Chimera's Cavern

When A Hard Drive Goes Between

2009-01-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

Any Anne McCaffery fans out there will know exactly what that means.

It happened a few days ago, completely without warning. It didn't even have the courtesy to leave me a note explaining why it was going.

My neighbor, who is an IT kinda guy (knows more than me when it comes to computers, anyway) came over and formatted the disc and reinstalled all the software (except for that fershlugginer Panda AV program, to which I bid a here's-yer-hat-what's-yer-hurry kind of good riddance.

However, all my favorites are lost. And I had blogs on that list which I now have to rediscover all over again...if I can remember which ones I had on that list.

Ah, well. It's a little like having your house get flatened by a tornado, I guess. The up side of things is that you don't need to bother catching up on all the housework you've been putting off...

Yule Greetings

2008-12-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

The warrior knights of Scathach are celebrating the winter solstice this night.

One of the traditions is to give a "gift" to each person we meet, in the form of a wish for them.

Because I meet so few in person, my wish for each of you is simple: I wish for you that your life on earth be as enjoyable as you deserve it to be.

Biodh Se!

Happy Birthday, Spider!

2008-11-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

For someone who just turned sixty, you don't get to lookin' much older, and your Lady sure don't age at all!

It was a great party -- lotsa good people, lots good food, lotsa good music (and ain't it always best when ya makes yer own?). Let's not wait another ten years to do it again, hm?

Scritches to Simba...

UPDATE: As Rev. Paperboy mentions in the comments, Spider and Jeanne are about to become grandparents. May, Jeanne says. I thought it was earlier, based on the sonogram being proudly displayed on the fridge door, but what do I know from photos? I can barely tell anyone's age by looking at the in-front-of-me real body!

Jeanne talks about the coming event in her post yesterday. Hit those two links in the post for some occular irrigation! Damn, but the man can write!

Knighthood

2008-11-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

I has one. The investiture was Sunday night. Dubbed with a sword and everything.

"Sir Chimera." It'll take a bit of getting used to...

Too Close Not To Recount

2008-11-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

Whew! When Al Franken said he was gonna jump into the senatorial race for Minnesota, I bet a lot of people thought he was just taking his dog out for a walk to pee on Coleman's lawn.

Apparently not. The results-so-far, at least, are serious. There are less than 400 votes separating Franken and Coleman, and a recount is automatic. And here's what's really interesting:

Coleman is trying to convince Franken to waive his right to the recount. He's citing "too much cost" -- about $86,000.00 -- as an excuse.

Is he fucking serious? After the tab this election just ran up -- what, somewhere in the billions was it? -- he's "concerned" about a measly 86 grand? I thought it was Al Franken who was the comedian.

Psst...Norm...any fool can run for office. All you need for that is money and a PR machine. But if you want to make your living by making people laugh, you need to have talent.

Frank-en, Frank-en, Frank-en...

UPDATE (7:20 pm): And the gap is closing -- 232 votes and getting closer...

I Have A Proposition For You...

2008-11-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

California Proposition 8 (and there were others, but this was the one I was keeping an eye on) -- putting a ban on gay marriages -- managed to pass only by a margin of about 52 to 48, although "civil unions" are allowed. And there are three lawsuits lined up to overturn it, so this was not the last word, by any stretch of anyone's vivid imagination!

Eight years ago, it passed by a margin of 61 to 39.

Opposition to equality in the right to marry (and call it marriage) is dying.

If we wait another four years, it will die from sheer exhaustion. Or...what say we run it up to Seattle and put it out of our misery?

President Obama

2008-11-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

Jus' practising.

Champers on ice.

Noisemakers ready.

Fingers crossed.

One Of The Finest Speeches Ever Made

2008-10-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

And it was written for a movie character, dammit! I was watching it again last night (a few more times and I'll be able to quote the script in its entirety), and when Andy Shephard got in front of that crowd in the press room and started to talk, I just got all goose-pimply and shivery up and down my spine. That is how I want a political leader to sound!

A very pertinent excerpt:

"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.

"You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".

"I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it!

"We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it."

Now, here's the trick: Go back and read it again, and wherever you see the name, "Bob Rumson," you just insert the name of your local anti-equality, anti-individual, anti-woman, anti-man, anti-autonomy, anti-CHOICE rabble rouser who wants to legislate your giving up your independence "for the good of all" he believes in.

And keep in mind that he doesn't care what you believe in. He is interested only in how he can turn your beliefs to his own advantage, all the while sneering at you and your beliefs. He will exploit what he perceives as the weakness in your belief that you have the right to live your own life the way you chooses, worship or not as you choose, and exercise your freedom the way you chooses. He will then turn it around to accuse you of hindering him in his pursuit of his freedom to shut down your freedom.

Because he truly is not interested in solving any problems. He just wants you to be afraid of shadows so he can come along with his flashlight and "show you the way." That is his road to becoming powerful. One of the "elite," at which he only pretends to sneer, when all the while he desperately wants to be one.

What he's hoping you won't notice (and people who are afraid notice very little outside their immediate fear) is that the beam of his little flashlight only shows what he's aiming at in that particular moment. It does not show the surroundings that are still in the shadows. It shows you the dog's teeth, but it does not show you the big leather collar, the steel-link leash, and the heavy post to which the dog is chained.

And it doesn't show you what the fear-monger is hiding behind his back -- a goad that he is using to prod the helpless animal into snarling and snapping his teeth, and a bolt cutter, which he will use to cut through the chains of the dog and loose him on you himself, if you don't submit to giving up your freedoms through his threats alone.

Beware the fear-monger. You need not fear what he says; you need to fear what he does not. Look beyond the beam of his flashlight and into the shadows for yourself.

"President Barack Obama" has an interesting ring to it.

NO to California Proposition 8.

And thank you, Aaron Sorkin, for some of the finest words ever written.

Who Said That?

2008-10-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

Every person must act according to what he thinks is right, regardless of the source of those values. Asking people to give up on what they think is true is asking them to live in an Orwellian world where they have to act like black is white and white is black, even is they don't believe it.

You are never gonna believe it.

Go ahead. Guess.

I'll tell yaz later, but you better strap in and hang on before I do that, or the decompression will probably cause injuries.

UPDATE:

Well, here it is. Sixth paragraph in that comment on this thread. Quite an interesting little tussle goin' on in the comments. I'm finding it fascinating how the one who keeps trying to tell others how they have to live according to her values doesn't want any value input into her own life from anyone else.

A Gold Medal Is Just A Phone Call Away

2008-10-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'd be a lot more inclined to support the Olympics if they included sports like this.

And no, unless you work as a talent scout for Hefner or Flynt, it's not work safe.

(H/T to my ukelele-playing buddy, Howlin' Hobbit)

What Really Bugs Me About Palin

2008-10-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

is that she talks, almost exclusively, in subordinate clauses and non-sequiturs. She also incorporates multiple tenses.

It's like trying to listen to someone sing several different songs at the same time in three different keys.

Give it a listen. I will totally understand if you can't listen to the whole thing because your ears start to bleed when you do that. But listen to the start of it, anyway, and see if you don't hear her mangling the English language in gulps and phrases.

And the purentee gall of it all is that she expects to be under-fucking-stood! And elected on that basis!

Marinara Sauce

2008-10-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

From scratch. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Also from garlic, tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, herbs, garlic, spices, mushrooms.

Did I mention garlic?

Three days, it takes.

Dinner at eight on Saturday.

UPDATE: (Friday noonish) Driving me crazy, it is. It's amazing, though -- it really is possible to take a bushel and a peck of fresh tomatoes and condense them all into two or three gallons of yummable, nommable flava!

UPPERDATE: (Saturday afternoon) When it's thick enough (without your having used a thickening agent) that a spoon will stand up in the kettle without leaning over, it's almost ready. One last dose of herbs, one or two last heads of garlic (yes, heads, not cloves), a couple more hours for the flavors to marry, and then one final ingredient -- a square of unsweetened baker's chocolate.

UPPESTDATE: (Saturday evening) Al dente pasta, crusty bread, twizzling fork, bib, Firefly on the DVD player. Ready? This won't take long...

...did it?

In The Words of John Diefenbaker...

2008-10-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

"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,
or free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."

From the Canadian Bill of Rights,
July 1, 1960.

Ain't it funny what people think they can alter to suit their own agendas? The above wording is the original, untouched, unedited version of what Dief said some forty-eight (omigod! *gasp*) years ago.

Now, you may or may not know that Dief was a Tory. That was back in the days when "Tory" meant something. We don't really have any more Tories. We have Reformatories, instead. And they're busy trying to rewrite history (which, naturally enough, would serve to alter the future) to suit their own agenda.

So...in anticipation of a big Reformatory win (oopsie!) in this year's popularity contest, one of these Reformatories posts:

"I am a Canadian,
a free Canadian,
free to speak without fear,
free to worship God in my own way,
free to stand for what I think right,
free to oppose what I believe wrong,
free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind."

See the difference? Emphasis on "a free Canadian" and insertion of the word, "God" does much to change the flavor. There is not only the hint of a suggestion that some Canadians are not (or maybe should not) be free, but also the less-than-subtle naming of a particular diety, the naming of which is a threat to those who do not "worship" that particular diety.

Then along comes another Reformatory, who gets a litle more specific with the agenda. She follows right along without questioning the altered wording, but emphasizing certain phrases and adding a more specific threat at the end of her interpretation:

"I am a Canadian,
a free Canadian,
free to speak without fear,
free to worship God in my own way,
free to stand for what I think right,
free to oppose what I believe wrong,
free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and for all mankind.

"Note to beligerent Muslims and other professional victim groups..."

Huh. One would almost think she's afraid of Muslims, wouldn't one? I certainly think so! I wonder if Dief was thinking of how fearsome Muslims are (or any other religious or cultural group, for that matter) when he deliberately did not name any specific diety? Maybe he actually meant what it looks like he said:

"This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."

All mankind. ALL mankind. Yes, Piglet, even the Muslims.

And then along comes yet another Reformatory, who sticks her chin up in the air and adds this little diatribe:

"I will not submit to any power that opposes my conscience when it comes to saying and doing what I think is right and necessary. Any power that tries to stop me is a tyranny, and I will not suffer to be oppressed."

She doesn't see any problem in thinking that those who think different from her should be oppressed by her and others like her, though. She follows that line of faux logic by calling for the elimination of the Human Rights Commission. By all means, let's have no more human rights, or safeguards thereof. After all, the Human Rights Commission does not recognize a fetus as a citizen. It can't. By law, a fetus cannot be a citizen because a fetus is not a person.

What she deliberately ignores (and actually refutes in that above phrase) is that no one is opposing her right to her own conscience. No one is trying to oppress her. Indeed, the shoe is on the other little trotter when it comes to oppression. She wishes to force everyone else to abide by her "conscience."

So let me do a little judicious editting of my own:

"I am a Canadian,
free to speak without fear,
free to worship in my own way whatever diety I choose -- or not -- as I see fit,
free to stand for what I think right for myself,
free to oppose what I believe wrong for myself,
free to oppose the imposition of another's values over my own,
or free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."

ALL mankind.

Biodh Se!

It Just Jumped Outa Gear

2008-09-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sure, it did.

Jus' keep repeating that. Sooner or later, someone will believe you...

There Are Three Kinds of People

2008-09-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

in the world.

There's the guy who sits himself down in a comfy seat overlooking the stage and says, "Entertain me."

There's the guy who walks onto the stage with a guitar, looks to the audience, and says, "Let me entertain you."

And then there's the guy who takes his guitar, sits under a tree, and says, "Leave me alone and I'll entertain myself."

Just had to put that into print. No, I don't know why.

Green Yeggs Or Spam?

2008-08-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

This is a test. Only a test.

Blogger is apparently shutting down a bunch of its blogs because it thinks they're spam.

Stoopid interns.

ZIP-a dee... Dude! Aaaaaaghhhh!

2008-07-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

I got myself a new toy-cum-transportation method (and apparent shortcut to suicide) last week, in the form of a ZIP scooter.

I had first seen one last summer, as I watched East2West owner Darren Gosselin gliding smoothly and effortlessly around Maple Ridge, looking cool as all get-out. I wanted to get out and look cool, too, so this spring I got talking to him about the benefits of the scooter.

It's good exercise for legs, belly, and back (especially lower back). Darren calls it a thighmaster on wheels. It also works your arms, fingers, and toes (!), but I don't think that's intentional; it's just a side benefit of having to cling to the running boards and handlebars with every cell of your body that's not otherwise occupied at the moment.

A three-wheeled vehicle is inherently much more stable than a two-wheeled vehicle. However, a three-swivel-wheel base requires that you familiarize yourself with a whole new set of rules for taking corners. It helps if you familiarize yourself with the concept of the jackknife effect, and how to avoid it. It also helps if you pay attention to the directions that read: Wear a helmet as well as elbow and knee pads.

Read that last part again: "...elbow and knee pads..."

*sigh*

I was wearing the helmet. It's the only part of me that didn't try to dig up the paved parking lot in which I was trying to tame the beastie.

I learned a few things, though, after the doctor finished putting bandages on my owies (nobody else home at the time, and my squeamish pussy of a neighbor gagged at the sight of all that blood, which actually looked like a lot more than it was...really). Like, I use my elbows for many more things than is readily apparent. And I had no idea that they stick out as far as they do. Or that they are used as proximity alarms for solid objects like walls, door jambs, chair arms, and other people.

Now, when it comes to getting blood out of a white cotton shirt, Mama was right -- rinse it immediately in cold water and pour enough liquid laundry detergent on the fresh blood to cover it, and then leave it alone until someone does the laundry. But it has to be cold water. The blood has to be fresh. And you have to start with a cotton shirt. I can't even tell which shirt I was wearing, now. And no, you can't tell by the worn patches on the elbows. There are no worn patches on the elbows of that shirt. It's 300-thread-count Indian cotton. You could do more damage to plate steel. The parking lot ignored the shirt and went straight for flesh.

All the kids in my building are gonna want one of these scooters, now. And, judging from the reaction of my "I-don't-do-blood" neighbor, I won't have to wait for the scooter to finish me off. The parents will do it first.

But I'll have the best-toned legs on the gibbet!

Comments: Temporary Parking Lot

2008-06-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

I just had this idea when I was trying to post a comment over at JJ's place. Something was preventing the blog and the comments from publishing properly, and I needed a place to park a comment instead of losing it.

We've all lost comments to malfunctioning platforms at one time or other. It's frustrating, feeling like some of your finest creative work (okay, so it's in the eye of the only beholder -- shoot me, whydoncha?) can disappear into the ether at the whim of a byte.

So I decided to create a parking lot for comments-in-waiting.

When the blog in question starts to behave itself again, I can re-post where it belongs.

http://unrepentantoldhippie.blogspot.com/2008/05/cute-o-meter-rising.html:

"I'm dead meat."
No doubt about it.
Your dog, by the way, is suffering from unsatisfied curiosity, not jealousy. She can hear them and smell them, but she can't see them, so she can't properly identify them and their place in her world. It's upsetting to her that she can't figure it out.
She's being minimally destructive from pure frustration. If you can figure out a way to let her see the kittens -- figure out where the sounds and smells come from -- I'll bet her behavior improves immediately. Otherwise, she might graduate from soft and disposable (and replaceable) paper products to something of more value to you.
Not her fault. She's a dog. It's how she is.

