One Hundred Percent Fred

For The Canadian Olympic Commitee

2013-06-17T15:12:00.003-07:00

Alien disclosure requested by Canadian Minister of Defence.

2013-06-07T14:16:00.002-07:00

Recently Hon. Paul Hellyer former department of defence minister for Canada has openly verified that he believes in ETs and UFOs. He's the first person in the G8 with his level of credentials to openly disclose the information he received as DoD head that proved their existence and their attempt to hide it from the public. In a recent video released on Youtube and in various media posts around the globe he states that the Earth has been visited many times and that there are at least four species living amongst us -two work directly with the US Government. Now, contrary to the what Stephen Hawking says about aliens and their agenda Hellyer believes they are here as observers and are not malevolent. But, if there is something that nature and history have taught us it's that discovery and migration are two different things.

"Ask the Inca how their encounters with 'strangers from another world' went."

The aliens came with cardigans and popped collars.

Take a look at any species on this planet that has ever lived, including bacteria. You don't realize it but there is a natural pattern that all living things follow and that is the innate instinct to survive. Animals do not think about their decisions it's just what they know, this is why the buffalo move-on to the next pasture after they have eaten all the grass. They migrate to survive and human's are no different. As we progressed we consumed more of the land. When the land became fully consumed we expanded outward and eventually the city was born. Then in the 15th century, as the known world was starting to become over burdend again we sent ships into the unknown and discovered the Americas -ask the Inca how their encounters with 'strangers from another world' went.

"It's nature, when there is abundance you stay, when there isn't you search for it at any cost"

Advancements only happen out of necessity. The majority of our technology comes at a time when we critically need it. Man discovered fire right before the ice age, we developed the wheel when we were breaking our backs, ramps when we couldn't go any higher, steam engines when we couldn't go any faster, penicillin when we were getting too sick, phones when the telegram took to long, computers when we couldn't calculate, guns when we were getting killed by swords, bombs when we were getting killed by guns, and so on. Our greatest achievements come from being pushed into a corner and forcing ourselves to figure out the answer. So what does that have to do with aliens visiting our planet? All you have to do is continue the previous train of thought and you'll see. Alright I'll do it for you.

We are currently at the stage of using non-renewable resources, banks are crippling the masses, and the Earth is becoming more polluted. We'll eventually fix the bank system or (get rid of it), create clean renewable fuel and fix the Earth. It'll be more hospitable, people will live longer, more people will be born, robots will help with all these wonderful things. Then people will want more things and more robots to do work, this will need more resources and raw materials, we'll start to pollute the Earth again, and the cycle repeats. Two generations later and its better again, two more and it's bad but with each generation we solve the problems created by the latter but only when we have to, just like the buffalo who won't leave until there is no food. Do this two more times and you're eventually going to hit a point of no return. At this point we'll have to make a decision the same way the King of Spain had to make a decision in 1490.

If an alien species is out this far from home it's because someone sent them here. The only reason a civilization would invest this much effort to conquer interstellar travel is for one reason and that is to find more resources. Remember it's a two way street, they don't know what's on the other side of the galaxy any more than we do, so sending a craft to explore this far is a hail mary and you don't throw a hail mary when you're up 50 points, you do it when you have no choice. It's nature, when there is abundance you stay, when there isn't you search for it at any cost cause the alternative is not being alive.

Columbus may have been a discoverer but the purpose of his voyage was to find a better way to India to make more money, to build a bigger empire -it was for progress because the old way was obsolete.
When they got to the Americas they encountered the Inca and what did they do? Slaughtered them - took the resources, sent a ship back to Spain with a note that said "Hey bring the rest of the ships, theres tons of gold and corn here."

Part 2 is next week! If we live to see next week.
Part two will cover what happened in their world that made them come here. What would you do if you were in charge of their world?

DOOMSDAY armageddon and the end of the world

2012-12-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

The end of the world is coming! And it'll happen sometime between now and...later?

