Poor Winners

I knew Bruins fans liked to whine but it was usually when they lost. Now that they have won the series and defeated Montreal, Bruin players and fans alike are whining. What a bunch of poor winners.

One of my nephew-in-laws is a Bruins fan and he started being a poor winner on facebook. I simply left him a link to an editorial by Charles Pierce. Pierce is a Bruins fan and contributes to the Boston Globe. It was written before the two questionable hits during the playoff series that should have led to 2 bruins being suspended.

Sorry Bruin Believers, you just don't have the right to whine about a team getting special treatment any more considering the shit you get away with. I guess it does pay to have the son of the NHL Head of Discipline playing on your team.

Bathroom Humour

I was thinking of my father today and some of the trips I took in the truck with him. For some reason something I read in a stall at a truck stop outside Quebec City came to mind.

Here I sit broken hearted

Paid a dime and only farted

Next time I'll take a chance

Save the dime and shit my pants.

The tag line was Spokespear.

Another one bites the dust.

It is official, I officially missed out on yet another job because of the length of time it takes to get the Criminal Background Check with fingerprints done. This one with a government department that supposedly has their own "security office" that can expedite the check. Or so I was told over a month ago when the HR person said they could do it in at least 2 weeks. I don't know of many employers who want to wait 4 months to fill a position they need filled in a few weeks to a month. None I have looked for work from.

Now don't get me wrong, I think the check is a good idea. It is how it is being done that is wrong. There is just no reason I can think of in this day and age that it should take four bloody months for my fingerprints to be compared with those of an offender that shares my birthday. A couple of weeks I could understand but four months? That is insane.

The Harper Government set up the new rules without making sure a check could be done in a timely fashion. So basically if you have the same gender and birthday of someone on a criminal offender list you have to prove your innocence. You have to PAY to prove your innocence! So much for innocent until proven guilty, or the police proving your guilt or innocence. You have to pay to prove it. So much for the justice system in Canada.

It is kind of funny in a sick twisted way. Innocent people are screwed out of work because of these new rules yet Harper has convicted criminals working for him. Convicted criminals like Bruce Carson who actually got clearance to work in the Prime Minister's Office.

So, do I waste my time trying to find a job in the field I want when this check will leave me screwed over every time? Or do I say a hearty Fuck You to Canada and go elsewhere to find work? The way I feel right now a hearty FU is building up.

Life isn't fair.

Sometimes I feel like smacking people upside they head when they say "life isn't fair". No it isn't. Nor is it unfair. It is just life. Life is not some entity that decides to punish or reward us on some whim. It is just life and sometimes shit just happens.

It seems like people use it as a way to blame someone or something for when things go bad in their life. Or some kind of coping mechanism so they can deal with shit.

Talking with several people the past month or so about my dog's condition I was assailed with the phrase. He has cancer. It can happen to anyone, person or animal. I could walk out the door and get hit by a bus crossing the street. Fairness or unfairness has nothing to do with it. It is just life. Shit happens. Sometimes good shit, sometimes bad shit.

Why did my father get cancer and die? Life isn't fair. Why did I slip and fall? Life isn't fair. Why are people having trouble finding jobs? Life isn't fair. Why is my dick so big? Life isn't ... oops ... I mean life IS fair.

Squick me until my head is a whiffle ball if I ever start whining about life like that.

Mook of the Week

I had just finished taking some shots new construction to the right and figured I would get one of the road ahead. We were doing the speed limit and going to be turning left at the lights. Just as I take the shot this asshole, Nova Scotia license EKT 467, shoots into the frame. He was doing at least 20 KPH over the speed limit.

Did a CostCo run with my mother yesterday and encountered a couple of driving mooks. This guy kind of reminded me of those assholes who just like to "show up" in other peoples pictures.

The mook then proceeded to wave and give us the finger. Why? I have no idea. He didn't want in our lane, nor were we impeding him. You can't always explain the actions of a mook. Often you will just get a headache trying to understand their stupidity.

To you, mook EKT 467, go fuck yourself.

What the ... pretentious idiot?!?!?

