Coming back to Haunt Us.

It was reported in the Montreal Gazette today that a private developper planned on building three luxury homes on contested land near Oka Quebec, unless the federal government stepped in and bought the land for 400,000$.

The announcement comes in the middle of negotiations of the land claims between the government and the Mohawks, and will do nothing except stir up controversy. The land in question is part of the the same land dispute that started the famous "Crise D'Octobre" in 1990 when Mohawks took up arms to claim their land rights when developpers planned on building a golf course near and most likely over a native burial ground.



The 78 day armed conflict had the army swoop down on the province after a provincial police officer was killed and Mohawks blockaded the Mercier Bridge.

Anyone dumb enough to try and stir up a controversy over these lands deserves to ahve his developping lincense revoked and that's that.

This is the last thing this province needs.

Xenophobia

The Cultural Dictionary (from dictionary.com) defines xenophobia as: "An unreasonable fear, distrust, or hatred of strangers, foreigners, or anything perceived as foreign or different."

Somehow though, I simply don't think that the word is strong enough to describe what the English minority in Quebec has to face when it comes to extremist separatist groups. The latest example of what I call uber-idiocy, a group that calls themselves Le Comité d’action politique pour l’Indépendance nationale, decided that it would be a good idea to protest the building of the
McGill University Health Center (MUHC) by planting 101 wooden crosses and a banner symbolically painted in red.

A statement sent to the press said: “This cemetery of crosses, in the image of cemeteries for soldiers fallen in the two Great Wars, represents the Québecois people who, after centuries of battle, are finally conceding to the English-speaking pressure on the continent. The cemetery is accompanied by a banner claiming high and loud the death of a people, signaling that the MUHC represents nothing less than the death of the Québécois people, and it expresses the people’s rejection of an assimilation like that which they have always resisted until now in a continuous, and perhaps perpetual, struggle.”

I resent the entirety of this statement, the separatists group have no right to even equate themselves to the brave young Canadians who fought in both Great Wars, as Canadians. The also have no right to protest the building of this hospital as there is also a super hospital being built for the Université de Montréal.

Once again, the extremists of this province have given my people a black eye on both the Canadian and the world stage.

To the rest of the country we're already strange enough and every week I talk to people in Toronto, 5 hours up the 401 highway and they have no idea that people in Montreal speak English as well as French.

If idiots like this group keep grabbing headlines, what hope does Quebec ever have of attracting foreign investments, preventing a brain drain and of being taken seriously on the national stage?

Just food for thought.

(quotes from Montreal Gazette)

Jacques Cartier screwed up...

I was talking with a good friend of mine today, a small business owner here in Montreal. For the last 25 years he's owned a guitar store and also worked on and off as a high school English teacher.

We were talking today, as we usually do, about the political climate in Quebec. With Jacques Parizeau trying to revive separatism in his new book, with the Franco-racist-Brotherhood and Unions trying to push the government to go against the supreme court and stop French and immigrant parents from sending their kids to English Private school (because they're not allowed to go to English public school unless both parents are primarily English) and talking about where the hell our money goes.

To sum up the conversation, we both live in a province that should be proud of its heritage and want to motivate others to embrace it but insteand we shove it down everyone's throat and play the victim. We live in a province where our gazillions of tax dollars seems to disappear. We also live in a province where Unions are bankrupting cities and choking government infrastructure.

My friend, as always, has very extreme views on this and he's prepared to back them up... Here's what he says: "Muchacho, if I ever find out I'm ill and I'm going to die I swear to god I'm going to burn this whole place down and move down south. Where life is simple, the government won't tax me to death and I can get a decent blowjob before breakfast."

A mutual friend decided last year to pack up, sell everything and move to a Caribbean island and live the life. So I'm guessing that this is where my friend got his idea that on the islands everyone gets head before breakfast. Either way, the point is that here we were, two tax paying french born citizens contemplating on the ways our government screws us on a daily basis.

My friend lights a cigarette and looks at me and says: "When Jacques Cartier discovered this place, he should have just kept going south. He really screwed up..."

No Justice for Man's Best Friend.

People always ask you if you have any regrets in life... Whenever I'm asked I always say no. But that's a lie, if there is one thing that I regret in life it is not rescuing my dog's brother from the puppy mill where we found her.

