The Omnifarium

Linda Keen Strikes Back

Category: Politics
Tue, 29 Jan 2008, 14:44

"When it comes to nuclear facilities, ignoring safety requirements is simply not an option, not now, not ever." Linda Keen at a House committee meeting on the shutdown of the Chalk River nuclear reactor.

Do politicians know more about nuclear safety than the former head of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission? That is, should we leave nuclear safety to politicians instead of people who are expert in the field? Of course not! And yet we have a situation where Canadian politicians of all parties voted to restart the Chalk River nuclear reactor against the advice of the experts.

What about those of us who live near other nuclear reactors, such as the eight at Pickering? Will politicians make the decisions regarding the operational safety of these reactors too? I hope not! But they've clearly shown that they're not above putting politics ahead of science.

It's gotten even more silly now: Opposition parties that voted for restarting the Chalk River reactor are now calling for a public inquiry on Linda Keen's dismissal!

Certainly an inquiry is a good idea. But more importantly, that reactor at Chalk River should be shut down until the required safety improvements are implemented. Keen reports one in a thousand odds for an accident at Chalk River, one thousand time worse than international standards. That's unacceptable even in other less serious engineering domains. That is, do you want one in a thousand odds of an accident while driving your car? Or using a power tool?

Or should we start electing scientists as our members of parliament, instead of lawyers and economists?

By the way, there was a great editorial cartoon in a local newspaper a couple of weeks ago. The scene is Stephen Harper's office. His secretary is bringing in the new nuclear safety watchdog, Homer Simpson! I don't think I laughed at that cartoon.

Hans

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Introducing the "Computing Devices" Section

Category: Computing Devices
Sat, 26 Jan 2008, 17:16

I've been involved with computers for more that thirty years now. I've always been tempted to comment on the subject, but for some reason up until now, I've tended to air my opinions in other on-line fora. That will change. As you can see, I have strong opinions on a variety of topics. And the realm of computers is no exception.

My first real exposure to computer programming was in first year university. Officially, I was registered in a mathematics program, which required a couple of computer courses. After a week or so, though, I knew my future would be with electronic computing machines. If I was really smart, though, I should have immediately dropped my physics and chemistry classes and taken on some more useful classes instead, like German or philosophy.

After getting a B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Computing and Information Science, and dropping out of grad school, I found a job in a large multinational computer company, where I would spend the next 26 years. For most of that time, I enjoyed working with IBM midrange computers, such as the S/38, AS/400, and iSeries. But my last three years were on a zSeries project, which wasn't nearly as much fun. When my manager chided me for not using PowerPoint for a presentation, I finally knew for sure it was time to leave.

Since my departure last summer, I've enjoyed spending time with my family and my hobbies. But I can't stay between jobs forever. I would like to find an iSeries programming job close to home, in the Scarborough, Pickering, Ajax, or Whitby area. Others can claim expertise in RPG, but I can genuinely claim to know that language inside and out. Unfortunately, iSeries jobs are pretty rare around here. If you know of any iSeries opportunities in this area, please let me know.

Finally, a few words on the icon at the bottom of the posting. The sign with the cross and three upward points is the ancient chemical symbol for "essential oil". This is appropriate for this section since computing devices have such an essential role in todays society. Of course, the word "oil" also has some negative connotations, as in the term "snake oil"

Omnifariously yours, Hans.

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A New Garbage Day

Fri, 18 Jan 2008, 09:45

Here in Guildwood Village, today is the first day of using the city's new blue bins for our recycling garbage. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to have gotten the message that the new bins are to be used now. Come on, guys, get with it!

Like many other cities, Toronto is running out of places to dump our garbage. Most of it now is shipped to a landfill in Michigan, which is politically unpopular in that state. So alternatives need to be found. The city has a goal of reducing the waste sent to landfill by 70% by the year 2010. The new bin program is one more step along that road.

In our home, garbage is separated into four streams. First, non-animal compostable waste goes to our backyard compost bin. Second, other compostable material goes into the green bin which is picked up every week. Third, recyclable material goes into the blue bin. Finally, all the rest goes into the traditional garbage can. In this household, the vast majority of our waste goes into the recycling bin. This week, our blue bin was full up to the top.

