Zach LarkinsRIGHTS
Writing articles on a site such as this really is a thankless job. That's why I'm thankful it's not my job. I do it for fun.
Some people will accuse you of not having ‘journalistic integrity'. That's true of most of the writers here, or any other site you might want to visit. These writers are not journalists. They are not columnists. They are reporters in the very strictest sense of the word. They're ordinary people who put out their view of or on a subject. Some will chastise you for using a newspaper article or news report for the source of your information. "Don't believe everything you read," they will say. Fair enough. But they ignore you when you say you read several articles on the same topic, both liberal and conservative, and are clever enough to make an educated decision as to which side you take. Some don't believe that you don't sit in front of the computer all day with nothing else to do but check, check again and then re-check all and every source known to mankind before you start typing.
Some people will follow you writings for a long time and still not see a common thread in some articles. Some writers go off on politics while others rail against religion. Some writers offer good medicinal advice and others give helpful household tips. Some write about cars or must visit museums, others about the latest fashion craze or the lunatics running freely through the streets of Hollywood. Some fixate on American Idol and others attack the glo-bull warming scare. Even though many writers will latch onto a certain theme, they do, generally, tend to disperse other articles in the meantime to keep interest up. Everyone will eventually get bored with reading the same old, same old day after day.
This concept becomes difficult for some readers as they tend to lose track of what has been said in the past compared to what might be said today. I know that I have harped on certain subjects in the past, but trying to stay away from being typecast, I do try to intersperse my writing with subjects that may seem to come from the far away left field. I write under the name of Youranter to try to get across the idea that I am an equal opportunity dissident about whatever happens to piss me off on any given day. Write about it, let me read it and I'll be the first one to give an opinion. It's a first off people. I research what I have to, but most things I trust to the journalists and columnists to have done their homework.
Some comments I've received on my articles show me that the reader, like a pit bull, will not give up on the particular subject I've written about. Others, with a small explanation, do get it and let it go. I suppose I had better hone my writing skills to make it more clear to those who don't get it.
An underlying theme to many of my articles has been the erosion of our rights under our present provincial government. Not being a dog owner, I have written about the lunacy of branding every dog you don't happen to like as a pit bull and having the breed banned. I told how the man responsible for this asinine law couldn't pick out a pit bull from a line up presented to him and just went ahead and banned anything that he thought fit the description of how they should look. I pointed out that some bull terriers are not pit bull terriers and have been excluded from such bans elsewhere. I suppose I should have included the story of the woman who had half her face ripped of by her loyal pet and called for a ban of that breed too. It happened to be a Golden Retriever, one of the first breeds considered safe when you have children in the house. But I would have heard about how rare an attack like that is. Well so are attacks by bull terriers. They just get worse press and so must be banished forever.
I've written about the smoking ban now in effect here in Ontario. And I know how happy the non-smokers are about this. They made a great hue and cry about finally being able to out for an evening without coming home smelling of smoke. They said there would be more than enough of them taking advantage of this new law to more than make up for the business lost due to smokers being banned. Tell that to the bars and restaurants that have or are going bankrupt. Tell that to the bars and restaurants that have laid off 30% of their staff, trying to stay solvent. Tell me how this ban has evolved from not smoking in public buildings to the point where it looks like they'll try to ban you smoking in your own home. Tell me how this is a fair law when you can't even smoke in the privacy of your own car if you are on certain hospital grounds.
I've written about our Premier delisting many services from our health care insurance and then having the nerve to charge us an outrageous tax for the privilege of having to pay for these services out of pocket. Some say that cataract surgery normally happens when a person passes the age of 65, when it is again covered. Perhaps. But why then would the government ‘give' a city almost $4 million to cover the costs of this surgery? Isn't it possible that the beginnings of cataracts could be caught by regular visits to the eye doctor, be treated and maybe save the expense of having to do surgery later? Knee and hip replacement surgeries have an unbelievably long wait time before they are taken care of. The government has done nothing to reduce those wait times. Is it not possible that visits to a chiropractor could avoid that person having to undergo an operation in the future? Chiropractic services were delisted as well as eye exams.
These are all, apparently, minor beefs that don't stack up to the more important issues that some people seem to have. If it doesn't affect them directly, they are more than happy to see their rights eroded to the point where, when it does finally affect them directly, they will wonder how things ever got so bad. They are happy to worship where and when they want, marry who they wish and attend the school of their choice. All noble thoughts, but maybe a bit self-serving. They seem to forget that there are tough men and women out there doing a lot of dirty work to ensure those rights are not taken away from them. They sleep safely in their warm beds every night, proud of the fact they are pacifists. One must wonder when those rights are taken away from them just how far their pacifism will take them. It didn't seem to work for Neville Chamberlain and there were certainly a lot of pacifists around at that time.
