Counting Yourself In... Again?

I'm probably the only person in Canada who thinks about this stuff, but is it just me or is the Census a colosal waste of government money? Every five years the government requires Canadians by law to fill out this form, but is it really necessary. The truth is no. Think about it. All that information is already logged somewhere in the vast servers of the government's computer library. Got a birth cirtificat or immigration landing papers? They've got that info too including country of origin. Tax forms list your income, who you work for, and how many people live in your home. They already know where you live or else the package wouln't reach your house. Other stuff that they sometimes ask such as ethnicity is really none of their business, although they can usually guess by name or examining country of origin on immigration papers. Education can be obtained by looking through school board records. The government already has all the information they need, and if lazy civil servants did some digging it could be obtained far easier than making citizens fill out more forms. If they already have everything they need to know, what's the point of asking again?

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Blowing Smoke

There has been a lot I want to take about this week. This entry will deal with that ever persistant debate over the legalization of marijuana. I for one am strongly opposed to this drug being legalized, or even decriminalized.

What really upset me was the protest held on Queen Park on this past weekend by a bunch of dazed and confused stoned hippies. They were all committing an illegal act while the cops just stood there doing nothing. They were protesting for the drug to be legallized.

I feel that we already have too many toxic subsistance in society that are legal. Look at all the people who smoke cigarettes and pop doctor perscribed happy pills to get themselves through the day. Does our society really need all these chemical substances to function? It is important to note that alcohol should be left out of the debate as certain alcoholic beverages such as red wine are beneficial and the fact that most people are not drinking to get a buzz.

Marijuana on the other hand is not a beneficial drug. People only smoke it to get high. I don't buy this medicinal crap either. If it's such a good pain killer, why not extract the active chemical and put it in pill form. Why, because it's not a pain killer. It just numbs the mind temporarily. I also don't buy the crap that it isn't addicted. I remember kids in highschool were addicted to it. Alcohol isn't physically addictive yet we have alcoholics. Marijuana is the same, it is a mental addiction. People's minds begin to crave it. I saw these kids go from being relatively bright melt into a false reality as the drug began to consume their lives. They disolve themselves into the drug culture and it becomes imposible for them to deal with their lives problems without some sort of chemical substance to perk them up or relax them. It's sad really.

But I digress. What really upsets me is the effects these people have had on our society. The selfishness of the high is destroying our civilization. They say that drugs do not hurt anybody or only hurt the person using them. This is perhaps the biggest understatement of all time. Tell that to all the people murdered because they were caught in the cross fire of gangs fighting over drug territory. Tell that to those killed in drug deals gone wrong. Tell that to the families who anguish because their loved ones were killed by these drug dealers or have fallen into the pits of dispair caused by the drugs.

Not let us not forget that drugs simply are not morally wrong. For every toke somebody takes, that costs society thousands of dollars. Thousands for police to catch the dealers, thousands the send them to jail, thousands to treat people in hospital who have ODed. People must learn to stop doing these drugs. So what should be done. First of all, I think we should eliminate jail sentences for drug possesion but rather require manditory drug rehabilitation in a secure treatment facility. We also need to crack down heavily on the dealers and throw them in jail longer. Let them know that society won't tollerate this. Legallizing weed or other drugs won't eliminate these problems as more people will only use it more, not to mention gangs smuggling it to the US. If Canada ever legalizes weed, I will leave this country as it will be one of the biggest mistakes we could ever make.

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Municipal Elections: When to Vote?

Dalton McGuinty has done it again. His foolish Liberal majority has passed a law requiring municipal elections to be held every four years, as opposed to the current three years. Once again nobody was consulted. I hope somebody has the guts not to allow this to become a reality (Mr Lieutenant Governor...).

Elections should be held more frequently in municipalities and here's why. First off, issues come up a lot faster at the local level. Citizens must have more chances to voice their favour or opposition to local policies. I think our current situation here in Milton attests to that. Would you like to see our corrupt town council sitting for four streight years not listening to you while spending your money on useless projects and handing over town control to developers. I think not. If it were up to me, I would hold municipal elections every two years. Don't give me this garbage that councilors need the extra year to complete goals. First of all, what goals? Secondly, working at a municipality is not like running a large territory like a province or country. Issues crop up a lot faster as I already mentioned and must be solved faster. People cannot just sit on their hands on these types of issues. If we allow councilors to stay in too long, they simply get too comfortable.

