Stupid people

Today I am going to rant about my third favorite subject - Stupid People

Hands up everybody, who here has seen a stupid person today? Come on, surely you have seen at least one - they are everywhere,  you don't have to look very hard.

Exhibit One: At the corner of Main and First st. The nice, smartly dressed, cleanly shaved business man walking down the street, lunch in one hand and a cell phone mashed into his ear with his other hand. You watch as he wanders down the middle of the walk, totally unaware of the the little old lady who had to hobble out of his way to avoid being run over. Totally uncaring of the two people he elbowed as he turned his body to cross the street. Totally unaware of the moving car he just walked in front of (at least he will feel it when he gets slammed to the pavement)

Exhibit Two: behind the wheel of her car, on the way to nowhere. Fluffing her hair (gotta have good hair) with her brand new Blackberry buzzing away beside her. Oh, its from my best girl friend, gotta read it. LOL, that was the funniest thing I have every read (as her fingers push those really small buttons) See you in....(message ends as she looks up from her toy in time to see the concrete median ruin the paint job and shorten the length of the car)

I don't know who said it first but it really is the best that can be said
"Every once in a while, the gene pool needs a good shot of chlorine"

Be well, and if you really can't see the stupid people out there, take steps to ensure it isn't you that other people are seeing

Parking Fail

So really, I am not into measuring the distance you park your car from the line. Quite frankly I don't really care, as long as you are able to get into and out of your car without slamming your door into me.

However, this is just rude beyond all measures. There were no cars behind this vehicle, no car parked on the right and yet the person who was driving was still unable to manoeuvre this car into an appropriate parking spot.

I know people who need the extra space to park to allow for wheel chair access. The person who owns this PT Cruiser was either; lazy, stupid, or just plain ignorant. The owner of this car needs to be confined to a chair for a week and see just how painful it is to see someone do something like this.

Women in "Sports"

Okay, the time for being coy is over. My morning walk to work gives me the opportunity to listen to The Islands Rock, 100.3 - The Q. Really a great way to start the day (Ed and Cliff, take a bow). Anyway, the first post of my day usually comes from listening to Cliffs Call and today is no exception (Cliff take another bow)

Women in "sports". Women make up about 50% of the population and yet they still have to fight to be recognized as being just as capable of doing everything that men do and sports is just one more place they have to fight. I know a dozen ladies who I would not arm wrestle with, or challange to a race, or try to out lift. There are hundreds of lady athletes out there who work out, sweat and toil to be the best that they can be and yet in order for them to be recognized, they have to show some skin - or a lot of it. Cliff was saying he got to watch a lingerie football last night. He mentioned how tough these ladies were, the drive that they had and how athletic they were and yet, the only reason that the majority of the male audience was tuned in was to see some skin. While the appreciation of a well tuned body is natural, to do the work and only be appreciated for the amount of skin you show I find insulting.

Women's volleyball at the Olympics, another fine example of what women are considered to be. Nice tight and very skimpy bikinis, every curve highly defined and with the instant replay and high definition photography, every movement is zoomed in on and presented to the male libido. One of the official broadcasters even made a short video of the most titillating movements of the women and set it to some very cheese music. I watched about 1/4 of it and all I could think of was a 80's soft porn movie. 

Ice dancing, syncro swimming are two other examples that immediately come to mind. Stop looking at the skin and see what these ladies are doing. See that they have to work as hard as their male counterparts to be able to do what they do and remember, it could be your daughter up there being drooled over.

Child abuse on TLC

It has finally happened. A father has seen that his child is being abused and turned into a little sex object by its mother and is doing something about it. The phenomenon of child beauty pageants is big business down in the lower US states as seen on the program Tots and Tiaras, shown on TLC. On the occasion I have watched this program I have been horrified at what mothers down there are doing to their little girls, little girls who are just barely older than 1 year. What is wrong with these "mothers"? I say mothers because the vast majority of the adults with the kids are women, though their are men involved with this abuse. And this abuse is now entertainment for the masses.

