Welcome to MikesAndDislikes, the home of rants and raves and traveling days.
The home of music, film, politics, culture, religion, justice and even, sometimes, Untouchables who must be touched.
Also the home of the legendary 3-year "Bob, Basketball and Beer" backpacking trip across Asia, featuring many a tale of adventure, excitement, great food and wonderful people.
So take a look around and please enjoy.
But, be forewarned, this sure ain't your mother's rants and raves site. Don't expect to agree with everything that you see.
Hell, expect to be offended at times.
But here's hoping you find more to Mike than Dislike.
Mike Cowie
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Take a minute to vote in the latest MikesAndDislikes poll:
Poll #18: Biggest Dick(s) of The Past Decade
Then, if you haven't already, check out my own personal picks for the Biggest Dicks of The Decade: 2000-2009
And here are the results of Poll #17: Who, if alive today, would be sent away for the longest period of time to either prison or a psychiatric hospital?
#1. Pope Urban II, for having all married priests’ wives sold into slavery and their children abandoned (29%)
#2. Mohammed, for marrying a 6-year-old girl & then consummating the marriage when she became of consummating age (i.e. 9 years old) (28%)
#3. Abraham, for claiming to hear voices telling him to kill his son & then actually attempting to go through with it (19%)
#4. Socrates, Plato & Aristotle, for their daily erotic escapades with young boys (i.e. for their pedophilia) (13%)
#5. Martin Luther for his crazed antisemitic ravings & exhortations to violence, best sampled in his book "On the Jews & Their Lies" (4%)
To see the results of all previous polls, visit the POLL RESULTS PAGE
Check out my 53 most recent published pieces in The Georgia Straight newspaper:
April 8th, 2010: A goddess named Steve, a real-life Brian, and the unutterable V-word
March 30th, 2010: Petty gossip and unfair intimidation: A look at the real victims of the Vatican sex abuse scandal
March 19th, 2010: Morally bankrupt and no longer even trying: Canada opposes ban on endangered bluefin tuna
March 3rd, 2010: Olympic joy, heroic Sid, drunken happy people, and those freaky Norwegians
February 19th, 2010: Fraudster Bertram Earl Jones and Canada's incredible shrinking justice system
February 5th, 2010: When women knew their place: Feminism, equality, and the National Post
January 22nd, 2010: Defeatist Democrats and the lethargic Left
January 6th, 2010: A look back at the biggest dicks of the decade
December 8th, 2009: Stephen Harper's saving grace: Canada, China, trade, and human rights
November 20th, 2009: Freakin' Fundamentalists: Stonings here, lashings there, misogyny everywhere
October 27th, 2009: It's about bloody time: Canadian support for monarchy drops dramatically
October 22nd, 2009: The Canadian justice system is so broken it's criminal
October 13th, 2009: We're number one: A positive take on Canada's dismal environmental record
September 29th, 2009: Fightback and counterattack: Vatican says church sex abuse of kids not really pedophilia
September 25th, 2009: Traditional Biblical Marriage Explained (by the great Betty Bowers)
September 20th, 2009: Bitter and bewildered: The sad plight of the disillusioned left-wing Canadian voter
September 4th, 2009: The baffling fight by ordinary Americans to defeat healthcare reform
August 11th, 2009: An open letter to America concerning the hate-filled homophobes of the religious right
July 31st, 2009: An ex-president like no other: Jimmy Carter, the passionate feminist
July 28th, 2009: Canadian Shona Holmes joins the great American healthcare debate
June 29th, 2009: The War On Terror charade: 14-year-old terrorists and the fight for western civilization
June 11th, 2009: Imagine a common-sense justice system that frowns on police brutality
May 22nd, 2009: Freedom denied: The crushing of Sri Lanka's Tamils
May 16th, 2009: Nothing to fear but truth itself: Criminalizing criticism of Israel
April 28th, 2009: The Robert Dziekanski killing and cover-up: Cops now feel compelled to speak out
March 24th, 2009: The Milk Rave: Harvey Milk, Homophobes, and Bigots
March 19th, 2009: How do you solve a problem like Pope Benny?
