Jeffrey Aho

So, in a few short months I have passed over 850 unique visitors and 8000 page views! Pretty good I think. To commemorate I now have a working script that checks my spelling for me so you no longer have to endure my laziness in proofreading my entries. (Thank you must go to Mike for his constant tech support!)

My last entry was on politics and how I believed the education system should be more proactive in teaching students about current events and world issues. A recent observance at my work place has prompted me to have this entry. At my weekly engineering meeting the environmental co-op did a brief advertisement for a now passed fund raising event (which I attended and was quite pleased with it). The charity was Engineers Without Borders (Founded by Waterloo Grads!), an organization that works with “developing communities around the world” to help “them gain access to the technologies they need to improve their lives.” A very worthy charity in my mind, and one I support. There are many that I don’t support though, and for good reasons. After the presentation, the student offered the sale of white Make Poverty History wristbands. Not surprisingly, a few people bought them, including one ignorant student. On questioning this student about the meaning of the band, he shook off the question and just went to say something along the lines of “oh well, these days they are fashion statements.” So now I have to declare that I hate wristbands and will challenge people who wear them.

“Fashion statement”? How can an ugly bulky silicone wristband be a fashion statement? Well, I say that it could easily be one with a few currently fashionable traits. Intelligence and being well informed (Note: Activism isn’t fashionable in my mind!) are very fashionable. To be in the know and be able to impress people with your grasp of the world is fashionable. Isn’t that what these wristbands (link on them from BBC) imply? That you have knowledge of current events, have opinions, and are showing everyone else that fact? Well, that would be the case if peoplewere informed of the issues. I’ve met too many people who aren’t informed, and wearing these wrist bands imply education that doesn’t exist. What I’d like to see is the people make their own opinions after being given all of the facts about the issue the wristband represents and what the organization sponsoring it campaigns for. For me, there is very few wristbands I’d ever consider wearing. One being the Live Wrong wristband…just to show my disgust with so many wristband wearers.

So, why don’t I make a case against the most popular one, the Make Poverty History band that inspired this entry. Their overall goal is raise awareness of poverty and pressure governments to take action, especially in dealing with developing countries. A worthy goal it would seem, until you examine the details and see how absurd some of their goals are. Well, first I must say a few policies are acceptable to me, such as debt relief to developing countries . The fact is, our government (Canada) and many others have already done this. Yet they continue to campaign. Their main goal: To get governments to commit to 0.7% of their GDP toward foreign aid . Don’t sound like much, eh? In Canada, that would be over $7 billion per year, put in comparison with the about $4 billion per year health care budget. Their website doesn’t give you those details does it? Canada cannot afford to give that high of a level of aid (if I recall, though can’t find a link, it’s around 2 billion now). Hence the reason Paul Martin took the stance against the pressure, and told the international community Canada will give what we are able to give, and will strive to eventually give that amount, but will not guarantee it. He increased aid this year, but has a sense of balance. We can’t save the world when we struggle at home. Think about Canadian poverty levels. Do you not think our government should deal with them before tramping around the world saving others when we can’t save our self? Of course not, it just doesn’t make sense.

Furthermore, the charity stands for awareness, which is a noble cause in my mind. But how do they go about it? By making a international musical event called Live 8 organized by a has been musician (read: Bob Geldof) that costs multi millions of dollars to produce with annoying celebrities talking about poverty their fortunes will prevent them from ever experiencing. I can’t even make a sarcastic comment here; it just doesn’t do it for me. Live 8, to everyone I talked to was just a big concert on TV, like SARSfest. Very few people learned the details I provided above. I think that makes it a failure. And what was with the banning charities from canvassing at it? Your charity is better than all the others including food drives for the Barrie area? Bullshit. Canada is doing exactly what we should, supporting causes in moderation, only what we can commit, and paying down our federal debt (which will give us future money on saved interest) unlike the US who’s public debt is now over $8 trillion (!) at $8,010,059,396,713.96. Not something to be proud of if you’re an American. Or the recent milestone the US military reached of 2000 Americans dead in Iraq…but all the deaths and massive debt is for the greater good! Isn’t it?…

Well, now I got that off my mind. I’ll have to think of something more positive for the next one. That will be hard…

Random Wikipedia Article: Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
Currently Listening to: Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down – Fall Out Boy

I’m going to talk politics. That’s okay. Leave if you want to.

I’ve recently had several people ask me where I stand on several political issues (and have had to correct several people on what they believed to be the stance of one political ideology when it was really another.) I believe that Politics and Current Events are under represented in our education system. Other than a half credit Civics course (in Ontario, since that’s where I’m from), there is little discussion of law, politics, world issues or controversial topics. This is in part of an attempt to not impose any one ideology on public students (such as anti capital punishment) though in practise our education system tend so lean towards left wing political ideology. For example, public teachers are all unionized, and do (not all intentionally) tend to emphasize the benefits of the union system (a left wing ideology for those not familiar with politics as much). These beliefs and ideologies are passed to the students.

