SiCKO - Review

Just came back from watching SiCKO in the theatre. I know, I think I must be the last person on the planet to have watched this movie, but I have been locked away in Canada's arctic for the last 5 weeks so I have an excuse.

I thought this movie was great, but a few problems were still in my mind. Michael Moore has definitly started to refine his skills in the movie making industry. I could almost aquate him as a boxer. In his first fight he came out like a common street brawler, throwing punches and shots with anger and passion but having no finesse, no art, no real style. His second film, he learned from his mistakes and learned some style and art. With every fight he changed from a common street brawler to a heavy weight champion boxer. Learning to dance, rope-a-dope, avoiding hits and picking the spots where he can go in, throw a few punches, do the most damage and then dance out of reach.

The problem I had with the film though was that I found him slightly skewed when it came to comparison of the different countries and their health care. He seemed to have looked for the horror stories in the states but then went to the other countries and found the middle class. Granted he did interview an American that lost the tips of two of his fingers (and he could only afford to replace the $12,000 ring finger tip and not the $60,000 middle finger tip) and then a Canadian worker that lost basically 4 of his fingers on one hand and they all got surgically attached for free because of the Canadian health care system. Then when he was comparing the system as in looking at a family from America that was forced to move to their kids spare room because they couldnt afford the health costs because the husband had 3 heart attacks and the wife had been diagnosed with a tumour in her head. He then went to France and found a middle class family with the husband being an engineer and the wife being an assistant with two kids and they were living comfortably with an $8,000/month income and no debt. Granted, the point he might be making is that the health care puts people into debt, there should still be some common ground to compare.

Go to France/England/Canada and ask for the horror stories. I mean, I have heard some horrible stories about how Workers Compensation Board in Canada wont lift a finger to help people and if they can find a way to screw you over they would. I have heard that most people walk away from WCB thinking that they have been screwed over and no one has walked away happy. Though I would be the anomoly there since I was quite happy with the WCB, but thought that the health care system really needed a looking over. 4 months to get looked at, diagnosed and operated on is a little bit of wait, even for an elective surgery. But it was free (well free in that I didn't have a bill, but not free in that I pay for it through taxes), so can't really complain. I would be interested to see if the other countries had a few horror stories in that the doctors gave a wrong diagnosis, made a mistake here or there and permanantly screwed up someone's health to the point that they couldn't work but the gov't just shrugged their shoulders and went "oh well, what can you expect?"

Michael Moore definitly proved beyong a reasonable doubt that the American system is corrupt and does need reworking. However, as I was told when it comes to proving a point in an experiment or in an essay for university, don't try to prove that your thesis is right (the American health care system sucks) because you can always find evidence that you are right, but prove that your thesis is wrong (American health care system is perfect) because if you can prove that you are wrong, then obviously it is wrong, but if you can't find evidence that it is wrong, then you are obviously right. I found that he went out of his way to prove that the American Health Care system was bad, and he found that evidence, then he went out of his way to prove that the foreign socialized health care system was good, and he found that as well. If he had said that he put out a web page call for all horror stories in France/Britain and he got none whatsoever, then I would have more faith in the movie than if he had just contacted people that might have given him the right answers he was looking for.

Either which way, I found the movie incredibly informative, entertaining, wonderfully written and a great piece of cinema art. He is definitly using his 'power' for good and not evil and can not wait for his next piece to come out and see what he is going to turn his eyes towards.

Edmonton Councillors veto vote 11-1

Before fading off to sleep, I got a bit of a fuming chuckle at the stupidity that exists in the Edmonton City Council, being reported on the news. It was put to a vote for the public to vote on whether or not the Council should be getting their raises that they have been asking for...or I should be saying, telling the Edmonton taxpayer this is what they will be getting. Not a surprise that the motion to put it to public vote was 11-1 against. Kind of tells you the faith the councillors have in their work ability and how the people are seeing them do a good job, doesn't it? I mean, you put it to vote and you know that you are doing a horrible job, you ain't gonna get your money. You know you have done a fantastic job and have made a lot of people happy, you put it to vote cause you know you are gonna get the money.

One councilwoman was even put on TV saying that the council members work long hours, sometimes 60 hours a week, and those long hours and hard work mean they deserve a raise in pay. What I find funny is that the Edmonton council has passed many things in the way of waste of money on from a new sports colliseum, new art gallery and looking to spend nearly a million dollars on upgrading the "Welcome to Edmonton" signs around the city. Yet, the pot holes (AKA car traps) are running wild around the city, affordable housing is far from reach and people are tenting out in parks (the councils reaction? build up fences around the people and give them ID cards to get into the 'tent city'..oh yeah, money well spent there).

The only response I have to the female city councillor that said 'long hours means we deserve more pay" is "long hours mean nothing if you are giving us crap! I can go into a kitchen as a cook, spend 23 hours a day and give you burnt pancakes and a dry turkey. Doesn't mean I should turn to my boss and demand a pay raise saying I work so many hours. " How about the city councillors try something new for a change. Give us good quality work and leadership and not a bunch of quantity hours spent in the office thinking of many ways to flush Edmonton tax payers money down the toilet.

Pity I won't be around to throw my ballot in the direction of anyone but those that are already sitting on council. Hell, I would even consider running for mayor. I mean, if people are this fed up with Mandell and the bunch in the council chairs, they would vote in anyone just to show him that he can't run the city roughshod. I remember there was a 22 year old college student in Red Deer that ran for mayor once. Maybe that is what we need? a University of Alberta Political Science student to give it a go and show them what some new fresh blood can do in the system.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2007/08/30/4457249-sun.html

Council rejects public vote on pay raise

By FRANK LANDRY, CITY HALL BUREAU

So much for a public vote on whether city councillors deserve a 13% pay hike.

In an 11-1 decision, civic politicians shot down a motion brought forward by Coun. Mike Nickel that would have seen the question placed on the fall election ballot.