Two...Make That Three...Eggs, Over Easy

2008-05-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

In downtown Winnipeg, a hotel has set up a live webcam to show a peregrine nest, complete with any-day-now hatchlings.

I saw two (three when she got completely off the nest for a few seconds) eggs when the falcon turned them. Presumably, the tercel is taking his scheduled break at the time of this posting.

Hatch watch blog here.

Thanks, Boris!

UPDATE: Winnipeg falcon chicks die, despite rescue attempt

Kudos to the firemen and everyone who cared enough to try and rescue the chicks from the unseasonal heavy rains. Very likely, the nesting pair will try to re-nest this season. There's still time.

We humans (especially those of us with a fondness for our fellow non-human creatures) tend to anthropomorphize everything, attributing our own emotions to animals who would have no idea what we're talking about if we tried to explain it to them.

The fact is, shit happens. Only two animals have (so far) proven the capacity to mourn -- humans and elephants. That's not an indictment...it just is.

The peregrines will simply get busy and try again.

Pickup Meme: Create-A-Slur

2008-05-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of copycatting and not much originality in the insults and "threats" of today's speech.

Somebody pisses you off? Call him a left/right wing/brained fascist/liberal something and you've done your bit for blogging your opinion.

C'mon, folks, how about a little creativity?

After reading about one Opus Dei wannabee that thinks women should be happy to have their bodies invaded by feti any time somebody else wants it to happen, I left a couple of angry-but-lazy coments over at JJ's place. What I should have said was something along the lines of:

"I'd like to punch his teeth so far down his throat, he'll be able to bite the toe of the boot that's about to kick his ass into next week."

That creates a really neat visual image, don't it?

It's easy to get angry, especially when there are so many assholes vying for attention these days. But keeping one's arsenal of slurs and epithets up-to-date and complete is getting to be awfully dull work. We need to come up with a few new ones. So here's the challenge:

Create your own insult/"threat" (virtual threats only, please -- if it can be construed as a real threat, you know ferdamsure that someone is gonna take it that way on purpose and try to put you in jail over it!)) and post it on your blog. Invite others to do the same. Mix, match, and trade. Then we all get to play with new verbal weapons for awhile.

A few weeks ago, Canadian Cynic invited us all to get polite for a day. Time to dance in another direction, ain't it?

PRoss: I poots In UR Genrul Direkshun

2008-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Seems that some people feel okay about restricting the speech of others, then screaming censorship when it's done to them. Bloggers who moderate their blog comments and refuse to allow comments to go through really should not complain when other bloggers get tired of their shenanigans and refuse to allow them to play their little games.

PRoss (who moderates his comments and then complains when his own comments are disallowed or deleted on the blogs of others) has a particular bent on the case of Ed Snell vs Nathan Richardson -- in which Snell climbed up on top of his car and hurled epithets over an 8-foot-high privacy fence. One of the people he was reviling in his hearty way got all out of patience with this aging asshole, and toppled him off his roof and onto his noggin.

I thought Snell deserved what he got. PRoss thinks otherwise. Fair enough, so far.

But PRoss can't just disagree and engage in a discussion on merits alone. He has to take everything on a personal level, getting insulted on behalf of someone else, and then passing out his own insults like candy at Hallowe'en.

I know. I tried to engage him on logic. He kept flinging back verbal fertilizer. I put up with the lies, the deliberate twists, the name-calling, the insults, and the OT non-sequiturs. I ignored all that, thinking that maybe, somewhere, there was a brain behind the virtual spittle. Apparently not.

Then he decided that his lies were truths, and that I ought to be ashamed of myself. Doesn't know me well enough to know how fat that chance is, does he? For all his claims to know me intimately, especially (we've never met...never even previously engaged).

He refused to allow my final comment. I've waited now for a week, and he won't allow it to publish.

So, I publish it here for your entertainment:

"Chimera said:

"Sooooo, Patrick...who are you,
really?

"And how did you manage to evolve opposable thumbs?
Good trick, that. Bravo!

'Bye."

Oh...yeah...one more thing... It seems that he has a rather unfortunate name. Which could explain a lot.

That's what the last word looks like.

*poot*

Pumping Iron Man

2008-05-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I did my bit to contribute to making Iron Man a financial, as well as a critical, success.

I'm not a huge Marvel comics fan. And I was never a reader of Iron Man comics -- I much prefered the "girl with the hammer" (that would be Thor) and X-Men, when I had time for comics at all.

I've always been a fan of Robert Downey, Jr., though. Through all his personal problems, he has exhibited an amazing acting talent that always grabs me and holds me in my seat, making me watch, unable to look away. From his portrayal of the abused, drug-shattered and doomed Julian in Less Than Zero to the reluctant-hero-to-the-rescue, Jimmy, in Tuff Turf, to the confused, confounded, and crowded-with-personality Thomas in Heart And Souls, Downey always brings it home.

And then there was Chaplin. He shoulda got the Oscar.

So...Iron Man shows up on my preview screen, and it didn't take much to go from, "Gee, I'd like to see that," to, "Hey, it's playing just across the street," to, "I can catch the show that starts in two hours," to -- four hours later -- AWSUM!

It's not only a see-it-again movie. It's a buy-the-DVD-as-soon-as-it-comes-out-and-don't-wait-for-it-to-land-in-the-bargain-bin movie.

Nobody, but nobody coulda pulled off the role of Tony Stark better than Robert Downey. Apparently, he thought so, too. He (along with director Jon Favreau) not only lobbied for the part, but he submitted to a screen test. And once he had the part, he read every single Iron Man comic book in existence. Then, after reading the script, he tore it up and rewrote a lot of it himself, putting his own take on Stark into the role, and remaining faithful to the wisecracking, arrogant-but-magnetic(!) personality of the original character.

The action begins immediately and continues unabated for two hours. The dialogue is pure Marvel sass. Stan Lee has a cameo (watch for him -- Tony calls him "Hef" in a walk-past). The tech is geek (I want one o' them hologram computers!). The CGI is invisible. And the characters are purely in line with both the comic and the genius. All the characters. Including the machines (the fire-extinguisher hangs its head when scolded for being too enthusiastic in its job).

No plot spoilers here. Go see it for yourself. And...stay through the credits for a "bonus."

On My Wish List

2008-05-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

WANT! Oh, yes, indeedy do... I've actually been wanting one of these for years. From where I live, to get to one of my frequent haunts takes 2-1/2 hours by transit.

As the crow flies, it's five minutes away. It could be five minutes for me, too, if I had one of these strap-on helothingies.

And then there's the electric Uno -- a ride'm version of Segway (which I've actually had a chance to test-walk, and they're pretty neat). Being both essentially lazy and in possession of a scoliotic spine, I'd much rather sit than stand, though.

So...if Santa's out there making a list, I'm getting my priorities known early this year...

Not The Flying Nun

2008-04-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

And not Sally Field. And not a television show.

A "flying" priest. Father Adelir de Carli. And reality.

Somebody wasn't paying attention to the old adage about twains not meeting.

Let the snark begin.

Fascinated By Polyamory

2008-04-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

I'll betcha a bundle that Don Teague is gonna be lambasted by mediocre people who are "affronted" by the reasonableness of the tone in his article about the men and women who live on the YFZ ranch in Texas.

I mean, he makes them sound like regular people! How dare he not portray them with horns and cloven hooves!

About the only thing I almost don't understand about them is their avoiding of the color red. Personally, I love red! It's almost the only color I wear! Pink, on the other hand, is a foul color, and not allowed into my house.

Walk With The Animals

2008-04-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

So, at one point in the video, he asks, if animals can get along like this, why can't people?

Simple. Animals have no reason to kill one another if they're not hungry. No politics. No religion. No social conventions. No boundaries. No nations. And no other animals telling them how they need to behave it they want to be "good" animals.

Rap It, Mo!

2008-04-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

LOL! I love this 'toon!

Man Rapes Table?

2008-04-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not kidding.

An Ohio man was videotaped four times by one of his neighbors as he had sex with a table.

Well, that showed Rob Lowe who's kinky and who's not, I guess.

Felony charges have been dropped, though. Presumably, they were able to determine that the table had consented...

(H/T Scott Adams)

UPDATE: Thanks to Dr. Dawg for mentioning it in comments (and I gotta admit, I thought it was possible I'd been caught, so I checked further...), but this does not appear to be an April Fool joke. Or if it is, I'm definitely in good company.

Added for laughs: YouTube has lots from which to choose.

Beyond Cute

2008-03-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Take eight-and-a-half minutes out of your busy schedule and watch this.

Try to keep your jaw from dropping to your lap while you watch. Betcha can't.

(H/T Cute Overload)

Warning: The comments section contains a "spoiler." See if you can resist the temptation to peek, and just let yourself be amazed for awhile.

Hoax? No Hoax? Time Will Tell

2008-03-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

"ANNE STOCKWELL (Editor-in-chief, The Advocate): We asked Thomas to provide us the name of his doctor. We called her and she confirmed with us that Thomas is pregnant and that his pregnancy is proceeding as it should."

I sooooooo want this to be a real story!

Cantcha just feel the pressure building up in all those fundie little skulls, waiting to explode?

I wonder if Thomas is familiar with the story of Hapi?

I'm Pregnant, Man I'm A Pregnant Man!

2008-03-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Thomas Beatie, makin' history down in Oregon, has people vewy, vewy confused.

He's a man. And he's married to a wonderful woman. And they're having a baby. And he's the one who's pregnant!

Doctors are running away as fast as they can make excuses:

"The first doctor we approached was a reproductive endocrinologist. He was shocked by our situation and told me to shave my facial hair. After a $300 consultation, he reluctantly performed my initial checkups. He then required us to see the clinic’s psychologist to see if we were fit to bring a child into this world and consulted with the ethics board of his hospital. A few months and a couple thousand dollars later, he told us that he would no longer treat us, saying he and his staff felt uncomfortable working with 'someone like me.'"

Herb, did you have any idea what you were starting when you wrote Persistence of Vision?

(Thank you, Karen!)

UPDATE: A Portland television station is reporting that this may be a hoax. Beattie is apparently declining to give interviews until April First. Hmmm...

Other bloggers are weighing in. Some of them really need to take a pill or something, jeez.

Blogs Against Theocracy

2008-03-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ostara/Easter/Purim/Alban Eiler/Feast of
Naw-Ruz/Holi/Mouloud/Shunbun no Hi/Hola Mohalla/Legba Zaou/Nawroz 2008 edition.

Have fun learning something.

Did you know, for example, that this is American Chocolate Week? Now, there's a religion I could get behind!

Paradox Solved. KTHXBAI.

2008-03-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

This bit of hilarity woke me up from my email inbox this morning. It's probably making the rounds, but in case anyone missed it, I couldn't resist linking to it.

The Blasphemy Collection

2008-03-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Fascinating.

From an article published back in October 2007:

"The concept of blasphemy seemed for some decades to be in decline in the West, but not any more. It may be useful to look back at some recent cases of militantly religious outrage..."

I wonder how she defines "the West?" I mean, I live in Canada, which is vaguely understood (or so I understand) to be located somewhere in the vicinity of something called "the West." And the concept of blasphemy is not in decline. It's a complete fiction.

As in: it doesn't exist.

Oh, there are vague ramblings and mutterings here and there, but nothing concrete and enforceable on the books (and note that that last link has to do with something called "blasphemous libel" -- whatever the hell that is -- and not blasphemy, itself).

I noticed, too, that one of the definitions of blasphemy is to "claim the attributes of a diety".

Well, Hel's Belles (that's...er...my all-girl backup singing group from Tromso, in case anyone asks, 'kay?) fellow babies! it looks like I might be the very model of a ~~modern major general~~ blasphemer, according to that definition! After all, my religion says that I am god. And that would mean anyone who disputes my claim to godhood would be violating another definition of blasphemy by showing contempt for my dietyship (yes it's a word. Because god says so).

But anyway, back to the article...which lists the Top Twenty examples of blasphemy in the modern world (although something about using the words "blasphemy" and "modern" in the same thought strikes me as being completely Hrarf-Hrarfian) according to someone. She lists the incidents in order of severity, by following a list of standards:

"Vulgarity –the piece shocked through its conflation of the sacred and the profane

Criminality –the piece contravened laws in a given country

Religious impact –the work caused outrage from religious leaders

Political impact –speeches were made by governments, laws were created or changed.

Deaths – outrage at the work led to the death of one or more people"

Now, the only criterion on that list that I take seriously is the deaths caused by homicidal lunatics who were using "offended sensibilities" as an excuse to kill members of their own species -- just because they refuse to become homicidal lunatics. If that ain't blasphemy, then nothing is.

Anyway, it occurred to me that there are probably some items missing from this list. Some that are here oughta be moved out to make room for others that are more deserving.

Nominations are now open.

(I was originally led in this general direction by Bruce, and then I got sidetracked. Don't blame Bruce. I'm easily sidetracked.)

Hallelujah

2008-03-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, CC posted this video of k. d. lang singing one of the most beautiful ballads I've ever heard. I had never heard it before (I know that sounds crazy, since it's been around for 24 years, but it's true!), and it's haunted me ever since.

Several singers have recorded their own versions of it (there are apparently some 18 verses written by Leonard Cohen), but nobody can touch k. d. for pure, raw, emotion. And even she has done it differently a few times. This version is the one I like best.

I have a friend who sings with the Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir, and I've found out there are Welsh lyrics. I want the choir to sing this song.

I'm feeling a little obsessed at the moment, thank you.

Add My Name To The Lawsuit, Stevie!

2008-03-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

"Mr. Harper filed a notice of libel suit Monday against Mr. Dion, two other top members of his caucus and the party. Court documents obtained by CTV and The Globe and Mail say two articles published on the Liberal website were “devastatingly defamatory” to the Prime Minister.

"The notice of libel, which also names Liberal Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff and House Leader Ralph Goodale, takes on the Opposition for saying that Mr. Harper knew Conservative party officials attempted to bribe Mr. Cadman to vote against a Liberal budget in the spring of 2005."

[...]

"The libel notice says the articles suggest that Mr. Harper is 'dishonest, unethical, immoral and lack integrity.'"

Okay. I'll do more than suggest it -- I'll make an outright accusation:

Stephen Harper is dishonest, unethical, immoral, and lacks integrity!

And you can add to that list of what I consider to be his attributes: venal, infantile, pusillanimous, odious, retributive, vindictive, inflexible, vituperative, puerile, monomaniacal...dear gods, I don't have enough breath or time to list all his qualities, so I'll simply refer everyone to OneLook and let you all add your own favorites to the list.

Then you can invite him to add your own name to his little lawsuit.

What's he gonna do? Have us all arrested? Have us all sued? Is it, like, treason or something to call the Prime Minister a liar, a coward, and a bully? It might well be, y'know. Remember, in Canada, the truth is no defense against libel!

