Sunday, October 28, 2007

What to do with the ex-PMs and all that pent up bile?

This article can be found here.

Oh dear poor things...how dare they be treated as a common person! I really don’t have a lot of sympathy for them. I think they are lucky people who have seen the world and done many things that so many of us never will. Their handsome pensions should help keep them living life to the fullest and take care of them financially for the rest of their days here on earth. Yes, I’m sure it can be a stressful job to be in control, but if they choose to go there they will get what they deserve in the end, be it good or bad. Many leaders have gone on to do many wonderful things and maintain the respect of the masses.

Why is it some former leaders can't just use their experience in a positive way instead of living with guilty consciences and then attacking their predecessors the way they seem to do? How awful that Mulroney had to stoop so low as to say what he did about Trudeau. From what I've learned about Trudeau it seems he did pretty good for his country and himself. Mulroney said because Trudeau didn’t serve in WWII, he didn’t deserve to have a position of moral leadership. It is obvious that the Canadian people disagreed because Trudeau spent 16 years as prime minister and decided to step down on his own accord.

Most of these leaders don’t deserve to be grumpy about anything but their own actions during their role in leadership. Give me a break with this one. Be mad at yourself and clean up your own backyard before you attack someone who isn’t even living anymore and can’t defend themselves.

I really like what I read about the former prime ministers from Portugal and Italy moving on with their careers…to them I give kudos! I think that is a perfect example of what should happen. The experience that these guys gain should not be wasted. Keep them involved in some way if you can. On one condition though, that they use their knowledge in a positive way. With attitudes like of Mulroney this could prove to be damaging. Here is a man who definitely lost the respect and trust of many Canadians with his supposed bribe taking skills.

Former leaders have made a footprint in history in one way or another (good or bad) and they will not be ever totally forgotten. The choice really ends up in their hands on how they want to be remembered. It's easy to wipe out all the positive with a stupid move or stupid thing to say.

A fine tribute to Trudeau can be found here.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Sex and marriage with robots? It could happen

View this article here.

I now pronounce you human and robot!?

Things never cease of amaze me! Wow, this article and theory is definitely thinking outside the box. That is the least I can say on this subject. Just try and wrap your head around the fact that humans could find true love and marriage with a robot programmed specifically to their likes. I suppose this is possible considering psychologists have identified approximately 12 basic reasons why people fall in love. Making a robot more human-like is happening and they can be programmed with similarities of preferred personality and knowledge.

It's all about the sex!

I wonder how the lady in the Withering Marriage debate (Barbara) would feel about this subject? Would she be calling single childless women selfish now? Talk about losing procreation? I don’t know for sure but I doubt they will be able to make robots fertile. I also think they can make a robot look and act like a human but they have no emotions and are definitely artificial. If not bad enough hearing someone say, my husband left me for another woman but then having to say my husband left me for a robot. As if there wasn’t enough competition in the world already. The worst part is that the robot would never feel remorse for stealing your husband away from you. With a human, there is a slight chance of someone having remorse for hurting another. Of course not all people will go out and marry a robot but there will be some who do.

Morse codes unveiled by a talented British mathematician:

Allan Toring was famous during WWII because he decoded Japanese and German algorithm and saved the free world. He became interested in mass communications and wanted public opinion. He then developed a theory and asked himself how a machine was intelligent? He said that knowledge of the self is written by experience in life. Developed an imitation game and it involved an interrogator, a woman and a man. They communicated to each other and did not see one another at all during this time. After awhile they replace one with a computer. If no one could tell when this happened then the machine would be deemed intelligent. Machines can only think and interact but cannot dance or win a beauty contest. Humans cannot match up with the cognitive ability of a computer. We program computers and the fact is people make mistakes but machines don't make mistakes. Artificial intelligence can backfire on us. Therefore you can simulate imperfect knowledge so the computer doesn't answer right.

See some mind provoking comics called: Toring Test Comics

I saw it on Nip/Tuck...

I remember watching an episode of Nip/Tuck where a character named Kimber who was a porn star developed a Kimber doll who was a remarkable likeness of her and one of the doctors had sex with the doll. He was totally having conversation with the doll and was imagining her as Kimber the human. When I watched this episode I thought how whacked is that. This is a similar concept so holywood is doing it. It is only a matter of time until it is happening everywhere else.

It seems to be a well thought of subject with articles being written and research being done. All this being said, I still think it is wacky but understand the reality of it all. Humans are willing to try anything apparently. I suspect this one to have many repercussions attached to it.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

McGuinty's Liberals roll to majority

Read this link yourself "McGuinty’s Liberals roll to majority" here.

