aka.alias

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:37:00 +0000

What a great gift for Mother's Day for men brave enough to strap on some sexy high heels! Take part in your local event as part of the International Men's March to end sexualized violence. Take Mom to watch you march and then give her a framed pic of you in those strappy violence stoppers. She'll be totally proud of you.
For all the info you'll need about details like how to get heels in a manly size 13, click here. You'll find yourself at the website for Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, where you'll be invited first to walk the walk, and then to talk the talk. "It's not easy walking in these shoes, but it's fun and it gets the community to talk about something that's really difficult to talk about: gender relations and sexual violence."
There's no better way to say it.

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Just saw the first few moments of a recent video of Gordon Lightfoot singing "Alberta Bound". I couldn't watch any more of it, Had to stop. It's wonderful the man is still making his music; wonderful there are still those for whom today's Lightfoot is enough, but I prefer the Lightfoot that lives in my memory, the Lightfoot that was magic.
Set the clock back to the 70's and turn up the stage lights in Toronto's Massey Hall, the "grand old lady of Shuter Street". Many claim near-perfect acoustics for this venue, but few who went there to see a Lightfoot concert gave much thought to that. When Gordie strode onto that stage, most were just too busy applauding the man and waiting for the first notes from him and Red Shea to fill the hall and set an upbeat mood that could so effortlessly carry the thousands in attendance through a couple of hours of pure joy. Generally, I think Lightfoot was always playing to a house packed with the already-converted; to those who loved his sound. To say he was prolific in his song writing is to bring new meaning to understatement. Each time that the faithful filled Massey Hall, the first bars of song after song would be met with happy exclamations and appreciative applause from those of us who recognized yet another favourite. God, the music was good.
One song in particular stood out for me. Every time they launched into the first bars of "Alberta Bound", it felt like opening gifts at Christmas. While the hall erupted in applause, I would close my eyes and feel the magic begin. I swear that man and his guitar could make you feel the prairie wind blowing through your hair as the Rocky Mountain foothills appeared in front of you, beckoning. To this day, I can not listen to the song without seeing the ravens circling over the streets of Jasper, and the sunshine yellow of the arnica waving in a gentle breeze.
No, I don't want to hear Lightfoot's voice now. It has lost too much to the passing years. I want to remember him when its timbre was still rich and full, and the mighty Rocky Mountains could be summoned to Toronto by its powerful rendition of "Alberta Bound".

No Second Chance, Please

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:38:00 +0000

On Monday, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario will begin reinstatement hearings for a former family physician and a former pediatrician, both of whom were barred from practice because of having sexually abused patients. Both of them seem to think for some reason they should once again be allowed to hold such a position of trust.
Stephen Dawson, the physician formerly based in Toronto and Barrie, wants his medical license reinstated, but he has proven himself to be a person totally unworthy of the public's trust. Before he lost his license, he had already been brought up before a disciplinary hearing for setting himself up as judge and jury and refusing to provide both birth-control and viagra to unmarried persons, for religious reasons.Having already conducted himself in such a high-handed manner, he went on to demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was not fit to hold such a position when he had oral sex with a woman whom he was treating with psychotherapy. Dawson is familiar with the concept of judgment being passed. He really should have no problem understanding that he was judged to be unworthy of holding the right to practise medicine.
Jeffrey Seidman, the former pediatrician, was a member of a sexual assault team at a Scarborough hospital when his license was taken from him after he sexually abused a fifteen-year-old patient. Does such a vile action not make him a child predator? Doesn't his name belong on the listing at the National Sex Offenders Registry? Surely, he should never again be allowed to hold a position of trust after using it to victimize such a vulnerable individual.
How can the public ever really trust such unreliable, criminal types? How could anyone feel really safe knowing their doctor purposely abused other patients who had put their safety and welfare in their hands?
When one takes the Hippocratic Oath, do they simply voice the promise to do no harm as though it was nothing but meaningless syllables? Do they, perhaps, indulge in behaviour so juvenile as to cross their fingers behind their back while they repeat the oath, so that they can later claim they were under no obligation to fulfill the promise?
Anyone who has voiced that promise and then gone on to knowingly and willingly break it should never, ever again be allowed to practise medicine. No-one held a gun to their head and forced them to perform the acts that cost them the licenses in the first place. No-one can ever be really sure they will not make such unjustifiable choices again. They chose to indulge in behaviour that they knew was wrong, wrong, wrong. They should live with the consequences. Dawson and Seidman should drive a taxi or sling garbage into the back of a truck all day if they need a job. One can be sure both men feel such a job to be beneath their dignity, but many a person of much better character than either of them do such jobs daily and they do them with pride. Dawson and Seidman should spend the rest of their lives working to contribute to society, but they should never again be provided the opportunity to rob society from positions of trust.
The College should be cautious of reinstating these two. To do so will send society the message that its members operate with the impunity to do whatever they want to their patients. Do they want to send the message that the College expects victimized patients to lie meekly back and accept abuse?

