Discussions with Zharphyn

There is an epidemic sweeping Canada and the United States.  This epidemic is killing teenagers at an alarming rate.  I am talking about suicide.  It seems to me that lately almost every week I am hearing a report about a teenager committing suicide because of bullying in school.  This morning I was reading about Marjorie Raymond, a 15 year old girl in Quebec who killed herself after relentless tormenting in school.  Tormenting that she endured for years.  Tormenting that has continued after her death.  Angel Mythe Reck and Gentil Dauphin Triste have created a Facebook page dedicated to mocking Marjorie in death.  I want to know, what are the consequences to these children for their actions?  To me, this should be a criminal act.  Their actions caused the death of another person.  Is that not a homicide?  We, as parents, need to stand up and take action.  To those of you with children, talk to them about what is bothering them.  Talk to them about their day.  Maintain that open dialog.  But actually listen to their problems.  Try to remember what it felt like to be a teenager in middle school.  Those feelings of hopelessness.  Of feeling awkward, alone, ugly, undesirable.  If your child reports to you that they are feeling depressed, take it seriously.  That silly teenage crush they had on someone was very real to them, do not diminish it.  If your child is a member of the LGBT community, accept them and love them for who they are.  As a gay friend once told me, he is happy with his lifestyle, but given the derision he endures constantly, who in their right mind would “choose” that lifestyle.  It is not a choice, is a biological directive.  It is who they are.  Do not be afraid of anti-depressants.  It is a medicine like any other medicine to treat a condition.  There should be no negative stigma associated with medicine.  The most important thing that you, as a parent, can do for your child is to make certain that they know they have your love and support.  If your child reports that they are being bullied at school, take action.  Talk to the teaches, administration and school board.  Demand a meeting between you and the bully’s parents with the children present, and make certain that everyone knows the consequences if the bullying continues.  In general, bullies are cowards, and will back down when confronted.  Unfortunately, bully kids sometimes come from bully parents.  These kids are lashing out at others because they feel powerless at home.  A properly run meeting between all parties will show you who the bully’s parents are.  If necessary, contact child services and report the parents for providing a hostile family environment.  Most importantly, do not back down.  Stand up for your child.  If nothing is being done by the school, consider transferring your child to another school, or home school.  You might well be saving your child’s life, and that is the most important thing there is.

The supreme court today passed down their verdict on polygamy in British Columbia.  The short version is that polygamy is still illegal, and that law is not a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights.  I disagree with this ruling, not because I agree with polygamy, or desire a second wife, but because, once again, the law is taking away our rights for no logical reason.

The reason for this violation of our rights is under the guise of protecting women and children, but do we not already have laws protecting women and children from exploitation?  Polygamy, at its core, does not inherently exploit people.  The current religious leaders of Bountiful, BC are exploiting people.  Courtney Stodden is a great example of underage children exercising their legal rights.  At age 16, Courtney married a man 35 years her senior.  She did this with her parent’s consent, which makes the union legal.  Don’t get me wrong, I find the union extremely morally distasteful, but I defend her right to make this choice.  If anyone, regardless of age, is forced into a marriage, then their rights are being violated.  It does not matter whether they are becoming someone’s first or fifteenth spouse, if is done without consent, then it is illegal.

We should not be basing our laws on either religious beliefs, or moral beliefs.  The Charter of Rights is supposed to be defending our rights, and our rights should be upheld.  If you can make informed consent regarding your actions, and your actions do not hurt another being, then why would your actions be considered illegal?

Legally, I can marry one woman, and have a dozen live-in girlfriends, as long as all adults are in agreement.  I can have children with all the women simultaneously.  (Personally I think I would have to be insane to do that, but I was talking legal, not rational.)  So why does it suddenly become illegal to marry all of my girlfriends, and make them my wives?

In the meantime, I am still waiting on the supreme court to decide what to do with prostitution.

I received a video via email yesterday that has got me thinking.   In the video, the speaker claims that the smart meter allows the energy company complete knowledge of what devices you are using in your home.  I find this very difficult to believe.  The smart meter would, at best, be able to determine that a device drawing, say, 3 watts was just turned on, but what type of device seems a little far-fetched to me.  The speaker continues to claim that the energy company will be able to track every time you use every device in your house, how green you are, whether you leave a light on for your dog, etc.  The energy company would then be able to sell this information to police, government, media, or whomever based upon implied consent.  The speaker says that all you have to do is write a letter, he even provides a template, forbidding them from installing the meter and you are safe.  I hate to break it to you, but once the power company is done installing the smart meters on those locations that have not protested, they will take action against the hold-outs.  The energy company is providing a service that you pay for.   The smart move for them would be to take on a service charge for the ‘outdated’ meter that you are insisting upon using.  Better yet, the service charge will be in the form of a surcharge per kWh, causing huge bill increases for you to continue to resist the energy company’s actions.  All of this is perfectly legal so don’t bother bitching to your elected representative.  The government is in full agreement with the energy company after all.  And when the energy company tires of the game, they will simply shut off  your power until you agree.  Oh, and at that point, installation will be at your cost.  Do not forget that all of this only applies while you live in your current residence.  The moment you move, if your new place does not already have a smart meter, your energy company will require the installation of a smart meter before activating your new account, again, at your cost.

