The world is neither your garbage can nor your ashtray

Isn't that a beautiful site.  Don't you want to see that every morning as you drive work?  I took this picture while I waited for a break in the traffic at Yonge and Steeles to go south on Steeles.  Cigarette butts littering the little island where people cross Steeles.  

If you smoke, fine. You smoke. I think it's a pretty gross habit, but that's your decision and I have no problem with that.  What I DO have a problem with is smokers who think the world is their ashtray and people who think the world is their garbage can. 

Sure, every once in a while, when you open your car door, a parking receipt or Tim Horton's bag might get caught in a cross breeze and get pulled out of your car.  I'll be honest - I don't chase those things if they fly off in the wind.  But I certainly won't take my Tim's bag and toss it on the ground on purpose!  I mean, c'mon!!  

And cigarette butts! It's not enough that you're polluting the air with the toxicity that is a cigarette, but tossing your butt on the ground!?  Why can't you put it out and throw it out?  It's enough I have to walk through your smoke when I leave or enter a building (please - right outside the door is not 30 feet away!!) but now I have to wade through your detritus as well?

Now, I respect your right to smoke, but could you please respect my right not to smoke and move away from the freaking door?  You don't want to stand in the elements to smoke?  Well, I don't want to stand in your smoke while walking out into the elements!! 

And stop throwing your butts on the ground!  My taxes pay for those to be cleaned up and I'd rather my taxes paid for real garbage pick-up!!

Welcome to the French Nation of Islam

Veiled Woman Seeks French Presidency

So, politics, huh?  sucks the big one globally, really.

I don't really consider myself racist or bigotted, but when it comes to things to do with Muslims and Islam, I have to admit, since 9/11 and the war on terror, and the general climate of world politics, I have a problem. And it is likely one that will have me labelled racist or bigotted.  If you think this make me so, then so be it.  I don't care - maybe in this case I am.

In France, a veiled woman - as in a woman who chooses to wear the veil of her religious extremism, is running for president of the country.  Sure, it's a longshot and she likely won't be elected, but when you are running for a position of power based on a religious platform, you're just looking for trouble.  Or to be come trouble.   Let's face it - if someone who wants a position of power so she can lift the ban on face veils and burquas, how far is she from forcing all other women in the country to actually DON the veil or burqua?  How long before France really does become the French Nation of Islam? 

What is with the world these days?  If those who practice Islam and want Sharia law to be condoned, then go live in the countries where that is acceptable and stop forcing Western society to bend to your will.   England now has "Sharia Controlled Zones" in areas outside London.  SHARIA FREAKING LAW!! Do you know what Sharia Law is?  It means you can kill your wife if you suspect her of having an affair.  Two women's testimony in any case equals that of ONE man.  If you think your daughter is being immodest or is being provocative in any way, or is dating someone you don't like (read: white and not Muslim), or is having pre-marital sex, you can kill her (this was done in Canada recently - the brother and father are being prosecuted)

Canadian Muslims have been trying to have Sharia Law recognized here in Canada!  Just check out this website and there is an article about it.  http://www.jihadwatch.org/

Within Sharia law, there are a group of "Haram" offenses which carry severe punishments. These include pre-marital sexual intercourse, sex by divorced persons, post-marital sex, adultery, false accusation of unlawful intercourse, drinking alcohol, theft, and highway robbery. Haram sexual offenses can carry a sentence of stoning to death or severe flogging.

Sharia law  has been adopted in various forms by many countries, ranging from a strict interpretation in Saudi Arabia and northern states of Nigeria, to a relatively liberal interpretation in much of Malaysia.

Sharia law is intended to be only applicable to Muslims. Christians and other non-Muslims are supposed to be exempt from the provisions of the law; this is a provision that is not universally followed..

Read that?!  NOT UNIVERSALLY FOLLOWED!!  Which means, if you are non-Muslim, but living in a Sharia Controlled Zone, you can, and will, be prosecuted under Sharia Law should the Muslims feel it appropriate.

Paris is the "City of Lights".  How long before it becomes the "city of the veiled woman" under the rule of the Veiled President (should she be elected)?

Yes, I cover my hair and dress modestly as part of my religion.  But my face is never covered.  The reason for this - it lets other Jewish men and women know that I am married and therefore I am 'off the market'. 

I will say this though - I am for religious freedom but I don't agree with the veil - they may say that it promotes freedom, but I still don't agree.  However, I disagree with the decision France has made in banning the wearing of headscarves for Muslim girls in schoolrooms.  I cover my hair, I don't see why they can't. 

