Ricky's Blog

Political ideologies bring nothing positive to a society.

2011-11-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

The current US political climate is outright destroying that country, a country that was an example of progress after the war. But since the 1970s it has been slowly eroding. Political ideologies are one of the driving forces on why this has occurred. Unfortunately this is creeping into Canada. I'll use two current movements in USA to explain myself.

On one side you have people who adhere to the Tea Party mantra that it's the fault of government.

On the other side you have the Occupy Wall Street people who claim it is the corporations fault.

Both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are right.
We have corporations who are spending huge amounts of money to have access to politicians. If the money spent was directly given to each politician the average is in the millions per politician (Canada included). So you can easily fault the corporations for trying to influence in their favor and not the favor of the country as a whole, citizens included.

You can also fault the politicians for only listening to the corporations. They actually enact laws with the HELP of these corporations, that should never be the case. They should be made with the best interest of the citizen in mind and that's the politicians job, obviously they are not doing their job.

Then we have the political parties, in USA it has totally degenerated to the point that it's "NO!" to anything the other side says. Each side is more concerned with defeating their opponent than doing what's right for the people. Canada is starting to see some of this with the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party of Canada.

In Canada it started with a bang with the all in heavy negative advertising from the Conservative Party, even when it was not an election period they were doing negative advertising versus their opponents. During the campaign it was atrocious and the other side followed suite. Yes it has always existed but now that's all it is. I guess they don't have good solutions to our problems so bashing the other one is the only option.

Instead of working together what do both sides do? In USA they both mock each other with the help of propaganda channels like FOX News and MSNBC who claim to be news channels and yet they spend their time having shows that continually attack the other side, they bring nothing constructive to the table. They spin (meaning LIE) everything into negative, negative and more negative as if the other side are a bunch of losers and can never be right.

In Canada we now have a heavily slanted propaganda channel with SUN, you can debate about other channels being slanted to one side (CBC on the left) or the other but the fact remains that SUN was created with a specific propaganda political intent for one side and they hired people who just love to attack opposing ideologies as if they are mentally disturbed. Then SUN goes around claiming it is a news channel. News is about facts, not opinions and NOT ideologies.

Political ideologues are just as dangerous as religious ideologues, it's a "my way or the highway" attitude, no matter if their idea is clearly shown to be a bad one by using reason & science. You cannot even debate with them, the minute you mention an idea that is opposite to theirs they now brand you as being 100% for the other side.

We don't need this kind of crap in Canada, it only creates an atmosphere of anger and superiority. You end up with people who once they have power are closed minded to anything outside their ideology, which means governing by using reason & science goes out the window, then you are sure to attain disaster. -Sounds like religion or dictatorship...

It also helps if you have true proportional representation, this creates more parties and multiparty governments, they HAVE to work together, then they just have to remember to work for the people, not the corporate lobby...

Steve Jobs and me...

2011-10-07T08:48:00.000-04:00

I've never met Steve Jobs but I've been in the presence of his vision on a daily basis ever since I bought my first computer a little over 12 years ago and it changed my life.

I had no idea he had such a defining impact on my life at the time and I was nowhere close to being an Apple product user, my first Apple product was only purchased in Nov 2007.

How can I say he's had such a defining impact on my life if my first Apple product was purchased 4 years ago? Steve Jobs had the vision to make already existing products accessible to everyone or make people around him build products that everyone could use.

Today every personal computer, mp3 player, smart phone and tablet PC on the market is MAC, iPod, iPhone or iPad inspired. And the internet was born using a NeXT computer, a computer and operating system built with Steve's vision.

So even though I've never owned an Apple product until 4 years ago... I've owned a Steve Jobs influenced product ever since I bought my first PC... And a week after I bought it I knew working in the computer industry was where I wanted to be.

Merci beaucoup Steve.

"I know what I believe", but beware of it's dangers

2011-09-19T12:08:00.004-04:00

In talks I have with individuals regarding superstitions (ex: religions, ghosts) and pseudoscience (ex: homeopathy, reiki) they often state "I know what I believe". It is their right to have such belief(s), but they should be aware it is a very dangerous position to take, this position is one of "no matter if evidence, science and reason point to the contrary, I know what I believe!"... No matter that the reality they live in will not change based on their "will" to do so.

If that's how some individuals wish to act then they will have to accept others who profess the same lingo "I know what I believe" are just as right. Here's one; "I know what I believe" is that I must be able to protect myself at all times and carrying a loaded gun that everyone can see will increase my safety. The list of crazy ideas of "I know what I believe" could go on indefinitely. Each religion has thousands of "I know what I believe" stuffed in each one (slavery, subjugation of women, beating of children, etc...).

Imagine if we accepted all of these, what would ensue? The most horrid times in history are based on this alone:

After the fall of the Roman Empire faith took over and for about 1000 years we went back in morale behavior and stories of witches, ghosts, spirits, demons, women subjugating to men, killing of others who were not the same religion, they were all based on the hierarchy stating "We know what we believed", no explanation required, certainly not evidence, reason or science, let alone reality.

Then reason finally started taking whole but another "I know what I believe" moment occurred among nations, the kings and queens decided it was their destinies because "They knew it to be so" and from there started an oppression on other nations that became planet wide (Africa's, Americas, Asia's, etc...) and eventually WW1.

WW2 was another "I know what I believe" moment. Germany's destiny was assured by the superiority of their race which was based on zero reason, science or evidence, just "Knowing what I believe" was enough to kills millions.

Other dangers are believing people who say they can treat illnesses (reiki / homeopathy) at the risk of the illness only getting worse and flushing money down the toilet. Or being swindled out of hard earned money listening to the likes of John Edwards using parlor tricks to make someone believe he is actually talking to a dead person. ALL based on mountains of evidence that have clearly shown these NOT to work.

If the human species is to prosper indefinitely we have to take to task anyone who makes such a statement, demand they explain in a rational manner and be able to show evidence of what it is he/she "knows what he/she believes". And if he cannot his stance should be relegated to nothing more than daydreaming thoughts with zero respect and application in reality.

"I know what I believe" falls into the same category of pseudoscience (reiki, homeopathy, astrology) and supernatural (ghosts, religion, talking to the dead). All of which are a bane on building a better world.
-
-
-

Le don d'organes à la mort devrait être obligatoire.

2011-08-20T17:19:00.001-04:00

Les organes peuvent être utilisé pour sauver une vie ou améliorer la qualité de vie d'une autre personne. Il n'y a aucune raison valable pour que le don d'organe automatique ne soit pas déjà en place depuis longtemps.

Il ne devrait pas y avoir le choix de s'objecter pour des raisons personnelles qui sont plus souvent qu'autrement des raisons religieuses. C'est pas à la société de s’accommoder au croyances de certains, si ces personnes ont des croyances qui leurs causent des ennuis envers la société c'est leurs choix et en aucun temps ils ne devraient être accommodés si ces raisons sont sous le parapluie des superstitions et du surnaturel (ce qui inclus les religions).

L'objection que cela est oppressifs est absurde, est-ce que nous accepterions que les chrétiens et les musulmans commencent à tuer tout les apostats? (une personne qui à officiellement renié la religion dont il était? Moi comme exemple!) Non, cela serait un meurtre, pourtant c'est claire dans chacune de ces religions que tuer les apostats est un devoir. Il y a une multitude de "lois" (esclavage, femme soumise à l'homme, etc...) dans ces livres qui ne sont plus acceptés de nos jours, même par la majorité des croyants, heureusement la raison et le bon sens de ces gens a supplanté le surnaturel.

Les croyances qui sont basés sur la tradition, l’autorité et la révélation n'ont aucun droit d’ingérence dans une société. Nous avons évolués moralement, il est temps que cela soit mis en pratique politiquement et le don d'organes automatique fait parti de cette évolution, des vies en comptes.

La passion est une pulsion. L'amour est une décision.

2011-03-13T21:27:00.006-04:00

Ceci est un résumé en mes propres mots d'un article paru dans le Journal de Montréal.

C'est la meilleure réflexion que j'ai lu sur le sujet, alors je la partage avec vous.

La passion est une pulsion:

L'attraction physique et le plaisir sexuelle sont surtout biochimique (phéromones), beaucoup plus que psychologique. Quand nous somme avec une personne désiré notre corps sécrète des hormones (dopamine, phényléthylamine, ocytocine...) qui provoquent en nous des sensations fantastiques; comme exemple, la sensations de "tomber en amour" et de "perdre le contrôle". En fait, nous ne sommes pas en amour, nous sommes "drogués" par notre propres corps, ce qui veut dire que c'est temporaire et comme tout drogues l'impulsion passionnelle diminue avec le temps. C'est pourquoi les passionnés changent continuellement de partenaire, leur moyenne est de 3 ans par relation.

L'amour est une décision:

L'amour quant à lui est un sentiment et non une sensation ou une émotion. Le sentiment d'aimer est le résultat d'une réflexion basée sur la connaissance de la personne qui a été la source de tant de sensations et d'émotions agréables. Cette connaissance ce fait seulement quand chacun se présente sous son vrai jour. L'amour se développe donc, ou non au moment où la passion commence à diminuer.

Le véritable amour est fait de sentiments et d'altruisme, et non de vouloir vivre "drogué" de passion 24/7... c'est impossible.

L'amour au quotidien avec ses moments de passions, voilà une relation saine et réaliste.

Vous pouvez lire l'article ici: L'amour est une décision - Yvon Dallaire (Psychologue)
-
-
-

10 Things You Lose When You Commit In A Relationship... Really ?

2011-01-15T09:11:00.017-05:00

I just read an article written on AskMen.com by a women who describes 10 things men (supposedly) lose when they enter a relationship. I felt obliged to post a rebuttal and send it to her via email.

**Click on the links to read what she wrote**

10 - Your female friends

Answer: The whole point of a girlfriend is to place her in the #1 spot. That's a choice.

09 - Your weekends

Answer: Men who want a girlfriend tend to do so with the idea of spending time with her, yes it means less (not lost) time for other things but again that's a choice that should be happily made, so it's not a loss.

08 - Your casual fun

Answer: If you lose casual fun in a relationship then you're in the wrong relationship, it's one of the best parts!

07 - Your self-indulgences

Answer: Fun with other friends works if planned ahead and not made a priority over her (it goes both ways). The writer ends up giving the solution, communication!

06 - Your exit

Answer: If you're not in a relationship you don't have an exit in the first place. There is no in between.

05 - Your financial independence

Answer: If she means my money heading in her direction in the sense of "spoiling" her, then yes she's right but in my case I enjoy doing it so it's a gain for me (as long as she appreciates it).
If she's a gold digger and the man sticks around then he's an idiot.

04 - Your options

Answer: Why go anywhere else when you've chosen the best?
As for looking, I can't have a million dollar home (nor do I want one) so I should not look at it?

03 - Your own plans

Answer: No one needs to lose oneself in a relationship, some things both we'll prefer doing on there own. As long as the couple does not suffer from it it's fine.

02 - Your space

Answer: It also means sexy clothing lying around! As for kitchen stuff... Bring it! It can only mean good food, well worth the extra dishes to be cleaned.

01 - Your identity

Answer: In a healthy relationship you'll learn more about yourself from your partner than if you were alone.

Final comment:

The whole point of commitment is you prefer the life you will have with her than the life you had without.

-
-

Retrospective de mon année 2010.

2011-01-03T08:58:00.009-05:00

C'est la première fois que je décide de faire une rétrospective, pourquoi? Bien parce que 2010 a commencer croyant qu'elle allait être sans événements car j'avais rien de spéciale en tête et elle c'est terminé par être l'année la plus rempli d'événements inattendus que j'ai vécu. Tout simplement, j'ai le goût de partager cela.

Mars; j'ai pris la décision d'aller en Chine en septembre.

Avril; le temps était venu de faire endormir mon plus vieux chien, mon pauvre petit Pépé psychologiquement dé-balancé :-).

Pépé: 1998-2010

Mai; il ne restait que Peny mais je devais lui trouver un nouveau chez eux car elle n'est pas faites pour être seul aussi souvent qu'elle devait l'être avec moi. J'ai réussi à lui trouver une famille qui habite en campagne dont la dame est retraitée et ils ont d'autre chiens. Depuis les personnes m'ont envoyés quelques photos et un vidéo. Un vrai paradis pour chiens.

Peny: avec moi de 2008-2010 (2002- ?)

Juin-Juillet; j'ai eu une relation de couple, elle fut bref mais j'ai redécouvert c'est quoi être en amour et je me suis fait énumérer tout ce que j'apporte à une relation, des paroles que je n'avais pas entendu auparavant. Sa me propulse d'aller de l'avant pour trouver celle qui saura en profiter pleinement!

