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The Things you Don't Expect to See

It's always interesting the sort of sights that normal human beings don't expect to see and are surprised by even while we know they must occur and frequently.

An example: in the underpopulated province of Manitoba there are, on average, between sixteen and seventeen weddings per day, (statcan.gc.ca), from the extravagant to two people and a justice of the peace. During the summer the number is much higher. Of course this means that on an average day conservatively there are sixteen or more vehicles ferrying prospective husbands and wives to and from wedding venues.

Why then am I so struck as I sit here in one of the several dozen coffeeshops in Winnipeg when from the corner of my eye I see a young lady in gown and tiara? Granted, the truck being a Ford Ranger whose thirty-something years in this world have taken a toll roughly equivalent to being run over by Grave Digger adds to the effect that I must have been hallucinating. Someone has obviously made an attempt to clean up the vehicle that no amount of paint or soap is going to make this vehicle anything more than some sort of an automotive Joan Rivers. I have to take a step back though, whoever said that every bride has to be, let alone can afford to be, chauffeured to her wedding in a limousine or horse drawn carriage?

This Just In: Pot Calls Kettle Black

Which is the greater evil, the people who post these photos online and taunt the parents, or the "news" station that exploits the situation and acts like they care? People who work in news, (a part of the entertainment business), know damn well that they are only causing more people to look for these crash photos. They didn't need to include any of the crash scene photos, but they show one anyway even though they know it only makes people more curious about the rest of the photos. They do it because it makes the show more exciting and brings in more viewers. At the end of the segment they even leave viewers with not too subtle instructions on how to find the photos:








If that isn't a dare for people to load up Google and search for "Catsouras," I don't know what is.

Do yourself a favor and don't search for the photos.

Red Light Cameras!

At least running a red light isn't going to be considered a violent crime simply because people have been harmed or injured by drivers who have run red lights.

The federal government continues to put itself on the level of pimps and drug dealers

Smokers feeling abused as federal tax hike hits

Every time I hear about state or federal governments exacting what amounts to a 'sin tax' on products they consider to be immoral or harmful, it drives me crazy. To publicly decry cigarettes or alcohol, then turn around and make money hand over fist off the sale of said items is indistinguishable from a pimp who is ostensibly a figurehead against prostitution or a drug dealer who is ostensibly a figurehead in the war on drugs. The only things worst than pimps and drug dealers are pimps and drug dealers who happen to be hypocrites.

Congratulations government, you continue to put yourself on the level of hypocritical pimps and drug dealers.

*I neither advocate nor oppose the use of cigarettes or alcohol*

Absolut Mango: Avoid at All Costs

There isn't really much more I have to say other than avoid the following bottle at all costs. Absolut Vodka is fantastic but their mango variation just doesn't cut it.

How do you want to die?

Either this is the stupidest, or manliest way that anyone could possibly die.

http://www.ktla.com/landing_mostinteresting/?Man-Dies-After-12-hour-Viagra-fueled-Org=1&blockID=225251&feedID=1080

You tell me.

GO JOE!!!

With the success of the Transformers movie, a G.I. Joe movie was greenlit. To cut to the chase it looks like a terrible movie. And yet, I can't wait for it to come out because it looks like exactly the sort of balls to the wall, cartoony, manly action fest that I would have watched twenty-seven times in a row when I was ten and played with action figures. I guess I haven't really grown up all that much.

Here's the trailer:


After hearing about the G.I. Joe movie, the first response of a friend of mine was "will they be fighting a giant magnifying glass?" Genius.

Aftermath...

Just read the article at CNN.

This doctor's children almost made it till the cease-fire

The IDF just doesn't care who gets in the way.

The situation just keeps getting worse...

Now Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus, which impartially burns everyone in its' path and is generally considered inhumane. Beyond white phosphorus, Israel has become so out of control that they are unaware whether or not they are responsible for bombing a U.N. relief agency compound. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev claims "if it was Israel's fire, it was a grave mistake," and says "it could have been ours, it could have been Hamas', this is being investigated."

If any further proof was needed that Israel has become out of control and is simply attacking anyone and anything in the general area of Gaza, this is it.

Hamas continues to fire rockets, Israel continues to react in the worst way possible.

20 more rockets have been fired into Israel today from Gaza assumedly by Hamas. Israel continued indiscriminately bombing, shelling and shooting at whatever the fuck they please, burning several and killing one person in a U.N. school. It doesn't seem like this conflict will end anytime soon, especially with Israeli forces having no stated goal other than to stop rocket attacks which is becoming an obvious lost cause.

What will it take for blind support of Israel to stop?

