floccinaucinihilipilificate

It's interesting that as Catholics come out in numbers to brandish crucifixes at gays fighting for equal rights in the eyes of the law, similar displays of intolerance are nowhere to be found as revelations surface of the scale of the Catholic church's sexual abuse of children. Hypocrites, that's what you are. in reference to: Argentina's gays celebrate as same-sex marriage comes a step closer | World news | The Observer ( view on Google Sidewiki )

Israel will continue to do whatever the hell it wants in Palestine -- and anywhere else in the world for that matter -- because it can. Because it is the only country in the world that can give America the finger; because America is Israel's bitch. It's simple as that. Israel can continue to use foreign cover to launch assassinations; it can even spy on America; steal from America; and blow up American navy ships; and get away with it, because Israel know it can. It knows it can because it has control over American politicians -- and the American public opinion. It is the only nation that has such a large lobby effort in the US, and the Americans can seem to do nothing about it. The fact that Netanyahu wants no solution to the Palestinian problem that involves returning what it seized from the war -- or for that matter a Palestinian state -- is not news. Israel of course, will pay for this shortsightedness. You only need to look at the demographic changes in Israel/Palest...

Bwah-ha-ha-ha! It's the end of the -- uh -- white Canada? StatsCan has projected that by 2031, the visible minority population will rise to one-third of Canada's population. And that has got the good ole boys and girls raging mad. Forget the wealth these new Canadians generate. Forget that Canada is a country of immigrants. Forget that immigrants will be slaving away to pay for social security when the boomers are out on the pasture. Forget all the facts as to why Canada needs immigration. Facts don't deter from irrational fear of the unknown and change. Just read some of the comments on the CBC article -- and for a good dose of fear, check out this thread in the CanChan (be forewarned -- chans tend to be nsfw). I'm already shaking in my boots -- and as of this moment, I'm avoiding any Canadian city, town or village with a minority population smaller than 10%. in reference to: CBC News - Canada - Minorities to rise significantly by 2031: StatsCan ( view o...

Yes Americans who like tea parties, you really are stupid, and this woman knows you are. The latest from Palin? On Leno, she admits that she joined Fox News because the "mainstream media is quite broken" -- in that there is too much "opinion interjected in hard news stories." Does she even listen to what comes out of her mouth? Or does she just pinch her nose and daub her lips with tissue? in reference to: "I studied journalism, my college degree there in communications. And now I am back there wanting to build some trust back in our media. I think the mainstream media is quite broken and I think there needs to be the fairness, the balance in there — that’s why I joined Fox." - Think Progress » Palin: ‘I joined Fox’ because there’s too much ‘opinion interjected in hard news’ in the mainstream media. ( view on Google Sidewiki )

What a way to end the Olympics!

They're Canadians. They're hockey players. This is part of what they do. Of course, I can understand why there may be some people upset. They are, after all, women. So, to those embarrassed by this, I say, go look in the mirror. These ladies are fine examples for girls all over the country.

So I was watching the game with this cutey tonight. She's loves hockey -- and the only thing she feels more emotional about, is her country -- Canada. The following was shouted by this Canadian hockey fan, watching the Russian-Canadian game tonight. It was more interesting watching her than the game. Far more interesting, listening to her. It was distracting as hell. Overheard, and for your entertainment -- and this was only from the middle of the 3rd period, onwards: "Drop dead Russia!" "Shoot the fucking ... emmm ..." -- the Canadians heard and shot the puck. "Doesn't he know not to jinx it, you stupid!" -- a retort at the commentator suggesting that the game isn't over yet (Canada was leading 7:3 with about 7 minutes left). "How stupid can you be to take a penalty now?! Stupid!" -- at Pronger taking a late penalty for holding. "Come on Russia, pull your goalie!" -- never one to settle for a 4-goal lead with 3 ...

McGuinty is playing politics. Right now, the public is rightly pissed at TTC workers, especially after the can of sleeping worms opened up simmering issues with how TTC workers treat their constituents. That is the only reason McGuinty wants to beat on already reeling TTC workers. No McGuinty, this is not a good time for a public debate on the issue of making TTC workers essential to the running of the city. Emotions would get in the way of any debate. On the issue of the TTC being an essential service, I would have to disagree. I am a TTC user. Without the TTC, I would not get to work. I don't have a car. The one hour TTC commute would turn to hell. I would have to car pool; beg for a lift; or work from home. All options I'm willing to take if necessary, but would rather the TTC employees (not union) and the TTC management, settle labour issues by negotiation -- not strike. If it comes to a strike however, it is labour's right to have that choice. And unlike th...

These assholes should all be arrested and thrown in jail. Oh, I don't know ... since we're living in a world that likes terrorism, how about arraigning them all on domestic terrorism charges? That's for the assholes, aka, anarchists, or whatever they wish to call themselves. They have no point. They are simply there to cause chaos, wearing their fashionable made in China black clothing. They're not anarchists. They wouldn't know the first thing about anarchy. in reference to: ""The demonstration involving a number of anarchists, some of whom dress all in black and employ a tactic called Black Bloc. This included a loosely organized group of thugs from Central Canada known to attach themselves to any cause, travel to any event that attracts media coverage and promote anarchy wherever they go," said a statement issued by police." - CBC News - British Columbia - Anti-Olympics rioters smash Vancouver store windows ( view on Google Sidewiki )

I'm watching the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I usually don't go for this kind of stuff -- but hey, it's happening in Canada. And I have to say, it's quite a show we're putting on for the world. For some of the world, this may form some opinions of our country -- or what we may want them to think of us, regardless of the realities. Some of it may very well be a little bit of propaganda to inspire a little bit of nationalism -- which wouldn't be such a bad thing, either. We are a great country of 33 million. I was surprised by the amount of homage paid to the First Nations people -- considering the amount of protests that followed the flame around the country -- including during the opening ceremony. The homage was great to see. Made me proud to see the First Nations people welcome the world's atheletes to Canada -- to their lands -- and it was especially nice to see that the First Nations leaders were treated the same as other head...

