Isn't it amazing that we'll soon know more about Mars and whether there is life on the Red Planet....
Than we do about these humans in the heart of the Amazon Jungle ?
Who look like they want to meet us about as much as the Martians do.
And who can blame them? I figure the witchdoctor is having a hard time explaining that Big Buzzard in the sky. I wonder whether he's telling them it's a good omen. Or warning them it's the beginning of The End. Unless they bring him a whole pile of monkey meat.....AND six luscious virgins. Isn't religion ALWAYS like that?
Or are they just scared and confused? Like the rest of us on Planet Earth.....
I don't know. But after what we've done to THEIR jungle.
I think we'd better leave them alone. And take our chances with the Martians.... Have a great weekend everyone !
Well Spring is finally here...and it's time for my annual ritual. Time to try to give up smoking before I end up like this guy.
I'm just not sure how I'm going to do it.
My mum says chewing gum turns a gentleman into a gangster. And the last thing I need is to have Julie Couillard come after me.
And I'm afraid of the patch. No...not the biker patches....the nicotine kind. Last year Sébastien slapped one on my bum while I was sleeping.And when I woke up...and had my usual triple expresso and a cigarette...for a moment I thought I could fly. And then I practically DIED.
I suppose that leaves willpower. *sigh* But not really. As my cousin Simple Simon said to the pieman: Alas I have not ANY. So I don't know what I'm going to do. But you can be sure of one thing.... I WON'T be quitting this way...
Yikes. That WAS pretty shocking. And how about that FREE Miracle Spring Water ? That can get you a job.
The other day I wrote a post about a memorial to the gay victims of the Holocaust. So you can imagine how horrified I was to see this. A leading Holocaust scholar has criticized a monument in Berlin to homosexual victims of Nazi Germany unveiled this week, saying the location was poorly chosen. "The location was particularly poorly chosen for this monument. If visitors have the impression that there was not a great difference between the suffering of Jews and those of homosexuals, it's a scandal," Gutman said, according to AFP. "A sense of proportion must be maintained." And a sense of proportion isn't maintained? A scandal? Over a small concrete cube like this one? From a scholar and a Holocaust survivor associated with the Yad Vashem Institute? Words fail me. So I think I'll let Dr Dawg speak to it instead. All I would add to that is that Gutman's words sadden and disappoint me. Because although it's right to acknowledge the scale and genocidal intention of the Jewish Holocaust. Not to recognize the suffering of others murdered by the Nazis for who they were is simply unforgivable. But what do you expect from a man who would say this? Gutman, himself a Holocaust survivor, said the Nazis persecuted "exclusively German" homosexuals, many of them Nazis. They were "victims of internal political battles within the NSDAP," the Nazi party of Adolf Hitler, he said. The gay victims of the Holocaust as Nazis?
Even though they were cruelly abused by both guards and inmates. Used for medical experiments. Sixty per cent didn't survive. And none are alive now to defend themselves.
How truly evil is that?
I honour ALL the victims of the Holocaust. I believe that they would want me to work for a better world where genocide isn't allowed to happen. Never again. That wretched old bigot dishonours the memory of all who died. He should hang his head in shame. And how should gay people deal with this latest outrage? The same old. Keep on fighting the hate that leads to genocide. Remember the dead, and all those who are still being assaulted, tortured, or murdered all over the world. And of course keep the kiss alive....
As Great Shrunken Leader continues his farcical visit to Europe.
"The speech was really just a once-over-lightly about how beautiful Canada is," Boag said. "How many lakes and rivers and streams and mountains and forests and fields and so on [the country] has."
Where everyone thinks he's a boring Kyoto killing, death penalty supporting, pathetic Yankee stooge.
According to Montreal-based media watchdog Influence Communication stories about Bernier and Couillard ran in 575 media outlets in 44 countries around the world during the first 48 hours. It must be a really humiliating experience. But not as humiliating as it's going to be when Obama becomes President.
Multiple sources say the Canadian note questioning the Democrat frontrunner's public promise to reopen NAFTA was leaked from the Prime Minister's Office to a Republican contact before it made American headline news.
"This was a very deliberate piece of business for political purpose," one of the sources said. "It puts political ideology ahead of what's good for the country."
Playing with the truth to fool the Europeans....or protect an incompetent Minister caught with his briefs missing... just makes you a low life Con liar. Which is par for the course.
