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Stephen Hawking

Posted by jimjim on March 14, 2018
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Astrophysics, Atheism, atheist, dawkins, Hawking, Hichens, RIP Stephen Hawking, Science, Scientific Method, Susskind. Leave a comment

After Carl Sagan’s Cosmos aired on PBS during the seventies, I became hooked with all things space related. I am fascinated still by the wonderous universe and all of its possibilities.

But it wasn’t until I read A Brief History in Time that I fully understood the complexity and the challenges of our universe.

Things like how a large star can implode in milliseconds to create something so dense that even light can’t escape and all the known laws of physics just don’t apply anymore. How within that point of no return, gravity is so dense that time stops…Gravity and Time being joined. The more the gravity, the slower the time.

He handled such complex mathematics that one just had to sit back and admire that mind of his.

Although I already had a tremendous repect for him, he did one thing more that made me admire him further. It had to do with “information” in and around a black hole. There is one rule in physics that is unchangeable and that is that information cannot be destroyed. Hawking said that information can be lost forever but only around a black hole. Enter fellow physicist Leonard Susskind who countered with his theory that information is never lost, even around a black hole. A wager over this was suggested and accepted by both parties. At the end of it all, Susskind was proven right and Hawking conceded. It wasn’t so much that the bet was made and that someone won and that someone lost that impressed me although the math around all this is impressive in of itself. What really had me smiling was that the scientific principle was applied. A theory was advanced from an eminent astrophysicist and other scientists including Susskind tested the theory to see if it was right. To his great credit, Hawking conceded when the facts were laid out before him.

It is the complete opposite of religion. Should a religious text say the earth is 6000 years old, then thats how old the earth is and thats that!!!! Should a text say that a group of people are evil, then they’re evil and don’t you dare doubt it or the consequences will be dire!

Science doesn’t work that way, if a theory is advanced, it is questioned and tested. Then and only then will something be proven or disproven.

Stephen Hawking was challenged…his stature like that of a prophet was majestic. But Susskind the challenger showed that Hawking was incorrect and Hawking conceded. Where challenging a prophet can be met with death in religious matters, challenging the great Stephen Hawking was met with a wager…..and both Susskind and Hawking remained friends. This is the way it should be.

The man was incredible, despite all the health related garbage he had to endure. He rose above it all and gave humanity incredible knowledge.

Thank you Mr. Hawking….Rest in Peace!

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Red Fisher

Posted by jimjim on January 20, 2018
Posted in: Books, Media, Sports. Tagged: Bertrand Raymond, Hockey, Mike Boone, Mitch Melnick, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Red Fisher, Sports, Stan Fischler. Leave a comment

I have not been just a fan of hockey players through all of these years. I have had an equal appreciation for sportswriters and broadcasters who have told the story of hockey as only they can. Everyone has their own style in they way they communicate the game, the players and the games themselves.

Red Fisher was the gold standard of sports journalism.

As a young boy of six, I started reading newspapers. The sports section was the first to get my attention. Red’s account of the previous night’s game was a must. It wasn’t just about stats and the standings. It was about a human side of the game that Red was always able to bring to a story. It was never that bad after a loss or that great after a win. It was a hockey game played by people and it was the people side that mattered more than the game side. I think that’s why I don’t get too down on players even during a bad season. Red “taught” me to understand that there was more to hockey than stats and results.

All I knew of Red was what he wrote and how he wrote it. He was hard but never mean, He was kind but never gushing and he was fair and unwavering in his fairness.

I see snippets of him in today’s journalists and radio people. There is the somewhat hard edged but great Mitch Melnick whom I suspect is as loyal to people that deserve loyalty as Red was to deserving people. There is the acerbic wit of Mike Boone that always makes me laugh. There is the humanity in the writing of Bertrand Raymond that makes me think past the stats. There are the rich stories like Stan Fischler can recount to you. Red had all this and more in the one package.

If there was a way I could describe Red Fisher about who he was and what he stood for,  I would say to read  his book “Hockey Heroes and Me”.  I would urge you to read his chapter about Toe Blake. This chapter contains it all. From how principled Red was to how forgiving he could be. It also shows that even though he loved his friend,  Toe he could only visit him the one time as it was too hard to visit him again seeing how Toe had been lost in the fog that is Alzheimer’s. One could say that was a selfish thing to do but I see it as a man who loved hard and cared hard. He cared and loved this man so much that seeing him so far removed from who he was hurt Red too much. Red would rather remember him as he was,  not as a shell of a once mighty man. In order to hurt that much, one must care deeply. Red may have been a crusty guy but that gruff was all on the outside. If one was lucky enough to break down that wall, one would be met with a lifetime of loyalty and love. I envy those people as I would have liked to be in their place. I may even have liked to be rebuffed as only Red was able to do.

