Every two years, like clockwork, the same thing happens. Two weeks are set aside for a bunch of people from around the world to gather in one city, chosen seven years before the event actually takes place, and compete in a series of athletic events. Because…why the fuck not? Continue reading
Category Archives: Politics
A Fear of Fear of Flying
Christmas Day, 2009. A man attempts to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 somewhere over what I’m guessing was Southern Ontario with a package of pentaerythritol tetranitrate strapped to his crotch. The bomb failed, he only succeeded in burning his cock off and thankfully the passengers noticed this, put out the fire, and stopped him from hurting anyone else.
So of course this is a non-issue. No one got hurt, the attack failed. The only reason to talk about it is if you want to over-exaggerate and say that it’s horribly horrendous that a terrorist was even allowed near the plane. However it seems the news media is reacting as if the attack was successful. I think this might be getting more ink than Air India Flight 182 did in it’s day. You know Flight 182, probably not by name so I’ll refresh your memory. It was the last successful bombing of an aeroplane (that I know of) back in 1985. (9/11 wasn’t really a bombing, it was a steering-a-plane-into-a-building.)
So what is the TSA’s response to what I would call a victory? Increase security and treat it like a failure.
So I figure now would be a good time to make fun of the airline industry and the TSA, and tell them why they suck. Continue reading
Extradition in a Strange Bout of What the Frak!
So recently an interesting story came to light which is actually over 30 years old. Roman Polanski, the director of such films as Rosemary’s Baby, The Pianist, and my personal favourite: MacBeth, (who’s wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family) had sex with a thirteen-year-old girl in 1977. He plead guilty and was expected to simply receive probation with no prison time, however it appears the judge suggested to Polanski’s attorneys he would get prison time. So because of this Polanski did the only reasonable thing…ran. He ran all the way to his home country of France.
Most countries have extradition treaties with the United States, where Polanski committed the crime and was convicted of it, and France is no exception. So a crucial question remains: How is it that for 30 years, Mr. Polanski was able to avoid arrest? For two reasons: Number one, whenever he left France he stayed in a nearby nation and was in and out before the authorities even noticed, and number two, French policy dictates they do not extradite their citizens.
Yay France! Stand up for your people! Even those assholes who frak 13 year olds…okay maybe not them, but it’s probably a bad idea to change your policy whenever you feel like it. Consistancy for the win! But this situation is an interesting contrast to a recent event in Canada which really makes me want to vote for any kind of change in the federal government, even the BCPC, the Batshit-Crazy Party of Canada (not affiliated with the Republicans). Continue reading
Why Politicians Suck!
Being a journalist…in training, one of the essential habits I need to develop is paying attention to the news. I’m working on it. When you do, you realise that there is a lot going on in the world, and it is fucking crazy.
One big thing that occurred was an issue dubbed “Ticketgate”. As you might be able to tell from the name, it was a political scandal.
It all started with a big announcement: Elton John is coming to Sudbury!!! One of two Canadian stops. Apparently he likes playing small venues. Me and my classmates first heard about it from our coordinator on The Cambrian Shield, Chris. One of my classmates, Shaun, was assigned to the story and Chris tried to get him an interview with the man himself…no such luck…apparently Elton don’t talk to the press. Chris tried mentioning that we were not mainstream media…and outing Shaun (he’s not actually gay, which is why it’s so goddamn funny), didn’t work. I guess one wouldn’t expect that to work, but at least he tried. I guess Elton had some bad experiences and he hates us now or something…just like Steven Harper.
But I digress. The journalist on the city hall beat for the Sudbury Star, Denis St. Pierre (I think that’s his name, I’m workin’ off of memory here), broke the story that after people waited outside in the freezing cold (this was in winter by the way) for several hours, some leaving empty handed because of how quickly they sold out, 100 tickets were reserved for city council members…I’ll repeat that…100 tickets were distributed among 13 people before being released to the general public…100…divided by 13…that’s a little under 8 tickets each. Continue reading
College Politics
So after that high school mess I signed up for Journalism at Cambrian College. I went to Cambrian to save money by living at home.
Journalism is interesting, but I must say at this particular college they had this odd thing called an independent study course. We pay for a course they don’t teach, instead we buy a book, separately, and they test us on it twice during the semester. What are we paying for? The test? I didn’t come to college to be tested…I came to learn. Courses cost money to pay for equipment (that are not books) and teachers, but there is no equipment and they are not actually teaching us. We were supposed to take two “courses” in our first year (one per semester), I ended up failing the first course I was to take by missing both tests, so I had to take the two “courses” simultaneously during my second semester. Now my first 21 credit courses are included in the tuition, so I can take extra courses during the semester for no extra cost, as long as the total credits on my schedule does not exceed 21 credits. That particular semester I already had a full 21 credits before that “course”, so technically I was supposed to pay for that “course”. My thought was, well technically it’s no real cost to them to them so they probably won’t charge me for it…they did. I believe it was $81 and I literally got nothing out of it. Continue reading
No Prestige 