I can see the headlines now: Gay Canadian Student Pummeled by Bottle Challenges Nevada Hate Crime Legislation. Upon checking my sources (wikipedia!!! yay!!) i actually found out that sexual orientation is protected in Nevada hate crime laws, so maybe I can take this somewhere. (Funny enough that their state constitution bans gay marriage. Vegas could totally cash in on that with the recession.)
Anyway, after a minor altercation with a few drunk friends in Vegas, a man handing out stripper cards told me to go die of aids. I should have ignored him but he came back to spit in my ear. Hee followed us down the street to a nearby pirate show, and half an hour later snuck from behind and hit me in the head with a beer bottle. Pussy. Now I have a scar from homophobia. On the positive side, I have a scar for standing up for what I believe in.
Outside of the shock factor, drama, worrying friends and family, and other emotional and subjective aspects that come into play here, I began to realize that a lot of important things became suddenly relevant, like the justice system and hate crime punishment, health care treatment. Grownup stuff. I was told to pay a 5000 dollar deposit and could only afford to pay 100, which they told me was fine. I'm not sure if I am obligated to pay the rest or not, or if i will receive a bill and how much I can reclaim under my Canadian coverage. I'd like to take this time to whore out Michael Moore's Sicko, a film you should take a look at even if you hate the crap out of him. It really breaks down the health care issue more than I can.
I'd just like to ask American hospitals and their staff, what kind of person carries around 5 grand in preparation for a skull laceration and 6 staples? And if i didn't pay that money, will you send a cross-border agent to rip out the staples? The most disturbing part for me is that he posted bail and got out two nights later. My friends safely hid me from him as we snuck to another casino.
If anyone in tune with Nevada state law is reading this, i'd love to take an in-depth analysis into the situation. I want this to go to the supreme court as a health care issue for the united states. I want Obama to sign federal legislation protecting both gay and straight people from idiots like that guy. I don't want anyone else to get hit with a single bottle. Thank goodness the bottle never broke and cut into my face, eyes or neck. He hit me two or three times, the latter few being covered by my now swollen fingers. My handwriting looks kiddish and my friends call me staples (although if it weren't for them, I could have had a concussion or possibly died. I appreciate them, their love and support more than anyone can imagine.)
I was unfortunately not covered by traveler's insurance because i was out of money by the time i left. I didn't anticipate anything like this, that's for sure. I'll repost a picture of the wound later when I get my camera running. It's gross but so freakin cool! I'm totally keeping the staples.
On a final note, a few questions: is news only news when it happens to you, or when it reaches an audience? Does hate crime legislation create a second class of citizen by classifying a minority as a separate group? How soon is this asshole's court date? I'd love it if irony threw a bit of bum action at him while he's in jail. Oh well.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
machu picchu vs macchapucchre
oil is becoming more and more essential to human development and at a heavier price - i found out tonight (just surfing on wikipedia like the loser i am) that the last oil refinery built in the united states was in louisiana in 1976. Since then, a hundred (or hundreds, i don't remember which one) or so have shut down and they're probably still there, just like all of the old factories around toronto that take up nasty space. this needs to change.
we have so much newer technology than frickin 1976. my mom was practically my age in 1976. the only good thing about 1976 was the blue jays being created, maybe the american bicentennial and a volcano eruption. and if you like jimmy carter, which you probably don't, he got elected. at least gerald ford was out.
anyways, what was i saying. yeah, 70 frickin 6? it's 2009. that's almost 2010, which is almost 2020, 2050, 2100 and so on. we have to get out of the ages and times of thinking we're stuck in the past. this new era, obama era, digital whatever you call it, is an awesome opportunity to think of the future. let's take this economic slump and use it as an opportunity to boom up after like we did in every other recession. i ranted about this already, didn't i? shit.
again, updating our refineries with cleaner, fair-traded materials and maybe solar power technology, water filtration engineering (my dad does that shit) , and make sure the metals, plastics and other materials we build with are built in good faith. local production is key, but don't shut off trading to other sources if necessary. just make sure people aren't being exploited for what they provide you. their resources are just as valuable to this earth as ours are. what happened to treat others as you want to be treated?
what is happening to the refineries in iraq? are they old or new, and who is running them and owning them? in fact, i'm surprised we all know so little about where this oil is going and who's making money off of it. i've been told several times now that the reason the war started was because hussain wouldn't trade his oil in the english pound or u.s. dollar. some would call this radical and some would call this heroic...but it certainly caused somethin.
next time i wanna talk about sugar, al jazeera english and pina coladas <3
we have so much newer technology than frickin 1976. my mom was practically my age in 1976. the only good thing about 1976 was the blue jays being created, maybe the american bicentennial and a volcano eruption. and if you like jimmy carter, which you probably don't, he got elected. at least gerald ford was out.
