Stop Shouting and Start Talking Sense

Choosing who to vote for in this Canadian election is quite tough. It’s never been easy but this time it really is quite a challenge. This is because there have been so many elections recently that the candidates have run out of new things to promise and have resorted to just insulting the other candidates and occasionally tossing in an idea that they had last election that they thought was a good idea.

It has become a shouting match between three grown men. Stephen Harper is saying a vote for Michael Ignatieff is a vote for higher taxes and a man who has no loyalty to Canada who will desert us half way though his term in office. Michael Ignatieff says a vote for Stephen Harper is a vote for a man who will ruin the country and has already broken parliamentary laws. Then, Jack Layton is saying you shouldn’t vote for either of them because they both are bad and will do awful things. To be honest, I stopped listening by the time he started talking. And finally, Elizabeth May and Gilles Duceppe who are both being ignored. One, more than the other.

I think it’s time to get back to having proper elections. Ones where the leaders represent the political parties and are talking about real political issues instead of just insulting the other leaders. So far as I can see, the only party doing this is the green party.

Get your act together gentlemen and lady. Start talking politics instead of accusing one another of ruining the country and insulting the voters.

Just Let It Go

Image via Wikipedia

I am seriously getting fed up with all the complaints about the G8/20 protests during the summer. Let it go people.

Its been months since this happened and nothing has really been done about it and I really don’t blame the SIU (special investigations unit, they investigate the police) for not finding any police officers in the wrong. You’re complaining about the police arresting you at a protest that was bordering on a riot.

Whats next? People complaining about the government? Because they are really going to listen to you about that.

Now some of the higher ranking officials are saying that some officers took off their name tags that were on their uniforms to hide who they were. That makes perfect sense to me. Remember “Officer Bubbles”? He’s the officer who threatened to arrest a protester because they were blowing bubbles at him. I’m not going to defend his actions or support them. I don’t care. But what happened is because he had his name tag on people found out who he was and started threatening him and his family by phone, mail and going to his house. This is why officers took off their name tags. Because they didn’t want this to happen to them! A badge number is as good as a name tag. You can phone the police and check a badge number and they will tell you the name of the officer (apparently, this is just what I’ve heard). The reason for this is if a police officer shows up at your door and you are unsure if they are a police officer, you can phone and check. Its sort of a thing for older people who have been told by their kids about bad people dressing up like police officers to scam them. This is a bad thing for certain situations. Do you want people knowing who you are and being able to threaten you or your family because you were simply doing your job? I didn’t think so.

I think at the next protest officers should give out the names and addresses of all the people who are in charge. The people who are responsible for all the police presence creating the “police state”. Then maybe they will realize what a stupid idea this is.

I must say that it probably seems like I am taking sides but I don’t fully support either side on this. Both sides of the G8/20 issue could have done better.

Cutting the Fat out of Social Networking

There is just too much social networking going on today. It all started with e-mail many, many years ago (seems just like yesterday) and then expanded into MySpace and now there are hundreds of sites devoted to social networking of some kind. There’s basic social networking like Twitter, check-in based sites like Foursquare, music sharing from Ping and blip.fm and photo sharing form Flickr. Anything you want to share with friends or total strangers, theres a site for it.

Of course how could I forget the one site at the top of the big pile of sites. Facebook. Facebook is every one of these sites combined into one. It started a lot like MySpace and then just started adding features until it reached where it is today. But has it gone too far? With Facebook you can share your thoughts, pictures, videos, what you’re watching on TV, what games you’re playing. There are thousands of web applications that are built into Facebook that do everything from tell your fortune to tell you which character you are most like from your favourite show. And now. You can tell people where you are and who you are with.

Thats quite a lot for one site isn’t it. Oh, did I mention there is a movie about Facebook? Thats right. Its called The Social Network and it is about the creation of Facebook. It really should be called Facebook: The Movie.