McGuinty, please retract this new policy. It doesn't help anybody.

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Developers: Get Out of Milton NOW!!!

I'm getting absolutely tired of this crap and I know many of my fellow Milton residents are too. I am demanding that all future development be restricted to Milton's east end and that all developers immediately leave the south and west ends. For nearly five years now, Milton residents have had to deal with a town run by corrupt developers and a corrupt town and regional council. During this time, the town has been allowed to crumble around us. Roads are a mess, buildings have been illegally destoryed, subdivisions have been illegally put up. All this is seems to go un-noticed by our town council. With the sheer amount of complaints, I am led to believe that there are shady deals being made behind closed doors between developers and those in town government. This must stop, NOW. I don't want to see the number of houses cut down by half or a quarter of the original number in the enviromnetally sensitive escarpment country, I want the number to be ZERO.

Developers, you are no longer welcome in this town and I suggest you leave as soon as possible before you face the wrath of thousands the original residents of this town who have been infuriated by your actions. I suggest Milton residents take a page out of the book currently being written by the First Nations in Caladonia if this does not stop soon.

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Thou Shalt Kill- But Only If You're Under 18

I question the purpose of having a law on the books that makes murder illegal. After all, this law certainly is not taken seriously in this country, along with many other so called 'indictable' crimes. This week, it was announced that a teen who killed another teen who had been protecting a pregnant friend would be receiving a 64-month sentance for the murder. He was convicted of manslaughter. In my opinion, if you have a knife and stab somebody repeatedly with it, that's not manslaughter as you obviously intended serious harm. That's second degree murder. They boy who was killed was unarmed and outnumbered too. Of course the killer's friends were highly delighted with the linient sentance. The person convicted, a Kimo George who is 18, will likely be out by his 21st birthday.

Once again, this brings the Youth Criminal Justice Act into serious question. It's not like a 16 year old does not know that a knife can seriously harm or kill somebody. It's not like the killer did not know that killing another person is wrong. So why are these youth being treated as if they didn't know? When a youth committs a summary crime, that's forgivable but not with an indictible crime. Youths charged with indictable crimes should be treated as if they were adults, and should be given adult charges and adult sentences. I do agree that those under 18 should serve in youth facilities. In adult facilities, impressionable youth can easily pick up the tricks of the criminal trade from their fellow inmates and fall into a life of crime. However, we must stop using the age excuse. If a kid does not know that indictable crimes are wrong by that age, perhaps they should be in a mental institution instead. It's also time to end this protection of names from the media by youths who commit criminal offences, as the public has the right to know.

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Voices of Canada

I have come to disagree with the limits being placed on the Media by Steven Harper. One such example is closing CFB Trenton when the bodies of the four soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan arrive. I can understand where they are coming from but I don't think this is right. They claim it is to protect the families but I think it's to prevent any political controversy.

Disallowing the media creates a certain level of mistrust and the Conservatives better open up soon or face a backlash at the next election.

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Flag Follies

Canada has a long list of problems, but what have the Liberals set as their proiority? An argument over whether the flag should be up or down on the peace tower.

There has been quite a bit of argument over whether the flag on the Peace Tower in Ottawa should be lowered to half mast. People believe it should be lowered to honor the four soldiers killed. The Conservatives do not want to lower the flag instead opting to remember them on November 11th, an 80 year old tradition.The Liberals have been quite upset claiming that the conservatives are going along on the Bush bandwagon and trying to downplay deaths.

This has been the topic of many radio and TV talk shows. Canadians per usual agree with the Liberals. However, soldiers do not. Most soldiers interviewed would rather keep this tradition of Rememberance Day arguing that it is a day where all men and women who died in battle are remembered equally.

Now Toronto's Mayor David Miller has come under fire for chosing to lower the flag at city hall. This has once again fueled the fires of Toronto centricism. Two of the men killed were from the GTA. Many believe that this would not have been so big of an issue if the soldiers had been from elsewhere in the country.

