What is Ghenghis Khan invaded Iraq?

Well, Genghis Khan did invade Iraq, back in 13th century, as the Mongols established an empire from Persia to Korea. The LA Times has an article by anthropologist Jack Weatherford that compares the Mongol invasion of Iraq and the debacle the US is currently sinking under in Iraq. There are some similarities between the empires that marched into Iraq, the difference is major in its significance. The Mongols entered Iraq and efficiently took the country, executed all resistance and set about to create a secular state ruled by law, that flourished for 100-years.

Related links:

• The Mongol Empire -- from Wikipedia.

Death of Islam

The Wahhabists are having their way with Islam and the prophet, and nothing could more ironic. The cultural history of Islam in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, is being systematically destroyed as the Wahhabists enforce their world view. The Wahhabists have a "fanatical fear that places of historical and religious interest could give rise to idolatry or polytheism, the worship of multiple and potentially equal gods," according to the Independent. More and more, the Wahhabists are extending their view of Islam to the rest of the Muslim world -- most notably, by supporting the use of violence and terrorism, in order to achieve their ends. Now, they're attacking their own history, as they see it as interfering with one's devotion to Allah. Sponsors of these pariah continue to be the Saudi Arabian state, who's autocracy depend on the Wahhabi clerics to maintain tight control over the population.

When the Taliban, Wahhabi henchmen, destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2000, there was an outcry from the world. As the Wahhani bulldozers level history in Mecca and Medina, there's not a peep from the world -- not even the Muslim world. Yet again, Muslims are silent as crimes in their name are being committed. Why should the world care what these throwbacks do themselves? After all, non-Muslims aren't even welcomed in the holy cities. I think we should care. The history being destroyed by the Wahhabi insanity doesn't belong to just Muslims. It is also history that belongs to the human species. We all own a part of it -- and these stupid men are destroying it.

Related links:

• The Wahhabi Threat to Islam -- The Washington Post
• Analysis Wahhabism -- PBS Frontline
• Fitnatu-l-Wahhabiyyah -- An Essay about the Wahhabi Crimes against Islam and against Muslims

Seven Days to the River Rhine

Poland's government has released its secret Warsaw Pact military archives to the world -- including this 1979 map that depicts a limited nuclear exchange between NATO and the Warsaw Pact forces. In the plan, the Soviet forces would be rushing to stem a NATO invasion of Eastern Europe, and expected NATO to use tactical nuclear weapons, which the Soviets would counter with their own. The map doesn't show any strikes on France or England, but Denmark, Belgium and West Germany would feel the brunt of Soviet nuclear missiles. Likewise, the Russians expected NATO nuclear strikes to completely destroy Poland.

While this was only a plan, it is glimpse of what World War 3 would have looked like. USSR was aware of American resolve that if the Warsaw Pact forces was to use nuclear weapons in a war in Europe, American forces would counter with nuclear strikes against Russia itself. During the cold war, plans that included nuclear weapons also called formidable conventional forces on both sides to be deployed. At the height of the cold war, both NATO and the Warsaw Pact had large conventional forces ready for deployment. It's amazing how far the world travel on that troubled path in such a short period of time -- and how fast it managed to change course. Kinda gives some hope.

Grand Canyon Idiocy

The US National Park Service allows a book to be sold at the Grand Canyon National Park stating that the canyon was created by Noah's flood, and park officials will no longer give the geologic age of the canyon -- all of this after pressure from the Bush Administration. WTF? Single-handedly, a presidential administration is working to dumb-down its citizens. They've gone mad south of the 49th. They're working to ensure a stupid future. I can't believe this.

Updated: December 31, 2006

• 300 Million Year Old Rock -- Lauren Becker at the Creation & Intelligent Design Watch has a sad commentary on the state of idiocy from those who literally take the word of their holy books -- and why it is dangerous for our society when a 300 million year old rock becomes 6,000 years old because god said so.

Ayles Polar Ice Shelf Collapses

The Ayles ice shelf that is attached to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, has broken off and is now an ice island. The break occurred in August 2005, but has only now been detected in satellite images. The ice shelf, 25-square-miles in area, is one of six major ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic that is packed with ice over 3,000 years-old. The disturbing event is another sign of the galloping pace of climate change due to global warming.