I missed his writing about the game, his musings on a long gone but revered era and the feeling that a young boy had about reading about his heroes written by a man who would become one of his heroes.

RIP Red….

 

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What Happened With Habs Last Night?

Posted by jimjim on December 4, 2014
Posted in: Sports. Tagged: Geoff Molson, Habs, Jean Béliveau, Montreal Canadiens. Leave a comment

If ever there was a game that showed that the players of today were aware and cared about the history of the Canadiens, then last night was it.

A whole city felt down about losing one of their own. Jean Béliveau was an iconic figure that loomed large and helped make the CH brand one of respect and of greatness.

The city needed to know that their hockey team would respond by giving all they had. The team could have given the city a boost by playing well in honour of a fallen icon, one of their own.

Instead, we were treated to a disappointing first two periods in which the habs were outshot 30 to 10.

I like what Geoff Molson is doing with the team. Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien are steering the ship in the right direction. But last night was a chance for the players to show that they too are aware of the rich history of the habs. They didn’t show it. They did come out strong in the third but by then, Minnesota was playing defensively so I’m not sure if it was habs playing better or the Wild not thinking offense so much.

Its not that the habs lost, it was they way the lost. I am aware of the parity in the league and that the Wild are a good and fast team. That being said, the habs could have made a statement to a city in mourning. They could have said that we are with you in the pain of losing an icon like Béliveau. We are not mercenaries who don’t care about the past glories. Instead, they showed us just that.

It was a disheartening display to this longtime fan.

Last night was the chance to show that the players of today care about the players of yesteryear. The players of yesteryear that the owner and management keep trotting out to show fans the glory of the past. That chance came and went last night.

Sad.

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Jean Béliveau

Posted by jimjim on December 3, 2014
Posted in: Sports. Tagged: Béliveau, Habs, Montreal Canadiens, NHL. 1 Comment

What can one say?

What can one say about a great hockey player that earned the respect of players across a tough six team league who couldn’t wait to pound on the new pretty boy of the habs making $20,000.00 a year? A princely sum back in the day.

What can one say about a man that current hockey players show immense respect towards?

What can one say about a man who transcended his sport and became a legend more for what he did off the ice than on the ice?

What can one say about a man who personally handwrote responses to the many thousands of letters he received throughout the years?

What can one say about a man who just would not say no to requests to appear at charity events? Events that earned much needed money for so many causes that otherwise would have had trouble earning anything at all.

What can one say about a man who oozed class and respect and who was called Mr. Béliveau by all regardless of generation?

What can one say about a habs captain that spoke little but managed to say much?

What can one say about a man that even fans of the hated Bruins and Leafs teams respect ?

What can one say about a man that will make a ultra comptetative player like terrible Ted Lindsay of Detroit go out of his way to show respect.

What can one say about a man that no one….NO ONE….has anything but great admiration for?

One can say thank you….

Thank you Mr. Béliveau…..thank you for the memories of stanley cups, for memories of the class and dignity you always showed.

Thank you Mr. Béliveau……….thank you so much…..

The ghosts at the Bell Center have a jersey with the C waiting for you.

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Sliding Down The Slide Towards Big Brother.

Posted by jimjim on October 25, 2014
Posted in: Social Issues. Tagged: Canada, fear, Hope, law, politics, society. Leave a comment

I am still hoping that Harper won’t use the events of this week to push legislation akin to what Australia did.

Warrantless access, no matter how you phrase it, is a dangerous slippery slope towards excess of abuse.

To say that one has nothing to hide is to not understand the nature of this kind of legislation.

During the McCarthy witch hunt of communist sympathizers, it wasn’t the communists that were hounded. It was the friends and acquaintances of sympathizers. People who had nothing to hide but had their careers and lives ruined by association. Often, it was just by innuendo and hearsay that lives were destroyed, not by evidence of any kind.

This is the slippery slope I am referring to. The slippery slope of no judicial oversight. It has happened before and it will happen again if this kind of legislation gets rammed through.

No judge will refuse a warrant when presented with evidence.

Remember, if one does not need a warrant, one does not need a reason.

Think before giving in to fear.

