Chan's Personal Blog

I just saw this article on the CBC entitled, "Ontario Bans Gift Card Expiry Dates."

I just came across this Canadian Citizenship Practice Test which is prepared by the Richmond Public Library. Immigrants who become Canadian citizens usually joke that they know more about Canada than their citizens. Lets prove them wrong! (Maybe citizens would do better on the test if citizenship had to be renewed every few years by passing this test ).

I managed to score 92% on the full 111 question version.

My favourite question:

What is Canada’s system of government called?
a. Dictatorship.
b. Parliamentary government.
c. Military Rule.
d. Communism.

Last week, I visited Palo Alto, California. It's a small city that's located between San Francisco and San Jose. Stanford University is situated in this city, and it's also known as the heart of Silicon Valley because a lot of computer history was created there. For example, the founders of Google went to Stanford, and so were the founders of Hewlett-Packard Computers.

I have a photo album of the trip, so please follow along in the pictures.

Flying There

I got up at an ungodly hour to catch an extra early flight to Seattle. I was told to be at the airport at least an hour or more ahead of time just in case there were waits at the security line. I was able to check-in and go through security really quickly because I only had a carry-on backpack for luggage. Packing lightly really paid off here. My flight departed at 6:00am, and I was off to Seattle.

Upon arrival at Seatac, the mood was kind of strange in the airport as far as security went. We went through customs, and it felt like we were being processed like prisoners or something. Lots of gates, guards, and metal. There were constant public service announcements asking citizens to report any suspicious activity, and to be vigilant in defending the homeland. On the walls, there were similar propaganda posters as well. It felt like something out of a science fiction novel of a police state where the population lives in constant fear or something. I went through security screening, and the guards were fairly angry when dealing with people. This is quite the contrast with Canadian airports where everyone was really friendly and courteous.

Anyway, I had a three hour stop over at SeaTac, so I wandered around the airport. It was pretty neat, they had a rail line inside the terminal to transport people around. The main terminal also featured many high-end restaurants and a food court.

I caught my next flight, and I was off to San Jose.

This last weekend, I was at History Maker in Chilliwack; this is the annual youth convention for our church's district of British Columbia. Normally it's held in Kamloops, but this year it was in Chilliwack because the majority of its participants are from the lower mainland, and having it in Chilliwack would reduce the travel time.

The start of the trip was interesting. I had just gotten back from California, and my plane landed in Victoria at 12:30am because of a delayed flight by Horizon Air. I got to bed by around 2:00am. I woke up, unpacked and repacked, then we were off to History Maker. This year I was a chaperone for History Maker instead of a youth; I suddenly felt very old.

The ferry trip to the mainland was pretty slow going as ferries were arriving and departing late. We managed to catch the 5:00pm ferry. Once we got onto the otherside, the ship slowed down and waited because there was too much traffic at the terminal, so our arrival was delayed. Once we landed, the drive to Chilliwack wasn't too bad; I was expecting it to be far worse considering it was a long weekend.

When we arrived in Chilliwack and got out of the van, my first thought was.... ugh, what is that smell? There was a lot of agriculture around, so the smell of manure was very prevalent.

For the weekend, we would be sleeping at a church with no showers, so that was going to be interesting. Lets just say, washing my gargantuan head in a sink is not easy.

Anyway, onto History Maker which started on Saturday night. There were over 3,000 people at the venue. It featured bands such as Amanda Falk, Leeland, Desperation Band, and the main event, Starfield. I really liked the line-up that they had this year; good solid rock.

The speakers they had this year were really good. I really enjoyed Reggie Dabbs who preached very well, and taught us all how to be a bit more black. Out of all the speakers that I've ever heard at History Maker, Reggie was probably the best.

This year's theme was revolution, and there was a lot of talk about how we can change the world and fight injustice. Reggie talked about the Scottish revolutionaries who fought against injustice (fighting the British), and ultimately won independence for Scotland. He talked about the story after William Wallace dies (see the movie Braveheart to learn more about William Wallace). Basically, Robert The Bruce screws over William Wallace and hands him over to the British. In exchange, the British gives a bunch of land to the Bruce family. Robert The Bruce's son becomes king, and continues the fight that William Wallace started. King Robert The Bruce wishes that he had joined William Wallace instead of screwing him over.

Last week, I was invited to participate in the "Don't Pump Gas Day" event on Facebook by several friends. This is what the event was about:


After reading this, I thought that it was ludicrous, and told my friends that I wouldn't be participating. Lets just say I got some hate mail from a friend who passionately thought they were making a difference by choosing not to buy gas on May 15th.

The notion that by not pumping gas for one day would inflict harm on oil companies was absolutely ridiculous. For example, I fill up my car once every second Monday because I don't use a lot of gas. If I don't fill up on a Tuesday, it's not because I'm trying to screw over the oil company, but it's because I don't need to buy gas. Additionally, if I decide not to buy gas on a second Monday and instead bought it every second Tuesday, that doesn't qualify as boycotting the oil industry; that's merely shifting my purchase day. Gasoline prices are set by supply and demand; by shifting my purchase day there is no effect on the overall demand for oil.

If simple logic doesn't convince you, I did some research on the internet, and came across an article written by David Emery who shows that this whole "Don't Pump Gas Day" is an urban legend.

Shortly after the Virginia Tech school shootings, I was pondering what actions/scenarios could have prevented such a horrible tragedy. One scenario that I wondered was, what would happen if a student had a gun, and shot dead the insane gunman? What would the legal ramifications be? In my mind, it would be an act of self-defence, and morally right to stop a gunman who's brutally killing others.

So, I posed this question to my friend Jordan Mann who is a security expert, and holds a degree in criminology. I forget if criminology is the study of crime, or if it's studying how to commit crime . Anyway, he is the guest blogger for today since I'm away.

---

What would happen if another student shot dead the Virginia Tech gunman?

In terms of the Virginia Tech shootings there are differences between Canada and the United States. I can really only speak for Canada and even then I am not 100% sure the answers, If someone without a gun in either country had taken him out after seeing him shoot someone they would be justified in killing him under the law because in Canada you are allowed to defend yourself with as much force as is necessary. The following is an excerpt from the Criminal Code of Canada found here.

Well, I'm off on vacation for the first time this year. After years of academia, I finally have an opportunity to travel. I haven't been out of the country for seven years now? So, this week I'm off to California for a few days. Immediately afterwards, I'm headed to Chilliwack for our district youth conference, History Maker.


So, I'm going to be away for an entire week; it's going to be nice to get away for a bit. I'm not going to have internet access, so that means I won't be checking my e-mail. I think I'm going to go through internet withdrawal or something. No e-mail, no blogs, no slashdot, no real-time stock quotes.... this is going to take some getting use to

For those competing in my stock market challenge; here's your chance to get ahead while I'm not watching