R.I.B. - Ramblings In Brief - Cubic Special
There are far too many annoyances out there - yes, far too many - and waaaaaaay too much crap all over the place so that one could promptly attend to it all in due time, really... And why bother dealing with any of it in an "in depth" and analytical form either? That would be too much! Thus, we chose to adopt the expeditive and most efficient method, permanently here: blast it all to pieces piece by piece, take no prisoners and most certainly spare no one! But we'll be doing so in a less painful way, with little doses of wit -not poison- at a time! And it is all coated in a not-so-visceral lamination finish as it could be either; you'll see, you will appreciate the verbose veneer here! All you have to do is READ... The topics broached here are not tackled (in any way, shape or form) anywhere else on the TLB Prime Network - at blogging time, that is! Thus you can be sure that the verve here is fresh and its varnish brand new! The lustre has lasting appeal, too! ;-)
So here we go again...
MORE R.I.B. - RAMBLINGS IN BRIEF!
=====================================================
What can a "Cubic Special" possibly be all about, you ask?
Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Rubik's Cube or the fact that I saw a kid solve it in five minutes flat just a mere few days ago...! (Now THAT was annoying, I could tell ya...! Especially when you factor in the endless times that said apparatus frustrated me! I could tell you... But I won't!)
CUBIC here is but a mild form of stating that it sure is hip to be square!
It makes you "special" - hence it is time to make a special topical three-fold posting here about this, methinks...!
Heck, I even wrote a song about it myself, not so long ago...!
;-)
But it's in another language - so, maybe we'll get back to that sooner or later here; maybe we simply won't!
Onwards...
AND LET THE ACTUAL RAMBLING BEGIN!
Think outside the box with me, for a second (and it really is the appropriate image here, given that a box is nothing other than a three-dimensional cube!) - think outside the damn box and realize that a cube is also a more crystalline vision of the world we live in - which is round, sure, but things sure do feel flat all-around so it is no surprise peeps once thought it to be exactly that way...! But we're in danger of digressing again right now... I mean, we do NOT want to dwell upon the poor saps who got their rear ends handed to them (usually charred rear ends) just for stating that the earth was, in fact, round and not flat - that has been done before, countless times, so, enough rambling about THAT!
Speaking of depressing stuff, though, shouldn't have you thinking that we are leaning toward the Cubic Formula with this here - we don't depress that way around here, fear not! We don't disjunct that way! Thank God...
Going all "cubic" on you, now, shall mean, for the purposes of this little exercise here and for this time alone, no more and no less than "being unique."
And there is nothing more unique, one can suppose, than being a hybrid made of three components of vastly different genetic material, born in a regime that is diametrically opposed to the normal tendencies and currents of thought seen prevalent all around the world, remaining fundamentally "cool" despite all these otherwise oppressive agents - and being proud of all that, to boot!
What or rather who are we talking about here?
We are talking about the people of Cuba - of course!
Unlike any other types of hybrids on the globe, the denizens of this little tropical paradise stand united in such a remarkable way that not even the United Colors of Benetton can hope to match!
Cuba is, indeed, hipper than any squares, whether they're made of rice or simply red.
I had the chance to judge of that veracity with my own two eyes as I threaded upon Fidel's territory - the same streets that Ernest walked on, too - and the land Che made famous (and would have died for under any set of different circumstances - that is, if he had not had an ideal to die for, as he did: "Hasta la Victoria Siempre" which luminously-never-loosely translated means "Always Onward To An Everlasting Victory," which always struck me as such an idealistic, ethereal thing to strive for... Sort of like a "war on terror" I suppose... And note that as others translate it word-for-word and obtain obfuscated and ever-so-slightly redundant concept-slogans for their effort, such as "Until the Everlasting Victory Always" or simplistic and poorly-worded versions like "Ever Onward To Victory - Forever," me, I translate the main idea with style... and substance! That is all part of one of my subsidiary services, see: Luminous Translations - si, si! But we are digressing big time right now! However, this time, it is a commercially-viable digression - so it is A-OKAY! After all, we live in a firmly capitalistic regime; not a commie country! Now THAT is another story...)