Fucking with the internal democratic business of a neighbour and biggest trading partner is playing with fire. And we could ALL get burned. But then Canadians shouldn't be surprised. This isn't the old Conservative Party. This is a hardline group of right-wing ideologues and fanatics. They come from places like the sinister Calgary School. They belong to the same wacky right-wing societies. They are Canada's Republicans and they hate the Democrats as much as they hate the Liberals. Just like they despise our liberal Canadian values, and would turn us into a capitalist jungle. If they aren't stopped ....and soon .....Canada will be destroyed. If the Cons don't get us, President Obama will. Oh yeah...just in case Harper and his gang of fanatics and neocon thugs are still clinging to the hope that the Republicans will win the next election....and make them all honorary Amerikans. For stabbing Obama in the back. They should forget it. The vultures are circling over the rotting carcass of this Con government. And The Parrot has spoken...
Prrrrrrrrr... Pretty Polly.. Obama yes we CAN.
If I was Stephen Harper and his Republican Cons I'd be very very afraid......
Sometimes being a mime can be a lonely job. Just like being a blogger. Especially if you're a gay one in Canada.. So I thought I should take a timeout. And give myself a well deserved pat on the back. First of all for nailing this story. From its tawdry beginning......to its sensational climax. So I didn't have to backtrack furiously like so many other bloggers who had casually shrugged off the story. Chuff Chuff Chuff. Full steam REVERSE !!!!! I know what I'm talking about .......REALLY!!!! All I had to say was I told you so. Oh yes....and also that for me the story had NOTHING to do with what Julie Couillard looks like ....or the size of her boobs....as some bloggers seem to suggest. You can trust me with that one. I didn't even notice them. Are they REALLY that large? For me it was all about some really bad choices, during a motorcycle gang war that terrorised the city I lived in, bombs, piles of corpses, the death of a poor kid named Daniel Desrochers, some rotten judgement by a powerful but incompetent Con Minister, and of course a question of national security.
But never mind. Because I also want to claim credit for nailing another story.... or foreshadowing it. The story of the man who DIDN'T fall to earth over Saskatchewan. Or as I feared....hit a wingnut....or dig a nasty big hole in a wheat field. But seriously... how come I appear to be the ONLY person to suggest that the Big Jump seemed a little reckless and ..... um.....amateurish. Apart from his rival.
"I think if he had launched he would have seriously injured himself or gotten killed,"It's a nightmare to launch a balloon of that size.....I just look at it and think, 'This guy hasn't really thought this out.' "
Talk about being saved by the balloon. Eh?
Or for that matter how come I was the ONLY hoser to wonder why if French authorities deemed the stunt too dangerous to allow him to jump over France....why was it safe for him to jump over Saskatchewan?
Wait. Don't tell me. I think I can guess. Either I'm really brilliant. Or a lot of people are really DUM....
------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. Did any of those geniuses who thought that the Max and Julie scandal wasn't a story....check out Stephen Harper's pale shrunken face yesterday ?
It's a simple little memorial. A small concrete cube with no decorations on its sides.... so vandals can't deface them. But it sends out a powerful message.
Germany unveiled a memorial Tuesday to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime, a monument that also aims to address discrimination today by confronting visitors with an image of a same-sex couple kissing.
And reminding us that the battle continues. "This memorial is important from two points of view - to commemorate the victims, but also to make clear that even today, after we have achieved so much in terms of equal treatment, discrimination still exists daily..." I was sad no survivors lived to see this day. Survivors who endured bestial torture and medical experiments, but were kept in jail and denied compensation by their so-called liberators.
I really wanted him to be there. Because what they did to him and his lover Jo will haunt me forever...... The loudspeakers played noisy military music as the SS men stripped him naked, and violently jammed a metal bucket over his head. They unleashed on Jo the camp's ferocious guard-dogs, German Shepherds, who began to rip at his flesh -- first his genitals, and his thighs, and then they devoured Jo before our eyes. His screams of pain were amplified and distorted by the bucket over his head. Frozen in place and trembling, wide-eyed at seeing so much horror, I had tears running down my cheeks. I prayed that he would rapidly lose consciousness...."
Shortly before he died Pierre Seel wrote this:
"When I have finish wandering, I go home. Then I light the candle that burns permanently in my kitchen when I am alone. That frail flame is my memory of Jo."
