democracy is good, but...

Interesting quote I heard recently.  Maybe this explains why it's so hard to elect a good leader ??

"[S]uppose that a monopoly right is to be auctioned; whom will we predict to be the highest bidder? Surely we can presume that the person who intends to exploit the monopoly power most fully, the one for whom the expected profit is highest, will be among the highest bidders for the franchise. In the same way, positions of political power will tend to attract those persons who place higher values on the possession of such power. These persons will tend to be the highest bidders in the allocation of political offices. . . . Is there any presumption that political rent seeking will ultimately allocate offices to the 'best' persons? Is there not the overwhelming presumption that offices will be secured by those who value power most highly and who seek to use such power of discretion in the furtherance of their personal projects, be these moral or otherwise? Genuine public-interest motivations may exist and may even be widespread, but are these motivations sufficiently passionate to stimulate people to fight for political office, to compete with those whose passions include the desire to wield power over others?"
-James Buchanan

test

testing testing

july 2007 023

july 2007 023
Originally uploaded by enderdeckard

Ian is concentrating on the computer.

JFK

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Originally uploaded by enderdeckard

Here I am in front of the sculpture of JFK at the concert hall which is named after him, in downtown Washington DC. This was 2003.

worcester

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Originally uploaded by enderdeckard

This is my old Worcester apartment. I don't know why I have that expression on my face. It was an old building and I laboured there for a few years.

AGLOCO

I'm trying out this web site:

agloco

It supposedly will pay me for surfing the web. I'm a bit skeptical at the moment, but I will wait and see how it works out. If I get a little extra cash while I'm online, I'm not going to complain. Apparently, I will also get a percentage of anyone I refer to the website. If you want to try it out, go ahead, and let me know if it works well.

orson scott card

I really like this guy's writing. One of my favorite books of all time is Ender's Game. Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide are also terrific. He's also quite opinionated about a lot of topics including some controversial ones and is not afraid to delve into political or religious discussions. Although we don't share the same religion, I do find myself agreeing with him on many issues (and disagreeing on plenty, also). I do agree with this article though, and I think it's a very important issue.

spurs beat suns

Ouch! I'm a bit disgusted by the result of this playoff series. I have to confess that I didn't watch all of the games, but I feel that those unjust suspensions from the game 5 win for Phoenix pretty much killed the Suns' season. Also, Tim Duncan is fantastic player, and the Spurs controlled Barbosa and Diaw. Bleah. Well, I'll be hoping for Pistons over Jazz in the finals now. If not, then Pistons over Spurs... Cavaliers vs Spurs would be a nightmare for me. Good night.

the prestige

I was thinking about this film which I saw recently on DVD. Awesome movie, and I've decided that it's a 4 star movie, and in the top 2 or 3 of 2006. It's definitely something which I think is worth watching twice, so if you haven't seen it yet, check it out, and don't read any further because there are spoilers!!

OK, if you're still reading, you've already seen the movie. It's a terrific entertainment with strong acting and dialogue, and the picture looks great. Thematically, I think it is very interesting, raising questions about cloning, obsession, the soul, revenge, etc. The character of Angier ended up being rather monstrous in the end. The analogy of the bird trick where the bird croaked every time the trick was done. The lengths to which the rival magicians went to outdo each other was astonishing for any normal person. Angier was willing to sacrifice everything including his own life to fulfill his magic trick and become the 'prestige'. BTW, some people didn't like the Tesla device, but I had no problem with it. It's a little bit strange for the context of the time for this movie, but I like outlandish stuff like that.

leafs capitals game

I went to a hockey game on March 16, 2007. It was the Toronto Maple Leafs vs the Washington Capitals. The Leafs were beaten 5-1. Not a very competitive match. It was section 108, row J, seat 9. Quite a good seat, actually. The Leafs ended up missing the playoffs by only 1 game...

subpoena

Did I spell that right? I've been asked to testify in court soon. This will be the first experience for me in a court room. All I know about trials are what I've learned from the media. I didn't watch any of the OJ trial (except for a few clips which aired on the news occasionally). I just hope that I don't break down under a withering cross-examination... Wish me luck.

may

New month. Just wanted to say hi to everyone out there. My second child will be born any time in the next couple of weeks. So, that's what I'm focusing on lately. But I will say that I saw some good things in the past week or so:

-Children of Men (thought provoking and visually excellent)
-Dallas vs. Golden State game 4 (great game, and... Baron Davis !!!)
-Borat (I have certain reservations about this, but it was mostly funny)
-Heroes episode 20 "Five Years Gone" (future episodes can be dumb, but this was interesting and lots of fun)
-Ian's vocabulary is expanding rapidly; he repeats everything I say (even the bad things)

war quote

I just read a funny quote:

“Except for ending slavery, fascism, Nazism & communism, war has never solved anything.”

