That’s Right, a New Laptop.

June 18th, 2010 Thomasso

I am happily typing on my brand new laptop that I just bought today. Since the death of my old laptop three weeks ago, life has been rough trying to cope without one. I have really adapted myself to using my notebook when attending lectures and other events where I need to take huge amounts of notes. I find that I can type faster than I can by pitting pen to paper, the old school method. So this is the test run with the new machine.

A note on driving in Langley City. I have to applaud the RCMP for their enormous effort when they did the police state traffic blitz last week. That was great. That was a rare time to have everyone driving the proper speed, driving defensively, and not having to worry about being cut-off. I was beautiful! I really think that if this is what it takes to get people to drive safely, then I have no problems with the police state deal in Langley. I like it when I see speeders, tailgaters and red-light-runners get nailed!

Summer, could it finally be here? Doesn’t it start officially Monday?

Human rights: in my fourth year class this term, we are studying the topic of human rights from many different perspectives. My group presentation will be in three weeks, and out topic will be international criminal courts and law. When I first started looking at the option that I have for information on this topic, I thought that I would be struggling to find information and sources, but as it turns out, there is no shortage if texts on the topic. Heck, just in terms of current events from the news there is so much going on around the world that I can hardly keep up with it all. Right now we are focusing on the Gaza Blockade by Israel, and the G20 summit in Toronto. I am finding tones of stuff to write about. I think we will have a fun presentation. I’m looking forward to.

Next week’s class we will be having a mock court, and we will be arguing about a heated debate  on whether women should have to wear the veil/scarf aka Hijab. I will be playing the roll as one of the Crown prosecutors, of which I must come up with an argument to that will hold up against the Chart of Rights and Freedoms (1982) in Canada and state why women who choose to cover their heads should not be allowed in certain circumstance under Canadian jurisdiction. I think I got my work cut out for me.

My business Communications and technical writing class: My last class was dedicated to the topic of BS, or Bull Shit, from which we explored several ways that people can lie, spin or not tell the truth. The humour was gone when we got into the nitty-gritty aspects of how much of it there is in the world today. Oddly enough politics was not the worst bunch, but businesses and marketers took the top spot! I know, it was a shock for me too!

Well the lap top seems to have passed the first test. I can connect through wi-fi on campus, type out a doc, and upload it to the blog. I think we are all good here now. Talk to you later, gater.

Posted in Criminal Law, Criminology, Diatribe, General, Homework and deadlines, Humour, University classes | Comments Off

Junuary?

June 13th, 2010 Thomasso

What is up with this weather? First we had an unbelievable winter where it was so warm that some days you could wear shorts and a t-shirt in it, and then when spring finally hits, I am wearing a sweater again. Yesterday we were hitting some damn good temperature, but then this morning when I woke up and started doing some laundry, it is cold out again. On top of that, I think it is going to rain too!

I just want a whole weekend with sun in it. Maybe I am asking for too much? Nope, I think we deserve it!

Based on experience from other years where the weather patterns looked like this, I can see a massive mosquito problem on the horizon! Time to get the bug-bite out.

Added

OK, the day took on a turn for the better and became the end of a perfect weekend. Although a little on the cool side, the clouds move away and the little village of Fort Langley changed.

It is funny how many people were out walking. Funny becuase there are so many socail groups that use Fort langley as their community. Probably the fastest growing group to take over the streets are the rowers. Next to them I see the joggers and peddle bikers, or as my friend calls them, the spandex warriors, where every morning, gathering in certain locations around the community, they prepare for their rides/runs out along the Fort to Fort Trail. There are things that these eyes should not see, and wardrobe malfunctions from spandex wearers are one of them–especially while following a group in your car down the main drag.

Next to the spandex clubs are the motorcyclists. Mixed in with this group of small gangs are the weekend warriors who pretend that they are riding the American dream, but are just normal middle class, middle aged yuppies on bikes. Usually it is the pubs that you will find the remembers of organized gangs hanging around, but the café shops are where you will find the spandex weekenders.

Then there are the walkers, which are people who like to window shop, or loiter around, walking endlessly up and down the main street. They are also known as the gawkers. It is very hard to the tell the locals from the tourists this time of year, you can tell the hardcore tourist, the Kodak Attackers which are  teams of outsiders with their camers clicking away at anthing that moves, or seems to be too colouful to resist a click–they stand out.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked where the public wash rooms are from tourists today. I counted six times while I was out shopping at the local market. Fort Langley does not have public wash rooms. To re leave yourself, you must go to one of the local shops and become a customer to use their facilities. It is a quaint way of issuing a user-fee for public services, kinda like a toll on our bridges, you “pay as you go” around here. If you are guy, then you have more options. Hey, I didn’t come up with it and implement this social policy for Fort Langley! I do know that some would fear this as an invite for the homeless people to use the public wash rooms if we have them, and we don’t want that, I mean the homeless people that is. So Fort Langley does not have public wash rooms-end of story-don’t ask me any more.

