Vote For Info

If you don't vote, you can't complain.

You've heard that, probably from a coworker or friend. Voting is usually touted as the primary democratic right. And it is. But it is not the primary democratic responsibility. Your primary responsibility in a free society is to be informed.

Dictatorships are easy. You don't have to make any decisions. But when things get too bad for you to bear, then action is required. It is like getting out of a rut in a muddy path. Dirty and violent.

Change in democracies should be easy. They are a paved road; switching lanes should be as easy as turning the wheel. A wheel with 24 million hands.

Democracies require continual vigilance and Dictatorships require occasional violence.

The problem in democracies comes when people say, "I'm not into politics." That's like saying, "I'm not into oxygen." You're lungs are into it, whether you are or not. Politics affect every part of your life, unfortunately. You don't need to be an expert, but you do need an understanding of facts. Where do your tax dollars go[1]? What is the difference between debt and deficit[2]? How much of the gasoline price is taxes[3]? What industry emits the most greenhouse gases[4]?

The reason democracies required an informed population is so bullsh!t doesn't rise to the top. If someone says they are going to lower taxes, increase services, and reduce the deficit, you know they are lying. You won't vote for them. You'll vote for the guy who says, "We are spending more than we take in so, unfortunately, we will have to cut back."

The US recently had presidential debates, which is basically Presidential Idol. Some questionable "facts" were spouted that night (see this Mish article). This type of fact checking should be big news, not page 6.

People want it both ways. They want the convenience of a dictatorship, with the freedom of democracy.What happens is they get politicians whispering sweet nothings and bribing them with someone else's money. They get the US, where you can vote for a big liberal government or a big conservative government. Where a "liberal" president has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all other presidents combined.

I had a conversation with an American who thought state-run health-care was some communist plot. I pointed out that health-care in Canada is not only half[5] as expensive, per person, than US health care, but also has better outcomes. I did agreed with some of what he was saying (e.g., we could privatize some of our health care), but facts were clearly getting in the way of his argument.

I shouldn't get off-topic. I'm fiscally-conservative-socially-liberal[6], but I can be swayed by a good argument, backed by facts. Facts are what matter. Facts shame and correct democratic governments when they spout nonsense.

If you don't care about facts, don't complain if you get a used-car salesman for a leader.[7]

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[1] Can you believe $9.4B per year goes to "Public Safety"? That is 3% of your taxes!
[2] Debt is what you owe, deficit is the difference between what you earn and spend.
[3] 32%.
[4] Coal-fired electricity generation. Or maybe cows. Or electric cows.
[5] Halfish. Or something. It is less, for sure.
[6] Code for: I'm a type-A first-born of hippie parents.
[7] There is no way that quote deserved to be in italics, but its the best I could come up with. Come on, man. I have work to do. I can't spend all my time coming up with quotes you can put on matchbooks. Damn.

Monkey and who, now with more cats!

Guess who's back for another year of misadventures. That's right, it is the calendar that makes every dumber, "Monkey" & me.
I had a big list of things to blog about, and I even wrote them down. I can't find the list, so I'll have to wing it.

"You stole my idea!"
I watched The Social Network. I thought it was pretty good, but, like Monkey and Me, in contains a line that will infect peoples' brains for years to come.

"You stole my idea!" has its history in grade school. Being a "copycat" is bad. What the teacher wasn't telling the hundreds of snot-nosed kids coloring pictures of horses and spaceships, doing reports on the solar system and natives, etc. is she's seen it all before. Hundreds of times.

Nothing is new. I think it was in college that I realized how dumb I really was. Nothing can be done if you are trying to reinvent the wheel, so the only way to do anything productive is to stand on the shoulders of giants. (I promise not to combine two lame cliches in one sentence again.) You must copy. You must steal. Everything is synthesis. In Engineering, we add things called "References" at the back of technical papers. In art, we call it homage or inspiration. But any creative person knows that they never really create anything new.

I'm interested in screen (and normal) writing. Beginning writers are nervous about discussing story ideas with others. They are worried people will "steal their idea". They soon learn no one cares about ideas. They care about the concrete expression of those ideas. The actual lines of dialog, the descriptions of scenes. That is where the difficulty is. Google and Lycos are both "search engines".

Copyright law recognizes this, therefore only actual expressions are subject to copyright, not ideas. More than that, if ideas were subject to copyright, it could infringe on free speech. Copyright is a government granted monopoly given to creators to make "copies" of their work. Its purpose to encourage creators to make more work and therefore enrich society. The ultimate measure is society's benefit, not whether a given creator is making a living.

Copyright is not a property right. If I make a mix tape and give it to a friend, I'm not stealing anything. I am "infringing" on the creators right to make copies. Some people like to stretch definitions and say I'm stealing some of the creators potential revenue, because the friend may have bought the original CD.

A friend tells you a joke while at coffee. That night, you tell the same joke to a group of acquaintances. Your friend overhears and is upset with you. "That was my joke!" My reaction is to tell him to buzz off. If he didn't want people to hear the joke he should have kept it a secret.

Culture is a conversation. Copyright law must be a balance between encouraging people to speak in the conversation and allowing people to respond.

Trendy Computer Hair Imaging

This is the greatest name for a business. My guess is you bring in a photo of your favourite computer so you can find out what he'd look like in an Edward wig. (Needless to say, I prefer Jacob.)

Speaking of "computer hair", take a look at me in the corner. Of course, my hair can't be considered "trendy" anymore, as that picture of me was taken at my grad party in 1990. It takes a lot of hair spray to keep that much hair up. I just can't afford it.

My 20th high school reunion was last weekend. It is amazing how you can just pick up where you left off with people. The reunion was very well done but I think I drank too much tequila. Thankfully, tequila is made from cactii, so I had no hangover.

So back to T.C.H.I. If I had hair, I might check it out to reward them for having such a brave name. Seriously, service is so bad in Calgary that trying a business based on their name is just as likely as anything else to lead to good service.

A few weeks ago, I wanted to buy a new car stereo. Our 2006 Kia was made just before ipod jacks were standard, so we need an FM receiver to listen to mp3s. So rather than buy a new car that has an ipod jack standard (hahaha, just kidding ... um ... cough cough) I wanted to just get a new stereo.

I go into Future Shop and spend 20 minutes looking at different models. I'm surprised that three salesmen are not humping my leg, so I decide to go look at TVs instead. Right around the corner are 5 -- count them FIVE -- associates standing around bs-ing. I go to Best Buy and a very nice associate helps me almost immediately. He points out the Sony stereo is on sale and includes installation. "Bag it up," I say. (What? "Bag it up" isn't in style any more. Wow!) So the kid looks in the computer and then declares that he doesn't have a dash kit for my model of car. Okay. So what does that mean? "You could look on the internet for one," he says and then just stands there. I guess this means I'm going to be leaving with all the money I came in with.