Does the human mind have limitations when confronted with
multiple variables presented during short time windows requiring a life and
death decision? I took a course in third year university called “Human
Performance” and in the course we pondered the question of “reaction time”. It
was postulated by our professor that when a football team was confronted with a
“third and one” (American rules) scenario that the offensive team should be
guaranteed a first down because of their advantage of snap count cognition.
However; any fan of the game has witnessed the defence putting on the stop.
After all, a quarter back sneak requires execution after the snap.
Airplanes now have all this automation which is predicated
on electronic data flow. In fact, some of the data flow is initiated from
conditions exterior to the fuselage. Ice pellets, rain, snow, wind, lightning
and thunder are all conditions which airplanes may encounter and hence require
the pilot whether automated or not to interpolate. But wait…shouldn’t these
automated systems adjust for the conditions? Hasn’t every imaginable metric
been created to account for weather events which have now been deployed within
electrical circuit boards and decision switches? Has it not been established that auto pilots
can now drive the plane from just after take-off to just before landing? Does a
pilot dare interfere with the scientific deployment of automation when his /
her instinct has been aroused? Has the human mind been compromised through
excessive deployment of automation in an environment which carries living souls
through the air in a cargo machine?
Your Attorney General of Canada claims that your Prime
Minister placed undue influence on her with respect to a prosecutorial decision
in lieu of criminal evidence. In my mind this amounts to “obstruction of
justice” subject to the penal code. It’s apparent that Justin Trudeau was
motivated politically to save an engineering firm, namely SNC Lavalin, from
consequences arising from their apparent conduct. The firm is based in Quebec.
Trudeau is a Quebecer. It’s postulated that pensions would be saved by
interfering with the prosecution of the firm and somehow that would philanthropically
justify such immunity. I suppose Canadians are now expected by our Prime
Minister to rationalize the penal code depending on circumstances of a person,
or a company? This in my opinion makes our country’s leader unfit to lead. Now
that he has cast away Jody Wilson-Raybould from her post as Attorney General in
lieu of her steadfast integrity, the next incumbent will be faced with an
office stained of its independence. Canadians are asking whether our justice
system is now not only pitiful in its timely and cost effective execution but
also lacking in credibility. If our Prime Minister is not ousted from office in
the short term, I will be asking whether Canada is any better than corrupt
Venezuela.
I attended
a municipal forum last week which dealt with the possible replacement of the
Calgary Saddledome for the whiny Calgary Flames organization. Let me take that
back…they’ve been better behaved lately having come to grips with the
economic landscape in this city in lieu of the oil price drop and the
difficulty in transporting the resource due to political obfuscation.
Today I
consider the impact of failing to fund “correctional facilities” in which tax
payer money should be rightly allocated. Last month, Adam Capay walked free
from murder prosecution because Canada’s correctional system was either ill
equipped to manage his incarceration humanely or lacked the necessary will to do so. As a result of his
rights being breached under the Canada’s Charter, he has been immunized from
prosecution of murder. Imagine that? In a world where cars can now drive
themselves and governments throw funding at “artificial intelligence”, our
country has lacked the resources to keep this man, Adam Capay, housed within a
humane environment. Consequently, the family of Mr. Capay’s murder victim
wonders about a system of justice whereby lawyers grow wealthy through
exorbitant fees, and justice fails after years spent haggling in a legal
purgatory.
It doesn’t matter the government. Navel gazing politicians more interested in pet projects oriented around ego as opposed to execution of administrative policy drop the ball on matters relevant to the public purse whether it was Mr. Harper’s obsession with Mike Duffy’s suspected abuse of public perks who was ultimately exonerated, or the endless apologies by Justin Trudeau to groups offended in decades past, or photo ops of white men in turbans….politicians are failing to do the job such as humanely incarcerating criminals and administering a system of justice which is fair, expedient and cost efficient.
With Brayden Schnur’s runner up finish at the New York Open
this past week, Canada now has five men ranked in the top 110. This is a
statistic never seen before to my knowledge. I had the pleasure of watching
Brayden warm up at the Calgary Tennis Club a couple years back and play the Challenger
Tour event here last fall. He has the physique, the strokes and the drive to
win. However; I’m a bit concerned about the stress he puts on his front knee
during his service motion. He’ll get to contend with the ace machine and ultimate
victor of the New York Open, Reilly Opelka, throughout his playing career.
The two young guns Shapovalov and Auger-Alliasime have burst
onto the scene demonstrating court prowess atypical of their youth. We’ll see
how this pair contends with the rigors of the tour in the face of fully mature
men.
Canadian men on the outside looking in are Peter Polansky
and Filip Peliwo. Peter seems to have more fire burning than ever before and
Filip may be struggling a bit on the mental side of the game as I witnessed in
his match here in Calgary last fall.
The ladies are also making waves. I’m sensing some healthy rivalry
building in their ranks given some competitive off court exchanges. There are a
handful of ladies now in the mix to provide Eugenie with some company. Bianca
Andreescu currently outranks Bouchard.
I’d be amiss not to reference the formally developed
coaching development program over at Tennis Canada as an obvious resource in
propelling Canada upward in the international tennis scene.
Here we go again with government “investments” in business
with a $100 million nest egg courtesy of you the taxpayer for new technologies
(artificial intelligence) which apparently is such a sought after space that
the private sector isn’t interested.
This is what’s happening. Very poor decisions were made
regarding the construction of new office towers in the downtown core of Calgary
leading to a 30 per cent vacancy. Obstructionist policy from governments in the
oil and gas sector has impeded business from expanding into these new
commercial spaces. Now, you the taxpayer are going to pay the price for “malinvestment”.
That’s right. Governments have historically been poor investors because
politicians don’t personally have any skin in the game. Politicians cater to
special interest groups and are amenable to influence from effective lobbyists.
When was the last time your government presented you with a
performance statement in lieu of a benefit to you arising from their investment
decisions in the private sector? You guessed it – never. There is no accountability.
The unremarkable thing about “capitalism” is that people and
businesses fail because of poor investment decisions. The backdrop of a failure
potential has the effect of scrutinizing capital carefully for its most
efficient deployment.
This decision made by bureaucrats with your money is not sound but there is desperation in the corridors of governments because pension funds with equity interests in Alberta office towers are clamouring.
