Quick Olympic thoughts

So here we are, well into the games and trailing Togo and Kyrgyzstan in the medal totals, with a grand total of, um, zero. Some critics may say that we need to train harder, spend more money, get our kids started earlier, etc.. Maybe, but that sounds like a lot of work. I think instead we should lobby the Olympic committee to expand the podium to include two more medals for every event. Those nickel and aluminum medals would really enhance our total, and our national pride.

And what's the deal here? In a country of 3.8 trillion people, they can't find a kid who's both cute and talented?

I can hardly wait for that thrilling speed walking event. When does that air?

Wackos and waterparks

A little wrap-up from the weekend, now that I have a couple minutes to write ...

First, I was glad to hear that Tim McLean's funeral went off without an ensuing gong show. Cudo's to Jim Cotton and all the others who showed up to peacefully support the family or had a hand in keeping the Westboro Baptist Church wackos away. Those guys are the Christian equivalent of Al Qaeda -- reveling in death to support their twisted version of their religion.

Cudos as well to the Portage newspaper for refusing to print the tasteless PETA ad, and jeers to those papers that published it anyhow as a "news item".

How to catch a nutbar: dig a hole and throw in a severed human head. Come back in 48 hours and the hole will be filled with American wackos.

****

changing topics ... this story just kinda flirted by without much reaction:

Arborg to gain $330,000 aquatic park, says Doer

The province will spend $330,000 towards a new outdoor pool and water slide park for Arborg, the Doer government said today.

The aquatic park will feature three water slides, a four-lane Olympic lap pool, a spray park and a “lazy” river to drift on a floatation device. The water centre is targeted to open next summer.

Provincial funding for the project is part of the government’s push to double recreation spending to more than $60 million over the next four years.

That's the entire story. What's the deal here? Does every town over 1000 people get a waterpark? Or only ones in NDP ridings? How exactly was Arborg chosen and who selected this waterpark as their recreation expense? Does Ledohowski get $330,000 from the Provincial government for his waterpark too? C'mon guys .. the government is spending $60m here. Are you going to let them spend it willy nilly, or are you going to ask a few questions?

Four sentences. Sheesh.

I'll believe it when I see it

Will Bono get the Point?

The thepoint.com has found a worthy cause:

OBJECTIVE To get Bono to retire from public life (so he'll stop leading misguided counter-productive philanthropy efforts)

Exhibit 1: the Red Campaign, co-created by Bono in 2006:

The RED campaign has managed to spend $40 million more on marketing that it has raised from RED product sales, while sending consumers a dangerous message.

The grassroots leaders of the global fight against AIDS didn’t ask for Bono to be their frontman. Its time for Bono to step down. We’ll all pledge donations to the Global Fund, but no pledges are collected until Bono retires from public life. ... If he want to fight AIDS he can make a direct donation instead of buying a sweatshop GAP T-shirt. As the pledges grow, Bono will have to decide what matters more, fighting AIDS effectively, or him being the movement’s frontman.

Spread the word.

h/t: much music

Oh ya, that's much better ...

Here's a little glimpse into the future for those of you who where calling for TASERs to get banned after the Langan incident:

A 26-year-old man died in hospital this morning after being shot by police outside an inner-city home when he refused to drop a knife he was brandishing ... One officer tried to use a Taser to subdue him, but the effort was unsuccessful and officers were required to use lethal force to stop the threat he posed.

Police said it’s too early to tell if the Taser malfunctioned, or if the electronic probes it shot failed to attach to the suspect.

Do you still want to suspend their use, Dr. Jon Gerrard? Let's suspend keeping people alive in favour of killing them with bullets, until the government conducts a review and sets guidelines for not killing people with bullets. Brilliant. And like Frogger points out, the police set guidelines for TASER use, not the government.

Seriously though, what's with all these people pulling knifes on cops? What are they hoping to accomplish?

Thoughts on the Greyhound beheading

If you're reading this, then you have a computer with internet, which means you're already familiar with the story so I won't bother providing a link. Also because there are too many to choose from.

There is usually a sequence of events when a tragedy like this happens:

1) media saturation. Good bye Taser story. Hello dude with no head. Get the widow on the set, we love dirty laundry.

2) people trying to make sense of it all. Did they know each other? Was he mentally unstable? Was it gang related? Was it race related?

It's not gang related. Like Darcey says over at The Broom: "Beheading isn't in their toolbox". Gang bangers are pussies who shoot from cars or attack in large groups. This guy wasn't a gang banger.

Was it race related? Doubtful. Beheading is in the toolbox of some extreme elements of certain ethnic and religious groups. But the victim is reported as being native. Are Canadian Indians the #1 enemy of Islamic extremists? Do Indians behead each other? I just can't see this as being a race thing.

Was he mentally unstable? Hmmm, let me think about this one. YES. And maybe, just maybe, that's all there is to it.

3) Political opportunism. I hope to God we skip this step this time around, but I wouldn't put it past David Chartrand and his ilk to spin this into some kind of Indian victimhood story.

4) Knee-jerk reactions. Ban the Taser! Ban shooter girls and cheap drinks! Put metal detectors at all Greyhound stops! It'll happen, don't worry.

One last thought:

If this had happened in LA, the attacker would be dead. I was visiting a friend in LA once when I ran into a detour in Santa Monica. I found out why, later on TV. A high speed car chase ended a block away in a hail of bullets. It was all recorded by helicopter camera: the cops had the car surrounded, and proceeded to turn it into swiss cheese. They could have, if they were so inclined, arrested the fellow and took him into custody, but that's not the way they do things down there. I'm not saying it's good or bad -- I'll let you make your own judgment call on that one -- but it is certainly expedient and cost effective. This guy, whoever he is, will have to be in custody or closely monitored for the rest of his life. He'll also be a threat to society for the rest of his life. A carton of bullets for a Glock .45 = $45

Just sayin' ...

Don't tase me, bro

Prepare yourself for another 2 weeks of non-stop Robert Dziekanski footage, as the news programs cover the apparent Taser death of 17 year old Michael Langan, along with the resulting cries from the irrational masses to "ban the Taser".

Unlike PITT and JDS (who I'm not saying are irrational ... although they might be on occasion), I DO support the use of Tasers. Like I wrote back here

the death of Robert Dziekanski was regrettable, and the police may have been a little trigger-happy with their 50,000 volt toys, but it is undebatable that the use of a Taser is still a far better option than the use of a gun in subduing an unruly person in close quarters.

While all of the details have yet to come out, it appears this kid put himself in that position:

"They repeatedly asked him to disarm himself and to drop the knife," const. Jacqueline Chaput said. "The male refused to comply and at that point the electronic control device was deployed.

Remind you of anybody else?

The mother says "they might as well have taken a gun and shot my son." Well, you know what? That's exactly what they would have done if they didn't have Tasers. At least with Tasers there's better than a 99% chance he'll live.

Every use of the Taser should be reviewed to ensure the circumstances were appropriate (shooting each other in the ass at a party is not appropriate, by the way), but ban the Taser? Fuck that. If you support banning Tasers then you support increased death of idiots who don't understand that threatening other people puts yourself in harm's way as well. I guess you could call it natural selection, but I'm an old softy and I think that these idiots should at least be given a fair chance to survive the encounter and turn their lives around.