The Barron Blog

Sunday, 17 May 2009

I Have A Problem With The Fundamentalist View On The Second Coming

Yesterday, I read an article on "The Apocalype" by Mitch Potter in The Toronto Star.
The biggest drumbeater for the fundamentalist view on "The Second Coming" has to be Tim LaHaye. His "Left Behind Books" have sold more than 60 million copies.
I saw a couple of movies based on these books. I'm impressed by Mr. LaHaye's research into Biblical End Times.
Please note, there are other serious studies about these times in other religions.
As you can see from the picture on the left, the depiction of Christ's return is on a horse. In other pictures of this event, angels with wings fly down with him to The Mount Of Olives.
As I've stated in other entries in this blog, the visions of Christ, God, angels and miraculous events usually come from medieval artists. This is part of the Christian dogma box. It's canned Christianity which doesn't need a personal viewpoint or inner vision.
Any advanced alien civilization which has intentions of conquering Earth would find allies in Christian Fundamentalists if they (the aliens) could counterfeit the events in Left Behind with high tech illusions.
The Rapture, itself, could be duplicated by transporting (Star Trek style) fundamentalists to a holodeck cloud in the sky. The Bible is loaded with lots of examples of how deceptive Satan is.
Believers singing the same tune and marching to the same drummer are examples of group think created by biblical experts.
Another kind of group think caused the stock market to lose 40% of its value because economic experts led investor-sheep over the cliff.

Posted by qualteam at 1:40 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 18 May 2009 10:20 PM EDT

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Thursday, 14 May 2009

Goodbye To The Gateway Post Office

As you know, I retired from Canada Post on Feb/14/09 (a valentine's gift to myself). However, I continued to workout at the Gateway gym from that date until the end of April. I did this faithfully three days a week for an hour each day.
I'd like to point out that over the last four years, retirees have been allowed to use the Gateway gym. However, this changed at the end of the April when I was told that I and other retirees were no longer welcome at the gym. The reason for this was security. Needless to say, I was very disappointed because no one mentioned this "security issue" over the last four years.
My refund check for $60.00 arrived today by Express Post.
I have no regrets over these sudden inexplicable changes in policy. After all, I earned a good living at Canada Post for over 35 years and now, I get a good pension with reasonable benefits.
Recently, I signed up at a Brampton recreational centre which includes state of the art gym equipment, pool and sauna. The membership fee is $212.00 a year and it takes me ten minutes to bike there. Going to Gateway in Mississauga, the travelling time by bus was over an hour each way.
I have many good memories at Canada Post. I enjoyed the work and I made some good friends there.
How can I forget a place whose address is the date of my birth: 45/7/6?
For more on my history at Canada Post, please go to the website at www.cupw.info.

Posted by qualteam at 12:26 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 14 May 2009 10:21 PM EDT

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Sunday, 10 May 2009

My Favourite Star Trek Movie: Generations

Star Trek often deals with troublesome subjects that other movies or TV series gloss over. Do you remember the superbeing who committed genocide in STNG's "The Survivors"? The problem with Data's human-like sentience in "Measure of A Man"? The difficulties with eternal life in the Q Continuum (e.g. "Death Wish"?).
The big ideas in Generations are time (friend or foe) and the actual existence of a timeless "Heaven"(i.e The Nexus). These are along the lines of Star Trek's basic theme of "going where no one has gone".
The other themes in the movie are dealing with the loss of family members, realizing one's dreams and making a difference.
Perhaps, the complexity of the story and its subplots was too difficult for some to understand.
Personally, I enjoyed the multi-layered story and its many moving moments like the death of Kirk (twice), Picard seeing his dreams come true in the Nexus and an emotional Data finding his cat alive on board the destroyed Enterprise.
The Nexus obsessed villain, Sorrin, has the most memorable quote in the film: "Time is the fire that we all live in". Four stars.

Posted by qualteam at 3:07 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 10 May 2009 10:56 PM EDT

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Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Top Ten Ways To Reduce Stress At Work
Mood: party time!

1. Play with your pet monkey when the office flirt walks by.
2. Do tongue exercises in front of the boss.
3. Do suggestive things with your hands and face.
4. Pretend you're a retard during work hours.
5. Don't answer questions from fellow employees. Use facial expressions.
6. Pretend to be a real funny guy at the water cooler.
7. Introduce yourself to new female employees in an unusual way.
8. Tell people you suffer from some strange social disease.
9. Tell others, you can put your finger up your butt and whistle Dixie at the same time.
10. Tell your buddies how psychiatric drugs really make you feel better. They should take them too.

