Friday, January 26, 2007

Robbed

On Monday, my house got broken into and robbed. They didn't take anything of sentimental value, just stuff that can be replaced.

I've been chewing on this for a couple of days because I was feeling a lot of things.

First, anger. How dare they?
Second, fear. What if it happens again?
Third, peace. Que sera sera.

I'm upset that they broke into my place and took the stuff for which I've worked so hard.
I'm scared now that I know that I'm vulnerable (but not stupid--an alarm system is going in before I replace the stuff).
I'm at peace because it wasn't me, specifically, that was targeted--there were a bunch of B&Es in the neighbourhood that day.

If they catch the thief/thieves, then whatever they get will satisfy me. Because I know that, whatever side of the spiritual spectrum you stand, after man's punishment, it'll be either a) God will take care of all that at some point, or b) my karma will run over their dogma (bad joke). In other words, I'm a live and let live kinda guy. If you steal my stuff, it's just stuff. But woe betide you when you get caught. Not if, but when.

The conservative in me agrees with the cop who came over to dust for fingerprints (there were none): the current sentences for such a crime are laughable, and regardless of what the screechers would say, it is a deterrent because, well, you can't rob someone if you're in jail. And if by robbing someone you risk a boatload of time in jail, I'd like to think it would make people reconsider a day job.

The compassionate person in me wants to reach out to the person/people and help them. Because they obviously need help--financial, emotional, whatever.

The twain are not mutually exclusive, BTW.

I got robbed. They took stuff. They left irreplaceable stuff. And they didn't take the most important thing: my principles, my dignity, or my sense of fairness.

Or my ability to write a rambling blog post. :P

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Blogging the premiere of Little Mosque on the Prairie

I'm already offended. They're portraying prairie people as stupid, prejudicial, non-understanding hicks. The cops are shown as people who don't know sarcasm or a joke when they hear one, the townsfolk are shown as idiots who can't recognize praying, and everyone but the Muslims are portrayed as backwards. Not a single Muslim is shown as a buffoon, an idiot, or even close to imperfect.

What if the roles were reversed? What would the backlash be? What if the Muslims were portrayed as the backwards, rigid, non-understanding dolts?

The imam moving to the prairies was horrified to be taken into custody after talking about suicide while in a lineup at the airport. "This is Allah's plan for me." "It's not like I dropped a bomb on him." "If I'm throwing my life away then so be it." (He was talking about the sacrifice of moving from the Centre of the Universe (aka Toronto) to the prairies.

The talk show host was portrayed as a rabble-rousing (I never thought I'd like to use that term) anti-Muslim crap-spouting bigot.

"The Saudis couldn't find the moon unless there was oil spouting from it" was a comment from one of the Muslims. (Wow, does the CBC's anti-everyone bias ever end?)

Mayor Fitzy from Corner Gas is in this show, at least as a talking extra.

This is politically correct drivel. Further, it's a bad show. All that makes me, more and more, believe that we should stop forcing taxpayers to fund the CBC.