Juillet; j'ai enfin reçu mon acte de divorce. J'étais séparé depuis Nov-2008 et l'entente de divorce était finalisé depuis Juillet 2009, vivre la bureaucratie! Me voilà à nouveau avec le titre de "célibataire"...

Août; après un an sur le Plateau (secteur Hull) j'ai vendu mon condo et je suis revenu au centre-ville.

Photo prise avec iPhone 3GS, édité avec iPhoto -Décembre 2010

Septembre; à la conquête de la Chine!

Place Tianamen

Octobre; ZÉRO dettes! WOOT !!!

Novembre; ma Hyundai 2002 à brisé et c'était trop coûteux la faire réparer alors j'ai du m'acheter une nouvelle voiture qui en fin de compte est un bien car j'aime vraiment cette voiture. Depuis ma Golf (1998-2002) j'avais oublié c'est quoi conduire une voiture qu'on aime.

Hyundai Accent 2010

Décembre; j'ai reçu mon cadeaux de Noël favori jusqu'à présent de nul autre que mes parents. J'ai eu la surprise qu'on me demande d'être le parrain de l'enfant de mon cousin Marc Bégin et sa conjointe Paula Christakos, j'ai accepté avec plaisir!

Finalement, j'ai rencontré Barack Obama (photo ci-dessous à l'appui).

Avouez avoir hésité un moment! ;) -C'est mon meilleur ami depuis plus de 25 ans, Eric Bigras

Le morale de tout cela? La vie est belle et imprévue!
-
-

Prenez la résolution d'aimer votre conjoint(e) au quotidien

2010-12-31T17:01:00.013-05:00

**The English version follows -scroll down**

Chaque nouvelle années les gens entreprennent des résolutions, une qu'on entend pas souvent (si jamais) c'est celle de dire qu'on prendra plus conscience de son ou sa conjointe. Au début d'une relation les gens démontre leur amour, leur admiration et leur désir sans y penser.

Avec les années il faut prendre le temps d'être conscient qu'il faut démontrer sont amour. Les gens prennent pour acquis que l'autre le "sais", ce qui n'est pas le cas, ne rien dire c'est faire ressentir un indifférence totale envers la personne aimée.

Il y a rien de plus simple que prendre un moment chaque jour pour rappeler à cette personne qu'on l'aime, qu'on l'admire et qu'on le ou la désire.

L'amour peut-être démontré par un simple regard profond dans les yeux en lui disant "je t'aime".

L'admiration peut être aussi facile que prendre le temps d'écouter attentivement ce que votre conjoint(e) à vécu comme journée.

Le désir peut venir du contact humain avec une profonde caresse, une simple main sur les fesses :) et sans oublier des compliments verbaux.

Alors je vous invite à prendre la résolution de nourrir votre amour de couple au quotidien. Et la meilleure partie? C'est vraiment PLAISANT à faire!

Felix sit annus novus!

*****************

This year make a resolution to cherish your couple on a daily basis.

Every new year people make resolutions, one we rarely hear (if ever) is the one about being more attentive to our significant other.

At the beginning of a relationship people show their love, admiration and desire on a daily basis without thinking about it. With time this is no longer automatic, we must make a conscious action to demonstrate our affection on a daily basis. People often take it for granted the other "knows", which is not the case, doing nothing makes the other feel indifferent.

Nothing is easier than simply taking a moment everyday to remind the person we cherish all the love, admiration and desire we feel for this person.

Love can be demonstrated by a profound look in their eyes and simply saying "I love you".

Admiration can be shown by simply listening attentively as your partner talks about their day.

Desire can come from human contact by simply holding the other in one's arms for a moment, or a hand on a butt cheek :) and let's not forget verbal compliments.

So I invite you to make it a new years resolution to nourish your relationship on a daily basis. And the best part is? It's FUN to do!

Felix sit annus novus!

-
-

Life should be backwards.

2010-08-12T07:33:00.000-04:00

I came upon this yesterday and it remains my favorite skit from Seinfeld, the end is the kicker! ;-)

The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What’s that, a bonus?!?! I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you go live in an old age home. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work forty years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink alcohol, you party, and you get ready for high school. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities. You become a little baby, you go back, spend your last 9 months floating with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, then you finish off as an orgasm! Amen.”

- George Costanza (Fictional character from the TV series Seinfeld played by Jason Alexander)

***

Pro-Life = Pro-Oppression of your freedom.

2010-05-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the pro-life movement's annual rally in Ottawa.

What is the main focus of this rally? To promote that abortion is evil, instill the fear of some fairy tale (god) in you and that they are protecting this life in the belly of the women (never mind the woman's freedom). As well, they state having said to their god they've spiritually adopted the child. I wonder if this spiritual adoption will feed, raise, educate, play, nurture and give this child a home? Of course not, they make a small mental note, move on and the person who does not want this life ends being stuck with all the unwanted responsibilities.

How does being pro-life make a person pro-oppression? Simple, they have no issue imposing their belief on everyone else. Ask these people if they would make abortion illegal and they'll say yes (I've never had one say no). I have asked often and then replied with; "So you have no issue imposing your personal beliefs on others?" 99% of them get all squeamish trying to mumble their way out of this obvious FACT.

If they were against imposing their beliefs on you they would not parade against abortion, they would be pro-choice and would work hard to promote & offer alternatives to women but should a women choose abortion they would respect her decision and not vilify her.

The argument is simple, if you're pro-life, GREAT! Then don't do it yourself (abortion) but don't go imposing this on everyone else.

Pro-life is a personal decision, pro-choice is a public freedom.

Why Astrology can negatively affect your life.

2010-04-11T10:29:00.004-04:00

NOTE: I used to believe astrology affected your personality type based on your month of birth, an open mind is what got me answers, I hope you read this with an open mind.

This is a topic I've wanted to cover for some time and over the last weeks I've had 4 people I know mention astrology, it was clear they put some value and faith in this "system".

It's motivated me to blog on this subject in the hopes to clear things up, especially for the people I care about because it can have negative effects and offers no benefits. If you want to read why first scroll down to: So what's the harm? It's all in fun, right?

The following is a short breakdown of the history, how it supposedly to functions, why your horoscope describes you, conclusive evidence it does not and a more in depth look at it's possible negative effects.

History:

The first form of astrology was invented by man as far as 5000 years ago and many have been created since that time. The western tradition is the dominant one in Canada.

Some forms are; Agricultural, Arab, Persian, Islamic, Babylonia, Burmes, Celtic, Egyptian, Hellenistic, Judician, Mayan, Medical, Medieval, Meteorological, Tibetan and the list goes on, you can view all of them here; astrological traditions.

How does it influence us?

Astrology operates under a very broad assumption: there is some sort of force from objects in space that influences us here on Earth. There are lots of different attributions for this force (some say gravity, some say electromagnetism, some say a force that cannot be measured), but it all comes down to the planets and stars having an effect on people.

Let's see if there can be any effect from the objects in space as astrologers claim.

Planets are big balls of ice, rock, metal, and other stuff. Their ability to affect us is weak because they are pretty far away. As far as we can tell through science, there are only four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, and two forces called the strong and weak force. Those last two only work (more or less) on the nuclei of atoms and subatomic particles. We know the last two cannot affect us from a distance of less than a millimeter!

That leaves gravity and electromagnetism. It can't be gravity because we know closer or bigger objects have more effect on us then farther or smaller objects. This means that the moon has more effect on us than all the other planets in our solar system combined! Even though it is smaller the others are so far their effect is less than the moon. Since planets and stars are what affects us that eliminates gravity as the possible agent.

Could it be electromagnetism? Some planets have no magnetic field, in our solar system Venus has none. We know a magnetic field has little range, in our solar system the Sun's magnetic field is the only one that reaches us and does affect us, it caused the blackout in Québec in 1989. Since astrology states all objects affect us, we know electromagnetism is not the cause.

That leaves some "unknown force or energy or whatever", basically something we have not discovered. Then how can people use it if they don't even know what it is ???

And even if they could in some unknown way "feel" this force ask yourself this question, astrology was created with the planets & stars known at that time, since then we've discovered 100s of planets and TRILLIONS of stars. Don't forget the billions of asteroids in our own solar system! How come they don't affect us?

My horoscope describes me!

This is often the primary response form individuals. Yet many studies have shown that this is a simple psychological effect, people WANT to believe in it. This creates a confirmation bias, they'll open a book on their sign and will easily attach to what fits them and all the other stuff in the book will be forgotten. I know I was doing it myself until I read the same books again with a critical mind, I discovered that 25% of the books did have some of my personality, I had totally forgotten the 75% that did not!

Astrologers rely on our inability to remember when they are wrong, and our almost unfailing ability to see patterns in random noise (in other words, to pull out something that may just possibly kind of vaguely resemble something that describes us).

Also, it's exciting the idea that something mystical is in the "air", that's another reason we apply confirmation bias. I've discovered our known universe is far more exciting !!

Evidence & studies:

Let's assume that despite all the scientific evidence against astrology, there really is an effect on us by the planets. If it exists, it must be measurable, and for astrologers to be able to use it to cast horoscopes, their claims must be consistent. After all, if a force cannot be measured, it cannot have an effect on us, and if astrologers say such a force exists, then all their claims must be based on that force, and should be consistent with each other.

A thorough paper of 100s studies over the course of the 20th century was put together and the conclusion was overwhelming.
- Astrologers do no better than people guessing when giving them a persons astrological chart and placing it with the proper person based solely on their birth (astrology is only supposed to need your birth date).
- Astrologers could not even do better than people who guessed if a person was an introvert or extrovert, even when they knew their date of birth.
- Long term studies of divorced couples has shown no correlation that people who have "compatible" symbols have a lower instance of divorce.
- Long term studies of people born less than 5 minutes apart have shown no hints of similarities between the two.
- The type of work or lifestyle has no bearing on astrological signs. ex: pisces are supposedly big dreamers and artists yet they are no more numerous than any other symbol in the field of arts (writing, acting, music, etc...) or less numerous in technological fields.

So what's the harm? It's all in fun, right?

Wrong,

For one thing, it's estimated that hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on astrology every year in the United States alone. That's real money, wasted on something that doesn't work. That money could be going towards more important things in one's life; a kids education fund, books, saving up for a nice vacation, retirement fund, a beautiful play, etc...

For another, astrology promotes the worst thing in the world: to ignore critical thinking. The more we teach people to simply accept anecdotal stories, hearsay, cherry-picked data (picking out what supports your claims but ignoring what doesn't), the harder it gets for people to think clearly. If you cannot think clearly, you cannot function as a human being.

For a third, astrology takes away from the real grandeur of the Universe. We live in an amazing place, this Universe of ours, and it's quite fantastic enough without needing people to make up things about it.

Finally, if people make decisions based on a concept shown to have no bearing on who they are it could influence them in choosing their type of eduction, refuse employment that could have been their dream job and the one thing I see most often, people are judged and categorized by their sign! This influences right away how they think and feel about this person. Once we label a person it stays in the back of our mind, it's very hard to eliminate this preconception even if we've known the person for years. As well if you believe in astrology you will always look for behavior that fits this person's sign, you might miss out on discovering the real person he or she is...

Resources:

Phil Plait on Astrology.
The Skeptic Dictionary's entry on astrology. Highly recommended.
Scientist/skeptic/media guy Dr Karl Kruszelnicki briefe take on astrology.
Articles by James "The Amazing" Randi about astrology.
The article Is Astrology Relevant to Consciousness and Psi?" by Dean and Kelly.
The article "The Concepts of Modern Astrology: A Critique" by Ivan Kelly.
A fun test showing how astrologers cannot agree.

The least religious countries have the highest standards of living.

2010-04-05T11:26:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite argument to stump anyone who argues that religion is needed for morality or proper social justice. The countries that offer the best education, health, equality between richest & poorest and overall social equality are the least religious in the world while countries that are highly religious are at the bottom.

Every time I’ve brought up this argument not a single person has been able to come up with a constructive retort, that’s obvious since surveys and studies clearly show there is NO possible counter point that would have concrete validity.

USA, the states that offer the most social equalities are the least religious…

So remember to always bring up this subject, you’ll be amused .

Links:
Phil Zuckerman studies
Gallup Poll 2009
USA Today article 2009
Religion in Europe 2007-2008

The most fascinating human being in recorded history

2010-04-02T10:21:00.000-04:00

It blows my mind what Democritus (460-370 BCE) knew 2400 years ago.

