michelat's blog: "and the word is written..."

 

Why we remain resolute in our opposition to the Calgary Stampede rodeo and chuckwagon racing:

 

In the over 15 years of actively protesting the Calgary Stampede's rodeo and chuckwagon racing we have come to see the tide change in our favour, running counter to the claims and pronouncements of both the Stampede Board, and the local media. Perhaps the most telling proof of this came a couple years ago when, in response to the Cloverdale Rodeo decision to ban certain events from their rodeo, both myself and a member of the Calgary Stampede were invited to discuss this on BC Talk Radio as it applied to the Calgary spectacle. The Stampede of course refused to engage in any dialogue with our side, so it was left to be where I would discuss our position and then the Stampede would give their perspective. During the course of their dialogue it was admitted that every year there are animal deaths that occur at the Stampede-a far cry from their official position, which can be read on both wikipedia and their own website...that the deaths that do take place are far and few, and the result of tragic accidents.

Given that these deaths occur on a regular basis during chuckwagon races, it is clear that these are no longer 'accidents', but a regular consequence of such a spectacle, and thus completely avoidable, by bringing an end to this death trap extravaganza. Obviously they cannot prevent these deaths from occurring or they would have, so the only way to do so is to stop running these 'races' entirely.

As far as the rodeo events go, there are some that have the appearance of being more barbaric, such as the calf-roping, but the truth is that every event carries its own level of brutality, along with injuries and death.

At one point, there was much public outcry over the jerk-down of the calves during the roping event, so the Stampede decreed that such an action 'could' result in penalties being assessed, etc. The end result was the censoring of said acts and others, so as to keep the public in the dark over what was going on, save for those in the grandstand. And still animal deaths and injuries continued to occur, unabated.

Interestingly, I wound up being contacted by people within the industry, some of them genuinely interested in trying to clean up their own 'sports', while others were doing so to inform me about the goings-ons taking place on their rival camps....rodeo people telling me the behind-the-scene stories about chucks, and chucks people ratting out the rodeo enclave. And then of course, I had spoken to some people in the ranching community, who expressed their own opposition to the exploitative and abusive ways of the rodeo, citing such actions as being a show of great disrespect towards these beasts that are, admittedly being raised by them for consumption. For many of these ranchers it is a demeaning and callous disregard for these individuals' lives, a rather base lack of sensitivity towards them.

The truth is, no matter if I run down the list of issues we have with each event, be it the doctoring of chuck wagon horse teams with substances that increase their heart rate so as to maximise their speed-at grave risk to heart attacks etc....something that has seen a dramatic increase in recent years, incidentally, to the breaking of limbs and hairline fractures during barrel-racing, or the hyper-extension of bulls' backs as they are sent bucking in pain and fear from having hotshots applied to them at the opening of the chutes, the popularity of this 'sport' has been on the wane for many years now, irrespective of the claims being peddled to the generally unsuspecting public.

For arguments' sake, if we were to accept the position taken by the Stampede that rodeo and chuckwagon racing remains very popular, does it make sense that literally hundreds, perhaps even thousands of tickets are made available free for people who buy Stampede lottery tickets, or as comps to businesses for their employees to use, resulting in a 'sometimes' visual of a fullhouse or almost sell-out of the grandstand?

Over the years we have had numerous sources inform us of the continued drop in sales of said seats; people are just not buying them as they would have us believe. This would be a very dangerous admission to make on their part, at a time when they are desperately trying to expand the Stampede properties and the venue itself while selling the concept to outside investors seeking to locate in the downtown core with their hotels and condominiums, especially now when the economy is in a tailspin.

