April Reign

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noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:04:00 +0000

nothing to see here

testing br function

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Moving

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 03:49:00 +0000

Movimg to a new site you can find me hereAnd here is the rest of it.

Progressive?

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 13:08:00 +0000

Progressive;

Meaning #2: a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties

It would be wonderful to think that progressive women and progressive men are working towards a similar goal in which equality for all is one of the founding principals.

Unfortunately just as in other times of "progression" many men have change in mind just not change that requires anything from them.

In the French Revolution, women's republican clubs demanded that liberty, equality, and fraternity be applied regardless of sex, but this movement was extinguished for the time by the Code Napoléon.

With regards to family, the Code established the supremacy of the husband with respects to the wife and children; this was the general legal situation in Europe at the time. It, however, allowed divorce on relatively liberal basis compared to other European countries, including divorce by mutual consent.

In our own progressive communities there are examples of men who just don't get it.

They don't get how sexist comments affect us all, they still have beliefs of female promiscuity (when was the last time that term was used on a man) they show demeaning pictures of women as if they are being clever, in short they display an ignorance unworthy of someone who would take on the mantle of progressive.

"the progressive poetry blogburst"

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 18:46:00 +0000

Credit to skdadl of pogge for coming up with this idea

the pome only has to be four lines long (minimum), but it must mention the Court Challenges program at some point.

Here is my attempt;

SWC, CCP, like so many birds the acronyms fly by
The hunters sit intent on death
Progress, they say, has drawn it's last breath
I need you again progress sighs
Mourn their blindness, then organize

Tag to progressive bloggers reading this!

Dogs, frat boys and the sad state of Parliament

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 13:07:00 +0000

Much has been said about Belinda Stronach, not a lot of it nice. Some have said that insults against her should not be taken as insults against women or as a reflection of how the conservative party views women.

I beg to differ.

Here are some quotes from tories and reformers, now the reformatories;

"Pass the tequila, Sheila, lay down and love me again."
– John Crosbie
"Slut." William Kempling to Copps
Stronach"whored herself out for power." Tony Abbott
"She sort of defined herself as something of a dipstick, an attractive one, but still a dipstick." Runciman

There are many more but I wouldn't want to belabour the point.

Much has been said about Belinda's wealth and the how it helped her rise to power. Can someone point me in the direction of the person in parliament who isn't at least somewhat wealthy and/or well connected?

Let's not forget she supports abortion rights, gun control, same-sex marriage and (real) women has been quoted as saying "If Ms. Stronach is elected as leader of the Conservative Party, social conservatives will no longer have a voice in Canada."

Further evidence of tory support for women;

Slashing funding to the SWC, even taking out the word equality.

The PM taking over during the environment announcement. When asked about policy Ambrose couldn't even form her own opinion but kept referring to Harper's words.

Support for Mackay's insulting and unparliamentary behaviour.

This is a party for bigots, misogynists, flat earthers and Bush wannabes.

They do not deserve either the votes of nor the respect of the citizens of this country. Most particulary Canadian women.

Court Challenges Program

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 16:39:00 +0000

Tories and their supporters must be so proud

Reg Warkentin is challenging the military pension act's "gold diggers clause," but his legal battle is in jeopardy after the federal government cut a program that funds human rights court challenges.

Reg Warkentin married Hilde when he was 62. Because he was older than 60, she will not get his military pension when he dies.

"Virtually we've been cut off at the knees," he said. "Unless somebody comes up with more money, this thing will never get to the Supreme Court."

The clause in Section 31 of the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act says a woman who marries a veteran who is 60 or older cannot receive her husband's military pension if he dies.

Good thing that was nipped in the bud!

Other scary people helped by the CCP include such dastardly sorts as Rural Dignity of Canada

The organization worked in coalition with fishery, environment, church and labour groups across the country to lobby on behalf of the protection of essential small-community infrastructures.

Thanks goodness we have the tories and their blogging minions to save us from such evil.

To support the reinstatement of the program write to Harper and your MP

Hmm where have I seen this before?

