Losing is not an option

I just saw a commercial for the Olympics. The athlete in it stated: "when losing is not an option".

What does that mean? Of course it's an option. SOMEBODY has to lose. Not EVERYBODY can win. It's the essence of competing.

"when losing is not an option"....the epitome of inane platitudes

Michael Jackson album sales explode since death

I don't understand why MJ's album sales have gone up so much after his death. If you are a fan of his music why wouldn't you have already purchased it long ago? In fact, wouldn't you want to support the artist while he was still alive.

great gift ideas begin at......

"Great gift ideas begin at ." It's nothing to brag about when so many stores make this claim. What I really want to know is where do great gift ideas end?

Voting

Some people believe that if you don't vote you have no right to complain about who is put in power. I must disagree. I am a Libertarian and there is no Libertarian candidate in my riding. I am opposed to the choices I do have.

If I am given the choice of who is to rob me and I refuse to choose as I don't want to be robbed, don't I still have the right to complain when I do get robbed?

Government Apologies

Recently the Government of Canada has promised to apologize for the Komagata Maru incident. Apparently in 1914 a Japanese charter ship arrived in Vancouver harbour with 376 migrants from India. Immigration officials refused to let the passengers disembark.

So now people who did not commit the offense are apologizing to people who were not the victims. That makes sense. The Canadian government also offered $10 million to the Ukrainian-Canadian Foundation and $5 million to the Chinese-Canadian community as a result of wrongdoings during the World Wars.

I did nothing wrong. Why are my tax dollars going to people who haven't been victimized?

By the way...if my great-grandfather wronged your great-grandfather in any way, I am sorry. Please come by my house and I'll give you $1000.

Letter to the Editor - April 2008

Chronicle-Journal - Friday, April 4, 2008

Drug sentence too lenient

Re “Drug runner gets 18 months,” April 1.

I was shocked to see that Justice Joyce Pelletier handed down such a light sentence of 18 months to Lois McVey for running three pounds of cocaine. She could be out in just over a year on good behavior. The judge stated that she did not see McVey as a risk to the community. Here in Victoria there are 1,500 homeless drug addicted people on the street which is only the tip of the iceberg. Addiction is a huge problem fueled by people like the Hells Angels and Lois McVey and left for the government and municipalities to deal with afterwards. Any drug runner dealing with a high cost drug like that knows the penalties involved. I‘m sure they would be happy to sacrifice a year in jail standing on their heads to move $100,000 worth of product. Again the message coming from the bench to the criminal and the community is not clear here. There are young teens at risk. Citizens should speak up in their own defence.

Bev Pirie
Victoria

MY RESPONSE:

In the April 4th edition of the CJ, Bev Pirie takes issue with the sentence of a local drug runner. She states "There are young teens at risk". Sure they are, they are at risk of their OWN choices. Maybe these teens are idiots and/or maybe their parents are. We all make mistakes but we choose to make our own. The drugs are there because due to demand, not the other way around. I know someone will read this and say "if the drugs weren't available the teens would be tempted by them". This is true but does that mean if some punk breaks into my house and steals my stereo it is my fault for owning a "tempting" stereo. Besides, some people go their whole lives without taking drugs despite the fact that they are available.

Tony Gallo

another stupid commercial

I've heard this commercial on the radio a couple times recently. I forget who the commercial is for. It starts with "Short on cash? Who isn't this time of year?". It then goes on to state that if you shop at their store "you do not pay for one full year". Tell me.....what time of year will it be in one full year?

baptism

Recently the Vatican stated that babies who die without being baptized may go to heaven. Up until now it was believed by Catholics that this was not the case. This has always bothered me. Why would the fate of one's soul be dependent on the actions of another? I also never understood how parents can make that decision for their child. Other Christian religions (like the Jehovah's Witnesses) believe that people must make this decision themselves. This makes sense to me.

My question to any readers is this: What happens to the soul of an unbaptized baby?

1. If you say the baby WILL NOT go to Heaven then how can you call your God a loving God? Why would God punish a baby due to the actions (or non-actions) of it's parents?

2. If you say the baby WILL go to Heaven then wouldn't killing your baby be the ULTIMATE sacrifice? You'd be damning your soul to guarantee the salvation of your baby's soul. If you let you baby grow up they may go down the wrong path that eventually leads them to Hell. Killing it as a baby would prevent that.

3. If you say you don't know then I appreciate you honesty. As far as I can tell the Bible doesn't have much to say on the issue.

