Ending drug prohibition

February 17, 2012

in Bombs and rockets, Economics, Law, Politics, Rants, Security

Earlier, I wrote about whether the phrase ‘greenhouse gas pollution’ is accurate, and whether it might be useful for building political will to do something about climate change. The phrase is accurate – CO2 is an unwanted by-product of various processes and it does harm to people all over the world – and it may [...]

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The government that hammers tent pegs up our noses

February 16, 2012

in Canada, Economics, Law, Politics, Psychology, Rants

A pattern seems to have developed in the legislative politics of a certain northern country. The people in power boast that they are going to do something dramatic but somewhat foolhardy: “Watch! I am going to hammer this tent peg up your nose!” or “Let’s make the census optional!” or “Let’s throw people in jail [...]

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Internet surveillance in Canada

February 14, 2012

in Bombs and rockets, Canada, Geek stuff, Internet matters, Law, Politics, Rants, Security, Writing

The Conservative government is proposing a new law that would require internet service providers to monitor and record what Canadians do online, and to provide that information to the authorities without a warrant. As well as being an obvious violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (§8 “Everyone has the right to be secure [...]

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When to shiver and when to work

January 31, 2012

in Geek stuff, Law, Politics, Rants, The environment, Writing

From Daniel Yergin’s The Quest: To demonstrate environmental sensitivity [at the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol], the Japanese organizers turned down the heating in the conference center. But this created a new problem as Kyoto in December was cold. To compensate, the Japanese decided to distribute blankets to the delegates. But they did not have [...]

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350.org oil sands petition

January 26, 2012

in Canada, Economics, Law, Politics, The environment

As usual, Bill McKibben is saying sensible things and calling for appropriate actions. He is a non-Canadian who is concerned about the ethics of digging up and burning the oil sands, in a world where the climate is changing at a frightening pace. He is asking Canadians to sign a petition: “As a Canadian, I [...]

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Adjusting the voting system to protect the young

January 23, 2012

in Law, Politics, The environment

On BuryCoal: should younger people be given more votes, because they will survive to experience more of the future?

SOPA blackout

January 18, 2012

in Canada, Geek stuff, Internet matters, Law, Politics, Writing

Many websites in the United States, Canada, and around the world are joining together to protest SOPA – the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill, which could become law in the United States, would have unfortunate consequences for the internet as a whole. I agree with Michael Geist that Canadians should be concerned. I remember [...]

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Ironic liberal / big government libertarian

January 16, 2012

in Canada, Economics, Law, Politics, Psychology

When I think about how to characterize my political views, it seems as though there are philosophical positions that I find appealing, but which need to be tempered in response to the strong counterarguments against them. Ironic liberalism I can see the sense in what Richard Rorty calls ‘ironic liberalism’. All that old-fashioned stuff about [...]

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Gabor Maté on addiction and drug policy

January 13, 2012

in Canada, Law, Politics, Psychology, Science

Please listen to this podcast: Gabor Maté on The Human Face of Addictive Behavior Maté makes some excellent points about the psychological basis for addiction, as well as the serious problems with our current approach of treating addiction as a crime. Maté makes a powerful case that criminalization of drug use is ineffective and unethical, [...]

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The Northern Gateway pipeline

January 10, 2012

in Canada, Economics, Law, Politics, Science, The environment, The outdoors

With the commencement of hearings, the political fight over the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is now beginning in earnest. The proposed pipeline would carry bitumen from the oil sands to the Pacific coast for export. It would encourage the development of the oil sands and contribute to the fastest-growing category of emissions of greenhouse gas [...]

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