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Fitz K. over at That’s Fit writes up exactly what many non-smokers are thinking, but aren’t vocal enough to say (or maybe are scared the smokers will blow their smoke in our faces).

I despise cigarettes. They are just completely useless. There are absolutely no benefits from smoking, other than some supposed relaxation. Although, there are other ways to relax without all the harm that cigarettes cause. I quite frankly am turned off by people who smoke. Just because you are nice and humourous does not mean I won’t take into account that you have to go out and smoke once every few hours, stink half the time, and will get cancer and other diseases soon enough. But what boils by blood the most , based on my own experiences with quitting bad habits, are those who whine that it’s too hard to stop. It is not that hard to quit. You, a human being, are succumbing to a little cancer stick, saying it controls your life?

Smoking is just sickening, vile, and disgusting, and I really cannot stand the tobacco industry and those who choose to waste their money on such a product.

Wanna learn about Space? Of course you do! Courtesy of the BBC and Sam Neill, you really must check out at least the beginning of this short series of documentaries.

Just to mention, I am no longer homeless. Things aren’t completely worked out on how school is going to work, but I am back at home. It’s nice to know you’ll have somewhere to sleep at night. And it means I’ll get to watch Lost shortly :)

Now, onto more pressing issues! Links!!

• Here’s a great video with Jeff Han and multi-touch technology. It’s very cool to see the developments as of this year:

• What does transformed learning look like? A small, but interesting conversation on education.

• Meanwhile, while do new teachers continue to leave the profession? I’ve experienced this several times during my school years, and it’s an odd phenomenon.

• As if you didn’t know already, climate change means that climates are going to change. Some might even disappear. Although, as they say, out with the old and in with the new. But, will society accept that it may need to adapt?

• The U.S. continues to play war games with Iran. Frankly, America is not the world’s saviour and it need to get over itself and stop creating conflict.

• Is daycare causing disobedience? Does bad parenting cause daycare? Get to the real root of the problem.

• And, is it finally time for another race for space? I sure hope so, cause it’s time for society to learn to explore again. And you can bet that the States won’t like it’s old enemy and new enemy teaming up to reach Mars first.

• But who am I to bash the States? Unless you are yourself American. In that case, rant, rave, protest, blog, vote, or just come to Canada. We will take you in. And we can safely say that whether it’s Dion or Harper on Parliament Hill:

It appears as though the evil omens have been after me recently. The past week had me get a transit ticket, break down over being an introvert, and stop going to school. Because of that final choice, and because I still have yet to prove I can complete any work whatsoever through online school, I was faced with an ultimatum by my parents. Go to school like a normal kid, or don’t come home.

Today was the most walking I’ve ever done. I swear I’ve walked at least 15 km today. Up, down and around towns. I saw the “Imagine a School” video presented at the VSB, which btw is terribly difficult to find. It was okay, but I got another chance to speak with Penny Milton, CEO of the CEA. She seemed heart broken that I was kicked out, but apparently she did the same to her son! He didn’t go back to school, but somehow got into college, and now has a multiple degrees, including one in philosophy, his Masters in Education, and is shortly going for his PhD. If that says anything.

I had to go buy a charger for my phone, cause I did not bring anything of significance with me, other than the MacBook (see, I packed for school this morning, not leaving home). Charged it up for a bit at Blenz. Then I grabbed a sweater from Winners in case it gets cold tonight. Now I’m at the library hogging the free wireless. Stupid library doesn’t have plugins, some I’m going to have to go charge this thing somewhere soon (49 mins left!).

As for tonight, this is what I’m fearing the most. I can get through the day just fine. It’s, what do I do during the darkness…? There’s safety concerns, and there’s sleep concerns. It’s okay if I get a bit cold or wet, but I don’t want to get harmed or robbed. Plus, if I don’t really sleep, then having free days is rather useless as I won’t be able to do any work.

So, I think I’m going to go think for a bit at the seawall, and maybe check out this youth centre. They say that they’re full and can’t take anybody, so we’ll see. I would just sleep in their lobby. I might also stop by the Waterfront Transit Station, but I don’t know if or when they close. There’s always the 24/7 HMV I could check out. But I’m certainly not going to close my eyes in a corner somewhere. If I sit down somewhere, it’ll be in a place that sees some foot traffic (for the night at least).

If I survive tonight, well, I still don’t know what’ll happen. Will I come back home in a few days? Will I have to do some serious job hunting? If I get a job, where am I going to live? Will I still have the time to continue school? There’s so many questions, and it’s almost surreal that this is happening to me.

