I would like a clarification from Canada on their efforts to bring back the Ontario teen that is currently being refused exit from Cuba for his part in a car crash in Camaguey...

The AFP reported that finally the Harper government has gotten on the case that has lingered since April nearly bankrupting this Ontario family. But the article seemed to insinuate that they were also pushing for the release of 6 other Canadians currently being detained in Cuba.

I for one am interested to find out if we're pushing for the release of the 4 Montrealers who are being held for rape. Because pushing for the release of a kid who was involved in an accident where everyone died and no fault was found yet is one thing, but pushing for the release of "alleged" rapists is another...

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.

You know, one of my favorite things about Montreal is the multitude of street artists who use the backdrop of city as a living ever changing canvas. I'm not talking about people who spray paint stuff like "fuck the police" or "vive le Quebec libre"... I'm talking about art, people who spend hours vizualizing the perfect piece for that specific building, for that specific wall.

Sometimes though, street art puzzles me. Like the on this picture. Where, well to be honest, there's a message and it's pretty clear. But did that graffiti make me stop and think? Did it make say wow, that's amazing? Or did it make me stop my car, get out and take a damn picture because it was so retarded?

Well, if you picked the third choice then you're a winner...

Meaningless pollution masked as art? Sorry.... the corner of St-Laurent and Sherbrooke is ugly enough without having someones declaration of love for cheese in it.

/a>

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)

E.K.

EK was in his teens, a young man with a promising life ahead of him. He came from a middle class family and went to a decent school, he was a basketball star and he was at least a little popular... Or so the story goes.

I only met EK after the Accident.

The story goes like this... EK was jumped by a couple of guys and beaten in the head with a baseball bat. EK survived, his mental capacity however did not. EK is now a child in a man's body. EK's brother, while EK was recovering, found the guys that beat him and exacted revenge. He is now in jail for a really long time.

So EK's parents grew to despise their son and EK just ended up roaming the streets talking to everyone. A few times in his life, he fell in with the wrong crowd, pimps and drug dealers would use him to carry money or mule for them because the cops would never arrest EK and because he was big, strong, loyal and above all not very smart.

Evert now and again, I see EK when I'm driving or walking my dogs and he just comes up and talk to me about random stuff.

"Hey Muchacho you ever been to Compton?"
"No EK, I've never been there... have you?"
"No... it's bad in Compton."
"I know it is EK."
"Hey Muchacho... why is it bad in Compton?"
"People get shot EK, people have no money."
"Why don't people have money in Compton?"
"I'm not sure EK, you should ask them if you go."
"I will ask them when I go... but I'm not going to go. It's bad in Compton."

And so the story goes with EK.
This guys is probably the deepest thinker I know and I'm not even kidding. His innocent childlike reasoning has taken me aback many times with his insanely existential questions about human nature and the goodness of people and with his faith that the city he roams will protect him and provide for him.

So while some see EK and cross the street because they don't want to have a 2 hours conversation and others see him and feel pit; I look at EK and I see the person he is inside: a good man, with a good heart, without an once of malice inside him. He's happy and as I've always said: It's better to be happy and ignorant than be miserable and smart.

Police Called Because Man didn't Speak French.

Yet another blow to my fair city... A foreign student studying in a Master's program at Concordia University was the latest victim in Montreal's ongoing and everlasting language war...

He got on the 66 bus in NDG (a mostly English neighborhood) to make his way to school, he asked the bus driver what time it was in English (as he doesn't speak French) she answered in French. When he told her that he didn't understand and that he didn't speak French, she told him that she didn't speak English. To which he answered something along the lines of: I can see that.

After which the bus driver pressed the emergency Police call button reserved for dealing with dangerous and aggressive passengers, locking the bus and forcing the confused man to wait for the police. No charges were laid against the man and I've to find a comment anywhere from the STM (Montreal Public Transit Authority) anywhere.

This really makes me ashamed, I mean really ashamed that an employee that is paid with my tax dollars does not have to speak both official languages, does not have to answer to anyone for her actions and can bully people this way. This man who is here from Pakistan to study is fluent in four languages and is on his way to learning French but says he doesn't yet know enough to put a complete sentence together. I know I'm not the only one who's ashamed an witness who was asked by the Montreal Gazette how she felt about it said: “I was so embarrassed. This is the first time I have ever been embarrassed to be a Quebecer. Everyone was outraged over this”

This can't keep happening, this can't keep going on... How long can we possibly continue to live with this hatred and intolerance? What kind of examples are we setting to the for the world, for ourselves and for our children when someone has the police called on him for asking what time it is in English?