Posted by qualteam at 11:10 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 7 May 2009 12:41 AM EDT

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Sunday, 3 May 2009

Movie Review 130: Star Trek V The Final Frontier

This has to be the most underrated Star Trek Movie of all time. The search for God and Heaven finally make it to a Trek film. You couldn't ask for a higher concept than that.
A big critic of this film called it "one of the weirdest Trek flicks, with all the good and bad that goes with that".
I must point out that encounters with "godlike beings" have happened many times in the Star Trek Universe. It's all part of the theme of "going where no one has gone before".
The cult leader/bad guy, Sybok, who wins over many followers is both a complicated and charismatic person. With Christ-like abilities, he is able to feel someone's else pain. When he takes over the Enterprise, most of the crew willingly follow him.
All of the Star Trek movies are being shown on "The Space Channel" and I watched this one a few nights ago.
The biggest knock against the flick could be the special effects. It just didn't measure up to other features and a better "heaven" could have been created for the end of Sybok's quest.
This was the last film the original crew made together and the camaraderie was great between Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
Despite the critics, this movie is well worth a view or two. Three Stars.

Posted by qualteam at 10:28 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 3 May 2009 4:05 PM EDT

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Thursday, 30 April 2009

North American Stock Markets Have Hit Bottom And....

They've started to climb again. Over the last two months, the TSX (Toronto Exchange) is up 25% from its bottom in eary March.
From my investments in "The Royal Bank of Canada" and "Mercator Minerals", I made a $400 profit in a month. True, that isn't much, but I didn't have much to invest.
A few weeks ago, I took my profits because I expected a market correction after the run up. That didn't happen.
It appears that the markets may go sideways (no gain or loss) for the next few months.
A leading indicator that things have turned around is the price of copper which is up quite a bit from its lows during the winter.
Even if stocks don't take off over the next few months, Canadian banks are still a good buy as well as Canadian mining companies like Mercator Minerals. It is listed as a strong buy in the Globe and Mail.

Posted by qualteam at 10:53 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 30 April 2009 11:23 PM EDT

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Saturday, 25 April 2009

My Updated Resume

Since I joined the ranks of the unemployed, I, recently, updated my resume. I've worked at many jobs in my life, but I only mentioned the ones that were interesting.
Here's the short list:
My first job was working in a fruit juice factory, but I got canned. I couldn't concentrate.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.
Next, I tried working in a muffler factory, but that was too exhausting.
Next was a job in a shoe factory, but I didn't fit in.
I went to Newfoundland and worked as a fisherman, but I discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.
Back in Brampton, I managed to get a good job in a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.
So I got a job in a workout centre, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
After many years of taking college courses and trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as a historian, until I realized there was no future in it.
My last job was working at Canada Post, but I had to quit because I was starting to go "POSTAL".
So, I tried retirement and found that I'm perfect for that job! Yabba Dabba Doooo!

Posted by qualteam at 11:14 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 26 April 2009 2:08 AM EDT

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Wednesday, 22 April 2009

An Excellent Retirement Project

The above picture is my buddy's house that he's building on lakefront property near Parry Sound.
Isn't it great to have this as your retirement project? Not only does it require a lot of money, but building skills as well.
I was there yesterday and videotaped a "ten cent tour" of the place. The walls and pine ceilings are finished.
The owner, a retired postie, has invited fellow employees from "The Toronto Exchange Office" for a party sometime in the summer when it's finished.
I burned a few DVD copies from the Camcorder tape to show posties "The Great White North" in Muskoka.
Actually, it's spring, right now, and the snow around the house has gone.
Take a trip up highway 69 to God's country in Ontario.
In the summer, this place will become like "Indian Lake".

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Posted by qualteam at 9:31 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 23 April 2009 5:30 PM EDT

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Saturday, 18 April 2009

My History With Canada Post and CUPW (Union)

Christmas was one of my happiest times while working at the Post Office. I felt like an elf delivering Santa's gifts through the mail.
In the picture above, retired postie elves write back to kids who sent letters to Santa Claus: North Pole Canada H0H 0H0. I might volunteer for that position this year.
It would be very difficult to compress my 35 year history with Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers into a few blog entries, so I created a website to detail my experiences. This site can be found at www.cupw.info. There's lots of great songs on these webpages too.
I was fortunate to have a good job at Canada Post without any layoffs. It's one of the top employers in Canada and despite the market downturn the pension plan is still well funded.

Posted by qualteam at 9:55 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 19 April 2009 12:31 PM EDT

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Friday, 17 April 2009

The Inspirational Event Of The Year

After the recession, the unemployment, the probable bankruptcies of GM/Chrysler and other depressing economic news, it was refreshing to hear Susan Boyle's rendition of "I dream a dream". She put so much feeling into the song that it brought me to tears.
Again, this demonstrates that we shouldn't judge others by their appearance. This also demonstrates the power of the internet to connect us to "talented plain Janes" like Susan.
We've come through a time when overrated incompetent CEOs received incredible bonuses. It's great that an underdog like Susan is getting recognition after years of karaoke singing.
The above tune "Cry Me A River" was taken from Susan's charity CD. I look forward to hearing her sing more great songs.

Posted by qualteam at 5:58 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 17 April 2009 6:05 PM EDT

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