Wednesday, November 30. 2005
I was reading this Time article about the Saudis training to fight terrorists. The article stated, "Commandos of Saudi Arabia's Special Emergency Forces (SEF) are trained as an élite strike force. Their mission: react quickly to acts of terror and track down plotters before they can act."
The following picture shows the SEF in action as they take out terrorists who hijacked a bus:
Every member of an elite fighting force typically has a specialized role. As we can see, the dude on the left's primary job in the special forces is to act as a man ladder. What a crappy job. Hello, I am specialist Akhmed, I am not trained in any fighting forms, and I don't handle any sort of firearms or explosives, but I am the strike team's tactical man ladder.
This reminds me of a Splinter Cell comic by Penny Arcade.
Looks like the Saudis learn from the best.
Monday, November 28. 2005
Today the opposition parties banded together to bring down Paul Martin's Liberal minority government in a non-confidence vote. The stakes seem fairly high for this upcoming election.
From the Globe and Mail article entitled " Both Martin and Harper have their jobs on the line":
Canada's opposition parties brought an end yesterday to the turbulent life of Paul Martin's 17-month-old minority Liberal government, paving the way for an election that will see voters weigh the desire for change against the trustworthiness of Conservatives who would provide it. [...]
The election will almost certainly spell the political doom of one if not both leaders of the major parties.
Mr. Martin would have difficulty remaining Prime Minister more than a year or two if he wins only a minority government, and Mr. Harper would have a tough time staying on if he loses a second election. [...]
The campaign is expected to last about eight weeks, which would make it one of the longest in recent memory.
However, it's unclear who would benefit most from a long campaign. The Liberals believe it will give Mr. Harper more opportunities to stumble and them more time to recover if the second set of debates do not go well for them. The Tories believe it may give Mr. Harper extra time to make Canadians feel at ease with him.
The election will hinge on a few dozen seats in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. In Ontario, the Tories believe they can win up to two dozen ridings.
In Quebec, the Liberals must, at the very least, hang on to the 21 seats they now have. That will be a challenge, given the government's difficulties in the wake of the sponsorship scandal.
The battle may come down to British Columbia, where the Liberals have made gains in the polls. The Tories cannot afford to lose many of their 22 seats there, lest that cancels out expected victories in Ontario.
Saturday, November 26. 2005
A few months ago, I became a trustee to my church's youth department bank accounts because some people in leadership stepped down, and I stepped up. The account is one of those fancy trust accounts that require two trustees to sign a cheque before money can be released. The account is with Coast Capital Savings.
In this article, I will rant about how annoying it has been dealing with Coast Capital Savings. In my mind, I've always considered the big banks (ie Royal Bank, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, etc) relatively evil, and credit unions small and benevolent. After dealing with Coast Capital, I've concluded that choosing a bank based on benevolence is irrevelent. At least with the big evil banks, they're efficient and fast at what they do. Read on about my experience with Coast Capital Savings.
Thursday, November 24. 2005
I saw this hilarious article on News.com today entitled, " Confessions of a photocopier repairman." The article talks about what photocopier technicians have to deal with after office Christmas parties.
Here's the abstract:
Photocopier supplier Canon is warning customers to take better care of their office equipment during the Christmas period, claiming that the festive season traditionally leads to a 25 percent hike in service calls due to incidents such as the classic backside copying prank.
Tuesday, November 22. 2005
This is a follow up to my article, " Employment Equity Is Oxymoronic." This was a story about a large Canadian government department banning the hiring of able-bodied males for the next few months because they weren't hiring enough women, disabled people, and minorities. It looks like that department has backtracked on the decision.
From the article " Ottawa rescinds hiring ban on able-bodied white men":
Deputy Minister apologizes for Public Works edict
A federal government department has cancelled a three-day-old edict that essentially banned the hiring of able-bodied white men over the next several months.
The directive had said managers at the Public Works and Government Services Department could hire only the disabled, women, aboriginal people and visible minorities until at least the end of March." [...]
The policy was reversed in a memo issued late yesterday.
"While the measure proposed last week was short-term and not intended to be a ban on hiring individuals from non-designated groups, it could well lead to this impression," Mr. Marshall said in a new memo.
"As such I am rescinding this measure immediately," he said.
"Please accept my apologies."
The department received complaints from outside, while concerns were also expressed internally about the policy, said Pierre Teotonio, a Public Works spokesman.
Well, I'm glad that public outcry over this has caused the government to reverse its decision. However, I think stupid policies like this should have never seen the light of day at all. To the deputy minister, USE YOUR HEAD!
A quick sober look at their idea should have sounded alarm bells that this was dumb. If you take the sentence, "there's a ban on hiring able-bodied white males," and replaced it with say, "there's a ban on hiring Chinese people," or, "there's a ban on hiring Jews," you'll quickly see how discriminatory and downright racist this is. People IMMEDIATELY have problems if you said those things, but somehow, when it comes to white people, there's no initial reaction. I honestly don't get it. Tolerance, equity, equality and all that stuff is a two way street.
Saturday, November 19. 2005
I saw this provocatively titled story from the National Post which read, " White Males Need Not Apply."
From the article:
Internal e-mail reveals hiring ban at Public Works
A major [Canadian] federal department has temporarily banned the hiring of able-bodied white men in an unusual move critics say could spark a backlash against the very disadvantaged groups it is meant to help.
Managers in the Public Works department must hire only visible minorities, women, aboriginals and the disabled, except with written permission from their superiors, David Marshall, the deputy minister, ordered in an e-mail circulated yesterday.
The policy, designed to address shortfalls in the department's employment-equity goals, will last at least until the end of next March and be reviewed then, the memo said.
"As executives and managers, our role includes ensuring that the public service is representative," Mr. Marshall said in the memo. "This involves providing direction and leadership by example, and demonstrating a firm commitment to an inclusive workplace."
Thursday, November 17. 2005
With the prospect of the Liberal government falling by the end of the month, the Liberals seem to be trying to justify why a Winter election in January would be bad. Today, Prime Minister Paul Martin has given the best reason yet on why we shouldn't have a Winter election. The article is entitled, " Holiday Election May Offend Religious Groups."
Prime Minister Paul Martin warned the three opposition leaders today that they could offend religious and ethnic groups by forcing an election over the holiday season.
Martin told reporters en route to this port city for an Asian Pacific summit that the timetable he set for an election in March or April would allow Christians and Canadians of other religious faiths to celebrate their religious holidays without interruption from politicians knocking on their doors.
"When you are talking about the holiday season, there are also other religions that have different New Year's at different dates and their holidays at a different date and I think we have to be respectful of that -- the orthodox churches, for example," he said.
You're joking me right? I'm part of a religious group; I'm part of an ethnic group. I'm not offended at all if you had a Winter election. What kind of pansy do you take me as?
|
