The politics of disaster relief...or who can be more petty?

After the Boxing Day Tsunami disaster/tragedy/act of God/act of nature/etc., relief is being delivered to the various affected areas. It is very comforting to see so many countries willing to donate money, goods and volunteers to people who had little to begin with and now have nothing because it was washed away by the raging waters.

However, it would seem that even in disaster relief, we need to play games of one-upmanship, as seen HERE. I guess if this is what it takes to persuade countries to provide more relief than they were willing to originally, then I guess there's nothing really bad in and of itself. But at the same time, it's so petty to see these exchanges between the French and US representatives. Therefore, they win the no-prize of the week.

On a sidenote, as all these countries are pouring in to help Southeast Asia, it makes me wonder why there hasn't been the same outpouring for the crisis in Darfur. An act of nature brings out the best in people. An act of human politics brings out....hand-wringing and hesitation. I realize the complexities of the Darfur situation, but I still one can't help but wonder the vast difference in response. Maybe I've become one of those "but people are dying" people in this situation...

Well, so ends the year of 2004. I hope that in the year 2005, human society will be a bit better: a bit more compassionate, a bit more tolerant, a bit less violent. I know we can't make leaps and bounds. So let's take those few steps that we can. Peace and happiness to you all.

Storytelling...or a recommended holiday reading

'Twas the night before Christmas...and I finished a book (not what you were expecting, were you?)

For those of you looking for a good non-fiction read that isn't heavy (like Romeo Dallaire's "Shake Hands with The Devil"...I haven't read it and I'm sure it's good, but I'm confident that the material is quite serious), I recommend "The Truth About Stories" by Thomas King. It was part of the 2003 Massey Lectures.

I will probably think and reflect about it some more, but I enjoyed it mainly for two things. One, it gave me a better understanding of the importance of stories in the Native tradition but also how stories are important in everyone's life in general as well.

We are writing the story of our life right now. It is almost a post-modern take on how we view history without the baggage of post-modernism. It reminds me of a line from Dogma. Rufus, Chris Rock's character, talks about ideas and belief. Ideas can be changed, he says, but not beliefs. People fight, die, etc. for their beliefs.

In the same way, I think that's what Dr. King's getting at with history. Stories can be changed (as you'll read in the book). But history, as the general public sees it, becomes cemented into a linear progression of events. If not for post-modernist thinking and the expansion of history as different narratives (Mr. King's subtitle is "A Native Narrative"), we would not hear about all the other stories out there that exist. In a sense (and trying very hard not to fall into the romanticizing of the Native traditions), storytelling is the realization of post-modern thought, of the existence of different narratives; only it doesn't seem to be as rationalized as post-modern thinking. The history of the world is a story of many stories and it always has been.

The second lesson I learned was how the perception of First Nations Canadians and Americans has become so regimented in such a variety of ways. It's a very big Catch-22. I don't think I'm up to the task of explaining it, needless to say, it seems that a First Nations person can't live his/her life as they see fit without either giving up their past or their future. But according to Dr. King, society's been lamenting their demise and surprise, surprise, the First Nations are still here.

But in a way, I've just told you a very bland story. Go read the book. Dr. King's a much better storyteller.

I woke up to this?!

Now that my exams are over, I'm able to resume my daily purview of the news by going to Bourque's website. This is what I found:

"Back to drawing board on Kyoto"

"Another spill at Terra Nova"

"Iraq Explosion at U.S. Base in Mosul Causes Many Casualties"

"New jail abuse allegations hit US"

And it gets better from there. So, to me, it seems like the world's been having a good morning.

Now, as an environmental science student, the first two articles drew me in (the other two just highlights the ongoing tragedy that is the US involvement in Iraq).

