Iggy's bird

Most of the time, the job of critiquing and deconstructing political news or commentary requires some deep thinking and pondering. The task of creating satire isn't always obvious. Other times, they practically hand it to you on a silver platter. Michael Ignatieff did exactly that today.

Now this is a bit of a feat, considering the man was an acclaimed academic at a prestigious US university; a world traveller and a respected intellect. But that all changed with one little trip to the Maritimes.

At a Liberal get-together of sorts, the Liberals went on what was supposed to be a whale watching excursion. Apparently, whales can sense evil because they were nowhere to be found. There were, however, many, many puffins. These puffins were quite exciting to the ole Iggy meister.

"It's a noble bird because it has good family values. They stay together for 30 years. They lay one egg (each year). They put their excrement in one place. They hide their excrement.… They flap their wings very hard and they work like hell. This seems to me a symbol for what our party should be."

Now I'm just a wannabe-politician but even I know that you should never say the words excrement and symbol of our party in the same sentence. Christ, even Chretien knew that!

Now for a man who tried so damn hard to be leader of the Liberals, you'd think he'd know better. Especially a man wanting to lead a party that is still reeling from a scandal. They already think you're full of bull and up to something, do you really think it's wise to tell the Canadian public that your party is good at hiding crap - literally?

Seriously people. I couldn't make up stuff this good if I tried. And trust me, I've tried.

Egg Hunt

A new study shows that ovaries help protect us lady folk from dementia. And here they were for all these years telling us that our eggs were the ones making us crazy. Sheesh!

The study found that the removal of ovaries led to a high jump in a womyn’s chances of developing dementia. The reason being that ovaries produce estrogen and that the sudden drop off of estrogen from ovary removal deeply affects the brain.

This study is highly important for womyn because many (often far too many, but that’s another story for another day), undergo hysterectomies in their 50s-60s which usually involves a whole lot of egg snatching. (Alright, maybe snatch was the wrong verb right there).

What this study and article doesn’t touch upon is the consequences of estrogen levels on mental health as a whole. What I mean is the generations of womyn, including yours truly, who suck back the hormones once a day through the Pill. What about those who decide to get off the Pill to I dunno… procreate? Although we’ve come a long way since contraception was legalized in 1969, hormonal birth control methods still contain a lot of hormones. And I have yet to hear of any major study done on the mental state of those who are everyday gals who are on the Pill for years and then go off it.

And seeing as though I am not a scientist nor a scientific researcher, I have to put the word out there for those who are.

* I wish my eggs were as shiny as these!

Babykillers REJOICE!

I couldn't help but laugh when I found this little gem online.

"Rock for Life is committed to offering the truth about abortion, infanticide,
and euthanasia to America's youth through music and ministry"

Because all three are lumped together, don't you know? Oh how I adore anti-choice logic. This website obviously assaults my senses in many ways, one of which is its continuous use of the dichotomy: pro-life and pro-abortion. Being pro-choice does not mean you endores abortions. Nobody wants abortions. However, pro-choice believe in the reality that shit happens, rape happens, coercion happens and so, safe, accessible abortions must exist. And don't even get me started on the bullshit of pro-life. Pro-choicers are the real pro-lifers. They believe in meaningful, healthy lives. So-called "pro-lifers" care for the unborn, but when that womyn pops up a baby, you'll have a hard time finding one of those gung-ho "pro-lifers" ready with universal daycare or pay equity.

But this website rocks my socks because of this feature. It's a list of so-called PRO-LIFE BANDS. Wooo!

A- I had not heard of 3/4 of these bands (and I'm fairly educated in the ways of muzak)

B- Is anyone really surprised that bands called "Death Through Adam", "Everyday Sunday" or my personal favourite, "Infant Discarded" are anti-choice?

I only recognized "As I lay dying", "P.O.D" and "MxPx" but maybe I'm just not down with the ways of Jesus.

But I did genuinely enjoy reading their list of so-called evil bands which are outspokenly pro-choice. I by no means base my musical tastes and/or standards on political stances but from now on, everytime I discover a new band/musician that I like, you bet yourself I'll be finding out what list they're on.

I hate to start off on the wrong foot , BUT...

Although not exactly the cheeriest of topics to start this journey off with, I just couldn't ignore this.

I do not know where I stand on the mission to Afghanistan and Iraq. One very large part of me objects to any war, any use of arms and foreign occupation. And yet I have friends, one in particular in fact, who has willingly done more than one tour in that area and who insists that the presence of Canadian Forces is needed and appreciated by the vast majority of civilians. (The stories he told me are unbelievable). This causes me to wonder whether I should believe the white man on television (or white womyn with the token shoulder length hair) who report the news or make up policy in the safe spaces of Canada or if I should believe the soldiers on the ground, in the tanks, walking the dusty streets of the Middle-East. And so overall, I have no firm opinion on the War. (I know, I know, what a terrible member of the Orange team I am).

But what I do know is that I am vehemently against those who are laissez-faire about the news that another Canadian soldier has been killed. “If you’re a soldier serving over-seas or in any war zone, you need to know that death is a very real possibility”.

There is a risk of injury or fatality for many sex workers, transport truck drivers, taxi drivers, police officers and firefighters. But does that reduce the sadness or grief of family members or friends when they do indeed get injured or killed? Those who loved them still mourn, grieve and
live out their lives with giant black holes where memories once were. Death is death. And to me it matters not the cause or intentions; someone is gone; someone, somewhere is now without.