Between 2004 and 2005, the Arctic perennial sea ice has shrunk by 14% -- or about 280,000 square miles. As the ice melts, the Arctic ocean becomes warmer in the summer -- further impeding winter freezing and accelerating further declines. The impact poses a significant threat not just to the environment, but also the economy. You would think that with such dramatic evidence that massive change is underway, those in denial would be silenced. You would think.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, our leaders continue to parrot dodo environmental policy of the US government, and inaction continues.

Saddam Hussein is Dead

Not that the news will make much of any difference, but Saddam Hussein has been executed -- tried, held accountable and killed for crimes committed 24-years ago, when he was a friend of the US, and America turned a blind eye to the strong-arm tactics of his dictatorship. Ironic. Too bad Hussein isn't the only criminal in this whole debacle. The biggest culprit to escape free is US foreign policy -- especially in the Middle East. Hussein was nothing more than another two-bit dictator, although his ambitions were fueled by black gold. He made the mistake of pissing off the Americans, just as Iran is currently doing.

What lessons can be learned from this execution? The world is not black and white. There are no "good guys" and "bad guys." Just the strong and the weak. It's about power and control. This execution will not make a damn difference. Hussein earned his punishment, but it's a poor illusion that he was tried and punished by his people. The war in Iraq should have been the people's revolution, not a US invasion. The war will continue. The region is not ready for democracy. The hearts and minds aren't ready for the change. Another dictator will take Hussein's position when the US finally withdraws. The cycle will continue.

Updated: Dec. 30, 2006

• Iraq Post Saddam -- immediately after the hanging of Saddam Hussein, bombings and other attacks took 80 Iraqis and 6 more American troops.
• Hussein defiant in last moments -- a play-by-play before Hussein swung from the gallows. A video shot from a camera phone has already been upload on the web. I won't provide a link to it. You can search for it.

Updated: Dec. 31, 2006 Fair Trial? -- The Progressive is carrying a report on the fairness of Hussein's trial. If you believe in a democracy, the rule of law and justice for all, you would have problems with how the trial of Hussein was conducted. Then again, this is the Middle East and the US. Vigilantism works just as well.

Big Mistake

Richard Dawkins' has an argument on the enormity of error that is implied when a rebel goes against the establishment in challenging the status quo. He is exploring the implications of two British engineering professors claim that the Earth is only 6,000 years-old, and that the theory of evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics. Science is open to its accepted theories being completely wrong -- and ever so often, that turns out to be the case -- but it's a risky bet going up against the scientific establishment, especially when you have no proof to offer as to why your against-the-grain theory is actually correct.

2006 in Pictures

From the BBC, Time, MSNBC, World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, and Reuters State of the World.

Lovelace no Happy Feet

Rockhopper penguins, the species that were portrayed by the character Lovelace in the movie Happy Feet, have no reason to be happy. Since the 1930s, their population has declined by 85% in the Falkland Islands, according to a recent study. The study suggests that the decline in the rockhopper penguin population may be due to climate change in the Southern Ocean.

The rockhopper penguin population decline is another warning that global climate change is occurring, and at a rapid rate. The Southern Ocean is the only ocean that circles the globe, uninterrupted by a land mass. It is home to the world's largest ocean current, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which connects to and impacts the climate of the world, via the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans and their currents. The cold, dense, salty water of the Southern Ocean is the driving force behind the circulation of the world's oceans. As the climate of the Southern Ocean changes, so will the change be felt elsewhere in the world. Soon, we may be sharing the fate of Lovelace.

Hinduism

We usually hear of India's economic prowess. Of India emerging as one of the next power-houses of the global economy. What we usually don't hear about are the inequalities; the discrimination, that is prevalent in the world's largest democracy. India is still a country that in many ways, has not joined the modern world. Despite its technological advances, it is still a nation that is stuck socially in pre-colonial times. The latest reminder of how far India really has to travel comes from Bhagalpur, Bihar, where 10-year-old Khushboo, the daughter of lower caste labourers, was out looking for edible herbs along the railroad tracks running through her village. She wandered into the field belonging an upper caste landlord, Pankaj Rai, and picked a few leaves of spinach. Rai caught her in the act of stealing from his farm, and promptly chopped off all five fingers from one of her hands with his sickle.

