Amazing Photo From Hubble Telescope of the Orion Nebula

This image was taken by the Hubble Telescope. There are over 3,000 stars visible in this photograph - you can dowload and view the original here.

We are but a tiny piece of the much larger pie ;) 

Electoral reform is past due

Election Canada 2006

The link above will take you to a website that talks about electoral reform in Canada... which reminds me of a little story.

One day I walked into an Indigo book store, and was browsing about, when I stumbled upon a copy of something along the lines of "The Ten Minute Guide to Democracy" - the who's who in the zoo of democracy. I turned it over to read the description on the back, and I noticed something very interesting - above the UPC code was a note that read Not For Sale in Canada.

How odd. Why would they not allow us to buy this pocket guide to democracy - unless our democracy was, in fact, a complete sham - and the publishers (or perhaps the government) do not want any Canadians to figure out that the world that we live in doesn't truly exist (for more on this, rent the Matrix ;)

Anyways... I have ranted half my lifetime about the system, and how it sucks - and here is a solution to fix the problem.

The quick solution is to implement what they call proportional representation. One where the number of votes truly reflects the number of seats that a party holds in parliament (and ultimately the power). Here is how the pie is sliced after the recent election (stolen shamelessly from the fairvotecanada blog):

Bloc: 1 MP per 30,432 votes
Conservatives: 1 MP per 43,305 votes
Liberals: 1 MP per 43,457 votes
NDP: 1 MP per 89,333 votes
Greens: 0 MPs for 665,876 votes

The entire picture is not complete without a little more information - the approximate seat distribution, with a proportional representation would have looked something like this:

Conservatives (36.3% of the popular vote): 113 seats (not 124)
Liberals (30.1% of the popular vote): 93 seats (not 102)
NDP (17.5% of the popular vote): 59 seats (not 29)
Bloc (10.5% of the popular vote): 31 seats (not 51)
Greens: (4.5% of the popular vote): 12 seats (not 0)

Quite the different picture, but it doesn't end there. Because the need for strategic voting goes away (i.e. I don't like the Conservatives, so I am going to vote Liberal - who I don't particularly care for either - just to try to avoid having a Conservative represent me). Instead - I can go vote for the party whose platform I believe in, and my vote would TRULY count... resulting in a higher voter turnout (apathetic people generally couldn't be bothered to vote today, but they might be convinced IF their vote actually counted for something).

This is the system that needs to be implemented. We are in dire need of electoral reform, and the message needs to get out there. It seems as though the damage has already been done for this round - but there is always the future, so let's get on this thing folks. Visit the Fair Vote Canada website and sign the petition or give them some money, or both.

Things have got to change... and soon!

Harper wins... what?

Bloomberg.com: Canada

Well, Harper has won the title of Prime Minister - but this should be good. Another minority government. I am looking forward to his funny dance - the one where he tries to push his agenda through, only to have it fall flat on the floor.

His line about looking forward to working with the opposition parties is a good one. Good luck Mr. Harper.

This is what I anticipate - a year or two of Harper doing his dance around the opposition, a non-confidence vote, then another election. Then you will have the Liberal party pointing at all of Harper's failed promises since he was elected, and the Conservatives will be out with the bathwater.

But then - that is just my guess :)

Pills for obesity?

Pills for Fat People - Reuters

So this is perfect - I almost wish I were a shareholder of GlaxoSmithKline. And I do mean almost.

I can see the lineups of fat Americans at the drugstores now.

Can you be serious? And I quote: "studies showed patients taking Alli lost 1.8 to 2.4 kilograms, or about 4 to 5 pounds, more than those taking a placebo after six months"

I will tell you this - if you took a fat person and had them walk half an hour a day - changing nothing about their undoubtedly unhealthy eating habits - they would experience far better results than this AND they would lower the risk of heart diesease, cancer, and other health ailments.

Plus, they might actually enjoy a bit of fresh air... and they could have a little extra coin to spend on their stamp collection.

Good grief. Someone ough slap people like Dr. Alastair Wood upside the head. Risks with the drug are low indeed... but profits are at an all time high.

I could write a book, but I will stop here.

Mad cows... or mad politicians?

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Canada Confirms Case of Mad Cow Disease

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Canada Confirms Case of Mad Cow Disease

Wow - the Americans have decided that it is OK if a cow has BSE suddenly. Funny how the tables turn once you discover one case on your own soil.

Now... is it really safe to eat beef? That is the real question. What do you think?

Is the government truly looking out for your safety, or for the best interests of big business??

Hmmm.... would it not just be best avoided?

Don Cherry - as dumb as... cake

The Globe and Mail: Cherry lashes out at athletes who waive the flag

I would say that this was laughable if I wasn't so offended by his ridiculous comments.

Don Cherry needs more than a new suit jacket and tie - he needs some respect, a brain, and perhaps a little actual pride.