Also...to those who pick one of the first 2 options. Please cite your source.

you will burn in hell says Johnny Hart

Johnny Hart (creator of the comic strip "BC" and co-creator of the strip "The Wizard of Id") died on April 7th. Hart, a Christian, once stated in a 1999 interview that "Jews and Muslims who don't accept Jesus will burn in Hell". This upset many people. His often overtly Christian strips were labeled as anti-Jewish.

I don't understand why people get so upset. These religions are not compatible. Everyone believes there own to be the "right one". The Christian bible says that you must accept Christ as Son of God and your Saviour. If you do not your soul will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whether a Christian says it out loud or not, that it what they believe. Remaining silent will not change that belief. I found Muslim pages online saying that Jews and Christians will go to Hell. This is the nature of religion. If I say I believe in religion X...am an infering that religion Y and Z are wrong and they are dooming their souls. I'm all for everybody getting along but that doesn't change the fact that these beliefs are there. I am agnostic and I know my Christian friends believe there is no Heaven for me. But I don't take it personally. They believe their Book and the rules as they are stated. They never made these rules nor do I believe the want me to go to Hell. It's just the way things work according to their beliefs.

I have met these pseudo-Christians (what most people are) who say as long as you are a good person you will go to Heaven. These people have obviously never read the Bible. Besides....why would Christ have gone through all that torture and pain if it wasn't necessary.

Courage/Cowardice

Some people are called "courageous" while battling a disease...like cancer. But it's not like people choose to get cancer. You get cancer...you can't choose not to have it. You are pretty much forced to face it.

The 9/11 terrorists have been called cowards. They knew they would die...that hardly seems cowardice to me. It would seem to take some sort of courage to do what they did. People don't like to say that because they don't like to use positive words like 'courageous' to describe these terrorists. However does the motivation of an act have to be "good" to be courageous? Not according to any definitions I found. (Besides...who decides if an act is "good"? And what if the person committing the act believes it's "good" even though many would think otherwise?) I was once told that the fact that their victims were unarmed civilians that makes them cowards. But even if the planes were empty and the building were filled with armed military personal....the terrorists' outcome is the same....death. Is sending a missile at an armed soldier miles away courageous?

Let's consider 2 people who walk into a burning building to pull someone out, risking their own live doing so. That sounds courageous. But what if person #1 loves life while person #2 has been considering suicide. I would think that person #1 is more courageous as they risked their life which they value much more than person #2.

it's worth it if it saves one life

Sometimes you hear people say "it's worth it if it saves one life". The fact is we often sacrifice safety for convenience. Consider the number of people who day in traffic accidents. We could save MANY lives if we took all vehicles off the roads. In fact, we could just allow emergency vehicles on the roads. Sure you may have to walk 2 hours to work and you may never see your grandmother in BC but it would be worth it right?

live within your means (national daycare)

Just a thought....but if you cannot afford to raise a child then maybe you should refrain from having one. I realize that some people are forced into single parenthood by someone leaving or dying. However I know many single parents who chose to be in that situation. I also certainly don't like the idea of subsiding dual income families so they can buy their kids the latest gaming system while dumping fuel into their gas-guzzling SUVs. Maybe in those cases someone has to stay home and raise the child. Maybe they don't have to give their kids EVERYTHING they want.

yard by-laws

You can pay your mortgage and taxes and yet your neighbour can still tell you what to do with your property. I like my grass long. Maybe the car on blocks is a piece of art. Laws should not be in place to enforce personal tastes.

I have a message for our troops overseas fighting for our "freedom": Come on home folks, we never had it to begin with.

The Birds

Last summer I noticed that everytime I left my house a crow sitting on the telephone wire directly in front of my house would aggressively dive at me. He would then perch on my neighbour's shed...watching me leave in my car. It was going on for a couple of days when I noticed a distressed women standing in fornt of my house. I popped my head out the door to see what her problem was. She said "That bird attacked me!!", pointing to my aggressive new friend. I told her the tends to do that and it would be best to keep walking.

A day or two later I was looking into my yard from my 2nd floor. I noticed a crow walking around my lawn. I watched for several minutes and noticed that another crow was bringing him food. I then realized that this bird was injured and that other crow was protecting it. The injured bird would mainly hide in my raspberry bushes to keep hidden.

I figured I would try an experiment. I stepped out onto my deck. The guard bird immediatley started crowing. As I approached the injured crow other appeared. They were landing on my roof, garage and fence....surrounding me. I figured I better get back inside before they move in to kill.