What consequences Rai will face is unknown, but the fact that he was not deterred by the potential consequences in his act of violence against a 10-year-old girl, paints a horrifying picture of the state of India's lower caste population. The lower caste are disposable in India. It is socially acceptable to end their existence in acts of vigilantism -- or if the whim strikes an upper caste person. For this to change, attitudes need to change in their society -- and while India has already taken steps to offer protection in their laws, it will take generations for India to get where we are. So while the country is on the march to achieve technology and economic prowess, it has to start taking the social aspects of its emergence with equal seriousness, or risk losing it all. India can start now by punishing Pankaj Rai for his actions.

Pope's Christmas Message

Not that the Pontiff and his bunch of merry miscreants have much relevancy left today, but seeing that it is Christmas, it is habitual for Christians (Catholics especially) to turn their attention to Rome for their annual superfluous message. This year, dressed in all his finery, surrounded by the affluence of Vatican City, Pope Benedict the poopy one, delivered his Christmas message at a midnight mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope focused on children in his homily, declaring, "The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze towards all children, particularly those who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn."

How ironic that the Pope should suddenly care about children. After the last few years of scandals involving the priesthood and children under their care, you'd think the Pope would be directing this message to the houses of God, where the anguish is being felt. How about some reform in the priesthood? How about allowing priests to wed? How about using the papacy to sponsor modernization of the Catholic church? How about taking that Vatican wealth to the masses of God's children that need a helping Christian hand? Any of these endeavours would serve the children of the world. Is this demanding too much? I wonder sometimes, does the Pope actually believe in God?

Update: December 26, 2006

Photo caption as per Reuters: Sacred ... Pope Benedict is celebrating midnight mass at Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, calling on everyone to remember the plight of abused and neglected children across the world.
Yes, go to him children ... go to the bogeyman, he won't eat you! Why the respect, people?!!!

Merry Christmas

I went to see the Nativity Story last week with the family. If you're familiar with Christian mythology, this should be nothing new to you. It's a pretty feel-good story, that tells the bibical version of Jesus' birth literally. So literally, that the film staged its world premiere in Vatican City. I'm not one for bibical stories -- although Christian mythology does have some pretty good stories that have been (and could be) turned into great fantasy films -- but I really wanted to see this one because it supposedly went for historical accuracy in the portrayal of the characters of the nativity story. For me, that was a refreshing break to the brunette/blue-eyed Jesus that is familiar to North Americans. The movie didn't disappoint from that respect. Mary was played by 16-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was 12 when she gave an incredible performance in Whale Rider. There is just something about a Maori girl playing Mary, that I found satisfying. Sorry, can't explain it. Other notable actors were Hiam Abbass, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Alexander Siddig and Oscar Isaac. The performances were pretty good, but the best was the comedy relief of the three wise men, played by Nadim Sawalha, Eriq Ebouaney and Stefan Kalipha. A pretty good movie from an international cast.

Related:

• The pagan origins of Christmas
• Mithras -- that other saviour that came before Jesus

Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion: The Root of Evil [47:51 mins]

Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion: The Virus of Faith [47:58 mins]

Calvin and Hobbes: Snowman [stolen from here] -- Click the thumbnails to see the larger images.

Complete Idiot

via reddit ... Todd Shriber is a complete idiot, according to posts on reddit.com. The graduate of Texas Christian University was apparently not too happy with his GPA, so he attempted to hire a hacker to hack his former university and change his GPA. Only problem is, he went to the wrong guys. They led him down one hell of a crazy path, in which they asked him to take photos of pigeons to confirm his identity. (He took the photos.) The deal broke off before Shriber's GPA could be hacked, as the hackers just had too much. The story however, doesn't end there. Turns out that Shriber was the communications director for Republican Congressman, Denny Rehberg. When news broke of Shriber's attempts to change his academic past, Rehberg fired him.

