Terrorist are people at deliberately target civilian populations. Its not related to specific political or religious ideas, it is related to trying to kill people who have no direct intention to do you any harm.
Is this a reasonable? Does it matter that those civilians are sending other people to kill you. Are there really any rules in war, other than to win. What is winning anyway?
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Life X3 By Yasmina Reza
Excellent play. Entertaining, thought provoking.
3 acts that are the same but unfold differently depending on how the characters react to the situation. The reactions are complex without easy stereo typical sets and reactions, but the connection between action and reaction is clear.
Traffic Deaths in WA
Summary of stats-
- WA Deaths per 100,000 people in 2007 will probably reach 11. (up for the second year in a row)
- WA death rates where up over 20% in 2006 vs 2005 with passenger, pedestrian and cycle deaths up over 45%
- Australia rates in 2006 are 8.7 per 100,000 people
- In England 2006 the rate was 5. Five years ago England and WA where similar now more people will die in WA than in London.
- In WA deaths where the posted speed limit is less than 60km per hour are up 50% in 2006 vs 2005
- Rural Roads are a factor, but accident rates are above Canada with a similar rural profile and winters that should make accident rates considerably worse, Canada road deaths are 9 per 100,000 people.
- While death rates are down in WA total actual road deaths in WA has hardly changed for 25 years, unlike Australia as a whole where total deaths are down substantially
- Accident rates in WA are above the average in Australia and way above other countries, a large part of this increase is coming from Urban areas.
- Something needs to be done, targeting urban areas.
- Cars have improve, but driving and attitudes worsened, these areas need to be focused on.
- Recent surveys suggest speeding is a major concern for WA residents
- Root courses for the recent increase are unclear, may be connected to recent economic success
- WA should consider risk based insurance premiums that would weed out persistent speeders by making it to expensive for them to drive.
- Implement speed cameras, on mass, like the UK.
- Driver education
- Increased penalties for Killing people with a car. This appears to be regarded as accidental judging from recent court cases.
- Increase penalties for speeding and drink driving, particularly when speeds of 40km per hr over the speed limit.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Well Well whale
Went Whale watching, what a wonderful and welcome way to end the week
Totally surprised by the effect. I knew it was going to be good but wow these are calm, interested, peaceful, playful creatures that happen to be 40 tonnes. It is that combination of size, speed of movement and inquisitive nature that is truly awesome. The calm and the excitement is deeper than the ocean they swim in.
Common Dolphins are also all around them chatting and playing.
This is an amazingly spiritual experience, the benign power gives me hope that the world is good and that Gaia will take care of us. The connection to something bigger than us. I will think of these whales often and wonder what they are up to as I go about my little life.
Totally surprised by the effect. I knew it was going to be good but wow these are calm, interested, peaceful, playful creatures that happen to be 40 tonnes. It is that combination of size, speed of movement and inquisitive nature that is truly awesome. The calm and the excitement is deeper than the ocean they swim in.
Common Dolphins are also all around them chatting and playing.
This is an amazingly spiritual experience, the benign power gives me hope that the world is good and that Gaia will take care of us. The connection to something bigger than us. I will think of these whales often and wonder what they are up to as I go about my little life.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
What it is to know something?
The Egyptians understood the relationship between angles and sides length in a right angled triangle but did not know that A^2+B^2=C^2. They had tables for every triangle they knew. The formula is very powerful, the can predict as yet unknown triangles.
Newton was able to describe gravity but he did not know how gravity works. It took Einstein to figure out how gravity works hundreds of years later. Newton thought Gravity acts instantaneously across any distance. But Gravity cannot travel faster than light. Newton got this fundamentally wrong but what it did has huge value. We could predict the impact of gravity but only as long was we stayed within certain parameters, but we did not understand these parameters.
What does this mean for what we know and how we know other things?
Global Warming for instance.
We know a lot, but we really don't know how the world works, how all the components of the world interact, this means that we cannot accurately predict over the long term and we don't understand the parameters under which the predictions we do make are true. But still we need to act and can act with some confidence. When is the information enough information to act?
Reference: Lost Discoveries by Dick Teresi
Newton was able to describe gravity but he did not know how gravity works. It took Einstein to figure out how gravity works hundreds of years later. Newton thought Gravity acts instantaneously across any distance. But Gravity cannot travel faster than light. Newton got this fundamentally wrong but what it did has huge value. We could predict the impact of gravity but only as long was we stayed within certain parameters, but we did not understand these parameters.
What does this mean for what we know and how we know other things?
Global Warming for instance.
We know a lot, but we really don't know how the world works, how all the components of the world interact, this means that we cannot accurately predict over the long term and we don't understand the parameters under which the predictions we do make are true. But still we need to act and can act with some confidence. When is the information enough information to act?
Reference: Lost Discoveries by Dick Teresi
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Thought for the day
Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
And attitude determines how well you do it.'
(remember Focus, Will and Capability HR Model)
Monday, September 03, 2007
Observations on Australia 5
- Product and retail names are often descriptive and obvious, e.g. sausages are thick and juicy, you get beds from the bed shed and furniture from the furniture spot.
- Advertisements are clearly and obviously embedded in the TV shows:
- e.g. the Gardening Guru show will include a section of Sheds and it will read totally like an advertisement for a specific shed installer.
- Another example is some of the restaurant reviews on eatingwa.com.au web site. This "independent" review is so obviously an advert. They are obviously written by an interested party. What impact will this have on people?
- The Morning TV show is the same, presenters pushing cheap exercise equipment.
- The TV cook that gets his salt out of the packet every time and uses paper towels for no particular reason
- This must work, I wonder why. This would not be a surprise in the US, but in Australia it surprises me. Need to look up the advertising standards.
- Also it is difficult to sell these programs overseas if the ads are embedded
- What is going on with the politeness or dislike of negativity?
- The movies in the news paper have a star rating system from 1 to 5 but even the totally worst movies get 3 stars. There has been no 1 or 2 star movies since I have been reading it.
- Similarly the restaurant reviews on eatingwa.com.au rarely get worse than 3 stars out of 5 and often you read the words on a review and they are negative and appear not to have had a good time which seems out of line with the rating
- The Australia idol reviews are all really quite polite, sue the say negative things but then it is always sprinkled with several positives.
- Sporting analogies are everywhere. Lift up your game, seems a universal suggestion.
- Cars are King here (don't step out into the road you will be run over, kind of like Italy, not like Canada) Even at intersections, the car is king, kind of rude really, once the metal box is on there is no need recognize the people sharing the space with you. Speeding on side roads also seems very common and different to the main roads where this is generally compliance with limits.
Ability to Change is more important than Intelligence or strength
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."
- Charles Darwin
- Charles Darwin
People to Learn from: Hunter S Thompson
This person I do not understand at all.
Initially he makes me think I don't understand anything.
On further reflection it is great to see a person live there own life without reference to others or what others might think.
Many of us dream of this, flew achieve it or really even try to.
Reference -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson
Initially he makes me think I don't understand anything.
On further reflection it is great to see a person live there own life without reference to others or what others might think.
Many of us dream of this, flew achieve it or really even try to.
Reference -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson
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