I would love to have a chat with this fellow to have him explain me how he came up with such answers as listed bellow such a long time ago.

46 There is an infinite number of worlds of different sizes: some are larger than ours, some have no sun or moon, others have suns or moons that are bigger than ours. Some have many suns and moons. Worlds are spaced at differing distances from each other; in some parts of the universe there are more worlds, in other parts fewer. In some areas they are growing, in other parts, decreasing. They are destroyed by collision with one another. There are some worlds with no living creatures, plants, or moisture.

47 The material cause of all things that exist is the coming together of atoms and void. Atoms are too small to be perceived by the senses. They are eternal and have many different shapes, and they can cluster together to create things that are perceivable. Differences in shape, arrangement, and position of atoms produce different things. By aggregation they provide bulky objects that we can perceive with our sight and other senses.

Many people where he lived had inquisitive minds just as he and their scientific knowledge was amazing as well as their teachings on life & morality. Had they been able to continue their teachings one can only imagine how advanced our sciences & evolved our societies would be. Unfortunately close minded religions took over and proceeded to destroy all of this knowledge and kill anyone who dared speak such foul worlds......

You can read more of his writings:

All funding for Natives in Canada has to end NOW!

2010-03-21T08:52:00.000-04:00

If your first reaction is that my statement has "descrimination or racism" written all over it then I challenge you to show me how Native Americans getting special favors is not descrimination against the rest of Canadians?

Yes it is horrible what the people did to them for 100s of years... but that was over 100 years AGO!!! Why do I have to pay for what other people did? What did I do? Nothing, that's exactly what I did, nothing.

I support every Canadian having EQUAL rights, no special privileges because of what might have occurred 100s of years ago, that's nonsense. By that logic then Acadian descendants should get reperations from the British crown, Irish descendants who immigrated to Québec should get reperations from the Québec government. Basically it would never end. Look at what Germany did to the Jewish population, do Jewish citizens of Germany get special tax exemptions? Of course not, you can't pay forever.

Giving them special consideration is simply not helping them prosper. Native Americans are as capable as anyone yet they linger in poverty and education. This will keep on going as long as they are left to live on reserves which are located in areas that have very little financial opportunities.

“Give someone a fish and you feed him for a day;
Teach someone to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

This is exactly what we are doing and if you or I were getting the same treatment we would likely be in the same situation as they are. Once we start treating them like any other Canadian their prosperity will skyrocket.

Don't worry about them keeping their traditions, people do that, not government.

Is there a meaning to life? ... Of course not ;-)

2010-03-14T16:01:00.000-04:00

One of the most profound questions ever asked and heavily discussed to this day, yet I've come to find it very easy to answer and explain.

Is there a meaning of life? My answer is "no" and my explanation is as simple.

There is no more of a reason for life then there is for the sun, asteroids, planets, gravity or anything else in this universe. Life is just a simple progression in one way no more significant than any other cosmic occurrence. Sounds pretty depressing right? Not really.

So what if there is no meaning of life? It has not kept humanity from"giving" itself a meaning. What is that meaning? History shows we are gradually evolving to create a society where everyone is treated equally and given the same opportunities. It's pretty obvious our meaning is to get to that. Utopia is a word often used to describe this ultimate goal.

Obviously we're very far from achieving this goal but we are progressing in the right direction, the following are 3 examples:

At no other time in human history have so many people been given access to education, health services & freedom of speech.
Violence is at an all time low, impossible you say? The reason people are under the opinion violence is at an all time high is due to massive access to information from around the globe and what we read, hear and see is violence on a weekly basis. Historical studies show the last 50 years have been the less violent.
Approximately 10% of the population owns 80% of the worlds wealth. At no other time in history has this number been higher (and growing), in the mid 1900s 5% owned 80+% while 100+ years ago it was as ridiculous as 1% owning over 90% of the worlds wealth.

We're on the right path... it's just too damn slow for my taste!

If we fail Haiti within 5 years, we will fail as a species.

2010-01-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

My title might seem pessimistic, but I prefer to call it realistic since pessimism invokes negative thinking. I'll explain my thinking behind it without any statistical mumbo jumbo and even not use common sense science. I'll just use common sense.

Haiti is a small country which has been devastated by the latest earthquake. Haiti was already the poorest nation on the western hemisphere. The country needs to be rebuilt from scratch (even the land) and the only way this can happen is from the outside, they have nothing with which to rebuild since the land has been used up of all it's resources. We can't blame them for having plundered their resources, rich countries like USA and Canada still do it, we've enacted laws to try and protect what is left, albeit it is far from enough but that is another topic for discussion.

If a small country in land and population cannot benefit from all we've learned throughout history then how do you expect humanity to solve bigger issues like dwindling planetary resources and massive pollution? If we don't change how we consume / pollute this planet will simply end up with no air, sounds like a drastic statement? It's reality, if we destroy the soil we destroy the ecosystem which is the lung of our planet and how life as we know it exists on Earth.

If you don't think that rebuilding Haiti into an above the poverty line functioning state within 5 years is possible you need to read more to discover what some selfless individuals or groups have accomplished throughout history. Now we need to apply that to humanity as a whole.

What is one simple thing you can do? Ask your governing bodies to do more in terms of wealth distribution; 2% of the worlds population owns 80% of the worlds wealth & resources.

If we can't fix a little speck of an island with all the technology and historical wealth of knowledge it will only show that our driving force is still what it has been for 10s of thousands of years, greed......

Why USA's healthcare reform will fail.

2010-01-20T07:43:00.000-05:00

USA's healthcare reform will STILL leave millions of citizens without any healthcare.
What is so crazy about this? Well, the country that currently does not have universal healthcare for everyone actually spends more government money as a percent of their GDP than countries who provide universal healthcare.

Here are a few countries with universal healthcare and how much of the budget goes to healthcare:

Australia 8.7%, Canada 10.1%, France 11%, Germany 10.4%, Japan 8.1%, Norway 9%, Sweden 9%.

How much does USA spend? 16%! Why is USA not able to provide universal healthcare to everyone if they spend so much? Most of the money they spend goes to the private sector and private healthcare is expensive, especially in USA.

In USA you have private insurance and anyone who gets a serious illness will have his insurer look at his complete medical history to see if they have a case to drop him, so even private insurance is not a guarantee of coverage. That's simple economics, that person is now a cost so as a company you want to get rid of that customer. And that ALONE is reason enough to never have healthcare be a for profit business only. They are trying to put in laws to longer permit this but why over-complicate the issue? Obviously these companies will use their army of lawyers to find loopholes and exploit them.

USA could turn around and simply re-organize the money they spend NOW and be in the top 5 countries in the world in providing universal healthcare. Simply stop paying private enterprises for your healthcare and do it yourself. Businesses are their to make a profit so of course they charge you more while government can run at "cost".

It's true governments often mismanages funds, but in general this is not the case. Specifically in healthcare where under-staffing is rampant throughout the world yet industrialized countries still provide full healthcare to everyone at close to half what USA spends. Taiwan and Singapore are renowned worldwide for their respective systems, they spend 6% and 3% of GDP respectively.

Until USA starts doing away with the private sector to provide its healthcare they'll never be able to provide true universal healthcare since it will cost them even more than it does now.

The Joy of being barefoot, with shoes .

2009-12-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

My recent trip to Belgium / France has caused allot of people I know to ask me "What are you wearing in your feet?", with an expression of confusion.

The whole concept of these shoes is to give you the same support as if you were barefoot, so basically you have ZERO support from them, the structure of your foot is your support, the shoe only offers you protection from sharp objects with a 4 millimeter thick sole.

Studies have shown that being barefoot is healthier than any shoe, even the very expensive "running shoe" made by the likes of Nike and Adiddas. Actually, some of these studies where financed by big shoe companies, they certainly are not going to brag when the research they financed showed people have significantly less injuries going barefoot and expressed greater comfort.

There's a great book on the whole concept titled Born To Run, the book is also a history of a Mexican native tribe named: Tarahumara who run ultra-marathons (up to 100 KM) beating the best "hi-tech" ultra-marathon runners in the world with nothing but a few millimeters thick piece of rubber under their sole to protect them from cuts.

The research I did and reading the book got me highly interested in "going barefoot" and I remember the comfort of being barefoot all day during the summer at the cottage when I was a kid.

Further research led me to the shoes you see in the picture, the Vibram Five Fingers . My first pair was the classic model which I were this past Summer.

The basics of the shoes are the following; the sole is 4 millimeters thick, they are not water proof but can be worn in the water, cost is 70-80$ US a pair, they are machine washable but must not be machine dried.

I purchased mine from Baumer's Footwear, their prices were the best as well as their shipping and it turns out their service is excellent.

My first try was my daily hour walk with my dogs and I was hooked, it is as they say, your body is your support and you feel it from the tip of the toes to the lower back. I started wearing them all the time, even to work.

With the fall setting in I needed a pair I could wear in cooler weather, the ones you see in the picture bellow are those shoes.

They can be worn in weather that's 8 degrees or higher. If you're going for a brisk walk or a run you can easily wear them as low as 3 degrees. The classics can be worn when it's over 12 degrees outside or as low as 8 if you're running.

The temperatures I stated are from my personal experience, nothing regarding temperature is suggested on their site which makes sense since everyone's comfort varies.

I am often (if not always) asked how easy are they to put on? Very easy, you just have to think of them as gloves and put your fingers in between each toe to snug them in. Although after a week or so you only have to do it with maybe 1 or 2 toes as they slide in pretty easy. In short they go on faster than any shoe you have to tie or strap. The second biggest question is if my feet hurt walking on rough terrain? Not at all, I've walked on crushed stones and did not feel the slightest discomfort.

With the fall setting in I wanted a pair that could be warmer, able to wear socks and have a conventional look.

I found Terra Plana which has a line named Vivo Barefoot . I bought the following shoe which has a 2 millimeter sole, again the idea of having no support outside of your body (how it should be).

A much more conventional look although three things go against it compared to the Five Fingers; a) They are nowhere near as comfortable, although they are by far more comfortable than any standard shoe, b) They cost 75$ more, in my opinion they are overpriced and c) the extra grip you feel with having your toes work independently with the Five Fingers is immediate. I keep the Vivo Barefoot at work for the winter and seeing as I work standing up all day I saw an immediate difference in my lower back compared to standard shoes with all their useless thick soles and heels, which are for aesthetic purposes only, not health. They have two things going for them versus the Five Fingers; a) The are warmer because your toes are together and you can wear socks, b) you can wear them earlier in the spring and later in the fall.

NOTE: You can wear socks with the Five Fingers but they're pretty expensive socks at 12$ USD a pair plus shipping costs.

So that's the story behind my shoes.

Expect to see more of them (Five Fingers), the company was having a difficult time keeping up with the high volume of orders.

The choice of not having any kids.

2009-12-20T07:00:00.024-05:00

I'm 36 years old now and the first time I had to explain why I did not want kids I was 12 years old. I knew I did not want kids at 12 years of age (and earlier). All my friends around me said they would probably have kids, at least you can't be sure at 12 is what some replied. But I was, without a doubt in my mind.

I've blogged before that I've lived the perfect childhood, so I don't have any bad experiences that pulled me in that direction.

As early as 12 I did not see or get a sense of any benefit from picking up poop, sleepless nights, the constant noises, the necessity for constant attention & supervision and the eventual questions: "why is the sky blue?" , "what is snow?" , "are we there yet?" "my boyfriend dumped me" or getting up early on the week-ends for their organized sports and so forth. I just could not see how all of this was supposed to be fun.

I'm 36 now and looking back this is still how I feel and I'll add the following;

I want to focus my time and energy on my couple (interests, needs, goals, dreams). I never felt like I was willing to sacrifice so much of my "couple time" for a child and nor do I have the interest to take on the job of parenting, nothing about it appeals to me. A child is the single biggest responsibility anyone will ever undertake, a 24/7 job for a good 20 years, you don't just "try" it.

For those that might think of replying "But your heritage?"... All I can say is "REALLY?" People really have kids these days so their lineage can continue? What the hell does it matter if it stops? Who's going to care in 100 years? On a universal scale A whole lifetime is nothing but less than HALF a second. I say to these people, enjoy your moment it's likely all there is and it is VERY VERY VERY short.

In short, I want to live my dream of being with a women I love, cherish her deeply, discover the world with her and through her eyes. I never saw the need for a child to accomplish that nor do I see adding to it (on the contrary).

Now I just have to remember to point people to this blog post next time I am asked :)

Again,

Feliz Navidad!

