Tragic news in Arizona this week! I feel for the victims.
How did it get so out of hand and where is this going?
You have the gun laws in that state that allows anyone to carry and conceal a hand gun. As long as you pass the mandatory legal check. So the shooter was perfectly in his right to have and carry the gun. But this person, described as a nut-ball, had to have a fuse lit from somewhere or someone.
Being on the road I have lots of time between stops to listen to the radio and the CB chatter. I have satellite radio but occasionally I'll listen to the local stuff, usually on late-night radio. It is amazing what the freedom of speech allows over the airwaves. You can hear moderate ideas to ultra extreme venom, liberal to conservative. Then there are the religious stations that pump out hour after hour of give us your money, but that's another subject for later. On the CB, you usually get about 1% that spew their point of view and will curse you to oblivion and call you every imaginable name if you disagree, even invite you to stop and discuss mano-a-mano on the road side. (no one ever does, cause these a lot of bravado behind a microphone)
People down there are passionate about what they think they believe. They are firmly convinced that they have the truth, be it religion or politics and that anyone that disagrees with their opinion is in need of severe correction in any way, shape or form. There's no middle ground anymore. Partisan dichotomy rules. It's OK to be passionate but there has to be a limit. When is too much, too much?
Listening to the way a certain news media network (named after a small canine quadruped) and a particular speaker (some Irish name I can't seem to recall, O' something or other); They're right, your wrong if you don't think like them. Interviews with invitees are basically talked over, cut off in mid phrase, spoken down to, statements are twisted and always ends with the interviewer restating his belief. End of story. "We report, you decide."
The politicians are no better, as they are the source for the media. Verbal attacks on opponents are strident with character assassinations and so on.
In the news, politicians and media are decrying the link between the alleged assassination attempt and themselves saying that it was the work of one unbalanced individual who is responsible for the actions. They have nothing what so ever to do with this person of interest.
Bull
What's the difference between this current situation and Iran's Mullahs that issue fatwas against the US or individuals. Nothing, they both incite the population, mostly the unstable, to action.
Follow the link while it's still up:
irregulartimes.com
If they delete it, I have a copy that I can post. ed.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
About: Queueless Imports
This one is going to be bad! Racist even, and I'm hesitant to write but it goes with what a lot of people are thinking but are afraid or wary to speak about. So brand me if you like!
Queueless Imports is a small play on words. It has a literal meaning; Queue as in lining up for service and clueless which is obvious. Imports is used rather than saying immigrants.
I was at one of the now rare service centers on the 401 between Montreal and Toronto last week. I stopped for a coffee at Timmy's. The place was packed due to the closing of most of these service areas for renovations.
Now, I don't mind the place being packed by travelers and I don't care if they're Caucasian, Black, Asian, Pakistani or what have you. I do have an issue with people who don't have a clue to what basic politeness and respect for others is.
While lining up for a coffee there must have been four or five people with families, uncles, aunts, brother, sisters, friends and a myriad of kids in tow that didn't even try to line up like the rest of us. (Note that I didn't point out what nationality I'm talking about here, you guess.) They just cut past the line and went directly to the counter. It's very clear that there's a line, with the usual poles and ribbons that guide the masses to the counter. But no, that's not for them. They're more important than the rest of us. Now, they weren't in any hurry since they milled around the parking lot for quite some time after being served. The staff at Timmy's was either oblivious or didn't care. More to be said about this later.
A lot of people just don't get Canadian society (or maybe they do and just play the system knowing what they can get away with.) And that's our problem! We're too polite. We accommodate, we include, we allow, we put up, we shut up because we're afraid to be labeled racist. After all, we have a Human Rights Commission that runs to the aid of anyone who feels slighted in any way. You get hauled into court or tribunal for objecting to the incursion. Freedom of speech isn't for Canadians, it's for the others. (cringe). Speaking your mind, that's hate speech!
The Americans have it right in some respects. First, they assimilate new-comers into their society. It's their way or don't bother coming over. Second, you have to at least speak their language; in our case, one of the two official languages.
So here's my point. How long will it be until we're the minority and start loosing our rights to be in our country? Don't kid yourself, it's already here.
Queueless Imports is a small play on words. It has a literal meaning; Queue as in lining up for service and clueless which is obvious. Imports is used rather than saying immigrants.
I was at one of the now rare service centers on the 401 between Montreal and Toronto last week. I stopped for a coffee at Timmy's. The place was packed due to the closing of most of these service areas for renovations.
Now, I don't mind the place being packed by travelers and I don't care if they're Caucasian, Black, Asian, Pakistani or what have you. I do have an issue with people who don't have a clue to what basic politeness and respect for others is.
While lining up for a coffee there must have been four or five people with families, uncles, aunts, brother, sisters, friends and a myriad of kids in tow that didn't even try to line up like the rest of us. (Note that I didn't point out what nationality I'm talking about here, you guess.) They just cut past the line and went directly to the counter. It's very clear that there's a line, with the usual poles and ribbons that guide the masses to the counter. But no, that's not for them. They're more important than the rest of us. Now, they weren't in any hurry since they milled around the parking lot for quite some time after being served. The staff at Timmy's was either oblivious or didn't care. More to be said about this later.
