This is just awesome. I had no idea that gas stations in Lithuania are able to sell booze! Who had the crazy idea that, with drunk driving being a serious problem in our society, it would be okay for a gas station to also sell booze!? That makes no sense to me at all. Sure, it’s convenient, but you have to consider that there are going to be a bunch of people who would take advantage of that for the wrong reasons.

Well, it seems that the Lithuanian government has smartened up a bit, and decided to tackle the problem. As of this past January, they have banned gas stations from selling booze at night. Yes, you read that correctly… they can still sell booze during the day… just not at night. According to StatoilHydro, the company running the gas stations, this is eating into their profits, and they’re not happy with that:

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian oil and gas group StatoilHydro is trying to reverse a ban on the sale of alcohol at petrol stations in Lithuania, claiming it may lead to massive lay-offs, daily Dagens Naeringsliv said on Wednesday.

The ban on selling alcohol at night came into effect on January 1, after which the number of accidents linked to alcohol have dropped by 45 percent in January-May compared with the same period last year, the paper said, quoting police data.

- read more from the source -

Wow. I love that statistic though: a 45% drop in alcohol-related accidents. Those are some heartless bastards at StatoilHydro if they’re only concerned about their profit margin.

Thanks to Ted for letting me know about this insanity!

Activity

• Rode the bike along the Queensway, then along King, and down to work (5.4km)

Breakfast / Lunch

• Small chicken Caesar salad with real bacon bits – (Metro – 325g)
• Light Caesar dressing
• 1/3 of a can of Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale (DISGUSTING)

Activity

• Rode the bike over to Molly’s office for a kiss and back to my office (6.6km)
• Rode the bike along the bike path home (5.9km)

Dinner

• Seven Crispy Shake’n Bake chicken drumsticks
• A huge bowl of Uncle Ben’s Fast & Fancy Chinese Style Rice

Living Life

• A glass of Jameson

I’m tired of constantly hearing about the seal culling that goes on in Canada, and how the animal rights activists are calling it a senseless slaughter. The number of seals culled is regulated, which is obvious given the amount of news coverage this issue has generated on the subject, and while I don’t have any need for seal products, there apparently is a business for this harvest.

How is this any different than cows being bred for the sole purpose of being later turned into the steak and burgers that I love to devour? I’m sure that there could be more humane methods to kill the seals, just as I’m sure there are more humane methods in killing the cows and other animals we eat. For example, that video of Sarah Palin at a turkey farm last year prior to the American Thanksgiving… that turkey was twitching for a while after it’s neck had been snapped… are we sure that it was fully dead as soon as the gruesome event took place? Maybe there was some extra seconds of it suffering, which wouldn’t be thought of for a second as you popped that sucker into the oven complete with breaded stuffing. Personally, I think it’s because the seals look oh-so-cute that people have a major issue with it. The culling process is just the icing on the cake.

The latest ballyhoo on this issue was the recent vote by the E.U. to ban the import of seal products from Canada, calling the seal hunt “inherently inhumane”. They may have a point, but it’s not like all members of the E.U. have clean hands, as noted in this editorial cartoon by Bruce MacKinnon (artizans.com) I happened across this morning:

Naturally, two wrongs don’t make a right, but before you start accusing a country of “inherently inhumane” animal practices, it might be best to ensure that you don’t have some of your own within your “union”.

In contrast, I’d say that bullfighting is much more barbaric, as the bull’s pain and suffering is part of the main event. Who would pay money to watch someone club a seal to death? There are certainly people who pay money to watch a bull be stabbed multiple times, mocked as it tries to kill those giving it pain, and in the end, be brutally murdered.

But let’s not think about that.

It’s no secret that I am a fan of Obama, and think that he’ll do great things for the United States, and even turn around it’s perception around the world. However, Bill Maher brings up a good point: When is he going to start cracking some heads together to start getting things done?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-opSCOrAmUM

Update (2009-07-09): Seems YouTube has taken down the video. This is why I used to host videos on my site, as I hate it when I post something with a link to the video and it no longer works. These days, everything is on YouTube. Well, at least, for a while. Anyway, Bill Maher, had a good point… but now that the video is down, I can’t recall what it was about. Ah well.

So, our shredder is acting up, as it will only run in reverse instead of forward. On top of it all, it seems that he’s been drinking! That explains a lot! I cleaned up the mess, but I’ll need a longer screwdriver to take him apart and try to figure out what is wrong.