How Sad a Desire

Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada is the wife of Osama bin Laden who was shot in the leg when she rushed the Navy SEALs who sent her husband off to eternity. Unfortunately for her, a shot in the leg is not enough to fulfill her supposed desire to be martyred along with the piece of filth to whom she was married. How endlessly sad that the woman's mind should have been so warped as to regard dying with bin Laden a worthy aim. This conjurer of chaos stood for many things, not the least of which was misogyny. That a woman should be willing to throw away her life for such excrement is sad, indeed.
Although, obviously, it did not happen this way, I think it would have been a moment for much celestial song if bin Laden's birth had happened differently. If only he had been born to a mother who believed in infanticide, but not the female infanticide practised far too often. If she had decided that yet another male was not what her world needed and tossed him out on the midden, the whole world would have been a better place. So many girl babies meet such a fate, with few if any tears to mark the end of their all-too-brief lives. I do believe there would have been angel choirs who would have boogied on down had that one mother taken different action on the day the evil called bin Laden entered the world.

Gotta' Love Brantford!

It seems that the city council of Brantford, Ontario, are ready to vote this May 24 in favour of a new bylaw that would ban shark fins in their bustling metropolis. Kudos to each and every one of them, if they do so vote. Most newspapers reporting the story point out that there are currently no restaurants in that town with shark fin soup on their menus. They're missing the point. You don't pass a law to make anything illegal only if it's currently happening in your city. You pass the law because you believe in a principle. In this case, the principle is that cruelty is wrong.
Shark fins are the main ingredient in shark fin soup, considered a delicacy by many asians. Those who supply the fins do so by catching the sharks, slicing the fins off the hapless creatures, and then tossing them back into the water. They then sink and drown or are devoured by other sharks, drawn by the blood. “I don't see how any right-thinking person would not be abhorred by this,” said Coun. Dan McCreary about the practice.
Whether or not there are restaurants currently serving the disgusting concoction in Brantford, there are weddings taking place there, I am sure, and this bylaw would prevent the serving of this blood-suffused soup at the receptions.
I was at a reception recently where lidded soup bowls were presented to each guest. The lids were removed with a flourish and spoons were set into the liquid. Being nervous about what the bowl's content might be, I enquired and was told it was, indeed, shark fin soup. Fighting instant nausea, I asked the server to take it away. She looked at me with astonishment and explained it was "very delicious, and very expensive". When I insisted on the removal of the objectionable item, she became hostile, and told me I was "a bad guest". I am so happy to think that if Brandtford does pass this bylaw, such a scene would instantly become ancient history in their fair city. I would also like to think that their example might be what it takes to nudge into action one or two other cities, like Toronto. With the size of the asian population there, the passing of such a law would truly be cause for civic pride.
There are more than enough "very delicious" soups from which to choose, soups made without the mindless cruelty and horrendous suffering needed to bring shark fin soup to the table.

Aw, Poor Taliban

Apparently, last December the Taliban's "cultural commission" sent out an e-mail that went to great lengths to bemoan its being treated unfairly by the "global colonialist junta under the leadership of America". "Not even 10% of the written material sent to you appears in your media," it wailed about the handling given to the totally trustworthy "news" it sends out regularly.
Poor, poor Taliban. What nasty-wasties those colonialist junta people are, wilfully failing to publish every syllable of hate and bullshit you spew forth.
Imagine. Such unfair treatment of a group that embodies the principle of fair play for all!

TTC Not Always Women's Safety Partner

Yesterday, I rode Toronto's little red rocket, and found myself standing in front of an ad proclaiming the TTC to be "Your Safety Partner". In particular, this sign was detailing the program which allows women to request a stop be made for them during certain hours overnight, so that they can disembark the vehicle closer to their home or other destination. This is a great idea, since it does cut down on the amount of distance a woman would have to walk in the dark, the hours when more of those given to violent crimes against women come out in search of victims. The problem with it, for me, is the announcement that the program is NOT available on streetcar routes. The ad gave no explanation as to why that should be the case. That detail says to me that the TTC is not quite the perpetual partner in women's safety that they want us to believe they are.
Why is the program not made available to women who ride the streetcars to and from their destinations? Are we to believe that the vehicles can not stop at any other than prearranged points? Are we to believe that the TTC prioritizes its riders as to degree of protection-worthiness? What exactly are we to believe about the TTC being our safety partner?

Oecological Treasure Found in Niagara on the Lake

The treasure to which the title refers is Frog Pond Farm, the only certified organic winery in Ontario, where the use of all insecticides, herbicides, synthetic fungicides and chemical fertilizers is strictly verboten. In case that detail alone is not quite enough to impress you, there is even more. Frogpond Farm is "bullfrog powered" with 100 per cent green electricity. All of Bullfrog's power comes from clean, renewable wind power and low-impact water power, rather than any carbon-intensive sources.
We found this little vintage treasure trove almost by accident this past weekend during a mini-vacation to the Niagara on the Lake region. Since the whole weekend was being washed out by an unending downpour, we decided to pass a little time in driving along the route that follows the Niagara river, toward Niagara Falls. We saw the sign for the winery and decided to investigate because we liked the unusual name. Neither of us had ever before heard of the place. When we left, we both knew we wanted to spread the word about this little gem of the winemaking world, to make sure more people had heard of it.
We drove onto the property and parked beside the little poultry palace, in front of which several turkeys were strutting their stuff, quite oblivious of the rain that pelted us when we got out of the car. Less then amused by our intrusion on their peaceful afternoon, much fowl utterance was followed by two of them flapping their way up and over the fence to the safety from which they could keep a beady eye on us.
It was a perfectly charming introduction to a perfectly wonderful business.
The young lady behind the counter spoke to us of the winery being truly a family business, and of small enough scale that they do not meet the needed volume of output for their products to be carried by the LCBO. More shame, that. She was so ready to answer each and every question we had while we sipped the sample of Riesling she poured for us. Having come from a morning visit to the much, much larger Peller estate, where we had also sampled some Riesling, I would say without reservation that any time I have a choice, the offering from Frog Pond would win out over the one from Peller, hands down.
One final fact supplied by our charming hostess that I should pass on to you is that the winery is ready to ship their products to your doorstep for an added $10.00 fee, anywhere in Ontario. Does that leave other provinces out in the cold? I don't think so, since the order form at their website says, "For other provinces, please contact us."
If you enjoy imbibing the fermented beverages of Bacchus, and would like to know that your doing so leaves a limited carbon footprint, click on the link above. Better yet, if you can, visit the winery in person. Just keep an eye out for the perturbed poultry!