Che Guevara is such a fascinating subject-case: everyone attests to that, one way or another. Myself I couldn't resist purchasing a thing or two with his effigy upon it: mercifully not a t-shirt though (I opted for a key chain and an old-fashioned Army bag: we needed extra luggage for all the rum and souvenirs, you know...! However, I was deeply disappointed not to find anything with both his face upon it AND the immortal words "Hasta Siempre"... Oh well...)
I suppose that the nature of the idealistic warrior that he was is all that there is to it: after all, his looks were rather brutish and barbaric to say the least (but there are women who like them that way too, of course...) Still... The focus should always be upon the character of the historic figure. In an assessment of Guevara, British historian Hugh Thomas opined that Che was a "brave, sincere and determined man who was also obstinate, narrow, and dogmatic." You see, to me, that is utterly fascinating - and it explains right there how the man wound up dead in yet another country, different fro the one that he was born and the one that he was most famous for "liberating"....
At the end of his life, according to Hugh Thomas, "he seems to have become convinced of the virtues of violence for its own sake", while "his influence over Castro for good or evil" grew after his death, as Fidel took up many of his views. In Thomas' assessment "as in the case of Martí, or Lawrence of Arabia, failure has brightened, not dimmed the legend."
Wow. Failure brightening things rather than the opposite - WHAT A CONCEPT!
I feel so much better now about my failure to solve the Rubik Cube mystery!
Truth be told, of course, all of Cuba embraced that spirit: their failure is bright and brave (I'll stop just short of calling it... luminous... of course!) in the face of an American embargo and the constant presence of the damnable Guantanamo Bay facilities that they refrain from kicking out of their country for practical reasons, not so much diplomatic ones...
Fidel is not a fave, but everybody loves Che! I will not even get into Raul's case here...
The mere fact that the entire country is the Cuban Army is quite staggering, to me: imagine such a land being attacked and imagine its response...! Not a single coward in the lot - not a single weak link! That's something...!
Cuban culture and their geographical isolation (reinforced as it is by the embargo) evokes a lot of things for me: a bit of Atlantis, a bit of my ancestors' homeland (the Açores) and a little or a lot of exoticism that truly makes me feel right at home, when I'm there!
It also makes me think of the Gauls - as portrayed by the cartoonists behind Astérix! The island of Cuba is like a water-logged version of that! Under that optic, Fidel might be a flesh-and-blood version of Abraracourcix...! Thinner and scrawnier... Hope it's not "sacrilege" or something for you Cubans who might be reading this at this time...! The few Cubans I met (hey, Joey! Hey, er, hotel guys...!) did have a great sense of humor - at least...!
All those Cubans hope for a spot in the very same cemetery that has basically every single Cuban that has died since way back then: I find that so... er... unifying? So much so, I had to take pictures, through the touristic bus windows and all:
Now... Why do I feel such affinities for Cuba, you might ask, all of you McCarthists out there...? Well, first off, I'll tell you the reasons that are not a factor at all:
It's not the weather - not that ALONE, for damn sure! We went there in February, for crying out loud: it wasn't excessively hot at all! Some days in March are about the exact same thing, in crummy Cay-nah-duh! So that could not be it, EH?
It's certainly not the repressed peeps there: I sympathize with their plight, sure, but they seemed very unwelcoming if there was no money in it for them...
It's certainly NOT the women - hey, the only topless sunbathing I ever saw was in Europe, not here!
And that Tropicana show has still TONS to learn from Crazy Horse or something, I tell ya...!
It could not possibly be the beer either: although that Bucanero became my hero of sorts while I was there... I'm kidding, really.