That all but guarantees the raises will go through.

"I saw this as nothing more than a political gimmick on behalf of a particular organization," Coun. Michael Phair said yesterday.

"It was an attempt to undermine politicians ... That really appals me."

Phair said in a democratic society, people elect politicians to make decisions on their behalf, and that's exactly what happened in this case.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation had collected 2,700 signatures from Edmontonians over a period of a year demanding a public vote on the pay hike and perks package.

In order to force a referendum on the issue, about 71,000 signatures would have to be collected within a period of 60 days.

The petitions were presented to Nickel last week. He brought forward the motion to council late Tuesday night.

"Someone needs to get a dictionary and look up the word democracy," said Scott Hennig, Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "Democracy does not mean a small group of people, once they're elected, get to do whatever they want."

Council last summer OK'd a boost to their pay and benefits, including a 30% hike in monthly car allowance and a larger RRSP contribution. While most of the perks have already kicked in, the raise takes effect Oct. 23.

Once it does, councillors will be making $72,000, with one-third of that being tax-free. The mayor's pay will rise 7% to $130,000.

City clerk David Edey said placing the question on the ballot would have cost the city $100,000 to $150,000 in advertising and related expenses.

As well, the result would not have been legally binding.

"The next council would have the discretion to pass it or not," Edey said.

Phair - who is not seeking re-election - said members of council are not overpaid. To drive home his point, at Tuesday's council meeting he produced a T4 tax slip. He said he made about $52,000 last year after taxes and retirement savings were deducted.

"That paid for my mortgage, and that paid for the payments on my automobile, and it paid for gas and electricity and food and all the other kinds of things people do.

"I don't have any trouble showing that's what it is."

Nickel was unavailable yesterday for comment.

Coun. Kim Krushell said a public vote on the pay hike wouldn't be worth the expense, especially because it wouldn't be binding. "I looked at all these facts and said, 'Why would I support spending more money?' "

She said voters ultimately will be able to toss city politicians out of office on election day if they disagree with decisions that have been made.

Mayor Stephen Mandel was not present for Tuesday's vote, but he's said he wouldn't support putting the question on the ballot.

family chuckles

Visiting my parents is always a good and interesting thing to do. Visiting them for 6 days on my travels and got the usual reception. Which means picked up, chatted for a few hours to catch up on events, learn a few things and then sit back and watch TV and chat about the shows. Also, my mother has a habit of cutting out newspaper articles that I might find interesting as well as comics that give her a chuckle. This time out I got a few articles about 'culinary boot camp' and 'the first 10 anniversary gifts to give' as well as an article that hit the Edmonton Journal a few months ago concerning Singapore and the minister wage increase. This is what the article read:

***
SINGAPORE MINISTERS SUDDENLY MILLIONAIRES

Singapore/ How much money does it take to keep a government minister in Singapore happy?

The government says a million dollars is not enough, and on Monday it annouced a 60-per-cent boost in ministers' salaries, to an average of $1.9 million Singapore dollars, or about $1.3 million US, by next year.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will see his pay jump to about $2 million -- five times the $400,000 earned by President George W. Bush.

Despire a public outcry, officials have defended the increase, saying the government has to pay well to attract people -- and to keep corruption at bay.
***

After having kept up to date on the reading in Singapore, as well as the few blog comments made when this increase was announced, I really wasn't that shocked or astounded to read this now. After all, kind of hard to gasp and go "OH MY GOD!" when you have done that a few months earlier. What got me about the article was the statement 'despite a public outcry'. When I read about a 'public outcry' I think North American public outcry of people looking to buck the system and not pay taxes to get the message across that they are not happy with this, people protesting in the streets (or at least in front of city halls or their parliament buildings), at the very least there is a bombardment of letters to the local newspapers or letters to the local politicians saying that this is a load of crap and threatening lack of support in the next election if this is actually done. But, after keeping an eye on the papers, there was no mention of strikes, no mention of protests, no mention of basically anything. The only public outcry I read about was the fact that people in the streets mumbled "lousy thing to do to us" and then nothing. Think the bloggers covered more about this than the papers did. So, this public outcry must have been the letters being sent by the handful to the local GRC politicians/ministers and nothing really outcrying. Perhaps the article should have report "Despite a public murmering.." or "..public ripple.." over an 'outcry'. Guess some papers just aren't up to snuff with the proper use of the english language and all and want to sensationalize the news instead of reporting what actually happens.

The other thing that got me shaking my head was the show The Power of Ten (http://www.cbs.com/primetime/powerof10/about/). Wikipedia gives a brief idea of the game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_10) though I also read in a magazine that 25% of readers have found errors or falsehoods in the reporting, so take it with a grain of salt. Nothing is stated as to where they actually get their statistics that they ask to the people. I think it is drastically skewed. I mean, one question was "what percentage of American men would leave their wives if she gained 100 lbs?" Of course, being a guy and knowing how shallow us North American men are, I went with a high percentage of 60-100% of men. I mean with all this obssession with weight loss, age reduction beauty treatments and crap like that, obviously there is something there with physical beauty, right? Well, turns out that only 24% of men would do this. Ok, I can justify it, the question was obviously asked with the wife standing next to the man and only a few brave men were willing to sleep on the sofa and end up spending nearly $300 on flowers and gifts to say that they were sorry.

Then they asked "what percentage of americans eat out at a fast food restaurant more than once a week?" Again, seeing the obesity problem in the States go through the roof to the point of it being considered an epidemic, I put the range into the 60-90%. Answer? 23% of the poled people in America eat out at a fast food place more than once a week. Got me wondering, what people are they poling here? Are they going to health food stores and work out gyms and polling them? I mean, if you look at the student life style, they live on pizza and burgers and students and single mothers have to make up for a large percentage of the American population, so there is a lot of fast food eating happening there.