How bad do the stories from the conflict between Israel and Palestine have to get before other countries and the U.N. step up and put a stop to what amounts to Israel's acts of terrorism? The latest story hasn't been substantiated as 100% fact yet but according to many eyewitnesses Israel ordered Palestinian civilians, (that's ordinary people who work and have families), to take shelter in a house which they then bombed, killing thirty of the people inside (from CNN). Perhaps the story isn't entirely accurate, but then there are also the incidents with the U.N. humanitarian workers. The IDF just doesn't care who they shoot anymore. Men, women, children, the ones who aren't killed are left injured or with nothing. The U.N. tried to instigate a truce, but that only lasted about 15 minutes. I would expect the small groups of terrorists to break a truce after 15 minutes, but I would hope that Israel might be able to last a bit longer. That's Wishful thinking I guess.

Even if I were to set these stories aside, what Israel is doing is wrong. Their over-aggressive attitude where they paint a target on every living person in Gaza is disgusting. The U.S. has to stop waiting and hoping something comes out of the meetings in Cairo. Hundreds of non-combatants are dying while the leaders talk. Israel claims that their offensive is intended to stop rocket fire into Israel, but after killing over eight hundred Palestinians, their actions haven't put a damper on rocket attacks. The only thing Israel's offensive is doing is leaving Gaza full of thousands of parentless and homeless children who now hate Israel for killing their parents and destroying all they hold dear. For every terrorist or enemy combatant that Israel kills, they are creating five or ten more.

Blind support of Israel needs to end and it needs to end now.

The Christmas Spirit!

According to this story, (via cnn.com), a group of Athiests, in Olympia, Washington erected a sign alongside a Nativity scene that was later removed and thrown in a ditch. Here is a photo of the sign:













I have no problem with any group of people putting up signs, nativity scenes, menorahs or anything expressing their beliefs. This sign would not bother me... if it weren't for the last line. Simply stating the belief that there are no gods, devils, angels, heaven or hell is not offensive or antagonistic. It may directly conflict with the views of the people who assembled the Nativity scene, but it does not attack those views. The last line, however, directly and intentionally attacks those views and that is nasty, unreasonable and unnecessary. A quote from the article taken from Dan Barker, a co-founder of the group is as follows "If there can be a Nativity scene saying that we are all going to hell if we don't bow down to Jesus, we should be at the table to share our views." I would love to see this particular Nativity scene, but I have yet to encounter one with a sign stating explicitly that non-believers will go to hell.

A matter of wording?
Another advertisement, this one on buses in Washington D.C., states "Why believe in a God?" the advertisement asks. "Just be good for goodness sake."














I can and do stand behind the idea that a person should not be good simply because their religion demands it, but rather because it is just the right thing to do. In fact, it is one of my core beliefs that being a good person is inherently rewarding. Still, the line "why believe in a god" is intentionally inflammatory and to pretend otherwise is farcical. If this sign were to truly be as fair as it pretends to be it should say something more along the lines of:
God or not,
Be good for goodness' sake.


In the end, there is nothing wrong with believing in a god and there is nothing wrong with believing there is no god. A self-righteous militant Athiest is just as much of a poison on humanity as a self-righteous fundamentalist Christian. Everyone should be working on living together peacefully regardless of beliefs rather than attacking each other.

*Note- don't let the actions of a few people in this story reflect on all Atheists, Christians or humans in general.

You're an idiot, natch

If there's one thing I hate it's the bastardization of language, (imagine the sort of love/hate relationship I have with the internet). One term that raises the short hairs on my neck every time I hear it is 'natch.' Natch isn't even an intuitive shortening of 'naturally,' visually it doesn't resemble the word naturally and aurally it is simply grating.

Please, don't use crappy slang like 'natch.' This goes double if you're a professional journalist.

Michael Chrichton died yesterday

I hope people take notice and remember him for the amazing writer and director and all around brilliant man that he was.

source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/11/05/obit.crichton/index.html

Epic fail, Joaquin Phoenix

Not only are the words on the wrong hands, but why would a successful actor stoop to writing childish messages on his hands anyway? The guy's 34 years old now, he's not in middle school anymore. Maybe it's in pen so it will come off easily when three or four years down the road he decides that he really does like money and starts starring in movies again.

LMFAO, politicians...

Ahhhh, politics. The politicians are all so full of double-talk. This is an old piece but the Chicago Tribune ran an article about the cars that some of the presidential candidates drove. Ron Paul's answer was actually pretty refreshing, but here's the part on Obama:




Source

Star Trek: the new captain and crew

New photos have surfaced of the upcoming Star Trek film. Go ahead and check them out here.
Obviously I haven't seen any trailers that show off any of their acting, but based on looks alone the casting choices were well made. Karl Urban even makes a very convincing McCoy, which was quite a shock. Anton Yelchin looks a bit childish as Chekov, but that's not too bad. My only qualm is that Chris Pine doesn't look like he fits the role of Captain Kirk. At all. It isn't just that he doesn't look much like the young William Shatner, because there is a bit of a resemblance. He just doesn't look like he embodies the sort of ham-fisted charismatic renegade starship captain that Kirk is supposed to be. I dunno, maybe it's just me.
Also the bridge set looks just crummy, (even compared to the original series). I hope it's just the way the photo is shot making it look bad.

Here's a photo of the new crew: