Monthly Archives: February 2013

7 Things You Can’t Say in Canada – Three

Only Private Enterprise Can Save Health Care

Tommy Douglas, the CBC’s Greatest Canadian, brought us universal health care. But even his plan didn’t originally pay for everybody’s ingrown toenails. His primary goal was to make sure nobody faced financial ruin if they got sick.

Today we have a system where controlling costs is more important than treating patients, and where ideology is crippling us. In some places, including Toronto, people go blind waiting for cataract surgery. The government could restore their sight tomorrow simply by sending them to a private clinic instead of to a hospital. The cost to the government would be exactly the same. But in Canada, private is a dirty word, and so the government would rather you go blind. Poor Tommy would be spinning in his grave.

A beautiful world…Gratitude

WATCH THIS VIDEO.

I think that I can actually say that the greatest gift I could ever receive, from God, the Universe, whoever, before I died, would be to see and know that everything in this video would come true. I would like to be able to see everything in this world that the video presents to us. The greatest gift that I could ever have would be to know that everyone saw the greatness of the world and its people. No greater gift could I receive then to see this happen in my lifetime. It probably will not happen but I can dream and hope and pray that it did. To see the end of hate, war, bigotry and religious intolerance would be incredible. To see the world as the narrator sees it would be amazing. Actually, even if I don’t see this, there is no reason that I cannot see the beauty he sees and speaks about. I actually never thought that when I look at the clouds I would never, ever see the same formation ever again, just like never seeing two snowflakes that look alike. It is amazing to think of what is said in this video. Please watch it and enjoy it and think on it; your life will never quite be the same as long as you want to accept the words and images. Things can be so beautiful, if only there were no detractors. Someday, hopefully it may come true. Enjoy.

STOP blaming the Pope

Okay people; stop blaming the Pope for all the crimes of those under him. He is not personally responsible for the stupidly and darn right evil things that some priests have committed. We do not blame our Prime Minister or The President for crimes committed by citizens, under their rule. These priests should be punished by the law as if they were regular citizens and if others such as bishops hide these facts from the law, then they should be punished as well. It’s that simple. Past crimes that have been committed by priests in the past and are finally exposed are no different than if a regular person committed a crime and it is finally found out. Bishops and cardinals have hidden these crimes just as some police officers have hidden crimes committed by their fellows. When these crimes are found out then charge and try them, so that the unfortunate victims can get some justice. Unless you have some type of proof that the Pope hid these crimes…then stop blaming the Pope. Move on; find something else to bitch about and let justice take its course.

Don’t blame the seniors

Lots of times I have had young people tell me that we have caused all the problems of the world. Many people like to criticize seniors and blame them for all the ills, and for every conceivable
deficiency of the modern world, real ones or imaginary. They seem to forget that the older generation is responsible for all the good things they have and wouldn’t have if those criticized seniors were not around to have created them. Seniors know to take responsibility for all they have done and do not blame others.

HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was NOT the senior citizens who took

The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education,
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinement out of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement or
God out of government and school.

And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from
personal relationships and interactions with others!!

And, we do understand the meaning of patriotism, and remember those who have
fought and died for our country.

Just look at the Seniors with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts
as they stand at attention with their hand over their hearts!

A SENIOR CITIZEN has a sense of humour and can say…

I’m the life of the party….. Even if it lasts until 8 p.m.

I’m very good at opening childproof caps….. With a hammer.

I’m awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.

I’m smiling all the time because I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.

I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.

I’m wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that’s just my left leg.

I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

Yes, SENIOR CITIZENS are having the time of their life! Let’s hope we can get some time away from all our modern devices to have the same fun they are having.

7 Things You Can’t Say in Canada…number 2

2. Recycling is a Waste of Time and Money

Once upon a time it was easy to put out the trash. Today, the Garbage Gestapo rule our lives. Every household has become a mini version of the village dump, and every one of us has become a garbage picker, carefully separating our organics from our bottles and papers, and worrying about where our dryer lint is supposed to go.

Don’t try to sneak a wine bottle into the wrong bag! The trash police will punish you. The truth about recycling is that it’s a giant waste of dollars and doesn’t help the environment. But don’t tell your kids. They won’t believe you. They’ve been brainwashed.

