Unreal

Sex offender's release prompts Toronto police warning

"Hassan Steven Jarrar, 40, was released on Friday after serving a 15-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting and beating a woman in 1996. Police have also released his photo.

The victim, who was found near the Leslie Street Spit, had injuries so severe she needed to relearn how to eat, walk and talk.

Police say Jarrar didn't accept counselling or treatment behind bars."

OK, I don't know where to start.  There are so many parts of this story that make me absolutely raging mad.  Let's start with the sentence.  Fifteen 15 years?  REALLY?  She had to relearn how to eat, walk, and talk.  Yeah, that's worth 15 years of his life.  Heaven forbid we infringe on his rights.  And now, he's being released after refusing any kind of treatment.  So really, what are his chances at rehabilitation?  He is listed as a dangerous offender....WHY WHY WHY did they let him out?  If this was the US, he would have gotten a much more appropriate sentence.  But this is Canada, and our hearts bleed for the poor criminals, like this guy who practically killed a woman, completely changed her life all because he couldn't control his obscene violent sexual urges.  But we can't hurt his feelings now can we?

What about this quote: "The John Howard Society was not supportive of the police action, saying publicity like this can hinder an ex-prisoner's re-entry into society."  What?!?!?!?!?!?!  Are you effing kidding me?  I can't say what I'm really thinking because my mother reads this blog and it would break her heart.  But this John Howard Society is actually more concerned about his re-entry into society than the safety of the public who are subjected to having him roam around freely in their neighborhoods because 15 years is the maximum sentence for a crime like this?  How could the police infringe on his privacy rights like that? Phffffft.....what a joke.

Obviously I applaud the Toronto Police for publishing this animal's photo and his crimes, and obviously they are bound by what conditions they can put him under.  I have to say though, from my experience in my line of work, "conditions" do nothing.  Look at the guy from the Eaton Centre Shooting who was on so called house arrest at the time.  The police try their best, but how can you really enforce something like that?  The only way to enforce conditions are to catch someone do something against their conditions.  So this guy is free to rape and almost murder as many women as he wants between Tuesday and Sunday.  

Everything about this makes me sick.  All the courts care about are being fair to violent criminals and trying to rehabilitate them.  I don't now if I would be less mad if he had received treatment while incarcerated but in my opinion, if you violently rape and almost murder someone to the point that they have to relearn basic human functions, you have lost your right to freely roam the streets.

**sigh**

When I'm Prime Minister there will be no such thing as a maximum sentence.

God Bless Canada

For Afghan Woman, Justice Runs Into Unforgiving Wall of Custom

If you don't have time to read the article, at least read the following quote:
"'My rapist has destroyed my future. No one will marry me after what he has done to me. So I must marry my rapist for my child's sake.' GULNAZ, a 19-year-old Afghan woman imprisoned for adultery after being raped, who has been pardoned on the condition that she marry the man who raped her. "

The article also discusses a child bride who had her nose cut off by her Taliban husband.

Um, where do I start?  I don't know if I can even discuss my feelings on the way women are treated in Afghanistan.  To be the victim of such a horrific crime as rape, only to be IMPRIOSONED for adultery (WHAT?!?!?!), and then freed on the condition that she marry her rapist....it's unthinkable.  Just pause for a moment and try and imagine that in our western society.  We have a lot of problems here in the west, don't get me wrong, but we can't even wrap our sheltered western minds around such an atrocity.  As for the child bride who had her nose cut off - that is sadistic and evil.  The idea of a child bride is horrific to begin with.  Imagine yourself as a little girl, or imagine your daughter, married off to some perverted old man.  Here in Canada (and the US) it would be considered rape.  So I just can't discuss it any further.