Do the Liberals really care about these men so much, no. Based on their terrible treatment of veterans in the past, such as the refusal to help pay for a monument at Juno Beach in Normandy for one. Then there was that piece of election propaganda that insulted veterals for political gains. The Liberals are simply back to their old games. They are using these poor men who fought and died for their country as a political football. They are doing this for the sole purpose of making the Conservatives look bad, since the Conservatives are gaining in the poles and the Liberals are falling far behind. Obviously the Liberals have not learned from the mistakes they made and the election hardly humbled them. Why do people keep voting for these sick, sleezy people?

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Time to Call In the Military

An short edition to my post earlier on the native protest. It is getting dangerous and it is time to call in the military to deal with them. This sort of action cannot be tolerated by anybody. The police cannot be left to deal with such a large force that intends to commit violent acts. If Canada keeps showing its weakness, it will be taken advantage of.

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Return "Their" Land?

One of the biggest topics in the news this week has been the native occupation of a consturction site in Caladonia, near the City of Hamilton. The land is intended to be used as a new housing development. They claim the land belongs to them.

This is another one of those topics that is difficult to discuss without sounding racisit but I can ensure my readers that that is not the goal here. The goal is to argue whether or not they deserve the land and criticise their actions and the actions of the government.

Do the native protesters in Caladonia believe the land belongs to them? Yes they do. Does it belong to them? No it does not. The land is not on the near by reserve and therefore they have no right to it. They have not purchased the land either. One can make all sorts of arguments about how we stole their land but things like that cannot apply anymore as that happened some 200-300 years ago when Canada was not even a country. Most of the people set to live in these new houses probably didn't even arrive into Canada until the 20th century so they cannot be blamed for the downfall of native society.

The problem here is that the Native communities seem to be involved in some ficticious war to protect something that is not theirs. They often turn violent as what happened yesterday. So how do we solve this problem. I have several proposals that I'm sure will not sit well with natives or Liberals.

First off, we need to eliminate the reserve system. I'm not saying that we should kick them off that land as they do own it. However, their time as wards of the state must end. It is a huge burden on the rest of Canada. It may not have been fair to them to have their land expropriated but it is not fair to me either. My parents are immigrants who came in the 1950s. No one in my family lived in Canada before them. Therefore why should I be punished for something that I and nobody in the entire history of my family took part in.

The natives even being declared wards of the state has also been extremely harmful to them, more harmful in fact that any land expropriation could have caused. They dislike the way the Department of Indian Affairs runs things but they have become addicted to the special funding and treatment they receive. Their culture and society lacks the encouragement that other cultures have received. Therefore my next proposal is to eliminate the Dapartment of Indian Affiars. Natives should not get special treatment but rather be included under multicultural policy. This cosntitutionally entrenched policy would allow them to practice, maintain, and expand their cultural traditions while allowing them to become active in the rest of Canadian society, as opposed to being outsiders in their own country.
If saying they lack they encouragement of other cultures and my demands to take away special treatments appears as racist, what about the current system. It treats them as being incapable of living like the rest of us, and therefore they must be babysat by the government. Canada's current system under the DIA basically treats natives as an inferior people who need to be protected from the big, bad world. At least the elimination of special treatments would make them equal members of society. In my opinion, to treat natives in the way they are currently being dealt with is un-Canadian. They should be treated no different as someone who is White, Black, Indian, Arab, Chinese, etc.

These proposals would not solve all native problems, but would certainly go a long way.

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Black Gold, Bad Business

What happens when you have a capitalist business who becomes anti-capitalist. One who breaks competition laws and brings down the economy. You have oil. Gas prices are on there way up again, but there's no Katrina this time to blame. For a industry that claims to be struggling due to damage to refineries and crisis in the middle east, they seem to be doing very well for themselves, making obsene profits. The problems is that they are harming other industries. Recently, American car company Chrysler lashed out at big oil for gouging consumers and hurting their industry. I agree with them on this. The price we are paying is not the true price but rather one resulting from collusion and back door dealing. Unfortunately, there seems to be no proof of this, accoding to our government, which is making an obsene profit for itself though gas taxes.

So what is a fair gas price. Well at today's oil prices, gas should be at 70 cents per liter. In itself, this price has been grossly over inflated from $20 per barrle in 2002 to $70 in 2006. It makes me wonder where all this oil that the US is supposedly stealing from the Iraqis is, as socialists claim. There are no oil shortages as big oil claims. In truth, they hold back production to jack prices up, then increase production slightly to drop them down a bit. Dumb consumers think they are getting a bargain and get used to paying the new higher prices. It's just toying with the simple supply and demand concept.