Not to make too big a deal out of it, but you have to watch the enemy within as well as the one who does, or tries to do, more grievous to you and your family. And that's the message I've tried to get through. As I said before, I am not a dog owner. But to put it into terms that might be easier for some to understand, let me try it this way.
A toy poodle is basically a yappy little dog that is more annoying than anything else. They will, however, nip at your ankles given a chance. The size of the dog dictates that it will be a long while before he ever eats you completely. This compares to the small, petty rights that are being taken from us by our own government. They will start with the small things that they think no one cares about. Now, when that toy poodle finally gets you down, in walks a pit bull to finish you off in a hurry. This compares to the government, seeing the success they've had in the past, taking away your right to worship, to marry whomever you want, to go to the school of your choice and perhaps even to tell you what language you are to use from this date forward. And the pacifists will wonder how it all came about.
Talk to any veteran and you will meet someone who truly hates war and violence. They will be the first to tell you there must be a peaceful solution to the problems that society faces on a daily basis. They also know that sometimes there is no other solution than to stand up and fight. Non- smokers sign petitions against draconian anti-smoking laws because they see freedom of choice being taken away. Pet-less people sign petitions against banning certain breeds of dogs because they know the freedom of choice is being taken away. An ever growing number of people getting on in years sign petitions to keep preventive medical procedures listed rather than face future, more painful procedures because they know the freedom of choice is being taken away.
Maybe I do rant against some petty items in some people's eyes. But if it doesn't start at the ‘small, petty' items, where will it lead? And when will it end? Didn't all dictators start out ‘liberating' their people? I don't know anyone who wants to live under a dictatorship. But the pacifists are too blind to see that the erosion of our rights is leading us down the path to totalitarian government. It is not without just cause that liberalism is equated with left wing politics. We won't have revolutions like they did in Bolivia or Cuba, but sure as hell if the liberal left wing has its way and is allowed to continue in its quest to take away our rights, we will end up in the same social spectrum as those countries.
Some people will accuse you of not having ‘journalistic integrity'. That's true of most of the writers here, or any other site you might want to visit. These writers are not journalists. They are not columnists. They are reporters in the very strictest sense of the word. They're ordinary people who put out their view of or on a subject. Some will chastise you for using a newspaper article or news report for the source of your information. "Don't believe everything you read," they will say. Fair enough. But they ignore you when you say you read several articles on the same topic, both liberal and conservative, and are clever enough to make an educated decision as to which side you take. Some don't believe that you don't sit in front of the computer all day with nothing else to do but check, check again and then re-check all and every source known to mankind before you start typing.
Some people will follow you writings for a long time and still not see a common thread in some articles. Some writers go off on politics while others rail against religion. Some writers offer good medicinal advice and others give helpful household tips. Some write about cars or must visit museums, others about the latest fashion craze or the lunatics running freely through the streets of Hollywood. Some fixate on American Idol and others attack the glo-bull warming scare. Even though many writers will latch onto a certain theme, they do, generally, tend to disperse other articles in the meantime to keep interest up. Everyone will eventually get bored with reading the same old, same old day after day.
This concept becomes difficult for some readers as they tend to lose track of what has been said in the past compared to what might be said today. I know that I have harped on certain subjects in the past, but trying to stay away from being typecast, I do try to intersperse my writing with subjects that may seem to come from the far away left field. I write under the name of Youranter to try to get across the idea that I am an equal opportunity dissident about whatever happens to piss me off on any given day. Write about it, let me read it and I'll be the first one to give an opinion. It's a first off people. I research what I have to, but most things I trust to the journalists and columnists to have done their homework.
Some comments I've received on my articles show me that the reader, like a pit bull, will not give up on the particular subject I've written about. Others, with a small explanation, do get it and let it go. I suppose I had better hone my writing skills to make it more clear to those who don't get it.
An underlying theme to many of my articles has been the erosion of our rights under our present provincial government. Not being a dog owner, I have written about the lunacy of branding every dog you don't happen to like as a pit bull and having the breed banned. I told how the man responsible for this asinine law couldn't pick out a pit bull from a line up presented to him and just went ahead and banned anything that he thought fit the description of how they should look. I pointed out that some bull terriers are not pit bull terriers and have been excluded from such bans elsewhere. I suppose I should have included the story of the woman who had half her face ripped of by her loyal pet and called for a ban of that breed too. It happened to be a Golden Retriever, one of the first breeds considered safe when you have children in the house. But I would have heard about how rare an attack like that is. Well so are attacks by bull terriers. They just get worse press and so must be banished forever.