Well, it is time to call it a day. I have one more homework project to complete, and its deadline is this Thursday, so I will give the blog a rest until next time.

Posted in Bitching about weather, Diatribe, General | Comments Off

Happy, Sad, Proud, Honoured: Just One Big Damn Ball of Emotions Right Now.

June 12th, 2010 Thomasso

I guess a little rewind because this actually took place during one my classes last Thursday night. They were celebrating the convocation of last term’s grads on campus then, and got a bird’s eye view of part of the ceremonies that took place outside from the classroom I was in. After class I went outside to see if I knew anyone there, and sure enough I found two friends from some of my previous classes there.

It was kind of freaky seeing my friends dressed up in the whole cap and gown garb. This years, the colours are red. They used to be blue, or a dark navy blue, and the caps almost looked black. I guess they change up the colours every once in a while?

My friend Lisa Anthsworth (spelling??) made her d’ebut all most seven years ago when she first set foot on university soil and started her journey of academic enlightenment. Here major is Physiology, and a minor in Criminology. Her road had many bumps and turns in it because she was so dependant on student loans and scholarships. She once told me that when the people of Canada voted for a Conservative Government, they turned the clocks of humanity back by two decades. She was referring to the cost that this would have on social polices for everyday Canadians. She told me at the ceremonies that with her new job, working as a clinician, she will have her debt paid in full by 2014. She fears for the children of Canada who will try to seek a higher level of education, as the liberal opportunities will be all but made impossible for them to succeed, only the wealthy once again will advance forward.

I’ll miss the conversations that me and Lisa had. She had a critical comment on just about everything.

Kyle, or Critical Kyle, as he is known in sentencing circles while participating in restorative justice was also getting graduation treatment. I’ll miss him because he proved that no matter how hard you party the night before, if you really want to succeed the next day in class, you will, and he is living proof that you can. One morning almost one year ago late winter when we were taking third year criminology theory together, I found him hungover in the cafeteria stairwell. It was about 7:00am and the security guards had just opened all the doors on campus. I grabbed him and helped him along to the classroom, where is was at least warm. I parked him at the back where he was about fifty percent coherent. He stunk of booze and looked liked he fell off of the waggon.

As the class neared the end, after three hours of lecture, I looked back to see how Kyle was doing.  Amazingly he was looking fine, but when the class was over, most of the other students were staying clear of him. I had another class right in the same room, so I stayed right where I was in the same seat. Kyle had to move on, but he couldn’t. As the next class started to filter in, he looked as if he was going to be sick. He had me worried. I thought about going over to him and helping him out, but just as I was about to get up, his girlfriend came storming into the classroom. She was mad/angry/livid! She started pulling on his ear and escorting him out of the classroom. Everyone in the room started laughing as she was almost grabbing him by the collar and dragging down the hall, and outside. I like to bring that up every once in while for him.

So, there. It is sad, yet nice, to see friends go as they move on out into the world. Soon it will be my turn, my turn to leave and move on. Weird that I feel like this. A place that has started to grow on me, now become a place of so much happiness and sadness. It is a shame that so very few people on the world will even have the opportunity to experience life in those lecture halls and classrooms.

I can now dispel the myth that you do not become a cone-head from learning too much stuff—as one of my sisters so eloquently told me once. Your are just putting your brain-cells to good use.

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Finally Truth in Advertising! Thanks to the Onion – Ya Baby

June 7th, 2010 Thomasso

OK, before I go full steam into my diatribe, I want to put a word of caution on this next You-Tube clip I am posting–course language. This clip contains some very nasty language, so keep the kids away from this.

With Apple releasing its latest great piece of consumer gadgetry, I could not resist posting this clip made by the Onion News Network–God I love these guys–on just how close they got it. Unfortunately, all of the latest stuff released by Apple and other manufactures so far this year amounts to garbage on the scale of usefulness for me. What I need to succeed, has not come close to me busting the doors down at the local buy-more store, becuase, frankly, the stuff is pointless and will not help me in my daily life’s routines. So far, my four year old cell phone and three year old lap-top are doing very well for my daily needs.

