This and That

I realize I haven’t posted in awhile, my focus has been off due to a sick doggie. Thankfully he is on the mend and my focus is returning.

I have to say this whole H1N1 chaos is amusing when on the sidelines but also sad and upsetting if this is what our feds consider an effective pandemic plan. Last week they complained that not enough people wanted to get to get the vaccine and this week they complain that too many want it all at once. Well guess what feds, you’ve had since March to come up with a plan and you failed… miserably.
When I look at clinic locations for Montreal (my area of Montreal, which consists of downtown, Westmount, Outremont and Mont Royal) there is NO CLINIC. NOTHING. We’re talking about an area of Montreal that has numerous CEGEPS, Universities and Hospitals, on top of a dense population and not 1 freaking clinic? And then you can’t understand why people are lining up in droves at the very few clinics that are open?

This is how they should have set it up:
Clinics set up at schools so that parents and their kids can go there
Clinics set up across the city (even if they move every few days to different locations) for people who do not have school-age children.

Yes that was hard. So hard. And why weren’t teachers on the priority list? They’re stuck in rooms with kids who do not cover up their sneezes and coughs, nor do they wash their hands on a consistent basis. This was very very poorly planned. As someone who is in the healthy group, I have to wait over 1 month to be eligible for a vaccine. I don’t mind the wait so that other people who are more at risk can get theirs, but I do mind that they started these vaccinations so late into the season, so that we have to go through most of the season without a vaccine.

To be honest, I’m not even sure if I’ll get the vaccine. The day H1N1 broke in March, I was actually sick at home with very, very similar symptoms. Was it H1N1? Most likely not but it was eerie to have the same symptoms. Plus since I reside out of province temporarily, I’m not even sure if they’ll give me one here. One more thing, I’m a bit leery of signing a consent form for a supposedly safe vaccine. If the government and the pharmaceutical company really stand behind this vaccine, why do I have to sign my life away?

I may regret my bitching in a few weeks if I get sick but to be honest, standing in line for 7 hrs with hundreds upon hundreds of people doesn’t seem like a good idea either, if we’re talking about prevention. Hell, I don’t even want to go see some friends’ band tonight because I don’t want to be in tight quarters with people unless necessary.

Yes we should all be taking extra precautions right now, but we shouldn’t be clogging the ER’s and clinics. The pandemic right now, is the culture of fear that has been propagated.

Is there anything more frustrating than an entitled parent? Oh right, their kids.

Ok so yes, I’ve stated on here many times that I’m not a kid person. Highly doubt I’ll ever want to have one of my own, and other than reproducing to replace yourself, I think people should then focus on adopting children if they want more. Population control people, learn it, think it, do it.

There are many, many reasons that I do not want to have children, and right now I’m going to discuss one of those reasons. To put it simply, I do not want to be lumped into a group called “parents”. Specifically, the entitled, whiny, bratty kind. You know the ones I’m talking about. They let their kids run amok in stores, they let their dirty kids touch strangers’ hair (I have long and kids are attracted to it like a moth to a flame). These types of parents think their kids can do no wrong even if they shit on the floor in a grocery store (not a true story). These could be the type that talk about their offspring non-stop on facebook; I mean really, I love my dog a lot but you don’t see me telling others how his shit was today do you?

So today in the Windsor Star comes a highly entertaining story about these entitled parents. The parents attended a track and field meet and were told beforehand that if they parked illegally they would be ticketed. Well la-di-da guess what happened? They parked illegally, along the side of a major road, near a freaking gas plant no less and they got ticketed. Then they got mad. Mad for getting a ticket they deserved.
Here’s their rational:

“I just thought it was pretty crappy — the economy the way it is, people lose their jobs, the big CUPE strike in the summertime. The kids missed half of their community centre events. These kids work hard and parents take time out of their day to come and see their kids run, and then there’s some guy ticketing your vehicle. I think it’s low.”

That’s right people, because there was a strike that ended over 2 months ago, they should be allowed to park illegally. Because we have a shitty economy, they should be able to park illegally. Yup yup. Most likely these fat asses didn’t want to walk an extra 2 min, and trust me, most of them could use some walking. The tickets they were given were around $30 too and they’re complaining. They were warned in advance, the kids were given notes to take home, the newspaper even warned them in an article and yet, not only did they not listen to the warning, they believe that parking illegally is just alright for them. These are probably the same lazy people who need family parking spaces at the mall. Or who will drive around for 40 minutes at the mall just to get a front spot, I mean heaven forbid you walk! I’d love to see these people live in a big city, where walking and taking transit is encouraged!

Yes, entitled parents, you and your offspring are truly an inspiration to society. I cannot wait to see how they grow up.

Grey Tuesday

Sometimes this world really depresses me; maybe it’s the grey cold weather or the fact that I consume too much news either way, it sucks.