A lot of people just don't get Canadian society (or maybe they do and just play the system knowing what they can get away with.) And that's our problem! We're too polite. We accommodate, we include, we allow, we put up, we shut up because we're afraid to be labeled racist. After all, we have a Human Rights Commission that runs to the aid of anyone who feels slighted in any way. You get hauled into court or tribunal for objecting to the incursion. Freedom of speech isn't for Canadians, it's for the others. (cringe). Speaking your mind, that's hate speech!
The Americans have it right in some respects. First, they assimilate new-comers into their society. It's their way or don't bother coming over. Second, you have to at least speak their language; in our case, one of the two official languages.
So here's my point. How long will it be until we're the minority and start loosing our rights to be in our country? Don't kid yourself, it's already here.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, September 7, 2009
About. narrow mindedness
This goes to the heart of my previous post, Quebec's Taliban.
I'm just back from several thousand kilometers on driving through the US and Ontario. One of the things I have noticed is the presence of bilingual road signs where road safety is involved. But not in Quebec.
In Ontario as well in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, even though it is not obligatory, you will find bilingual advisories. This kind of thinking ensures that road users do not become statistics. Some of this is official law, like for Ontario, but beyond that, it's just polite and safety mindness. I have found tri-lingualism as far as Minnesota, just because public safety is a concern.
In contrast, I recently read of a Montreal bus driver, who when asked by an immigrant student in English, for the time, flatly stated, "I don't speak English". The driver, after being told by the asker of her ability to both understand and reply in English, pushes the button that calls police and takes the bus and twenty other passengers to a nearby depot.
Oh, the shame of being part of this society. What arrogance! If you couldn't reply because you didn't speak the language but understood the basic question, would you point to your watch? Poor tourists... Sure we want your money but we're not civil enough to speak to you in your language. No basic courtesy. Pity.
The same goes for the road signs here in quebec. (Lower case used for the small minded)
but that's another rant for later
I'm just back from several thousand kilometers on driving through the US and Ontario. One of the things I have noticed is the presence of bilingual road signs where road safety is involved. But not in Quebec.
In Ontario as well in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, even though it is not obligatory, you will find bilingual advisories. This kind of thinking ensures that road users do not become statistics. Some of this is official law, like for Ontario, but beyond that, it's just polite and safety mindness. I have found tri-lingualism as far as Minnesota, just because public safety is a concern.
In contrast, I recently read of a Montreal bus driver, who when asked by an immigrant student in English, for the time, flatly stated, "I don't speak English". The driver, after being told by the asker of her ability to both understand and reply in English, pushes the button that calls police and takes the bus and twenty other passengers to a nearby depot.
Oh, the shame of being part of this society. What arrogance! If you couldn't reply because you didn't speak the language but understood the basic question, would you point to your watch? Poor tourists... Sure we want your money but we're not civil enough to speak to you in your language. No basic courtesy. Pity.
The same goes for the road signs here in quebec. (Lower case used for the small minded)
but that's another rant for later
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
About: Quebec's Taliban
[Picture shown linked to the Gazette, June 18th, 2009, Quebec's Brown-Shirts, Friends of Pauline]This post will not be politically correct. It will offend and I will not apologize to those who are offended. If you don't want to be offended, stop reading now and go away. If you continue to read and are offended, too bad. You were warned and by electing to continue to read, you abrogate your rights to be complain about being offended.
Note: I embrace and enjoy the French Quebec culture and to this point, I have remained in Quebec, unlike the car people of 1975, who took off down the 401 to Toronto. I married a French woman, I pay my taxes, vote, and work in French, etc. I agree for the most part in the preservation of the French language and culture in Quebec.
However...
I'm getting tired of the radical elements within this province. So here goes. Leave now if you wish.
Definition: Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment, while reverse racism favours members of a historically disadvantaged group at the expense of those of a historically advantaged group. Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, even though anybody can be racialised, independently of their somatic differences. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination.
Just like the middle east, who have their radical fundamentalists, I believe we Quebecois have ours. (Hey, the Americans have Fox News) They're called the SSJB (Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste) and the JPQ (Les Jeaunes Patroites du Quebec). The latter is the militant wing of the PQ like the former FLQ. I have decided to refer to both as the Quebec Taliban. Little has changed since the FLQ; they're still dinosaurs. Just like the middle-eastern antique fundamentalist relics and ethnic purists of tribes long since past, these continue to dwell on past offenses and "humiliations", perceived or actual, inflicted by the English bourgeoisie from Westmount and interpret historic humiliations such as the defeat of Montcalm to Wolfe to their ends to justify their actions. Today, these fundamentalist purists despise any reference of English, foam at the mouth if the English text isn't smaller by the prescribed format compared to the French text, refuse to learn or use the language. Example: They are currently petitioning to have the street renamed from Amherst, in Montreal. What does this truly show? They could be referred to as xenophobic and racist.