First part of the abuse I am going to address comes in the form of bags and bags of sugar that are being fed to these kids every time they show up at a pageant. The camera pans around and you see children 4 and 5 years old with a Super Big Gulp in their tiny little grasp - a 44 oz cup of water, sugar and a little food colouring. In that cup there is 128g of sugar, dropping 512 empty calories into that childs body. As a fully grown moderately active male, I should be taking in about 2000 calories a day. What is going to happen to that child she develops with her body loaded with sugar? There was one "mother" who spoke directly to the camera and said  "I give her Pixie Sticks to give her that special sparkle". Why don't you just give you kid cocaine and be done with it.

The next really horrible thing that is happening to these children is they are being turned into little sex things. Tight little dresses, dance moves that emulate adult strippers and now even fake boobs, all things designed to entice the judges. Teaching children that they only thing that is important is how good they can wiggle their hips and how perfect they look. And lets look at the judges for a moment. This job must be a paedophiles dream, all of these little girls being paraded in front of them, GOD BLESS AMERICA.

These children are having their childhood stripped from them. Children are supposed to be running and playing with their friends, climbing trees and scraping their knees. They should not be forced, coerced or cajoled into spending hours and hours practising routines, hours getting their nails and hair and face primped and preened, and being stuffed into uncomfortable and sometimes physically painful costumes so that they can be paraded in front of some adults who will judge her of being worthy.

One man has stood up for his child, well done. Now, when will the rest of them follow suit?

People to Pity

On the occasion I encounter someone who really deserves pity. Frequently these people are tasked with facing the angry , hostile, or just plain nasty customers of the company that employs them. There is always one person who has to face customers who are unhappy for one reason or another. Sometimes that customer is just being unpleasant for the sake of causing someone else grief. The person on the other side of the desk does not warrant your violence, they are just trying to survive day to day, just as you are. Don't be going up to them with "The customer is always right" attitude. By law, any place you shop at must take action if you have purchased an item that is defective. They are not required to take back something because you bought the wrong size, the wrong colour, the wrong style or I really don't like it.

Companies do returns as a courtesy to its customers.

Treat the person on the other side of the counter with a little of that courtesy, they deserve it no less than you do.

Does it really matter?

A couple of years ago there was an excellent golfer who got caught cheating on his wife. This, like many other such events, turned into the greatest news story of the century. Why? If this man was just any other Joe walking the streets, this "news" would not have even made a 1" blurb in the local newspaper. What was it about Tiger Woods that made this so important that everyone around the world had to be told. Who benefited from knowing this (other than the bank of lawyers that was employed)?

Why are so many people so interested in knowing the intimate details of someone else? Just think of what we could accomplish if instead of sitting down and reading the gossip rag - Teen Beat, National Inquirer, World News....(take your pick of garbage) people stood up and did something useful like talk to their children. The first huge benefit would be all of those trees would not have to be ground up to be wasted on this trivia. A child might know that someone in the world cares about them. Someone might go outside and help a little old lady get  her groceries home, someone wouldn't have to be hiding their face from the bunch of parasites who are drooling over the thought that maybe they would get a picture of them kissing a friend on the cheek.

"It is our right to know, they are public property" will often be heard from the masses. BULLSHIT! You don't have the right to know anything about that person that they do not outright tell you. Do the celebrities have the right to know where, when, and with whom you have sex with? Or is it non of their business?

Stop with the unimportant things. Pay attention to where you are and where you are going and maybe we will all get to where we need to be before we destroy ourselves

Really Important People

Gorden Ramsey will stand up and shout and scream and throw little hissy fits for us all in order to produce the best chefs, chefs good enough to serve in his restaurants. Really, is it worth watching him do the same thing time and time again? Every new season it is the same thing, each and every service is the most important of their careers. Everyone is incompetent. Everyone is a Donkey (well, actually he seems to have stopped saying that). I have long since begun to wonder why people subject themselves to his abuse.

Survivor, another shining example of the Best TV can offer. When it first started out it was interesting, the people had to work to survive, it was hard. Now they are given so much it no longer is a struggle, at least the food part isn't. What isn't a struggle any more is the plot. Tribe A will be winning, and winning until, unbeknownst to them, someone from Tribe B has made a deal with someone on A to throw the game into a tail spin of drama. Each and every show someone does something to screw up someone elses  plan and Jeff says the same thing - Its a whole new game.  After 20 seasons, haven't we had enough?

