everyone loves a clown

Egotistical, eh. Well, thank god I have someone as my barometer. Who knows what lengths I'd go to. I really don't think too much about what anyone thinks when it comes to what I write in this thing. Just me. As far as giving the people what they want, you'd know better than I, I suppose. And although I can't draw any comparisons between what I write and self gratification, I wonder if anyone out there bothers to ponder the fact that what I say doesn't mean a fucking thing to begin with. (Does it?) It is people that search for the literal that find the literal. And there's one reason why people like Hitler came to power. Self application is a much better principle, don't you think. Or do you?

How about some standard small talk: Hey, how’s it going? Oh whatcha got there? Oh some books, what kind of books? Textbooks? Like to read much? Those sure are big books. What are they called? Like to read much? Oh, I already said that? That's a damn fine question. Ow, hey that doesn’t fit there. Wait, I can’t breathe with your foot on that. There's something about being someplace, somehwere you've never been to before. You feel like a kid all over again... What was the question again? No. Swimming in a large bowl of tomato soup is not one of my big ambitions. Swimming in cherry jello is. It’s getting dark and so cold, oh so cold.

On topic, I heard a disturbing story reached a happy ending last week. The municipal government of Montague Township (Ontario) had launched a defamation suit against a private citizen who had spoken out against how the local fire service operated.

[Don] Page, a long time resident of the town, complained to the Ontario Fire Marshal that volunteer firefighters had not shown enough diligence in fighting a house fire that killed a local woman. Page and his wife, Jean Purcell, were one of the first witnesses on scene.

Lest ye not wait for lotto but sue instead. The Guide to Living the Canadian Dream, the Good Old American way. Attempting to sue a concerned citizen who is bold enough to speak out against perceived wrong-doing is extremely heavy-handed. Mr. Page did not attack the reputation of any individual - he criticized the training methods that the municipal fire service employed. If this case had been successful a legal precedent would have been set that would have allowed any government in Canada to effectively muzzle dissenters. Thankfully, common sense prevailed:

Justice Kenneth Pedlar said the lawsuit is contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and he also cited the Municipal Act and international precedents for helping to form his opinion.

"In a free and democratic system, every citizen must be guaranteed the right to freedom of expression relating to government as an absolute privilege," Pedlar stated in a 13-page decision released .

Moreover, Pedlar said it is unnecessary to even consider whether statements by Page against municipal council and the fire department were, indeed, defamatory.

But he warned against interpreting the decision "in any way as an encouragement to those who might engage in the making of irresponsible defamatory statements against government."

Individual members of government may still sue for defamation to protect their personal reputations, said Pedlar.

Translation: Canadians are free to criticize the government; however defaming individuals in government is still not acceptable. Before I move on to wasting away my creative energy consciously allowing myself to return to servitude, I wanted to ask, where do you stand on the issues of:


A] Abortion
B] Anything
C] Religion
D] Lap Dancing