Tolerance is one of those things that while living in Canada is not only expected, but any act contrary is met with great scorn and public outrage in the media. Yet, it would seem that not all Canadians have come to accept ‘tolerance’ as being a vital corner stone of Canadian Society.

An article by Danielle Crittenden, of the National Post for instance, is shitting on the entire system because she wasn’t harassed as much as she was hoping to have been by people in public or even the security detail that handled her at the airport, while wearing a burqa.

I would guess that Danielle would receive the same level of harassment by society had she chosen to conduct the same experiment having chosen to dress like a nun, but I guess that wouldn’t count seeing as how it’s the Muslims we’re after.

Anyways check the link for the article, and also check what the French are now demanding in Quebec, .h the crazy world we live in.

• Keep hijabs off judges, teachers, says union boss
• Too tolerant by half

Its not breaking news that Coke’s bad for you and seeing as how coke kills, should be more then reason to stay away from the liquid heroin. However, for those of us who have long been hooked on it, (I’m trying to cut back on my can a day, but having an unlimited ‘coke’ fountain at work hasn’t seemed to help things any), there seems to be an explanation as to why it’s so hard to let go, apart from lack of will power). Anyways I came across thie article on the effect coke has on your body on HealthBolt from a year ago, which I found interesting enough to share.

What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? It’s because it gets you high. They took the cocaine out almost a hundred years ago. You know why? It was redundant.

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.) But, hey, have another Coke, it’ll make you feel better.

Or you could just grab a pepsi considering it’s helped hook a lot of you up with Raptors tickets.

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I’ve always held that as we grow older, we grow dumber. I know that it sounds ironic, considering we’re always learning new things and constantly evolving our understanding of the world around us, but at the same time we continuously throw out the very fundamentals that our knowledge and education is based upon. A prime example and proof of this is the newest game show to flood the air waves,Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, which has educated individuals (graduates of various majors) answering questions that span from grades 1 to 5, in a Jeopardy meets Who Wants to be a Millionaire type cross over. For instance, in one episode a UCLA American History Major lost with the question, “Who was the first American President to be impeached?”, his answer isn’t important but its suffice to say that he got it wrong, and was embarrassed on national TV. Or for instance the time that I was able to convince one of my boys, (a third year bio chem student), to write my first year intro to chem exam only for him to to go in and completely bomb it.

Point being, as we grow older we tend to gain a sense of false pride with what we really don’t know, that we overlook and realize that we really didn’t understand things all that well to begin with, rather we temporarily knew enough to get by on. Now this makes perfect sense for school after all why stress, as long as it gets your name on a diploma or degree, after all that’s what really counts, isn’t it? But our growth of stupidity goes well beyond school and extends far into the real world, especially when it comes down to our privacy and security.

For instance it’s hammered into our heads as kids to never talk with strangers, since we never really know their intentions or if they even are who they say they are, but at the same time, how many times have we read or heard about fraudsters posing as someone who they aren’t and scamming some poor couple out of their entire life savings, leaving them broke and on the streets. Or the one about never taking gifts from strangers or how about the one that one that really inspired this post, what about the whole never revealing your personal info in public chat rooms since it may lead to pedophiles, stalkers or even thieves to use information they gain to potentially cause you grief. Off course it makes perfect sense when we’re teaching these lessons to to the little ones, come on now with all the pedophiles and stalkers out their its only logical to not give away your personal details, but then why is that the second most people grow into their teens and into adults they feel these rules no longer apply to them?

Social networking sites such as facebook, hi5, myspace and the lot have people revealing not only their names, but their numbers, addresses, schedules and even who they know and how they know them, and revealing nothing short of their past history. After all it’s that sense of community which drives these sites to be successful in the fist place. But what if someone wants to use this info against you? You’re basically giving away personal security information, leaving anyone inept enough in social hacking to go out and pretend to be you to someone else, getting information about you that you would be alarmed to find out they could. Then again how one can go about using information on these sites to hack is worthy of its own post.

