vttoth — July 26th, 2010
I think it is fair to say that Canada’s Industry Minister, Tony Clement, is not my friend these days. Quite the contrary, I can hardly wait for the day when he becomes Mr. Tony Clement, private citizen, along with the rest of his colleagues in government. That is because Industry Minister Clement is the minister behind our government’s latest attempt to pervert Canadian copyright law in favor of the likes of the Disney Corporation.
However, the news this morning strongly reminded me of US Vice President Joe Biden’s oft retold life lesson: when it comes to politicians with whom you disagree, it’s their judgment, not their character, that you should question. Last night, Clement risked life and limb as he jumped into a river to help save a drowning woman. He may not be a very good Minister of Industry, but his heart seems to be in the right place.
Categories: Canada, Politics |
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vttoth — July 1st, 2010
By the way, and before I forget: Happy 143rd birthday, Canada! It was nice to have the Queen here, celebrating with us. As she said, she’s been around for more than half the lifespan of this young country.
I do wonder though: how many of those who think that getting drunk and throwing firecrackers on this day is the right thing to do actually know what we are celebrating?
Categories: Canada |
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vttoth — June 30th, 2010
Welcome to Ottawa, Your Majesty.
I hope that when I reach the tender age of 84, I’ll look at least half as healthy as she does. (And, er, yes, in case anyone is wondering, I am indeed a supporter of the monarchy, a loyal royalist if you wish.)
Categories: Canada |
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vttoth — June 27th, 2010
So on the one hand, we have leaders who seem unable to make sensible decisions about governing the world without being able to smell each other.
On the other hand, we have professional protesters who protest all the time, even when they don’t even know what it is their protesting against.
Then, on the third hand, we have thugs and hooligans who think that using a political event like a G20 meeting is a good excuse to smash shop windows and burn police cars:
As a result, we have reporters who need a personal bodyguard while reporting from the streets of downtown Toronto (what is it, Beirut? Kabul?):
And we have intimidating walls of policemen, trying to maintain some semblance of order:
All in all, must have been a lovely day in Toronto. All of which was about to prompt me to make a wise remark about living in the brave new 21st century, but hey! We’re a full decade into the new century and so far, we had no world wars, no nuclear explosions, not even too much by way of genocide (let’s not forget Sudan, though). So perhaps there’s hope for us yet…
Categories: Canada, Politics |
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vttoth — June 23rd, 2010
Ouch! That was quite the rumble. Enough to freak out all the cats. This is the third significant earthquake I experienced here in Ottawa; it may not have been the strongest as measured by instruments, but it certainly felt the most, hmmm, “hostile” sounds like the right word.
Categories: Canada, Geology |
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vttoth — June 20th, 2010
Ottawa police is asking us to be vigilant. I am not sure what they mean.
I have a neighbor who is from the Middle East. Should I call police and warn them that he may have anti-Western sentiments?
I have a friend who has expressed leftist, dare I say anarchist, views on occasion. Should I call police and warn them that he may be a troublemaker?
Come to think of it, my own views of the authorities are not altogether charitable either. Can I be trusted? Or should I call police just in case and denounce myself?
Categories: Canada, Politics |
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vttoth — May 3rd, 2010
OK, I don’t usually play the geek game and look for nits to pick in television science programs. But…
Today’s gem comes courtesy of the Canadian History Channel and their Aftermath series, the first episode of which I just watched over the Internet. The show had many eyebrow-raising moments (and I don’t mean the implausible concept itself, about the Earth’s rotation slowing down to zero in a mere five years; I could get over that if the science had been right otherwise). This particular gem of a sentence, complete with fancy animation, especially caught my attention:
“The rotation of the Earth creates constant patterns of east-moving winds in the Northern hemisphere, and west-moving winds in the Southern. This is called the Coriolis effect.”
Oh really. I wonder if pilots flying in the Southern hemisphere know this.