Stupid idiot Cardinal…and I don’t mean the bird

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA…BWAHAHAHA!!
Okay, I will cut my laugh short otherwise this entire entry would consist of one big line of hysterical laughter. Okay you’re wondering why by now right?

Well it’s all about what a certain CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY wrote on his blog. First off , you need to understand that I am Catholic and I have a strong belief in Christ but the Church itself…well let’s say at times it’s Iffy. Okay back to the main reason of my laughter. The good Cardinal has been said to have shielded child molesting priests for the sake of Catholicism. Okay fine some misplaced loyalty…ah hell…he was an ass if he did do this. It’s bad enough if he really did this but then he goes online and says something so stupid and only laughter will make me say what I really feel.

Cardinal Roger Mahony says that over a number of days he has been confronted in various places by very unhappy people. No shit Sherlock, Okay, he says that he could understand the depth of their anger and outrage that they directed towards him, the Church and about all the injustices that swirl around the Church. This is awfully nice of him, don’t you think?

Now he proceeds to stick his asshole in his mouth, state that by the special grace of God, he simply stood there and asked God to bless and forgive these critics as if they are the ones that need forgiving. He acts as if he’s the good guy in all this. It’s as if he believes he’s the one who is humiliated and not the victims of this scandal he helped cover up. It seems as if he really feels he had nothing to do with their frustrations and rage that they were made to feel against the Catholic Church. Sometimes, someone from the Vatican should come down from Rome and smack assholes like him across the head. Thanks to these deviant men and those that cover this crap up, it just makes honest and decent priests look bad.

Now I have no love for idiots like this Cardinal and more than often I have said that as far as I am concerned organized religion, churches, mosques and temples should all disappear so that we would have less crap out there. There is nothing wrong with any religion, it’s only the priests, the imams, the ayatollahs and other power hungry religious leaders who screw up our belief in God or Christ or Mohammad. We need to go by Christ’s words, who said, turn over any rock or piece of wood and there is where you will find him, not in a Church. Unfortunately, under the guise of being religious we have suicide bombers, terrorists, killers, strange cults and deviants who prey on children.

Religious leaders distort religion for their own purposes; they abuse people mentally and physically and psychologically to the point of that their victims accept sexual abuse, and are even willing to blow them selves up for some imaginary 72 virgins. Religion is abused by idiots like this Cardinal and we will continue to have abuses as long as we accept the versions of religion that we are force fed by zealot religious leaders who only thrive for power.

So, all of you who have been abused by any religion and you are still alive then I would strongly recommend that you believe in religion if you must but do not believe or trust in the earthly pretend leaders who try to control your mind. At the same time try to believe that there are good men and women who sincerely mean to do good using religion. It would also be a good idea if law enforcement made sure that religious leaders are punished just like any other criminals. Religious dogma of any sort is hard to remove from our collective conscience but if we want some kind of true peace on Earth we have to show these leaders that if they do wrong, they will receive punishment. Politicians have to stop cow towing to all religions around the world and then maybe we can have some peace.

Now that being said, it has to be understood that predators will always exist and that even if you get rid of all religions they will still be among us. So, now I am going back to having a good howl at this idiot Cardinal and sit back and try to figure out if the Pope has just retired because he has had enough of the hypocrisy of religion because he knows just how dangerous religion can be.

Hahahhaahahaha…bwaha…ha!!!

Ready for a shock and feel really screwed

I have never been a big fan of big evil corporations and I knew they mark up their products pretty good but I really did not think some of these greedy little buggers really go overboard this much on the mark up. Hell, I thought popcorn prices in theatres were super inflated but the following is a real eye opener. The list only shows drug prices. Read on and weep.

The cost of the active ingredient in the products is shown below. Keep in mind of course that the money they charge goes for more than just the active ingredient. There is product invention and testing, advertising, staff and much more.

