Power of brainwashing, Christmas tunes in Dec

Don't you find yourself whistling and repeating the Christmas carols melodies and tunes in Dec? Aren't you irritated by these tunes that run endlessly inside your brain? Well, what is this except the huge power of brainwashing. If something is drilled again and again and again into you, it becomes part of your brain circuits and you can't get away from it.

In Christmas time anywhere you go, from the malls to the stores to the streets, you hear these same carols endlessly. In a short time, you find yourself repeating them endlessly in your brain.

Well, this is the simplest and easiest brainwashing. We human beings are very susceptible to this. Now imagine how a newborn kid living in a cult family environment can escape from incessant indoctrination in the family? It is just impossible. The "tunes" drilled into his impressionable brain are going to be played there forever. But same can be said about grown up human beings in many dictatorships.

First Nations(Indians) poor and begging in their own land

Many times in downtown Toronto you can see poor Indians, inebriated, dirty, homeless, begging for a cent. It is so sad to see these scenes because you know that if this land has an owner, it is the Indians not us new immigrants. They have been here for thousands of years and it is so unfair to see them begging from us newcomers on their own land, which has been conquered by us.

Warning by Warren Buffet about low taxes for the rich

Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, has warned against repealing estate-tax in US. Tax cutting by Bush and cronies has reached to a point that even the rich are complaining:

Read the article here

Capitalism, immigration and alienation

Capitalism in North America needs immigration and feeds on it. Immigrants, especially uneducated non-skilled immigrants are willing to do the dirtiest jobs, with minimum wages, without any complaints, and actually are thankful to be in North America. They are the epitome of the slave labour which is a necessary requirement for capitalism. The native labour force can never be treated as badly as immigrant labours and stay quiet, they know more about their rights, feel more secure in their "own" country and unionize and object to the abuse.

The alienation of the immigrant labour force brings about another outcome. Immigrants never feel attachment to their new homeland, as much as a native. They don't demand better services. Hundreds of years of experience with capitalism proves beyond doubt that a capitalist system never delivers services without pressure by masses. In countries like Switzerland and Japan, which have a lower level of immigration, and most people are natives with generations of entitlement to the country behind them, the level of services are much higher, because people are not alienated, they feel they belong and they demand better services. In countries like US or Canada, as a large number of people are immigrants, the demand for better services is lame and weak and as a consequence, the services are only provided for the upper classes and not for the masses of the populations.

A polish man and a Taser

There are two very separate issues in the event of the murder of the innocent Polish man in the Vancouver aiport:

1. Irrespective of what he had done, the reaction of the police guys was too aggressive and over the top. Taser is usually left as a last resort, but the video taken there shows that they use it as a first resort, without even asking him a question.

2. Now that his background in Poland is being known, we notice that he has a record of robbery and other criminal acts. It is strange how such a person with such a criminal record is allowed to enter the country as a legal immigrant while thousands of clean educated applicants have to wait for years to be granted immigration.

Canada has to have a complete overhaul of its immigration policy.

Human Beings Sane? Why do we think we are any better than other animals?

Human beings think that they are advanced and more reasonable than other animals. I always think 6 reasons are enough to prove how stupid and unreasonable we "hairless apes" are:

1. smoking: Despite 50 years of heavy campaign against smoking, and despite extensive research that proves beyond doubt that smoking is a serious health hazard, there are still millions and millions of human beings that smoke. Each time I see somebody opening a pack of cigarettes with those nasty pictures of wasted lungs and teeth on them and the warning that smoking is hazardous to your health, each time I see near death patients on wheelchairs outside the main door of hospitals smoking in the cold windy day, I ask myself: “do you need any other proof that we are just another primitive primate with a primitive brain”?

2. Religion: Despite all the scientific advances we have made, right in the middle of the so-called most advanced society in the world, in US, large groups of people still believe that humans are created by god 6000 years ago, refuse to accept evolution, accept that all sorts of miracles are true, and lots of other false outdated beliefs. They go through boring 2000 year old books believing them word by word and fight tooth and nail to stop scientific advances like stem cell research.