And it certainly is not that Fulgencio was buddies with my other namesake and that he then finished his days (in high anxiety - but that is beside the point here, really) in Portugal, land of my ancestors!
No - none of these reasons need be considered or ever invoked, ever again!!!
Cuba is three-faced: THAT is one thing I like, A LOT! Three being my number of predilection or so (all you dirty-minded peeps thinking "threeways" can go to HELL! It is NOT THAT!)
The fact of the matter is that, no matter what I do, there are always three sides to every story I'm involved in... every story I weave... every story I'm drawn into! I was trilingual at birth (it only took a while for me to realize it!) and my cultural heritage is definitely three-fold. I do not consider myself a "tri-partite hybrid" like Cubans are supposed to be (with parts Spanish, parts Chinese and parts African I think...? What a melting pot!) but I do sympathize, also, with the plight of a bunch of individuals born trapped in an oppressive system that forbids even billboard ads... enslaves you to the Spaniard bastard language... limits your opportunities, allegedly for the sake of the entire populace... claim that you have to embark on "la Revolucion" and that it is still going strong after 50-plus years... smoke cigars, drink rum and beer and eat spicy until your health fails you completely! Gotta love THAT!
(Admittedly, it was more than three sides to THAT story - sue me, will ya?!?)
Cuba is chock-full of great resorts: four-star and five-star hotels with all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink concepts that simply appeal to me! What can I say: it's the Epicurean in me that is seduced...! We all have one of those slumbering within us...! I takes but the right service to awaken it, really!
Otherwise, Cuba is a place where you can live simply, closer to nature and closer to... the Fifties, basically! (Aye, in many ways, time has stood still there ever since Fidel and his merry band of revolutionaries took over the administration of the place fifty-odd years ago! Amazingly so...)
I cannot omit to mention the joy of dipping my toes into the Caribbean - as often as I did in the Mediterranean! Onwards to the rest of the Seven Seas now...!
I would be remiss, also, if I didn't mention the great cable service in the room: although I had so little time to flick through the channels, I still have only "wow" to say whenever I think of the truly international choice of channels there: I mean WOW! They really try to make everyone happy and feel right at home, with channels from Portugal, Spain, Italy, China, Canada and more...! And even CNN was readily available... Of course; I am sure Fidel watches it religiously.
One has to admire the guts of Cuba, too: not only for the reasons invoked earlier here, but merely for their "leveling of the currencies" methods, that simply make it impossible for us, the poor suckers of tourists, to exploit the situation and basically cash in hundreds of pesos for each single dollar (Canadian or even American, yes - si, si!) we brought with us... This "third currency" (again, the number three!) which is, in fact, a peso for the tourist, equals and even rates higher than the dollar, giving the Cuban government the advantage where, otherwise, it would be sorely devalued... That has got to be close to "modern genius" or something - has it not?!?
Hey - and if Ernest liked it so much, why shouldn't I?
Next!
===============================
If Cubans are one-third Chinese, one-third African and one-third Spanish (still) - Canadians, true Canadians, can only be one-third Aboriginal, one-third Blockheads and one-third Crude and Lucky Bastards!
A prime example of this has got to be this guy recently heard of in the news: now, mind you, the news are filtered and we only get to hear about the funny, wacky and all-around bizarre miscarriages of justice that we do get to hear about because it was deemed permissible for us to hear about it in the first place. What I am screaming is that we have oppressive powers-that-be here, too: just a different, far more submersive one.
Still, they allow shocking headlines to coe out - probably because it helps them in shaping public opinion the way they want it to be and go, hmm?
This headline takes the cake: ''Ancestry spares man who sucker punched BC bus driver from jail''
The CBC reported this late in March of 2012 - on the 26th to be precise: in the news bit it was reported that this individual named Del Louie was going to get a conditional sentence in the case against him assaulting a Coast Mountain bus driver that shall not remain nameless...! In an article prickled off the rag known as the Vancouver Sun - and dated Mon, 26 Mar, 2012.