About 8 years ago my little girl came into my life. From an add in the newspaper advertising golden retriever black lab mixes... So I drove out to the place in the country where they told me I could have my pick of the litter. I showed up to a beautiful house on a huge piece of property. The owners took me to the back of the house where they said the kept the dogs. I walked in to the this little shack about the size of my bedroom and in there must have been about 25 dogs in tiny little cages, sick, underfed, abused and neglected. It took everything I had not to beat the shit out of the woman who was showing me around then and there. Really.

In this tiny tiny cage made for a house cat, I saw two little black dogs, a boy and a girl. The girl looked the sickest, she had fleas and her belly was swollen, she was quiet and minuscule (about 4 weeks old)... I took the dog and if I could have I would have taken them all. At the time I told myself that one dog was all I could do, I lived in a small apartment where pets weren't allowed and I felt okay about it. I reported the puppy mill to my vet and my vet reported it to the authorities.
But every now and again I ask myself what happened to my little girl's brother and I regret not having taken him...



The video above was sent by a good friend of mine who works with a puppy mills rescue team with the Montreal SPCA, in fact she has taken in one of the dogs that she helped rescue. These dogs have all sorts of physical and emotional problems that will most likely plaque them their whole lives and they need a special kind of love from their caretakers.

I would like also, to take the time to express my opinion that this country needs tougher laws on people who abuse and mistreat animals. Puppy mill owners should be doing jail time, paying heavy fines and have criminal records.

Please help shut down puppy mills by not purchasing dogs in pet stores because they most likely get their dogs from these mills or contacting you local SPCA to see what else you can do. Please feel free to repost the above video and help raise awareness about the mistreatment of animals.

My tax dollars at work part.... 6 (I think)

In yet another amazing way to protect the French language from becoming extinct in "La Belle Province" our elite crack team of Language Police have ensured that yet another culture offender and threat to the French language be punished...

Yes, the bastion of pro-Anglo-anti-French rhetoric know as the Bowl-Mat, a bowling alley in St-Eustache, is being forced by Québec courts to change it's name to "Amusement Bowl-Mat".

We can all sleep soundly in our beds tonight knowing that the language police is hard at work trying to eradicate any trace of subversion to the French language and God knows we're all thankful yet another dangerous bowling alley has been penalized. I applaud the language police and the courts for realizing that whenever I saw the name Bowl-Mat, it immediately made me want to forget any trace of my French heritage and pull my kids out of French school. This is exactly why I pay exorbitant taxes to my provincial government. God bless bill 101...

Please note the sarcasm above.

English Performers are Not Welcome

Image: One man band Bloodshot Bill

Whenever St-Jean Baptiste (Québec's "National" Holiday) holiday rolls around on June 24th, the language tensions in this province seem to increase by a factor of 10. But still, most of us go out and celebrate the holiday nonetheless because it is after all, a paid day off and an excuse to party with friends.

This year I was at least little excited that there was an alternative to Montreal's big party at Parc Maisonneuve (a party and free concert that features exclusively French and separatist groups where hundreds of thousands show up and chant nationalist slogans), the alternative was called "L'autre St-Jean" or "The Other St-Jean" and is being held the night before on June 23rd.

L'autre St-Jean billed itself as an alternative to the June 24th concert that draws on artists from all over Québec and political support for its production. It was a huge concert organized by a local production company featuring only local artists French and English alike, to better represent Montreal's cultural diversity which the other concert tends not only to ignore but to frown upon.

Now the only two English artists slated to perform at this concert have been banned from making an appearance because they are English performers. This happened after one the sponsor of the concert threatened to withdraw its funding if English performers actually got on stage and sang in English.

Bloodshot Bill and Lake of Stew were advised Thursday by email that they would no longer be allowed to perform.

Bloodshot Bill is quoted in the Gazette as havings said:
“I was going to go up there with Lake of Stew and we were going to play some songs in French.”
and
“The reason they set up this event was for it to be different, so why are people freaking out because it’s different.”

His calls and email to event organizers were ignored.

In a city that has the largest International Jazz Festival, in a city where there are over 100 languages spoken daily, there is still enough xenophobia to bar English performers from celebrating the place they grew up in. I for one, this year, will be closing all my windows and shutting the blinds of my house and not come out until the celebrations of intolerance are over.

Muchacho Enfemro

In Your Face Separatists!