The last question I watched before walking away shaking my head in wonderment was "what percentage of Americans think that they could, if they wanted to, sneak a firearm through airport security?" Of course, I figured that Americans being the safety people that they are would be between 1-21% of people think they could do it. Answer? 56% of Americans seem to think that they could sneak a firearm through airport security. Are they out of their minds? A 75 year old grandmother can't get knitting needles on a plane, I can't even get a bottle of water on a plane, ladies have trouble getting lipstick and facial cream together (you can have a lipstick tube OR a facial cream container, but both would go over the 100ml limit) and 56% of Americans think that they can get a fire arm onto a plane?

I think that with these answers coming out I have come up with a statistic of my own. How many Americans lie on surveys, and I am sure that the answer is in the high top 5 percentile. Cause the only other alternative is 'how many Americans are totally nuts?'

why I dont stand on the curb

When I take the LRT or even cross the street here, I never stand on the corner or at the immediate ledge until the train or traffic has come to a complete stop. So many times I have been passed by people that go right to the curb and then turn and look at me strangely like I am an idiot for standing back a couple of feet. Why do I do it? Simple answer, too many freaks out there. This happened recently and I remember when I was going to the university I read a case of a student that was pushed onto the tracks. Luckily, the student was saved by another person and the 'pusher' was tackled and 'apprehended' (read a few punches and kicks that left him stunned) for police and he was charged. What is it with people that they feel the need to push someone into the path of an oncoming train? Not going to say anything yet about drug debts gone bad or racial rivalry til after this woman's case is heard. Can hardly wait to hear that she has been considered 'mentally unstable', goes into a mental hospital and is released 6 months later 'cured and fit to enter society'.

In the meantime, you can find me standing in the middle of the train platform or at least 4 feet from the curb on the traffic streets wondering how many people around me are 'mentally stable' individuals.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070827/transit_killing_070827/20070827?hub=Canada

Suspect in Calgary transit killing arrested
Updated Mon. Aug. 27 2007 7:24 PM ET
Canadian Press

CALGARY -- The woman who allegedly shoved a Calgary teenager into a moving transit train earlier this month is now behind bars and facing murder charges.

Natalie Michelle Pasqua, 25, was arrested in Edmonton over the weekend on unrelated mischief and obstruction charges after giving police a false name.

Once she was identified, Calgary police travelled to the Alberta capital and charged her on Sunday night with second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Gage Jeffrey Prevost.
Calgary police had been searching for Pasqua since Aug. 1 when Prevost was pushed from a crowded train platform during afternoon rush hour and fell in between two moving cars.

The teen died instantly from massive internal injuries after falling into the gap between two moving cars and getting trapped upside down between the train and the platform in front of more than 100 commuters.

Det. John Dooks, with Calgary Police Service's violent crimes section, said Pasqua will make her first appearance on the murder charge on Friday once her other charges have been dealt with in Edmonton.

Police believe Prevost and Pasqua had been arguing just moments before the fatal push, but refused to say what the argument was about "for investigative reasons.''

"They may have been known to each other _ we don't think they were close friends or associates or domestic partners or anything like that,'' Dooks said Monday afternoon.

The area where Prevost died is an area known to be awash in drugs and other street crime.

Dooks wouldn't say if Pasqua made a statement to police before the murder charge was laid.
Police had initially hoped that surveillance cameras on the transit platform would capture what happened but the sheer number of commuters obscured the view.

They ended up soliciting businesses in the area for any video footage taken at the time.
Police believe the woman responsible for killing Prevost escaped immediately after the incident.
The next day they issued a release asking for assistance in finding a the woman whom they described as "dark-skinned, possibly aboriginal, in her mid-20s, with facial scarring'' and wearing tight-fitting pants and a red or pink tank top.

A few days later, a woman fitting the police description was waiting for a train when she was set upon by a group of Prevost's friends who had returned to the station for an impromptu memorial. She hadn't even heard about the crime.

Police took her away from the mob in handcuffs after she was hit and spat upon. They later issued a news release saying she had been questioned and cleared of any involvement in Prevost's death.

In the three weeks before her arrest, Calgary police extended their search for Pasqua to both Regina and Edmonton where she had been known to frequent, as well as the Muskowekwan First Nation near Punnichy, Sask.

Prevost's friends and family held a memorial service Sunday in Charlottetown, P.E.I., where he used to live.

edmontonsun comments

every now and then I read a comment in the EdmontonSun that I go "YES!" and then I read another that makes me go "D'OH!". For instance, this comment made by R.R. Sidor (http://www.edmontonsun.ca/Comment/Letters/2007/08/18/4426997.html) about cell phone users

"Calling all phone addicts: if you could see how silly you look on your cell in public, you would disconnect from this foolish practice. Phones should be used to communicate important messages and for emergencies, not to annoy and disrupt concentration. Warnings should be placed on cellphones, stating they may cause serious damage when used with other devices. The use of cellphones while driving should be a criminal offence."

I agree, cell phones should be used as an emergency device or really important message. No matter how badly you may think it is, calling someone from the video store to ask "where you at?" and what movie you should rent to 'chillax with' is NOT an important emergency. I also think people look goofy standing in the supermarket going "yeah, ok, got the spaghetti sauce...anything else we need? milk? ok...gonna go to the milk aisle now...oh, just passed the canned fruit, do we need pineapple chunks?" How about some advanced planning here? make a freaking list people. I guess I am just an antisocial person since I think going shopping or running errands by myself to spend some quiet time alone with my thoughts is a good thing and I dont need a cell phone to talk to friends who might be in another store or doing something else constantly to keep me company.

