on doing it or not

 

These days, I’m thinking a lot about (un)happiness and what I (dis)like about my life. Yesterday, as I were watching a few episodes of a 24 DVD, I received a piece of advice of a dying character.

Believe it or not, I used to want to be a teacher. A long time ago. You know why I didn’t? DoD offered me more money. That’s how I made my decision. So I made myself miserable. And I made everybody else around me miserable. For an extra five thousand dollars a year. That was my price. You know, Michelle, I’m not a big advice giver, but under the circumstances… Don’t wait around for your life to happen to you. Find something that makes you happy, and do it. Because everything else is all just background noise.

Honesty, that’s probably the healthiest thing I can receive.

gunther von hagens

As the exposition of Gunther von Hagens is about to be in Montreal, it would be an appropriate timing to give my views about it. It sure is visually strong and a big happening. But which knowledge does it bring that a good CD-ROM about the human body doesn’t ? – Yeah, meeting a superstar is way cooler than watching a documentary about him/her.

I don’t think corpses, for any purpose what so ever, should be the matter of an exposition. A dead person should rest in peace. Not be filled with plastic and be placed in a kicking a football pose. This blasphemy. Even if everyone placed there gave their consent. I don’t understand why someone would agree to end like this. This is about fame ? Pride ?

I don’t think however this should be illegal. And I don’t know if I would fill a petition to ask GvH to stop. A petition about a moral issue with consenting victims is irrelevant.

So, I won’t go and that’s it.

a 59 years old farce

 

I read, for the first time in years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 59 years later, this is a farce. A sad farce.

more expensive means more accessible ?

The Supreme Court upheld a decision whichVia Rail must make changes to make its trains more accessible to people in wheelchairs.

What ? They aren’t already ??? So expensive train tickets will get even more expensive ?

Strange, strange… The exact day I dreamed about getting somewhere far away in train on my next vacations…

I’m wondering if this decision will make the train accessible to less people…

resentment

Advices about resentment from the blog The Naked Soul.

1. Recall for a moment those people in your life whom you have decided to resent, write their names down on a piece of paper.

2. Recall the reasons that you resent these people, write these reason down, next to their names.

3. Think about the impact that your resentment is having on these people.

4. Think about the negative impact that these emotions of resentment are having on you.

5. Acknowledge to yourself that your feelings of resentment are not serving a useful, positive purpose for you or the universe in which you live.

6. Make a decision to let go of your resentment towards these people

7. Now, crumble up this piece of paper and throw it away! (symbolic of letting go of your resentment towards others).

Can’t.

I can forget but I really cannot forgive…

muslims killing muslims, again…

Shiite families mourned Monday the slaughter of dozens of pilgrims in a Baghdad bomb attack that exposed the limits of a month-old security sweep through the Iraqi capital by local and US forces.

How can Muslim integrists plan to kill Muslim pilgrims ?

Pilgrims… !!

muslim girl ejected from tournament for wearing hijab

 

“The referee was staring and pointing. ‘She can’t play,’” said Asmahan, Asi to her friends. “I was like why? Why can’t I play?”

I don’t get it. I really don’t. First, I was disgusted buy the referee behavior, then angry by Jean Charest’s reaction. But then I learn that the referee is Muslim. Why did he ejected the girl ?

Safety issue ? Bullshit.

FIFA rules ? Same. What ? Iran women can play with a hijab but not a little Canadian girl ?

This is weird… Stinky, yeah, but even weirder.

selling his life

Fancy a new life? An Australian man is selling his on the auction site eBay, offering his name, phone number, worldly possessions and circle of friends to the highest bidder.

Could it be the beginning of a trend ? People buying and selling their personal (not official) identity. New social network, new possessions, new personal life.

How many people would like to start a new life ?

charity, again

 

I keep thinking about charity.

Wondering: should I be involved in a field where government fails ? Like alphabetization: is it or should it be the duty of the government to provide a proper basic education to everyone ? If I help this cause, do I consider that government can keep up doing a crappy job ?

But following this logic, which local issues remain ? It leads me back to an old opinion that charity is hypocrisy. Rich capitalists giving money to the people they are exploiting.

Is giving to the less fortunate admitting that they will keep being this way because nothing will change ?

What then ? Give money to a political alternative ? I don’t even know if I will vote ever again.

Find some NGO willing to change things ? Well, this is like starting all this over: for which issue ? And by which means ?

Some NGO in the media area could be interesting. But then, which ?

In the other hand, I don’t think it would be a good idea to do nothing about short-term issues. Feeding a starving kid may change nothing about his life but a starving kid needs help. So, it may be half charity donation, half change donation.

Of all philanthropist, Richard Branson is my favorite. Creativity. Determination to change. Guts. His last move: you find a way of scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, he gives you 25 millions.

Maybe I’ll apply with my “tell these morons to stop using cars” invention.

I took a look at Virgin unite, Branson’s foundation. Qualifies nicely for charity donation.

