Sunday, April 21, 2013

Canada's stupid ignorance about American Gun Laws.

So I'm currently infuriated by several of my Canadian friends about their posts on American Gun laws that they do not understand.

The infuriating part is their own personal ignorance about how closely Canadian and American gun laws match!

#1)  All guns must be registered SOMEWHERE!  If you want to buy a gun in both countries, it has to be recorded and reported.  Whether the shop dealer does his paper work right or not is a matter of discretion on the owner, and enforcement by the government.

#2) Automatic weapons ARE NOT legally available in America.  Not in most states that I know of, and only to Law Enforcement and Military personnel ONLY.  Guess what Canada, it's exactly the same as you!  As an example, Discovery's Sons of Guns builds automatic weapons ALL the time, but their customer is just about always law enforcement, security detail, or Military (Veteran and active).  Everybody else that gets a weapon from them is Semi-ONLY.  The Sandyhook weapon.  An AR-15 Colt Bushmaster is a SEMI-ONLY Rifle.  You can buy the same thing, with the a lower power .22 calibre, IN CANADA for $1200 and a gigantic 20rd mag for it by default!

#3) Bad storage of weapons:  Sandyhook was SPECIFICALLY caused by 2 things:  Failing to diagnose and treat the perpetrator of is illness.  Failing to PROPERLY STORE YOUR FIREARMS.  This type of failure IS NOT SPECIFIC to the USA.  It is a careless mistake made by a lazy individual, who was not vigilant in their safe keeping.  This can, and does happen in Canada too!  The Driftwood shooting was caused by a teenager who joined a gang, and took his dad's gun because the Dad didn't store it safely away.  Why is CANADA letting these lazy individuals get licences to guns?!

My personal experience with storage:
I "only" have a library of Airsoft Guns, and 3 Airguns.  Compared to my farmer friends, it's harmless!  However, if I think about the ignorant use of them by any random person that doesn't know what they're doing, I lock them up, I keep their magazines out. I put ammunition so far away, it'll take you 30 minutes to find a round and pop it into a gun.  I even spend the money to buy Firearms Grade Lockers to store them in.  I buy Trigger Locks for Airguns because I don't want ANYONE I don't trust to touch them. The only guns that are out, are deactivated guns that are broken.  They don't shoot, they are in pieces .  It is not required by law for me to store them this way, and most airsofters DON'T store them like that.  However, I do so because I want to be safe.

BTW, if you don't store your firearms properly in Canada, it's a criminal offense, and you will get fined and charged for it.

#4) Stolen and Smuggled Guns:  This is a problem with BOTH Countries.  Organized Crime is not specific to America, it is a problem in many nations, and in many forms.  What's so special about America?  It's on the news, vs NOT on the news.  So Canada not telling its citizens about a gun smuggling problem makes it ok, and America reporting to its citizens to be vigilant about it isnt ok?  If you personally like your head in the sand, then go ahead.  I like to watch out and not be near that stray bullet heading for me thank you very much.

So basically the frustration for me comes from ignorance.  Go read up on the specifics, and understand specifics that you don't know.  What gun did they use, and compare it to what the news compared it to.  See the differences and similarities.  Go understand the actual laws, and see whether it was systematic error, or personal error.  Go understand the cultural significance of things like the 2nd Amendment, and the culture of country the disaster is happening in.  You don't have to absorb the culture, but be able to  understand things like why American Cars are Big, Luxurious and Baroque, vs Economical, Functional and "plain."  THEN decide whether your original impression (not even opinion, because that is worth seeing and debating about) of the small newspaper article shooting is legitimate for posting on Facebook.

Saturday, April 06, 2013

The beauty of Love and Friendship.

So it's the end of my short week long vacation in Hong Kong.  It is short considering I spent 2 days travelling, so it could be thought of more as a 5-day vacation with 2 journeys to go with it.

I would first like to congratulate Cherry Kwan for her successful and amazing marriage.  May you have many anniversaries and happy years together!

