Remembrance Day, 2012

Yet again I am struck with the quiet hypocrisy going on around Remembrance Day. I had to watch a grandstand being erected, local politicians standing atop it and giving cliché speeches about Canada's war veterans. I wonder how many of them believe the old lines; have they heard them so many times over the years as to believe them, or have they long since decided that we, civilians, can't truly understand their sacrifices and trials? I wonder if they can see how we try to see their lives, and if so, do they forgive us our weaknesses?

An open letter to Mitt Romney

Dear Governor Romney,

As a foreign observer who, like many outside of your country, followed this year’s presidential election with great trepidation, let me offer my condolences to you. I regret that you weren’t born 20 years earlier or 20 years later, because you came to power in a Republican party that wasn’t prepared to govern in any serious way. The result, as you saw on Tuesday, was that your country rejected your platform - and yourself, atop it. But don’t despair, for I do not necessarily think this has everything to do with you, Governor. It has to do with the politics of losing.

Sometimes, bloggers deserve recognition, and therefore I am pleased to award this Very Serious Award to Lousy Canuck!

Atheism+, an admission, and my thoughts on cynical attacks on the former

Yesterday, Jen McCreight of Blag Hag wrote an amazing post entitled How I Unwittingly Infiltrated the Boy's Club & Why It's Time for a New Wave of Atheism, and it's pretty freaking brilliant. Like a lot of important pieces of writing, I saw myself a bit in what Jen had written:

What's the price of a mile?

Thousands of feet march to the beat, it's an army on the march
Long way from home, paying the price with young men's life
Thousands of feet march to the beat, it's an army in despair
Knee deep in mud, stuck in a trench with no way out
-The Price of a Mile, Sabaton

What's the price of a mile?

On June 18th, 1815, the price of a Belgian mile was 48,000 men.

In July 1863, the price of a Pennsylvanian mile was 35,087 men.

On July 1, 1916, the price of a French mile was 65,470 men.

In 1941, the price of a Soviet mile was 5,622 men.

On June 6th, 1944, the price of a mile at Omaha Beach was 4,200 men.

In March and April 2003, the price of an Iraqi mile was 151 people.

It's always far too much.

Romney/Ryan 2012

Mitt Romney has selected Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate. This surprised me somewhat, as I was almost sure Romney would pick former Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, or perhaps Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Ryan is perhaps most famous for the Ryan Budget, which recommended replacing Medicare with a voucher program that would do significantly less than the current Medicare program.

Harry Reid's Brilliance, Part 2

Accurate representation of Reid's charisma

I actually really like Harry Reid, the current Senate Majority Leader (D-NV). Although he has the charisma of the plank of wood upon which my keyboard sits, Senator Reid is an extremely skilled politician. Just check out the way he's been attacking Mitt Romney about not releasing his tax returns. Reid has claimed that a Bain Capital investor informed the Senator that "he didn't pay any taxes for 10 years". Reid later informed the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he has "had a number of people tell me that [Romney paid no taxes for 10 years]."

Aurora and gun control

I've written about gun control before, in regards to the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, and that can be found here. What is important to remember is that while I support the Second Amendment's incorporation to the several States, I do not necessarily approve of the free-roaming nature of no gun control at all, and I think that is a direct contributor to gun culture in the USA. It comes down to a difference between a respect for constitutional law and a desire to see things changed for the better.

A white road into the green

I was driving to Port Hawkesbury today, and there is a stretch of road where the pavement has faded, and looks almost white, a straight line for about a mile into rolling green countryside. As I entered this stretch, I let my eyes drift out of focus for a second, and I pondered. I pondered a white road into the green.

Could you imagine what that represents? Two thousand years ago, white-topped roads stretched across the Roman Empire. A young man from settled Gaul or Hispania might see, upon leaving his deployment, a white road into rolling, green, otherwise untouched hills. What does that mean? Power. Civilization. Strength.

I could imagine walking that road, a soldier in sandals with mail and a spear, moving along the sole line of civilization in all directions. Being a trader, entering the Empire, knowing that road will take me to a city, a place of coin and corruption. Being a raider, using the road as a line to the heart of my hated enemy. And I pondered that it was not just Rome that benefited from these roads.

