Meaningless Pleasantries
- CASHIER: Hi there, how are you doing this evening?
- ME: I'm doing good.
- CASHIER(without missing a beat): Fine thanks.
- *AWKWARD SILENCE*
- ME(thinking to myself): Yeah, that's right... I didn't ask you how you were doing.
January 25, 2009
Here’s The Thing…Toy Dogs
Bichon Frise, Yorkshire Terrier, Shih Tzu, Chihuahua. What do these dogs have in common? Aside from being yappy and annoying nuisances they are also, simply put…abominations!
Dogs are descendants of grey wolves that diverged from the wolf species an estimated 100,000 years ago. From that point until approximately 15,000 years ago they remained largely unchanged until human beings decided to domesticate them. Starting in East Asia, humans traveled the globe spreading with them varying breeds of dogs until we decided to go nuts with the idea and throw ourselves into the role of artificial selective breeder. Some of these breeds don’t seem over the top unusual - Labrador, Alsatian, Huskie, German Shepherd, etc. But please could someone explain to me the desire to create the absolute horrific mutations that some loving dog owners refer to as “The Toy Dog”.
Picture in your mind a wolf. Focus on it’s large, strong body. It’s teeth, it’s ears, it’s tail. Really focus on that image. Now imagine…a Chinese Crested Dog. Google image search it if you don’t know which breed I mean. Can someone tell me just what the Crufts is that dog supposed to be???
English Bulldogs suffer from heart and hip problems.
Poodles suffer from Entropion which is a condition where the eyelids fold inward and also Trichiasis which is ingrown eyelashes.
Shih Tzus suffer from from abnormal thyroid function.
Corgis, like other dwarf type dogs, suffer from lameness and arthritis-like symptoms.
It’s amazing to me that so many people, dog owners being amongst them, disagree with cloning technology for stem cell research. At least cloning is making an exact copy and not mutating a species into something which will be always be born shackled with a genetic handicap. Sick little yappy sods, the lot of them.
Thoughts?
Here’s The Thing…Politics
I’m starting to wonder just where my loyalties lie with the government. I’ve been aware for some time that it’s important to take an interest in how we are governed. For a few years now I’ve read up on socialism/communism but have come to the conclusion that, although I genuinely believe in communism I really can’t see enough people around the world sharing these views to make a difference. The vote count speak for itself.
The basic democratic model we have right now is here to stay but I’m having a hard time facing up to that. It seems there are several fringe parties out there that have existed for quite some time but honestly…are people going to switch their perspectives enough to jump on board new ways of thinking about government? There might be the odd documentary or thought provoking movie or book that grabs people’s attention for an hour or two but I don’t think I can see society changing for the better anytime soon. A documentary about sustainable green living or a book about the end of capitalism is great…for a bit. Then the TV is switched off, the book put down and the lights go off so we can go to bed and get up the next day to carry on our lives in the society we’ve carved out for ourselves.
I think I may be resigning myself to the fact that it comes down to either Liberal or Conservative in Canada. Labour or Conservative in the UK. Democrats or Republicans in the US. Even the more popular “fringe parties” like the Greens and the NDP don’t seem to get much of a look in. Last year my attention was grabbed by both Elizabeth May and Jack Layton from the Green and the NDP parties. Although both these parties speak a lot of sense on some extremely important issues the voters just aren’t buying into it.
For those of you who are still reading this I’m pleased you have an interest in government. What are your thoughts?
For those who aren’t interested in government I sincerely hope that ignorance is bliss.
