What’s up with stigma, anyways?

A few years ago I saw a comedian who was doing a bit about people with glasses.

Why is it that it’s OK to ask people with glasses to try their glasses on? They always have the same reaction – “wow! You are SO BLIND!”

You wouldn’t ask a person in a wheelchair to try their wheelchair on for size. “Wow! You really can’t walk!”

What’s up with municipal politics, anyway?

I am an avid politico. I love reading about politics. I love staying on top of what’s in the news – even Canadian politics excite me! I’ve enjoyed the long mayoral election season because it gives me more time to fantasize about the magical place Toronto will be once that asswipe takes his final steps out.

What’s up with the Middle East, anyway?

This topic enrages me, so I tend to avoid it. I don’t think I’ll cover it again, but I need to get this out.
There has been a ton and a half written about this conflict, and I don’t intend on repeating stuff. What I want to talk about is empathy, and how the conflict is designed to rob people on both sides of it.

What’s up with vegetarianism, anyway?

Here’s my thing with vegetarianism and veganism as a means of impacting power over the meat industry – it inherently can’t work.

So what’s up with the music industry, anyway?

So John Legend and Colbie Caillat have new videos out. You’ll notice that I don’t talk much about music here, and that’s mostly because I’m very much a casual music listener, at the best of times, and certainly nothing modern, because I’m an old fogey like that.

BUT this has a social justice slant, so obviously I have to pay attention. Let’s set aside for a moment the fact that these songs are so similar I find it difficult to believe one was not ripped off of the other (which, I don’t know).

What’s up with the army, anyway?

The Australian Army has hit the newswaves in a big way in the last few days with what we think of in the West as a pretty average, almost boring sex scandal. I mean, it didn’t even include non-consensual sex and quietly firing the women when they came forward. By our standards, it’s almost hard to get upset considering the rest of the shit out there. 

What’s up with the word “real”, anyway?

I want to talk about the word “real” and how it applies to professions/hobbies, etc. Let’s start with this – it bugs the shit out of me.

What’s up with negativity, anyway?

I’m going to try something different for the next few days. I’m going to ONLY share articles that address social injustice in a positive light. I don’t mean the kind of “there is no social injustice” or “social injustice, YAY!” (full disclosure – I’m not sure those exist) type of articles. I mean ones that only talk about either positive change or feel good posts. Here’s why.

What’s up with Moncton, anyway?

I don’t know about you, but when I read stories about yet another mass shooting in the states, I tend to feel both sadness and a bit of smug relief that I live a border removed from that insanity. I think a lot of people here feel that way, because when a young man shot dead three police officers June 4^th it felt a lot like a wake up call. So much for our smugness.

What’s up with the Supreme Court, anyway?

Apparently since I had a brief window of cottage-y goodness, our local Justice Systems have been working hard to make sure I had an overwhelming amount to cover. My assumption is that they did it on purpose.

Anyway, my thought was to simplify this whole process by just giving you a bit of a summary of what’s happened in the past week or so and give you a link to a good and thorough article on the subject. I’d encourage you to read the comments in some of these pieces, they are (save for the common filler nonsense) sometimes rather insightful.