What is up with the TTC union and (some of) the staffers? Apparently, TTC workers, while not being encouraged -- but certainly not discouraged -- by their union, are thinking of a work-to-rule campaign in response to patrons being pissed at the disservice they've been getting (all prompted by the sleeping TTC worker photo). Are these people so clueless that they're not figuring it out? You don't piss off your customers. We, the riders of the TTC trains and buses, are the reason you go to work. We're the reason you get paid. We're the pockets that fund it all. This is a case of the pissed off staffers taking the public for granted. We're not here to serve you -- it's the other way around! I've met some of these TTC workers. You're the lady in the booth that was anything but helpful when I tried buy tokens from you. I'm sorry, I was out of the country in December -- when I came back, I had forgotten that tokens were not for sale yet, and ...

You may have heard the news about Colorado Springs, CO . It's a beautiful city sitting on the foot of the Rocky Mountains -- and it's about to get very ugly. The city is broke. It's not bringing in the tax revenues it needs to run the business of being a city. It's cutting firefighters and cops, and slowing down city services, such as trash collection, parks maintenance and public transport. Heck, it's even put its police helicopters on sale on the Internet. Colorado Springs' problem isn't unique. Across the US, towns, cities and states are running into serious fiscal problems. For years, they've spent. For years, they've accumulated debt. And for years, unions representing city workers, have bargained hard, then gone on strike and bargained hard, again. They've got it so good, they're bilking the general population. City workers have it much better than the general population -- and have much less risks to their jobs, pay and pens...

OK, I think it's stupid to ban wearing pajamas at Tesco. I also think it's stupid to wear pajamas when you go shopping. But that's me. I never have the urge to pop in for a pack of smokes. So I can't relate. in reference to: "She said she had been "popping in for a pack of fags," but if she had been doing a full shop "then we obviously would have gone in clothed". "But we only wanted fags and they still refused us to go in for a pack of cigarettes," she added." - BBC News - Tesco ban on shoppers in pyjamas ( view on Google Sidewiki )

OK, it's not quite a bullet -- nor does it break the sound barrier, but boy would l love to ride this train! I've ridden the high speed train from the Pudong airport into Shanghai, but that was a short ride compared to this. Being able to travel from Guangzhou to Wuhan in 3 hours (less than half the previous time) would be a blast. You would be able to actually take day-trips. China's investment in their infrastructure continues to amaze me with their blistering speed. in reference to: "By comparison, the average for high-speed trains in Japan was 243 kilometres per hour while in France it was 277 kilometres per hour, said Xu Fangliang, general engineer in charge of designing the link, according to Xinhua." - AFP: China unveils 'world's fastest train link' ( view on Google Sidewiki )

"Honour" ... honour is such the wrong choice of word for murder. Maybe it wasn't murder. Maybe the car did manage to miss every obstacle, leave no skid marks behind and plunge into the Rideau Canal to kill the three girls and their aunt . And maybe Canada does need the death penalty to deal harshly with such honour crimes. The girls were 19, 17 and 13 years old. They had all of their lives ahead of them. Now they have nothing. This shit pisses me off to no end. The three murderers need more punishment than Canada is going to give. Canada needs to make a bigger effort at cultural integration of those from higher risked countries immigrating here. More of this happening around the country in new immigrant families, where the old world rules still rule the house. It has got to stop. Read more .

"I'm tired of the media, which spent years making fun of him, suddenly acting as if losing him is the greatest loss we've ever had to bear. And I'm so tired of the false sanctimony of those who will tell me that they are genuinely grieving." MJ is dead ... the only people who give a shit are those that will profit from his death, and those thinking up ways to profit from his death. Since I won't profit from his death, I don't give a shit. How about you?

I'm Canadian, and I got 9 out of 12 questions in this very American quiz from Pew Research . I did better than 59% of the general public -- which I assume, is mostly American. The only questions I got wrong were on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, US national unemployment rate, and how many Americans were killed in Iraq. The latter of these two are decidedly American questions -- I should have gotten the first correct. Oh well. But I still did better than most Americans. In this quiz, males did better than females; educated did better than the uneducated; and the older did better than the younger. I think the general public is scary. This is just more proof. Average number of questions answered correctly.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map This map was created by niman to track the swine flu outbreak.

The American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, plans to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year. According to the government appointed chairman of AIG, the bonuses are needed to keep executives around. Umm ... maybe the losers that caused AIG to arrive at the brink shouldn't be bonused so they can be retained. WTF is wrong with these people? Not that AIG has any choice in the matter. The bonuses don't seem to be tied to performance and the firm is contractually obligated to pay them. Although, I'd like to see the executives fight for those bonuses in court. AIG should just refuse to payout siting the unusual circumstances they're currently in.

Today I dropped by the Indigo by my workplace, picking up a card. I went to the cash, and in front of me, was a woman with over $200 worth of magazines. I didn't get it. She had her son with her, and asked him to pick up two of the blue Indigo reusable bags for her purchase. Noble. As she was paying at the cash, the cashier was trying to make small talk. The woman cooperated halfheartedly. He wanted to tell her more about their cloth bags, but she interrupted him with a little polite but condescending laugh, stating that she already knew all about them, and how it was the right thing to do for the environment. The chitchat continued, sort of, and the woman took her magazine purchase, son in tow, and left the store, her long fur coat, swinging carelessly behind her.