I can't lie to you, I forgot the card

I'm sorry.

I love you very much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

PS: I actually wrote your birthday down in my dayplanner. A while ago. Because I care so much.

PPS: And this way, WAY more people can see how much I love you. As opposed to some silly card I send in the mail. It's almost like I planned it this way.... almost.

Final edit: cards will rot or be recycled, but the internet is forever XOXO

I think I need a title to make this a series....

I am concerned that this blog will turn into my ranting about the people ranting in the comments on CBC news stories.

I am also concerned that the comments section reveals a disturbing microcosm of society.

Then again, how many people:
-have internet
-read the CBC news online
-comment on the CBC news online
-are completely ignorant of humanity

Hopefully not many.

So, in Calgary last night, a cop pursued a white SUV for a distance because of some traffic infraction. The SUV kept going, eventually the cop turned off his lights and sirens and gave up chase. Later, the SUV ended up rolling and smashing into a house in a residential neighborhood, started a minor fire, and killed both people in the car.

The ever-so-brilliant canuck69 (awesome screen name), writes:

"Good.

Two less epic losers for members of the public that actually contribute something to society to worry about."

I love how blatantly obvious it is that canuck69 really, truly, deeply, PROFOUNDLY worried about these two "epic losers." Except that (s)he doesn't. Guess canuck69 isn't a contributing member of society. Let's vote her/him off the island. Because I'm a contributing member of society, and I worry for the well being of society with canuck69 in it. Besides, I know that canuck69 would do that same in my position.

From Rexmorgan:

"Now were gonna hear the parents of these idiots say stuff like "he was a good kid'....only in the N.E."

That is SO inconvenient, Rexmorgan. I HATE hearing all that sappy crap they make up about terrible people after they're dead. Why anyone has to pretend that someone cared about these assholes is ridiculous. We should write the obituary, Rexmorgan. I think it would go something like this: "Two randoms are dead. Who gives a shit. Good riddance." Perfect.

That is, of course, assuming they can afford to print obituaries in NE Calgary. I hear it's poor there. And dirty. And full of criminals, hookers and immigrants. People from the NE basically don't matter because they're less than people anyways. And goodness knows that kids from the NW, SW and SE of Calgary never roll their cars and kill themselves, because, as Rexmorgan points out, these sorts of things only ever happen in the NE.

Either that or parents in the NW, SW and SE tell the truth and spout off all the terrible things about their children when they die. Tell me fellow (and former) Calgarians: is that how it works in your quadrant?

(Note: I should probably stop with the sarcasm before I hurt myself... oh wait... there's more...)

MapleLeafRoundel:

"Happily, at least these two dead idiots didn't kill anyone ELSE with their criminally irresponsible behavior!
Once again, some spoiled brats of the "ME Generation" have learned the hard way that actions have consequences...and when a cop says "stop", that really IS the smart thing to do."

Okay. I guess I take back everything I thought I knew as taught to me by Rexmorgan. I've seen the light thanks to MapleLeafRoundel. It's not the fault of Calgary's quadrant system, it's OUR PARENTS fault. For giving us everything and making us entirely self-centered. And teaching us that the law doesn't really have to be respected. I mean, it's not like you can get into any trouble a good lawyer can't get you out of these days. Thanks for clearing that up.

But thankfully, there's light with TellTheTruth:

""Lind managed to pull the passenger out of the burning Jeep."

He risked his life trying to save the suspect.
Brave man. I am glad he is O.K.
Thank you, Mr. Lind."

Finally, a human being human. And I'm not even speaking about Officer Lind, it's nice to see some thoughtful outlook from the peanut-gallery.

And no CBC comments section is ever entirely complete without a little conspiracy-theoring:

"Actually, Gord, the vast majority of the "anti-cop" comments in this thread are coming from East of the Manitoba-Ontario border...

And you have to remember the CBC does tend to attract a lot of readers (and posters) who tend to discount the value of "Law and Order"

And of course, there is at least one censor (pardon me..."moderator") on this web site who gleefully suppresses comments from the right of the political spectrum on a regular basis..." (Emphasis mine)

As Calgary Redneck points out, everyone is out to drown the conservatives. All the time. Especially in the comments section of the Commie-run CBC website. Oooh, wait, it gets better: that's why they call it the COMMents section, and not the CONSERents section. Maybe this is also why the real Stephen Harper is hiding in a secret lair somewhere and has replaced himself and his family with robots to use in public. Just saying....

Sigh.

PS: I have actually commented on a CBC news post before. I wonder if someone out there is filling their time writing blog posts exposing my ugly nature...

Update: I love you BobZurunkel, whoever you are

This person has summed up everything I was trying to say below in 45 words:

When pride parades are no longer news worthy and simply accepted, they will no longer be needed.

The fact that so many people get so upset by a parade proves how necessary such events are.

Love is love and that is never a bad thing.

The _____ Pride Parade (or how I learned to stop hating and love everyone)

I believe in the good of people.

I trust in the better nature of humanity.

I do not understand how people can hate other people so much for simply being human.

Recently, after browsing through Facebook, the Perez, a little gander on Twitter and exhausting myself on Jezebel, Firefox and I strode over to the CBC webpage. Check on the news, see what's new and crazy in Manitoba. I do this fairly often, mostly so that I'll understand what people are talking about when they refer to such-and-such or this-and-that. These days, keeping up with the news is harder and harder; I've lived in four places in the past year and feel the need to check up on all of them. Thank goodness for the development of tabbed browsing.

