Cancer hypocrisy

In Canada, it seems that many provincial governments refuse to pay for many of the new life saving cancer drugs. Cancer patients are dying because they can't afford the pills or drugs. Drug companies are making millions off the sales of these cancer killing drugs. This is utter and total betrayal of ... humanity. A massive betrayal of the system that funded much of the research to enable the creation of that drug.
... Millions of dollars has been generated through various cancer fighting charities. People gave their time, ran millions of miles and kilometres to provide that funding. Universities share that data and for what. For greedy self centered drug manufacturers that's who.
... Understandably, governments are loathe to add those new drugs simply because of the price. Not only are these drugs massively overpriced, the political establishment prefers not to say anything. By rights, these misery profiteers who overcharge for these pills should be now returning all the value of the decades of the contributing funding to those Cancer societies to one hundred percent.
... In the nation who hails Terry Fox as its greatest hero, no cancer victim should go untreated because they cannot afford it. Every year massive numbers of Canadians run in hundreds of charity events to generate the massive funding. Canadian society earned the right to have its members treated. No one in all of Canada should be caught financially short of receiving the very best of any life saving medical treatment. The people who donate to cancer research do it to save other people's lives. They are the investors. They want it for their friends, kin and fellow Canadians. Its as simple as that.

Russia and warfare

For all its size and lengthy history, Russia lacks any sophistication when it comes to international diplomacy. Putin, like most of his kinsmen politicians, believe that wars are conducted primarily by guns, tanks and cannon.

... He could solve the Russian economic crisis in the next ten minutes. Simply pull out of Ukrainian territory. Bob's the uncle. Nothing elaborate. Nothing complicated.

... In the larger context, the Russian creeping invasion of Ukraine territory by military means is simply a sideshow. The Russians are fighting with soldiers and arms, the rest of the world is employing economic warfare. That is where his real fight is.

... Russians believe they lost the Cold War. And they did. They are still trying to figure out why. They were fighting the Cold War in hot zones of guerrilla and small civil wars. The reason they lost that war had nothing to do with military prowess. The end result was caused by economic warfare. The frontlines are banks, financial institutions, and stock markets. NATO isn't Russia's biggest threat, .... Russia is.

Stubborn scrap: A New Year's Morality Play

Happy New Year... Reflecting on the past always gives. Never takes. Bad or good, its always interesting.
... Early this morning on December 23rd, the derelict hulk of the American Fortitude will pass by the gauntlet of cameras associated with the Prescott Anchor on the banks of the St. Lawrence. During the time of the ancient mariners, there was the belief that every ship gained a soul. This is still reflected into the last century, when the traditional Chinese Junks received painted eyes on the bows. And this shows when referring to ships as "she" instead of "it".
... On its way to the bone yard of ships in Turkey, the Canadian Miner beached conclusively on Scaterie Island off the coast of Cape Breton, Sept. 2011. Despite the best efforts, at least $12M of taxpayer money, and an optimistic forecast, remnants remain stubbornly insitu according to the last reports.
... In the same vein, and to the chagrin of the self proclaimed best city in the world, the former light cruise yacht, famous restaurant stays stubborn resting at the foot of the longest surveyed street in the world (a total crock by the way). Toronto threatened, cajoled, expelled the original owner, auctioned off the rights. A new owner, obviously short on resources, promised it would be gone, - in 30 days, - by the end of August.
... A couple of days ago ambling down to the foot of the longest spun street, still sits the MV Jadran thumbing its bow at the fretful human race. One could swear it was alive. So in the spirit of the season, a portrait of another stubborn soul.
... Still here, in your face.

Phoney Sony

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that all the American networks insist on saying that Sony is an American Corporation. What?
... This very dumb movie which was going to bomb was authored by Canadian, stars the same Canadian, and was funded and produced by a Japanese company. But Americans insist that it is an infringement of American free speech?
... Companies get hacked all the time. Of course, everyone sort of fail to understand that all those files that Sony said got wiped out, should've been backed up. Its the hassle of re-establishing That is the usual procedure. Generally speaking ever since the last century, if you own a network there are things one should anticipate. First back up all essential programs and files. Second assume you are going to be attacked tomorrow.
... So I figure that Sony, a Japanese company, saw that this movie was going to bomb. The dumbass Koreans decided to waste a powerful weapon on something that was nothing more than an ego problem. Sony must have fallen over backwards. They promoted the idea that they were hacked recognizing that this little event literally quadrupled the projected revenue on a bad movie. Plus, yes plus the movie is so bad, that now when its released criticism of it will be totally blunted. Critics will call it crap only at their professional peril.
... The Americans won this fight without doing anything. People should understand what hackers have understood for a long time, while cyber torpedoes are powerful weapons, they are only truly effective once. Personally, I can't believe it. Why would the North Koreans do this action simply based on a dictator's psychopathic narcissism.
... The Americans now know the pattern, and structure of attack. The useless movie is only a background to a totally stupid North Korean action. A counter will be made. The most valuable counter is the simple knowledge of when, where, and how such an attack is made. That is the nature of the internet.
... Chinese and Koreans have always infiltrated networks. During a project in 1999, the late Kenn Hyslop was updating the system at the Marathon Public Library, in Marathon, Ontario. During that involved conversion of a one program to something new and had to convert a data form into another. It turned out to be a very complex project, when Hyslop dug in he pointed out that not only he found little subroutines, known as worms, sourced back to both North Korea and China. Nowhere else.
... Protections were inserted to block the effort. Another simple counter measure was undertaken. That was to turn off the computers every night. Before they had been left on. The cyber attackers, employed by nations, including the United States, want to work through computer networks that are on all the time. So this is all puff and no real substance to salvage any money loss from a very tepid movie.