Next up on Decapitation Week... 12:22 AM

Continuing on with the pleasant theme of forced head removal, the news has graced us with yet another decapitation story. This time, however, it wasn't a random attack.

The dismembered body of a 20-year-old English girl was found in Brazil after her boyfriend killed her and filmed the entire incident with his cell phone. Britain was shocked to learn of the brutal killing of Cara Marie Burke (17), by her own boyfriend Mohammed Santos (20).

Having met Mohammed in London, Cara followed him to Brazil after his visa expired and he was forced to leave the UK. The 20-year-old man reportedly killed the girl in his apartment. On his mobile phone, investigators discovered footage of Mohammed stabbing Cara and then decapitating her.

A policeman told Brazilian television: "The telephone was full of photos and videos. He grinned as he chopped off her limbs. The photos also include ones like those of the Taliban, in which the decapitated head is replaced atop the body..."

Further investigation reveals that Mohammed was high on the drugs, and claims that cutting his girlfriend up could be related to simply slicing beef, only "bloodier". How swoon-worthy.

What in the hell is wrong with people lately? There's a few hundred pages of speculation as to why he did it, ranging from his girlfriend's denial of marriage so he could obtain a Visa, to protecting himself from being turned in for drugs. He even turned up the music in his apartment to prevent anyone from hearing her scream.

Then he filmed it. On his phone. If that ain't love, baby...

In light of these recent events, I am now afraid* of the following:
1. Winnipeg
2. Greyhound busses
3. Knives
4. Cell phones
5. Men

*Not really. I just think these people need to watch a little less Dexter. However, if you're aren't insane, watch as much Dexter as you want. It's a great show.

I think next time I have a boyfriend, I'm going to ask him politely if he's ever had an urge to, "Well...you know, babe, get all jacked up on blow, chop me up into little bitty pieces, cut off my head, and then toss me into a suitcase and throw me (unsuccessfully) into a river? Babe? ...Sweetie, where are you going...?"

*door slam*

...

*fail*

You don't make friends with salad. 9:50 PM

At least, not if that salad ever had anything to do with the lettuce-loving PETA. I was nothing short of disgusted at discovering that following the brutal attack on a man riding a Greyhound bus in Winnipeg, everyone's favourite anti-everything activists had the nerve to attempt to release a newspaper ad (in Manitoba, no less) comparing the poor victim to slaughterhouse animals.

The editor declined the ad, saying only that it wasn't something they would want to do, but did note that since it's appearance on the PETA website, the newspaper has been flooded with phone calls and messages.

“Like human victims, animals in slaughterhouses experience terror when they are attacked by a knife-wielding assailant,” Lindsay Rajt of PETA said in a news release. “We are challenging everyone who is rightly horrified by this crime to look into their hearts and consider leaving violence off their dinner plates.”

Rajt said the ad was intended to be shocking and is meant to spur people to think about the terror and pain experienced by animals who are raised and killed for food.

You'd think that a group so large would at least be able to respect the fact that they might make errors or go one step too far, right? Apparently not, because their response to the mass amounts of hate-mail they've been recieving over the ad is, well...less than professional.

Yes, of course we were horrified (who wouldn't be?) when we heard the details of this barbaric, incomprehensible killing. And obviously, everyone's good thoughts go out to anyone affected by this violent act. That's all a no-brainer. Now, remember, PETA is known for being provocative - that's our job. The animals don't benefit from our silence. So our thought is always: How can we get people to see that despite their feelings about this kind of violence, they are often paying someone to do exactly what was done to the man on the bus, and worse, just so that they can eat a sandwich? Voila, the ad!

Basically, they're saying, "If you're offended by our ad, there's obviously something wrong with you because they do this to farm animals all the time! Don't you see, it's the same! Oh, yes, we're sorry about the brutal murder. Order our vegetarian starter kit now!"

I often wonder how far PETA will go to get their "message" across. I do not condone animal testing, hunting for sport, or wearing fur for fashion. But I'm not about to run up north and throw blood all over an Inuit tribe whose lives are centred around using animals for food, shelter, medicine, clothing...anything you can think of. There's a limit. PETA doesn't seem to understand the concept of "enough", and they only seem to be getting worse.

I grew up on a farm, where we raised chickens, goats and rabbits, all as pets. The chickens would lay the best tasting eggs, and every spring we'd have new baby animals running around. Once a year we would by a hundred or so chicks that we would raise strictly for meat. PETA will tell you that my family were monsters. What they won't tell you, is that my farm, along with countless others in Canada and the US, treat their meat animals no different than they would a family pet, providing the best food, water, and comfort possible for the duration of their lives. My neighbours even feed their cattle day old doughnuts from the coffee shop - they go nuts over them. Point being, far too many people believe whatever information they are fed, and feel that is enough. They need to do more research on their own, and understand that life isn't as black and white as PETA may think. I genuinely feel sorry for anyone involved in the creation of that horrendous ad. It's beyond disrespectful, disgusting, and tasteless.

Now, they did apologize for the whole "Holocaust on your Plate" ordeal, but regardless, this is just ridiculous. Some things are better left unsaid, unwritten, un-thrown in your face...you get the idea.

Am I a bad person for eating Swiss Chalet just before I wrote this?

It's always awkward the first time. 5:17 AM

I spent a good hour on The Wayback Machine, and decided to hit up my old website. Not my old portfolio, but my old "personal page" from high school. There it was, in all it's pink, angst-riddled, teenage whining glory. I was rather impressed that I managed to avoid talking like a cell phone, which unfortunately is something alot of teens have been struggling with for the past year or so. A friend of mine teaches 3rd grade in Hamilton, and he and I got into a discussion about lauguage and teaching. I was suprised to hear that not only was he (much to the chagrin of the Catholic School Board, eep! My friends are rebels, y'all.) giving the children a bit of a heads up regarding the fact that once they get older, they'll be actually writing less and less and thus it's not that important to learn cursive writing, but he recently taught them to use Powerpoint.
Powerpoint.
I don't even know how to use Powerpoint.
Neither did half the staff, because they seemed genuinely shocked when he presented the kids' final projects. They didn't do half bad.
Now, when I was in 3rd grade, we didn't have Powerpoint, let alone anything resembling a computer. We made lifesize paper models of the various workings of the human body out of construction paper, glue, and fearless motivation. My group had the circulatory system. We spent days making the little veins and arteries, cutting out what seemed like hundreds of long, thin pieces of blue and red paper respectively.
I was so proud of that thing. We had to pick a number between 1 and 10 to see who would get to take it home.
I didn't win.
I went home and cried to my mom, because I thought I worked the hardest on it, and my veins and ateries were the best ones. The other girl cheated. Someone must have told her the number when they overheard the teacher. I was sure of it.
It would have been a killer blog.