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:30:00 +0000

The Bush administration guts another set of laws and policies that protect workplace equity for women.
And this example of the Bush administration's efforts to weaken women's rights is not the only case. For example, the Administration has repeatedly sought to weaken the 86-year-old Women's Bureau, the only federal agency whose work is solely devoted to the concerns of women in the workplace. Early on in the Bush administration, the Department of Labor erased all information about eradicating the wage gap from the Women's Bureau website. Recently, it announced a plan to outsource half of the career positions at the Women's Bureau national office, which would cripple the Bureau's ability to advance working women's concerns. And in 2001, the Department of Labor tried but failed to close the 10 regional offices of the Women's Bureau.

The administration has also championed efforts to restrict the availability of overtime pay for workers, both by narrowing the categories of employees eligible for overtime, and by enabling employers to coerce their workers to take comp time rather overtime. This is especially harmful for women, because many women rely on overtime pay to supplement their inadequate wages.

Moreover, in an alarming example of selecting the fox to guard the henhouse, President Bush recently recess-appointed Paul DeCamp, an attorney who has spent his career trying to curtail legal remedies for women, to head the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Among other things, DeCamp represented Wal-Mart in trying to prevent a class of 1.5 million women -- the largest employment class action ever certified -- from suing the company for sex discrimination in pay and promotions.
AlterNet

United Health Care

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 11:08:00 +0000

the same company that has more than one of these types of charges against it

The United Healthcare Insurance Company, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, will pay $3.5 million to settle charges that it defrauded the federal Medicare program, the Justice Department said yesterday. United Healthcare ''knowingly mishandled'' phone inquiries from Medicare beneficiaries and health care providers, then made false reports to the federal government about how it handled the calls, the department said in a news release. The activities took place for five years ending in 2000, the government said. United Healthcare did not admit wrongdoing in reaching the settlement. UnitedHealth's press office did not return a phone call. A former United Healthcare employee began the case in 2001 by filing a whistleblower lawsuit, in which the Justice Department intervened.

NYT

has become involved in the NHS

Many observers said, however, that developments in the past 12 months meant that the writing was already on the wall for primary care trusts. At the start of the year, North Eastern Derbyshire Primary Care Trust invited United Health Europe to run two general practices. In May, Barking and Dagenham Primary Care Trust signed a £5m contract with Care UK, under which the private firm will provide GP services for more than 7000 patients in East London

link

and has routinely denied claims

is now news again

The chief executive of one of the nation's largest health insurance companies retired under pressure Sunday, the latest executive to fall in an options-based pay scandal that is unfolding at scores of companies nationwide.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced that William McGuire, 59, was leaving — along with a director who oversaw executive compensation and the firm's top lawyer.

The announcement came in the wake of a board-commissioned investigation that found that stock option grants were "likely backdated" to allow insiders to maximize financial gains.

President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Helmsley was tapped to replace McGuire. He said little about the stock options controversy in a statement released Sunday.

"In light of the recently completed investigation, I have determined that it is in the best interests of the company that I assist Steve Helmsley in an orderly transition to succeed me as CEO," McGuire said.

link
Golly gee willikers beav I can hardly wait till they take hold in Canada.

Defining Pro life

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 14:03:00 +0000

Pro life, as I have said before, is a term that needs to be reclaimed by those who feel that a woman is entitled to the basic human right of having control over her own body.

Anti abortionists are not pro life. They are pro shame, pro blame, pro control, pro legislating wombs as wards of the state, and they are pro caring about the unborn as opposed to the already born, but they are most certainly not pro life.

This excellent article describes one woman's journey from black and white to the multitudes of gray.

To engage in productive dialogue about abortion, we must account for justice and equity; we must strive to make our country one where laws, practices, programs, and attitudes nurture women and allow them the opportunity to bring babies into the world when they can support them, provide them excellent healthcare, send them to college without putting themselves in massive debt, and promise them truthfully there are living-wage jobs waiting for them.

Come to think of it, if this isn't a genuinely pro-life position, I don't know what is.

Reflections from a Former Anti-Abortion Activist

Anti abortion/anti woman

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 13:33:00 +0000

The latest tact by the anti abortionists is to say that women cannot make their own decision re abortion.