WTF...lock me up...I need some medical attention, and I'd like it done sooner rather than later, and I'd rather not pay for it myself, so if I go to jail, Harper gets to feed me and house me and see to my needs, and he gets...what? A little notch on his belt buckle?

And I'd like to emphasize that this has nothing whatsoever to do with Harper's politics. It has to do with character, or his complete and utter lack of it.

(H/T CC...the first of many who are on this)

Losing My Religion

2008-03-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

And you know it has nothing to do with religion, doncha?

I'm just so fucking fed up with left-this and right-that and "lieberal" bullshit and "whinge-nut" sewage and all the stupid, feeble, uneducated, childish, moronic, unoriginal, unimaginative, me-tooisms in the blogging world that I'm very tempted to hang it all up and go do something useful. Like digging a moat around my house and stocking it with great white sharks, then inviting stupid people over for dinner.

It makes me furious that people who didn't know Chuck Cadman are making authoritative personal pronouncements about him, based on excerpts from a book that they haven't yet read because it hasn't yet been released!

And it makes me furious that some bloggers who are content to have their own real names out in public make it their special mission in life to reveal the names of other bloggers who prefer to remain anonymous simply because the anonymous bloggers piss them off about something totally fucking inconsequential!

[Note to Mike Brock: So the guy insulted you. Big deal. Your answer to this is to go get your big sister and have her reveal things about him that he preferred to keep to himself? You couldn't just use that space between your ears for something other than a political echo chamber, and fire back an insult of your own? You couldn't think of a better insult than his? You had to try and affect his livelihood, maybe ruin his entire life, just to score a blogging point with your political hive? And you snicker at his level of maturity? You are a pathetic little shadow, you know that?] (H/T to JJ for this one)

And on the speculation that Harper didn't know the details...of course he bloody knew the details! He couldn't not know the details! It woulda driven him crazy not to know! He's a control freak and a micro-manager from hell! Is there anyone in this country who doesn't know that? Oh, there are people who will deny it, but they know it's true.

When the words "insurance policy" were first used in connection with the attempt to bribe Chuck (who was, if anyone is interested, my MP) for his vote, I thought it was a misprint or a misquote. I didn't think that you could get insurance for a man who was already dying. That turned out to be a false assumption on my part, as I found out when I asked some questions.

And just how can anyone get an insurance policy from a reputable company for a man who is terminally ill (it, um, takes a stretch of the imagination to link the word "reputable" with any insurance company, but try...you can do it...)? Very simply, you pay more in premiums than the policy is worth. Go ask any life insurance agent (and not all companies will do this).

And why would someone be willing to do that? Well, current politics aside -- an insurance policy can't be taxed or attached by creditors; it's outside the usual inheritance laws. When an insurance policy is paid out, the entire amount goes to the beneficiary, and it cannot be touched by anyone else. It's the only way to guarantee that a specific amount will be used for a specific purpose.

It's also a great way to launder money.

Everybody followin' me on this?

Now...if I do invite someone over for dinner, any suggestions on what wine to serve?

Eugenics

2008-02-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Why do people consider it to be a dirty word?

Your own thoughts, please, in your own words.

And keep in mind: Hitler was NOT a eugenicist! He was a fucking murderous lunatic who thought "Aryan" meant blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Do NOT use him as an example of anything, okay?

Pro Choice Is Pro Life!

2008-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Neil McKenty has a terrific blog going, and his formula is pretty straighforward: pose a question and get outa the way. He gets some very lively discussions going on current events, and for the most part, his commenters are exquisitely well-behaved.

The most recent topic is Dr. Henry Morgentaler, and whether or not he should be awarded the Order of Canada. Opinions are divided, and the arguements on both sides are pretty eloquent. If you want to join that discussion, go here.

And, as happens more often than not, the discussion tends to branch out and get OT. On a personal level, I like to stick to one topic at a time, so I tend to chide others when they do that. Otherwise, my own stream-of-consciousness tendencies can take over, and the train goes right off the track, with nothing accomplished.

During the current discussion, I got sidetracked a bit by one of the others (who is anti-choice, and wants to know if we pro-choicers want to kill Bill Gates in a flurry of retroactive selective abortions -- presumably because he is genetically flawed and not because of his company's shenanigans with computer technology), and I ended up saying:

"Existing persons aside (because no, we are not going to rewrite history or make other peoples’ choices for them), I fail to see the advantage in deliberately propagating flawed genetics. Stock breeders cull weaknesses. Why don’t humans? Why do we deliberately weaken our own chances for survival as a species?"

I was going to delete that part of the comment, but I realized that it might make a really good topic for discussion. Why do we not breed ourselves the same way farmers breed crops and ranchers breed animals? We have the capability to do it that way. So why don't we?

We breed plants and animals to be stronger and more disease resistant, so why do we insist that genetically flawed and fragile humans should not only live beyond their natural abilities, but also that they be allowed to pollute the already flawed gene pool by breeding their weaknesses right back into it?

"Selective breeding" is a boon to agriculture, but a bogeyman to anti-choicers. We insist on better food crops because we are brain-dead when it comes to controlling our own stock.

Anti-choice activists decry the deliberate destruction of failed human genes that produce non-viable monsters. They will spit and claw at the sight of the words, "failed human genes" and probably faint at the word, "monsters." But failed and monsters is what they are. And those same people would insist that food crops around the world should be managed and bred to provide more and better nourishment to feed their own failed crops.

Most species start at the beginning and work their way up the evolutionary ladder. As a species, humans started in the middle and worked our way to opposite ends simultaneously. Technologically, we're progressing faster and faster. Biologically, we are regressing at the same speed.

At the end of time, I think we'll find that H. G. Wells was right. We are the architects of our own destruction. And, under the pretext of proponing human rights for fetuses, the anti-choice crowd are determined to wipe humans off the face of the earth entirely. And they accuse the pro-choice people of crimes against humanity!

How much more criminal can you get than to order the destruction of an entire species -- and your own species at that?

Balls Big Enuf To Come In A Dump Truck

2008-02-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

That's the Phelps family fer ya. They think it makes perfect sense to tell Heath Ledger's family that they (the Ledger family) have a duty to allow them (the Phelps family) to run rampant and spew bile and gall at Heath's funeral.

H/T Ed Brayton, who urges massive does of thorazine, and Ron Brown, who wants to take the next Gay Pride Parade right past the doors of Westboro Baptist.

Me? I think I'd dress up the entire Phelps family like baby harp seals and then import a bunch of unemployed Newfies, and give them clubs and all the free beer and screech they could handle.

Questions

2008-01-21T16:07:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little...ah...busy around the Cavern. Some family stuff goin' on. A new coven goin' on. A new blog goin' on (coven members only). Music goin' on. You know. Stuff.

I've had a little time to bop around to various of my regular reads, and lately the topics that grab my attention always seem to point to some very basic questions. But I rarely see anyone asking these questions. So...

Who owns you? Who owns your body? Who owns your thoughts? Who owns your talents? Who owns your soul? Do you even have a soul? Who told you?

Who governs your behavior? Who tells you what to read, what to eat, whom to elect, what to believe?

Who dresses you? Do you follow fashion or do you have style? Do you know the difference? Do you care?

Who gives you your opinions? Who tells you what to say? Who tells you how to say it? Who edits you? Who censors you? Who informs you?

I don't expect anyone to answer all these questions right here in the comments. And notice that I didn't ask the ubiquitous, "Who are you?" I honestly don't think there is ever only one answer to that question, so go ahead and heave a sigh of relief. And then realize that you're not exactly off the hook, after all. You've still got all those other, more specific questions to answer.

Try writing them down on a piece of paper and stick it in your pocket. Next time you're waiting for a bus, in line at the store, or stuck in that barely mobile parking lot we've come to call rush hour, pick one of the questions and try answering it to yourself. Give it as honest and thorough an answer as possible, and keep the answer to yourself, if you like. And when you're finished, ask yourself one final Who:

Who loves you?

No Blasphemy, Please; We're British

2008-01-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Well, it's about time:

"Opponents of the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel, designed to protect the Established Church in particular, and which criminalise the "scurrilous vilification" of Christianity, include MPs, civil rights campaigners led by Liberty, senior church figures (including the retired Bishop of Oxford, Lord Harries, and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey), the British Humanist Association, satirists Ricky Gervais and Rowan Atkinson, writers and journalists including Philip Pullman, the National Secular Society, the Christian think-tank Ekklesia and others of all faiths and none."

Archaic laws designed to shield a religious institution from criticism, including legitimate concerns, are about to fall after being virtually ignored for years.

"...the notion of a transcendent God needing human protection is both theologically incoherent and itself blasphemous in many traditions."

"Theologically incoherent." Now, there's a catch-phrase for the times!

"The government had originally indicated that blasphemy laws would be repealed in the light of the Religious and Racial Hatred Act, but had then failed to act further, pushing the matter into the lap of campaigners and backbenchers."

Ah, the joys of a job half-done! And this from a bunch of bench-warmers who insist that we, the citizens, dot every i and cross every t when it comes to following their directives. Would this be a good time to introduce a bill that criminalizes hypocrisy?

I didn't think so.

(H/T Howard Friedman)

Truer Words Never Spoken

2008-01-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

"All that any of us truly know is our own experience. Some people try to superimpose their experiences onto other people's lives and that never works; it's inherently flawed logic. One thing I have learned from starting this blog is how ridiculous it is to be judgmental, in any capacity. It's so egotistical to believe that we know more about someone else's reality than they do. And such a waste of time."

Thank you, Charlie's Mom!

Blessigs Of Teh Ceiling Cat B Pwn U, LOL!

2008-01-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

"Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs

[...]

"3. At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz. 4. An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin. 5. An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1"

Heh. I loled an' loled. U cn lol, too if u goez here.

Reach For The Stars

2008-01-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

And dance in Zero-G!

What a way to end the year!

Back in the seventies, Spider and Jeanne Robinson collaborated on a novel about a dancer who, hampered by her physical limitations on earth, took to the stars and "invented" dancing in zero gravity.

It was at that time that the dream was born -- not just write about it, but actually do it.

It took a few years, but patience combined with stubbornness combined with talent combined with luck combined with friends combined with NASA's help combined with...oh, hell...seventeen million million balls all falling into the right slots on the right wheels at the right times...

...and two days ago, Jeanne and friends Jim Sposto (film maker) and Kathleen McDonagh (dancer) finally got their first ride on G-Force One.

First video here. More to come. Bookmark this site and keep an eye on the progress for yourself.

Happy New Year!

Uncyclopedia!

2007-12-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

The content-free encyclopedia "that anyone can edit."

W00t!

Happy New Year's Adam!

Never Mind The Ho, Ho, Ho.

2007-12-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

What I really need is the shovel, shovel, shovel!

It's snowing again.

*sigh*

Ah, well...Merry Christmas, all!

Christmas Wrap? What Christmas Wrap?

2007-12-18T18:08:00.000-08:00

This year, as part of an always-growing plot to make my personal individuality an absolutely can't-miss-it point, I decided not to use paper wrapping anymore.

There are other ways to disguise a present until it can be opened by its recipient -- cloth and boxes of plastic, tin or wood.

Cloth can be handkerchiefs, towels, place mats, tea cozies, napkins, pillow cases, table runners, doilies, oven mitts....the list of possibilities is limited only by imagination.

Craft supply houses, dollar stores, and thrift stores are a great source of boxes of various sizes and materials that are intended for reuse. Candy and cookie tins are plentiful. Choose those with clean, unblemished interiors.

I stopped using ribbons, bows, and paper name tags, and scotch tape, as well. Since I'm fairly creative, I use things like shoelaces and bungee cords to fasten packages that need it. Mostly, though, I use my button-sewing skills (one that my mother insisted we all learn how to do, since she refused to do it for us) to put a few stitches of contrasting color into key points of the cloth wrapping. And since letter beads are easily available, everyone's name gets strung on a key-chain ring with colored string. Anyone who is handy with macrame knots can make this part of it as fancy as they want. Bows have morphed into candy canes and other tree decorations.

The outcome is that every gift becomes a multiple gift: The watch is wrapped in a finger towel, which is encased in a small tin pail with a tight lid, and a letter-bead name tag is fastened to the handle of the pail by its keychain ring. Nothing wasted. Nothing thrown away.

Another gift is wrapped in a hanky, then wrapped in a table runner, tacked together with a few stitches, and decorated with tiny candy canes that have strings attached for hanging on the tree (and in this case are sewn on to the wrapping). The only waste is the necessary wrap on the candy. Even the thread for stitching doesn't need to be wasted if you unpick it carefully and hang it on outside branches for the birds to use in their nests. But even cut shreds of thread will go nicely into the compost.

And as creative as I can be, I'm always on the lookout for other ideas. If you've got a suggestion for a special way of presenting a gift, drop it in the comments. Or blog about it at your place and do a linkback.

Kiss The First Amendment Goodbye

2007-12-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, has snuck one in the back door, and most of Congress was so asleep at the switch, they didn't notice that they were undermining their constitutional freedom from the imposition of religion.

Personally, I think this Steve King has been superceded by his name-twin in the writing of horror stories.

(H/T The Rev at Galloping Beaver)

UPDATE: Karen, in comments, says:

"A proposal may be introduced in Congress as a bill, a joint resolution, a concurrent resolution, or a simple resolution. Most legislative proposals are introduced as bills, but some are introduced as joint resolutions. There is little practical difference between the two, except that joint resolutions may include preambles but bills may not. Joint resolutions are the normal method used to propose a constitutional amendment or to declare war. On the other hand, concurrent resolutions (passed by both houses) and simple resolutions (passed by only one house) do not have the force of law. Instead, they serve to express the opinion of Congress, or to regulate procedure."

Reference here.

Now, the upshot of this is that it looks like Congress didn't shoot down the First Amendment completely. Yet. What it looks like now, though, is that someone is taking the idea for a walk and looking to see if enough people will join them so they can have a parade. And while this is a little less panic-inducing for those of us who firmly believe that religion and government would combine in marriage to make hideous children, the thought that some people are even entertaining the idea of a flirtation between them is alarming. After all, if this is the opinion of such a large majority of members of Congress, would it take all that much for them to take the next step and pass it as a joint resolution?

Fear Of Turning Off The Fear

2007-12-13T13:24:00.000-08:00

I found this article over at Cute Overload.

It's posted over there because it's cute to see a cat and a mouse playing and cuddling together.

The difference here is that this cat and mouse have not been conditioned into accepting one another's presence through repeated applications of benign and chaperoned companionship until a level of mutual trust has built up within them. This cat and mouse are victims of a genetic modification to the mouse that removed all his fear of cats.

Am I alone in thinking that the military applications of such genetic interference are a horror story waiting to be written, and currently -- maybe -- lacking only a publisher?

UPDATE: Miko posted a link to the video.

Cassie And Maggie Got Married -- Or Did They?

2007-12-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

Oh, my, my, what have we got here?

Cassie and Maggie want a divorce. But they can't have one because they live in Rhode Island. Rhode Island does not allow gays to marry. Therefore, obviously, Rhode Island does not allow gays to divorce, because you can't undo what was never done.

