I'm so PROUD to be a CANADIAN!!!!!

Tonight we did it! We beat the USA in Olympic men's hockey! And I swear, all of Canada was there with them, sharing in their fight. All I could see all over FB were people's status updates about how they were watching the game. It was like the whole country's attention was finely tuned onto this one issue! Never before have I seen a whole nation come together in solidarity to cheer for something they hold dear.

I mean, it was just so much more exciting than following the Afghan detainee fiasco--and I bet you'll be hard pressed to divert our attention from this win as quickly as we were diverted from that! I'm so glad that our Prime Minister unnecessarily shut down our government for months; that way, we had saved up enough energy to really root on our team to the win!!!

And man, people are so proud now! Everyone's talking about how proud they are to be a Canadian, and how awesome we are as a country. And that's exactly what we need right now, cuz people were starting to feel a little low about themselves when they found out that their brothers and sisters are dying overseas just to prop up a sham, theocratic dictatorship. But now we can sleep a little easier at night because we OWN THE PODIUM!!! :D

Sure, the euphoria will pass, and Monday morning will shake us all out of bed and nudge us out the door to work. But this Monday will be different. Because now, we don't have to feel bad that our Minister of Science and Technology is a freakin' creationist Chiropractor, that our governing party is focused on passing counterproductive legislation, and that the Prime Minister is secretive as hell and thinks it's cool to shut the government down whenever he damn well pleases.

That's right. Tomorrow will be different. Because now, we have something we can be really proud of!!!! Something we can all get excited about! GO CANADA!!!

I need to post more gay stuff...

...because all this politics is making me depressed.

h/t CC

Karma's a bitch

While the name Michael Geist rings some bells, I'll admit I had no idea that this guy was a Law professor at Ottawa University. Anyway, his article from a little while ago makes for a very interesting read.

Apparently, the recording companies that whined and cried for years that internet file sharing was a violation of copyright laws were, themselves, violating the copyright laws. In a BIG way.

Two years later, a report tells us something everyone already knew

The whole idea of tasers was that they were supposed to provide a less lethal stand-in for the use of guns. Since they do pose a moderate risk for serious harm or death, users are only supposed to use them as they would use a gun.

Now, if you noticed a few RCMP officers shoot an unarmed man, then shoot him some more while he's on the ground, you might wonder if they were being a little over-zealous. That's what 4 RCMP officers did to a Polish man in Vancouver in 2007. Now a report is out saying that the officers used their weapons irresponsibly, that they did not follow proper protocols, and that the RCMP as an organization didn't respond properly either.

Response from RCMP Commissioner William Elliott? "No comment."

Forgive me for thinking that RCMP Commissioner William Elliott is a jerk.

Sweden Moving in a Positive Direction

Are you listening, Canadian Blood Services?

Sweden joins countries including Russia that have already changed their laws to allow gay men to donate blood. Meanwhile, the United States and England still bar men who have had sex with men from donating.

So does Canada, but it's time we opened our eyes to the fact that our ban on gay blood donors is ridiculously overbearing.

Ahhhh, I understand now

Here's a wonderful summary of all the stuff that's been going on in Canadian politics so far.

A little consistency, please

PM Harper then:

Rather than announcing a new approach, Mr. Harper's address restated his view that the proposed coalition is undemocratic and would be harmful for Canada during an economic downturn.

PM Harper now:

After a two-hour meeting yesterday at Rideau Hall, Governor General Michaëlle Jean granted Harper's request to prorogue Parliament, sparing him a confidence vote on Monday – and defeat for the minority Conservative government.

So...handing the government to the Coalition would be bad for Canada economically because of the period of instability for change over. But proroguing the government for a month and a half is apparently just peachy...

UPDATE: Harper gets a lesson in democracy. See my other post about misleading rhetoric.

UPDATE II: The New York Times have brought up a very good point, that I've been wondering about a lot: what's to stop any PM from now on from proroguing the government when he or she faces a confidence vote that is likely to topple the government? This isn't "my way or the highway," this is "my way or no way at all."