Kentucky Fried Chicken & PETA

Kentucky Fried Chicken or as it is better known KFC came into the sites of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or as they are better known PETA. It seems that PETA has a problem with the way KFC treats their chickens. in factories and slaughterhouses. The thing about PETA protests is that the generally bring out the crowds for a bit of a perv as they normally involve some degree of nudity. PETA's protests against fur are legendary for the bare-breasted women. Now it seems that chickens are getting the bare-breasted treatment as well.

The three women were bare-breasted and wearing skimpy yellow bikini bottoms (look at the photo yourself -- I have attached it for your viewing pleasure). The protest took place in the Sydney CBD during the lunch hour. Maximum exposure for maximum effect, I guess. The three were in a cage and holding signs that read, "Chicks Agree: Boycott KFC".

The protesters -- Ashley Fruno, Fawn Porter (Fawn is a great name for a PETA activist), and Carla Lobos were eventually arrested and then claimed they were roughed up by police. The police, obviously, have denied this and also denied they used the additional powers that they have been granted for the month of July to cover the WYD activities. I would imagine that naked or semi-naked women would not be so much of an annoyance but rather a test of a pilgrim's faith!

The young women think that their protest has been successful and that they have educated the masses about the cruel practices of KFC. Judging by the attached photo they did more educating on the semi-naked form of women by the number of mobile phone cameras taking pictures.

Pamela Anderson is a PETA fan and gave Jessica Simpson a serve recently over a t-shirt that read, "Real Men Eat Meat". Pam has also recently been starring in Australia's version of Big Brother and while here also protesting in front of KFC. Unfortunately, Pam's protest was top on as opposed to topless, which was undoubtedly disappointing for many.

The end result is that KFC still feels that its treatment of its chickens is ethical. I think this is because they have not been deemed to have broken any laws. I would have thought that PETA would have been advocating a vegan lifestyle and not just better treatment of animals that are to be slaughtered.

Oh well!

The Age That I Wish To Go Back To

Thanks to katadia, I have been tagged to write about the age that I wish to go back to, thanks I think! I quite enjoy reading her blog posts and I guess she enjoys reading mine hence the desire to see what I might post now that I have been tagged.

The rules are:
Title: Age That I Wish To Go Back To
Requirement: Write about the one age that you wish to go back to and why?
Tag Mode: 5 bloggers
1st - You list 5 bloggers you want to tag and link their blogs
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog.

Now, I am happy to write the entry on the age. But, I am rule breaker and I am not going to tag five others. It sounds too much like multi-level marketing to me and an attempt to attract attention to my blog and the blogs of others...sorry people for being such a spoil sport (besides everyone I might have been inclined to tag has been tagged).

I really would like to write about an age that I would like to go forward to. My better half is pregnant and is due in November. Thanks to the wonders of modern medical technology we can already see the youngster (affectionately known as "The Kid") in 2 or 3 dimensions. The hospital offers 4D, I always thought the 4th D was time in space, so I am trying to work out why I might want to pay to see The Kid in 4D. However, I think what the doc was trying to explain related to spissitude (look it up if you really want to know).

Seeing, this will be the first born in my family, I am really looking forward at the moment as opposed to backwards. By the way, The Kid is a boy!

But, seeing you all want to learn something of my past, then the age I would want to get back to is probably years 8, 9, and 10 in high school (so 13, 14, and 15 years of age). Why? They were fun times, care free times, the best of times. I had started playing rugby and I was good. I was immediately selected in representative teams and got lots of free stuff like footy jumpers, socks, shorts, trousers, ties, and all sorts of other stuff.

The memories that stick out in my mind though relate not to competitive rugby but slush rugby. Slush rugby could only be played during the rain or immediately after the rain -- simply no rain meant no slush! The best of these slush rugby memories occurred on a school camp, I think it was Year 9, out near Goulburn somewhere. It was winter, so it was cold! Cold enough as a matter of fact to freeze the balls of a brass monkey. Even better was that it was pissing down with rain! And the best part was that the showers were all cold water!

In the middle of the campground was this big open space that looked like a mudpit after all the rain. In other words the perfect venue.

Not to be deterred, we stripped down into our slush rugby gear which consisted of shorts and a jersey, divided up into sides, and went at it hell for leather for the next our or so! There were some dislocated fingers, a couple of bloody noses, a lost tooth or two, and a few concussions, although I am not sure anyone is counting. I have a photo which I will scan and add later.