Except it was. Done, I mean. In Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal, Cassie and Maggie got married. And now they want to get unmarried. But they can't. Because they live in Rhode Island. And Rhode Island does not allow...oh...we been there, already.

It's not that Rhode Island disallows gay marriage. There is no law in Rhode Island that says gay marriage is illegal. Problem is, there's no law that says it's legal, either. It's in a kind of legal limbo, and that's just where Rhode Islanders seem to like it.

And Massachusetts? They won't be able to get a divorce in Massachusetts because they live in Rhode Island. Massachusetts will not grant divorces for non-residents of Massachusetts. Marriage, yes, divorce, no.

And just at the point where I thought my headspin couldn't get any more intense, a very interesting scenario waved at me from the corner of my mind...

Cassie and Maggie could just split up and go their separate ways. No big deal. Let's assume that there are no big fights over property and children and stuff. Just a nice, easy split.

And then, let's say that one or both of them wants to get married again. To another woman again. So, off we go back to Massachusetts, where, in answer to the question, "Are there any legal impediments to this marriage?" they can truthfully answer, "No," because according to the law in the state in which they live, they're not already married. They'd be bigamists in Massachusetts, but they're not going to live in Massachusetts.

Or, we could go totally Hollywood Writer on this (no, I'm not scabbing -- just throwing ideas around) and "do a treatment" I think it's called, about two bi women who marry, then try unsuccessfully to divorce, and then marry men, and then get caught up in the interstate marry-go-round, and then...well, we'll just have to wait for the next installment. I'm thinking that this would fit the half-hour sitcom/reality crap format.

Honestly, I've seen far worse plots for television shows. That's the reason I quit watching. But this...this could be cutting edge stuff.

Wanna bet someone who's on strike right now is making furtive little notes to himself about plot ideas and dialogue?

Weather? What Weather?

2007-12-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

Two days ago, there were eight inches of snow on the ground in the yard where I live. God-children were creating snowmen.

Yesterday, there was a small lake out there from all the rain, and the snowmen were wearing flotation vests (no, I'm not kidding! Some kid's father put his boat vests on the snowmen, presumably so they could outlast the rain).

Today, the groundskeepers are mowing the lawn. Sadly, the snowmen couldn't swim, even with the help of the vests. They drowned. The former lake is now a meadow, and the grass is growing like triffids.

Nope. No weird climate shit happening here, folks. As you were.

Meet The New Antichrist

2007-11-30T16:39:00.000-08:00

And that would be...ta da!

According to one disgruntled shareholder (who holds *ahem* one share) -- an ex-football player who led the play with his head a few too many times -- Microsoft is Goliath. And he wants to be David.

"'I don't care how big Microsoft is,' he said. 'They are nothing but a feather in the wind of God.'"

WHOA! HOLD it! Right there...yeah.

God farts feathers?

(Note: Call Zorpheous; we need art on this one.)

And the reason for this rather uneven battle (he -- "David" that is -- thinks he has the upper hand, by the way)? He's a little pissed off that Microsoft has the temerity to offer benefits packages that are available to gays. "David" doesn't like gays. He doesn't think they deserve to be treated like people.

"An advocate of a "biblical stance" against divorce and homosexuality, Mr Hutcherson, 55, is asking millions of evangelical activists, as well as Orthodox Jewish and other allies, to buy up Microsoft shares and demand a return to traditional values."

Now, doesn't that sound fine? A return to "traditional values," eh? I wonder how far back he'd like to travel...say...maybe a couple hundred years? Like, back to the days when people were of the opinion that he shouldn't be treated like people, either?

"He rejects comparisons between the black civil rights movement and calls for gay rights."

Of course he does. He's not gay. He is black. All the difference in the world, right?

I wonder if he knows Fred Phelps?

H/T: Slap Upside The Head

Meme Time

2007-11-28T15:30:00.000-08:00

From Jean, who got it from Witchypoo, who got it from...oh, you know how to backtrack.

Anyhoo, the game is to answer the questions and pass it on.

(x) Been to Canada? And despite all my attempts to escape, I'm still there.

( ) Been to Mexico? Not yet. Coming up. Quizas.

(x) Been to Florida? It's been awhile, but yes.

(x) Been on a plane? Several. Some of them were even commercial. And I got where I was intending to go, despite all efforts to the contrary.

(x) Been lost? Sometimes on purpose. You have no idea how liberating it can be until you try it.

(x) Been on the opposite side of the country? Both politically and geographically.

(x) Swam in the ocean? As far as what I do in the water can be called "swimming," yes.

(x) Cried yourself to sleep? I, too, was once an infant. Yes, I was!

(x) Played cops and robbers? At times, with real cops and real robbers!

(x) Played with a Tonka Truck? Every chance I could get it away from my brother-in-law, who stole it from his daughter.

(x) Recently colored with crayons? I sometimes do other things with crayons (make colored candles with them! What were you thinking?), but I have used them to color with on occasion.

( ) Sang karaoke? Nyet. When ya got yer own band, ya don't need the pre-recorded stuff.

(x) Paid for a meal with only coins? In an automat, that's the only way you can get anything to eat.

(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? And loved every minute of it. Never mind, that's what.

(x) Made prank phone calls? Once upon a time...

(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue? I'm really not sure. I mean, I tried a few times, but if you succeed, how can you tell? Duz a snoflayk has a flavr?

(x) Danced in the rain? Sure. I do excellent weather magick.

(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus? Yeah, well, about that...see, I was only a kid at the time, and I had really been counting on getting that pony, and I was so pissed about not getting it, and not even a courtesy note to say it had been back-ordered, or nothin', and...well...it wasn't really hate mail...

(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe? And under the nose, and under...*ahem* Yes.

(x) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about? It's difficult not to watch the sunrise when you live in a place with a 24-hour swing that takes a year to accomplish.

(x) Blown bubbles? Not sure. Does she/he go by any other name?

(x) Made a bonfire on the beach? It was the only way I could figure out to cook the fish I caught.

(x) Crashed a party? Very likely. I lived through the Sixties, so I don't remember everything.

(x) Crashed a wedding? Oh, yeah. It was a Ukranian wedding -- you know those receptions can last for days? A friend of mine dragged me to one. I didn't want to go till I got there. Then I didn't want to leave.

( ) Crashed a funeral? Not a funeral person. I don't even plan on going to my own.

(x) Gone ice-skating? As I remember it, just previous to that was the last time my ankles ever made the proper connections between my feet and my shins. Now, I can feel them start to ache every time I see a woman wearing stiletto heels -- why do they do that to themselves?

1. Any nicknames? A few. Some of them are even acceptable in mixed company.

2. Mother's name? She always answered to "Mom."

3. Favorite drink? Preferably something liquid.

4. Any tattoos? Not yet. When they become easily removable, we'll talk, okay?

5. Body piercing? Yes. You get to guess where and how many.

6. How much do you love your job? Love is for mates, kittens, and chocolate. One does not love a job.

7. Favorite vacation spot? Pretty much any place away from home and my regular day-to-day life.

8. Ever been to Africa? No. You looking for company on your next trip? I'd love to visit Kenya.

9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Oh, probably. The Sixties, again.

10. Ever been on TV? Yes. Now you gonna ask what I was doing there?

11. Ever steal any traffic signs? Yes. From my younger brother, who had stolen them from the Highways Department. And in turn, someone stole them from me. My entire town probably fostered them at one time or another.

12. Ever been in a car accident? Not when I was driving, But I was in a couple of lulus as a passenger.

13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? Have done. Not currently.

14. Favorite pie? Lemme see the menu...

15. Favorite Number? 1.6180339887

16. Favorite movie? That would depend entirely on my mood. All About Eve. Independence Day. Dirty Dancing. Beverly Hills Cop. Any of the hundreds of dollars' worth of movies that went missing when the Cavern got robbed back in July.

17. Favorite holiday? Almost everything except Christmas.

18. Favorite dessert? On top of pie? Ooooohhhh!

19. Favorite food? As in other than dessert and pie? Too much to choose from. Lemme see a menu.

20. Favorite day of the week? Tomorrow.

21. Favorite brand of body wash? I call it soap, and almost anything that's unscented will do.

22. Favorite toothpaste? Tea tree oil. Not tea-tree-oil-flavored toothpaste. The oil itself. One drop on a brush. Don't swallow.

23. Favorite smell? Lots of things as long as they're not chemically-loaded perfumes. I hate perfume. I don't care how much it costs.

24. What do you do to relax? Bang on things.

25. Do you have a message to your friends reading this? Those of my friends who are reading this are already getting the message.

26. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Pretty much the same way I do now -- I open my eyes in front of a mirror.

27. Furthest place you will send this message? Short of actually measuring the distance I could drop-kick it, I have no idea. Does distance count on the Internet?

28. Who will respond the fastest? The person who answers it first.

Tagging: Neil and JJ, with the hope that I am far enough away, or I've got enough of a head start, that I can outrun their revenge...

Telegotcha!

2007-11-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Zing the anonymous telemarketer who always seems to be able to find you at your most inopportune moment, whether it be in the middle of dinner, a movie, or your significant other. Tom Wabe shows you how. Remove all potables and comestibles from your immediate area, strap in, and hit the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8

Thanks, Candace!

More On The Taser Incident At YVR

2007-11-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

In an effort to get as much information as possible, I did the links-upon-links game and found the Blue Line Forums -- a board for cops and related professions.

And besides finding out that they're not all cut from the same bolt of cloth any more than are the rest of us, on page 9 of the thread that deals with the incident at YVR, I found a couple of interesting items:

"by gafaicheng on Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:12 pm (about halfway down the page)

"First off: watch the footage in slow motion...

[snip]

"...Here's some more new findings:
a polish translator watched the footage; she says the guy is yelling ' I'll smash this glass! Back off! I'll sue you!'"

Hello?

But a little further down on that same page:

"by OPPAux on Fri Nov 16, 2007 4:24 pm

"'My impression, based on the film, is that the police officers' action or reaction was unsuitable to the circumstances,' Piotr Ogrodzinski said from his office in the Polish embassy in Ottawa.

"'My impression is Mr. Dziekanski was, yes, agitated, frustrated, distressed, desperately in search of help, assistance, but he was not aggressive. I don't have the impression he intended to fight anybody.'"

His impression? Does he not speak Polish? Did he not listen to the audio?

Now, on top of I gotta decide whether to believe that the cops were correct or not in their decision to use the taser, I also gotta decide which Polish-speaking interpreter-of-the-video is telling the truth and which one is stringing me a line of bullshit?

POTRZEBUJĘ KOGOŚ MÓWIĆ MNIE PRAWDA!

Housing Crisis In Surrey

2007-11-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

Betcha I can tell where this is going.

"The managers take any low-income tenant without screening them. Alarms go off regularly. Fire extinguishers are missing. There are holes in the roof. My refrigerator has been replaced three times.
"People shot off Roman candles in the hallways on Halloween. The lock on the main entry door is
frequently broken. Anybody could walk in," he said.
"It is infested with bugs. I spray the apartment every two weeks. Otherwise I'd get overrun.
"Nobody seems to be able to get hold of the property management company," he added.

No shit.

I live just down the street from this apartment complex. I can see its several buildings from my window. I can hear the numberous fire alarms, and I can testify that it has become a destination point for local emergency vehicles. At times, I'm pretty sure I hear gunshots. Once, someone set fire to a stolen truck in the parking lot and gutted the thing with the explosion.

And who owns the complex? These guys, that's who.

They also own a not-yet-in-existence high-rise condo complex at 15380 102A Avenue, Surrey. It has almost sold out, and it hasn't even been completed yet!

And yet another one at 10180 153rd Street. Again, almost sold out to new buyers and not even completely built.

Both those locations are literally withing spitting distance of the rental property known as Imperial Pines Estates at 10567 150 Street. There are a couple of other Onni-owned rental properties in Surrey, but they're a little further away.

Here's the thing: Onni rents mainly to those members of society that most rental property owners deem undesireable -- the single moms with low-paying jobs or maybe on welfare, the pensioners who could never afford their own homes and never knew they were expected to do so, the mentally handicapped who can function highly enough to live on their own and be responsible for themselves, and the physically handicapped who can also look after themselves and just need somewhere to live that's close to most of the amenities.

All these people have one thing in common: they don't have the resources to take Onni to court and force them to clean up their property.

So...where's this going? I knew you'd ask.

Condemned property status, that's where.

Onni is refusing to do more than absolutely legally necessary because they want the tenants to get fed up and move out. When most of them have gone, Onni will simply stop doing anything towards upkeep, and someone will step in and have the buildings condemned. The remaining tenants will all be evicted, the buildings will be torn down, and voila! yet another blank piece of real estate upon which to build yet another ticky-tacky fucking condo complex that only multi-millionaires can afford.

Oh, yeah...wanna know who owns Onni? I knew ya did! Don't they seem like a fun bunch? They also own Amacon and Pinnacle International.

UPDATE as of Thursday, 29 November:

Onni spokescritters are saying that the repairs have now been completed and everything is tickety-boo.

Time will tell if the residents agree. It would help a lot if the residents got a price break on their rent for the time when they didn't have any heat and hot water, as well as compensation for trying to do their own vermin control.

Cop For A Minute

2007-11-21T22:11:00.001-08:00

Just outa curiosity, I wonder if anyone out there has any thoughts about a way or ways cops could bring someone under control without hurting him or putting themselves in danger of injury.

The primary objective is to control one individual. He may be big or small. He may be weak or strong. He may be drunk, drugged, dusted, or perfectly sober. He may or may not have a weapon. He may be calm or violent. He may or may not speak or understand English. All this is completely unknown.

You're a cop. You need to have him under control and compliant, and you need to do it now.

You may not injure him while you accomplish your task. But you may not injure yourself, either. Or allow anyone else to be injured. Not even a scratch. If any of this happens, you lose.

You have 15 seconds to assess and react.

Go.

It's Perfectly Normal

2007-11-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is.

There are some squeals from the general direction of the abstinence-only sty that telling kids the truth about sexuality will only encourage them to go climb on top of everything in sight and screw like mink.

They fail to take into account that kids are sexual beings, and that whether or not they know how to do it, they're gonna do it, regardless. Kids don't believe in abstinence-only. And they don't believe in missing out on anything. And they generally don't care what adults think. Especially adults who have already proven to be liars (think Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Stork, Cabbage Patch).

I'd much rather have my kids aware and accepting of the truth, so they can make their own informed decisions. This book -- illustrated clearly -- not only does not lie to them, but it doesn't lie to me about how to talk with them about it.

And yeah, some kids, like some adults, are gonna screw like mink. And whose business is it if they do? Not yours. Not mine. They'd be doing it even without all the best information possible. I'd much rather have them know all the facts they can get so they can stay safe from both pregnancy and disease. I sure as hell don't want them listening to that bastard in Africa who's telling his "flock" that condoms cause AIDS!

Jumping On The Taser Bandwagon

2007-11-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

And I have oh, so many questions.

