Who I Hate #2.......

Who do I hate?


Ezra Levant

I'm a patriot! And a bigot! My mother must be so proud!

Here's a guy who was apparently born conservative. His first college protest was against affirmative action. He's stated that it'd be great for the country if Quebec separates, because it'd get rid of bilingualism and multiculturalism and that'd give the government the chutzpah to stand up to other "special interest" groups, you know like First Nations and environmentalists. He's a former Reformer and a staunch current Conservative. Oh, and he was a tobacco lobbyist. For all these reasons and more, for every time I hear him speak, I hate you, Ezra Levant.

Unbiased News, I Hardly Knew Ye....

Before I get to the real meat and potatoes of this post, you wanna see the most token "article" about a "women's interest" story ever? Well, here you go. At least CTV had the decency to cover the Clothesline Project. The CBC didn't even give it a mention. Thanks CBC! I know how you hate to dirty your hands with that lady stuff, seeing as you're 'Liberal media' and all. Which brings me to....

While watching television with my partner last night, we stumbled across a channel we usually flip over. We probably would have if not for the "stunning" editorial being shat out of the mouth of one Ezra Levant, my new worst enemy, on the offending channel, the Sun News Network. Now, most people in Canada know the Sun papers, the rag that comes in the red boxes, it's primarily a glorified sports section with a bunch of right-wing editorials and a bunch of nudey pictures thrown in, all wrapped up in a third grade reading level. The Sun is basically the cheapest lad mag you can get in Canada, and there's a new one every day. Whoopee! The Sun papers are owned by Sun Media (owner of a multitude of tabloid "newspapers" such as the Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver Suns, as well as Le Journals de Montreal, Quebec et Sherbrooke, and the 24 Hours mini-paper), which in turn is owned by Quebecor Media. The Sun papers in Canada are the sister paper of a full on pornographic British "newspaper", just so's you know. But I digress.

So, now the Sun has a news channel. A channel calling itself "lively", "unapologetically patriotic," and "less politically correct" than its' competition, most notably the CBC and CTV news networks, which the Sun Propaganda Network accuses of being "uninspired", "liberal-biased" and the reason "so many Canadians turn to U.S. news channels for their news.".

I have never watched Fox News or CNN for anything other than laughs. Why would I? I live in Canada, and those channels aren't going to tell me shit about shit that affects me directly. Now the CBC and CTV often spend lots more time on world news and sports than the news at home, but at least they cover the news at home and each has local news options for stories about my (and your) community. So, I call bullshit there. But, that's only one in a series of many, I assure you.

Sun News Media has taken on, with false and token begrudgement, the moniker of "Fox News North", and while disputing the name itself, they say that they only are trying to keep the feel of the broadcasts "irreverent" and "provocative". Which as we all know are synonyms for prejudiced and pornographic respectively. So, whether it's sickeningly right-wing editorial show after right-wing editorial show or "Sunshine-Girl" turned newscasters, all of a certain age and body type that for some reason aren't allowed to wear anything with sleeves, you know what to expect from the Sun Bullshit Garbage Network. Something for everyone, as long as you're a white, cisgendered, monotheistic-worshipping male.

Where did this channel come from? Why is it on my T.V? These questions raced through my mind as I projectile vomited at Ezra Levant and Kathy Shaidle on my screen telling me why political correctness and the Human Rights Commission is turning Canada into some kind of thought-policed Orwellian state. Well, it turns out that there are rumors that CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein was under pressure from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to resign from the commission and take another government position, such as an ambassadorship, in order to facilitate Sun News getting its desired license. I know, Herr Harper doing everything in his considerable power to get a right-wing Canadian Fox News clone on the air? Why that's INCONCEIVABLE!

