About Plagiarism

Apparently, from the legal stand, there's a fine line between theft and appropriation, but the problem is, nobody knows where one ends and the other one begins. A few months ago a well known the New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd became a headline news, because she copied a paragraph from an article published on-line by Josh Marshall, one of the sharpest bloggers around and pasted it without any changes, word for word into one of her columns. Clearly, on her part this was nothing but a mix of a laziness, arrogance and stupidity. She underestimated intelligence of her readers a critics, assuming nobody would notice. Surely, a writer of her format, so popular, well connected and VERY generously paid must be aware she's under the scrutiny all the time and she can never get away with anything like this. If she made just a little tiny effort and simply attributed those statements she borrowed to their original source, there would be no issue and therefore nothing to discuss. This way however, she found herself in a hot water for nothing and the whole thing got quickly overblown out of the proportions. She was called a fraud and a looser, some people demanded her immediate resignation, others asked for an apology, while some folks were ready to forgive her under the condition, she'll be using only "her own words" from now on.

Wait a minute! Her own words? Is there a such thing? Doesn't everybody use the same words as the other people do? Granted, the utilized vocabulary vary from person to person, for instance, a farmer may not need to know more than 500 or 600 words to carry on throughout his whole life, but not so a novelist or a scholar. Nevertheless, either one of them goes to the BAKERY to buy a loaf of BREAD and asks for a glass of WATER when they're THIRSTY. Nobody's got "their own words" for any of these things and if they had, they wouldn't be too much help within the context of their conversations.

From our earliest age, as soon as we start talking, all we do is copy what we hear around us. What other options do we have? We don't understand the word's meaning and we have no clue, how to construct the sentences. So - does it mean by using our parents language and thoughts we're acting dishonestly and committing an academic fraud? After all, we are stealing their intellectual properties and representing them as our own. Or are we? Just as the count of words in the English dictionary, that's the million dollars question.

And as for me - even right now, when I express my thoughts and it feels so strongly, these are all my ideas, I know better than that. Knowingly or unintentionally, I may be using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of the others. Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't. However, I can make one claim for a certainty - in my daily communication I NEVER opt to use my own words. Instead, I'd rather resort to the commonly accepted vocables from the English dictionary, the ones everyone else knows and understands their meaning. If it be to the contrary, I believe, my expressions would certainly come to nought. But hey! Why don't I try to close my meditation using MY OWN WORDS:

"Loofr nacous rauqsa adiloh bdiluig!!!"

Comprehend? Didn't think so... and neither do I.................... ((((:

M.

Here They Come

So, the first one is here and I reckon, many more will follow before we know. A couple of weeks ago, the rusty boat loaded with 490 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka docked at the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt. To be accurate, it's not the first migrant smuggling ship that arrived at the coast of Canada; a number of them have got here the same way sporadically in the past. The significance of this one is, as the Public Safety Minister Vic Toews admitted, the MV Sun Sea should be considered a “test boat” to probe Canada’s receptiveness to ship-borne refugee claims – part of a wider human smuggling operation with designs on sending more illegals here.

Not to long ago, I got engaged in a discussion on a subject of US and Canadian immigration problems. My friend suggested, that unlike in the United States, there are virtually no illegal immigrants on this side of border, claiming the Canadian immigration agency IRB has situation firmly under the control. To support her assertion, she said, that everyone enters the country with the valid travel documents and the incomer's identity is thoroughly examined by the Canadian border and immigration services. Unfortunately, this inconclusive presumption might only apply for us - the naive, law-obeying immigrants, who had followed the required regulations and patiently waited for months, some of us even the years to be legally admitted to Canada. But it is quite different story for the host of the others, who for one or another reason choose to jump the queue or to bypass the legal immigration requirements altogether. And make no mistake, those people are well familiar with all the tricks in the book. Needless to say, they know the first and the most important one: once a person arrives to Canada, either by the land, the sea or the air and applies for the refugee status, under the Canadian law he/she cannot be turned down. Whether they present valid travel documents, some other type of ID, or none at all is not an issue at this stage. Therefore, those who have no desire to reveal their true identity simply destroy their documents prior arrival and fabricate some heartbreaking tale about fleeing persecution and seeking asylum. After a few days or weeks in detention, they're free to go and while awaiting their case to be decided by the immigration agency (which might take as long as 15 years), they are entitled to receive a full government financial assistance and social benefits. And of course, as you might have guessed by know, many of those newcomers (perhaps the hard core criminals or members of various terrorist groups) will fall off the radar and their whereabouts are unknown. There is no credible information available on illegal immigration in Canada but a 2008 report by the Auditor General Sheila Fraser stated that Canada has lost track of as many as 41,000 illegal immigrants. The actual number is probably at least three times higher - according to some estimates up to 120,000 "lost souls". A former head of the Canadian Immigration Service James Bissett sees the problem roots in the lack of any credible refugee screening process, combined with a high likelihood of ignoring any deportation orders, which results in tens of thousands of outstanding warrants for the arrest of rejected refugee claimants, with little attempt at enforcement. Unlike in the U.S., refugee claimants in Canada do not have to attempt re-entry to learn the status of their claim. Bisset also suggested that the number of illegal immigrants will increase drastically with the expiration of previously issued temporary employer work permits, which won't be renewed in many cases because of the shortage of work due to the recession.