3. War: Are we different from any small tribes of chimpanzees when they fight the other tribe and kill their young and adults just because they are “different”? How can we boast we are different, more advanced, and reasonable when we still fight as ferociously and every day “invent” better ways to kill and annihilate each other?????

4. The British Royal Family: Can you find any group of people as useless as this family? What is the rason de etre of this family? Just because you have dropped out of the vagina of a certain woman you are entitled to all these privileges? You own vast tracts of lands, palaces, wealth and power just because you are one of them? What is the difference between prince Charles and any other man on the street? The only difference is that the passage that guy passed through to come to this world was not located between the legs of a certain person! Why on earth is any of them entitled to all those privileges and wealth? As long as there is such a thing as a royal family in this world that thinks it has the gods approval to be different and is blue blooded, and worse than that, is “loved” and “approved” by its own people, I will always doubt the sanity of human beings.

5. The existence of countries and borders: We are all one species, we are not Americans or Bangladeshis or Japanese. Why borders? Why countries? Why draw a line on the sand and say I, at this side of this line, have the right to be prosperous and powerful and happy, and you just on the other side of the line have to be poor and oppressed and illiterate? Can any sane and reasonable person bring up just one reason why we need to have borders and countries?

6. LOTTERIES AND CASINOS: We all know chances of winning big in a lottery is statistically less than being hit in the street by a meteorite, yet still hordes of people buy lottery tickets every day. And if casinos were going to pay more than they made, there wouldn't be any casino around and yet still millions of people go to casinos everyday to "win". Shall I go any further??

These are just 6 reasons why we are not sane, why we are no different than gorillas and chimpanzees, why we are animals like any other animals, and why we don’t have any rights to boast about our special place in this world and this universe. I can go on and list a thousand other reasons, but do you think it is necessary???

Harper the tax cutter bribes me and you with another GST tax cut

Harper the tax cutter did it again and cut more taxes. By just cutting 1% of GST, the government will lose around 6 billion dollars a year, and who will benefit, only the rich who are conspicuous consumers, not the poor that only buy food and some very low price items.

Instead of cutting the GST, why doesn't he invest the money into health care, education, housing and other social programs? Are all Canadians so well off that they don't need any of these social programs? How about the crumbling infrastructure of this country, and cities like Toronto that are on the brink of bankruptcy and can't even run their libraries and community centres and public transport? Who is paying for this tax cut? Certainly not the rich, but the poor who have to pay more for the transport tickets, day care, health care, their children's university education, etc. How about freezing the madly rising university tuition fees Mr. Harper??? Or a National Medicare or dental care program???

On the other hands the corporations are rewarded generously with huge tax cuts, really this is a government of corporate welfare, not people's welfare.

And of course, the idiots that can be bribed with a 1% GST tax cut are going to vote for him again, happily pocketing a few dollars more, and losing hundreds and thousands of dollars in healthcare and education for themselves and their families.

The greatest political act

As Jesuits used to say: give your newborn child to us and we will guarantee that we will make a true Christan out of s/he for life. They knew well. What we are, our habits and personality is formed by the time we are 6 years old. Insert good habits in these first six years, and the person will always follow and be a good one. Ruin him/her during these 6 years, and there is nearly no possibility of reform.

The greatest act of political reform and change by any government will be to introduce good education for these first 6 years, but alas, the governments let these first critical years totally in the hand of the parents. Parents who could be drug addicts, alcoholics, uneducated, crazy, etc. And then when the kid has already acquired the mechanism that is going to shape his/her personality, they try to change it! Isn't it stupid?

Canada deserves long term thinking

A very interesting article in Toronto Star which is not good only for current vote seeking situation in Canada today, but for all times in a democracy.