The network was absolutely disgusting in its' obvious right-wing bias during election coverage and even after when Ezra slammed a member of another news network for apparently showing her bias when shedding a tear at the Liberal aftermath and Michael Ignatieffs' decision to step down as leader. All without a hint of irony. And, as I watched yet another editorial rant begin, this time about the 'Nanny State' not letting Canadians eat and drink whatever they damn well please, I began to feel frightened. And as that editorial gave way to one about the woman in Saudi Arabia jailed for daring to drive a car, I had just the slightest glimmer of hope as the patriarchal laws of Saudi were brought into question (as if we're so much better here. Right.) Up until Canadian women were chastised by the pundit for "wasting their time on silly Slutwalks and being offended over trivial things a Toronto cop said, rather than helping their sisters overseas(!)" Really dude? So, what the fuck have YOU done for women overseas in Muslim nations? Jack shit? I fucking thought so. Like Canadian women, who barely have a hold of any rights here in the Great White Male North can just march on over to Saudi and get the monarchy to settle the fuck down with the misogyny, if only they'd mobilize. The audacity was too much. To put the onus on women here for the suffering of women there is unacceptable. Fuck you very much Sun Misogyny Patriarchy-Fest Neo-Nazi Klan Network. I'll be keeping an eye on some of their (male, natch) editorial pundits, but I can't even bear to see the poor, plastic women that they have doing their news. It makes me sad, the hold that the media networks have on their female anchors, making them look this way, dress this way, have this procedure, all for the hope of gaining male viewership. It makes me sad that dudes fall for it, demand it, want it. The whole channel is one big garbage fart. And this is what news is coming to....

Update! Steven Tyler Is A Piece Of Shit! Part 2!

TW for abortion discussion, victim blaming, pedophilia

I wrote about this a while ago. I can't even convey how much I fucking hate Steven Tyler. While I don't want my ranting about how much of a pedophile fuck he is to take center stage around here, I thought I would just articulate about how monstrous he was concerning that statutory rape and abortion deal he was "involved" with. The child, Julia Holcomb, that he apparently forced to get pregnant has grown up and is sharing her side of the story, found here among other places. 

The facts are chilling. This girl had an obviously traumatic childhood. Her mother signed away legal guardianship to Tyler, so that he could take her cross-country with him on his tours. Her birth control was taken away, indeed thrown out a window, to ensure that pregnancy would occur. Forced impregnation is one of the crimes most heinous perpetrated against women. It binds women, both financially and with obligation to care for the new life to the oppressive man who impregnates them. It silences them under the weight of increased duty and responsibility which the man, having done his "duty" will not share. It is a psychological weapon wielded by men and even if abortion is "allowed" to the woman, the damage is done. She did not choose this pregnancy. Whether or not she chose the abortion is now by and large irrelevant.

After a house fire, in which Holcomb was hospitalized due to smoke inhalation, Tyler then pressured her into the abortion. While he states he was worried about the safety of the child, due to the smoke inhalation, I surmise he was worried about his career and lifestyle, thinking that it would be harder to rape other women children, if he had a wife and child on tour with him. After offering no support when Holcomb stated she wanted to keep the child and continuing to pester her about aborting it, she reluctantly agreed. Tyler DID stay around for the procedure. He just spent the time snorting rails on the bedside table. He was nice enough to offer one to Holcomb. As he left he told her "the baby had been born alive and allowed to die.". That kind of information can only serve to mentally scar the parents of the aborted child, so why would it be released at all? I think that Tyler made this up, told Holcomb that story to hurt her further, put the blame that his child was aborted on her even though he wouldn't have had a hand in raising it and indeed didn't want it. But, it was his offspring, his apparent son, and why should he take any kind of responsibility or feel any guilt? That's not what men do. Men fuck. Women care. That's just how it is in Steven Tyler's rock 'n' roll 'n' rape world. Unfortunately, this is the world that most women are forced to live in, too.

The fact that Steven Tyler was painted as a tragic victim in all of this is the terrible icing on the cake. He was, and is a monster. The facts are there: he raped a minor who was in his care. Whether she was fourteen as he said or sixteen as she said makes no difference, as either way she was still just a child to his twenty-odd years of age. He deprived her of food, water and social contact. He provided her unsafe, unsanitary living conditions, which led to the fire that hospitalized her. He provided her drugs in lieu of proper care. He forced her to get pregnant, then forced her to get an abortion. He then said the most hurtful thing any person could say in that situation. And he's a famous mega-star. People buy his records. People watch him on their televisions. He should be in jail for the rest of his life, and all his assets should be appropriated and distributed to women in need, women facing the same kind of coercion and violence and trauma that he inflicted on Julia Holcomb. When will people take a stand? When will those famous pedophile freaks out there ever be held accountable. Steven Tyler has been on my boycott list for a long time, but I implore all of you to join me on that. Write the producers of American Idol and ask, no demand his departure from the show. Write your local radio stations and demand that they take Aerosmith out of their rotation. Make him poor and forgotten, just as he left Julia Holcomb.