The task force took as a statement of biological and psychological fact that a mother's connection to her unborn baby was more authentic than her own statement of desire not to be pregnant.

They trot out women who have regrets about their abortion, stats on women who have committed suicide, (perhaps the suicides had more to do with other things in their lives but lets not go there)and generally manipulate the tear ducts like a maudlin Disney film.

The danger I see here is twofold.

First though some women may regret their abortion, there are also many who regret their pregnancy.

So far those who support choice have refrained from dragging around women who have had severe post partum depression, who have stayed with an abusive husband because of welfare laws which make it impossible to leave and still care properly for their children, women who have been forced to carry to term a rapists baby, or 11 year olds who have been forced to carry their fathers baby to term, and parade them as some sort of freak show for all and sundry.

There are many choices in life we regret. I regret a few things but I'm not looking to define how others can live their lives based on those regrets.

Secondly if it is to be accepted that women cannot make their own decisions about this, what else are we unable to make decisions about?

Are we unable to decide who to vote for? Who to marry? Are we unable
to gain an education because our minds are too frail? Perhaps we are unable to determine what has been rape and what has been merely a sex act which as women our natures detest.

It seems to me that most of these issues are based on the fear of womens autonomy, the fear of their sexuality and the fear that church will lose control of people's lives as Wordsworth penned

"What are fears but voices airy?
Whispering harm where harm is not.
And deluding the unwary
Till the fatal bolt is shot!"

Oh say, can you see?

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:51:00 +0000

Being able to see and therefore work helps people stay out of poverty.

CBC

About 153 million people worldwide have easily correctable vision problems that lead children to fail at school and leave adults unable to work, according to a new report released Wednesday.

A simple sight test and glasses or contact lenses could allow people to live productive working lives, said the authors of the report by the World Health Organization.

About 90 per cent of people with uncorrected refractive errors — near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism — live in low- and middle-income countries, the agency found.

"Individuals and families are frequently pushed into a cycle of deepening poverty because of their inability to see well," the WHO said in a statement released ahead of World Sight Day on Thursday.

I know an Ontario premier who needs to read this. As he didn't see fit to reverse the welfare cuts and will force more working poor to choose between poverty or not paying bills just in order to get eye exams let alone glasses.

We need to help those in the third world but can we really support a premier who thinks it is ok for Ontario citizens to face the same issues of poverty as those in third world countries?

The good old days?

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:24:00 +0000

Life if R.E.A.L.(ly out of touch) women get their way;

The following is from a 1950's Home Economics textbook intended for high school girls, teaching how to prepare for married life.

1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead even the night before, to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him, and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.
2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot or work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.
3. Clear away the clutter: make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too.
4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.
5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.
6. Some DON'TS: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.
7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.
8. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.
9. Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his need to be home and relax.
10. The Goal: Try to make you home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

Blogging.....Tool of the Devil

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:48:00 +0000

Ask yourself, “Do I have a tendency to want to have a voice?”

This has grown so out of control it is routine for a person to start a daily blog entry with a single word that details his or her mood. A blog entry will start: “Current mood: ____” The level of shallowness and emotional immaturity this represents is astonishing! In the grand scheme of things, why would the world at large care?

People naturally want to make a mark in this world; they want to make a difference, and many believe blogs will allow them to do this. However, most blogs, especially by teenagers, serve as nothing more than public diaries. (Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with a personal diary, as long as it is kept private.) Although certain professional weblogs can make a positive difference within some elements of society, teen blogging does not.

Stop and consider. The biggest mark you will ever make is to build God’s character and be born into the God Family. Blogging will not help you achieve this.

http://www.thercg.org/youth/articles/0403-bagy.html

Yes ask yourself "Do I want to have a voice?"

No NO!! Of course you don't. You want others to speak for you, tell you what to think and lead you to the path of glory.

Wow, I can see how not having a voice and doing what someone else tells them saves kids from predators.