Celebrex:100 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $ 0.60
Percent markup: 21,712%

Claritin:1 0 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71
Percent markup: 30,306%

Keflex:250 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88
Percent markup: 8,372%

Lipitor:20 mg
Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80
Percent markup: 4,696%

Norvasc:10 mg Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14
Percent markup: 134,493%

Paxil:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60
Percent markup: 2,898%

Prevacid:30 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01
Percent markup: 34,136%

Prilosec: 20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97
Cost of general active ingredients $0.52
Percent markup: 69,417%

Prozac:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11
Percent markup: 224,973%

Tenormin:50 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13
Percent markup: 80,362%

Vasotec:10 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20
Percent markup: 51,185%

Xanax:1 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024
Percent markup: 569,958%

Zestril:20 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89
Cost of general active ingredients $3.20
Percent markup: 2,809

Zithromax:600 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19
Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78
Percent markup: 7,892%

Zocor: /B40 mg
Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63
Percent markup: 4,059%

Zoloft:50 mg
Consumer price: $206.87
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75
Percent markup: 11,821%

So, what do think? Well, if this is true then it is pretty saddening, isn’t it? Makes you want to tell your doctor where to stick those prescriptions, doesn’t it.

7 Things You Can’t Say in Canada—ONE

1. Margaret Atwood Writes Some Awful Books

The queen of CanLit bestrides the literary world like a colossus. Nobody has won more awards than she has, and nobody is more feared. There is no such thing as a bad review of a Margaret Atwood book in Canada. That’s too bad, because many of her books are tedious and unreadable, full of tortuous plots and unpleasant characters. Why will no one say so? Because we’re grateful that she’s put us on the global map. And because if they do, they’ll never work in this country again.

Major Facebook screw-up

dana

Why did Facebook censor this photograph?

It seems that in the quest to save money and also to try and keep Facebook international they made some major screw-ups that led to censorship and freedom void their freedom of speech policy. It seems that their $1.00 an hour moderator employees from poor countries used their religious and political baise to cause the removal of some important material. Here is an article by Sulome Anderson, that explains it all.


“The Uprising of Women in the Arab World is not pleased with Facebook.
The group, which advocates for women’s rights in the Middle East, issued a press statement on Nov. 7 claiming that Facebook, once hailed as the catalyst of the Arab Spring, was purposefully targeting the organization through censorship. After a member posted a controversial photograph to the group’s Facebook page on Oct. 25, group leaders say, the social networking giant reacted by blocking the image and suspending the account of the administrator who posted it for 24 hours.

“The photograph was part of a campaign which asks the members of our Facebook page to post pictures of themselves holding banners that explain why they support The Uprising of Women in the Arab World,” Diala Haider, one of the organization’s administrators, explained in an interview. “Women from all the Arab countries participated and expressed their demands and outrage at social discrimination and the ways in which women have been marginalized in the public sphere.”

This particular photograph was posted by Dana Bakdounes, a young woman from Syria. In it, Bakdounes is pictured with her hair uncovered, holding her passport, which has a photo of her wearing a hijab. She also holds a sign which reads: “I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because for 20 years I was not allowed to feel the wind in my hair and on my body.”

Haider says that after the first time Bakdounes’ photo was removed by Facebook, supporters of The Uprising of Women in the Arab World responded by posting the image to their own Facebook pages and on Twitter. Convinced that the removal of the photograph had been an error on the part of Facebook, one of the administrators, Yalda Younes, reposted the image to the original page. Facebook then allegedly removed the photograph again and suspended her account for seven days. The group filled out a feedback request stating that Facebook’s actions were a violation of free speech, and on Oct. 31 the block on Bakdounes’ photo was removed. But just a week later, after the organization posted a status update on Facebook asking its supporters to follow the group on Twitter and use the hashtag #DanaWind for solidarity, Haider says Facebook suspended all five of the administrators’ accounts and sent them an official notice warning that their accounts could be deleted if they violated Facebook community rules again.

“We’ve had a lot of religious fanatics and extremists who use offensive and insulting language in reaction to our efforts,” says Haider. “They call us infidels for supporting the freedom of women to choose things like whether to wear a veil or not. We’ve come under attack, but that was expected…. The real surprise was Facebook’s reaction to the page.”

In a statement posted on Reddit on Nov. 13 and confirmed to Foreign Policy as official by a Facebook spokesman, Facebook explained that the incident was simply an error:

“We made a mistake,” the statement reads. “In this case, we mistakenly blocked images from The Uprising of Women in the Arab World Page, and worked to rectify the mistake as soon as we were notified…. To be clear, the images of the woman were not in violation of our terms. Instead, a mistake was made in the process of responding to a report on controversial content…. What made this situation worse is that we made multiple mistakes over a number of days, and it took time to rectify each of these missteps.”