I'm sitting on my laptop tonight and I came across a story in the Montreal Gazette about a poll that was conducted over the weekend in Quebec and the title just made me smile: "Hopes for Sovereignty Dim: Poll".

Here are some of the highlights:
- 32 per cent said Quebec has enough autonomy and should remain in Canada.
- 30 per cent said Quebec needs more autonomy, but should remain in Canada.
- 28 per cent said Quebec should become a separate and independent country.
- Should Quebec Separate from Canada? : 54 per cent said no while 34 per cent said yes.

While these results are hardly a resounding victory for me and others who wish to remain in Canada, at least it gives us some things to build on and might just (hopefully) some of that racist hateful intolerant wind from Pauline Marois' sails.

On the other hand when the same poll asked the respondents "which province understands best Quebec culture and Society?" they answered this:
-42% New-Brunswick
-9% Ontario
-4% BC
-3% Alberta
-2% PEI
-1% (Newfoundland-Lab, Manitoba, Nova-Scotia)
-0% Saskatchewan

Why is it that Quebeckers feel that New-Brunswick best understands us? I mean really... I used to live there and while it's a beautiful place in its own right it is nowhere near the cosmopolitan multi-ethnic metropolis of Montreal, how could they possibly understand us when the entire province only has 750,000 inhabitants? Is it because of the Acadians? Because Acadians don't give a crap about separation. I don't know what it is but I'd really like to find out... If anyone knows, please let me know.

In conclusion I can go to bed tonight a little safer in knowing that I still have a country and that I might not have to move away just yet. Although with Canada day and St-Jean Baptiste around the corner, emotions here tend to run high from the separatist side; so I'm expecting, as usual, my neighbors to ignore me and call the police to be my house at 3pm to tell me to stop my annual Canada barbecue, again.

Muchacho Enfermo

Another Blow for Open Mindedness Québec

Yesterday I saw a very disturbing (at least to me) news story on one of the French news stations. Louise Harel, a former PQ MP and former leader of the separatist PQ is running for mayor of Montreal and she can’t speak English and doesn’t feel the need to learn.

So yesterday there was a rally organized Mouvement Montréal Français, an organization that is against the use of any other language in this city except French, they even tried to ban English telephone services from any business or government office in the city. The rally was attended by such illustrious guests as Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and PQ leader Pauline Marois, who both showed their unconditional support of a unilingual mayor of Montreal. Marois even went as far as saying that Québec is not and will not be a bilingual state; it is and will remain a francophone state.

I am so tired of hearing this crap you guys have no idea. I am tired of feeling like an intruder in my own city, my own province. I am tired of my family being made to be traitors to the French language because we speak both English and French at home. I am tired of racism disguised as Nationalist sentiments. I am disgusted that Harel is the clear favorite to win this election. I am tired of this beautiful place being sullied by idiocy and the idiots who promote it. I am sick and tired of things like this being said. I am sick to my stomach whenever I turn on the television and see this kind of crap.

I am French and I have never EVER thought like they do and I know I’m not alone. When I see things like this I put myself in the shoes of someone who has worked their whole lives to immigrate here, to make a life for their children and for themselves. I put myself in their shoes and my anger just boils over. How dare they tell me that I am not welcome and that my culture is not welcome? They promised me that this place was different, that people were free and equal!

In Québec the sad truth is certain political parties and organizations use freedom of speech to promote hatred and remorse. They use the rights and freedoms that so many have died to protect or are imprisoned to obtain to promote intolerance, fear, lies and racism. This has to end.

Muchacho Enfermo

17 Drunk Driving Convictions and Still Driving.

Actually it's 18 drunk driving convictions now and a total of 114 convictions for Roger Walsh, a repeat (and repeat and repeat) offender who has pleaded guilty in Québec court of hit and run causing death, impaired driving causing death and violating a court order from a previous conviction that barred him from drinking.

This is after he was driving (drunk of course) and hit a girl in a wheelchair killing her instantly. The only reason he even stopped his car is because it went off the road, 8 kilometers later.

The prosecution is now seeking a dangerous offender status for Walsh, stating that if he can't respond to therapy and other court imposed sentences than the courts have to protect the public from this reckless and moronic man. (I added in that last part, but you get the point)

I have no problem with the courts labeling him a dangerous offender. My problems lies with the way the courts handled his previous 17 drunk driving convictions. His latest sentence was that he was barred from drinking. Whoopty-doo... Good job boys, I love seeing my tax dollars at work that way. Whatever happened to tough love? Couldn't you stop him from driving or owning a car? Couldn't you slap an ankle bracelet on him? Couldn't you lock him up for a long long time? Oh yeah I forget this is Canada... More so it's Québec.