You CANNOT believe in science the way you can in fairy tales or religions

2009-11-14T14:43:00.006-05:00

Today I just had 2 very nice young ladies from the Jehovah's witness knock on my door. Not wanting to waste their time I immediately told them I was not interested. They asked me if it was due to a bad experience or that "I believed in science instead, like evolution".

The last part did it for me, I just had to explain to them how wrong that last statement was.

You see you can't believe in science the way you believe in anything else, science is not about belief, revelation, authority or tradition it's about evidence and ONLY evidence! As my example I'll use evolution since it is the flavor of the day in the general public. So basically Darwin came up with the scientific theory of evolution. He then published his evidence and his work was reviewed by other scientists who pretty much tried to disprove his scientific theory because in doing so was the only way to "prove" it.

After the scientific theory of evolution went through numerous reviews by other scientists who could not disprove his evidence it became valid. This is how all scientific theory's function.

The greatest thing about a valid scientific theory? It is reviewed every time scientists find new discoveries or new methods of study that are found to offer more accuracy that could apply to a theory. Take DNA for example, when it was discovered scientists reviewed over and over how this applied OR not to the scientific theory of evolution and once again it actually applied, only re-enforcing the validity of evolution and so like hundreds of previous new discoveries long after Darwin's death his scientific theory keeps standing up.

Even the concept of the earth going around the sun gets reviewed whenever some new discovery in astronomy is made that has a relation to how the earth rotates in space.

When a theory as old as Darwin's evolution has been through constant reviews over the past 180 years and every time it comes out as being even MORE valid by the scientific community it makes no sense to say "I don't agree with that" unless you can scientifically disprove the theory, which not a single human has been able to do, anyone who claims to have done so and has had his work peer reviewed has been flatly rejected, not because the scientific community believes in evolution, it's simply because the evidence shows this person's work is wrong.

THAT! Is how science works, a constant study and re-evaluation of a scientific theory.

Now these two young ladies said something along the lines "but it is a theory". I had to explain that a scientific theory and theory are totally different, they should invent another word for scientific theory because it just confuses people.

The only similarity between a scientific theory and a theory is ONE thing... the word: Theory

A simple theory is pretty much just an opinion or a belief, I can say I have a theory that unicorns once existed but were hunted to extinction because humans wanted the ivory, it's almost believable because we see it today with so many species close to extinction because they are hunted for their ivory.

Now if I were to make a statement that this is a scientific theory then I would need evidence, publish it and this documentation would have to be sent to scientists, probably archeologists in this case and they would review my work and of course in no time flat would disprove my scientific theory and it would simply fall back to being an opinion... or a belief.

This is what is so scary about religious people who are fervent believers in ONE book or doctrine and will not believe common scientific sense whenever it goes against their beliefs which is funny because they have no problems using science to try and spread their message (computers, tv, radio, papers, cars, phones, etc...). They try and remove the parts of science they don't agree with and if they can impose their views on others they do so... imposing values on others is one of the main causes of violence as people rebel when freedom is taken away.

If they don't believe in hard peer reviewed science like evolution, they simply cannot believe in ANY science, because ALL science came from a scientific theory. Which means they should throw out their religious book(s) because they only exist due to science (the invention of paper).... heck even all their synthetic clothes! ;-) .

Belgium & France trip 2009

2009-10-31T14:42:00.154-04:00

NOTE: You can click on the pictures to expand them and have a bigger view.

From Oct 14th to Oct 29th I was in Belgium and France as part of an organized tour visiting sites specific towards Canada's contribution to WW1 and WW2. I also visited a few non world war sites.

Here follows the story of this incredible experience.

The Tour was hosted by Norm Christie, who is a premiere historian on Canada's military history. He's been doing these tours for over 12 years. You might have seen his shows on the History Channel: For King and Empire, For King and Country and In Korea.

Our first stop was a 5 night stay in Ypres, Belgium a city totally destroyed in WW1 as it was within German artillery range for 4 years .

We visited the Menin Gate a memorial dedicated to Commonwealth soldiers who died in WW1 and who's remains were never found, leaving them without a grave. 54,896 names are on the walls (6983 Canadians).

A photo of my attendance at the Last Post Cerermony, my father is in the white jacket. They have the ceremony every night at 20h00 to remember those fallen in WW1, there is always a crowd even during the work week, allot of the locals turn out with their kids, even teenagers come with their friends. This has been occurring since the end of WW1 over 90 years ago.

Names inscribed on the Menin Gate.

During those 4 days we visited numerous WW1 cemeteries around Ypres, know as the Ypres Salient, this area was the bloodiest of WW1 and cemeteries are countless. The major one is Tyne Cot Cemetery which has 11 954 buried Allied soldiers and a memorial to the missing consisting of 33 783 Allied soldiers whose remains were never found. In total 88 679 soldiers are on the Menin Gate and Tyne Cot Memorial as nothing was ever found to identify them.

We visited the town of Passchendale where the bloodiest battles of WW1 occurred, 260 000 Germans died and 300 000 British Commonwealth troops died at the battle for Passchendale. It has a museum and monument commemorating Canada's role at Passchendale (two pictures bellow).

My father in front of the cube commemorating Canada's role at Passchendale.

A visit to the Brooding Soldier memorial was a must see. The expression on the soldier's face is very striking, you get a real sense of the sadness for the losses of fallen comrades.

Me and my father in the heavy rain that came out of nowhere while visiting the Brooding Soldier, see the wind blowing my dad's head cover on his head. It was important for me to have a picture next to the memorial.

A visit to the biggest Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in the world: Tyne Cot where 11 954 WW1 Soldiers are buried of which 8367 are unmarked graves. This happened allot in WW1 because of constant shelling a body was often found blown apart and there was noway to identify the remains. This is one of the most visited cemeteries in the world.

A cadet band was on site and played music, it really added to the atmosphere.

All Commonwealth cemeteries around the world are cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, they care for 23 000 burial sites over 150 countries around the world with over 1.7 million dead from WW1 and WW2.

It does not matter the size of the cemetery, the following has just one grave, the soldier was a WW2 bomber pilot who was shot down and his body was recovered in a small village, he was buried by the locals during the war and so they left him at this location.

You will also find Germans buried in Commonwealth cemeteries, both sides showed respect for the dead by giving proper burials to the enemy, you'll find Allied soldiers buried in German cemeteries.

Here is one example, notice the design of tombstone is different.

Polish (left) and Czech (right) soldiers also have a different designed headstone, these soldiers were fighting on the side of the Allies but no part of the Commonwealth hence the different design.

Finally the French have their own cross design. The headstone in the foreground is a different cross design, the family probably paid for it, I've seen a few other headstones with a different design (less than 5 in over 100000+ headstones I viewed). This is no longer permitted.

NOTE: In the background of this picture you see more German soldiers buried in a Commonwealth cemetery.

I was surprised to see a headstone with Chinese markings, I knew some had fought on our side (Chinese Labor Corps) but for many it was pretty much forced labor and yet if they died respect was shown for their culture.

The headstone bellow shows a Canadian Victoria Cross winner (the symbol at the bottom). Only 1356 have been awarded since the first one in 1856. The medal is the highest possible honor you can receive from the British / Commonwealth military. 94 Canadians received it. As of 1993 Canadians can no longer received this British Victoria Cross as we now have our own, the Canandian Victoria Cross and like the British it is not freely given, no one has yet received the Canadian Victoria Cross.

A WW1 medical facility ( Essex Farm ) on the front lines was restored in the mid 90s, they would be so close to the front that they would get hit by some enemy artillery.

This is the location where Major John McRAE composed his famous In Flanders Field poem.

Inside you would stack as many as 12 beds, you can see small wooden crosses left by frequent visitors.

An original drawing of how the facility was planned.

Close to the facility was a small trench system that was discovered in the 90s, they started to excavate it and found a very big underground area that goes 10 meters deep that was flooded, the water was pumped out and they discovered bodies, as many as over 150 are estimated. It was decided to flood the tunnels again and cease excavation in respect for all the dead, it now serves as a burial site and only the top part is accessible.

Here is another example of how they preserve the memory of war in Europe, this pole was used by the Allies as an execution spot for deserters. All the names of those executed at this location are put on display. Since the psychological factors of war were virtually unknown these soldiers are no longer considered disgraced.

The pole is in the backyard of a business who made it accessible to the general public, it is the original pole that was last used in 1918 for the last man executed.

The town of Ypres is surrounded by a fortification, I walked around and on top, it is very impressive. It was started in the 14th century and the town was completely fortified by the 18th century. A moat was also dug so as to surround the city with water.

This was an exit to a small boat, they have quite a few around the city. If the city was under siege it gave them possible exits to send messengers for communication with the outside.

There is a beautiful little cemetery on top of the fortification named Rampart Cemetery. I think I remember counting 12 Canadians buried at the location out of 193 graves. I found it to be the cemetery with the most beautiful location.

We visited a V2 WW2 Bunker at La Coupole that place is humongous, the size inside cannot be expressed properly. It is 3 story's high inside.

Entrance to the bunker.

The size of the tunnels.

This should give you a feeling of the size, from the entrance to where it shows on the map where I am located when I took the picture it takes about 10 minutes to get there on foot.

Inside I saw something that showed how the Nazi's were pure evil. They were so desperate to eliminate the Jews they even built vehicles with gas tanks on top and would put people in them, turn on the gas and kill them.

They would stack 50 people in this van and it would take 10 minutes to kill them.

A car used for the same purpose was preserved.

We proceeded to a visit the German Todt Battery Museum, a huge WW2 bunker that had a gun who could hit the town of Dover in England across the channel sea.

Inside is a collection of authentic items, a few examples:

German officers uniform, picture of Hitler and mini Nazi Germany flag, all authentic.

The bunker how it looked from the front with the big gun that could reach the UK coast.

Me and my father outside on top of the biggest gun of WW2, the Schwerer Gustav. Only two were built and were moved via railways, this is the only one left.

A pic from the side

Here is a pic of me by a cemetery, look at my feet you will see two unexploded WW1 shells that were found by the farmer, after 90 years you still find tons of stuff. The sign points to another cemetery named Québec.

When we visited a cemetery there was a farm next to it and a WW1 bunker was still there, it is the only one left of 6 that were built in the area by Germany. The other 5 were destroyed after the war and when they got to this one the farmers had already built the farm next to it and were using it as a stall for animals so it was left in place.

The farmer found a very big WW1 unexploded shell in Oct-2009

A visit to John McRae's grave at Wimereux cemetery, he's the one who composed the poem In Flander's Field, the most popular piece of Canadian literature in the world.

A plaque honoring him.

His headstone.

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below...

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields...

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands, we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields...

The cemetery is the only War Graves Cemetery that the headstones are laid on the ground, this is due to the cemetery being on a sandy hillside.

A private museum in Belgium honoring Canada named Canada Museum. The museum is absolutely amazing, by far the most incredible war museum I have ever seen this is THE must see museum if you are in Belgium. The most amazing thing is he built this all via donations from various collectors in less then a year around 1988.

All the radio equipment is operational. A single one of these sells for over 20 000$.

All the items are original.

This is all original propaganda, there is 3 times more than what is seen here and a single poster can easily go for over 1000$.

All the household items are also original. Did I mention how amazing the museum is? ;-)

A half day was in Bruges, Belgium for simple leisure. A historic city that is a UNESCO world heritage site. The city has waterways all through the center, it is often referred to "Venice of the north". The city center was never destroyed during the wars and so it is like walking back through time with all the medieval architecture.

The highest point in the center is the tower.

We took a boat ride, it lasts 45 minutes and is definitely a must, the driver gives a history lesson. He did it in 4 languages! (French, English, Dutch and German).

Main Square of Bruges.

Bruges is definitely a must see city if you ever go to Belgium, especially for couples =) .

We visited two German cemeteries, the Langemarck Cemetary has 44 234 soldiers buried. They have plaques on the ground listing the soldiers names that were buried with a few crosses laid out throughout the cemetery.

Their cemeteries have a very dark somber atmosphere.

They have these big plaques with the names of soldiers whose remains were never found, at Langemarck they have 11 813 names of men who never returned home and nothing was ever found of them. Some British cadets can be seen, they had come to pay their respects, the British government now makes it mandatory for school children to have a trip to come and visit graves of both sides.

A close up.

There is a small but very well done memorial to Australian troops in Fromelles, the remnants of bunkers at the location can be seen.

The statue is very touching and my favorite after the Brooding Soldier.

We took a group picture outside a WW1 bunker Hitler visited in WW2. We had a fantastic group, all Canadians from BC (4), Alberta (1), Ontario (16) and Québec (2). It was a great pleasure meeting them.

