|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| As I slowly provide this site with a lack of updates, I am slowly getting into the business of working with indie artists. That includes our new section, TEA on 148.ca; TEA stands for Toronto Experimental Artists.
If you're interested in some good indie, http://148.ca/tea.
| | |
| A Californian has got me riled up again.
Ignoring the
ridiculously airy fluff you can otherwise find in budget ice cream at
your local Loblaws, comes the frothy but lucrative views of American
politics.
The constituents that elected the House of
Representatives of our southern neighbour passed a resolution that
doesn't affect them at all. In fact, a good-sized group of Maritimers
would be affected first (if it affects anyone at all).
Tom
Lanos, a US representative from the Golden State presented, and
successfully passed, a bill condemning the so-called "stunning
barbarianism of Canadian hunters".
Might I remind you, I have fumigated most of this premises before with the seal hunt. But this has happened in the wake of Belgian lawmakers giving us a shot in the foot.
Let's face it. Some politics are dirty. And some, corrupt. But this is ridiculous...
Given that seal pelts are sold mainly in China and the less confrontational (compared to Belgium) countries of Scandinavia.
P.S.: I am working pretty hard on the site that "employs" me. Check out our interviews with new indie artists at 148.ca/fab.
| | |
| I am reminded by a commercial for Wal-mart that aired a few years back.
An employee of this conglomerate approached a member of the famous
country group, Lonestar, asking if he knew a particular tune that
caught her attention. It was, quite obviously, one of Lonestar's early
hits that this employee was belting out, and this member of Lonestar
decided to follow the sing-a-long. That was the first commercial I've
ever seen from Wal-mart.
Several years later, this large
retailer decided to put the word "Christmas" back into holiday
shopping. The mandatory advertising campaign that most retailers
undertake has seen a dramatic turn into the politically correct, and
Wal-mart decided to revert to "the good old days", when speaking of
holidays were not frowned upon.
I am reminded by the outrage
that was the result of renaming Toronto's Christmas Tree. Critics and
pundits alike feasted on this decision with indulgence, claiming that
"Holiday Tree" simply doesn't make sense for a holiday mostly
celebrated in Canada by Christians.
In my opinion, the kind of
changes we have seen to have our December holidays more inclusionary
have done quite the opposite, creating havoc to those that are
religiously convicted.
No one in this right world will say "I'm Dreaming of a White Holiday" or re-tooling that hit by Wham, "Last Holiday". Mariah Carey won't say that all she wanted for holiday is you. That's like touching the Koran and calling it "The Religious Book".
Regardless
of my opinion in the severity of making the holiday season politically
correct, I believe that Wal-mart's right. We should be inclusionary,
not exclusionary to everyone. | | |
| School shootings have been a plenty recently here in the great
continent of North America. It comes as no surprise, as we have all
gone through this before, and the only thing we can do is hope it
doesn't happen again.
But how do these shootings happen in the
first place? Some say that the social fabric of an educational
institution can leave a few out of "the mainstream". Others believe the
system of gun control, or lack of one, may be the cause of all this. Or
could it be the parent to blame, not preventing their attacker/child
from performing all this suffering?
In my humble opinion, it's
probably a combination of some or all of these factors. The childhood
playground may serve as a temporary nirvana to students, relatively
innocent to the eye.
But the prescence of bullying can be just
about common in many playgrounds, isolating those who then consider
themselves as "loners". As a child, I admit I had been subjected to
this kind of war tactic, but although I remained peaceful into the high
school years, some may want to take revenge. If this was the cas,e
inclusion to the social fabric would have solved most of the concern.
As
some people may bring grudges into adulthood, our next step to
preventing such heartbreak would be controlling the flow of guns. If a
possible assailant can't get ahold of his killing machine, we needn't
worry. But we obviously know that we cannot control every single gun.
Our
could it be the parents? The shooter in the Dawson College incident was
an avid collector of guns, and his mother never realised his deadly
potential.
All in all, we cannot pinpoint on any one cause. We need a very effective strategy to figure this all out. | | |
| As seventeen suspects were hauled off into the William G. Davis/Grenville courthouse in Brampton, the media started to roar. Agencies, local and international, pumped out headlines and mulch that were from quaint to outrageous.
There were a few media reports that suggest that the most basic Canadian principle we hold as a dominion, multiculturalism, was going to wane. This could be quoted from newspapers within the country, in the United States and most of the glove. An American congressman blamed our "lax immigration policies" from all this.
My question out to the open is: when? As a Chinese Canadian, I did not see any difference before and after the sting operation. It angers me that the media has sensationalised all this, even though no lives were (directly) affected except those of the subjects (those being detained and their families). Don't we have our courts to decide whether all of this is right?
In this world, there are always two extreme points of view, and a moderate balance. It is no fiction that some people are following a violent interpretation of Islam. But there are also people bent on hurting Muslims due to the acts of an extreme few. Canadians need to know that these are still accusations, and the last thing we all need to hear in this post-9/11 world is a sensationalised media.
I'm disgusted at those preaching violence in such a peaceful religion. I am also disgusted at those bent on reeking violence at any certain group of people, regardless of circumstances. Haven't we learned from history that a peaceful world is better than a world of plight?
Canada shall remain peacefully multicultural, regardless of circumstances. | | |
|
|
An honest note.
|
|
This is my good old trusty "wacky" blog. If you want to see mature me that more reflects me from recently, check out http://spaces.msn.com/members/pbhjournal.
|
|
