Lunchtime Ranting.


Let's put one up by the parliament buildings.

There are two parties that have the glorious idea that, should they get into power, they will dot Canada with 10,000 windmills.

Diseased
So, I know I said that I wasn't going to express more opinions…but I can't help it. It's a serious, earnest disease. What can I say? I was born with opinions, and they just keep growing. And I tried to keep them inside (I really did) but that last entry made me want to keep doing it. It's a drug, and I'm addicted. Hello, my name is sarah and I have a problem. I'm an ornery opinionaholic.

So, my irk of the moment is this: since when do Canadian parties get to out and out lie in their campaigns? I'm not talking about campaign promises -- I stand behind what I said before; they ALL promise you the moon, and every party makes promises they can't keep. But I'm talking about the liberal smear campaign. The latest ad says that Stephen Harper "would not respect a woman's right to choose". Which isn't true.

You know what Canada's abortion laws are right now? No, it's not that anything after first trimester abortion is illegal, that's the US. And no, it's not that you can only have abortions after the first trimester in serious and grave cases where the life of the mother is threatened. We have no abortion laws. Now. Despite what you believe about abortion, you at least have to agree that there should be something regarding it --it's not something that can be ignored entirely. You want to know why?

Take the example of the ontario lady who, a few weeks (or days, I can't remember) before she was due to give birth took a pellet gun and shot into herself, in hopes of killing the baby. She didn't. She gave birth to a severely brain-damaged baby with bullets lodged in his brain. She was charged with attempted murder (I think. Or something -- but she WAS charged), but could not be convicted because the baby was neither a baby nor a person. That is, I can see you arguing, a rare case. Alright, then. I know this. Also the facts of partial-birth abortion absolutely horrify me. This is what is done for a third-trimester abortion (maybe second, I don't know). Labour is induced. The baby is almost delivered, but before it gets out into the world a hole is made in its' head, the contents sucked out and the skull collapsed. The baby IS fully developed, and in most cases could survive birth (I know I was born early). The Conservatives have NO plans to limit abortions, but has not ruled out a private members' bill on the subject. Ideally it would provide some sort of perameters, so the next time the baby is born with the bullets in his brain, something can be done in his defense. And how, pray tell, is that a BAD thing? And how many women know that if you have an abortion before you have a baby the odds are very high that you won't be ABLE to have a baby? Or about the emotional scarring that occurs? Or the fact that not all babies that are aborted actually die when they're 'supposed' to, and that there are actual abortion survivors? You can't make an informed choice if you only know half the facts. (Besides. We're a socially liberal country. Anything like that will get shot down in FLAMES. So don't worry about it.)

Ethical…?
Michael Moore recently praised Canadians for their "ethic". He encouraged Canadians not to vote in the conservative government, saying that we "[didn't] want to go the way the Americans [did]".

What a load of crap.

The fact of the matter is that Canada will never, EVER be America. We will NEVER be American, despite the fact that we have american media, clothes, food, cars…cameras…everything (please. Who actually watches Canadian TV? Other than Canadians, I mean.). We are JUST as proud of being Canadians as the Americans are of being American. So why would we just miraculously relinquish our Canadianisms? It annoys me that people think our culture is so weak that just because we do one thing that is (debatably) similar to the States that somehow we will follow exactly in their footsteps. Because our governing system is different. Our attitudes are different and our values are different. And if Canada should choose the conservatives? That does not mean that we will somehow miraculously lose all of the good parts of our society. Is America any less American since Bush got in(and if you're going to answer that question, please provide reasoning.), and will it be more American if/when Kerry gets in?

With this terror of being "not American", I really think that we're losing so much of what made us Canadian. The Canadian ethic has become to not take a stand on anything. We live in a society where it is not politically correct to declare any absolutes. A country's people live by laws and rules, which allow personal freedom AND protection to everyone.

We don't HAVE any clearly defined lines anymore. Canada has become this vast shade of gray. What does it say about Canada when you see that child pornographers can get away with what they do? Because exploiting children has some sort of "artistic merit". That we think a man should get away with savagely beating another man because it's "part of the game" (yeah, maybe boxing -- not ice hockey, buddy). No. The government should NOT be religious (though Canada was formed on a Judeo-Christian heritage, something people love to forget), yes I absolutely believe in the separation of church and state. While progress has been made on some fronts, it just seems that letting it go too far on others. Being too permissive. The idea of raising the age of consent to 16 has been met with opposition. So, when does it stop? How much damage can we do to ourselves and our children before we realize that this is not a good thing?

