When I was in grade 7 we learned about nothing even remotely as interesting as this. I think we looked at plant cells under a microscope.
It is pretty amazing that students can work with data like this, with computers and tools that enable it. Makes me wish I could go back to school and work on some of the stuff they teach in basic courses, particularly in high school.
Kids these days! (are damned lucky!)
"you arbitrarily pick the worst aspects of the nation's behavior from the distant past"
The US is currently involved in 2 questionable wars. That isn't distant, unless you have a different frame of reference for time.
There are many other examples I could give of the US being a miserable leader, right now. However, I think it's safe to say, our opinions differ, and neither of us are likely to change. You have valid points, that countries can redeem themselves, but I think the scales of time we use for redemption are perhaps different.
As well, you deride me for having high standards for nations. I think that no standards can be high enough, but of course they aren't ever going to be met - I am not stupid. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't hope and want them to be met. Simply accepting the status quo, and throwing up your hands to say "well, no one will be perfect, so why try?" is, as you're fond of saying, "intellectually lazy"
And if you want a better example of Canadians ugly side, there is a much more relevant, ugly and more current one in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system residential school fuckery that our government put our own citizens through. It's horrible, and horrifying, and almost beyond redemption, but the world has changed, and the people who did that are gone, and the current government is working to atone for its past stupidity. That is the kind of action I want to see for past misdeeds, not denials and coverup and related silliness, and certainly not continuing the misdeeds, perhaps under cover of corporations instead of direct government action.
I will choose to overlook your personal attacks - you don't know from a hole in the ground, and certainly not well enough to chastise me as you have.
Just because I said that the US isn't the right nation to guide Haiti doesn't mean that there aren't others, as I have said. I think that both Germany and Japan have spent decades improving their image, and could rightfully be called upon to be better leaders than the US. Thank you for 2 great examples of my point.
I also happen to think that my nation (Canada), while flawed, could also provide support for Haiti, especially given the large number of Haitians that live in Quebec.
You discount history so easily. When history shows us over and over that a nation acts in a certain way, why do you think it's "lazy" for me to use that as evidence for my point of view? Do you reset your point of view on a day to day basis so that you can remain unbiased? How much time do you think has to pass before a nation redeems itself for its past actions? While I am (contrary to your comments) quite open minded and willing to give second, third and forth chances, I still don't see that the US has managed to "polish" its reputation sufficiently as yet.
The world is inhabited by people, who all have a self interest. However, some people, and nations, manage to find a balance between self interest and taking an interest in the well being of the world in general.
I am not arguing that Haiti should fester, only that the US may not be the best guide. Haiti, and many other nations, can use all the help they can get, and there is certainly enough wealth in the world to do so.
To your argument that "that american corporations make a buck off haiti. if haiti is better off than before american involvement, who cares?". The problem is that American corporations make $1,000,000 while Haiti makes $25, and is left with the mess when that corporation leaves (environmental, political, economic, etc).
As for "a study of history should enlighten us as to the conditions of the world, not trap our minds into thinking about countries in only historical modes of behavior", I'll counter that a large part of the US history (and, yes, I'll readily admit, most of the G8 countries) involves using their size (geographic, military, economic, social) to abuse other nations. I suppose that is how it goes in International politics, but that doesn't excuse it. Since we cannot trust the words of the leaders of nations, nor can we trust the motives of corporations, we can really only look to their past dealings for an indication of the tone any future dealings.
Given that the US is still involved in 2 wars on "terror" (aka: oil acquisition), again I say that the US is probably not the best country to help Haiti, or anyone else for that matter. Maybe given a couple decades of noble actions and not doing what is simply best for themselves, they could be trusted to be "motivated for other reasons".
Greed helps no one except the greedy.
the problem becomes when "heping" turns into "large corporations pillaging the natural resources of the country, returning no value to the people", like the US did to most of South America (directly, or through friendly dictators/the IMF/etc).
In this case, I'm not sure that Haiti has much to pillage, but I assure you, some large corporation(s) would find a way to make a fast buck, leaving the people worse off for it, but making 2 or 3 Americans rich in the process.
I am not against a "big brother" helping a "little brother" learn the ropes and get stronger and better managed, but I am not sure that the US is the "big brother" that Haiti, or many places in the world, need. Too much greed and drive for the dollar over everything else.
I seriously just spat my tea on my keyboard. Thanks for saying what I was thinking before I even knew it.
-RCD.
We've been running into this wall for a while, and let me tell you, the workaround is the most disgusting mess imaginable. Trying to manage views/geolocation when everything is hidden behind a caching server is horrible. There is no car analogy.
Sure, this might give google more information about you, but frankly, they already have it if you're querying their servers (directly). Where this benefits them, and other content players, is when they aren't the default DNS server. This allows them to know that you're coming from say, your city, as opposed to the city where your ISPs DNS server is. I would imagine for huge ISPs in the states, their DNS infrastructure is probably, at best, regionalized (east, central, west?). This would allow google/ms/anyone to get a much better idea as to where you are actually coming from, to provide you with much better content. As well, it makes managing DNS much easier.
Two thumbs up for this.