Writing about the twat who didn't like what I had to say about Blood Money reminded of other internet heroes I have encountered over the years. I still have email from one particularly pretentious moron who went by the name of Michael Page.

It was the late 90's and I had a personal web page up. It wasn't the greatest but I made it and it was mine. One section I had was about Canada. The preamble of the section mentioned that Canada had been declared the best country in the world to live in, 4 times in a row at that point, and I said that in my estimation it was the best place to live. Mr. Page, or that dumb yank as I referred to him when talking with friends, took umbrage with that and sent me the following email.

Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 11:54:42 -0400

From: Michael Page

Subject: Best Country in the World

I came across your web page and couldn't help but notice you proclaiming Canada to be the best country in the world. I recently did some calculations in order to decide which country can really be considered the best country in the world. I took into account close to a dozen factors including crime, unemployment, infant mortality rate, life expectancy plus many others. As it turns out Canada is really not the best country in the world but is rather the 4th greatest country in the world. Japan and Australia came in first and second. I included a small spreadsheet to better illustrate this.

Please change the wording on your home page from saying "The greatest country in the word" to "The forth greatest country in the world" when talking about Canada in order to be accurate. I also included a small graphic file which you can place on your site, to more accurately describe Canada.

Thanks for your cooperation in this matter, and I will check back in order to see that you followed through.

Michael Page

And yes, he actually did include a spreadsheet showing his calculations along with a banner he made saying "Canada: Forth Best Country in the World."

My first thought was that one of my friends was trying to take the piss out of me. If it was meant that way it would have been hilarious. Upon checking into it I discovered that Mr. Page was a real twat and not someone trying to get a laugh. He was a rabid American Nationalist who didn't seem to like Canada, took himself very seriously, and expected everyone else to as well. A few sites I visited at the time got similarly pretentious emails and posts from him "correcting" them and often waving the US flag.

Of course I felt obliged to send him a reply.

Mr. Page

I guess I should start this letter off by thanking you. No matter how often the stereotypes of the arrogant and stupid American start to fade there is always some pompous, self-important twit around to bring them back to life. You sir, are that twit.

First off, you seem to have not read everything I said. I stated that in my estimation Canada is the best country in the world. Of course, I should have known that the big words would have eluded some people, especially those with an American education. Hell, you couldn't even spell fourth properly in the little banner you sent me. Fourth would represent fourth place. Forth, as you misspelled fourth, is an adverb which means onward in place or time, forward. Unless you were referring to the Firth of Forth in Scotland. As I said, an American education.

I guess it is up to me to explain the meaning of estimation to you. In the context I used it, estimation means "in my opinion" Canada is the best in the world. (I will add a link to a dictionary site for you at the end of this just so you don't stay confused.) Opinion, you know, it is something everyone has. You have yours and I have mine. As I also stated, the United Nations felt the same way about Canada for the last four years as well (1994-1997). But of course, their data must be wrong when compared with yours. Ah yes, the arrogant, stupid American. How well the World knows your type.

It is one thing to say to a person that their facts may be wrong. However, it is another to intimate that their opinions are wrong, and that they should not have that opinion. Then to say that they have to change them just because your opinion is different. While you may dispute the facts the U.N. used in making their decision (which you did not once say you were doing, you were challenging my comment, my opinion), you have no control over a persons opinion. My OPINION is that Canada is the best country in the world. Your opinion may be different, but then again, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. Yours just seems to stink more than most.

Somehow you also manage to take your arrogance, and stupidity to yet a higher level. You end your letter by telling me you will check back to make sure I "followed through". As if I would change anything based on the ramblings of some dumb yank. It isn't as if you said, 'Hey i can understand what you are saying, maybe you should take a look at this (your data) and see what you think'. Instead you basically told me to change what my webpage says, and you expect me to not only do what you said, but be grateful you contacted me. Your 'figures' could show that blue cheese is on the moon, that doesn't diminish my right to my opinion that Canada is the best country to live in. Maybe Margaret Atwood was on to something when she wrote that the national illness of America is megalomania. You sure seem to be self-absorbed enough to fit that mould.

