The New Technocrat

WTF Calgary???

Mark — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:53:09 +0000

If you’ve been living under a rock (or if you’re not Canadian) you may not have heard, but Calgary has a new mayor. What image did you have in your head? A 50-60 year old WASP, probably a fan of Atlas Shrugged (sometimes I wish rich people would go on strike) and sporting a cowboy hat.

Well you would be wrong. I know, it’s shocking. Seriously. When I read that a man named Naheed Nenshi is now the mayor of a city best known for it’s saddle-shaped arena and massive annual rodeo that is responsible for killing more horses than Elmer’s glue.

Naheed Nenshi. A 38-year-old muslin immigrant son who was raised in Calgary’s rough-and-tumble north east. Naheed Nenshi. A guy who actually assumes his voters are actually intelligent enough to understand policy. Naheed Nenshi. A dude who got elected wearing purple. In Calgary. And his name is freakin’ Naheed Nenshi and he’s an openly practicing muslim.

*Brain Explodes*

You know what? He’s freakin’ awesome too. He’s Harvard educated in the Kennedy School of Governance and is a business professor. Most importantly, he wants to overhaul Calgary’s horrible transit system.

We in Vancouver bitch and moan about how shitty Translink is, but at least I can go from Richmond to Downtown easily in about 30 minutes. In Calgary, it takes hours to get anywhere. The city is so sprawled, and the rapid transit line is barely useful.

What endears me most to Nenshi is his manner of campaigning. In a race that routinely favours short, one liners and dumbed down talking points, Nenshi took a chance and treated his electorate with respect. He treated them as intelligent individuals. He appealed to people’s logos as well as their pathos. WHile federal politicas are becoming more partisan, it’s refreshing to see a campaign run in this manner. His extensive use of Twitter and Facebook are interesting to note as well. The times they are a-changing (editor’s note – why is it that this phrase from a song recorded 40 years ago is still relevant today? Would this be irony, perhaps?)

As a westcoast, liberal, hippy, douche, I couldn’t be more delighted. I probably still wont be going to Calgary any time soon, but at least now I’m not embarrassed for them. Now to work this magic on Edmonton, Red Deer and Fort McMurray.

A man can dream though…

*Quick post-post update – Check out Nenshi’s site here. I’m amazed to actually see strightforward policies posted. He also engaged commenters who disagreed with him in a civil and intelligent manner – not just espousing talking points! MY GOD! We need more politicians like this in our country.

Am I really jealous of Calgary?

Wait what? No way. Never. Not in the slightest.

Beware of SCAMs on Sharecare

Mark — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:30:34 +0000

There’s a new website in town courtesy of everyone’s favourite quack Doctor Mehmet Oz. Sharecare is essentially a giant Yahoo Answers-esque medical advice site where healthcare professionals answer your medical questions.

The result is a pretty mixed bag.

Doc Oz is hardly known for his support for scientific medicine, routinely pimping SCAMS (Supplements, Complimentary and Alternative Medicines) and this mentality is definitely reflected on his answers on the site.

It’s not all bad though. despite Dr. Oz’s odd note that vaccines may trigger autism in genetically predisposed children (bullshit!), he also claims it is not linked to the current “epidemic” (also bullshit – more diagnoses are due to better diagnostics. For more info check out this amazing article debunking the autism-vaccine link).

There are droves of articles on the benefits of SCAMs, but if you ignore that section the advice is generally in line with what the average physician would tell you. That being said, take ANYTHING there with a grain of salt. Consult your doctor before undergoing ANY medical treatment, alternative or not.

I’ll be posting a more in-depth review of the site soon.

A Much Needed Update

Mark — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:00:25 +0000

It’s been a long and winding road (dun dun, dun dun) in the past little while. Personally, I’ve gone through a huge amount of change, professionally, personally and intellectually. All you need to know is that I’m currently working as a writer for Zeros 2 Heroes Media – a small production company based in Vancouver. You can check us out (as well as my sweet company blog) at www.zeros2heroes.com. Take a look at some of the projects we’re working on as well – specifically Animism: The Sacred Sites. It’s a really cool little ARG based on Aboriginal mythology. I play Mark, the skeptical analyzer of the spooky mystical events. So yeah, I basically play myself.

Hey, did someone say “Segway?”

The reason I’m now reviving this long-dead blog is two-fold. One, while blogging on the corporate blog about all things geeky is fun, I miss writing about other more worldly topics. I miss bashing alternative medicines, psychics and charlatans. I miss calling out local press for horrible coverage. I miss bitching. I want to bitch and complain dammit! I’m from a Jewish family, it’s in my blood.

In the meantime, I just wanted to point out the “It Gets Better” project courtesy of Dan Savage. It’s a startlingly simple campaign: LGBT people, or LGBT friendly people, producing YouTube videos aimed at LGBT teens in bat-shit crazy parts of the world who are all alone in their respective towns. Go and post a video, or just watch. Be prepared to shed a tear – some of the videos are really heart wrenching.

Back from the Ashes

Mark — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:59:09 +0000

The New Technocrat is back.

After a very long hiatus I have decided to grace the bloggosphere with my presence once again. Why you may ask?

The Olympics. Yes, Vancouver 2010 has claimed another victim and it is my free time. The rings are everywhere here in Richmond BC and I’m fortunate (is fortunate applicable here?) enough to be a stone’s throw away from one of the Olympic venues.

Updates will follow. For now this breif post will have to do.