Roman roads gave the empires of Charlemagne and Napoleon a place to march. Major highways are still built along them. They have controlled for two thousand years the fates of empires and civilizations and strength. Roads are what make our society, today, possible, the idea of rapid communication and movement of goods. Without roads, we are small hamlets, afraid and alone. With roads, we're a short drive away from our family and friends - or even a long drive, which would once have been two years' dangerous journey and is now a few days' safe drive.

And I wondered, as those roads of Rome still move peoples that are so far removed from the Eagles that paraded the smooth-topped streets in the Pax Romana, who will move on our roads in two thousand years? And I was struck by the fact that our untamed wilderness is little and spare, and we are lucky when we can drive into the rolling green.

The Bible is inherently anti-knowledge and anti-women

Eccentric Jennifer posts a wonderful series of thoughts on the implication of Eve's role in the Bible. I concur with her, naturally, but I would like to expand upon one point. Specifically, her final sentence:

And, if this myth is true? Well, I’d like to thank Eve on behalf of all humanity, she gave us the greatest gift ever, she gave us Knowledge.

She sure did. What does it say about Christianity, the Abrahamic God, and those who follow the Bible literally that Eve's reward for bringing enlightenment to humanity was to be cast out of paradise and tainted forever with Original Sin? Humanity is not supposed to be curious; we are supposed to obey God.

This is dangerous and foolish; this is to suggest that those who push the cause of human knowledge are nothing but sinners. We all know that the Abrahamic faiths rail against knowledge, but when you think about it, it is incredible that it is part of the entire core creation myth! That the very first statement God makes in the Bible (other than "and it was good"), is that, "Hey humans. Cavort around here in Paradise. But don't think. Thinking's dangerous, dontcha know. What did I just say! GTFO! Blame the bitches for this one, dudes, amiright?"

Yeah, God is a bro. Somehow, the image of God with a popped collar is making me laugh.

The point is simple: misogyny and ignorance are the Bible's two core values, as told in the Adam and Eve creation myth. We need to shed ourselves of these dangerous faiths and move past them.

I got to play Magic: The Gathering with @jteberhard!

I got to play Magic: The Gathering with JT Eberhard the other day! We used the Cockatrice program, and it was pretty cool. Jen has always said he's a great guy, and it was really neat to sit there and toss cards out with an icon of the modern atheist movement. We did an Avacyn Restored draft and played a couple games of Legacy format.

Here's the deck I use:

Land:
20x Plains

Artifacts:
3x Throne of Empires
3x Crown of Empires
3x Scepter of Empires

Enchantments:
1x Cathars' Crusade

Instants:
4x Disenchant
2x Enlightened Tutor

Creatures:
4x Ballyrush Banneret
4x Daru Warchief
3x Field Marshal
3x Veteran Swordsmith
2x Captain of the Watch
1x Gerrard Capashen
1x Darien, King of Kjeldor
1x Longbow Archer
2x Goldnight Commander
3x Veteran Armorer

The deck revolves around using the Empires set to general a plethora of 1/1 Soldier tokens that turn out to be 3/6 Soldier tokens with first strike and vigilance. The addition of Cathars' Crusade has made the deck very potent very quickly with the addition of counters - I may be adding a second at some point. I keep a few other enchantments in my sidedeck, just in case, as well as a couple spare creatures. I intend to get a playset of Longbow Archers soon, to replace the Veteran Armorers. This gives me the ability to defend against flying creatures, which are featured in several opposing decks here.

Anyway, if anyone ever wants to play on Cockatrice, let me know!

Going to Boston!

I am released on the world!

On June 24th, I'll be flying to Boston, Massachusetts so I can fulfil a life dream: I'll be seeing Iron fucking Maiden live. My passport came in yesterday, and it finally feels...real...that I will be going. My ticket comes from a friend of mine, Paul, better known as SinisterMinister X from the forums at www.maidenfans.com. Paul is flying to Boston from Denver, and he's also flying in my good pal Stefan (Perun) from Germany. Some other mates will be joining us, and we'll be staying at the apartment of our forum friend Natalie (Natalie).