I have written before about the pending apocalypse in 2012 and have mentioned that if you understand the Mayan culture they are cyclical and as much as you want to interpret their calendar as the end of the world you're wrong, it's just the end of the Mayan Calendar and it starts up again on Dec 22nd 2012.

According to Wikipedia the solar system orbits the galaxy every 225 - 250 million years. Right now we're about due for a full rotation which could mean we are going to align with the milky way and possibly a bunch of other stars. Relax, it's happened before. Ironically, 250 million years ago an asteroid came out of nowhere and changed the planet forever. Could it happen again? probably, in our lifetime? Maybe? What about next week? Unlikely but again, superficially plausible. In either case, whether you prepare or not won't matter, it's called doomsday for a reason. But if you must know when the world is going to end here are my signs that something is going to happen. They are based on logic, my own understanding of the world, history, geography, astrophysics and geology.

[Note: I do not include financial meltdown in my predictions because it is a zero-sum game]

World and Government Tell Tails

Governments start acting erratically -If they start acting crazy, it's too late, governments always care about how the media perceives them.

Large bodies of water are diverted - If there were plans to create underground bunkers, large bodies of water would be diverted, like streams and ponds Not like the Great Lakes. These diversions could happen 'naturally' or on purpose. But just keep an eye out for any bodies of water being diverted for any reason or very low water levels.

Strange controversies within Government -If you want to leave your post and you don't give a reason it causes the media to investigate. If I was in government and I wanted to leave my post and have no one bother me I would say I cheated on my wife. Case closed, I step down dishonorably, you never bother me again. General Patraeus was a long standing military man, with a flawless career, loving husband for 20 some odd years, all of a sudden he wants to get his rocks off? Why? That whole situation never added up for me. He wanted out.

Construction workers taking busses to work - Building in remote locations not accessible by roads or not allowing general knowledge of the job site to common workers are one of my main tell tails. Also, when construction workers aren't sure or are only given part of a task to complete may mean that something secret is being built. Listen to your construction workers friends if they start saying things like "I've never seen this much steel, or a hole that deep." Also, listen to suppliers and what products they are having a hard time getting.

Language Tell tails
"I've Never" "This is the first time" "Scientists are baffled" "Scientists can't explain" - This is my number one tell tail and one that is starting to appear more frequently this year in all media. Listen to your friends, watch reality tv shows and the news. If you start hearing phrases like "I've never seen anything like that before" or something to that degree then something is happening. Here's where I have heard it:

Three gorges dam completion "I've never seen a damn this big"
At a friend's cottage "The water level has never been this low before."
Hurricane Sandy "I've never seen the New Jersey Shore like this."
Syria and the middle east "It's never been this dangerous over there"
Among a number of others...

Geographical changes
Strange phenomena - This one is obvious, meteor showers, earth quakes, sinkholes, auroras that are appearing more often and in strange places. Strange things happen all the time I would watch for more frequency and intensity -that cause someone to use a language tell tail.

Correlating biological behavioural patterns
Animals acting strangely -This is a big one, if a natural disaster or atmospheric phenomena is going to happen (not necessarily one that wipes out mankind) the animals and insects would know first. Watch for strange animal behaviour particularly with species with sensitive eco systems. Don't worry if you see a dear in the city, worry if you see 50 deer in the city.

Animals seemingly committing suicide or showing up in strange places. -Just like above but more acute. Animals won't commit suicide so when you see whales beaching themselves in huge numbers or birds no longer going south then there is an unbalance somewhere and if its on a biological large scale then something large scale has caused it.

I hope this helps if you have any questions or want to add to this blog post a comment with what you think is going to be a tell tail for the world to end.

Reality TV part 3

2012-04-21T23:00:00.001-07:00

Today, almost every proffession is a reality show from parking meter maids, swamp gator farmers and even house wives whose sole purpose seems to be -just being alive. This is what prompted this series of blogs in the first place -I might as well just start following people and see what they do all day. It would probably be just as entertaining.