Please don't get me wrong. I absolutely adore Canada. I think it is, hands down, the best place in the world to live. I love our history. I love our strong past. I love going away from Canada, and pretending that I actually speak french fluently, and am a lot more in touch with that part of our culture than I am. Because I'm proud of it. I love that we have THREE national languages, and that we almost won the Stanley Cup this year (go Alberta!). When I got home from overseas I almost cried as I was getting off the plane because I love Canada.

I didn't really intend to go in this direction when I started this post, and I don't know what set this off (I read the article a couple of days ago…). I don't have a clear way to end it. I can't say that my morals are better than yours, that my ethical standards are somehow are higher than yours. They're not, and it wouldn't be fair for me to make that statement. Hm. Who knows. Maybe we need to stop worrying that by doing act [x] we will become more American and instead focus on the issue at hand. Stop letting that factor into our thought process. And if we happen to make a choice that makes us a little more like our neighbours to the south? Well, they're not all bad you know. Chances are if we stop obsessing about being "not American" we'll probably become even more Canadian; more unique and happier overall, because then our choices are made on what WE believe, agree with and want.

That, or we can just change our name to "Not the United States" and leave it there.

This rant, courtesy of people who don't think there can be any opinion other than theirs.
So, i can't tell if people are just debating or actually getting angry over the politics post.
The traffic to my hotmail has increased, and personally, this is starting to make me angry. I'm not looking to change anyone's minds. Vote for whomever you want: obviously, this is a free country and i am tired of having people tell me (or imply) that I'm somehow a bad and ignorant person because of the political party I am going to vote for. I'm not a bad person because I vote conservative anymore than you are because you vote liberal. Or bloc. Or NDP. And I am no less intelligent than you are because I don't vote liberal. Oh, and if your opinion of me has changed because of who I'm voting for...well, the only thing i can think of is a comment involving the narowness of your mind. There's something called having different opinions; it's why we have elections in the first place. So if you can't accept the fact that people think differently from you: SHOVE OFF. I wrote the entry in the first place 1)out of a profound sense of boredom and 2)interest in the current political situation in Canada. Obviously I have a bias: this late in the campaign MOST people do. Most normal people do. So before you tell me why my post was unfair, please think about what you would have written yourself. Serves me right for thinking i could express my opinions on the internet.

In other news.
Yet another beheading, done by militants to a man who had -- days earlier -- been shown begging for his life. As with the last one, i won't watch it. As with the last one, just the thought of it makes me sick. BECause who on God's green earth actually thinks that this is somehow justice? And what kind of idiots think that a government is going to withdraw troops because of one man? Whether or not it's wrong or it's right. Whether or not you rabidly support or rabidly oppose the war in Iraq is irrelevant. Because what this is is unspeakable cruelty on people. HOW can you sit back and cut off a man's head?! How? And how can you think that you're entirely justified? This world is a depressing, sick place. Because on the one hand there are the people who do it, and on the other hand the people who love watching it happen.
Take for example the recent court case where a man brutally raped and killed a ten year old little girl. And he's been sentenced to life in prison (is it unrelated that he was addicted to child pornography?). There are the people who do it, and the people who love to watch the news, because they see these things happening.
And so, fully aware that I'm opening a can of worms -- when (if ever) is death justified? Furthermore, as people who have never experienced tragedy on that level...do we have any right to decide? It doesn't take any special amount of grace or mercy for us to say "abolish the death penalty" and "let God decide" (as if God really and truly cares) because we aren't feeling the sting of any of it. I've never had to find the strength to forgive someone for something so atrocious and I hope i never will. I hope none of you do. But if you did, could you honestly not wish for their death? If yes, than you're stronger than I. Man, if someone hurt anyone i loved i would want to hurt them worse.

I'm feeling annoyed right now. Those emails really threw me off, as well as some of the things I've been getting back through the grapevine. It's amazing what people say when they think it won't ever get back to the source.

Random facts for the day
Marijuana users have a higher level of abnormal sperm.


I am a member of the Liberal party of Canada.

...Tsawwassen is in for some strange babies in the future.

Pardon me for a moment -- I'm about to get political.

