Have You Been Ganked Yet?

Over 1100 unsuspecting gankees and counting

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This is for Majesty

It's funny how when something you never really think about comes up, it continues to come up repeatedly for a while. I was reading the Scientific American on ancient civilisations and what do they chose to point out as one of the shining accomplishments of the ancient Indus Valley city of Harappa (which peaked between 2600 B.C. and 1900 B.C.)?

Harappan houses were equipped with bathing areas, latrines and sewage drains. Linked to larger mains, which eventually emptied outside the city walls, the sewers at Harappa would have removed waste-water from the habitation areas, depositing fertile sludge on the surrounding agricultural fields.

Coming Tomorrow

Last Sunday was the 2nd annual "Celtic Festival" parade, which as I mentioned last year would have been a disaster in less politically correct times. While the parade was fun, it was was also a tad bizarre given the reasons mentioned before, and (as with last year) the sheer amount of people marching in it that represented the Imperial forces oppressing Ireland for the last several hundred years and the very reason Irish Catholics didn't move to Canada in large numbers like they did to the U.S., and of course, the usual utterly out-there, only in Vancouver weirdness. Toss in the main reason someone thinks this is a good idea is that American cultural imperialism through T.V., movies, and other media has somehow ingrained the idea that St. Patrick's day is something we should be celebrating because it's done in New York, Boston, Chicago and other "world class" cities -- so we need to have one too to prove we're just as good (or something like that). It all adds up it to a decidedly Canadian event. Some samples:

Irish

Not Irish

Only in Vancouver