Art Of Noise : Fighting For Ithaca

  Almost every band starts out playing in dive bars, and these guys are no exception. The first time I heard these guys was in a strip club in Vancouver. Fighting For Ithaca opened for a band called One Star City that my homie Phil was playing drums in. And like OSC, they rocked the joint so I started following their music, which has certainly grown.

  Fast forward til about a month ago. FFI needed a drummer so the rad boy Phil Maloney packed up his kit and joined the fun. And I couldn't be happier not only for Animal , but also for FFI for scoring such a rad dude. And while they're busy writing new stuff, enjoy a tasty treat and get to know these 5 local boys who are on their way to making ears all over very happy.

Enjoy!

P.S. Because every little guy does start off needing new strings and sticks(and underwear), don't steal, instead make a dandy 99 cent donation on iTunes and you'll take the noise wherever you go. FFiTunes  <---click me



Follow FFI on the Twitter

They're Not Just Words

  I wrote a blog yesterday about a musician freshman at Rutgers University who jumped off of the George Washington Bridge. They identified Tyler Clementi's mangled body today after it was found in the Hudson River.

  It turns out that Tyler asked a gay forum for help dealing with a spying roommate who outed him. He expressed his disgust with the fact that his roommate  had garnered sympathy from homophobes instead of seeing the spying as the crime. This kid tried to reach out for help that never came.

 To those thinking that this was a harmless prank, think. If Tyler was seeing a girl in his room, none of this would have been broadcast. Even if it were, there would be kudos instead of slurs. This young man was humiliated to death, just as Asher Brown was, just like many kids before.

  If you don't think words can be criminal, look at these guys who are no longer alive because of intolerance.

Attn.: Los Angeles

  This scumbag is in your midst and he's near your children.

  This man is David Frost and he should be nowhere near your young folks. He's a notorious former hockey agent who floated on molestation charges because his hockey-playing victims refused to testify against him. He's also known as the man that former St. Louis Blues forward Mike Danton tried to have killed . Apparently his hold on Danton was so strong that the only way the young player thought he could be safe is if Mr. Frost vanished. He's hated because he is an awful human being.

  While David Frost was acquitted, he was formally charged with 12 counts of sexually exploiting children and the girlfriends of the players did testify as to his evil. The players knew they'd be blacklisted and clammed up. Hockey is not a pretty world, and victims of crimes are demonized under the homophobic cult that breeds addicts and assholes. Mr. Frost is not innocent.

 He has  been convicted of assaulting a former player and blacklisted from the OHL because his players displayed behavioral problems. He's been nailed for forging parents' signatures on documents and was investigated by the police for a sexually-charged abuse of a 13 year old that was even photographed. These are all things he has been documented as doing.

  Mr. Frost resides in Laguna Niguel under the name Jim McCauley under the protection of his cult-like circle of hockey buddies. All they care about is the fact that his training has put a couple of guys in the NHL.

  Mr. Frost...err McCauley has claimed repeatedly that Mike Danton never put a hit on him. Mr. Danton served over 7 years in prison for doing exactly that. David Frost lives in a bizarre world of his creation where he in infallable. He's also claimed that he's not working with kids. The truth is that he's employed by the Laguna hockey Academy and may have influence over your kid. Think about it- if he did nothing wrong, why would he change his name and why would he claim not to be hanging around with kids?

  This hideous stain has been run out of pro hockey and all facets of the game in Canada. He is so notorious that people retch upon hearing his name. Recognize his photo and remember it. Keep your children away from the Laguna Hockey Academy and be sure to tell the administrators why.

Watch your kids. You never know who may be watching them.

"This is what I do. This is what I've always done. I'm not gonna change." - David Frost Sept. 29, 2010

Watch this video immediately HERE

 

Reality Chick

  

  One of the funniest, crassest, craziest fuckers left our world today.

  Greg Giraldo is one of those guys so brave and talented that he could roast God, and unfortunately he's going to get that chance after a mere 44 years with the rest of us. Greg Giraldo was taken like so many of our friends- he took enough prescription drugs to stop his body from living.

 Prescription painkillers are something I know a ton about; not simply because I've lost those close to me, but because I used to be addicted to them. And I'm going to tell you something, they are amazing. It feels fantastic to not be in pain, but after awhile opiates remove your ability to feel. These drugs used to be given in smaller quantities so that you would still hurt, but now people are so petrified of anything more than a pinprick. All someone needs to do is claim pain and a doctor will write out a slip...and another...and another. Your back won't hurt anymore and neither will what your uncle did when you were 8. You've now found a pretty little frienemy called Addiction.

 And I'm going to tell you a few things about this little wench..

  Addiction doesn't care if you're rich, if you've got kids, or if your mama is going to cry. It doesn't care if you're driving a schoolbus, climbing a scaffold, or sleeping your life away. The only thing Addiction wants you to do is to feed its cancer until it consumes you. You're dead now, but Addiction doesn't care because you've introduced her to your friends and family. And Addiction is immortal- a sociological vampire out for new victims, a beast that needs to be put into the ground before she can steal you. We have got to get together and ice this bitch.

Being afraid of a little pain can cause a whole pile more.

This Is Why...

...posts like yesterday's are extremely important.   

  This young man is Tyler Clementi and he jumped off of the George Washington Bridge last week. The Rutgers University freshman's body has not been found but he has been confirmed to have taken his life after his roommate broadcast images of him and his boyfriend getting busy. 


  Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei have been charged after they set up a webcam to broadcast live feeds of Ravi's roommate having sex and advertising it on Twitter.
 According to Ravi's since-deleted Twitter posts he gloriously proclaimed " Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay," on September 19th and told readers to tune into his iChat channel on September 21st for a repeat 'show'. 


  The two internet bullies have been arrested and released on bail. Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy laws, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent, the prosecutor said. It is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute the images. If convicted, they are facing up to 5 years in prison. 


  A young man is gone because 2 idiots thought him to be a curiosity, instead of a human being. They deliberately broadcast images of another person to line him up for ridicule and to bask in the hateful responses from their followers, who they believed would be shocked by the show. These punks decided to be cruel, to use the shaming of another as a form of sadistic entertainment. The world has been robbed of a talented musician and exemplary human being because of the evil inclinations of others. 


 I want to cry for humanity today.
  

