Observation:

These five or so, signs on Allan Road south of Lawrence should really stop bullshitting people, and tell the truth.

The signs should actually read:
"This continent's longest left turn lane"

Landlords and Human Rights Violations:

"Even when rental housing is available, thousands of marginalized individuals and families cannot make it through the door," says the report by the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation."

See, this is why the City should be responsible for affordable or low income housing.

The article makes all landlords sound like mustache twisting racists.
I don't think it's as simple as that.

Behaviour of Serial Bullies

Feigning victimhood:

in the unlikely event of denial and counter-attack being insufficient, the bully feigns victimhood or feigns persecution by manipulating people through their emotions, especially guilt. This commonly takes the form of bursting into tears, which most people cannot handle. Variations include indulgent self-pity, feigning indignation, pretending to be "devastated", claiming they're the one being bullied or harassed, claiming to be "deeply offended", melodrama, martyrdom ("If it wasn't for me...") and a poor-me drama ("You don't know how hard it is for me ... blah blah blah ..." and "I'm the one who always has to...", "You think you're having a hard time ...", "I'm the one being bullied..."). Other tactics include manipulating people's perceptions to portray themselves as the injured party and the target as the villain of the piece. Or presenting as a false victim. Sometimes the bully will suddenly claim to be suffering "stress" and go off on long-term sick leave, although no-one can quite establish why. Alleged ill-health can also be a useful vehicle for gaining attention and sympathy.

I finally fired one last year.
It took me 6 years to fire that woman, and it's made a world of difference in the workplace.
One person can ruin the atmosphere, even if everyone else is relatively peaceful.

Here is more on Attention Seeking Personality Disorders

The first step in stopping this sort of person from taking over your work environment is by recognizing what they are.
They are actually not the victims they portray themselves. They are fucked up individuals who bully through manipulation, and playing the victim...and this society, and it's laws support people like this to flourish at the expense of others.

articles found via Mizi[social]

Let's play "Pick the Perp"



I suck.
The only ones I'm ok at picking out are burglary, heroin possession (because they're skinny), and auto theft.

via Guanabee

Last week I read in the morning paper about a street here where 60 out of 66 homes were vacant or abandoned on a single block. The reporter called it a "ghost street." Yesterday I found myself in the area. Other than an errant sofa, the street was completely empty, almost peaceful. I took a photo of every house on the north side of one block and then stitched them together. If you were to compare the current international housing crisis to a black hole sucking the equity out of our homes, this one-way street near the northern border of Detroit might just be the singularity: the point where the density of the problem defies anyone's ability to comprehend it. These homes started emptying in 2006.

Click on the image, and then click again to magnify.
It's pretty sad, and a little spooky too.

via Waxy.org

Legal, Bureaucratic Extortion

March 24th, 2009
On a rainy March night, I make a right turn on Victoria Park and St. Clair E on an amber.
Lightning strikes, and then I realize that it wasn't lightning, but the red light camera.

April 3rd, 2009
I receive a $180 ticket for making a right turn on an amber, which turned red when I was 1.9 seconds into the intersection. Considering I've been told on numerous occasions that I should get new plates because my number isn't clear enough. My license plate number is surprisingly clear in the photo.
I decide to fight said ticket, since had I attempted to stop, I probably would have lost control of my vehicle since the conditions were wet, and my tires suck.
I have until April 8th to set a court date in person. Contrary to what it says on my ticket, I cannot make an appointment by phone. Rather obvious, since the telephone number on the ticket is manned by automated prompts that repeat the same things, with no "person" option, and with a built in disconnect if you hit "0"...HAHAHAHAHAH!!! Oh, that's hilarious!

April 8th, 2009
I decide to go to the Markham Rd office on this day because I'm rarely in Scarborough, but I would be on that day.
I take a number in a room that has people packed into it like sardines. I'm T417, and they are currently serving T009. Only 3 wickets are open, and there are 4 categories of ticket numbers. I've been to offices in the west end. I've never seen shit like this before.
I'm there for an hour and a half and they are only at T089. I realize that I only paid for an hour and a half in the parking lot, and wouldn't it be sardonic if I got a ticket trying to get a court date to fight a ticket.
I then realize that there appears to be a method to this madness.
If you cram 800 people into a small room with only 100 chairs, and 3 wickets open, and it takes an hour and a half to service 80 people...anyone who can afford it will leave, and pay the ticket...because it's just not worth it.