We're so lenient with our sentences and our jail time that it makes my stomach turn. While this guy is driving on the road and killing handicapped children, the police seems more concerned with giving me a 48 hour notice for my burnt out brake light than making sure idiots like this aren't anywhere near the road.

So to the courts, the police and the politicians and all those bureaucrats behind the scenes: do your job, keep maniacs like this off the road and stop them from killing our children. Then maybe, just maybe I'll fix my brake light, file my income tax and stop threatening to call my lawyer everytime I get pulled over.

Muchacho Enfermo

Quebec NGO Sues the King and Wins...

Not so long ago I used to see these commercials for Burger King Cressandwhiches which advertised "meat and cheese and meat and cheese" that looked oh so tasty in the eyes of this simple carnivore. But it appears that not everyone felt the same about waking up with the King...

A Quebec organization called "The Coalition québécoise sur la problématique du poids" (Quebec Coalition for weight problems) sued BK for targeting children in their advertising. They did this by advertising a free toy with the purchase of a kid's meal. The best part is they won.

Again I am stupefied at the verdict of the court having now sentenced Burger King to pay 12,000$ after a guilty plea by the burger chain. A few things here are worth considering... WTF is 12,000$ to a huge corporation. Second off, who the heck sues a fast food chain for making them and their kids fat?

You don't want your kids to get fat, don't take them to BK, Mickey D's, Wendy's, A & W, Harvey's or any of the burger joints around the province. If your kids grow up craving junk food, don't blame the commercials, blame yourselves. I eat well, I take care of myself mostly because my parents taught me the value of a well balanced meal. When I need a snack I eat an apple, it's far less costly the BK and much better for you.

I think I'm going to sue Danone for making yogurts geared at kids or those people who make string-cheese... Because hey, it's aimed at kids and that's obviously wrong.

Parent's stop blaming everyone and everything except yourselves for the shortcomings of your offspring. It's not TV, it's not video games, it's not fast food and it's not what they pick up at school; as a parent it's your job to make sure that your child has the proper values to cope and deal with this stuff. And that doesn't start by suing Burger King, it starts by giving your kid milk and fruit and talking to them about their day.

Muchacho Enfermo

Commie Rhetoric in my Town?

Today Quebec's left wing separatist party Québec Solidaire published a manifesto called "To Overcome the Crisis: We Must Surpass Capitalism?"

With this new publication they hope to enlighten the masses and bring us to the conclusion that only must we abandon our current economic system, but we must surpass it and embrace something new. "Our economic system itself, is based on the accumulation of endless profits and is largely responsible for the problems we are currently experiencing. It is time to revise the system to place the humanity at the center."

It is no surprise that they are launching this manifesto on the even of May 1st, International Workers Day, usually a day of riots and protests in Montreal and around the world. Oh yeah and in case you were wondering, the spokespeople for Québec Solidaire are the ones calling this publication a manifesto, I didn't put that word there for fun.

I'm sorry folks, but the commie crap just won't fly with me. I've seen first hand what communism does and anyone who has will agree with me that socialism is not the key to solving an economic crisis. EVER. Have we learned nothing from Cuba and the old Soviet Block? How much aid do we send to North Korea for food? And OUR economic system needs fixing? Please...

Not only is this party communist but they're separatist as well... So if they had their way Quebec would be a socialist nation of unemployed unilingual French people starving to death on the streets waiting for their promised utopia, their El Dorado, that will never ever come.

It's a good thing that no one votes for these people because then I'd start to get worried...

Muchacho Enfermo

This Week In Politics (according to me)

My friends, in my 29 years on this earth and this country the stupidity that goes on in government has never ceased to amaze me. Political intrigue in Canada? Please, all we have in Canada is political bickering.

Take for example of yesterday: The federal Liberals we finally able to say that they were over the sponsorship scandal because they had retaken the lead in polls in Quebec for the first time since 2004. On the tail of that announcement the PQ announced that they had discovered a new “sponsorship scandal” at the provincial level claiming that the provincial Liberals had used funds that were supposed to be distributed in the Saguenay for economic development and funneled it down to companies in Montreal owned by Liberal party members. This isn’t even a political game or an attempt at character assassination, this is just good detective work by the PQ and a big let down by the Charest government.