We followed this by a visit to the Neuve Chapelle Memorial for the British Indian Army's role in WW1, the sad thing is that it is never mentioned in both India and Pakistan because they do not want people visiting it since it has soldier of both nationalities. At that time India and Pakistan were one country, the British eventually separated it in two and made Pakistan a Muslim country and they have been at odds ever since.

The cemetery has a beautiful artwork.

One of the last visits around Ypres was an old fortification where WW2 French resistance people were executed by Nazis.

The plaques show the names of the 200+ that were executed on the pole seen on the right.

After 5 days in and around Ypres we left for Arras, France for a 4 night stay.

Our first day was a visit to the Vimy Memorial. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It also serves as the place of commemoration for First World War Canadian soldiers killed, or presumed dead, in France that have no known grave (11 169). The 250 acre land is given in perpetuity to Canada. It was unveiled in 1936. The battle of Vimy Ridge is what brought Canada international recognition overnight as Canadians had taken the one spot from the Germans that everyone felt was impossobile to do and they did it with a united Canadian force, the first time in the war.

It was a gray day which really added to the atmosphere.

We visited some of the underground at Vimy.

Officers quarters in the Vimy underground, this was luxury...

The Maple Leaf was already a symbol of Canadian pride in WW1, you can see a maple leaf carved in the wall.

This is up top showing some of the preserved trenches, you can partially see the entrance to the underground.

A picture of a German mortar that was left where it was found, it is damaged from being hit by a shell.

Picture of me and my father at the front of the monument.

Me next to the spirit of sacrifice passing the torch.

In the evening I went to the restaurant in front of our hotel where I was told the owner had a dog who roamed freely, being the dog lover I am I could not resist! :-D

In less than 2 minutes of meeting him he climbed on me to get closer. Cesar Millan has nothing on me, I am the true dog whisperer!

He then proceeded to give me a hug. The next day me and my dad had ribs at another place and I brought him all the bones. His expression when he saw the jackpot was priceless.

This bombed out church in a small village has been left as it was after the war as a remembrance to the destruction of war (WW1). It's very impressive.

We visited Beaumont-Hamel park a memorial for Newfoundland troops, they served separate from Canada as they were not part of Canada in WW1. The site is quite big with 74 acres preserved. I had no idea of its existence.

The official symbol of Newfoundland, the Caribou!

Overlooking the battlefield from where the caribou is located. The trenches you see were Allied trenches. The the Germans were located by the first line of trees you see in the back.

The only tree that remains in the park from WW1.

This is the WW1 Lochnagar crater, craters were blown up by soldiers digging mines under the enemy trenches and then packing it with explosives, it was one way to try and blow past enemy trenches, it did not prove as effective as one would think. This one was blown at the same time as 19 others, the total blast of all mines was heard as far away as Dublin in Ireland, the total detonation power was equivalent to Hiroshima's nuclear bomb. The site receives over 75 000 visitors a year. Debris would fly as high as 4000 feet.

I went down the bottom of the crater, see how small people look at the bottom, it is 27 meters deep (90 feet) by 91 meters wide (300 feet).

There is a monument in the village of Pozières commemorating the area were tanks were used for the first time in history, it was on September 15th 1916. 32 tanks were used.

The cap badge the tank corps used is my favorite.

This cemetery is named Adanac which is Canada spelled backwards.

While in Arras I visited the cities underground, during WW1 over 19km of underground was built under Arras where a total of 24 000 soldiers lived there. The underground went as much as 12 meters deep.

Picture showing soldiers living underground in Arras.

Underground workshop.

As you can see it is very big, they had art from a local artist his designs were original :)

During WW1 Arras was destroyed, only one building survived any damaged.

Arras after WW1.

A picture of the only building left completely intact.

We had a group lunch at the Avril Williams Guest House. In 2001 they excavated a trench system dating back to WW1.

We visited a huge memorial that I had no clue existed, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing. It has the name of 72 090 WW1 Allied soldiers who died and who have no known grave simply because once again no remains were ever found. It is the biggest British battle memorial in the world. It's height is 46 meters or 150 feet.

It was a very foggy day, but I still find it looks impressive in the fog

Here is an aerial picture which gives a good view of its massiveness.

Near that location we saw a memorial for Irish soldiers of WW1 named the Ulster Tower.

It's not big inside, about 4 meters by 3 meters but it is full of beautiful items.

We departed Arras for Bayeux in Normandy, on the way we stopped at Dieppe to visit the failed Dieppe raid launched by the Allies in August 19th 1942 which was composed mainly of Canadians.

They have a beautiful little park in memory of those who fell at Dieppe named Square du Canada. The square is overlooked by a beautiful 14th century castle named Chateau de Dieppe which is now a museum. A man in his 70s saw the flag on our tour bus and came over to shake my fathers hand and say thank you for Canada's effort in both World Wars.

Me and my father in the Square du Canada.

The biggest bombs dropped from bombers in WW2, 500 pounds.

Overlooking Juno Beach where Canadians landed on D-Day, June 6th 1944.

Here is a classic picture of the troops after they had taken the beach from Nazi Germany, the house was miraculously sparred by Allied bombing. The troops walking together are German prisoners of war on route to England's prison camps.

The house as it stands today, the family who owns the house is the same as in WW2 and they always keep a Canadian flag as a way of saying thank you. They've name it "Canada House". It was an amazing sensation actually being on the same location that so many heroic Canadians marched on for the greater good.

This picture shows how far the soldiers had to march to get to the Germans, I took the photo next to a German bunker, the buoy you see in the water is where the water level was as the troops had to come in at low tide because stick mines prevented the troop transports from coming in at high tide which would have left the troops much closer to shore.

A visit to the Beny-Sur-Mer cemetary where the majority of Canadian soldiers buried are those who fought from D-Day (Jun-6 44) to August 30th 1944 for the Battle of Normandy.

The person pictured with me and my father is Jeff who was our coach driver. He served 20 years in the military in the 70s and 80s as part of the Argylle & Sutherland Highlanders infantry. He dressed in military honors for the day.

The cemetery grounds, they have two towers you can climb to take pictures which enabled me to get a nice overview with the camera.

Part of a bunker that has been preserved with original gun on the beaches of Normandy.

The following are pictures of a point high up that US troops had to take by shooting grappling hooks and climb up with German's firing at them. The US soldiers did manage to take it and the site was preserved.
You can see the event re-enacted in the movie The Longest Day.

I took a picture to give a sense of how high they had to climb, imagine climbing with someone shooting at you from the top... brave is not a word that can define these men.

You can see some of the original barbwire.

Even after being massively bombed by the Allies the Germans simply came out of their underground bunkers unhurt. You can still see all the bomb craters.

Next was a visit to the US cemetery and memorial located right by the beach, it is simply amazing! 9387 US soldiers are buried.

Me and my father.

They made an incredible map showing the Battle of Normandy, look at Norm Christie on the right to get a sense of the size.

On Omaha beach you get a good view of how massive the artificial port was (Mulberry Harbour). It was towed from England, in the water you still see some of the structure.

The Anti Aircraft and Anti Tank Gun German 88, one of Nazi Germany's most feared weapons by the allies in WW2.

The next day we had another leisure type day and our coach driver offered to drive us to what I consider the most incredible historical site in all of France. The world famous Mont Saint-Michel. I can't thank you enough for this one Jeff, very generous of you.

Arriving.

Mont Saint-Michel is on a very small island of 1square km. The population is 41, although 11 residences are now used commercially (restaurants, souvenir shops) of the 30 people who live there 11 are monks who still live in the Abbey. Most of the Abbey is open to the public.

Here is an aerial picture.

At the base of the island.

What used to be the main dining hall.

They have a plaque dedicated to the French-Canadian relationship. The person who presented Jacques Cartier to the king of France on the 8th of May 1532 at the time was the head monk of the Abbey. In 1534 Jacques Cartier claimed Canada in the name of France.

Mont Saint-Michel is a definite must see if you're ever in France.

This was Jeff's reward for taking us to Mont Saint-Michel ;-)

The next day we visited the location of Pegasus bridge, this bridge was taken by commandos on D-Day, they landed in 5 gliders only 40-50 meters away, each glider had 30 men. They completely surprised the Germans and took it within 10 minutes. This was a special moment for our coach driver as his father was one of the men who took part in this mission.

The original bridge was replaced but it was kept as a memorial right next to it's original location, you might have seen the taking of the bridge in the movie: The Longest Day.

One of the gliders on display next to the bridge.

We also visited the small town of Fallaise where the Chateau de Falaise of William 1 of England was built (Guillaume le conquérant in French), they are completely restoring it.

A picture of the keep.

I had to take a picture of this French vehicle, you hope they did not use these tires in WW2 but I was told that indeed they did which kinda defeats the idea of camouflage! =)

A picture of one of the most feared tanks of WW2, the German Tiger Tank.

Here I am hanging from the tanks big gun, not so scary now ;-) .

We stopped at the location Major David Currie was photographed bringing back Germans having convinced them to surrender. His accomplishments led him to being given the Victoria Cross.

Photo showing Major Currie holding a pistol coming back with Germans, he's next to the man in a white shirt.

I am going to finish with what I consider the best picture of the trip and the best picture I've ever taken. It shows Norm Christie our host over looking a cemetery.

It was a foggy morning and just gave the perfect atmosphere.

Overall the trip was more than I expected, Norm was a fantastic guide with a great sense of humor and he knows his military history, every cemetery we visited he would explain why it is located there, usually because of battles fought in the area. His passion for what these men did shines through when he would give us stories of men buried. I saw A LOT more than I ever expected. He's doing two tours next year so if you are interested you can go to his website http://www.cefbooks.ca/. Oh and he's very patient as he answered my constant barrage of questions with great detail, thanks Norm =) .

It felt great being able to pay my respects to all those who sacrificed their lives or came back forever scarred by the horrors of war so I may enjoy a life of luxury.
Walking in their steps was my way of saying thank you.

Sharing this with my father only made it more memorable.

My lifelong dream is about to be realized this October!

2009-09-12T10:16:00.005-04:00

I always promised myself that my first trip overseas would be a pilgrimage to pay my respects to those who fought for us in WW1 & WW2, the best way I feel I can do so is by visiting the major sites they fought for us and walking in their steps. This October I am about to go on a 14 day trip visiting these sites in France and Belgium. And as an added bonus I get to share this with my father! Battlefield Tours 2009

The tour is guided by Norm Christie, whom many consider to be Canada's foremost expert on anything related to Canada's military history. Some of you might have seen his shows on the History Channel.

It might not be the typical big dream most individuals have but for me... this is it! I can die happy after that, hopefully 100 years from now :-) .

Anyone going to Europe should at least once in their lifetime stop at two locations, Vimy Place and the Juno Centre at Normandy. Take the time to go and say thank you to everyday Canadians who fought for the freedom of all future generations, this means you.

After this trip it's free for all traveling from then on all over the world! So many places to see and so little time !!

8 reasons RAW Milk is healthy for you and pasteurized milk is NOT.

2009-06-17T19:53:00.002-04:00

1. In raw milk all the enzymes that occur naturally in milk are intact. These enzymes facilitate the digestion and utilization by the body of the nutrients, proteins, sugars, and fats contained in the milk.

Pasteurized milk contains less than 10% of the original enzymes causing the milk to be largely indigestible. Consuming this milk places an enormous strain on the digestive system.

2. Raw milk contains 22 amino acids, including 8 that are essential. Because they are in a whole, unaltered state, they are completely bio-available for use by our bodies.

Pasteurized milk provides very limited metabolic availability of the protein complex due to the adulteration of the amino acids, which is caused by the heat used in the pasteurization process. An ample supply of each amino acid is necessary for these proteins to be used properly by the body. If even one is missing or damaged, the rest cannot function properly.

3. Raw milk contains unaltered fats that provide valuable fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids, which are all completely metabolically available. The fats and the nutrients within them are necessary for absorption of the protein and calcium in the milk.

Pasteurized milk does contain some fatty acids, however, depending on temperatures used in pasteurization, they may be drastically altered. Also, due to the lack of the enzyme lipase, which is necessary for the digestion of these fats, they cannot be properly metabolized. This will also impact the body’s ability to absorb or utilize other nutrients.

The homogenization process also alters the fats, making them indigestible and virtually unusable by the body. There is evidence that this practice produces substances, in the milk that cause damage to heart and arterial membranes.

4. When consuming raw milk, the lactose is absorbed slowly into the bloodstream.

Tests indicate that once pasteurized, the carbohydrates in the milk are less bio-available. Pasteurized milk has been associated with blood sugar imbalances.