Secondly, I would like to thank her again for the reason that this trip has given me a new experience in life.  For once in my lifetime, or long long ago, in a faraway place, I have felt the love and care of my family.

Thirdly, I would like to thank my friends I've come to see on this trip.  Yes, there was a ton of catching up to do, but even after all of that, the experiences of Hong Kong were great, and it's challenged my own personal way of life.  Perhaps the future will be brighter, and I won't be alone climbing that mountain we call life.

Dangers of dreaming

So recently I went to see Lindsey Stirling at a concert and one of the key messages of her concert is to not let life compose you, but make yourself that composer. It'll be hard, and it will be painful, but the reward will be life changing and unforgettable.

I absolutely love the message, which is why I'm a huge fan of hers. However, the band before her for the cover of the concert gave a grave message of being morally responsible. Especially to engineers and scientists.

At first, I was very offended at having my 2 greatest professions being singled out and openly blamed for the world going astray.

However, I understand their viewpoint, and I can only be apologetic for the bad consequences that followed some of our major developments.

In contrast to the bad, there is good. Many of America's reactors are actually converted nuclear weapons, and the internet has gone well beyond its initial military application and become a key component in peoples' ability to connect with others.

So why am I so sad or vividly affected by the messages of these 2 artists?

Because my dream could aid a very small portion of society, but it can also change the way we look at how scary and powerful we have come.

Let's get straight to the point between science, engineering and literature.

The concept in question I like to know it as the race to the Great Golem.

The Golem in the most modern sense would be the following science fiction characters and concepts:

Mobile Suit Gundam
Ironman
Mech Warrior

The idea being an armored shell that does not require a man's strength to wield, but possess the strength of Hercules, and the speed of Pegasus.

So far in this world we've had prototype concepts, fan cosplays, and even ludicrous statues with minor motion (Controls engineering term for very simple single axis rotation).

However, my dream is not just these "piddly" prototype toys that I arrogantly scoff at.  But something that can be mass produced, something that can be available for everyone.  So when my friends show me the great successes of professors, PhDs, Masters build 1 giant robot, build 1 human support system.  I laugh because when they built it, they didn't think about how to maunfacture it, how to simplify it's super complicated systems into something simple and repeatable.  They just built it to show off how much knowledge these few people have.  Well, I'm sorry to tell you elite few, but everyone has access to the same amount of knowledge, and can put it all together over 10 years of our personal spare time.

I'm not here to be that type of innovator.  I am here to be the next Henry Ford.  The one to mass produce something that people demand in the Great Golem.

It's a great and ambitious vision, but I have held myself back because of Moral Responsibility about the consequences of a mass produced Self-propelled suit of armor.

I would generaly state the Pros first, but let's be honest, most people will see the Cons way before the Pros.

Cons:
Intensify War by requiring stronger weapons to penetrate these new Armored Infantry troops.

The sheer volume of potential damage 1 of these suits can do to the general public is horrific.  Look at the IronMan universe.  Tony Stark had 1 suit, and he breaks himself out of a Taliban Mountain.  The series continues as the technology proliferates, the world gets crazier and harder to keep in order.  People get hurt badly or even die.

These Cons are so big, that it would be easier for governments to deal with "drones" than to invest in a system making "super-human" possible.

Pros:
Parapelgics, and other Physical disabilities can be aided, by external control, or internal cybernetics.  I'm personally not one for cybernetics like the Borg, but I know others who are, and I do support their endeavours.

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) can be improved.  Imagine Fukushima occuring again, but instead of having suits that will only take so little radiation, why not build a powered-suit that is impervious to radiation?

Build Construction suits that allow personnel the impossibility of getting crushed under mines, or falling buildings.  Truly Hazard proof equipment suits for any need.

Unfortunately, these Pros, don't exactly outweigh the cons, and they come with their own individual ethical and cost effectiveness questions.

And so I ask you the society, where would you like me to go with my dream?