Complete idiot or just an honest guy, a little desperate, who went way over his head? Well, Shriber was warned by one of the hackers he was corresponding with via email that what he was soliciting for was a federal crime, but that didn't stop him. Further, if Shriber had bothered to check, he would have found out that attrition.org, the site he was using to find hackers, is a computer security information site -- hardly a haven for malcontents.

Time's Person of the Year

karmalised has a post on Time Magazine's Person of the Year award. In case you're not aware, Time Magazine did something different this year. They gave their award to, you. The award has always been given to the person(s) or idea(s) that has had the greatest influence -- good or bad -- and this year, apparently, the editors at Time felt that we had the biggest impact. The power of us, has significantly changed the world, more so than it has ever had. Our collective voice for the first time, has gained a global audience -- yes, for better and for worse -- thanks mostly to digital technologies and the (mostly) democratic platform of the internet. Who can argue with that?

The post by Hands Off Venezuela can argue with that, as the online poll Time ran to get your votes for Person of the Year had a clear winner: Hugo Chavez. Online polls -- that great democratic equalizer. Ironic that the power of you, doesn't really extend to influencing Time's choice for person of the year. Or not. The thing with the power of you, for better or for worse, is that there isn't always wisdom in the crowds. Online polls are notorious for giving the illusion of democracy, but there is no way of guaranteeing one person one vote -- or that the votes are representative of an entire demographic. The crowd may be wise, but sometimes, it is nothing more than a mob.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Why they Deny the Holocaust

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has written an op-ed for the LA Times, providing some perspective on the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conference for those that deny the Holocaust. Muslims living in the Arab world are woefully ignorant of the Holocaust. They simply do not know what the Nazis did -- and if they did, the horror would be justified by the propaganda that they are fed: namely, that Jews are evil, are out to destroy Islam, and are the cause of everything bad in the world. This of course is known to be untrue by those in power -- those that carry some influence in the Muslim world. Yet, there is hardly any protest of Ahmadinejad's conference from the Muslim leaders of the world.

What's striking about Ahmadinejad's conference is the (silent) acquiescence of mainstream Muslims. I cannot help but wonder: Why is there no counter-conference in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum or Jakarta condemning Ahmadinejad? Why are the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference silent on this?

Could the answer be as simple as it is horrifying: For generations, the leaders of these so-called Muslim countries have been spoon-feeding their populations a constant diet of propaganda similar to the one that generations of Germans (and other Europeans) were fed - that Jews are vermin and should be dealt with as such? In Europe, the logical conclusion was the Holocaust. If Ahmadinejad has his way, he shall not want for compliant Muslims ready to act on his wish.

An Alternative View to the History of WWII

I always enjoy reading Gary Brecher of the Exile. He's quick, to the point, and can take any good position of the moral majority, turn it upside down -- and make sense. Take his position on WWII. The propaganda that we've been fed, says it was a war of the good guys versus the bad -- which is total crap. Brecher points out that Europe had no good guys pre-WWII, because all the leaders there were fascists -- including Churchill. Nobody really cared about the Jews being slaughtered, other than Jews that were perhaps elsewhere in the world, safe. The only reason Britain and Russia turned their guns on Germany was territorial interests. The military campaigns of all sides were idiotic at best, with lives wasted on ill conceived plans and ideas.

After reading Brecher, I couldn't help reflect on the world today. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? In hindsight, we'll tell stories that sort out the mess and make the losers evil and the winners heroes -- and the dead -- well, they'll just be dead.

Moped Power

We've come up with some really bizarre ways of killing off each other, but this one has got to be held up for some recognition. It's not just bizarre -- it speaks to imagination. Who would have come up with the idea to strap a large gun to a moped? Who would be crazy enough to sit on that gun, riding into battle? Read more at the Dark Roasted Blend blog.

Cell Phone Outage Secrets

This one is yet another example of how the terrorists have won -- or how terrorists-under-our-beds are being used to stifle the public, in this case, to the access of information. In the US, the FCC keeps track of telephone system outages. When a carrier runs into some troubles, as they inevitably do, the FCC requires them to report the outage. You would think that this information in the hands of consumers would help them make better purchasing decisions, as outages could be translated to a system reliability metric. If you thought so, you'd be thinking correct. Unfortunately, the FCC refuses to make such information public because: "Release of the information could help terrorists plan attacks against the United States, and it would harm the companies involved."