How many reality shows are out there now, 10? 20? More? How many people do you know that think this stuff is real? The British started this a long time ago with a very simple show, 1900 House. No one there was trying to stab each other, it was something to watch and learn from. What the hell happened? Do we really need to see the same crap with more and more skin showing over and over again? Sooki, and the Kardashians, Jersy Shore, The Real House Wives of (insert your city here).

The really scary thing is, how many people will recognize Sooki, but look at someone who has accomplished something real, say Terry Fox, and go Who is that? People regard Sooki as someone important, how real is that?

Politicians and Their Job

So just what is their job anyway? Every4 years (or sooner up here in Canada) we have another round of federal elections. Everyone hunkers down, spends lots of money, kisses babies, shakes hands and wanders the streets looking like the guy I want to work for me.

Work for me, what does that really mean? How often do you see one of them doing what they promised to when they were trying to get elected? With a few rare exceptions I can't really say I have seen a lot of those promises kept.
Oh, sorry, the money just isn't there - hmmm, unlike the millions of dollars being spent so that our senators don't have to walk outside in the snow.
Oh, sorry, something more important came up - hmmm, like what is more important than balancing the budget?
Oh, sorry, <insert excuse here>

What is there about the term "public servant" that is lost on these people? That is what they are, servants of the public - you and me. The person elected is supposed to answer to you, not the bags of money that are being held out by the corporations, or the 1%.

When you have been lied to, make them accountable for it

Driving

This morning I went down to the local 7/11 to pick up some butter. Just as I was walking across the parking lot  I heard someone gunning his car into motion. I turned around to have a look see and there he was, in his jacked up pickup truck, gunning the engine for all it was worth. A cloud of smoke blew out the back of the truck, tires squealed as he went from stopped to about 50kph as he was taking a left turn. The truck straightened out in its new lane and the so called "adult" driving it sought fit to rev the engine and roar down the road.

It was 11am. What was this "adult" missing in his life that made him need to make so much noise and smoke? 

Did he not get enough attention from mummy and daddy when he was little? Maybe he was lacking in between his thighs. What ever his problem is, I do wish that he and the myriad of others like him would find somewhere else to be before one of these "adults" lose control of their gas powered toys and kills someone who was unfortunate enough to be out and about.

Rant over 

Stealth Mode

Up here in the Great White North, winter is approaching. With that, it gets darker, much earlier and stays darker much later.
For those of you who are on foot, on bike, on skateboard or out walking your dog - please
If I can't see you, I can't avoid hitting you with my car. Its that simple. If you are in black, you are pretty much invisible.
Now, I am doing my level best to look out for you but you have to take responsibility for looking out for me.
If you step into the road without looking and I hit you,my insurance will go up.
You will go to the hospital and you will hurt, physically, for a long time.

I don't want to hit you, really, its too much paperwork.
 Look for me when you are on the road. I am looking for you.

Let us both make the effort to make out meeting one of no added paperwork or pain

Cheers

Good Cop, Bad Cop

I heard a rather telling statement on the radio today. In many of the cities here in North America there is a group of people who are "occupying" a small chunk of it in protest of life in general. Fine, for what the protest is all about, I agree with the concept of what they are doing - not what they are doing.

Here in Victoria, there is a group camping out at the green space beside City Hall. On the news cast it was reported that this "occupation" has cost the city, meaning me and all those property owners, $60,000 with a break down of 10k for garbage clean up, 30k for city staff extra work and 20k for police overtime. $60k of money flushed and still it will continue to be pissed away.

There was a snippet from the local police station about that $20k, they get bitched at for taking too long to respond to a call and when they do get there to deal with what ever, POLICE BRUTALITY gets thrown at them. This from a group of people who have deliberately put themselves in a more dangerous situation.

People, you have got to stop with the bullshit. Cops are just like you and I - doing their best to get the job done. A dirty, thankless job that needs to be done. By and large they are a decent group of people, people who are good and really care. Yes, there are some bad apples in the mix, that same number of bad apples are in every mix of people. Unfortunately those are the ones we hear about, or at least that is how people want to portray them.