I hope this to be the last time I ever discuss Steven Fucking Tyler here.

Probably The Worst Thing Ever

TW for pedophilia, rape culture,

Now, no one I know had ever accused Facebook of being good for anything. I used to be on the Facebook, but my profile has been deleted (not simply de-activated, like they'd prefer, what a trial that was) for a long time now. There was always lots of shitty, questionable stuff floating around Facebook, and it was just an all-around ruiner of lives. But this, THIS defies my even my low expectations. Two unnamed young men in B.C. (ages also withheld, but they're in their early fucking twenties) created a sort of pedophiles' bible on Facebook, teaching other would-be rapists the best 'tips 'n' tricks' to trick girls as young as THIRTEEN into having sex with them.Even tips on what to do and say if you get caught by the girls' parents.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Now think about the fact that while the page has been taken down, no criminal charges are being laid against the creators. They made a how-to guide for the budding pedophile, but they're not being charged with anything, and they won't be unless someone out there commits an offense based on the sites' content, which is no longer there for cross-referencing in court, thank you very much. And since these perverts put a disclaimer on their rape-guide and kept in within "legal bounds", whatever the fuck that means, no charges against them were laid, and their names stay withheld. The RCMP is doing absolutely nothing, not even slapping them on the wrist. These pedophiles are getting off with barely a warning. This makes me sick.


And, of course, once again the onus is being put on girls to protect themselves and parents to keep their kids safe. City councillor Deb MacIntosh said it's ultimately the responsibility of parents to inform their children about potential social dangers and to monitor their online activity. Huh. Right. She then goes on to say:

"You don't have to be one of those militant parents who check on everything, but know who they're talking to," she said.

Once again, nothing to men out there about not raping children, not using alcohol and trickery to coerce young women and girls into sex acts, nothing about taking no as an answer and respecting the autonomy of women and girls, nothing about not being a goddamn fucking pedophile piece of shit. Where is the responsibility of men? They get a slap on the wrist and a few cursory remarks about people being "so shocked and ashamed." of this behavior. Oh bullshit. Men love to ignore and traipse around that pesky statutory rape law all the time. There has got to be a study on why pedophilia is not only on the rise, but it's becoming more and more acceptable to mainstream culture. You can bet that pornography is linked to it. There you go scientists, I've already got the ball rolling for you.

Getting back to Facebook for a minute, I think it's about time that the whole site got shut down for a while and re-worked. How many media stories have you heard about the dangers and evils of Facebook? What good has it ever done for anyone? Facebook at best only causes paranoia and heartache in those that use it, and is a tool for sexual predators, rapists and pedophiles at worst, and there's not too many degrees on that spectrum. I'm not saying that all social media is bad, but what the fuck? Somebody has to be policing what goes on and is put up as public content better than what's happening now. This is disgraceful behavior by disgusting human trash. Anyone who writes a rape handbook should be jailed as though they've not only committed the crimes they've written about (which they probably have, why is no one looking into that?), but also because they are inciting others to commit those crimes too, regardless of whether or not anyone is in fact influenced by the material they've written. The potential for influence is there. The means are there. The information is there now, thanks to these perverts. They should rot. But, thanks to our laws protecting men, we'll never even know their names. I fear for the women and girls that have and will encounter these predator monsters.

Canada's #1! Canada's #1! As Long As You're A Hetero White Dude! As Long As You're A Hetero White Dude!

Alright, let's get down to it. While reading my morning news on the CBC I came across one of those "it's so fucking great to live here!" pieces that the news so often runs, designed to promote nationalism and ignorance simultaneously. Before I start the rant, why do I fucking read news off the CBC so often? It only pisses me off, then sends me scurrying across the web to other news sites to find objective views (often with more information) on the same stories. Why do I never learn? I guess I'd have less to write about? I don't know. Fuck it.

Anyways, there's tons of reasons why Canada is a kick ass place to live, and if you can't see that, well I guess you're as dumb as a couch! And for all you couch-dumb cretins out there, someone's compiled a survey to help you out! Not that Canada's actual place on the survey is mentioned, nor where one can view the whole survey, but who cares, right? I mean, nearly four out of five Canadians are satisfied with their lives! Nearly four out of five! What the fuck does that mean? And why haven't I met any of these people? They must live in the nice houses on the other side of town. What an abstract way to define something so very complex. It's hard for me to imagine the average Canadian woman (whomever that is) saying she's "satisfied" with her life. What with being a member of an oppressed class, oftentimes within an already oppressed class, while the resources available to her AS an oppressed class are being slowly (or not so slowly) taken away.