The accusation was that our man Del had sucker punched this Coast Mountain bus driver who was just doing his job in Burnaby, B.C. about a year ago. The blow was so severe that it had left the driver unable to work - which accounts for the rage exhibited by Del as for the sucker-punchiness of the attack, as it really took the bus driver completely by surprise, connecting in full.
Well, wouldn't you know that Canadian judges managed to miscarry justice yet again: Del has been sentenced to nothing worse than an 18-month conditional sentence, which is to be served in the community and not in jail indeed! Meaninglessly enough there is the added stipulation that Del is on two years' probation - BIG EFFING DEAL!
What could have possibly possessed the judge to come to this conclusion and estimate that it sufficed as "punishment" for this despicable act of random violence? Apparently, all it took was for the judge to take into account Del Louie's aboriginal status: perhaps dreading another Oka-like revolt? This provincial court judge went, thus, the careful way about it and simply ordered Del Louie to spend his sentence in "treatment" for having exhibited such violent, irrational behaviour. Said treatment will be dispensed at the Victory Wellness Center on the downtown Eastside - a famous spot for many ruffians, whether they are Native or not! Del Louie had actually been pleading guilty as charged here, truth be told: aye, the fat is that he plead guilty to assaulting Charles Dixon way back in February 2011. How could he not: the punch shattered Dixon's orbital bone and the poor bus driver man has just recently finished a second round of surgery for breathing problems related to this assault...! Despite a senseless provincial judge presiding during these proceedings, there were sensible Crown prosecutors (!) who sought true exemplary justice and sentencing in this case. It was during the sentencing hearing, back in November, that these Crown prosecutors (usually vile individuals who only seek to meet out punishment, regardless of True Justice - but not in this case, apparently) had asked for a sentence of up to one year in jail at the very least. The victim, Charles Dixon, stated that this was not the first instance in which someone vented some pent-up frustration upon him: reportedly, he's been assaulted 14 times over his 25-year career, nothing less! Still, in this instance, it truly had come out of nowhere as all that led to it was his simply asking Louie not to enter the bus from the back - which no one should ever do, unless you're in Europe! Del Louie, in true Méo Penché form, exhibited the usual brashness that qualifies the attitude of his youth far more than any aboriginal trait when, at 21 years of age as he was at the time of the attack, he simply walked up to the front of the bus and sucker punched the driver. To his defense, he had apologized at the November hearing of the case: that was but step one of the devious tactics that his lawyer surely elaborated - and, to everyone's amazement, I WORKED! Louie's lawyer next proceeded to state that his client, as an aboriginal citizen, suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and had had a troubled upbringing as a result of that, with all the imaginable difficulties in life that can stem from that, one can imagine. Obviously, the judge has a fertile imagination and could imagine that very well... The lawyer pressed his advantage and then asked that his client not be sent to jail - and he wasn't! Only Canadian pettifoggers...
In response to all this, the Canadian Autoworkers Union, which represents bus drivers and the beaten up ones most importantly, issued a short statement in disbelief, somewhat, in regards to the decision that was rendered. They reaffirmed that their work is dangerous indeed and that assaults on bus drivers are a daily occurrence in Canada - which is appalling, but who else can a commuter punch to truly make a statement, right? The union was understandably disappointed that the court failed to send a clear message to the community that assaulting a driver will result in serious consequences - not merely a little tap on the wrist and being sent to the corner like a little naughty boy.
I said little naughty boy - not little Indian, OK?
What a travesty of justice: soon enough, it will be open season on just about anyone, given enough excuses to do so - just evoke all the pains of childhood, ethnic backgrounds (if you have three, chances of acquittal triple right there!) and swinging moods... and then, swing away!
Next!