I've written about the smoking ban now in effect here in Ontario. And I know how happy the non-smokers are about this. They made a great hue and cry about finally being able to out for an evening without coming home smelling of smoke. They said there would be more than enough of them taking advantage of this new law to more than make up for the business lost due to smokers being banned. Tell that to the bars and restaurants that have or are going bankrupt. Tell that to the bars and restaurants that have laid off 30% of their staff, trying to stay solvent. Tell me how this ban has evolved from not smoking in public buildings to the point where it looks like they'll try to ban you smoking in your own home. Tell me how this is a fair law when you can't even smoke in the privacy of your own car if you are on certain hospital grounds.
I've written about our Premier delisting many services from our health care insurance and then having the nerve to charge us an outrageous tax for the privilege of having to pay for these services out of pocket. Some say that cataract surgery normally happens when a person passes the age of 65, when it is again covered. Perhaps. But why then would the government ‘give' a city almost $4 million to cover the costs of this surgery? Isn't it possible that the beginnings of cataracts could be caught by regular visits to the eye doctor, be treated and maybe save the expense of having to do surgery later? Knee and hip replacement surgeries have an unbelievably long wait time before they are taken care of. The government has done nothing to reduce those wait times. Is it not possible that visits to a chiropractor could avoid that person having to undergo an operation in the future? Chiropractic services were delisted as well as eye exams.
These are all, apparently, minor beefs that don't stack up to the more important issues that some people seem to have. If it doesn't affect them directly, they are more than happy to see their rights eroded to the point where, when it does finally affect them directly, they will wonder how things ever got so bad. They are happy to worship where and when they want, marry who they wish and attend the school of their choice. All noble thoughts, but maybe a bit self-serving. They seem to forget that there are tough men and women out there doing a lot of dirty work to ensure those rights are not taken away from them. They sleep safely in their warm beds every night, proud of the fact they are pacifists. One must wonder when those rights are taken away from them just how far their pacifism will take them. It didn't seem to work for Neville Chamberlain and there were certainly a lot of pacifists around at that time.
Not to make too big a deal out of it, but you have to watch the enemy within as well as the one who does, or tries to do, more grievous to you and your family. And that's the message I've tried to get through. As I said before, I am not a dog owner. But to put it into terms that might be easier for some to understand, let me try it this way.
A toy poodle is basically a yappy little dog that is more annoying than anything else. They will, however, nip at your ankles given a chance. The size of the dog dictates that it will be a long while before he ever eats you completely. This compares to the small, petty rights that are being taken from us by our own government. They will start with the small things that they think no one cares about. Now, when that toy poodle finally gets you down, in walks a pit bull to finish you off in a hurry. This compares to the government, seeing the success they've had in the past, taking away your right to worship, to marry whomever you want, to go to the school of your choice and perhaps even to tell you what language you are to use from this date forward. And the pacifists will wonder how it all came about.
Talk to any veteran and you will meet someone who truly hates war and violence. They will be the first to tell you there must be a peaceful solution to the problems that society faces on a daily basis. They also know that sometimes there is no other solution than to stand up and fight. Non- smokers sign petitions against draconian anti-smoking laws because they see freedom of choice being taken away. Pet-less people sign petitions against banning certain breeds of dogs because they know the freedom of choice is being taken away. An ever growing number of people getting on in years sign petitions to keep preventive medical procedures listed rather than face future, more painful procedures because they know the freedom of choice is being taken away.
Maybe I do rant against some petty items in some people's eyes. But if it doesn't start at the ‘small, petty' items, where will it lead? And when will it end? Didn't all dictators start out ‘liberating' their people? I don't know anyone who wants to live under a dictatorship. But the pacifists are too blind to see that the erosion of our rights is leading us down the path to totalitarian government. It is not without just cause that liberalism is equated with left wing politics. We won't have revolutions like they did in Bolivia or Cuba, but sure as hell if the liberal left wing has its way and is allowed to continue in its quest to take away our rights, we will end up in the same social spectrum as those countries.
techy.Bytes
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Qwerk
Cinema Three
Like the folks at uni criticize the uni via the magazine for under funding using the very same funding to print the damned magazine.
You know, if we thought like you and more specifically S.L. do, we'd have had you banned, be happy were open and you're closed, if you were open and we were closed, you'd be banned.
Refer here on your claims of innocence, you have an obligation too, you know, well mayebe you don't know, so why do I bother? I have faith in humanity.
As for you, Ahmed, your nonsensical ramble is par for the course. Perhaps if you made sense from time to time.... too much to hope for, I guess.
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
Youranter, I agree with you on this one all the way. I, too, have faith in humanity (that much I got from Ahmed's post): which is why I too am opposed to the erosion of personal rights and freedoms as you described. Who among us dares to presume that their way is the only way, and that they shall dictate their way to the rest of the country in the interest of "security"? Believing that humanity will manage to get along without an Orwellian government is the point here--this is one of those rare occasions where you should be in agreement!
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern