Part of me can't even believe people still do this. Maybe I'm just noticing this more now that I work at a conservation centre, but roadway littering is kind of a problem, and I don't get that. Littering requires deliberate movement; avoiding littering is a non-action - it requires zero effort. DO NOT roll down your window on the expressway, DO NOT shove your McDonald's wrapper or juice box or legal documents out the window. Congratulations, you have successfully NOT LITTERED.
I understand (at least sort of) how people might not want to get off their arses and plant a tree or walk to work. But when it comes to preserving the environment by NOT doing something, how effing hard is that?! If you are purposely expending energy to give the planet the finger, you might need another hobby.
Showing posts with label idiots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label idiots. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Sunday, 23 January 2011
"BABY DOC" ONLY SOUNDS CUTE
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY UP TO?!
Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka Baby Doc, the younger half of the two-generation terror squad ruling Haiti from 1957 to 1986, showed up in Haiti this week.
Haiti needs a lot of things - medical supplies and doctors, fresh water sources, food, transportation, repairs to flooded roads and damaged infrastructure, effective cholera treatments. One thing they don't need is this clown pulling into town after 25 years of exile in France and announcing he wants to help.
I don't blame the Haitians in the slightest for welcoming Duvalier - apparently, fully half of the country is under the age of 33, meaning they have little to no memory of how insanely evil, corrupt and brutal the ham-fisted Duvalier regime really was. But let's have a brief recap: at the end of their reign of terror, the one-two knockout punch of Duvaliers Sr and Jr could add millions of dollars in embezzlement, the executions of thousands of political opponents, and the introduction of the tontons macoutes (a distinctly evil secret police force) to their resumes. And let's not forget their continued dealings in narcotics and body parts (!), or the repeated violations of the Constitution, or the vote-rigging, or that time when Daddy Doc rewrote the Lord's prayer to include himself.
Haiti, you just can't catch a break, can you?
YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG
Toronto police have taken a man accused of shooting at and firebombing a house into custody. The enterprising young fellow, Atanas Markov, decided to return with a gun after a deal (and Markov's subsequent attempt at extortion) went south at his business partner's house. He fired at the house (?!) and then at a car parked in the driveway. Still not content, this champion returned three days later with a couple of friends, who helped him throw Molotov cocktails at the house. The damage they did, however, was mostly broken glass; fortunately, the business partner and his wife and two kids were unharmed.
What have we learned here? Not only is Markov insane enough to firebomb a house, the utter lack of, you know, fire damage suggests he's not even GOOD at making Molotov cocktails. Come on, son. You're just disgracing the real arsonists around here.
Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka Baby Doc, the younger half of the two-generation terror squad ruling Haiti from 1957 to 1986, showed up in Haiti this week.
Haiti needs a lot of things - medical supplies and doctors, fresh water sources, food, transportation, repairs to flooded roads and damaged infrastructure, effective cholera treatments. One thing they don't need is this clown pulling into town after 25 years of exile in France and announcing he wants to help.
I don't blame the Haitians in the slightest for welcoming Duvalier - apparently, fully half of the country is under the age of 33, meaning they have little to no memory of how insanely evil, corrupt and brutal the ham-fisted Duvalier regime really was. But let's have a brief recap: at the end of their reign of terror, the one-two knockout punch of Duvaliers Sr and Jr could add millions of dollars in embezzlement, the executions of thousands of political opponents, and the introduction of the tontons macoutes (a distinctly evil secret police force) to their resumes. And let's not forget their continued dealings in narcotics and body parts (!), or the repeated violations of the Constitution, or the vote-rigging, or that time when Daddy Doc rewrote the Lord's prayer to include himself.
Haiti, you just can't catch a break, can you?
YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG
Toronto police have taken a man accused of shooting at and firebombing a house into custody. The enterprising young fellow, Atanas Markov, decided to return with a gun after a deal (and Markov's subsequent attempt at extortion) went south at his business partner's house. He fired at the house (?!) and then at a car parked in the driveway. Still not content, this champion returned three days later with a couple of friends, who helped him throw Molotov cocktails at the house. The damage they did, however, was mostly broken glass; fortunately, the business partner and his wife and two kids were unharmed.
What have we learned here? Not only is Markov insane enough to firebomb a house, the utter lack of, you know, fire damage suggests he's not even GOOD at making Molotov cocktails. Come on, son. You're just disgracing the real arsonists around here.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
THIS DISPLEASES ME.
Julian Assange is a terrorist.
No, he doesn't even deserve the name "terrorist". He's a sulky little boy, a thug, a back-alley blackmailer.