What makes matters worse is that high prices for oil are ruining other sectors of the economy. Businesses can no longer afford to ship goods so they must raise prices, making draining more from consumers who have less and less in their pockets after taxes. Businesses that rely on machinery such as construction and the automotive industry are seeing their profits dip. All this so a monopolistic and anti-capitalist industry can line its already stuffed pockets.

So what can be done. First off, the federal government should cut gas taxes immediately. Once a good has a specific tax levied on it, it becomes imposible for governments to regulate it. Take cigarettes for example. It's not as if the government is using these taxes to fix roads as the roads are crumbling even with record government incomes. Most of the money is wasted in some way or another to pay useless civil servants for busy work. Once a government has cut its addiction on taxes from that specific good, it becomes a whole lot easier to clamp down in order to protect consumers and other industries.

Next, we must find alternative fuel sources that cost less. They exist in the form of hydrogen power and alcohol based fuels. Money needs to be given to help develop a practical vehicle that runs off them. Hybrids are no good as they still use gasoline and often have grossly exaggerated fuel efficiency ratings.

Thirdly, we need to get rid of unnecessarily large vehicles. There are too many SUVs and minivans on the road that are being used for communter vehicles. They usually only have one person in them, and they usually are not hauling cargo. These vehicles are not safer nor better for families. I can fit just as much in the trunk of my compact car as most SUVs, and hold just as many passengers.

Next, transit efficiency must be drastically improved, especially in Ontario. People are not going to ride the bus or train if you keep raising ticket prices. They have to be a cheap and convinient way to work and play. First off, the GO line needs to increase the number of trains. By doing so, people will take them downtown instead of their cars for day trips. Cities must also make connecting bus routes with neighbouring cities, which is particularly lacking in the west end of the GTA.

It's time to take a bite out of big oil before our entire economy collapses under their games and greed. If it does, the 1930s will look like a walk in the park so lets stop that before it happens.

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McGuinty's Shocker

I have made several remarks that Dalton McGuinty should be recalled. The time has come for him to be removed from government.

This week, he has hiked electricity bills for consumers on average of 15%. This huge increase is another shot in the back against consumers who are already conserving but are still struggling to pay the bills. This is yet another proof that the man is not capable or running Ontario. %15 is not a small hike, but rather translates between $6-15 per month depending on where you live. Guess who will have the smallest increase. Toronto yet again. Toronto the biggest consumer of electricity in all of the province gets to pay less than smaller towns and cities.

McGuinty has already shown a poor track record of managing the power. First he closed coal plants, putting us in a shortage situation without plans to replace them. Next he forced people to pay $50 for his dumb (aka SMART) meters in order to squeeze more money out of consumers. If you refuse, they'll charge you a fee to read your meter each month. Next he gives the president of Hydro One an undeserved $500,000 raise, while most Ontarians don't even make one tenth of that. Now he forces consumers to fork over even more cash to pay the bills because of his closing of the coal plants.

Well Ontarians, it's your fault. You voted for change and you got it. Too bad it's not what you expected. That's what happens when you let the Fiberals take the reins. All is not lost though. Don't wait until 2007. Petition to recall McGuinty. Based how they've been working to destroy Ontario, don't give McGuinty's Liberals a single seat in the next election.

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Drivers Need to Smarten Up

I have long been an advocate of improving our roads and transit. It has recently come to my attention that the government is not 100% to blame for the sorry state our Ontario's roads but rather the people using them.

In the last week, I have noticed several problems. Most common of which involve running red lights, speeding, driving too slow, illegal turns/Uturns, tail gating, the list goes on. Driving on the roads today has become a terror as people are treating the rules of the road more as 'guidelines' rather than rules written in stone. The biggest culprets are people driving larger vehicles, as they seem to have a false sense of security in them. Some have even gotten daring enough to try and take on city buses and tractor trailers in their Hummers. Surprisingly the bohemouth of all non-commerical/military vehicles will be crushed like an aluminum can if it hits one of those, turning the occupants into human apple sauce in the process.

So what has caused this disreguard for other drivers', and their own lives while on the road. I've identified three areas.

