I have this ongoing fascination with reading science articles. I often understand little about the subject  and retain even less of the material than I started with. Up to 10 minutes after reading an article I am fairly certain that I will retain about -1% of the content; not 1% of the words, like ‘the’ and ‘a’, but 1% less than I started with; hence the negative (-).

Like the hours spent on Monday reading about the flu: H1N1, H5N1 and H3N2 strains that are the common bane of the flu seasons for humans (although there are more) and how pig have virtually nothing to do with ‘Swine Flu” other than being carriers, just like us. Did you know that H and N refer to protein chains that makeup the outer layer of the virus? And now I’ve forgotten who I am.

Next up: the Hidden Riddle of Shapes Solved (quoted below)

“‘Most people thought it would never be solved in their lifetime,’ adds Mark Hovey”

See, that’s where you are wrong. I was reasonable certain that I would have solved it in my lifetime but now someone else has gone and done me a huge favour. And saved me quite a bit of stress and performance anxiety to boot.

“But it quickly became clear that manifolds with a Kervaire invariant equal to 1 exist in dimensions 2, 6 and 14, and examples for dimensions 30 and 62 were found within a few years.”

Ahem… yeah. I was just going to suggest this … And for anyone actually reading the article they will recognize that the statement quoted above is not related to the solution but, instead, the point when my eyes got crossed and I needed a stiff drink to regain my vision.

Seriously though, science may sound like magic and we as a modern society and civilization may believe that we know everything that there is to know about at least one given subject but the fact is: we are only a smidgen more knowledgable about anything than we were at the beginning of time. Compare what we know with what we don’t know and realize that the pool of ‘what we know’ is a lonely, cold, isolated and dark place.

Science is not a magic bullet. It is not the answer. It does not cure all or, really, explain virtually anything.

Science is important and being ignorant is bad. I know that the Riddle of Shape article is not intended for anyone, save the battle hardened mathematical wizard (or apprentice) , but I think we can all spend a little time questioning what is happening around us and challenging our perceptions. We can strive to learn something every day.

For anyone interested I will be spending the next few weeks here at the Understanding Science web site. Feel free to join me.

And just an FYI: the averge flu will kill tens and hundreds of thousands of people … every year.

Who are you people and what am I doing in this box? Why is it dark in here? It smells like socks!

What do you mean open your…

…ah! The light! It burns! It burns us!

Please tell me that the snow is finally gone. I might cry if it snows again.

Come on. Some parent has apparently left their spawn unattended again except this time the child in question is flicking the switch between summer and winter.

You know the routine – we have all, at one point or another, tormented a room full of people by flashing the lights on and off. It gets real fun when you wait to see what they are going to do and then strategically turn the lights off when one of the adults gets bold enough to try walking towards you in a room full of toe-stubbing accidents waiting to happen.

Yesterday and the day before? Bitterly, soul crushing cold. Today: 11 degrees and rain. Tomorrow: -3 and snow. The next day? 13 degrees again.

It is not a big jump in temperature but it keeps flashing past the freezing point and leaving me wondering if I really need to shovel or just wait. Unfortunately if I just wait .. I’ll be shoveling chunks of ice.

Originally coined by Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams, the ABC Campaign (which suggests that Canadians vote for Anybody But Conservative) has, in my world, become more refined into voting ABH (Anybody But Harper). I have been avoiding talking about politics, a topic that borders on religious belief and zeal, but my current perception of the Conservative campaign is increasingly drawn to their leader and how much I do not what him to win. Incidentally that was the unintended result of a voter-marketing strategy keyed to the leader and not the party; and I think that they have shone a light on the most critical weak point that they could have.

Let me put it blunt for them: “I will not vote for Stephen Harper because I have no confidence in him, his choices, his wisdom and his direction as leader.” Period.

A few bullet points on why I believe this. They are in not particular order but just what comes bubbling to the top as I type this. Obviously some are more important than others but they all have an impact.