"Listen up, world. Do what I want, or there's going to be a lot of trouble!"
He distributed the entire, uncensored, WikiLeaks file to tens of thousands of people, with only an encryption key preventing those people from actually accessing the material. However, he says, should he be brought to trial for any of his assorted crimes, he'll reveal the encryption key, millions of pages of classified documents will be freely available, and diplomatic relations between every country in the world are all going to hell.
Assange claims he's using the WikiLeaks key as an "insurance policy". He also said, likely in the same breath, that he'll release this "thermonuclear device" if his demands aren't met.
Now, I'm all for government clarity and transparency, but these documents aren't just financial records and self-congratulatory Post-it notes transferred between Cabinet ministers over their latest tax-dollar rip-off - among hundreds of thousands of pages of sensitive material, there are classified military documents in that package, including information about current service members currently serving in missions across the globe. How can anyone justify releasing that kind of information all over the Internet? What kind of a monster decides that his escape from justice means that men and women who volunteered their lives to fight or keep peace overseas now get to have their troop positions and battle plans dished out to any private citizen with a CPU and a modem?!
And, here's the kicker - Assange isn't just trying to escape a rap for sedition or treason or whatever else you get charged with when you are a MAJOR ASSHOLE - he's trying to get out of rape charges - yes, he's using his status as founder and protector of WikiLeaks to avoid going to jail for sexually assaulting women, which is not only utterly heinous but also a crime totally unrelated to him publishing tons of really important government shit.
When someone hauls this idiot out of the Swedish woods, feel free to bring him on over to my place and I'll drop him with an M15 carbine - thanks to WikiLeaks, I'll know where to pick one up from my friendly local armed forces personnel!
No, he doesn't even deserve the name "terrorist". He's a sulky little boy, a thug, a back-alley blackmailer.
"Listen up, world. Do what I want, or there's going to be a lot of trouble!"
He distributed the entire, uncensored, WikiLeaks file to tens of thousands of people, with only an encryption key preventing those people from actually accessing the material. However, he says, should he be brought to trial for any of his assorted crimes, he'll reveal the encryption key, millions of pages of classified documents will be freely available, and diplomatic relations between every country in the world are all going to hell.
Assange claims he's using the WikiLeaks key as an "insurance policy". He also said, likely in the same breath, that he'll release this "thermonuclear device" if his demands aren't met.
Now, I'm all for government clarity and transparency, but these documents aren't just financial records and self-congratulatory Post-it notes transferred between Cabinet ministers over their latest tax-dollar rip-off - among hundreds of thousands of pages of sensitive material, there are classified military documents in that package, including information about current service members currently serving in missions across the globe. How can anyone justify releasing that kind of information all over the Internet? What kind of a monster decides that his escape from justice means that men and women who volunteered their lives to fight or keep peace overseas now get to have their troop positions and battle plans dished out to any private citizen with a CPU and a modem?!
And, here's the kicker - Assange isn't just trying to escape a rap for sedition or treason or whatever else you get charged with when you are a MAJOR ASSHOLE - he's trying to get out of rape charges - yes, he's using his status as founder and protector of WikiLeaks to avoid going to jail for sexually assaulting women, which is not only utterly heinous but also a crime totally unrelated to him publishing tons of really important government shit.
When someone hauls this idiot out of the Swedish woods, feel free to bring him on over to my place and I'll drop him with an M15 carbine - thanks to WikiLeaks, I'll know where to pick one up from my friendly local armed forces personnel!
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
PEOPLE , CUBA & RESEARCHERS SUCK
THE CENSUS
The census long form used to be mailed to 1 out of 5 Canadian families, chosen at random, and its completion and return were mandatory. Now, the long form is being replaced by a voluntary survey that will be mailed out to 1 in 3 Canadian families. CUE MASSIVE DRAMA, WEIGH-INS FROM EVERYONE WHO EVER TOOK A STATISTICS CLASS, AND THE RESIGNATION OF THE STATSCAN BUREAU CHIEF.
So scrapping the long form was a terrible idea, and does nothing to alleviate the alleged problem of personal (though anonymous?) collected information being used for...well, whatever bad guys do with information like how many children you have and where you went to school. But this has been in the news for two weeks now. Come on, guys.
CODY LECOMPTE
Cody LeCompte is a 19-year-old Canadian who rented a car while in Cuba. Apparently you need to be 21 to do this, but the rental agency gave him a car anyway. While he was driving, a truck sideswiped him, causing an accident. For some reason, the Cuban government has decided to a) call Cody to trial JUST IN CASE the accident was his fault, and b) keep his passport for over three months until said trial and refuse to allow him to go home...wait a minute, what? Cuba, we LIKE you! We buy your cigars! We ignored the US when they went all embargo on your ass! We have never tried to kill Castro with exploding lily-pads or itching powder in his wetsuit! So what are you doing?!