I’m terribly scared, but I’m trying to think of it as an opportunity to prove my capabilities to not only my parents, but myself as well. Here’s to life ;)

The raving TWiTs were right: Idiocracy is one heck of a movie. The premise, that the future is doomed due to stupid people reproducing more than smart ones, sets the stage for great comedy and even makes you take a serious look at where the world is headed. There’s some great jokes about today’s society, plus some excellent CG and surprisingly good acting throughout. While I may have my suspicions why Fox didn’t widely release the film, it’s great to know that it was made and is available for people to see. That said, I highly suggest you either rent it, buy it, or pirate it, because it really is destined to become a cult classic. Mike Judge has crafted a very entertaining movie that will make you take a second look at the world. So go see it!

The past two federal governments in Canada have been a minority. That is to say, that no political party gained a majority vote in the election. I doubt we deliberately planned to force the parties to learn to compromise, but I strongly believe that it has engaged our politicians in a good way.

I see it more with age, that politicians assume they have an all powerful hand for their term. That because they were elected by the people, that they now have full authority to do whatever they please or believe, until the next election comes around. And it sickens me. Because they assume that democracy means a voted dictator. That democracy means we have to choose the lesser of two evils.

For example, in the CBC show “The Big Picture”, during the conversation, a Christian was saying that all Christian Canadians have a responsibility to the church and to democracy to sway the votes to ensure that their values (or their voice) is the ultimate choice instilled under law. As if democracy is a competition.

To me, democracy means that all voices are of equal power and must be heard, and taken into consideration in any debate.

You are beginning to see this idea of democratic democracy arise, through the participatory culture and through minority governments.

Participatory culture means we all have a voice, an opinion, and the freedom to voice that opinion. This continues to be seen through protests, organizations and groups, and even blogs. However, the problem is that rarely do the politicians listen. Or that the citizen’s voice is outweighed by that of a corporation.

Minority governments are helping to dilute the idea of a voted dictator. Because no single person or party has full control, they must learn to work together to get things done. And this forces them to take into account more sides of the picture.

Democratic democracy means more than just making a vote. It means being capable to analyze daily the issues that face yourself, your city, your country, and your world. It means being coherent enough to voice your opinion in an unbiased way. It means being open enough to take in all sides of the story and being willing to change your opinion. It means making sure you listen to others and that they listen to you. It means more than just making a vote.

The change is coming, slowly but surely.

Why [Americans] Fight?

Having just returned from a parent/teacher meeting, it is apparent to me more than ever that the focus of schools is on “making the grade”. The only thing discussed was what was my mark, how i can improve that mark, and to what degree of improvement is possible and reasonable. Thus, it basically went like this:

“He has a 76% in so-and-so. He did poorly on this test, but made up marks on assignments. That tells me he’s forgetting what he’s being taught. So, study more every night; go over notes. We want to make sure that doesn’t drop to under 72% where it goes from a B to a C+. If he pushes harder, and picks up the test mark through the next units, he might be able to pull up to an A.”

Grades are supposed to reflect true learning, aren’t they? It’s not supposed to be “teach to the test”. Shouldn’t a teacher care more about engaging a young person’s mind and encouraging question asking and problem solving (aka: real learning)? How do we fix this problem?

In my mind, and this also ties into complete overhauls of curriculum and the way school works, I think that perhaps we should move back to the elementary perspective here. In primary years in BC, Canada, a child gets a report card which is quite individualized and covers personality traits, learning styles, natural abilities, work habits, etc. And you get either a G, S, or N certain categories. This means: G (above standards), S (meeting standards), and N (not meeting standards). While I realize that universities, colleges, and some workplaces love to stack up people and compare them, is that ultimately the right way?

And here you run into problems such as, what do you define as a standard, are you marking standards of learning capacity or actual learning, how does one move beyond their mark, why do we put such a focus on marks, etc. While it may be a more simplified way of doing things, I think it does bring a higher degree of individualization, and less competition to the marking process.

The Trisha Tanaka episode was awesome, to say the least. It was classic Lost. Not only did it combine great drama and some new humour, it was also a Hurley episode (which automatically means it’ll be great), Charlie didn’t die, Kate and Sawyer talked openly about their relationship, and we met back up with Danielle. They crammed so much into this episode, but pulled it all off superbly. Almost everything outstanding on *this* island was addressed.

After what I felt were somewhat mediocre episodes for Jack and Juliet, and kind of interesting but not mindblowing episode for Desmond, I feel that the producers have really redeemed themselves with this one. And because of the hiatus, while normally we’d be in for two weeks sans Lost, there’s a guaranteed new episode next Wednesday! :D

“I don’t plan on blogging on Sundays anymore. It’s just what I believe, as a Christian.”