The first, by columnist Stephen Handelman, basically describes another meeting to meet by governments about setting new targets and such for the Kyoto Accord. Why, you ask? well, you see, Kyoto comes into effect, wait for it, February 16, 2005. And while the Europeans are the only ones who seem to give a damn, the Martin minority government isn't going to lift a finger as our emission rises, the US (who aren't in the treaty) continue to obfuscate their responsibilities by calling for 'better research and technology,' Japan's emissions rose by 12%, and China and India (who also aren't involved) sit on the sidelines pumping out carbon dioxide. The cynic in me is just depressed.

Several points. The US are right in wanting better research and technology and getting China and India involved. No question. However, we always want better info and technology. We'll never have perfect information. So what will it take for us to act? The lack of political will or our refusal to do something about it because we're too comfortable in our North American society's just frustrating. The information we have now suggests that there's a good chance something will happen. So why don't we act?

It seems if we put up and actually make the environmental technology a major part of our economy, isn't that a signal to China and India that it can be done, and that it's WORTH IT to be done? Can't we then export these technologies abroad and increase our influence? China's starting into the game. With economies of scale, they could just leapfrog us. How much dominance will we have then in the global economy if China's going to be productive AND clean?

There's a good chance that nothing'll happen. I don't dispute that possibility. But if the technology's going to benefit people anyways, isn't that worth pursuing? I'm not saying the ends justify the means, but if the journey's worth taking (since it'll reduce reliance on foreign oil, reduce our impacts on our environment, reduce health care costs, etc.), why don't we do it? History's shown us that some human tragedies could've been prevented. Why can't we, for once, be forward-thinking? Why must we fall back on "necessity" as the mother to get us out of this mess?

Now the second story tells us that Petro-Canada's floating platform Terra Nova spilled again. Now, it's not a major spill (compared to their previous spills or other companies' spills), but any spill is not a good spill (that's a lot of spills). This may, in some quarter, renew the call for privatization of this quasi-Crown Corporation. While there are many arguments for or against, I do not want to see these people use these spills as one of them, since they seem to think private businesses are so much better at running these operations. Need I remind them that in this instance, their track record is not so hot. So I better not find privatization and these oil spills in the same article.

Finally, the CFL is looking to expand a franchise in Halifax. The site is a call for support. Now, here's the killer thing. The name of the proposed team? The Halifax Explosion. Yes, you read it right. Now, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it seems to me the name lacks a certain, oh, I don't know, tact. It's like the Montreal Alouettes being called the Montreal Massacre. C'mon people, what is wrong with you? Halifax has such a great history and culture and the Explosion's the best you can come up with?

Man, if my sheets weren't packed away, I'd want to go back to bed and hibernate until this is all over.

I am truly blessed

I know this already, but I need to emphasize it yet again.

My life is rich and full of joy because of the company I keep. I am truly blessed with friends like these. I can not emphasize that my friends are the funniest, brilliant, and just all-around nice people that I will ever know. Because, in the end, it's not what you know, but who you know.

And I know that these bonds will not be broken, that they will all achieve great things. And with each passing year, I will remember that these are the pillars of my life, and they create the magnificient temple that is friendship.

Now, I'm going to bed, because I'm a little tipsy.

Cheers to the world, may everyone be blessed by friendship as I have been.

First snowball fight

It's the simple joys in life.

Like finding out that Ocean's Twelve is sold out from Andria and Matt and ending up having an impromptu snowball fight outside my apartment building for a good 10 minutes with them. Kingston had the worst weather ever today (cold, wind, and freezing rain) but redeemed itself by providing enough packing snow for a good ol' fight. This is why I love Canada

May the rest of the school year be filled with more snowballs!

Missing the Pierre Berton Train

Tons of stories have flooded the airwaves commemmorating the life and works of Pierre Berton, the author and commentator who died recently. While this has affected many people around me, I am not so moved.

This is because I have never to date read any of his works. It's not that I hate the man or anything, but I've just never been exposed to him. And from what I gather, he seems to write alot about the Canadian experience, a topic that I find fascinating. And yet, here I am, completely ignorant about his influence on our view of Canadian history. Well, I guess that goes on my list of things to do as a Canadian.

