Sunday, February 26, 2012
Elbows, Knuckles, Tongue and Cheek
First read the article and then read the recipe in the comments. Ha ha ha. Hilarious!
Hmmmm... that article will not appear on my blog. It is on the draft but as soon as I publish it the link disappears. I think they are on to me already! Just go to huffpost.com if you want to read about Harpers Elbows. Or just read the following summary. It is comedy gold!
So apparently Harper went to a restaurant in Beijing while he visited China and ordered soup braised pork knuckles and some cabbage in mustard sauce. He then dipped the pork knuckles in the mustard sauce, a feat never before thought of or performed I guess, and voila, Stephen Harper Elbows was born. Stephen Harper Elbows is reportedly a very popular dish now at this restaurant. Pork dipped in mustard sauce. Who knew? Anyway I guess the restaurant is selling lots of Harper Elbows. (An extra large order is called Gordie Howe Elbows)
I think this calls for another Daveès top 10 list! Oh where to begin... there is SO much here! First let me start with a dish I like to call tongue in cheek. It is public domain. I did not invent it. So here goes:
1. Our PM was in China what, 2 weeks ago? And already China is making more off our new trade relationship than Canada!
2. It sure is a good thing Harper did not patent that idea! Otherwise the Chinese would never have been able to use it.
3. 5000 years of inventing exactly everything and you are telling me nobody in China thought to dunk a piece of pork in mustard sauce? This just in: a report of a 4999-year-old Chinese recipe just surfaced that is indeed pork knuckles in mustard sauce. It must be genuine. It is documented.
4. So knuckle and elbow are the same word in Chinese? I guess this keen, detailed understanding of anatomy is why millions put so much trust in Chinese medicine. Could this be how accupressure started? Massage the third toe if you have back pain. Maybe third toe and back are the same Chinese character too. I guess as long as you trust the doctor...
5. Help me, Chinese doctor. I hurt my knuckles in a fight. Okay, roll up your sleeve and I will fix that in a jiffy. I guess as long as you trust the doctor...
6. Surely if they are having trouble telling the difference between knuckles and elbows they could just go outside and stand in the line-up for that restaurant! Then you will get knuckles and elbows.
7. This just in: A 5001-year-old Chinese document recording the difference between knuckles and elbows has just been brought to our attention. Oh those clever Chinese!
8. This is all tongue-in-cheek. Do not think me racist. I am just kidding. I am sure the Chinese have suffered worse racism. They probably have old reports of it. They probably sing songs of it. Like the ancient folk song the title of which translates roughly into, No This Water Is Not Cold, Why? See, now THAT is some solid racism.
9. Bulletin, bulletin, bulletin: Here is a bulletin: The dish formerly known as Stephen Harper Elbows has been renamed, Jeremy Lin Foul-out due to recent controversy. That is all.
10. This just, just in: A 1,000,000-year-old document has just been discovered in Harbin, China. In it is the first known use of the term and the device known as tongue in cheek. In a related story I am being sued for this blog entry.
11. Number 11 has been added as a pre-emptive strike against prospective litigation originating at the Late Night With David Letterman headquarters.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Johnny Barnes: Superhero
http://vimeo.com/mattmorrisfilms/mrhappyman
Just a short entry this time since I am on a computer that is not mine. You will notice a lack of contractions in this post because I can not find the apostrophe. Hereès what I get if I press the button that usually has the apostrophe. I canèt find the quotation marks either so sarcasm will have to be at a minimum. Oh well. Somebody else has bigger problems than me.
I have had a good weekend, (or three days off), here at Jamie and Colleenès place. Watched some good curling and some great hockey games. Cooked some spaghetti and had eggs on waffles. Even had some Thai chicken. Soon I will be moving to my new place about 5 minutes from where I work. That will give me loads of extra time and freedom. So things are looking up.
I just went to Vancouver the weekend before this one to visit a friend of mine who I hadnèt seen in like 27 years. Derek Peregrym. We went to a Canucks game; I met his wife and son, Mel and Ethan respectively; and we went shopping, golfing, and touring around Langley. He lives in a neighbourhood called Walnut Grove. I thought it was really nice! Didnèt even seem like we were in Vancouver. We had superb centre ice seats at the game and although I was yawning and getting restless legs by the third period, the home team won 3-1. It was cool to catch up with Derek. I got a real kick outta Ethan too. We played a lot of catch with the little football. Ethan has this great way of answering questions. In fact I think it is something I should teach my ESL students to do. If you ask him, Ethan do you wanna play catch with the football, he will not say just yes, he will say, I wanna play catch with the football. Ethan, do you wanna have a beer with the boys? I wanna have a beer with the boys. There is no confusion when dealing with Ethan. Perfect clarity.
What I am saying is I have a pretty good life. I think I will try to think about that instead of banks that are too big to fail or jail. Instead of all the crude oil that will be shipped across some of the nicest natural land in our country. Why we can not refine it so it will be safer, i.e. easier to clean up WHEN it spills, I suppose it is the same thing. You can do anything you want if you have the money. Lying, cheating, stealing, polluting, you name it.
But I have my health and I can enjoy the sunshine, hockey, curling and a good meal. And, Johnny loves me.
I should not concern myself so much with what other people think. Like professional phonies such as Richard Dawkins who has made his fortune claiming not to believe in God and trying, (but if objectively investigated, failing horribly), to disprove God scientifically. I REALLY wish I had quotation marks for that last word! I have talked about Dawkins before here in this blog and told you that I think he is just a closet believer who is having trouble abandoning the flawed philosophy and pseudoscience that has supported him and his family, lo, these many years, without looking like a complete plonker.
As many REAL scientists are waking up to, the basic building blocks that they have put faith in being infallable are one by one being SCIENTIFICALLY shown to be nebulous at best. The law of conservation of matter states that matter can not be created or destroyed, it can only change forms. Science also avoids talk of infinity. Infinity is only a theory and can not be measured scientifically, therefore nothing is infinite. This questioning of infinity began so long ago it can not be credited with an originator. Indeed, it has probably been around forever.
So where did that matter at the very beginning come from? That matter, call it a cosmic egg, a swirling void, (really if it is void, nothing, how can it be swirling?), whatever it was it was either always there or it was created out of nothing. Neither is scientifically possible but there it has stood like a big philosophical dead end. When confronted about this Dawkins previously, and as scientifically as ever, said, We are working on that.
