Weekly Rant 2008-03-07

"Democracy is the worst form of government... except for all the other forms that have been tried,"

--Winston Churchill

Made the mistake of listening to the news this morning. Reports of the American Presidential Primary System lead one to some rapid conclusions. First off, if this is the exercise of democracy; democracy is available, just as is justice, only to the fabulously rich. Secondly the amount of mud-slinging that goes on leads one rapidly to a sense of distaste for the entire process. If this is what it takes to get elected to the presidency then anyone who would aspire to the job is by definition insane and should be disqualified from holding the office.

Southern Ontario is again under a sever weather advisory; snow plough operators are fighting a losing battle to keep our roads clear. Maybe the bears have it right—lets all hibernate until spring. This being winter break thousands will be making like the birds and migrating south.

A judge in Brampton, Ont., rejected a human rights challenge to an Ontario law on Thursday, ruling that motorcyclists must wear helmets while riding because safety concerns outweigh religious rights. So goes a news item on the CBC website. There are those who might say if they want to kill themselves let them do it; problem being that the rest of us would have to foot the cost of the medical care and rehabilitation for those who don’t manage to kill themselves outright. For once the law may actually make sense. If only it were possible to as quickly settle disputes over Christian prayer in schools, kirpans, Sharia Law, and the hajib. Is it racist to wish that those who come to our country would not insist on attempting to rewrite Canadian Law? Are those who flout Moslem Law in Moslem countries treated with as much indulgence and leniency as we exercise in the West? Who is being abused here?

Today is apparently Woman’s day. Let’s begin by getting two statements that are now considered politically incorrect out of the way. “A woman’s place is barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.” “Feminism is an excuse to put ugly women on Television.” I like a Nova Scotia prelate’s take on the matter: “The Holy Catholic Church will be truly universal when a black pope is pregnant in the Vatican.” In Sharia Law we see an extreme take on the rights of woman. The legal rights of woman have progressed in the last century and a half. They are considered persons and are allowed to vote and own property. They may incur debt in their own names and own businesses. On the other hand their salaries still lag behind those of their male counterparts in the same professions and the glass ceiling is still very real. When it comes to elected office equality is still a thing to be aspired to and all too often it is people of their own gender who hold the most severe prejudices.