I decided to not cut my lawn or barbeque intil the bird got better or another predator got to it. Within a week it was gone.

I've been planning on posting this story since Robin told his bird story on May 1st. Then, coincidentally, it started happening again 3 days ago. I get dived when I leave my house. Once again, a crow sitting on the telephone wire in front of my house. I have yet to determine what he is protecting. He gets very agitated when I go in my back yard. I see no injured bird. I am wondering if there is a nest in one of my trees or something. I wanted to just stay out of my back yard until it was over but I really had to cut my grass...it was getting very long. So I did do that....just before posting this. The bird was upset but did not attack once the lawnmower was running. I am guessing the sound kept him away. I actually felt guilty. I don't want to upset the bird while he diligently does his job. I will do my best to stay out of his way until whatever it is he is protecting is no longer an issue.

new tattoo

I got a new tattoo on may 4th. As well I updated one I already had.

http://my.tbaytel.net/tgallo/tattoo.htm

death and age

Many people find the death of a child more tragic than that of an adult? Why is that? Does life lose value with age. Is it a linear relationship? Maybe it stays steady from birth to 10 years then drops a bit and stays steady until 18 followed by a steady decline in value. Sure quality of life CAN dimish with age but is the life healthy 40 year old worth less than that of a healthy 5 year old?

Most deaths are tragic to different extents but I don't believe that the death of a child is any more tragic than that of an adult. What I do believe is that dying before your parents is more tragic than dying after them. In my eyes a 70 year old woman dealing with the death of her 55 year old daughter is equally as tragic as the 30 year old man dealing with the death of his 5 year old son.

So after your parents are gone....you're good to go.

I usually do a search before posting one of my blogs to see what others have said on the topic. I found the following link quite interesting:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/1/1

duh

There has been a debate in our local paper about the existence of a set of traffic lights at a particular intersection. In the February 11th edition a reader wrote:

"Hopefully the light will remain to deter drivers who speed up the hill to get through it."

Mull that one over for a bit.

I'm ashamed to be of the same species with this individual.

sports team loyalty

What is the deal with some people and "their" team? Bob loves team A and Dave loves team B. If team A wins Bob will gloat to Dave and if team B loses he will ridicule Dave. I recently worked with some guys like this. Every Monday you'd hear "my team did well...how about yours" First guys, neither team is YOURS. Secondly, win or lose, you sitting on the sofa, drinking beer, watching the team play had no affect on the outcome of the game. You have nothing to gloat, ridicule or even lament about.

When someone is loyal to a team, what are they loyal to. It should be the players, seeing as they are the ones actually playing the game. But over time players come and go. The team they were loyal to 15 years ago no longer exists. They could love team A and hate team B. Over time with the right trades, theoretically, the lineups of each team could switch. Now this person loves this same group of guys he once hated. Coaches and owners change all the time as well. The only thing that is close to being constant (but still is not) is the city, name of the team and the logo. I suppose I can almost understand being loyal to your own city's team. But if your local hockey team is made up of mostly Europeans than it really doesn't make any sense.

In the early 80s I was a football fan for a couple of years. My fave team was the Atlanta Falcons. Why? Becuase the helmets were red, the logo looked cool and "Falcons" sounded cool. That's not much to hold on to. That coupled with the realization that basking in the glory of the work of others is empty made me lose interest shortly after.

I am now a big fan of the sport of paintball. (If golf and Nascar is a sport than so is paintball.) There are a couple of leagues in the US but I don't really follow them. I do, however, have a favourite team. The team is called DEMENTIA. I even have a favourite player...Tony Gallo. He's a good player and he's pretty sexy too. The best part of all is whether DEMENTIA wins or loses, I have a direct effect on the outcome.

shop and save

This phrase has bugged me for years. You CANNOT shop and save. I can save by NOT shopping. They should be saying what they mean: "shop and SPEND LESS than you would shopping elsewhere".

Next time you see a "shop and save" commercial, go to that place of business, grab some merchandise and ask for a fiver. That way you do indeed shop AND save. In fact there should be a law that forces them to do this....something about false advertising.

hernia surgery

I am currently recovering from hernia surgery. The procedure was done yesterday (Jan 5th).

Good thing: I'll be off work for at least 4 weeks

Bad thing: Thunder Bay liquor stores will be left unprotected


UPDATE: I got 7.5 weeks off. I will be returning to work February 28th.