If the PQ is indeed right, this would be devastating for Jean Charest and his federalist party. If the PQ is right, it might be exactly what the separatists have been waiting for to be able to tip the scales in their favor. Even if it’s only 8million dollars and it basically means nothing on a provincial budgetary level, it’s 8million TAXPAYER dollars that weren’t allocated where they should have been... and that ladies and gentlemen will be enough to sink the Liberals.

On a federal level, the Conservatives are saying that Canada has measures in place to counter the possible pandemic of swine flu. This is the same government that told us late last year (when the whole world was panicking about money) that the economy was fine and would be fine for a long time. Sure, now they’ve revised their stance and have taken action, but as with the economy, I fear that we are going to have to wait until imminent infection is upon us before the government revises its “everything will be okay, trust us okay?” stance that they’ve so far taken.

Then there's crazy Elizabeth May, whom I used to be a fan of, but now is more like a soap box carrying crazy cat-lady (no offense to cat-ladies) who preaches to whomever is willing to hear it that Harper is trying to buy votes in Quebec.

And what about "Jumping" Jack Layton? Where has my favorite sandal wearing MP been recently? I haven’t seen him on the news or read about him or his party in a long long time. Maybe he’s taking time off to grow a goatee or buy new sandals? If anyone knows I’d love to hear it.

Forget Iggy and Jack and Steve and Lizzy, I’ve got bigger fish to fry... I’m still trying to figure out what I can do to have the utterly racist book “Anglaid” removed from the shelves and banned from sales anywhere in Canada. If a book like this had been written about any other race or culture the entire country would be up in arms about it. But since it’s only about English folks in Quebec no one seems to give a damn.

Muchacho Enfermo

Our Justice System is Guilty of Failing

Not a day goes by that I don’t open my local paper and read about some crazy person that assaults small children or a crazy murderer or a homeless person getting run over by a truck driver. Not a day goes by that I don’t hear the lenient judgments handed down by Canadian and Quebec Courts to child molesters and murderers...

Let me out this in perspective for you: A pediatrician in Quebec is now being paroled to a halfway house after serving the mandatory 2/3 of his 3 year sentence, he was convicted of what? Drugging and assaulting young boys that went to see him. I’m not exactly sure how many boys he was found guilty of having abused, but even if he assaulted only one, that’s one too many. The parole board and his prison councilors all agree that he probably assaulted more boys than we can ever know and that he shouldn’t be released, but it’s the law... there’s nothing we can do about it.

Or the Case of the Snowdon Attacker, this man lost it one day in the Snowdon Metro Station and attacked a 42 year old woman, putting her in a coma for months and disfiguring her, before attacking two other people and sexually assaulting a woman. He was sentenced to serve his 2 year sentence in the community. The very same community he terrorized.

There are a few things wrong with both of these stories:
1- In the case of the child molesting pediatrician... that whole thing is just wrong. Especially his sentence and his mandatory release. Serving 2 years for assaulting numerous little boys? That somehow doesn’t seem even a little bit like justice to me.
2- In the case of the Snowdon Attacker... 2 years to be served in the community? What the heck is that? Is that consolation for the woman he put in the coma and the other woman he sexually assaulted?

It seems to me that my provincial government, instead of worrying about which language I speak in the privacy of my own home, should be focusing on trying to amend the criminal code to help bring ACTUAL justice to the victims of these crimes.

As Canadians we always say we are champions of Human Rights and Civil Rights, we are great at criticizing other nations for their lacks in that department, we are great at saying that certain countries are to harsh in their prison sentences. We are also great at closing our eyes and pretending everything is fine with our justice system.

Muchacho Enfermo

Enough is Enough...

Today is the day… It’s the day that I can definitely say that I’ve given up hope on my people. The Québécois have gone off the rails in a new linguistic spat that just makes me want to hurl my Tim Horton’s coffee at my screen.

Author and Editor Michel Brûlé has published a book called « Anglaid » which for those of you who don’t speak French is a pun on the words ANGLAIS (English) and LAID (ugly). The free daily paper The Metro published on the 21st of April an interview with him that the Defense Association of Anglophone Quebec had the courtesy to translate into English for your reading pleasure. Here’s a few excerpts along with my thoughts.