NOW he has stated that he is 6.9 out of 7 that God does not exist. By that I am guessing he is giving God a .1 out of 7 chance of existence. That is 1 out of 70. When you consider the odds against practically ALL of the crap Dawkins writes about in his books and says we should all believe in it and follows it with some silly pseudoscientific study to back it up, by golly he is virtually admitting that God exists! When you consider the odds against even the simplest new species being formed by a succession of fortunate genetic mutations, which go WAY beyond 1 in 10 to the 50th power against, (the scientifically agreed upon odds accepted as impossible), 1 in 70 are ASTRONOMICALLY better odds.
Folks, what I am saying here is that Richard Dawkins, Darwinès Pitbull, author of The God Delusion and other such books, BELIEVES! HE BELIEVES! He may be too stubborn or even stupid to realize it but he just gave God a fighting chance at existence that he never once gave any of his alternate theories of creation.
Soon Stephen Hawking will admit it. Johnny Barnes probably admits that God exists. In fact he is probably as honest as the day is long. Not like the bankers, politicians passing the pipeline or science worshippers. I wish they were all like Ethan: Did you commit fraud? We committed fraud. Are you willing to risk an ecosystem-destroying oil spill for a pile of money? We are willing to risk an ecosystem-destroying oil spill for a pile of money. Do you really think God does not exist? I really do NOT think God does not exist.
I really should not concern myself so much. I should ask myself, what would Johnny do? He would just say, Dawkins, Hawking, Harper, big banks, I love you. Have a good day. Take a deep breath. Ahhhhhhhh...
Just a short entry this time since I am on a computer that is not mine. You will notice a lack of contractions in this post because I can not find the apostrophe. Hereès what I get if I press the button that usually has the apostrophe. I canèt find the quotation marks either so sarcasm will have to be at a minimum. Oh well. Somebody else has bigger problems than me.
I have had a good weekend, (or three days off), here at Jamie and Colleenès place. Watched some good curling and some great hockey games. Cooked some spaghetti and had eggs on waffles. Even had some Thai chicken. Soon I will be moving to my new place about 5 minutes from where I work. That will give me loads of extra time and freedom. So things are looking up.
I just went to Vancouver the weekend before this one to visit a friend of mine who I hadnèt seen in like 27 years. Derek Peregrym. We went to a Canucks game; I met his wife and son, Mel and Ethan respectively; and we went shopping, golfing, and touring around Langley. He lives in a neighbourhood called Walnut Grove. I thought it was really nice! Didnèt even seem like we were in Vancouver. We had superb centre ice seats at the game and although I was yawning and getting restless legs by the third period, the home team won 3-1. It was cool to catch up with Derek. I got a real kick outta Ethan too. We played a lot of catch with the little football. Ethan has this great way of answering questions. In fact I think it is something I should teach my ESL students to do. If you ask him, Ethan do you wanna play catch with the football, he will not say just yes, he will say, I wanna play catch with the football. Ethan, do you wanna have a beer with the boys? I wanna have a beer with the boys. There is no confusion when dealing with Ethan. Perfect clarity.
What I am saying is I have a pretty good life. I think I will try to think about that instead of banks that are too big to fail or jail. Instead of all the crude oil that will be shipped across some of the nicest natural land in our country. Why we can not refine it so it will be safer, i.e. easier to clean up WHEN it spills, I suppose it is the same thing. You can do anything you want if you have the money. Lying, cheating, stealing, polluting, you name it.
But I have my health and I can enjoy the sunshine, hockey, curling and a good meal. And, Johnny loves me.
I should not concern myself so much with what other people think. Like professional phonies such as Richard Dawkins who has made his fortune claiming not to believe in God and trying, (but if objectively investigated, failing horribly), to disprove God scientifically. I REALLY wish I had quotation marks for that last word! I have talked about Dawkins before here in this blog and told you that I think he is just a closet believer who is having trouble abandoning the flawed philosophy and pseudoscience that has supported him and his family, lo, these many years, without looking like a complete plonker.
As many REAL scientists are waking up to, the basic building blocks that they have put faith in being infallable are one by one being SCIENTIFICALLY shown to be nebulous at best. The law of conservation of matter states that matter can not be created or destroyed, it can only change forms. Science also avoids talk of infinity. Infinity is only a theory and can not be measured scientifically, therefore nothing is infinite. This questioning of infinity began so long ago it can not be credited with an originator. Indeed, it has probably been around forever.
So where did that matter at the very beginning come from? That matter, call it a cosmic egg, a swirling void, (really if it is void, nothing, how can it be swirling?), whatever it was it was either always there or it was created out of nothing. Neither is scientifically possible but there it has stood like a big philosophical dead end. When confronted about this Dawkins previously, and as scientifically as ever, said, We are working on that.
NOW he has stated that he is 6.9 out of 7 that God does not exist. By that I am guessing he is giving God a .1 out of 7 chance of existence. That is 1 out of 70. When you consider the odds against practically ALL of the crap Dawkins writes about in his books and says we should all believe in it and follows it with some silly pseudoscientific study to back it up, by golly he is virtually admitting that God exists! When you consider the odds against even the simplest new species being formed by a succession of fortunate genetic mutations, which go WAY beyond 1 in 10 to the 50th power against, (the scientifically agreed upon odds accepted as impossible), 1 in 70 are ASTRONOMICALLY better odds.
Folks, what I am saying here is that Richard Dawkins, Darwinès Pitbull, author of The God Delusion and other such books, BELIEVES! HE BELIEVES! He may be too stubborn or even stupid to realize it but he just gave God a fighting chance at existence that he never once gave any of his alternate theories of creation.
Soon Stephen Hawking will admit it. Johnny Barnes probably admits that God exists. In fact he is probably as honest as the day is long. Not like the bankers, politicians passing the pipeline or science worshippers. I wish they were all like Ethan: Did you commit fraud? We committed fraud. Are you willing to risk an ecosystem-destroying oil spill for a pile of money? We are willing to risk an ecosystem-destroying oil spill for a pile of money. Do you really think God does not exist? I really do NOT think God does not exist.
I really should not concern myself so much. I should ask myself, what would Johnny do? He would just say, Dawkins, Hawking, Harper, big banks, I love you. Have a good day. Take a deep breath. Ahhhhhhhh...
Friday, February 17, 2012
Toilet Humour
A little toilet humour for you this time. I have to set the scene for this funny story so bear with me. Okay, so there's this toilet on the first floor of one of the office buildings I work at. I guess because there is only the elevator, stairs and that toilet, none of the businesses lay claim to it so it just never gets cleaned. But it's the most convenient bathroom for me to use while I'm working. So I was really happy to see it had been cleaned at the beginning of my shifts last week. Spic and span! Even toilet paper and paper towels!
