The state of things

Kinda quiet around these parts, ain't it?

I guess I haven't really been inspired to write anything new. What's going on these days?

1. Oh, yeah, Dick Cheney blasted a guy with a shotgun. Good thing it was a pretty weak one...Oh yeah, and the guy suffered a heart attack as a result. He'll live...Oh yeah, and they were in no hurry to tell anyone about it. Check cnn.com for more.

2. The Toronto Sun pissed me off yesterday (what else is new for that rag?). Olympic speed skater and medal hopeful Cindy Klassen didn't quite live up to the hype and, granted, her potential, but the Toronto Sun leapt at the chance to display their lack of class with this front page headline: "Just A Bronze". WTF? So maybe she didn't win when everyone expected her to (should one expect anything in sports?) and she gassed out at the end, but no Olympian should be treated like a failure. She's still the best in the country, you pinheads.

3. The press is having a field day with the Rick Tocchet gambling ring...or at least how it relates to Wayne Gretzky. WTF?! There was so much b.s. speculation, hyperbole and rumour surrounding this story, I changed the channel whenever it came on. This is "journalism" at its absolute worst and one of the reasons I left Ryerson University's program many moons ago. To see dozens of members of the press gather around Gretzky to ask the same questions day in and day out when even the cops are saying he had nothing to do with it. Holy keerist, boys, drop it already. Or at least focus on Tocchet who, while he may not be as big a star, is the main accused.

The kicker is that the #1 area of discussion surrounding all this is, "will it be a distraction for Team Canada?"...You have got to be joking. Gretzky's involvement is a non-story and the only reason it is still being discussed is because the reporters are whipping themselves into a frenzy. This is yet another case of reporters reporting on reports (if your story includes the words "reports indicate" or "it has been reported" then you do not have enough facts - start over!). That is atrocious behaviour for members of the media. Attention all media types: your job is to report the news not create it.

4. Uber neo-Conservative MP David Emerson is still oblivious. The worst argument I've heard him make is that voters in ridings vote for the person, not the party. If this is how you vote, you're a moron. Let me get this straight: if Stephen Harper were running in my riding, I should vote for him because he swings a big dick in Ottawa and it's more likely he'll be able to do stuff for my area of the country? Not quite. First of all, I would never vote for that douchebag. Second, if he ain't in power, he ain't doing squat. Third, any member voted in from my riding will represent my area of the country; what distinguishes them is what they stand for - their party ideology. Fourth, do you even know who your candidates are and what they've done? Most people in large communities don't. I'd never even heard of my candidates except Bill Graham (doesn't mean I'd vote for him). If David Emerson believes that voters should make their selections based on the person and not the party then the solution is simple: run as an independent and then form an association with a party afterwards. Knob. And did you notice that the hundreds of outraged protesters who showed up to chew out Emerson are "party zealots and party operatives"? Um...would that be the same party that gave you tens of thousands of dollars and under whose banner you were elected? Or the other party you crossed the floor to join (after much soul-searching no doubt)? It's hard to keep track these days, you understand.

Well folks, I'd bitch and moan some more, but it's 5pm and it's time to go home.

Pea soup!


"I can't complain, but sometimes I still do."
~Joe Walsh, "Life's Been Good"