The "average" Canadian households' income is $27,015 as of 2008! That's in US dollars, too! Whoopee! But, what nobody mentions is that as of 2010, the average Canadian household debt is $96,000. And that's in Canadian dollars. Which lately are at parity or worth more than the ol' greenback.

Nearly 72% of Canadians aged 15-64 have a paid job (rather than an unpaid one? I know lots of Canadians that have both, but that's just until housewifery and motherhood becomes paid work, any day now...). But, I know that this is skewing the truth too. Lots of those jobs are paying wages that put Canadian citizens, most often women below the poverty line. Do you know what it takes to be an office clerk/receptionist these days? I do. It takes all of the skills to be an office clerk/receptionist such as data entry, phone etiquette, etc, as well as the skills of an accountant, as well as usually a babysitter for your dudely, oblivious boss, as well as oftentimes being tri-fucking-lingual, and having super-double-secret clearance, all for minimum wage! Whoop-dee-doo! And that is for fields in which women predominate, due to the fact that men devalue them, simply because they allow women to work in them. Therefore, these jobs are undervalued in terms of pay and respect and given to women who already makes less money than men, even though wage disparity is apparently illegal. What the fuck.

And it goes on. Blah blah blah we work 40 hours less per year. That's a whole week. 87% of Canadians have a high school or equivalency diploma, which gets you nothing out in the real world. Life expectancy is 80.7 years, one whole fucking YEAR above average! The level of PM10, which can damage... your lungs.... is... what? Our air is better? By a little? Huh?

This is bullshit, and you know it. Perhaps it has something to do with our lax laws on bribery? It's hard for me to read that list and think somebody's not on the take. And with Stephen Harper off to spread more lies about how good things are at home, it's up to us here in the middle of this shit not to be fooled by what the government puts out there to placate us. Remember, to all those that say "It could be worse, you could be in Libya/Syria/Congo/Detroit.", we could also be in Iceland or Sweden or elsewhere, where things are better. The fact that certain things are worse elsewhere should not stop us from trying to improve things here. Passivity doesn't foster change.

Also, in other news, it's now your own responsibility to find your missing children. I'm not saying the website in and of itself is a bad thing, but if you're going to acknowledge that the resources the police have are limited, shouldn't fixing that be a priority? Or am I off base here? No, I didn't think so. I just hate that when a child goes missing, more often than not, it seems that the family of said child has to be more active in the search then the police do to have any kind of justice, closure or hope of finding their child ever again. The system is broken. My heart goes out to any family that has ever lost a child, only to be told that "there's nothing more the police can do at this point."

Final note of the post: I've started reading Letters From A War Zone, by Andrea Dworkin. I don't know why it's taken me so long. She was a brilliant writer, and a brilliant human being. I'm sad that I am only now able to read her words and see her brilliance post-mortum. I am sadder now than ever at the fact she is no longer with us. I feel the world has lost a great ally in her. But I am glad her writing and legacy live on, and I am glad to be one of those that hopes to be worthy to carry on her words, and tell people of them. Thank you, Andrea Dworkin, for all that you did.

Still Here...

Well, after emerging from my rapture shelter to see if the rest of the world is still here (it is, hoorah.), I suppose it's once again time to get back to work. Guess the Lord missed the memo about the ol' End of the World. Now what'll I do with this quiche lorraine I baked? Lord, I'm very disappointed in you. I kind of feel a little sorry for those who spent their life savings in anticipation of the rapture and now have nothing, but not enough to move me on my stance that monotheistic religion, Christianity in particular, has bred a socially acceptable form of misogyny for centuries now that needs to be abolished if we're to move forward as a culture. Will that happen before the next rapture? Probably not.

