Coldcanuk's blog: "Whatever happened to Natural Selection???"

I remember when I was growing up, fighting with my parents to be allowed to be responsible for my own actions. It was a sign of independence. If I made a mistake, I would take the consequences. My parents, wanting nothing but the best for me, wanted to prevent my making mistakes, by telling me what to do and what not to do. The end result, a compromise. I made my own mistakes, and they bailed me out when they had too. It was called the process of growing up. Why then is it that today, no one wants to be responsible for their own actions? I heard on the news that a group of people are suing the government here in Manitoba. The reason for this lawsuit? The Government allows gambling in the bars and in government run casinos. They are saying that the government is responsible for people that are addicted to gambling! Now correct me if I am wrong here, but I don't think the government sent a representative to the person's house, abducted them at gunpoint or under threat of harm, took them to their bank, forced them to take out their life savings, and then sat there and forced them to put their money in the VLT's (Video Lottery Terminals/Slot Machines). No...these people did it on their own. All the government has done is allow free enterprise to work and in doing so, has created a revenue stream that is helping the government pay the bills without direct taxation for the money. It is a voluntary tax. You don't HAVE to play. You CHOOSE to! This is just the latest of these kind of things that are driving me crazy. And the government participates in this insanity too! A couple of years back, a young man in his early 20's took $20.00 to a bar that was having a 99 cent shooter special. He then proceeded to spend the entire $20.00 in 1 hour, consuming 20 ounces of alcohol, and when his money was gone, decided to walk home. Well, this drunken fool must have had a Jesus complex, because they found him dead in the river the next day. In his drunken state, he walked into the river and drown. The government, in an extreme case of knee jerk reaction, turned around and set a MINIMUM PRICE for alcohol in the province so people who are stupid can't kill themselves by getting drunk and qualifying for a Darwin Award. The end result, those of us that drink responsibly are now forced to pay higher prices for a drink and the bars get a guaranteed profit. The whole point of this is, are we not responsible for our own actions anymore? If I choose to drink to excess, and because of this I end up dead or maimed, is it not my own fault? If I choose to spend my rent/mortgage money on gambling, and lose, am I not responsible for losing my apartment/house? In the classic novel War and Peace, there is a line that says what I am trying to say: "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few..." What this means is a few people, or the smaller segment of society, should not be able to force their views on the many. Just because you have a problem, doesn't mean the rest of do. Just because you can't handle something in a responsible way, doesn't mean that the rest of us shouldn't be allowed to participate in the activity just because they can't do it without going overboard. The bottom line is this. YOU are responsible for your actions. I am responsible for my actions. And no one has the right to tell me that I can't do something because you can't do it without losing control. This is called being a RESPONSIBLE ADULT!

Recent court rulings in some provinces here in Canada have started to move towards holding people that host a house party responsible if one of their guests gets into an accident and are drunk after leaving the party. Where do I start? Well, so far they have stayed away from directly putting the blame on the host of the party, but they are not saying that they are safe from prosecution if such an incident occurs. So far you are still safe if it is a BYOB party, but if your serving alcohol, like a cocktail party, then you may be held criminally responsible, in the same way as a bar or club. This just means that we now have to choose our friends more carefully I guess. We are being told that we have to make sure our guest list does not include someone that will potentially get drunk and get behind the wheel of a car. Now I am not advocating drinking and driving. I don't even drink myself except for the odd drink once in a while or a hot chocolate with Bailey's before bed sometimes. I find drunks to be obnoxious and not a lot of fun to be around. I generally try to avoid them, unless they genuinely need help, at which point I try and help if I can. Having said that, I don't think that we have to be judge and jury about someone's state of intoxication at a party that is being held at my home. If someone is visibly drunk, then yes, I will try for their keys. If they refuse, I do try harder and will get forceful about it, but am I supposed to get into a physical altercation over it? Does this not open me up for an assault charge? Am I therefore being asked to choose between an assault charge, and the potential loss of a friend, or criminal liability for the people that attend my gathering? This is just another way the justice system is screwing up things in this country. First they let the real criminals go, because they didn't think that they should be searched just because they are known drug dealers, and then they turn around and make the rest of the population criminals because we don't have a Breathalyzer in our homes to screen our guests before they leave. I think it is time for the courts in this country to stop protecting the people that are breaking the laws at the expense of the law abiding people, and start holding the law breakers responsible for their actions. I have never forced alcohol down someone's throat and made them get in their car and drive home. But according to some of these new rulings, I will be held responsible for the irresponsibility of a person that visits my home and leaves after having too much to drink. I guess I am going to have to choose my friends more carefully in the future. Thanks to the courts, we are all going to pay for the reckless actions of others. And they call this justice? Well, I guess that makes it time for the Duck to have the last word on this one.

p.s. I have taken to calling this little duck Natural Selection. And I am sure that Natural Selection is in constant confusion over why it is being circumvented by the stupid people in this world.

For those that don't know what it means: B.O.H.I.C.A. (bow-hee-ka) Bend Over Here It Comes Again Its a term that I first heard at a workplace. It was used to describe the perception that the company screwing us over again. It's also used to describe the Government screwing the people again. And that's where this one is heading. There is now talk about not only telling us where we can and can't smoke in public, but in our private lives as well. Now before I get a lot of yelling and screaming about "The Children... Someone please think about the Children...", I have to say that nothing has changed in the last 50+ years and nothing is any more or less dangerous than it has been all along. They are now talking about stopping you and giving you a ticket if your smoking in your car and there are children in it. Although I am understanding of the fact that an asthma child will have a problem in a closed car, I am also thinking that a parent of an asthma child will also be aware of this and protect their child. This is just another intrusion on our personal freedoms by the Government. What's next? You can't smoke in your own home? I guess after that they will regulate the diet you feed to your kids. I can picture it now. Your sitting down for supper with your family and B.O.H.I.C.A., the door breaks open and the police come barreling in and haul you away because the food your serving your Children does not meet with their standards. Lets see, what would be next? Your sitting and reading your child a book. It's a classic of course. Let's say Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. And just as you start... B.O.H.I.C.A. ... In come the police and arrest you for reading a book that is not considered to be politically correct! Your polluting your children's minds with historical facts. You terrible parent you! Does this sound extreme? You bet! Is it potentially possible? YES! Because that's the way things are going. They just passed a law that requires anyone under the age of 18 to wear a helmet when skating on any indoor public ice rink. This means that 16 and 17 yr olds, that have been skating for most of their lives, at least here in the Great White North, are being treated like little children that have trouble keeping their balance. All this has done is driven the older kids off the ice and outside to find other things to do. And what percentage of them will get into trouble? You figure it out. What's next? Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times? Full body armor in case they fall down so they don't get hurt? Mandatory 24 hour supervision by a trained professional to ensure that the children never see or do anything that may in some way, somewhere in the present or future , cause them any harm or emotional trauma? Or maybe the Government will just seize all children and raise them themselves, thus ensuring a society of robots all thinking the same way and doing the same thing. George Orwell's 1984 was a work of fiction. Or was it? Maybe it was just a prediction of the way things would end up, and he was just off by a couple of years? And after they have PROTECTED the children, I guess we adults are next. So much for our liberties and rights. The Government has decided that they are not good for us. Free will and liberties are hazardous to our health I guess. Or are they just hazardous to the Governments ability to interfere in our lives? I'll let the Baby Duck will have the last word on this one...

I understand the fascination with firearms in the states. I understand where the whole thing came from and why it started. I even understand the zeolots that feel that they should be allowed to carry a gun anywhere they want. Having said that... I know I am not much of an outdoorsman. I have never been hunting, and actually.. Never been out camping in the bush. So could someone explain something to me? Are there Deer out there in the wilderness that are so dangerous that you need an Assault Rifle to bring them down? Has someone outfitted these animals with kevlar vests and flak jackets that you need that kind of firepower to hunt them? Or worse yet!!! Has some environmental group armed these animals so you need an Assault Rifle to defend yourself against them??? I think you know where this is going right? Assault Rifles are NOT needed by the average citizen. Unless of course you are a postal worker having a really bad day, or as we have seen lately, a high school student that is a bit of a misfit. You can have all the other weapons you want and although I disagree with your supposed RIGHT to have them, I am ok with them. But when you feel the need for an UZI or an AK47, well... You have crossed the line between having a valid argument and insanity! It's unfortunate that the assault weapon ban ended in an election year and the person in power in that year is kind of gun crazy himself. I read in the papers that law enforcement agency are bracing for a wicked rash of crimes to be pulled with the now legal assault weapons. I just think back to that bank robbery in LA where the crooks had enough firepower to stop the police dead in their tracks and only got caught because of equipment failure. And if the weapons hadn't jammed... The death toll that day would have been astronomical, and the gun lobby would still have said that they still have the right to own those weapons. It is a scary thought, and an even scarier world. As the Duck says:

Ok.. Have to comment on this because it really bugs me!!! This has got to be one of my BIGGEST psychotic Hatereds!!! I am all for hip hugger jeans and belly shirts. As a male, well.. you know.. I like them. BUT... If your belly and hips roll over your hip huggers by an inch or more, IT IS NOT ATTRACTIVE!!!!!!! It is not SEXY!!!! It is not even STYLISH!!!!! It's just down right repulsive! Just because they make a Speedo in your size, it dosn't mean you HAVE to wear one! The same thing goes with belly shirts and hip huggers! Noone wants to see your rolls and body fat hanging out over you pants. So PLEASE!!!!...In the interest of those that might be eating as you walk by... If your fat rolls out , please don't display it for the rest of us to see. Some of us may have sensitive stomaches.