March 9th, 2009: Excommunicate this: The misogyny running wild rant
February 24th, 2009: Ridiculous and Religulous: Another Catholic sex abuse scandal and Bill Maher's take on religion
February 2nd, 2009: The Godless Super Bowl rant
January 20th, 2009: Bye bye buffoon: The final Bush rant
January 12th, 2009: Eight years of insanity: Bush, Israel, and the slow destruction of Palestine
December 13th, 2008: And injustice for all: Cops face no charges in death of Robert Dziekanski
December 4th, 2008: Canadian nationalism, brought to you by the letter “zed”
November 6th, 2008: The Love fest Continues: Sarah Palin on Africa, NAFTA and more
November 6th, 2008: Obama wins: The nightmare is almost over. So why am I crying?
November 3rd, 2008: A critical analysis of Republicans' love fest with ignorance
November 3rd, 2008: The Canadian media rant: Trashing the left and loving the right
October 28th, 2008: Pallin' around with Pinochet: Seeing the real McCain
October 15th, 2008: Thank you Quebec: The federal election rant (part 3)
October 15th, 2008: The Todd Snider "Peace Queer" rave
October 9th, 2008: Bob's Back: Tell Tale Signs of joy...and a complete lack of judgement
October 8th, 2008: Freedom fly: bottled horniness for the truly patriotic American
October 3rd, 2008: Reagan, Friedman, and McCain: now look at the cost of deregulation
September 19th, 2008: Federal election: What Canadians really want
September 19th, 2008: Federal election: What Canadians really need
September 5th, 2008: Republicans dig the fault lines that create America's great divides
August 10th, 2008: Driving Mr. Laden: The most hideous war crime of all
July 25, 2008: The IOC dictatorship: Let the Olympic muzzling begin
July 17, 2008: Why does Canada stay callous and cold to the fate of Omar Khadr?
July 14, 2008: Conservatism is just a sickness
June 30, 2008: Spain's triumph caps off weeks of attacking soccer at Euro 08
June 22, 2008: Take pity on the fans as the Dutch crash out of Euro 2008
And check out these six pieces on the OpEdNews.com site:
March 28th, 2010: We're Only In It For The Money: Morally Bankrupt Canada's Slow Descent Into Pariah Status
January 24th, 2010: Defeatist Democrats and The Lethargic Left
January 11th, 2010: A Look Back At The Biggest Dicks of The Decade
September 9th, 2009: Summer of Stupefaction: The Baffling Fight By Ordinary Americans To Defeat Healthcare Reform
August 28th, 2009: The Great Anti-Canadian-Healthcare Fraudster Joins The Great American Healthcare Debate
August 28th, 2009: Canada: Top Ten Things To Love and Hate
August 27th, 2009: To America From A Canadian: Concerning The Hate-Filled Homophobes of The Religious Right
You can also see these four older pieces on Canadian Dimension Magazine's Blog:
January 20th, 2009: Bye Bye Buffoon: The Final Bush Rant
December 15th, 2008: And Injustice For All: Cops Face No Charges In Death of Robert Dziekanski
December 11th, 2008: The Canadian media rant: Trashing Naomi while lovin’ Mulroney
December 7th, 2008: The Nonsensical Nationalism Rant: A Nation Built On Zed
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A Few Featured Rants and Raves:
The Scary Health Rant: An Acetaminophen-Asthma Link, Breastfeeding, and The H1N1 Shot
Acetaminophen and Asthma
And they wonder why some parents are reluctant to give their kids the swine flu vaccine...
After more than 20 years of being told to give children acetaminophen for fevers, sore throats and aches and pains we're now told that that very same drug may be linked to a higher risk of developing asthma. And that it could, in fact, possibly be the main reason for the huge increase in asthma rates in recent years.
And we're not just talking about the results of one study here, we're talking about 19 different studies, involving 425,000 subjects.
It's About Bloody Time: Canadian Support For Monarchy Drops Dramatically
Finally. Some great news.
It's been pretty hard being a Canadian of late.
Not only do we have a right-wing buffoon for a prime minister, but the progressive majority here in this country has been left with no attractive, electable alternative.
Then there's the fact that Canada is one of the world's worst environmental degraders, with the oil sands of Alberta becoming a bigger and bigger pox on the land with each passing day; a pox not only on the environmental landscape but also on our country's once stellar international reputation.
Furthermore, our justice system is a joke.
We've got bishops in charge of sex abuse compensation claims caught with graphic child porn.
And Celine Dion continues to record.
And, on top of all this misery, we still inexplicably have some foreign, overseas, in-bred family serving as this country's monarchy/head of state. A reality that becomes more and more pathetic as Canada moves further and further away from its distant colonial past.