Then there are comment like W.P. Allen makes (http://www.edmontonsun.ca/Comment/Letters/2007/08/17/4424325.html) that make me go "D'OH":

"I have no problem with multiculturalism, but if Canada is a free country then why am I seeing more and more women draped in robes from head to toe with veils hiding their faces? Surely the women who wear this garb are not truly free. I don't understand why anyone would come to this country only to live by the same oppressive laws and/or religious doctrines of the country from which they fled. To me it looks like the women are being kept under control and that is not freedom. "

I like how s/he starts off by saying they have no problem with multiculturalism but then says that these women are obviously being held hostage of religious/cultural dogma because they are retaining their religious/cultural beliefs. I get the feeling the message behind this comment is "I have nothing against multiculturalism as long as you are my culture". I guess W.P. doesn't really consider the thought that the ladies came to Canada and made a choice to retain their cultural beliefs. Perhaps they came for the freedom and safety knowing that they can not be beaten or forced into some cultural medical procedure that they would have undergone in their homeland, but they choose to retain their clothing habits.

Though I did think like W.P. did before then I put it into terms of what I wear and what I think. I am totally against brand name labels. I find it strange to pay $120 for a pair of jeans that have a brand name when I can buy a pair of jeans for $40 that are perfectly fine but lacking the name label on them. So, I have exercised my freedom of choice to wear the cheaper brands. However, so many people have commented that I obviously 1) have no pride in my appearance since I can afford higher priced clothes to show my financial stability but I dont, or 2) am poor and forced to wear cheaper quality clothes and thus they pity me. So, after I thought "it is my choice of what I wear, though I do have the freedom to change" I considered maybe that is the same way for people that come from other countries with cultural clothes (turbins, head scarves, etc...).

So, nice to know there are some people out there that think like I do. I do love our opinion/comments page of the papers. Always nice to have a section to vent and show either our arrogance/ignorance of the world.

polls...gotta love them

Ahhh, polls. Dont you just love them? I mean, people ask questions that might be on your mind, put it up and then you vote on what you think the answer should be. Granted, they always seem to give a couple of answers, but yours might not be in the possibilities. Of course there is the problem with bias based on the skew factor. People that take the time to make a call are usually ones that have a huge and passionate view point on that subject. Those that don't really care either breeze through it or randomly pick something without thinking.

Some polls I have found are in http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate which are commonly associated with Canadian news events and people respond to those. Others are found at http://edmsun.canoe.ca/poll_archive.html which tends to stick to Edmonton concerns or questions, but can branch out to federal news events as well, though the general answers here will be from Albertans, if not solely Edmontonians.

However, the one place that I had to top my head for polling is the Singapore polls at http://www.channelnewsasia.com. The polls that I am used to are either a one sentence question followed by either a one or two word answer (no, not really, possibly) or at the most extreme a 7 word answer (Why should I? not like I care). However, their polls are amazing because they ask a question and then give usually 3 answers that are near paragraphs. I usually breeze through it but dont vote or throw in my two cents worth. However, this last one today caught my eye and I had to make a mention for posterity.

The Poll:

It's National Day week. And what makes me proud of Singapore is...

our food. After all, where is there such a delicious variety ? 20 % 296
our easy tolerance. Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasians and foreigners are all respected and accepted. 46 % 694
our chilli padi factor - a little red dot that's only small in land size. 34 % 507
(as of 9:34pm August 16 Canada time/11:34am August 17th Singapore time)

Now, since I am not Singaporean, I can not pick on the responses. Also because I have not lived in Singapore, I can not comment either. However, being a visitor of Singapore a few times to visit my first friend, then girlfriend, then fiancee, and now wife, in Singapore, I think I can comment briefly. 'easy tolerance' of all? 694 people living in Singapore out of the 1497 people giving answers think that Singapore is tolerant towards other races? Granted, the different races are not hunting each other down in the street, forming massive gangs of 'chinese' and 'malay' roaming gangs doing "The Warriors" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/)down their streets in the dead of night. Though, tolerance? I wonder if it is a natural tolerance where the nation realizes that the people are basically the same underneath, though their skin is a different colour and the language is a little different; or could this be a legally enforced tolerance?

Why do I say those things? I remember when the elections were happening in Singapore and I got to ask questions. I remember the Mentor Minister saying that the GRCs exist because if the people were given just candidates of a race (Chinese, Malay, Indian) then the people would vote solely for their race regardless of the qualifications. Thus the majority of the gov't would be Chinese since Chinese is the main percentage of Singapore population, and that would lead to racial distrust and unrest since how can all the races be governed respectfully by a pure (or highly scewed) chinese gov't? When I asked a people that I was introduced to through my wife, they responded with a nod saying "yeah, that would most likely happen if it came down to voting for an individual person".

Then there is the personal level. I have walked down the streets of Canada holding my wife's hand, and I have walked down the streets of Singapore holding my wife's hand. I have never seen so many stares, glares, frowns or shaken heads at us in Singapore than in Canada. It was even told to me that parents usually prefer their children to mingle with their own race, though the children are learning to be more accepting with the whole racial harmony thing, though it just so happens that when it comes to pairing up for marriage, I get the feeling you stick to your own race. I get the feeling it is almost like the farm yards I see here scattered around Canada. Chickens can play with ducks, ducks can play with cows, even a horse can run with the kittens, but when it comes to breeding and settling down, you stick to your own live stock. Of course, there are exceptions such as my wife and a few of her friends when it comes to settling down they selected different races, but on the whole it seems that if you are going to mix a race it is usually a caucasian with another. Though, I am sure there are some that an Indian woman would marry a chinese man, or a Malay man would marry a chinese woman, just not that common.

