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 Learning Stories 
by 
Mario deSantis 
mariodesantis@hotmail.com 
 
  
  
 
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, 
free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to 
oppose what I believe wrong, and free to choose those who shall govern my 
country.” - -The Rt. Hon. John Diefenbaker, Canadian Bill of Rights, 
1960  
“The whole judicial system is at issue, it's 
worth more than one person.”--Serge Kujawa, Saskatchewan Crown 
Prosecutor, 1991  
“The system is not more worth than one person's 
rights.”--Mario deSantis, 2002 
 
Ensign Stories © Mario deSantis and Ensign 
  
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			"Policies, not opinion polls"--Lord Roy Hattersley, 
			former UK labour deputy leader 
			"Technological progress is like an ax in the hands of a 
			pathological criminal"--Albert Einstein  
			"The system [National Missile Defence system] would offer 
			little protection and would do grave harm to this nation's core 
			security interests"-- Federation of American Scientists  
			Today's information technology has broken down our geographical 
			differences and we have been experiencing real time information from 
			all over the world. As a consequence, our global leadership have 
			been hailing the informational technological changes as providing a 
			better democratic environment. And it is for this reason that we are 
			all flooded with statistical opinion polls telling us what we really 
			want at any given time: 'black today, white tomorrow.' This is 
			called instant democracy, democracy driven by opinion polls, and it 
			is no wonder that our politicians don't walk their talk and make 
			social policy decisions based on our instant democracy: daily 
			statistical opinion polls with a confidence interval of 99% and a 
			maximum error of 1%. And I get so mad when social policy decisions 
			are made based on statistical polls and spin-doctored by emphasizing 
			the high confidence in the decision and the small related maximum 
			error.  
			The fallacy of this statistical decision making process is 
			highlighted when at a later time we hear the saying 'the decision 
			was the best decision at the right time and right place.' Instead, 
			we must make social policy decisions based on our shared democratic 
			vision so that these decisions are right over a longer time period 
			and over all the places. This is democracy, democracy of people, and 
			we don't want the breakdown of democracy by elevating technologies 
			and instant polling before people.  
			
			 It 
			was two days ago that in relation to the possible federalization of 
			aviation baggage screeners I heard US House Representative John Mica 
			saying that people are as good as the technology they use. Again, we 
			have social policy makers putting technology before people and this 
			is why we have a divided world and this is why our governments fail 
			in their social responsibilities to protect their citizens. And 
			things are precipitating for the worse of humanity as President 
			George Bush is pursuing at this time of crisis his dream of a Star 
			War by promoting the National Missile Defence system.  
			As long as there is life there is hope, for me, for all of us, 
			and for President Bush  | 
		 
		
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