outrageous news

Once in a while, news make me angry. This week, I got angry twice. First:

Dunkin’ Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.

Just to protest, I might buy a kaffiyeh. But as they now mostly made in China, what remains of that symbol anyway ? Which make the whole Dunkin’ story even more moronic… Too bad there is no Nobel prize for stupidiy, because Michelle Malkin would be a wonderful contender.

And also that story:
High levels of bisphenol A prompted many consumers to toss water and baby bottles containing the controversial material. Now, tests conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV have found high levels of the estrogen-mimicking chemical in canned food sold in Canada.

Is there anything I can do anymore and not get cancer???

can’t visualize

Vincent Lacroix, on trial for stealing millions from small investors had a 30 000$ payment (French article, didn’t find an English one sorry) on one of his credit cards for strippers.

I can’t visualize 30 000$ of strippers.

random observations

A 40-something woman comes out from a small pizzeria and violently throws a penny behind her shoulder.

At the dentist, a short and chubby man with glasses and wild teeth waits angrily for the late dentist. When someone asks him how he is going today, he answer he’s going home. Later on, the dentist provides him an expensive teeth-whitening product. Why do you want to have white teeth when they are wild, with some missing, and when you’re a short and chubby man with glasses?

The young and tiny woman cleaning my teeth frequently presses his breasts against my head. I can’t believe she isn’t aware of that. And that I’m not aware of that. And that I’m not aware she’s aware I’m aware of that. Greatest moment at the dentist ever.

A woman with a hijab is limping.

farewell, ben’s…

 

It was already known that the owners of Ben’s, the famous daily of downtown Montreal, would close the restaurant and sell it. Now, we know the new owners will destroy the landmark building and build something else.

When they kill my city, they kill me…

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 quebecer movie database

 

Quebecor decided to invest 2.5 million dollars to transfer into a digital database 800 Quebecer movies [french article]. It sounds like a noble and philanthropic project. But the database will be accessible in pay-per-view only for Videotron (owned by Quebecor) customers.

Artists will receive more money and many movies may be more accessible now and then. But doing something looking philanthropic to make money with it is questionable. I don’t think they shouldn’t do that but they could have done better.

did he make pickton cry ?

It’s was a shame to hear the oil industry purring this week as John Baird announced his “let’s do something about Kyoto” plan.

Oh yeah *purrrr* it’s going to be tough *purrr* to adjust to these measures *purrrr*, we are talking *purrrr* about huge commitment here *purrr*…

If you can’t at least take out the smile out of Alberta’s big shots, that’s a worthless plan.

Even better:

Most Canadian energy stocks got a lift on Friday as investors and oil bosses expressed relief that Ottawa’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions avoided absolute caps and adherence to commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

Sadly, sometimes, great moments in History meet very small people. And this week, History met John Baird.

We’ll see how long Tories remain in power and how much Liberals will be able (and willing) to do to fix this mess.

Even more sadly, a political/environmental/ethical fault is not a crime. Just a disgrace.

and he might succeed

It could have been a sarcastic illustration that positive discrimination is a bad concept. But no, it’s the new governement of Quebec. Clearly, the goal of Charest was not to bring up the best governement possible but win next elections. By contrasting with ADQ’s all-men club and stealing women votes from PQ. Showing PLQ is gentle. Showing it cares.

And bringing an unexperienced immigrant woman as immigration minister spoils the good idea it could have been.

please just shut up and take a nap

John Baird painted a distastrous economic picture Thursday if Canada were to meet its Kyoto promises on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but opposition parties accused the environment minister of not basing his forecast on facts.

Man, did I ever wanted more to slap a politician on the back of the head ?
What’s the point of having a ministry of environment then ?

give it to the kid

Who chose Mario Dumont to be responsible of Environment and suitable development ? Simon-Pierre Diamond (French article), the youngest politician Quebec ever had !
Mario ? Hello ? Seriously ?

she’s bold

We have to give it to Elizabeth May: she’s bold.

Running in the district of Peter McKay is something and she explains why in 10 points.

6. I need to prove that the Green Party is NOT a one issue party. By running in Central Nova I will be taking on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, raising the clarity of vision of our international policies versus the “aye, aye, Sir” approach of Mr. Harper.

I hope for her she didn’t really plan to get elected there. This world can’t afford much more deluded politicians.

dumb surveys

I often hate surveys. You can make people say pretty much anything. Like if, for the exact same question, you ask before something like “How long convicted pedophiles should be incarcerated?” or like “What do you like the most about Christmas?”, you won’t get the same results.

I don’t know what I should think about this:

A little more than half of Canadians believe nuclear power is one way to have cleaner air and lower greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new poll commissioned by the government.

Should I get angry at the half who doesn’t understand that nuclear power can help global warming or at the one who thinks it’s a good idea? I don’t know what the question was. If they asked something as ambiguous as this result, well…

Fortunately, something better a little further:

81 per cent of Canadians polled said no plants should be built until a permanent solution to the problem of radioactive waste is found.

Doesn’t fit AT ALL with the previous result but this number is releaving. They don’t want to solve the problem by creating another.

If at least we could solve the dumb surveys problem.

we won

We abstainers won the Quebec election.

1. Abstainers 1 617 327
2. PLQ 1 313 780
3. ADQ 1 223 477
4. PQ 1 125 078
5. PVQ 154 367
6. QS 145 051

I don’t know if I should add the 41 252 rejected ballots to the abstainers. As we don’t know how many of these voters really tried to vote.

As the abstainers won, elected politicians should abstain from lying and stealing. At least for a few days. Please.

prediction for monday election

PQ: 42

PLQ: 41

ADQ: 41

QS: 1 (Françoise David)

neon bible

 

I bought Neon bible (lyrics - official site of Arcade Fire) last Saturday. I listened to it all week in my mp3 player. It took a few days to make up my mind about it.

Most of the CD I bought in my life are a bunch of songs, two or three singles and other bunches of noise to fill the album (which is why I mosly buy singles now). I rarely experienced albums where I felt the album itself was a project, not just something to fill. I experienced it with American idiot from Green day and I’m experiencing it with Neon bible. Instead of “let’s put these songs in that albulm”, it’s “let’s do something”.

There is something soulful, something spiritual in Neon bible.

I’ll buy their first Album Funeral and their EP.

If Arcade fire asks me to jump off the bridge I might.