While I didn’t attend UBC, this video certainly makes me wish I had.

Okay, so it is no mystery that the Radiation from Japan has reached North America. The real question is, just how much has reached us?

I have seen several reports that say how much is here, and these reports compare it to xrays, and travel, etc. But I think that is an unfair comparison.

BC Local News states that measured levels of radiation reaching us are at 0.0000005 millisieverts.

They say a dental x-ray is about 0.015 millisieverts, or 30,000 times as much.

So on the surface it sounds like what we are getting is trivial, barely measurable… except for one thing. The radiation from Japan is constant, the radiation from a dental x-ray lasts no more than a second.

Lets assume that a dental x-ray lasts one second (I have no idea how long it really is, it could be a fraction of a second).

With that in mind, it would take 30,000 seconds for the exposure to radiation from Japan to equal that of a dental x-ray.

There are 86,400 seconds in a day (24hrs x 60 min x 60 seconds). That is nearly the equivalent of 3 dental x-rays. Would getting 3 dental x-rays a day be safe? Lets say the radiation exposure lasts 2 weeks. (I have no idea how long this exposure would actually last), but at 2 weeks, that is equivalent to getting about 42 dental x-rays. That cant be good can it?

I accidentally found this article: “Ten Dental X-rays ‘raise caner risk’.” If this study was true, and 10 dental x-rays can increase the cancer risk, then wouldn’t 42 of them in a 2 week period be 4 times as much of a risk?

Someone please tell me I am NOT onto something here… Have I made a big error in my calculations or understanding of something here? Drop a comment and let me know.

Note: Lets assume for a second, that a dental x-ray takes 1/10th of a second. That would still make the radiation from japan equivalent to roughly 4 x-rays over a 2 week period. Much less than my guesses above, but still more than they are comparing it too.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! – (March 28, 2011)

I received an email from an individual who manages a Nuclear Medicine Department. (I will source who he is if he replies to my email with permission). Essentially the radiation from Japan is on a “per-day” basis. So with that in mind, (assuming that my source is both legit, and correct) The actual excess radiation we are experiencing would be equal to one dental X-Ray approximately every 82 Years, not every 8 hours.

Assuming that this is all true, then I for one am convinced (that at the current levels) we are under no danger what so ever.

(Lets just hope the levels of radiation that find their way over here don’t increase at an significant level).

I don’t know. I think a big earthquake here in North America is Imminent… not so sure about in the next few weeks. But Jim Berkland, who successfully predicted the 1989 California quake days before it happened, says its going to happen again, and before the end of the month.

What he says sounds credible, but who knows. Make your own judgment about this. Here is the video from *cough* Fox News.

The Pacific North West is long over due for a large earth quake. Over the past year the world has seen 4 very large and devastating earthquakes around the Ring of Fire.

• Chile: Saturday Feb 27, 2010 – 8.8
• Chile: Thursday March 11, 2010 – 7.2
• New Zealand: Tuesday Feb 22, 2011 – 6.3
• Japan: Friday March 11, 2011 – 9.0

If you plot out where each of these earthquakes are along the ring of fire, you will see that they fall in three of the 4 corners of the pacific. The missing Corner – North America.

These earthquakes also flow clockwise around the ring of fire starting in Chili, then New Zealand, then Japan, and next… well, it could be the Pacific North West…

So is California, or anyone along the West Coast of North America due for an earthquake? Well, I don’t really know. Earthquakes are very unpredictable, BUT if they did follow a pattern, it would seem that we are next, and fairly soon.

If we look at the history of the past 50 years, the Juan de Fuca Subduction zone is the only fault line on the Ring of Fire that has not had a major earthquake. Its not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

So, while I am not a scientist, nor do I have an online PhD, and have NO relevant education to back up my prediction, I am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction. I hope I am wrong, I probably am wrong, but here it is:

I predict a quake greater than 8.5 to hit somewhere between California and the west coast of Vancouver Island, most likely on the Juan de Fuca Subduction zone, in February of 2012.

Now we wait and see…

If you had planned on purchasing some Potassium Iodide as a precautionary measure in case radiation reaches us from Japan, think again.

According to the article “U.S. Government Blocking Americans From Obtaining Potassium Iodide” getting your hands on these pills could be extremely difficult.

I can’t say I blame the government for blocking the sale of Potassium Iodide. This panic purchasing behaviour is going to quickly destroy the supply, and in the event that those in some areas really need it, they won’t be able to get it, while others who have no real threat hoard all the pills.

Since pharmacies are apparently not allowed to sell potassium iodide now, the only place to turn may be online at places like eBay.