So it isn’t that far of a stretch of ones imagination to think about ‘what if‘ this information was used as a voluntary means to watch over or to learn everything about you and to basically know you so well that they could predict your behaviour. That idea alone is enough to send shivers down the spines of most civil libertarians and drive many to put on tin foil hats. What if there was that proverbial man in the black coat lurking in the shadows, using such sites to watch over and monitor you? Having you voluntarily hand over your life history, in the guise of a social networking site, while selling your soul [or at least all the info they have] to the big corporations who then use the said information to continue to drive the capitalistic engine using you as nothing more then fuel for the fire. Agreed that such conspiracy theories are often far fetched over whelming and nothing more then fear mongering against the king of the hill, but at the same what if there was some truth to all the above?

To that end I found this video that may act as an eye opener for many of you, and may make you realize how much closer we are to the above then you would want to think.

Seeing the above it should be obvious if not a bit amazing all at the same time as to how much more we know,the more we really seem to forget.

Let me try and paint you a picture. The only people I can really trust are my boys. We all grew up together, we’ve all seen the same shit, and we’re all down for one another. We got each other’s backs through thick and thin. We’ll roll up on whoever disrespects us, and the whole one for all and all for one thing isn’t just something we say, its something we breathe, and bleed. Whoever thinks that they’re bigger then us, tighter then us or whatever is just another arrogant fuck who needs to be shown his place. If they think they got number’s then we’ll show them who got’s balls. If they think they got balls, then we’ll see how large. Man, they don’t even know who we really are. They don’t know my cousins they don’t know that we down with those next crews those next legends. Those guys from that next school they’re all pussies, they don’t got nobody. They all talk, and they all snitches. That next mans crew from down there, those guys are just clowns and if it ever came down to it, they ain’t down for shit. Gats, bats, golf clubs whatever it takes you gotta protect yourself and your boys. You gotta take it to them before they bring it to you, you can’t let them think you’re soft, not even for a minute.  I’ve seen and heard it all. I’ve seen things with my eyes that I can’t even begin to explain to anyone else, not my parents, teachers not the preachers none of them will ever be able to understand a thing about the life that I’m living. Yea, I session still and ya I’m flexing that next chic. Man that dude thinks hes hard because he dealing that girl, man I could flex her in a minute, she ain’t shit. Bun it yo, everyone’s fucked.

The above is the ghetto fantasy that we’re living in. The reality of the matter is, is that our neighborhoods are mostly all middle class. That the people at the other schools really don’t care that much for us, and that we really aren’t near as big or as bad as we like to believe. None the less most our high school lives we play the above roles adopt the above mind set, and we become characters to our own delusions, which are fed by our friends and older siblings every day. Stories of the older generations pass down year by year at every high school, narrating tales that rival those of Tony Montana, leading us deeper and deeper into being characters that are filled with more hate and disrespect then the last. While every generation had its own war stories, its fights, its crews, and everything else in between end of the day none of it really counts for much or matters for anything, a small minuscule piece of who we are; a time in our lives that we can usually accredit to being nothing more then adolescent stupidity. Yet with every passing year, that character we all once played becomes darker and filled with more disrespect and hate, the chances of new youth leaving it behind and being able to reflect on it and lay claim to their own acts of adolescent stupidity grows less and less. That’s because somewhere down that line the character consumes them, it becomes who they want to be and they can no longer tell between what’s real and whats fake. That fantasy is all they come to know and all they care to know, and that’s what needs to change.

See as fun as that whole fantasy is, as glamorous as that life may seem at that time, that life is one that has no future. There are no winners only losers. A fantasy that leaves many with addictions and habits that they spend there entire lives trying to fix. Demons that become so real that fear is all they come to know. A paranoia that they just can’t look past. And as redundant as it may seem we need to stop praising and glorifying it. The sessions, the bar fights, the jams the whatever the only way we can ever kill the fantasy is by killing the false sense of glory that we associate with it. This game of tag that we play where instead of tagging one another we beat each other into coma’s and into hospital beds needs to not get the praise that we all tend to give it, because sooner or later we all get a chance to be “it”, and in trying to deal with the pressure we cross the lines, each time trying to outdo one another that sooner or later we reach the point of no return.