It's license to print money.
It's fucking genius...I tell you.

Vegetarianism is a cry for help. A sadly transparent attempt to exercise control over your body, which you feel the need to do for psychological reasons of which you are probably unaware. It's why so many vegetarians have tattoos and exotic piercings (you know it's true). It's why anarchists, squatters, G20 protesters and art students are usually vegetarians. Frustrated that they cannot, and never will, control the world, or anything else of any significance, they starve themselves and carve holes in their bodies.

You know, at first I thought this article was funny, and a little outrageous.
But, while Giles Coren is a bit ridiculous in some of his comments, when I googled "vegetarians have an eating disorder", it's not such a crazy idea.

It actually explains some people I know.
Not to say all vegetarians....but, you've got to admit that it's a great cover for an eating disorder.

Off Limits Humour

Off-limits:

Women
Homosexuals
Transgendered
Minorities
Illegal immigrants
Poor people
Mentally [disabled] people
Overweight people
Vegetarians

Fair Game:

George W. Bush
Christians
Evangelicals
Republicans
Conservative bloggers
Conservative pundits
Rich people
Stupid people
People who...
live in the South
live in red states
drive trucks
fly American flags
have "Support Our Troops" stickers
Joe Lieberman

…Is this simply a case of applying a double standard to groups that we consider oppressed versus groups that we consider to be misguided? If you look at the other side of the blogosphere the columns are reversed. Is either side on higher ground?

Depends on who is telling the joke, and the context in which it is told.

The list above is subjective.
Why are vegetarians more off limits than...say...people who fly American flags? (wtf?)
Because the commenter thinks that vegetarians are morally superior to patriots?

As far as I can tell, humour comes from a very dark place.
It's a coping mechanism.
What's funny to you, may not be funny to me, and vice versa.
Our life experiences shape our sense of humour...or robs us of one.

No one can tell anyone what is, or is not funny....or what's "off limits".

There's a real low rent "Cher" quality to Lady GaGa.

Rigo's Church

I watched this episode of W5 last night on The Dominion Christian Centre in Hamilton, Ontario last night.

You can watch it too, if you follow the link and click on the video links on the upper right.

It once again solidifies my belief that extreme sects take advantage of people who are on the edge of mental health.

It makes sense to me that someone who is mentally fragile would seek extreme religious sects because the "church" can dictate how they should be living, and thinking. Therefore a person can lift their hands from taking responsibility for their own lives.

Believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress, according to new University of Toronto research that shows distinct brain differences between believers and non-believers.

In two studies led by Assistant Psychology Professor Michael Inzlicht, participants performed a Stroop task - a well-known test of cognitive control - while hooked up to electrodes that measured their brain activity.

Compared to non-believers, the religious participants showed significantly less activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that helps modify behavior by signaling when attention and control are needed, usually as a result of some anxiety-producing event like making a mistake. The stronger their religious zeal and the more they believed in God, the less their ACC fired in response to their own errors, and the fewer errors they made.

Now, while it's enticing to have less stress about your mistakes...the problem with that is that without the stress, there are more mistakes to be made...that's where the con comes in.
You can get your sheep to do all kinds of things that are damaging to society and mankind...I dunno...war comes to mind...

Opiate of the masses, indeed.

Don't get me wrong.
I believe in a higher power...I just don't believe that some con taking money from people on the premise of 'spreading God's word' is something that is good, or needed.

Faith is free.

Being a zombie in the name of religion is not.

HONG KONG (AP) - Cathay Pacific has apologized for embarrassing a customer whose anguish after missing her flight was captured on video by an airline employee and posted on the Internet.

It just goes to show you that you need to behave yourself while out in public, or risk being ridiculed as behaving like an out of control jackass on YouTube.

...and people are making a big deal about ccv on city streets?
Who needs them when there's a YouTube and cellphones with video capability?