If you are thinking of just grabbing some online, make sure your credit card has some room on it. Fourteen tablet packages that typically sell for $10 to $15 are going for prices upwards of $500. As of the time of this writing there was one ebay listing with 38 bids and a little over an hour to go – bidding had reached $520.

There are also plenty of pills available with “Buy it Now” prices at well over $1000. Most online retailers are reporting that their supply is running out, or has run out.

So while it may be difficult to get your hands on some Potassium Iodide, if you trust what the experts are saying, we may not need it here in Canada and the US…. Lets hope so anyways.

I am so sick of idiots who have a sense of entitlement.

You have probably heard the story about Eleni Prontzos, the 17 year old who was caught for shoplifting at a Price Smart Foods  recently. She had stolen about $20 worth of makeup.

Rather than press charges, Overwaitea Food Group, owners of Price Smart Foods, demanded $300 in fines for the theft.

Prontzos and her parents are refusing to pay the bill! HELLO, you could have been been prosecuted and have a criminal record,  instead they are fining you? Suck it up and pay the fine. YOU STOLE FROM THEM. You broke the law, pay the fine and be grateful they didn’t call the cops on you!

The media is having a field day, blaming the big box stores for fines that can reach as much as $700. This is generous people!! A criminal record would cost you WAY more in the end!

Peter Prontzos, Elani’s father said that this is just a “money making operation”. Is he serious? These stores lose MILLIONS a year to shoplifters, they are entitled to try and get a SMALL percentage of that back.. What a joke shoplifter dad.

I think that they should revoke the fine, and instead throw the book at this little thief, and give her the maximum penalty permitted by law. Maybe then they will look back and say, maybe we should have paid the fine. Make an example out of her for what can really happen to shoplifters.

There is more on this story over at CBC.ca

Of all the kids in the hall skits, for some reason I always remembered this one.

Had never seen these before, hilarious!

I never really watched Kids in the Hall back in the day, but they really did come up with some funny stuff

A Toronto woman is suing Rogers for $600,000 after a cell phone bill allegedly destroyed her marriage and her life.

You are probably wondering, how on earth can a cell phone bill ruin a marriage? Well its simple. She cheated on her husband. He saw the bill with the strange calls and put the pieces together, and then left her.

How is this Rogers fault? Hmm… It isn’t!. Is it? I don’t think so…

If you don’t want your husband to find out you are cheating on him, then don’t cheat on him. I am sure this will go out as one of the stupidest lawsuits of all time, and if by some rare chance she wins (which she won’t) Then it won’t matter anyways because its a sure fire sign that the world is about to come to an end!

Here is the original article from the Globe and Mail.

Well, after some complaining and an email targeted at a high-level exec, we have made some headway on our issue with Bell Canada.

Here is the summary of our initial issue:

• When we first phoned, the rep promised us a $10 / month credit for 12 months, in ADDITION to the $200 PVR Programming credit
• We got the $200 credit, but they refused to give us the $10 credit, essentially saying that the don’t offer such a thing.

What it sounds like happened is that the rep did not know the services very well, and mistook the $10 PVR rental credit, to think it applies to all new sign-ups regardless of if the PVR is purchased or rented. That is how their current promo works apparently, however, as a customer calling to ask what they could offer is to determine if we should switch, one has to assume the rep knows what he/she is talking about.

In the end, the rep made an offer, we accepted it, and Bell declined part of the offer. Even if the rep made a mistake, it should still be honored.

Well, all of this made us angry, after all $120 in credits over 12 months is a decent chunk of change. While reading a forum thread where people were complaining about Bell I stumbled on a post that had the emails of some high-level execs, so I thought, if customer service won’t help me, maybe these guys will.

I fired off an email with my situation, and left it at that, never expecting to hear from anyone about the topic again, however, later that day, I got an email response from the assistant to the exec requesting my account number.

Today that assistant called me and we spoke. They are investigating and will be looking up that initial phone call. He said that if they can find the original call that promisses the discount, then they will honor it. That’s fantastic news. He promised to call me back next Friday either way with the outcome.

Now, IF they are able to dig up that original call, I know for a fact they will hear the offer, and should give us the credit. If this happens, it will restore much of my trust in this company, but not all of it – after all, this issue should never have been an issue in the first place!

My bit of pessimism tells me though that this assistant could do nothing and then simply call me back noting that the call could not be found, and decline the offer again. I would hope they are honest enough to look into it, but time will tell. I’ll post an update when a final decision is made.

Interesting Note: The manpower they are using to investigate this is costing them more than the $120 in credits – it would have saved them money to just give us the credit in the first place – oh well.