Take care old chap, and do keep up the good work of perpetuating, and preserving those stereotypes. For an online dictionary try (link to Webster's online). While it is not the Gage Canadian Dictionary, it should help you understand those big words that seem to confuse you.

Flint

For some reason I never heard from Mr. Page again. I don't think he liked my reply. What can I say, I never cared for pretentious twats like him and I still don't. Although they do provide some amusement.

What the ... Things You Don't Say 2 ??!?!?

My dog is dying. He has cancer. It is inoperable. It is just a matter of time. He has a huge growth on one leg but it doesn't hurt and he still loves to walk. If he doesn't get 3 walks a day he lets you know he isn't happy.

The other day we were out for a walk and ran into a couple. They seemed nice and he LOVES attention. He is an attention whore. Can't get enough. One of the friendliest dogs we have ever had.

They saw the growth and asked about it. That is when the crazy comes out. Now, I don't care what religion a person is or what they believe in. My belief is that if it makes you a good person it is good. If it makes you a bad person it is bad. If it tells you to sacrifice babies or shit like that you have serious problems. I understand people believe in faith healing, shakras, and different kinds of stuff. More power to them. But when you meet someone you don't know and their dog is terminal don't start peddling faith healing.

The woman started going on about how she wished she had her crystals with her and could do a cleansing ceremony for the dog. Then she went on about some other new age mumbo jumbo. What the hell?!?!?

If someone I knew started going off like that I would probably tell them off. Politely, but tell them off nonetheless. They might mean well, they might believe in it, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

So here is someone I don't know peddling their version of crazy. Maybe it was something in my face that warned them it was time to leave. I was trying hard not to tell her off. She wasn't trying to be mean, I don't think. In her mind I am sure she thought she was being nice and helpful. One of my friends always said that when I am truly pissed off I get a "Charles Manson" look that just says "life as you know it is about to end". He has seen it, towards others, a couple of times. Maybe I got that look. Whatever it was, they quickly said bye and left.

You would think common sense would tell a person not to peddle crazy to strangers. When did common sense become so uncommmon?

A&W Sirloin Grandma Burger

Tried the new Grandma Prime Rib burger at A&W for lunch today. It consists of a burger made from Prime Rib, sauteed onions, a horseradish sauce, all on a bun. Overall I liked it. The flavour profile was good, you could taste all of the ingredients. My only complaint would be that the horseradish flavour wasn't strong enough.

I will definitely have another one.

Busy week

It has been a busy week . I had a couple of job interviews. One of them, a term job with the government) wants me but ... I need the CBC with the fingerprint check for it. If they don't get the results in time, that being in a week or so) I lose yet another job because of the length of time this fucking check makes. I gave them my prints almost 2 and a half weeks ago and was told their check takes a minimum 2 weeks.

While I think the check is a great idea it is ridiculous that it takes so long to get the result. 3-4 months for the RCMP to confirm your prints aren't those of an offender with the same birthday just doesn't make sense in this day and age. It has already cost me a few jobs. If this continues I may have to start looking outside of Canada for work again.

Feeling Green?

So ... the "consortium" that runs the leader debates said that they couldn't possibly make any changes in relation to the debates because there just isn't time. Then they find out that the Montreal Canadiens will be playing their 1st game of the 1st round of the playoffs on the same night as the French Language debate. Now all of a sudden the unchangeable debates became ... changeable. They switched it to a night that wouldn't conflict with the Canadien's game.

If it is too late to change and allow the leader of the Green Party into the debate, a party that is running ACROSS Canada and NOT in just one province, why wasn't it too late to change the night of the debate? Did the "consortium" lie in court when they said nothing about the debates could be changed? If so, should they really be in charge of running the debates any more?

I am not a Green Party supporter but I find it incredible that a party that runs candidates across Canada is kept out while the party that wants to destroy Canada and only runs in ONE province is allowed into the debate. If the Green party is kept out then maybe the BQ should be kept out because it doesn't represent Canada, just one province?

You don't know how to google?