Categories: Canada, Television, Weather and Climate |
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vttoth — April 25th, 2010
So a few days ago, I wrote a blog entry about Ontario’s new grade school curriculum. The one that has since been withdrawn due to objections by conservative groups. I have to concede: they may have a point. I used no words in my blog post that were not used in the curriculum itself, yet the result was apparently too strong for Facebook; their automated software did not pick up and paste the entry onto my Facebook page.
Still, I stand by what I said: after I looked at the actual curriculum (as opposed to the sensationalized headlines about it) there really was nothing in it that a sane person could possibly object to. It’s not about sanity, of course, it’s about politics, which is why Ontario Liberals decided to abandon the updated curriculum after all. They can only fight one battle at a time, they say, according to the Toronto Star. I just wish that the battle they chose to keep fighting was this one, as opposed to the astonishingly braindead idea of messing up pharmacies by blocking payments to them by generic drug companies. Or the HST… which would have been a good idea back when the GST was introduced, but now, it’s just a badly disguised tax grab.
Categories: Canada, Education, Health, Politics |
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vttoth — April 22nd, 2010
If you listened to Canadian news recently, like I did, you could be forgiven if you got the impression that Ontario’s liberal government released a 208 page curriculum that will teach first graders about masturbation and anal intercourse.
I actually took the trouble this morning and looked at the document in question. I was curious, has Ontario really become Liberal Hell?
Yes, the document does mention masturbation. Once. (Grade 6).
And yes, it does mention anal intercourse, not once, but three times (Grade 7). The context? Delaying sexual activity and avoiding sexually transmitted diseases.
While sexual education is an important subject in these 208 pages (Human Development and Sexual Health being one of the topic titles) the curriculum is not about sex. It is titled Health and Physical Education, and that’s precisely what it is about, with sexuality being a prominent, but certainly not dominant, part.
For those who are upset that children might learn about the genitalia of the opposite sex at school, from (presumably) responsible and respectful teachers, all I ask is this: would it be better if they learned the same from Playboy? Hmmm, silly me, who cares about Playboy anymore. How about learning about said body parts from your friendly neighborhood Internet predator. Be realistic and consider what children have access to (and who has access to children!) every time they sit down in front of a computer with an Internet connection, or just browse the Web on a smartphone. Perhaps hearing about “sexting” first from a teacher is not such a bad idea after all.
I would be horrified if grade school teachers were required to give graphic demonstrations to first graders about anal sex. But the idea that a 12-year old might learn about the function of his or her own body parts, might even learn, o horror of horrors, that said body parts can be a source of pleasure, that people might choose to live together in part because they have sex together, that there are, heaven forbid, people who prefer the company of people of the same sex, and that knowing some of the “dirty details” might enable even a 13-year old to make better decisions and avoid making life-altering mistakes way too early in their lives… no, that does not frighten me.
Categories: Canada, Education |
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vttoth — March 3rd, 2010
Every time I think about it, I feel compelled to think again: geologic changes are NOT supposed to happen in the blink of an eye, on a timescale of a mere 10,000 years. Yet at the very place where I live, Ottawa, a little over 10,000 years ago whales were swimming. How is that possible?
The answer is isostatic rebound. Up until about 13,000 years ago, this region was covered by the remnants of the last ice age, a layer of ice up to three kilometers thick. When this ice receded, the region was flooded by the sea, whales and all. This subsea was called the Champlain Sea, and may have been as much as 150 meters deep right here where I presently sit.
However, once the huge weight of the thick ice layer was gone, the Earth’s crust underneath rose up. This process is known as isostatic rebound. In a mere 3,000 years, the Champlain Sea was gone.
I suppose the same ice layer was also responsible for leveling the Ontario landscape such that this huge province, perhaps as large as France and Germany put together, has no point higher than 693 meters above sea level. Even tiny Hungary beats Ontario by more than a thousand feet!
I can see why people find geology fascinating.
Categories: Canada, Science |
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