Q: We sense anger in your book.
A: “Yes, for sure. First of all, English is not a beautiful language. Intolerance and all the movements -the most extremist, racist and segregationist, is the KKK, White Power and the expression “speak white” They are all English things. They come from the US, Canada and the United Kingdom. There are none more racist than the English.”

Q: What reaction are you waiting for from the public?
“I did a lot of research work for this book. I hope it becomes essential. I believe my book should be taught in the schools…”

Q: Do you have English friends?
A: “That has no link (connection). We all have an individual personality and another collective one. If I said the Americans were a bunch of big (slang), obese, imbecilic, ignorant, uncultured, it’s the truth. But it’s sure and certain that of 303 million Americans there is about 50 million who are not like that. But collectively they are still a bunch of uncultured imbeciles...”

On to my comments (and hopefully yours)…
-No one is more racist than the English…
What about your book asshole? Isn’t that kind of really racist? Isn’t that kind of a double standard? How many hateful English people do you know? And who asked for your opinion anyways?
-You did a lot of research for this book…
Where? In a Cracker Jack box? By talking to grade 4 drop outs (no offense meant to grade 3 or 5 dropouts)?
-You want this book taught in schools…
Even the English schools? Or do you want those to be closed as well and rob the 700,000 Englsh-Quebeckers of their education rights as well?
- But collectively they are still a bunch of uncultured imbeciles…
I’m pretty sure you got that backwards; it seem that people like you that are the uncultured imbeciles.

So in conclusion Michel and his merry band of idiots can all get on a plane back to France if they hate the rest of North America and its inhabitants. Sir, YOU are the reason that PEOPLE LIKE ME have a bad reputation abroad and I seriously wish we had laws to shut people like you up. Oh wait… we do, please check the criminal code of Canada sections 319(2) and 319(7).

If you’d like to voice your outrage Michel Brûlé can be reached at:
michel@michelbrule.com
Or by phone :
514.680.8905

Muchacho Enfermo

UQAM teachers ask for too much

The professors at UQAM (Université du Québec à Montreal) have been striking since March, students are now accompanying them. The student union has voted 63% in favor of a walkout until April 27th in order too support their professors.

The teachers' union is demanding an 11.5% wage hike of 3 years and the immediate hiring of 300 professors. The province has offered an immediate 4% raise and the hiring of 25 new professors.

In a time of global economic crisis, teachers with pension funds, tenure and benefits are walking out to demand more money and more teachers? Please folks, don't be greedy. This is a time where most of us have to justify our jobs and re-interview for positions we've held for years and here you are with your jobs that you practically CAN'T get fired from and you're asking for more?

Why not sign a provisional contract for 1 or 2 years, take the 4% with an option to renegotiate when the economy does better? That seems fair and reasonable to me and maybe the people of Montreal would be on your side instead of complaining and giving the university yet another black eye following last year's 400 million dollar bailout we gave you that came from our taxes.

But then again, what do I know, I'm just a blogger without tenure or a PHD...

Muchacho Enfermo

It feels like I'm beating a dead horse...

I received an email today, forwarded by a former colleague who actually somehow thought that I'd be okay with it. It's a copy and paste forward email of things supposedly said by the Prime Minister of France... The opening line to email was:

finally, there is not just me who thinks like this .... and it feels good ...

The email goes on to say:

Prime Minister François Fillon has offended some Muslims by saying:

"Our official language is french, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, or any other language. Therefore, if you want to be part of our society, learn the language!"

"Here is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE. And we offer you the opportunity to enjoy all this. But if you have enough to complain, you take our flag, our commitment, our Christian beliefs, or our lifestyle, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of another great French freedom "THE RIGHT TO LEAVE". If you are not happy here, then leave."

And a whole slew of more ignorant crap that I'm too lazy to translate from the original French. I decided to google this and found a web forum for "Women's Rights in France" where a woman from Tunisia posted about how she was wondering what brought all this about and the French tore her a new one for no reason, telling her to stay in her country and that they didn't want her. Amazing. I have a friend who recently immigrated to France and I've got to tell you I'm worried about what the French think about her.

The email closed by saying:

Perhaps if we passed this email amongst ourselves, Americans, Canadians, Europeans, all citizens of the world would find a way to stand up and begin to speak and spread the same truths.
If you agree, please forward this message.