Ok, piss on the Tories all you want for their ineptitude but at least they can google and check Facebook (albeit for the wrong reasons). The Liberals let some racist piece of shit from Quebec on their ticket as a candidate. If they had simply googled him they would have seen some of the bile he has spouted. Damn.

Seriously, you don't google potential candidates?!?!?!? Most employers will at least google potentially employees. A woman in England lost her job because the bank she works for checks Facebook comments and saw she had criticised the huge amount of money the bank is paying a foreigner. The Libs can't at least google people they want to help them lead a government? or an opposition? That is sad.

Stephen Harper aka Boy in a Bubble

So, Haper's people kicked university students out of his rallies. Great move to win over the youth vote.

One was a woman who had a picture of herself with Ignatieff and another with Layton on her Facebook page. Yes, Harper's people check the FB page of people coming to their rallies. The asshats that kicked her out actually tore up her guest pass when they ejected her.

Another participated in a non-political rally to get students to vote. When he went to the Tory rally afterwards he was kicked out.

What can I say, considering the contempt the Harper Tories seem to have for Parliament, democracy, and Canadians in general that they would do this is no surprise. Harper's response when asked about the ejections today was surprising.

He started off by refusing to answer questions about Carson. Carson is the staffer with a criminal record who was given access to Secret documents and worked for Harper. Harper previously said he knew of the older convicitons but not the newer ones. One would think that the previous ones alone would have precluded his hiring.

Then he was asked about the students who were kicked out. After saying he couldn't comment on it he said;

"... it is better when you are turning people away than when you can't get people to come."

What an out of touch moron. He actually equates people being ejected with people being turned away because there is no room for them. Maybe he really is living in a bubble that keeps him out of touch with reality.

Bullying

2 teens committed suicide in the past month and bullying is being blamed. Once again people are up arms over bullying and demanding something be done. Unfortunately, people have short attention spans and in a few weeks the outcry will be about something else. Bullying has been a problem for DECADES if not longer and nothing ever seems to be done about it.

They need to treat bullies like criminals. That is what will happen to them if they act the same way when they hit 17. If someone 17+ threatens you they can be charged with assault. If they physically touch you that is battery. If you can prove they have been harassing you that is a whole other criminal charge. One guy I knew in High School, who was a bully, ended up in trouble with the law within a year of graduating. He was acting the same way he did in High School, pushing a smaller guy around and punching him, but now he was an adult. The guy ended up calling the cops and the ex-bully was arrested, charged, convicted, and became a felon.

Why should someone in High School be treated any different? By letting them get away with their bullying in Elementary, Middle, and High School we are giving kids the wrong message. And I am not just talking about the victims. The bullies get the idea that they CAN act like that pretty much with impunity.

Then you have the way they are dealt with in school. I know when I was in school bullying was pretty much ignored. If you complained about it you just got a bigger target on you. A lot of the time you were simply told that it would "build character" if you were the victim. From talking with people about it the situation hasn't improved all that much since then.

I like a measure South Korea took. If you can prove the Public School knew about the bullying of your child they can be held responsible. The school and teachers. A High School a friend worked at was in the middle of being sued for ignoring bullying when I left.

We should hold the schools responsible for not reacting properly to bullying and hold the bullies criminal responsible if they are repeat offenders.

Meatloaf Meltdown

I just finished watching Celebrity Apprentice. Wow. What a meltdown!!!

'loaf went at Gary Busy like you wouldn't believe it. I thought he would have a heart attack. And in the end Gary actually hadn't done anything wrong. Meats bag was misplaced.

I have to say I was impressed by 3 people.

John Rich handled it quite well. He was instrumental in getting the situation under control.

Gary Busy was impressive. He was focused in on Meatloaf but kept his cool.

Meatloaf ended up impressing me in the end too because he didn't just know he did wrong, he apologized for it. And Gary Busy was magnanimous in his acceptance of the apology.

I think this has been the most hyped "event" of this Celebrity Apprentice. It has been in commercials since day one and had people wondering just when the shit was going to hit the fan.

Coalitions

When is a coalition not a coalition? When it the Harper Government trying to set one up.