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.

Take Advantage of the Desperate

Humanity once again disappoints me, this morning when I read my paper I notice an article about a drug raid in Montreal, which is really nothing new. But this one was for counterfeit medication.

The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) seized fake Viagra and fake cancer drugs arresting 9 people in the process. The fake Viagra isn't the one that makes me mad or upset, I understand that most men don't like going to their doctor and saying "dude my business doesn't work" so they buy stuff of Ebay and in the street.

But the fake cancer drugs? That pisses me off to no end. People who can't afford actual cancer medication are purchasing this drug who think that will help heal them, save their lives, ensure that they can see their children grow up; only to die a year later because the drugs are fake or bad?

I hope these people rot in jail for long LONG time, sadly though our justice system is lacking and they were only charged with "fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and infringement of a registered trade-mark and distribution of materials protected by copyright". What about reckless endangerment, involuntary manslaughter and drug trafficking? Or any number of charges that would actually carry some sort of sentence that was fitting to the crime.

Once again, people have failed us and I'm fairly certain that our justice system will fail us as well.

4 Montrealers Arrested for Rape in Cuba

I read in a little newspaper snippet on the subway this morning that four Montrealers had been arrested and are currently being detained in La Condesa prison in Cuba for the alleged rape of a 23 year old Toronto woman. The only English language article I found was HERE.

In the French language articles, it is probably worth mentioning, they mention that the 4 men say that after partying with this girl in Varadero she consented to go back to their room and have sexual relations with all of them. They then proceeded to send compromising photos to the woman's father in Mississauga. An attorney representing 3 of the 4 men claims that the woman is claiming she was raped in order to save face in front of her Muslim family.

I think that either way, rape charges should be taken seriously and that if these men really did rape her that the time they spend in Cuban jail while the investigation (which may take up to a year to complete) is underway will be a good way to start the whole punishment process. If they didn't however rape this woman, well, I really have no comment to add.

I've often wondered what jails would be like in Cuba for foreigners as compared to how Cuban prisoners are treated. I guess that these four are finding out first hand.

If you missed it, you're not alone...

I had to find out from a NEWSPAPER that there was a big blogging conference in Montreal that is ending today! The article in the Gazette is called "Web geeks talk about blogging" and is not exactly a Pulitzer caliber article, but that's not the point. The point is that this conference was so poorly advertised locally that neither I or any of my other local blogger friends heard about it.

I emailed everyone and asked, an no one knew about it at all...
Wordcamp Montreal if a conference aimed at those who use Wordpress over 200 bloggers were reported to have attended last night's seminar with Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg. Various other seminars on how to make templates, "hack" Wordpress cand create plugins were held over the course of the two day conference.

I would have loved to attend, or at least get my hands on some of their material because I've heard so many good things about WP but I think it's beyond my simple little mind because to this day I can't think of a platform I hate more.

Either way, for those of you who went please feel free to email me your conference material and for those of you who didn't, welcome to the club.

Muchacho Enfermo

Hey Everyone... Montreal is Protesting too!

One of the great things about this country is freedom of assembly, it's something we often take for granted.

It warms my heart when I see people join together and march in support of those in Iran; I find it just that people can walk down the street show their support for Tibet, I can even accept the stupid communist march on May 1st... but the latest protest in Montreal is beyond my comprehension.

People held a rally a few days ago at the Bell Centre to urge the Montreal Canadiens to resign Alexei Kovalev. Seriously. A hundred people used Twitter and Facebook to coordinate an action to all meet at the arena, dress their kids with the "Bleu, Blanc, Rouge" in the middle of summer and protest because the hockey team doesn't want to give Kovalev 6 or 7 million dollars pert year. Are you impressed? Cause I'm not.



In fact I'm a little embarrassed for these people and especially for their kids that didn't have a choice but to come along. But stunted childhoods put aside... Here's the kicker, while the rest of the world doesn't seem to be getting any better: People are being arrested and will likely be executed in Iran for assembling and marching, people in Honduras are being shot by soldiers for assembling and protesting, there are over 2100 political prisoners in Burma because of assembly and protest and here... We assemble, march, assemble and protest for a pro hockey player?

This can mean two things:
1- That Montreal is a really fantastic city with absolutely no problems, where everyone eats, has a place to live, no one gets stabbed and beer is cheap.
OR
2- People are idiots and have nothing better to do.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions, I think my opinion on this matter is pretty clear.

Muchacho Enfermo

Moving Day!

While the rest of Canada is busy celebrating Canada Day on July 1st, we Montrealers have a tradition of our own that we "celebrate" every July 1st: Moving Day (yes with the capital M and capital D).