What I can discuss is my feelings on the lack of support for our troops over the years.  Don't get me wrong, most Canadians are very supportive of our active members and our veterans, however, there are the few who not only don't appreciate our troops and veterans, but go as far as to bash them, call them names, question their morals, etc.  I am beyond proud of my brave husband for his six month tour in Afghanistan.  More than once he almost lost life and I am truly lucky to still have a husband.  Not only that, but to have my son, because if I had lost his father 5 years ago, I would never have had my baby boy.  The after effects of war are still with us, especially with my husband today.  But we feel that it was worth the risk and the pain and anxiety because he was serving his country and trying to do something good in the world.  When I read an article like this, it makes me even more proud that he was a part of trying to bring down the Taliban.  They are nothing more than terrorist, women-hating, bullies who want to opress the rest of the world with their foul ideology that spreads hatred and violence to others, including their own women and children.  What other explanation do you have for using women and children as shields and suicide bombers?  There are no boundaries for their atrocities, and yet there are still people enjoying the freedoms of living in Canada who have the nerve to say negative things about our troops and veterans.

I am extremely thankful to live in such a beautiful, free, and safe country like Canada.  Too many Canadians don't realize how lucky they are.  They are entitled, self righteous, and ill-informed if they think they would have all the rights they do today if it weren't for our veterans who fought in the World Wars, and our troops today.  I think of my Great-Grandfather, Roland Ford, who had to write home after the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I and tell his parents and siblings at home that he watched his younger brother Howard gunned down and held him as he died.  Such a tragedy is unimaginable to us today, and yet that is what so many young men went through to give us the rights we have today.  That includes the rights to spew self-righteous bullshit about how our troops and veterans don't have a conscience.  I can't say the words that are coming to my mind that I want to direct at those people because my mother reads this blog.

So please, before you say negative things about our men and women fighting overseas, or the now very old men who fought in the past, think about how much you are hurting them and their families with your callous words.  It was a great sacrifice for my family to have my husband serve, and it was an even greater sacrifice for him (and he was one of the lucky ones, unlike a few of his friends whose caskets he had to carry).  I could not be more proud of him for protecting Canadians and for trying to make a difference in the lives of the Afghan people.  If it weren't for the bravery of soldiers like him, they wouldn't have a chance in hell.  Thank God that you live in Canada and you don't have to worry about your sisters and daughters being treated less than human.  And next time you see a veteran, thank him.  Pray for our troops.

"We got a fightin' side a mile wide but we pray for peace
'Cause it's mostly us that end up servin' overseas"
-Josh Thompson from the song Out Here

Computers

Well, I am pretty annoyed right now. I just spent about 40 minutes doing a really lovely warm and fuzzy blog post, with shout outs to my baby, my baby daddy, and my friend Nadie-Nade, and somehow the format got effed up and it won't post.  I am PISSED....because I lost all the info too.

So now, I'm on a rant about computers.  They're supposed to make our lives so much easier, and perhaps they do (hey don't get me wrong, I'm addicted to my iPhone)....but what the EFF!!!!!!  Why can't they just do simple copying and pasting without turning it into a huge drama!  I copy, I paste, I post ...but nooooooo that's to damn hard for the stupid HTML reader thingie to understand.  I don't even know what HTML is.

This isn't the first time this has happened either.  It happens with e-mails all the time, and it most commonly occured when I was a student and was just finishing up a paper at 4am which would be due at 9am and suddenly all my edits for the past 2 hours would be gone.

Now, the world is deprived of my wonderful blog entry and gets this bitchy one instead.

Music

I was filling out my baby book with the things that I can do ahead of time, just so I don't forget after he is born (which is 5 short weeks away, but who's counting?), and there is a section about "what's popular" now.  I got really depressed when I started filling out the music section.

For awhile now, I have been saying that music these days is on a continual downward spiral and has been for a long time.  If you think about the 70's, 80's and 90's and the classic music that came out of those decades, it makes you wonder what happened between now and then, that our generation is afflicted which such horrible music.  Think about Pearl Jam, Queen, Journey, The Stones, Aerosmith (k, I just love Steven Tyler), GnR, the list goes on....they just don't make music like that anymore.  I decided that I could not keep quiet anymore after I heard Rihanna's new song "S&M" on the radio.  Here's an excerpt for your reading pleasure (I use the term loosely, and keep in mind, once you read it, you can't unread it...what is seen cannot be unseen)....