So it's Monday night I think. I'm going in there to brush my teeth or something and I got a big surprise. On the handsoap dispensor I found this:
It's pretty small writing so you'll have to click on it if you want to read it. It's got some funny grammar and spelling mistakes, but that's not the most interesting part. It has a lot of common claims that are made on Chinese-manufactured products from herbal "medicine" to cheap novelty items. For instance helps you sleep; cures constipation; gives you energy; increases blood flow, (with the intended assumption that that includes the areas where men might most want blood flow to be raging); slows the aging process; makes you smarter; fights cancer; and SO MANY MORE! It's from a little box of tea. This amazing tea that Chinese scientists have "proven" to be so miraculously good for everything has made its way to Victoria and somebody bought some and drank it at my worksite.
As an aside here, I worked at a kids camp one year with about half a dozen teachers that were not Chinese, but were teaching in China at the time. One of the guys talked to me about how he made more money from his part time job. He was a TV, radio and I imagine internet announcer. His job was to flog all kinds of Chinese products and read the scripts written by the manufacturers for him in English. He told me that most of his business came from pills, balms, salves and Chinese snake oil all of which made claims to make your breasts and/or penis larger, increase sexual desire and performance, and see above list for other things he mentioned. So this was the kind of stuff he was reading for commercials while he was in China.
He told me he had his doubts at first about it but he found out that they just haven't yet gotten around to regulating English language commercials like that. Basically, in Chinese you are limited in the um... creativity of your salespitch. Not so in English. It's WIDE open. Say what you want and if some English-speaker believes you, it sucks to be him/her.
So back to our paper that came from the box of tea. I have a suspicion that the Chinese side might not make the tea sound quite so miraculous. I'll have to refer this mystery to a Chinese friend. Maybe Sharon will read it for me. At any rate, when I found the piece of paper on the handsoap dispensor I noticed about a dozen tea envelopes in the bathroom trash recepticle. I did not ascertain if they were full or empty but I think there were probably some of both. I also noticed in the toilet, the sink and all over the floor some faintly fermented tea smelling puke. And it was black and kind of had hunks that looked like tea leaves in it. I did some quick Sherlock Holmes sleuthing and came to the conclusion that perhaps the miracle tea was not delivering on its promises.
Mind you, the promise about weight loss, I suppose I'd have to say the tea delivered. But I'll be interested in finding out who the consumers were and asking if they felt stronger, more energetic, healthier or smarter as they were spraying that tea all over the previously sanitary washroom. I have my doubts. So I think I got two days of using the convenient washroom while it was clean. Damn those infernal Chinese tea salesmen!
In a related story our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has just returned from wheeling and dealing with all kinds of Chinese salesmen of tea and other commodities. I'm sure all of those dealings and negotiations were done IN ENGLISH.
So it's Monday night I think. I'm going in there to brush my teeth or something and I got a big surprise. On the handsoap dispensor I found this:
It's pretty small writing so you'll have to click on it if you want to read it. It's got some funny grammar and spelling mistakes, but that's not the most interesting part. It has a lot of common claims that are made on Chinese-manufactured products from herbal "medicine" to cheap novelty items. For instance helps you sleep; cures constipation; gives you energy; increases blood flow, (with the intended assumption that that includes the areas where men might most want blood flow to be raging); slows the aging process; makes you smarter; fights cancer; and SO MANY MORE! It's from a little box of tea. This amazing tea that Chinese scientists have "proven" to be so miraculously good for everything has made its way to Victoria and somebody bought some and drank it at my worksite.
As an aside here, I worked at a kids camp one year with about half a dozen teachers that were not Chinese, but were teaching in China at the time. One of the guys talked to me about how he made more money from his part time job. He was a TV, radio and I imagine internet announcer. His job was to flog all kinds of Chinese products and read the scripts written by the manufacturers for him in English. He told me that most of his business came from pills, balms, salves and Chinese snake oil all of which made claims to make your breasts and/or penis larger, increase sexual desire and performance, and see above list for other things he mentioned. So this was the kind of stuff he was reading for commercials while he was in China.
He told me he had his doubts at first about it but he found out that they just haven't yet gotten around to regulating English language commercials like that. Basically, in Chinese you are limited in the um... creativity of your salespitch. Not so in English. It's WIDE open. Say what you want and if some English-speaker believes you, it sucks to be him/her.
So back to our paper that came from the box of tea. I have a suspicion that the Chinese side might not make the tea sound quite so miraculous. I'll have to refer this mystery to a Chinese friend. Maybe Sharon will read it for me. At any rate, when I found the piece of paper on the handsoap dispensor I noticed about a dozen tea envelopes in the bathroom trash recepticle. I did not ascertain if they were full or empty but I think there were probably some of both. I also noticed in the toilet, the sink and all over the floor some faintly fermented tea smelling puke. And it was black and kind of had hunks that looked like tea leaves in it. I did some quick Sherlock Holmes sleuthing and came to the conclusion that perhaps the miracle tea was not delivering on its promises.
Mind you, the promise about weight loss, I suppose I'd have to say the tea delivered. But I'll be interested in finding out who the consumers were and asking if they felt stronger, more energetic, healthier or smarter as they were spraying that tea all over the previously sanitary washroom. I have my doubts. So I think I got two days of using the convenient washroom while it was clean. Damn those infernal Chinese tea salesmen!
In a related story our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has just returned from wheeling and dealing with all kinds of Chinese salesmen of tea and other commodities. I'm sure all of those dealings and negotiations were done IN ENGLISH.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Sharia Don't Like It... Then Again...
I’ve been reading the newspaper a lot lately. It’s free. Kinda. A few of the offices in the office building I guard have newpapers in their waiting rooms and when they get chucked into the dumpster I pull them out. I can’t stand to see a paper in the trash with the Sudoku and crossword puzzles totally unattempted! Such a waste! But after I do the puzzles, with great success, IN PEN, I usually read a few of the articles even though it’s all bad news.
Lately I’ve been appalled at some of the stories. To be honest they made me question the punitive power of legal systems and prisons around the world. Like most parents nowadays I think the police, lawyers and prison guards are no longer saying, “What do we do with these people?” They are now saying, “What CAN we do with these people?” I’ve talked about bubble wrap kids and how I think parents are far too limited in their, how shall I put it, disciplinary creativity by laws, rules and social groups nowadays. That doesn’t really cover it, it’s child raising as a whole. Far too many rules!