Now many people may disagree with me. Saying and feeling that their own reality is different. That they’re more then just characters. That maybe I was a character, or lived the way I described but I don’t know the half of it. Then please prove me wrong. If we do want to live a thug life and the whole gangster life and all of that, then just stop being cowards. Lets all get together, every crew, every school whatever and lets have a revolution. Let’s go to where there’s a fight and help out. Darfur, Rawanda, Burma heck even India. You don’t even need to leave the country, start the revolution right here. Socail causes are a dime a dozen pick one support it, create change. But lets face it we don’t want to do that, we just want to be characters. We just want to be be cartoons, but if we really wanted to do something, if we were all that tough then lets start a revolution, lets get out of here, lets do something. If we’re going to get shot at, beat up, or fight then at least let it mean something. Let it have some meaning. Let it stand for something. Thats all I’m trying to say.

For those of you who follow the comments the above video clip isn’t really news, but I thought I’d share it anyways. Incidentally Hollywood has decided to take an interest in the saga that once divided Punjab, and has decided to go down a path that even Bollywood is weary of traveling down.

The thing that Bollywood understands better then Hollywood, is that even though ‘84 was a huge atrocity and slap against the Sikh psyche, the Sikh community in India and abroad is nonetheless greatly divided on the whole thing with many Sikhs themselves having accepted the blame for the events of the mid 80’s. Yet when it comes to the topic of partition and India’s independence the vast majority (of Sikhs) let their patriotism shine through.

That goes without saying though, considering that a majority of those who suffered (lost land, wealth, lives etc) were Sikhs. Majority of the armed forces that battled against Pakistan at the time were Sikh (90% if memory serves me right), and it was the Sikhs after all who lost the freedom to access Nakana Sahib. Taking all that into account it should be no surprise that naturally a movie that tends to show Sikhs in a negative light in that whole saga won’t exactly be praised or win any acclaims from this side.

Now in all fairness I have yet to watch the trailer with any sound, but then again the pictures in the scenes do speak for themselves, and it’s no surprise that this movie offends at multiple levels. First it attacks the sentiments of those who hold the Sikhi saroop in high esteem with the man’s cutting his hair and all for his girl. Then it insults the more general Sikh populous with the whole converting to Islam (the enemy) thing.

How it ends up I guess you’d have to watch the movie to find out. Does he keep his kes again?, or does he win over his girl with his new found faith? Does their love conquer all and do they defy all religious, cultural and whatever other boundaries they had separating them to be together? Does Clark reveal his powers to Lana and steal her away from this fool? One can only speculate, but that would involve watching the movie, which after all we are trying to boycott.

Then again who really cares? Its just a movie, a chic flick at that, so who out of ‘yall (those having already commented) would have gone to see this movie anyways? Be honest, by even bringing it this much attention we are doing exactly what the directors and producers always wanted, creating a buzz. A buzz, good or bad, which will create a sense of curiosity in peoples minds, making them to want and see more of the movie. Making those inept of pirating the movie from mininova to actually go and pay to even watch it, fueling the economic engine, making this project all worth while for the producers to begin with.

Now that i think about it, why are we so pissed again? Is it at the fact that they’re showing a Singh converting to Islam? or are we pissed at them showing him cutting his hair? or was it that raunchy scene with him and Kristen that’s got us all buzzing for the boycott? After all if thats whats got our kashera’s in a knot then don’t we got bigger problems to worry about, seeing as how 18 year olds are leaving Sangat, doing the devils powder, and murdering mans?

Oh well I said my piece, time to get back to work.

Technology tempts us to dawdle, study finds

SETH BORENSTEIN
thestar.com

WASHINGTON – Procrastination in society is getting worse and scientists are finally getting around to figuring out how and why. Too many tempting diversions are to blame, but more on that later.