(However, as a sidebar, it is worth noting that this has NOT happened because Cuba is a "filthy corrupt Communist country" as the Globe and Mail commenters would have us believe. Idiots.)
POOR PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM CANCER
In some stunning break-through research, a study published in Cancer earlier this week found that family income and 5-year survival rate are correlated in Canadian cancer patients. But how is this possible?! they query. We have universal health care! Everybody should be receiving identical treatment!
Simply put, universal health care only goes so far:
1. Lower-income families have trouble dealing with catastrophic drug costs. Newer, more effective medications are inevitably not covered by the government and inevitably cost hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, per dose.
2. Fighting cancer, especially after chemo when your immune system is in the toilet, takes a lot of things - lots of sleep, good food, and not too much stress. Lower-income families, especially single-parent ones, often do not have this luxury.
3. Higher-income patients have a wealth of options available to them - cue-jumping by heading Stateside for treatment, paying for experimental, non-OHIP procedures, and attending private Canadian clinics. For a lower-income patient, the only choice is to accept standard, OHIP-sanctioned treatment at a Canadian hospital, even if a more effective treatment is available elsewhere.
My point? This study's results are not a surprise, and gradual privatization and a lack of a comprehensive single-payer drug plan are turning universal health care into "universal" health care.
The census long form used to be mailed to 1 out of 5 Canadian families, chosen at random, and its completion and return were mandatory. Now, the long form is being replaced by a voluntary survey that will be mailed out to 1 in 3 Canadian families. CUE MASSIVE DRAMA, WEIGH-INS FROM EVERYONE WHO EVER TOOK A STATISTICS CLASS, AND THE RESIGNATION OF THE STATSCAN BUREAU CHIEF.
So scrapping the long form was a terrible idea, and does nothing to alleviate the alleged problem of personal (though anonymous?) collected information being used for...well, whatever bad guys do with information like how many children you have and where you went to school. But this has been in the news for two weeks now. Come on, guys.
CODY LECOMPTE
Cody LeCompte is a 19-year-old Canadian who rented a car while in Cuba. Apparently you need to be 21 to do this, but the rental agency gave him a car anyway. While he was driving, a truck sideswiped him, causing an accident. For some reason, the Cuban government has decided to a) call Cody to trial JUST IN CASE the accident was his fault, and b) keep his passport for over three months until said trial and refuse to allow him to go home...wait a minute, what? Cuba, we LIKE you! We buy your cigars! We ignored the US when they went all embargo on your ass! We have never tried to kill Castro with exploding lily-pads or itching powder in his wetsuit! So what are you doing?!
(However, as a sidebar, it is worth noting that this has NOT happened because Cuba is a "filthy corrupt Communist country" as the Globe and Mail commenters would have us believe. Idiots.)
POOR PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM CANCER
In some stunning break-through research, a study published in Cancer earlier this week found that family income and 5-year survival rate are correlated in Canadian cancer patients. But how is this possible?! they query. We have universal health care! Everybody should be receiving identical treatment!
Simply put, universal health care only goes so far:
1. Lower-income families have trouble dealing with catastrophic drug costs. Newer, more effective medications are inevitably not covered by the government and inevitably cost hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, per dose.
2. Fighting cancer, especially after chemo when your immune system is in the toilet, takes a lot of things - lots of sleep, good food, and not too much stress. Lower-income families, especially single-parent ones, often do not have this luxury.
3. Higher-income patients have a wealth of options available to them - cue-jumping by heading Stateside for treatment, paying for experimental, non-OHIP procedures, and attending private Canadian clinics. For a lower-income patient, the only choice is to accept standard, OHIP-sanctioned treatment at a Canadian hospital, even if a more effective treatment is available elsewhere.
My point? This study's results are not a surprise, and gradual privatization and a lack of a comprehensive single-payer drug plan are turning universal health care into "universal" health care.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
So.
At my school, the University of Windsor, the faculty have been on strike for a week now.
The Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) is striking for a number of things that I don't wish to discuss because I've discussed them and heard them discussed ad nauseum for what feels like the past seventeen thousand years.
Basically, sessionals are getting paid dirt, the admin is trying to claw back benefits, and lots of people are being all-around jerks.
Well, listen up, everyone.
I support WUFA, I will support WUFA till the day I die, and I don't have to justify my decision to you. Yes, I'm out there every day picketing with the faculty, and until you've done the same, shut up and don't whine to me about how bad the strike is.