On the CBC homepage for news, a particular headline caught my eye: "Original gay pride event had protest element." The article is about this weekend's Pride events in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This year's parade grand marshall is Glen Murray, the former mayor of Winnipeg. More importantly, he is the "first openly gay mayor of a major Canadian city." Good for you Glen! Unfortunate though, that his sexuality is at all important to his politics. It's pride mixed with hope mixed with sadness at our current state of affairs. How nice it will be when a person's sexuality is no longer a matter worth fighting for.

Okay, so this article: nice, short, sweet, have fun in Winnipeg!

What really drew my attention were the comments from readers. I'm posting some of them here, because there is no paraphrasing that can do justice to the hateful, terrified and unfortunate points of view of some people:

SamSquantch writes:

"So when's the Hetero Pride parade? or is that not acceptable.
Be gay, be lesbian, be all you can be, but enough of trying to shove it down everyone else's throat already.
A lot of people just don't care anymore. I'm more disgusted with some of their antics than anything else, are they trying to get people to dislike them.

As for Glen Murray...... Go back to Ontario"

(Unfortunately) Unsurprising is that this sentiment is echoed in at least 5 or 6 other comments within the first 40 or so posted.

FlyByWire just posted as I was writing this entry:

"Sure Glen Murray was the first openly gay mayor in Canada but he wasn't a great mayor. Just because a person is gay doesn't mean he or she would do a much better job than a heterosexual or visible minority..."

First two sentences: good point, being gay doesn't have anything to do with how good a person is at being a politician and managing a community. Though, I'm not entirely sure why the writer chose to mention visible minorities in this case. So yes, so far, fairly good point made by this writer. Then they decided to continue. I lost faith:

"But if you want to see a monument of Glen Murray's term in Winnipeg, look no further than the St. Boniface bridge with the phallic shaped bridge support."

Okay... so. Let me get this straight (pun intended). You don't want politics to have anything to do with a person's sexuality (awesome), but you make sexual jokes about the result of a person's politics? I'm a little confused.

Confused though I am, at least now I know the true meaning of what it means to be 'gay' thanks to ThinkB4youDo:

"Who knew the word GAY meaning: joyful, happy, go-lucky, jovial, pleasant, kind, bright, showy, ... & other positive attributes; Has been usurped by homosexuals & lesbians as their collective identification word.

It would far better & original to quoin your own ID word.

The word Gay is also persons' name or surname, you are offending these people too. The word gay already has definitions, and doesn't merit being perverse in meaning.

To all homosexuals & lesbians there is no need to, have parades, flaunt your lifestyle, push it on others, especially to children, in schools, .... in many ways from parades to government.

You are discriminating against many others.

Surely you'd be the first to aggressively protest and object to heterosexuals having parades, .... and certainly apt to be strongly against catholic teachings, conservative Jewish teachings, Muslim teachings, etc..

Please Abandon the word gay to identify your group.

Do Respect yourselves and others Keep your lifestyles to your selves." (Emphasis mine)

Flabbergasted. Is that how you spell that? I don't even know how to start. And whenever that happens, it can only mean one thing: It's time to make a list of numbered points!

1. Usurped. Offending. Perverse. Them's some strong fightin' words. ThinkB4youDo does not like the gays. At all. But at least this writer is supportive enough to want the gays to find their own word, their own identity. That's a good thing.... Right?
   
   
2. I also love how all the people with the name Gay are offended by the fact that their name has been arbitrarily designated to men men who like other men. CHANGE YOUR NAME if it bothers you so very very much. Statements like this make me want to conduct polls. On people named Gay. About their name being synonymous with a sexual classification.
   
   I wonder what all the Gays in the world would have to say.
   
   
3. You know those guys, at the booths in the centre of the hallway in the mall? They sell Dead Sea Beauty products, Coriolis hair straighteners (I love mine) and various other things none of us need. THEY push their wares on people. I honestly believe the companies that own those little booths would have a parade if they thought it meant they'd better be able to "push it on others."
   
   Has ThinkB4youDo picked up a Cosmopolitan magazine lately? Maxim? They must have not, because anyone can see that these magazines are one obvious and very powerful way of shoving, forcing, ramming and stuffing heterosexuality down our throats. Don't even get me started on the most recent issue of Cosmo (page 56 - Why So Many Men Are Suckers For Skanks; page 79 - Clues That Tell You He's Fertile). There, I can't say anymore without making this post desperately long.
   
   
4. ESPECIALLY TO CHILDREN, IN SCHOOLS!!!!
   
   Where the hell did that come from?
   
   
5. I would like to point out that at least our writer has an open mind about religion. Ish.
   
   
6. "Your group." "Your lifestyles." Lesson to be learned: gays are different from us normal, heterosexual people. They've chosen to be different, so it's okay to persecute them. They could just choose to be normal again. Also, it's good to refer to them as gays, because they're all one group, totally homogeneous (pun, again, intended). Keep it simple: they're not people, they're gays. Oh wait, sorry, normal people invented the word gay and the _____'s stole it! Make up your own damn word!
   

Okay. No more words. I think my sarcastic anger speaks for itself.