anyways, what was i saying. yeah, 70 frickin 6? it's 2009. that's almost 2010, which is almost 2020, 2050, 2100 and so on. we have to get out of the ages and times of thinking we're stuck in the past. this new era, obama era, digital whatever you call it, is an awesome opportunity to think of the future. let's take this economic slump and use it as an opportunity to boom up after like we did in every other recession. i ranted about this already, didn't i? shit.
again, updating our refineries with cleaner, fair-traded materials and maybe solar power technology, water filtration engineering (my dad does that shit) , and make sure the metals, plastics and other materials we build with are built in good faith. local production is key, but don't shut off trading to other sources if necessary. just make sure people aren't being exploited for what they provide you. their resources are just as valuable to this earth as ours are. what happened to treat others as you want to be treated?
what is happening to the refineries in iraq? are they old or new, and who is running them and owning them? in fact, i'm surprised we all know so little about where this oil is going and who's making money off of it. i've been told several times now that the reason the war started was because hussain wouldn't trade his oil in the english pound or u.s. dollar. some would call this radical and some would call this heroic...but it certainly caused somethin.
next time i wanna talk about sugar, al jazeera english and pina coladas <3
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
recession smession!
yeah! you heard me! look at every single recessive moment in economic history and you'll immediately understand what i'm talking about; the civil war and the industrial revolution: the great depression, world war 2 and massive economic boom in the states, the 80's slum and 90's sex party and now this!
we need to realize the tremendous amount of opportunity we have here! to change things for the better, perhaps the young people need to start a peace and government honesty movement for the sake of understanding all this economic bullshit so we, the people of the united states, can understand what's going on. we can use the input of our citizenship to help the needy, in our own country and across the world in catastrophic states like darfur, north korean concentration camps, child labour factories, sweatshops and slums; even cases in our own government, particularly immigration, could be relaxed and the migrant workers from Mexico, Cuba and other countries could help boost our economy if they are forced to properly pay taxes, which many will do if granted citizenship, health care and job security. (Isn't that what we all want these days...)
this is particularly relevant to new orleans, a city in need of major geographic renovation, reconstruction and redesign in a whole new light, perhaps in the style of venice, italy, with water raised and filtered, buildings renovated properly and streets cleared of debris! the french architecture would look beautiful with the water, especially the raised balconies along ursuline and that area.
Toronto could become the digital capital of the world by installing solar-powered laptops in public "internet stations" for free access for any citizen who registers their name and address with the service, who can monitor not what the citizen browses but the front and lower portion of the citizen on the laptop - this would ensure privacy as well as preventing vandalism, theft or abuse. Monitors could be installed in the highway hills and in the streets, sides of buildings, subways and more! Building restrictions could be lifted in order to create more construction jobs for creative buildings across the city! There is an opportunity for providing architects and architect students jobs for expanding our harbourfront, covered by large abandoned factories. Let's build build build!
Let's stop farting around and elect somebody who will promise to change things and ACTUALLY change them. Dalton McGuinty hasn't done much except remove dental coverage from ohip (preventing my boyfriend from getting his possibly-infected wisdom teeth removed until it becomes a "medical emergency"). Oh, and he broke that tuition freeze and raised it by the max each year since (5%, honestly not too bad in comparison to the states and LSU's funding cut).
My parents have lost a 3rd of their pension. They're afraid to move closer to my dad's new job because the market is a load of crap right now; they've probably lost a bit of property value, although the parish they live in is rapidly expanding. Their former neighbour bought a house in the hood for 550k (we're not rich, my parents just save money well like proper little Canadians). When they moved, the house sold for 520k. They lost 30 thousand dollars! Correct me if i'm wrong but that's a whole lot of money. That's my student debt and 7 thousand extra (which i will definitely not rack up).
The Fafsa loans might be cut in the future as well, who knows...which is more of a burden for my younger brother, who has to begin his education amidst this mess and massive renovations to the image arts building wherein his classes take place. Universities, however, seem to be doing well; there's a constant need for students and the government loves to fund fund fund, so Ryerson is expanding little by little and making a teeny name for itself. It's not up to par with U of T, by any means, but it's up there with York and George Brown, which Ryerson hosts.