5. Raw milk contains all of its innate fat and water-soluble vitamins and they are metabolically available to our bodies for health and growth.

Heating at high temperatures for pasteurization results in the loss and/or adulteration of vitamins A, D, and E. Up to 60% of these fat-soluble vitamins are lost. Vitamin C loss is upwards of 50%. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed and destruction of other water-soluble vitamins ranges from 38% to 80%. Synthetic vitamin D is added to most commercial pasteurized milk, further unbalancing the nutrient profile. The synthetic form of this vitamin promotes the calcification of soft tissues and softening of hard tissues such as bone.

6. All minerals are 100% available in raw milk and have a synergistic effect in the body. These include calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur, as well as essential trace minerals.

The heat used in pasteurization decreases calcium availability by 50% or more and other minerals are adulterated as well. Due to this adulteration and the loss of enzymes, the minerals that are left cannot be effectively metabolized.

7. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria, which is advantageous for the digestive tract and the immune system. The beneficial bacteria will inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the milk itself. Recent research has proven that pathogenic bacteria placed in raw milk could not thrive. Raw milk will sour and is still usable in that state.

Pasteurized milk contains no beneficial bacteria as the pasteurization process kills all of it. If this milk is contaminated, pathogens will proliferate. After pasteurization, milk doesn’t sour naturally, but will become rancid and rot.

8. Raw milk contains a cortisone-like factor in the cream, which aids in combating allergies.

Pasteurized milk has lost this constituent due to the heat used in pasteurization. (Thomas Cowan, MD, Michigan State Medical School)

Ultra-pasteurization, a process during which milk is held at above boiling temperatures (285?), is now becoming a common practice and the affect of this on the milk is even more devastating than pasteurization. UP milk is so dead that yogurt cannot even be made from it! UP milk will not contain even the insignificant nutrition found in regular pasteurized milk and will be much more difficult for our bodies to deal with.

Is Raw Milk Safe?

This may still be a question in your mind and there is much controversy surrounding raw milk and its safety. Many do not have the full story so parrot warnings concerning it, which have no biblical, historical, or true scientific basis. Many people are concerned about drinking raw milk because of the negative ideas that have been proliferated by the FDA, Milk Advisory Board, and so on.

Remember the pastured cattle that are free to roam in the sunshine, eat grass, and are happy, healthy, and unstressed? This is the kind of animal good raw milk will come from.

It is clear that healthy cows, proper farm hygiene, grass-based feed, and non-toxic farming practices provide good quality, safe raw milk. Good, clean raw milk is a God-given, healthful, and healing food for us.

In the days when our university scientists did real research, the health of children fed raw milk was compared with the health of children who were given pasteurized milk. The results might surprise you. Children fed raw milk were proven to have greater resistance to TB, scurvy, flu, diphtheria, pneumonia, asthma, skin problems caused by allergies and tooth decay. Their growth and calcium absorption was also superior.

Billions of people still consume raw milk, good for them because many of them do not have access to proper foods and that is there only source of good nutrition at times. If they were on pasteurized milk we would probably have billions of very sick people.

Sometimes less is better...

2009-06-06T18:34:00.001-04:00

My mother is the best example of "Sometimes less is better" and what it means. Let me explain.

It immediately made me think of how we are bombarded with news through paper, radio, tv and the internet. I have always been a big proponent of "getting informed".
I often chastised my mother for not being "interested" in what is going on in the world. She would reply that it brought nothing to her as a person and she preferred to concentrate on things she could actually change within her close personal circle.

I never really understood this until that day when I thought long & hard what all that information was bringing to me... I had to be honest and say: nothing "positive" . Just allot of frustration at the idiocy of the world continually succumbing to good old fashion GREED!

It's been 2 months since I significantly reduced reading or watching news of the social / political nature and letting it all get to me. I also stay away from too much negative news and considering that 99.99% of all social / political mainstream news is negative in nature it only makes sense I feel less frustrated.

I still listen to my local radio when I get up in the morning just to get a quick glimpse of what is going on as I prepare for work, also I like that it focuses more on local issues. And of course I have a good laugh watching the Daily Show :) .

So yes, less is definitely better in some situations... consider doing the same, you might just like the results.

And sometimes mother knows best ;-) .

The perfect Childhood, did you have one?

2009-05-11T21:06:00.012-04:00

I sure have! Yep, I had the perfect childhood. I'm sure my parents will be having a bottle of wine over this blog post.

Ok, so it was not perfect, my parents are not millionaires ;) , although my father does keep trying over and over and over again to be one and with astonishing regularity over the last 4 decades... playing the lottery.

Apart from that, I can't think of anything I would change. Both my parents were present in my life, even with all the overtime my father worked I cannot remember him ever not having time for me or missing his presence. My mother was home 6-7 months every year which was great because when I had a question more often then not it was one of my parents who was there to answer me. They were present to challenge me and make me think if I said or did something foolish. Obviously we could have had more "stuff" if my mother had worked full time, but no "stuff" would have been worth not having one of my parents so present in my growing years.

People who know me might think I was spoiled being a single child but that's not the case, my first bike I had to earn my money through house chores so I could buy it myself, it had it for 5+ years, maybe having paid for it myself had something to do with that, that was my first class of economics and I was only 7 years old. I also ended up buying all my future bicycles as well. The only time I ever got anything was Christmas and my birthday and it was not a mountain of gifts. Also I never screamed in a store "demanding" such and such a toy, my parents always gave me the same respect they would an adult and it was required I act as an adult in terms of demeanor. If I did not they did not acquiesce my emotions, I paid the price, it never felt strict or unfair if ever I was punished, I knew I had broken a rule and they took the time to explain to me why and if I understood.
I never did miss out on anything, I tried allot of team sports and my parents invested in whatever I needed to play those sports, just the basics, nothing fancy. When I ended up not enjoying the sport (hockey, soccer, karate, etc...) and wanted to quit they always made me finish the "season", which I often reluctantly did.

Nothing was ever forced on me except personal responsibility, if I did something wrong I paid the full price for it, if it meant a week in house punishment, it was a week. No way they were going to let me off the hook, after all if you get in debt by being irresponsible are the people you ow money too going to lessen the debt? That goes for life in general and they wanted me to understand this as soon as possible and I did.

The single best example of them never forcing me in any direction is with school, they could tell early on I was bored at school and by the time I was 15 I decided to quit and go to adult school (the concept was more appealing). My parents had to sign for me to be allowed to quit at 15, they signed on a Monday and the next morning I was out the door looking for a full time job to pay pension until I was back in school. Again, personal responsibility.

They hammered away pretty good at being responsible for oneself without having to actually use a hammer ;) .

As a kid I went on so many road trips I think I saw everything there is to see for kids within a days driving distance, this went on for about 8 years. Again, no fancy hotels or expensive trips. The best memories I have of those trips... Being with my parents.

And there was the cottage, the best memories of my childhood are spending all summer at the cottage, no tv, no video games, no motor bikes until I was about 14. It's weird because I just cannot remember what kept me busy and not bored all summer long. All I know is I can easily go without "technology" and I know my cottage experience has something to do with it, gracias a mi padres.

One thing that sticks is how nothing was really "forbidden", I will explain what I mean by using two examples. The first one was when I was about 10 years old my parents told me I could have one beer at the cottage during the summer time, all I had to do was ask. All they did after was remind me of my right once the summer started. I never did ask for one until the 3rd summer. My friends could not believe that I could actually ask for a beer, to me it was not a big deal.

Also, around the time I was 12 or 13 my Dad came home one day and had a pile of about 20 magazines he brought home from work that a few of his buddies enjoyed "reading"... they were all Playboy magazines, he brought them downstairs and said I could have a look and left them there. A week after viewing them I put them next to the fireplace (I did cut out one centerfold for safekeeping). When my friends found out about that they went nuts, again... no big deal for me.

My parents always say to their friends that I was an easy child to raise, I did not go through the so called "adolescent craze" ... maybe this has something to do with them being present, patient et participating in my childhood.

Why the Montreal Canadians are not winners. ONE reason.

2009-04-24T14:58:00.003-04:00

Not enough Canadian players and not enough are from Québec.

In 1993 when they won their last Stanley Cup the HABS roster consisted of:

23 Canadian born players and 14 of those were from Québec.

In 2008 the roster only had 12 Canadian born players and just 6 were from Québec.

Look at any past Stanley Cup winner and without exception a majority of the team always consists of Canadian players. The reason is simple, hockey is our national sport and Canadian kids dream of winning the Stanley Cup. Québec born kids dream of winning the Stanley Cup while playing for the Montreal Canadians.

Take a US kid and he has a list of over 15 sports that are ahead of hockey in terms of national interest. As for European players, soccer is the big sport and when hockey is in second place or maybe even first for countries like Finland and Sweden these kids dream of winning the Olympic gold medal or the world championship, not the Stanley Cup.

You do not win on talent alone, you need pride to play for a team (Québec kids and the HABs) and a passion to win the biggest honour in sport and for Canadian kids it's the Stanley Cup.

The HABs need to stock their team with over 50% Québec born players, 30-40% from anywhere else in Canada and the rest (10-20%) can be from anywhere else.

Oh and they need to stop firing good coaches the likes of Pat Burns, Alain Vignault, Michel Therrien, Claude Julien and Guy Carbonneau, just too name a few.

Cosmic Calendar. Your lifetime is 0.15 seconds in length.

2009-04-05T10:51:00.009-04:00

The idea of the Cosmic Calendar is old but I only happen to come upon it yesterday.

It was invented by Carl Sagan in the 70s.

In short if you put the beginning of time to now in one calendar year the last 500 years would be the LAST second of December... so December 31st 23h59:59 to 00h00.

And one individual lifetime is about 0.15 seconds.

The "most" profound video I have ever seen...

2009-03-22T16:44:00.011-04:00

-

Click here to watch it and read my thoughts AFTER viewing it.

Now did you watch it? No... then don't bother reading on :p .

Why is a video about the cosmos one I find so profound? Because it brings EVERYTHING into perspective. It shows how irrelevant we are in the big picture, right away that sounds depressing but it is not, it is rather uplifting because if you look at some of the negative issues going on in the world or your own life this simple video shows to you how small it is... so small you can almost consider it non-existent.

Of course that is not really the case, if you are sick or starving the pain or hunger is not non-existent, but your mind can give you more even in such dyer situations.

If you have any negative energy around you at this very moment (sickness, no job, lack of food, etc...), watch the video again and ponder your problem in terms of how big it is to the Universe, it just is not there.

Your body might feel it but your mind does not have too... the choice is yours.

Montreal Canadiens: Don Lever as coach & 50% of players from Québec.

2009-03-14T13:07:00.004-04:00

With the recent firing of Guy Carbonneau the discussion about choosing a non french speaking coach being a possibility in Montreal has erupted. Well as a Habs fan I will tell you I could not care less what language the coach speaks... wait I do, I care that he speaks "Stanley Cup".

And if that is the only language you care about when it comes to your hockey team then Don Lever is the best candidate for the job. The man who has given high praise concerning Don Lever is possibly the all time best hockey brain ever... Scotty Bowman.

Personally I do not think the coach was the biggest problem... I am very disappointed in Bob Gainey, he has not done any good trades except for Robert Lang since arrive in Montreal and he has not hired any full time staff to scout for Québec players.

This brings me to the second part concerning having the team consist of at least 50% of players from Québec. Why is that a factor when the coach is not? Simple, kids grow up in Québec dreaming of playing for Montreal, there is a probability that they will give more of themselves in Montreal than with another team, they speak the language and know the culture which in their private lives is one less worry and with so many on the team they can guide their teamates who are not from Québec on our quirky french culture :) .

If I had to choose between THE best junior player who is not Québécois and the 2nd best would be from Québec my choice would be a no brainer... take the Québec kid. He won't have to deal with any cultural difficulties outside the ice and thus will be able to focus on hockey 100% and there is a good chance pride in playing for Montreal will make him an even better player.

We also have too many non-North American players. I have nothing against them, but the fact is in their respective countries the big prize is not the Stanley Cup but the World Championship and the Olympics.

Take a kid from Alberta and his dream is winning the Stanley Cup while one from Sweden, Finland, Russia, etc... it is winning the gold medal at the Olympics.

And never forget the culture barriers that affect their personnal lives which in turn affects their professionnal lives.

Getting rid of Serge Savard, Patrick Roy, Pierre Turgeon (#1 center) and Claude Julien were the worst decisions of the last 16 years. It is time for the Montreal Canadiens to be stacked with Québécois and North American players with the best coach possible... right now that is Don Lever.

How I stay "FIT" and "Healthy".