My Little Gay History Lesson

  I did a post awhile back about being one of the Old Gays. In it I acknowledged the fact that most of us simply aren't around anymore. Murders, drug overdoses, AIDS, and suicide have taken out most of the 'before Ellen' crowd. But things are changing to a point. Here's my little gay history lesson...xo M

  When I was 17 I was stuck in Toronto with no real place to go. I'd been victimized by homophobic crimes that I was not then prepared to discuss, in fact I kept the knowledge secret for many years. But the point is that I was looking for peers, people to relate to. It was at the Church Street Community Centre that I found a group of people;  not the support group I'd been seeking, but a bunch of us young folks who did wind up changing a part of our world. Street kids, college kids, and art fart kids came up with an idea. That idea has morphed into THIS.  And I am proud to say that I know lives were saved simply because of a group of young people who were pissed off that so many kids were offing themselves.

  But as much as things have changed, some songs remain the same. Personally I've been beaten severely several times since the establishment of YouthLine, and I am acutely aware that I am not the only one. I am taken back to a Gay Pride Parade from a decade ago. Folks who had been victimized by gaybashings were asked to wear these large pink bandaids. At least half of the attendees had them on- tens of thousands of decent taxpaying citizens, and they all had been attacked based on their real or perceived sexual orientation. Gay bashings went largely unnoticed in major urban centres until straights who didn't fit the stereotypes were assaulted by stupid beasts filled with hatred. In a bizarre fashion it took heterosexuals to bring a voice to those forgotten by the police sworn to protect and serve.

  Now cue to today- a time of Ellen and Elton and Rachel f*cking Maddow. Gays are more visible than ever- they're in your colleges, armed forces, and on your television screen. The amazing technicolor homo is a glorious beast, one that gives us the ability to recognize the thing so terrifying that our parents wouldn't dare to even refer to it.  But we're not just entertainers- we're construction workers, police officers, cooks, bankers, and farmers. We live in condos, bungalows, boarding houses, and teepees. We're liberals, conservatives, greenies, libertarians, and apoliticals. We are everywhere, and now you know it.

  But with this outness comes a false sense of security. If you kiss a girl, there will still be someone who not only doesn't like it, but will hate you for it. And as too many of us have discovered, there are still those who see it as their chosen duty to remove you from the planet. Some have been taught from birth by insensitive parents, some have internalized self-hatred, and some have joined on the new morality bandwagon that feels so safe in our troubled times. The commonality amongst all is fear.

  When people are afraid, they see those different from themselves as alien, as a foreign race or species. They do not see the carpenter or athlete. The terrified being views people as objects- the colours and other traits become vivid in the tormented mind. Thusly, the insecurity translated into outward hostility. Personal attacks can range from name-calling to blogging to standing on a pulpit, but they all can be summed up into a singular word, and that is bullying.

  Whether the person victimized by such actions is a child or adult doesn't matter to the bully because he sees only generalities instead of neighbours. While those of us who have survived to maturity may have fortitude, the young mind may not be quite so strong. When you are an awkward kid all of the details matter monumentally. Every word can cultivate self-doubt and eventually the pressure can kill. To a youth words can be a weapon of force as paralyzing as a rifle.

   In our enlightened day, kids are still killing themselves because they are terrified of the future. They see politicians referring to those like themselves as heathens and hear the names shouted out of car windows. I know from experience that it can be incredibly overwhelming to continue existing after a gang of skinheads has put you into an emergency room. I am highly aware of the condescending looks from the nurses at the Catholic-run hospital and the sneers from police officers who imply that all you have to do is become someone else and your life will be perfect. I've known people who have had there parents hold funerals for them when they've come out and had one friend whose parents caused his burial. Yes, it is a challenge to be out, which is why so many of us get married off so early in the hopes of fixing what is not broken.

  But the thing that needs to change is us. We need to support our children instead of sending them off to psychologists. We need to look at ourselves every time we hear a news report of a child bullied to death and vow to not spread the hateful language that creates negative reactions. We need to stop using gay as a synonym for stupid and faggot as an analogy for weakness. We need to care about the micros who could grow up to be our doctors, lawyers, and plumbers if we let them. We need to be human beings and give a damn about others because if we truly care the kids really will be alright.

  If you are a young person who is struggling with your identity, please don't give up. There are people out there, there are safe places to go. You've already made it this far and the only thing stopping you is fear. So talk to someone sane, take a self-defence class, and be active in your community while the rest of the world catches up to the amazing person that you are.

Be well.



 Links

The Trevor Project 

GLBT National Help Center

CAEO Quebec (English)

LGBT Youth Line (Canada)

Affirmations Helpline (English, Spanish, Arabic, And Hearing Impaired) 

The Samaritans (United Kingdom and Ireland)

Gay Switchboard Dublin

Triangle Project South Africa

Gay Helpline New Zealand

Too Much Fun : Duck Sauce

Duck Sauce is the house project of Armand van Helden and Alain "A-Trak" Macklovitch that makes a whole lot of dancing happen in my house.
Check out Barbra Streisand and see who you spot.

Enjoy :)



Pretty copy of the rad video stolen from Chris Clancy

A Valuable Reading Experience

 A gentleman quoted this sermon in his blog, but not the correct source. Being a stickler for such things, I discovered who the person behind this is.
  This very interesting read is the Rosh Hashanah sermon of Rabbi Shalom Lewis of Marietta, Georgia, and even if you are absolutely non-religious it is worth your time. Rabbi Lewis is the son of revered Rabbi Albert Lewis and a holder of several university degrees. The open-minded Conservative Rabbi is not afraid to state what he believes and often references his beloved father.

The 10 minutes or so that you take to read this could affect your very existence.

Be well.

First Day of Rosh Hashanah 2010

Many years ago a Chasid used to travel from shtetl (city) to shtetl selling holy books. On one occasion he came to a wealthy land owner and asked if he would like to purchase a book of Torah teachings. The banker agreed and not only purchased the book, but paid for it with a hundred ruble note. He then began to chat with the Chassid and offered him a cigar, taking one also for himself. The Chassid noticed that the banker proceeded to rip a page from the holy book he had just bought and holding it to the open flame on the stove, used the page to light his cigar. The Chassid said not a word but simply drew out from his pocket the 100 ruble note he had just received from the banker, held it over the stove as well and used it to light his cigar.

This simple, little tale reflects a profound divergence of values. Our sympathy clearly and instinctively is not with the banker but with the pious Chassid. None of us would come to the defense of the banker. None of us would claim moral supremacy for the banker. None of us would justify his boorish deed. As the sages of the Talmud would say – “Pshita – It is so obvious.” Sadly though our planet is immersed in perversity where morality is not so manifest – where the book burner is a hero and the pious one, a villain.