I cannot recall who won and it doesn't really matter.

In reality I cannot choose one age that I would really like to go back to. My childhood was excellent, I have the greatest parents that I can imagine having, my teenage years were some of the best I can recall, my early adulthood was a series of superb experiences, and right at this moment in time I am fairly content. The only thing that I miss from childhood is the absence of responsibility. I would enjoy not being responsible for so many people's livelihoods (this does not include my own family as that responsibility is one I enjoy)...

But such is life.

I hope those that read understand a little more about me and feel that you know me a little better.

BTW...high school was Hurlstone Agricultural High School (HAHS) in Glenfield (NSW)!

A Modern Day Crucifixion?

Just so everyone knows that I am equally offensive to all and play no favourites!

Bear Fight

Very cute!

Political Correctness vs. A Sense of Humour

As I am prone to do in the wee hours of the morning I have been surfing the Internet and amusing myself with the myriad of sites that are there to be seen. I came across the cartoon that I have posted here. My first reaction was to smile.

Nevertheless, the PC radar clicks in and my mind wanders to heated debates about whether a burqa can be worn for a photo on some one's driver's licence or in some one's passport. Then it wanders to whether the State can regulate whether a Muslim child or girl can where the hijab at school.

This all happens from a single cartoon that is designed to challenge our politically correct biases while making us laugh at ourselves.

I wonder what is your view on this cartoon.

World's Oldest Blogger -- Now In Blogger Heaven

I would love to still be alive and blogging at 108! Although I have gotta say that blogging will probably be technology of the past. Innovation and the need to develop new technologies will mean that blogging will undoubtedly become obsolete, and probably sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, whatever takes its place I want to be doing it at 108. Hopefully, I will still be able to see and hear then.

Olive Riley, who lived in Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast, died in her nursing home early yesterday morning. I had never heard of this old bird nor her writings. Both, apparently are going to be missed, Olive by her family and friends and Olive by the many thousands of people who visited her personal musings.

The technology is amazing in that the world is becoming an increasingly smaller place all the time. According to her great grandson, Darren Stone, Olive loved to communicate and had regular correspondence going on with readers in the US and in Russia.

Olive had led an interesting, some might say extraordinary life raising three children on her own, living through two world wars and the Depression, working as a station cook in rural Queensland, as an egg sorter, and barmaid in Sydney throughout those 108 full years. Since February last year she had managed to post more than 70 entries on her blogs.

Olive's blogs can be found here and here. After one particular post Olive's blog had more than 350,000 hits. Truly amazing!

Olive Riley was born in 1899, and would have turned 109 on October 20.

I have stopped by to both blogs and I wish I had found the old dame a little sooner.

RIP Olive Riley.

Mak Erot -- The Penis Enlarger

There are probably very few Indonesian men or women who have not heard of the incredible abilities of Mak Erot (photo by Achmad Fauzie). Mak Erot was reportedly somewhere between the ages of 101 and 130. No one is quite sure, her children and grandchildren included, but it does not really matter any more as the legend has passed. Fortunately though she has apparently passed on her incredible skills to her children and grandchildren.

There are a couple of reasons that I am writing this. It is an interesting story and because I am lead to believe that one of my blogging colleagues, Dilligaf, saw a 3,000 visitor spike in his statistics. So, my ego demands that I write something for this in order to increase my own feelings of self-importance as my stat numbers rapidly increase. Besides I do not get 3,000 visitors in a month let alone with one "strategic" post!

Mak Erot's claim to fame was an ability to lengthen the male member through the use of herbs, traditional remedies, and prayer. Mak Erot was based in Sukabumi in West Java. However, men came from thousands of miles to get the lengthening touch of Mak Erot.

There are plenty of men out there who swear by the treatments. The business of penis enlargement is a multi-million dollar industry and the Mak Erot business is alleged to rake in tens of billions of rupiah. This just goes to show that there are plenty of men out there who are less than satisfied with the gifts that God has bestowed upon them. So, the age old mantra of "bigger is better" rings true for many Indonesians.