You can draw your own conclusions from the above, but in my opinion we can only hope "God will keep our land glorious and free", but sorry, Oh Canada, we certainly don't stand on guard for thee.

Milo.

Our Moral Duties

Sometimes, the boundaries between right and wrong are kind of hazy and not so easy to define. That's why all of us have our own and unique set of values, bundled into some sort of personal policies - the guidelines how to approach the individual issues, if you will. Whatever would be fine and perfectly justifiable for one person, might be completely unacceptable for another. With any new experience we are subjected to, our horizon expands and this freshly acquired information allows us to perceive and understand reality from a little bit different perspective. And those are usually the turning points, when we recognize, it's about time to reevaluate our "old" moral and social codes. For example: a little boy does not know, how to deal with any of the new challenges live puts in front of him, therefore he completely relies on the advice and guidance of his adult guardians. He was born with a blank memory "drive" and any experience is new for him. He is not capable to compare, evaluate, analyze and draw conclusions. That's why he needs to turn for help to those who know the answers. But, therein lies the rub - the advice he gets might often be completely misguiding. He might be told by the older brother, the policemen are the arrogant pigs and he takes this prejudice piece of information at the face value and stores it in his database. Then, later on he gets separated from his parents somewhere in the shopping mall and all of sudden, there is a policeman, who takes him by the hand, talks to him kindly and reunites him with his parents. Now he's puzzled: wait a minute, this policeman was actually nice person and he does not look or act anything like an arrogant pig. He needs to re-write his records and make a new entry into his files: "Not all the cops are bad". Just like most of us, I've done the similar little corrections in my own personal database many times in the past and will undoubtedly do it on a few occasions again. In regards of one particular instance, however, my opinion has always been solid, has never, under any circumstances changed and it never will.

There's my beef: I truly loathe people who intentionally (or in some cases - perhaps due to their selfish ignorance) abuse the most vulnerable ones - the animals and children. Those who mistreat and take advantage off the innocent creatures without their own voice and any means to defend themselves. I know a hatred is a very strong and often self destructive emotion, but I can't find within myself a single grain of forgiveness for such repulsive acts of evil and injustice. And I'll go even farther than that: If there was only one criminal misconduct serious enough to implement the hardest punishment, it would certainly have to be this one. I sign and seal this motion any time.

I know I've said it many times before, but I'll repeat it over and over again:

It is our highest moral obligation to help and protect the innocent, weak and underprivileged ones among us. Without this simple, yet fundamental philosophy, the whole human race is not worth a plugged nickel and does not deserve a place on Earth.

Go ahead, laugh your head off at my expense! Call me an old fool, if you like, but that's where I stand.

The Wall of Legends

This unique wallpainted artwork brilliantly portraits the most significant giants of human race, representing world culture and science from the second half of the 20. century until now. The masterpiece can be seen daily in Newton, BC.

It's Hard To Be Humble

Equality Misconception

It strikes me as both - sad and amusing at the same time. I am referring to an amazing fact, that some people to date still believe in equality. Wait a minute! Are you actually one of them? Well, if that's the case, let me put things in perspective for you.

Would you like to be equal to those 3 billion people in the world who struggle to survive on US$2 per day? Maybe not quite that equal, eh? Or a bit closer to home: how about that deadbeat guy, living down the street? You know - the junkie with the criminal rap sheet a mile long. Would you like him to live in the same nice house just like yours and drive the same fancy car like you, even though he never held the job? I didn't think so. But I bet he wouldn't mind! See, and that's exactly how it works. Only the underprivileged or those oppressed or discriminated ones cry for the equal rights, abundance and social status. But there's a truly interesting phenomenon to be observed in this context: as soon as those activists reach their goal and they either individually or as a group become accepted as "equal", all of sudden it doesn't seem to be enough. Now they want more, so they promptly start to solicit all kinds of privileges and never stop pushing till they hit the mark. No need to be specific, I'm sure you too could think of one or two such examples.

And that, my friends, is the essence of a human psyche: NOBODY actually wants to be equal. On contrary, we all yearn to belong in some highly exclusive club, with formal boundaries, where a member can join "by invitation only" and the organization is inaccessible to the others. And not necessary it must be a prestigious high class private club - because it's not always just about a tangible wealth. This sociological concept is more about the "in-group" versus the "out-group", or in other words, "inclusion" and "exclusion". Being "in" provides a selected few with a unique sense of identity and also gives them the power to exclude those undesirable ones, whom they don't want inside their closed social circle.

So, the next time you hear some pitiable goof ball preaching about "freedom, equality, fraternity", please advise him to stick his shenanigans where the sun don't shine.

Milo.

From Recycled Quotes Files - Life Is...

Gruesome Awakening

In the middle of the last night I woke up petrified, all covered in cold sweat. Hardly awake I leaped out of my bed, didn't waste any time turning on the lights and as fast as humanly possible I staggered downstairs to the living room. Down here I flipped the lights on and then, still holding my breath, in a trice I yanked the hatch door wide open.... What a relief! It's here. In the liqueur cabinet, right in the front row I got a glimpse of nearly full, elegant, dome-shaped bottle of the Captain Morgan Special Reserve, the finest 15 year old rum, made in Puerto Rico. This time everything turned out well. But can anyone even imagine if it was for real? In my grisly dream the same bottle appeared to be almost empty! Thank heavens, it was all just a nightmare.