The Darwin Awards have shown us the length to which some people will go to help humanity by removing the STUPID gene from the gene pool, and not allowing it to procreate. But what about those people with this gene that refuse to darwin themselves in the name of a better world? This is dedicated to those people, who through their own stupidity, show us that natural selection doesn't always work. These fools just keep on going and going and going... These are my ramblings and If they offend.. tough. To quote George Carlin..." I don't have pet peeves; I have major psychotic fucking hatreds!" What you find here is going to be some of the psychotic episodes. Hope you like them...

"Spare the Rod, spoil the child." It’s a famous quote, and I think some have attributed it to the bible, but it says a lot. Spare the rod…Spoil the child. Now I grew up at a time when they didn’t spare the rod. I got my share of spankings for misbehaving. I didn’t grow up to be a serial killer. I grew up to respect authority. I learned that there were consequences to my actions. I was not afraid of my parents. I was afraid of doing something wrong that would result in a spanking. That’s what they were for. They taught me to control myself when I was going to do something that would result in a spanking. It was a GOOD THING. It taught me responsibility. It taught me consequences. It taught me to accept that my actions may not always be the right road to follow. It taught me that there were other people, smarter than me, that needed to convey a message to me and when I wouldn’t listen to reason, there are harsher ways. Which leads us to the new wave philosophy of reasoning with a child that still hasn’t learned what a toilet is for!!!! There is a group in Canada now that is asking the government to make it ILLEGAL to spank your child. Can you imagine the audacity of these people? They are daring to tell others how to raise their children! They are saying that they know better than everyone else and they are the only ones that have the knowledge to properly raise children today. I personally feel that all these touchy feely books about reasoning with a child only have one purpose. Ok two… #1 - Hit the idiots that wrote them over the head with the book. #2 – Apply, moderately and without doing physical harm, to the child’s backside as needed. Now, there are those in this group that will say I feel that way because I was spanked as a child. Well, to be perfectly honest, that was never a deterrence to me. My mother learned that I would do as she asked, generally, when she asked me too. Spanking never hurt me and never made me do anything I didn’t want to in the first place. And before you say that this proves their point, I was different than my siblings. They never did as told, but sure did it after a good swat to the behind. What does this show? That not all kids are the same and not all can be dealt with the same. This philosophy that all kids should be treated exactly the same is ridiculous and has created a lot of the problems that we are seeing with the kids today. Kids will be kids. That’s always the way it has been. Some will be a little wilder, some will not. The ones that are not as wild have to be treated differently than those that are wilder. The ones that are wilder, cannot be treated the same as the ones that are calmer. This shows the calmer ones that they can do anything and get away with it. Why be calm? Why be respectful? There ARE NO CONSEQUENCES! Which leads us to where we are today. With the juvenile courts full of kids that do the same crimes over and over because there are no consequences. Because they were never TAUGHT about consequences. And the courts, in their infinite wisdom, treats these criminals in training as poor lost souls that need to be understood and reasoned with. It’s not their fault. They have a syndrome of some kind or another. The syndrome of the day is ADHD. This is what they say about a spoiled little brat that hasn’t got the discipline to control him/her self. These kids were brought up with their parents doing everything for them. Including taking the consequences for their actions. These are the children that come to your house with their parents, and tear your house apart. And their parents think it is so cute the way they are EXPRESSING themselves. And God forbid you should tell the child to stop playing with your family heirloom. Their parents will give YOU hell for stifling their precious little angel. The courts have to stay out of the homes of people that want to teach their children to have respect for others and their belongings. The ones that want to teach their children that there are consequences for their action. And above all, these new wave experts have to STAY OUT OF OUR LIVES! Trying to get a law passed that won’t allow you to deal with your children’s learning to function in society, without the many stops in juvenile court along the way, is intrusive. It is offensive. And above all else, it is insulting. Insulting to say that you are not raising your children right, ACCORDING TO THEM. This is the same thing as these so called Animal Rights activists saying that because they have chosen not to eat meat, no one should. We have to stand up and say ENOUGH! You are entitled to your opinion. I will even defend your right to your opinion. But you do NOT have the right to force your opinion on the rest of us.