h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A2225639

Plus one more this year

I'm reading 'Kabul in Winter' by Ann Jones (http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/item/books-978080507884/0805078843/Kabul+In+Winter?ref=Search+Books%3a+'kabul+in+winter') right now.

It's making me feel like, 'yes. Send as many troops as we can to Afghanistan. This is something we have to fight. This is something bigger than the Nazis.'

And then I realize that I'm not sure who we should send them to fight.



'The Handmaid's Tale' looks like a feminists' paradise compared to the Afghanistan Jones describes.






We're very fortunate, but still not fortunate enough.

How do we fight thousands of years of ignorance?

How do we fight the new royalty: multinational corporations that control the corrupt governments?

The rich and powerful don't give a damn, probably because most of them became that way due to the exploitation and oppression of other human beings

To paraphrase: "Men and women will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

Right. So, the day after the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, on the very day that a man here in town was convicted of killing his pregnant wife (rumour has it he did this in front of their young daughter) in a local grocery store, amongst the single mothers and their daughters, a man was seen walking about wearing a jacket with a large patch on the back bearing the uplifting slogan: "Dead girls can't say no."




Why is this not hate propoganda? Why is it tolerated?

Inexcusably tasteless

Nothing a cup full of 'accidentally' spilled bleach wouldn't cure

Perhaps he is an excessively enthusiastic, unbelieveably stupid and abysmally insensitive Lori Ann White fan? http://www.bluejack.com/b2/sff/au/lawhite.html

Sorry I've not responded with my usual alacrity: despite deciding to stay dry tonight, that little public statement at the grocery store drove me to the cellar.

I'm thinking that if I had actually witnessed the 'statement', and if I'd had my daughter with me, I might have said:

'Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help but notice the message on the back of your jacket. In fact, I suspect that a great many young girls here in the store this evening have noticed that message. Actually, here's one right here. This is my daughter. She's thirteen. Would you like me to kill her so you can have sex with her? I do have a couple of rather sharp knives right here in my pocket. Or would you rather I cut you up into little bits so that you, too, can't say 'no'? That's what a guy like you did seventeen years ago to 14 engineering students in Montreal. Actually, a guy right here in town was convicted of doing that to his wife just today.

'Before you suggest that I should lighten up or get a sense of humour, maybe you would be wiser to just consider why it is that living girls feel the urge to say 'no' to small-minded, hateful, disgusting, fly-blown pieces of shit like you.'

Have a nice day.'

re: Lori Ann White's hobby.
I see Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches pretty much once a week at the Royal Alberta Museum. My daughter (for whom the default gender of everything is 'she') loves 'em. She's petted the tarantulas, held the millipedes, played with the stick bugs, and quite enjoys the fact that the daddy giant water beetle carries the babies.



'Kramer' is in all sorts of crap for his lynching rant. Does anyone suppose he'd be in the same boat if he'd dumped on women instead of blacks?


I'm feeling pretty pissed off because when I was a younger man in back in the eighties things were looking good. And then Susan Faludi's 'Backlash' came out and I thought 'nah, it can't be happening.' But it happened. Society's gains have been rolled back so far.



Thank God for today's vote in Parliament.

Although I am not a parent, I would likely do or say something similar

Hopefully the cretin would attempt a physical rejoinder



Regarding the SSM vote: Thank nobody in particular

('tis the season during which I seem to become more anti-religious than usual....)

''tis the season during which I seem to become more anti-religious than usual....'



ditto.


Maybe I'm getting old. Just passed a birthday (and anniversary of a rather unpleasant event) and I just didn't care about gifts or cake or anything. Now Christmas is coming and all it means is that I've got to spend my days coming up with exceptionally creative items for school christmas shows (the Snoopy headdress is looking quite good) an I should probably flog up the synthetic yule tree.

And I find myself thinking: If I were on my own, what would I do?

Well (I think to myself) I'd still make a point of getting to Canadian Tire to buy a snow shovel to leave on my poet-neighbor's front step on Christmas morning (ending a few months of shovel-borrowing); I'd still help that other neighbor who needs to smuggle a very large tv into his garage to surprise his family on christmas morning; I'd still bake a batch of pies and drop them off at the neighbors' since I can't eat them all; I'd still play with the neighborhood kids on a summer afternoon, smile at the people walking by as I grill eggplant on the barbecue, and stand on the sidewalk with the doctor next door planning medieval siege engines we'll just never get around to building. And, I'd still speak kindly to people working in retail establishments; and a thousand other ordinary kindnesses.

But, the thing is, these are the things I do all year, never mind the religious holiday thing. Why do we need this religion thing?

>medieval siege engines<

Yeah, I'm not humbug, I'm just atheist.

".. a thousand ordinary kindnesses... all year.." exactly

My ailing 92 year old mother will never hear an unkind word from me about her Catholicism. I suppose she needs the religion thing, or believes she does from long habit.

The only good thing about Christmas is it seems to bring with it a little bit of humanity into an otherwise inhumane world. Too bad many of those who celebrate Christmas don't realize they, too, could be kind all year round. Then we really could have peace on earth.

btw, belated happy birthday

I expect pics of the Snoopy

You're not alone, anhaga ... this is from a blog of some new friends of mine.

http://laverneandshirley.wordpress.com/2006/12/06/the-rose-button-support-anti-violence-against-women/



az

Here's a volunteer in the Snoopy thing: http://public.fotki.com/anhaga/costumes/snoopy.html


Thanks for the link, Az.

Well, I also posted a comment there linking to here, but it's still awaiting moderation (probably because there were links in it).

az

Here's a little evidence to throw in the faces of anti-gun control freaks:

'Australia hasn't witnessed a single mass shooting since a massacre 10 years ago prompted nationwide gun law reforms, according to a study Thursday that linked the tough laws with a dramatic reduction in firearm deaths.'

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/14/australia-gun.html

Certain firearms should simply be banned: Does anyone actually _need_ a semi-automatic assault rifle?

Unfortunately the larger portion of illegal firearms make their way into Canada courtesy of our rootin' tootin' southern neighbour.

-- Gun control in USA.....

I think gun-control strategy would do well to focus primarly on our POE.

"Certain firearms should simply be banned: Does anyone actually _need_ a semi-automatic assault rifle?"

Hey, you never know when those deer are going to start returning fire. Personally, I like to soften up the hunting area with a dozen or so rounds from my NRA-approved 88mm mortar. It helps herd the deer down the path to where I've set up the tripwire-fired claymore mines. Five hundred half-inch ball bearings launched by plastic explosives can be a little tough on the trophy and it doesn't leave you with a lot of venison that isn't already ground for sausages, but you tree-hugging commies wouldn't want Bambi to suffer would you?

sincerely

Mr. Colt Mannlicher-Carcano
proud NRA member