Another thing that got me was the use of renting where they would actually put on the 'for rent' notices "Chinese Only" or "Malay not accepted". How can you have tolerance where races are "all respected and accepted" when some of them can't rent a flat or apply for a job because of their race? Not really accepting or respectful now is it? Wonder if the people who voted for the acceptance part actually read the paper or the rental notices and see those. It also doesn't even have to be a straight forward writing or 'these people only', but it can be seen in the smaller details of the language of the posting. English in Singapore is to be the official language of administration and I have read that supposedly the signs are all written in English, kids speak english and most of the people speak english as well. However, signs are posted in all 3 other languages of Tamil, Malay and Mandarin. So, if you are Malay, taken English and Malay in school (because of your mother tongue race) and you see a sign in Mandarin, sort of excludes you from that sign doesn't it?

I guess from my observations of Singapore culture, the food is the most identifying factor of the small island country. As for their acceptance, I would say it is more like a 'hang out with who you want, but just dont marry into the race'. chickens can run with the turkeys, but don't look at mating and bringing any chirkeys into the world.

movie remakes...oh the humanity!!!

Oh the humanity of it all. When will they stop rehashing past stuff and making it 'updated' for the kids of today? please, leave our childhood alone, Hollywood! First the actual trailer of this atrocity:



and now a flubbed up movie critic review of the show. *sigh* when will it end?



Though I still think the Chipettes are pretty cute/hot. Even if they are a cartoon, and animal life.

Why can't Hollywood stop remaking old cartoons from the 80's and stick to making great block buster plot based movies like this one?




http://www.ninjacheerleaders.com/

I guess the world will never know.

sometimes, you just need to laugh

After watching the news with mud slide victims in Malaysia, problems in China, mass recall of toys, problems with the space shuttle, taliban kidnappings, church shootings, lost kids all over with parents hope stretched to the limit...I felt the need to give the world a little levity. Nothing major, and it surely wont solve all the problems that were just mentioned, but as I like to say "if you arent laughing, you are crying and life is too short to be crying all the time"

WWII Disney Propoganda Film

Found this little cartoon through various channels. I had to laugh while I was watching it, considering the portrayal of 'emotion' in the respective genders. Yeah, this may be a propogandist film, but I also wonder if people would call it extremely sexist.



Though after watching this clip, I went recalled the speeches and news reports that were pouring out on the USA and Canada during the beginning of the war long ago. Strange how Fear, Sympathy, Pride, Hate that was used as a reason why we should fight Hitler long ago are the same four ways that other governments use to justify every war and attack that exists. Guess when it comes to the battle between 'we' and 'they', THEY are always horrible evil men with words of lies and deceit, whereas WE are always pure and noble to battle to the end huh?

I think George Carlin said it best when he said "fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity".

force to do as bad as force to don't

Hear is a switch that got me laughing. A woman is actually fighting the law about what he last name should be after marriage. Nope, she doesn't want to retain her maiden name, she is actually fighting to take her husbands name. Talk about a switch huh? Usually when it comes to ladies fighting for last names, it usually means that they don't want to take the husband's last name. I can see their fears in that by losing their last name they essentially lose their identity of achievement and life and take on the role of a new person under the 'command' or 'ownership' of a new person. Could be similiar to the time our family got from a lady that was moving a middle aged cat named Fargo at the time. My mother didn't like the name so she renamed the cat Susie Q, though the rest of the family was more than happy to call the cat 'Farto'. So, talk about an identity crisis, is the cat's name Susie Q, Fargo or Farto? I wonder if that is how it is for women as well. I know I can not shrug off the fear as irrational considering I wouldn't even consider giving up my last name for that of my wife's.

I guess what it comes down to is not the fact of if you are forced to change your name, but that you are given the option of changing your name if you want to. I think that there is really no difference in telling a person that they have to do something one way or the other. If you say, like in Quebec "You have to keep your maiden name" is as bad as saying in other provinces "you have to take your husbands name". Whereas some women, who want to keep their name, might have rejoiced in the law saying they have to keep their name, others see it as the flip side of the oppression and forcing.

Though when it comes to the naming of the children, what happens. By the sounds of it women are taking the position that they carried the child for 9 months, therefore the child takes the female name. While the men might just take the position that the children have taken the name of the father for as long as people can remember, therefore the child should be named after the father. Too bad the law didn't see it that way and go "Fine, ladies, the child is totally yours completely in name and ownership. Men, you don't have to pay child support or help raising the children in the least. Go forth, be fruitful and knock up as many women as you can". Don't see that happening anytime soon though considering when it comes to paying and raising, the child is always 'ours' but when it comes to naming and ownership, it is usually 'womans'. Settling this problem of naming the children doesn't get any better with the solution of hyphenated names, as I have posted earlier in another blog (http://captcanuck.blogspot.com/2007/08/hyphenated-headaches.html).

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070810/quebec_marriage_laws_070810/20070810?hub=Canada

Newlywed wants option to take spouse's name
Updated Fri. Aug. 10 2007 11:14 AM ET

There are renewed calls for women to be allowed to take their husband's last name upon marriage in Quebec, with one Ontario-born newlywed challenging Premier Jean Charest to change the provincial law.

Quebec has prohibited women from taking their spouse's name since 1981, but many young women today want to have the choice to do so, family law experts say.

The Ontario-born Caroline Parent, who lives in Gatineau, is among those frustrated by the long-standing legislation. The 27-year-old lives in Quebec with her new husband Karl Lamirande, but was appalled when informed she could not take his last name.

"One day we're going to start a family and I would love to share the same name as my future children," she told CTV News.

Parent has written a letter to Charest demanding an explanation.

"I outlined the fact that I thought it wasn't fair that women in Quebec don't have a choice in the matter," she said.

When the marriage law was created, it was hailed as a triumph by feminists and equality rights activists.

"It was seen as extremely progressive at the time," said Robert Leckey, who teaches family law at McGill University.

"I don't think feminists of the day imagined that 25 years later people would be complaining that they don't have the choice to be traditional."

In other provinces, a woman can begin using her husband's name after marriage. Changing government documents is also an easy task with a provincial marriage certificate.