Harper has castigated the Liberals, and more directly Ignatieff, for trying to form a coalition with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois. He points to the 2008 coalition attempt as well as talking about what is going on currently. Here is some of what Haprer has had to say about coalitions.

The opposition has every right to defeat the government but Stéphane Dion does not have the right to take power without an election.

-Prime Minister Stephen Harper gives the nation a lesson in parliamentary democracy from the foyer of the House of Commons (November 28, 2008)

"I think he's about to play the biggest political game in Canadian history," the Prime Minister said, adding that he would not want to have to govern the country in hard times while being beholden to socialists and separatists, referring to the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.

Harper claiming the Liberals were playing political games.

Harper has argued a coalition is not a legitimate or principled way to form government, and he's pointed to the Bloc in particular, arguing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff shouldn't consider relying on the support of separatists.

The 1st day of the 2011 election.

So, according to Harper a coalition is wrong because it is not legitimate and to form a coalition with the Socialists (NDP) and Separtists (BQ) is just wrong.

That is now ... but in 2004 and 2005 Harper was singing another tune.

He formed a coalition with the NDP and BQ to bring down the Liberal government. He even went so far as to send a letter to the Governor General at the time and talk about forming a coalition government without having another election. This was done just 3 months after the Liberals formed a minority government. The letter said

Excellency,

As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government’s program.

We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.

Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.

Leader of the Opposition

Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

Gilles Duceppe, M.P.

Leader of the Bloc Quebecois

Jack Layton, M.P.

Leader of the New Democratic Party

The very first signature on the letter belongs to Mr. Harper.

That was then and this is now. Harper claims it wasn't a coalition. The parties would just work together but only Tories would be in the cabinet. It was kind of funny to read what one conservative blogger had to say about the coalition Harper made and why it was right.

The governing Liberals had just been implicated in the perhaps the greatest scandal in Canadian history

So you see, my dear Liberal friends, in that context, it was the RESPONSIBILITY of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to work together to remove a potentially corrupt Government from office

In that context, Mr. Harper's comments are not only defensible, THEY'RE COMMENDABLE, for having gone beyond Party rhetoric to defend the Canadian people.

Well, considering the scandals and controversy, including Harper's obvious contempt for Parliament and the Canadian people, that would make any coalition against him legitimate, defensible, and COMMENDABLE using the logic of my dear Conservative friend.

Sorry Stevie, you can spin it any way and call it roses but it still smells like shit. You are an opportunistic hypocrite.

The discussion continued

Just as we were finishing getting the leader talk out of the way H made a commentt you hear a lot. "All politicians are crooks."

I don't agree with that. They aren't all crooks but I do find that they all get co-opted by the system. It doesn't seem to matter how principled they are when they start out eventually they all give in to the temptations of the office. Especially when they get into power.

I was active in politics back in the ,ate 80's and early 90's. I was a Provincial youth riding President and Federal youth riding VP. It was by being that active that I got turned off. I saw just how two faced and hypocritical all politicians or all stripes could be.

Our Federal MP back then was a great guy. Even if it meant going against the party he would do what was right. Until his party became the governing party and he wanted a position of some sort, especially a cabinet seat. Then doing what was right became doing what was politically expedient.

Provincially, around the saw time, you saw the knives out for the party leader. At a closed door meeting of the youth you saw senior party members and MLA's going table to table basically telling the youth to shut up. Don't talk about the leadership problem. It is none of your concern. It was pretty disheartening.

After I mentioned some of this H started going on about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. He didn't like when I started laughing at him. He is supporting Harper and complaining about the rich getting richer. That is, pun intended, rich. :)

I asked him why he was surprised there were so many tax loopholes and legal loopholes for people, especially "the rich", to exploit. He had no answer. So I asked him how many of our politicians were lawyers. A lot of them. What do they do when they get out of politics, even if they get jobs within the party? Most go back to practicing law, even if they are just a figurehead position at a company for a healthy pay check.