Next up - a DNS management protocol (http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dnsop-name-server-management-reqs-03)...
"Maybe I am one of the few people that is lucky and doesn't require simulation from an online fake environment to further foster my own mind."
Clearly your mind isn't open, so it doesn't require much stimulation. Glad to see you're so comfortable condemning people who choose to do something you're not interested in. Do you look down on everyone who isn't you, or just people who choose to be entertained by this particular video game?
In my office, I see the same thing. Myself and some others tend to be heads down, work work work, but that's because we have a LOT of work to do, and only 8 hours a day to get it done in. The joys of working in a large production environment that is constantly growing
Beside our group are 2 groups of people who work in labs, testing things before they go into prod. they seem to frequently have time to stand around, chat, have lunch (what a novelty!) etc, while myself and a couple others rarely have enough free time to grab some lunch and eat it in peace.
For a long time, it drove me nuts (and still does when I'm having a hectic day and hear them laughing it or, or worse, they come into our group just to chat), but I came to the conclusion that so long as i am getting what I have committed to doing done, I don't care what others do. My teamlead and manager have set expectations, I have my own expectations, and so long as I meet those, then I am content. It can get frustrating when work isn't evenly distributed, but I look at that as partly my fault, for taking on extra work and striving to deliver something that doesn't simply meet requirements. I can't fault others for my own expectations.
Plus, I decided to try and join them occasionally for social time,and find that it actually helps. When everyone is standing around chatting, I not only get a break, but I get to know my coworkers better, so when I, or they, need help with a problem, it's much easier to approach and relate and get things done quickly. It's a tradeoff in time, and I use it liberally, but it's good to get up from my desk and give my brain a break sometimes.
The sooner you realize that you can't change how others work, only how you work, and that some people will always seem to get away with doing nothing for some reason, the sooner you'll find comfort/peace in the workplace. If you really want to fix things, work your way into a TL position, or even just a leadership position of some sort, so you can nudge people the way you think they should go. ultimately though, it's up to the person, and their manager, to adjust a work ethic.
Best of luck!
As someone who deals with new co-ops (like interns) every quarter, the advice I can give you is to always ask if you want more work, and to listen to the office chit chat about work. A few smart co-ops have spent time listening to us talk about a problem we were having but didn't have time to tackle. They went off and researched and came back with ideas and suggestions which we ultimately gave to them to implement. It got them noticed, and ultimately a job (maybe not just for that, but you know what I mean). Whatever you do, don't sit there quietly and intimidated/too afraid to ask questions. Those people never* get job offers.
$8/hr probably means you'll be doing a lot of grunt work
I know around here that co-ops aren't allowed in production, which limits their access to the some of the coolest stuff. however, they do get to spend a lot of time working in labs, testing things (new tech) that some of the more senior people would love to have the time to do. Take your time, be thorough, and take calculated risks.
Remember that pretty much anyone in a senior position has gone through the shit work to get to where they are, and they will take some pleasure in giving you some too. It's hard when you know you want to do cool stuff, but in a few years you'll be able to look back and be thankful for the time you spent doing the shit work, because ultimately the shit work is the foundation of most companies.
Enjoy!
* very rarely
I've blocked them for a few weeks, but I get random notifications still
Due to Farmvilles massive spamming, and my inability to make it stop telling me when my sisters/friends/coworkers have found a new cow, I've actually resorted to unfriending people who are farmville addicts. My "newsfeed" went from updates on my friends lives to 3/4 farmville useless announcements, making it effectively useless. I was tempted to install the app to see if I could filter them somehow, but ultimately said forget it.
It's fine if people want to play games, but frankly, the rest of the world doesn't care or need to know that you planted seeds. If I installed a facebook app that broadcasted every time I got a green drop in WoW I'm sure my friends wouldn't be too happy.
Add to this the Mafia wars spam, and these stupid little apps have made a mess out of what was once a useful tool for me to keep on top of my friends day to day and related silliness.
I've lately really gotten into using the password keeper on my BlackBerry, putting in various websites and so on. I like it because it's portable, as you switch devices it's backed up and moved, and I pretty much always have it with me. It doesn't integrate with software etc for me, but I'm now in the habit of just throwing new stuff in there. It's quite handy, and free.
The thing I thought of is what about things like cockroaches/termites/bees/ants/etc
As a Canadian, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about roaches/termites like people further south do. Bring on the snow!
The answer is to to do both, not one or the other.
Give them free food while they work to develop their economy and infrastructure, then slowly turn off the "Free" as they manage to bring new sources of local food online. It's very hard for people to build a road when they're starving, or sick with something that could be treated easily with $2 of medicine. Once the roads are built, and irrigation ditches dug, they can start farming and providing for themselves, and the aid then turns off slowly, or is shifted to more advanced aid. Instead of helping with irrigation and roads and farms and healthcare, start building schools, factories, putting more people to work. that will increase the ability for people to support themselves, and help develop spinoff industry (who's going to fix the tractors on that new farm? who's going to teach? etc).
I agree with your sentiment, but I think there needs to be an initial helping hand while the markets etc develop.
Let the machine do the dirty work. -- "Elements of Programming Style", Kernighan and Ritchie