Before 1974 there was no law saying when the yearly leases on apartments in Montreal should end, but unofficially many of them ended on April 30th, hence many families had to move before the school year ended and it was a headache for all those with children. So, in January 1974 a court ruled that all leases ending April 30th would now be valid until the end of school year (June 30th). This ladies and gentlemen was the birth of Moving Day.

About 10 years ago, I had the best apartment in the city, it was falling apart, the gas leaked frequently, I lived on top of a Shish Taouk restaurant, the floors were caving in and my neighbors were coke dealers, but it was the best apartment in the damned city! I remember moving into to that place: 5 flights of crooked stairs. I also remember that I didn't check what time it was when we showed up with the truck... We arrived on the corner of my streets (St-Catherine and St-Mathieu) only to find out that the Canada Day Parade wasn't over yet... So here we are carrying my couch in the rain THROUGH the parade and up five floors to my rickety apartment. The whole move took about 3 hours... it was bad. But I loved that apartment, right in the heart of the city I love...

Moving day is also a day where friends that you haven't heard from in years, all of a sudden call you out of the blue and invite you over for "beer and pizza" on July 1st(that is the code name for "help-me-move-my-gigantic-fridge-down-my-spiral-staircase-because-none-of-my-real-friends-want-to-help". It is typical if you're a push over, or a sucker, or have too many friends, or if you're just a nice guy to have 2 or 3 major moves including your own starting June 3th at like 9pm and ending July 1st at 10pm.

So happy moving day everyone! Happy Canada Day! and to all those who called me yesterday and didn't get answer because I'd turned my phone off, I hope all your moves went great! And remember, if you want my help try calling me before July 1st...

Muchacho Enfermo

Some Montreal Protesters Missed the Point

There was another march yesterday in Montreal to show support towards those requesting a legitimate democracy in Iran, actually there was two...

One with about 400 marchers organized by Solidarité-Iran that was demanding "another vote, the ouster of Ahmadinejad and international boycotts."

The second group with about 100 marchers "demanding a complete regime change."

And both claim to be for "for the purpose of the democracy movement in Iran."

Maybe I am the one missing the point here, maybe there was an email sent out explaining all this stuff and I never got it but I thought we were marching to show our support, so that those in Iran know they weren't alone... I didn't think I was marching on the street to make demands of a foreign government or decide for a complete regime overhaul.

What's important to remember is that many Iranians that marched in Tehran aren't marching against the actual system, many of them are FOR the Islamic Republic of Iran, they are simply marching because they don't believe this election was fair. They don't want to oust a president (or at least they didn't at the beginning, now that he's killed a bunch of people they probably do) they just wanted to make sure their president was actually elected fairly.

So who are we, here in our safe little city thousands of miles away to tell them that they need to overhaul their system, the system many of them fought to put in place in the late 70s?

Let the Iranians deal with Iran, they know what is best for themselves... If you want to march in support, do just that: demand democracy, demand peace... once these things are achieved perhaps the system can change from within.

(source for quotes: The Gazette)

Muchacho Enfermo

Montrealers show their support for Iran

Last night around 9pm there was a vigil for those who died in Iran following clashes with armed forces.

I attended because I wanted to show my support and my sympathy. It was a candlelight vigil and most of those in attendance wore the color green. A few hundred people at most attended the vigil, but I loved seeing people of all colors and all walks of life in attendance, people with their children, people speaking French, English and Farsi, students, elderly people.

Even if those in Tehran can't see us, we were with them in spirit and we will continue to do so. Today there will be a rally at 11 a.m. at Dorchester Square and I encourage all those who can to be there or to go to similar rallies in your cities.

Muchacho Enfermo

More Crack Reporting From the Gazette

The Montreal Gazette, Canada's oldest English daily paper, has been going down the tubes since it was bought out a few years back. Instead of having editorials about issues relevant to Montrealers we had them about "Infrastructure Problems in Winnipeg" and the "The Price of Cattle in Alberta Since Mad Cow".

Now to be fair, there's quite a few talented reporters who write for the Gazette and I'm not bashing them by any stretch. What I am saying, however, is that the editors have got to step it up... I logged on to their website today and saw this article about a bank robbery that occurred this morning in the heart of downtown Montreal. It's so short I don't even have to link to it... I'll copy and paste it for you...

"Robbers Hit Up Downtown Bank for Cash

Robbers held up the Royal Bank branch at the corner of Ste. Catherine and Stanley Sts. Thursday morning, and escaped wth an undisclosed amount of cash, Montreal police say.