All this is becoming too much for me. It seems that every time I log into Facebook something has changed. Wether it’s a button has been moved or the whole layout has been changed (remember “old Facebook vs. new Facebook” and everyone preferred old Facebook). I don’t mind a change once in a while but it has reached a point where they are changing so often that they don’t even tell you that they have changed something. I remember when if someone did anything that somehow involved you on Facebook there was a section at the side that had every possible notification right there. Then they split them up so friend notifications were in one place and “likes” or “comments” were in another place and then photo notifications were in another place. I can’t even find notifications from applications any more (I’m not complaining. I hated getting Farmville requests as much as everyone else).

The problem is that it’s not simple any more. This is the main reason I use Twitter (I hear you all groaning). It is simple. I send a tweet thats 140 characters and thats it. I can send messages to people and I can still post photos and read what everyone else is doing. Thats all I need. I am fed up of people liking pages that are things they say they do which they are mostly lying about anyways, or things they should be doing instead of “liking” them on Facebook (“I think about you even when I don’t call you”. Just call him so I don’t have to read about it) or big posts about your achievements on Farmville of Mafia Wars.

If Facebook was just statuses, wall posts, messages, and photos like it used to be then I would be quite happy but there is just too much for me to keep up with.

Unfortunately like most of you, I am addicted to Facebook (although not as much as some people. You know who you are) and will continue to use it until most people stop using it and switch to Twitter.

Tall or Short. Both Have Problems

I am constantly on the receiving end of comments by short people about how I have it easy because I am so tall. I am not that much taller than most people. In fact people today seem to be generally taller than they were a few years ago.

There is a common misconception that tall people live life better than shorter people. There are just as many “hazards” for tall people as there are for short people. Sure I, as a taller person, can do certain things that a short person can’t, but there are things that I can’t do that a short person can. I can reach the top shelf in the kitchen without a stepladder and I can see over most of the people in front of me. Simple little things that are sort of added bonuses in life. Then there are the problems. Things like hitting my head on low beams and doors and getting hit in the lower regions by things that would have hit me in the stomach and hurt quite a lot less if i’d been shorter.

The biggest problem for tall people is rides. Small people complain that they are two short to get on all the good rides and tall people are lucky because they can go on all the rides. This is wrong. The only people who can ride the good rides properly are the people who are exactly the height of the line that says how tall you have to be to ride or the people who are within seven or eight inches taller than the line. Once you get to the point when you are taller than the sign itself, then you start to have problems. Then you start sitting in rides and have your knees touching your chin or your neck bent at a funny angle so your head fits in the ride.

Its easy for a small person to say “this seat is too big” or “these pants are too long”. Thats what cushions and sewing machines for. But what happens when the seat is too small or the pants are too short. I don’t think the technology has yet been invented to make pants longer.

I still wouldn’t want to be shorter though. As much as I complain, I still like being tall because people move out of the way when I walk through a crowd and less people want to fight me because they think because I’m so large that I’m actually stronger than them.

Oh, and I can make fun at shorter people.

The Essence of Racism

While listening to Q on CBC radio today there was a debate about the hiring of a white woman as fashion director at Essence Magazine. A magazine for black (african-american if you want) women. The debate was between two women who read the magazine. One didn’t think that a white woman should have this position and that she should be fired and replaced with a black woman. The other said she didn’t mind as long as the white woman did a good job. In other words she defended her.

I have to side with the woman who is defending the new fashion director. Essence Magazine obviously had a reason for not hiring a black woman as fashion director and it isn’t racist or discrimination to hire a white woman. At least it wasn’t last time I checked. If Essence Magazine had wanted a black woman as fashion director then they would have hired one. The woman who wants her fired is completely out of line, in fact she is the one who is racist. There is very little outcry over the fact that the new fashion director is white and from what I heard she is doing a good job. There is no reason to fire her. If she was fired simply to replace her with a black woman there would be a line of lawyers wanting to represent her in a lawsuit.

The woman who doesn’t want the fashion director to be white can either like it or go read another magazine. Either way for the time being she isn’t going anywhere.