What concerns me are the dangerous, violent and confrontational shows like Ice Road Truckers or Axmen. These are shows that follow dangerous jobs, but are people tuning in for the triumph or the possibility of disaster? Is the threshold being pushed further and further towards the line that borders entertainment and sadism?

Most reality shows today involve a very high level of danger, none more so than Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. Crab fishing in the Bearing Sea is the most dangerous job according to the US senses bureau. So maybe it begs the debate; are the producers interested in the fishing or are they hoping to capture some dramatic "real" moments that could result in death? Why is it entertaining?

Our level of shock and awe is rising at an alarming rate where I don't even flinch if someone gets shot or punched in the head in a non-reality TV drama. It's consistently taking more and more daring things to entertain us. And, it's not just drama we want. We want the real thing, we want real blood and real pain. For me, personally, the line was drawn with the death of Sea Captain Phil Harris on The Deadliest Catch. In his last two seasons we saw him dealing with stroke like symptoms as his two feuding sons watched. It was his wish to keep filming, the producers honoured his decision and in the next season he passed away in front of 8.5 Million viewers.

Personally, I thought the decision to keep rolling was Harris' legacy. I would never have known a wonderful man like him if they hadn't. But it does beg the question as to what the line is? It was a man's death, albeit his wish, was a line crossed? Does it matter that it was the third highest rated broadcast ever in Discovery Channel history? All I know is that stuff that used to shock me doesn't anymore and I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing.

Reality TV part 2

2012-04-21T05:33:00.001-07:00

Human's love conflict, well some of us do and according to Aristotle there are 16 basic motives. These motives are things like romance, social contact, and honour. We like to connect with those feelings because they make us feel different then our everyday lives, now depending on if you are strong or weak (we'll get to that shortly) will determine which motive you most connect with.

However, we also desires things like power, vengeance and status. The way Aristotle described these 16 motives is that you are either strong or weak in each. For example if you have like a clean house, you probably have a strong desire for order, and notice when a bag is left on the floor or there are a few crumbs on the table. Someone weak in the desire for order wouldn't care if the sink was full of dishes or if there were clothes lying everywhere. Another example is someone who desires social contact will seek out social situations where as someone with a weak desire for social contact won't care who is throwing a party on the weekend. If you put strong and weak profiles together, let's say, on an island in The Pacific, your bound to have sparks fly.

Survivor manipulated these motives the same way a hooker does, by playing into everyones strong and weak desires. Candy-Lynn, who works the North East corner of my block not only has great legs but also a keen interest in psychology. This gives her an edge over the other hookers. She's able to fulfill each guy's desire (while they fill her, ah thank you!) by exploiting their strong and weak motives. She knows what he wants and most of the time its not just the act of sex but the whole production of it. Hookers are the modern Shakespeare.

Let's look back to the first season of Survivor (actually any season will do because the formula is the same, i.e. our desires for strong and weak motives doesn't really change - surprise.) Each season their's the young beautiful people, the old wise ones, the trouble maker, ,the one everyone likes, the swindler and the lazy person. You have all these archetypes for both strong and weak personalities confined to a beach and forced to interact. YA! There's going to be conflict alright. However, occasionally a bright spot is seen.

In Survivor All-stars Rob and Amber actually fell in love. Argue with it or not, I have this season on DVD and it's pretty genuine if you look closely. They eventually got married, which was the highlight for those of us who have a strong desire for romance. But, it also set the stage for sacrifice and back stabbing. In the end it was a beautiful romance and very positive now what about those who want to see the exact opposite, which unfortunately is more of us.

Go to Part 3

The Stomach Ache

2012-04-10T21:41:00.001-07:00

The Link on the pic is one of my first youtube videos ever posted. It's of my little buddy who was just born and the new toy I got him. No more than a few weeks old, Uncle Fred got him a stuffed toy from Giant Microbes. The cell you're looking at is Shigella a common pathogen associated with a stomach ache. It's plush and enlarged 1000000 times so that its cute and cuddly!