One candle for Jo. One for all the other gay victims of the holocaust that never ends.
You know... with the way some straight bigots react to the sight of two men kissing.... no wonder they buried the television screen in a bunker.
Never mind the vandals. They'll probably have to post guards to prevent the whole memorial from being destroyed.
Oh no. Poor Julie Couillard. She has sooooo much bad luck with her boyfriends. First there was the big shot Hell's Angel who ended up in a ditch with a fatal case of lead poisoning. Her next biker love, from the Hells Angel puppet club The Rockers, became a police informer. Another convicted criminal boyfriend who apparently owed money to the Hells committed suicide. Now her latest sweet heart has been cruelly busted. Finally. So much for the judgement of Stephen Harper. On Monday, Harper refused to answer whether authorities had run a security check on Couillard. "I have no intention to comment on a minister's former girlfriend," he said. "I don't take this subject seriously." Muahahaha. I bet he does now. So much for this pompous blogging ass. The Prime Minister does not always have his finger on the pulse of public sentiment. But I suspect his response today - “Mr. Dion and Mr. Duceppe are quite a group of gossipy old busy-bodies,” in particular - had more than a few Canadians nodding in agreement.
You mean like IDIOTS? Look I'm from Quebec so I don't really care who fucks who. And love is sometimes blind. But as I pointed out here and here this story was a disaster in the making.
And a Prime Minister who didn't see it coming ....or lied about what he knew...should simply resign. And take his dirty, corrupt, and incompetent Con government with him. But not before some critical questions are answered: What did Max and Julie discuss over dinner with Public Security Minister Stockwell Day...at Hy's on March 31st? What was in the documents Julie took home? And who bugged her bedroom? Or her mattress? Has our national security been breached? Has this whole government been COMPROMISED? I'm so sorry this soap opera had to end so sadly....and so suddenly. But with a full police investigation AND an extensive public inquiry.... The Epilogue should be even BETTER...
I see the former French paratrooper who plans to jump from a balloon forty kilometres over Saskatchewan has postponed his first attempt. And I'm not sure whether to be disappointed ..... or RELIEVED. Because something about this story bothers me. I admire the old guy for his guts and for sacrificing everything for a 20-year dream.
And I know how great the feeling of free falling through the air can be...even if Sébastien has to kick me in the butt to get me to jump.
But Michel Fournier is sixty-four, has had a triple bypass, is planning to jump from a height three times higher than he ever has before, and reach a speed almost twice as fast as the great Joe Kittinger. A speed where you could burn, as well as freeze, or have your blood boil. And if French authorities decided the project was too dangerous to allow him to jump over France...who decided it was safe enough for him to jump over Saskatchewan? Just wondering. Oh well. I hope the old guy makes it.
That his dream comes true at last. And that his watch doesn't stop.
So he gets to see our world rushing towards him like the great Joe Kittinger did. Whose bravery has always thrilled me. And who said this week: It was nice to be headed back to earth, because it’s an environment that we can live in... And it’s a beautiful planet, really....”
Really...
Oh well....at least he won't need a surfboard in Saskatchewan.
I see the the Bouchard-Taylor Commission has finally released its report. And although the Commission has been a debacle right from the start, I think the final product is pretty good. Which is a relief. Because I was really worried when I saw a leaked version of the report, and it seemed to suggest that the solution to the nonexistent problem...was that the first white people to live in Quebec should call themselves Québécois of French Canadian origin instead of just Québécois. And I knew that some in the province were already comparing that to the moronic sayings of The King of Kings..... Elvis Gratton.
He's a wellknown movie and television character in Quebec. A comic caricature of a vulgar, ignorant, federalist French Canadian who dreams of being a big shot Elvis impersonator.
In short.... the kind of Québécois who makes the rest of the old stock Frenchies shudder.
Especially when in a famous scene he is on a plane with his wife. And a Frenchman from France asks them if they are Canadian.
Here's the scene with my translation underneath...
PASSENGER: Are you Canadians ? You have the accent... ELVIS: Me I'm a Canadian Québécois.... a French French Canadian....an American of the French North...a francophone Québécois Canadian....a Québécois of French Canadian French expression. We are the Canadian American francophones of North America...the FrancoQuébécois.... WIFE: We are the Franco Canadians of Quebec, the Québécois Canadians. That's it....
