Politics

Needle Administration At The Jail House

This is just one more example of how your tax money is wasted. Apparently convicts who have supposedly lost their autonomy get to “shoot up” and possess an injection kit in their cells as authorized by your country’s “Prison Needle Exchange Program” (PNEP). Correctional Services Canada is now mandating that guards facilitate to “shooting gallery” and rightfully the union of guards has said no. “This is not our job”. 

I believe in the humanitarian rights of prisoners and your country unfortunately has ethically abused the duration of time in which they’ve permitted prisoners to be held in solitary confinement. This has been addressed in lieu of the Ashley Smith debacle.. 

However; as is common with wrongs made right from an apologetic landscape of a government over extending rights, there is now this new “PNEP” program that you the taxpayer get to pay for. The policy is not only fiscally irresponsible but it’s detrimental to the health and welfare of convicts. When a convict has lost their liberty, certainly they should lose access to illicit mood altering drugs. 

Economics

What is Shadow Stats?

It’s a newsletter written by John Williams. John received his degree in economics from Dartmouth in 1971. He considers it his duty to help the interested understand street level economic indicators in real terms as opposed to the terms expressed through nuance by government agencies. For example, John will take the unemployment statistic and incorporate variables filtered out unjustifiably by the U.S. government. If somebody is a “discouraged worker” without a job should we then consider them not to be unemployed? No. John believes as you and I do that this government approach is nonsensical. Hence; he infuses the common sense into his analysis when recalculating economic statistics.

He also has enough experience with the numbers to see trends, trend reversals, and anomalies. When a couple of figures travel in line over time but then diverge, you acquire knowledge of your investing landscape. While CNBC is regurgitating tainted data, you can access Mr. Williams through (www.shadowstats.com) and you need not even subscribe. He gives you some links for free on his page.

I’ve just wrapped up listening to his interview with Greg Hunter and his reference to the sustainability of debt along with the consequences of default. What I like best about Mr. Williams is his hopefulness in spite of dismal statistics as well as his humble disposition. Here’s the youtube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOos-Ae0qGI

Lifestyle

Vicious Dogs Not Welcome

It’s happened again. In Cambridge Ontario a young girl has endured nineteen stitches in the face from an attack by a neighbor’s dog. The full extent of the injury is yet to be determined. Common sense suggests that vicious dogs as pets in communities are more of a risk to citizens than they are as benefits to owners. If communities and their bylaws are not going to serve citizens with common sense solutions to unnecessary hazards then the penal code should step in. It’s that simple. I’m all for liberty and rights of the individual but not to the detriment of the quality of life of others.        

Philosophy, Politics

State Has No Business In The Bedrooms of Canadians

Your tax money is getting spent once again on a special interest group. I am not prejudiced against whomever fits into the acronym of LGBTQ and whatever other letters get added in the future. In fact, I don’t think there’s consensus yet with respect to which letters should fit at the end. However; I am strongly against sending money to Ottawa in order to appease a group who may have legitimate social challenges in the context of the expression of their identity. I do not elect a government to propagate social construct. However; I do expect my governments to enforce common sense law including legislation around “hate”. If a parent responsible for the livelihood of someone associated with this elongated acronym fails to provide the necessities of life in consequence of the individual’s sexual preferences, then parent’s wages should be garnisheed to pay for public housing in association with said parent’s discriminatory conduct. Not the taxpayer. 

At every turn, our current federal government operates as if it has a moral authority superior to yours. It apologizes, acquiesces, and spends as if there are no limits to your capacity to pay tax. Our current federal government lacks the backbone to say no to any special interest group likened to themselves on the political spectrum. 

It was Justin Trudeau’s father who in fact stated that the government has no interest in the bedrooms of Canadians. Today his son sank your money into a program aimed at appeasing yet another group claiming victimhood but this time because of the group’s alternate sexual appetites.    

Philosophy

Judgment, Diatribes, and Social Media’s Evolution

Let’s premise this whole thing. If you’ve accessed this through facebook and I’ve engaged with you over the past six months, you’re not identifiable with characteristics below.

The most fascinating revelation arising from the phenomenon of “social media” has been the propensity of more folks than expected to wield insults and criticism thereby deploying a sense of personal power on a stage unavailable to previous generations. When these same folks wouldn’t dare make such radical broadcasts at the dinner table with their grandmother, they’re all over the internet. Occasionally a healthy debate breaks out on a “thread” whereby not one individual insults while presenting an argument and I shimmy in my home office chair thinking there may be hope.    

The second most fascinating revelation is the vanity expressed by some. I wonder about the staleness of some homes responsible for nurturing the self esteem of children and what happens to the emerging adult whose vitality has been stifled during youth. I think to myself that “social media” serves as a conduit for actualizing lost lustre of neglect from formative years.  I wonder while unconvinced. Don’t be confused by all those nice pictures of you and your family, activities and such. Keep ‘em coming.

Could these platforms also serve to simply feed the egos of some who didn’t pursue higher education but now have a forum to display their smarts? I believe this to be partly true in some cases with other aggregating motives.

My confidence in the human condition has been weakened when I aggregate the behaviour that I see on “social media”. I can’t help putting the term in italics because I consider the term “social” to aberrant of the actual interactions foundational to the platforms (exception of note – my membership in an imaginary band). Although weakened, I take solace in the fact that people for the most part are followers because they haven’t been taught nor nurtured in how to lead with moral strength. The lessons of our forefathers in characteristics such as duty, pride, dignity, compassion, tolerance, and respect have been lost on many. Yes… many and their foolishness is now more transparent than ever.   

On the topic of politics in social media, I’m intrigued by formative arguments here or there. However; I believe that anybody whose lifeblood on politics is poured into the feeds of social media should really consider running for office especially if the tone is akin to one long diatribe. Otherwise, at the minimum one might balance posts with other areas of interest. If posts number more than two a day, I’m thinking you have an agenda rather than a healthy sincere compulsion to share.