In Quebec, women are sometimes allowed to have their name changed, but the director of civil status must give approval. Reasons to grant the change include names that are difficult to spell or pronounce, or names that are mocked or that have been made infamous.

Young women want option

Parent is among a growing group of traditional and young women who want the choice to take their partner's name, says Maria Battaglia, an accredited family and international mediator and radio host.

"I'm very surprised that no one has raised the issue of the constitutionality of not giving a woman a right to choose whatever name they wish," she told CTV Newsnet.

"To my knowledge there was never any debate -- it was just given as a fact of Quebec life."
The civil law reform took place shortly after the creation of the Quebec Charter of Rights.

Battaglia says many women are contacting her to see how they can change their last names.
"What I tell people is on all your legal documents, use your maiden name ... but in all social settings -- your children's schools, even your credit cards, anything else you're doing -- you should be able to use your husband's name," she says.

"There is a choice in terms of what you're using socially but there are no options when it comes to legal recourse."

and now for something completely different...

For something on the lighter side of life, I just love comedy with cats. This one had me in stitches. Especially when it came to the cats 'horrible defeats'. Ahhh, no wonder cats are better than dogs.




For a bit of humanoid comedy, check out Eddie Izzard as he tells how Britian became a huge empire.

Canadian protesters deported...return home

well, that was quick and painless. The Canadian, and apparently the UK and US protestors, have been deported from China back to their home countries. Only after supposedly being questioned without sleep fro 36 hours, no physical harm was done to them. I do like the one quote from the father of one of the individuals when he said "Being a Canadian citizen helped Lhadon's cause". Too bad he didn't expand on that as to what the cause was. If he meant that being Canadian helped her get news coverage to the plight of the Tibetian people, or if he meant that being a Canadian, with the political and country influence behind her, helped get these individuals out of hot water easier since we are just that whacky country from across the ocean that really are just a bunch of do-gooder loonies. Either which way, the individuals have gone on their merry way and the incident, I am sure, will be forgotten. Though, strangely enough, I figure if a China citizen came to USA, UK or Canada and put up a huge banner like that with a protest slogan ('Free Quebec/Natives' for Canada, 'Stop the war' in USA, or 'Fish and chips forever' in UK) on a national monument (CN Tower, Mount Rushmore, Clock Tower/Palace of Westminster), chances are the country would have asked for at least some sort of punishment. Wouldn't go so far as a beating, execution or years in jail, but at least a fine or a week or two in jail. Guess if you are protesting human rights violations, sort of hard to punish them. Kind of like someone protesting an abortion clinic cause it is murder and in the process killing doctors/nurses that are performing the procedure.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070809/china_protest_reaction_070809/20070809?hub=Canada

Canadians in the news

It is always nice to open the paper and read your nationality in the news, isnt it? Kind of heartbreaking though when it is followed by "...have been detained on charges". Yeah, yet again, the do-gooders of Canadian life are making us look more and more like Americans. Only difference is that Americans look at a country and go "hmmm, they have human rights violations AND they got oil...we must invade to save the oi...I mean, people!" whereas Canadians just go "hmmm, I think those are human rights violations, gotta go in and protest cause that is what we do in Canada!". Problem is, easier to arrest two or three Canadians holding a banner than an entire American army with guns and tanks walking into your country.

Two Canadians were detained (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070807/china_protest_070807?s_name=&no_ads=) for being two of 6 activists in the 'free tibet' endeavor. Looks like they are reporting the others are being from the U.K. and USA. Hmmmm, is it just me or does it always seem to be the British or ex-British people that cause all the problems with activists and trying to 'make the world a better place'? I mean, if you ever hear that Iraq/Iran ever did a protest, it will probably include the words 'suicide' and 'bombs' and 'injured/killed'. Only the ex/British seem to go with the stupid banners and saying "hey look, they are hurting people here". I mean, China has occupied Tibet since apparently 1951 claiming it to be a part of China. Now, you think that in 56 years the human rights violations would have been seen by other countries. Not like all the countries of the world are now going to sit up and go 'my GOD! Tibet is under China rule! When did that happen!?!?! oh my god, we must do something now!". Not like China has been going "yes, beat those people. Surpess their will. Give them no freedoms....oh, wait, here comes another country looking over the border. Quick, everyone...be happy! those prisons of mass torture..quick, let's take some Martha Stewart tips..make them look like guest houses..yeah, that's the ticket."

Now it seems a third Canadian has been detained (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070807/china_protest_070808/20070808?hub=World). Granted, the Tibetan-Canadian executive organizer of the Students for a Free Tibet. So, guess that would be a Tibetan by birth, Canadian by immigration. Kind of a half breed Canadian.

Anyways, gonna see if I can follow this story more. I heard in an interview with the sister of Price (one of the Canadians) that he has done something like this before, was detained but the Canadian Embassy stepped in and he was released. Gonna see if the Chinese have a better way of handling these 'terrorists'.

Glad to see that I am not the only Canadian that thinks the actions were on the slightly foolish side.

What do you think of the Canadians detained in China after calling for a free Tibet?
Foolish 6019 votes (77 %)
Heroic 1827 votes (23 %)

Total Votes: 7846

Egad, another one AND Gay Rights Cancelled

Reading in the paper today, two things. Another hyphenated name. They are all over the place. "Angela Barabash-McCann" (http://www.edmontonsun.ca/Comment/Letters/2007/08/04/4392996.html)

Then read an article in which a gay rights forum in Singapore was canceled in which a retired Canadian law professor was to speak at.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070803/singapore_canadian_070803/20070803?hub=Canada

I can understand the forum being canceled knowing Singapore's low tolerance for anything out of the 'norm' for their way of life. Gov't knows best and the best way to keep the public safe is to ban all possible things to confuse the public. Movies, shows, life style, addictive substances all have to be properly monitored by the gov't or else people might get hurt. I can even say that I support the saying that countries have no right entering into other countries telling them what to do there. I know I would take major offense to Singapore's telling Canada that they are too light on the punishment of others and that we should start hanging them by the huge numbers that Singapore does, or say that we should beat our criminals like Singaporeans have no trouble doing (but only the men..women shouldn't be caned).