Under a veil or a burqua, no one knows what is really going on under there.  Has anyone watched "Combat Hospital"?  In one episode, the doctor protagonist goes with one of the other doctors (who is an Afghan medic) to a Women's Clinic that they run on the down-low.  A man, dressed as a woman in a burqua pretending to have an ailment that 'she' doesn't want her husband to know she has sought treatment for (many of the women were abused and came to be checked over, on the show) comes in and shoots the doctor, the medic and one of the nurses from the base.  The nurse dies, the medic survives with a nice flesh wound, one doctor is injured and the doctor protagonist shoots the man dead (then has to bring him back to the base and save his life - turns out he's also the prisoner of war the FBI or CIA or some other secret organization had 'stolen' in a previous episode - but that's neither here nor there).

I believe if I can't see your eyes, I can't trust you.  That goes for anyone.  White, black, orange, purple. If I can't see your eyes, I don't, can't and won't trust you.  They say the eyes are "windows to the soul". I believe that.  I also believe that I can tell if someone is lying to me by looking into their eyes - shifty eyes - likely lying to me.

Maybe when it comes to Muslim extremism, Sharia Law and the fact that most governments seem to be afraid of the scary Islamics/Muslims, I am racist/bigotted.  I don't care. It's my opinion.  You don't like it, tough. 

Toddlers and tiaras and real life kids

So I was driving to work the other day and I saw something that very nearly made me stop my car and bitch-slap a mother. Her daughter could not have been more than six years old and she was wearing a skirt so high, I wondered why she would have even bothered putting it on in the first place. (she did have wool(ish?) tights on that were opaque)

Now, to be fair, I dress very modestly for religious reasons, and this is not my religiousness coming out and me saying "how immodest". The fact is, if this kid is six, HER MOTHER IS BUYING THESE CLOTHES FOR HER!! I admit, the look is inappropriate at the best of times to me. Teenagers wear underwear length skirts all the time, but likely they have bought it themselves.

Attached is a picture of a little girl on Toddlers and Tiaras. I do not, will not ever watch this show and my inclusion of the picture is not to condone the show. This little girl, whose image is available in a simple search on the Internet, was dressed, by her mother, for a pageant. Recognize the outfit? Same outfit Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman. Been a while since you've seen it? Wonder why I'm making an issue of this outfit? Let me refresh your memory. In Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts plays a -- wait for it -- SHE PLAYS A FREAKING HOOKER!! Granted she's a higher class of hooker, but she's a hooker nonetheless. And this mother thought it would be an appropriate outfit for her three year old daughter to sport at a beauty pageant. Oh! Did I forget to mention thar earlier!? THE CHILD IS THREE YEARS OLD!



So, we have parents dressing their kids for school in skirts so short, teenage girls would cringe, parents dressing their daughters (remember - she's THREE!!) as prostitutes (and I am not in any way saying the child IS a prostitute). What's next?

How about this gem?

This little girl is getting ready for a pageant. She is dressing as Dolly Parton. With FAKE BOOBS AND A FAKE BUTT!!! really!? REALLY !? I can't remember off-hand how old she is. I think she's four. Yes. A FOUR YEAR OLD DRESSING WITH FAKE BOOBS AND A FAKE BUTT!!! And let's face it. Dolly Parton is not known for her modest dress, either.

 

 

Compared to these three kids, my kids look Amish in their knee length (or slightly higher) skirts. Okay, maybe that's not fair. The Amish wear floor length dresses. So to them, my kids show too much leg. But you get my point.

 

The turn signal - a short history

I don't understand how people get their licenses if they can't learn to use a simple gadget, convenient located RIGHT BESIDE THE STEERING WHEEL.

 You don't even have to move your hand!! It can be reached with just a finger!!

 In 1938, turn signals were introduced to the standard makeup of the automobile. This fancy gadget was hooked up to lights at the front and the back of the automobile. To flick the switch was to let the drivers in one's immediate vicinity know that they planned on a) changing lanes either to their left or right or, b) make a left or right hand turn onto a perpendicular street.

 WHY is it so hard for people to use this invention that has been standard on cars for the last 73 years!?

I mean - do you realize you are not the only driver on the road?  Or are you convinced that the world can read your mind and we all know what your intentions at each intersection are?

Let me give you a piece of advice - I can't read your freaking mind, so use your freaking turn signal if you don't want me cutting you off!

That is what annoys me today.