So, today (having little to do at lunch) I decided to read the platforms of the various parties. Well, parties being the Conservatives and the Liberals, mostly because I was tired of trying to defend a party I knew nothing about. I wanted a better argument than "THEY STOLE FROM US". (which in MY mind says it all. But apparently it doesn't, for some bizarre, twisted reason.) Anyhow. What I learned was that the two platforms were remarkably similar. I won't mention many specifics, but I will mention a few. For example the conservatives wanting to give parliament, not the courts, the final decision on serious issues. Which is good, right? The people we elected arguing about the things we care about (as opposed to the appointed judges). Makes sense. Both parties promised to reduce tax (though the liberals were far more vague, oh, and the Health Accord of 2003? Yeah, I can see neither head nor tail of it on the liberal platform, not to mention reasons why they haven't met their deadlines...), and improve the lot of the world. Of course. IT's politics. They all promise you the moon, right?

Fact: Canada is one of the highest taxed nations in the G-7. 40% of the Canadian governments money currently comes from the taxation of people like you and I.

Both governments promised to improve health care over the next few years. Once again, obviously. Canadians don't WANT to be americans and have to PAY for everything. But. From 1995-1999 the Liberals took 25 BILLION dollars from Health Care. And Martin proposes to put one billion back in. Oh gee, thanks. In over 90% of cases, Canadians are forced to wait BEYOND what is clinically acceptable. Which would be alright (or at least understandable) if we didn't have the longest waiting list in the oecd despite spending the most per capita.

I suppose the fact that both parties are making a stand on the Child Porn issues (though the liberals are REALLY vague)really appeals to me--- the fact that finally, someone will do something about it. Because it's a serious issue. No matter which government gets in --they had better follow through with at least that.

IT's funny, because one of the platforms talks about how much Canadians have achieved over the past few years in the areas of the arts, sports, science or business. Now, to be truthful I don't know much about Science of business, but I DO know that the government gives VERY little funding to Canadian athletes OR artists. Sorry, guys, you can't take credit for the individual accomplishments of people. The liberals say they will make health care "publically funded [and] universally available". So why are all our hospitals shutting down? Could it BE lack of funding?

I suppose the thing that surprised me most, however, was that the liberals are "committing to the purchase of new equipment, including state-of-the-art armoured vehicles for the arm, search and rescue aircraft and helicopter replacement". They indend on "increasing the budget for national defence to 13.7 Billion dollars" (which is up 3 billion, btw), and they will "increase Canadian forces by 5000 personnel…. [Which] will enable our military to assume a bigger role in bringing peace, security and democracy to troubled nations." Hm. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The reason I'm so surprised at that is because one of the things liberal supporters have been blasting the conservatives for is that they want to increase military spending. Huh.

"Liberals do not believe Canada is broken and needs to be fixed." See, to me, I see problems, baby! The fact that our hospitals are closing, doctors and nurses leaving, tuition rates rising like floodwaters…I see that as a problem. Possibly because I come from the forgotten middle-class, though.

(In their list of achievements they ingeniously put "terminated the sponsorship program". Which is absolute BRILLIANCE. They also said that they launched a program to (get this) "eliminate waste and ensure that government spending delivers maximum value to taxpayers". Mmmhmmm. I can only think of two rather rude things to say to that, neither of which I will post.)

The way I see things (and I'm sorry if I'm picking on your party: I'll explain why in a second) is that the liberals have had ten years to make good on their promises. You can look at so many points on their platform and say 'yeah, we've heard THAT before'. And for ten years we've been waiting. Sure, both parties make the same promises (more or less). But the liberals have proven themselves time and time again untrustworthy where it counts. What is it we're scared of? Change? I think a lot of it is the stigma attatched to the word "conservative". Or some people who want to be considered liberal come hell or high water-- like they're scared that by being conservative they'll immediately convert and become bible-toting fundamentalist Christian bigots. But see, if you read the text it's all so close to being the same. So WHY go back?

Maybe it's just me. I've been raised that once you learn you can't trust someone you stay the hell away from them. And maybe I don't care enough what people think of me to bother to try and defend being the only university student who is NOT liberal. Who knows?

You know, I just got on this because I am SO TIRED of the disgusting campaign that the liberal government has put out. I can't go to or from work without hearing something against harper. The liberals haven't even bothered with a "vote for us, we're good people". Type of message. They're only saying "just don't vote for them -- they're bad people". They're spent: they're behaving apallingly, and I don't want a government who resorts to name calling and mud slinging to represent me. I'd like to think that I have more dignity than that.

[sighs]
I promised myself I wouldn't get riled up. But I did. And now I bet the only person who will comment is Kora. And maybe lisa. Because no one else is even going actually read the whole thing. ANYHOW. Guys, don't let me get into politics. I get too passionate.

(Kora: or absolutely CRAZY.)

Heh. Now THERE is a rant!