Sounds like a bad idea...

I haven't had much time to blog lately and I miss it. I pretty much use this blog as a way to let ideas out of my head. It's a crazy place in there filled with tons of random ideas, by typing those ideas on these pages I sort of set them free and move on to other ideas...

This post is just to get rid of a random idea that popped into my head last night. I realized that are tons of things that just plain sound like bad ideas and yet they are fairly successful. I am not saying that these things are bad ideas...they just sound like bad ideas especially when heard out of context.

You be the judge.

1. Recycled Toilet Paper (...but I know where it's been!)
2. Hot Pockets (ouch!)
3. Polar Bear Swim (don't feed the bears!)
4. Fast-acting Laxatives (best to take these while already on the toilet perhaps?)
5. Ant Farms (our cattle farmers can't make a go of it, but someone farms ants?)
6. Permanent Ink (this one speaks for itself)
7. Light Beer (all the beer with less of the goodness)
8. Income Tax (this seems like an oxymoron as well as a bad idea)
9. Self Serve Gas (because we don't trust the gas attendant?)
10. Powdered Milk (yuck, do you eat it with a spoon?)
11. Liquid Paper (I poured a sheet out but it just doesn't seem to go through the printer well)
12. Angry Whopper (I think the original was mean enough)
13. Head Cheese (what the hell!!!)
14. Decaf Coffee (see light beer, similar idea...)
15. Pre-arranged Funeral (it just sounds wrong, kinda like a suicide note)
16. Divided Highway (they seem easier to drive on when they are in one piece)
17. Solar Powered Lights (umm if the sun is shining...)
18. Baby Oil (corn oil from corn, peanut oil from peanuts, I'm just sayin'...)
19. Garbage Collection (I've seen stamp collections, coin collections and card collections...)
20. Computer Dating Service (I know some geeks who are practically married to their computer! I wonder if they met through one of these?)

That is all for now...feel free to add more in the comments!

Are you going to wait in line?

Well, it's almost time for people to line and up start getting their Swine Flu vaccinations. I believe that I will skip this when it becomes available.

Flu vaccinations are the subject of some debate and vaccinations for H1N1 in particular do not have a very good record.

I guess each person needs to decide what is right for them, but I honestly have avoided every flu shot so far and haven't been seriously ill with the flu since since 1990, so for me the risks of the vaccine seem to outweigh any benefit I may receive.

If I end up contracting H1N1 this season, every last one of you can say "I told you so!".

Armed and Educated

What the hell is going on? Just the other day I was commenting on how we will soon have metal detectors at the entrances to our schools. There was a news story about a knife threat at one our Island schools. Now today a shooting threat.

I am troubled by the fact that lockers, kit bags and lunch boxes weren't searched today at the Rural. I would love to hear the reasoning on this. I have heard rumours that searching a students belongings violates their rights, but surely this can't be the reason. Every student has the right to an education, and also the right to safety. No child should be sitting at school worried that the emo kid or the class bully may pull out a gun and start shooting.

I hate the idea of guards and metal detectors at Island schools but what else can be done. I feel this would only be a band-aid solution to a much larger problem. Why are kids showing up at school with weapons? Is society to blame? Is it bad parenting? Is it TV? What has changed?

During my time in school, I never once worried about getting shot. We had a few weirdos, and of course there were bullies, but the threat never usually got much higher than being locked in a locker or getting a swirly at recess.

I think every parent needs to take some time to think about this issue. Discuss it with your children. See how they feel about it. Find out what they know. Often times, they know about problems long before the police, or even school authorities. I also think that parents should be pushing for random locker searches at school. I think once a week a number of lockers should be randomly chosen and searched. I bet you'd be amazed at what might turn up.

I think the real issue is understanding why this is happening. If we can find the reason behind this, we have a much more likely chance of solving this problem, than if we just punish the offenders. Perhaps this was just a prank as the Guardian article implies, but how long before someone really does show up with a gun? Our wonderful little laid-back Island really isn't that different from anywhere else except we supposedly have better gun control.

I'd love to hear some thoughts.

It's Alive!

I am very happy to say that the new City of Charlottetown website has gone live!

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of several city employees, as well as my coworkers, our fine City has a fancy new home online.

Let the critiquing begin ;-)

A Phone for the Rest of you.....

It's coming. The iPhone for Aliant customers! I haven't seen any announcement yet but I have noticed a new 3G Network available in my iPhone along with the Rogers one that has always been there. Plus this website showed up today.

Telus rents their cell access from Aliant, so if Telus is going 3G and carrying the iPhone, you can bet Aliant will be too!

I don't know how soon it will happen, but my money is on "before Christmas". By the end of the year, the rest of you will be able to try out the "Phone" we have all been raving about!

I think this is going to be a good thing. While I am a happy Rogers customer at this time (as any of my regular blog readers know), I am a firm believer that competition in the marketplace is a good thing for the consumer.

The Spirit in the Sky?

This is an issue I have been struggling with lately. I am not struggling with how I feel, I am struggling with how this might make friends and family feel, but it needs to be said.

I don't believe in God.

At least, I don't believe in the God we are all taught about through church. For that matter, I have many problems with organized religion. I respect the beliefs of others and firmly support everyone's right to religion. I just can't believe in it for myself.

Let me explain.

I have grown up in a world and time of great discovery and advancement. Our level of knowledge and global communication has expanded at a tremendous rate. With all this knowledge available to us, I just can not in anyway believe that there is a "man-like being" sitting on a throne up in the clouds somewhere looking down on all of us and watching our every move. Honestly, that is pretty hard to believe isn't it?

Furthermore we are supposed to believe that this Supreme being wants representatives here on earth to spread the word of how great he is. In return we have to go to a building erected in his honour and lay down some cash and some prayers in order to show our respect and appease this god. We are taught that if we step out of line and don't follow his rules we will end up spending our afterlife in eternal damnation somewhere beneath the earth! Come on, how was anyone convinced this is true? We all know that there is no underworld beneath the surface of the earth…oh it's hot in there, but there is no horn-headed, cloven-hoofed, pointy-tailed creature ruling over it waiting for our naughty souls…

Now, having come to terms with that and realizing that organized religion is one of the best money scams every perpetrated…I have a few questions.

What do we do about our legal system if people stop believing in God? We are taught that the criminals will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God…but what if like me, they don't believe that God is up there waiting to punish them if they lie? Isn't the whole legal system supposedly based on a belief in a supreme being..that regardless of what happens in the courtroom, we will ultimately be punished for our sins?

What will war-torn countries do to occupy their time if everyone comes to the realization that believing in imaginary beings and fighting about which one is the "real one" is counter productive and downright stupid. I suppose perhaps they could spend a few years rebuilding the destroyed cities and disposing of weapons of mass destruction.

What will everyone do on Sunday if we no longer feel the need to worship our wonderful make-believe friend in the sky? Perhaps we should revisit that Sunday shopping thing eh?

Bottom line is, I personally don't understand how any educated person can truly and honestly believe in their heart and mind that the teachings of the church are the truth. However, if you can somehow over-look all the obvious shortcomings of religion and get past the craziness of miracles, magic tricks, immaculate conceptions and resurrections, and find comfort, peace and happiness through organized religion, then I say "God Bless You".

For those wondering…
Yes the story of the child pornography obsessed bishop was the straw that broke this camels back…but I haven't really believed for most of my life…I never was big on imaginary friends and who needs imaginary foes!