Gigapixel

Megapixel is so yesterday. Check out the gigapixel project over at xRez. Extreme Resolution Photography is a project that builds large-scale panoramic images -- combined with 3D tools, to achieve image fidelity never before experienced. Check out nature like you've never seen her on your desktop. I'm got photo-envy looking at what they've accomplished.

Soy is Girly

According to Jim Rutz of the WorldNetDaily, soybean products are "feminizing" the males of the population; causing homosexuality; and if that isn't scarring the shit out of you, also leading to cancer, infertility and obesity. Rutz is sounding the warning when the rest of the world seems totally oblivious to the dangers of adopting a soy-heavy diet.

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products.

In case you didn't notice the sarcasm in my introduction, let me introduce the WorldNetDaily to you. It is a project launched by Joseph Farah of the Western Journalism Center. Farah is a self-proclaimed conservative Christian journalist, who's claim to fame is crashing and burning a few newspapers, hanging out with Rush Limbaugh and Richard Pombo, and hating the Democrats, gays, Arabs and liberals. In his book Taking America Back, he declares his position: "The choice is simple: The world of standards and morality, of marriage, order, the rule of law, and accountability to God? Or the world of anything-goes, aberrant sexual behavior, doing-your-own-thing lifestyles, and moral codes that change with the speed of the latest public-opinion poll?"

The guy is a piece of turd -- albeit, not one that is soy induced. [I got this via the Right Wing Watch.]

Turtle Power

They've been around for the longest time -- over 230 million years. They were here before the dinosaurs, before humans. They've colonized just about every part of the planet. If it wasn't for disease or other unnatural means of death, they would probably just keep on living. Turtles are amazing -- they take their time with everything, including life. Unfortunately, in their long existence on Earth, they've never encountered a menace comparable to humans.

Read more in the NY Times.

Slither (2006)

I finally saw Slither -- missed it completely when it was in the theatres, and I even really wanted to see it. I wasn't disappointed. Slither was fun. It was a parasite-space-slug taking over the world movie. It was a zombie movie. It was a horror movie, and it had lots of laughs. It was a total B-movie, and made no bones about it. The effects were great, the acting was great and the story just kept moving.

In a small southern town in America, where everybody pretty much knows everybody -- where the mayor is foul-mouthed supporter of the hunting culture; the chief of police a local boy with a crush on the wife of the local money; the wife of the local money a science teacher who is on the mind of many of her male students; and the local money is a man's man, who's filled with more than his share of arrogance, but isn't such a bad guy. Into this idyllic place of boredom, an meteorite crashes, unleashing evil alien slugs on the populace.

The slugs proceed to inhabit the town folk, turning them into zombies or meat for the select few who are to be used to birth many more slugs. The stage is set for world domination and the end of humankind. Unless ... unless a hero emerges that will save the day, win the girl and walk off into the sunset with a slightly satisfied smirk on his face. The hero job is handed to the chief of police -- aided with the science-teaching wife, who's husband is turned into the alien-slug host to rule them all -- and teen who's had a close encounter with the alien, and provides some insight.

The movie will keep you at the edge of your seat, with the relentless pace of alien slug fighting. The dialogue -- the dry humour -- will keep you rolling in between the moments of jumping out of your skin. Definitely worth watching late on a Friday night.

Bush's Civil Liberties

Americans got a dose of what the Bush Administration considers to be civil liberties with the first public airing of the rather cloistered Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The board was a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and mandated by law in 2004 -- however, it wasn't official until early 2006, due to inaction by the White House. Now that the board has assembled, they've made it quite clear that their mandate is to "help advance national security and the rights of American by helping explain how the government safeguards U.S. personal information." Other than that, everything they do is secret. That's right. The board put in place to protect Americans from their own government, will operate as an arm of the government, and in so doing, will operate just like the government. Can we say WTF folks?

Malaysian Women Too Hot for Muslim Men

This what happens when the dumb-ole-farts are in charge. Malaysia's Kelantan state is ruled by a Muslim party that adheres to Islamic standards -- whatever the hell that is. They recently raised the spectre of fines to non-Muslim women in the state who may be violating the Islamic dress code for women, which doesn't allow women to "expose flesh or wear anything sexy." The government backed down from the fines, but not their position, after criticism from the population and national government.

The head of the local Kelantan government gave the following reason for wanting the fines: "We just do not want bad things to happen to them [women]. By exposing their flesh and figure in public, they are just inviting trouble." Yes, that's right, a Muslim government that are concerned about the welfare of their female population. Well, here's an idea for those really concerned: how about starting to treat women as equals? how about acknowledging that they can think for themselves? how about punishing those that cause trouble instead of accusing women of inciting men?

Axion Discovered

Researchers may have discovered the elusive, exotic and elementary axion after a search that lasted decades. The tiny, very low mass particle with no charge was first theorized to exist by the Peccei-Quinn theory in 1977, in order to solve the strong CP (charge conjugation and parity) problem that occurs in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). QCD appears to not violate the CP-symmetry, a conundrum, as CP violation is required to explain why matter is dominant in our universe.

The potential find of the axion, suggests that the rather big unsolved mystery of matter-antimatter imbalance may be closer to resolution. (The axion is also necessary for string theory.) With the Big Bang, the universe should have been started with equal parts matter and antimatter -- with the laws of physics being the same for both. This should have led to the complete annihilation of the universe, as matter and antimatter in equal parts would have destroyed each other, producing photons. Since our universe of matter exists, something must have happened at the Big Bang to violate CP symmetry. With axions in the QCD Lagrangian, CP symmetry is violated and all is right with the universe.

Axions also go some lengths in helping with the problem of dark matter. The Big Bang should have created axions in abundance -- which may still be around with us today, and depending on their mass, could make up the bulk of the universe we can't see. Interestingly enough, axions should also be able to morph to photons within a magnetic field, making it possible for us to detect them.

Israeli Nukes

Rumsfeld's replacement, Robert Gates, former head of the CIA, admitted an open secret recently at his confirmation hearing: that Israel posses nuclear capability. This is the first time a senior US official has openly confirmed Israel's nuclear capability. Why the secrecy? You'd think that with nuclear capability, Israel would want its aggressive neighbours to know -- presumably, deterrence is still worth something these days. Perhaps however, the Arab countries are already aware of Israel's nuclear capability, and is especially why Iran is hell-bent on going nuclear as well, as Gates speculated. With Israel not admitting nuclear capability publicly however, the US can quietly continue aiding and trading with Israel as if they're not a nuclear state -- while Israel doesn't have to open itself to international inspections or be pressured to sign any nuclear anti-proliferation treaties.

This double-standard with Israel begs another line of questioning as well -- does it really matter if they publicly admit their nuclear capability? The answer is a short, yes. It does actually matter. Nuclear proliferation is not a good thing. This world is the only home we have, and the fact that any one country has the ability to inflict long term harm to it is a cause of concern for all of us. Further, Israel's ability to wage a nuclear war only further complicates and destabilizes the Middle East, as neighbours rush to create their own weapons of mass destruction. The fact that Israel is a friend should not change our stance on such matters.

In response to Gates' admission, Israel's Deputy PM is quoted as saying, "Whether or not Israel has nuclear weapons, the fact is that Israel is the only country threatened with destruction ... Israel is not threatening any country. Weapons do not fire themselves, people fire them." Exactly. Which is exactly why more nations should not posses such destructive power.

Forn Policy

Filth from the Pulpit

The word of God? As per the Bible anyway. This tells us a few things:

1. Believers should not take the Bible literally.
2. Most people who believe in the Bible have never actually read the Bible.
3. Some of the men who wrote the Bible ... were a bit crazy.

Related:

• God's Inbox. [PDF]
• Atheism in Hinduism

Design and Corporate Strategy

This evening I attended a lecture, part of the Rotman Design Thinking Speaker Series at UofT. The speaker was Robert Blaich, Chairman of Teague Design, and the topic was the title of his new book, Design and Corporate Strategy: Managing the Connection for Competitive Advantage. It wasn't so much of a sales job, although it was a sales job -- for his book -- and design, for it is the centre of the universe -- more or less.