Incidents such as the removal of Bakdounes’ photo raise questions about Facebook’s content moderation system, which has come under fire in recent months. In February, Amine Derkaoui, a Moroccan employee of oDesk, one of the outsourcing firms that Facebook used to moderate its content at the time, leaked internal documents to Gawker detailing the social media site’s content guidelines. According to the documents, while “camel toes” and breastfeeding mothers are off limits, “Crushed heads, limbs etc are OK as long as no insides are showing.” Facebook terminated its partnership with oDesk in May.

An incident similar to the removal of Bakdounes’ photo occurred in April 2011 when a photograph of gay men kissing was removed (and subsequently reposted by Facebook with an apology for its “error”). The site has also been criticized for blocking the New Yorker’s Facebook page after the magazine posted a cartoon that depicted female nipples. In October, a group of Navy SEALS claimed that Facebook was censoring an anti-Obama meme when it took down the image and provided no explanation for its removal until after the story was reported — at which point Facebook issued statements to news outlets apologizing for its mistake.

These episodes begin to make more sense when you factor in the system that, at least until May, Facebook used to moderate its content. Derkaoui told Gawker that he was part of a team of 50 people from across the globe — many from poor countries — who moderated Facebook’s content from home for as little as $1 an hour. He did not return requests for comment, and Facebook has been tightlipped about which companies it now uses to moderate content, failing to respond to emailed questions sent by Foreign Policy.

Vaughn Hester, who works at Crowdflower, a San Francisco-based crowdsourcing firm that also tasks employees from around the world with moderating content, told The Daily Beast in September that “asking moderators to flag photos that are ‘offensive’ can result in very different attitudes in terms of what constitutes offensive content versus permissible content.” Given what seems to be the inherent subjectivity of the content moderation industry, as well as the vast cultural and religious differences between employees from different countries, it seems possible that a photograph like Bakdounes’, which Americans might not find offensive in the least, could have upset a moderator from another country.

Panagiotis Ipeirotis, an associate professor in the Operations and Management Sciences department at New York University’s Stern School of Business, says that there are many ways to identify and eliminate biases in the content moderation industry.

“You might, for example, compare different moderators’ work against each other,” says Ipeirotis. “So, if you’re worried about cultural biases, you can take five moderators from different regions and get blended input on an image.”

Ipeirotis says he is unfamiliar with Facebook’s content moderation policy, but maintains that the content moderation systems of different companies are only as efficient as the standards they implement.

Haider says that while she understands that mistakes are made, it’s important that Facebook take incidents like this seriously because arbitrary acts of censorship aren’t compatible with the site’s role as a forum for free speech.

“It’s only normal that Facebook, which has penetrated the whole globe, hires employees from all over the world with various religious and cultural backgrounds,” she says. “This becomes problematic only when those employees favor their cultural and religious biases over Facebook’s policy of respecting freedom of expression. This is why Facebook should take serious measures regarding such mistakes. We trusted that Facebook would be a supporter of freedom of expression and the uprising; we have faced the opposite by feeling that Facebook is assisting extremists and misogynists to put us in a corner…. It is disappointing, to say the least.”

Facebook outlines some of its guidelines for acceptable content on its community standards page while maintaining that it attempts to balance the need for a safe online environment with its commitment to freedom of speech.

“Facebook gives people around the world the power to publish their own stories, see the world through the eyes of many other people, and connect and share wherever they go,” the page reads. “The conversation that happens on Facebook — and the opinions expressed here — mirror the diversity of the people using Facebook. To balance the needs and interests of a global population, Facebook protects expression that meets the community standards.”

Despite the removal of Bakdounes’ photograph, The Uprising of Women in the Arab World’s Facebook page has over 66,000 likes, and Haider acknowledges the important role that social media sites such as Facebook have played in mobilizing activist groups such as hers.

“We wanted a forum that can provide a free space for women and men from around the Arab world to meet and voice their concerns and propositions for a better reality for women within the transforming Arab societies,” she says. “In this sense, Facebook helps break the borders and helps in sharing real experiences and awareness with the least possible costs.””