NEXT. The administration insists that WUFA isn't willing to bargain. WUFA insists that the administration isn't willing to bargain. Admin says WUFA is lying, WUFA tells me the admin is lying. Listen, I know BOTH of you are lying to me, and I'm sick of it! I don't care WHO is lying by this point, just shut up and get back to the bargaining table! That's right, sit your asses down and bargain. We can't get any closer to resolving anything if you AREN'T BARGAINING.
ADMIN: You guys are being pretty serious a-holes, you know? Listen, you spent all of yesterday insisting that your top-secret board meeting was in camera, so that nobody else could listen in on your discussion. And yet? This morning apparently you were ready to have people know what you were doing, because you PUBLISHED YOUR NEW PROPOSAL IN THE EFFING WINDSOR STAR. Were you confused? Did you forget that you were supposed to be bargaining with WUFA, not with the mass media? Did you press the wrong button on your speed dial? Again, I don't give a damn. Just shut up, stop the media shenanigans, and get your asses in that bargaining room.
AND: Stop telling me nobody wants to be on strike. I KNOW nobody wants to be on strike. Given a choice between picketing in the hot sun for three hours a day and spending those three hours in a classroom with a captive audience talking about a subject you love, what person--what human being--would choose the former? Enough with the platitudes, let's see some action.
DEAR IDIOTS who keep driving by in their cars and yelling "Get back to work!" at us: SHUT UP. Do you honestly think that, if ending the strike was as simple as going back to the classrooms and teaching, we'd still be standing here A WEEK LATER? Yeah, that's right. So shut up and just keep driving. None of these faculty who have been scraping by on strike pay and picketing for hours need to hear you being a loudmouth idiot.
ON A SIDE NOTE, the admin seem to be pretty good at operating a business under capitalism. Unfortunately, the flip side of that is they are really lousy at running a school. Let's do some math:
FACULTY + STUDENTS = INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING
SCHOOL - FACULTY - STUDENTS = BUNCH OF EMPTY BUILDINGS.
Admin, you guys are smart, because you're experiencing a deficit and you've decided to push the burden of recovering from that deficit onto your employees. That's good and deplorable business sense. Too bad you forgot who your employees ARE. They are not just your average unionized slackers cluttering up the office. They are teachers. They are the people on whom this university is founded. They are the people who improve the reputation of this university. They are the people who bring in the money and the research grants that you guys seem to love so much. So why the hell would you try and make up your deficit off their backs? This sounds like a bad plan to me.
FINALLY: I am going to punch the next person who complains about how long the strike is lasting. Shooting off your big mouth about it isn't doing ANYTHING. You want to help resolve the strike? Get out on the picket line. Hold a sign, bake cookies, support the teachers. This isn't exactly sunshine and buttercups for them, either. Don't blame the strike on the faculty. They can't cross the picket line, because that would completely undermine the purpose of the collective bargaining unit. They're on strike because the admin left them no other choice, so shut up.
If you support WUFA, show it. If not, I don't care. Just get out of my face.
At my school, the University of Windsor, the faculty have been on strike for a week now.
The Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) is striking for a number of things that I don't wish to discuss because I've discussed them and heard them discussed ad nauseum for what feels like the past seventeen thousand years.
Basically, sessionals are getting paid dirt, the admin is trying to claw back benefits, and lots of people are being all-around jerks.
Well, listen up, everyone.
I support WUFA, I will support WUFA till the day I die, and I don't have to justify my decision to you. Yes, I'm out there every day picketing with the faculty, and until you've done the same, shut up and don't whine to me about how bad the strike is.
NEXT. The administration insists that WUFA isn't willing to bargain. WUFA insists that the administration isn't willing to bargain. Admin says WUFA is lying, WUFA tells me the admin is lying. Listen, I know BOTH of you are lying to me, and I'm sick of it! I don't care WHO is lying by this point, just shut up and get back to the bargaining table! That's right, sit your asses down and bargain. We can't get any closer to resolving anything if you AREN'T BARGAINING.
ADMIN: You guys are being pretty serious a-holes, you know? Listen, you spent all of yesterday insisting that your top-secret board meeting was in camera, so that nobody else could listen in on your discussion. And yet? This morning apparently you were ready to have people know what you were doing, because you PUBLISHED YOUR NEW PROPOSAL IN THE EFFING WINDSOR STAR. Were you confused? Did you forget that you were supposed to be bargaining with WUFA, not with the mass media? Did you press the wrong button on your speed dial? Again, I don't give a damn. Just shut up, stop the media shenanigans, and get your asses in that bargaining room.