The 'Me' Attitude: Me, me, me, me, me.... Me first, I have to get their first, out of my way! This is how a lot of people think when behind the wheel of their car. They forget its not a race and if they just calm down, traffic will actually move faster. They choose not to follow the rules of the road because they are "inconvinient" for them. This type is usually the one driving the larger vehicles.

Everything But Driving: People seem more interested in talking to their friends on the phone, or playing with the radio, or doing their hair than driving. Driving distracted is just as bad as driving drunk, as studies have shown.

Poor Training: I have to question the practices of the driving schools. How are the larger ones teaching these kids? How do these people even get a licence? Some people drive vehicles they are not used to or treat larger vehicles as if they were a lot smaller.

Now, what do do, here are my suggestions.
-Force drivers of large vehicles (mid to large SUVs, minivans) to get an F class licence.
-Ban cell phones while driving
-Put more cops and red light cameras on the road to catch them in the act. Increase punishments for more dangerous offences such as drunk driving.

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Held Hostage

In the news today, the Canadian and British hostages being held in Iraq since November 2005 have been released. This is good news but brings up some questions about the war torn country.

I am not here to express whether I approve of the US being in Iraq. I have decided to remain neutral on the subject as neither pro or anti war side is right or wrong. I am here to look at stupidity.

I know little about the Christian Peacemakers. They seem to be a passivist group made up of mennonites and quakers. I am not here to judge their work, but rather why they are there in the first place. A lot of people seem to misunderstand the actual danger during a war. They may strongly believe in the peaceful teachings of Christ and Ghandi but a masked guerrilla with an AK-47 may have something different to say. The ideology behind Islamic extemism is not anti-US , it is not anti-West or anti-East. They feel that all non-Muslims are painted with the same brush. They all feel that every person that comes in who is not Islamic is the devil. Thus those silly enough to venture into these areas unarmed and unescorted find themselves kidnapped. The world is unfortnately not a peachy keen place. Is is simply wise for these people to stay out and find other places to help.

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Traffic in Milton: 6 Months Later

6 months ago (back when I was on Myblogsite, you can find the original post in the November Archive), I posted a rather lengthy article on traffic problems in Milton. I was looking at it and noticed that little has changed. I'll refer back to some of my original complaints and we'll see what has been done.

Laurier & Ontario
What's Been Done: Nothing
This crooked intersection still presents a bad left turn hazzard.

Ontario Street:
What's Been Done: Nothing
Still a bad area for speeding

Bronte and Steels
What's Been Done: Nothing
Railbridge blocking view still poses a hazzard. No planes for lights.
UPDATE 04/18/06: Study being done that will hopefully set up a plan to fix the bridge problem. Road to be widened.

Steels Between Martin and Ontario
What's Been Done: Nothing
Speed limit still too low

Britainnia Road
What's Been Done: Nothing
Spring has arrived and the cyclists are back out in full force.

Steels and Wheelabrator
What's Been Done: Nothing
There is still a turning hazzard here do to lack of lights

Laurier and Vanier
What's Been Done: Nothing
Needs a four way stop, no plans to do so.

Dairy Road
What's Been Done: Widening has begun.
Widening the road is all fine and dandy but the construction company working on it is doing an extremely poor job.

Dairy and Fourth Line
What's Been Done: Nothing
Work has yet to begin on the James Snow extension. No word on when that will start.

Tramaine and Steels
What's Been Done: Nothing

Dairy and Ontario
What's Been Done: Nothing
Still no turn signals

James Snow and Highway 401
What's Been Done: Lights are going up
Light poles were put up but there are no lights on them. Poles were put up two months ago.

Highway 25 and Britannia
What's Been Done: Nothing
Still no turning lanes

Railway Grade Separations
What's Been Done: Grade separation beginning on Thompson.
However, no plans for any others.
UPDATE 04/18/06: Study being done for a grade separation on Main St at the mall.

Well it seems the town is starting to get stuff done but are far from any concrete traffic improvements. Traffic is worse than ever.

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Copywrong

Recently, the RIAA and other similar organizations have told Canada we need to chage our copyright laws for the new digital age. I say go to hell.

If anybody has even looked at the demands of these organizations, you know something is fishy. I'll give a couple of examples.

Music: I buy a CD and I really like a song on it. I want to put that song on my MP3 player. Based on the demands, I'd have to purchase that song from a download site in order to legally put it on my MP3 player.

