Dick Cheney recently criticized Nancy Pelosi for suggesting a gradual withdrawl of the United States; likening a withdrawl to "validating the al-Qaida strategy". At the same time, Mr. Cheney has applauded Britain's decision to withdrawl 1600 troops from Iraq as an indication that things are going very well in Iraq. How much can DICK Cheney contradict himself? This just shows you how Dick Cheney will do anything he can to distort a fact.

Mr. Cheney has been living in a fantasy land since he led the neo-Conservatives in his quest to control the Middle East. When you watch this interview with Lynne Cheney, you will see that even she is completely out of touch with reality. Even at a time that President Bush is becoming more of a realist (Read: He's been left with no choice but to admit fault), Cheney is still convinced that there is victory in Iraq for the United States and that the "terrorists" will be defeated.

I'm still trying to decide whether Cheney really believes what he preaches, or whether he is trying to save face. People in similar positions probably realize they have messed up and are naturally defensive as a result. If the United States decides to withdrawl after his term is over, I don't think he'd waste any time in trying to shift the blame of the failures to the newly elected government instead of accepting any blame himself.

Even Cheney's hunting partner whom Cheney shot last February was probably at fault for coming up "unannounced" before being shot by Cheney.


Image courtesy of Yahoo News

Labels: dick cheney, lynne cheney, neo-conservatives, richard cheney

This classic Guns N Roses song from 1991 could have been written yesterday. This song is a very fitting opposition to the neo-Conservatives quest for democracy in the Middle East; with "brainwashed pride" and the "hate we're breeding". I wonder if Guns N Roses would have been chastised if they released this song in 2003 instead of 1991. The Dixie Chicks can speak to this; but those girls have more of a backbone than neo-Conservatives expected.

"What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week,
which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!
N' I don't like it any more than you men." *

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land

And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war

Look at the shoes your filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

"We practice selective annihilation of mayors
And government officials
For example to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
As popular war advances
Peace is closer" **

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war

I don't need one more war
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway

Labels: civil war, guns n roses, neo conservatives

Ever wonder how many earths we would need to sustain your lifestyle? A coworker sent out a link to an online quiz that gives you an idea of your ecological footprint. It tells you how many hectares/acres your ecological footprint is, and how many earths would be required if everyone on earth lived like you.

According to the survey, the average ecological footprint in Canada is 8.8 global hectares per person. Worldwide, there exist 1.8 biologically productive global hectares per person (or 4.5 acres per person). Since I live in the city and walk almost everywhere, my ecological footprint is around 4.5 hectares (2.2 of that is just for food). According to the survey, if everyone lived like me, we would need 2.5 earths. (*Note: I just re-took the survey using more liberal answers and my footprint is now 5.3 hectares with 2.9 earths required. So my actual footprint is probably somewhere in between my conservative and liberal answers).

According to this WWF report from 2005, United Arab Emirates has the highest Ecological footprint per person, with the United States in 2nd and Kuwait in third. Canada rolls in near the top in 8th position.

Labels: earth, ecological footprint, sustainability

Just when you thought Adam Plimmer's career as an Optician was finished, he has shown his persistence by changing the sign on his store from "King West Opticians" to "Adam Paul & Associates Opticians". His new sign is even using the same black and white colour scheme as his next door tenant, who is an Optometrist and has no affiliation with Adam Plimmer. It almost looks like he wanted the two stores to look like one in order to attract unsuspecting customers.

When half the world has seen you freaking out on camera, you need to do everything you can to stay in business. As Adam Plimmer told Peter Silverman in a video a month ago, "Any advertising is good advertising" after his King West Opticians store was featured on TV for selling fake Gucci and Oakley frames.

This week Plimmer's store was featured on CNN with Anderson Cooper. I walked by a few minutes ago to capture a picture of his brand new sign. I also found this mug shot, could it be him??? ;)

 

Labels: Adam Paul and Associates, Adam Plimmer, King West Opticians

Last Friday a bunch of coworkers and I went to a Mexican restaurant called "Bandidos" on King Street West near Peter St.

We knew it was going to be an entertaining evening as soon as we noticed a large stack of sombreros inside the restaurant. They even had gun holsters and cap guns to compliment the sombreros. It looked like the restaurant was on fire with all the smoke from the cap guns.