I thought long and I thought hard on whether to deliver the sermon I am about to share. We all wish to bounce happily out of shul on the High Holidays, filled with warm fuzzies, ready to gobble up our brisket, our honey cakes and our kugel. We want to be shaken and stirred – but not too much. We want to be guilt-schlepped – but not too much. We want to be provoked but not too much. We want to be transformed but not too much.

I get it, but as a rabbi I have a compelling obligation, a responsibility to articulate what is in my heart and what I passionately believe must be said and must be heard. And so, I am guided not by what is easy to say but by what is painful to express. I am guided not by the frivolous but by the serious. I am guided not by delicacy but by urgency.

We are at war. We are at war with an enemy as savage, as voracious, as heartless as the Nazis but one wouldn’t know it from our behavior. During WWII we didn’t refer to storm troopers as freedom fighters. We didn’t call the Gestapo, militants. We didn’t see the attacks on our Merchant Marine as acts by rogue sailors. We did not justify the Nazis rise to power as our fault. We did not grovel before the Nazis, thumping our hearts and confessing to abusing and mistreating and humiliating the German people. We did not apologize for Dresden, nor for The Battle of the Bulge, nor for El Alamein, nor for D-Day.

Evil – ultimate, irreconcilable, evil threatened us and Roosevelt and Churchill had moral clarity and an exquisite understanding of what was at stake. It was not just the Sudetenland, not just Tubruk, not just Vienna, not just Casablanca. It was the entire planet. Read history and be shocked at how frighteningly close Hitler came to creating a Pax Germana on every continent.

Not all Germans were Nazis – most were decent, most were revolted by the Third Reich, most were good citizens hoisting a beer, earning a living and tucking in their children at night. But, too many looked away, too many cried out in lame defense – I didn’t know.” Too many were silent. Guilt absolutely falls upon those who committed the atrocities, but responsibility and guilt falls upon those who did nothing as well. Fault was not just with the goose steppers but with those who pulled the curtains shut, said and did nothing.

In WWII we won because we got it. We understood who the enemy was and we knew that the end had to be unconditional and absolute. We did not stumble around worrying about offending the Nazis. We did not measure every word so as not to upset our foe. We built planes and tanks and battleships and went to war to win….. to rid the world of malevolence.

We are at war… yet too many stubbornly and foolishly don’t put the pieces together and refuse to identify the evil doers. We are circumspect and disgracefully politically correct.

Let me mince no words in saying that from Fort Hood to Bali, from Times Square to London, from Madrid to Mumbai, from 9/11 to Gaza, the murderers, the barbarians are radical Islamists.

To camouflage their identity is sedition. To excuse their deeds is contemptible. To mask their intentions is unconscionable.

A few years ago I visited Lithuania on a Jewish genealogical tour. It was a stunning journey and a very personal, spiritual pilgrimage. When we visited Kovno we davened Maariv at the only remaining shul in the city. Before the war there were thirty-seven shuls for 38,000 Jews. Now only one, a shrinking, gray congregation. We made minyon for the handful of aged worshippers in the Choral Synagogue, a once majestic, jewel in Kovno.

After my return home I visited Cherry Hill for Shabbos. At the oneg an elderly family friend, Joe Magun, came over to me.

“Shalom,” he said. “Your abba told me you just came back from Lithuania.” “Yes,” I replied. “It was quite a powerful experience.” “Did you visit the Choral Synagogue in Kovno? The one with the big arch in the courtyard?” “Yes, I did. In fact, we helped them make minyon.” His eyes opened wide in joy at our shared memory. For a moment he gazed into the distance and then, he returned. “Shalom, I grew up only a few feet away from the arch. The Choral Synagogue was where I davened as a child.”

He paused for a moment and once again was lost in the past. His smile faded. Pain filled his wrinkled face. “I remember one Shabbos in 1938 when Vladimir Jabotinsky came to the shul” (Jabotinsky was Menachim Begin’s mentor – he was a fiery orator, an unflinching Zionist radical, whose politics were to the far right.) Joe continued “When Jabotinsky came, he delivered the drash on Shabbos morning and I can still hear his words burning in my ears. He climbed up to the shtender, stared at us from the bima, glared at us with eyes full of fire and cried out. ‘EHR KUMT. YIDN FARLAWST AYER SHTETL – He’s coming. Jews abandon your city.’ ”

What CAN You Do Today: Meatless Monday

   A few years ago, celebrities used to plug an idea; an idea that I've promoted for a long time. The concept- reduce your meat consumption by 15% by not consuming flesh foods just one day per week. Folks have various reasons why they opt to lower their intake of animal products, and I have a few of my own and because it's my blog I'm going to share with you 5 dandy reasons to eschew meat for one day per week.

#1 : Because It'll Save Your Ass, Dude

  Meat is loaded with protein and fat. Much of the fat in meat is saturated. The nations that have the highest meat consumption are very wealthy countries with fantastic health systems. Yet the countries that consume the most meat have the largest death rates from colon cancer in spite of all of these medical advances. In a study of more than 130,000 men on low-carb diets, the culprit became clear- the higher the meat consumption, the higher the cancer rate. Even knocking meat out once a week can lower your risk of crapping in a bag or napping in a box.

#2 : Because You Really Don't Need The Extra Protein Anyways

  We were all raised to believe that protein provides energy and builds muscles, and this is partially correct. Amino acids are the building blocks of our bodies, but protein itself is not an efficient source of energy. Excess protein is processed by the kidneys, meaning you pee it out. The calories in excess protein are not absorbed, and therefore not burned off when you exercise. Sounds pretty awesome, right?

  Well, not exactly. The human body only needs to have 4-10% of calories from protein. The protein product producers want you to think that you need 20% or more. We now have kids consuming diets that are up to 50% protein because they are taught that more protein translates into bigger muscles.
The excess goes to your kidneys, which become overworked leading to a host of problems ranging from urinary tract infections (meat also affects bodily Ph levels in a strange way) to organ failure. Give your kidneys a break and they'll be less likely to break.

#3 : Because You Like Bathing

  We're concerned about dwindling water supplies and the overall cost of water. If you're like me you probably have a water-saving showerhead and low-flow toilet. Torch-on roofers are being used as waterproofers to contain drought-resistant landscaping and installing roof systems that recycle water for gardens. We turn off the tap when brushing our teeth and fill the sink to wash our faces. We are far more aware of our water usage than our parents were.
  But the thing is those efforts are fantastic in theory, but they don't matter that much because what is draining our farmland is meat production.