AND: Stop telling me nobody wants to be on strike. I KNOW nobody wants to be on strike. Given a choice between picketing in the hot sun for three hours a day and spending those three hours in a classroom with a captive audience talking about a subject you love, what person--what human being--would choose the former? Enough with the platitudes, let's see some action.
DEAR IDIOTS who keep driving by in their cars and yelling "Get back to work!" at us: SHUT UP. Do you honestly think that, if ending the strike was as simple as going back to the classrooms and teaching, we'd still be standing here A WEEK LATER? Yeah, that's right. So shut up and just keep driving. None of these faculty who have been scraping by on strike pay and picketing for hours need to hear you being a loudmouth idiot.
ON A SIDE NOTE, the admin seem to be pretty good at operating a business under capitalism. Unfortunately, the flip side of that is they are really lousy at running a school. Let's do some math:
FACULTY + STUDENTS = INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING
SCHOOL - FACULTY - STUDENTS = BUNCH OF EMPTY BUILDINGS.
Admin, you guys are smart, because you're experiencing a deficit and you've decided to push the burden of recovering from that deficit onto your employees. That's good and deplorable business sense. Too bad you forgot who your employees ARE. They are not just your average unionized slackers cluttering up the office. They are teachers. They are the people on whom this university is founded. They are the people who improve the reputation of this university. They are the people who bring in the money and the research grants that you guys seem to love so much. So why the hell would you try and make up your deficit off their backs? This sounds like a bad plan to me.
FINALLY: I am going to punch the next person who complains about how long the strike is lasting. Shooting off your big mouth about it isn't doing ANYTHING. You want to help resolve the strike? Get out on the picket line. Hold a sign, bake cookies, support the teachers. This isn't exactly sunshine and buttercups for them, either. Don't blame the strike on the faculty. They can't cross the picket line, because that would completely undermine the purpose of the collective bargaining unit. They're on strike because the admin left them no other choice, so shut up.
If you support WUFA, show it. If not, I don't care. Just get out of my face.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
The Deserted Island
This is probably my most frivolous rant yet, which isn't saying much because I've only got five posts to date, including this one. But I digress.
Yesterday, I got a little irked when I opened the Liberal (which is trash anyway, and needs a copy editor STAT), and saw the typical "profile of an overachieving student" laid out on page three, complete with sidebar of supposedly interesting tidbits about the student in question. Like real newspapers, the Liberal likes to use a "complete the sentence" format to elicit these details. This includes the standard "My favourite food is...", "My greatest asset is..." and, of course, the dreaded "Three things I would take to a deserted island are..."
Listen up, people. STOP saying stupid stuff like "food" and "water" in response to this question. The reason this question is asked is because we're trying to learn more about your personality via what is most precious to you, not prove that you passed the third grade and know that humans need water.
For example, here's what I would take:
1. My violin
2. Season 4 of House
3. Sushi
What does this tell you about me? That I like music and value my instrument highly, that I think House is really funny, and that I both enjoy sushi enough to eat it for the rest of my life, and have no respect for food safety (Maybe it's a cold deserted island).
When someone answers "food", "water", or "a life raft", they are undermining the very purpose of the question. You aren't auditioning for Survivor, people! We aren't testing to see if you know which basics are vital to life! We want your personality--so far, all you've shown us is that you're NOT FUNNY! Unlike House.
Yesterday, I got a little irked when I opened the Liberal (which is trash anyway, and needs a copy editor STAT), and saw the typical "profile of an overachieving student" laid out on page three, complete with sidebar of supposedly interesting tidbits about the student in question. Like real newspapers, the Liberal likes to use a "complete the sentence" format to elicit these details. This includes the standard "My favourite food is...", "My greatest asset is..." and, of course, the dreaded "Three things I would take to a deserted island are..."
Listen up, people. STOP saying stupid stuff like "food" and "water" in response to this question. The reason this question is asked is because we're trying to learn more about your personality via what is most precious to you, not prove that you passed the third grade and know that humans need water.
For example, here's what I would take:
1. My violin
2. Season 4 of House
3. Sushi
What does this tell you about me? That I like music and value my instrument highly, that I think House is really funny, and that I both enjoy sushi enough to eat it for the rest of my life, and have no respect for food safety (Maybe it's a cold deserted island).
When someone answers "food", "water", or "a life raft", they are undermining the very purpose of the question. You aren't auditioning for Survivor, people! We aren't testing to see if you know which basics are vital to life! We want your personality--so far, all you've shown us is that you're NOT FUNNY! Unlike House.
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