Quote of the day

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names, “

- Chinese proverb

And it comes as no surprise that I hold so much disdain for the excessive political correctness we rampant in our society.

Bankers Pay

Why does everyone get their panties Ina whirl over hedge fund managers pay? Though they make mistakes, surely their function in society [(usually, though not always) the efficient allocation of capital] is higher than that of an professional athlete whose sole purpose is put a ball in a net.

Jealousy and a culture of victimization.

Why branding matters: The worst name ever for the Spanish speaking market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa

Roughly translated as the “Mazda Whore”

Quote of the day (My favourite quote ever!)

“To be ideological is to have a preconceived reality”

And hence why I refuse to follow any particular governing ideology. Politics, as life, is perpetually evolving and as such, requires a high degree of adaptation. People may knock me for what I consider to be my centrist views (I share certain conceptualizations of the world with the right*, and others with the left**, depending on circumstance) as being “unprincipled”, but I would take that title over “naive”, “close-minded” or “ignorant” any day.

As before, I do find it slightly ironic that the author of this quote, while incredibly intelligent was also a divisive figure who came to represent, in intellectual circles at least, the epitome of ideologue and partisanship : Irving Kristol (R.I.P)

* – I do believe largely in free markets, albeit with minimal intervention. Although I also take a more conservative stance on matters dealing with foreign policy, defense, security, etc….

**- I’m also fairly socially left-of-center. Seriously, what business is it for the government to control issues such as marriage or abortion. Talk about infringement of PERSONAL rights. I for one sure wouldn’t like to be told who I can and cannot marry, so why should gays? And as for abortions, no child is better than an angry, unwanted child.

The biggest threat to Canada?

This is a good question, and one for which I wish I had a concrete answer.

Despite all the sensationalism and intrigue surrounding terrorism (which I by no means wish to downplay), if I had to guess, I would say it would be economic espionage. Far from “sexy” (and luckily even harder to depict in some Bruckheimer pyrotechnical orgy), this seemingly banal matter poses a grave danger – the erosion of our nations competitive advantage.

But when you think about how the economic prosperity we enjoy here is the foundation for life as we know it here…..it ceases to to be banal.

Quote of the day

It is easy to turn an aquarium into fish soup, but much more difficult to turn fish soup back into an aquarium.”

–Lech Walesa, speaking of how to restructure an economy after decades of Communist mismanagement

Soy Sauce

I realized today I need a miniture, say 25 or 50 ml soy sauce dispenser to take with me on the go. Too much stigma involved with my current modus operandi, i.e. hauling it around in one of those small sample liquour bottles. Makes for some interesting stares in public when I’m pouring what appears to be Jagermeister over my rice.

Wish it had a caption…

Highway to hell

Quote of the day

How do we define intelligence? (The governmental type).

Most would often bare resemblance to this:

“The gathering, analysis and processing of exploitable information.”

While valid, it’s hardly effective at appeasing public misconception of the nature and purpose of such a vital activity. Take a look at any public forum, and the moment said word is uttered, it brings out the tinfoil crazies and the hippies, painting images of gestapo-type interrogations and secret plots against our individual freedoms. Unfortunately, this does have an impact on the more moderate public in furthering their misconceptions. Why? I would say that the use of the term “exploitable” plays a major factor. While innocuous in its original meaning,  it has been grossly misappropriated, particularly  by the left to imply a pejorative manipulation of others. As such, I would propose an alternative definition I encountered the other day:

“The ability to follow and project historical trends”. *

*Ironically, the author  of such an articulate statement was a former Nazi Intelligence Officer, Reinhard Ghelen “drafted” by the U.S due to his extensive knowledge of the Stalinist Russia’s true intentions post WWII, which happened to have been a far cry from the benevolent image of “Uncle Joe” (Stalin) which the media of the time gobbled up and regurgitated.

Talk about using Bezeelb’ub to drive out the Devil. Though if the ends justify the means…..