So for four days, I'll get to meet guys and girls who I've been friends with for almost 10 years online, hang out with them, explore Boston with them, and then see the band who I have adored for my entire adult life.

Thanks Paul. You're a great friend, and this is going to be an amazing, wonderful, surely exhausting yet memorable trip.

Up the Irons!

Are the producers of Hockey Night in Canada trying to get shut down?

Recently, Hockey Night in Canada's Ron MacLean compared the heroics of hockey players to the heroics of the various first responders in 9/11. There's absolutely nothing right about this comparison, and a lot of people have critiqued MacLean as being smug, too smart, and trying to be clever. He was, in my opinion, being an idiot.

The coolest video game ever

Seriously, this is incredible.

Artemis is designed for anyone who watched Star Trek and dreamed of what it would be like to sit on the bridge of a star ship...everyone tends to snap into their role and share the information coming to them from their station while interacting with the crew and captain. The Helm station flies the Artemis. The Weapons station controls your offensive powers. Engineering moves power and handles repairs. Science can scan enemy ships and share intel. Communications allows you to interact with both enemy and friendly ships. Each station has information that must be shared with the rest of the crew to keep the ship healthy and flying.

The game costs $40 and you need 6 computers if you intend to play with all 6 stations (and why the hell wouldn't you?). Requirements are really low so you can bust out your old rigs to make the game work if needed. You also need a decent sized tv or a projector to serve as the view screen. Yes, you get a view screen.

The Penny Arcade article goes into this game in great depth, but what's really cool is that you can design your own missions and download custom mission packs. Upon realizing this game existed, I had a little geek-out session, waving my arms around with a big smile on my face. My friends very quickly called positions - science, helm, tactical, engineering, communications.

Which means I will get to be captain. This game is going to take a little setup time, but I have no doubt in my mind this will be $40 damn well spent.

Qray benefits? More like Qray bullshit.

$149.95 for this useless piece of scrap!

So I was watching the Canada-Finland game from the World Hockey Championship, and during one of the commercials there was an advertisement for the QRay bracelet. For the uninitiated, this is a piece of metal you wear around your wrist that just makes things magically better. I know this is bullshit, and you know this is bullshit, but I was surprised to see how they justify their bullshit.

The rise of the NDP

10 years ago the idea of the New Democratic Party running Canada's federal government was simply laughable. Today, it is closer to reality than ever (other than the fact that the election is 40 months away, most likely). Check it out on the Huff Po.

Mitt Romney the bully

Everyone's known a bully. And from time to time, everyone's been a bully too. Don't be afraid to admit it. We're all capable of that swing in emotion from the casually offensive to the moderately cruel. That's not the sort of bullying I'm talking about when I say Mitt Romney is a bully. I'm also not talking about the Mitt Romney that shut down American companies and outsourced their material and jobs to the lowest bidder.

I'm talking about the Mitt Romney who, by five separate accounts, held down a fellow teen accused of being gay and forcibly clipped off the hair style that Romney and his friends found offensive. They attacked another boy with a weapon, and changed his appearance. They shamed him for his perceived sexuality in public.

This is the face of a terrorist

(via the BBC)

The above is Anders Breivik. He is a Christian terrorist. He smiles slightly, smug, at his trial, that he has declared he would turn into a "circus" for his radical anti-Islam standpoints.

Breivik has admitted to murdering 77 people for the "crime" of supporting multiculturalism. He is a self-described Christian nationalist. He is a terrorist, just the same as Osama bin Laden was a terrorist. He murdered people to advance a political viewpoint. But our press won't call him a terrorist.

Fox News calls him a mass-murderer who has been charged with terrorism. So does MSNBC. CNN says he is a mass murderer, but quotes an expert on terrorism.

Why can't we call a spade a spade? Breivik is a terrorist. He's admitted his crimes were for the purpose of advancing a political agenda, even though he calls himself a patriot (as terrorists often do, see Timothy McVeigh for an example). Even if the Norwegian court finds him insane, his insanity acted in a way many sane terrorists have. Breivik wanted to frighten young people away from the political discourse he finds distasteful. Call him a fucking terrorist.

Because he is.

Goatse is not an argument for God.