You see what I mean? Throw Elvis into this identity question and it could be DEVASTATING.
But now I'm not worried anymore. As one of my separatist friends said today: "I'd much rather be a Québécois of French Canadian background, than an old stock Québécois." And he wasn't the only one.
Many English Canadians believe that Quebecers are racists. But I should have known better. How lucky I am to belong to the great French Nation in Canada. Still the most progressive province in the country.
How proud I am to be a Québécois of half Scottish from Scotland....half English from England origin ...of anglophone AND francophone expression... AND a proud Canadian.
Only in Canada eh? Or Belgium... Oh yeah. Quebec is moving on.
And Elvis has left the building... ----------------------------------------------------------- P.S. Guess where I'm going this weekend? I leave you with this great old song by Robert Charlebois... to help explain how far we've come. And why I love the place and the habitants so much...
Oh sure. Endings are sometimes rough. But new beginnings are WONDERFUL. Have a great weekend everyone !!
Of all the nasty homophobes in Stephen Harper's sinister SoCon government, Vic Toews has to be one of the worst. He opposed protecting gay people from hate crimes. He compared gay marriage to a Black Mass. And over and over again he foamed into his fascist sheriff's mustache ....claiming it would lead to polygamy. Well wouldn't you know it ? It turns out this champion of so-called family values has a little poly problem of his own. The 55-year-old Toews' public face of self-righteous morality is now clashing with his troubled private life. An MP dubbed the "minister of family values" by Liberals is embroiled in a messy divorce after fathering a child last fall with a much younger woman. Can you believe that? The Minister of Family Values impaled on his own quivering petard. Viva Viagra !!! Of course, I always knew that this wretched bigot was a hypocrite. He posed as a crime fighter. But was CON-VIC-TED of exceeding his personal campaign expense limits in the 1999 Manitoba provincial election. But this sordid affair really is the last straw. I mean aren't these religious fanatics supposed to at least get MARRIED..... before they breed with much younger women? Talk about hypocrisy. So much for the sanctity of marriage. So much for his fake family values. Lordy. Jebesus save us. First we had Maxime and his biker chick. Now we've got Vicky, his mistress, and his love child. It's like the Fall of Rome on the Rideau. Or Gomorrah in Manitoba. Look I know I'm a prude. But I really think it's time to put some real family values back on the national agenda. Before these shameless Cons turn our Parliament into a Swinger's Club. As for the vile homophobe and hypocrite Vic Toews .... I found out he was born in Paraguay. So when these right-wing fanatics go down in flames. As they will. The sherriff can jump on his burro.
Just what poor suffering Africa needs. Another crazy dictator who thinks he's a Voodoo God. Another raving homophobe. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh says he will “cut off the head” of any homosexual caught in his country. Jammeh also ordered any hotel or motel housing homosexuals to close down, adding that owners of such facilities would also be in trouble. I would say I'm surprised and shocked. But this is Africa after all...where homophobia is a colonial value suppurating in a stew of dirty religion. And this genocidal goon has already got quite a reputation as the Quack of Gambia. A few weeks ago, Jammeh summoned his followers and a few ambassadors, dignitaries and TV reporters to announce in a garbled address that, having made some fantastic discoveries, he is now capable of curing AIDS (as well as asthma). The president admitted to his astonished audience that the therapies still had a few limitations -- he could only cure AIDS on Thursdays. Asthma, on the other hand, could be treated only on Fridays and Saturdays.
Dressed in white from head to toe, the head of state stands before his patients, mumbling prayers and waving the Koran. Then Jammeh rubs green glop on their skin, sprinkles them with gray liquid from an old Evian bottle and gives them something yellow to drink. Bananas -- administered orally -- round off the treatment. After repeating the procedure for several weeks, he proclaims the patients healed. All of them. Without exception.
Some members of Gambia's parliament are cautiously voicing concern that the president may be insane. Doing all he can to confirm this impression, the self-styled AIDS healer is now claiming to have discovered his fortune-telling skills. He claims to be able to predict a person's moment of death, after a single look in their eyes. Oh well...at least the bananas were administered orally. And we don't have wonder anymore whether this brutish witchdoctor is crazy or not. Just try to decide whether he should be locked up in a mental hospital...or in a cage at the zoo. But that still leave me with two questions. One...are all homophobes and religious hatemongers sickos .... or just most of them? And two....when is somebody going to come up with a vaccine against religion? Or a cure for homophobia? Because the world needs them desperately...