Pick your battles, and make certain that you have the ability to win.

I have received this email three times so far this month, and it disturbs me how many people will actually believe this stuff.

<quote>

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME WE WILL SEE THIS IN OUR LIFETIMES.
Calendar for July 2011

Money bags

This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So, forward this to
your friends and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese Feng Shui. The one who does not forward…..will be without money.

Kind of interesting – read on!!!

This year we’re going to experience four unusual dates.

1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that’s not all…

Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born – now add the age you will be this year,

The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world. This is the year of the Money!!!

The proverb goes that if you send this to eight good friends, money will appear in next four days as it is explained in Chinese Feng Shui.

</quote>

It saddens me that normally rational people will fall for any Internet hoax that comes along.  I have believed more than one get rich quick scheme, only to discover that the only one getting rich quick were the guys that started it, but these kind of Internet hoaxes are so unbelievable that even a cursory investigation will show that it is false.  After all, I received the same email last October, and I suspect I will again receive this silliness in March 2013 (assuming we survive 2012).

When you actually stop and think about this hoax for a minute, you realize that it requires a month with 31 days to achieve the intended outcome.  There are 7 months per year that have 31 days.  With only seven days in a week, you are statistically likely to get a month with the requisite 3 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at least once per year.  When you stop to think that this phenomenon happens to at least one month per year, a simple search backwards and forwards in our calendars will tell us that in July, this last happened in 2005 and will happen again in 2016.  Hardly a 823 year phenomenon.  In fact, I only had to span 15 years, to have an instance of this happening at least twice in every month.

January – 2010 & 2016

March  – 2002 & 2013

May – 2009 & 2015

July – 2005, 2011, & 2016

August – 2002, 2008, & 2014

October – 2004 & 2010

December – 2006 & 2017

Years where it does not occur – 2007 & 2012

The four dates with all ones is kinda neat, but not terribly exciting to me, and the fun fact about everyone’s age and birthyear adding up to 111 is common sense.  Next year the number will be 112 and last year it was 110.  Not exactly a brain teaser.

Happy July 2011 everyone!

Nathan Kotylak tries to burn a police car

Last week the Vancouver Canucks failed in their efforts to win the Stanley Cup.  A group of people, intent upon creating destruction, started a riot.  Hundreds of people decided that it would be fun to participate, and soon the riot was larger than the police could manage.  A number of people, equal in size to the rioters, decided to use their cell phone cameras to take pictures and videos of these idiots committing lawless actions.  Let us be clear.  I in no way condone the actions of the rioters.  I think the law should come down as hard as possible on these people.  Jail time, fines and reparation costs should be leveled against them for their criminal actions.

What I do want to talk about is the actions of the general public in reaction to the riot.  Kudos to those individuals that created websites for people to upload the pictures and videos to help with identifying the criminals.  But shame on the people who have moved from justice to vengeance.  Nathan Kotylak is a seventeen year old boy who got caught up in the craziness and he took his actions too far.  He was photographed attempting to set a police car on fire.  Nathan is a gifted water polo player with aspirations of making it to the Olympics to represent Canada.  He has now been suspended from the National team pending a review.  I hope that the review finds him unworthy of reinstatement.  He had a scholarship to attend University in Alberta.  The scholarship is suspended pending review.  I hope that they give it to someone more worthy.  The police have filed charges against Nathan for his actions.  I hope he gets some jail time and a severe fine.  All of this is fine.  This is justice.  Private citizens, however, have decided that this is not enough, and have posted Nathan’s home address and phone number on the Internet.  Nathan’s father is a surgeon.  His father’s office phone number and address have been posted online.  The family have received enough threats that they have fled to an unknown location to hide, and his father has temporarily closed his practice.  Now we have crossed the line into vengeance.  To those of you who posted personal information about Nathan online, thereby endangering not only his life, but the lives of his family, shame on you.  That action was no better than the actions of the rioters that you supposedly are protesting.  Nathan fired a torpedo into his own life.  He will wind up with a criminal record which will severely affect his ability to function into adulthood.  Since he has already had his lawyer remove the protection of the Young Offenders Act to allow his name to be published, the courts will undoubtedly raise his case to adult court.  His Olympic dreams are in the toilet.  His name and face are public enough that he will have difficulty getting a job.  Kudos to the public.  The public shaming is well underway.  His father, a surgeon, has closed his practice.  This certainly helps the public.  Surgery wait lists will only get shorter with one less surgeon practicing.  Oh wait, that does not sound right.  Remind me how this helps anyone?  People are criticizing Nathan’s upbringing, claiming that the parents did a poor job.  Everyone of you think back to what being a 17 year old boy is like.  17 year old boys are idiots.  When my son reaches 17, he too will be an idiot.  I was an idiot when I was 17, although I did not think so at the time.  This is not the parents fault.  This is the fault of biology.  Everyone, we need to get back to identifying the rioters and shaming them.  We need to remove the personal information about Nathan’s home from the Internet and allow that family the chance to resume their lives.  Nathan will have his day in court.  Let justice, not vengeance prevail.