  The amount of water required to get a single 16 ounce steak to your plate is identical to the amount the average person uses to shower... for an entire year. You read that correctly: 365 showers equals one T-Bone  . To use a food analogy, that steak is equal to almost 200 pounds of potatoes or 140 pounds of apples. That's a whole pile of latkes and applesauce.

#4 : Because You Don't Want To Drive A Prius

  Well maybe you still think your ride is rad, but at least it will be optional now. Why? Because cows alone are more ecologically damaging than cars. Think about it- cows require oodles of food , and that has to be planted, harvested, cleaned, packed, and shipped- all stages requiring fossil fuel. Then there's barns and slaughterhouses, cleaning up their mountains of manure, and refrigeration from the time of death until 5 seconds before that steak hits your grill. These things do not occur via magic- it requires energy to accomplish all of these things.

  So you buy locally, and that is awesome. You should absolutely purchase local produce as much as possible. But the critter still has to live and moo and eat and shit and fart, helping to produce more greenhouse gases than all forms of transportation combined. Drop meat for a day per week and you will have the same carbon impact as buying locally for the other 6 days of the week combined.

...another note about oil...

  The global oil supply is more than half gone, burned into the atmosphere; and when it is it cannot be replaced. The guys who make vast sums off of the high oil prices do not want you to reduce your meat and dairy consumption because that is how they make their money. Reducing demand for meat reduces demand for corn, soybeans, wheat, and oil. What does that mean to you? Lower prices.

 Which leads me to...

#5 : Because It'll Give The Dollar In Your Bank Account To Buy Some New Friends

  I hear it all of the time in the grocery store. People are really irritated with the high price of meat-  it costs a lot of money to get from a little calf to a big steer in a year, and those costs are transferred to the customer. (Not as much as they should because of farm subsidies, but that's another discussion.)
   Meat is expensive, and excessively so if you live in places that don't give huge breaks to factory farms. A typical Sunday roast will run you at least 20 bucks before you factor in the bacon and eggs for breakfast and corned beef on rye for lunch. Even at restaurants, the vegetarian meals are the cheapest.

  This is not some hippie conspiracy to make meat-eaters blow their budgets, but sound economics. Take the money you've saved over a year and take a vacation or sponsor a half-dozen of those kids from the commercials that make you cry. Discover a new hobby and the energy to be able to do it. If you've ever thought that you do not matter in the greater scheme of things, prove yourself wrong by changing just a little.

  Mondays are the easiest day to make new beginnings- it's a new week, all of last week's excuses and failures are in the past. Do one thing today and every Monday for yourself, your kids, and your future. The World will thank you for it.

Be Well.

P.S. : All of the food above cost less than $10 at a local market. Just thought I'd share that.

Your Daily Awesome

  This is an actual advert for a Florida divorce lawyer. Amazingly Steven Miller, P.A. is actually a happily married man with several children. (His darling wife Amy even makes biscotti for clients.)

  However, like a good attorney Mr. Miller won't pass up a creative opportunity to gain new clients.

  This may be one of the most honest, and certainly funniest, adverts ever produced.

  Enjoy!

It's A Rare Moment...

...that I agree with Nancy Grace.

  You see, a heinous excuse for a 'parent' named Jessica Gamble was arrested after a video of her teaching her kid to smoke weed went viral.

   Ms. Gamble used her camera phone to record her 2 year old learning the first lesson in future hoodratery and then thought her buddies would think it was funny and e-mailed it to them. Naturally, at least one friend didn't see the funny and the waste of a womb is sitting in the tank in Ohio for various crimes relating to endangering the human she was sworn to protect. She's looking at around 11 years in the Pen when she's convicted, as I'm thinking she will be.

  So we get that the mum is a douchebaguette who should rot in the cage, but it was the reaction of two of the dingleshits on the show that shocked me. I can't recall their names, but one was a dude and the other a chick. Their response : "It's not like she sold her kid to a paedophile. It's not that big of a deal." (I'm paraphrasing here, but it's pretty damn close.)

  What the HELL? The fact that any two adults in America could use that analogy is abhorrent, let alone two guests on cable TV. Have we so regressed as a species that we use a kid getting raped and murdered as the barometer, the standard for what constitutes child abuse or not? Yes, it is fantastic that the twatwaffle didn't sell her offspring to an evil freak, but she's still a horrendously inept parent.  Let's line this up for ya'll here - she neglected her kid in untold ways, taught her how to smoke a spliff like a stoner, filmed it, and put it on the internet. Jessica Gamble should not be anywhere near a child and she should spend several years far away from them. I really hope that Ms. Gamble has attorneys as stupid as this pair of philosophical tits.

 I'm with Nancy here. A woman who does this deserves to be locked up.



 If you hear a funny noise, it is the sound of every neurotransmitter in my brain backfiring.

It's Safe To Say....

...that I've never done THIS after smoking reefer.



   I f*cking LOVE this movie!

You KNOW This Feeling

  It's the fourth quarter and your team is down by two points with 1:47 left...and...

...the KNEEL. The unsportsmanlike, comeback-quashing display of victorious arrogance. It breaks hearts and makes fans run for the exits early. And if you're one of those people who has paid $500 for a seat, you're being robbed.

  Let's call the Kneel what it is - Intentional Grounding. It could also be called Unsportsmanlike Conduct or a Palpably Unfair Act. And I think it's high time that it be phased out of football.

  One could steal the CFL rule that stops the clock during every dead ball during the last 3 minutes of a half. (quarters must also end with a play) The AFL has a rule stipulating that a team must gain a yard to keep the clock running during the final minute, but that seems a little odd.

  If neither of these seems correct, come up with a new rule just for the NFL. An example would be to ban the Kneel if a team is winning by a small margin, 8 or 10 points for instance. That would pacify the guys who say that banning the kneel would cause unnecessary injuries. Or stop the clock in the last 2 minutes. Something unique for the 'purists' who forget that American football derives from the Canadian game.

  With the players garnering huge salaries, the TV coverage, and ticket prices, taking the knee is unfair to everyone. We can make the game far more exciting by stopping the clock.

Image property of Sports Illustrated. Sorry guys, I really couldn't find another image of someone kneeling.

Excellent?

  A ton of respected gossip columnists and Scuzzez are reporting that Keanu Reeves and that annoying dude who looks like Spencer Pratt are reprising their roles of yore to produce Bill and Ted's Excellent Whatever #3.

  Am I the only one who thinks that this  is a very BAD idea?

 If you haven't noticed, these fellas are getting a little grey in the beard.

  What kind of adventure will this be? Cruising around in a Miata scouring Rite-Aid stores for Metamucil and support hose? Maybe they'll travel through time desperately seeking the cure to impotence.

