Humans are superior to animals, riiiiight...

I just got back from a walk in The Zoo. Overall it was a great trip (aside from the heat), but there was this one thing that disgusted my whole family.

We saw a peacock walking near a public path, with some chicks -- something that we'd never seen before, in all the years we've been going to the zoo. However, an East Indian man and his five year old son were following them (the boy quite close). Sure enough, this kid ran at and spat at the babies, while his father just watched innocently.

ALL of us, plus some other tourists, saw this and yelled at them both to stop. He only seemed to get the message when we pointed out that if the kid goes near the flock again, the mother will probably attack.

Honestly, this just boiled my blood for two reasons. One, I hate bullies -- one of the few things I can honestly and shamelessly say that I do loathe -- especially anyone who is twisted enough to attack newborns of any species (don't forget, serial killers often start out as animal abusers). Two, no matter what culture you're from (if indeed that is an issue here), if you've been around animals at all then you know that the most universally potent instinct that exists is that of mothers to fanatically protect their young offspring. In short, if the animal has any capacity to harm a human at all, then picking on its own is literally suicide.

But anyway... I wish I'd thought to congratulate these idiots/jerks for teaching a bunch of infants that humans are the most obnoxious and heartless creatures on this planet.

Election Bullshit

By now, not only is the American presidential election pretty much in high gear, but the Canadian government is making noises about wanting to pull the plug on itself and call an impromptu election (the excuse -- I mean, reason -- being that supposedly the opposition has made Parliament dysfunctional; in actuality, it's the government that's been doing that by muzzling and threatening the opposition every chance it could get).

I realize that elections are a key part of democracy, and that there's only so much that can be done to stop leaders from overriding their own laws, or to stop the kind of stupid infighting that we're seeing in the states (ie. McCain having a rather patronizing view of Barack Obama, especially considering that his newly minted V.P. nominee is a young and inexperienced governor... hmmm, sound familiar?).

In my view, governments who break election laws, block any judicial investigations, make a mockery of free elections... in general, have contempt for civil process, should automatically forfeit their stake in the election. In other words, Stephen Harper should be tossed on his ass immediately, and McCain should give up the Republican nomination to another person. But then again, that's because I have a low tolerance for stupid bullshit. That's because I was raised to have a mind of my own, and to behave like a mature adult in public.

Global B.S.

Well we all know by now, Russia and Georgia are getting into a territorial pissing match (leading to Russia waving its prick around some more over now-sovereign countries that it can't get over losing control of). All I can say is, if this isn't incentive for the U.S. to stop fucking around with smaller non-problems like Iraq and Afghanistan and get with the program, I don't know what is.

In other news, it's kind of neat that so many athletes are doing well at the Olympic Scams -- I mean, Games -- but I stand by my view that if they really cared about "integrity" they would be competing elsewhere.

Archived -- Updates (as of late July)

Originally posted July 28, 2008.

Making "Bored on the Corner"

Originally posted July 24, 2008.

Archived -- Bearing Arms and Losing Minds

Originally posted July 21, 2008.

Archived -- Omar Khadr

Originally posted July 16, 2008.

Archived -- iPhone insanity

Originally posted July 14, 2008.

Archived -- Abortion and The Order of Canada

Originally posted July 9, 2008.

Road Rage/Moral Grave Robbers

This was originally posted on July 5, 2008.

Now onto more current events...

As a lot of people know, there was recently a horrible murder on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba, as Tim McLean was stabbed multiple times and then decapitated (among other things that I'd rather not print). The accused culprit was captured at the scene, apparently suffering from severe mental illness.

Even though I generally have a sour view of mankind, I was still stunned and disgusted by the way some fanatics are actually exploiting this tragedy for their personal gain.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently took out an ad that compares the murder to the slaughter of chickens for food (which is a really faulty premise to begin with). Not surprisingly, hardly anyone is running the ad. Now, I am fully in favour of animal rights and humane treatment of them under all circumstances (to be honest, the only reason I'm not a vegetarian is because I don't have a great pallete with vegetables). However, that does not mean that I support this tasteless and just plain stupid advertisement. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that this move would only piss a lot of people off, especially so soon after the murder -- so how can someone actually think that this was a good idea? Not only does it (rightly) cast PETA in a horrible light, but it completely distracts from any legitimate point it tries to make.

The second group exploiting this is one that -- sadly -- I've come to expect contempt for human life from: The Westboro Baptist Church. If you don't know who I'm talking about, this is small congregation in Kansas (largely a family, led by Fred Phelps) who is infamous for not only being dead-set against homosexuality and gay rights, but holds protests outside various funerals that pick-your-untimely-death is a sign from God that He hates homosexuals (their website is honestly "godhatesfags.com"). They have protested at the funerals of Iraq veterans, the victims and killer at Virginia Tech, Loretta King, and even attempted to demonstrate at Heath Ledger's funeral. Perhaps most appallingly, when Matthew Sheppard was beaten to death for being gay, this "minister" and his group protested outside the trial of his killers, saying that Sheppard got what he deserved.

Suffice it to say, these people are not popular at all, and the only reason they are free in the States is because the U.S. does not have a hate speech law. Since that is not the case in Canada, they have usually been turned down at the border when they attempted to cross -- making us a popular target of their hate as well.

BUT they are now attempting to get in to protest at Tim McLean's funeral, to shout that his murder is another perverse kind of divine vengeance upon our progessive laws and social policies.

Words almsot fail me; not only is this view absurd and disgusting, but they have no right to come into Canada and spread that horseshit around. These sort of monsters should be stopped at the border, and if they do manage to get through anyway, arrested the minute they open their mouths.

Archived Rant -- Intelligence Denied

Originally posted June 30, 2008.

Archived Rant -- Condom Panic

Originally posted June 25, 2008.

Archived Rant -- Parenting for Dummies

Originally posted June 16, 2008.

Archived Rant -- Ontario Death Ministry

Originally posted June 12, 2008.

Archived Rant -- Fired For Cancer (Nathaniel's Restaurant in Owen Sound/Dan Hilliard)

Originally uploaded June 9, 2008.

Archived Rant -- Auto Industry

Originally uploaded June 4, 2008.

Archived Rant -- Gay Marriage (give it a rest...)

Originally uploaded May 29, 2008.

In other news, as we all know the Olympics are officially a sham, now. What the hell is the point of preaching fairness and peace, when the IOC is bending over for every totalitarian demand of censorship and oppression, that Bejing wants??

If there's any justice, these games will fail miserably.

Archived Rant -- Downloading Music

Originally uploaded May 27, 2008.