Movies: I want to convert a DVD into DivX format so I can watch it on my laptop during a long flight. I don't want to bring the disc with me incase it might be stolen. It would be illegal for me to do this as decrypting DVD format is piracy.

Software: I own two computers with CD burners. I've just purchased some CD burning software. In order to be legal, I'd have to buy two copies of the boxed version to be legal as the company doesn't sell individual licences.

Does any of this make sense? I say no, it doesn't. I equate it to Honda telling me I can't put better wheels or a supercharger in my car because it's their design and they own it, even if I've made all my payments on it. As long as somebody is not selling or giving it away, they should be free to do what ever they want with software for their own personal use.

But wait, it gets better. Soon we will be able to purchase HD movies. Now if you have an HDTV made before 2003 or any computer currently on the market, you will not be able to play these discs. Why? DRM, or digital rights management. It's a broad term for invasive copy protection that includes spyware, rootkits, and other nasties that mess up your computer, and it's all perfectly legal. Computers and TVs will require a special DRM chip to play these movies. No computers have this chip and only TVs made after 2003 do.

Copyright today is copywrong. These people should not be punishing consumers because some triad in Hong Kong is making priated copies of their stuff.

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Child Care Begins at Home

I've been very critical of the proposed childcare plane the Liberals and the NDP have developed. They are still pushing it but I do not think it is a good idea. Besides the unconstitutionality of a federal run system, there are other flaws.

I'm putting on my social commentary hat on for this post. A family friend has her father in a government subsidised nursing home. It was found out that the nurses were neglecting this poor old man. It got me thinking, if seniors are being mistreated in these subsidised nursing homes, how will kids be treated in subsidised day cares.

Socialized daycare is a symptom of a much larger problem with raising children in today's society. A lot of mothers are now working these days, if not most. I have nothing against working moms but I find that children are getting ignored. The parent has worked all day, they're tired and want 'me' time. The child gets parked infront of the Xbox or the TV while the parent lazes away. This is why kids are so messed up. They spend more quality time with electronic equipment than their own parents. Kids are often put below a dog in terms of priority. They start to run wild and parents question what went wrong. Dads are just as guilty as the moms in all this.

Socialized daycare acts as a place for lazy parents to stuff their kids and forget about them for a few hours. Basically a baby prison. When they get out of the big baby house they get stuffed into some sporting event for another few hours. In many cases, kids may only end up seeing their parents for less than two hours per day. It's not really fair to the kids. Parents, you don't have to give up your career, just spend some quality time with the child and they will grow up right.

As for daycare, the best place for the child is with a relative or friend. If you must resort to daycare, look for the best one you can afford. If your office has a daycare program, then that's the ideal route as you can even visit your child during breaks. Based on the state of most social institutions in this country, you don't want to let the government babysit them.

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The War is On

This week the Ontario Union of Public Employees (OPSU) has declared war on students. They have walked off the job putting college student's future in jeopardy. They have also welcomed tuition fee hikes.

I think I can speak for most students and I'm declaring war on the greedy college teachers and those who try to bleed money out of struggling students. College students, I propose you resort to your right to peaceful protest. Set up counterpickets across the road from your striking teachers and let them hear your grivences loud and clear.

The college teachers are putting their student's futures in jeopardy. Kids are loosing their year, they are loosing their money, and if the year is pushed into summer, they may even loose out on education as they can't work to afford it. They favour tuition increases to fulfill their greedy demands for more money (they already make over $90,000) and smaller class sizes that are already a lot smaller than their university counterparts. This is rediculous. It's time for my fellow students to fight back.

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Live and Let Die

Besides gays, scientology, and starving Africans kids, celebrities have hopped on yet another band wagon, animal rights.

Former Beatle and Wings member Paul McCartney visited Newfoundland yesterday in a bid to put a stop to the seal hunt. He says it's cruel and barbaric to hunt the seals. I think it's cruel and barbaric to hear McCartney talk. Paul is a washed up has-been who's star burned out in the 1980s when Wings broke up. McCartney is a vegitarian (as evident in a famous Simpsons episode). He is also a very vocal personality when it comes to animal rights and the legalization of the giggle grass.