The only truth this email is spreading is: Whoever forwards this email TRULY is the stereotypical asshole with a small shriveled little heart and a closed mind.

Have a nice weekend,

Muchacho Enfermo

My tax dollars at "work"

It seems that both the provincial and federal governments in Canada are trying really hard to waste my tax dollars again. I don't mean the new "stimulus website" the Conservatives put up or anything of the sort. I'm talking about the mudslinging that has been going on in the National Assembly (Quebec) and the House of Commons (Ottawa).

At the opening of of the National Assembly in Quebec City on Tuessday Pauline Marois and some of our other elected officials focused on trying to discredit Jean Charest by insulting him. He was called a liar and "Marois compared Mr. Charest to the Asian symbol of the three wise monkeys, saying the Premier was more like the “three foolish monkeys.One hides his eyes, the other his ears and the other his mouth. That sums-up very well the steps in Mr. Charest's behavior,” " As reported in the G&M.

In Ottawa things got so bad that the House Speaker ordered MPs to stop with their personal attacks following a verbal thrashing that Michael Ignatieff received from Conservatives MPs.

I can't think of a better way to waste our taxpayer dollars in a time of recession, or any other time, than the way they're being wasted now. We're not paying these MPs over 100,000$ per year to spew garbage at each other like a bunch of grade 3 kids. We're paying them to run the country, take care of what's important to Canadians and Quebecois, we're paying them to deal with the issues, not they're dislike for each other.

They really are acting like school children , probably even worse than kids, because kids do it for free and it always stops when the lunch lady steps in. But with government whatever isn't said on the house floor will be said to the media or on their blogs.

So to both level of government I want to say a heartfelt and very much deserved: Grow up. Don't make me send you all to bed without dinner. And if you start with this crap again, I'm taking away your TV privileges.

Muchacho Enfermo

Marois: the little train that couldn't.

PQ leader Pauline Marois decided to use her opening speech at the Parti Québécois "National" council on Saturday to tell everyone present that Québec would be better off in this economic crisis without Ottawa... Isn't this the same person who complains that the money we get from Ottawa just isn't enough?

“Sovereignty is a pressing need” said Marois, saying that if Québec were independent of Canada it would have a seat at all the major international conferences and could push its own agenda.

I have a few words for Marois: nobody cares. Do you really think that if Quebec were a nation of maybe 6 million strong that it would be a part of the G8 or even the G20? Do you really think that with your broken English and your angry little fist pounding, anyone outside Saguenay would really give a damn? Do you think the world would just roll over and say "Wow.... Quebec is awesome, let's listen to what they have to say?"

Well my answer to all these questions is: no.

Outside Canada Quebec is insignificant at best. Economically Quebec would have nothing except hydro and lumber. The multinationals that employ hundreds of thousands would pick up and leave (just like in 1980 and 1995) and Quebec would be left alone, crippled, without Ottawa bailouts and money injections from big business.

It wouldn't be long before Marois would sell us out to the US and the precious "national identity" she so desperately pursues would be lost.

Muchacho Enfermo

And the Separatists win... this time

As reported in the Globe and Mail the planned re-enactment of the famous French-English battles on the Plains of Abraham has been canceled due to separatist threats. It was reported that these threats included threats of violence.

The organizers of this event then chose to cancel the event to prevent harm from coming to those who may be attending the re-enactment, including the many families and small children that they believed would be in attendance.

The separatists no doubt think that this is a huge victory because they all felt that this was an insult to their french heritage.

First let's get a few things straight:

1- The French abandoned La Nouvelle France long before the plains of Abraham.
2- They left the colony to die at the hands of a far superior army.
3- It is a FRICKING HISTORICAL FACT people. It happened, you can't argue that it didn't happen. It's in history books... your kids at school are learning about this HISTORICAL FACT and what? You're going to threaten the teachers if they don't stop teaching it?
4- Grow up.

Seriously, France hasn't given a crap about Quebec in hundreds of years... Has anyone listened to what Sarcozy had to say about the separatists?

Just for the record, I am french, I am Canadian and history is history.

Let it go people, your little separatist dream of a little French utopia where the world recognizes you for something else than the intolerant people that you really are is dead.

You may have won the plains of Abraham this time, but never... EVER... again. History is on the move, and those who do not move with it will be left behind to watch it happen from a distance.

Muchacho Enfermo