#875: Read Pierre Berton

Ok. right. good thing I've worked so hard at whittling that list down.

Hi, let's insult Christianity today

nativity
Originally uploaded by blackhole.

So, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London released their nativity scene to the public and guess who's filling the roles:

Joseph and Mary: the Beckhams

the Wise Men: Tony Blair, George W. Bush, and the Duke of Edinburgh

Shepherds: Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, etc.

Angel: Kylie Minogue

So my question is, were they intentionally trying to offend Christians or did they not realize that they maybe, just maybe not like the idea of having the extravagant Beckhams representing the Holy Mother and her husband?

Hell, I'm not a Christian and I'm offended. It may not be a big deal considering it's in a wax museum (which is kitschy enough as it is), but the fact that they could use some of the biggest symbols of material wealth as the cast of this scene just seems preposterous.

And Blair, Bush and the Duke of Edinburgh may be smart people, but they're not wise.

This whole thing just makes me wonder, is this the culture we're living in? Really, is it? Because I want out.

Dreams

There are definitely interesting news I want to blog about, but frankly, I need to keep my posts nice and short. So my peanut-gallery analysis will have to wait until after exams and papers are due (unless something utterly incredible drops on my lap).

I'm typing in a what appears to be blustery day and I couldn't care one bit. The last few days feels like it's been a dream, and not the ones where I'm being chased in an underground parking lot by vampires and the people running beside me are Matt and Lou Diamond Phillips. No, this is one of those dreams that I just don't want to wake up from because it feels too damn nice and that pile of work on my desk just doesn't want to get done. oh well. Here's to the joys of December and the winters of Canada.

Taking it for granted

I stumbled upon this news story in Metafilter. One of Google's top exec was INTERVIEWED about the technology behind Google.

Now, I know very little about computer architecture and computer science in general, but I'd never thought about the actual amount of technology required to bring about a web engine so powerful and yet so ubiquitous and easy to use. We take Google's ease of use for granted so much. I remember the days fo yahoo and altavista searches and how lacking they were. Google was the light out of the cave. As Matt Loney says,

"When Arthur C. Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, he was alluding to the trick of hiding the complexity of the job from the audience, or the user. Nobody hides the complexity of the job better than Google does..."

Later on in the article they discuss the actual "Googling" process and the petabytes (PETABYTES!) of information stored in the hundreds of everyday hard disks located and mirrored everywhere. What intrigued me was the discussion about redundancies in the system, easily replaceable parts, parallel processing, and teaching the system about recognizing different strings of texts. Now, anyone who knows AI, in comp sci, psych, etc., please help me. Does this not sound like the foundation of an electronic brain? You know, hard disks as neurons, parallel processing, teachability? And if that's not the case, what's lacking in it being a foundation? I really would like to know.

Otherwise, why wouldn't I be surprised if Google's system somehow generates the first AI through their web engine?


On a side note, MSN released its own blogging pages...HEY MSN, you're a bit late to the party on this one. With Blogger and LiveJournal, you shouldn't have gotten into the game at all. Their page templates are better and frankly will work way better than yours ever will. You tried to compete with Google and embarrassed yourself and if it wasn't for metafilter, I wouldn't have known about this at all. Stick to something you're good at, like charging an arm and a leg for software...

Wait, is that the Sun?

Today was a good day mainly because I didn't allow myself to think about the tasks to come for the next few weeks so I enjoyed a fully stress-free day. Went grocery shopping, browsed through CDs, go mindless in class, plan to go see a movie that may be good or bad...it was that kind of day.

You know what, I can't believe how good that feels? It's been a while since I've had a day like this. Granted, I probably won't have one for the next little while, but that's ok. I wonder though, does it take months of being stressed out to make me appreciate the times when I'm not?

Tonight was a lot of fun too, being with someone who just makes you feel so good and comfortable and relaxed. I hope I was able to do the same...

But the sun set, the day came to an end, and soon the sun will rise and work will have to get done. And for the first time in a while, I can accept that.