What McCartney is mad at this time is the Harp Seal hunt in Newfoundland. The hunt important, particularly to First Nations people who rely on it for food, clothing, and income. Although the seals are adorable, I think we must think about humans first. There are limits on how many can be hunted.

This brings me to the whole idea of animal rights, and clothing. I once had a teacher who lived with an Algonquin tribe near Kenora. He stated that using an animal's fur or skin is the most natural form of clothing and he hated those who thought otherwise. I agree. As long as we don't overhunt, why not. Do you think cavemen went around naked? I don't think it's McCartney's right to go over and protest the way people live their lives. That can only be changed by democratic process, as we are a democratic country the last time I checked. He has never even lived in Canada as far as I know. Celebrities do it for publicity and that's it. I don't protest the fact that Paul probably does love animals but I don't think he should be coming over here and dictating.

Perhaps if celebrities want to make a difference, perhaps they should work on their talent. I haven't seen a good movie since 2003.

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Ban Me

I've been playing video games since I was eight. Games were fun back then and relatively non violent. Characters like Sonic and Mario lit up our TV screens. I remember the fuss that the original Doom caused when it first came out. Everybody thought shooting cheesey looking monsters was going to drive our kids nuts and go on shooting sprees. I remember Columbine, when Doom was blamed for teaching the killers how to shoot.

It is now 2006, some eleven years after Doom 1 came out. Video games have only gotten more violent. Some people protested about Doom 3, which is a pussy cat compaired to some. Games like Grand Theft Auto where its ok to shoot cops and pick up hookers are very popular these days. The latest game to come under fire is called "25 to Life". It's a console game so I've never played it. Apparently it takes a more violent spin on cops and robbers where you either are a cop that kills robbers or a robber who kills cops. The latter has upset various police associations. They want the game banned. They say it glorifies a life of crime and teaches kids to hate cops.

HOLD ON THERE. Teaches kids? This game has been rated M (Mature) by the ESRB, which regulares games. It's similar to the stickers that the MPAA puts on movies. An M rated game is similar to an R rated movie. Only for people 17 and older. Are kids getting their hands on these games? Most definately, but how, why? Some people say that stores sell the games to minors. Stores are pretty good about not doing that as they don't want to get into trouble, or possible sued. Game makers? No, same reason as stores. Parents? YES! There is a fine line between reality and fantasy and it gets more blurry the younger kids are. Adults know games like 25 to Life are not real. Kids may not, especially when their parents use Xbox as a babysitter. They are buying these kids the games and then whine when they are too violent and their kid starts acting out. They never told the kid that that stuff was not real in the first place.

Now for the possile ban. I think banning a video game is very dangerous. It is censorship by the government. Banning it for kids is ok, but not for everybody. The government should not be making those kind of decisions or else we fall into totalitarianism. We should not allow a small group of people tell us what we should read, see, and hear. What people need to know is the magic of the off button. If you don't want your kids playing the game or watching that program, or reading this article, turn it off. If you don't want to see it, turn it off. Nobody if forcing anybody to buy or even look at this stuff. That's the power of choice. We should not ban things. It's about time that people started using more common sense regarding this stuff.

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Supreme Idiots

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has rules that school boards cannot ban Sihk daggers from the classroom. For those who don't know, the Sikhs are the warrior class of India. Young Sikh men carry with them a cerimonial dagger known as a Kirpan.

Several school boards in Quebec have attempted to ban students form carring these daggers to school. It's not often I agree with Quebecers but I can this time around. This is because this 'kirpan' is a weapon. It has been said that there have been no incidents with one but that's not the point. There were no incidences of a kid dying of anaphilactic shock at schools I went to but we still couldn't bring peanut butter sandwiches to school. I couldn't bring a knife to cut an apple at lunch for the same reason. The point is that they do pose a serious potential danger. Unless they are dull enough to not even cut butter, which I doubt they are as I've seen these at bazzars in Toronto, they pose a safety risk. I advocate all or none. If a Sikh kid can bring a dagger to school, why can't a white or black kid do the same? The right to security of the person must trump the right to freedom of religion, especially when young kids are concerned. If I were Quebec, I'd be whipping out my Section 33.

This also calls for something stronger to trump the Supreme Court as they are not an infalible body. When you get a unanimous decision like that, questions need to be asked, especially when lower courts declared the opposite decision using the 'reasonable limits' clause.

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