that the eight year mark was not some studied and statistically agreed upon number for someone to be president in the US, but that the first US president, George Washington, stepped down after eight years because he didn't want to hold onto the highest position of authority any longer than that.
I digress to say that it is time for Gary Bettman to step down as commissioner of the NHL.
Come on, three work stoppages in the last what, 15 years?
And this last one is befuddling to me.
The NHL is a billion dollar plus a year industry.
The NHLPA wants a bigger cut of that billion plus dollars.
If Sydney Crosby has a multi year contract worth over a $100 million, it would seem that the players are the greedy culprits again, since the last bone of contention was the players association resisting the league imposing a salary cap.
Well, Sydney Crosby's blockbuster contract is the exception and not the rule player salary wise, and yet for the casual fan like me, I can't wrap my head around a couple of things.
1. Why do the players want/need more money?
2. Why do the owners want/need to hold onto their current cut of revenues?
From my perspective, all I see is two sides who aren't in dire financial straits wanting more money then they could individually need for two lifetimes.
It has nothing to do with stability, safety, or fairness.
Sure there have been other strikes and lockouts in other professional leagues from basketball to football, but the NHL seems plagued by playground territorialisim.
That's enough ranting for now ...
Monday, September 17, 2012
Precious Little Life
A heart wrenching story out of Calgary deals with the neglect of a two year old so extreme it left the child brain dead, and an Alberta judge ruling that the child should be taken off of life support.
It seems the legal wrangling has gotten more press than the unfortunate abuse of a child.
As a father, my soul weeps when I hear of children, particularly of babies and toddlers being abused and neglected.
The Phoenix Sinclair inquiry, which is on hiatus because of legal doings reverberates with me much like this recent incident of child abuse and neglect, and all I can think about is why would you treat your child like that?
After my first child was born, I remember seeing a poster in the hall of the hospital that read "I cry for lot's of reasons, but never to make you angry".
Every parent has their patience tested, and depending on the child, who knows how frequently you have to put your hands in your pockets and count to ten.
Clearly the parents in the cases of abuse that I have mentioned have more than just patience issues.
Family background, poverty, racism, addiction, and the abusers having been abused are probably common themes to these sad stories.
The state has no right to come into your home and take your child away until their is a problem.
With that in mind, let's tackle the themes I've mentioned for they are the harbinger of the tragic stories of child neglect and abuse.
It seems the legal wrangling has gotten more press than the unfortunate abuse of a child.
As a father, my soul weeps when I hear of children, particularly of babies and toddlers being abused and neglected.
The Phoenix Sinclair inquiry, which is on hiatus because of legal doings reverberates with me much like this recent incident of child abuse and neglect, and all I can think about is why would you treat your child like that?
After my first child was born, I remember seeing a poster in the hall of the hospital that read "I cry for lot's of reasons, but never to make you angry".
Every parent has their patience tested, and depending on the child, who knows how frequently you have to put your hands in your pockets and count to ten.
Clearly the parents in the cases of abuse that I have mentioned have more than just patience issues.
Family background, poverty, racism, addiction, and the abusers having been abused are probably common themes to these sad stories.
The state has no right to come into your home and take your child away until their is a problem.
With that in mind, let's tackle the themes I've mentioned for they are the harbinger of the tragic stories of child neglect and abuse.
Don't want to pay for your gas?
We are addicted to oil.
It dictates so much of our way of life that even I am oblivious 90% of the time to it.
Every now and again though, the oblivious veil lifts and the stark truth about oil surfaces.
Usually it's an oil spill, but this time it's a gas station attendant being hit and dragged by the driver of an SUV who didn't want to pay for a $112 worth of gas.
Incidents of people taking off instead of paying for gas rise in correlation with an increase in the price of gas, which is not surprising.
What is surprising in a recent tragic story coming out of Ontario, is that the management at this particular Shell station holds employees responsible for customers who do not pay for their gas.
I would like to know what measures management has in place to offset such incidents from occurring?
Oh, you don't have such measures in place.
If someone comes in to rob the gas station at gun point, I'm sure employees are told not to try and be Steven Segal, and Kung Fu the robber.
You give the robber the cash and then call the police.
So why should a gas station attendant, who is often being paid minimum wage, risk their life if someone is determined to drive away without paying for gas, which is robbery and the vehicle a potential weapon much like a gun?
Something is wrong if an employer puts their product and/or service before the safety of employees.
I think the federal government needs to step in and pass legislation making pay before you pump mandatory.
Don't worry, the oil industry can afford it, and we are not about to give up our vehicles.
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