Archive for the ‘Idiocy’ Category
August 31st, 2010 | 
Author: “The world’s a dangerous place”
When was the last time you heard that? Would you be surprised to hear that it’s not really that dangerous? Yep.
B and I refuse to traumatize the boys, so they’re used to a degree of freedom that many of their friends aren’t: Phil’s been going to the park by himself since he was 6 or 7 and he not only takes Cameron periodically, he also babysits quite often as well.
The truth is that society has us conditioned to worry about all the wrong things. Kids are abducted by strangers less now than at any time in the last 40 years, but I know a lot of parents who won’t let their kids out of sight for fear of kidnapping. Kidnappings by someone known to the family is at an all-time high, though. Yet, we don’t worry about that.
I’m rambling, but NPR posted a quick piece about danger yesterday. It turns out that none of the top 5 parental fears are grounded in reality: Read the rest of this entry »
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In the 80′s and 90′s, I had visions of making a living in the journalism world. I wasn’t really interested in leaving Kingston, so that never happened, but I still go everywhere with my camera and take pictures everywhere. I’ve had a few photos published and it’s nice to know that I still have a bit of a feel for it.
Two were used this summer. both from protests over the federal government’s decision to close the prison farm system.
The first was posted on the website of The Dominion, an independent, monthly news magazine:
The bastards moved the award-winning dairy herd out of Frontenac Institution today and I had planned to write something about it, but I’m so disgusted that I can properly gather my thoughts. So, I’ll just post my pictures from the protest and say this: the political process in Canada is broken and in need of a serious kick in the ass. With steel-toed hob-nail boots.
Our Prime Minister is such a control freak that his own cabinet is barred from speaking to the press without permission. Yet, he hand-picks idiots and morons to represent the country: his Minister of State for Science & Technology is a chiropractor and one of the leading members of cabinet believes that humans walked the earth with dinosaurs less than 6,000 years ago.
This government is a throw-back to the bad old days of the 19th Century. Build more prisons! Punish the inmates, don’t coddle them! Prime Minister Harper has stated that he wants to re-invent the Canadian prison system in the image of the US. I hear it’s working well down there.
Apparently, I have Arrived. I got a piece of hate mail for a piece I wrote in March:
“Fabio Felici” sent me this a few minutes ago:
Subject: moron!
Yep. 155,000 big sharp knives are being recalled because 5 morons cut themselves. Hey gord im one of those morons that severed my right thumb off that will never be the same cause some company didnt spend the money to build something that was safe for a consumer to use with some type of hand guard on the razor side of machete In your eyes I may Be a moron But your a even bigger educated moron asshole. Again Fuck you gord the geek .
Thanks for reading, “Fabio”. Would you have been happier if I’d characterized the 5 people who prompted the recall as “careless fools”? Perhaps “distracted buffoons”? How about “imprudent twits”?
Honestly. The point of the post was that society has degraded to the point that we’re not responsible for our own actions any more. Quite simply, when you take a tool in hand (especially a machete), it’s in your best interests to pay some bloody attention! Waving something like that around presents inherent risks. I don’t think that 5 injuries out of 155,000 units sold is that bad. If each machete was used once, that’s a 1 in 31,000 chance of being injured. According to Reason Magazine, you have a 1 in 6,500 chance of dying in a car accident in the next year! That’s 5x more likely than being injured by one of those machetes, but I don’t see anybody clamouring to get rid of cars.
Like many other jurisdictions the world over, the state of Illinois is having budget issues. Big ones, apparently. That’s forcing politicos to look at all sorts of options. Some more realistic than others.
Naturally, the mouth-breathers at FOX “News” had to take it one knuckle-dragging step further and ran this last Monday:
Chicago – They eat up millions of your hard earned tax dollars. It’s money that could be used to keep your child’s school running. So with the internet and e-books, do we really need millions for libraries?
Libraries are quiet havens for the community. They take us to other worlds. They even make us laugh. But should these institutions — that date back to 1900 B.C. — be on the way out?
But, all good things must come to an end, I guess.
Noted weirdo Prince tells the Daily Mirror that “The internet’s completely over”.
The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.
Oh, yes and his new CD won’t be available anywhere online. 
h/t to Xeni at BoingBoing.