Fight Stupid People

I love trains.

I admit that I may be somewhat biased towards using trains for long-distance travel because I do not own a car. However, my experience riding trains in both Scotland and Korea has taught me that they can be an exceptionally beautiful way to travel, and it is for this reason I like to lend my support to the seemingly outdated mode of transportation.

Because of my affinity for rail transport, I was rather disappointed to read recently that the engineers for VIA Rail felt it necessary to go on strike. Apparently the engineers and other rail workers had been working in good faith without a contract for over 30 months (also disappointing to hear).

What disappointed me most though, were the attitudes and views of some people who chose to comment on the CBC website's article. For example, one commenter with the handle "Nampally" wrote:

In this tough economic times, the Harper govt. should have passed a bill to ban all strikes for 2 years or until we are on the road to recovery.

First of all, why are the "Train Drivers" called Engineers? Do they have a professional Engineer certification? If not they have no right to call themselves "Engineers".

Secondly It is shameful on the part of the "Engineers" to exploit the situation in such an irresponsible manner. What were they doing for the past 3 years with their negotiations? I have no sympathy for such strikers. They should be legislated back to work immediately.

Such stupendous stupidity displayed by Nampally would have normally caused me to spiral into an ever-increasing state of despair over the sorry state of humanity, but thankfully I was rescued by another poster - the one-man truth brigade known as organMike. In response to Nampally, organMike wrote:

Nampally said this:
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In this tough economic times, the Harper govt. should have passed a bill to ban all strikes for 2 years or until we are on the road to recovery.
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Hello?
That's COMPLETELY illegal. There's so much wrong with that idea that it's hard to begin counting the issues.
To say nothing of the fact that we weren't in "this tough economic times" two and a half years ago when the contract expired.

Note that - They have NO contract. There is no legal way to force these people to work.

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First of all, why are the "Train Drivers" called Engineers?
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Because they drive an engine. They've been "engineers" since the dawning of the rail era.

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Secondly It is shameful on the part of the "Engineers" to exploit the situation in such an irresponsible manner. What were they doing for the past 3 years with their negotiations?
***

What were they doing? Working without a contract. Negotiating
Did you not read the article?

Part of capitalism is negotiation. And part of that is saying 'no.' Part of it is determining what your services are worth.
It's odd seeing such a strong anti-capitalist position from a group of people normally associated with hypercapitalism.

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I have no sympathy for such strikers.
***

No kidding. But I find it hard to believe that you have sympathy for anyone at all.
You also haven't got much in the way of logical capacity, nor sensibility, nor legal or legislative experience.

I would like to say that reading such a response filled me with hope for the future of mankind, but sadly I would estimate that people like Nampally must outnumber the organMikes of the world 4:1 (9:1 in my town). The situation seems so grim I often wonder if there is any point in fighting the forces of stupidity (I often get told there is none by most of my friends).

Over the past few years though, I've finally matured to the point where I do not care if I am fighting a losing battle. The battle is there, and it needs to be fought, and so I might as well be the one to do it. For all of you people who feel the same way I say to you, stand up! Be proud of not being an idiot. Take the red pill and say "bah!" to anyone who criticizes you for doing so. The world can and should be a beautiful place. Don't let it be hijacked by morons.

Where's The Pro-Life Activism For Animals?

Before I start, let me preface this article by saying that I am not attacking hunters individually or as a group. In fact, many hunters have worked alongside various conservation organizations to prevent the extinction of animals. I am instead attacking the attitude of many in Alberta who act as if they think greed is a virtue of which to be proud.

For those of you who haven't the foggiest about what I'm saying, read here to enlighten yourself on the boneheaded Alberta government/University of Alberta plan to sterilize wolves, in yet another attempt to keep Alberta in the 1950s.

In 2008, the Alberta Government, with help from the University of Alberta, proposed a bone-headed plan to raise ungulate populations by sterilizing Alpha male and female members of various wolf packs, and killing their wolf pups.

Apparently, the wolves were getting out of control. Wolves were allegedly responsible for dwindling ungulate populations, despite the fact that wolves only prey on the weakest members of the herd, thereby strengthening the herd as a whole. The fact that the government's own 2005 study found that predator control would not succeed in helping ungulate populations to recover, and that the same plan had already backfired in BC seemed to conveniently escape them. Perhaps it was the sound of the cash register ringing in $100-plus Million in hunting and fishing liscence revenues.

While the idiotic plan was eventually defeated by a storm of protest from the conservation community (and thankfully so), I found it odd that I heard little from Christians or catholics on this matter. Catholics especially seem to hate any form of birth control, and I find it ironic that Alberta Catholics would miss a chance to put a bumper sticker saying something ridiculously obvious, like "Sterilizing wolves prevents baby wolves from being born," on the back of their fifteen-seater family vans.