Canada deserves better

Conservatives wasting the surplus on tax cuts again

Stephen Harper is at it again. "Bribing" simple minds among the masses with tax cuts to vote for him again. I can't find a better word to explain his tactic. Wasting the hard earned surplus that belongs to all of people, on a wealthy few. This surplus must be used to build new infrastructure for the country, renovating the faltering existing infrastructure, helping the near bankrupt cities, etc. Why not help Toronto out of the hole they put it in in the first place. Toronto is a virtually bankrupt city that can't even keep it's libraries and community centres open, and then Harper wastes the surplus in that "bribe". This surplus should be used for health care, for a free medication plan for all, free dental care, free higher education, all of them, if well looked at, are "human rights". But no, Mr. Harper wants to rule another four years, and so what does he do, he wastes "Our" money by giving tax cuts to the wealthy or upper middle class.

what does being a Canadian mean?

Multiculturalism was good when Canada opened its doors to the world at the beginning of the 70s. It was good in that it stopped racism. But now, Canada is being inundated under the waves of immigration and there is no Canadian identity left. I think now Canada has to have a revision in the ideal of multicultrualism and instead look more into the "melting pot" idea. The newcomers to Canada have to adhere to a minimum of "Canadianness" and not be totally separate from the larger community and living in their own tiny communities.

How to create New Humans

Communists in Russia tried to create new man. Their endeavour ended up in Russian mafia. By studying communities like Mormons or Mennonites we can learn what is the effective method of creating the new man according to any blueprint for humanity. You don't enforce and impose your model to a whole society, it is impossible. People are different and for any ideology there are always just a minority of the whole society who believe in it. The method is to separate these people from the larger society and build up your own little community, comprised only of people that believe in the ideology. In this small community, 100% of people believe in the ideology of their own free will. But that is not the end. This community needs constant weeding. The creators of such societies must be on constant watch for disbelievers and the ones who lose the faith. These sort of communities need constant "weeding". Every new generation will be weeded and non-believers dropped out and rejected by the society. That is the only way to preserve the purity of the community, the ideology and the faith. If they are strict in this, they can last for generations.

The modern election bribe

In the simpler times of yore, they used to bribe people directly to vote for a candidate. They took them to lunch, paid a small amount, etc, and got the vote they wanted. Nowadays, it has become a little more sophisticated, now they promise you a "TAX CUT". If you look at it closely, it is no different then the other bribes they used before.

Hijab

With all the fabric she had wrapped around herself, you could cloth 5 people and still have some to cloth her. What a waste of fabric and human energy.

Death and Evolution- Why should we die for the species to exist

If death was not programmed into our cells, we living things could not adapt to change so fast and would be a gonner by now. Without death evolution can't work its magic and the species that does not let it's individual members die will not last long. Death is a unique "defect" in genes that has actually resulted in the survival of the species and life on this planet.

What an irony that DEATH, which is so "traumatic" to any individual member of the species, is so good for the survival of the species.

How hard we try to live together

I am at the training centre for elections Ontario for the 10th of October elections. I listen to all manners of fraud that could happen in elections, even in this civilized country of ours, and I think:
How hard we try to live together, despite the selfish animal within each of us that wants to have everything for itself and does not care for others. It is like putting wolves or tigers in a tight cage and expect them to be fair and kind to each other. But try we do, and we are at it for the past 100,000 years. But; we are still so far away from real social animals like bees and ants, or even the society of cells in our own bodies, where there is really a social motto that is followed by everybody without question: One for All, and All for One.

Pearl of Wisdom by Jin Tao

Some women are not good for your health. You wonder what I mean? I mean, women are like food. Some are good for your health, like vegetables, but you rather not touch them. Your mama says it is good for you, and your doctor says it is good for you, and your brain says it is good for you, but your heart is not into it.

On the other hand, some are very bad for your mental health and peace of mind, but like chocolate and fatty foods, you crave them all the time. These women should carry this warning on them: "Handle with care, might be hazardous to your well being despite very sweet on the outside".

