Is Capital Pride socially disabled?

A proposed smoking ban on municipal properties such as City Hall could hurt attendance at the Capital Pride festival, say organizers who are calling for a grace period this summer if the new rules are approved.

Starting July 2, proposed bylaw amendments would issue tickets for smoking on city properties such as parks, beaches, sports fields and areas outside municipal facilities, as well Marion Dewar Plaza outside City Hall where the 2012 Capital Pride festival will take place.


In a press release, festival organizers stated that smoking rates are higher in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender and queer communities, and the proposed ban could discourage many people from attending the event.

READ THE WHOLE STORY ...

O P I N I O N

OK, I am a strong supporter of Ottawa's Capital Pride, but this request to the City to extend special rules so people can smoke at Pride is ridiculous. Do they really believe that the LGBTQ Community has 'special needs' when it comes to smoking cigarettes?

I smoked for many years, and one of the best things I ever did for myself was quit 15 years ago. When smoking in bars subsequently became illegal, I breathed a  sigh of relief that I no longer had to breath the fumes or go home stinking of other people's smoke.

Yet despite all the legal changes, it is still impossible to enjoy Ottawa's patios without having to wade through a cloud of second-hand smoke. Most smokers still do not abide by the rule to move 15' away from the building, so the smoke is even stronger because they all squeeze into a small space by the door.

Pride is no different. It is time for the LGBTQ Community to act like other grown-ups and stop imposing their self-destructive habit on the rest of us who wish to live without it. It's time to stop asking for special rules or nobody will ever take our community seriously.

Besides, I have no doubt that the decrease in smokers who come to Pride will be more than offset by the increase in non-smokers able to come and enjoy the smoke-free environment.

Fox is in the Muppet House

A couple of months ago, Fox News decided to attack the new Muppet Movie for being anti-capitalism because their evil nemesis is an oil tycoon. Their absurd 'arguments' - which are really just 2 people's opinions - can be heard in the first video where they attack the entire Hollywood conspiracy.

Shades of Tele-Tubbie's Gay Purse!



Here is Miss Piggy's response to the whole affair. Touché MissP !

Citrus sodas eat away teeth and bones in months

sheknows.com

Is Mountain Dew really so corrosive that it can dissolve a mouse carcass?

And if so, what does it do to your teeth and intestines?

Is Mountain Dew's classic slogan — "It'll tickle yore innards" — the world's most sickening understatement?

...
An attempt to win a small court battle this week has put Mountain Dew in peril of losing a much larger war.

PepsiCo, the soft drink's parent company, defended itself against a man who claimed he found a dead mouse in a can of the citrus soda.

Finish your drink here ...

Stephen Colbert's Super PAC isn't Stephen's anymore

 

Dear Super PAC Super Members,

Hi there. I'm Jon. It looks like I'm running this thing now. All the details are in the press release below. Quick question: does anybody know where the key to the Super PAC bathroom is?

Thanks,

Jon Stewart
President Pro Tem
Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow 

---

FOR REALLY IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Under New Management!
BASIC CABLE, USA – Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, an FEC registered Super PAC, today announced the addition of Jon Stewart to its executive board (along with the subtraction of Stephen Colbert).

With this change the group, which had been known colloquially as Colbert Super PAC, can now be referred to as The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC. They have already begun updating all of their letterhead with sharpie. 

READ THE REST OF THIS IMPORTANT DOCUMENT NOW !

OPEN LETTER TO STEPHEN COLBERT

The following letter was posted by me today in the community forum of The Colbert Nation website today:

TV Pundit and Class Clown Stephen Colbert proudly flies the
LGBT Community's Pride Flag UPSIDE-DOWN!

UPSIDE-DOWN Gay Pride Flag ?!? ... SCURRILOUSSSSS
(Colbert Report: July 21, 2011)

Dear Mr. Colbert,

I have watched your show since its inception (ie. idea was planted in the sleeping American Public's mind) for no other reason than to get mad at you for the heterosexist War you continue to wage against the LGBT/Gay community.

You have pissed me off in the past with your turgid tirades against gay rights and the losing battle (Ha Ha!) against gay marriage, but THIS TAKES THE (beautifully decorated) CAKE!

HOW DARE YOU display the LGBT flag upside-down in your recent piece about/against teaching gay history in schools?!? (See the episo)

I cannot believe that this was merely an oversight on the part of your Graphics team. No, rather, I am now convinced that such deep-seated disdain for the LGBT Community are really just pathetic attempts to obfuscate your own same-sex attractions.
Come out of the closet Stephen and stop looking at the Gay Pride Flag as if you were hanging upside-down in a kinky restraint device in your basement!

If you don't stop disrespecting the LGBT Community, we may be forced to organize a fun and colourful march to protest you, your medieval attitudes and perverse propaganda, STEPHEN!