But what about criminals? When I compare my life to that of, say, a guy who threw acid into the face of another person and got a prison sentence, I have to wonder, was it sulfuric or hydrochloric? Seriously, I don’t have freedom to go where I want, do what I want, eat what I want either. I also don’t have the availability of organized sport, hobbies, education, social groups, religious services, television etc. for free. I have to work 42 hours a week, sleep during the day, hell I’m trying to type this as quietly as I can because it’s 2:30 in the AM and I’m the only one up here where I live. As always on my days off, the only time I am wide awake is when there is nobody else up and nothing to do if they were. But let’s say I didn’t work midnights. If I want to join a gym to stay in shape – 100 bucks a month. If I want to play baseball or basketball with friends – league fees and equipment and gym rental. If I want to take a course in, for example, computers I practically have to rob a bank to do it. Because if I don’t get caught I can afford it and if I DO get caught I can take it for free in whatever prison I wind up in. Without the prison walls protecting me from ravenous, money gluttons in every business from the corner store to government, I also have less money on the outside than I would in prison where you can always find work.
Prison’s only deterrents for me are that I probably wouldn’t be able to do this: write my blog or go online, and of course the ultra-liberal social functions that may or may not be on a volunteer basis. BUT, (only one T mind you), my social life would explode; I’d exercise more; I’d sleep during the night and would no longer combust in direct sunlight; I’d join some sports clubs and pump iron; I’d go out more, (actually the “more” might be superfluous in that sentence), you know on movie night, yoga classes or Vegas night; I’d eat better and healthier; I’d have more energy, more friends and more fun. So weigh that against an offline existence with the occasional hoopjob and I dunno, I think a guy could get used to that. Conrad Black writes from prison. And maybe if I got an ass tatt that said, “Exit only”…
And speaking of tatt, I got to thinking about tit for tat. Not just that I wish I had a tatt for every time a well built girl used the phrase, “tit for tat,” but I wondered if our North American jurisprudence shouldn’t contain a little bit more of it. Tit for tat.
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=6097300
This is a good example. Why can’t we just put these folks in windowless rooms with small blankets and put THEM on a bit of a diet for a while? It’s a no-brainer, really. Until you start getting into hypothetically proven facts called psychology. Well, will this serve as a deterrent? What does it say about a society who would do this? Are we really any better than the grandparents?
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Italian+father+throws+toddler+bridge+into+river/6102969/story.html
This is another one. Not in North America but MAMA MIA throwa dee Papa offa dee bridge!!! If he drowns, oh well. If not at least tie a couple bricks to him and throw him off again. To make his experience as close as possible to exactly what he put his child through.
I’m not saying this sort of sentence would work all the time. For a serial sex offender, for example, I’m not sure it’s punishment enough to have several of his victims turn the tables on him/her. It might be the exact opposite of punishment actually. But sometimes I can see the wisdom in an eye for an eye. This is a phrase found several times in the Bible. The Code of Hammurabi was a Babylonian system of law over 3000 years ago under which this sort of punishment was practiced.
Another similar system would be Sharia law and a really good example, (actually alluded to earlier unbeknownst to you), (if it was beknownst I commend you on your knowledge of current events), would be the trial of Iranian Majid Movahedi who threw acid into the face of Ameneh Bahrami, a woman who refused to marry him. Under Sharia law he was rendered unconscious and his victim, Bahrami, was allowed to drop 5 drops of acid into each of his eyes. I know it sounds hideous but look at the picture!
I think he’s getting off VERY easy in that he will not feel the pain she felt. He will also not be so disfigured. If I were the judge I’d go so far as to ask Ameneh if she wanted to change her mind and marry this dirtbag since, I hate to say it but she won’t be getting many other offers. And she can spend a lifetime describing beautiful sunsets he’s missing and making him answer the iron. Things like that. Sharia law. An eye for an eye LITERALLY in this case.
Now I’ve heard the popular platitude, “If we all practiced an eye for an eye the whole world would be blind.” It’s catchy and seems pretty clever until you give it more than a moment’s thought. If we practiced an eye for an eye people would only go blind if a) they couldn’t learn their lesson from object lessons or the mistakes of other people or b) they couldn’t learn their lesson after the first time. Two eyes, two chances folks. It’s a fantastic way to test the deterrent power of this method. Technically, everybody wouldn’t be blind at all. Only recidivist criminals would be blinded by the state. I wonder how many there would be. There certainly wouldn't be too many people who committed their crime MORE than twice! "Excuse me but, I'm blind. Would you mind terribly standing in front of this gun while I shoot it?" Just about any violent crime would be a real challenge!
In Canada there are reported to be 116 people in prison for every 100,000. In the States, where they have the most in the world, it’s 715 per 100,000. If you’re wondering Iran is 226 so you might draw from this statistic that Sharia Law is not working in Iran. But I don’t think there’s any way to know if it’ll work in Canada until we give it a try.
The very least we could do is to have a sort of eye for an eye understanding amongst political lobbyists. That is if they don’t know exactly what they’re talking about, and haven’t suffered something the same as what they are bitching about, they should shut the bloody hell up!
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/bc-aboriginals-ask-china-to-raise-human-rights-issues-with-harper-on-pms-visit/article2328592/?service=mobile THIS bunch of jagoffs comparing the “plight” of natives in Canada to the human rights violations going on in China. Two phrases to notice in this incredibly offensive article: “Tit for tat” and “Let the facts and the truth be known.” If either were the case, on either side of the matter, they wouldn’t have the balls to print this.
http://taxpayer.com/federal/new-jaw-dropping-reserve-pay-numbers This article will give you just a little bit of an idea, (especially if you read the comments), that the native situation has been blown way out of proportion by propaganda perpetuated by chiefs, band leaders and politicians who just want to get paid. There aren’t many people in Canada who don’t WISH they had the benefits natives have. Free housing, “Yeah, but we don’t OWN our houses,” say the natives. Rest of Canada: “Sign me the hell up for some of that housing I don’t OWN. I think it’s known by non-natives as free rent.” So you can’t use your house as collateral for a loan. Look on the bright side: it can’t be used as something to garnishee or for any other debt collection or tax. Not many people mention that… Natives can’t own the houses the government gives them. Oh, yeah, but they CAN own houses they BUY like everyone else in Canada! Free tuition which hardly any natives take advantage of! Rest of Canada: “Are you insane? I don’t care if it’s The History of Calculus, put MY name down for any free course I can get!” And while in school, in Canada or abroad, tuition is paid and they receive more than ample housing, book and food allowance. Freedom from taxes. No income tax, no sales tax, no GST/PST/HST, most Canadians would find they’d have about 50% more money. Freedom to hunt and fish any time anywhere. Most Canadians: “If I don’t do it now, I can learn.” Tons of specialized social programs. Again a lot of highly underattended Native-only programs for work skills that can sometimes virtually guarantee employment upon completion. Rest of Canada: “Why the hell don’t we have more of those? And are we paying for them?” I’m not even gonna tell you what an advantage you have when you apply for ANY job. I once applied for a job in Thunder Bay as both Dave MacCannell and Dave Running Bear. Both with identical qualifications. Guess who got called and who didn’t. I’m not kidding I really did that!