 Yes, I KNOW, we love nostalgia; and if you can remember correctly the only thing excellent about installments 1 and 2 was George Carlin, who is still rad as fuck, but still worm feed. The only way I'm showing up for this impending disaster is if Hugh Laurie brings his epic cuntiness to the show and reprises the role of Rufus. Don't worry about pissing off George's ghost- he was an atheist.

  Being a pothead surf kook might be a good year off from college, but these dudes are in their 40's now. There's just nothing funny about old guys being retarded unless they're politicians and it's real life. This is going to be a nuclear theatrical bomb of a magnitude not witnessed since Waterworld. I know that I'm not going to line up to get into Bill and Ted's Atrocious Midlife Crisis.

  Okay Keanu, I know that it's the Canadian way to feel guilty about the fact that your bank account is a mountain and Alex Winter's is an anthill, but just give him a few of your millions to not drag you into this ridiculous exercise. It's okay to be old and rich, just accept it and avoid this shitshow like it's Snooki's vagina.

  I'm going to stop now.

I Hate To Break It To You..

...but this is just another Chia Pet



  Fushigi..the most obnoxious advert of the year for a ball you do not need. There is nothing magical, nor gravity-defying about what is going on here.

  It's called Contact Juggling and you can do this too without paying 20 bucks plus shipping and handling to John Cammarano's infomercial conglomerate. With a reasonable amount of practice, you can make any sphere do all of these things- you can do it with a baseball, bocce ball, or one of those shiny Chinese stress balls. If you're really good, you can do every one of these 'magical' tricks with a reasonably symmetrical orange.

  It started becoming popular during a period in the 80's when all sorts of physical pastimes such as competitive Yo-yo and breakdancing hit playgrounds all over.
 The folks in the ads are performance artists, some of whom have over a decade of experience. These dudes have pissed off an entire art community by selling their creative souls to the same guy who invented that annoying singing Boogie Bass.

  I'm not saying that Contact Juggling isn't fun or a decent form of solitary exercise, because it is both of these things. It is an exercise in dexterity that you can become very adept at with a great deal of practice. If you have exhausted all of the tennis balls and oranges in your house and want to try something new, buy durable balls from a juggling store that you can test before you invest.
  While the Fushigi folks seem to claim to have invented the 'new' sport and to beware of imitators, this is nothing new, nor is their product superior to any other Contact Juggling ball. In fact, the carefully marketed ball doesn't fare very well when dropped. And if you're a rookie, you will drop this- a LOT.

  So if you're tempted to pick up your credit card, go HERE or HERE to find out about a very real artistic sport that is not exactly as seen on television.

Quick History Lesson

  There has been much discussion by pundits about the religious base of America.  Folks like Bill O'Reilly, John McCain and others claim that America is a Christian nation at heart. Moreover, many claims are made in relation to Islam and whether or not the dead old guys would have accepted Muslims as equals. The reality is that not only did America claim herself to be a secular, Deist, not-exclusively-Christian nation back in the day, but had no problem with Muslim nations. 

  First off, nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is Christianity mentioned as the founding religion, in fact God is not even mentioned a single time. Just because McCain claimed so in his presidential run does not make it so. He is simply banking on people to not read it. So how about the Declaration of Independence? God is only mentioned in the vaguest terms- there is no mention of Jesus, Abraham, Moses, virgin births, or anything else to suggest adherence to any type of trinity. This becomes more important as I continue here. 


  Next, the first ally the United States had was Morocco, then led by a fairly open-minded guy, but still Islamic Sultan. (Mohammed ben Abdullah) In fact, many peace treaties were signed with predominantly Muslim nations during the Barbary Wars, the most famous of which included this statement:


Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.


  The treaty was composed during the time of Washington and ratified by John Adams. President Adams was a Unitarian, a Christian sect that focuses on a singular Deity and rejects the Trinity. He was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson, a secular Deist who believed that atheists could indeed be moral people. He expressed great admiration for certain non-Christian societies, like Natives, which became problematic when the idea of displacing them arose. 
  The following president was James Madison, a lawyer who worked tirelessly to remove the Church of England as an authority and instill freedom of religion. Not shockingly, he authored the Bill of Rights. He also wrote against appointment of chaplains for governmental institutions as well as the military, because he feared that religious exclusion would interfere with cohesion. 


  The final Founding Father to hold the ultimate post was James Monroe. Mr. Monroe did not display any religion publicly, maintaining any beliefs that he may have had as extremely personal. If President Monroe had any religion, he certainly never discussed it in any detail whatsoever.  He was, however, something of an anti-Semite, dismissing Consul Mordechai Noah from his Tunisian post. However, when he did, Mr. Noah was given letters of support from the three previous Presidents supporting the separation of church and state, as well as acceptance of Jews. 


  You have to wander along to President Number 15 for religion to have any religious play whatsoever, and it's not the answer people want. James Buchanan said that he would join the Presbyterian Church only after retirement from office, for to publicly unite with any religion would be hypocritical. The following honcho was Abraham Lincoln, who also did not pledge allegiance to any specific church. 


  We have covered a span of about 100 years. If the United States was established as a one-religion state, one would assume that it would have been done during the time of the founding fathers, or at the very least by the time of Lincoln.  It is only recently that religion has even been that much of a big deal. The old guys were so adamant about separating religion and state that most did not publicly profess any religion whatsoever. 


  A culture of acceptance was created by the Founding Fathers because they saw the tyranny that theocracies and monarchies (often one and the same) could bring. They witnessed the inherent wrongness of having to swear to the Church of England, of excluding others based solely on interpretation of the very same God. Alexander Hamilton experienced religious discrimination and Ben Franklin questioned organized religion and even the New Testament itself. 


  It's fine that politicians have religious beliefs that they hopefully use to better their lives. But to declare their beliefs as those of a nation, they are banking on your ignorance. America is a moral nation, but not a Christian nation, nor a nation that believes one man superior to another based on whether he prays and what he prays to. 


  Be well. 

Middle Of The Night Quickie

   At some point, someone thought this was a good idea. There is no way that this ad would be published today.

Just For Fun: Dental Meltdown

  I've never had the experience of having my wisdom teeth removed, and apparently I have missed one heck of an amazing experience. As the following video proves, the only thing better than one kid getting major dental surgery is when there are two of them. Ignore the irresponsible mother person while you have a giggle.

Enjoy!

Facebook Related Post Of The Week

 
  Kids do some absolutely stupid shit when it relates to social networks, and after looking at the pages of my 14 year old sister and her buddies, I can say that youthful dumbassery is pretty universal.