Shigella, the blue glowing hotdog shaped
cells that make your tummy hurt.

Reality TV Part 1

2012-04-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Mark Burnett Creator of Survivor and
Destroyer of hilarity.

Mark Burnett is the Robert Oppenheimer of Television. In 1992 he created the Eco-Challenge, which in my opinion, is the very first reality show. It featured teams of four (originally five) highly skilled adventurers who trek through thick jungles, canoe rapids and climb mountains in a non-stop race to the finish. From there he went on to spawn Are you smarter than a 5th grader, The Apprentice and of course 24 seasons of Survivor. By the turn of the millennium Burnett's reality TV mushroom cloud would kill most sitcoms the same way Oppenheimer's bomb did in Japan. And, like all nuclear bombs it's the fallout from the blast that does the most damage. In TV land that fallout shows up in the form of swamp people, parking meter maids and truck drivers in an all out "shock war" to keep us glued to the TV. But where will it end?

Rick Harris Pawnstar

Survivor really opened the door for both the commercialization of reality and filmed psychological experiments as entertainment (re: survivor, the apprentice, big brother). The commercialization is a no-brainer, you get the same amount or more viewers to sell to advertisers without the hassle of dealing with a TV star's temperament and salary demands. The later however is Pandoras box. You never know what you might get with reality, which is part of the excitement but also taps into the darker side of humanity. It's the shock value that now sells most reality TV. I've narrowed it down to two categories: Triumph and Carnage. Who knows what will happen when you put a group of people that tend to clash together in a house for 6 weeks. No one does but it's probable that some will triumph and others will not, but one thing is for sure, it's a lot more entertaining then a group of friends -or so says a study conducted at Ohio State in 2004.

Go To Part 2

Funny Kitkat meme

2012-04-04T13:39:00.003-07:00

This is a short Post. I love this meme and can't stop laughing. Tomorrow's blog will be about Reality TV and why you should just follow someone around instead.

Where did the wild Architecture go? Follow the money

2012-03-30T16:08:00.002-07:00

This building is taller then your mom.

Kelvin Browne wrote in the National Post that wild architecture is waning and more vanilla style is to come. I think that really only holds true in North America and particularly here, in Toronto, the world champion of bland squares. So, if you're looking for outrageous designs all you have to do is follow the money and you'll find buildings that look like they've just snorted an 8ball of coke.

North America, gave birth to the skyscraper more then half a century ago, but gave up the title years ago to Asia with the building of the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. This signalled to the world that the Asian tigers have arived. Soon, Taipei 101, China world trade centre and other structures came online. But still, nothing wild has shown up.

I can already hear the screams of architectural undergrads everywhere who are quick to defend their trade. I feel your pain guys. I was once one of you. So I am aware that Gehry, Koolhaus and Liebeskind were all creating deconstructive edifices before the ROM Crystal and The Disney Concert hall. These are some architects that continue to push the envelope and create many of the more recent eclectic structures on our continent. But the true home of wild belongs to two places far from here and it's not hard to realize why. Beijing and Dubai.

In 2008 we saw some of the coolest looking buildings at the Bejing Olympics. The Birds Nest, where the mind blowing opening ceremonies took place, was the centre piece among the Aquatic centre and of course the CCTV China tower. Those additions plus Beijing's existing buildings create a sky line that makes New York's look like a picket fence farted in the wind. You want wild, google earth them apples.

Click here to watch the opening night fireworks show

On the other hand Dubai and Abu Dhabi build on such a massive scale that it dwarfs anything going on over here or anywhere for that matter. Most projects come with a very high or an unlimited budget. If you can think of it, they can fund it. Yeah, a $1.30 a litre gets you that power. So when wild means scale take a look at the Palm Islands, The Burj Khalifa, an indoor skiing hill, the biggest mall in the world and a 7 star hotel. See The Palm Island Atlantis Opening night fire work show, think of this every time you fill up your Prius.

