The Scope

Is it just me or is everyone and their dog creating/joining a riding club or motorcycle club lately? In the last two years there are MC’s and RC’s popping up all over the place. All I see is patch-wearing wannabes riding around the roadways trying to look intimidating. It’s all very cliche. I’ve been riding for years, and never once felt the need to join any clubs, and have turned down many offers to join various clubs. It’s all a big pile of BS.

Rant by QWERTY KEYBOARD

Stop asking everyone else to organise events FOR you! If you want to see something in St. John’s and surrounding area, quit your whinging and organise it yourself!

Rant by Do it yourself!

Hey local bands! I want to buy your cd, I want to enjoy your music, but can you afford me the pleasure of being able to buy your album and see you play? I guess not. Charging $15 to see two bands that are both selling cds is outrageous to me. On top of it all people are coming out to have a drink and dance and paying about $5 a drink? This leads to an expensive night. Would it not make more sense to either lower the cover charge or lower the price of a cd so people can enjoy both? You just released the cd, wouldn’t you want people to be able to buy them?

Rant by I like your music but not the prices

Illustration by Ricky King

If I hear another person say that “a particular downtown steakhouse chain” is the best restaurant in town again, I think I’ll be sick. Not trying to put down this place…it is a really good place to eat…but someone said to me recently (and I couldn’t agree more) that it is the McRestaurant of fine dining.
More to the point, there are sooo many fantastic restaurants in and around town that are run by, owned by, and/or created by locals. They use the freshest local ingredients, as well as imported favourites…and most have a very unique style, while still creating a menu that will appeal to almost everyone.
These local gems offer spectacular dishes, in beautifully decorated atmospheres, at a price comparable to the high end chain restaurants, while contributing to the success of your neighbour.
Again, those chain restaurants are good…they became chains for a reason…but I can’t understand why more people don’t celebrate the vast talent that our local chefs offer to us all. They live and breathe local cuisine, and it shows.
So…I urge you all…the next time somebody suggests any of the chain restaurants found around our great city, try suggesting a locally owned restaurant. They want your business. They deserve your business. And I can guarantee that they will get your repeat business.

Rant by Greg Clarke

Disabled students, their families, their guardians/support persons should become keenly aware of a profoundly important new ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the rights of disabled students in Canada – more info available at the Learning Disabilities Association NL website: WWW.LDANL.CA … near the top of the page click on “New – Moore Case info”

This unanimous ruling, (by nine Supreme Court of Canada Judges as I understand it), has profoundly changed the legal landscape for disabled students in Canada.

As a parent of a disabled student, (who is currently being denied basic tutoring services while other students with the same disability avail freely of tutoring and many other services), I implore anyone who knows any disabled student to point them to this information, as this information may have a profound effect on their current and future education prospects.

The term “Meaningful Access” (to education) describes in detail what has now been affirmed, by the Supreme Court of Canada, as a human right. As I understand that this applies to all grade levels and to post secondary education.

I also implore that the (our) Minister of Education also read this information… in the hopes that he sees fit to “man-up” and do the right thing before the legal actions (individual and/or class action) start pouring in.

Question: What kind of government… what kind of “honourable minister responsible” for education… (or what kind of human being for that matter!!), knowingly violates the human rights of the most unfortunate in our society (through no fault of their own) – the disabled?!!

It’s a new day Minister, time to wake up and gain required knowledge from the foremost expert legal opinions in Canada… before the lit (litigation) hits the pan.

Rant by Tired of injustices

Today, May 23rd, VOCM asked whether or not people were for or against the allowance of gay males to give blood. I was shocked to see that 65% of those who responded were FOR the ban and were against its nullification. I always felt that Newfoundland was a fairly liberal society; however, this poll completely changed my mind. For the first time I can safely say I am ashamed to live in this province. Are we still so backward that we cannot see that gay people should be given the same rights and privileges that straight people are given? Are we so stuck in the 20th century that we would rather take our chances after a car crash than be given the blood of a person strictly based on what sex they prefer? The Canadian Blood Services regularly screen their blood so people should feel safe receiving it, but I feel that this is a bigger problem than just about giving blood. It helps promulgate the stereotype that Newfoundlanders are idiotic and backward. I know many will agree with me that there is a generational gap with respect to homosexuality. Chances are, if you are 25 or under you probably have no issue with it and I further realize that there are far more people of the previous generation than the current. Regardless the onus is on the people of Newfoundland to educate themselves on homosexuality; learn that it is not some foreign disease devised by Satan causing the ruination of the Earth. There is no difference between straight, gay, black, white, man, woman, etc. We are all people and should be treated as such. If this poll is taken again my only wish is that people took the time to understand that their homophobia is only a predisposition that can be overthrown.

Please Newfoundland, I beg of you, Eradicate Homophobia!!!

Rant by Howie Butler

Illustration by Ricky King

Dear Runners,
A few things…
I strongly support your healthy lifestyle choices, I see human propelled locomotion as a natural and beautiful thing. I’m sure running headlong into traffic makes you feel empowered and is your way to show the world how strong and smart you are. I’m sure the road is about 5000% better to run on than the sidewalk, which clearly is not good enough for bipedal transportation. I agree cars are one of the greatest evils ever made.

But…
You seriously have to stop running in the middle of the road. It’s stupid, irresponsible, and disrespectful of others who actually may have a license to be on the road, and probably have the right-of-way… since you ARE NOT A VEHICLE.

So get off the road you asshats.