Blogs can easily link to each other. This social network allows people to become “friends” fairly easily with another blogger. As soon as this happens, the person is viewed as a friend by anyone who visits the blog. Whether or not the person is a friend, the appearance of evil is glaring in such situations. Young people in the world are far different then those in the Church. The things they will say and do—even on someone else’s blog—will make one blush.

This “friends” problem goes further than just appearances. Just as in person, such people will pull you toward the world and its temptations. This is just another reason blogs are unnecessary for God’s youth.

Yes that's right don't make friends kids it might be with the wrong sort of person. Ya know like someone who actually likes you for who you are, partying, worrying, questions about life and all.

Good for Irene Mathyssen

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:45:00 +0000

NDP demands Oda resign as Minister for Status of Women

OTTAWA – Today, NDP Critic for the Status of Women Irene Mathyssen demanded Bev Oda resign as the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. The changes Oda has made to the funding mandate for the department will severely limit the ability of organizations promoting equal rights for women. These restrictions are unacceptable. They prove that Oda is not committed to promoting the interests of Canadian women.

“The Minister refuses to face the fact that women have not yet achieved equality in Canada,” said Mathyssen. “Study after study and report after report have all come to this conclusion, but the Minister refuses to acknowledge the importance of the work that women’s advocacy groups do.

“Instead, she shuts down organizations or cripples them by cutting their funding. She does not represent women in this country. She must step down,” insisted Mathyssen.

Tuesday, Oda released the new federal guidelines for funding to women’s programs. These guidelines will eliminate federal funding for research programs and cut all advocacy and lobbying activities on behalf of women.

“This is an outrage!” said Mathyssen. “These absurdly restrictive guidelines will mean the end of essential research relating to women in Canada. Long-term and national initiatives will no longer be eligible for the crucial funding they rely on.”

The Minister’s dedication to the Status of Women file is shaky at best. The new mandate was released Tuesday; a week after the last mandate expired.

“This is a clear attack on women’s rights in this country. The conservatives are trying to silence Canadian women.” said Mathyssen. “We are moving backwards. Instead of promoting women’s equality in Canada, the Conservative government is abandoning its obligation to 52% of the population.”

"5 things feminism has done for me"

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 19:46:00 +0000

1. I am entitled to express my opinions without having my organs removed

In Victorian times, if a woman’s temperament could not be “controlled” by loosening her corset or being kept in a quiet place with a cold compress applied to the head and neck, it was common for her reproductive organs to be removed.

or being placed in an asylumn or solitary confinement

The idea of the Wondering Womb developed during this time, as madness was associated with menstruation, pregnancy, and the menopause. The womb itself was deemed to wander throughout the body, acting as an enormous sponge which sucked the life-energy or intellect from vulnerable women? (Ussher 74). Thus, women became synonymous with madness, as they were deemed to be emotional and unstable. If a woman of the Victorian era were subject to an outburst (due to discontentment or repression), she would be deemed mad. The word Hysteria became the general term for women with mental illness and cures included bed rest, seclusion, bland food, refrain from mental activities (such as reading), daily massage, and sensory deprivation. Though these treatments do not seem too appalling, they were comparable to solitary confinement and would often drive a woman to further insanity.

2. receive an education and teach others without being murdered for doing so

3. has provided me the opportunity to have greater control over my reproduction. The ability to have control of and say over ones self is one the founding principals of democracy, self esteem and sanity.

Sanity
is a state of constantly evaluating your own behavior, and your own intentions, and the behavior of others, and the intentions of others, towards survival for all.

4. the right to vote, to hold office and property

5. To determine when, if or whom I marry, to expect to be respected as a person to have autonomy, not to have to walk five paces behind or apologize for being a woman...
Most of all feminism has allowed me to have a life with hope.

Can a Man be a Feminist?

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:07:00 +0000

Anti - feminists would like to break feminism down to a hatred of men. How then can a man be a feminist? Perhaps, just perhaps that is not what feminism is about.
I had the good fortune this morning to stumble upon this opinion piece in the Daily Kent Stater, written by Christopher Taylor

I am a male. I am a feminist.

Yes, men can be feminists, too.