As for Toronto, I'll take my hat off to some of the more riskier projects, the ROM crystal and the OCAD Sharpe Centre for design (The table top) for really pushing the envelope in this city of boxes. As for Trump tower, Diamond Schmidt's glass boxes and all the Condos along the Lake...ya...

2012? The end of days? Armaggedon? Apocalypse?

2012-03-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

Go ahead! buy that Kia with your credit card, put a 9V battery on your tongue, and stop brushing your teeth cause after December 21st 2012 the lights go out for good. The world is going to end...Uh?

I consider myself to be an intelligent person (shhh!) who believes in reasonable interpretations, which should comfort you when it comes to touchy subjects like the pending apocalypse. Take a look at our track record for this. Out of the entire history of 'End of the world predictions' we are 0 - 100. That's right, not a single prediction has come true. We are batting .000 percent, so chances are you'll still have to make lease payments for your Benz. But predictions are one thing, the Mayan calendar is another.

the world is going

to end because you

touch yourself at night.

The Mayan prediction isn't a prediction at all. They calculated the end of their calendar to land specifically on a date that coincides with a galactic alignment. Then it all starts over again, it's what calendars do. You don't win a prize if you get all green lights on the way to work? So why would the world be pulled apart by super volcanoes, polar shifts or a rapture? You with me on that.

The Maya and Inca were incredible astronomers and have followed the solar calendar to mark the solstices for agricultural purposes. Not to figure out when the sun would explode. You have to think about things in their time and why it would be so important to monitor the stars. Would you plant a crop three weeks before a flood? No.

The fact is Dec 21 2012, the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year does mark the end of the Maya Long count calendar. It's really just the beginning of the year 0002. So relax buy champagne not survival gear. The world isn't going to end because their calendar does. It's as relevant as saying the world is going to end because you touch yourself at night.

Columbian Oil The next Saudi Arabia 3 of 3

2012-03-19T08:34:00.002-07:00

Ok, so we know the world's thirst for hydrocarbons is still growing and that new oil fields in Columbia present themselves as viable sources that are close to home. So what is next? The spin off from this, I'm hoping, will give all of us an optimistic look at the future. I'm talking about the Green tech revolution. But, don't think this revolution is going to start in North America. Green technology is going to come out of Asia because, in my opinion, and game theorists would probably agree, it's their best move.

You'll see Chinese companies making

bids for Canadian and Russian oil

companies out of necessity, Husky

has already been predicted to go.

North America is dealing with an infrastructure that has never evolved past petroleum. This will make it incredibly difficult to change the moneymakers and policy shakers minds about alternative fuels regardless of the fact that we have viable technologies to start a transition away from internal combustion. The infrastructure is just too well rooted into our economy that we can't just stop using oil. It has to be phased out very slowly and could take another century. Our dependance on black tea as I have anticipated in the past is going to cause two things to happen.

The first is, everyone is going to continue to scour the world for more oil. You'll see Chinese and Indian companies making bids for Canadian and Russian oil companies out of necessity, Husky has already been predicted to go Panda on us. It's just another chess piece moved across the board, exactly how I mentioned in my last blog about the application of game theory. Look at what China has and look at what they will need. Then do the same for India, The US, Europe and you'll quickly see where all the pieces are going before they get there.

The second event that will happen is already starting to occur. China, for the 4th year in a row has contributed more GW(Gigawatts) of clean energy then anyone else in the world creating 18Gigawatts compared to Europe's silver medal performance of 10GW. Believe it or not, the green energy sector is growing and fast -just not in our backyard. The UK Telegraph also reported that China is investing
$1.7 Trillion dollars into green energy and renewables in the next five years. So what does all this mean?

China knows that if they go down a path of petroleum as their primary energy source it will eventually lead to conflict and are planning to avoid it. However, it takes current technology to build new technology so in the mean time China is going to need oil, but not to just for fuel and they most certainly won't need it for more then a century like Uncle Sam did to get to the next evolution in energy. They need it to create the future.