The one statement that I found head scratching was "Our laws are an expression and reflection of the values of our society". Granted I am no expert on Singaporean life and thought. I have to admit that my knowledge of Singaporean mentality about what is valued in society is limited to a Singaporean wife and her friends, but I really didn't see a huge hatred of homosexuals in those people. Everytime a forum or movie was banned due to 'homosexual concerns', they were rather outspoken about the banning than the act. Almost as if the people were ok to have others love whatever gender the person choose to love. Made me wonder then, if the laws are an expression and reflection of what the PAP deem to be acceptable and valued in society.

Granted, this sort of thing happens even here in Canada where a Nova Scotian mayor refused to raise the gay pride flag during the gay pride event (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070803/against_pride_flag_080803/20070803?hub=Canada) Though their excuse was that the gay movement clashes with their christian belief. So which is worse, allowing the gay pride to hold a day but not to raise the flag, or ban a homosexual forum completely and ban the actual sex act because 'the law is a reflection of the beliefs of the society values'?

Gay rights forum featuring Canadian cancelled
Updated Fri. Aug. 3 2007 11:13 AM ET
Associated Press
SINGAPORE --
Authorities in Singapore on Friday banned a gay rights forum at which a retired Canadian law professor was to speak, the second time in a week the city-state has forbidden an event that touches on gay issues.

The forum was to feature Douglas Sanders, a professor emeritus in law at the University of British Columbia, and Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, the event's organizer, Alex Au, told The Associated Press.

But because the Aug. 7 forum, titled "Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia," was deemed contrary to public interest, police cancelled the event's license Friday and immigration authorities rejected Sander's visa application, Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry said.

"Our laws are an expression and reflection of the values of our society; the discourse over a domestic issue such as the laws that govern homosexuality in Singapore must be reserved for Singaporeans ... foreigners should refrain from interfering," the statement said.

But Au, the forum's organizer, said Sanders had no such intention.

"He was going to do a lecture in Singapore about international trends. He is not an expert on Singapore and had no intention of talking about Singapore," Au said.

Singapore's censors earlier in the week banned an exhibition of photographs depicting gay men and women kissing, also organized by Au, saying the images "promote a homosexual lifestyle, and cannot be allowed.''

The prohibitions have come amid a debate in the city-state on whether gay sex should be decriminalized. Singapore's founding leader, Lee Kuan Yew, a few months ago questioned the ban on gay sex, saying the government should not act as moral police.

Under Singapore law, gay sex is punishable by a maximum of two years in jail. Authorities have banned gay festivals and censored gay films, but despite the official ban on gay sex, there have been few prosecutions.

Truer words were never spoken

In the last week and a half, I have had horrible problems with MSN Live Windows. It sometimes starts up, sometimes doesn't, often connects but won't do anything or will connect and then freeze 5 minutes into the chat. I have to close it down and it asks me if I want to send an error report to the company so that they can fix the problem. Normally I am against this sort of thing since I figure I got the software from them, I shouldn't be 'testing' it and telling them what is wrong, they should hire people to find and fix the problem even before they send it out. But, for gits and shiggles I decided to click 'send error report' and it took me to a webpage to 'help stop this from happening again'. What did they say is the problem?

"This problem was caused by MSN Messenger. MSN Messenger was created by Microsoft Corporation.
There is no solution for this problem at this time."

Guess that pretty much says it all don't it? MSN created by Microsoft and since there is no solution to fixing the Microsoft Corporation, you are screwed with crappy programs. Anyone found a cure/solution for stupidity yet?

Time travel paradox and Terminator

Hmm, mind wandered a bit at work and got to thinking of the great time travel paradox of killing your own grandfather and put it to use on a great movie, The Terminator.

Paradox simply going - If you went back in time and killed your own grandfather when he was a teen, what would happen to the time line since he would not have been around to father your mother/father and thus you would never have been born making it impossible for you to go back in time to kill your grandfather.

Now, look at it in the way of Terminator. The Terminator (played by the ever so loveable Arnie) is sent back in time by Skynet to kill Sarah Connor so that John Connor can never be born who would be the leader of the revelution of humans against the machines. So, if Arnie had succeded in his mission (come on, not like I spoiled anything...when would you have a villian actually being successful in his plot????) then why would he have been sent back from the future to kill Sarah Connor because Skynet would not have known about John Connor, there might have not been a rebelion against the machines or possibly there would have been a new leader arising at which point there is always going to be a rebellion so who cares who is the leader.

So, taking to meaning that if Arnie did kill Sarah and another leader came up, then wouldn't Arnie have been sent back originally to kill that other leader, thus making it mean that he wasn't sent back to kill Sarah, so Sarah lived and therefore she could have had John Connor and the time line would have been returned to normal? Wouldn't that mean that no matter how hard Arnie tried, Sarah would definitly live to have John and he would definitly live to the time that he would have died naturally without time travel intervention? Sort of makes the movies anti-climatic (at least now) like watching Star Wars The Phantom Menace and watching Anikin go though the pod racing and you really aren't worried he is going to die cause you have already watched what happens to him in the 4th-6th movie.

Hyphenated headaches

I always wondered about this when it came to hyphenated names. Women these days are wanting to keep their name and hyphenate it with their newly wed spouse. So you get the woman's first name, her last name, and then the husbands last name. I always wondered, when kids come along, if they take the hyphenated names as well. So you would get Jane Doe who married John Smith, she is now Jane Doe-Smith. Then little bouncing Diane Doe-Smith comes along. Diane Doe-Smith meets Bobby Brown and marries him and (Diane taking influence from mother and society) is now Diane Doe-Smith-Brown.