I have attempted to ask men of all different types of backgrounds if they were feminists. I received shocked reactions and puzzled looks as if I had asked a final-round Jeopardy question.

The most common theme about feminism in dictionaries describes it as a doctrine or movement to ensure "equal rights." How is this idea still so foreign to us, and why the hell is it even being debated?

I particularly liked his insight in this paragraph

Here's another fun quote from Marianne Brennan on Humanevents.com: "As a woman, I have every right to drink, to dress however I want, and to go to a man's room alone. I also have every right to walk into an urban ghetto and scream racial slurs, but if I got shot, no one would argue that I wasn't complicit in my own victimhood."

What? Not only is she stereotyping "urban ghettos" as areas reserved for blacks, but she is comparing an action full of ignorance and hatred with a woman who likes to have a drink every so often. One is deliberate; the other is not.

I have been fortunate to know many feminist men. I married a feminist man, of course how could I do otherwise? It would be impossible for me to share a life with someone who thought I was lesser or wanting somehow.
Just as I rejoice that so many boys are being raised by strong feminist women, I rejoice that so many girls are being raised by strong feminist men.
As these children grow they will learn to treat each other with respect, concern and to recognize each other as equal partners. This can only bode well for the future, for laws and attitudes that will govern society.
Here's to you, feminist men!! And may there be many more!!

Swept off your street

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 15:07:00 +0000

In Winnipeg there is a program to get people off the streets and into jobs. Sounds laudable until you read what they are actually doing.
Currently the project involves about a half dozen people working for "close to minimum wage" sweeping streets, removing posters and generally gaining no transferable work skills. How wonderful!
No doubt their 20 hours at close to minium wage will go a long way to getting and keeping a roof over their head, food, clothing... Hope they have someone helping them budget that $140 a week. Wouldn't want them to blow it all in one place.

Might be a good idea for the union to approach these workers and sign them up right away before the city finds more jobs these ~~indentured servants~~ new employees can do at a third of the cost./span>

The Minister of Citizen Control

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:25:00 +0000

On Sept 1st the Guardian ran a story about Blair's plan to insinuate the state into the lives of pregnant youth and women in order to 'weed out the problem unborn'

Tony Blair has said it is possible to identify problem children who could grow up to be a potential "menace to society" even before they are born.

Setting out plans for state intervention to prevent babies born into high-risk families becoming problem teenagers of the future, the prime minister said teenage mothers could be forced to accept state help before giving birth, as part of a
clampdown on antisocial behaviour.

Mr Blair defended the need for state intervention and said action could even be taken "pre-birth" if necessary as families with drug and alcohol problems were being identified too late.

This approach seems classist, sexist and completely out of touch with the real issues affecting people's lives as voiced later in the article

Norman Lamb, chief of staff to Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, said: "Empty threats to pregnant mothers will do little to restore confidence in a government that has failed to tackle poverty, crime and social exclusion for the last nine years."

Today the Guardian has run another story in connection with this issue.

The prime minister said the links between such social problems and anti-social behaviour and crime were well established and it was possible to predict the families where things might go wrong.

Early intervention would avoid the "colossal expense" later on, he said, pointing to the cost to the state of keeping children in care, of teenage pregnancy and of mental health beds.

So Blair and his ministers can identify who the criminals are going to be and who is going to have mental health issues? WOW and amazingly none of them will come from "good families". You know the good families.. they have money.. live in the right neighbourhoods and of course never deal with teen pregnancies, criminal behaviour or mental health issues. Wonder where Maggie went wrong? But never mind that.

This is very interesting;

Agencies and professionals needed to work in new ways to tackle these problems and should be freed of rules and bureaucracy, he said. A range of new approaches would be tested in areas where critical problems exist.

Mr Blair is expected to join Hilary Armstrong, the minister for social exclusion, next week to launch an 'action plan' thought to include a pilot scheme to deal with the most challenging families.

Freed of rules. Hmm which rules would those be?
According to the article the government is not on track to ending child poverty.

Blair should spend more time on creating policies and plans for lifting people out of poverty instead of punishing them for being poor.

Sounds like state control of the proletariat is the real agenda.