The owner picked me out to wear the authentic Mariachi outfit. He even let me play the accoustic guitar. Check out the pictures; I could barely button up those pants. He was nice enough to give me a shot of tequila and a T-Shirt at the end of the night.

Enjoy the pictures; it's not often that I pull a stunt like this:

Labels: bandidos, mariachi, mexican restaurant

Last evening my brother Tom told me that the Emergency Task Force was right outside our building along with around 20 police cars. We found out after that there was an incident in the building next door. The owner of King West Opticians, one Adam Plimmer has been investigated by the media over the last few months about selling fake Gucci and Oakley frames to people at a premium. City TV News later discovered that he isn't even licensed to be an Optician.

City TV's Peter Silverman went to King West Opticians yesterday to talk to Plimmer after Plimmer left a message saying he's "found god" and he "loves" Silverman, saying he's willing to sit down and talk about it. Owner Adam Plimmer came out attacking 75-year-old Silverman. If you watch the video you'll see the attack along with him throwing snowballs at the crew. In Silverman's previous confrontations with Plimmer, Plimmer acted like a child when Silverman asked him why he's selling fake frames. Plimmer said he's going to sue Gucci, Oakley, his Optician school, and Silverman.

A couple months ago I was talking to a famous Toronto homeless person Kevin Clarke and he told me that he saw the sign for a "Free Eye Exam" at King West Opticians, so he went in to get the free eye exam. When owner Adam Plimmer told Clarke that it was only free with the purchase of frames, Kevin said "Well how do I know if I need glasses without the exam?". So basically the owner told Kevin to leave, but he refused to leave. So Kevin claims that the owner forcefully removed him on the store and threw him on the ground outside and "roughed him up". Seeing that Kevin is homeless, the cops didn't make any arrests. But this new attack gives more credibility to Kevin's story at least.

I checked some consumer reviews of King West Opticians, and it seems there are several negative reviews of the store. One guy wrote that he purchased a new pair of frames, and when he noticed they were crooked, he asked the owner to adjust them. The owner refused, so the guy told the owner he's not going to pay the balance of his bill. The guy was then shocked when the owner called the cops because he wouldn't pay his bill. The cops later told the guy that they've had many "issues" in the past with this store, so it was no surprise for them.

Amy Henkel, a one-time customer of King West Opticians wrote a blog back on December 8th entitled "King West Optician - Worst Optician Ever", where she talks about a really bizarre experience with the store. She responded to me last evening and told me she walks by there every day and there's always cops there. She also said she saw the store open at 2AM one time, so there's definitely something shady going on with this Angry Optician wanna-be.

Labels: Adam Plimmer, angry, City TV, King West Opticians, Peter Silverman, Toronto

The other day I was visiting a client's office for a meeting. I took a taxi to the client's building and upon arriving, I realized that my attire was not appropriate for meeting with a client. The clothes I wore were appropriate, but the fact that my shirt was un-tucked made me feel rather slobbish. Since there weren't any bathrooms in near sight, I made a decision to quickly un-do my belt and button/zipper on the elevator and try to quickly tuck in my shirt. Since I was alone in the elevator traveling up 16 floors, I figured I had enough time to close the deal.

On the 7th floor, the elevator came to a sudden halt. I panicked and didn't zip up or button up my pants. I simply did up the belt buckle as quickly as I could. The door opened very quickly and the two people getting on the elevator walked in as I was buckling up my belt. I recognized one of them as an executive who I had attended one meeting with a few months back, but I figured he wouldn't recognize me.

I stood there very awkwardly with a guilty look on my face; there is no doubt on my mind that these guys thought I was doing the "5 digit disco", "deploying the troops", "feeding the ducks", "shaking hands with Benjamin Franklin", "strangling Pete", "strumming the one-string banjo", "jostling the elder", "waxing the dolphin", "yanking the chain", "punching the pilgrim", "tackling the tumbleweed", "slapping the salad dressing", "firing the Surgeon General", "pulling the goalie", "wrestling the one-eyed monster", "Scouring the tower of power". Okay you get the point.

I uncomfortably got off the elevator on my floor, and I could feel the strange looks burning a hole in the back of my head as I struggled to compose myself as I walked away.