Truculently Yours,
iDouglas
(Ottawa, Canada)


FOLLOW THIS LINK to the correct version of the Internationally accepted LGBT Community Flag

OR HERE FOR THE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE

VIEW THE OFFENDING EPISODE IN CANADA HERE

This is how the LBGT Pride Flag SHOULD appear!

The True North GAY and Free!!!

Hijabs, Turbans and Spaghetti Strainers?

An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".

The idea that the sieve was a requirement of his religion, Pastafarianism came into Mr Alm's noodle three years ago as a way of making a serious, if ironic, point.

A self-confessed atheist, Mr Alm says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted, US-based faith whose members call themselves pastafarians.

The group's website states that "the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma".

Iran bans necklaces for men and warns them about wearing jeans

Every year before summer rolls around Iranian authorities tighten clothing restrictions. Normally the “Moral Police” crackdown on the women forcing them to wear their hijab so that it covers all of their hair, for example.  But since last year, the "Moral Police" have been targeting the men too.

Last summer, the Iranian government issued a men’s hairstyle guide.

This year, they banned necklaces for men.

In addition, Iranian state TV has taken issue with jeans as well. A YouTube video from Iranian state TV features a discussion in which jeans are said to actually come from the word "jinn" - invisible creatures who know the unknowable (AKA "Genie"). The young man in the video says wearing jeans is also supposed to have a hazardous effect on a man's testicles because it raises the temperature. This, according to Iranian state TV, renders men infertile.

I thought they said Levi when I bought them!

“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggonit, people like me”

“Accentuate the positive,” the 1944 song by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen cheerfully implored us. 

Plug “positive thinking” into Amazon.com, and you will find a never-ending supply of products designed to help us see life through rose-colored lenses.

In fact, however, positivity is not all it is cracked up to be. Although having an upbeat attitude undoubtedly has its benefits, gains such as better health and wealth from high spirits remain largely undemonstrated. What is more, research suggests that optimism can be detrimental under certain circumstances.

Secret Video captures Usama Bin Laden's last moments

This is the part of the story that you didn't see on Anderson Cooper! ;-)

Guide to the gravity-defying Donald Trump combover

Rather than invest any of his considerable fortune in a transplant or wig, Donald Trump, the 61-year-old property magnate, insists on using a series of elaborate measures to plaster strands of hair across his balding pate.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were going to cover the media frenzy over Donald Trump and Obama's birth certificate, and they did not disappoint.

The Sky is Falling

This news story came and went really quickly. So quickly, in fact, I wondered to myself if something was being hidden from us ... for our own good.

This map shows the pattern of mass deaths of birds and fish around the world.


View Mass Animal Deaths in a larger map

... and the link will take you to an article that tries to separate the truth from the non-truth.

Personally, I believe these birds and fish are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, and whatever is going on, whether natural or induced by man, they appear to be an indication of something or some things going awry.  DR. MERCOLA 

I'm a Gemini. I'm a Taurus. I'm a Gemini ... again!

After the universal cafuffle about how the stars don't match up with the Astrological signs due to precession, I did some digging.

Following several leads I learned that Tropical Astrology, the version that is used here in North America, is quite different from Sidereal Astrology, the version that purportedly uses star maps.

So in reading this:

Tropical astrology is based on the idea that astrology is based on the configuration of the solar system relative to the Sun, not to the remote fixed stars. For tropical astrologers therefore it is irrelevant that the solsticial points (tropics) have drifted from one constellation to another over the millennia, due to the precession of the equinoxes. The names of the zodiacal constellations that became the star signs are supposed to suggest the characteristics of (the sun in) each segment of the year. Thus, Aries (House 1), representing the sun just returning to the northern hemisphere at the vernal equinox, Leo (House 5), representing sun of mid-summer, Sagittarius (House 9), representing the retreating sun close to the winter solstice, etc. In its emphasis on the symbolic or metaphorical meaning of the star signs tropical astrology differs from sidereal astrology which claims intrinsic meaning for the star signs and wishes to preserve those meanings by laying out horoscopes against fixed stars.

... I had to think that all of the hubbub over changing signs didn't actually apply to us here. Western Astrology doesn't even use the stars to make it's predictions.

But THEN, I started to think about all the people who have paid to have their charts done, according to some very complex maths interpreting the positions of heavenly bodies, were being ripped off. It's all bollocks anyway.

"For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky"

Despite a number of uncanny experiences with Town & Country magazine's back page, and a statistically improbable collection of Gemininian friends (cuz only a Gemini can really understand another Gemini!), I do not believe in Astrology. In fact, over the years I have unwittingly started several angry arguments with people who are into Astrology by questioning their pseudo-science. 

"Okay, I understand that you can calculate the position of the sun, moon, planets and stars to exacting degrees, but who decided that the positions of the spheres when someone was born indicate particular qualities?"