The classification of waste at the curb is an important and easy way to keep garbage out of the landfill. But there's a lot more that can be done. We also need to get the message out to businesses to reduce the amount of packaging. Consider my latest visit to that popular membership-based bulk warehouse store. You can get cheaper prices on many products (some we actually use), but you also get a lot of garbage along with the deals. Take for example the case of juice drink boxes. There's plastic wrap and cardboard around the 30 boxes. But wait, there's more! For some reason, each group of three boxes is wrapped in yet another layer of plastic. All that plastic will end up in the landfill.

Then there's the packaging around the ink jet cartridges. You could buy a small paper box containing two cartridges at Staples. Or, you could go to that wholesale warehouse store and buy a large plastic container containing three cartridges. What do you do? The package of three with the horrendous plastic package offers a price discount of $5 per cartridge!

Our governments need to pass legislation requiring manufacturers and retailers to be more responsible for the garbage they generate. Consider laws in some European countries which require companies to be fully responsible for the proper disposal of their products after use. Imagine that: In Germany, for example, once you've driven your car for ten years and you need to get rid of it, you take it back to the dealer or to the factory, not the dump. This gives the manufacturer a good incentive to make the product recyclable, or to make parts of the product reusable. Here in North America, we need to get to that point too.

Hans

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Will the Harper Government Outlaw Nuclear Accidents?

Category: Politics
Wed, 16 Jan 2008, 14:24

A few months ago, the CNSC closed the Chalk River reactor over safety concerns. The reactor did not meet safety requirements that the cooling system be connected to a backup power system. The resulting shortage of isotopes used in medical diagnoses led the Harper government to pass legislation to override the nuclear safety requirements and get the reactor operating again.

The Conservatives entered a very public battle with the CNSC over the issue, politicizing the issue by branding Keen a "Liberal appointee". Finally, hours before Keen was scheduled to testify at a Natural Resources committee meeting, the Conservative government fired Keen from her position at the CNSC.

This whole affair is disturbing for a number of reasons. Does Stephen Harper believe that he is somehow above the laws of physics? The reactor at Chalk River is 50 years old. If there were an accident, it could have disasterous consequences. You can't just pass legislation telling Mother Nature that there shall not be a nuclear accident! If there is a problem with the system, it may well fail, and then the only thing stopping an environment disaster is proper operation of the backup systems. If the backup systems aren't up to snuff, as is the case at Chalk River, you're only inviting disaster.

The other disturbing aspect is that Harper, yet again, is putting his profound personal hatred of liberals to the forefront. Anyone with any possible tie to the Liberal party is suspect, and must be eradicated regardless of qualifications and abilities. In this case, Linda Keen would be well justified in suing the government for wrongful dismissal.

(BTW, the Wikipedia entry on Stephen Harper reports (without citation) that he was a member of his school's Young Liberals Club. Can that really be true? Did that have anything to do with his current hatred of Liberals?)

Perhaps we need to elect a few scientists to properly represent our interests in Ottawa, not lawyers and economists.

Hans

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Book Banning is Alive and Well in Ontario

Category: Religion
Mon, 07 Jan 2008, 14:54

In the recent Ontario provincial election, the big reason for the loss of the Progressive Conservatives was their leader's support for full public funding of all religious schools in the province. Although they were clearly looking for the support of religious minorities, the strategy backfired spectacularly with people even calling for the withdrawal of public funding for separate Catholic schools.

Public funding of the Catholic schools in Ontario has been a fact of life for dacades. Why then are people calling for a change in funding? One recent event (after the election) made the the case for Catholic school funding even less popular. That was the news that the Halton Catholic School Board banned books by author Philip Pullman. Pullman is the author of books like The Golden Compass, recently made into a Hollywood movie. Why ban Pullman's books? The reason they gave was that Pullman is an atheist who has publicly criticized religion.

I think most people would agree that a privately funded school should have the right to stock their library with whatever books they choose. But with public funding, the general public definitely has an interest in how that money is spent. Would the public school system ban books because they promote religion? No. Then why should public money support schools that ban books contrary to their beliefs?

The affair does show how certain people approach contrary opinion. They could have quietly kept the book on their library shelves and not bring any attention to the controversy. But now, they've guaranteed publicity to the author and his anti-religious ideas. Some kids who might not have been aware of the book now are, and they may now go out of their way to actually read it.

Does that make sense? Who ever said that religion has to make sense?

Hans

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