So there I was on Twitter, when I saw this:

 The link went to this photo:

Open letter to Vic Toews

Dear Minister Toews,

I'd like to voice my concern about the Government's intent to pass Bill C30, or as it is known, the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. As a Canadian citizen who uses the Internet, I am supremely concerned that the Conservative government is interested in co-opting my Charter rights for the ease of prosecution. While titled to be defending children from Internet predators, the actual bill's language refers only to general situations. We have no assurances that the rights co-opted by your government shall be used only in the situations suggested in the rationale. Perhaps there is only the greatest of intentions with this bill, but you are surely aware of what the proverbial road to Hell is paved with.

Fuck Russia

Seriously, fuck Russia.

What stupid douchebags they are. Yes, Syria is an area traditionally in the Soviet sphere of influence, but they're murdering their own people by the bucketload. Fuck Russia.

Fuck China too. It's pretty simple. These asshole countries don't want NATO kicking the ass of a country that kills their own people, because they kill their own people too and don't want to mix it up with NATO. I don't blame them. Some USS Enterprise + HMS Illustrious up their ass would fuck their day, assuming nobody presses the big red button.

But Syrians deserve rights. And NATO should protect those rights. I hope we roll in and give al-Assad the same big "fuck you" we gave to Gaddafi. AKA - I hope we bomb him into oblivion and make sure that the rebels have a fighting fucking chance. You can't just send tanks on your own people. We shouldn't put up with that. We shouldn't have to. We should stop this bullshit. We have the power, and we should use it for good. Not Iraq stuff...but actual good.

This is why Obama is a good president, btw. Because he works with NATO, because he respects the Arab League and other similar organizations. The Arab League begged the UN to intervene, but Russia said no. And China, but they'd have fallen in line.

Fuck you, Russia. I don't care how big the man-crush I have on Vladimir Putin is. Fuck you.

1916

16 years old when I went to the war,
To fight for a land fit for heroes,
God on my side, and a gun in my hand,
Counting my days down to zero,
And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,
And I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time that a year in the line,
Is a long enough life for a soldier,

We all volunteered, and we wrote down our names,
And we added two years to our ages,
Eager for life and ahead of the game,
Ready for history's pages,
And we brawled and we fought and we whored 'til we stood,
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,
A thirst for the Hun, we were food for the gun,
And that's what you are when you're soldiers,

I heard my friend cry, and he sank to his knees,
Coughing blood as he screamed for his mother,
And I fell by his side, and that's how we died,
Clinging like kids to each other,
And I lay in the mud and the guts and the blood,
And I wept as his body grew colder,
And I called for my mother and she never came,
Though it wasn't my fault and I wasn't to blame,
The day not half over and ten thousand slain,
And now there's nobody remembers our names,
And that's how it is for a soldier.


1916 by Mötorhead

I wrote this as an exercise...

So, I recently replayed several titles in the Zelda series, and one of the best is Link to the Past, the Super Nintendo version of the classic game. This game is beautifully set up - colourful, vibrant, and with intense and exciting gameplay. Replaying it was like opening a window to my childhood and stepping through it; like few things really can, the sounds and sights that dominated my Christmas and after back in 1989 really took me back.


So I was thinking about it, and imagining one of the more climactic scenes, when Link enters the Lost Woods to reclaim the Master Sword, and what that might have been like "rein-acted" using the new information about the series. Also, I was bored at work. Story below the jump.

Beer + Laptop =?

So I spilled beer on my laptop a few days ago. Oops. That sucks, and it sucked more when my trackpad and my keyboard stopped working. Lugging around a mouse with me and using half a keyboard was a pain in the ass, so I figured, hey, it's not under warranty, I'll just replace the parts.

Today, all the new stuff arrived and within 45 minutes I had reassembled the laptop. It works great, but I'm concerned the life lesson here isn't "don't spill beer on your expensive things", but instead, "hey, if you spill beer, it's only $35 in parts!"

Oops.

Open Letter to Ricky Hood

Ricky Hood is the superintendent for the Eastern School District in PEI, the largest district in the province, and he's cool with the Gideons handing out Bibles. Hemant has the scoop.

I sent him a letter, posted below the jump. Any other concerned Canadians should do the same. I'll post any responses here.