Outside of these screw-ups we can see that Facebook can help change the world someday. This may be FACEBOOKS saving grace. Interestingly though we get to see another example of a North American corporation that takes advantage of poor people from other countries to save a few bucks. Really, a dollar and hour. That is so crass on so many levels
When Obama stated in his STATE OF THE UNION address that he was going to be penalizing companies that out source and manufacture overseas, he was on the right path. I hope he gets around to this promise real soon because corporations need to get their national priorities in order. Do corporations have any love for their homelands or not.. When are they going to realize that this preoccupation with outsourcing is going to hurt their sales in North America eventually. How hard is it to realize that if North Americans aren’t employed they can not buy all the shit that these idiotic corporations manufacture. No money, no purchases. Now if their plan is to put the entire population in credit debt then they are on the right track. Wow, got off track on this one. Leaving you to ponder things now.

7 Things You Can’t Say in Canada

I came across this READER’S DIGEST article that I found interesting, so I’m sharing. I will post each of the 7 items in separate posts. You might find that there are a lot more important things you can’t say in Canada. Feel free to express your opinions.
flagofcanada

Influential columnist Margaret Wente shares her controversial opinion on seven sacred Canadian cows most dare not criticize.
Every culture has its unacknowledged taboos—the things you are forbidden to say or do in polite company, the accepted truths you are not allowed to doubt. You might think that a liberal, pen-minded country like Canada would be free of such taboos, but you’d be wrong. In spite of our belief in our own enlightened tolerance, some things are simply not open to debate. If you try, you’re bound to shock the neighbours. It’s risky to question the wisdom of the tribe. You might get stoned. On the other hand, some people might
sneak up to you afterwards and confess that they secretly agree.
So here’s a challenge to a few of our nation’s most widely held beliefs. You say these things in public at your own peril. I will be elaborating on these points over the months to come. Feel free to stone me or secretly agree—or, even better, add to the list. At the very least, they’re sure to start a good dinner-party fight.

Loved THE BLACKHAWKS

blackhawk

I am posting an old drawing to indulge myself a bit. Meet BLACKHAWK and LADY BLACKHAWK, two favourite characters from the old days, I’m quite proud of it. I loved them for many years. The new incarnations that DC COMICS re-invented last year really sucked. For those of you who agree with me, please enjoy this little bit of nostaglia.
For your information there was a serial made in the forties of THE BLACKHAWKS; you might want to look at it if you can find it. I’ll let you know if it ever shows up the internet.
I will especially miss the LADY BLACKHAWK of old.

RESPECT FOR YOUR COUNTRY

PLEDGECARTOON

This cartoon struck a cord with me and I hope it does the same to you. I know the cartoon obviously is American but it also refers to Canada.
Sometimes it seems that today’s youth have no respect for their country and what it means to live in the countries that allow you so much freedom. Men and women for generations fought to give you those freedoms, so as the cartoon shows, would it hurt you to stand for a few seconds to honour your country and the people who sacrificed so much to make it all possible?
It is easy to sit back and say, so what, I didn’t ask anybody to give me these things. I have heard a lot of people say this very same thing and really they were not all young kids. Yup, it is easy to say, when you have them handed to you on a silver platter, but I doubt you would be happy when and if those same things that you take for granted are, someday, are taken away.
If you like what you have then respect your country. Canada is probably one of the best place to live, but, hey if you think you can do better you can always consider moving to another country, like say, one in the Middle east or China or North Korea; I’m sure your attitude will be well respected in those countries..Try it I’m sure you’ll like it

Okay, what part of freedom of speech do people not understand?

The HUFFINGTON POST put up an article that has caused a bit of stink among comic collectors and others. The article concerns a writer who is vehemently anti-gay.  Read the article and then I’ll throw in my two cents worth…..

Comic Book Stores Boycott DC Comics Over Anti-Gay ‘Superman’ Author

Comic book fans and store owners are boycotting DC Comics after the company tapped anti-gay writer Orson Scott Card to pen a portion of an upcoming “Superman” story.

Richard Neal, owner of Zeus Comics in Dallas, refuses to stock any issues of the new installment of “Adventures of Superman” because Card is outspokenly anti-gay, the Digital Spy reports.

Neal posted his response to DC Comics’ decision on his Facebook page:

Card sits on the board of the National Organization of Marriage which fights against marriage equality. His essays advocate the destruction of my relationship, that I am born of rape or abuse and that I am equated with pedophilia. These themes appear in his fiction as well. It is shocking DC Comics would hire him to write Superman, a character whose ideals represent all of us. If you replaced the word “homosexuals” in his essays with the words “women” or “jews” he would not be hired. But I’m not sure why its still okay to “have an opinion” about gays? This is about equality.