============================
Sooooooooo... If Cubans are one-third Chinese, one-third African and one-third Spanish (still). And Canadians, true Canadians, can only be one-third Aboriginal, one-third Blockheads and one-third Crude and Lucky Bastards... Then Americans can only be one-third Anglo-Saxon reject descendants, one-third Native American savages and one-third All-American Natural-Born Blowhards!
And here is an example of that right here:
'Nuff Ramblin!
Sempre Por O Melhor!
+++
So here we go again...
MORE R.I.B. - RAMBLINGS IN BRIEF!
=====================================================
What can a "Cubic Special" possibly be all about, you ask?
Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Rubik's Cube or the fact that I saw a kid solve it in five minutes flat just a mere few days ago...! (Now THAT was annoying, I could tell ya...! Especially when you factor in the endless times that said apparatus frustrated me! I could tell you... But I won't!)
CUBIC here is but a mild form of stating that it sure is hip to be square!
It makes you "special" - hence it is time to make a special topical three-fold posting here about this, methinks...!
Heck, I even wrote a song about it myself, not so long ago...!
;-)
But it's in another language - so, maybe we'll get back to that sooner or later here; maybe we simply won't!
Onwards...
AND LET THE ACTUAL RAMBLING BEGIN!
Think outside the box with me, for a second (and it really is the appropriate image here, given that a box is nothing other than a three-dimensional cube!) - think outside the damn box and realize that a cube is also a more crystalline vision of the world we live in - which is round, sure, but things sure do feel flat all-around so it is no surprise peeps once thought it to be exactly that way...! But we're in danger of digressing again right now... I mean, we do NOT want to dwell upon the poor saps who got their rear ends handed to them (usually charred rear ends) just for stating that the earth was, in fact, round and not flat - that has been done before, countless times, so, enough rambling about THAT!
Speaking of depressing stuff, though, shouldn't have you thinking that we are leaning toward the Cubic Formula with this here - we don't depress that way around here, fear not! We don't disjunct that way! Thank God...
Going all "cubic" on you, now, shall mean, for the purposes of this little exercise here and for this time alone, no more and no less than "being unique."
And there is nothing more unique, one can suppose, than being a hybrid made of three components of vastly different genetic material, born in a regime that is diametrically opposed to the normal tendencies and currents of thought seen prevalent all around the world, remaining fundamentally "cool" despite all these otherwise oppressive agents - and being proud of all that, to boot!
What or rather who are we talking about here?
We are talking about the people of Cuba - of course!
Unlike any other types of hybrids on the globe, the denizens of this little tropical paradise stand united in such a remarkable way that not even the United Colors of Benetton can hope to match!
Cuba is, indeed, hipper than any squares, whether they're made of rice or simply red.
I had the chance to judge of that veracity with my own two eyes as I threaded upon Fidel's territory - the same streets that Ernest walked on, too - and the land Che made famous (and would have died for under any set of different circumstances - that is, if he had not had an ideal to die for, as he did: "Hasta la Victoria Siempre" which luminously-never-loosely translated means "Always Onward To An Everlasting Victory," which always struck me as such an idealistic, ethereal thing to strive for... Sort of like a "war on terror" I suppose... And note that as others translate it word-for-word and obtain obfuscated and ever-so-slightly redundant concept-slogans for their effort, such as "Until the Everlasting Victory Always" or simplistic and poorly-worded versions like "Ever Onward To Victory - Forever," me, I translate the main idea with style... and substance! That is all part of one of my subsidiary services, see: Luminous Translations - si, si! But we are digressing big time right now! However, this time, it is a commercially-viable digression - so it is A-OKAY! After all, we live in a firmly capitalistic regime; not a commie country! Now THAT is another story...)
Che Guevara is such a fascinating subject-case: everyone attests to that, one way or another. Myself I couldn't resist purchasing a thing or two with his effigy upon it: mercifully not a t-shirt though (I opted for a key chain and an old-fashioned Army bag: we needed extra luggage for all the rum and souvenirs, you know...! However, I was deeply disappointed not to find anything with both his face upon it AND the immortal words "Hasta Siempre"... Oh well...)