After 10 years of research on a project that was only supposed to take five years, a Canadian industrial psychologist found in a giant study that not only is procrastination on the rise, it makes people poorer, fatter and unhappier.

Something has to be done about it, sooner rather than later, University of Calgary professor Piers Steel concludes. His 30-page study is in this month’s peer-reviewed Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association.

In 1978, only about 5 percent of the American public thought of themselves as chronic procrastinators. Now it’s 26 percent, Steel said.

And why not? There are so many fun ways to kill time – TVs in every room, online video, Web-surfing, cellphones, video games, iPods and Blackberries.

At work, email, the Internet and games are just a click away, making procrastination effortless, Steel said.

“That stupid game Minesweeper – that probably has cost billions of dollars for the whole society,” he said.

The U.S. gross national product would probably rise by $50 billion if the icon and sound that notifies people of new email suddenly disappear, he added.

And there’s good reason to worry right now about the problem of procrastination.

“People who procrastinate tend to be less healthy, less wealthy and less happy,” Steel said Wednesday. “You can reduce it, but I don’t think you can eliminate it.”

Psychologist William Knaus, who has written several self-help books on fighting procrastination since 1977’s Overcoming Procrastination, said Steel is “absolutely right.”

He said he found it harder to wean chronic procrastinators from the habit of delaying than to wean alcoholics from booze. Knaus mentioned one businessman who spent 40 hours of delay time to avoid five minutes of work.

“It’s a huge problem,” Knaus said. “I think the majority of mental disabilities people have – anxiety, panic – they can be defined as a special case of procrastination.”

There is personal financial fallout from procrastination, too. Delay in filing taxes on average costs a person $400 a year and last-minute Christmas shopping with credit cards was five times higher in 1999 than in 1991, Steel found in a review of more than 500 economic and psychological studies about putting off unpleasant chores.

Steel’s study found that in the past quarter century, the average self-score for procrastination (using a 1-to-5 scale with 1 being no delaying) has increased by 39 percent.

Overall, more than a quarter of Americans say they procrastinate. Men are worse than women (about 54 out of 100 chronic procrastinators are men) and the young are more like to procrastinate than the old, Steel said. Three out of four college students consider themselves procrastinators.

Early studies looking at U.S. and Canadian cultures didn’t find any differences in the two countries’ procrastination problem, but Steel said when he has more time he’ll get around to more cross-cultural studies.

The causes of procrastination combine temptation, sense of immediacy, the value of doing the job, and whether you believe you can get the work done, Steel found. He even created a complicated mathematical formula, complete with Greek letters, to figure out when a person is likely to procrastinate.

Temptation is the biggest factor. And it’s why procrastination is getting worse, Steel said, citing technology.

“It’s easier to procrastinate now than ever before. We have so many more temptations,” he said. “It’s never been harder to be self-disciplined in all of history than it is now.”

But procrastination goes back thousands of years, before technology. Ancient literature harps on the problem, Steel said. Knaus mentioned a book from 1852: Thoughtless Little Fanny: The Unhappy Results of Procrastination. The author is just called “a friend of children.”

While many self-help books say perfectionists procrastinate because they don’t want to get things wrong, Steel found just the opposite. Perfectionists procrastinate less and do better because they avoid delaying. However they do worry more about putting stuff off, he said.

Studying procrastination as a field has a benefit, said the professor. The more he knows about the problem and the causes, the less he procrastinates – even though he sheepishly acknowledges his study was completed five years late.

The good thing about studying procrastination, he said: “If you take a day off from it, you can always say it’s field research.”

You ever notice that englandi’s say ‘loo” when referring to the crapper? By similar virtue wouldn’t Waterloo thus imply , a crapper filled with water? Seeing as how Canada was and is under British Raaj, what dignified general, or Lord, came up with the idea of calling Waterloo, Waterloo?

With that in mind why do folk at Waterloo take such pride in going/being there? Would this also explain the deep fried stench that resonates throughout the hall of its illustrious university?

Remember, friends don’t let friends go to Waterloo..

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