Unconventionally Thankful

I'm thankful that I'm not in jail. Like this Egyptian blogger was, until November 16. Blogging in Canada has its hazards, like tendinitis and cataracts, but prison is not usually on the list. I'm thankful for that, even though Canada's Thanksgiving Day was over a month ago.

While Egyptian bloggers get locked up for having an opinion, there are guys on this side of the world that should be in jail, but try to use their free country's laws to get out. Like this dude that built pipe bombs in his basement, just for fun of course. My friend Graham from Atikokan does odd hobbyish things like building laser guns out of CD players . . . for fun. Another friend, Andrew from Toronto, travels to Florida to see space shuttles launch . . . for fun. I blog for fun, and throw darts at photos of Stephen Harper for fun (just kidding, calm down). But those are comparatively harmless hobbies (unless you live in Egypt).

A person who builds pipe bombs for fun should at least have the decency to go to jail without a fuss, even if it was unsuspecting firefighters that found the bombs. Especially if his other hobby is growing marijuana . . . just for fun of course. I understand that our citizens should be protected from unlawful searches and seizures, but finding illegal items during a dubiously legal entry doesn't make those items any more legit. It isn't like the firefighters in question broke into the dude's house looking for bombs and only found a photo of President Obama with a dart in his nose (still kidding).

Legalities baffle me. When I'm King of the World, I'll be sure to appoint a Chief Vizier that has enough smarts to keep the bad guys in jail and the good guys blogging.

While I'm being unconventionally thankful in November, I appreciate that Black Friday hasn't made much of an inroad to Canada. I dislike shopping enough already without having to fight hordes of frenetic bargain hunters looking for the deal of the century. Of course even it it did come to Canada, there would still be the option of staying home and being thankful that Erinn is an expert deal-finder, even without Black Friday.

And to finish off the unconventionally thankful list, here is an article that says turkey skin has more good fat than bad. Now that's something for which to give thanks.