To read more and see what others have to say visit the Q article and read some of the comments

The Great Canadian Inquest

The Inquest. Also known as an inquiry. Something that Canadians are used to hearing about. They cost lots of money and solve nothing. In Canada we have inquests for everything. When $10 million goes missing, the government spends $50 million on an inquiry to see who got the $10 million. Then five years later they finally find out and they say “pay it back” with no way of enforcing the ruling or findings.

Now people are calling for an inquest into police tactics during G20. Well, I say people, really they are just human rights groups who scream and shout any time a large number of people are arrested, and people who just generally hate the police (most of them were arrested during the G20). The funniest people are those who want an inquiry into all the money spent. Great, as if we haven’t spent enough money already.

There is a way to make all these people happy. Create “inquiry panels” (it’s a rough name. Feel free to change it) of people from “the street”. Sort of like jury duty. Ask them what they think an then let them vote on it. Maybe let the two sides make statements and submit “evidence” which would just be bits of paper and pictures. This would take a day an then this “jury” would take all the bits of papers and deliberates for a few days and says what they think. This would save so much time and money and most people would be happy.

Or you could just set up an online poll and have people vote on it.

The thing is we can’t keep having inquiries. Why can’t people just be happy with the way events happen. Anyone who does anything bad is usually punished properly anyways. In the case of the G20 they can forget an inquiry because there was only two ways to deal with it and the other involved more burning police cars and people getting hurt.

Where’s My Pride?

First, congratulations to all the people who go out and march in the pride parade. Its only taken 30 years for people to stop hating and trying to kill you because they don’t like or believe in homosexuals. The thing I want to know is where is straight pride. We have become so caught up in supporting gays, lesbians, and every other type of sexuality that we have forgotten about straight people. I understand that it is a weird concept but everyone else gets parades and celebrations so why don’t straight people? I’m not saying cancel all the other celebrations. I think it’s great that these people are proud of their sexuality and can stand up and say that they are gay. Well done. But it has become politically incorrect to celebrate the fact that you are straight.

Next year there should be a straight pride parade. The gay pride parade in my opinion is just men and women, many of them dressed in clothes that could be considered indecent by some, showing off their homosexuality. The straight pride parade should be the same thing but with women dressed like women, men dressed like men, basically the same thing but anything considered “gay” is not included and things considered “straight” are included. It would be gay pride without the gay.

And no one can complain. after all, everyone is all for diversity. aren’t you?

The Decline of The TTC

This should probably be an update on the post about complaints to the TTC but I think that this warrants a new post.

This and similar things have happened to me quite a lot. (From the blog Toronto Transit Concerns)

Getting on the late 224 Victoria Park Bus, I was unknowingly face to face with my least favorite type of bus driver: the Sunday stroller.

Arriving several minutes late, this older gentleman must have thought it was Sunday. Taking extra long stops when there was no one to pick up, he was enjoying the morning Metro paper. Glancing up every so often, he would realize that there were cars behind him, or that there was a huge gap between him and the car in front of him. And then again, he would get lost in the stories of the paper, and lose track of the flow of traffic.

Seconds stalled turned into minutes, and suddenly a 7 minute bus ride turned into a 20 minute Sunday stroll. And it wasn’t even Sunday!

I rang the bell at Parkway Forest Drive, just outside of Don Mills Station. I got up and walked to the front of the bus,  but the driver was engaged in his paper. The cars ahead headed through the now green light, and I prayed silently he would notice. Just as the countdown was going on he looked up and pulled the bus into Drive, and I felt like yelling for joy.

But that joy quickly turned into panic when he passed my stop. I told him I wanted off.

“Oh” he pulled over, several meters from the stop, slowed down to a stop and opened the door.

This happens quite a lot. And not always when there is only me on the bus. Actually it happens quite a lot when the driver is in a hurry and doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. This has even happened when quite a few people want off the bus, usually the back door, and ends up with everyone yelling at the driver. Many of them have made innocent mistakes but more than a few times he or she has looked at us like we’re the ones inconveniencing them.