I always thought that this was a far flung hypothetical mockery of the whole system that I usually create in my own head but would never happen in real life. Well, that was before I read the Opinion/Comments page of the Edmonton Sun on August 1st. Look at her name? Angela Nesbitt-Dorn-Kennett? Good lord, how many men has this woman either married, or is she a second generation last name hyphenator?

What could be worse you ask? Picture this problem in the deep south of the United States where they have a weakness for mixing two first names like Bobbi-Sue, Billy-Bob, Bobbi-Jean. My god, after 3 generations of hyphenations the kid is going to be 14 years old before s/he can write his/her full name of Bobbi-Jean (or Billy-Bob) Smith-Doe-Barker-Johnson. Even worse if you add in the fact that people are naming their kids stranger and stranger names these days. Maybe that is why the Egyptians and English royalty kept pushing breeding in the family. Not because of the mixing of blood lines but because the women were hyphenating names and the guys just got tired of all the hyphens so they just married the women with the same name as them to avoid all the confusion of huge ass names.

http://www.edmontonsun.ca/Comment/Letters/2007/08/01/4384504.html

Price of Eggs

A man eats two eggs each morning for breakfast. When he goes to the grocery store he pays .60 cents a dozen. Since a dozen eggs won't last a week he normally buys two dozens at a time. One day while buying eggs he notices that the price has risen to 72 cents. The next time he buys groceries, eggs are .76 cents a dozen. When asked to explain the price of eggs the store owner says, "the price has gone up and I have to raise my price accordingly". This store buys 100 dozen eggs a day. I checked around for a better price and all the distributors have raised their prices. The distributors have begun to buy from the huge egg farms. The small egg farms have been driven out of business. The huge egg farms sells 100,000 dozen eggs a day to distributors. With no competition, they can set the price as they see fit. The distributors then have to raise their prices to the grocery stores. And on and on and on.

As the man kept buying eggs the price kept going up. He saw the big egg trucks delivering 100 dozen eggs each day. Nothing changed there. He checked out the huge egg farms and found they were selling 100,000 dozen eggs to the distributors daily. Nothing had changed but the price of eggs. Then week before Thanksgiving the price of eggs shot up to $1.00 a dozen. Again he asked the grocery owner why and was told, "cakes and baking for the holiday". The huge egg farmers know there will be a lot of baking going on and more eggs will be used. Hence, the price of eggs goes up. Expect the same thing at Christmas and other times when family cooking, baking, etc. happen. This pattern continues until the price of eggs is 2.00 a dozen. The man says, "there must be something we can do about the price of eggs". He starts talking to all the people in his town and they decide to stop buying eggs. This didn't work because everyone needed eggs.

Finally, the man suggested only buying what you need. He ate 2 eggs a day. On the way home from work he would stop at the grocery and buy two eggs. Everyone in town started buying 2 or 3 eggs a day. The grocery store owner began complaining that he had too many eggs in his cooler. He told the distributor that he didn't need any eggs. Maybe he wouldn't need any all week. The distributor had eggs piling up at his warehouse. He told the huge egg farms that he didn't have any room for eggs would not need any for at least two weeks. At the egg farm, the chickens just kept on laying eggs.

To relieve the pressure, the huge egg farm told the distributor that they could buy the eggs at a lower price. The distributor said, " I don't have the room for the %$&^*&% eggs even if they were free". The distributor told the grocery store owner that he would lower the price of the eggs if the store would start buying again. The grocery store owner said, "I don't have room for more eggs. The customers are only buy 2 or 3 eggs at a time". "Now if you were to drop the price of eggs back down to the original price, the customers would start buying by the dozen again". The distributors sent that proposal to the huge egg farmers. They liked the price they were getting for their eggs but, them chickens just kept on laying. Finally, the egg farmers lowered the price of their eggs. But only a few cents. The customers still bought 2 or 3 eggs at a time. They said, "when the price of eggs gets down to where it was before, we will start buying by the dozen."

Slowly the price of eggs started dropping. The distributors had to slash their prices to make room for the eggs coming from the egg farmers. The egg farmers cut their prices because the distributors wouldn't buy at a higher price than they were selling eggs for. Anyway, they had full warehouses and wouldn't need eggs for quite a while. And them chickens kept on laying. Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell. The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price. And the customers starting buying by the dozen again.

Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry What if everyone only bought $10.00 they pulled to the pump. The dealers tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tank for the gas coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the Middle East. Just $10.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill it up. You may have to stop for gas twice a week but, the price should come down.

Think about it. As an added note...When I buy $10.00 worth of gas,that leaves my tank a little under half full. The way prices are jumping around, you can buy gas for $2.65 a gallon and then the next morning it can be $2.15. If you have your tank full of $2.65 gas you don't have room for the $2.15 gas. You might not understand the economics of only buying two eggs at a time but, you can't buy cheaper gas if your tank is full of the high priced stuff. Also, don't buy anything else at the gas station, don't give them any more of your hard earned money than what you spend on gas, until the prices come down.

INTERESTING story, wouldn't you say? In theory, and first glance, I would say that this sounds fine and dandy and could possibly work. Only problem in transposing the analogy of eggs to gas would be that, in my knowledge of gas, it really doesn't 'spoil' like an egg would, right? I mean, how long can gas sit dormant in a tank and go 'sour' to the point that it wouldn't run a vehicle, or cause damage to the vehicles engine as eating a rotten egg would damage a persons digestive tract? Though, if anyone has any insight, please fill me in.

If this would work here in Canada, I don't see why it wouldn't work around the world where people view gas prices as being too high. You just have to get a huge group of people to all agree to do this to make it work. Can't have 2-3 people fighting the system where all the others just sit back and do nothing.