September 9, 2011

Why does my employer change policies so often? On one day the policy states one thing, but the next it means something totally different. Getting very frustrated. That's really it for me today. That pretty much tops the people who don't use turn signals, cut you off only to change back into the lane they cut you off from, and the ones who think stop songs are optional. But only for them.

July 15, 2011

Slow guy in the fast lane. The construction workers' vehicles on Lebovic Campus Drive in the morning - I am surprised there hasn't been an accident so far. The people crossing at Yonge and Steeles. Yes, I know they are supposed to cross where they do. They all just seem to saunter. Having to be the squeaky wheel. Meetings. Especially when they divert from the agenda. Throwing a surprise baby shower and not getting even a thank you from the guest of honour.

July 14, 2011

People doing 20 below the speed limit in the passing lane.

Things not being ready on time.  I don't care how you sugar coat it - it's not ready.

People who are given a deadline and think 2 days later is fine (this time it's not about the bus).

Meetings where your issue is supposed to be on the agenda, but "oops" your superior 'forgot'.

Meetings.

Being invited to a pizza lunch - only to find out it's to talk about "all the fun we had at that conference you weren't at!" (the lunch is tomorrow - so there'll be more about that - but it's already annoying me)

Summer colds.

Being nervous about something I shouldn't be nervous about.

Still not having my benefits.

Expelled students who insist they submitted their appeal letter (why should someone who FORGED MEDICAL SIGNATURES be allowed to appeal an expulsion at all?).

Not having time to get coffee.

Not having good coffee at work.

July 6, 2011

People who know they have a deadline, miss the deadline (in this case the camp bus), then have to call me to ask what to do.

Random cops standing on the corner (didn't get stopped or anything, but it freaks me out a bit)

People who don't wave thanks when I let them in ahead of me.

People who drive through parking lots as though it were the Indy or a highway.

People who blame others for their mistakes.

July 5, 2011

Not being called into a meeting to expel a student that I had expressly said I wanted and needed to be involved.

Not getting answers to important questions.

Road closures. I hate summer construction.

Classmates who incessantly ask questions - the same question - over and over, just worded differently.

Not having my exam marked and returned.

Finding out I did better on the last assignment than my friend and her groupmate (I did it all alone) and then finding out that her groupmate went to talk to the prof and got his mark upped to 9/10 from 6.5/10.

Humidity.

July 4, 2011

My alarm clock (hey! We just had a long weekend!!)

The guy blocking one of the lanes at the parking lot.

The unexpected meeting with a student and her mother at 9am. Total waste of my time.

Students who expect a day off for their birthdays, another country's holiday, miscellaneous reasons. And then pretty much just take up space and disrupt the class.

Road closures.

June 30, 2011

Separation anxiety.

Meetings that start late.

People not doing the things you need/ask them to do.

Meetings that start late, and then end late.

June 21, 2011

Alarm clocks.

Slowpokes.

Tailgaters.

People who cut me off, only to cut back into their original lane.

7-day loans from the library. I'm not finished my book and it's due back tomorrow.

WiFi that doesn't connect properly.

Teachers who essentially read the text instead of focussing on what is on the exam.

June 20, 2011

People who cut me off. 

The wheelchair bus that blocks the turning lane into the parking lot.

People who commit sexual assault.

People who cheat.  I mean in school.  Though people who cheat on their significant others annoys me, too.

Complaining.

Having to explain basic concepts to people who should understand them by now.

My pulled back muscle.

June 18, 2011

It is the Sabbath.  Nothing annoys me on the Sabbath.

June 17, 2011

Shower heads that break mid-shower

People who cut me off to get into the left turn lane, only to veer back into the straight lane (of course then cutting off the person beside me).

Getting almost every light red on the way in to work.

Random power outages, but not getting to go home.

June 16, 2011

People who don't use turn signals.

People doing their makeup rather than driving (although that worked in my favor today, it annoys me in general)

Construction projects.

People who challenge the rules. Even when the rules are fair.

The guy who wanted to come into my classroom in the middle of a class to use a computer. We are not in the computer lab. Go next door to the actual lab!

People who blame everyone else but themselves for their problems and failures. The skunky smell in the ladies lavatory. What's up with THAT!!?

June 15, 2011

My daughter's 7:30AM temper tantrum.

The school bus that sat in the right merge lane where I needed to turn right onto Yonge and the bus wanted to go into the straight lane.  Not like I needed to get to work or anything.

People who don't complete or fulfill their responsibilities.

People who make excuses.

Humidity.

My daughters 5PM temper tantrum.