This edited version of the video (check the sidebar of the page for the link; and yes, it's edited from the original, despite the fact that the little banner claims that it is unedited) gives a little bit of detail of the incident after the cops arrived.

When people -- most people -- claim that Robert Dziekanski was killed by the tasering, they're not paying attention. Check the clock and the audio background of this particular video. At 3:32, someone says that he's still fighting them off. Not dead...fighting them off. You can see, right up to the four-minute mark, that he's still breathing. There are a couple of the cops leaning on his body, and he's probably trying to get them off him so he can breath more easily. I know that's what I'd be doing. I'd also be trying to yell at them to back off and let me up. But he couldn't do that because he didn't speak English.

After the four-minute mark, there's a break in the video. And just before that, for several seconds, the visual field is obscured by a couple of security guards and a civilian. They made better doors than windows, and I could not see what went on through them. How does anyone else have that ability? Guesswork? Oh, goody...

If the electrical shock from the taser had killed him, he would not still be breathing a couple minutes after the fact. Electricity kills instantly, not by delayed reaction. But don't believe me, ask an electrician. I did.

The story on that link also says: "In the video, Dziekanski backs away from police and raises his arms, as if to capitulate to the officers." That's not what I saw. I saw him partially raise his hands and wave them off, then turn his back on them and walk away. Does that make a difference? I don't know. But at that moment, they could not see his body language well enough to discern his possible intentions.

I also saw them surround him, with his back to the glass. It's possible that they were trying to tell him to raise his hands and turn around prior to pat down. He didn't, of course, because he could not understand them. They had been told three times by one of the security guards that he spoke Russian. If they spoke to him in Russian, and if he could not understand it, he could not comply. If they took his non-compliance to be deliberate, they may have construed that as menacing.

It was at that point that the first taser went off. It made him stagger, but it did not put him on the ground. He tried to get away from it. Wouldn't you? But the whole point of the taser is to force compliance, and he wasn't complying with what he could not understand. So it looks like they did it again. And that put him on the ground. I don't know if he was shot a third time. I could hear a snap, but I could not see what caused it. It very well could have been a piece of hard plastic breaking.

Now, here's what's important: I'm not exhonerating the cops. I'm not making excuses. And I'm not blaming the victim. I'm asking questions. I don't understand what happened here any more than anyone else does. But I refuse to jump to conclusions without having all the facts just because everyone else is doing it, okay? I want to know a whole lot more before I grab a rope and march the cops off to the nearest tall tree. Or issue blindfolds and line them up against the nearest wall.

Robert Dziekanski's death is a tragedy. It should not have happened. I want to know why it did. And I'm not satisfied with the glib and easy answers that a lot of people seem to think adequate. I want clear and correct answers before we have yet another tragedy on our hands.

A Soldier Died Today

2007-11-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

If it rains tomorrow, as it usually does on Remembrance Day, I shall be thinking that the raindrops are the tribute of the skies to all the fallen men and women who served their countries in times of conflict. A tribute to those who served in uniform or mufti. To those who were on the front lines and to those who must needs stay at home because they were more needed there. Those who served on behalf of Canada, and those who served with her allies. All were warriors. And all are remembered.

As the last surviving veteran in my family, I stand in the present to represent the past and the future. I am Janus.

Will no one help to close my Gates?

NOT A Photo Op!

2007-11-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

Sigh. Talk about where-do-I-start? How about I just reprint the entire short item:

Stockwell Day makes appearance at downtown eastside stabbing
Nov, 08 2007 - 8:50 AM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - A man is undergoing surgery in hospital this hour after a vicious stabbing at the corner of Hastings and Abbott just before seven o'clock this morning.

However, what would usually be a routine incident for the VPD quickly turned into a political photo op.

Sadly, stabbings such as this happen all too frequently on the downtown eastside.

In this case, police don't have much to go on.

However, as officers conducted their investigation, they had a very high profile visitor show up.

Federal public safety minister, Stockwell Day just happened to be driving by and was not one to waste such a golden opportunity to be seen and heard.

"Vancouver police are as usual right on the scene doing a good job. It just shows that we need a number of things like our legislation to get through on violent crime. Officers on the street need all the resources we can give them."

So. Stock just happened to be driving by, eh? Wonder what he was doing there?

I was at first inclined to think maybe he was visiting InSite, so he could observe firsthand how well (or how badly, depending on your point of view) it operates, so he could report back to his handler. It's not too far from where the stabbing took place.

But waitaminit...Stock "just happened to be driving by" at seven o'clock in the morning. InSite does not open for another three hours, yet!

So who else inhabits that area of Vancouver at that hour? Oh, drug dealers, prostitutes of both sexes, cops, drug users, street people, fences... Anyone else?

And, as federal Safety Minister, you'd think he'd have enough sense not to wander around Gastown at that hour of the day/night. Or is he simply looking to be a first-person case-in-point example of the kind of thing you don't want to do when you don't know what you're doing?

Kinda makes me go, "Hmmmmmmm..."

Guest Post: Alex Thomas

2007-11-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Alex Thomas does not have his own blog. He needs one. He's a frequent commenter over at Garth's place, where he engages in some verbal thrust-and-parry with some of the other regulars. And he frequently comes up with some pithy bon mots that nail a subject firmly to the nearest wall.

He recently sent me a collection of quotable quotes. Some of them are original to him and others can be attributed to such philosophers as Frank Zappa, George Carlin, and Bill Maher. Whoever said them first, they are worth reading. And repeating.

The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. The difference: there is a limit to the amount of hydrogen.

If the news only reported when politicians told the truth, it would be the only thing in the news – apart from Hell freezing over.

Would you trust someone who would never trust you? Then, why would you vote for them? Would you personally trust someone, with your money, who consistently gets it all wrong? Then, why would you vote for them?

When the government can’t do something that anyone in a rented rancher can do, such as raise marijuana for sale, what else can’t government do?

How dumb do you have to be to be President or Prime Minister? Is it worth it, being that dumb?

The people who do not vote, but still pay taxes, should be the ONLY ones who get to complain. After all, it’s not THEIR fault that Rain Man is running the show.

Anybody who displays political ambition at any level, to any degree, should be given one chance to become a productive member of society, such as a pimp, a drug dealer or a loan shark. Then, and only then, should they be allowed to settle for politics. After all, if you can’t sell sex, drugs or money, what good are you?

It is not power which corrupts, any more than money is the root of all evil. It is the lust for power which corrupts. Anyone who lusts for power is already corrupt, and should not be trusted with anything more complex to operate than a push mower.

What makes any government think it is entitled to your hard-earned money? What exactly did they do for it? What value did they provide in exchange? Just the fact that they did not throw you in jail makes them no better than anyone else running a protection racket on the street.

Save a tree. Plant a politician. Works for me.

People should not complain that politicians lie to them. It is, after all, part of the job description. The people have only themselves to blame for believing the liars.

Politicians are ample evidence that evolution does not always result in progress.

If you’re looking for an easy job, become a stockbroker, a weatherman or a politician. You can get it wrong ninety percent of the time, and nobody will have the heart to fire you. Unless they put you on YouTube. Then, all bets are off.

With all respect to Mr. Lincoln, it is, always has been, and always will be, government over the people, against the people and in spite of the people. Keep that in mind next time they come knocking on your door for your support.

Is it just me, or is it getting paranoid in here?

If you have money in your pocket the day before payday, and you owe somebody else money, that money in your pocket does not belong to you. It’s not a surplus until the debts are paid.

How do you spell politician? P-a-r-a-s-i-t-e.

Politicians have to be slimy. Going through life on your belly requires a fair amount of lubrication.

Thank you, Alex. Now, you really need your own blog.

"When In Rome..."

2007-11-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

"...do as the Romans do."

I don't remember who said that, and it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that people pay attention to it.

Convicted murderer Ronald Allen Smith -- a Canadian on death row in a Montana prison -- has conveniently proclaimed himself to be "a compassionate man" in the hopes that the Canadian government will force Montana to send him home so he won't be executed. Too bad he wasn't so compassionate to the two men he admittedly tortured and killed.

This time, the answer might be no. I hope.

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Who said that? Again, it does not matter. It's common practise for a criminal to claim that he "didn't know" that his actions were illegal. It's just as common to say, "Too bad, so sad, ya coulda known, ya shoulda known." In other words, do your research.

Murder is illegal in both Canada and the US. States, not the federal government, regulate crime down there, and they fix their own penalties. Some states have the death penalty. Montana is one of them. Just how did Smith figure he was going to get away with committing murder without paying the penalty for it?

Or did he figure, like a lot of others before him, that just because he's a Canadian citizen, the government of Canada will bail him out, slap his wrist, and after a suitable time spent sitting in the corner, let him go?

I don't want this guy back in Canada. He went to Montana and committed a crime for which the penalty is death. Let Montana have him.

Now, That's Justice!

2007-10-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

It's about time the courts got serious about protecting people's rights. All rights -- not just the right to free speech.

When you get in someone's face with the intention of causing emotional distress, it's no longer free speech. It's invasion of privacy. It's also assault. Among other things.

The jury was to begin deliberating the size of punitive damages after receiving further instructions, although U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the compensatory award "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court. (emphasis mine)

And that is a good thing. Maybe now, the precedent has been set. Maybe now, homophobic and interfering cretins like the Phelps family and their in-bred church will leave other people alone.

Maybe now, people who are harrassed outside abortion clinics will also have access to the same remedies Albert Snyder had. Those of us who value individual freedoms can only hope so.

This is not the first time a jury has awarded damges to the plaintiff in excess of the defendant's current net worth. OJ Simpson will be paying off his debt until the seventeenth millenium.

Rock on, Justice!

More here. And here.

Cancelling Hallowe'en?

2007-10-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

From: The principal of Paris Hilton Country Day School

To: Our esteemed parents

Re: Canceling Halloween forever. And ever.

For Those Who Are Terminally Politically Correct And/Or Those Who Are Fundamentally Opposed To Anything Except Their Own Narrow View Of Simon Says:

It's okay to laugh. It's funny, so go ahead and laugh. Yes, it's supposed to be funny. No, really...it's okay to laugh!

No, not all religions are afraid of humor. Yes, Paganism is a type of religion. Yes it is. I don't care who told you it's not -- it is so!

Okay, let's go over to your place and...hey! Wait! Come back here!

For the rest of you: Please have a happy and safe Hallowe'en. And for those to whom it applies, Blessed Samhain!

Entitled To His Entitlements?

2007-10-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

What an interesting and in-depth expose popped up in the local papers today! It seems that one of our federal politicians is very likely to be indicted for fraud and fiscal malfeasance on a grand scale.

If Province reporter Elaine O'Connor has the story straight, Blair Wilson is a career sociopath who happened to choose the political arena in which to play his financial games. And he knows all about how to play the games -- he's a chartered accountant.

He's a member of the Liberal party. I'm not blaming the Liberals for that. He could just as easily have chosen the CPC. He would never have chosen the NDP, though -- they don't have a hope in hell of being in power anytime soon, and it's the power behind the political career that's important to people like Wilson.

I'm gonna be very interested to see what Stephane Dion does about this.

(H/T Backseat Blogger)

Other blogs that are following this story can be found here.

Smile

2007-10-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Bad news/bad weather got ya down? Doctor Chimera has an answer for ya:

Backstreet Bird. Get down. Get funky. Get back up again. Shake a tail feather with Snowball, and learn the new cockatiel (cockatoo?) line dance...

Caturday Morning. No sleepin' in for humnz! Fur child is hungry (and hands up all a youze who know exactly what this feels like), so the world needs to wake up and find the can opener!

Guaranteed relief from whatever ails ya. But it's only temporary. You might need to watch them over and over again...

Thanks to the gang at Cute Overload!

Plane Hits Building

2007-10-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 19 - 04:14:35 PM

RICHMOND (NEWS1130) - Richmond RCMP believe two people may have been on board a twin engine plane that has crashed into the Rosario Gardens apartment building in Richmond. At this point there's no report on the extent of the injuries.

Department of Holy Shit! I used to live right next door to this building. I had planned on being in the area today, but I changed my mind. I have to be there tomorrow, instead.

The National Post is on it.

CTV likewise.

Opinions and specualtion are divided between the pilot's trying to fly off extra fuel before landing and the pilot's inability to get the landing gear down and locked.

I wonder how long it's gonna be before someone yells about a terrorist attack (not long)...

UPDATE (Saturday, 20 October): Still no definitive word on what caused the crash. Casualty report -- one dead, two injured.

That's amazing! Only the pilot dead (and that maybe before the crash -- speculation still abounds), and in such a high-density business/residential area in the middle of one of the busiest city cores in the country, only two injured!

The building that was hit is one of several tall buildings in the area, and it's not even as tall as most. It's about a mile from the "button" at the airport, and pretty much on the approach path. The whole area is swollen with people, traffic, businesses, shopping centers, hotels, and construction of more of the same (although maybe someone will now re-think before they continue with more of the same. Ya think? Nah. Me neither).

Talk about dumb goddamn luck!

Of Bores And Fipples

2007-10-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

I have a new interest. That, in part, is why I haven't been around my own pages much lately, although I've done some fly-by commenting on other blogs.

No, I'm not getting mired down in politics, despite what the title looks like. The "bore" is the totally tubular thingie with holes, and the "fipple" is the thingie that gets blown. Come to think of it, that does sound rather political, doesn't it?

Nope. It's a pennywhistle.

Gotta go work on my chiff.

Politically Corrected

2007-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

To all those who were so highly offended by the rev's nomenclature of hyper-sensitive whiners in a cross-post he did at The Galloping Beaver (and who were equally offended by those of us who defended his opinion):

We were all wrong.

This is the definition of a stunned cunt!

*****

UPDATE (12 October): I don't fucking believe it. This is just not happening! Somebody please tell me that asshole columnist John-Henry Westen didn't just try and turn the tables around to make it look like Coulter is the goddamn victim here?

"We Know What We're Fighting For"

2007-10-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Is it really naive to think that a song might have something to do with the thumpin' great majority the Progressive Conservatives won in Newfoundland's recent election?

Maybe.

On the other hand, go listen to it (mp3).

Well done, Danny Williams! Congratulations, Newfoundland and Labrador!

Now...any budding songwriters like Darrell Power (formerly of Great Big Sea) in BC?

Personal Choice In Chimeria: Don't Should On Me

2007-09-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

There is literally no end to the number of people who are willing, even eager, to tell you how you should live your life in order to be a "better" person.

Better than what? I've heard one answer more than most: "Better than animals."

Dear, sweet Janus! We are animals! And the fact that we as a species belong to that club does not elevate the club, believe me!

No matter if you are a follower of any of the myriad religions, an agnostic, an atheist, or any other ic or ist, you have grown up with people who try to squeeze your individuality out of you by mouthing words like "sin" and "moral" and "should" and "hell" and...well, you've heard it, I'm sure.

Here's a link. Go look up your own favorite definitions for the words that are used to pummel you into a different shape by those who are not satisfied with the shape in which they currently find you. And keep in mind that all these words are completely subjective in nature. And then give some thought to the following guideline:

An It Harm None, Do What Ye Will. A slight variation on this is Do What Ye Will, Know What Ye Do.