"Look at that brute of a cop, tasering that poor homeless man" was the cry. What wasn't repeated was the chain that poor homeless man was swinging around at people, nor is it reported that the brute of a cop had just had that chain wrapped across his forehead.

When was the last time you heard about that brute of a cop, holding the little kid who had just been beaten by a drunk parent?

When was the last time you looked at that brute of a cop and remembered that he had just seen some drunk mow a mother over with his car?

The next time you get pulled over because you were doing 60 in a 50 zone, look in the mirror. You knew what speed you were doing, you knew it was wrong. Don't look at that cop and say, "Haven't you got something worthwhile to do?" because the answer is yes, and if keeping you from speeding through a residental area stops one kid from being killed, that cop is doing something worthwhile

Cops have the toughest of jobs, let them do it without making it tougher for them.

Gays, lesbians and heteros and the sanctity of marriage

The sanctity of marriage, two people standing before their deity  and saying "I will have you before all others".
What a great thing to do. Out of all the people on the face of the planet, I choose you to be with.
Marriage is not for everyone, and the day my wife and I got married it  was the only way for us.

Why shouldn't Steve and Gary be able to do the same thing? How about Mary and Ann? How is it that them expressing thier love for one another sullying the sanctity of your marriage?

Lets look at a few of the outstanding examples of marriages that have happened in our time.
Britney Spears comes to mind as a shining example. Her "marriage" lasted what, 5 hours? This is an example to us all.
Elizabeth Taylor - the serial bride. She got married 8 times, Richard Burton even got it twice. This is what we should look up to?

George Takei and Brad Altman. How is it that them being married is harming you? Do they love each other? Do they care for each other? So far there hasn't been any great tabloid splash with the two of them and all I can say is "Good on you guys" Be happy and be well.

For those of you who are frothing at the mouth and thumping your bibles, take a chill pill - take two or three. God loves us all and God wants us to be happy. If God, being all seeing and all powerful, did not approve of gays or lesbains God would do something about it. Put your bibles down, stop screaming hatred and look to your own actions. When you can prove yourself to be perfect then you can start to look at the people beside you

Safe injection sites and other crimes against society

It is good to know that drug users in Vancouver have a nice safe place to shoot up.

It is nice and warm, clean water and a nurse sitting there to help them if they OD.

How much is that costing you? 

That nurse, why does she sit there when she could be doing something important

like helping your friend survive a car accident? 

Why are we forced to pay for this to happen again and again?

Here in Victoria they hand out free needles to drug users and yet people who are forced to give themselves their own medical injections must pay for their own needles. 

The spread of this pandering to the the lowest common denomination must stop. How long will it be before one of these "people" we have paid to get high comes to your home and attacks you so it can get its next fix?

I have heard the term harm reduction. The money that gets shoved into these people each and every day can be used for something of value - like that lady over there with a small child who no safe place to call home. 

Tell your local public servant where you want your taxes spent. 

It is your money, they are there to serve you

Don Cherry and the gladiators

Well the great Don Cherry has spoken again, bemoaning the fact that hockey is no longer the gladiator match it used to be.

Poor Bunny

When this game was invented, the idea of the game was to put the little black thing into the net.
I doubt that anywhere in the minds of those who invented the game did the idea occur....

"One of the ideas of the game should be to see how many people can be maimed"

and yet how many of the players today are getting hurt due to the actions and desires of people like Don.
Todd Bertuzzi immediately comes to mind.
6 years ago he sucker punched Steve Moore, ending Steves hockey career right then and there. Todd apologized" and carried on doing what he did best - being a goon for Don Cherry.

After listening to Don whine about the good old days, the CBC stood up and said "We don't support his views". What a load of crap that is. If the CBC doesn't support his views, show it and fire his ass.
Until we no longer have to listen to Don whine and moan about how things aren't like they used to be, there will be more career ending events like Steve Moore and Sidney Crosby.

Don, go away and find somewhere else to get your fill of blood - I hear that you can find some action over in Afghanistan