History & Jessica Ahlquist - The Founding Fathers

The wonderful and eloquent Greta Christina has written a detailed post regarding Jessica and the harassment she's been slammed with following daring to stand up for her rights. I suggest you read it in its entirety before coming back here.

What I'd like to do today is look at Jessica, and how she stands among a pool of Americans commonly considered great in times past. You see, those who study history know that there is a "right" side and a "wrong" side. The right side is the side that wins - and it tends to be, in American history, on the side of people who make the morally correct decision. In this situation, the situation of Jessica's First Amendment rights, we can look back through history and find some great Americans who would support - and those who would detract - from what she's done.

Please note that I am writing these as if these long-dead figures have knowledge of today's interpretation of the Constitution, including such important points as the 14th Amendment and Lemon v. Kurtzman.

Fiction: alternate Civil War story

I started this as a story some time ago, and as always, I pick and prod at such things. This is based on the idea of a different outcome to the American Civil War - one where the British become involved on the side of the Confederacy. Although I've only written 11,000 words so far, I did some extensive backstory work that isn't directly relevant to the action. So far, what I have written is one of my favourite pieces of fiction I've ever put to paper. I hope to one day write more on it, and I hope you enjoy what I have so far written. An excerpt, a link, and more detail below the jump.

Andrew Sullivan on Obama's long game

The always eloquent Andrew Sullivan has written a detailed article for Newsweek regarding President Obama and the manner in which he makes change. He looks at the arguments against Obama from both the right and the left and concisely neutralizes them with a singular, effortless ease. This is one of the reasons I support Obama: his ability to play the long game of American and global politics sets him apart as one of the premiere presidents in living memory - if not of them all.

Obama's record should speak for itself - but it doesn't, as Sullivan notes, primarily because Obama's manner of getting things done is to get other people to stand up for what the President thinks is right. Who was the primary voice behind the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell? It wasn't Barack Obama - it was Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It's very difficult to suggest Admiral Mullen is an anti-American traitor, not when he wears a couple dozen ribbons on his left breast. The other force for DADT repeal? Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Sure, you could suggest that's an Obama political ally, but wait a minute - he was appointed by George W. Bush, and Obama simply kept him around.

Health care? Reformed. Wall Street? New legislation passed. Second Great Depression? Avoided. American automotive industry? Saved. Osama Bin Laden? Dead. US-world relationships? Fixed. Arab Spring? Happening. Torture in US detention centres? Ended.

But don't take my word for it. Sullivan nails it out of the park on this one. If Obama wins another term (and I believe he will), then he may be able to establish the best progressive record since FDR. Obama plays the long game with his eye on the prize - and more often than not, someone who plays the long game wins.

The Crommunist on redefining racism

Ian Cromwell, the Crommunist, is quickly becoming a favourite blogger of mine. I suggest you read his stuff, but he pointed to a talk he gave awhile ago regarding redefining what racism means and working to avoid it. Powerful, insightful talk, and I recommend you take a half hour of your time to watch.

The video is below the fold.

What I'd tell Peter Palumbo if I was American

Required reading from JT on the Jessica Ahlquist story.

Okay. All caught up? I'm not an American, but this pisses me off. Why? Not because she's 16. Jessica has proven she is the equal of any adult out there in terms of maturity, intelligence, and bravado. Not because Palumbo is a Democrat - both American political parties are filled with idiots and assholes. Not because it's harassment or anything like that.

It's because Palumbo swore this oath:

You being by the free vote of the electors of this state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, elected unto the place of do solemnly swear to be true and faithful unto this state, and to support the Constitution of this state and of the United States; that you will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties of your aforesaid office to the best of your abilities, according to law: So help you God.

The Rhode Island State Constitution even allows for a secular affirmation. But I'm guessing the above is what Palumbo swore. And I'm damn fine with that. He can swear by whatever god he deems holy enough. Sweet. But here's the rub: he swore to defend the Rhode Island State Constitution, as well as the United States Constitution.

Rhode Island's constitution declares:

[The Constitution], therefore, declare[s] that no person shall be compelled to frequent or to support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatever, except in fulfillment of such person's voluntary contract; nor enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in body or goods.