Towleroad notes that San Francisco’s Whatever… comic book store is also keeping the “Superman” issue off its shelves.

Towleroad notes that San Francisco’s Whatever… comic book store is also keeping the “Superman” issue off its shelves.

“Whatever… will not be carrying the Orson Scott Card issues of Superman when they are released in print,” reads a message posted to Facebook on Tuesday. “We refuse to give money to someone who will then turn around and use that money to fund more anti-gay hatred.”

HuffPost GayVoices previously noted that Card, a Mormon, is an anti-gay advocate who has promoted his ideals about same-sex marriage in writings. He previously was affiliated with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

More than 11,000 people have signed AllOut.org’s petition asking for Card to be given the boot, but not everyone approves of a boycott of DC Comics.

NOM President Brian Brown told Fox News he’s dismayed gay rights activists are trying to destroy the novelist’s career.

“This is completely un-American and it needs to be stopped,” Brown said. “Simply because we stand up for traditional marriage, some people feel like it’s okay to target us for intimidation and punishment.”

Brown, who called the attacks against Card “frightening,” doesn’t think the author should be condemned for his view on marriage, according to Fox News. “Marriage is the union of a man and a woman,” he said. “That is not hateful. That is not bigoted.”

DC Comics is also standing by Card.

In a previous statement obtained by the Advocate, a representative for the company said: “As content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself.”
WonderCon Convention

Okay, I’m back. Look sure it is easy to hate this guy but do you guys not understand this idea of freedom of speech?

You know while I was growing up, this attitude of anti-gay was really prevelent but most of us really had little to say about it; after all, each to their own. At the time this was considered to be a really bad thing and now suddenly…okay well not really suddenly… it is expected that everyone has to be more understanding and most people are. Young people out there sometimes think that they are the ‘tolerant’ ones. Well remember that your parents and others helped make this a more tolerant society, one where we now understand that people who are different from the norm are people as well and should be allowed their differences as long as they do not hurt anyone.

When some idiot like this CARD guy comes along and spouts his crap, try to remember that some of the old biases still exist and most importantly this guy has the right to spout his antiquated ideas. That is freedom of speech. He can say it and you don’t have to listen. If you wish not to buy SUPERMAN COMICS or anything from DC Comics because they hired him that is your right. This is your freedom.

What upsets me so much is that everyone promotes freedom of speech and get really upset when certain other nations don’t allow it but the minute someone says something they don’t like, they suddenly want to shut these self-same freedoms down. This is crap.

These comic stores as trying to suppress this guys freedom to say what he wants and at the same time are suppressing their customers freedom to buy the books they want and are trying to condemn a company who is hiring the guy as a writer not as a promoter of this Orson Card’s ideas.

This guy has a right to promote traditional marriage if he wants and believes in it. He is stating his opinion and can work to promote it. YOU, don’t have to go along with it but he still has the right to say what he says. He is not saying go out and kill gay people; he isn’t saying go out and hurt them he is just saying he thinks this anti-traditional idea of same sex marriage is against his beliefs. They are his ideas so don’t punish DC for it, they are not promoting those ideas. You may not like his stance but maybe he can write a good SUPERMAN story…a story I’ll never see because I dropped all DC COMICS last year when they changed things in their line for the worst….my opinion of course. I just stopped buying them but I have not tried to stop others from not buying them. Believe me I feel that what they did was an insult to all comic readers….still my opinion.

I have read many people state that they hate what he says but they are not going to stop buying DC COMICS because of it, they will just think of him as a scumbag and will tell others their opinion of him. That, of course is their right in a country that believes in freedom of speech.

 

Australian Definition of a Canadian

canadianflagThis little piece has been making the rounds, so I thought I should post it here. It does a nice job of describing Canadians. Now, all we have to do is make sure that when immigrants come to Canada that they understand what is being said below. My attitude is simple, if you fail to understand the point then you should seriously consider returning to where you came from because obviously you have no desire for something better. When you come to Canada learn to respect everyone or no one will respect you and some of you reeeaaally  seem to try hard not to gain our respect, because the truth of the matter is that you respect no but yourself.
So read on…

Once in a while someone does a nice job of describing a Canadian, this time it was an Australian dentist.