Rant by This far from just running you over

Hello lovely Newfoundlanders! Just need to post this on here because I don’t know where to start! On May 25th Countries and cities across the globe will march and take action against Monsanto, they will protest and try to save our food supply from this posioniss giant who is litterly killing us slowly with there GM food. Everything that contains soy, soy oil, corn, corn oil, canola, anything that is not certified organic and comes from a package, fruits veggies, meat milk, dairy all contains this GMO poision, if it does not contain a Non GMO lable it is GM! I am so sad to see that St.John’s does not have a march happening. If you dont know about GMO’s and the deadly effects of Monsanto and it’s products look it up. The dangers of GMO’s includer fertility problems, cancer, ADD, ADHD, allergies, and many many other autoamuine diseases. This is killing us and if we don’t stop it will kill the planet, the honey bees are already being killed off by there round up ready crops, Monsanto is the creator of agent orange! Come On Newfoundland get on bored and save the food supply!

Rant by Save the food supply!!!

Just to start I’ll mention that I’ve worked in the small engine repair field my whole life, have completed the motorcycle safety course, and have ridden and sold many motorcycles during my life, so I do have a good understanding of motorcycle safety, cost of repairs, and valuation of used bikes based on condition, age and other factors.

In viewing some of the used bikes for sale on local classified websites, it’s clear that sellers want outrageous amounts of money for pure junk. It’s laughable. Majority of the bikes I have viewed in person so far weren’t even worth half of the asking price. I realize that sellers sometimes attach sentimental value to their asking price, but seriously, get real. Even worse, they won’t hear tell of negotiation, and they absolutely DO NOT want to be told that their bike isn’t actually worth what they are asking for it. It’s amazing how offended sellers get when they are informed of this.

For example, many sellers want $3000 – $4000 (possibly more) for bikes that are 30 years old, kilometers racked up, been lying around in a garage or shed for years without any servicing or proper storage procedures, bald tires, and have various mechanical problems which are costly to fix. You can make a hefty down-payment on a brand new bike with good warranty for $4000.

I figured I’d write this because the riding season is here, and there will be a lot of excited new riders graduating from motorcycle safety courses who will be in the market for a bike (likely a used bike). One thing that motorcycle safety courses don’t focus on is what to look for when buying a used motorcycle, so just because you’ve done the safety course doesn’t mean you will be safe, especially when you’re riding a piece-of-junk bike. Beware! There is a lot of overpriced junk out there. If you’re going to look at used bikes, make sure to bring someone along who knows what they are talking about when it comes to motorcycles. I don’t want to see new riders being raped by dishonest sellers, and have their life put in danger by riding an unsafe bike. There is currently no inspection required when purchasing a motorcycle in this province so a bike can be bought and sold, literally for its lifetime, without ever being checked for safety issues. Buying junk and riding it could cost you your life. Please be careful, be cautious, and ride safe.

Rant by Motorcycle Man

Illustration by Ricky King

1. What’s your full name?
2. What do you do?
3. Where exactly do you work?
4. How old are you?
5. Are you married?
6. Where do you live?
7. Do you own your own house?

These are a few of the questions I was asked while getting my hair cut today. Not a clue who the girl was. General answers were not accepted. She asked so many questions and talked so much that she f**ked up the cut. It would have helped if she was actually concentrating on what she should have been doing instead of trying to gather information to write my biography.

Rant by GUY WHO JUST WANTED A HAIRCUT

St.John’s Does Bruce Springsteen at the Rockhouse is usually one of my favorite events in this city. The last few years have been solid, and I always recommend it to everyone. After much waiting this year (it’s usually Feb or March), I went to see it on Friday. Wow, I actually have no idea what happened. It was so bad we ended up leaving early. It started off ok, but after a completely butchered version of State Trooper (I still don’t understand what that awful whistle noise was supposed to be), it was pretty much downhill. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad, and the familiar faces in the show were all on their game (Especially that sax guy, his mic needs to be turned up people, that guy is fantastic!). What was the final straw, though, was when they started playing non-Springsteen songs. Wasn’t this supposed to be a Springsteen cover show? I didn’t show up to hear a 10,000 Maniacs cover. Is it that hard to learn one Springsteen song? So disappointed in what has been one of my favorite shows year after year.

Rant by DisappointedBruceFan85

So it appears every server in St. John’s has some secret training to calibrate their service. I notice these trends cycle on an annual basis. The latest is “How’s everything tasting?”. For those that read this, take note of how your servers enquire about your experience………all of them are asking….”Hows’ everything tasting?” No harm……obviously,

Rant by Observant

you are such a stereo type. chicago sucks! they are rude immagrants that are disrespectful

Rant by

Potholes….I could rave on and on about them. And I possibly will rant, but this is just a way of expressing my anger and frustration over this city’s inability to fix the potholes on our main roads!! I understand that the weather just got “spring-like”. I understand it takes time. But shouldn’t there be more signs? More awareness? And instead of painting lines on the roads, which I’m aware is important too, they should fix those damn potholes ruining our vehicles rims and tires! I JUST put my summer tires on and immediately got a flat. There are potholes with no signs and at night they are impossible to see and creep up on you!

I’ve lived in many places and I’ve never seen roads like this since being home. C’mon St. John’s tourist season is almost here let’s get the roads fixed!!

Rant by Pretty Rims

I don’t really follow provincial politics, but it’s hard not to notice the large discontent with our current government (more particularly our premier). Obviously every government in power will receive negative feedback from the people, but has it ever been this bad? Is it as bad as it seems or is this just par for the course?

Rant by Curious