Sure, I know, everyone is trying so hard to make me part with my hard earned money, but really, you got to give me something that is practical, especially in today’s’ piss-poor economy, it’s gotta do something for me. Wheels for my fifteen cylinder, two miles to the gallon, SUV,  now that is important; not some lame, I-have-to-use-my-fingers, touch-screen, no mouse, whatever it is–lap-top. If they want to sell me something, then they got to get their priorities right! Make me a better lap-top. Make me a news paper that you see on Harry Potter and Serenity–then we will talk, me parting with my legal tender.

Watch the video, and then think about all the stupid junk that is being pushed on you, and the cheesy ads that promote it. And then when you are done, click on all the other videos that the Onion News Network has made, and laugh out loud!

Posted in Diatribe, General, Humour, Video | 1 Comment »

Tom’s Big Fat Diatribe – What Canada Should Do Instead.

June 4th, 2010 Thomasso

Today I took a side, a stand, if you will, about the proposed Bank Tax that Europe and the U.S. wish to impose on Banks so that bailouts like what happened in 2007, and 2008, do not happen again. I sided with the idea that Banks should have a tax imposed on them. My reasoning is simple, in that the public should not be the one on the hook for giving out corporate welfare to them, like we did. Sure. Banks supposedly paid us back in Bonds and other assortments of money, but the burden was placed squarely on the tax payer, and the public purse to bail them out. That should have never happened.

Perhaps in the Conservative mind set, this was appropriate action to take, and what had happened that lead up to the downturn was also acceptable. However, the lessons learned most certainly do not take Canada off the hook as we were well knee deep in this mess that transpired in the U.S. and around the world too. The idea that capitalism can look after itself now has a big black mark against it. Banks now have proven that they cannot look after themselves, and that they need regulation and strict punishment to protect the public, the tax payer, from the harm that they can ensue. It is shameful that our minority government has so staunchly sided with the notion that Banks should be forgiven and then be given a clean slate. To loosen the regulations and give the Banks the wide open range that they so eagerly want is social suicide.

Greed is the problem, and short term thinking is the mantra that I hear throughout the media. The writing, signs and signals are everywhere, and it says that Banks should not police themselves. When the goal of the all the players in the organization is to make as much profit as they can, the result is the zero sum game, the mentality to be the king of the hill at all costs and capture as much of the money as you can. When the corporation stays stagnant, then the shareholders are angry, the lenders and borrowers are burdened with no incentives, and anything but growth is considered a fail in the lexicon of the money speak. So growth is encouraged at any cost, even with the selling of troubled mortgages and loans from the low end of the middle class and packaging them up as the new gold rush of today. Banks have being extremely clever over the last few years, searching and inventing ways to inspire profit, that the guarantee that the ratio of real money versus credit is called into question. We seem to be the victims, the suckers, as we fall into their traps.

Of course the harm is that we will all pay. We pay in terms of the total value of our net worth as a society. We as a society have being given a new drug on our streets called credit, and we are addicted. The personal debt load in Canada, per capita, is about $28,390.00 in 2005 (Stats Canada, January 2007), and it is still growing starting over the last two decades. We are saving less and borrowing more on credit to keep up with our current lifestyles, and the Banks seem to be more than happy to oblige, even when the signs are there that debt will go critical for some very soon. So what happens when the taps are shut off? Do you have a cushion to fall onto? Could you survive up to six months without any income as jobs disappear?

What I would like to see, and mandated from the federal government, is to put street crime versus corporate crime in the same light. That a White Collar criminal be given the same punishment as a Bank Robber. Sure, many argue that the two are not the same, but lets look at the harm that each causes:

• Both the Bank Robber and White Collar criminal steal/take money. Although each uses different methods, the end result is about the same—the victims are the people who lost the money.
• The money is very rarely recovered. Yes, even when the White Collar criminal and Bank Robbers are caught, the money is hardly ever given back, or recovered.
• The White Collar criminal has more opportunities to take money than the bank Robber. It is true. The Bank Robber has to go through many levels and layers of security, and needs to use direct force to a small group of people in order to take the money, were as the White Collar criminal pretends to be your best friend, the one who is always looking out for your best interests, just before when he/she takes off with your money. I say the level of harm, albeit on two different levels, exacts about the same level of victimization over time and space here.
• Both are repeat offenders. Once bitten by the “easy money,” stealing money become a routine and necessity. And whose to say each group here is using the stolen money for drugs and other illegal activities?