  One of the 'fun' ways kids can interact with their mates is to make Event pages. On these, they can advertise their pep rally, bar mitzvah, or in the case of one British kid, birthday party.

  Rebecca Javeleau is a London-area girl who will be turning 15 soon. How darling. She decided to make a FB page detailing her party and even regrettably posted her home address. However, the teen forgot to make the event private. And her brain fart has gone viral.

  By the time distressed mum -also named Rebecca- got wind of the Facebook event page and pulled it over 21, 000 people had RSVPed. Having the absent-minded girl's address, several new Event pages have popped up all over the network and thousands of kids plan to take over this kid's birthday no-longer party. (it's no longer a party because mummy is so pissed that she called the thing off)

  Local police have already booked extra beat cops for October 7th to ensure the safety of the family and their home and little Rebecca is grounded.

  Now I could go into a rant on how Facebook needs to restrict certain categories to adults and make event pages closed by default, but I'm not going to. This clusterfuck is evidence that my words will only confirm.

  To my younger siblings: if you ever do this to your mother I will beat you senseless.

A Book Full Of Crappy Excuses

   A gay couple in Yellowknife, NWT was awarded $13, 400 by a tribunal because a landlord refused to rent to them.

  The man to your right, William Goertzen brought his Bible to the court to read passages that he claimed supported his decision to violate terms of a signed one-year lease and boot out tenants Scott Robertson and Richard Anthony.

  In 2009, the couple rented the main floor of a building owned by Mr. Goertzen and signed a lease that included payment of a $1,125 security deposit. The landlord then put the rental back on the market and kept their security deposit because he claimed that God would exert a heavy judgment against him for renting to gay people.

  In the decision, justice Posynick ruled that Goertzen " willfully and with disregard for their legal rights, including their rights under … a valid tenancy agreement, for reasons relating to the sexual orientation of the complainants, denied their tenancy and the respect and dignity they are entitled to as fellow human beings," and  that "I heard no evidence that God's word included ignoring his legal obligations to treat other people — even people with different beliefs and different lifestyle choices than his own — with respect."

  William Goertzen has fired back, claiming that the Canadian legal system is discriminating against him because of his religious convictions, yet offered no reason for why he did not give back moneys already paid by the plaintiffs. But are Mr. Goertzen's religious beliefs really the basis for his blatant hateful statements, and if so, does it justify it?

  The Bible  states that women who have sex before marriage should be stoned to death, so would he be able to justify murdering non-virgins because the Bible says so in the same sections he quoted in his tirade against gays? (A douchebag who murdered a friend of mine tried the God excuse and was given one of the longest sentences in Canadian history.) Or how about all those non-believers? Over a quarter of the people residing in Yellowknife are atheists. And if he rents solely to the mere 2% of the population that follow his denomination, he'll be one broke fellow. If religion becomes an excuse to violate the laws of the land, we are no better than Saudi Arabia.

  The fact is that the landlord was looking for someone to rip off and thought that a gay couple wouldn't go through the public shame of trying to get their money back. William Goertzen is a thief who tried to blame a supernatural entity for the fact that he is a weasel. Yes folks, he violated not only Canadian law, but one of the 10 big ones handed down to Moses.
  Prior to signing the lease agreement, Mr. Goertzen could have found a million reasons not to rent to the couple, but he didn't because he wanted an easy buck from people he thought wouldn't have the stones to complain.

 It's a pretty unChristian thing to discriminate against someone, but it is even worse to claim to know the word of God and use it to steal from people.

What's In My Oven Right Now

  There are a ton of recipes for harvest time sweet stuff, and this is what I'm eating today. After playing with food, I've come up with the easiest dessert ever inspired by my sister Una, the OG apple thief.

It's awesome a la mode for dessert , but also works as breakfast when mixed and served hot with or without a bit of cream . Either way , it's delish and a good way to clean fruit from the bowl since it works so well with a wide variety of larger fruits as well as berries .

Fruit Blend

6 cups assorted sliced fruit - (today it is random local apples, blackberries, random local pears and italian plums stolen from various neighbours)
1/4 cup Vanilla or Plain Sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

mix in a bowl and sperad out into a casserole dish while you preheat the oven to 400F/200C

The Crunchy Stuff

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Oats
1 Cup Brown (I'm using Demerrara) Sugar
1/2 cup Margarine

Mix all of the dry ingredients with your paws . Cut in margarine with a pastry blender or a couple of forks until it resembles gravel . You are not trying to make pastry , so perfection is not an issue . Spead over the fruit and bake for 35-50 minutes until bubbly and yummy looking . Do not even look at the oven for at least 25 minutes . I went for a shower since I have a tendency to babysit my food.

Let sit for a few and nom before your flatmates steal it all!

Photo is of my previous fruit mess.

Blame Canada!

Article first published as Blame Canada! on Blogcritics.
  Michael Moore has made various points and millions of dollars off of lionizing Canada for what he sees as very good qualities. His overt admiration of our low crime rates, reasonably priced health care, and corporate responsibility have drawn us fans as well as detractors who see us as socialist when we actually have Libertarianism down to a science.

  Now Mr. Moore's judgmental gavel has been slammed down on every Canadian's head because of his views on the Iraq war. According to the almighty film guru, the friendly nation to the north is no longer his star because we do not consider military members who refuse to serve in Iraq as refugees. In his myopic eyes, the Iraq war is the same as Vietnam, but it is not, and here's why:

  Those who are being sent by their military to Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered to serve. For those of you unfamiliar with the military, when you join, you sign a contract which essentially stipulates that you pledge to fight if you are so required. Those fleeing the Vietnam war were conscripts- they were chosen by the government against their will. Even so, Canada did not rush to open the borders to those draft dodgers of the Vietnam era in a big show of hippie love. In fact, young American men were asked at the border of their draft status and summarily turned back  Many were and continue to be living in Canada unlawfully and some are only now becoming naturalized citizens.

  Moreover, Canada is a sovereign nation- one not subject to the whims of America. We have our own borders because we are a separate state and have a right to defend ourselves against illegal immigration just as you do. Demanding that we invite every American who criminally refuses to honour his contract enter is an insult to our independence and national security. If you have the right to close the borders to a wave of Mexicans, we have the right to close ours to you.