Liberals stayed solid in their campaign focus

McGuinty had a simple campaign focusing on health care and education. Whether you work or have experienced being a patient within the healthcare system, you know how important funding is. The healthcare system has been on a steady decline for a long time, which became quite evident in the early 1990’s with a big crunch that is being felt even more now with an aging work force. He said he was going to enhance healthcare the last time he ran and he turned around and introduced a health tax. Education has also been a hurting sector and the same kind of financial issues apply here. The people of Ontario really want to believe there will be positive changes in these two very stressed and important sectors. I remember reading that McGuinty's wife is a teacher, so that should be a bonus for the educational system. After all, she is the love of his life!

I see many different needs in our province and I hope the liberal party will do right by the Ontario people as Mr. McGuinty stressed that this win was about the Ontario people.

What does a majority government mean for Ontario?

I think the people of Ontario are basically sick of government propaganda and broken promises. Tory may have had a chance at stopping the majority government, but as said before, the faith-based funding issue really freaked people out. If we can't sustain what we have already, then how would we fund other faith-based schools? I live in rural Ontario and have seen a steady decline in public school enrolment here. The catholic based school system has captured a majority of enrolment with the building of a brand new state of the art highschool in 2000. I agree with the fact that John Tory basically handed the election over to Dalton McGuinty when he said he was going to publicly fund other faith-based schools. That was a hot topic too hot to touch.

McGuinty was then able to use the segregation issue of our children to his advantage and win the majority vote. He sent powerful messages like “our children always play and sing together”, as well as asking the public if they wanted to segregate our children? This would be the case if the PC’s got in power. I really think this was the nail in the coffin for the Tory’s. The fact that John Tory retracted his original statement and proposed a vote in Queen's Park meant nothing to most people as the damage had already been done. With the liberals getting a majority government there will be little opposition for them and their agenda.

It's about the Ontario people...

It's up to McGuinty and his government to do the best for Ontario. Only over the next four years will we know for sure what this government will in fact do. Maybe next time we will also have a better attendance at the polls. What a shame that only 52% of people got out to cast their vote.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Whither Marriage

Link for this video intereview and discussion can be viewed here.

I am not sure statistically how true this whole thing is anyways. So many people are opting out of getting that piece of paper (marriage certificate), and are living together, having a family and contributing to society just as a married couple would do. This has become an acceptable lifestyle to our society. Then you can look on the flip side. There are many couples that suffer from not being able to get pregnant. They spend thousands of dollars on fertility treatments even with the likelihood of lower percentage rates of success. That says a lot to me, especially for a society so focused on the almighty dollar. If people are going that extra mile for a baby then that has to be acknowledged. It’s a sad thing and quite a disappointment for many couples. There are also many unwanted children out there who are being adopted by couples and by single women and men. There is no definite answer to these phenomena.

Observation and thinking twice

Chastising women for not getting married and procreating is an unfair judgement. It's offending really. Great that Barbara met a supportive man and things turned out nicely for her, but the reality of it all is that it doesn’t turn out so rosy for many women out there. Saying that women are selfish for not marrying and procreating is wrong. Have you ever heard the saying, “don’t judge another person until you walked in their shoes”? In other words, you can’t say here is a pair of shoes, same size and colour for all. That is definitely not going to work for everyone because we are so individual and unique. Let's not forget that fact that it takes two to tango and I never heard any mention of the men who make choices to remain single and live life to the fullest. To me, it is sounding more and more like a double standard.

Women realize they don’t have to settle anymore just for marriage sake. Many before us have settled and made misery for not only themselves but also their partners and their children. Finding the right person is not an easy thing in this world. True courting has gone away and has been replaced with more of a fantasy cyber world. People meet on chat lines, communicate through email, SMS and phone conversations have become rare. We may have desensitized ourselves of the real contact and communicating. Making a solid connection with another is not easy in this generation. Do many of us really know what this really feels like anyways?

In this particular interview Barbara seems to be branding single women with a focus on selfishness and dishonour for being single for whatever reason there may be. If single women are such a disappointment to society, should they apologize for not getting married and having children before now? Unfortunately, many have never found a situation that led them on this path. I'm sure many of these women wish they would have met a suitable mate and gone on to have a family. Instead many continue to think positive and look for that right person and opportunity while they give back to their community by volunteering their time, working and paying their bills. My impression here is that single women are not as worthy as the women who has married and become a mother. There are too many situations and scenarios out there to even begin to think this way.