I don’t think I need to tell you that no Native Canadians are being tortured then killed for any belief or practice. They’ve never had their organs harvested and the proceeds from those organs have never gone to enrich the people who killed their Native Canadian owners. They haven’t had treatment anywhere CLOSE to this. Truth and facts that greedy people won’t talk about when they see a chance to get some more guilt money.
I don’t know about you but I’d sure like to send a pile of the squeakier Native Canadian wheels over to China for a year or two. Preferably the people making the big bucks. Being Canadians they wouldn’t be subjected to the human rights violations of average Chinese citizens but they’re used to special treatment. On the other hand I think they just might get a better idea of how good they have it here. And MAYBE they might see some actual human rights violations for the first time in their lives. If might lead to a big improvement in the Native situation all over Canada.
I still consider Canada to be a country where we practice Christian ethics whether knowingly or not. And I know the Bible says we should recompense no man evil for evil. But if I were a politician I’m sure I could find a way around that like by saying that only applies personally. If the government does it, it’s okay. At any rate, I sometimes fantasize.
Lately I’ve been appalled at some of the stories. To be honest they made me question the punitive power of legal systems and prisons around the world. Like most parents nowadays I think the police, lawyers and prison guards are no longer saying, “What do we do with these people?” They are now saying, “What CAN we do with these people?” I’ve talked about bubble wrap kids and how I think parents are far too limited in their, how shall I put it, disciplinary creativity by laws, rules and social groups nowadays. That doesn’t really cover it, it’s child raising as a whole. Far too many rules!
But what about criminals? When I compare my life to that of, say, a guy who threw acid into the face of another person and got a prison sentence, I have to wonder, was it sulfuric or hydrochloric? Seriously, I don’t have freedom to go where I want, do what I want, eat what I want either. I also don’t have the availability of organized sport, hobbies, education, social groups, religious services, television etc. for free. I have to work 42 hours a week, sleep during the day, hell I’m trying to type this as quietly as I can because it’s 2:30 in the AM and I’m the only one up here where I live. As always on my days off, the only time I am wide awake is when there is nobody else up and nothing to do if they were. But let’s say I didn’t work midnights. If I want to join a gym to stay in shape – 100 bucks a month. If I want to play baseball or basketball with friends – league fees and equipment and gym rental. If I want to take a course in, for example, computers I practically have to rob a bank to do it. Because if I don’t get caught I can afford it and if I DO get caught I can take it for free in whatever prison I wind up in. Without the prison walls protecting me from ravenous, money gluttons in every business from the corner store to government, I also have less money on the outside than I would in prison where you can always find work.
Prison’s only deterrents for me are that I probably wouldn’t be able to do this: write my blog or go online, and of course the ultra-liberal social functions that may or may not be on a volunteer basis. BUT, (only one T mind you), my social life would explode; I’d exercise more; I’d sleep during the night and would no longer combust in direct sunlight; I’d join some sports clubs and pump iron; I’d go out more, (actually the “more” might be superfluous in that sentence), you know on movie night, yoga classes or Vegas night; I’d eat better and healthier; I’d have more energy, more friends and more fun. So weigh that against an offline existence with the occasional hoopjob and I dunno, I think a guy could get used to that. Conrad Black writes from prison. And maybe if I got an ass tatt that said, “Exit only”…
And speaking of tatt, I got to thinking about tit for tat. Not just that I wish I had a tatt for every time a well built girl used the phrase, “tit for tat,” but I wondered if our North American jurisprudence shouldn’t contain a little bit more of it. Tit for tat.
http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=6097300
This is a good example. Why can’t we just put these folks in windowless rooms with small blankets and put THEM on a bit of a diet for a while? It’s a no-brainer, really. Until you start getting into hypothetically proven facts called psychology. Well, will this serve as a deterrent? What does it say about a society who would do this? Are we really any better than the grandparents?
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Italian+father+throws+toddler+bridge+into+river/6102969/story.html
This is another one. Not in North America but MAMA MIA throwa dee Papa offa dee bridge!!! If he drowns, oh well. If not at least tie a couple bricks to him and throw him off again. To make his experience as close as possible to exactly what he put his child through.
I’m not saying this sort of sentence would work all the time. For a serial sex offender, for example, I’m not sure it’s punishment enough to have several of his victims turn the tables on him/her. It might be the exact opposite of punishment actually. But sometimes I can see the wisdom in an eye for an eye. This is a phrase found several times in the Bible. The Code of Hammurabi was a Babylonian system of law over 3000 years ago under which this sort of punishment was practiced.
Another similar system would be Sharia law and a really good example, (actually alluded to earlier unbeknownst to you), (if it was beknownst I commend you on your knowledge of current events), would be the trial of Iranian Majid Movahedi who threw acid into the face of Ameneh Bahrami, a woman who refused to marry him. Under Sharia law he was rendered unconscious and his victim, Bahrami, was allowed to drop 5 drops of acid into each of his eyes. I know it sounds hideous but look at the picture!
I think he’s getting off VERY easy in that he will not feel the pain she felt. He will also not be so disfigured. If I were the judge I’d go so far as to ask Ameneh if she wanted to change her mind and marry this dirtbag since, I hate to say it but she won’t be getting many other offers. And she can spend a lifetime describing beautiful sunsets he’s missing and making him answer the iron. Things like that. Sharia law. An eye for an eye LITERALLY in this case.Now I’ve heard the popular platitude, “If we all practiced an eye for an eye the whole world would be blind.” It’s catchy and seems pretty clever until you give it more than a moment’s thought. If we practiced an eye for an eye people would only go blind if a) they couldn’t learn their lesson from object lessons or the mistakes of other people or b) they couldn’t learn their lesson after the first time. Two eyes, two chances folks. It’s a fantastic way to test the deterrent power of this method. Technically, everybody wouldn’t be blind at all. Only recidivist criminals would be blinded by the state. I wonder how many there would be. There certainly wouldn't be too many people who committed their crime MORE than twice! "Excuse me but, I'm blind. Would you mind terribly standing in front of this gun while I shoot it?" Just about any violent crime would be a real challenge!
In Canada there are reported to be 116 people in prison for every 100,000. In the States, where they have the most in the world, it’s 715 per 100,000. If you’re wondering Iran is 226 so you might draw from this statistic that Sharia Law is not working in Iran. But I don’t think there’s any way to know if it’ll work in Canada until we give it a try.