I see Hillary Clinton is still refusing to accept that she has lost. And now she's blaming the media. Just because SHE can't count. "And you know all those people on TV who keep telling you and everybody else that this race is over and I should just be graceful and say ‘Oh, it's over,’ even though I’ve won more votes..." Look, at this stage of the game, a little delusion can be a merciful thing. And I'm glad she's made "I Won’t Back Down" by Tom Petty her new campaign song. So Tom can remind everyone that there is no easy way out....when you're stood up at the Gates of Hell. Or the White House. And people can feel sorry for her. Like I do. But I wish she'd get the name of her movie right. "You see all those folks on TV, they keep telling me to quit," she said. "Well, I don’t know, maybe I was just raised with the kind of values you were raised -– you don’t quit on people and you don’t quit until you finish what you started and you don't quit on America. Because this isn't Brokeback Mountain...or the Duck Hunter. It's looking more and more like Sunset Boulevard....
The only thing that remains to be determined is who will be found floating face down in the swimming pool. Bill Clinton, James Carville.....or Barack Obama. I was sorry when Sunset Boulevard ended. It's one of my favourite movies. William Holden was so hot. Norma Desmond was so crazy tragic. The script was so brilliant. It could have gone on forever. But as for this ugly race-baiting, gender bashing, hope snuffing, cheap little horror flick. The sooner it's over the better...
Today was International Day Against Homophobia ... a day to join the struggle against the hate that kills...and one that I'm proud to say was started right here in Quebec. The theme this year is "Homosexuality is NOT a sickness." Unlike the disease ....or raging epidemic ..... called homophobia. So how ironic that today should also be the day I decided to suspend my long campaign against one of the most homophobic places on earth....the zombie island of Jamaica. After reading this dispatch. And discovering that gay activists in Jamaica are against a tourist boycott. "I personally understand where they're coming from," he says. "But [Egale and SMMC] are in a position where they can't see what's happening day-to-day. They are not facing the realities. If JFLAG had one case [of violence against gay people] a week, since the boycott we have three. They're not seeing the reality. It is essentially bringing more violence on the community." I hate the idea of not making Blood Island pay for its crimes against humanity. And I'm really going to miss those zombies.
But you can't argue with this horror. "I went to Portmore to look at a house....I passed two guys on my way in and on my way back out. One of them came up to me and said, 'Oh, you're one of dem batty boys of dem faggots in Canada want to get freedom in Jamaica.' They proceeded to cut me in the face and on the arm. "Anthony says he needed seven stitches in his face and nine in his forearm. He says he was house-hunting because he was burned out of his previous home in Ocho Rios.
So so more boycott. Although of course I am going to continue to warn Canadians about Jamaica's scary crime problem. What is for sure is that Jamaica is a violent place and it's getting worse. Incidents of burglary, kidnapping and rape are above the world average and rising. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Jamaica's murder rate was 59.2 per 100,000 in 2007. It hasn't dipped below 35 per 100,000 for the past 10 years, making it a world leader in homicides. It even outpaces Colombia, a country in the grips of a brutal 40-year civil war. Nor will I hesitate to suggest that if Canadians want to have a much safer and friendlier vacation... in the most beautiful place in the Caribbean.
They should forget about Jamaica. And go to Cuba. Mariela Castro joined government leaders and hundreds of activists at the one-day conference for the International Day Against Homophobia that featured shows, lectures, panel discussions and book presentations.
In the meantime.... the other bit of good news is that I won't have to hand out these homemade pamphlets anymore.
All I've got to do is show that beach pic and play this song....
Oh yeah. Homophobia is a disease. Gay is beautiful. Life is a beach...
----------------------------------------
P.S. To the people at Fondation Émergence who came up with the idea of this day. Merci beaucoup.
Uh oh....it looks as if the story of the Minister and the (former) Biker Chick has just taken another bizarre turn. As if Julie Couillard's soft spot for criminals wasn't bad enough.
