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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Much ado has been made about the intelligence of Octopodes, or Octopuses. So I wondered, has anyone ever thought to put a touch-screen in their aquarium? I mean, they could learn to change the background (different deep sea backgrounds, videos of other octopuses, predators, etc). What would they choose? Would they learn to operate it?
I mean, there should be a movement to get computers to or swipe screens to them, see what they do with them.
Because I'm curious.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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You see it crop up on Facebook - "The Kootenay Housing Crisis", by which they mean there's a shortage of affordable housing for local residents.
This is, of course, complete and utter bullshit. Not the housing crisis, this is real, I've lived out 5 years now, or close enough to, and there is a dearth of available and affordable housing. And what's available is often misrepresented - what initially seems like a good deal is complicated by heating bills - out here that's a big expense, or driving (a must), or a dozen other unanticipated expenses that invariably end up being appended to your rent and cost of living.
But the term "Housing Crisis" - whether it be here or elsewhere - is too often applied to mean that there's a shortage of housing, when the fact of the matter is that there's a failure of governance to create and enforce policies and law that would ensure everyone had access to housing. Policies that would - for example - state that any property that sits vacant is subject to a substantially higher rates of tax than a property that is occupied. Policies that would tax secondary properties at substantially higher rates than primary properties - the fact remains that house prices are largely inflated due to speculation and foreign/absentee owners. And policies that would see properties that sit vacant for extended periods of time (say, for the sake of argument - 3 years) - whether it be because they're for sale or other reasons - can be seized and auctioned by the city or province.
Property - like too many other things - should not be a commodity that can be bought/sold/traded at a profit - it should be used and preserved. We have no problems suing landowners who contaminate their properties with toxic chemicals, we have laws preventing the building of unsafe structures, laws can as well be implemented that ensure everyone has equal opportunities to housing.
Other solutions worth considering: Do away with property ownership entirely, all property is "on lease" from the federal government, much like they do in National Parks. In theory, everyone should be able to afford housing FOR THEIR LIFETIME. Make property uninheritable - you can pass down your principle living residence upon your death, but all secondary residences are auctioned by the government. PROHIBIT FOREIGN OWNERSHIP (This is a no-brainer!) There are more, I'm sure, these are just a few that spring to mind.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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This is, of course and we're all assured - a bad thing, and frankly I take a dim view of people that do it because it causes an increase in my rates.
On the other hand, why should we be forced to have insurance at all? I mean, it's obvious, if you think about it - it's to prevent us from incurring a debt or liability (eg: house fire on a mortgage, car accident that's our fault...etc) that we can't pay. The insurer then assumes the risk and adjusts the premium based on how risky they think we are.
But then, poke a little closer and you'll see some disturbing things. Like how come we have to pay insurance on every vehicle we own? Technically, I can only be driving one car at a time (despite having two hands). This is a nice piece of legislation that seems a tax on the rich. Or - if I have the assets to pay any liability I might incur, why should I have insurance?
Or, consider my case, but I think you can generalize to yourself - never a claim, in almost 40 years, wouldn't insurance then work better - for me, for us, if it was done like a life-insurance premium where we could at the end of our term withdraw (with compounded interest) our contributions?
The more you look at it, the more you realize that insurance is just a scam legislated into law by those interest groups with a share in insurance companies...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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Looking for a job, any job that isn't seasonal, that isn't restaurant related, because, all things told, restaurants are a pretty precarious business to be in at this moment. And while the pub's reopened all the safety measures easily double the work load, for half the customers, an abysmal amount of take out...
Time to find something else...
So, checking the local jobs I come across a posting for Psychiatrist. $350-450,000 per year. Holy Fuck.
And it dawns on me, too late, that I seriously made the wrong career choice. I mean, look at my friends and acquaintances - all of them crazy, every one of them. And I'm always prescribing mushrooms, MDMA, Acid...If I'd a done for a profession what I already do as a hobby I'd be rich. Damn Damn Damn.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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This is a classical ethics problem posed to grade school ethics or social studies. Essentially it comes down to this:
Effectively, you see a trolley, or freight train coming down the tracks. If it continues on it's course it will kill a dozen workers ahead. If you take action by moving a switch that trolley or train will shunt to another track and kill only 3 workers.
Do you throw the switch?
Variations of it include - throwing the switch to save the workers but killing your child, etcetera, etcetera. You can go on. Do you make the sacrifice for the greater good?
We're seeing it play out now. This is how it's going. The Orange haired switch master and the freight train is on fire, packed chock full of dynamite heading into the busiest, fullest train station in the world at rush hour. The Switch master has taken the microphone and begun pitching quack cures to the people waiting in the station.
This is fucking incredible. And signing into existence a "Space Force" and giving out rights to mine on the moon. Wow. This is progress. This is the end. Even "Idiocracy" didn't foresee this...