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A Proper Canadian Perspective

Posted by jimjim on October 23, 2014
Posted in: Social Issues. Tagged: Canada, freedom, politics, Terrorism. Leave a comment

Canada did not lose its innocence yesterday. There have been bigger massacres (polytechnique) and there have been politcal kidnappings (Pierre Laporte) and there have been bombings of mailboxes (FLQ). Parlaiment Hill has been attacked before (1960). In that Parliament Hill attack, the only reason why there wasn’t more than one victim was because the bomb accidentally detonated in the washroom, killing the perpetrator.

The Canadian government charged then Montreal Mayor Camlien Houde with sedition and interred him in a prison camp for four years for opposing conscription during the second world war. Thats right, a sitting Montreal mayor interrred for four years without a trial, by the Canadian Government.

This doesn’t make what happened yesterday any less tragic. A soldier was gunned down in cold blood by a moron after all.

But what we need is perspective. So if the Prime Minister tries to scare you into accepting legislation that will curb your rights and freedoms, just remember…..this is not the first time something awful has happened in Canada.

We are bigger than fear, we are stronger than those who want us to fear and we are fearless in the face of the constant unknown threat. We are Canadians and we won’t stop being Canadian.

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Prosecution, Jury Do Not Have Their Ducks In A Row

Posted by jimjim on June 23, 2014
Posted in: Justice, Social Issues. Tagged: Emma Czornobaj, Emma Czornobaj trial, injustice, justice, Petition for Emma Czornobaj, Quebec Duck case, quebec justice. Leave a comment

The trial and subsequent guilty verdict against  Emma Czornobaj, the woman accused of criminal negligence causing death has upset many people and with cause.

On June 27, 2010, Emma Czornobaj was driving along Highway 30 near Candiac, Quebec when she spotted some young ducklings waddling on the road. she decided to help them by parking her car along the left shoulder of the highway and coaxing them into her car so she can bring them to safety. However, a man driving his motorcycle with his daughter crashed into the car parked alongside the road, then died as did his daughter. A year later, formal charges were filed stating that her conduct was dangerous and reckless…and criminal.

Here are facts of the case…

1. The event happened on a Sunday night with little if any traffic

2. Two other cars were able to avoid her car.

3. The motorcycle driver was driving between 113 and 129 km/h according to the SQ

4. The speed of the motorcycle driver was not to be taken into consideration by the jury according to the judge.

5. The charges were laid upon her one year after the events took place indicating that this was not a cut and dry case.

The prosecutor in this case, Annie-Claude Chassé, has come at this with a zeal that I have rarely seen. She wants jail time for Emma Czornobaj and nothing less. In fact, a deal was proposed for Miss Czornobaj to plead guilty but the prosecution insisted on jail time so the deal was refused by Czornobaj. They went to trial and she was found guilty by a jury that asked plenty of questions to the judge indicating that they were struggling with this too.

This is no more than a tragic accident. A woman wanted to help some ducklings and got out of her car to do so. A motorcyclist driving too fast just couldn’t avoid her and crashed into her car. This is why speed limits exist. They greatly improve your reaction time when driving. Its more than possible he would be alive today had he been going 100 km/h or less. Two other cars were able to avoid her, why not him?

It was said that she did not have her hazards on then it was said that she did, this testimony contradicts therefore cannot be used.

Emma Czornobaj has no criminal record and by all accounts lives a trouble free life, yet she’s being hounded by a prosecutor who just can’t see this for the accident that it is. She is punishing the result and not the action. So what we have is a terrible tragic accident followed by an incredible injustice.

I hope she appeals the verdict. Her lawyer stated on Dutrisac heard on 98.5 that she may not have the means for an appeal, I hope that was an appeal for sympathy, otherwise she might want to get another lawyer. Some causes go beyond money and this is one of those causes.

Emma Czornobaj had already gone through 4 years of this, she doesn’t deserve more added on here in terms of a prison sentence. Prison isn’t meant for this type of incident, tragic though it was.

The wife/mother of the victims doesn’t want  charges laid and she most of all would have the reason to want to get back at Czornobaj.

If she doesn’t appeal then I hope that she gets NO jail time although is seems unlikely, given what’s happened,  that the prosecutor will allow that. Its up to the judge to apply common sense here and afford her no jail time. After all, the only thing Emma Czornobaj is guilty of is empathy.

There is a petition asking for leniency for Emma Czornobaj. I ask that you sign it if you feel this is a terrible injustice….

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/mme-stephanie-vallee-please-don-t-send-emma-czornobaj-to-jail-s-v-p-n-envoyez-pas-emma-czornobaj-en-prison

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