Life in Chimeria is not going to be easy. You will, at all times, need to be careful that you're not handing control of your behaviour over to someone else to use for his own purposes.

Chimeria Family Values: Guest Post by Dez

2007-09-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, Dez left a comment that I thought contained so much input, I wanted to make sure it got noticed. I asked him for permission to bring it forward, and here it is:

I like the idea of keeping laws to the minimum standard of "do as thou wilt, as long as it doesn't hurt others".

But, divorce is often a sticky issue, especially in regards to child custody. Someone is going to get hurt in some way, such is the nature of breakups. The trick is to minimize the impact on the little ones. (The adults have made their bed and should have to sleep in it; the children, however, have no choices in the matter.)

Personally, I like the idea of making such decisions on a case-by-case basis, rather than using some all-encompassing policy that tries to make everyone happy, and fails.

On the subject of abortion, I believe in everyone taking responsibility for their own actions. Here again, the trick is to minimize the hurt for all concerned.

And let me take the time here to point out (what should be) the obvious: A fetus is not a baby, but could be a potential future citizen of Chimeria, and as such deserves some consideration under the law. This is obvious to any woman who has ever had an abortion (I've known a few), in that none have ever made the decision lightly. This is a HUGE decision on the woman's part, and she always knows it. I believe her right to make that decision must be protected. If she decides to get the abortion, she should not be given any further grief from that choice.

On the other hand, if she decides to go to term, she takes full responsibility. If she can convince someone to assist with the parenting job, such as the father-to-be, that's great. I don't think it is the state's job to interfere with that.

If, for whatever reason, she is not expecting any parenting assistance, that also needs to be decided up front. Some people can handle the solo-parent thing, and some can't.

Have we talked about CPS yet? Child Protective Service is one of those controversial government agencies that you either hate or love. My opinion is that, if government has any responsibility AT ALL, it has the responsibility to protect the helpless.

I've seen it happen. A single parent is overwhelmed by the huge task of caring for an infant while holding down a job, or a couple is too busy fighting with each other to notice the little one needs to be fed. Or, sometimes, there is deliberate abuse.

The decision to remove a child from the home should never be made lightly, but sometimes it needs to be done. There are a lot of people willing and competent to raise a child - hopefully more than those who can't.

Please note: there should be no government support for raising children. No state-supported foster homes. No welfare mothers. Nobody makes money from the government by raising a child. You can either foot the bill yourself, from your own (or your family's, with their consent) pocket, or you don't get to raise a child. Period.

And that needs to be made clear before the first trimester. The ability to support a child for 18 years needs to be part of the decision to abort or not abort.

I suspect this will result in an increase of abortions. Also, eventually, an increase in adoptions.

Ah well.

This is the kind of thoughtful feedback I'm seeking. What would it take to actually fulfill the fantasy of creating your own country? What kind of structure would you want? Who would live there? And why would they want to? And why would you want them?

Money no object...thank the gods! Wouldn't it be embarassing to create a place in which you couldn't afford to live?

Turnabout Is Fair Play

2007-09-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Everybody getting equal time, and all that.

"...I'm a bishop. In the LDS church."

"Well...have you considered atheism?"

Thank you, Sandmonkey!

What's In The Water In Quebec?

2007-09-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Do you believe this crap?

Politician wants ban on religious clothing

"'We're going to have to stand up and prohibit the wearing of all religious clothing in public places,' said Bourgault, who served as MP in Argenteuil-Papineau in southwestern Quebec between 1984 and 1993."

This, she swears, is all in the cause of "equality." Levelling the playing field, so to speak. Getting rid of the differences between men and women. She nails the niqab as an example of religious clothing that should be banned.

But she wants to ban all religious clothing. She says. Doesn't she? In the interests of "equality" and all that.

Let's see how she copes with having to tell all the Hasidim that they have to lose the tzitzit, and the various styles of black hats, and women might even have to stop wearing theit sheitels. Even kippahs will be taboo.

Buddhist monks will have to stop wearing their robes.

Muslims and Sikhs will have to stop wearing their turbans.

Oh. Yeah. In the interest of equality and all that, let us not forget the Catholics. In Quebec.

I'm not making this up.

Personal Choice In Chimeria: Social Structure And Family Values

2007-09-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

I really, really, hate social engineers who love nothing more than to trample everyone else's lives with their own interpretation of How It Should Be. In Chimeria, this intrusive kind of social engineering will not be allowed.

Those who believe that a marriage can only consist of a man and a woman are free to live their own lives by that standard. Even if they are brother and sister. But in no way will they be allowed to interfere with the marriages of two men or two women.

And while we're at it, let's get rid of that number, "two." Any number of intelligent, consenting adults have the capability of forming a marriage and raising kids in a cooperative setting. And children are not a necessary feature of the family structure, either. In another post, I'll be talking about population control and capacity.

Families, for the most part, will consist of whatever individuals decide makes them a family. A single parent with children is no less a family than two adults without kids or several adults. It will be up to the family itself to define its own membership. Those who disagree are free to disagree, but not to interfere.

Marriage will be regulated by the government. And since the government will be small, I anticipate very little interference toward those who wish to be married. But it will make little difference, since there will be no discrimination against those who simply wish to live together and avoid the hassle of meaningless paperwork. Religious marriages will be allowed, but not officially recognized.

Offspring should probably be registered at birth, listing both biological parents for the purposes of genealogical, genetic, and medical history only. Male parents of children born of an AID process will be identified by the file number at the sperm bank. Adoptees will not have access to any personal information regarding their birth parents. Parents who give up children for adoption will not be able to contact them later. For all practical purposes, adopted children will become the biological children of the adopting family.

Unwanted pregnancies will be terminated at the request of the pregnant woman. And only the woman will have both the burden and the freedom to make the final decision. I hear too much about the "rights" of fetuses and the "rights" of fathers. Forget it. Fetuses have no rights because they have no individuality. They are not persons. "Fathers" (who, until the birth process is complete, should really only be known as sperm donors) who do not have to force their bodies through the process known as gestation will have no voice in the disposition of the body that does have to endure it. Any potential father who wants to have children can bloody well find a woman who is willing to have his children for him.

And that throw-away comment above about brother and sister? That wasn't completely a throw-away. Genetics aside, what are the real objections to brother/sister relationships?

Religion. And "culture."

But there were (and maybe still are in some small corner of the world where the fucked-up missionaries haven't had a chance to demonstrate their positions) cultures in which it was necessary for certain family lines to be passed on only through brother-and-sister unions. And they were doing just fine until Christianity came along and killed them off.

I'm not saying that sibling sexuality will be the norm. Speaking from personal observation, I think there is probably nothing in this world less likely to engender a sexual interest than in growing up under the same roof with someone. The phrase, "it's like kissing your sister" had to come from somewhere! But there will be those who want to travel that path. And if you think about it, who will it hurt? Really?

Thoughts, ideas, objections...all welcome.

How Many Legs Would A Dog Have...

2007-09-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

...if you called his tail a leg?

No, not five. Four. Because calling his tail a leg does not make it a leg.

And calling a fetus a person does not make it a person.

Personal Choice In Chimeria: Smoking

2007-09-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

I'm a non-smoker. Have been for awhile, now. For me, quitting was a personal, private, and completely autonomous choice. My choice. And I see no reason to explain that choice to anyone, here or anywhere else.

Being a non-smoker does not mean I'm an anti-smoker. Indeed, I have lots of sympathy for those who are smokers. Their status as first-class citizens is being denied based simply on a choice. Their choice.

In Chimeria, choice will be a matter of personal preference. Those who smoke will have access to all kinds of places where smoking is allowed. Those places -- restaurants, bars, etc. -- will naturally be staffed by other smokers. Despite what the anti-smoking control freaks are screaming about, the technology does exist to "scrub" indoor air of smoke, as well as other contaminants. Matter of fact, "scrubbed" air is probably cleaner than regular air.

Non-smokers will also be able to access these same kinds of places, and they will be smoke-free. They won't be the same places, merely the same kind. Want to go out for dinner? Choose between smoking and non-smoking establishments.

Who gets to determine which restaurants are smoking and which are non-smoking? Well, to begin with, I'd say the owner of the business decides. After a time, the marketplace itself will decide for him. That which is not profitable will die. And the government will not rush in to the rescue.

Fair enough?

Beer Bellies And Bitchtits...

2007-09-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

...becoming the norm? Oy!

I can imagine all kinds of frantic social engineering types who are gonna line up to be first to do one of two things: (1) force men deemed to be overweight to lose that weight so as not to grow the bitchtits and offend those who need to be sheltered from the sight of bare boobs; or (2) force those men who already have bitchtits to wear one of those manssiere thingies so as not to offend those who need to be sheltered from the sight of bare boobs.

Except in Beautiful British Columbia.

Bare boobs are allowed here. Thank you Linda Meyer.

Wanna Live In Chimeria?

2007-09-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have an urgent need to create my own country where I can live in relative peace without being besieged on all sides by people whose prime directive is to interfere as much as possible with my enjoyment of life.

Its creation will take some thought and some pro-ing and con-ing. I have a few ideas about it, and I invite you to help out with your own ideas...or your "yeah, buts" to someone else's ideas. Even mine. Maybe even especially mine.

Wanna play?

First of all, there should be no permanent, unrevokeable citizenship in Chimeria. Everyone will have dual citizenship with somewhere else. Because if capital punishment is not allowed, any perps of a capital crime will be deported to their other country without hesitation. Serious breaches of other laws will result in the same. Repeated and unrepentant breaches of lesser laws, ditto.

Next, freedom of choice in all "moral" matters is the norm. There may be some exceptions to this, depending on the accepted definition of "moral." Your input is definitely being sought here.

Freedom of religion. The kicker to this is that religion must be kept private and unintrusive. Those who belong to a religion in which proselytizing is key will not want to live in Chimeria. And even if they do want to live there, that dual citizenship will keep them in line.

Freedom from religion. This is essential.

Religion and politics are mutually exclusive. No exceptions.

No political parties. The size of the government will depend on the size of the population, and there will be term limits...all to be decided upon. But absolutely no party politics will be tolerated.

All politicians will be required to read and sign a statement that binds them to their promises made during an election campaign. This will be done before the election, and will be posted in a very public place. Any pol found to be in contradiction will be thrown bodily out of office and barred from ever participating again.

Elected office will be voluntary. Political representatives will be expected to have another source of income, and they will be expected not to put themselves in a conflict of interest between their income and their volunteer work.

Government will be small and limited in scope. Government will exist only for the necessities. Citizens will be expected to be responsible for themselves, for the most part, so don't look for any protectionist-type legislation.

Government by referendum sounds awkward and time-consuming. It's also the most democratic method I know. So that's how it will be done.

Voting will be mandatory. It takes a few minutes, not your entire life. Get used to taking responsibility.

Chimeria will be a partner in the environment. No oil rigs, for example. No river-blocking hydro-electric dams, although if a way is found to allow free movement up and down a river, I see little wrong with allowing a generating engine to be installed. Does anyone know of a dynamo that does not completely block a watercourse? Alternate sources of energy will be highly encouraged.

I am really, really, really tempted to follow the example of Macinac Island and disallow gasoline and diesel engines altogether.

Private property...ah...here's something else on which to chew. I'm of the thought that there really can't be any completely privately owned property if you can't do whatever you want with it. And since there are bound to be laws against using your property in a way that intrudes upon your neighbors, you can't really be said to have absolute and unfettered use of it, can you? So...how about long-term leases, which can be renewed, passed along, or challenged as needed, and as the case may be? For practical purposes, this will amount to the same thing as private property. As long as you don't piss off your neighbors.

Education should be available to all children up to completion of high school. Should be. This is an ideal, and not an absolute. There will be exceptions. We need some input, here, to deal with those exceptions.

Education will also be standard throughout Chimeria. All children will have access to the same educational materials. Testing standards will be across the board. No "curves." Pass or fail. I don't particularly care if Junior's feeling will be hurt if he doesn't pass. He'd either better learn or get used to having his feelings hurt.

"Political correctness" is nothing more than a longer-winded way of saying the same thing. Be brief. Get over it.

Education and religion are mutually exclusive. No exceptions. Anyone who wants his kid to have a religious education can either ship him off to somewhere else or teach him at home.

No union shops. If you want to join a union, go right ahead, but it will not be mandatory. Chimeria will be a right-to-work country.

I don't care what religion you are. I don't care what color you are. I don't care what political stripe you are. I don't care if you have too much money or not enough (and no, I've never found anyone that has "just enough"). If you are the kind of person who can live in a multi-everything society and enjoy it, you may be the sort who wants to live in Chimeria.

Now...who's movin' in?

Marc Mayrand -- Reluctant Hero?

2007-09-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Anybody remember MASH? There was one (at least) episode in which the incompetent Frank Burns threw a surgical instrument at a nurse and demanded that she give him something else. She protested that she had given him exactly what he had asked for, to which he yelled, "Don't give me what I ask for! Give me what I want!"

Frank Burns has reincarnated as Stephen Harper and the hapless nurse who was being verbally abused is now Marc Mayrand.

The amendments to this document got Royal Assent less than three months ago. The wording of that document is now the law of the land. And the relevant portion is about halfway down, and begins with the words, "21. Sections 143 to 145 of the Act are replaced by the following:" Nowhere in that document does it say anything about women having to remove their veils. Matter of fact, it states rather pertinently that if the identity of any voter is in question, one of the options of two pieces of non-picture ID is acceptable proof of eligibility. There is also another option for the taking of an oath. Another option says that someone who is a registered voter in the riding may vouch for the veracity of eligibility. Nowhere does it say that a veiled woman must lift her veil.

Marc Mayrand pointed this out. Harper had a meltdown. A complete, out-of-control, hyperventilating, foaming-at-the-mouth-and-biting-sticks-type meltdown. His toadies and lickspittles in Caucus followed in lockstep. Mayrand refuses to back down, and good for him. He's the one who's actually doing his job, here.

I don't care how many illiterate, lobotomized members of fucking parliament bang on podiums and scream with impotent anger for him to change his mind -- Marc Mayrand is not the lawmaker here any more than that nurse was the surgeon! If you want the law to read that Muslim women have to remove their veils before they vote in a federal election, then you have to make sure the law says precisely that!

God Hates Sanity

2007-09-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

And if you really need proof that it's true, put all ingestibles aside, swallow what -- if anything -- is now in your mouth (the exception would be your chewing gum, for which you can make a quick run to the local movie theater and stick it under my seat so I have no trouble finding it...again), and read this.

You. Cannot. Make. This. Shit. Up!

(H/T CC)

Sandmonkey Is Back!

2007-09-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Worth repeating: Sandmonkey is back!

Thanks for the heads-up, Jackp1ne.

JJ Has It

2007-09-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

Has what?

A succinct and superbly written commentary on the event for which today is the sixth anniversary.

And she only needed three short paragraphs.

Go. Read. Leave her a nice comment.

Procreate For The State*

2007-09-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

The expression, "Gimme a fuckin' break!" is about to take on a whole new meaning in Moscow, Russia.