  In addition, Canada is involved in the Afghanistan war- our young men and women serve tours of duty that are not measured in months, but years. Our kids are fighting to restore peace, and are dying as a result. Our Prime Minister, the Hon. Stephen Harper, is a friend of George Bush and an ideological supporter of the Iraq war. The war deserters of America could have an easy ticket into Canada by joining our military, as a friend of mine did. The caveat here is that like my pub pal, they'll probably be sent to Afghanistan after completing training. Despite whatever hippie nonsense Michael Moore attempts to feed you, Canada is not anti-military at all, but She is anti-irresponsibility. Those fleeing service they volunteered for are not worthy candidates for Canadian citizenship because they put their personal interests and fears above their obligation to keep the word they swore to when signing on the dotted line.

  Bill C-440 seeks to legitimize unaccountability and undermine Canada's right to decide for herself who constitutes a refugee. By clogging the refugee courts with capricious wimps, the claims of those seeking asylum from truly totalitarian regimes will be put on hold. And since someone awaiting classification cannot legally work, we are on the hook for the costs of their health and welfare payments or incarceration until such time their claims are dealt with. I'd be all for this if Mr. Moore was footing the bill instead of middle-wage construction workers like myself.

  Canada is a nation independent of the United States with laws of her own; a kind nation, but also fiercely patriotic. Your neighbour is not a talking point in a Michael Moore film, nor subject to his rule. An autonomous country has the right to secure its borders against invasion by a collective of folks who want to have their proverbial cake. We did not open the borders to Vietnam draftees in the past, and should not welcome the self-enlisted today. Even still, the comparison is an invective against the intellect of Americans and Canadians alike.

  Michael Moore is trying to sell you apples when they are really pickles.

Just A Number

 The US state of Virginia plans to execute a 41 year old woman named Teresa Lewis on Thursday.

  The grandmother was convicted of hiring hitmen to murder her husband and stepson in 2002 for their life insurance payouts. She had previously tried and failed to have her two family members assassinated before 2 men, one of whom was her lover, successfully carried out the hit. The disgusting stain on humanity even offered sex with her 16 year old daughter as incentive to the assassins. What's more- as her husband lay dying, she rifled through his pockets and waited nearly an hour to call 911.

  All-in-all this should be a cut-and-dry case except for the argument of the defence. According to her attorneys, Ms. Lewis' IQ is too low for her to be given the ultimate punishment for her abhorrent crime.  You see, according to the DSM-IVTR, mild mental retardation is considered to be an IQ of 69 or lower and Teresa Lewis' attorneys claim her to have an IQ of 73. While the Supreme Court has determined that the severely handicapped should not be executed, I believe that relying solely on an IQ test to determine culpability is a serious flaw, and here's why:

  Baseball player Reggie Jackson and movie tough guy Dolph Lundgren have the same IQs as Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and Albert Einstein. While I'll never win a Nobel Prize, mine is higher than these men but pales in comparison to that of Johan Goethe and even former bouncer Chris Langan.College dropout Madonna's IQ is higher than Jodie Foster's, and George W. Bush's IQ is 27 points higher than his dad's. Art legend Andy Warhol's number was a mere 86 and people revered him. IQ is quite obviously not the sole determining factor of intellectual capability.

  IQ is less a measurement of knowledge than abstract thinking, and is certainly not a measure of ability to feel remorse, since there are severely retarded folks with an inflated sense of it and highly intelligent sociopaths. Teresa Lewis is in the same intellectual category as Muhammad Ali, Vince Young, and Jeff George- all men who have done well for themselves indeed. One would expect that if Pro Bowler Vince Young were to have murdered someone, nobody would have a problem with executing him.

  Teresa Lewis used sex and money to convince men to kill 2 human beings while they slept in an effort to acquire instant wealth and support her painkiller addiction. She obviously has the capability to be legally married more than once and to formulate a plan to kill not only a man, but also do it in front of his son. She also had the inherent inhumanity to offer her own child up for molestation to see the plan through.

  The websites and petitions do identify Teresa Lewis' addictions and learning difficulties whilst stating that she has also been employed throughout her life.  They whine that her accomplice was given life without parole while Ms. Lewis was given the needle. But they don't detail the savagery and callousness of the carefully calculated actions that resulted in the conviction in the first place. There is nary a word about the worthwhile lives taken before their time, not a pixel to represent her assisting in the abuse of her daughter, not even a single syllable describing the appalling motivation for the early deaths of two citizens.

  Teresa Lewis is a cold-blooded killer and just because someone else got a lesser penalty for the same crime doesn't mean that her sentence is unjust. Her IQ may be low, but there was nothing small about the magnitude of her disregard for her fellow man.

I am personally opposed to the death penalty, but if there is ever a reason for it, this would certainly be one.

Gimme

  I don't get the chance to play a ton of video games, but when I do it is usually sports or design related. And for the first time in years, there is a sports game that I covet.

  NHL 11 by EA Sports.

  The 20th anniversary edition is bigger and badder than any hockey game ever produced. For the first time, a physics-based engine will enter the realm of hockey gaming. Realistic features like broken sticks and choice of faceoffs and restricted free agency add to the overall experience, as do the inclusion of 7 pro leagues and every team in the CHL. Sweet. Throw in a beast of a soundtrack that includes Pantera, The Ramones, and Dropkick Murphys and you've got a game that is also a listening experience.

  All in all, NHL 11 proves to be not only a toy for jocks, but anyone who likes a boatload of action with their interactive entertainment.

  But don't take EA's word for it, nor mine from the 10 minutes I played this dandy in Future Shop,  but preeminent gamer Tyler Conium's. He claims that this game may be one of the most fun and exciting games ever created. And if that isn't an endorsement, I don't know what is.

  Come payday, I'm running to the shop for NHL 11 and a new video card. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a few months.

Moral Of The Story

If you count your chicken before it hatches, you might just drop the egg.

A Sober(ing) Thought

  Unless you were vacationing on Saturn a few months back, you know that Lindsay Lohan spent a few weeks in jail and a couple more in rehab because of multiple probation violations stemming from arrests from years back.

  And I did blog about it, once offering Lindsay advice on how to better herself in prison and again about the hypocrisy of the 'free Lindsay' movement . And I was attacked in my blog, on Twitter, and even in e-mails. I was told that I was exploitative and that I needed to get a life. That's fine and dandy. Unfortunately I was also slammed with ethnic slurs, threats, and insults to mine and my family's character, which is not okay. Even a veiled reference in a blog about poor children drew fire. All of this was related to fandom over a multiply-convicted felon, but even I suggested that Lindsay could still change her ways, that redemption was hers for the asking.