I actually got introduced to the theory of design by my older daughter, a recent graduate of York's design program, and since then, I've been more aware of design -- especially as the topic has been cropping up more and more in literature. It isn't that my new found awareness is finding design everywhere, but more that design has become a strategic differentiator for many corporations that have seen their products and services commoditized by low cost producers -- especially those from the developing powerhouses of India and China.

Blaich is an entertaining speaker -- much more so when he's telling stories, than when he is pontificating from his notes -- and the man has lots of stories. He sermonized on the state of design today and the potential for it to take a leadership role in corporations. In this regard, he chided designers, himself included, for creating what he termed design sprawl -- the gross opulency -- many products being a slight variation of its previous incarnation, with the net new functionality hardly justifying its existence or the effort to create it. Designers, Blaich petitioned, should stop the sprawl.

It's ironic that Blaich is taking this stand, as his Teague Design continues to contribute to the sprawl -- and only as an old man, is Blaich coming to the realization that in his youth, he made a career in polluting the world with products. He referred a number of times to products designed in the past that are still manufactured today -- that still have relevancy, even though new designs and products continue to be produced with the same functionality. I couldn't help but think that Blaich was in part, yearning for the glory days of his past as he drifts through the twilight of his career. I don't for a minute doubt the sincerity on design sprawl -- but the cynic in me heard the mixed message he delivered.

Read more:

• The Ice Palace That Melted Away: Restoring Civility and Other Lost Virtues to Everyday Life -- by Bill Stumpf
• Incivility as a Barometer of Societal Decay [PDF] -- Robert C. L. Moffat
• Social Design: The Link Between Facility Design, Organization Design, and Corporate Strategy [PDF] -- Langdon Morris

The Sentinel (1977)

Last night, I watched The Sentinel, a 1977 Michael Winner horror flick, based on Jeffrey Konvitz's novel. The movie wasn't all that bad -- just slow. You'll have to wait half-way through the movie to understand where it's heading, and the last 10-minutes to see the really cool effects of the movie.

The movie concerns a model, Alison Parker, who moves into an apartment building with some really eccentric neighbours -- or maybe weird is a better word -- with the weirdest being a blind, reclusive priest, who lives at the top of the building and spends all his time looking out the window from his perch. Miss Parker has some strange encounters with her neighbours, some secrective religious types and a whole bunch of fainting spells. Prompted by this, her boyfriend investigates, only to find nothing less than the gateway to hell, with both the church and the devil having designs on Alison Parker's future.

You'll have to get through a whole lot of plodding in the story to get there, but the plodding is good -- not to mention a little freaky at times. The last 10-minutes, when the denizens of hell and the devil make their appearance is worth the wait. The effects are astounding, considering it was all done in the 1970s. You will also get to see a bunch of actors in their younger days, including small appearances by Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger and Nana Visitor -- as well as appearances by veterans Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, John Carradine and Arthur Kennedy.

Undesireables in My Building

There are some people living in my building who I would rather not have here -- or there, or anywhere else for that matter. These contemptible people have irked me way too often. They've driven me to obscenities. They've spoiled many a good day before I've even had the chance to start them. I've never seen these people, so I can't identify them -- but I know their traits very well. They wear the asshole badge -- some proudly I suspect, while others are ignorant of their ignorance. They're shameful in their behaviour. They have a detestable disregard for others, their neighbourhood and the world they live in -- and tonight, they managed to piss me off yet again.

I went to the garbage-shoot to send some garbage to the basement, and what did I find there? Some execrable neighbour had left their garbage stuck in the shoot. The only way I could use it is by first pushing their garbage down -- an act they were apparently unwilling to complete. I'm sure you know the revolting group of people this miscreant belongs to. They walk the earth in a state of vampiric unscrutability. They're the ones that drop garbage on the streets. They don't say thanks when you hold the door open for them. They push their way through life, oblivious of those that they knock over. These people are proof that common sense is not a capacity all possess.

To add further insult, I happen to see through their plastic garbage bag as it disappeared down the shoot. It contained a number of plastic yogurt containers. Not only do these people display a swinish disdain to their neighbours, they also follow it up with an equal loathsome scorn for the world they live in. They don't care to live on this world. Plastic containers, especially the ones I saw, are recyclable. They can be remade into useful products instead of sitting in a landfill for however many hundreds of years.