And I still have to find another summer job! My mom is gonna kill me. I wonder what my brothers will do for the summer. I need to save up for tuition for next year and also invest in a way to get a new laptop (like a sexy mac or something linuxy with a firewire port for video capture)! I also need to start saving for a possible increase in rent next september, in case i move out of the building with someone or don't get rehired as a CA in my building. I did, however, get rehired for the summer. Yay, cheap rent and social communication! Look at me ramble on. I guess this is what blogs are for. Ha HA ha! I can't wait for this whole mess to explode in our faces. I think we deserve it for the way we've treated the world the past 8 years. But i'm an overemotional ho le mo. I miss my cats. My family and I had a great time hanging out today. Fin.
we need to realize the tremendous amount of opportunity we have here! to change things for the better, perhaps the young people need to start a peace and government honesty movement for the sake of understanding all this economic bullshit so we, the people of the united states, can understand what's going on. we can use the input of our citizenship to help the needy, in our own country and across the world in catastrophic states like darfur, north korean concentration camps, child labour factories, sweatshops and slums; even cases in our own government, particularly immigration, could be relaxed and the migrant workers from Mexico, Cuba and other countries could help boost our economy if they are forced to properly pay taxes, which many will do if granted citizenship, health care and job security. (Isn't that what we all want these days...)
this is particularly relevant to new orleans, a city in need of major geographic renovation, reconstruction and redesign in a whole new light, perhaps in the style of venice, italy, with water raised and filtered, buildings renovated properly and streets cleared of debris! the french architecture would look beautiful with the water, especially the raised balconies along ursuline and that area.
Toronto could become the digital capital of the world by installing solar-powered laptops in public "internet stations" for free access for any citizen who registers their name and address with the service, who can monitor not what the citizen browses but the front and lower portion of the citizen on the laptop - this would ensure privacy as well as preventing vandalism, theft or abuse. Monitors could be installed in the highway hills and in the streets, sides of buildings, subways and more! Building restrictions could be lifted in order to create more construction jobs for creative buildings across the city! There is an opportunity for providing architects and architect students jobs for expanding our harbourfront, covered by large abandoned factories. Let's build build build!
Let's stop farting around and elect somebody who will promise to change things and ACTUALLY change them. Dalton McGuinty hasn't done much except remove dental coverage from ohip (preventing my boyfriend from getting his possibly-infected wisdom teeth removed until it becomes a "medical emergency"). Oh, and he broke that tuition freeze and raised it by the max each year since (5%, honestly not too bad in comparison to the states and LSU's funding cut).
My parents have lost a 3rd of their pension. They're afraid to move closer to my dad's new job because the market is a load of crap right now; they've probably lost a bit of property value, although the parish they live in is rapidly expanding. Their former neighbour bought a house in the hood for 550k (we're not rich, my parents just save money well like proper little Canadians). When they moved, the house sold for 520k. They lost 30 thousand dollars! Correct me if i'm wrong but that's a whole lot of money. That's my student debt and 7 thousand extra (which i will definitely not rack up).
The Fafsa loans might be cut in the future as well, who knows...which is more of a burden for my younger brother, who has to begin his education amidst this mess and massive renovations to the image arts building wherein his classes take place. Universities, however, seem to be doing well; there's a constant need for students and the government loves to fund fund fund, so Ryerson is expanding little by little and making a teeny name for itself. It's not up to par with U of T, by any means, but it's up there with York and George Brown, which Ryerson hosts.
And I still have to find another summer job! My mom is gonna kill me. I wonder what my brothers will do for the summer. I need to save up for tuition for next year and also invest in a way to get a new laptop (like a sexy mac or something linuxy with a firewire port for video capture)! I also need to start saving for a possible increase in rent next september, in case i move out of the building with someone or don't get rehired as a CA in my building. I did, however, get rehired for the summer. Yay, cheap rent and social communication! Look at me ramble on. I guess this is what blogs are for. Ha HA ha! I can't wait for this whole mess to explode in our faces. I think we deserve it for the way we've treated the world the past 8 years. But i'm an overemotional ho le mo. I miss my cats. My family and I had a great time hanging out today. Fin.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Note!
I apologize in advance (especially to my mother) for any vulgar language on this blog. I hope you can sympathize with my raging young adult emotions expressed in such language.
Onwards, just browsing the news, this g20 drama is quite interesting. For the first time, the public is more aware than ever that protesters are holding accountable, peaceful and intelligent protests and not the violent riots depicted by our more prevalent news outlets on television. The internet has played an important role in this (as it tends to do with everything these days).
Stephen Harper is boring, dull and REALLY boring. It is like having an absence of a prime minister...like when you watch tv and the signal goes out and all you get is gray fuzz. Stephen Harper is that evil fuzz. We need to smack our television sets back to the right signal. This is not the time for fuzz.
Onwards, just browsing the news, this g20 drama is quite interesting. For the first time, the public is more aware than ever that protesters are holding accountable, peaceful and intelligent protests and not the violent riots depicted by our more prevalent news outlets on television. The internet has played an important role in this (as it tends to do with everything these days).
Stephen Harper is boring, dull and REALLY boring. It is like having an absence of a prime minister...like when you watch tv and the signal goes out and all you get is gray fuzz. Stephen Harper is that evil fuzz. We need to smack our television sets back to the right signal. This is not the time for fuzz.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)