Wal-Mart and Hate Groups

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Newly released results from a study conducted by researchers from Penn State, New Mexico State, and Michigan State have pinpointed a correlation between the number of big box stores in a county and the number of local hate groups. This correlation appeared more significant than other area characteristics usually associated with hate groups, such as the unemployment rate, high crime rates and low education. The study, published online in the "Social Science Quarterly" on April 4, 2012, used counts of hate groups provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center for each of the over 3,000 U.S. counties in 2007. The researchers paired these stats with the number and location of Wal-Mart stores from 1998. It was felt that this lapse of time between the two data sets provided sufficient time for the store's presence to affect its host community.
Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural economics and regional economics at Penn State, and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development said that the researchers chose Wal-Mart specifically for their study because of the readily available data on the stores, but it did not mean that they are the only big box retailers directly involved in this phenomenon. The researchers did seek perhaps to soften the perceived blow to Wal-Mart's image by stating, “We doubt strongly that Wal-Mart intends to create such effects or that it specifically seeks to locate in places where hate groups form,” I don't think the statement will be enough for the good folks at Wal-Mart. I'm pretty sure this study will result in their getting their corporate shorts in a knot. I'm also pretty sure that, while these stats are specifically relevant to the U.S., Canada should be paying attention to them as well. We are so often so similar to our neighbours to the south.
The study's authors have an interesting hypothesis to explain the correlation between Wal-Mart's presence and hate groups. They posit the likelihood that local merchants may find it difficult to compete against large retailers like Wal-Mart and therefore be forced out of business. These local business owners, however, are so often members of community and civic groups, such as the Kiwanis, an organization that describes itself as "a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.". Losing members of such groups, which help to promote civic engagement may cause a drop in community cohesion, according to Goetz. Big box retailers are generally nothing more than a large, anonymous source of lower-priced merchandise.
The researchers suggest that retailers such as Wal-Mart should use this study to find ways to play a role in supporting local groups that can foster stronger social and economic ties in a community. Perhaps they should give some thought to taking their corporate image through a one-eighty, from the chain that rolls back prices to the chain that seeks first and foremost to contribute to changing the world, one host community at a time.

Safe Motherhood?

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:16:00 +0000

I was reading an article by Alison Motluk in the spring issue of the U of T magazine, wherein she compares Kenya and Canada on the basis of women who die "as a direct result of carrying a child". She cites the number of 1 out of every 133 women in rural Kenya, and 1 out of every 12,500 in Canada. The difference, of course, is staggering, but the meaning of "direct result of carrying a child" is not made clear. Does Motluk mean during childbirth itself, or is she referring to the entire duration of the pregnancy, childbirth and post-childbirth included?
Although the meaning in the article was not clear, the numbers were enough to send me off on a quest of my own. What I found was interesting; hopeful and disappointing all at the same time.
Looking at the deaths during childbirth, I found that my own country, Canada, has posted numbers that have remained more or less static for thirty years. Seven women died per 100,000 live births in 1980, and the number in 2008 was the same. We do pretty well, compared to the rest of the world, where women in Italy seem to have it the best, with only four women dying before, during or after childbirth in 100,000 cases in 2008. Pity the women of Afghanistan, however, where the worst rate sees 1,575 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births. As of 2010, Kenya's maternal mortality rate is 578 per 100,000 live births. (Finding these figures added to my confusion about the numbers quoted in Motluk's article. She needs to be more clear.)
The numbers I have quoted are from a 2010 study reported in the British medical journal,The Lancet. In an editorial on the study, editor Richard Horton wrote that "the apparent failure to reduce maternal mortality during 20 years of the Safe Motherhood movement has been one of the most deforming scars on the body of global health." He went on to say political leaders are failing to make women's health issues a priority.
Of course they are. Women are the oppressed of the oppressed. Look at how they are treated as little more than property owned by some male in far too many countries. The late UNICEF Executive Director, James P. Grant, used the term ‘the apartheid of gender’ to describe the conditions under which so many women today toil, and an apt term it is. Illustrating examples are so distressingly abundant. In 12 Latin American countries, for instance, the courts and society will completely exonerate a rapist if his victim marries him, something which most of the victims' families pressure them to do, in order to restore the perceived family honour. In such an atmosphere, how can women expect their health while they carry a baby to be of significant import to their country's political leaders?
In another example of this apartheid of gender, women work in the fields in the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the constant threat of being abducted and raped repeatedly. Girls as young as 5 are treated in this horrific manner. Sticks and guns are sometimes forced into their vaginas and when the rapists tire of this particular brutality, the guns are sometimes fired. Such behaviour has not been stamped out by the government. Sing me no songs of how difficult it might be for the government to find the perpetrators of this evil. If the women of the country were truly valued and equal citizens thereof, it would be brought to an immediate halt and much example would be made of any captured culprits. No, the truth of the matter in the Congo is that the name they give to their country is a bold-faced lie. Nothing more. There is no democracy there. There is no democracy in any country where such examples of violence directed at women and disregard for their welfare hold true.
In any country where women are property, how can anyone expect their health while they carry a baby to be of significance to the political leaders? Their health is unimportant because they themselves are unimportant. Until the world sees every woman as being every bit as important as every man, the failure to reduce maternal mortality will continue to be the "embarrassment to global health leaders" that Morton terms it. The Safe Motherhood movement will continue to be simply empty words for too many women.

No God But ...

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:51:00 +0000

A religious ad has been placed in one of Toronto's subway stations, and apparently it has more than just me feeling a little out of sorts about it. After complaints were received about it, a group was convened to deliberate, but they have decided to allow it to remain. Why should its display be in dispute? Well, the ad in question states "There is no god but Allah".
My problem with the ad is with the reception I think it safe to assume such wording would be given by many of Islam's adherents, were such a statement based on other belief systems to be posted.
Can you imagine the scene in some mosque in Afghanistan/Iran/Pakistan, etc., were the message to reach the muftis gathered there, that the subway system in Toronto boasted ads firmly declaring "There is no god but Jahweh/Jesus/Ganesh, etc," ? After an appropriate amount of time spent on the rending of garments and beards, one of the worthies would rise up in wrath and declare a fatwa on the people of Toronto, affirming that anyone exacting righteous revenge against such an ungodly people would be sure to earn the eternal attentions of multiple houris. Can you picture the rush on explosive devices were such a declaration to be made?
While I am fully aware of the fact that the unreasonable reaction I describe here is not a fair description of many in the Muslim world, I am also fully aware of the fact that for so many others, it does hold true. I am also aware, as are you, that the community as a whole demands from countries like Canada "rights" they are totally unwilling to give in Muslim countries like Iran and Afghanistan, to mention a few. Again, can you picture the buses in Iran proudly giving fair and equal space to ads declaring there is no other god but (fill in the blank)? Of course, you can't. Neither can I.
Although I know there are those who say we are obliged to give this ad space because we are a society that values freedom of speech, I say, don't give it any space, Take down all religious ads if you need to, in order to keep an equal balance and appease those who talk of free speech, but I say, give this ad no space at all, until those other ads appear in the public transit of Iran.

Marbled Eggs, Not Just For Easter

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:21:00 +0000

Everyone's familiar with eggs dyed all one colour, but marbled eggs are unusual conversation pieces! They're easy to make, too, which is one of their best features. To make these beauties, you'll need hard-boiled eggs. They're so much easier to handle that way, especially if little ones are helping, and they make a beautiful addition to Easter morning breakfast. Of course, you could make them for other special days, too!

*hard-boiled eggs, as many as you want
*liquid food colouring, in different colours
*white vinegar
*vegetable oil
*large coffee mugs
*spoons
*paper towels, or plates

For each dye colour you have, mix 1 tbsp food colour in a coffee mug with enough boiling water to fill the mug about 2/3 full. Stir in 1 tsp vinegar, and allow it to cool. When it is cooled off, add 1 tsp oil.
To marble the eggs, first cradle an egg on a tablespoon. With another spoon, really stir up the dye you're going to use and IMMEDIATELY dip the egg on the spoon in and right back out of the dye. Do this only ONCE. Place the egg on a paper towel, or plate for it to dry.
Store your "marbles" in the fridge until Easter morning, or whatever day you've made them for.

For a really different effect, once an egg has dried, try dipping it into a second colour, using the same stir-and-dip-and-dry method as above. You'll get compliments on these eggs, and everyone will be wanting to know how you did it. You decide whether or not you want to share the secret!