I think taxing the Banks and using that money to bail them out with when they fail is a brilliant idea. Canada is no way a perfect player with its financial institutions when I stop and reflect back on the beginning of the down turn. Remember that we were enjoying some of the highest prices for our raw resources back then—now look at the those industries—funny how only the Banks came out on top, yielding profits less than a quarter term, in that fiscal year, after the downturn started.

Update, June 5, 2010: Apparently the links below were broken. I think they are fixed now; thanks C.K., for brining that to my attention.

Sources:

Crime rates for Canada, Juristat, 2007.

A good country for crooks: Canada’s losing war against white-collar crime.

Canada’s handling of white-collar crime is a crime.

Bank tax still on G20 table despite PM’s pleas – Toronto Sun, June 4, 2010.

Posted in Diatribe, General, Social economics | 4 Comments »

The Final Term – It is Cast in Stone Now

June 2nd, 2010 Thomasso

It is a weird feeling to know that this will be my last term, as an undergraduate, to go through the routine of signing up and scheduling for regular classes. I have developed a habit of always checking the registration website for classes. I think I will miss that? Actually, I will miss a lot of the routines I have developed over the last five years while going to classes.

I was kind of hoping for a better selection, but with just one elective and my mandatory language requirement, French, left to do, I found I will have my biggest hurdle to jump over yet. The only second level French class offered for next semester is a double split class, meaning two classes per week at two hours a piece, and it is in held Richmond – a one hour commute for me. I wanted to take my final Computer Science class to fulfil my Minor, but the French classes conflict with the timetable, so sadly, I opted for a Political Science class instead to complete my elective requirements.

I guess I do not care any more, other than completing my undergraduate, so whatever is available for courses to complete it with, works for me. I am tired and anxious to get it done and over with. This has being a long journey for me, and a very expensive one too. Including textbooks, roughly $25,000.00 and counting. $17,000.00 in fees and administrative costs, and these are the bare bone numbers, so you can see that see the University gig is very expensive. Now imagine what a student loan would have cost–on top of all this!

There are still more that I want to do with my degree. I would love to complete my honours. This would mean three more courses, a fifth year, and a mini dissertation that would take about twenty five weeks to do. That would be nice. But for now, I am focusing on the main goal, graduating with the BA.

So I have a few more bumps along the road to my goal to drive over yet. I hope I get through the Richmond commute next term. I hate driving to  Richmond!

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Human Rights Maybe Low on the Priority of Some

May 29th, 2010 Thomasso

OK, a little back grounder on for my thoughts on human rights, and why we wave the banner around but no one does anything about it. I am taking this course, as part of my degree in Criminology, and it deals specificity with all subject matter under the umbrella of human rights. We will cover, once the course is completed, everything from domestic and local issues, all the way up to international and global issues that concerns us today, and from the past. The mesh of political views, to cultural dynamics, are the themes that are a constant so far in this course. But this course is more than covering current events, and history texts, it is all about the ideas and solutions that could change the world in the near future.

War is a nasty business, right? When we talk about human rights, it is usually in the shadow of war. Ware is when man kind is at its worse. War teaches that all rules can be thrown out, or ignored, and these times of conflict bring the opportunity of creating exceptions to the rules of human rights, circumventing them in order to wreck complete havoc towards the enemy. However, when the conflict is over, and the wounds begin to heal, the world cries out for accountability, so the Untied National was born, and later on, the World Criminal Court. Venues that try to convict those people who started these terrible things that they did during those conflicts, and hold them to accountability. But the system is weak and, yes, it is very politely motivated.

Sovereignty (hey, I got the “g” in the right spot) is the key issue when thinking globally.  Would we ever consider the UN police marching down the streets of Washington D.C., poised to arrest President George W. Bush for possible war crimes? No way because the U.S. Would not tolerate it, and they have the means of making sure they are in total control of their sovereignty, not the U.N.. It is not the U.N.’s place to do this anyway. But for a class debate, this makes for some very interesting lectures. What right does a nation have for sending in it’s “special” forces to capture and detain a suspect of war crimes inside another country? I can write about this for hours…

In my class, there is a great mix of students from just about every walk of life from around the glob. We have students from just about all of the major organized religions, and about five students who are from the Middle Eastern areas, including Israel. Last week’s class lecture was the best yet. Although the principles of human rights seems obvious, the world that we live in is far to complicated to have every nation adopt in its laws these basic tenants. However, having such a diverse class means that the discussions are as diverse too, so when discussions start tackling issues such as international human rights laws, the brain power really start to crank up among the students.

I am look forward to next class. I think as we dive deeper into the murky world of human rights, my level of enlightenment will also increase.

Sadly, this will be my official last class of Criminology. I only have two courses after this, and they are electives. I will miss these classes after I graduate.

Posted in Criminal Law, Criminology, Diatribe, General, Law, Law and Order, Social Justice, University classes | Comments Off

I am Back to Normal – SNAFU

May 26th, 2010 Thomasso

I’m a little under the weather right now. I must have being dragging along some sort of flu for the last couple of day that just hangs around and drags me down to about ten percent and never lets go. Yuck! I had it since last Thursday, but it got really bad on Saturday. I missed the Fort Langley parade because of it. I still have the lingering effects of it in nose and throat. May flues suck, but so do any summer flu.

I have being told that this is probably why I got so under the weather, because of all the four hour sleeps and long hours of reading for some research papers coming up.  I knew this would happen-as it does every term; they call it sleep deprivation, like a form of self torture one inflicts, and you crawl forward with a goal of seeking higher enlightenment, but sooner or later it will catch up to you, but the goal is so tempting so you run yourself down getting there.

Another sign of bad news came in the form of a malfunctioning lap top.  My HP notebook died on me while I was taking notes in class last night. I left it running while we took our break, and when I came back to class and powered it up, the screen went black after about four seconds into the start up. Now, it just does the same thing: starts up, then freezes. I guess I have something to do next weekend now. Fortunately I did not have any critical information on it from my classes. I will miss typing out my notes from the lectures though. I find typing way more convenient than hand written notes.

So, lack of sleep, a dead lap top, lots of readings: I think things are back to normal now.

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Drawing Tablet meets MyPaint In the Freedom of Open Source

May 22nd, 2010 Thomasso

I finally had some time to sit down and dabble with some of the art and graphics programs I download from a few weeks ago after upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04. I called up MyPaint, and it shocked me as it opened up. I used this program a few years ago when it was very young in its development, but I never got back to it until now–and what a surprise!

MyPaint is loaded with some very cool brushes and FX tools that you can paint with. It works very well with my drawing tablet, and seems very stable.It is one of the best open source programs that I have seen that has some good oil brushes. I also like the many different canvases that you choose that are defaulted in the start-up menu.

There was one little downer that I found: the brushes seem to be listed in Spanish, or some other language. I can live with it, but if you want to create or manage your brushes, well, you may want to find a translator as it could hard to remember which is which, even with the icons to help you . But hey, it has very good icons for each type of brush. I do not think anyone would find it that difficult to navigate through the different options.

I will be trying this program out more often.

This is one of the many time-laps video and tutorials from YouTube that you watch and get a feel for the program. It is amazing what you can do with a computer these days. Forget about buying paint and paper any more when you have it all–and no mess to clean upwards! It also seems to be for both LINUX and Window$.

Posted in Art, General, Linux, Photographs, Software, Video | Comments Off

Inflation and the Kick in the Butt it Gives

May 21st, 2010 Thomasso

Yesterday a friend of mind was challenging me on the merits of why the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) will be a great thing. I went to the library where on my course web site, there is a budget calculator, and on that calculator you can factor in how much more you will pay for good with the HST implemented. You can choose your daily needs and services that you use into this, and then change the items and services you would normally use to try and fit the new tax into your budget. Regrettably I cannot link the calculator here because my course outline is password protected and the link comes up with a 404 error.

The Calculator is also not perfect as there is still a lot of information about the HST that is not known and put into it. Added to the missing information, I did notice that the calculator could not do projections or a itemized listings for each change I did.

So what does this tell me about the HST? I will pay more with my current lifestyle. On a monthly bases, my increases will be 3.8 percent! Does not sound like much, but when this is money that will be taken from my everyday cost of living, this is money that I will do with out, and items such as food and clothing will be the first to be adjusted as they are usually the most fluid costs that people can budget with. My rent, fuel, insurance have also gone up, (out side the new tax) so all around the HST has come at a very bad time.

What does this mean? I like to go to restaurants and have dinner with friends. That will stop, or get reduced a lot. Camping will done more, out in the woods, as apposed to public and privately run campsites. When I travel up country to seminars and workshops, I may think twice about renting a hotel room, but RV instead somewhere it is free like a Wal-Mart parking lot.

My tuition have jumped a lot too. Currently I enjoy paying one of the lowest rates in Western Canada for university, about $407.00 per three credit course. Now the new rate will be $497.00 starting this September.

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