On Republican Senatorial hopeful Todd Akin's Medical Knowledge

Apparently Todd Akin, the Republican Senatorial candidate from the great state of Missouri, knows something of the magic of the female body that no scientist or doctor has ever figured out...the body magically shuts down and kicks out unwanted sperm when a woman is "legitimately raped"...therefore there is no need for the government to make abortion legal on the grounds that rape victims need a way to terminate their pregnancies.

So, according to Akin, not only are their "legitimate rapes", but the body magically knows when to accept a man's seed and when not to. Hmm...

Where do they find these guys?



To the credit of the G.O.P., they are trying to force Akin to give up his nomination by taking away his funding and badmouthing him to the media, but choosing him in the first place is still on them.

The party is shifting ever more to the radical, fringe right, which is just one more reason why Barack Obama MUST and WILL win in November. Hopefully the House and Senate will also go his way as Americans and the world are being shown what Republicans really believe.

On Rob Ford's REAL War on Cars

When Rob Ford took office last year, one of the ummm...controversial mayor's first pledges was to 'end the war on cars.' He cited streets cars, pedestrians and those useful scrambles they have at a few major intersections in Toronto (you know, the places where all the 'walk' signs are active at the same time whilst all motorists have a red light in their face) as problems making it hard for motorists to get into and drive around our fair city; however, it is my believe that the real war on cars, pedestrians and others drivers is being waged by the 'law-abiding' mayor himself. I see 2 possible reasons why he is doing this: either he is just a bad driver who is ignorant/doesn't care about the laws in the city he runs or this whole thing is a covert way to confuse and distract citizens and city councillors alike from all the odd, nonsensical and unrealistic things that Mayor Ford has done or tried to do since taking over.  
Don't believe me? Well, I think the evidence showing that other motorists should be terrified if they see the mayor operating a motor vehicle near them speaks for itself.

First off, we have a story running during the last mayoral election season bringing to light Rob Ford's past arrests for DUI and marijuana possession...

Next up we have Mr. Ford flipping off a woman and her daughter when they dare to tell him that he shouldn't be driving and chatting on his cell phone at the same time...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-rob-fords-finger-flipping-misunderstanding/article606343/

Then we have the more recent incident of Toronto's commander-in-chief not knowing the simple and commonly known rule of stopping behind street car doors when they are open, so as not wipe out people getting on or off the mass-transit device or other cars who are following the law...


And last but certainly not least we come to Tuesday's incident of Rob Ford reading important documents while driving to City Hall... 


He says he's a 'busy man' and was still 'paying attention to the road'. Sure, and I'm the great grandson twice removed of Joseph Stalin. Even if he didn't cause an accident, what he was doing was highly dangerous and quite illegal.

How Rob Ford still has a drivers licence and hasn't been charged with anything yet defies logic. Mayoral privilege I suppose.

The next time the happy-go-lucky man in charge talks about the 'war on cars', you know what he is REALLY referring to.

Music Break: The Birthday Massacre

This week's Music Break highlights one of Toronto's best kept rock secrets, the Birthday Massacre. They harmoniously blend goth industrial dark melancholy and horror film/fantasy lyrics with 80`s synth-pop sensibilities to create music that can make one chuckle, weep and grin within the span of the same song. The band members chose fantastic names to go along with their unique music. Lead singer Chibi`s name comes from a Japanese slang term meaning `short` or `miniature`, which suits her since she isn`t the tallest of women. Other band members include Rhim, Rainbow, Owen, Nate and Falcore (anybody remember the Neverending Story?). Here are videos of some of their biggest hits. Enjoy!

Blue


Looking Glass


In the Dark


Video Kid



Nevermind

An online campaign for workers' Rights: Light the flame for workers’ human rights

I belong to an organizartion called Labour Start, an organization that takes action to try to expose/prevent/correct horrible situations for workers the world over. The particular situation I want to address today involves workers in Sri Lanka and China that made pins, clothing and other merchandise for London 2012. Some factories used child labour, others didn't pay their workers enough to buy bare necessities like food and still others forced their workers to slave for ungodly hours each day to make soon-to-be-discarded trinkets for a world event that is supposed to be about unity and equality, not exploitation.

The link below provides more details and an opportunity to join the online campaign calling for an end to these travesties. Check it out and join in if you feel it's a good cause.

Light the flame for workers’ human rights

A little Air Time on CBC

So, Rob Ford is in hospital with "Asthma and swallowing issues" according to CBC and other news sources, and I just happened to be wandering the farmer's market outside Toronto City Hall on Wednesday when a reporter from the aforementioned Canadian Broadcast Corporation stopped me to ask a few questions about how much about the mayor's health the public has a right to know. I responded by saying that Rob Ford's health is the number one priority and that the public should be updated on his condition once he is proclaimed not in serious danger and doctors have had a chance to fully diagnose him, as people need to know how this will affect his ability to perform in his enlarged, cushy chair at city hall.

The interesting part of all of this is that CBC chose to use part of my response in their story on Ford. Wooo! 6.2 seconds of fame for me among anyone who happened to catch the 2 minute story on air or happened to watch the video on CBC.CA. Oh, and it would only matter to people who know and recognized me in the clip. And it's summer, so many people are off galavanting in exotic locales around the globe instead of intently scrutinizing Toronto news on CBC. And others don't watch CBC. Then there is the group that doesn't care about politics.... ... ...I guess what it boils down to is that I will be lucky if even 1 person I know saw the clip (I love you mom!)

I guess the only way to ensure I get those 6.2 seconds is by posting the clip on my blog. Shameless as it is, it is exhilirating for a formerly-shy, anonymous supply teacher and wannabe rockstar/political critic to see my face and hear my voice on a major news network, so I have decided to go ahead and post the video.

What do you think? Would you have posted it? How much do you think the public has the right to know about a politician's health? To me, people should be given the major details once the health of said politico has been stabilized. Their ability to work affects us all, after all.

My 6.2 seconds of fame!