• Negative Ads – do not work, especially from the same source that warned the opposition parties would try this tactic; a source that did not let the opposition parties get their gears running in that prophetic direction before unleashing a torrent of personally targeted ads.  At the start of the campaign, Mr Harper warned that opposition parties would turn the campaign negative and, over the course of the run-up to this election, his party has led the way.  Let me take a moment to quote two direct-to-email messages I received from Conservative and Liberal website after signing up for policy announcements. This is an example the direction that two differing parties have taken when it comes to negativity.From an email titled: Vote Today (referencing the early voting period for people who could not cast their ballots on election day) – Note the immediate start of hostilities; this email continues in this fashion, finally ending with a call to vote:
  

  October 03, 2008
  The outcome of this election is far from certain and Canadians have a clear choice:A real plan for the economy from Stephen Harper or a risky plan from Stéphane Dion. We can’t let Stéphane Dion plunge the country into deficit. We can’t let him impose his sweeping new carbon tax. We can’t let him drive up costs for job-creating businesses.

  From an email titled: Vote Today (referencing the early voting period for people who could not cast their ballots on election day) – Note the intention to get people to vote; this email contained not a single reference to party politics or policy:

  Vote Today!
  Le français suit Liberal Friend, Did you know you can vote today? Election Day is still more than a week away, but there is no need to wait until then. Advance polls are open starting today at a location right in your neighbourhood. Polls are open today and Monday (October 4 and 6), from 12:00 noon to 8:00 pm.

• Political Reform and Openness – Since taking office on a promise to open up the political process and reform government the Conservatives under Stephen Harper failed to do anything. Harper even went as far as to lock down the PMO (Prime Ministers Office) with regard to anything media related. All media access has to be carefully choreographed which has stifled any critical comments or questions with regard to the current regime.
• Bad Ads – Starting with the plea to the voters that he is a family man who plays guitar with his son. Yeah. I am willing to bet that not a single politician, no matter who, would not say a similar thing to get themselves elected. Lets take a phrase from the move Hunt for Red October: “Listen, I’m a politician which means I’m a cheat and a liar, and when I’m not kissing babies I’m stealing their lollipops.” Yeah, and that is immediately what crossed my mind when I saw fatherly, sweater wearing, home-man  Harper telling us how much he loves his family…
• A Party of One – I do not want to elect a person to office. I want to elect a team who can tackle the problems that our country and our citizens face. Take a look at the recently released Conservative Policy paper with 22 photographs of the man himself. And yes, what political rant would not be complete without a little one sided rumour mongering:
  

  Rumour has it that Mr. Harper’s idea of what sort of art you should hang on your wall was signalled by his removal of all pictures of previous Conservative prime ministers from their lobby room – including John A. and Dief the Chief – and their replacement by pictures of none other than Mr. Harper himself.

  From Margaret Atwood as she wrote in the Globe and Mail

Actually, if I could I would recommend that you read her writings there as published over the past few days. I find myself agreeing with her on almost every point – and this is not necessarily a slight on the Conservative party but for my vote its Anything But Harper.

To be creative is, in fact, Canadian – Margaret Atwood in the Globe and Mail
Anything but a Harper majority – Margaret Atwood in the Globe and Mail

So I get in the car this morning and I hear the same political panel discussion being replayed on CBC. I roll my eyes and think that maybe the morning show hosts have taken a well deserved break and are replaying yesterdays show.

Nope. After the clip, which was aired to apparently refresh the memory of the audience, they read my email…

Woooo!

Note: In case anyone is wondering – I was listening to CBC this morning and there was a political panel discussion regarding our Canadian Afghanistan commitment. I was a little annoyed so I wrote the following and sent it in to the show. I realize that the contents are going to seem out of sorts  with lots of assumed information; you had to listen to the show to understand

Wow. I am utterly dismayed at this mornings political panel and their absolute lack of respect for our military. Both members of the panel did nothing but use the military as a political sounding board for their particular colour of the spectrum without any knowledge of or respect for the job that they are performing.