The very least we could do is to have a sort of eye for an eye understanding amongst political lobbyists. That is if they don’t know exactly what they’re talking about, and haven’t suffered something the same as what they are bitching about, they should shut the bloody hell up!
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/bc-aboriginals-ask-china-to-raise-human-rights-issues-with-harper-on-pms-visit/article2328592/?service=mobile THIS bunch of jagoffs comparing the “plight” of natives in Canada to the human rights violations going on in China. Two phrases to notice in this incredibly offensive article: “Tit for tat” and “Let the facts and the truth be known.” If either were the case, on either side of the matter, they wouldn’t have the balls to print this.
http://taxpayer.com/federal/new-jaw-dropping-reserve-pay-numbers This article will give you just a little bit of an idea, (especially if you read the comments), that the native situation has been blown way out of proportion by propaganda perpetuated by chiefs, band leaders and politicians who just want to get paid. There aren’t many people in Canada who don’t WISH they had the benefits natives have. Free housing, “Yeah, but we don’t OWN our houses,” say the natives. Rest of Canada: “Sign me the hell up for some of that housing I don’t OWN. I think it’s known by non-natives as free rent.” So you can’t use your house as collateral for a loan. Look on the bright side: it can’t be used as something to garnishee or for any other debt collection or tax. Not many people mention that… Natives can’t own the houses the government gives them. Oh, yeah, but they CAN own houses they BUY like everyone else in Canada! Free tuition which hardly any natives take advantage of! Rest of Canada: “Are you insane? I don’t care if it’s The History of Calculus, put MY name down for any free course I can get!” And while in school, in Canada or abroad, tuition is paid and they receive more than ample housing, book and food allowance. Freedom from taxes. No income tax, no sales tax, no GST/PST/HST, most Canadians would find they’d have about 50% more money. Freedom to hunt and fish any time anywhere. Most Canadians: “If I don’t do it now, I can learn.” Tons of specialized social programs. Again a lot of highly underattended Native-only programs for work skills that can sometimes virtually guarantee employment upon completion. Rest of Canada: “Why the hell don’t we have more of those? And are we paying for them?” I’m not even gonna tell you what an advantage you have when you apply for ANY job. I once applied for a job in Thunder Bay as both Dave MacCannell and Dave Running Bear. Both with identical qualifications. Guess who got called and who didn’t. I’m not kidding I really did that!
I don’t think I need to tell you that no Native Canadians are being tortured then killed for any belief or practice. They’ve never had their organs harvested and the proceeds from those organs have never gone to enrich the people who killed their Native Canadian owners. They haven’t had treatment anywhere CLOSE to this. Truth and facts that greedy people won’t talk about when they see a chance to get some more guilt money.
I don’t know about you but I’d sure like to send a pile of the squeakier Native Canadian wheels over to China for a year or two. Preferably the people making the big bucks. Being Canadians they wouldn’t be subjected to the human rights violations of average Chinese citizens but they’re used to special treatment. On the other hand I think they just might get a better idea of how good they have it here. And MAYBE they might see some actual human rights violations for the first time in their lives. If might lead to a big improvement in the Native situation all over Canada.
I still consider Canada to be a country where we practice Christian ethics whether knowingly or not. And I know the Bible says we should recompense no man evil for evil. But if I were a politician I’m sure I could find a way around that like by saying that only applies personally. If the government does it, it’s okay. At any rate, I sometimes fantasize.
Friday, February 3, 2012
A Whiner on China
I don’t like people who are constantly on the whinge any more than the next guy but I understand that even good things have their built in limits. One thing that probably bugs me a little bit more than the doom and gloomer is the person who if she, (and that means he or she), could, would take little parcels of sunshine, form them into bullets, load them into her sunshine gun and force us all at gunpoint to at least APPEAR happy.
When you take a shower and use a bar of soap that’s shrunk through a few showers, or the mini-cakes you get free at a hotel, statistics show that you will use more water. So if we all used couch cushion sized soap, we’d save oceans full of fresh water, right? The limit is easily apparent in this example. But sometimes it’s not so easy for people to know when they are being excessive.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen “I love you” used like a massive bar of soap! And I’ve been around a lot of Chinese people. See if you can work in China or at a Chinese business in Vancouver without hearing at least once every day about their 5000-year-old culture. Way the hell back in the 1700’s Robert Southey said that,
“it is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed the deeper they burn.”
I am sure the Chinese can show you a quote allegedly a few thousand years before Southey walked the earth that is almost identical to his wise words. They invented everything you know. I once lived in Vancouver and had a battle with my Chinese landlady who said people were smoking in my house. She was lying her ass off but produced written reports she had whipped up hours before the hearing that were dated months earlier as PROOF that it happened. And she won the arbitration because we believe the Chinese stories of the past. They’ve been taking advantage of that for 5000 years.
I wonder if I produced some really old fake historical account of some Canadian natives eating pasta in Canada before it was invented in China whether it would be taken seriously. It makes more sense to have been invented in a country where more wheat than rice is grown and eaten. And like Tony Soprano says, "Don't be stupid! Why the hell would they invent spaghetti in a country where they eat with sticks?" But then our Canadian natives weren’t great note-takers, were they? The key is to write it down and spread it fast so it becomes uniformly believed as fact. History is, as Henry Ford so aptly said, “bunk.” It is more effectively preserved and passed on by countries with military tradition. Why? Because a huge part of that military tradition is to create, by military AND social mass training, highly suggestible and obedient soldiers. In the immortal words of Sting in my favourite song of his, “Men go crazy in congregations; they only get better one by one. One by one. One by one by one…”
Is there a country with an older and prouder military tradition than China? They still have the world’s largest army. Anyway, I have heard some things from the mouths of Chinese friends and students that only a highly traditional, well trained soldier could really take seriously. And I shouldn’t just pick on the Chinese. Many North Koreans believe some things about Kim Jong Il that would boggle your mind. Did you know he shot 5 holes-in-one his first time ever golfing? That most likely includes one on a par 4 folks. Actually this article says it was 11! He MUST have been a god-man! And we have myths in peaceful countries like Canada too. Think of the one about the heroic Paul Henderson goal winning the summit series versus the Russians back in the 70’s. A lot of us know now that we would have been thumped if Bobby Clarke didn’t bust Kharlamov’s ankle.