We do not stand opposed to an annual party, where the entire city can get into a celebratory mood and let its proverbial hair down, if even for a few of the dog days of summer. We would be more than encouraging of such a party, actively participating in such a morale boost even. What we cannot do though, and as the increasing numbers of the public would indicate as well, is support an annual event where cruelty towards animals is the norm, where injuries and death are NOT the accidents they would have us believe, but more an expected-and accepted-form of “collateral damage”, a by-product or consequence of exploiting and abusing the lives of these beings, for the sake of some now tarnished lucre. And for that reason we will be out there yet again, peacefully protesting this sham of a spectacle and all the barbarism associated with it.

it has taken a while to comment on this event that took place the previous week...only because of the brutality...the horrific sense of delight that was behind the actions perpetrated upon this young man.

at 2:30am, the saturday before last, at a train station-not 15 minutes after the maintenance people had lft it, 3 youths descended upon one 17 year old and demanded money and whatever else he had...his cellphone, etc...this person a quiet and well-liked individual who, ironically enough, had been punched recently to this.

in the process of these demands, they set upon him and started beating him-specifically targetting his head...smashing it into the concrete bedding for the railings along this pathway/cross-over above the thoroughfare below...over and over he was smashed against the concrete and the steel supports...thrown against another section and repeatedly slammed further into the hard, unyielding stone and mortar...then left for dead.

the maintenance people received the call barely 15 minutes later-when they arrived at the scene the police, an ambulance, crime photographers and such were already there, as was the canine unit and others....the area taped up to separate it from onlookers... and the curious...they told me how it appeared to them...the blood trail of drops...and then suddenly, as if a red filled balloon had exploded, a huge pool of blood, with splatters all over....and then a little further-another burst balloon....and then yet another...

he lived....and lives yet....permanently brain damaged-but alive...somehow. forever altered...his path....his choices now removed from him....forever. video footage showed 3 youth walking down the cross-over. the canine unit was successful in ferreting out someone hiding in the area-no one has indicated if he was one of those 3...the calm demeanour of these 3 shows how brutal an incident this really was...that they would engage in such an act so dispassionately...with absolutely no regard as to the impact-other than the thrill it was surely giving them...no self-control....nothing but the sheer and disgusting brutality and cold calculation behind the assault. it wasn't even a beating-it was so much worse...

a couple days later-one night actually...i was at the neighbouring station...2 youths coming along a section i was just exiting from were surprised by my presence there-obviously not expecting anyone to be there, they turned and walked away and upstairs...i went nto the lunch area and, realising i had no way to know if they may have turned around and decided to lie in wait for me, took an ice scraper/chipper and went out...no one there. walking around and back up i heard them talking above me, so i took steps towards them-loud ones-to signal my approach...i could here them as the moved on-as i rounded the bend at the top of the stairs i saw them-i entering the station and the other, along with a third, go around the corner of it.

i went into the station....by now deserted, and went into the maintenance room, grabbing a bucket, with the idea of making like i was cleaning the windows...exiting i saw them as they hung out at a bend along the pathway leading down to the station platform. they decided to walk towards me as i watched them from the cornr of my eye...the one had a hat very similar to one of the 3 from the previous night t the other station...they passed me and continued on and off the property, up the street and hill enveloping themselves in the night's darkness.

i called in to the security number and suggested that a police be despatched to drive throughout the neighbourhood, just in case they were the ones who had almost killed the 17 year old...their actions seemd very suspect...and there was something about them-the hat...the look of 2 of them-similar to 2 from the other night...

these aren't kids who've grown up in a war-torn region...having become desensitised to life through constantly living death....these are kids who live among us...who interact with our kids...normal individuals seemingly...yet who have this vicious quality within, completely amoral...dead eyes peering....focusing...seeking victims and pleasures to be derived from them...brutal ones...involving bloodletting and torture....thrill kills and mayhem....

and the question that remains strangling in one's throat is, "why?" why are they like this, and how did they become as they have...? how can one see and distinguish between them and the rest of us? not everyone can see dead eyes when they present themselves, certainly not until its too late, in any case. yet there they are. waiting to attack, hunting their next prey....

today, the 23rd of march, marked the beginning of this year's slaughter of seals, off the eastern shores of canada. the 'quota' for this year has been increased-due in large part i am confident, in the less successful slaughter of last year, when the weather kept the murder and carnage down a little below the 'official' target of 275,000. this year the quota sits at 338,200...an odd number to set. already there have been babies slaughtered, heads caved in by the hakapiks wielded by these marauding human beasts rushing across the seals' makeshift nurseries and birthplaces....the imagery is far too graphic to post....blood flowing across the previously pristine white of the ice and snow...bodies lying in pools of life juices before being dragged and tossed into waiting small boats...others being skinned then and there...still moving....twitching and worse... what evil an animal we are....to first set out and decimate the populations of various fish species, and then, to assuage what little guilt one may have for that, create a scapegoat and thus, a make work project by targetting another species as being the culprits of over-eating those fish populations....all the time fully aware it has all been our doing, as the rogue species of nature.... when will this ever stop???

