Mac is and Tim is

Mac was complaining his post wasn't funny enough before....
so i went digging again.....

Mac is correct with probability
Mac is Czech
Mac is tagged
Mac is slow, ultra slow
Mac is a multifunctional protein
Mac is secure
Mac is a variant
Mac is NOT a typewriter (but i thought he was?!)
Mac is a very very close second (to.....?)
Mac is a icon of Style
Mac is a harsh mistress
Mac is a fashion statement
Mac is rarely difficult (but on occasion......)
Mac is specially designed
Mac is the expensive one
Mac is required (required and expensive?! I'm a lucky girl!)
Mac is doomed (well... if i'm the Black Widow and convicted of manslaughter... that's probably right)
Mac is almost dead..... oh dear, i think i better stop now!!

And because Tim played along a bit, here's some for him:

Tim is not an expert
Tim is a strange reclusive wizard
Tim is 17 years old (um, Tim, have you told Jen?)
Tim is by far one of the best performers we've had in this place!
Tim is a Montreal native
Time is back to class and completely consumed with catching up
Tim is legendary in the UK
Tim is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
Tim is working for the Sun as Lord High Fixer
Tim is Indiana Jones for the digital age
Tim is a threat
Tim is a long-time computer hacker
Tim is a talking head not really interested in the real story
Tim is playing "Tuvok" in the new Star Trek touring exhibition
and
Tim is right.

Defining Mac and Melissa

So I saw this game on a friend's blog and decided to copy it here
You type "(someone's name) is" into Google (with quote marks) and see what comes up. Here we go!

So.....
Mac is not a typewriter
A healthy Mac is a happy Mac
Mac is SuperDuper from Shirt Pocket Software
Mac is governed by a Board of Directors
Mac is plain frustrating
Mac is an additive
Mac is expressed as a percentage of volume
Mac is back
MAC is relatively unaffected by species, sex, or duration of anesthesia
Mac is just a good quality mark-up brand

And i guess i should be fair and define myself:
Melissa is an ancient title
Melissa is inspired by the chance of eventually being a soccer (football) super star
Melissa is the fastest growing North Texas community
Melissa is a "black widow" (oh dear, don't tell Mac!)
Melissa is convicted of manslaughter (WHAT?!)
Melissa is locally owned and operated
Melissa is one of "those" people
And finally:
Melissa is right!

Pining for the Old Days

Not me! All this fuss over carbon footprints and sustainability seems to be headed for one outcome...Feudalism. What in the name of sanity am I talking about? Indulge me a couple paragraph's time.

I took my carbon footprint the other day and found out that I produce 18 tonnes as year. The average is 20 tonnes, hooray for me...well, not exactly. In order for my life to be 'sustainable' I can only produce 2 tonnes annually. Yikes, what do I need to do? Well first, no cars. Driving 8000 miles a year produces 2.5 tonnes in a 4 cylinder car. Next, no house, I produce 3 tonnes a year by heating with oil and electric service. Next, no planes, 3 flights produced 2 tonnes which is the allowable limit for a full years living. The rest of my modest life-style produced 8 tonnes. The most peculiar line-item was banking. Why is banking in my carbon footprint? I don't know, but I would think taking the New York Times every week would far outweigh the carbon footprint of banking.

Then I started looking at the alternatives. No Car, tiny abode, organic/local/seasonal food, no travel, no packaging, and no monetary economic system...this all equals Feudalism. Yes, those halcyon days where overlords controlled the lives of the peasantry because they were Noble (a rather poor qualification for dictatorial power). So who will the nobles be this time? I'm putting my money on the IPCC and other environmental colonialists. Of course they will need to jet off to Bali meetings on how to control the peasantry or fly to Hollywood to screen the latest fear-mongering 'documentary' on how the average person (not them, mind you) is destroying the world and must be controlled.

Personally, I don't care much for living in squaller even if I am somehow controlling the climate in a good way. Of course if I refuse, the overlord simply throws me off his land and starves my family, which is what leads me to the real agenda...control. Self-determination has always been the bugaboo of these IPCC/environmental types. They lost the great battle between Collectivism and Freedom in the 1900's and now they are trying gain power through environmental colonialism. I will continue to live my modest lifestyle and lookup to see these people flying on private jets to some exotic local to proclaim how my life is destroying this pristine location. I hope you see the foolishness as well.

Christian Controversy

Watching the goings-on in the US has got me thinking. Currently, there is a big flap over Rev Wright of Obama's Chicago Church. The man has stood in the tradition of Liberation/Black theology and done a good job of portraying both from the pulpit. The roots of this style of theologizing stems back to the 1800's social justice movement which embraced Marxist critiques of western society. The fullness of Liberation Theology comes from Latin America where God is seen siding with the poor and giving cause to the underclasses to rise up and demand material justice. Translated into Black theology, the tradition is nuanced by adding a return to African culture and roots for the North American black. So, put these two together and Rev. Wright is ...right.

My question is this, are Christians called to to such aggressive posturing? I have trouble finding the delineation of political rhetoric from Christian thought in these traditions. Indeed, I do not find much peacemaking in the brashness of many liberation/black theologians. Fiery politics is one thing, cloaking hate in the mantle of the prophetic tradition is blasphemy. For the most part, I find his style of preaching to perpetuate the hatred among the races and give ammunition to the bigots who think all black people are like Rev Wright. As a brother in Christ, should there not be more salt and light and less piss and vinegar?