I suppose that the nature of the idealistic warrior that he was is all that there is to it: after all, his looks were rather brutish and barbaric to say the least (but there are women who like them that way too, of course...) Still... The focus should always be upon the character of the historic figure. In an assessment of Guevara, British historian Hugh Thomas opined that Che was a "brave, sincere and determined man who was also obstinate, narrow, and dogmatic." You see, to me, that is utterly fascinating - and it explains right there how the man wound up dead in yet another country, different fro the one that he was born and the one that he was most famous for "liberating"....
At the end of his life, according to Hugh Thomas, "he seems to have become convinced of the virtues of violence for its own sake", while "his influence over Castro for good or evil" grew after his death, as Fidel took up many of his views. In Thomas' assessment "as in the case of Martí, or Lawrence of Arabia, failure has brightened, not dimmed the legend."
Wow. Failure brightening things rather than the opposite - WHAT A CONCEPT!
I feel so much better now about my failure to solve the Rubik Cube mystery!
Truth be told, of course, all of Cuba embraced that spirit: their failure is bright and brave (I'll stop just short of calling it... luminous... of course!) in the face of an American embargo and the constant presence of the damnable Guantanamo Bay facilities that they refrain from kicking out of their country for practical reasons, not so much diplomatic ones...
Fidel is not a fave, but everybody loves Che! I will not even get into Raul's case here...
The mere fact that the entire country is the Cuban Army is quite staggering, to me: imagine such a land being attacked and imagine its response...! Not a single coward in the lot - not a single weak link! That's something...!
Cuban culture and their geographical isolation (reinforced as it is by the embargo) evokes a lot of things for me: a bit of Atlantis, a bit of my ancestors' homeland (the Açores) and a little or a lot of exoticism that truly makes me feel right at home, when I'm there!
It also makes me think of the Gauls - as portrayed by the cartoonists behind Astérix! The island of Cuba is like a water-logged version of that! Under that optic, Fidel might be a flesh-and-blood version of Abraracourcix...! Thinner and scrawnier... Hope it's not "sacrilege" or something for you Cubans who might be reading this at this time...! The few Cubans I met (hey, Joey! Hey, er, hotel guys...!) did have a great sense of humor - at least...!
All those Cubans hope for a spot in the very same cemetery that has basically every single Cuban that has died since way back then: I find that so... er... unifying? So much so, I had to take pictures, through the touristic bus windows and all:
You gotta admire a country that likes, heck, loves to be together, all the way to everlasting six-feet-under resting in peace!
Now... Why do I feel such affinities for Cuba, you might ask, all of you McCarthists out there...? Well, first off, I'll tell you the reasons that are not a factor at all:
It's not the weather - not that ALONE, for damn sure! We went there in February, for crying out loud: it wasn't excessively hot at all! Some days in March are about the exact same thing, in crummy Cay-nah-duh! So that could not be it, EH?
It's certainly not the repressed peeps there: I sympathize with their plight, sure, but they seemed very unwelcoming if there was no money in it for them...
It's certainly NOT the women - hey, the only topless sunbathing I ever saw was in Europe, not here!
And that Tropicana show has still TONS to learn from Crazy Horse or something, I tell ya...!
It could not possibly be the beer either: although that Bucanero became my hero of sorts while I was there... I'm kidding, really.
And it certainly is not that Fulgencio was buddies with my other namesake and that he then finished his days (in high anxiety - but that is beside the point here, really) in Portugal, land of my ancestors!
No - none of these reasons need be considered or ever invoked, ever again!!!
Cuba is three-faced: THAT is one thing I like, A LOT! Three being my number of predilection or so (all you dirty-minded peeps thinking "threeways" can go to HELL! It is NOT THAT!)