Most of our politicians are professional politicians, lawyers, doctors, and the like. They aren't your average everyday person who actually has to live life in the real world. One of my problems with Iggy is that he has lived his life within the hallowed halls of academia and hasn't had to face the real world. Christ, once a professor gets tenure they can't be fired unless they do something very heinous. Compare that to someone who can be downsized at a whim. you tend to look at things from a more realistic angle when you can go from working to unemployed that easily.

And you know what? If they were your average person no one would vote for them! We have become indoctrinated that we need the "elite" governing us when often the "non-elite" have more common sense and honesty.

And when I use elite I am not trying to separate people by class. It is just how we look at politicians. Your average working person doesn't "look like" a politician and people would hold that against them. Face it people are THAT judgemental. (I still remember talking with someone who started going on about a lawyer. The lawyer is question was fat so theh person went on and on about how they couldn't possibly be a good lawyer because they were fat. They didn't LOOK like a lawyer. The persons skill never came into the equation it was all appearance.) Add to that the fact that it isn't easy to run for office unless you have money. But I digress.

After we got past H's irrational hatred of Iggy it made for an interesting discussion.

Talking about Politics

I had an ... interesting discussion about politics at my brother's last night. It was my brother, his wife, his friend H, and H's wife. We were talking about life and food when H slammed a hand down on the table and said "I am going to talk politics now."

He then launched into a small tirade about Ignatieff. The reason he won't vote Ignatieff is because Iggy lived and worked in the US. He talked about how Iggy only came back to be PM. Basically, pretty much Harper's line word for word. thought for thought.

It irked me that he said he was against Iggy mainly because he had lived and worked in another country. I just spent the last 10 years living and working in another country. Using his logic I shouldn't be allowed to run for office. Seriously, if thaht is THE only reason you don't like someone and think someone shouldn't be allowed to run for office you need to re-evaluate your priorities.

I don't think a lot of Iggy as a leader myself. Not because he lived and worked in the US ... and liked it. I find he has no charisma and isn't that personable. He comes off as a dispassionate at times. When he should fight back he seems to hold back. Instead of castigating Harper for his BS he plods on. Not my idea of a great leader.

H was taken aback by that. He had been ready to label me a Liberal who blindly follows Iggy. What can I say, he doesn't know me very well. I am not much into following anyone or anything blindly.

So I asked him about Harper and why he likes him. Basically he feels Harper is the lesser of the evils. He can't get past his hatred of Iggy, dare I say blind hatred. He considers the NDP to be too far to the right. In some ways it reminded me of talking with my students.

My student tell me that they hate (insert Korean object of hatred de jour here). I would ask them why and they would give me a stock answer or say because they are bad. They just couldn't give a real reason why. The answer would basically be "because". That is what it felt like trying to find out why H hated Iggy.

I find that of all the candidates the one I should dislike the most is the most charismatic. Gilles Deuceppe leads the Bloc Quebecois, a party that wants to break up Canada. I watched the leadership election and some of the campaigning in the last election and Duceppe was actually the one who spoke out the MOST about what would be best for Canada. It was sad to see the bloody separatist being the one to confront Harper the most about things that would be in the interest of Canada. Of course they were also in Quebec's interest which is why he did it.

Ignatieff just isn't charismatic. Harper is an opportunist liar. Layton, well, of the non-separatist party leaders he is the most personable. Duceppe is the most charismatic but I don't like his cause. Luckily I am not basing my vote on the party leaders, I am basing it on the candidates in my riding. If not I would have a hard time picking who to vote for.

Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations - Vienna

I just finished watching Bourdain's show on Vienna. It was pretty interesting, definitely a great food place. Two things REALLY stuck out.

The first was a Puss Stick. Bad name for a cheese filled sausage but it looked delicious. They call it the puss stick because if you aren't careful grilling it the sausage will end up exploding. If cooked properly it sometimes oozes in spots like puss from a finger. They say it is good hang over food, especially with some schnapps.

The second thing was Krampus, or as they called him in English Bad Santa. He is supposed to be Santa's Helper. They ate a pork dish called Krampus which was named after him and it is traditionally eaten the day before Christmas.

Great show.