TW: Rape, Misogyny, Violent Sexual Abuse, Anti-Semitism

How about that Lars von Trier? Isn't he a hoot? Now, I'm going to admit that before all of this anti-Semitic, misogynist garbage he spouted at Cannes, all I knew of him was that he wrote and directed Dancer In The Dark, which in my opinion is a great movie. It also has an absolutely killer soundtrack by Bjork, who stars in the movie, turning in a great performance alongside Peter Stormare and Catherine Deneuve. But I digress. Although I loved the movie, I heard that von Trier and Bjork didn't get along at all, which I found odd. I think I'm beginning to understand now.

I'm not going to speculate about his upbringing. I'm only going to focus on the jerk that von Trier seems to be now. All of his other movies, save Dancer in the Dark are rife with nudity and violence of the most disgusting kind. A recent film of his, titled Antichrist, contains some of the most graphic, disgusting scenes of what can only be described as torture pornography that I have ever heard of. I have not seen this movie, as I stated before, but just reading the description of some scenes in the parents' content advisory on IMDB made me want to vomit. Another previous film of his, entitled Dogville is apparently rife with rape scenes. This is cinema at its' absolute worst. All it seems to be is high budget pornography. Which I guess is unsurprising, due to the fact that he also produces movies which he intends to be pornography. I have never been so afraid of movies as I was researching the works of Lars von Trier.

So, it's with no great surprise now, armed with all of this knowledge that I review the comments that von Trier made at the Cannes film festival. His now infamous quote of:

"I found out I was actually a Nazi. My family were German. What can I say? I understand Hitler … I sympathize with him a bit.”

is the one that's ringing in most peoples' ears. But, since one kind of hatred breeds another, he's a misogynist AND an anti-Semite. He also made comments, widely ignored about his next film being a “three-to-four hours porn film with lots of uncomfortable sex scenes”. In addition to that, he called his co-workers 'pornstars' and 'hardcore'. The man is so disgusting and corrupt, and once again, since he's famous and makes pornography, people are willing to let him off the hook. His misogyny is buried in news stories that are only focusing on his anti-Semitism, as is the norm for woman-hatred in the news. I mean, just look at Mel Gibson if you need proof of that. I cannot contain my contempt for him as a human being or my contempt for the filth he creates and peddles as art. It boggles my mind how a man so sick, so perverted and disgusting, so absolutely fucking entrenched in misogyny and racism could ever have any part in a movie like Dancer in the Dark. He makes me sick. I'm calling on anyone, anyone reading this to please, PLEASE boycott all films and television shows that Lars von Trier is involved with. Cut him off at the knees. I beseech you, internet readers, let's take away the demand for this deviants' particular brand of pornography. Men like this shouldn't be applauded or celebrated. Men like von Trier should never be allowed to hold a camera again.


And for all you von Trier fans out there, if you're going to tell me something like I don't "get it" or I don't understand subtext or the men in his movies are also portrayed badly or some other line of Lars-defending-bullshit, save your fucking breath. I understand subtext just fine. And the subtext in his movies is saying that women are just orifices for men to use, the more violently, the better.  And that is a subtext that DOES NOT FUCKING SIT RIGHT WITH ME.

It's Okay To Be Takei

So, I was doing some research on Tennessee's new "Don't Say Gay" bill. What utter bullshit. Now, I know how right wing conservative Tennessee is, but just ignoring homosexuality in the hopes that it'll go away? This is garbage of the stinkiest kind. The bill has already passed in the senate, and is fast on its' way to becoming law. Now, American politics isn't my forte, being a Canadian and all, but this is just too dumb for words. Apparently, George Takei, better known as Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek and gay rights activist thinks so, too. He's fighting the bill at all stages and has lent his name to a cause that makes the bill seem every bit as stupid as it is.

 

I think this is awesome. He makes me smile. It's definitely okay to be Takei.   

In completely unrelated news, several cities around Canada are starting a new anti-rape campaign complete with ads called the "Don't Be That Guy" campaign. The campaign started in Edmonton, and is focused on taking the blame and onus off of women and letting men know it's NOT okay to sexually assault women. It's about fucking time that the constant victim-blaming stopped and men are forced to own up to their own violent behavior. I hope that this campaign produces some positive results, and that men think about their actions and make some positive changes. I won't hold my breath however, as I suspect that the MRA backlash will be fierce. But, at least it's not another "Watch Your Drink, Watch Your Friends, Watch Your Back" message giving women the impossible to complete checklist of what-to-do-to-not-get-raped. At the very least the Don't Be That Guy campaign seems to be a small step in the right direction.