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Sep 29

How I Found The Subtle Line In The Assisted Suicide Debate

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments tags: Facing Death, Human Condition, Stages of Realization
The late Dr. Donald Low made some news headlines when he requested in his last days the right to end his own life in a fashion that is legal. Whenever this issue gets raised, there are always two sides that gets formed to argue their position. And in typical fashion, the media establishment loves to embellish the issue to attract interest so it can sell its advertising. On the one side, we see people who are faced with their own death, arguing that they should have the right to request a doctor to prescribe a lethal dose of medications to suppress their breathing and thus end their life in a manner that is considered to be more peaceful. On the other side, we see people who believe that life is sacred and any action that brings about death more quickly is unethical or immoral. In addition, there is a group of young disabled people who believe that this could lead us down a slippery slope of towards the euthanasia of people with disabilities. After all, if a person does not want to experience the chronic disability that is found in the final stages of one’s terminal illness, it can also […]

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Sep 19

St-John’s IceCaps 2011-12 Farm Team Scoring

by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Farm Team, Minor League Stats
When True North brought the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, they had a problem with finding a place where to place their other hockey team, the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. Winnipeg would not be able to support both the Jets and the Moose. True North made the decision to place the franchise in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The team was renamed the IceCaps. But because the Manitoba Moose were affiliated with the Vancouver Canucks, none of the players would automatically follow the franchise to St. Johns. It was an example of a franchise but not the team moving cities. True North had to quickly start putting players in uniform, many from their Atlanta draft picks, but also a few free agent signings. It would be a new team in a new city for an old franchise. Because the St.John’s IceCaps are the primary farm team for the Winnipeg Jets, I thought it would be useful to review how the IceCaps did in their first season as a new team and track how many of those players contributed to the Winnipeg Jets in 2011-12.   # Name Pos GP Min GA SO GAA W L SOL SA SVS SAV% NHL […]

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Sep 11

Winnipeg Jets 2011-12 Player Leaders and GM Analysis

by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Drafted Jets, GM Review, Jets Draft, Jets Goalie Stats, Jets Top Scorers
The new Winnipeg Jets 2.0 would be built on the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team that did not have much to be proud of.  True North acquired a team that were just one or two steps above an expansion franchise. Winnipeg and Manitoba adopted the team enthusiastically despite the team’s past performance. To begin analyzing how GM Kevin Chevaldayoff has attended to the team here is a list of the Winnipeg Jets skaters (ranked by point totals) and goalies (ranked by games played) for the 2011-12 season, their first in Winnipeg. Each player who played in 2011-12 is identified by how they were acquired by the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets which can be via a Trade deal, a Draft pick, a Free Agent signing, or a Waiver pickup. Below this table I provide a summary of the makeup of the team and also track the team’s continuity to the 2012-13 season. Player  Pos  GP  G  A  P +/-  PIM  PP  SH  GW  OT  Shots  Route NS CD 1 Blake Wheeler R 80 17 47 64 3 55 6 0 3 0 208 Trade X 2 Evander Kane L 74 30 27 57 11 53 6 0 4 1 287 Draft X 3 […]

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Sep 05

Winnipeg Jets Prospects Evaluation 2011 to 2013

by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
The Jets are holding their Prospects Training Camp today. Related to that is how well Winnipeg Jets Management have done with cultivating a pool of viable prospects. The Winnipeg Jets conducted their first draft (June 24-25, 2011) within a month of moving the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg (May 31, 2011). Now two year later in 2013, we are starting to see some improvement in the future prospects of the Jets. This blog post summarizes the work of Corey Pronman of HockeyProspectus.com who has completed an evaluation of all NHL prospects. By focusing on the Jets prospects standings for the last two years and player performance stats, I can provide a final evaluation about where each Prospect from 2011 stands in 2013 in making the Jets. Note that the stats for each league is combined regular season and playoffs games. Next year, I will do the same process, but it will be years 2012 to 2014. The Jets have been getting better according to Corey Pronman. In 2011, the Jets were ranked 29 out of 30 teams. In 2012 they moved up six positions to be ranked 23 of 30 teams. And in just this year, they moved up an astounding […]

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Aug 29

A Letter to Samsara

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments tags: Fictional Letter, Human Misery, Personal Resolve, Self Analysis, Stages of Realization
Dear Samsara, I am writing to let you know that I have finally figured out how bad you are for me and that its time to break this thing off. You kept telling me that the pain of our relationship would get easier with time, that I would learn to live with the pain and come to accept it. I now don’t think so. I remember as a young child how my parents took care of me, yet you took the credit for all of the good things that happened. And when the bad things happened, you told me to just wait until the next good thing comes along. I believed you that life is full of ups and downs and you just had to hold on. As an older child I remember experiencing terror, tragedy, and self-loathing, and yet you were nowhere to be seen. You were never there to help me. Yet, I survived. And it was this survival that created this distinct self-sculpture. My scars became signs of battles survived and never won. As a young adult, I began exploring the limitless pleasures you offered. You provided entertainment, dining and drink. Yet these experiences always had a […]

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Aug 18

The Bankruptcy of Detroit (Motor City is Burning)

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments tags: Economic Disaster, Human Misery
How do democratically elected political leaders, their well paid bureaucrats, and astute citizens allow for the largest ever bankruptcy of a U.S. city? On July 18, 2013 Detroit declared what was already understood that they did not have enough money to pay for their commitments and obligations. The Mayor and the city Council knew that Detroit was losing jobs and people. But did they do anything to change how they operated the city? The people that the Mayor hired had to know that Detroit’s tax base had eroded over decades and that it was not going to be possible to continue spending money as they were. The people who did not leave Detroit, did not hold the government accountable to find a solution. The bondholders and business elite stood aside and did not demand that changes take place. This is the most startling example of a clusterf*ck. Detroit has been on a decline for decades. They did not lose half of their population (1.5 million to 700 hundred thousand) in the span of a few years according to The Economist. This is what has happened in Europe with is Euro crisis, with nation states not recognizing the limits of their […]
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