Americas grip on oil will last well beyond 2050 as North America slowly accepts the transition from internal combustion to an alternative fuel source. What will really slow the transition here is the emergence of green tech in Asia. As They develop better green technologies they will require less oil. America can then scoop it up for cheap as demand will go down. But ironically, continuing with a petroleum based energy source over a green one isn't America's best play. The US has to do both because if they are dependant on cheap gas they'll be so far behind in the future. If they focus on green tech now their economy won't be able to handle the change. So yes the future is very bright, just not over our skies.

Columbian Oil the next Saudi Arabia... 2 of 3

2012-03-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Ever play Starcraft? Me neither, but it seems pretty simple. You make tanks, train troops, build an airforce and create other bases. But, before you can do any of that there's a critical step thats as real as hemorhoids before a bike trip. If you want to create a strong army and be successful you need to secure the resources needed to build it before your opponent does -then protect them at all costs.

That's probably the easiest way to describe this debate and why I think that South America, particularly Columbia, is going to play a critical role in shaping the foreign policies to come (Green tech will too, just not as dramatically as you think or hope.) We need the energy for two main reasons; one, North America is addicted to it like a fat kid is to cake. And two, because we don't want anyone else to have it. If we have it, even though we don't need all of it, we can still control who gets it. Take a look at the Keystone pipeline that Obama has recently shut down and the backlash it's going to create.

The US president, probably pandering to popular opinion (it's an election year) and less on facts, decided not to approve the remaining pipeline extensions that cut through the Mid Western US. Stephen Harper, The Canadian Prime Minister, simply took a sharpie and drew a line across Canada and said "Fine, someone call China, tell them to bring cash."

Game theory allows you to

apply info and play out the game

based on what each "player"

needs and has.

China will soon be as oil hungry as the US and at current production levels there isn't enough to go around. Everyone needs energy to keep the economy going, if your economy fails, like really fails, it could lead to something catastrophic. So to prevent that you keep the economic engine going at all costs. In the Starcraft game, you need to secure the resources to fight the good fight. Similarly, the US needs to do the same and secure all the crude it can. Basically, they want to have control of all the resources before the game starts. It'll make it almost impossible for another player to win and make it futile to even fight. That's what we want, we want other countries to believe that it's a losing battle.

Columbian petroleum is just another pawn in the resource game and a logical play for North America. It can easily be extracted and shipped to the US with minimal effort when compared to the painstaking journey an oil tanker has to take to get here from the Middle East. Which is primarily why it is so enticing to the US, it's close and can be defended from the water.

Now, if you're wondering why I keep resorting back to a war like state of affairs it's only because I have crudely adapted and followed others who have used game theory to play out the scenario. Unsurprisingly, there is a high likelihood it will lead to conflict. But there's a kicker.

No one wants to fight. Yes, there are wars, and they are horrible, but they're no where near the levels of atrocity that the world is actually capable of doing. It's this deterrent that keeps us constantly fighting "invisible wars"or wars of attrition. Game theory allows you to apply info and play out the game based on what each "player" needs and has. Right now, everyone needs energy, without it there is literally nothing. We can take all the assets a country or "player" has and determine what their next move is based on their needs.

As of today, the moves don't add up to conflict, but when you play out the moves down the road there is a strong possibility that it could go bad, IF, we don't secure energy resources and more importantly, protect them.

Part 3 of 3 of Columbian oil will conclude this blog

Columbian Oil The next Saudi Arabia? 1 of 3

2012-03-06T09:58:00.005-08:00

Last year I started investing in non-Middle East oil. My instincts were similar to others who predicted that the Arab spring would extend beyond Tunisia creating a very volitile area and thus, higher prices for added risk. Egypt's reform would make the Suez a 50/50 route leaving the Strait of Hormuz as the next water way to be on the radar. I figured, it's not going to take much for that shipping lane to get F'd up which leaves most foreign oil in a tight spot. So I thought to myself where would oil hungry North America and China get their crude from?

