tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68349562009-09-27T13:06:01.081-04:00My two interests: Technology and Politics.csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1150077640944090712006-06-11T18:23:00.000-04:002006-06-11T22:00:41.056-04:00

The big news these past few days has been about the 17 men arrested in the GTA for plotting a terrorist attack on targets in Southern Ontario. While there was one man who was older, I believe he was a bus driver in his forties, most of them were young men from middle class families living in the suburbs. They attempted to purchase 3 tons of fertilizer that could be used in a bomb similar to the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1149280574434405382006-06-02T16:10:00.000-04:002006-06-05T08:35:25.363-04:00

It was 25 years ago that HIV and AIDS first appeared. It was first seen as a rare form of pneumonia, or other AIDS related illnesses, that affected gay men in the United States. It was a few years later that it was discovered to be the monster virus that it is known as today. When scientists found out how it behaved they realized there was a pending epidemic; the extended dormancy of the virus (

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1148965765278048442006-05-29T23:21:00.000-04:002006-05-30T01:09:25.990-04:00

Sometimes I wonder about the state of democracy in our country. Prime Minister Harper has rejected the free press on Parliament hill. The PMO has said the PM will not answer questions from reporters in press conferences from the regular press gallery. The PMO said they will select the people that are allowed to ask questions of the PM. The press gallery rejected these restrictions and walked out

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1142901480991988472006-03-19T15:47:00.000-05:002006-03-27T01:18:24.833-05:00

The Whitehouse has released its updated National Security Strategy; the first revision since the last publication in 2003. In it the US Government lists countries which it regards as despotic regimes that are a threat to security or are outposts of tyranny. The list includes Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Belarus and Zimbabwe. These countries certainly aren't the most democratic of places. Iran

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1141885968792680992006-03-08T21:30:00.000-05:002006-03-14T10:40:50.063-05:00

Slobodan Milosovic died in his cell a few days ago. It was reported that he died of heart attack as he was known to have heart problems for quite a long time. Some people however, particularly his family living in Russia, have questioned the treatment he was getting and even go as far as saying he was poisoned and murdered. I doubt that would happen, especially under care of an international

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1141618978269520022006-03-05T23:12:00.000-05:002006-03-05T23:22:58.286-05:00

George Bush was visiting the subcontinent the past few days. Apart from some niceties with Manmohan Singh and playing some cricket in Pakistan Bush was there for an agreement with India. The US government will be providing India with nuclear technology for generation in return for India opening up some of its generation stations for international inspection. The hypocrisy of this when compared

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1140073584100296232006-02-15T23:04:00.000-05:002006-02-16T02:06:24.150-05:00

Haiti is in turmoil in the wake of the recent Presidential election. The election marked a hoped return to democracy but has now been blemished by scandal and corruption. The most popular candidate has been former President, and ally of the deposed Jean Bertrand Aristide, Rene Preval. Large groups of people, predominantly the country's poor, have been saying they don't care about the official

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1139208189841392622006-02-05T21:09:00.000-05:002006-02-06T01:43:09.893-05:00

The row over some cartoon's published in a Danish newspaper of Muhammad the Prophet of Islam has grown enormously over the past couple of weeks. The newspaper which requested artists for the drawings published them in efforts to fight for free speech and in opposition to growing fear of backlash for publishing something against Muslims. After the publication many Muslim countries, including most

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1138745851777265972006-01-31T11:27:00.000-05:002006-02-01T11:56:04.270-05:00

Chile has made history by electing their first female leader Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet, a doctor and single mother, has promised to bring more social justice and better represent women and indigenous people. Moreover President-elect Bachelet has promised to give half her cabinet posts to women including finance and defense posts. This bold move is something only achieved by two other countries

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1138295369730748072006-01-26T09:26:00.000-05:002006-01-27T11:17:49.286-05:00

In the recent elections many people said they voted for the traditional opposition not because they necessarily wanted to support them but because they wanted to punish the existing government. They were fed up with the continued corruption and ineffectiveness of the party and even the former opposition was surprised at some of the gains they made. Surprised though excited that some of their

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1137637985968983012006-01-15T16:57:00.000-05:002006-01-18T21:33:06.000-05:00

Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party are poised to form the next government of Canada. The Conservatives, like the Liberals and NDP, released their full platform last week. Harper has even been musing a majority government which might be possible if the Conservative popularity continues to rise (read:Martin/Liberal support continues to errode). Though there will probably be a number of

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1136748654578890692006-01-08T13:16:00.000-05:002006-01-08T14:30:54.620-05:00

Arial Sharon has suffered a major stroke and severe bleeding in his brain. He's been under heavy sedation for a couple of days in an effort to control the pressure and swelling of his brain. It now appears that Sharon will not recover fully and will not be able to lead Israel any longer. This has been a hard hit for the Kadima party which Sharon newly established after leaving the hard right

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1136438031684336332006-01-04T23:44:00.000-05:002006-01-05T00:13:51.733-05:00

Ahh the new year. When we meet each other, stay up far too late, eat and drink too much and make a bunch of promises to ourselves that we won't keep. Isn't it wonderful?Well I've made one resolution that I definitely intend to keep and that is to make more time for myself. I've been so busy with activities for this group or the other that I've barely had a moments rest to catch up on things I