The education system is integral in the development of the population’s future political beliefs. Recently it can be seen that a left wing bias has emerged (I’ll go out on an unsupported limb and state that young people are generally more left wing than older people) I’ve even been a victim to this left wing mind washing. I recently found a web page with a submission I made in elementary school. I seemed to be very supportive of environmental initiatives and social policies. Today I’ve moved away from the unpragmatic altruistic system that doesn’t work and have a more balanced political view in economics and social issues. Take environmental: it’s not that I am against the environment, it’s just that I don’t go out of my way to chain myself to trees to save it. I recycle, I take public transpo and carpool. I try not to waste energy at home and am conscious of my actions. That said, I don’t think these require too much effort on my part. During the recent One Tonne Challenge , I was about a quarter of the goal waste limit, so I did exceptionally well. I still don’t feel that environmental issues are my priority, and hence just don’t go out of my way for them.

Now the details, what lots of people want to really know when they talk to me. Which party am I? Currently, I’m a Grit (Liberal). I’ve previously been a full member of the NDP (New Democratic Party) party, but at heart I identify as Tory (the real type, PC [Progressive Conservative]). Unfortunately the PC party doesn’t exist at the Federal level anymore and the new Conservative party is crap. I used to be NDP because I was naive and after studying the platforms, decided I made a mistake. They just don’t have a feasible plan to run the country (and the Greens have even less of one). So I am a Liberal, but that doesn’t always mean I vote Liberal. Provincially, yes, because my MPP, Michael Gravelle is such a great politician. He is very well liked and represents out region very well. Federally, no. I despise my MP Joe Comuzzi, who recently threw away out region’s cabinet position because he doesn’t believe in fundamental rights. Similarly, I don’t like the region’s second MP, Ken Boshcoff, former Mayor (didn’t like him then either). So, federally I vote NDP because they are closer than the Conservatives and have better candidates than my own Liberal party does.

So if there are several politicians that I don’t like, who do I like? Three names come to mind, all former PC members. First, Joe Clark, always loved him. Such a great political character, and it is very sad that he retired recently. Second, Belinda Stronach, fresh from crossing the floor to her Liberal cabinet position. Her views are perfectly in line with mine and the old PC platform. Third, and probably my favourite, Scott Brison. He’s the youngest Liberal cabinet minister, of Public Works and Government Services Canada, a senior portfolio, a former PC MP who ran for PC leadership, and has a record which is very in line with my beliefs. I believe (and hope) that he will one day be Prime Minister and he will do an excellent job. A role model for young Canadians and a forward thinker.

I like to think of myself as sort of a closet monarchist. Our country has a very unique identity and the monarchy and our political traditions have helped to preserve that. I hear quite often about how people believe that the Governor General and Senate should be abolished because of being appointed. I oppose those suggestions, and believe that people who make those claims really don’t understand the positions that they want to abolish. Most recently we have had a change in the Governor General position from Adrienne Clarkson to Michaëlle Jean. I think Clarkson did an exceptional job at the position. She reinvigorated the position and made it known, even though she took fire over doing such. The position promotes Canadian culture, acts as political ambassador, and conducts lots of our political tradition. Clarkson well earned her pay. If only all of our past Governor Generals good have had such an impact.

I guess I’ll briefly outline my political beliefs (without much explanation for brevity). I support the Charter above all. It’s what makes Canada such a great place to live in. I am pro government subsidized education, pro two tier health care, support the military only for peacekeeping efforts, and not major expansion. I have recently harboured an anti-american sentiment due to trade disputes that the US’s lack of accountability to international law. I am pro euthanasia, abortion, same sex marriage, and capital punishment (yeah, pro). I don’t support censorship, and don’t really believe in publicly funded media. I support paying down the national debt and balancing budgets. I strongly believe in the separation of Church and State.

As you can see, my beliefs jump from left to right wing depending on the topic. Generally, when it comes to rights issues, I am more left wing (because I support rights!) and fiscal issues, I am more right wing (supporting industry over environment, and supporting private over unionized work). I love to discuss any aspects of politics and current events and encourage people to challenge me on any of the issues that I’ve mentioned above or that I haven’t stated a side to (there are just so many issues that I can’t mention them all). Hope to hear from at least a few people!

Currently Listening to: Fix You – Coldplay
Random Wikipedia Article: Divali

I’ve been a little sick lately and not feeling up to writing about anything but I found some time and thought I’d discuss a topic.