(article found at Funkaoshi)

Ikea Housewarming Party

About 30-40 people showed up to one of the living room/kitchen sets at the Ikea in Burbank, bringing gifts (mostly things from other departments at the store). Many people brought cookies and snacks, and games like Jenga. The party was cut off after about twenty minutes by the Ikea staff, at which point Agent Tuttle, the “host” of the party, yelled out that it looks like we’re being too loud and that “the neighbors called the cops”.

I know a lot of people find this kind of thing amusing, and hilarious.

I find it kinda stupid.

It's the sort of thing we used to do in high school...you know...go down to Union Station and follow people around with newspapers in front of us with holes cut out for eyes, or sticking people in the ass with pins on the crowded midway at the Ex (true, actually done stupidness, when we didn't know any better, and thought we were funny...and grew up right downtown with no organized sports and nothing to do).

But, these are adults.

I feel sorry for the Ikea staff who have to deal with it, and clean up after it.
As if they don't have enough shit to deal with.

Canada is world's "Friendliest Country" says Forbes.com.

"It's no wonder they likely find Canada so welcoming. It has an accessible language, diverse culture and low levels of government corruption, says Patricia Linderman, editor of Tales from a Small Planet, an online newsletter for expats."

I once volunteered for a program designed to "adopt" a family new to Canada.

The idea was to be paired up with a family new to the country and help them to learn simple things like how to do their banking, or direct them to services...help them with forms and so on.

At the time, they had more volunteers than families, so I never got to do that.
I guess that says a lot in itself.

"We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots."



Found at Usually Barefoot Meg

Obama's Press person shows us that she/he is a genius (again).

"Next Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them".

Honestly.
Next to Michelle wearing J. Crew on election night, this shit is sheer brilliance.

Inauguration of President-Elect Obama : White people, stay home.

I'm hoping that the above entry is meant to be funny, and witty (even though it's neither).

We have friends going (they're black, so apparently..it's ok)...which, given the historical nature of this election gives them a pass for insisting on being present for the swearing in of an American President.
Even though our friends are Canadian...and even though Obama has already stated that his first foreign visit will probably be to Ottawa.

One thing is for sure though, Obama's election has done nothing for the state of affairs where racism is concerned.

People who deserve it:

A punch, that is....

For example:

The Loser Who Laments About Turning 25

With all the bills, disease, and global warming floating around, life can be tough. But for “Loser Who Laments About Turning 25” all is trumped by the impending halfway to fifty mark.
Even as he thumbs through the wads of disposable income that accompanies a full time job and no dependents, he grieves for his lost youth.
Should you catch “Loser Who Laments About Turning 25” crying over his candles, politely remind him that some people have real problems, one face punch at a time.

(Found at J-Walk Blog)

All the (little tiny) single ladies...



So, while we ooh, and ahh..about how cute she is, and how well she does the moves for such a little girl....I'd like to report to you that this kind of thing has more or less replaced skipping, and playing ball in the schoolyard for girls.

I think it's more than a little sad that little girls don't want to be little girls anymore.

Lives of the Pathetic and Delusional

When a tour-bus load of would-be Carries, Charlottes, and Samanthas (nope, no Mirandas) go chasing that Sex and the City dream, is it comedy, tragedy, or cultural delusion? Shuttling from a certain sex shop to the Magnolia Bakery, the author ponders their quest.

Firstly, I never understood "Sex in the City-mania", or any other type of obsession with fictional characters.
I don't understand Harry Potter freaks any more than I understand Trekkies, and Star Wars Freaks.

The NYC that these women live in is not one that I was ever familiar with, and I suppose that is part of the appeal for some middle aged women who are living the Ballad of Lucy Jordan....but a bus tour of the haunts of a bunch of fictional characters?

Seriously.
There really is a sucker born every minute.

Oh, ignore me...I'm a pragmatic, wet rag with an over-active sense of reality.

(Article found at Funkaoshi)

Tonight, on my scary 3 hour drive home...(yeah...not even funny because my tires SUCK), I saw a vanity plate on a BMW sportscar that read:

"an V usss"

...all I could think of was that he needed to lose the "V" on that plate.

Seriously.

What kind of "an usss" gets that kind of vanity plate?