MPs need to live to understand

I once won thetop prize in a contest being run by a place I've never been to. Normally, this would be brushed off as a scam. That is unless your name is Ruth Ellen Brousseau.

The Ottawa barmaid was parachuted into the riding of Berthier-Maskinonge by the NDP. Nobody thought she would win. Even Brousseau didn't think she had a snowball's chance. Then she did win. She won without ever visiting the Quebec riding, speaking to constituents, learning French, or even being in the country. Instead, she gambled the election away at the hottest slots in Las Vegas.

Brousseau is the classic example of the absentee MP. It's why so many people have become disillusioned with Canadian politics. She only won because Quebec wanted Layton. Not because of anything she actually did.

Sadly, she isn't the problem, just a part of it. Political parties absolutely love parachuting in star and not so star candidates into ridings they don't live in. The Liberals dropped Michael Ignatieff into Etobicoke-Lakeshore. He doesn't live there. He's in Ottawa. His constituents said he was usually nowhere to be seen, and impossible to get ahold of. No wonder he lost!

You can't possibly understand the needs of your constituents if you don't even live near them. You cannot possibly represent them in parliament. You can't possibly call that democracy.

At the municipal level, councilors are required to live in their wards. In the United States, senators and congressmen have to live in the states they represent. Why doesn't this rule apply to Canada's federal MPs? Dropping people in creates a huge disconnect between the electorate and our leaders. People are getting fed up.

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An education with nowhere to go

I am wasting my life. I found myself thinking that on another one of my long drives. The ones through a grey winter's countryside with nobody else on road. Working as a driver gives you time to think. The sad part of it all is I'm too smart for my job. I have double honours degrees in history and political science. I also have a college graduate diploma in journalism. Still I'm forced to work for low pay in a mind numbing job. There are no entry level positions in my field. I've come to realize that higher education doesn't open the doors it once did.

For years, the government has pushed university degrees as the be all and end all. The labour market increased demand for educated workers as well. Then the 2008 recession happened. While blue collar and minimum wage jobs bounced back, white collar ones didn't. Many university grads are waiting tables, or cleaning cars. Now that everyone has a university education, degrees don't carry the weight they used to.

Entry level professional jobs have given way to volunteering and internships. Those do not pay the bills, and do not generate tax revenue. Employers want experience. Typically this means a minimum of two years in the real world. Grads lack the experience needed to get good jobs, but there are few paths for getting that experience.

This is why I took exception to recent comments made by Michael Ignatiff. He's another stuffy academic that Liberals seem to love. Iggy wants to push education big time should he be elected PM. That's all well and good but it doesn't address the job problem. Pursuing knowledge is a wonderful thing, but it's useless if you can't practice it.

Not a single party at both the federal and provincial levels has addressed the job shortage for new grads. They need meaningful full time work in their own fields to succeed. Mark my words, ignoring this issue will lead to a brain drain. At best, we'll have an entire generation under-qualified for their age group and career level. We're wasting a colossal amount of fresh talent because there are no real world opportunities for beginners. All we've done is create the world's most educated Wal-Mart employees.

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Charlie Sheen is just winning

He was an unfunny actor on an unfunny sitcom about two guys and a fat kid. Now he's turned into a tweaked out media darling. People couldn't get enough of his crazy, coke-fuelled rantings. Charlie Sheen has become this month's Truman Show. I can't help but admire his defiance, and "winning" attitude. Especially when the media keeps adding wood to his fists of fire.

Sheen's bizarre personal life came into the news back in December. He allegedly held up a knife to his wife. Then came the stories about his cocaine addiction, wild parties with porn stars, and bizarre rantings. Sheen thinks he's just awesome and he's happy to tell people that. He's a winner, he has tiger blood, and he thinks his Two and a Half Men boss is a douche.

Sheen has probably always been this way. This is not a new thing, even though the media likes to pretend it is. He's just the latest flavour of the month. Last year it was Tiger Woods and Lindsay Lohan. Before them, it was Brittany Spears and Michael Jackson. Why do we even care about this trash? A juicy gossip story now and then is a fun read, sure. When it's taken this far, it's beating a dead horse.

Charlie Sheen is a dumb actor. There's nothing special about him. He's not a role model or a great gift to his craft. He never has been, and has never claimed to be. Well, at least not to the first one. You can't even call him a hypocrite.

The media demeans itself when the resort to petty gossip on serious newscasts. They wonder why people don't pay attention to the real issues.

Stories like this sell news. There's nothing wrong with that. Just stop pretending that Sheen's behaviour is shocking and appalling. Half of these journalists have probably done similar things in their past. Who's the hypocrite now? Sheen will be forgotten in a month's time. Dragging it out is pointless. Let's get back to the stories that matter, please.

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Halal meat may not be so kosher for Westerners

I was watching Pat Condell latest rant the other day. The British comedian turned atheism activist was complaining about multiculturalism in the UK. According to him, all grocery stores are now stocking halal meat to appease Muslims. All of it is halal because it is easier and cheaper for slaughterhouses to use one method. So what exactly is halal meat?

I decided to look it up on that great god of knowledge, Wikipedia. In order for a meat to be halal, it must be slaughtered in the correct way, known as Dhabiha. Wikipedia defines it as such...

Ḏabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة) is the prescribed method of slaughtering all animals excluding fish and most sea-life per Islamic law. This method of slaughtering animals consists of a swift, deep incision with a sharp knife that cuts the front of the throat, the carotid artery, wind pipe and jugular veins but leaves the spinal cord intact. The objective of this technique is to more effectively drain the body of the animal's blood, resulting in "more hygienic" meat.