today there were at least 300 people gathered to call upon the citizens to say no to hatred in their midst, by standing united in opposition to the cancerous lesion infecting society of late. it was truly inspiring to be a part of this anti-racist rally, and to hear the enthusiastic honking and cheering of passersby....given the apathy shown by both the cty and the police, regarding the entrenchment of these malignancies here. they have openly admitted that they go around and target people, for beating the shit out of them, some have been arrested for firebombing homes, one where one parent and 3 children were there, attempted murders and aggravated assaults are becoming more frequent an occurence.... the expectation was that 30 of their kind were going to show up, under heavy police protection....the very same that have yet to answer for a number of assaults on people of colour-for no reason whatsoever. what is to be done with these bastards? why is it that its only the stupid who tend to hate? looking at these characters, and hearing them speak, trying to justify their actions, it is clear that they are the dummies to their puppet masters...incapable of responding to any question without memorised script. we are taught to be pacifist, respectful of life....and yet....when someone decides to bootfuck someone because they are alone, 'different' and there are a large number of drooling bottomfeeders itching to prove their 'superiority through brutalaity....one questions the role of pacifism in a world where the only response they heed is one similar to their initial violence.... the asshole brigade launched bottles and cans at the rally, with the police doing nothing to halt it, but were hellbent on ensuring that these creatures would be protected from any response from the rally....and one wonders why there is an increase noted of such an ilk.... things are starting to escalate, and the masses grow tired of such filth wandering the streets trying to intimidate through their violence.... extremely tired....

the night before last found me at work, as per normal...though it seemed anything but, for some as yet, unknown reason. it just felt different. this was on sunday night....and it was a night of another unexpected snowfall....when we were anticipating a week of continued warming trends...Spring et al... i was at my major work station by now...where there were a few people gathered....taking refuge as they will when they have nowhere to turn....or go... this one person...a man of 37, startd a conversation with me, and i engaged in it in response, he with his laptop and a knapsack, and a breath laced with beer. he was definitely under an influence-just not sure what at the time. through the course of this light dialogue there would be others arriving and moving on...the occasional straggler...one that h spoke with, jokingl telling him that his laptop was stolen, and he was trying to sell it...the person he was saying this to was sketchy....of a dark expression and eyes alert....i could see his thoughts...to snatch and run-or worse. as i approached he saw me and i then told him my friend was just making a joke-the computer was neither for sale, or stolen. the guy looked at me, snorted and left, leaving the two of us alone. i told him he needed to be very careful who he spoke to, and more, what he said, then asking him if he was seriously trying to sell it. he told me that it all depended....if he was going to jump, then he would certainly not be needing it anymore...looking in his eyes....his face...i knew then he was already on a ledge....a pedestrian bridge... those were eyes...yes-under the influence of the 6 beers he'd claimed to have had along with the muscle relaxants he'd also taken....but more than that, since the booze and drugs were liberators-not rationales-to his mindset....there was this sense of having given in to a fatigue with life...his life-he was just so tired of it....his eyes spoke loudly. because he'd had conflicts with the police they were not going to be involved...his family had turned their collective backs on him too-h, owng them much money, and they in turn, having him legally barred from the family homes... he needed someone....not social service...at least, not yet. it fell upon me to talk to him...to indicate to him that no amount of money is worth any life lost....and that sometimes....a door closed by family, is in fact a positive thing...as it was here with his. i spoke to him of things...when he told me that his friends would likely not be unhappy at his departure i knew these were not friends at all...and he too needed to know it. i told him that even if he thought that no one would really care when he left i told him he was wrong-that i do care, and i would not allow for it. we spoke at length...he was very talkative...he, needing to hear and respond to someone for once in a long while....someone who was listening, who was taking an interest... finally, at one point, he was talking....made a reference to suicide...how he was making a point of reference as to his family....and when i said-no, he'd said more than that-he looked frightened...because he had in fact admitetd at the moment earlier exactly what he was intent on doing....never realising his admission. the drugs and beer had opened briefly that window...and for that he came to tell me what he was going to do. this revelation i suspect, scared him into a new mindset...one where now, it was no longer the only option, but not an option at all... such a sobering experience....feeling this life fluttering in the wind like that...and then...the wind dying to nothingness and he would thus live some more. as he gave me his number, i thought, is he giving me his number because he thinks i need to check to make sure he isn't dead? or should i tell him i will not call because i already know he will live on...