Blow out the candles on your carrot

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 14:55:00 +0000

So you've decided there is an epidemic of childhood obesity, what do you do?
End fast food advertising directed at children? Require more stringent adherence to guidelnes keeping sugars and additives down in breakfast cereals and other foods children eat? Provide healthy foods for school lunch programs? Raise the amount of money provided by food stamps and other food programs? Increase welfare payments?
Well they are all interesting ideas but not as good as banning birthday cake from schools.

A growing number of schools around the US are banning birthday cakes, saying the tradition has become too unhealthy.

Millions of students go back to school next week as their annual summer holiday comes to an end.

But one thing will be missing from classrooms across the country.

For generations American children have brought homemade cakes and cupcakes to school to celebrate birthdays with their classmates.

Like the rest of the country, children are facing what health officials call an epidemic of obesity.

The Centers for Disease Control estimate that one out of every six school-age children in the US is overweight.

The birthday cake bans are part of a wider national trend of schools discouraging sugary junk foods between classes in favour of healthier snacks, like fruits or yogurt.

But the new rules are not without controversy.

/span>

Buddy can you spare $38 to $141?

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 20:45:00 +0000

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? Montreal has decided to pretend that the homeless actually have somewhere to go and if they don't they face fines of 38 to 141 dollars.
CTV

Trying to find shelter for them and keeping them out of public parks is an increasingly complex problem. Montreal has about 500 beds in its three main shelters.

The city has instructed police to first suggest a list of shelters. But eventually they will be slapping sleepers with fines ranging from $38 to $141.

Because shelters are often listed as the only address for some of the homeless, shelters say that tickets arrive every day for nuisance crimes such as spitting on the street or crossing a street against a red light.

If you're living on the street, it's unlikely you have money to pay a fine. Montreal has a solution for that, too: unpaid fines win the sleeper a stay in a city jail.

Surely we are better as a society than this. Surely we can find someway to deal with people that allows them to keep their dignity?
Every city has it's share of abandoned buildings. These could easily be turned into rooming homes that would allow privacy, a permanent address and keep the "riff raff" off the streets. Providing this housing free of charge would still cost less than jailing everyone and increasing police workload.
Interesting that in all the decisions that are thought up, none actually seek to help the problem, save money, or provide answers. They simply seek to answer the need so many have to see the poor and mentally ill punished.

Come on Girls Give it up!

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 19:33:00 +0000

Haven't you always dreamed of being an actress? Now you don't even need to leave home!
From the Guardian

'Eighty per cent of women only sometimes - or never - experience orgasm. Facts are facts and there we are. Deal with it,' she writes in What Makes Women Happy?, to be published this month by Fourth Estate.

According to Weldon, sensible members of the sisterhood should, therefore, follow the example so graphically set by the actor Meg Ryan in the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally, and fake orgasms whenever necessary.

'If you are happy and generous-minded, you will fake it and then leap out of bed and pour him champagne, telling him, "You are so clever" or however you express enthusiasm,' she says. 'Faking is kind to male partners ... Otherwise they too may become anxious and so less able to perform. Do yourself and him a favour, sister: fake it.'

One can only hope this was written tongue in cheek./span>

Paging Dr Day STAT

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:28:00 +0000

From the San Fransico Chronicle

The Democratic-controlled Legislature is on the verge of sending Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would create a state-run universal health care system, testing him on an issue that voters rate as one of their top concerns in this election year.

On a largely party-line 43-30 vote, the Assembly approved a bill by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, that would eliminate private medical insurance plans and establish a statewide health insurance system that would provide coverage to all Californians. The state Senate has already approved the plan once and is expected this week to approve changes that the Assembly made to the bill.

Schwarzenegger has said he opposes a single-payer plan like the one Kuehl's bill would create, but the governor has not offered his own alternatives for fixing the state's health care system. As many as 7 million people are uninsured in the state, and spiraling costs have put pressure on business and consumers.

"We know the health care in place today is teetering on collapse," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. "We need to do something to improve it, to reform it, and this is what we are bringing to the table."