I chose this picture because it is
particularly embarrassing.  She doesn't
even play guitar.

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

...

S-S-S & M-M-M
S-S-S & M-M-M

Not only is this song lyrically horrible, with the music it is even worse, it's also extremely offensive.  And gross.  I know you know which part I'm talking about.  And don't say I didn't warn you.  So this is what music has come to these days.  This is what people are turning into number one hits.

Now, of course I'm kind of picking on Rihanna.  I don't think I've ever been so offended at being subjected to a song as I was to that one.  Oh wait, yes I have.  Ke$ha.  I only put the dollar sign in there because it was one of my favorite lines on Glee when Principal Figgins called her "Key-dollar sign-Hah."  The fact that this generation of music listeners has put someone like that on the map is baffling to me.  I can't even listen to her voice it is so annoying, not to mention, her music is NOT music.  It just really bothers me that her crap that someone somewhere decided was music has made it to number one in the "Top 40."  When you look at the other artists who have made it there, and then you hear her name, it's just.....painful.  It makes me even more depressed when I realize that people I know are responsible for this.

So, while I was filling out the section of my baby's record book dedicated to music, I did include Rihanna, and Justin Bieber (it asked who's POPULAR...not who mom likes!), but I threw in some country greats too.  I did not put in Ke$ha.

On a side note: I find it very ironic that Rihanna did a song with eminem that completely glorifies domestic violence.  The song is called "Love the Way You Lie" and I have to say that I am guilty of liking this song - mainly because I can appreciate that eminem is really talented, plus it's catchy.  It's just weird to me to listen to her sing "Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, that's alright because I like the way it hurts...." after he talks about tying her to the bed and setting the house on fire.  Keep in mind she went through a very public break up after her boyfriend beat the crap out of her to the point that her face was not recognizeable.

I have to pee...

 ...and even my maternity pants are too small.  And my back hurts.  And it hurts stand.  And it hurts to sit.  And I get kicked in the ribs all day.  And I always have epic heartburn.  And I'm always tired.  And I can't sleep because I have to pee every 20 minutes.  And my bras don't fit.  And they're uncomfortable.  And I can't travel so I'm missing Myrtle Beach this year. And I have terrible skin.  And I'm pretty sure I'm getting a double chin.

This is approximately what the little
stinker looks like right now.

Whew...ok, I wanted to get that off my chest, because I usually try to hold in my complaints about pregnancy.  I think it's wrong to complain about such a miracle happening right inside your body - especially when there's so many women who want nothing more than to be pregnant, but their bodies have failed them and they can't.  They would kill to be in my shoes, and I'm bitching about it.  But the reality is, pregnancy is really uncomfortable.  The funny thing is, I complain about getting kicked in the ribs, or the bladder, but when he doesn't kick for too long a period of time I freak out and think something's wrong.  And then, after about an hour of sitting there waiting, I feel the reassuring kick in the ribs, or ovary, and I'm like, THERE YOU ARE!

The other morning I had just gotten home from a night shift and Jonathon woke up when I was getting into bed.  He decided he needed to say good morning to the baby (who up until this point had been acting like the tazmanian devil trapped inside my belly, seriously, it felt like he had 8 arms....I even asked him, "How are you doing that?!?!)....so he put his face right near my belly and started talking and he got kicked right in the nose!!!  It was amazing!  Even better is that the first time Jonathon felt him kick, he was resting his head on my belly and felt a little jab in the ear.  This boy is going to be just like his father, a total trouble maker!  And the two of them are going to gang up on me all the time, and I'm going to love it!

I guess the point of this post, other than unloading my complaints, is to remind myself and everyone in my life who has to listen to me, that no matter how much I complain, I would not trade my current condition for a million dollars.  I love my little trouble maker.  I can't wait to meet him and hold him and lose even more sleep.  Any time I feel like complaining, I just think about what it feels like to NOT feel him kick and I appreciate the jabs to the ribs and bouncing on the bladder.  I LOVE him.