Many animal rights groups feel this method of slaughter is cruel to the animal. In many cases, the animal is not rendered unconscious before being killed. Groups such as the Farm Animal Welfare Council and the RSPCA have spoken out against the practise. The UK Ministry of Food and Farming suggested in 2008 that all halal and kosher meat products should be labelled to help consumers choose.

I'm no animal rights activist. I enjoy my meat supper as much as the next man. However, this definitely grinds my gears. It seems unnecessarily cruel to the animal. Chopping a chicken's head off with an axe is more humane.

If you have any respect for animal welfare, you should avoid eating both halal and the similar kosher meats. I could be wrong on some of this stuff, so please correct me if I am. Regardless, it's enlightened me a bit. There are definitely some Middle Eastern restaurants I will not be going to anymore.

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Rape is Rape

No means no, unless you live in Manitoba. Convicted Rapist Kennith Rhodes got off on a conditional sentence for attacking a woman four years ago. The crown was seeking at least three years but the judge would have none of it. According to Justice Robert Dewar, the victim had it coming to her. Why? She was scantily dressed while partying at a local bar. Apparently dressing slutty always means yes.

The tables have turned on Dewar. His office was surrounded by 100 protesters on Friday. They demanded he be removed from the bench. Dewar had called the case an incident of "misread signals," citing that "sex was in the air" and that there was a "heightened expectation that sex would occur."

The protesters said that there is no such thing as "implied consent". Dewar seems to think there is. Even when a woman refuses advances. It's okay to go ahead as long as she's dressed for the occasion. What's worse is that he almost made the rapist look like the true victim.

The group chanting outside is office is definitely in the right. Rape is not on the same level as murder or robbery. Crimes that are often committed out of passion or desperation. Any psychologist will tell you it isn't about sexual starvation. If it was all about looks, why do children and frumpy grandmas get attacked?

Rape is about power. The desire to control another human being. It has nothing to do with getting your rocks off. Justice Dewar seems to have confused that. It's sickening that this kind of thinking still goes on in our justice system. It's why so many rape victims refuse to come forward. Narrow minded people like Dewar believe that women only get attacked because they asked for it. When the hell did Saudi Arabian law arrive in Canada?

I've often said that judges are out of touch with our society. This is further proof.

The Canadian Judicial Council, the body that regulates judges, plans to launch an investigation into the comments. The Manitoba government has already filed a complaint.

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We're fat, and that's a good thing

You're a big, fat, disgusting pig. Don't worry, you're in good company. One out of ten people world wide love stuffing Big Macs and sugary treats into their faces. That's about 650 million people who are considered obese. It's an epidemic of gargantuan proportions. There will always be the doom sayers. But obesity is a problem we should be glad to have.

For most of human history, food was scarce. Most people lived on subsistence farming. You ate what you could grow, gather, and ranch yourself. No mechanization, just back breaking labour. No pesticides, just total crop failure.

The entire nation of Ireland was almost wiped out as the result of a potato famine as recent as 150 years ago. Similar shortages occurred in Ukraine in the 1930s and in North Korea in more recent times. Kim Jong Il's people have some of the lowest levels of obesity in the world. Mostly because they're all starving.

The obesity epidemic can be traced back to the mid 20th century. Mechanized agriculture, modern pesticides such as DDT, and advanced fertilizers caused food production to explode. A single farmer could produce as much food as an entire farming community could 50 years earlier. Then came genetic modification, hormones, and advanced vaccines. Plants and animals became heartier and produced more than ever. Less and less land was needed.

So here we are today. We have so much food, we actually have the audacity to throw it away. Nutrition is another subject entirely. However, it's quite amazing that so few are now going hungry. The legendary feasts of King Henry VIII are now your average Thanksgiving for even poorer people.

So let's celebrate our enormous girths, instead of crying about it. Our fatness is a sure sign of the abundance more people are now enjoying. We live longer and better for it. Still, half an hour on the treadmill wouldn't hurt. So get your lardy butt moving!

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Cuba no vacation spot

Many Canadians are lured to Cuba for it's white beaches, azure seas, and rum & colas a plenty. But that's only what the government wants you to see. Beyond the tourist areas, Cuba is still a rundown island controlled by a ruthless dictatorship. Wander off the beaten path and you're likely to get caught up in the web of corruption that rules the island.

Nineteen-year-old Simcoe, Ontario teen Cody LeCompte learned that the heard way. He was visiting Cuba when his rental care was sideswiped by a pickup truck. Unlike Canada, you're not innocent until proven guilty. Especially if you're a foreigner. Many Latin Americans have a fierce dislike for gringos (white English-speaking foreigners). It might shock some to hear this, but few can tell the difference between Canadians and Americans. Even though there was proof LeCompte didn't cause the accident, Cuban officials cared little. He has been held on the island since April before they decided to let him go this week.

There's very little the Canadian consulate can do in these situations. They have no jurisdiction there. The Cuban government is entirely within their rights not to cooperate. LeCompte got lucky because the Cubans didn't want to damage the tourism industry. But, it stands as a stern warning to other would-be travellers.

Cuba won't respect the rights of its own people, so why should they respect the rights of a rich gringo? Canada can't help you once you leave the country. You absolutely have to maintain extra vigilance at all times when you're visiting places like these. Better yet, take a trip to Florida instead.

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