General: January 2008 Archives

via my favourite blog, Racialicious: A Chinese blogger has been beaten to death over his filming of city administration officials clashing with citizen protesters. I try to imagine Montreal city administrators acting as paid thugs, beating anyone that won't follow rules, or those that try to expose their violence, but I can't. I can't understand exactly why things like that don't generally happen here, while in China this particular kind of thing barely makes the news anymore (except when someone dies, I guess, and soon maybe that will mean nothing.). What do we have that they do not? Are the people just so unruly that violence is the only thing they understand? Are the rulers just that corrupt? Are there so many people that it is hard to care about any of them? And couldn't they have stopped themselves from killing the poor guy? Wouldn't destroying his cell phone have been enough?

A father has allegedly thrown his four children off a bridge after a fight with his wife. What kills me is...well the obvious. But even more, good ol' CNN has this link to video that I won't watch for various reasons on that page that says, "watch the mother grieve". Watch the mother grieve?? Like it's some show for entertainment! Two of this 23-year-old woman's kids are dead and the 2 others are likely to be presumed dead soon. Come watch this woman life fall apart! Fucking scum.

Critiquing Gloria Steinem:

The roots of racism and sexism are the same -- the desire to maintain power and privilege for some at the expense of everyone else . Our only hope of addressing EITHER racism or sexism is to address them BOTH together. Rooting racism AND sexism from every facet of our social, economic and political institutions and practices to create a better America is far more worthwhile than debating which form of oppression is faring worse.

Word. What a hornet's nest of race and gender the US is. I wish I could get more information about Canada, though. I'd start up a Racialicious Canada blog if I knew the right things, people and where to start. So far, race has never been an issue as far as federal elections go AFAIK.

Diversity and affirmative action—two things that many people are just sick of hearing about—could have a real economic reason to exist. Scott Page suggests that diversity means increased productivity because people with different backgrounds come up with different kinds of solutions to problems. Teams of diverse people get stuck in different places, and in each of these places, there are people to help overcome the problem. Teams of people with the same background all tend to get stuck in fewer places, with a smaller chance of solving the problem. Diversity in this article refers to what you bring to the table in terms of how you are productive, but Page suggests that culture, ethnicity, gender and education are the main sources of what people bring to the table.

There is a reason that this type of thing does not happen here, but, according to the media, happens in Africa with astonishing regularity. But I don't know what that reason is. Do you?

I am posting this blind, without reading it. It comes from my surgeon's secretary, who is very spiritually oriented.

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think of only the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.

To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Misfortune lies in our perception of things, not in the things themselves. Never complain, no matter what you have to endure. Whining merely tests other people’s patience. But courage in the face of adversity wins universal admiration.

UPDATE: Ok, I finally read it. I used to be much better at these things, but maybe I had never really been tested. I agree with all of these things in principle, but principles are nothing without practice. (That reminds me, I need to eat much better than I have been. The time to eat anything I want just to gain calories is over.)

I've said it before, but fuck that company, or at least fuck their Powershit Elph series. (The "shit" was a typo, but I think I'll leave it.)

Eight months ago I bought a Powershit Elph SD750. I really liked this camera. A month ago it simply stopped working. I sent it immediately to get repaired (Future Shop, the place I bought it, told me where to go, especially since I went there looking for help without having the receipt). They said it would take a few days to get back to me with an estimate. It took a month. Apparently my camera blew up all their fuses. They tried everything and determined that the main circuit board was toast. No apparent reason. The cost to repair? $240 plus tax.

Well, fuck that noise. Look at this. And fuck that, too.

That's two Elphs that have died on me after a short period of time. I will never buy another. Fuck am I ever pissed off.

Only two things really happened to me this year. I made a career transition, and it went even better than I thought it could. Video game project management? That's pretty crazy. I got a copy of my game and showed it to my family. I showed them my name in the credits and it was very gratifying. But as big as that was, it's nothing compared to the drama that started on May 3. It's hard to do a wrap up when your year is like this. I'll try. It's easier when you have an archived blog.

January: I thought 2006 was bad. I was disappointed and worried about not getting a job offer, but it all worked out in the end.

February: More high hopes that were later dashed.