What about volunteering ? Hum. How does it fit into my logic ? I might feel I’m not the best person to help into the change donation I most believe in. And I might feel that volunteering for charity is a waste of my time. I would prefer focus on being a better worker to earn more money and then give some more.

Does it mean I don’t want to volunteer ? Should we all be volunteering ? Without volunteers, most of charity money would go on salaries, leaving almost nothing for concrete actions.

Maybe I should evaluate volunteering options in a different perspective than donation: what I like to do. Not thinking much about results: just being helpful in some way and enjoying it. Hum. Maybe something like talking with people in palliative care.

And finally, what about helping another country ? Shouldn’t I do that as well ? In both change and charity perspective ? Maybe I shouldn’t get involved too much into changing things in a specific area where I’m not living. The White house does that already. Then, I just have to figure out which country I should give for and by which organization.

Ok, so: one quarter charity, one quarter change, one quarter time and one quarter for another country.

charity

 

I’m thinking about charity these days. I’ve never been very constant about it – mostly because of the inconstancy of my earnings over the last years but also because of many changes of perspective about the world’s most important problems. I’m wondering who I should give to.

Homeless shelters. Very, very helpful to the ones who have barely nothing. But I feel like it wouldn’t contribute to improve things. Only to help to avoid things to get even worse…

Animal shelters. Do abandoned cats and dog deserve help more than “abandoned” humans ? At least, they don’t kill hobos when they are unclaimed. Well, as far as I know…

Environnemental groups like Greenpeace or Equiterre. I’m really sensible to environmental issues but in a way I wonder if I should help people more directly. Yeah, I know, global warming and pollution can be very direct…

Environnemental party: Greens of Canada or Quebec. Is political action better than NGO ?

Centraide. A good charity mix. I let them split my money into a lot of resources and causes. They know what they are doing but I’m not sure I like the idea of letting them make priorities for me.

Religious group to help themselves. Do I want to pay for fixing holes in the roof of a church ?

Religious group to help others. Are they better than other charity group, worse ? Should I split between religious and not religious charity ?

Specific country. Wow, huge possibilities. 57 countries in Africa… Which one would I pick ? On which basis ? Poverty ? Life expectancy ? How do I like their culture ? Do their women look handsome ? War, water shortage, lack of resources ? My hope or despair about them ? Then I would have to pick some NGO that fits my views about the best way to help.

Kids. Sick, starving, alone… In a way, I feel the best way to help the raising generation is to make a better world. Yeah, many kids need direct help, but we need to keep the big picture in mind…

Illness. Cancer, aids, and a lot of other nasty diseases kill or hurt many people. I feel like the big pharmaceutical industry tries hard enough to make money with these nasty things.

Alcoholism and drugs addiction. Maybe I feel more like giving some kicks in the ass than money on that issue…

Handicap. Raisings guiding dogs for blinds. People who can’t afford a proper wheelchair. Is it unfair to compare the cost of a wheelchair to the equivalent quantity of food for the homeless ?

I might have forgotten many other issues…

Does time count ? If I want to give 100$, does it worth the same if I decide to give 5 to 7 hours ? Organizations need money but also people, time. Then what, I spend my 100$ on a nice shirt and feel great ?

And if I want to write a book to improve things in the world, does it count for charity ?

I’m still mixed up in my head. I like the environmental group, the poor country and the volunteering ideas. But I don’t know…

Should I split my charity money ? Or should I change yearly ? I like the idea of picking something and give for many years. Consistency matters in charity.

Also related, my will. If I don’t have any kids, who should I give my insignificant fortune to when I’ll be gone ? Should I use the same perspective ?

Well, if some girl wants to buy a sport car when she’ll be 93, call me.

a fine product

I was stunned by a report from the French investigation show JE about purchase adoption of Russian kids. They were speaking about fraud problems with an agency but what shocked me so much was one sentence from one father: Russia, with Eastern Europe, is the only place left to adopt white kids.

I thought parents were choosing a country for adoption because of their adoption procedures, how much they like their culture, and the problems of this country: poverty, war, pollution, birth policy (China)… How naïve…

human compassion

What might happen to the poor dog raped by Michael Patrick McPhail, that psycho near Seattle ?

Euthanasia.

couldn’t you get a whore instead ?

A young man, Michael Patrick McPhail, 26, from around Seattle, has been arrested after his wife caught him raping their female dog !!! I hope he won’t get away with a 300$ fine or something like that. Already, we can predict a divorce (or strongly hope she has enough self-esteem to dump that psychopath).

I tried to find a picture of that freak. Not so far. If I learn what he gets for his crime, I’ll let you know.

love and murder are the same

 

The pope spoke last week about two problems in Canada: gay marriages and abortion. He seemed to put the two issues at the same level.

How can you compare the destruction of a human life with an expression of love ?

Plus, you can help in many ways a mother who doesn’t want her baby but you can’t help a homosexual being a homosexual. How many homosexuals would get straight if it was possible ? All of them ?

I’m wondering what’s the best christian thing to do for a homosexual ? Hide his/her relationship ? Pretend he/she is straight and live a life of lies ? Live alone ?