Shame on Toronto Councillors who voted down the tax increases and now tax the poor

TTC had to increase it's fares yesterday amid fierce campaign by right wing cabal in Toronto Council to stall the tax increases.

WHAT IS A FARE INCREASE? Is it anything else than a TAX on the poor who don't have a car and no other choice than taking the TTC? Also a tax on people with an environmental conscience who don't use cars and don't want to pollute this planet more!

Who was the sole beneficiary of the tax increase blockage? Rich people without a conscience about our planet who drive their SUVs on our highways and choke the planet.

Shame on you capitalist cronies. Shame on you Minan-Wong. Where is the "budget efficiencies" you were promising so as the fares are not increased and the services are not cut? Isn't it an oxymoron? How could you have a functioning world class city without paying for it?? Can you deceive people forever by promising tax cuts and at the same time offering better services?? Is it possible? Who will vote for you except morons who still believe in fairy tales?

Intelligence and death

If there was a god, it was not fair to give us intelligence, and then give us death!

Why.... among all the animals on this planet, we became the only ones to understand that we are doomed to end and to death and decay?

Lobbyists

In the middle ages we had Faust who sold his eternal soul to Satan for fame and money. In our own age we have the lobbyists. The most despicable group, who sell their soul to big corporations to push their agenda at congresses and parliaments. These totally anti-democratic personalities are willing to slaughter the whole planet for a few pennies more for their miserable lives. For them global warming, public health care, social assistance for the poor, environment, etc. is nothing.

I deeply believe if these people were living in another era, under Stalin or Hitler, they would be the henchmen at Gulag or Aushwitz. Poor things, now they have to be happy just to be lobbyists.

Where is the "New Man"

If you are an avid reader of history, and if you are true to yourself, you know that all revolutions start with the promise of a new dawn. A totally new world, the birth of new man, and ...... a few decades later, they all end up with the same old humans. The genes are more powerful than the promises and hopes. The ape wins over the high expectations again and again.

All revolutions start with the fall of the old order, with starry eyed revolutionaries that promise themselves and others that this time, it is all different. That this time, we will really change the world, that time time, we will "build the new man"(as the communists in Russia used to promise). But at the end, greed and selfishness wins over, the chimpanzee in all of us wins over the promise of humanity. Christianity ends in the Byzantine empire and the Vatican, French Revolution ends in Napoleon, Russian revolution ends in Stalin and Brezhnev and the Russian mafia, English revolution ends in the restablishment of monarchy with crowds in the street cheering the return of the monarchy, Islam ends in the Omayed caliphs. Where is that mystical "New Man"? Does he exist only in our dreams? Can't we ever have him? Should we change our genes to achieve that dream? Can we ever subdue our inherent nature that tends towards greed and selfishness? Is it always going to be the "Animal Farm"? Are the pigs always going to win over at the end?

Pearl of Wisdom by Jin Tao

During history of mankind, 95% of human beings have just been spectators and beneficiaries of science and arts. They have not contributed at all to what we are now, they have lived like animals, just living, eating, breathing, copulating, and dying. They could live as easily in 10,000 BC as they are living now in this age. The true mankind has been those 5%, the scientists, philosophers, artists, writers, the people we owe all we are now.

Capitalist system in a few words

In my view the two pillars of capitalism are : GREED at one side, and FEAR at the other. GREED is what runs the capitalist and his creation, the corportations, and FEAR is what runs the mass of people in this system, fear of poverty, of unemployment, of "having less than their neighbor". In a society based on greed and fear I don't see much room for empathy, for humanity, for co-operation. It is a system based on dog eat dog

There is no end to human greed, health care in Canada

There is no end, no boundary, to human greed. For instance, take Doctors in Canada. They have very good incomes through the public health care system and yet, recently you see many of the family doctors leaving the system and starting private businesses in laser and beauty therapy or adding these businesses to their health care clinics.