It came from an article about Joel Surnow (creator of the TV show 24) in the New Yorker. I thought it was funny, as Surnow is obviously very anti-liberal. I will disagree with the part about war ending communism though. Wasn't it internal rot with brought down the Soviet Union? And China & North Korea are still alive and well. (North Korea maybe isn't so well). Perhaps some wars are unavoidable...



edit: That quote reminded me of another quote, which was very funny, from the movie Life of Brian:

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"

Well, it's funnier in context. Just watch the movie :)

Raptors game 1

I just watched my first full Raptors game ever, since moving to the USA. Expectations were raised this year, after winning a division crown, and with the hated Vince Carter coming to town.

It was not a pretty game for the most part. Jason Kidd pretty much controlled a large part of the game leading to most of Richard Jefferson's points in the paint, and I'm not sure what Sam Mitchell's strategy was. The Raptors transition defense seemed brutal during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Chris Bosh seems to be a good outside shooter, but I didn't see much of a post-up game or much offensive rebounding today. Then again, he didn't see any playing time in the first half...

Well, I hope next game will bring a more inspiring performance.

quote

"If I cannot extrapolate my standard of living to the whole world and still find nature flourishing, my standard of living is immoral." -John Carmody

clarifications

After reading the last post, Kay thought it was a little strange and inappropriate. Ah well, you can't please everybody.

So, in response, I've decided to expound further. You see, I am a happy man, because I have a good family life. I live in a relatively free country, and I have money, a house, privacy, a good job, and all those things that most people want in their lives. Things aren't perfect, but I'm occasionally working on making things better for myself, my family, and for those people around me.

Recently, I had minor toe surgery. It was a little bit painful and sore for a couple of days, but not too bad overall. Hopefully, this won't be a problem for me again in the future. Also, I just bought a new car recently. It is a silver Honda Fit. It's a cute little hatchback with decent head room. It will be my commuter car from now on. At some point, I'll post a picture.

OK, that's it for now. Now it's your turn. Why don't you tell me why your life is (or isn't) happy...

I am a happy man

Over the past few days, I've heard various people mention that there are some similarities between myself and the Virginia Tech killer. After viewing his 'multimedia manifesto' and certain images and descriptions, I do understand why people would say such things. Even my wife was somewhat afraid and concerned about this.

Here, I would like to respond to these concerns. First of all, I am a very happy, married man with a good son, and expecting a second child soon. I feel quite stable with regard to my mental state and capacity at this time. Therefore, to all of you who were terrified about being gunned down, please allow me to allay your fears. I do not possess any firearm, nor do I have any desire to do so. Please remember, I am a merely decent human being, just like you. Sincerely, your humble friend..... Frank [last name has been obliterated due to reasons of privacy and humility]

Future imperfect (or my most depressing post yet !!)

1. eating oil


2. peak oil


3. oil and medicine


If you want to be depressed, try reading these articles which are linked above... I've touched on some of these issues in an earlier post, but I just wanted reiterate to everyone out there that our future is not looking good. For anyone living in rich countries, the second half of the 20th century looks like it was a time of fantastic prosperity, and also a time when humanity destroyed its future. This is in retrospect, of course.

These are only predictions, but they are based on some reasonable science and assumptions, based on my reading so far. The question is, what good is this information to us now?

Well, if you're a Christian or religious, and you believe that the world will be ending within the next 50 years or so, then this really doesn't matter. (Except of course for those poor saps who get left behind.)

I'm afraid that most people aren't in that category though. Either you're not religious, or you are religious and you don't really think you know when the world is going to end. Until then, I think it would be wise to consider our future whenever we make any important decisions.

A few things that we should all consider (these are stated by many other people, but it doesn't hurt to list them here on my little blog):

1. halt population growth (actually it would be better for the world population to decline considerably)
2. conserve energy
3. pray for divine intervention or an incredible technological breakthrough


#2 is a huge category, but it means things like:

- buy a hybrid or a used car, or don't use a car at all, or decrease car use, and reduce flying
- stop or reduce eating meat
- conserve energy at home (improve insulation, use less heating & air conditioning)
- spread the word
- it would also help to stop wasting energy on things like wars

It's clear that our politicians will not get it done. Unfortunately, the general public won't get it done either, I'm afraid. Therefore, the rest of us will just have to make the best of it, and try to prepare for a future with a lower standard of living (at best) or a future with a catastrophic collapse of modern civilization (at worst :)

Anyway, one of my goals is to teach my children about these things. I realize that I have already personally wasted far more energy than the average human being. My penance will be to try to improve, and to have my children do the same. If we're lucky, young Ian will be a genius who will solve the world's problems. I encourage you to do the same. Good luck ! (BTW, this is not an April Fools Day joke !)

flickr.com

flickr.com

This is a pretty good photo site. I've put up some photos there. You can check them out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/enderdeckard/