The fact of the matter is that, no matter what I do, there are always three sides to every story I'm involved in... every story I weave... every story I'm drawn into! I was trilingual at birth (it only took a while for me to realize it!) and my cultural heritage is definitely three-fold. I do not consider myself a "tri-partite hybrid" like Cubans are supposed to be (with parts Spanish, parts Chinese and parts African I think...? What a melting pot!) but I do sympathize, also, with the plight of a bunch of individuals born trapped in an oppressive system that forbids even billboard ads... enslaves you to the Spaniard bastard language... limits your opportunities, allegedly for the sake of the entire populace... claim that you have to embark on "la Revolucion" and that it is still going strong after 50-plus years... smoke cigars, drink rum and beer and eat spicy until your health fails you completely! Gotta love THAT!
(Admittedly, it was more than three sides to THAT story - sue me, will ya?!?)
Cuba is chock-full of great resorts: four-star and five-star hotels with all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink concepts that simply appeal to me! What can I say: it's the Epicurean in me that is seduced...! We all have one of those slumbering within us...! I takes but the right service to awaken it, really!
Otherwise, Cuba is a place where you can live simply, closer to nature and closer to... the Fifties, basically! (Aye, in many ways, time has stood still there ever since Fidel and his merry band of revolutionaries took over the administration of the place fifty-odd years ago! Amazingly so...)
I cannot omit to mention the joy of dipping my toes into the Caribbean - as often as I did in the Mediterranean! Onwards to the rest of the Seven Seas now...!
I would be remiss, also, if I didn't mention the great cable service in the room: although I had so little time to flick through the channels, I still have only "wow" to say whenever I think of the truly international choice of channels there: I mean WOW! They really try to make everyone happy and feel right at home, with channels from Portugal, Spain, Italy, China, Canada and more...! And even CNN was readily available... Of course; I am sure Fidel watches it religiously.
One has to admire the guts of Cuba, too: not only for the reasons invoked earlier here, but merely for their "leveling of the currencies" methods, that simply make it impossible for us, the poor suckers of tourists, to exploit the situation and basically cash in hundreds of pesos for each single dollar (Canadian or even American, yes - si, si!) we brought with us... This "third currency" (again, the number three!) which is, in fact, a peso for the tourist, equals and even rates higher than the dollar, giving the Cuban government the advantage where, otherwise, it would be sorely devalued... That has got to be close to "modern genius" or something - has it not?!?
Hey - and if Ernest liked it so much, why shouldn't I?
Next!
===============================
If Cubans are one-third Chinese, one-third African and one-third Spanish (still) - Canadians, true Canadians, can only be one-third Aboriginal, one-third Blockheads and one-third Crude and Lucky Bastards!
A prime example of this has got to be this guy recently heard of in the news: now, mind you, the news are filtered and we only get to hear about the funny, wacky and all-around bizarre miscarriages of justice that we do get to hear about because it was deemed permissible for us to hear about it in the first place. What I am screaming is that we have oppressive powers-that-be here, too: just a different, far more submersive one.
Still, they allow shocking headlines to coe out - probably because it helps them in shaping public opinion the way they want it to be and go, hmm?
This headline takes the cake: ''Ancestry spares man who sucker punched BC bus driver from jail''
The CBC reported this late in March of 2012 - on the 26th to be precise: in the news bit it was reported that this individual named Del Louie was going to get a conditional sentence in the case against him assaulting a Coast Mountain bus driver that shall not remain nameless...! In an article prickled off the rag known as the Vancouver Sun - and dated Mon, 26 Mar, 2012.
The accusation was that our man Del had sucker punched this Coast Mountain bus driver who was just doing his job in Burnaby, B.C. about a year ago. The blow was so severe that it had left the driver unable to work - which accounts for the rage exhibited by Del as for the sucker-punchiness of the attack, as it really took the bus driver completely by surprise, connecting in full.