Witnesses said one robber was carrying something that looked like a gun, Constable Anie Lemieux said.

There were no reports of injuries.

More details to follow."

And this was on the front page of their website, like a tantalizing tale that said "read me I'm interesting" and when you clicked on the link all you got was a few vague lines about this crap.

It was like getting socks for your birthday.

Muchacho Enfermo

Court Rules on infamous "Squirrel Feeder"

In my WTF moment of the day as I was reading the Gazette
and I saw that a Westmount (rich borough of Montreal) had issued a man a ticket for feeding a squirrel.

As was his right he fought the ticket in court. He's a musician so of course he wrote a song about it called "SquirrelGate"...

The man was feeding a squirrel.
He got a ticket for feeding said squirrel.
Two years of trial.
The courts upheld the fine.

This is two and half years of taxpayer dollars that went to waste because Westmount security couldn't just give him a warning and let it go. In an attempt to stop this ludicrous trial the city of Westmount offered to drop the charges if the man agreed to be the city's "Don't Feed the Squirrels" spokesperson.

I don't really have a funny or witty conclusion... I think this just speaks for itself. Once again... my tax dollars at work.

Muchacho Enfermo

This is the Song that doesn't end...

Following up on yesterday's "commie separatist manifesto" I decided that this being May Day I'd take the opportunity to write about more idiots that populate my fair city.

The Montreal Gazette reported in an article today that Montreal's 11 extreme-left communist groups are banding together for organize marches and concerts today to promote communism.

One march will start in the east en of the city lead by unions and the other march will be being in Cabot Square, in the middle of Downtown, and be lead by Anti-Capitalist, Anarchists and probably street punks that tend to show up to these things. If all goes well (which it won't) the groups should converge somewhere around Berri Square right between the Latin Quarter and the Gay Village.

As usual I'll include a few of my favorite quotes from the article:

"It's hard to be a communist in North America," Étienne (one of the commies) said. "But with the current economic crisis, with everyone questioning capitalism, we have a open window."

"There would be far less cars, and the city wouldn't be organized in a way that people need to live and work in different places," Eric (a 26 year old PHD student) said. "Workers would make the company's decisions, and there would be no boss."

Just when you thought it was over you realize that the insanity continues. How can a PHD student think that this would be good? I don't want anyone telling me where to work and that I can't own three cars, it's my business... just because he can't afford one or doesn't want one it doesn't mean that I can't have one. The beauty about Canada is that we have safeguards in place such as Workers Comp, Ei, Welfare, Medicare and Education which are given to ALL Canadians. Do we need a better way of helping the poor? Yes. Is there things we could do to help change their situations? Yes. But we don't need to change our economic system to do it. If we do there will be even less money to help them out!

The last thing I need is some cocky 26 year old PHD student telling me how I should live my life. Although considering that on the entire island of Montreal the was only 2207 votes for communist parties I don't think it'll happen any time soon.

So while our friends in Cuba are banging on their pots today for freedom of speech, travel, expression and in protest against communism (Generation Y and Octavo Cerco , From Here), I'll probably have my car vandalized by communists protesting against me.

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

This. Is. Wrong.

Just in case you missed it, I circled the word HATE.

As some of you know from my previous posts I take a few classes at a local college.
In a place of higher learning, where most of the people I see and meet aren't white, I'm shocked to see such ignorant behavior. People come to this school to study, to get jobs, to contribute to society. Every possible sub-culture has a "club" in this school, from the Asian Student Association, to the Christian Student Union, to the Jewish Student Council, to the Punjabi Speaking Students Club, to the Spanish Club and even the Muslim Student Association (just to name a few).

A few weeks back, I had a decent chat with some of the students from the Muslim Student Association when they held a bake sale for a local food bank. I had awesome food from all over the world and talked about (what else) politics and I even schooled a few of them on the teachings of the Koran. It was entertaining as hell and most of the kids I spoke to agreed wholeheartedly with what I had to say and the one who didn't was ridiculed by his fellow Muslim students for being an idiot.

The picture is taken from a staircase directly above the Muslim Student Association's rooms and is meant to be seen by as many Muslim students as possible. Such a blatant act of ignorant hate and disrespect for people of other cultures upsets me to no end. We are a country of immigrants: when the French arrived the First Nations were already here we were guests in their country, then the English came, the Irish, the Scots, the Chinese and eventually people from all over the world. Get with the program people, we are a multi-cultural and plural society. If you can't deal with it become a survivalist and live in your basement, this land belongs to all of us.

Racism and intolerance is just wrong. period.

Muchacho Enfermo