"It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.

(...)

"Couples who 'give birth to a patriot'' during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes."

Yeah, and what happens if, twenty or thirty years later, that new "patriot" decides to emigrate to somewhere else? Will the government show up on the parents' doorstep and demand their washing machine back?

All this hysteria to propagate the species at an every-increasing rate is unfathomable. Why? What's the purpose of outstripping the rest of the world in population growth? Is there, like, some kind of international contest among world governments to see who can out-litter whom? What am I missing here?

(H/T JJ, from whom I also borrowed the *title of this post)

I Promised...

2007-09-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

...to get to this meme as soon as I was able. Joint pain has gone away while I wasn't looking, so I guess that defines "able." So here goes...

THINK BACK TO 4th year HS...Let's see how much you remember and how much you regret...
Oh, balls! A memory game...

What section were you? What's a section?

Who was your adviser? What's an adviser?

How many were you in one class? How many students in one class (I've only every been one person at a time, myself, although the possibility of being more than one person has an intriguing sound to it...)? That depended totally on what class I was in at the time. Some had only about ten and one class had over forty.

Who was/were your seat mates? None. Our school was able to afford individual desks for each student.

Still remember your english teacher? Absolutely. All of them, in fact.

What was your first class? We were on a six day week, so that would depend on which day it was.

Who was your best friend? That changed from year to year. Sometimes from month to month. When the military moves you around, you tend not to make friends to whom you can't emotionally afford to say goodbye.

Who did you like? Most people.

Made friends to the lower years? Not many. That was where my younger sibling lived, and we never did live comfortable with one another.

Had a boyfriend/girlfriend? A few. Nobody too special.

How was your class schedule? Full. The principal was of the opinion that if you keep busy with schoolwork, you won't have time to engage in the sort of intimate activities that tend to create future students.

Made any enemies? A few. Nobody special.

Who was your favorite teacher? Unfortunately, my favorite teacher was not one who conducted any of my classes, just the drama club, the yearbook committee, and the school paper.

What sports did you play? Sports? Sports? Next question...

Did you buy your lunch? Didn't have to. I worked in the cafeteria, so I got to eat for free. Even then, I knew on which side my bread was buttered...and where to find it.

Were you a party animal? Only if you count hibernating wolverines in that category.

Were you well known in your school? I dunno. You'd probably have to ask someone who went to the same school.

SKIP SCHOOL? Like a stone across the water, any chance I could.

Did you get suspended/expelled? Nope. Never got caught.

Can you sing the alma mater? What's the alma mater? If you can hum a few bars, maybe I can pick up the beat.

What was your favorite subject? Anything creative.

What was your school's full name? Ah, but that would identify the school. Naughty, naughty.

Did you go to the dances? Oh, yeah. Wanna know who played at my high school dances? Burton Cummings, Chad Allen, Randy Bachman...

If you could go back in time and do it all over, would you? Not a fucking chance.

What do you remember most about 4th year? Gritting my teeth and staying the course.

Favorite memory in 4th year? The end of it.

Worst memory in 4th year? The beginning of it. Anyone beginning to get the idea that I didn't like high school?

Where did you go most often for break? To what we laughingly called the Smoke Pit in the restaurant next door...out of the sight, sound, and authority of any stray teachers.

What did you do on the last day of school? Joined the Air Force.

How was your graduation? You'd have to ask someone who was there. I was in basic training at the time.

Got any honors or special awards? Didn't even stop long enough to get my diploma.

What year did you graduate? 1970.

Who posted this before you did? The Witch With The Gun. Gee, thanks, Jean. I really enjoyed (!) that trip down nightmare alley...

*****

Custom is to tag other bloggers with the meme. But I got to it late, so I'm going to just leave it as a pick-up meme. Anyone else interested in opening their veins about their angst-ridden teenage years, feel free.

I Promise...

2007-09-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

...I would wake up every morning in a gloriously good mood if I could wake up to this gal singing this song.

Fo' shizzle.

(Thanks CC! And welcome to my blogshelf.)

One More Blow For Freedom Of Conscience

2007-08-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

Two out of fifty. Does that sound like good odds to you? Well, when you're fighting an uphill battle for simple human rights, and you're fighting your own government(s) for them, two out of fifty is a pretty good start.

Yesterday, Iowa became the second American state to allow same-sex marriage. And if you didn't know it already, Massachusetts (yup, home of "Banned in Boston!") was the first.

Slowly but surely, The You Ess of Eh is becoming the country they say they want the rest of the countries in the world to be -- a country where people are free to be themselves, to live as they wish to live without undue imposition by restrictive rules and regulations, where each person may live by the dictates of his own conscience without fear of being persecuted by those who disapprove.

Of course, this decision was immediately protested by idiots. Some of them are elected idiots. The governor-who-would-be-president, Mitt Romney, said: "The ruling in Iowa today is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people as expressed through Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act. This once again highlights the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman." Apparently, he doesn't like the idea of "unelected" or "activist" decision-makers. Someone really oughta clue him in that most voters are unelected; and a good number of them are also (or have been) activists at something or other. He is showing supreme contempt for his own constituents, and he wants to be president? Oh...right...

And I dunno where he gets his information, but usually the will of the people is not to have narrow-focus political hacks make all their decisions for them. Most people want to make those decisions for themselves, thankyouverymuch. Tradition be damned. Some traditions really need to be disposed of while wearing a hazmat suit. It also used to be tradition that you had to be white, male, and a property owner in order to vote. No one else was deemed suitable to have a say in the running of the country. And yes, it was entrenched in law.

Then, earlier today, the judge in the case stayed his ruling, pending an appeal. But one couple managed to get their vows in before the stay. That, I think, will be that. There will be some more backing and forthing, some toing and froing, some gnashing and wailing, some kicking and stomping, and some prognostications of dire social consequences. And then life will go on. More gay couples will marry without causing any deaths or disasters. Jerry Falwell will provide air conditioning in hell. And in about ten years the next generation will be scratching their heads and wondering what all the fuss was about.

To those who oppose same-sex marriage, I say this: Prove to me that someone else's lifestyle will directly cause your death, and that you can save your own life only by opposing their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and maybe I'll listen. Until then, shut up and mind your own business.

Is It Just Me?

2007-08-24T12:45:00.000-07:00

Or does it seem to anyone else that the "fashion" these days is to make oneself look as unappealing as possible?

Example: I saw a large (sphere-shaped) young (late teens to early twenties) woman get on the bus yesterday. She was wearing camo cargo pants with that string-thing up the leg seam whereby you can shorten the legs; and she had shortened them to about mid-calf. No socks. Plaid flats (I hear they're the newest hot item). So far, so good. The bottom half of her, save for that the pants were too tight (I could see how stressed the seams were), actually wasn't so bad. But the top half of her? Well, the top half of her was encased in a too-skimpy-for-support black lacy underthing that wrapped itself around her nipples and cut off circulation to the rest of her breasts, making it look like she was triple-endowed. That was covered (and I use that word rather loosely) with another lacy underthing (pink, this time) that in another lifetime was probably one of those tops that women used to wear under sheer blouses to disguise the fact that they were also wearing bras (I know -- go figure). The spaghetti straps of the pink thing were twisted around the spaghetti straps of the black thing, and, small as the black thing was, the pink thing failed to completely cover it. Then the pink thing shrink-wrapped itself almost to her navel. The camo pants rose up almost to her navel. The bare skin between them boasted two small tattoos and a navel pierce. I don't remember what her hair looked like. I don't even remember if she had hair, I was so rivetted by the possibility that she was about to burst out of her clothes at any moment.

I was chalking this vision up to the possibility that she had recently gained a lot of weight and maybe had no other clothing that she could wear, when yet another young woman got on the bus with the same sort of outfit. Except that this second young woman looked like she hadn't had a decent meal in her entire life. Again with the string-up-the-leg pants that were too tight. The skimpy underthing worn over but not quite covering a skimpy under-underthing of a contrasting color. And everything too tight.

So I looked around me, and for young women, this seems to be the norm -- clothing way too tight and way too skimpy, contrasting colors to make the layers stand out, and even on the Twiggy-looking ones, serious emphasis on making everything look like it's seventeen sizes too small.

Oh, yeah...protruding bellies. What's with the "pregnant" look? What's with cincking the waistband in so tight that it creates a roll over the top even when it's obvious that there is next to no body fat? Why does every young woman want to look like Bibb in a spandex girdle?

And then there are the young men. Every time I see a guy with his crotch around his knees, I check my belt to make sure it's still done up and securing my pants around my hips. The point of men's clothing these days seems to be to balance the waistband of the pants on the widest part of the ass without having them actually depend from the hips or fall down. Maybe I should be buying stock in Crazy Glue. That's the only way I can figure out that these guys are walking around with both hands free to hold other things. Like that joint and the can of beer.

Pantslegs are long enough to be bridal trains, and they get frayed and torn by being dragged on the ground behind the heels. Shoelaces are undone, trailing right along with the pantslegs. I have stopped warning guys that they're about to trip and break their necks. They just nod to everyone around them in amusement and continue scuffing right along.

But the shirts they wear are large enough to be tents. And they are worn open, usually over a sports team singlet with arm holes that dip to where the waistband would be if the pants actually came up to the waist. It's like the guys are using all the extra material that the girls have discarded.

I read a brief news item the other day which indicated that the birth rate around the world is down from previous years.

I'm not surprised.

Summertime...And The Livin' Is...Hectic

2007-08-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

I'm still here. Not on the computer so much. Incredibly good weather and a season full of fascinating diversions have cut 'way back on my blogging time.

That, and my persistent case of tendonitis (or so my doctor called it, after twisting and prodding it for about five minutes). I now know what caused the pain/strain, though -- it was that twelve plus hours of navigating a crowded fairground with a six-foot long staff, using my elbow as the fulcrum for manouvering the staff. I figured that out the next time I tried to use the staff, and my elbow screamed at me to put the damned thing down. *sigh* Guess I'm not gonna do any quarter-staff or sword fighting for awhile...

So...as you were. Enjoy the rest of the summer. I'll be back later.

Anyone For Tennis Elbow?

2007-07-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

I'm coming to the end of the third week with a never-had-it-before, really bad case of tennis elbow. At least, I think that's what it is. And it doesn't seem to want to go away on its own.

Oddly enough, it doesn't affect my drumming. But mousing is irritating, and I'm learning to drink coffee left-handed, because picking up a full cup with my right hand and getting it all the way to my mouth is a fifty-fifty proposition. And I don't want to play guessing games with my coffee before I've had my coffee.

I woke up with it on 2 July...the day after the Canada Day festival. And at first I couldn't figure out what was up with my arm. Now that I've figured out what it is, I'm working on figuring out what caused it. Applauding all those excellent performers?

Naturopathy says ice and wet heat. While it feels good to put the elbow on ice, especially on a hot day like we've been having lately, all the ice accomplishes is a cold elbow. No relief.

I'll try all kinds of non-invasive remedies before I see my doctor next week and lay this thing on his table. Any suggestions?

Deadly Sincerity

2007-07-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

We got home last night to find the apartment door jimmied open, a lot of valuable items gone, and everything else pulled out of drawers and closets,and dumped in heaps on beds and in the middle of the floor. A good-sized three-bedroom apartment full of looks-like-a-drunken-tornado-hit-it.

Two of the six guitars were gone (and the other four stacked and waiting with other stuff in the hallway -- these guys were intending to come back), plus cash, jewelry, the entire DVD collection, my toolbox full of Snap-On screwdrivers (a new set of burglar tools for someone), all the prescription drugs in the house, and various and sundry other goodies that I'm still finding out about. Oh...and my "essential" ID -- birth certificate, DL and SSN card.

Looks like a great time to change my identity. The old one is no good anymore.

The fridge and freezer had been ransacked, as well as the pantry. Food packages were opened, dumped out, and the contents ground into the floor. Melting ice cream fucking everywhere! And that's what really pisses me off. Not the theft -- that's pretty much the way the world works these days -- but the waste and destruction.

So far, roughly guessing, somewhere between five and six thousand dollars walked out of here yesterday in broad daylight, in my own shopping carts, fer crissake, and nobody in the building heard or saw a damned thing...

Now, just in case the perps know how to read, and they know enough about me to read this, I have a message for them:

You think you got yourself a couple of nice, new daggers to play with yesterday, don't you? Guess again. What you have in your temporary possession are my athames. And with that, you've sealed your own death.

Felt good in your hands, didn't they? Nice weight, excellect balance, sharp enough to shave with? Felt kinda warm and maybe a little "tingly" when you picked them up? Did you not wonder why they were carefully wrapped in silk and then again in robes and tucked away in a special drawer with other things that might have alerted you to the identity of your victim had you been smart enough to pay attention?

Let me clue you in, you miserable pieces of shit. I am not a nice, polite, "an-it-harm-none" type Wiccan. I am a thoroughly-versed-in-the-arts, well-practiced, "know-what-ye-do" type Witch. Those blades are tuned to me, and right now, they're planning how best to go about initiating the process of your earthy demise.

There is no pardon. I suggest you make whatever final arrangement you can, and soon. Karma can be a bitch, but she's a playful puppy compared to that which hunts you now.

With deadly sincerity

Chimera

UPDATE:

There were two of them. Three is a possibility, but not a big one. Three would be colliding with one another. Two.

There is a high probability that one is female. Things went missing that only a female would consider taking. And a fairly young female, at that.

They were young. Possibly late teens, but not children, and not living at home with their parents.

At least one of them is a chocaholic. Either that, or seriously jonesing. How bad does it have to be for them to steal boxes of baking chocolate and a half-full bottle of chocolate sauce?

The building security guards don't know it, yet, but they interrupted the thieves and scared them off. Security knows something. They're just not aware of it, yet. I will be getting them more involved.

Angrypendence Day

2007-07-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

Keith Olbermann wishes George Bush a happy Fourth of July. Preferably to be celebrated from a prison cell. Or the bottom of a pit full of rattlesnakes.

Everything here except the call for violent overthrow of the government.

Keith Olbermann for president, anyone?

(Thanks to Zorpheous and Stageleft for the link)

Blogs Against Theocracy

2007-07-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

You can read other bloggers' posts on the subject here.

No Theocracy In Canada!

2007-07-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

I committed myself to blog against the theocratization of Canada (and the USA) a few days ago, and then I sat down and actually thought about what might be involved. So many directions from which to approach the subject, and so many talented others who are already putting together their arguments against country-wide religious obligations and laws which all must follow, regardless of their individual thoughts and needs.

Tempting as it was, I have not yet read any of the other bloggers' posts. I shall do so after I've fulfilled my own committment, because, rise or fall, it's my own idea I need to express here rather than a shadow of someone else's. Any relationship between this post and any other will be strictly accidental and entirely serendipitous.

So. Why not live in a theocracy? Besides the fact that the ones that already exist are killing people left, right, and center, I mean -- their own people included.