I find this feeling occurs more after I’ve had a good night out or I’m feeling lonely, but the main underlining cause remains: I’ll read something in the news (or something similar) and can’t believe what I’m reading (read: can’t believe the world I’m living in).

Case in point: Had a great evening last night with some friends over – great food, great conversation etc… Today it’s grey out, I’m working, listening to the Destroyer show I recently saw (which makes me feel happy) and then bah-da-bum… I read this horrific headline:

U.S. speeds up delivery of big bomb

Wait what? WHAT????
Rewind

What happened to Mr. Nobel Peace Prize? What happened to we hate Iran for having a nuclear program? What happened to we’re a broke country?

Ok now it’s time to read the article, let’s see if there’s anything to dispel these depressive grey thoughts whirling around my brain. Hmm.. well the first paragraph only confirms what I’m feeling:

The Pentagon is speeding up delivery of a colossal bomb designed to destroy hidden weapons bunkers buried underground and shielded by 4,535 kilograms of reinforced concrete.Call it Plan B for dealing with Iran, which recently revealed a long-suspected nuclear site deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom.

I’m not sure I can handle reading more. I don’t care if this program is from the Bush years Snr. or Jnr. If Mr. “Yes we can” Obama is truly worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize (please), then this program would have ended. Our current connotations of “peace”, “terrorist”, “fundamentalist”, “Muslim”, “Arabic” etc… are all very twisted and warped. All of a sudden a country building a huge bomb is a peace loving country and yet, anyone else who does it is a terrorist. Well, well, well…what can I say to this besides the obvious (hypocrites).

I do not understand this world at all. I do not understand how I can go from having a nice evening to hating this world. I do not understand how we can live in a world full of hatred where a country preaches peace and proclaims everyone else as “evil” and yet their President can win a freaking Nobel Peace Prize FOR DOING NOTHING. Ooh you inspired hope, big fucking deal. If you got rid of this bomb and worked on changing perceptions, we wouldn’t need to be inspired to feel hope because the world would be a better place (in theory). I can talk the talk too, but can you actually walk the walk? Certainly seems like you cannot Sir.

Screw this, our current connotations for “power”, “money”, “consumption”, “greed”,”business”, “equality”, “humanism”, “socialism”, “conservatism” and “love” are all warped beyond repair. Where do we go from here when the terms I just listed are warped… the negatives ones are seen as positive and the positive as negative. What is this? WHAT IS THIS?

Coincidence? I think not.

Alright, I had to stop the Tactics of Truth Suppression posts because, well to be honest, I’m stuck. I can’t think of examples using any political party. So if anyone is reading this blog of mine and would like to discuss these concepts with me in the hopes of me getting over this writer’s block, then leave a comment.

So I leave you with this…
Remember Harper in his sweater vest stroking the cat (not a euphemism). It was pointed out to me that he sorta looks likes the villain from Inspector Gadget.
Here’s both pictures, what do you think?

Bye Bye Civil Liberties… it was nice knowing you

Civil liberties mean nothing to this Conservative government.
What I find very VERY interesting about right-wing religious parties is that they preach 2 things:
1) less taxes and no deficit
2) the right to your freedom, aka big brother is not in your bedroom

But here’s the kicker, they always, ALWAYS do the opposite. See for instance:
1) Harper’s deficit
2) Harper blowing our surplus to buy votes
3) their tough on crime laws that will restrict your freedoms
4) they are in the bedroom when they vote against things involving personal choice i.e. abortion, gay marriage, marijuana possession etc…

Well here’s the latest:

The federal justice minister is considering a new law that would allow police to conduct random breathalyzer tests on drivers, regardless of whether they suspect motorists have been drinking…
…The issue for civil libertarians, however, is that changing the law to allow random testing would be a violation of a person’s right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

“It has no real place in a democratic society,” said Richard Rosenberg of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.

“Giving police power to act on a whim is not something we want in an open democratic society.”

The House justice committee that recommended the amendment in June said such a change might be challenged under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but said it would be up to the courts to decide whether the search could be considered reasonable.

Wow… ok so it seems they’ve already implemented some legislation that makes it illegal to drive while high on pot and they can test for it but the tests are very inaccurate. And now we have this? So people who vote Conservative, are you getting what you voted for? Do you really want your freedoms taken away?
I mean hey, the Cons don’t believe in registering guns but it’s ok for the police to test your sobriety without any indication that they need to.
What the hell is wrong with the right-wing parties and those who vote for them? This does NOT make sense to me at all. They are so full of hypocrisy.

We have a Charter of Rights for a reason! The Conservatives are doing everything they can to take our rights away because of a few rotten apples. Why should the few bad people create the rules for the rest of us?
Stand up for your fucking rights people, because pretty soon they’ll take that away too.