Just as a note to everyone. I did a big update to VLWC today. Primarily, it should load a lot quicker now as the RSS fetching is done in the background. As well, the look has been updated a bit (There is far more coming.) Hopefully everyone likes the new design and look.

…..1337hax0r…..

It’s called the Inter - network, or internet for short. Personally, I think it’s probably just a bunch of vaporware.

Back to BBSes and Legend Of the Red Dragon for me.

…..1337hax0r…..

Many people may have noticed the little button to the right of the page:  . It leads to a little collective website I am doing that promotes off the grid technologies (such as solar power, wind power, hydrogen cells, etc.) for people interested in getting off the grid without the need to sacrifice the benefits of being on the grid. As well, it discusses issues like global warming and how to decrease your carbon output. Currently we have 3 different writers, but we are always looking for more people who are interested in contributing. It would be especially nice to get a Liberal blogger and a Conservative blogger to round out the perspectives on the site.

Just thought I’d let everyone know.

…..1337hax0r…..

Oh yeah, Off the Grid also won Gold Sci/Tech for the 2006 Canadian Blog Awards last year. Which is nice.

and a horribly bad one. From the NY Times is a fantastic diagram explaining how much Iraq is really costing Americans every year:

Now, a lot of people agree that this war has provided little if any gains for America. If anything, it has produced more terrorists and caused more unrest in the middle east. So, obviously this was a bad investment.

If that $200 billion, which is spent every year on this war, was redirected; Even if part of it was redirected; Even if it the redirection of the money was to pay off debt and decrease taxes. It would still be a better investment than this current state of affairs. I know that if I had a lot of money invested in a company wasting it like this, I would want the head of the CEO and every person underneath him who is putting pettiness before doing their job. Especially when the CEO is talking about investing even more of my money in this failed operation.

It just makes simple economic sense.

…..1337hax0r…..

Based on over 100,000 respondents in the United States, here is a complete map describing who says Pop and who says Soda.(Linked for Size)

Now we just need a similar map for Canada. I am betting it will be mostly Blue as well. (Blue=Pop).

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Background: This is the show the Fox News Channel put out as the “Conservative version of the Daily Show”.

Really… There is nothing I could say that would do this video justice… Wow.

No wonder they are so mad.

…..1337hax0r…..

There is a simple and clear thing I want to see from the Liberals and/or NDP, and if I do see this I can promise you that they will start to look better and better in the public’s eye. (And might even win an election soon.) I want to see these two parties to sit down and agree on 4 or 5 major pieces of legislation that are actually meaningful to Canadians which they are going to make very public and attempt to get passed in the next year. I want them to make a big show about this legislation and I want this legislation to actually have a meaningful effect on Canadians. If the legislation will lead to the government falling, so be it. If it is good legislation that Canadians actually want, it will look incredibly bad on Harper and positive for those two parties if it passes and the government immediately falls because Harper does not like it. In fact, it gives the Dips and the Libs something to campaign on. However, If the NDP and the Liberals do not get their act together and stop thinking in silly generalities that Canadians do not believe will turn into tangible action, they are both going to regret it in the next election. Why? Because Harper will win his majority he so desperately wants.

The average person does not care about the intricacies of government or why passing a bill that makes Harper’s tie spin in committee actually means or does anything useful to them. They do not care if a bill passes that forces the government to write a report which will be passed to the secondary committee on climate change in the Quebec region of Saguenay during the 3rd quarter of the year 2009. The average person does, however, care about actually seeing the government act on items that are important to them. They care if they see legislation that actually leads to investment in their public transport, in their medicare, in actual work on the climate crisis, not just platitudes. With an NDP/Liberal coalition (and some defection from the Bloc or the like), it may be possible for such useful legislation to be actually passed. Especially since this is a minority government. However, the Dippers seem more determined to attack the Liberals these days, and the Liberals seem more determined to proclaim a long list of promises that they never seem to act on.

Now, I will be honest about my opinion regarding the recent NDP/Conservative work on the environment. The NDP currently are being incredibly stupid in working directly with the Conservatives to accomplish their goals. The Cons are going to do whatever they can to either lessen the impact of the bills they jointly pass with the NDP, or to make them written such that when they do actually get power they are trivially bypassed. It is silly for the NDP to think otherwise. Why? Because these Conservatives fundamentally disagree with the NDP on a ideological level.

From what I can see, the only way the NDP will be able to get the Conservatives to accept real effective legislation that isn’t watered down or useless is to work with the other parties and get the legislation to pass regardless of the Conservatives stance on it. This, of course, also requires the NDP to actively work to make sure these bills are in the public’s eye and that the Conservatives will be seen as a negative force towards positive change when they vote against said bills. As well, it requires the NDP (and the Liberals) to be willing to accept an election if it comes when the Conservatives decide that this is just too much liberal government for them.

Now, the question may be, “what legislation could the NDP possible join up with the Liberals to try and pass?” Well, some examples of legislation that the NDP and Liberals should be able to push through with either forcing the Conservatives to look bad or forcing the Conservatives to vote for them include: Actual bills that deal with real environmental policy regarding climate change. Bills that would actually place emission caps on CO2. Bills that put money into funds that support alternative energy. A long list of bills that should have been passed a long time ago.

Another area the NDP and Liberals could enact real change is putting real bills on the table to deal with Medicare and the like. If they could put bills that enshrine Medicare even more so and force the government to act in a way that deals with the issues that are being encountered, the Conservatives will either be forced to vote with them or look really bad by showing that they do not really support Medicare. This especially would be good if they forced the Conservatives to follow through on their promise of decreasing wait-times. If the bills pass, it helps Canadians and makes the NDP/Libs look good (as well as the Cons), if they don’t pass, it makes the Cons look incredibly bad for voting against their own election promises.

Now, here’s the most important thing though. The Liberals and the NDP have to be working together to accomplish these things. The Cons are currently in power and will be doing everything they can to prevent the Liberals and NDP from accomplishing anything. Why? Because they want a majority government, and the more the NDP/Libs look good, the more they lose their chance. Therefore, both the NDP and Liberals need to get their heads out of their collective bottoms, step up to the plate and actually take a chance by trying to force the government to act, not play silly political games. Silly political games is what the Conservatives are doing and they are pretty good at it. Especially if you watch the farce that is question period these days. It is time that some of the parties in parliament grow up and actually try to do something rather than… well whatever it is that they currently are doing (which obviously is not having much effect).

No more political BS about one pillar or two pillars or a hundred pillars. No more political BS about “being the voice of maturity in parliament.” No more political BS about “well if we were in power we would do A and B. No more political BS about anything. All of the leaders of the parties who do not want a Conservative majority need to sit down together and pound out a real strategy for Canada, then they need to go into parliament and get that agenda on the table. I am not talking about uniting the left into one party. I am not talking about dissolving the NDP or giving the Liberals another majority. I am talking about the fact that there is going to be another election soon, and the Libs, the Dips and the anyone else who does not want Harper in power needs to stop complaining about Harper (or Dion) and start actually accomplishing something real in parliament to show the average Canadian what they will be missing if Harper remains in power or (heaven forbid) gets a majority.

Canadians deserve better than what they are currently getting from their government. It is time that someone stepped up to the plate and gave them that.

…..1337hax0r…..

1337hax0r got ahold of this top secret new attack ad the Cons are planning on launching against Dion.

…..1337hax0r…..

Apparently I am Bill Clinton…

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I think that’s a good thing… :S

…..1337hax0r…..

to solve the global climate crisis.

I was introduced recently to an Evangelical Christian group which is working with other groups to deal with the climate crisis in reasonable ways.  Basically by realizing that the climate crisis is not a partisan (or even a religious) issue and that all sides of the spectrum need to step forward to find solutions that will resolve it. From their faq:

Does addressing climate change mean we’re becoming liberals?

No. We believe that creating a better future for our children and grandchildren by fulfilling our biblical call to stewardship and love of neighbor through reducing pollution is simply being a good biblical Christian. Climate change is not a liberal issue. It is a profound problem for people Jesus loves, people Jesus died to save.

Personally, I think this is a good sign to see the evangelical movement start to step up to the plate and realize that there is a big issue for our future and our children and grandchildren’s future if changes are not made soon to solve this issue. Real changes, not facades made to appease the public and keep big oil companies happy.

…..1337hax0r…..

ps. Only one sad other thing from the site though:

Are we working with environmentalists?

No. While we are not working with environmentalists, and are critical of some of their views and approaches, we also feel that once we have established our own voice on this issue we should use this as an opportunity to share the gospel with those who care about “environmental” issues. We also appreciate all environmentalists have done to protect God’s creation. Finally, we do not rule out working with environmentalists and anyone else of goodwill in the future.

While it’s nice to see they are willing to reach out in the future to various environmentalist groups. It would be nice if instead of just being critical of their views/approaches, they worked together with those groups now to have a bigger voice and perhaps even (by working with them) influence change in those views/approaches that they disagree with through compromise and such.