Christopher Mackay's Blog

Via BoingBoing:

The following is an open letter to my MLA, Mike Olscamp, which he was emailed just before this post went up:

Hon. Mike Olscamp,
MLA, Tantramar

Mr Olscamp;

I recently learned of the premier’s intention to pay for MS patients’ so-called “liberation treatment” (N.B. will fund MS vein-opening treatment). This is unfortunate.

While I understand that the premier is acting with the best of intentions and seeks only to alleviate suffering, he is not equipped to second-guess medical professionals who have yet to determine the safety and efficacy of this expensive and controversial technique.

Emotional stories from old friends should not carry undue weight — if any — when making expensive healthcare funding decisions. Scientific journals are not filled with articles containing “I heard from somebody that this works great”, or “wouldn’t it be just wonderful if this worked?”.

Intervening politically in this way undermines the healthcare profession and places the health of New Brunswickers in the hands of people with a vested financial interest in promoting unproven surgical procedures. Is the province prepared to cover possible lawsuits, should the technique prove to be dangerous, since it has endorsed it and funded it?

I hope to learn that the premier has reconsidered his position, and thank you for taking the time to read this; I know how busy you must be.

Regards,

Christopher Mackay

PS — I will be posting this on my blog at cbmackay.ca

Boy, he covers a lot of ground in this 6-minute bit, but he speaks the truth.

“Failure is an option, but fear is not.” A great talk by James Cameron at TED, February, 2010; touches on his early love of science fiction, his love of diving, working with Stan Winston at Digital Domain, and his work on The Abyss, Titanic and Avatar.

There was a thread on Reddit.com recently titled “What’s the dumbest thing a teacher has ever said to you?”

I don’t know if this qualifies as dumb, exactly, but it was wrong and it has stuck with me for a long time.

When I was in second grade, I noticed the moon up in the sky as I was walking to school in the morning, probably around 8:45 am.

With a child’s knowledge of astronomy, that didn’t fit with what I thought I knew — that the sun was up in the daytime and the moon only came out at night.

Excited by my ‘discovery’, I told my second-grade teacher about it when I got to class, and she proceeded to tell me — in front of everyone — that I was wrong and that everyone knew the moon only came out at night.

I was 7. I wasn’t a rebel, and I wasn’t about to tell her to look out the window. I was taught that teachers were authority figures, and that they were to be respected.

Looking back on it, I suppose she was just a kid herself; probably new to teaching, overwhelmed by having 30-some 6- & 7-year-olds to deal with, maybe not enough time for coffee that day, and who-knows-what kinds of problems outside of the classroom, but the way she dismissed me out-of-hand was wrong.

While it may have seemed like an easy way to deal with a question that didn’t line up with the day’s lesson plan, or maybe made her feel insecure about her lack of astronomy knowledge (I have lectured in introductory astronomy at the undergraduate level — trust me, even most educated people have a very limited grasp of astronomy), it was wrong.

She no doubt forgot it immediately, if not sooner. It was more than 30 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.

It wasn’t a crushing humiliation; I wasn’t scarred by it. I don’t remember the other kids teasing me about it or even mentioning it.

‘Teachers pretend to know more than they do’ was the most important thing I learned in second grade, though. I guess she did me a big favour.

Dear Conservapedia, your stupid is showing: Lying for Jesus