"HUMANS, that's who! The interpretations are completely subjective!"

They would usually assume their fallback position by accusing me of not understanding the precision of their charts, and that they are merely describing where things are - stars don't lie.


But, until a few weeks ago, I never imagined that even their math was flawed ... that's just crazy talk!


Turns out that their "precision" forgets about "precession" and the actual positions of objects in the sky don't match what their charts say. Not only do all of the Zodiac signs have the wrong dates, but there are actually 13 signs, not 12. And, it is a lot harder to draw things with 13 sections than it is with only 12.

New Zodiac Signs

Capricorn • January 20 - February 16

Aquarius • February 17 - March 11

Pisces • March 12 - April 18

Aries • April 19 - May 13

Taurus • May 14 - June 21

Gemini • June 22 - July 20

Cancer • July 21 - August 10

Leo • August 11 - September 16

Virgo • September 17 - October 30

Libra • October 31 - November 23

Scorpio • November 24 - 29

Ophiuchus • November 30 - December 17

Sagittarius • December 18 - January 20

Have a listen to this short interview with the scientist that has stirred up a scandalous storm of stellar proportions by suggesting that Astrologers' charts are wrong.

THAT means that, even if I DID believe in Astrology, rather than being a "

dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory

" Gemini, I am actually a 'solid, practical, extremely determined and strong-willed' Taurus. But, me and 'Bull' rarely see eye-to-eye. Now, 

I am going to have to redefine my entire personality to match the magical truthiness of Astrology.

With this new information, I really wish I had been born at the beginning of December so that I could identify with Ophiuchus ( being careful not too mis-pronounce it though ) because then everyone would assume I was wielding a big snake (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Ophiuchus holds a huge snake, Serpens, in both hands as shown in the Atlas Coelestis of John Flamsteed. Serpens is unique in being divided into two halves.

Chances are the people who believe what they want to believe rather than the facts will continue to do so, hoping the truth will slowly fade into the background for another 2,000 years (when I guess I will be an Aries). But unfortunately, to quote an old friend and her Tarot cards, the stars don't lie.

I predict that a new cult of 'True Astrologers', flanked by their newfound Ophiuchian (pron.?) friends will now descend from the heavens and tell us all that THEY are the aliens that seeded our planet with Life, and we should now call them God... I can hardly wait.

Until then, I guess I should start calling up all of my old, happily twinned, Gemininian friends and tell them that it's over, cuz things get REALLY CRAZY when a bunch of bulls get together.

"For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky"

The Other White Christmas

In The Netherlands, Zwarte Piet
is Sinterklaas' helper/slave.

The Netherland’s Christmas traditions are subject to a lot of controversy as their version of Santa, Sinterklaas, is accompanied by a one-time slave known as Black Peter [ Zwarte Piet ]. These days, the Dutch try to play down the racism of the matter by claiming that Black Peter’s cartoonish appearance is a result of his going down dirty chimneys all the time and he’s no longer referred to as a slave, but a “helper.”
The naughty man in blackface is a mischievous character who may kidnap naughty children and whisk them away to his home in Spain.


Origin and evolution [ wiki ]

According to myths dating to the beginning of the 19th century, Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) operated by himself or in the companionship of a devil. Having triumphed over evil, it was said that on Saint Nicholas Eve, the devil was shackled and made his slave. A devil as a helper of the Saint can also still be found in Austrian Saint Nicholas tradition in the character of Krampus.

Some sources indicate that in Germanic Europe, Zwarte Piet originally was such an enslaved devil forced to assist his captor, but the character emerged in the 19th century within the Netherlands as a companion of Saint Nicholas resembling a Moor.^[1] Saint Nicholas is said to come from Turkey. The relation of Zwarte Piet with Haji Firuz is incredibly close, Haji Firuz is a traditional herald of Nowruz, the Persian New Year celebration, exactly black in the face and comes with Amoo Nowruz a white beared old man who brings gifts for the children counter part of Western Santa.

The introduction of this new Zwarte Piet was paired with a change in the attitude of the Sinterklaas character that was often shown as being quite rough against bad children himself and thought unbefitting of a Bishop by teachers and priests. Soon after the introduction of Zwarte Piet as Sinterklaas' helper, both characters adapted to a softer character.^[2]

Until the second half of the 20th century, Saint Nicholas' helper was not too bright, in line with the old colonial traditions. Once immigration started from the former colonised countries Zwarte Piet became a much more respected assistant of Saint Nicholas, who is often a bit inattentive.^[3]

According to the more modern Saint Nicholas legend, a Zwarte Piet is a servant who accompanies Saint Nicholas on his holiday travels. In some versions, it is alleged that Saint Nicholas once liberated a young slave named Peter, who decided to serve Nicholas (as a free servant) rather than enjoy liberty alone. Zwarte Piet is today commonly depicted as a black person in the colorful pantaloons, feathered cap and ruffles of a Renaissance European page, a tradition based on a single illustration in a book published in 1850.