Well, besides the three Book religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), which I will set aside for this post -- because others will be writing about them, I'm sure -- there are several other religions who have adherents in this country. And while the Book religions are busy wiping one another off the face of the earth, one of the less well known religions might like a chance to rule. Now we just have to decide which one. Let's take a brief look at a few and see what's what:

Buddhism

No diety sitting on a cloud in the sky, scowling down upon unbelievers and throwing lightning bolts at the enemies of its worshippers at the bidding of the worshippers. So far, so good.

"The Five Precepts involve the taking of vows, one for each precept. Vows are taken only if they can be kept. The precepts apply to body, speech and mind. The precepts of the body oblige the adherent to abstain from (1) killing, (2) stealing and (3) sexual exploitation. The precept of speech (4) implies abstention from lying, while the precept of the mind (5) requires abstention from mind-altering drugs and intoxicants."

Vows taken only if they can be kept? Kinda like promises? Well, that will put paid to any electioneering by politicians, and I could live with that. On the other hand, there are days when the only thing that keeps some people sane is indulging in some mind-altering drugs or intoxicants. Sometimes, as Heinlein said, "Everything to excess! Moderation is for monks!" And Buddhism has monks. Oh, well...

Hinduism

There seems to be a bit of built-in doctrinal contradiction: "The Vedas (Scriptures) are the divine word of the gods (plural)." and, "There is one Supreme Being (singlular) above all, the Source and Creator of the universe." Hmm...this could keep the theologians busy enough not to interfere with the lives of the citizens. And that could be a good thing.

"No single religion offers the only way to salvation. All are equal as paths to oneness with the Supreme Being."

Oops! That will NOT go down well with the hard-line theocrats, who firmly believe that "my way is the only way and if you're not a believer you'll go to hell and I'm going to help send you there!" Pity, because this is whence came the Kama Sutra. Then again, cows are sacred, so no cheezburgers. I definitely like my cheezburgers.

Native Spirituality

Ah, yes...the original religion of the original inhabitants of the country. Getting back to the roots. There are lots of good things about it, but there are major drawbacks. First, it's an oral tradition, which requires that people pay attention in order to learn. And since the average human attention span these days is comparable to the life span of a politician's memory of the promises he made, this will not fly. Besides, there is a pipe ceremony, and smoking is naughty.

Rastafarianism

Good gods and goddesses and all the heroes! Take a look around you! Can you imagine your MP in dreadlocks? Besides, ganja is a sacrament, and smoking is naughty.

Sikhism

Very promising, but first, let's settle the argument about the chairs -- yes or no? If we can't agree on how to sit, how can we get anything else done?

Wicca

Also promising, but much too individualistic for most peoples' liking. A High Priestess once told me that organising Witches is not quite as easy as herding cats. And a theocracy depends very much upon tight organization.

Zoroastrianism

Alas, you can only become a Zoroastrian by being born to it. They don't allow converts, and intermarriage with other religions is discouraged. So, unless they get really fertile, fecund, and fast, they have no hope of becoming a theocracy.
__________

I have deliberately left out the Book religions -- all aspects of them. Until they stop trying to kill one another off or convert everyone by force under threat of death, they get less respect from me than Rodney Dangerfield. Practitioners of the Book religions may approach me with caution. Until they grow up and start treating each other with courtesy, if not respect, I will have none of them. And I encourage others to do the same, including lay members of those religions.

All this is one way of saying that I'm not all that much worried about the threat of a theocracy. We in North America are much too accustomed to making our own choices. Even in the face of others who will insist on trying to limit our choices. Our constitutions guarantee us all freedom of religion.

And freedom of religion equals freedom from religion. It guarantees my freedom from your religion, and your freedom from mine.

Learn to live with it.

Not Just In Kansas, Anymore

2007-07-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

There's a good bit of back-and-forth, is not/is too, so's-the-horse-you-rode-in-on commentary about whether or not we're in the middle of a climate change. I have resisted commentary. Until now. Time to take a stand.

We are in the middle of climate change. The hook is that it's not new. We have always been in the middle of climate change. And we will continue to be there until climate goes away permanently.

I'm old enough to remember when there were no tornadoes in Canada. We were too far north for the right climactic conditions to develop into funnel clouds. Several years ago, they started making the news in Ontario, then later in Alberta. A few days ago, I was on my way home late at night and waiting for a bus when the wind took a sudden sloppy/warm/wet slap at the people in the bus loop, then gusted, swirled, keened, stole a few caps, and kidnapped a whole pile of morning papers that had been tied in neat bundles to an anchoring post and scattered them from hell to breakfast.

I grabbed everything I was wearing tightly to me and opined, "That's tornado weather!" A few people looked at me like I was crazy. We don't get tornadoes in the Lower Rainland.

Weather reports the next day included sightings of funnel clouds and waterspouts.

How's that again?

Here's a really awesome, up-close-and-personal look at a recent storm on the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

We're not too far north of Kansas, anymore, Toto. Toto? Toto! Now where'd that damn dog get to...?

Not Bad For An Old Gal, Eh?

2007-07-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just before April Wine took the stage, Dianne Watts looked out over the sea of some 60,000 faces and yelled, "Hey! Surrey! Do we know how to throw a party, or what?!" And the crowd went nuts.

One hundred and forty years old yesterday. That was Mama Canada. So, one of her daughters...Surrey, (at a mere 128 years old) threw her one helluva birthday party! And it went on for thirteen hours or more.

I gotta say right off the top that I'm one of the biggest cynics you'll ever meet/read. If government does it, I expect to see them screw it up every time. But lemme tell ya, if your city intends to do any kind of community celebration in the future, and you want it to run smoothly and hassle-free, tell them to get hold of Surrey City Council and get the blueprint for this one. Higher praise I cannot offer.

I hit the edge of the park around 9:30 ayem and kicked off my shoes. I stayed barefoot (and safely so, despite the horror stories about "needles" and "doogy-poo" with which mothers around me were scaring their children who wanted to do the same) for the next twelve hours. My feet got royally filthy, and it was when I was scrubbing them in the shower after I got home that I found out they got royally sunburned, as well! Red and white (well, pale, anyhow) are the colors of the day? Right wit' ya, guv!

I turned one of my staves into a flag pole, and carried the dual flag around with me all day. Got quite a mixed bag of reactions to it. Lots of people couldn't figure out what it was, and some of them asked. A very few people -- mostly young turks -- challenged my "right" to bring anything American to the celebration. And one guy, at the end of the night, told me flatly that what I "did" to the flag was an insult and disrespectful to the flag and should not be tolerated. Some of my fellow babies are not very nice people. On the whole, though, the reaction was a smile and a nod. I gotta give full attaboo, though, to the guy who carried around a Canadian flag with a hockey stick for a flag pole, and wearing Team Canada's hockey jersey in all that heat!

One of the biggest little open secrets (in other words, it wasn't advertised anyplace that I could find) was the Seniors' Strawberry Tea. I don't go much for group-by-age thingies, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to be waited upon by a politician. All the Surrey representatives on three levels and from all political parties carried trays of strawberry shortcake and pitchers of tea and coffee. All you had to do was find a seat and snap your fingers -- instant service! The strawberries were fresh. The shortcake was fresh (and it was all supplied by one of the sponsors), and the cream was whipped. And real. Coffee and tea were served from carafes, rather than from big industrial urns. And the service was at your table, with a smile and a willingness that belied the reputation of the profession. Entertainment was provided by a choir whose members were mostly propped up with walkers and determination, singing songs from WWI. Everybody wore red and white. Except for the RCMP Honor Guard, who wore red and navy. Even they seemed to be enjoying themselves!

There were lots of food and beverage vendors. Still, with some 60,000 (that was the projection, anyway...it coulda been more) people wanting to eat and drink, there were lineups. At least there were lots of privvies, too. One of the sponsors gave away free watermelon, others gave away cloth bags, energy bars, canned drinks, lottery chances, do-it-yourself potted plants for balcony gardens (everything in the bag except the soil). And with a plethora of garbage cans and recycling cans around the grounds, the park was still a mess by the end of the night. Some of my fellow babies are not only messy, they're downright pigs.

Entertainment started for the adult main stage around noon. I didn't pay much attention to the kids' entertainment area, except when I wandered over to catch Kutapira again. These kids were not just alright -- they were amazing! And throughout the day, all events were mostly on time!

I love drums. I love dance. Put them together for me, and I'm happy. The SFU Elite Bhangra Team makes it look soooooo easy.

Danny Sveinson is some kinda prodigy in a youth suit. Only fourteen years old at the time of his appearance here. And he's a local boy, too. We grow talent in Surrey.

Damian Marshall rode in from Calgary to grace the stage. Somebody wanna introduce him to YouTube? Until then, you'll have to take my word for it that he's good. Even if you're not a country music fan.

Karen Lee Batten got the voice that Celine Dion wishes she had. And this video doesn't really do her justice, either. It shows her on an indoor stage. Put her on an outdoor stage, like the one she was on yesterday, and let her strut her stuff. She'll make a believer out of anyone who thinks "Canadian talent" is lukewarm.

Ian Tyson got an entusiastic welcome from the crowd. The first couple of songs seemed to be a little subdued, even for a laid-back country style like his. Then he apologised for having laryngitis, and hoped we weren't too disappointed with his performance. Laryngitis. And he showed up anyway. That's professional for ya!

I'm not a real big fan of jazz or blues, so I really had never heard of Wide Mouth Mason. But they got a roaring reception from the crowd. And somebody on vocals can hit the high ranges purely enough that at first I though it was sustained feedback from one of the guitars!

The Kim Mitchell went for a soda. And the gusto. He brought back some really old tunes, thanks in part to something he called the Trailer Park Boys. Shades of Max Webster ("...are there really people here over forty years old?")!

And then the headliners (who took up more time than anyone else in getting their soundchecks done and their stage set...and they still started almost on time). April Wine. You'd think that after performing for nearly forty years, a group would get tired, get stale, get boring. Or something. Nope. And because they were playing a little longer than any other perfomers, they built in a little break for themselves. All the band members except Jerry Mercer left the stage, and the drum guru treated the audience to a session of drum therapy. What you see on that video link is pretty much exactly what we got. And afterwards, the entire audience was soaked with sweat, panting, and out of breath. Whew!

I'm not much into fireworks, so I didn't stay for them. I needed to find a way through the anticipated crush of traffic (cops had already re-routed all the streets surrounding the park) and find a bus that was not only still running, but going in my direction. I wasn't exactly an original thinker, either. The buses (special runs contracted by the city of Surrey!) turned themselves into huge sardine cans, packed us in, and we passengers got real friendly with one another all the way home...

And the price of admission for this supremely organized and executed birthday bash?

Absolutely free.

Hey, Canada! Does Surrey know how to throw a party, or what?

Oh yeah.

But...There's No There There!

2007-06-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

Russia lays claim to the North Pole - and all its gas, oil, and diamonds.

Oooo.....kaaaaaayyy...

Does Comrade Putin know that the "territory" to which he's laying claim is not only sub-zero 100% of the time, but also under water 100% of the time?

Apparently, though, not all Russians are convinced of the legitimacy of the claim:

"Sergei Priamikov, of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, said (that)...Canada 'could say that the Lomonosov ridge is part of the Canadian shelf, which means Russia should in fact belong to Canada...'"

Never happen. The Russian people, having thrown off most of the yoke of suppressive government regimes, would never stand for losing their hard-won freedoms and being placed under the thumb of CNG!

Ma! They're Talkin' About Me Again!

2007-06-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

And they're playing with your personal toys, again, too!

And who is "they?" Oh, hell...everybody.

Scientists want to play with all the neat little genes and chromosomes and assemble thir own versions of the puzzles known as life forms. They've been doing it for years with plants, and nobody really objected very much. Matter of fact, Big Pharmaceutical conglomerates like Monsanto not only paid the scientists to do it, but they then patented the new life forms. And now Monsanto is well on its way to owning the food you eat.

Then the scientists graduated to playing with sheep and other domestic creatures. And still, nobody objected very much. Now they want to play with human/animal cocktails, and everybody wants to get into the act!

Governments want to pass laws to prevent it:

"Ministers say that the creation of animal-human embryos - created by injecting animal cells or DNA into human embryos or human cells into animal eggs - will be heavily regulated.

"They insist that it will be against the law to implant “chimeras” - named after the mythical creature that was half man and half animal - into a woman’s womb."

And the Vatican want to pass laws that prevent the prevention:

"The bishops...were also anxious to limit the destruction of such life once it had been brought into existence."

Mama, I really fucking need a new planet.

(H/T April Reign)

Chimera's Cavern

When A Hard Drive Goes Between

Yule Greetings

Happy Birthday, Spider!

Knighthood

Too Close Not To Recount

I Have A Proposition For You...

President Obama

One Of The Finest Speeches Ever Made

Who Said That?

A Gold Medal Is Just A Phone Call Away

What Really Bugs Me About Palin

Marinara Sauce

In The Words of John Diefenbaker...

It Just Jumped Outa Gear

There Are Three Kinds of People

Green Yeggs Or Spam?

ZIP-a dee... Dude! Aaaaaaghhhh!

Comments: Temporary Parking Lot

Two...Make That Three...Eggs, Over Easy

Pickup Meme: Create-A-Slur

PRoss: I *poots* In UR Genrul Direkshun

Pumping Iron Man

On My Wish List

Not The Flying Nun

Fascinated By Polyamory

Walk With The Animals

Rap It, Mo!

Man Rapes Table?

Beyond Cute

Hoax? No Hoax? Time Will Tell

I'm Pregnant, Man I'm A Pregnant Man!

Blogs Against Theocracy

Paradox Solved. KTHXBAI.

The Blasphemy Collection

Hallelujah

Add My Name To The Lawsuit, Stevie!

Losing My Religion

Eugenics

Pro Choice Is Pro Life!

Balls Big Enuf To Come In A Dump Truck

Questions

No Blasphemy, Please; We're British

Truer Words Never Spoken

Blessigs Of Teh Ceiling Cat B Pwn U, LOL!

Reach For The Stars

Uncyclopedia!

Never Mind The Ho, Ho, Ho.

Christmas Wrap? What Christmas Wrap?

Kiss The First Amendment Goodbye

Fear Of Turning Off The Fear

Cassie And Maggie Got Married -- Or Did They?

Weather? What Weather?

Meet The New Antichrist

Meme Time

Telegotcha!

More On The Taser Incident At YVR

Housing Crisis In Surrey

Cop For A Minute

It's Perfectly Normal

Jumping On The Taser Bandwagon

A Soldier Died Today

NOT A Photo Op!

Guest Post: Alex Thomas

"When In Rome..."

Now, That's Justice!

Cancelling Hallowe'en?

Entitled To His Entitlements?

Smile

Plane Hits Building

Of Bores And Fipples

Politically Corrected

"We Know What We're Fighting For"

Personal Choice In Chimeria: Don't Should On Me

Chimeria Family Values: Guest Post by Dez

Turnabout Is Fair Play

What's In The Water In Quebec?

Personal Choice In Chimeria: Social Structure And Family Values

How Many Legs Would A Dog Have...

Personal Choice In Chimeria: Smoking

PRoss: I poots In UR Genrul Direkshun