Now Quebec's most powerful media chain is threatening to sue a reporter from La Presse, for allegedly suggesting that their trashy tabloids fuzzed out her picture to please their boss. Who just happens to be a good friend of Max Bernier. The Deux Maudit Anglais have the story and the hoggy irony.
In blurring Mme. Couillard’s face, the province’s reigning crime, bikers and boobies tabloid self-censored itself on a story about crime, bikers and boobies. The irony is so fat and sweaty it could ride around on a Harley.
Elizabeth Thompson adds some details. And reminds us that Max has some powerful friends. Like these. Hmmm.... I wonder if that's why Stephen Harper is afraid to fire him? Weak, weak, NOT a leader. Just another WIMP. Or another busy-body. The bottom line: with her access to government and her background Julie Couillard SHOULD have been checked out. The Hells Angels are a sophisticated criminal organization that is always looking for information to use against their enemies. Money is money, but information is gold. In some small Quebec towns they send anonymous letters to cops, with pictures of the officer's children, their nicknames and birth dates. Imagine what they could do with an MP ..... or a Minister.....or a government? BTW call me stoopid but I STILL can't figure out why a swinging couple would have dinner at Hy's in late March with of all people Stockwell Day. Doris may be the Public Security Minister but he's sooooooo boring. What on earth did they talk about ? How Jebesus rode a dinosaur instead of a Harley? Look I'm sure Julie is on the level. Just likes a little rough trade now and then. But then who doesn't ? And I have to admit the way she ran the Department of Foreign Affairs was simply awesome. But I'm worried about Max. Just a few weeks ago he apparently had four or five framed pictures of the (former) biker babe in his office. And now it's OVER?
Really? Isn't life cruel? And now this high profile suit threatens to make it an even BIGGER story in Quebec...where it can hurt the Cons the most. Isn't that AWFUL? Hit me with a tattoo. Or just pass the popcorn. Vroom...Vroom. I can't WAIT for the next episode !!!!!
The California Supreme Court's decision to allow gay marriage. As experienced by two women in love....
Wow. Wasn't that special? Naturally the foul anti-gay bigots are howling like banshees. And vowing to turn back the clock in November....again.
But when they are up against our LOVE what chance does their HATE have? They try so hard to destroy our lives, but those creepy ju ju monkeys are only destroying themselves....like kamikaze klowns. Or the poopy Pope. To all my brothers and sisters in the Golden State.... the sound of gay freedom never sounded so wonderful and ......um...... so LOUD. From Simon and Sébastien..... in love...... in Canada. Congratulations ...way to go California!! You made us all proud... --------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. I'm warning my friends to FORGET about using this great victory to try to pressure me into getting hitched. As they just love to do. My almost unshakeable position is that I'm not getting married until everyone can.
I'm not a big fan of Oliver Stone's historical dramas .... ever since his movie JFK made it look like Kennedy was shot by a bunch of gay rightwingers... hidden in the grassy knoll. But I'm sure not going to miss his new movie about Chimp Bush. Now that I've seen parts of the top secret script. And I know it's a comedy. My favourite scenes: Page 10 on Bill Clinton: "My mother waddles faster than that larda - -." Page 11: "We'll move these terr'ists to Guantanemera." Cheney: "Guantanamo." Bush: "Right." Then Bush to Cheney: "Vice, when we're in meetings I want you to keep a lid on it. Keep your ego in check. Remember, I'm the president.. Page 42. Checking a map, being told it passed "Humint," whereupon the President of the United States asks, "What's 'Humint' again?" and being told "It's Human Intelligence." A scene in which, auditing an Iraqi intercept, W. asks, "Wolfowitz, got any Maalox on you? . . . and while you're at it, trim your ear hairs." And Cheney checking his heart pills. And my favourite quotes? Dubya telling General Tommy Franks to be careful: "I don't want to fire no $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the a - -." Or speaking to a group of educators: "Rarely is the question asked, 'Is our children learning?' " Which reminds me....I hope this kid got to play young Bush...
Of course as a Canadian it's easy to laugh at all this. And believe me I will. Call it therapy for having to watch this horror show for eight long years. But as for my poor American friends they're left with one horrible question. How did a guy as dumb as Dubya ever become a two-term President? I don't envy them. The nightmare isn't over. And the question is a hard one....