2009-03-01T17:39:00.034-05:00

Most people who know me are aware that I enjoy living a healthy lifestyle and keeping a good physical condition.

I always state that it is not hard to do. Here I will explain what I do in detail for exercises & nutrition.

I do practice what I preach, here is a picture of myself in March 2009 at 36 years of age.

I think of myself as being in good physical condition and yet achieving a good shape is not that hard.

Here is what I do in terms of training: Twice a week I do resistance training, 3 times a week I do one special exercise that works both my abs and and lower back, I walk to work at a brisk pace, nothing to make me sweat since I have my work clothes on but a good enough pace that I feel my blood pumping.

Resistance training: I stick with exercises that will not irritate my lower back.

1- Legs: I start with one leg squats with no weights. I do 3 sets per leg, 30 reps on the first one as a warm up, then I take 10 seconds of rest, go ahead for as many as I can and after another 10 seconds of rest, one last set, again as many as I can. Most people would be fine doing the simple squat which uses both legs at the same time.

2- Chest & Triceps: I use this utility to perform my push ups, I use a shoulder width grip. I do 5 sets. The first set is on my knees and I do 75 reps as a warm up, 10 seconds of rest and I go at it again for 10 reps, I do this 3 more times for as many as I can each time. The last 4 sets are in the standard push up position.

3- Calves: Standing single leg calf raises after the first two to give my body a little rest since I just worked two major muscle groups and I need to regroup, calves are easy to work out. I do 30 resp, 20 reps and 20 reps with only 10 seconds of rest between each set.

4- Back: Chin ups again using my power gym, the best back exercise and it does not put any strain on the lower back, big bonus for me. 3 sets with only 10 seconds of rest between each set. It comes out to about 12, 6 and 4 reps.

5- Shoulders: One arm dumbbell shoulder presses using 25 pounds, I do a warm up of 15 reps, take 10 seconds of rest do another for maximum reps (about 8) and one more after another 10 seconds of rest (5-6 reps).

6- Biceps: Standing dumbbell curls using 25 pounds, I do a warm up of 20 reps then I do two more sets for as many as I can, always with only 10 seconds of rest between sets.

The key to my resistance training is the little rest between each set, doing my repetitions at a relatively slow speed (every repetition takes me 3-4 seconds) and the intensity of doing as many reps as I can on the last set.

Total time is about 45 minutes... twice a week.

Two times a week I work my lower back & abs (never on the same day I do resistance training), it takes me about 4 minutes. I do 3 sets of 12 repetitions with my ab wheel, each rep takes me about 4-5 seconds. Again only 10 seconds of rest between each set. I bought my ab wheel at Canadian Tire for 12$.

That's all I do in terms of resistance training. I walk one no less than one hour every day, although 5 days a week is sufficient.

Now the BIG key... nutrition! I eat 2700 calories a day with 65% of my calories being FATS, 15% protein and 20% carbohydrates . You will NOT get fat from eating good fats and proteins but you will get fat from eating carbohydrates (except carbs from vegetables), even too many healthy carbs will make you fat.

Just remember this, you can live a healthy life without ANY carbohydrates in your diet, if you totally remove either fats or proteins you will die.

As for supplements, I keep it simple. 1 tablespoon of cod liver oil along with a multivitamin. That's it.

I propose ONE tax for Canada, no more income/corporate taxes.

2009-02-23T07:29:00.008-05:00

I have stated for years that we should simplify our taxe system to its simplest method. ONE taxe, a sales taxe... you buy you pay a tax, you don't you pay nothing.

This one taxe system would cover EVERYTHING; Unemployement Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Income Taxes, Corporate Taxes, etc... . ALL revenue would come from that one sales tax. The tax would be the same value for everything, no different for gas, electricity, cigarettes (we should ban the sale in Canada), etc... the same tax for all.

We could eliminate the Revenue services of the Federal and Provincial governments and people would no longer go through the frustrating yearly task of doing their taxes.

As well working "under the table'' (getting paid in cash to avoid taxes) would be useless since you would still be contributing like everyone else... the only down side is if you hold a job that pays in such a manner and lose your job you would not be able to get unemployement insurance but you would have contributed just like everyone else. I like that concept, hehe.

This would eliminate all tax deductions, they would be all gone (medical, education, corporate, etc...). A company would no longer pay a corporate tax, it would simply pay taxes on products it purchases to build and maintain (materials) its company.

Healthy food would not be taxed and clothing of 40$ of less would not be taxed. This way the really poor could still feed and clothe themselves.

A one purchasing tax system that would be administered by the Provincial governments and they would send X amount of money to the federal government based on their population. Forget which province is richer or poorer, everyone pays the same per capita.

As for the city taxes, you simplify that one with one tax system... you pay on a per square meter that you own. Not the value of your home but the square meter of property you have. This way someone who has 1000 square meters with a home value of 300 000$ would pay the same as someone who owns 1000 square meters with a home value of 150 000$. This is democratic and fair. The more land you have the more taxes you pay.

Agricultural land that is USED for agriculture would only have a set % taxed, the amount would never go higher than X amount of square meters. This way farmers would not fear buying huge amounts of land and having to pay huge property taxes.

School taxes would also fall into that one tax system, no longer would you have to pay yearly school taxes and it would eliminate another system of administration.

Critics state that many people would cross the border. That can be resolved, all the 100$ of millions you saved by eliminating the revenue services and school board administration for taxes you could divert a portion of that to increasing border agents & increase the size of border crossings (doubling both in size). They would have enough manpower to search. If you are caught trying to bring something over without paying taxes... you would pay double the tax.

Imagine making 1000$ a week and taking home ... 1000$!!

I make more money than 99.06% of everyone on Earth.

2009-02-21T20:21:00.003-05:00

Next time you complain that you do not have any money... do not think it's because you do not HAVE any money. You more than likely have it. You probably live over your limit and this is likely caused by always looking at material things people with more money than you have and you want it as well.

Well look at it from another angle and maybe you will not feel so bad about not having what someone else has.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/index.php

I feel pretty damn lucky!

UK & French submarine collide underwater in the Atlantic Ocean

2009-02-16T12:48:00.004-05:00

Having served aboard submarines myself this does not surprise me at ALL.

Here is the article from BBC News

How can this be possible with today's technology? In the simplest of terms... if a submarine does not want to be found it simply can disappear DEEP underwater and not be found.

The deeper a submarine goes the more the pressure of the ocean will keep sounds from spreading out, as well submarines themselves are VERY silent, they emit very little noise. So you have the perfect close range nuclear weapon, you no longer need a base like Cuba to be next door to USA.

The ultimate weapon of war to this day is still a submarine with nuclear missiles, at anytime there are a number of Russian and Chinese submarines just sitting off the coast of USA awaiting a coded signal that would enable them to launch their missiles, the same goes for USA. They go into position and sit for a few months before heading back to base. The only reason they do not sit in position any longer is the psychological effect on the crew and of course running out of food.

How can they receive this signal if they are so deep that virtually all noise cannot penetrate the ocean layers (which is what makes the sub so easy to hide)? They simply unreal an antenna letting it float closer to the surface where they can pick up signals.

A little lesson in submarines :-) .

Democracy loses in Venezuelan referendum.

2009-02-16T07:56:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Venezuela had a referendum to end elected term limits. It won with 54% of the vote.

What this means is that the President is no longer limited to 2 terms (5 years each), he can run as long as he keeps winning. Sounds allot like Canada, right? Well it is, but that does not mean it is good for democracy.

There is nothing worse than people having the ability to be career politicians and yesterday the people of Venezuela were influenced in the wrong direction by propaganda that was one sided (the NO side had no air time on public TV, Radio).

Here is my initial blog post on the subject of term limits in politics.

The earth receives more energy from the Sun in just ONE hour than the world uses in a WHOLE year

2009-02-08T08:26:00.004-05:00

You read that right and it is not some mumbo jumbo science talk.

It is very well documented that if we could use all the energy we get from the Sun we would have zero need of coal, oil, gas, nuclear, wind, geo-thermal or any other form of energy.

Unfortunately this world runs on money for EVERYTHING and science is often lacking in such funds and because of this solar energy is not where it could be if leaders of the world had made it a priority as soon a we started to research solar technology.

But never let anyone state that we can not live on solar energy alone, with the proper resources committed to the Sun's great power this planet could have limitless energy.

Imagine everywhere in the world getting all their energy needs for a year with just a few hours of captivating the Sun's rays.

Most people would ask why this is not already the case since we have solar panels?

The main obstacle is the following:

Our solar panels do a poor job of captivating the energy it receives from the sun, this is one of the reasons they are so big. Science is "slowly" designing solar panels that can capture more energy that is projected on them, achieving 100% captivity being the goal. This is the key, if panels could capture 100% solar energy (last time I check it was less than 10%) then panels would be very small and they would not have to be big to power our infrastructure, forget about your roof being full of solar panels with this type of technology, they will be up to 10 times smaller than what you see now and do a better job! Powering your home, car and other utilities with energy to spare.

I just hope to see this in my lifetime!

Why Canada needs an elected Senate.

2009-01-28T19:35:00.003-05:00

Canada is supposed to be a democratic country but we have a few issues that does not make Canada a democracy, one of them is that senators are simply appointed by the prime minister yet these senators are making decisions for the people of Canada at the highest level.

We need to have them elected. You can argue any way you want but the fact is that IS democratic.

Some people have stated that we need it as is because at times politicians need to make though decisions that are unpopular to certain lobby groups that support them financially during elections and if they were elected those senators would think more about getting re-elected than doing what is right for the country... REALLY? And instead of finding a solution to that we simply leave it as is? (meaning UN-democratic).

I will give you the solution to that one... make it so they can not run for more than two terms, this way you can not be a senator for more than 8 years. This is something I discussed in a previous post regarding limited terms for politicians.

At least senators on their last term might not be afraid to make though decisions that are good for the country even if it would mean a backlash from certain interested groups.

Why humans will achieve immortality in the future.

2009-01-28T08:52:00.004-05:00

That statement seems like total science fiction does it not? Well that is not the case as we have it in existance in todays world. One type of Jellyfish can live forever, it regenerates it aging cells continually basically being organically immortal (meaning it can not die of old age). It is the only known creature able to do so.

One day we will crack the code of how it manages to do this and be able to apply it to other lifeforms, from then on people will be able to avoid death from old age. It could also mean being able to regenerate cells that are being attacked by degenerative diseases (cancer, multiple sclerosis, parkinsons, alzheimer, etc...). So as long a person avoids unfortunate accidents you could live for 1000s of years if not more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula

Prez Obama achknowledges us non-believers (A FIRST!)

2009-01-21T08:59:00.002-05:00

This for me is the greatest moment in the speech.

http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/atheistnews/forum/topics/obama-acknowledges-1

I give him credit for not saying ATHEISTS, that is just ONE category of non-believers and I am not part of that, I do not associate myself with any group.

I know the video links from an atheist website, but that is the shortest video I found via google search.

As humanity evolves I think non-believers will keep growing in numbers as they are now but at an exponational rate. North America has about 21% who openely state they are non-believers, I think that in 20 years that number will easily have doubled or even passed the 50% mark.

I consider this a good thing for I believe that for man to survive religions must ceast to exists.

Canada is not a democracy until we have popular representation.

2009-01-19T18:18:00.003-05:00

The current system of voting we have in Canada is just horrendous, it is NOT democratic and every vote DOES NOT count. Every vote MUST count in a democracy and this can only be achieved by some form of popular representation.

A good example of why our current system is undemocratic is the past election results:

2008 Federal elections results .

We can clearly see that the Bloc Québécois received 8% of the popular vote but ended up with 16% of the seats, the NDP got 18% of the popular vote and that gave them just 12% of the seats, the Conservatives finished with 38% but somehow that gave them 46% of the seats and finally the green party received 7% of the popular vote and that gave them ZERO seats.

Another great example was the 3 straight majority governments the liberals formed during the Jean Chretien era... not ONCE did they have more than 51% of the popular vote. What that says is that the majority of Canadians did not want them in power but they still ended with total control of the country without having to deal with other parties.

Popular representation would simply force parties to work together AND work harder to try and win majorities. It would give a chance to small parties to have a voice which means the PEOPLE who voted for them would have a voice.

And finally... I hate that every federal & Provincial elections I ever voted except for one my vote was USELESS, I could have just not voted and it would have made no difference because in our current system if the party you voted for does not win in your riding then your vote is good for nothing except statistics for the media.

If we had a form of popular representation EVERY vote would count, THAT is power to the people.

Anti-democratic move by Venezuelan president.