The United States Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Here's how my letter would look:

Radar's Teddy Bear

You may not have seen M*A*S*H, but this teddy bear is the link used by Radar O'Reilly in his evolution towards becoming an adult. As the series progresses, Radar's reliance on his teddy bear lessens; when he leaves the 4077th, he leaves the teddy bear behind. At the end of the series, it is buried in a time capsule with other relics like Henry Blake's fishing lure, Father Mulcahy's boxing gloves, and one of Klinger's little black dresses - a memory of the boys who became men, the men who never came home, the women left behind, and of course, instruments for future wars to be fought. Symbolism was a very important part of M*A*S*H.

One of the more pivotal moments in Radar's character development on the show was the episode where Hawkeye disappointed and yelled at Radar. For the majority of the series, Radar had been portrayed as the proverbial dog nipping at Hawkeye's heel; in this episode, Hawkeye was devolved from hero to human in the younger Radar's eyes. He realized that our heroes are people too, that they make mistakes - and sometimes critical ones.

Sometimes, I am reminded of this when I look at the atheist movement. Though atheism is an old concept, the modern mobilization online is very young. Heroes are cast up - people like Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris. And then sometimes it casts them down (I am reminded of Dawkins's involvement in Elevatorgate, for one, and Hitchens's support of the Iraq War). Stephanie Zvan recently called out DJ Grothe of the JREF for similar ideas.

The movement is still young, and we still cling over-much to the teddy bears of the movement. To the idea that big names are heroes, rather than humans. We shouldn't be shocked when an old, privileged white guy like Dawkins comes out on the stereotypical side of an issue for his particular social groups. We shouldn't be shocked that Hitchens supported an illegal and ill-advised war.

Another word for this is the "sacred cow". But atheism (and it's related sibling, skepticism) is based on evaluating facts. Let's evaluate facts and realize sacred cows do not exist. Dawkins & co. are perfectly capable of making mistakes - as are the newer wave of atheists like Hemant Mehta, Jennifer McCreight, JT Eberhard, et al. When these people err, the gravity of their error is equal to their status in the movement, if we allow for those persons to become teddy bears. Hoisting up teddy bears is dangerous - because it means they can bring the whole tent crashing down when we remember that they are truly human.

Randy Cunneyworth's English Problem

Randy Cunneyworth's term as head coach of the most storied sports franchise in Canada, the Montreal Canadiens, is only a few games old. He has a lot of things to worry about. The Habs are losing games, Carey Price can't stop a puck, they can't put a power play goal in. Their top scorers aren't scoring and their defense is hardly playing at all. But the big reason why he's being criticized in the Montreal media right now is because he cannot speak French.

A lot of people are asking what the big damn deal is. And really, I can't blame them. Understanding why a coach must speak both French and English to get along in Montreal involves learning a little Quebec history - and it involves considering the social ramifications of having an Anglophone running le blue, blanc, et rouge. So, let's look at it, then.

Frank Burns vs. Rick Santorum

You might have heard that Rick Santorum almost won the Iowa caucuses. This man is a paragon of Christian conservatism - that is to say he's a racist, homophobic, Islamophobic hypocrite. So, in honour of that, I present a little quiz:

My beef with the Winter Classic

I remember when they announced the NHL Winter Classic. I was pretty excited. It was a great idea - an outdoor game in a huge venue, giving tens of thousands of fans to watch a hockey game. Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh, and the game was pretty awesome too. Fantastic ending, even if the snow had gotten thick enough that it was tough to see Sidney Crosby's OT goal. Regardless, it worked for me.

But the Winter Classic is currently on, and by all signs on Twitter is coming to a wild conclusion. And I could care less. And let me show you why:

Building a community: atheism isn't enough

Jason has a particularly long post on dissent. Stephanie Zvan concurs, and elaborates. But I think it all comes down to what Maryam Namazie said regarding this issue:

After all just because someone’s an atheist doesn’t necessarily mean they are pro-equality, anti-war, socialist, secularist, and so on...when we only focus on atheism or ex-Muslim or Muslim or … we miss the class, political and social dimensions that are most crucial in determining our allies and our enemies.