When I was in debating I attended teleconference lectures from McGill in strategy and case writing. One of the most significant topics we studied was how to choose a topic to debate. In CUSID debating you can turn almost any Resolution into a debate on any topic you want. To prevent squirreling you must pick a topic that the other side will actually be able to debate with, and one that is relevant enough to actually spawn intelligent discourse. Safe topics are always ones that are up before the real courts and governments because everyone knows about them and has information. During the time I attended these lectures, Marijuana was a hot topic and I remember the creation of a case that we code named internally as the “Smoking Fag”, a pun in two ways, “Smoking” from “Smoking Gun” and “Fag” being a name for cigarette making the colloquial phrase actually make sense. Unfortunately, I’m not planning on discussing Marijuana. It’s a safe topic.

On one particular night the lecture came to what topics were unacceptable. First, I must point out that University debating is much different than high school debating and the off limit topics are much less in University. Example: It was always mentioned to me in high school to avoid touchy subjects such as religion because it might offend someone, while in University they just tell you to go all out and bring up whatever you want. The lecturer listed to us a few topics that have been overdone over the years and that no one wanted you to debate at tournaments. They includedCapital Punishment, Censorship, Abortion, and Euthanasia. (I think there was actually five but the last is alluding my memory though it may have been Intelligent Design vs. Natural Selection) I included Wikipedia links to the topics to show how much discussion there is on a topic. I must note that, yes, these issues are debated to this day in government, like in the US the topic of Capital Punishment is always lingering, Censorship discussions prop up from time to time (Video games anyone?), Abortion is about to hit the courts again (Sorry for bad joke: What does Bush think aboutRoe vs. Wade ? He doesn’t care how people got out of Houston and New Orleans!), and Euthanasia had a time in the spot light earlier this year withTerri Schiavo. When we were told not to debate it it was because we could pick better topics that that to bring up. Governments and courts don’t have a choice.

Recently there was an article (was posted in my articles sidebar…which you all should check every so often) which talked about a court battle over Intelligent Design in the Science classroom. I am in firm belief that all students should be exposed to a variety of topics that are controversial (including all the ones with Wikipedia links in the last paragraph). It is my hope that I could go up to a graduating high school student and ask them their opinion on Intelligent Design and get a thoughtful answer. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen, and many people who I bring the topics up with aren’t familiar with the terminology. Despite that, many do form opinions on these topics after a little background information. I just read an article that the Dutch government is revising their laws on Euthanasia. This is the real topic I wanted to discuss today.

I am pro Euthanasia and am a supporter of the Right to Die movement. To me, it is a very logical set of principles and beliefs to stand behind. I will try to explain some of my reasoning behind why I stand on this issue and you can make your own conclusions on it. Everyone has an opinion on this issue if they think about it. To me, Euthanasia is an unalienable right that is not being awarded to people at this time. Just as a woman has the right to choose, a person has the right to die. It makes alot of sense to me; one, it ends suffering (and is almost always at the request of the person in suffering), and two, it is more economically sound. When a person wants to die to alleviate their pain, who is to say that it is not their right to decide that? Are other people who oppose it on higher moral ground and can veto a person’s control over their own life? No. For me my independence and high functioning ability is highly prized. If I were to come to a diminished state of existence, either through an accident, medical condition or through age, I would lose the ability to enjoy life. What use to me is life when I would have to lie in bed all day and be attended to by people? I feel that it is a waste of resources, both monetary and emotional resources for people. If a person does not want to live under medical treatment, why force it on them and spend possible hundreds of thousands of dollars on unnecessary care that would be used for people who would benefit from it. I’d feel horrible if a newborn baby couldn’t get nitric oxide because the hospital couldn’t afford it because they spent their money prolonging my life. It’s logical reasoning to support euthanasia.

I feel very strong on this issue and I would enjoy comments from whatever side of the debate you are on. To me, no one should tell me what I can and cannot do with my life. Our society is scared of death, and as such, many have labeled this action as morally wrong. I think it is cruel and unusual to not allow people to exercise this right if they choose to. It doesn’t hurt anyone, and it can alleviate their pain and troubles. During the Terri Schiavo case, interest in Living Wills and Do Not Resuscitate orders increased drastically. I personally now have one and feel that it is a responsibility of people to look to the future events that could happen and be responsible; create a living will to make your views known, be it on either side of this debate, but make it known clearly your wishes and save the pain and suffering the Terri’s family had to go through. For Canadians, the one I chose to do can be found through theJoint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. It is quite instructive and informational. At the very least I suggest you look into it. While the last statement I will end this with may seem very harsh, it is only due to social stigma: If I want to die, let me and support me in my decision.

Random Wikipedia Article: Optimus Prime
Currently Listening to: This Is How It Goes – Billy Talent