The point I’m making in the uncondensed, sententious, shallow-burning way that is my wont, is that people lie. Countries lie. History lies. And these lies are a large part of the septic stink of suffering on the earth. It is by no means coincidence that so many Chinese people found the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, which define practically all things as suffering and promote the joyful participation in the sorrows of the world. See? Now there is some focused light! The joyful participation in the suffering of this world. I couldda saved a page if I had written THAT earlier. Somewhere there are some Chinese people who have some papers that predate the Buddha’s teachings of this tenet I am sure. Sigh.
While it is true that all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light from a single flame, it is wise to bear in mind that without darkness there IS no light. You can’t just block out the bad or pretend it doesn’t exist. In fact good can’t exist without it. Now I don’t condone the people who walk around in their miserable, melancholia and who so seldom say or do something nice it doesn’t penetrate, it burns like a laser when they do. Again, limitations. But I am finding a curious, almost Huxlian social pattern in post-Korea Canada. It’s not something that’s new, it’s just getting further past excessive. We have always been a polite bunch of folks here in Canada I think, but it is to the point where it is becoming rude to be real. Unfortunately when you force yourself to be, (or at least seem, appear, act), happy if not done correctly it is a repression of negative feelings and those feelings have a bursting point. A limit.
Understanding that the world is a cesspool chock-o-block full of scumbags, finding your joys in this heart of darkness and accentuating them is an ability that just might be the very MEANING of this life. As this often whiney blog will attest, I haven’t even come close to this skill but it is something I am working on. But there is a vast difference between that, an ability some people may spend many lifetimes of meditation and self-discipline attaining, and just painting on a smile before you go out. And I don’t think you have to have the wisdom of Solomon to sense the difference. People who are genuinely happy are a joy to be around, but people who are continually reminding themselves to be positive, smiling when they feel like punching someone in the face, and clinging to happy behaviour as a rule instead of finding genuine joy and positivity in bad situations are actually being self-destructive. And if you want my opinion, (or even if you don’t), I think they’re annoying.
As far as I know we haven’t invented Soma yet. Though the average North American is half a pharmacist when it comes to pain relief, physical and psychological, I still don’t think we have a drug that will allow us to settle for happiness substitutes. So the key is to work our way through the suffering in some way that allows us to be conscious of its existence, yet focused on the beauty, no matter how small it may be, within. Remember the ancient mariner who thoughtlessly killed the beautiful albatross and bore the burden of the murder until he saw beauty in ugly, slimy eels? The story he tells for eternity is the one I think we all need to hear.
So in this time before Canada’s political visit to China am I hoping against hope that the representatives from Canada will be of this mindset? Will any of them be aware of the massive darkness in China? Maybe they invented THAT too! Or will they be blocking it out and concentrating on the po$itive$?
I will give a link to an article I wrote before our Prime Minister visited China in 2005 I think it was. A little history of the Chinese Communist Party and some insight into the way Chinese view Canada. These are not softly worded opinions and facts. And most of them are unchanged but there have been some developments. I mentioned the Falun Gong fiasco but at the time I wrote it was unaware of the organ harvesting being performed on its practitioners. Not much else has changed though. Anyway,
Here’s the link
Basically, China = danger, danger Will Robinson, danger! The CCP is pure evil. They are responsible for death counts estimated to be up there with Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot combined. They are STILL finding new and improved ways to kill their people. And in Canada our government is saying, “Let’s do some more business with these folks.”
Don’t take it from me if you don’t respect my harsh, unpolitical presentation. The honourable David Kilgour, (2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee), in his keynote address at the Jan. 18 Canadian Political Science Students Association Conference mentions almost all the same things. You can read it on his website here. I was reading it in the Globe and Mail and suspecting plagiarism! He was a politician from ’79-’06 so he uses terms like “indifference to public good” where I would probably say something like "bloodthirstiness." He believes Canada should remain fully engaged with China even though Canada will be “tainted by the crimes of the current regime.” He also mentions some new examples like the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. And the Sanlu dairy scandal in which 300,000 Chinese babies were killed by milk containing melamine. Quality testers took bribes from farmers and milk dealers who didn’t want to lose money. In China I suppose that’s acceptable collateral damage. There is mention of the Chinese real estate market that is very much like a giant Ponzi scheme with government kicking poor folks off property, forcing banks to loan them money and building giant industrial developments, many of which stand idle like ghost cities.
I see little improvement in China since I wrote that article. In fact if you consider the massive destruction of their environment and the new methods of population control, things have become worse.
HOWEVER
In the face of even the greatest ugliness there is beauty. Even hope. That's supposed to be the point of this entry and the path I am trying to travel. Apparently there have been a lot of people quitting the CCP. As of January 25 110,097,423 to be exact. Or at least statistically exact, which is an oxymoron. Especially when the stat involves China. There were a reported 180,000 “mass incidents” in China in 2010. Strikes, riots, demonstrations. So maybe if Harper goes to China with a message of support for the civil disobedience that seems to be on the increase he could do some good. It would be so nice to see!
Despite all this negative talk about China, as is the case with all countries, I don’t believe for a second their government accurately represents the people. Not everything about China is bad. There are so many awesome things that come from such a dark and horrible place! I’ll end this entry with an example. It can give us all hope in our world when we see that even China has good deep deep down there somewhere. This looks beautiful! And the host Cici is pretty darn cute herself. Everybody count with me how many times the 5000-year-old culture is mentioned. Well China won’t change overnight. Heh heh heh.
When you take a shower and use a bar of soap that’s shrunk through a few showers, or the mini-cakes you get free at a hotel, statistics show that you will use more water. So if we all used couch cushion sized soap, we’d save oceans full of fresh water, right? The limit is easily apparent in this example. But sometimes it’s not so easy for people to know when they are being excessive.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen “I love you” used like a massive bar of soap! And I’ve been around a lot of Chinese people. See if you can work in China or at a Chinese business in Vancouver without hearing at least once every day about their 5000-year-old culture. Way the hell back in the 1700’s Robert Southey said that,
“it is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed the deeper they burn.”
I am sure the Chinese can show you a quote allegedly a few thousand years before Southey walked the earth that is almost identical to his wise words. They invented everything you know. I once lived in Vancouver and had a battle with my Chinese landlady who said people were smoking in my house. She was lying her ass off but produced written reports she had whipped up hours before the hearing that were dated months earlier as PROOF that it happened. And she won the arbitration because we believe the Chinese stories of the past. They’ve been taking advantage of that for 5000 years.
I wonder if I produced some really old fake historical account of some Canadian natives eating pasta in Canada before it was invented in China whether it would be taken seriously. It makes more sense to have been invented in a country where more wheat than rice is grown and eaten. And like Tony Soprano says, "Don't be stupid! Why the hell would they invent spaghetti in a country where they eat with sticks?" But then our Canadian natives weren’t great note-takers, were they? The key is to write it down and spread it fast so it becomes uniformly believed as fact. History is, as Henry Ford so aptly said, “bunk.” It is more effectively preserved and passed on by countries with military tradition. Why? Because a huge part of that military tradition is to create, by military AND social mass training, highly suggestible and obedient soldiers. In the immortal words of Sting in my favourite song of his, “Men go crazy in congregations; they only get better one by one. One by one. One by one by one…”
Is there a country with an older and prouder military tradition than China? They still have the world’s largest army. Anyway, I have heard some things from the mouths of Chinese friends and students that only a highly traditional, well trained soldier could really take seriously. And I shouldn’t just pick on the Chinese. Many North Koreans believe some things about Kim Jong Il that would boggle your mind. Did you know he shot 5 holes-in-one his first time ever golfing? That most likely includes one on a par 4 folks. Actually this article says it was 11! He MUST have been a god-man! And we have myths in peaceful countries like Canada too. Think of the one about the heroic Paul Henderson goal winning the summit series versus the Russians back in the 70’s. A lot of us know now that we would have been thumped if Bobby Clarke didn’t bust Kharlamov’s ankle.
The point I’m making in the uncondensed, sententious, shallow-burning way that is my wont, is that people lie. Countries lie. History lies. And these lies are a large part of the septic stink of suffering on the earth. It is by no means coincidence that so many Chinese people found the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, which define practically all things as suffering and promote the joyful participation in the sorrows of the world. See? Now there is some focused light! The joyful participation in the suffering of this world. I couldda saved a page if I had written THAT earlier. Somewhere there are some Chinese people who have some papers that predate the Buddha’s teachings of this tenet I am sure. Sigh.
While it is true that all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light from a single flame, it is wise to bear in mind that without darkness there IS no light. You can’t just block out the bad or pretend it doesn’t exist. In fact good can’t exist without it. Now I don’t condone the people who walk around in their miserable, melancholia and who so seldom say or do something nice it doesn’t penetrate, it burns like a laser when they do. Again, limitations. But I am finding a curious, almost Huxlian social pattern in post-Korea Canada. It’s not something that’s new, it’s just getting further past excessive. We have always been a polite bunch of folks here in Canada I think, but it is to the point where it is becoming rude to be real. Unfortunately when you force yourself to be, (or at least seem, appear, act), happy if not done correctly it is a repression of negative feelings and those feelings have a bursting point. A limit.
Understanding that the world is a cesspool chock-o-block full of scumbags, finding your joys in this heart of darkness and accentuating them is an ability that just might be the very MEANING of this life. As this often whiney blog will attest, I haven’t even come close to this skill but it is something I am working on. But there is a vast difference between that, an ability some people may spend many lifetimes of meditation and self-discipline attaining, and just painting on a smile before you go out. And I don’t think you have to have the wisdom of Solomon to sense the difference. People who are genuinely happy are a joy to be around, but people who are continually reminding themselves to be positive, smiling when they feel like punching someone in the face, and clinging to happy behaviour as a rule instead of finding genuine joy and positivity in bad situations are actually being self-destructive. And if you want my opinion, (or even if you don’t), I think they’re annoying.
As far as I know we haven’t invented Soma yet. Though the average North American is half a pharmacist when it comes to pain relief, physical and psychological, I still don’t think we have a drug that will allow us to settle for happiness substitutes. So the key is to work our way through the suffering in some way that allows us to be conscious of its existence, yet focused on the beauty, no matter how small it may be, within. Remember the ancient mariner who thoughtlessly killed the beautiful albatross and bore the burden of the murder until he saw beauty in ugly, slimy eels? The story he tells for eternity is the one I think we all need to hear.
So in this time before Canada’s political visit to China am I hoping against hope that the representatives from Canada will be of this mindset? Will any of them be aware of the massive darkness in China? Maybe they invented THAT too! Or will they be blocking it out and concentrating on the po$itive$?
I will give a link to an article I wrote before our Prime Minister visited China in 2005 I think it was. A little history of the Chinese Communist Party and some insight into the way Chinese view Canada. These are not softly worded opinions and facts. And most of them are unchanged but there have been some developments. I mentioned the Falun Gong fiasco but at the time I wrote it was unaware of the organ harvesting being performed on its practitioners. Not much else has changed though. Anyway,
Here’s the link
Basically, China = danger, danger Will Robinson, danger! The CCP is pure evil. They are responsible for death counts estimated to be up there with Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot combined. They are STILL finding new and improved ways to kill their people. And in Canada our government is saying, “Let’s do some more business with these folks.”
Don’t take it from me if you don’t respect my harsh, unpolitical presentation. The honourable David Kilgour, (2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee), in his keynote address at the Jan. 18 Canadian Political Science Students Association Conference mentions almost all the same things. You can read it on his website here. I was reading it in the Globe and Mail and suspecting plagiarism! He was a politician from ’79-’06 so he uses terms like “indifference to public good” where I would probably say something like "bloodthirstiness." He believes Canada should remain fully engaged with China even though Canada will be “tainted by the crimes of the current regime.” He also mentions some new examples like the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. And the Sanlu dairy scandal in which 300,000 Chinese babies were killed by milk containing melamine. Quality testers took bribes from farmers and milk dealers who didn’t want to lose money. In China I suppose that’s acceptable collateral damage. There is mention of the Chinese real estate market that is very much like a giant Ponzi scheme with government kicking poor folks off property, forcing banks to loan them money and building giant industrial developments, many of which stand idle like ghost cities.
I see little improvement in China since I wrote that article. In fact if you consider the massive destruction of their environment and the new methods of population control, things have become worse.
HOWEVER
In the face of even the greatest ugliness there is beauty. Even hope. That's supposed to be the point of this entry and the path I am trying to travel. Apparently there have been a lot of people quitting the CCP. As of January 25 110,097,423 to be exact. Or at least statistically exact, which is an oxymoron. Especially when the stat involves China. There were a reported 180,000 “mass incidents” in China in 2010. Strikes, riots, demonstrations. So maybe if Harper goes to China with a message of support for the civil disobedience that seems to be on the increase he could do some good. It would be so nice to see!
Despite all this negative talk about China, as is the case with all countries, I don’t believe for a second their government accurately represents the people. Not everything about China is bad. There are so many awesome things that come from such a dark and horrible place! I’ll end this entry with an example. It can give us all hope in our world when we see that even China has good deep deep down there somewhere. This looks beautiful! And the host Cici is pretty darn cute herself. Everybody count with me how many times the 5000-year-old culture is mentioned. Well China won’t change overnight. Heh heh heh.
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