An Australian Definition of a Canadian In case anyone asks you who a Canadian is You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian – any Canadian.

An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one. A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan.A Canadian may also be a Cree, Metis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians.
A Canadian’s religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan . The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which recognize the right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.
A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds.But they also welcome the least – the oppressed, the outcast and the rejected.These are the people who built Canada .

You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbor. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.

It says it all, for all of us.Keep your stick on the ice

It’s easy to make fun of the the Pope…he doesn’t threaten to blow you up

poperetiredcartoonMany Catholics like me were somewhat upset over the way the Hamilton Spectator and other papers made fun of the Pope’s retirement. I understand that there are many people that are atheists out there and of course there are those of different beliefs and to them the Pope is just another guy in funny robes that gets mired in politics and scandals. Now I don’t really care that they feel they can insult or make fun of our religious leader as I do believe with every fiber of my being in the right of free speech. What pisses me off something fierce is when then attitude is not extended to all religions of personalities. See the problem is that it is easy to poke fun at Catholics, Buddhists, Protestants et cetra. Why? Well for one thing unlike one particular religion they don’t threaten to blow you up for insulting their leaders, prophets and God. Now if you feel as, a newspaper or TV news show that you can comment about one religion but due to certain sensitivities you can’t show cartoons about leaders of a religion that threatens to blow you up, well guys that is plain hypocrisy. If you can’t treat all religions the same then don’t comment on them at all.
The Spectator commented that because the Pope retiring is such big news that it is expected that cartoonists and reporters would comment on it all over the world. Criticisms are usually the heaviest in Catholic countries and that is because the Catholic religion and other religions accept that freedom of speech allows for this. Of course those same countries and reporters slink away like cowards when it comes to commenting on the Muslim religion because they fear for their lives every time they try to comment on it. It is easy after all to insult and criticize without mercy religions that don’t threaten to blow you up or riot because of your comments protected by democratic freedom of speech.
So go ahead and pick on an old man and a religion that gives you the freedom to make comments without, worrying, about your life being brought to a sudden end . Go ahead and continue to do this while you can because you never know when that worm can turn or when a new world order takes that freedom from you.
Look, it’s simple if you are going to threat one religion with disrespect then have the balls to treat all world religions the same way even if that religion threatens to kill you. If you do this then you will gain the respect, of everyone, maybe even those who feel they can bully you into submission. After all aren’t we constantly telling our children that bullies are just cowards and that we should stand up to them.
So, I don’t expect the papers and cartoonists, to stop commenting, I just expect them to treat all of us, no matter from which part of the world we come from, with equality. Otherwise screw off and keep your opinions to yourselves.

To Russia From Space

I hope you all got to see that meteor strike in Russia. Was that something or what?

Unlike when this happened in the past the Russina people did not have cell phones so there are no photos as spectacular as what was on all the news shows this time around. I guess cell phones do come in handy, don’t they. There were some pretty impressive cell phone videos.
The nice thing about all this…is…ithat it didn’t happen here. Can you imagine the incredible damage it would have caused if this had happened over downtown Toronto…messy and highly unlikely that people would not have been killed. We can be thankful that the universe did not send it our way. Someday our luck may not hold out, so I hope governments would have some missiles aimed their way. All in all if you are the church going type say a little thanks that we were spared.

Pope to retire at the end of February

pope-benedict-xvi

Do we have a religious plot in the making?

It has been 600 years since the last Pope retired, before death did it for him. Everyone will have their opinion but I figure when it comes right down to it is probably due to him realizing that his mental faculities are going and a Pope with this problem could cause a lot of problems for the Roman Catholics around the world. I guess someday we may eventually find out why he is doing this, until then feel free to speculate.

The challenge now will be to actually get a Pope who is willing to modernize the Church by accepting priests who can get married so we can get rid of single predatory males who take refuge in the Church and cause us all sorts of problems for the rest of us Catholics. I would ask for female priests as well, but I doubt that will ever happen, in my lifetime at least.

We also need a Pope who will go toe to toe with that other radical, med’evil’ religion that is still living in the stone age. Maybe a new and younger Pope may be able to help change things for the better. So much to expect from a new leader of the world’s largest religion.

So for now all I can say is “to be continued”…