I'm sure these people are the same ones who also have the offensive practice of not sorting their recycling, when they choose to recycle. In our building's basement are a number of large recycling containers, each clearly marked for a specific retrieval purpose. One for plastics, another for glass and the last for paper. Cardboard is to be placed on the floor for compacting. Our buildings superintendent does a pretty good job of keeping up his end of the recycling chore -- making sure the place is clean, and there is available capacity in the containers. Without fail however, every week finds same offensive practice by a few flagitious creatures. They dump their recycling in whichever container, disregarding the clear labels that tells them what goes where.

These lowlifes make me wonder why they recycle. If you're not going to make the effort, why pretend? What satisfaction do you get from disposing your recycling like garbage? Inevitably, the superintendent is the one burdened with sorting through the mess left behind. I feel sorry for the guy. He works for his wages. He doesn't need this -- but if he doesn't do it, our building runs the risk of having the city refuse our recycling. The culprits that create this mess knows that someone has to sort through it -- and knows who is ultimately tasked with the job. I suspect that they simply don't care because he is only a superintendent. I know these people. They are the ones that will walk by those they consider beneath their station in life, not seeing them -- not seeing the serving people, the janitors, and the garbage collectors. Apparently, they're not seeing you or I, either.

My world doesn't need such individuals. They have a rogue character that we could do without. How do I get them out of my building? How do I get them off the planet?

Blind Obedience

This story sounds unreal, but it's quite real. Louise Ogborn, a McDonald's employee, was accused of stealing by a person claiming to be a police officer. The police had phoned Ogborn's manager, and had the manager, Summers, secure Ogborn in her office. What followed is just bizarre and Summers says, "I honestly thought he was a police officer and what I was doing was the right thing. I thought I was doing what I was supposed to be doing."

The voice on the phone, claiming to be the police, tells Summers to make Ogborn strip naked. The voice on the phone then tells Summers to get her 43-year-old fiancé, Nix, to come in the office. Summers leaves the office. Nix proceeds to do what the voice on the phone tells him to do, and sexually abuse the Ogborn, for three hours, as Ogborn begs both Nix and Summers to stop and call the police. The entire abuse is captured on the security camera mounted in the office.

Summers claims she was following orders from a cop. A case of blind obedience to authority? Apparently, this isn't the first time this has happened. It has happened many times. A person calls, claiming to be the police, and convinces a manager type to abuse a young girl in their employ. Are people so fucking stupid that they obey horrible instructions from a voice claiming to be an authority figure? Or do they secretly enjoy what they're doing and are just as guilty? I believe the answer is yes to both.

Muslim Internment Camps

Should American Muslims be forced to wear crescent tattoos on their forehead? Or carry identification that identifies them as Muslim? Or be placed in internment camps? Or just shipped out of the country? Jerry Klein of radio station AM630 WMAL Washington, proposed just such a thing recently on his radio show. His proposal garnered a lot of attention, and the phone calls came pouring in. Some were disgusted by his remarks, but frighteningly, some saw the logic. After all, all Muslims are dangerous -- and they all want to kill Americans -- regardless of some being Americans themselves. Klein of course, made it all up. He just wanted to see the public's reaction of his proposal. After all, what he was proposing was just short of Nazi Germany's final solution to the Jewish problem -- nobody in their right minds would support such ideas. Like the Germans who saw nothing wrong with the final solution, apparently there are many Americans who are also not in their right minds.

Benefits of Conservation

Here's an idea to save the world -- efficient energy consumption -- and it starts with you. Your energy consumption at home is inefficient. Most still use bulbs that are not efficient; major appliances that weren't designed for energy efficiency; have windows that aren't properly sealed; don't use power bars to eliminate waste via phantom loads. What would happen if we had efficient homes? Ray Janke of Chicopee, Mass., found out when he went after efficiency, that he could reduce his electrical bill by two-thirds. This is significant because 38% of residential energy use is from electricity, and electricity accounts for 71% of residential carbon emissions. It's amazing how much efficiency can save.

Faithless - Bombs

Just discovered this via YouTube. I like.