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1135665355911154822005-12-26T22:45:00.000-05:002005-12-27T01:36:52.893-05:00

Well it's Christmas time and lots of people are getting their holiday spirit on. Starting with the spirit of rememberance. There were commemoration ceremonies in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other places for the tsunami that happened one year ago. I watched a portion of the speech given by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The massive natural disaster brought forth a massive

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1135144378312140462005-12-21T00:36:00.000-05:002005-12-21T00:52:58.320-05:00

I saw King Kong tonight. The movie was fantastic. At three hours it's quite a commitment; but with amazing action sequences, terrific performances, and an incredibly moving story, it's well worth the investment. It's a great, classic tragedy. And it's definitely worth seeing on the big screen, though I'll probably grab a copy when it comes out on DVD.

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1134521117979412662005-12-13T19:03:00.000-05:002005-12-21T00:27:17.983-05:00

Those are the words that Stephen Harper apparently couldn't say. During the start of electioneering last week Harper, when asked if he loved Canada, hemmed and hawed while trying to answer. Martin of course pounced on this fumble and stated very clearly that he loves Canada. Moreover Harper has since stated that he likes the idea of privatizing health care when his party said that they would

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1134438295041424572005-12-12T19:58:00.000-05:002005-12-12T20:44:55.093-05:00

Many people have been waiting to hear word on the fate of four men taken hostage in Iraq. The four men include a Briton, an American and two Canadians. They were working for a Christian peace organization in Iraq trying to help free captives and oppose the American occupation. They're being held hostage by a relatively unknown group calling itself the Sword of Righteousness and they threatened to

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1133352765654940112005-11-30T06:49:00.000-05:002005-12-05T12:25:24.913-05:00

Tomorrow is World AIDS Day. This years theme is "Stop AIDS. Keep the promise." World leaders have pledged (in the 2001 UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS) to reduce the number of young people with HIV by 25% by 2010 and in the most affected countries by 2005. Another significant promise was 3 by 5: to get ARVs to 3 million people by the end of 2005. Neither of these promises will be met but, for 3 by

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1133053855622283572005-11-26T19:16:00.000-05:002005-11-26T20:10:55.673-05:00

André Boisclair has been elected new leader of the Parti Québécois. His main opponent in the race was Pauline Marois; but Boisclair soundly defeated all others, Marois included, with a strong mandate. He's the youngest leader the party has ever had. He also went to Harvard, is openly gay, and is seen as slightly to the right of the main party. None of these tidbits however are of great interest

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1132717685148133542005-11-22T22:30:00.000-05:002005-11-22T22:48:05.176-05:00

The Martin government is set to fall next week. The opposition parties voted on and passed a proposal from NDP leader Jack Layton to call an election in January. Because it wasn't a proper confidence motion however the Martin Liberals have just chosen to ignore it. Having tried to offer a compromise, which the Liberals would have none of, Stephen Harper is going to introduce a confidence motion

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1132025836657011562005-11-14T19:29:00.000-05:002005-11-14T22:37:16.696-05:00

I listened to some of this year's Massey Lectures. Stephen Lewis was the lecturer and he gave 5 speeches across Canada ending in Toronto. I attended the last lecture and listened to a few on CBC Radio. They were great: informative, insightful, saddening and hopeful. He spoke of the many problems in the developing world, focusing on issues such as women, children, education and AIDS sufferers. His

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1131514758972507332005-11-08T22:14:00.000-05:002005-11-09T00:39:19.016-05:00

The death toll from the South Asian earthquake, last I checked, was expected to be around 80,000. There's still great difficulty in reaching the victims and survivors because of the remote locations and limited number of helicopters. There is a campaign to collect tents and other supplies to help shelter the survivors because another wave of victims is expected as soon as winter sets in (and it's

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1127620442001307312005-09-24T23:53:00.000-04:002005-09-24T23:54:02.006-04:00

I went to a lecture about dark matter and dark energy. Dark matter and dark energy are unknown theorized substancse that can balance out the discrepancies observed by astrophysicists. Dark matter is some type of physical matter with apparently very low density, but makes up a vast amount of mass in each galaxy. However it is unseen and does not directly interact with light except through the

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1127097447758951182005-09-18T20:13:00.000-04:002005-09-18T22:38:20.786-04:00

I've been really inspired lately and have met some very interesting people. I've attended some really interesting speeches and am set to attend some more. It's been refreshing to see some political viewpoints that differ from the vast dogmatic malaise that's too common nowadays. It's sad to see the degrading state of economic and political well being.The strike at HydroOne is over after some 3

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6834956.post-1126496360840869622005-09-11T23:08:00.000-04:002005-09-11T23:47:15.643-04:00

Just read about the Debian Common Core Alliance (DCC Alliance). It's a group of Debian distros that are banding together to help get a core of Debian packages that will meet with the LSB 3.0 requirements. I'm a Debian fan (even though I've been using Windows and my iBook more often lately). From the day I got Debian up and running, it's been my favourite OS. While the text based installer is just

csguy314http://www.blogger.com/profile/13807095604971775492noreply@blogger.com0