2009-01-15T09:28:00.001-05:00

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is one colorful character.

Now he wants to be able to run for president as long as he can. This is the system we have in Canada, you can be a member of parliament for life if you continually get re-elected. I think that is a bad system. It should be 8 year limits at the city, provincial, federal level and finally as prime minister. You could serve 8 years at each level.

This in my opinion removes career politicians who get too close to certain lobby groups. Keep fresh blood coming to politics.

Venezuela has 2 term limits right now (5 years each) he wants it eliminated. Clearly this is a mark of wanting to hold on to power and anytime a politician acts in this way it is greed and he should be concentrating on governing his country.

Vincent Lecavalier has ALWAYS been overrated.

2009-01-10T13:37:00.003-05:00

For years now I keep hearing the hockey journalists stating how this guy is one of the 3 best players in the NHL. Since after his first season I have been of the opinion that this guy might be overrate and that only after his second season will we be able to tell.

Well it has now been 9 seasons and only the past two years has he been a top 10 player at the forward position. Is he a number one center? For sure the past 2 seasons (not the current one), is he a franchise player that would pay loads of future prospects to acquire should he be traded? NEVER.

It took him 7 seasons to finally average one point per game, if your number one center is not averaging 1 point per game with decent players (Vinny always had at least one decent winger) you are not a superstar and you are at the bottom of the top 10 forwards in the league, certainly NOT in the top 10 players overall.

This season he is again not averaging a point a game.

You can see his statistics here:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=26809

Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin are WAY ahead of him in terms of production over a few seasons and so are a few others.

Nuff said.

My first ever new years resolution(S)

2009-01-01T12:10:00.004-05:00

For the first time I will join in the tradition of making a new years resolution, I actually have two.

I better make them count because if I keep up this pace (every 35 years) the next time I make a resolution I will be 70!

The first one is I will start walking to work, when this condo was bought it was with that intention and it is about damn time I start! The 30 minutes brisk walk both ways will do me some good and I get to listen to my podcasts or audiobooks.

The second one is I am finally going through with my act of Apostasy, this is the act of renouncing the religion you are affiliated with. I never considered myself as having a religion but since I was baptized I am by default considered a Roman Catholic, well I want no such affiliation and this act will make it official. I have the formed filled out and will be going to the local diocese this week and it will be official.

Act of Apostasy explained: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy

If you make a resolution to lose weight, look at FOOD 1st, not the gym.

2008-12-29T19:20:00.002-05:00

Once again a new year starts and millions of people will make the resolution to lose some weight and for the most part it will mean making a commitment to exercise.

For those that will stick with their work out routine they will see results if they go no less than 3 times a week for 1 hour each time. But then something frustrating will occur, the results will stop showing in terms of weight loss. You will be healthier overall but people want to see some weight drop and if they lose 30 pounds and still have 30 to go and it just sits there people tend to get frustrated and eventually quit.

The problem is they would have to keep increasing the exercise to the point that it would be 6-7 days a week for 1 hour each time which is non sense even for myself who enjoys working out.

So what is the other option? FOOD!

80-85% of the success you will have in your health and fitness goals is nutrition, the remaining is split up between exercise and sleep.

So my suggestion is look at what you eat, eliminate the junk, eat proteins, eat good fats (all healthy foods have good fats), eliminate the carbohydrates. Carbohydrates makes people FAT, not the fat content in healthy foods.

Start with just the following: keep carbohydrates under 100 grams a day of good sources, do not count carbohydrates from vegetables, you can eat as many veggies as you wish.

If you can cut out the junk foods and keep carbs under 100 grams a day you will see weight loss. Add in a 45 minute walk 3 times a week and the results will be encouraging.

A great website that helps you count calories and shows their protein, fat, carbohydrate content is www.fitday.com

Enjoy the new year!

Joke of the year 2008 for me!

2008-12-20T12:13:00.003-05:00

Sovereignty to the end!

The night before his wedding day a young Québec seperatist listens to last minute instructions from his father who is also a separatist.

Father: My son, when you enter the bedroom take your wife in your hands because a Québécois is STRONG!

And after you will throw her on the bed because a Québécois is PROUD!

You will then get naked because a Québécois is BEAUTIFUL!

After the wedding night the father asks how things went.

Son: I did as you said father.

Father: And ???

Son: I ended up masturbating myself (very proud of himself).

Father: WHY in the world would you do that??!!

Son: Because a Québécois is independent!

Is life REALLY like a box of chocolates?

2008-12-19T13:46:00.001-05:00

In Forest Gump (The movie) a statement is made about life being like a box of chocolates because you never know what you will get every time.

I can agree with that about life, so much is unexpected... but chocolate pretty much always tastes good!

Something to ponder for no reason at all.

One hint that a country is out of control... too many GUNS!

2008-12-17T21:13:00.001-05:00

USA is certainly king in that department.

In USA you have 290 million guns floating around, that is 90 guns for every 100 US Citizen. Population is 308 million (est. 2008)

How bad is that? Well second place in the world goes to India who has 45 millions guns... that is 6 times less than USA and India has a population of 1,147,995,904 (July 2008 est.).

Oh and the biggest reason they fight hard to keep the rights to carry weapons... in case they need it to defend themselves against their OWN government should it ever turn against them. Now I do not know about you but if my Government was the US one and it turned on me with the military backing it I would not feel too good about going up against a tank with a simple gun, or a jet, or a battalion of heavily armed men or artillery, etc...

I hope Canada never gets that bad but we do have allot, they say 1 for every 3 Canadian is a good estimate.

Using your iPod underwater... it works!

2008-12-16T15:58:00.001-05:00

I started swimming again and I thought it would be a good idea if I could listen to my podcasts or audiobooks while in the water.

I found this company http://www.h2oaudio.com/ and they have a case and headphones that work great at protecting my iPod while in the water.

You can not go deeper than 3 meters but they have other gear that lets you go much deeper, you can basically scuba dive while listening to Mozart... can you imagine scuba diving among coral reefs with Mozart playing. It would be like drugs but without the drugs, hehe!

From a scientific point of view, racism based on looks makes no sense.

2008-12-11T17:40:00.005-05:00

Every single human being on this planet is 99.99% identical.

You read it right, only 0.01% is what makes us look different.

So if you hate another human because of how he looks you pretty much hate who you are... so if you're going to hate a human, look in the mirror.

Here is why hardcore religious people dot not believe in evolution... they have PROOF!

2008-12-09T21:32:00.002-05:00

First of all anyone who knows me is wondering what the heck am I saying... they have PROOF that evolution does not exist?!

Well according to them the fact that we do not have the missing link of human evolution is proof. The missing link is the in between the evolution of one species to another, like the ape evolution into a human. But this is a big fat lie or lack of self knowledge, there is now enough fossil records to show the missing link of various species, yes they are very few but the answer to this is simple:

A) 99.99% of all species that ever existed on earth are extinct as of this day.
B) Of all those species it is said we have documented less than 1% and from what I have read this is often a generous number.
C) We have fossil records of less than 1% of that 1%.

What that tells you is fossils are a VERY VERY rare find, so the idea that this alone should be the deciding factor on evolution is without merit.

Species do not leave fossil records, they're basically a freak event of nature and by no means are the only tools used by science to confirm evolution is how life began from a simple goo of proteins and amino acids to what we have now.

Next time someone brings that missing link of fossil records, give him a little lesson in the simple ABC's I wrote above... hopefully he stops and ponders for a moment.

Our precious drinking water... so little... yet so VERY much.

2008-12-06T15:15:00.003-05:00

Of all the water in the world only 2.5% is fresh water, meaning you can drink it as opposed to salt water (drinking salt water will kill you).

To make matters worst 99% of that 2.5% is ICE (North and South Poles and mountain tops) so access to fresh water is no easy task... lets not forget how much we humans have polluted allot of that water and so it needs to be treated before drinking (yes just us humans again destroying ourselves).

Funny thing is we have TONS of fresh water all around us... the AIR you breath, it is called water vapor.

Pretty ironic how people our dying of thirst on a daily basis all over the world when water is all around them.

Now we just need to find an efficient way of transforming the water vapors into drinking water we can start drinking some pretty damn clean water!

There is one company that seems to have accomplished this (A Canadian one too!) but we will know for sure next year when it rolls out... and of course the cost. www.elementfour.com

Are we destroying all the medicine for the future?

2008-12-05T07:34:00.002-05:00

In our greed for more money people are destroying the rain forests at a startling pace. It used to cover 14% of the earth, now it is down to 6%, all this was done in less than 50 years..

Did you know that 50%, yes FIFTY % of ALL known living things on land live in the rain forests.

For many this will not bother them or are unaware. But here is a fact that might just bother everybody because in our day and age of healthy foods devalued of nutrients, junk food and BILLIONS of man made pollutants we have ailments appearing at a faster paste than we can find cures.

The rain forest alone accounts for over 25% of all medicine sold in the world and this comes from less than 100 plants in the rain forest. Conservative scientists state we know less than 10% of all plants in the rain forests.

Off the KNOWN plants, 3000 have been identified to fight or kill cancer cells, all living in the rain forest.

When you consider that over 137 species of plants and animals are made extinct everyday from deforestation that means allot of possible medicine to fight all the crap WE humans have made.

So basically mother nature has given us everything to thrive but we are tearing it apart.

How much time has Humanity been on Earth and how many species are extinct?

2008-12-02T17:21:00.006-05:00

In simple terms for all to get a glimpse of how LITTLE time we have been here is an example.

If you take the 4.5 Billion years the earth has existed and put that in a 24 hour clock well this is what happen:

Midnight to 4 am... NO LIFE, from 4 AM to 8 PM at night the only life on earth is bacteria, Dinosaurs (as people like to call that era) lasts from 11pm to 11:41pm. So 23 hours and 41 minutes have passed and no humans in site... we arrive at the LAST minute before midnight.

So basically we have JUST arrived.

How long are we going to last? No one has a clue but we do know that of all the species we have found through fossil records that 99.99% of EVERYTHING that ever lived on this planet is now extinct. Most were extinct by meteor hitting the earth (it happened more than once), 3 major ice ages, super volcanoes (Yellowstone National Park is a super volcano) and many others. In short major natural disasters are the biggest cause of all those extinctions.

NOTE: Most of this amazing information comes from the book : A short History of nearly everything.(17hour long audiobook).

Which one is bigger, Virus or Bacteria?

2008-11-30T20:07:00.002-05:00

Bacteria by a landslide, it takes several thousands of gene to form a Bacteria while a virus can be created with less than 10, like the HiV virus (causes AIDS).

They can stay dormant for billions of years and then you give them a food source and they will multiply faster than anything.

Humans have over 100 000.

So the little guy made out of nothing is the actually the BIG guy ;) .

How do we fight them? Antibiotics, the problem with that is antibiotics kill pretty much everything in site, even the good bacteria in our gut which is were over 70% of our immune system comes from, so we are trying to fight off a virus and we kill all those friends of ours in our gut trying to do exactly that. We have 400 species of friendly bacteria that number in the trillions, so much that if you put them all together in your hand they would have a weight of 1 kilo (2.2 pounds).

Whenever you take antibiotics, go buy some DanActive (properly researched probiotic) at the local supermarket, it has 10 billion friendly bacteria per serving, drink 1-2 a day until you no longer are on antibiotics. I take one everyday, it is a yogurt that you drink.

www.danactive.com Probiotic .

Blogging galore!

2008-11-30T20:06:00.000-05:00

I am going to give this blogging thing a try. Blogging for those who do not know what it means you can go here for the information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

Basically mine will be a light diary of the life & times of Ricky, most likely boring, hehe. I figure 1-2 posts a week about my thoughts and opinions on stuff that I find interesting in this world of beauty we live in but are turning it pretty ugly... I am rooting for mother nature I hope she gives us a good ass kicking to wake up or we are gonna be out here. Don't forget we have only been around a few 100 000s of years while the planet is 4.5 billion years old.

We are nothing on this planet in the big picture, we are less than 0.01% of ALL living things, when such a small number can cause so much harm to the rest, eventually they will simply turn on us and adapt to a new environment that does not include us.

I am reading this great book, A Bried History of Time... damn it has SOOO much information about science it boggles the mind, I will listen to that book probably 4-5 times its just amazing information. Oh yes, I do not read, I listen to audiobooks from www.audible.com , they have over 50 000 books and growing, I get through about 2 books a month for 15 hours of "reading". I love it!

Anyways, I easily get side tracked.

Basically if you enjoy nutrition, science, physical fitness, nature, politics, are not a fan of religion, basic computer technology and love animals you might find what I have to say at times interesting.