but a vessel....resplendent in the ways of my life.... having sampled from the dark recesses... and the glories bathed in the warmth of the sun... i have fought for my convictions... and for the ones with whom i share this planet... i have felt the edge of loneliness acute... its slice into my flesh... as it lay siege upon my heart... i have lived without love...and then i have loved...and thus, begun to live... therein lies....of what i am comprised.. the concepts once held i reject. the values we shared i object. the faiths we adhered to i detest. that which we took stock in i protest. i see and feel what we have rejected....the love and the life we killed... through me now protected.... to see this whole world as it is....not as we choose... to taste its lush beauty....to sample and cherish...to seek it and reach it and treasure it and then... to be one and hold it as it is.... i endure....within me and without... i am the breeze....invisible yet felt. i am me....so then... who are you?

please remember me in this new life that you lead i was the one-you claimed you needed please remember me.... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx you were my star, my sapphire... a love so intense, it burned with desire but reality burned it much quicker my love my heart now a funeral pyre. m.

the soft warmth of the warming winter sun... bringing rivulets of life to the frozen ice... i look upward...seeing the geese as they fly... and with them i soar...my heart...and i... the clouds embrace the rich blue sky as if tomorrows will never arrive... we live for today...our loves untethered... and when they are done....desires... remembered.... as with the sun....we circle and spin and exude this warmth...so long kept in... and through the warm of our eyes....and our touch and our wiles... we see the ice melt 'mongst the coldest of of smiles.... a thaw....and a whisper...and soon...perhaps... a chance...an encounter....

l'amour.... pas seulement un mot... ou une geste... pas seulement les larmes.... qui tombe...des yeux... en pleurant pour la quelle qu'on respire... y pour qui on a...en fin... un raison pour vivre... non... l'amour....c'est toi... simplement... sans toi... l'amour n'existe pas... y moi non plus...

and for this we live... he was so young when he found his true love she was a woman to his boyhood charm she lived for the moment and him for a lifetime not knowing she would end it with a sentence so long. he fell into love when she beckoned he came for him this was it, for her twas the same.. they settled to live as one til beyond and settle it was like the dust on a pond. he lived and he loved as she did as well a child came to be and the clouds... they did swell... a momentum was building within and without...unknowing he lived...his lovelife gone out. as the years they did pass love in a coma a life long grown stale and still unaware by chance he stumbled and fell into love doomed as it was his eyes they were opened and a glimmer of light shone from above. the galaxie came to him out of the blue receptive he was, he knew what to do the signs they were there this love no compare it was written they both saw destined they gave in to desires shared. he was so blessed by this love having been near before... and she sought to find this and find him she did a love so celestial eternally bid perfection so imperfect, this love from afar the signs they were real the distances too as silently they poisoned... this love of love.... he never had a clue when she said it had died, for her deep inside... he knew that his life it was over as he cried... where he once saw himself the shining star of her galaxie, he came to realise he was but one of many. her love is so precious, her beauty contagious yet no one could ever possess her he sought and he tried on that day when he died he hoped deep inside his love would always obssess her... a woman of such beauty, an angel...a goddess what chance could i have....i should have known i could never be one with her... and yet we persisted...the romance of the moment...thinking the love would remove the distance... if darkness were constant...and the light just the same, we could have and would have been one... but the earth and the elements they conspired against fate...where destined love lost out... since my love....it came but too late. what possessed me to think that i could ever be with her....this angel this goddess.... i love her still.