He certainly doesn't know what it is to be an athlete, much less a professional athlete - one who has committed their own life to the pursuit of their sport and their country.

Be ashamed Don Cherry - very ashamed.

Canadian Politics

Well, I am not in Canada, so it seems that I will be missing yet another election.

For those that are not familiar with my first "missed election" here is how it went:

I was 19 years old, and finally eligible to vote. This was to be "my year to make a difference" by placing a vote. How exciting!!

I had just moved to Edmonton, and on the night of the vote, I set out on foot to find the polling station. I walked about four blocks from home, to where the supposed station was. Instead, I found an empty field.

I decided that I must have had something wrong, and so I went back home to get my car (actually the car that I had borrowed from my father). I turned on the radio, and went for a drive... the polls were only 20 minutes from closing, I had to hurry.

I drove off to find the polling station, and instead, ended up driving in circles until the polls had closed. I had missed the election - how stupid was I? Couldn't even find the intersection, even given the cross roads.

I was disappointed with myself, but I figured that life would go on without my vote.

A few days later, I was sitting in one of my more than entertaining computer systems technology classes (probably COBOL, I cannot remember) and I stumbled upon my voter registration card (the one that told me where to go vote). To my horror and absolute amazement, I discovered that the address listed on the French portion of the card was different than the address displayed on the English side of the card. It was a misprint!!

All along I had blamed myself, when in fact it had been Elections Canada all along. I thought for sure that I would get satisfaction once this error was revealed.

I sent in a note, along with a copy of the registration card - and I demanded that they notify the residents in the area, and order a re-vote.

Elections Canada responded. I wish I still had that letter - it was priceless. Apparently they sent a representative to my house, and measured the distance to the building that had held the polling station that I couldn't find. Seems it was a mere 200 meters from my house (or around that - they did measure the distance).

They more or less told me to screw off - that if I couldn't find that, then I wasn't worthy.

I was incensed, but I let it go - I knew that there was nothing more to be gained by fighting with them, but I still wish I had fought the better fight. I hate being squashed like that.

I digress... how shocking.

The election fight is on, and I have been watching it (not closely) from afar. Seems the Canadian news is a little harder to come by in Australia than in Canada.

I am not sure what I am hoping for in this next election. I am almost certain that we are doomed either way - well, doomed might be a bit strong, but regardless, I know that any party worth representing my values will not win a seat - and they certainly will not win power in the house... so in my view, we are roughly doomed.

Ever since I missed my first opportunity to vote, my faith in the system has been a little less than stellar. I am not so certain that my vote influences anything.

It's funny - when I first learned about politics, I could not understand why anyone would choose not to exercise their right to vote. I guess the realization that voting will change nothing has changed my view.

The entire system needs to be overhauled, and I do not believe that I will live to see that.

Less government and more freedom is what I want. More equality and fewer taxes on the poor. More taxes on the rich and better programs for the not-so-rich.

Am I dreaming??

Probably.

This is really sad...

Final Days of Girl's Life Reveal Horrors

I literally stumbled across this yesterday, and thought "how sad" but it got me to thinking, which is invariably good :)

Obviously this is a travesty, and this sort of thing goes on daily around the world. There isn't always a news story, and it isn't always happening in the good old United States of America, but it goes on nevertheless.

This got me thinking about other things...

I was sitting up on the bike in the gym yesterday, doing a 1.5 hour workout, looking down into the pool - there is much to see at the local pool, let me tell you. Anyways, as I was looking down into the pool, I saw something interesting - a fat little girl wearing a shirt that read "100% Bitch". I am not good at the age guessing game, but I would peg this girl at around eight years old.

So - I am wondering to myself "who in their right mind would let their eight year old daughter wear a shirt like that" and then I realized, that is probably only the second of two crimes. The kid is obviously obese.

Now, those that know me will know that I don't like to "judge the book by the cover" but GENERALLY speaking, a fat kid equals a fat parent feeding the fat kid poorly.

This got me to thinking - where do we draw the line when we talk child abuse? I cannot help but think that feeding your kid KFC with a side of fries and gravey IS abuse, almost of the worst kind.

I know - I don't have children, and I should get off my high horse - who am I to be telling you how to parent your children, right?

I suppose, but I really don't know what's worse - killing your children quickly, or killing them slowly. You are certainly setting your child up for a lifetime of disease and horror by teaching them to eat poorly from a young age (and of course, this ends nowhere near KFC - you all know about the junk that you dump into your children's mouths).

I guess the thing is this - if I were to give this child rearing thing a go, there would be a lot of fresh air and sunshine, and not so much of the deep fried mass produced, artery clogging junk going into that child. They would be taugh values and morals, not Ronald McDonald and Chucky Cheese.

And I do appreciate the difference between feeding your child fried chicken and beating them to death - while you might find it offenseive to compare the two, I have done it.

There.