Conservatives in Canada show their true colors

(Doris... Ooops) Day, the minister of public safety, said today that he is against banning handguns in Canada. This is said while there has been a surge in murders committed using handguns in different cities in Canada recently. NRA should be proud of it's Canadian compatriot. It yet proves again that Harper conservatives are no different than Bush people in USA.

Read the article HERE.

Hot Pot Sign in Spadina Avenue, Toronto

I shot this picture in July 07 in Spadina Avenue, the main China Town of Toronto.

Human Brain and the Evolution

First, there were single cells. For billions of years earth was inhibited only by single cell organisms. Then, there came multi-cell animals. Entities with a higher consciousness, aware of the world around them but acting more or less like machines. The brain in animals works more or less just to keep the community of cells they are made of; alive!

The third stage in evolution happened just recently, the human brain, with a consciousness totally separate and free from the community of cells it is made of. A brain that can think thoughts alien to the cells it is made of, thoughts that don't have anything to do with the day to day survival of the cells it is made of.

The fourth stage of evolution started 200 years ago, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. We are still at the beginning and nobody can say what a new consciousness will arise out of the totality of the human brains that comprise the industrial societies.

That consciousness might be close to what we think of as GOD.

Contradictions in US

People always wonder why there is such a huge contradiction in US. On one hand they are so advanced in science and technology, on the other hand the general public, apart from a small educated minority are on average ignorant, backward, still in 19th century when it comes to religion and their other beliefs. It seems you have cut an advanced part of a European country and pasted it on a background of 16th century Europe, with all the fundamentalists, etc. The explanation is simple.

US is a land of immigrants. The huge mass of the immigrants during the 19th and 20th century were composed of the poorest most ignorant groups of the socieites they immigrated from. Wealthy and educated citizens of European countries don't need to escape to another country for a better life. It is the most downtrodden and desperate and poor groups that escape to another world for a better life. So this huge mass emigrated to US and they brought the whole backward beliefs and social structure with them to the new country.

On the other hand, because of the riches of the country and its democracy, top scientists like Einstein and writers like Salman Rushdie are attracted to the the land. So here we have the root of this contradiction, a general public who are still pretty backward and ignorant, still behind the average industrial European or Asian countries, and a minority elite, who are the top brains of the world in science and literature and arts.

I am disappointed with Toronto

Again Toronto showed it does not have the courage and the will it takes to be a great city. Again at the last moment the city council wavered and voted no to the new taxes to save the city from bankruptcy. When we can't help ourselves, how do we expect federal and provincial levels of government to care for us? Just by ONE vote, city hall voted to defer the final decision about the taxes. Shame on the councillors that sided with capitalist fat cats in voting no to tax raises while they knew that the city is on the brink of bankruptcy.

Saving Toronto is not difficult. Just raise taxes for the fat cats, not the average joe and the middle class. Squeeze the fat cats, dont' be so timid. They make money in this city and out of the people of this city, why shouldn't they return some of that money to the city that has been so generous to them?? Why should they live in huge mansions with 40 rooms. Tax huge houses, they won't die living in 30 rooms instead of 40. Tax big cars, tax big consumption. But......... who dares to do that. Not half of our councillors. They won't bite the hand that feeds them, do they?

Please click here and here and here and here to read the articles about tax cuts(from Toronto Star)

Is this is a country to live in?

Imagine an industrialised country where even middle class families have difficulty sending their children to college and university because they can't afford it. They have to borrow, they have to save from when the child is born, and yet still some can't afford it.

Then imagine an industrialised country where 40% of the population don't have absolutely any medical insurance. It means when the disease and sickness comes, which it hits everybody at last once in their life, the main worry of these people is not their illness, but how to pay for it and lots of them avoid going to doctor and hospitals until they die.

IS THIS COUNTRY A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE IN?

Now a questions: What is this country?

Yes, you were right: The Great United States of America