Predictably the insurance companies are weighing in

But eliminating health care insurance plans would eradicate the groups that have the most experience with getting people insured and to doctors, said Chris Ohman, president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans.

Ohman said other places that are trying universal health care -- such as Massachusetts and San Francisco -- are using health care plans to help facilitate the implementation. He said the insurance companies are in the best position to manage costs.

Yes they are doing such a great job of keeping costs down now.

When treating patients with real health problems, the managed care model is inherently inefficient and costly. The incentives discourage early diagnosis because gatekeepers are financially motivated to spend as little time with patients and as little money as possible. Once a significant condition is identified, specialist referrals are delayed. Yet specialist care is better, and more cost-effective, for seriously ill patients.

RICHARD AMERLING, M.D.

How forward thinking of Dr. Day and the rest of the privitization crowd to want to embrace a system shown to be inherently wrong for patients, more costly and less efficient.

Protect the bigots!!

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 14:20:00 +0000

If there is anything society should have learned by now it is the of everyone bigots need the most protection. Have your human rights if you must but don't expect them to have to like or deal with it.
From the CBC

Alberta's opposition parties made good on a promise Monday to delay debate on a Tory private member's bill that would have allowed commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

Speaker Ken Kowalski chastised opposition members for eating up the time allotted for debate with procedural matters, killing backbencher Ted Morton's controversial Bill 208.

"I know what's transpired today," Kowalski told the assembly.

"There's no hope in hell this afternoon that any private member's bill is coming up."

The bill sought to protect marriage commissioners who refused to conduct same-sex marriages because of their moral or religious beliefs, and would have made it necessary for parents to give permission before any aspect of same-sex relationships is discussed in the classroom.

Morton, MLA for Foothills-Rocky View said the bill was intended to protect freedom of speech for everybody, including those who publicly oppose same-sex marriage, from being sued or fired - something he said happens in other provinces.

Next on the agenda a private members bill that would allow shopkeepers to opt out of serving anyone who isn't white, married or a priest.

Hosting, Or how I learned to stop worrying and embrance chaos

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:44:00 +0000

Internet hosts - the new snake oil salesmen. Trying to find a reasonably priced, reliable, good tech support host is like trying to find Shangra La.
Our first experience was with a host I knew from previous experience to be fairly reliable. Didn't do so well, however, it did turn out they had a server meltdown, so benefit of the doubt and all we're moving back there.
But our current host is bloody useless. Constant database errors, useless tech support. In fact the last issue I resolved myself but they were kind enough to send me an email telling me the issue was fixed now. REALLY!!!!!!!!! Damn glad you told me. Word to the wise NEVER pay for more than a month at a time. We are losing about 200 dollars over this which none of us is in a position to do. Who is really?And so now I have to take avantage of the extremely kind tech god Steve and have him go through all the ups and downs of file and database transfers. I feel fortunate to have such kind and understanding board members who are of course also friends.

An Apple a Day

noreply@blogger.com (April Reign (aka Debra)) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 21:46:00 +0000

Keeps the doctor away.
Or as doctors are now singing Stay away if you can't pay.
Dr. Brian Day's election to the head of the Canadian Medical Association is a pretty clear message from doctors that profits come before all else.
You would think that part of the requirements for medicine would be a good grasp of math. Why then are doctors like Dr. Day so keen on privatization as a way to help with waiting times? Surely if there are not enough doctors now to care for everyone taking doctors out of the system will result in higher wait times.
Of course this isn't about wait times, nor is it about care. It is about money those who want to charge whatever the market will bear, and those who have money and a grand sense of entitlement to have their needs placed before those of others.
The Ontario Health Coalition has fought hard to keep health care public and accessible Natalie Mehra said;

“The choice of the delegates is an unfortunate one for the majority of patients in Canada,” said Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “Brian Day has spent years advocating for the dismantling of the public health system through privatization and the de-listing of health services. These are not innovative ideas. They are old ones relentlessly pushed by the small but well-heeled group who have personal business interests in promoting privatization. We are deeply disappointed.”

It is a sad reflection on the type of society we have that medical care is seen as something that can be withheld based on one's ability to pay.