My first thought was Canada, the US and China could get their fix from the Canucks rich oil sands but they only produce roughly 115000 bpd. It wouldn't be enough to satisfy the 18 000 000 bpd and the 9 000 000bpd that the US and China consume daily. Even if the rate triples, which they are poised to do, we're still going to need at least two other sources. So where else is oil in abundance? The Arctic -no way, not in an upcoming election year. The answer is no further than your local jail or your neighbourhood coke dealer. Yes their is black gold where you get white gold.

Columbia has been known for it's oil and gas deposits for most of the century but hasn't been able to invest enough to make any real dents in the world market. However, in the early 2000s the government lifted its restriction on foreign investments and opened the doors to investors from abroad. One of those companies called Alange Energy (now known as Petromagdalena PMD:TSX) is one that I had my eye on for most of 2011.

The Market reacts to news

like a 12 yr old girl reacts

to her twitter account...

The way I looked at it was two things had to come into play to get my wallet lubed up for Columbian oil. One of them was increased destabilization of the Middle East governments, which happened. And news coverage that was emotional and sensationalized enough to prompt investor panic. I know, journalists never sensationalize stories especially ones from the Middle East. So, in 2011, while democracy was spreading like crabs in 10th grade, I bought my first 8-ball of Columbian oil.

It's not my fault the market is almost entirely emotional these days. I quickly learned that the more people invest on their own the more hypersensitive the market is to news stories. It acts more like a 12 year old girl with a twitter account then it does a sophisticated economic system. What most direct investors don't realize is that once it hits the newsstands it's already too late. Yet, sure enough people panic at the tiniest piece of news on CNN or Yahoo, both positive and negative.

Nonetheless, this phenomenon has put Columbian oil into play in my portfolio and if you look at the patterns of Columbian oil companies you'll see that there has been a rather nice upswing. PMD:TSX, the company I invested in has jumped 80% Since Oct 2011. Pacific Rubiales, the big dog in the region, is up more than 50% since Dec 2011. Will the trend continue? I believe so and all you have to do is understand American foreign policy, military strategy, game theory and consumer trends. Put all those together and it can be quite predictable what is going to happen next.

Tune into for part 2 of this blog, the how and why behind the jump.
I'll inform and entertain you about it. If any of my figures are off, please let me know.

The first rule of the zombie apocalypse

2012-03-05T05:39:00.001-08:00

I am not a big fan of zombies. Ok, maybe I am. The possibility of the dead reanimating into a primitive form with only the primal instinct to feed just seems a bit far fetched. You don't see zombies looking for water, even though dehydration sets in far sooner than starvation. But hey that's me.

However, if the dead are able to rise someday, then I believe the first rule about surviving the zombie apocalypse should be that you don't kill the living. [Spoiler alert if you watch The Walking Dead] In the latest episode the survivors are left with another dilemma where Shane wants to kill another human to keep the group alive. Rick, the unofficial leader of their group, isn't sure what he wants to do. Which is the first reason why I belive the living should always be left to live.

A zombie is looking for food, it will kill you to sustain it's own life and for no other reason then that. If we start killing other living humans out of fear that they'll take our resources then we're really no different from the zombies. We would by pass our two large, nicely evolved frontal lobes and be using the same part of the brain the zombie's are using -The survival instinct. Hence making us life sustaining primitive instruments of death. The only difference is we remember and a zombie doesn't.

A zombie will kill you to sustain

it's own life and you'll kill another

human to sustain yours, then

what's the difference?

This dichotomy is seldom seen in zombie stories, if it is please leave a comment of where I can read more about this. At what point do you lose your humanity? Is it when you get bit and become a zombie and will stop at nothing to stay alive? Or is it when (as a human) you are so fearful that you would stop at nothing, even kill other survivors, just to stay alive?

What are your thoughts?