Zwarte Pieten are often portrayed as mischievous but rarely a mean-spirited characters. Parents used to tell their children that if they have been good, a Zwarte Piet will bring them gifts and sweets, but if they have been bad, a Piet will scoop them up, stuff them in his huge dufflebag and spirit them away to Spain as punishment. Though this is increasingly uncommon nowadays, he can still carry some type or scourge (called a "roe"), especially a a bundle of birch branches, which could be used for birching or in modern words, to chastise children who have been too naughty to deserve presents. The character is believed to have been derived from pagan traditions of evil spirits. Also told for decades is a story that the Zwarte Pieten are black because of chimney soot and/or in mockery of the darker Spanish occupiers of the Low Countries in centuries past.

The traditions of the Saint Nicholas feast are in part at least of medieval origin, if not much older. St. Nicholas himself, as described in the Dutch tradition shows some similarities to Wuotan/Odin, which suggests that the duo have a pre-Christian origin. Possible precursors to Zwarte Piet can be found in Odin's ravens Hugin and Munin.

Popping a Pink Cherry

Comments made by sports celebrity Don Cherry against "pinkos" during the swearing-in of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford have caused a stir.

Cherry, invited by Ford to the ceremony, said he specifically chose to wear a flamboyant pink jacket.
"Well, actually I'm wearing pinko for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything," he said.

Deep Thoughts

Since I seem to have so much time to ponder the fullness of space and the futility of trying to relax, I thought I would pass these thoughts on to you that some wise person sent to me in an email.

ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?

IS THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE?.

I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

WHY DO THEY LOCK PETROL STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?

IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?

WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL MAN IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DOES HE BECOME DISORIENTED?

CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

You "syrup suckers" better watch out! Better not cry!

Television host Stephen Colbert is going the comedic distance with his image splashed on the glossy cover of Sports Illustrated decked out in a skin-tight speedskating uniform, complete with a tie.

The satiric host of The Colbert Report appears on the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, due out this week, as part of his ongoing support for the U.S. speedskating team.

The mock right-wing pundit came to the aid of the team after its largest supporter, DSB Bank NV, declared bankruptcy in October. Colbert's fundraising efforts have so far netted $250,000 US for the team.

The magazine's latest issue, emblazoned with "Stephen Colbert and his nation save the Olympics," concerns sports media. It's also a sly reference to the comedian's jab at Olympic officials in Canada.

Colbert has launched a campaign against organizers at Vancouver's Winter Olympics, labeling Canadians as "syrup suckers" and "ice holes," after reports that staff have limited access to the Richmond Olympic Oval and other venues to international athletes.

"Sexually risky behaviour" NOT "Sexual orientation" for blood donations in Sweden

Sweden will lift its ban on gay blood donors as of March 1, 2010, but will restrict donations to gay men who have not had sex with a man for a year, national health authorities said Tuesday.

"Men who have had sex with men will no longer be permanently barred from donating blood," the National Board of Health and Welfare said in a statement released on World AIDS Day.

Sexual orientation will no longer determine whether a person can give blood. Instead, people who have engaged in "sexually risky behaviour" can be barred as donors for one year.

Ugandan law targeting gays is vile and hateful

The Canadian government is making its strongest defence yet of human rights for gays and lesbians, calling a proposed Ugandan law that would imprison and even execute homosexuals "vile and hateful."

The condemnation comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper prepares to join leaders of Commonwealth countries at a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.

The Ugandan "anti-homosexuality bill" is already spurring international calls for the country's suspension from the organization.

Peter Kent, minister of state for foreign affairs, said "Our position is that the proposed Uganda law is reprehensible, vile and hateful and it's appalling that such legislation would be brought to the parliament of a commonwealth democracy. "

... The new Chairman of the Commonwealth from Trinidad & Tobago doesn't seem much better.

CLICK HERE to read about the upcoming Commonwealth Summit.

CLICK HERE to see details about the Legal status of homosexuality worldwide as shown in the map above.

The sky is falling!

Heard some of the buzz about Hollywood’s new disaster flick 2012, that is being released today? Scientists are up in arms over the silly science gaffs and fallacies the film is filled with.

The basic premise of the movie revolves around a number of converging themes: the Mayan calendar predicting an end date of Dec.12, 2012, coupled with a rare alignment of our Sun and Earth with the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, and throw in a rogue planet that has its cross hairs on Earth. Makes for a great popcorn, sci-fi movie, but not real science. Surprisingly there are many unsuspecting folks who may actually start considering some these so called doomsday predictions for real.

This page has some links to some great in-depth analysis explaining the REAL science that the movie has managed to distort.