Well, wouldn't you know that Canadian judges managed to miscarry justice yet again: Del has been sentenced to nothing worse than an 18-month conditional sentence, which is to be served in the community and not in jail indeed! Meaninglessly enough there is the added stipulation that Del is on two years' probation - BIG EFFING DEAL!
What could have possibly possessed the judge to come to this conclusion and estimate that it sufficed as "punishment" for this despicable act of random violence? Apparently, all it took was for the judge to take into account Del Louie's aboriginal status: perhaps dreading another Oka-like revolt? This provincial court judge went, thus, the careful way about it and simply ordered Del Louie to spend his sentence in "treatment" for having exhibited such violent, irrational behaviour. Said treatment will be dispensed at the Victory Wellness Center on the downtown Eastside - a famous spot for many ruffians, whether they are Native or not! Del Louie had actually been pleading guilty as charged here, truth be told: aye, the fat is that he plead guilty to assaulting Charles Dixon way back in February 2011. How could he not: the punch shattered Dixon's orbital bone and the poor bus driver man has just recently finished a second round of surgery for breathing problems related to this assault...! Despite a senseless provincial judge presiding during these proceedings, there were sensible Crown prosecutors (!) who sought true exemplary justice and sentencing in this case. It was during the sentencing hearing, back in November, that these Crown prosecutors (usually vile individuals who only seek to meet out punishment, regardless of True Justice - but not in this case, apparently) had asked for a sentence of up to one year in jail at the very least. The victim, Charles Dixon, stated that this was not the first instance in which someone vented some pent-up frustration upon him: reportedly, he's been assaulted 14 times over his 25-year career, nothing less! Still, in this instance, it truly had come out of nowhere as all that led to it was his simply asking Louie not to enter the bus from the back - which no one should ever do, unless you're in Europe! Del Louie, in true Méo Penché form, exhibited the usual brashness that qualifies the attitude of his youth far more than any aboriginal trait when, at 21 years of age as he was at the time of the attack, he simply walked up to the front of the bus and sucker punched the driver. To his defense, he had apologized at the November hearing of the case: that was but step one of the devious tactics that his lawyer surely elaborated - and, to everyone's amazement, I WORKED! Louie's lawyer next proceeded to state that his client, as an aboriginal citizen, suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and had had a troubled upbringing as a result of that, with all the imaginable difficulties in life that can stem from that, one can imagine. Obviously, the judge has a fertile imagination and could imagine that very well... The lawyer pressed his advantage and then asked that his client not be sent to jail - and he wasn't! Only Canadian pettifoggers...
In response to all this, the Canadian Autoworkers Union, which represents bus drivers and the beaten up ones most importantly, issued a short statement in disbelief, somewhat, in regards to the decision that was rendered. They reaffirmed that their work is dangerous indeed and that assaults on bus drivers are a daily occurrence in Canada - which is appalling, but who else can a commuter punch to truly make a statement, right? The union was understandably disappointed that the court failed to send a clear message to the community that assaulting a driver will result in serious consequences - not merely a little tap on the wrist and being sent to the corner like a little naughty boy.
I said little naughty boy - not little Indian, OK?
What a travesty of justice: soon enough, it will be open season on just about anyone, given enough excuses to do so - just evoke all the pains of childhood, ethnic backgrounds (if you have three, chances of acquittal triple right there!) and swinging moods... and then, swing away!
Next!
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Sooooooooo... If Cubans are one-third Chinese, one-third African and one-third Spanish (still). And Canadians, true Canadians, can only be one-third Aboriginal, one-third Blockheads and one-third Crude and Lucky Bastards... Then Americans can only be one-third Anglo-Saxon reject descendants, one-third Native American savages and one-third All-American Natural-Born Blowhards!
And here is an example of that right here:
Dick Morris - you're no Greg Morris!
'Nuff Ramblin!
Sempre Por O Melhor!
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posted by Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ at 3:50 PM
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