I've written so many posts about the problem of bullying in our schools, and in particular the abuse and violence aimed at gay kids. I knew Canada had a shameful bully problem. But this survey still shocked me. More than two-thirds of Canadian high school students who identify themselves as homosexual, bisexual or transgendered said they felt unsafe at school, according to survey results published Monday. One-quarter of LGBTQ respondents reported physical threats because of their sexual orientation, while over half said they'd been verbally harassed. More than one-third of LGBTQ respondents have skipped school because they felt unsafe at the building or on their way there, compared to one-eighth of straight participants.
Forty-one per cent of LGBTQ participants reported sexual harassment, compared to 19 per cent of straight students
I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised. So few Canadians seem to care about the problem. And as Mark points out religious prejudice is being used to make life even harder for gay kids. By killing diversity programs. But still I'm stunned. For once I don't know what to say. Except that a country where so many children don't feel safe in school...and almost nobody cares...isn't the beautiful Canada I want it to be. And of course, that this humble blog is and will always be a no-bully zone.
And I'll continue to fight the bullies and the hatemongers. Until the whole country is one. That's all. The rest is just hard feelings. Or a sad song....
I can't believe it. It seems too good to be true. But someone in this smug and self satisfied country has actually criticized Canada's shameful treatment of Omar Khadr. And called a spade a spade. Or a waterboard a waterboard. Canada has sunk to the moral equivalent of al-Qaeda by failing to treat Canadian Omar Khadr the same way it treats other child soldiers, Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire said Tuesday. "The minute you start playing with human rights, with conventions, with civil liberties in order to say you are doing it to protect yourself … you are no better than the guy who doesn't believe in them at all...." Good for Roméo Dallaire. And don't you just LOVE the exchange between him and the wretched SoCon homophobe Jason Kenney? "Is it your testimony that al-Qaeda strapping up a 14-year-old girl with Down Syndrome and sending her into a pet market to be remotely detonated is the moral equivalent to Canada's not making extraordinary political efforts for a transfer of Omar Khadr to this country?" asked Kenney.
"If you want a black and white [response] … I am only too prepared to give it to you: absolutely," said Dallaire. "You are either with the law or you are against the law. You're either a child soldier or you're not. You're either guilty or you're not."
Exactly. Omar Khadr WAS a child soldier. The kangaroo courts of Guantanamo are an affront to justice. And while Khadr hasn't been found guilty of ANYTHING two governments..... Liberal and Conservative.....are guilty of letting the Pentagon waterboarders torture a badly wounded Canadian kid. You can't get any lower than that ......and still call yourself a Canadian. And the idiot media in this country should also hang its head in shame for letting this case drag on. By giving more coverage, for example, to the ridiculous case of Brenda Martin ....and her blubbering brush with Mexican justice.... than they ever have to the Khadr case. Since the day Omar was shot.
Held in the worst prison on earth surrounded by torturers and dangerous extremists. When according to his lawyer all he wants to do is live a normal life in Canada....watch the Lord of the Rings, and draw comics.
Look as a gay guy I loathe Al Qaeda and other religious extremists more than most. But as a Canadian I know that we have to do the RIGHT thing...and be better than our enemies. Because if we aren't what are we fighting for? Why are we blabbing about human rights? When we are nothing more than weak and smarmy hypocrites. And of course because I also know that a country that doesn't stand up for its citizens .... not even when the citizen is a child and is being tortured....isn't a real country by ANY stretch of the imagination. It's a vile and ugly place. And I want my Canada to be noble and beautiful. Roméo Dallaire said what had to be said today ..... even if the truth hurts. Omar Khadr's kangaroo trial is now a farce. It's time to end this disgusting shameful torture story. And bring Omar Khadr home ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. For what it's worth ..... when Jason Kenney talks about that pet market bombing....and the bomber with Downs Syndrome....he doesn't know what he is blabbing about. A porker homophobe....a Pentagon stooge.... AND an ignorant Con Klown. And then there is this: Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said he disagreed with Dallaire's choice of words, and hinted the senator could be disciplined.
"This is a matter to deal with the (party) whip, and we'll deal with that," Dion told reporters. How low can we go....and STILL call it Canada? ---------------------------------------------------- ADDENDUM: Now that Brenda Martin is back home and cooking for her Mommy...
Do you think she'll settle down, stop blubbering, open a Mexican Restaurant called La Chucha or El Chupete, and NEVER be heard from again?