The SSJB and JPQ are the mouthpieces for the Partie Quebecois, at the provincial level, and the Bloc Quebecois, at the Federal Level. These receive their funding and support from radical elements within the general public and certain members of parliament; The PQ and the Bloc. [List of contributors can be found in the Gazette article]. Unwilling to voice their own opinions publicly, they secretly send their money to these groups, thus quietly supporting the continued repression of a specific sector of the Quebec population. The current Liberal government silently supports them through their inaction and capitulation, ever fearful of their future re-election opportunities.
These radical groups promote Quebec sovereignty and separation from the ROC in a more physical fashion. In addition, they promote the use of French in Quebec through threats of violence. They're also abhor anything remotely English: signs, English musicians singing at local festivals, etc.
Recently in the news, a local Montreal business threatened to withdraw funding support to a festival because two bands in the entertainment lineup were English, singing in both English and French. When revealed in the news, the decision was quickly reversed, having been sufficiently embarrassed by the obvious racist slant of their press release. The concert when off without a hitch, with only minor elements voicing their opposition.
There is the infamous language police AKA; Tongue troopers, who chase down any reported infraction of the French language charter, which in itself is a manifesto of the primacy of the French language, under the guise of preserving the French language and culture by the suppression of the English language.
Historically, the English and the French have warred for centuries back. England and France are full of wars, incursions and subjugation of each other. Other historical comparisons of cultural and ethnic cleansing occurred might include Turkey and the Albanians, the Hutu's and the Tootsies and Germany for which no additional references are required. You don't need to kill to exterminate.
The media has pointedly avoided the use of the R word but I can't help thinking out loud the things that need to be said. Let's call a spade a spade!
About... since January
So the last iteration was six months ago, egad! Where to start?!?
Ok, back to where I left off in January.
First, I survived the winter driving a truck. No accidents. I did hit a snow bank slightly, just enough to bend the side bumper up by an inch. So the gap between the grill and the bumper closed up a bit, it was easily pulled back into place with a block and tackle, so no harm there.
I found that the truck steer tire will go straight in deep snow at low speeds, even when you turn out of the bank. It has to do with all those drive tires at the back of the tractor that push in straight lines. The steers cannot overcome the drivers.
Black ice; I saw plenty of that first hand. Once occasion made my butt pucker. Fortunately I wasn't going too fast. I did see the consequences from others that weren't so careful. Some died from it, too.
Snow banks are the biggest problem. They tend to tighten up a customers' yard, so what was difficult under normal circumstances becomes next to impossible.
So here are some of my more distant destinations: Bowling Green, Hopkinsville, Evansville, Kentucky. Wooster, Canton, Mogadore, Ohio. Rockford, Victoria, Minnesota. Winnipeg, Manitoba. Just about everywhere in a straight line from Kingston to Windsor. Lafayette, Wabash, Indiana. There is lots of closer stuff, like up state New York and the New England states. Many places have weird names like Unadilla, NY or Ashtabula, OH.
I have hauled a variety of things, some with little value and little weight, like Styrofoam ( you can fill a 53 foot trailer from floor to rafters and barely have 8 thousand pounds). Other times the value can be quite high. Most times a full load weighs 44 thousand pounds. That plus the weight of the truck can weigh up to 80K lbs.
Next..., politics! You've been warned!
Ok, back to where I left off in January.
First, I survived the winter driving a truck. No accidents. I did hit a snow bank slightly, just enough to bend the side bumper up by an inch. So the gap between the grill and the bumper closed up a bit, it was easily pulled back into place with a block and tackle, so no harm there.
I found that the truck steer tire will go straight in deep snow at low speeds, even when you turn out of the bank. It has to do with all those drive tires at the back of the tractor that push in straight lines. The steers cannot overcome the drivers.
Black ice; I saw plenty of that first hand. Once occasion made my butt pucker. Fortunately I wasn't going too fast. I did see the consequences from others that weren't so careful. Some died from it, too.
Snow banks are the biggest problem. They tend to tighten up a customers' yard, so what was difficult under normal circumstances becomes next to impossible.
So here are some of my more distant destinations: Bowling Green, Hopkinsville, Evansville, Kentucky. Wooster, Canton, Mogadore, Ohio. Rockford, Victoria, Minnesota. Winnipeg, Manitoba. Just about everywhere in a straight line from Kingston to Windsor. Lafayette, Wabash, Indiana. There is lots of closer stuff, like up state New York and the New England states. Many places have weird names like Unadilla, NY or Ashtabula, OH.
I have hauled a variety of things, some with little value and little weight, like Styrofoam ( you can fill a 53 foot trailer from floor to rafters and barely have 8 thousand pounds). Other times the value can be quite high. Most times a full load weighs 44 thousand pounds. That plus the weight of the truck can weigh up to 80K lbs.
Next..., politics! You've been warned!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
About Blogging
It takes a bit of effort to blog. Like cutting the grass before having to call the local farmer to mow and bale the hay, I sometimes just have the energy to get to it. Call me lazy, perhaps. I do work long hours and am away from the house on the average workweek, which can be up to 70 hours max. So blogging can be a bit of a chore. But once I get into it, it's fun.
More to follow
More to follow
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