For those of you who were to embarrassed or shy to make the trip and get the treatment, there is no need to despair. By all accounts Mak Erot has not been the primary provider of treatments for some time. She passed on her exquisite and exceptional skills to her children. So, even if you had made the trip in recent years it probably would have been her son H. Saepulloh doing all the necessary massaging of members and requisite praying.

Mak Erot had an almost cult following and had reportedly been providing services to many of Indonesia's rich and famous, as well as sex therapists, and ordinary citizens, pretty much anyone who could afford the treatments. Treatments are said to start at around IDR 700,000.

Mak Erot may have passed onto the next world but her gifts and talents have been passed to a new generation of penis enlargers in her family. So, for those of you unhappy with the length of your penis the knowledge of Mak Erot lives on so do not despair.

Just do it, you know you want to go to Sukabumi!

The Right to Vote -- "Golput"

There is a lot of talk at the moment in Indonesia in the lead up to the next election of "golput". Golput is the abbreviation of "golongan putih" or the white group. In this context it is a group that will exercise their democratic right not to vote and therefore remain white or unstained by the process.

The idea of not voting, at least for me, undervalues the point of the democratic process. In the Indonesian context it is disrespectful to the many people who fought and died for the right to live free in a functioning democracy. Even if you vote and the people you vote for do not win, at least you have stood up, you have been counted, and you have expressed your will. Not voting for me ensures that the status quo remains and that the system never changes. I see little honour in being able to sit back and say, "it's not my fault because I did not vote for that person as a matter of fact I did not vote at all!"

With 34 political parties running in the 2009 election (at the present time, this may change -- different post for later) there surely must be one person that you could vote for who is most likely to be your voice in parliament. They might not win but, once again, at least you expressed your principles through your vote.

This piece is not a lecture or sermon to the masses, but rather personal musings on why I vote and the reasons that I see voting to be important. It is also a chance for me to express some exasperation at why people do not vote. It has always amused me that the Gettysburg Address talks about "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" yet Americans en masse tend not to turn out to vote. It is bizarre to me that Presidents can be elected to the most powerful position in the US with the support of less than 50% of those who are of voting age. I guess you get what you vote for or more importantly what you don't vote for.

Hence my basic problem with the idea of golput. If you are not going to engage in the democratic process of elections then why complain when you end up with the status quo. I think that if you want to complain then you need to have taken the time to get to a polling station and express your hopes and desires for the future of your country. Golput strikes me as a back seat driver without a license telling the driver how to drive.

Truth be told this post was just going to be the following quote, but as usual I have gotten carried away in my little moment. Nevertheless, this is something that is worth reflecting on:

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

-- John Quincy Adams

Schapelle Corby -- A New Investigation?

The latest series of allegations to be doing the rounds suggests that perhaps a further investigation is warranted. Mercedes Corby and the extended Corby family seem to be demanding a further investigation, simply as a means of clearing her family's name, once and for all.

This is in spite of Queensland Police saying that they are not doing one as there is insufficient evidence, at least for now, to warrant one. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) on the other hand are making no comment, make of that what you will.

There were some inherent problems in the court case that led to Schapelle Corby's original conviction. These problems relate to matters such as the testing of the actual drugs and whether or not their exact origin could have been determined through laboratory testing. The other major problem was finger print analysis of the bag in which the drugs were contained. To this end finger print evidence might only show that Schapelle Corby did not handle the sealed plastic bag that contained the drugs. In this case no finger prints is hardly evidence of innocence as the wearing of gloves would rule out the presence of fingerprints.

Nevertheless, as I have written previously, where there is this much smoke there is an increased likelihood of discovering fire. The question is whether or not a further investigation and the expenses involved are warranted. Malcolm McCauley, the man behind the latest allegations, has just been released from prison and Michael Corby Sr is dead, so unless McCauley is going to divulge all of the players involved in this little drug trafficking scheme, then the value of any investigation seems to be limited.

There are also issues of whether an investigation will clear the Corby's names of any involvement or only muddy the waters even further and even if the investigation turns up nothing and seemingly clears the Corby's of the McCauley allegations, how and what would the impact be on Schapelle Corby's situation as a convicted drug trafficker sitting in an Indonesian prison on the resort island of Bali?

This is a sad tale for the Corby family for sure but it is riveting reading for many others, me included! Although I am more interested in the legal angles and the avenues of review if and when certain things come to light.

As always, the saga continues.