  Lindsay Lohan is not an innocent, and although her crimes were committed a few years ago, she is still accountable for those actions because she keeps violating her probation and extending the terms. Hollywood creates an environment of invincibility that most people have to stay far away from in order to have prolonged sobriety. It's a place where even the regular person can feel semi-famous, full of glitz and glamour to be sure, but also every vice you can imagine. It is one difficult place to keep yourself straight because every whim can be indulged for a price 24 hours a day.

  It comes as no surprise that she is failing drug tests mandated in the conditions of her release. I'm not happy about it, but not shocked. I truly want sobriety for anyone who seeks it and sometimes people live lives filled with enablers and are powerless to help themselves. I have several friends who have lost years of sobriety by slipping into the old ways, old towns, and old associates. You need to pursue serenity with every fibre of your being and keep constant and humble. Continuing the arrogance of the past will result in the same effects as it did prior, and there is no more selfish a disease as addiction.

  So fans, your idol screwed up. She did not do the things required to attain sobriety and stay on the positive end of the law. Barring a braindead judge who thinks that one can borrow someone else's bladder, she's going to be in a ton of trouble. It is a shame, but it is not astonishing. At least this time she's owning up to it instead of blaming someone else. That is the first step, and as long as an individual remains on Earth, he or she can repeat the steps until they truly get it.

  So before you assault me with your words, think about what makes you think that the famous are infallable in the first place. If she's willing to state her imperfections, why do you insist that she is something she is not? The expectation of perfection is what fuels the fire of addiction. Lindsay Lohan is a human being who has made mistakes and will pay for them just like anyone else.

  If you or someone you know is suffering from the addiction affliction, go HERE for some information that might save a life. It saved mine.

What Is Real? Meet Paul Day

  This video was played on the Rachel Maddow Show tonight and it has caused a stir. In it, a guy named Billy spews the usual stereotypes about rednecks whilst coming to the conclusion that Rachel is a lesbian vampire.
  Now even if you think MSNBC is part of some communist plot, just watch the video. Trust me.



  Billy has been getting a TON of hate mail and letters of admiration for his political stances. Those on the far left are AGHAST at the beliefs of this man from Jekyll Island, Georgia and think he is the type of guy that encompasses what is wrong with America. Those on the right are cheering on this gold old boy in his fight against towelheads, Canada, and homosexuals.



  But what some Maddow Show viewers  don't know is that Billy Bob isn't a real guy. He's not even from Georgia. As patriotic as he may be, Billy Bob is not a real dude. He's a character, one that I've played on in the live version of a satirical post.

  Billy Bob Neck is the alter ego of computer geek and dad of two Paul Day. The self-employed father of teen daughters came up with his alias during the 2004 presidential election to cause a visceral reaction and make people aware. Mr. Day lives in Waterdown, Massachusetts and is a member of the Unitarian church. He's an intelligent fellow who simply wants people open their minds, gain awareness of important political issues, and have a laugh at the same time.

  What amazes and disgusts me is the amount of support that this caricature gets from people who believe him to be a real teabagging wingnut. Mr. Day's act has been so carefully crafted; with a website, radio show, and Twitter account as Billy Bob that he's got his own right-fringe following.
  There really are folks in America just like Billy Bob who exist to spread hatred and concoct conspiracy theories, and they are running for public office. From Birthers to unabashed theocrats, there are truly people that insist that their god is greater than yours, that gays can be cured, and that rape victims should be prevented from getting abortions. Those who claim to honour liberty have zero issue with interfering with yours. Billy Bob Neck may not be real, but the message he spurts is resonating all over the western world in boardrooms and arenas with a paying audience.

  If you discover that you are starting to sound like Billy Bob, question yourself. Do you truly believe in what you are saying or have you been so caught up in a high tide that you have become your own caricature?

   And if my blog hasn't convinced you that Billy Bob Neck isn't a real person, I have a video for you.





Incidentally, after I originally posted this the Maddow blog posted Paul Day's comedy profile.

Happy Birthday Follow Friday

  Follow Friday is the Twitter institution that spreads the word about the cool people that you follow to your friends. Nowadays,  people seem to post their entire buddy lists without mentioning anything about why these folks are interesting.But I'm not like that.

  In that vein, my Follow Friday this week is a bright young man who won't always agree with you, but will make you think. Evan Barnes is a sports writer and generally awesome man that I speak to or tweet at on a daily basis.
  He's a young guy who believes in personal responsibility and frequently writes about everything from his love of sports to pop culture and politics. Evan is a passionate and compassionate gentleman who does give us hope . And today marks the anniversary of his 26 years on the planet.

  If you are one the Twitter, wander over here and offer some birthday love to one of the most promising young guys I've met in a very long time. And whether you are on the Twit or not, check out Evan's blog for some insight into what makes a really cool cat tick.

WTBlue F*ck of the Weak

  A shocking and most horrible crime occurred recently in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia last weekend. At a field outside of a metro Vancouver-area rave, a 16 year old girl was drugged with GHB and gang-raped by a half-dozen disgusting men. And like a few other crimes of the like recently, nobody stopped this from happening. But it is what someone did during and after the attack that makes me ill.

  A 16 year old boy seemed to really enjoy the show and thinks this kind of thing is funny. He took photos and videos of this girl's trauma and then posted them on Facebook. This little stain on humanity not only did nothing to stop a dehumanizing assault on a helpless child, but decided to revictimize this girl by disseminating the most horrible moment in her life on the internet. What the HELL is wrong with our boys today?

  The RCMP arrested the little bastard and then released him without charge. WHY hasn't this shithead been charged as an accessory to the rape and for producing child pornography?

  I want to know about this kid's parents and those of the perpetrators of this attack. While people should be responsible for their actions, there is no way that any decent parent would raise these kind of degenerates without sleeping at the wheel. And don't give me the evil media argument here. I come from a generation raised on punk rock and horror movies and for the most part we don't have the sociopathy that is on display today. This kid saw a girl being viciously attacked, did nothing to stop it, and found it entertaining enough to videotape it and post it on a social network to try and shame a crime victim.

  In this new generation, girls are objects and rape is entertainment. The sheer audacity to post videos of a girl being gang-raped and laughing at it is a statement of what is absolutely wrong with our society. The 16 year old of today could become a leader in the future, and what kind will he be if he sees half of our population as chattel?

  The RCMP certainly needs to arrest every person involved in this public victimization, from the rapists to every person who has downloaded these sickening tapes and photographs. The parents of the kid who decided to use a family computer to transmit such filth should also be investigated to see if they can be held liable for the result of their incredible neglect. Rape is not the shame of the victim, but of the perpetrators and those who create them.

  Watch your kids. You have no idea who may be watching them.

  Photo of the rave in question courtesy of the RCMP.