Parenting, the glove for which good intentions/ no experience slips it's hand

2012-02-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is in response to a blog I had just read earlier today about a conversation a parent said to their child. Here's the link to the actual blog but I'll sum it up for you:

Sad Parents

Mom says to her kid "If I were you I wouldn't even try it, you wouldn't be very good at it."
Within minutes the dad says "Yeah you wouldn't be very good at that."
The blogger thinks thats a bad thing.

Here's my response:

I'm not a parent but I know lots of them, I watch people parent their kids and sometimes I feel the same way Tom is feeling. Give the kids a break! It's paramount that they know that anything is possible, let them do crazy things, it's the people who think they are crazy enough to change the world that end up changing it (Jobs 2011RIP). However, it's just as important to let them fail and learn that lesson on their own. I know you don't want your kid to be sad but the key thing that isn't taught enough is it's even worse if they don't try.

Now another thing in teaching this lesson are the parents actions, or more so their inaction, in life. We want to tell our kids they can do anything, yet most of us are stuck in jobs we don't like, complain about crap and generally show them that its ok to not try. This typical behaviour is showing our kids the exact lesson we want them to avoid.

If you want to tell your kid he can do anything, the best thing you can do for him/her is show them that. They learn more from watching you than any words that come out of your mouth. If they see you following your dreams and see your determination then there is a higher likelihood of them learning that lesson. Telling isn't selling, especially to kids who are more apt to copy what they see rather then what you say.

It's like lighting up a smoke and telling your kid it's bad for them and that they shouldn't do it. Do you think your kid is going to understand the addictive nature of nicotine? Or that they cause cancer? No. He's going to see you light this thing up (with fire and sparks! kids love that), take a drag and watch how good it makes you feel.

My point is, the best thing you can do for your child is be the best person you can be. This means following your dreams, failing at them, getting up, trying again or move on to another dream. Oh, I almost forgot, heaven forbid he/she sees you actually succeeding at them.

Signed The nonparent

#Lent

2012-02-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

It's the first day of Lent and I have to give up something I hold dear to me. Why? we'll get into the religious rhetoric another time, but as of now, I'll be realistic on the vice I wish to eradicate for the next 40 days and nights.

I can't give up alcohol ( I have my 2nd can of Stiegl Bier in my hand) Sweets, or eating poorly ( later today we'll be at The Burger Priest.)What I can give up is something I have recently come to love, stillness. I'm going to be constantly moving, doing things, going places in a concerted effort to boycott sitting still.

Most of us could stand to use a bit more movement in our lives and be healthier. Right now I'm probably the most out of shape I have ever been. I'm happy but at the same time I miss having a 3 day supply of energy. So this lent, starting today, I'm going to keep moving! I am going to finish this beer.

First Post

2012-02-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

This is the first of my bi weekly posts covering a range of topics from Toronto, it's entertaining politics to events and of course my dog Lola. I've been meaning to do this for quite sometime now but, like most of us, have put it off til later. Which is the topic of my first post. Why do we wait to do the things we love?

As a kid I could never wait, I wanted everything and I needed it right now. Yet the older I get the more patient I've become. Soon, I was so complacent that I was doing few things that I loved and spending more time recouping from a hard days work. I had every excuse validated which made it easy for me to put my dreams on hold. Until I turned 30.

Turning 30 made me realize that if you're not doing what you love, either as a job or on your own time then you're not really living. So I quit my job and partnered with a friend to form my first company. So why stop there? Next thing you know I got a puppy and I started letting my inner child back out. This would turn into the best and scariest idea I have ever had. To be a professional writer.

Now, I don’t recommend this path to everyone, I had a plan. I took the steps I needed to in order to try and make this work and maintain the level of Torontonian life I was used to. This isn’t to say I haven’t made sacrifices, believe me, I did. The long of the short is, take chances while you are young, don’t be irresponsible, don’t get drawn into something unless it’s what you really want to do. We all know what society expects from us but the reality is it’s your life, so chase your dreams. It’s one thing to try and fail it’s a whole other thing to never have tried at all.

Here's my first sample of writing.

http://9nl.com/i22c/

Cheers