The Judgement of Jerusalem

Today is Palm Sunday for Christians around the world. The day marks when Jesus came to Jerusalem and entered the city as the King. Many call this the 'Triumphal Entry.' I choose to call it the pathetic parade. You must not hear it as a pejorative, rather an indictment of the Romans, Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Sadducee, Pagan Religious Leaders, and Governors of the Region. The reception for the King of the Universe approaching Jerusalem was pathetic.

In those days, when a great leader came to town, the whole city (read political leaders, dignitaries, important families, and commoners) went out to meet this leader. It was a sign of peace and respect. Jesus did not disguise himself or deny his true identity. He accepted the worship of the people there to greet him and he told the Pharisees that all of creation came out to greet him that day. A play on words in Luke 19:40 as stones recognize their creator, but the hard hearted have just told Jesus to rebuke his disciples.

You can feel the excitement as Jesus crests the Mt of Olives and the crowd lets out a great cheer...the King is here. The question then becomes, where are the dignitaries, leaders, and rulers. The most telling line in the story is where Jesus looks from the Mt of Olives upon Jerusalem and weeps as he declares his wrath and judgment over the city (Luke 19:41-44)...and terrible judgment it is.

One of the problems I have with people's description of Jesus is of him as a revolutionary. Far from it, he is the King. We are the ones who have revolted against him. He has come in power and displayed his greatness by healing the blind, strengthening the cripple, controlling nature, and casting out demons. Yet, despite all of these signs confirming the authority of Jesus, "[Jerusalem] did not recognize the time of God's coming." There was no grand welcome of the King, only rebellious arrogance. In 70 AD, Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was torn down...no stone was left on the other. By 412 AD, Rome was crumbling and the Church was growing at a supernatural pace. Judgment came to pass.

Slouching Towards Cuba

Chile - a country recovering from authoritarian rule - is trying to implement centralized authoritarian rule. Go figure! Political ideology is a strange thing. It's not that authoritarian rule is considered out-of-hand bad by the current powers, rather it is right-wing authoritarian rule that is bad. Chile has seen an 18 year period of prosperity that is set to end at the hand of the central planners, leftist guerrillas, and the resulting capital flight. This article, by a Princeton Professor lays out the curious turn of events.

It seems the government is using the government pressure enforced by leftist gun men to economically and religiously cleanse the country. No human rights violation here...Amnesty? A.N.S.W.E.R.? Human Rights Watch? anyone? But then again, left wing upheaval has great rhetoric to go along with it. Just listen to how they love 'the poor' 'the oppressed' 'minorities' 'exploited workers' whilst they institute systems that inflict crushing poverty, oppress all political decent, create ghettos, and force workers into centrally planned jobs.

The Media Narrative

With sympathy for Palestinian terrorists waning in light of the Hamas Fatah civil war, the BBC has attempted to shore up support by going back the 'The Narrative' that paints Israel as the beast and the simple Palestinians as dehumanized victim. Sad that objectivity means sticking to the story line concocted by the media instead of doing cursory research that may actually tell the full truth.

Boeing's Bluster

In an election year, the unions are trying to blame outsourcing on John McCain. An Air Force tanker deal was given to Northrup Grumman (an American Company) over Boeing. Grumman's partner is Airbus, but all the work will be done in the US. So, jobs will be in the US just not in union states like Ohio and Washington. The secret is Alabama has overtaken Ohio and other states because they are flexible and seek opportunity. I am not going to launch into a discursive about union labor and right-to-work labor. What I am going to say is Ohio sees companies as a necessary evil and taxes business heavily whereas Alabama sees business as a viable part of the community and bids them come as active contributing members not just tax revenues.

Business does not flee taxed locations because they are taxed, business flees locations because they feel unwelcome. The union us-vs-them mentality has much to do with this as it feeds on the New Left's in-your-face style of confrontation. This anti-business activism has seeped into the government so that the state takes the side of one neighbor instead of mediating between the two. This has undermined the community and oppressed average people who simply want a job.

GSR

I am sure many of my readers (of which there are probably 3) know what corporate social responsibility is? For those who don't, it is corporations' commitment to 'stakeholder' or people who live in an around where the company operates plus its shareholders. So the idea is that the company will take into account 'everyone' when making decisions not just profit considerations. Fair enough, everyone likes a good neighbor and corporations like happy towns.

What I want to call for is Government Social Responsibility. It is time that governments stop seeing people and companies as prey to be taxed. Especially in Ontario, the liberal government has been driving industry out of province by seeing companies as taxable entities rather than organizations of Ontario citizens earning livings, feeding families, and supporting communities. But there lies the issue, liberal governments tend towards wresting power from the individual and community in order to make that individual reliant upon the government. Thus, a cycle of poverty and dependence is established. That does not sound like a socially responsible policy.

It is time for the McGuinty government to stop sending jobs away from Ontario especially as the economy slows and cash becomes tight for families. Lowering corporate taxes is the right thing to do for our communities. It is time to welcome our largest employers as full members of the community and be socially responsible towards them because they are our neighbors.

Here We Go Again!

I will let the picture speak for itself. To my Toronto friends, this is great!! I love all the snow.