Ninety-nine soldiers have paid the price to bring stability and peace to Afghanistan by hunting and suppressing Taliban and Al-Queda extremists in a country that has seen nothing but war for decades. We are building schools, infrastructure and, most importantly, a sense of community in an area where killing and the rule of the strongest has been the norm for most of history.

I am not sure who educated the members of the panel on the role of a military but it is not as peacekeepers. That is a common delusion that Canadians have designed to keep the instrument of blood and death all happy, gay and full of flowers. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate and respect the thought that we as Canadians are willing to put ourselves and our troops into harms way for the good of others. Peacekeeping is a noble role but our troops are trained to close with the enemy and kill them. That is combat. That is war. That is what they are trained to do. And they are the best in the world – even if they are short in number and short of cash.

I am Canadian and I am tired of the shallow arguments that our political masters weave. We are smarter than that. We are better than that.

One last comment: I think both political panel members need to pay closer attention to the American election platforms before jumping on the bandwagon making fun of them. The recent banking problems have re-focused the campaign in a way beyond putting lipstick on a pig. Sure we can pick the fruit from the lowest branch and use that to prove a point but it shows out ignorance when we pick that from a tree we do not understand or, better yet, the wrong tree.

We are better than that.

It is a sad day for me. Richard Wright, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, died of cancer today. He was the keyboardist, and arguably the key member of the group. Through  his creative spirit and musical direction he provided an valuable contribution and influenced the music more than most people realize. Sure, you could point to the lyrics of Roger Waters, the moving guitar of David Gilmour, the solid drumming of Nick Mason or the creative flow of early member Syd Barret, but Richard brought a strong character to the music, something most people miss. Something I will miss…

Related Stories: Wikipedia, NPR and Entertainment Weekly.

Us and Them
And after all we’re only ordinary men
Me, and you
God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do

Dear Diary:

- Day 4 -

I think I am insane.

I arose at 8 AM and lazed around in my underpants until 9. I went to have breakfast, collected all the necessary bits and displayed them proudly to myself in front of the computer. Unfortunately, the voices in my attic convinced me that I needed to fork to eat my cereal with. I will need to make another trip downstairs for a proper spoon while listening for their chuckles echoing along the eerily quiet hall.

To fight for my sanity today I intend to clean the house. Top to bottom. It is one of the few tasks that my besieged mind can formulate. Obviously my defenses and strategy seem to be slipping. I have been unable to locate my adversary and though I can feel her presence around every corner. I am steadfast. I am not going to tip my hand to early.

Words have begun to lose their meaning. Solitude has become my only companion.

Late in the night while lurking through the kitchen I discovered a jar with dark bean like shapes contained within. I briefly pondered what the grinder and stainless steel mug next to the jar might be for.

Some deep secret hides in the shadows of my thoughts. I can sense it trying to take hold. Is it my adversary? Or is it some repressed reality trying to exert its control? Vaguely I remember hiding this critical part of myself away. Near the start of this ordeal I realized that I might need some key knowledge and in a brief flash of foresight, I squirreled it away.

Is this the dark shape haunting my thoughts?

Alas before me now lies a steaming cup of some dark liquid. The vapors smell of magic. I know not from whence the contents come or how I arrived in the kitchen. Scattered about me are the signs of some brief battle. The grinder is partially full of the crushed bodies of this dark bean and strewn about the table and floor, like a mad scattering, is a rich, dark sand. Small paper bowls lie in groups, communities seeking company against some horrible onslaught. In the corner some devious device gurgles and pops. A glass cylinder contained in the belly of this beast contains the same dark liquid. Some alchemists mad brew.

On impulse I drink deeply….

Yeah I am more than a little late on that but hopefully I can turn things around from this point on. Juggling work and play is proving a little one-sided at the moment but hopefully this is the pendulum swinging back the other way.

Dobson Trail – first 7km – in and out

In all the trail is a good workout but I like something with more running water. Something about the grugle and low, light rumble of water seems to recharge my soul.

So I have already passed last months total and I’ve got half the month to go. I am going to wait until the end of the month before I post any numbers though; I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

I think that today my legs gave up too