The Canadian Justice System Rant: A System So Broken It's Criminal
Seeing that things have finally started to quiet down in the good ol' USA - after a crazy summer dominated by all those rabid, angry, crazy, incensed right-wing teabaggers, birthers and townhall shouters with all their mad cries of "Socialism!" and "Fascism!" and "Obama was born in Kenya!" - I was thinking it might be safe to once again venture down there for a vacation.
It appears that the rednecks have put their guns away for the moment. At least until Obama tries to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
We're #1: A More Positive Take On Canada's Dismal Environmental Record
"You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you
And always look on the bright side of life"
- "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" by Monty Python from the film Life Of Brian
There are those who claim that every single Canadian should feel shame and embarrassment over the fact that Canada's overall environmental record ranks eighth among the G-8 nations and that, according to the World Wildlife Fund, Canada's 33 million people "emit more greenhouse gases than half the countries in the world put together".
But I'd say that such people are simply being overly negative.
I mean, at least we didn't come in ninth, right?
Fightback & Counterattack: Vatican Says Church Sex Abuse of Kids Not Really Pedophilia
For those of you who thought the Catholic Church was truly feeling some deep remorse about the tens of thousands of children who have been molested by priests over the years, think again.
Self reflection, shame and remorseful regret?
Are you out of your mind?
How about a defiant counterattack in the face of unjust criticism and slander?
Traditional Biblical Marriage Explained (by the great Betty Bowers)
Now you've all heard the anti-gay-marriage campaigners - in all their self-righteous raging homophobic glory - droning on and on about "traditional marriage", "God's intentions" and "Biblical teachings", as they condemn same-sex marriage and cry out that it's clearly something evil sent into this world by Satan himself to destroy us all.
You've listened, you've heard, you've observed, but you're not yet fully convinced that the haters are right and you simply don't have the time to read the whole Bible yourself right now.
Well, you're in luck, people, because Mrs. Betty Bowers, "America's Best Christian", has done all the hard work for you and in just four brief minutes lets you know everything you need to know about the good Lord's intentions when it comes to marriage.
Bitter and Bewildered: The Sad Plight of The Disillusioned Left-Wing Canadian Voter
Do you ever feel like you're a rock 'n' roll fan stuck in the eighties? Or a science teacher at a Republican education convention down in the Southern States? Or an environmentalist in oil sands-ravaged Alberta?
Well, if so, then you're quite possibly a left-wing Canadian voter. Because feeling discouraged, depressed, dejected and downhearted is all part and parcel of being a progressive voter here in this country these days.
In fact, this must be what it feels like to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan after a while.
Summer of Stupefaction: The Baffling Fight By Ordinary Americans To Defeat Healthcare Reform
a.k.a. Summer of Staggering Stupidity
"The best test of a civilised society is the way in which it treats its most vulnerable and weakest members."
- Mahatma Gandhi
That the majority of the rich and powerful in America, particularly those on the right, are vehemently opposed to universal healthcare and instead support the present free-market private insurance system is hardly surprising. Clearly they have nothing to fear, as it's highly unlikely that they will ever find themselves without coverage and they're certainly never going to be choosing between treatment and bankruptcy.
This stance - though truly despicable, completely devoid of compassion and totally self-absorbed - isn't really all that difficult to understand. It's simply the latest manifestation of that age-old philosophy: "Hey, I'm alright. Screw everyone else!"
What IS extremely hard to figure out, however, is the mindset of all these regular, ordinary working class and middle class right-wing nut-jobs who have been showing up all summer long at these town hall meetings chanting:
"Socialism! Communism! Stalinism!!"
An Open Letter To America Concerning The Hate-Filled Homophobes of The Religious Right
"In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people."
– James Madison
As all the Right-Wing Christian Conservative Blow-Hard (RWCCBH) homophobes down there in the States continue to blather on about how gay marriage is going to destroy traditional marriage, I just keep scratching my head, struggling with all my might to understand just what the $&#% they're talking about.
An Ex-President Like No Other: Jimmy Carter The Passionate Feminist
"Morality is doing what is right, regardless what we are told. Religious dogma is doing what we are told, no matter what is right."
- Elka Enola
Whatever you may think of his days in power, there's really no denying that since leaving office back in 1981 Jimmy Carter has become perhaps the greatest ex-president in American history. And now he's taken one more, very significant, step towards wrapping up that title once and for all: He's just quit his church of more than 60 years out of disgust at their sexist, bigoted views concerning women.