2007 films

***1/2
Zodiac
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
The Lookout
Sunshine
Juno
U2 3D
Atonement
American Gangster
Persepolis
Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
The Kite Runner
***
La Mome (La Vie en Rose)
Across the Universe
The Bourne Ultimatum
Eastern Promises
3:10 to Yuma
28 Weeks Later
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
The Kingdom
Charlie Wilson's War
Ratatouille
Gone Baby Gone
4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Death at a Funeral
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood
SiCKO
Se, jie (Lust, Caution)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Mist
Beowulf
The Savages
The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)
We Own the Night
Mr. Brooks
Stardust
El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
Cassandra's Dream
The Visitor
A Mighty Heart
The Brave One
The Great Debaters
Dan in Real Life
**1/2
I Am Legend
I'm Not There
The Darjeeling Limited
Shooter
Funny Games
In the Valley of Elah
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
An American Crime (TV)
Transformers
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Live Free or Die Hard
Into the Wild
Hairspray
Knocked Up
Rendition
1408
Encounters at the End of the World
[Rec]
Spider-Man 3
Waitress
Superbad
Shrek the Third
Shoot 'Em Up
The Simpsons Movie
The Jane Austen Book Club
Becoming Jane
Up the Yangtze
Paranoid Park
Sleuth
Things We Lost in the Fire
Enchanted
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
King of California
Vacancy
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Mongol
**
The Nanny Diaries
The Girl Next Door
The Invasion
No Reservations
Rush Hour 3
The Bucket List
War
Music and Lyrics
Disturbia
Next
Bee Movie
Hitman
Eagle vs Shark
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
P2
30 Days of Night
Hannibal Rising
Smokin' Aces
The Game Plan
88 Minutes
Suburban Girl
Young People Fucking
Resident Evil: Extinction
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four part 3)
Mr. Woodcock
The Heartbreak Kid
*1/2
August Rush
Premonition
The Hitcher
D-War
P.S. I Love You
The Ten
Saw IV
Balls of Fury
Hostel: Part II
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Good Luck Chuck
*
Captivity

Pan's Labyrinth

I saw this movie recently, and I think it's the best movie I've seen in at least 1 year. It's in Spanish, about a young girl, her mother and her step-father during the 1940s (war time), and her bizarre fantasy world. That description doesn't do it much justice, so I just recommend you watch the movie.

First post of 2007, jesus camp, etc.

Well happy belated new year to everyone. I just spent a week off from work taking care of my son Ian because our nanny was on vacation. The young boy just continues to amaze.

I just wanted to point out a couple of movies that I recently saw which I recommend: Jesus Camp and Little Miss Sunshine. Neither one was seen by very many people as far as I know. Little Miss Sunshine is just a cute and funny story about a dysfunctional family. Just a very funny entertaining film that I think will appeal to most people. Lots of cursing though, if that bothers you.

Jesus Camp was just a fascinating documentary about preaching to kids. Clearly the reaction to this movie will be mixed depending on the religion of the viewer. The problem is that kids will pretty much believe what adults tell them. So, I think it's wrong to 'indoctrinate' kids with bad things. I think this is where suicide bombers come from. However, if you are 100% certain that what you are telling them is true, then you can feel justified with this behavior. I'd guess that the people depicted in this movie fall into this category. Unfortunately, whoever trained those martyrs in the Middle East probably fall into this category also.

OK, here's a list of some controversial topics (some more than others of course):

1. does god exist?
2. what is the nature of god?
3. abortion / stem cell research
4. evolution / creation
5. homosexuality
6. immigration reform
7. the environment, global warming, and conservationism
8. war / terrorism / freedom

OK, these are some interesting topics that are discussed in politics and which do not have a clear answer. Other topics are not worthy of much discussion because most people in democratic societies feel that there is a clear cut answer. (for example: slavery is wrong, racism is wrong, sexism is wrong, people should have free speech, don't steal, don't cheat, etc.) The trouble is, if you look at a similar list from a few hundred years ago, the topics would be very different. (ie: abortion and homosexuality were wrong, racism and slavery were not wrong, women could not vote!)

So, the interesting thing that I would like to invite discussion about is, can you predict which of these topics will no longer be debatable in the next 50-100 years or so? Based on what I've seen, my guess is that #5 and #7 above will become fairly clear to most people by the end of my lifetime. Notice that I haven't yet provided my own opinions on these matters. I will at some point, but I'm just trying to avoid getting shot down at this point. I have a feeling that the debate on the other topics will still be around for a longer time. And for #1 and #2, I'm guessing that the debate will never end.

Regarding God, I think that some people will never be convinced to change their mind. If you've had a personal experience with God, then how could anyone convince you that God doesn't exist? If you haven't had an experience like that, then you're probably more likely to be an agnostic or an atheist.

Regarding abortion and stem cell research, I think it's fairly simple. If you believe that humans have a 'soul' or a 'spirit' which exists and cannot be explained by science and is not matter (ie: not part of the physical body), then you're probably going to be against abortion and stem cell research. OK, I'll let this one out of the bag: I do believe in the 'soul'. I can't tell you why I believe it, because there is no reason that would be good enough to convince anyone who doesn't believe it. Therein lies the problem, I suppose.

Regarding the environment, I'm thinking that at some point, things like the rising price of oil & energy, global warming trends and continued resource wars will convince most people to try to conserve.

Regarding immigration, I'm biased because I'm currently in the process of legally obtaining a green card. Because I've incurred a great loss of money and time during this process, I have very little sympathy for those who have broken the law.

OK, this was a long post, I'll talk to you later. Enjoy the warm weather! (To all of you in the east coast of North America).