Have More Than One Slice

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:59:00 +0000

The whole house smells so wonderful right now, and it's because of the bread I made that is now happily sunning itself in my oven. The 2 tbsp of flax meal in it add 4 grams of fiber all by themselves, and of course, you're getting more from the whole wheat flour in it, too. They both bring you iron content, so it's just plain good for you! Allow me to share the recipe!

Easy Irish Soda Bread

2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 heaping tbsp ground flax meal
1/4 c sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c buttermilk, or milk soured with vinegar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients, stirring with a fork. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the mixture is even in consistency.
Combine buttermilk (or 2 tbsp vinegar and milk added to measure 1 1/2 c ) with the egg, then add all at once to the flour mix. Stir with a fork to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently, adding a little more flour if the dough is too soft. Knead until the dough is elastic, then shape into one large ball, or two smaller ones. Cut an X-shape in the top with a sharp knife.
Bake about 50 to 55 minutes for one ball, or 40 to 45 minutes for two balls. Loaf is done if it is crispy-firm on the outside when you check it.

This bread makes up quickly and smells just as good as a yeast bread baking, but it doesn't take as much time to make as a yeast bread does. It will keep nicely for several days in your fridge, if it doesn't all get eaten on the first day!

Iran Woos the First Nations

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:38:00 +0000

Iranian officials have approached a group of Manitoba First Nations Leaders, proposing they make a trek to Tehran where they will address the Iranian Parliament. Former Roseau River First Nation chief Terry Nelson, along with two Dakota chiefs and an adviser, met with Kambiz Sheikh-Hassani, the charge d’affaires at Iran’s Ottawa embassy, for about an hour Monday afternoon. Afterward, Nelson said, "They were pretty clear on the message. They are working very hard to get us the invitation to Iran and they are taking us very seriously,They are going to work with us to make sure that the stories of what happened to our people will get out.”
If Nelson really believes that the Iranian regime, with its terrible record for trampling all over the rights of its citizens, is motivated by any type of altruistic desire to help, then I have got some amazing real estate to sell him.
After the meeting, Canupawakpa Dakota Nation Chief Frank Brown declared, “They understand what Aboriginals are going through. They also said they are demonized and I can understand that too. Everyone says Iran is a warring country. We all face the same things from a stronger country that wants to demonize smaller people.”
Let's talk a wee bit about "demonizing" shall we?
Human rights campaigners say that Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world, and when one recalls that one form of execution by torture favoured there - death by stoning - is used for such "crimes" as adultery, well ... Iran is being demonized, is it? Could it be the regime itself that is responsible for this demonizing?
It is very important, as well, to remember that Iranian law allows a huge loophole through which Iran's general disregard for human rights can easily slip. "Judge's knowledge" is the loophole that allows for subjective judicial rulings where no conclusive evidence is present. Any country that retains a judicial code into which they have built such total disregard for justice is surely not a country that gives a good goddamn about what happens to the aboriginal people of Canada.
I am completely in support of the First Nations of Canada in their quest for better treatment here in their own country. I have expressed my support of them before, for instance, to do with the genocide attempted in the residential schools. I have decried the reprehensible inaction of Canada's government on issues faced by the First Nations of Canada, but I do not believe that the Iranian government is out to help the native peoples of Canada better their lot in any way. They are out to use them solely for the purpose of deflecting attention away from their reprehensible actions in perpetrating injustices against their own people. Truly, they know all about perpetrating injustice.
I sincerely hope the proposed trip to Tehran never takes place. I hope those like Terry Nelson and Frank Brown come to realize that Tehran is indeed a monster in disguise, seeking to lull the First Nations into an alliance that will do nothing, absolutely nothing to further the very real cause of Canada's native peoples. If anything, it may do very real harm to their worthy cause for the First Nations to ally themselves in any way with the ogre that is Iran.

Nosing Into Allah's Decision-Making

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Parliamentarian Anwar al-Balkimy, representing the Al-Nour party of Egypt, has just had a nose job. Yep, the man went under the knife. He had plastic done. Here in the western world, that might seem rather unnoteworthy, but there in the Muslim world, it is stirring up a great to-do.
It seems our man Anwar went to a Cairo hospital on February 28 for his nose job, and then the very next day checked into a second hospital, claiming he had been the victim of a beating during an attempted carjacking. Why would he do such a thing? Well, the ever-so-conservative party he represents follow a strict interpretation of Islam that forbids its followers to have plastic done. Whether one likes one's nose or not, the feeling is that to purposefully have it surgically altered is to question God's handiwork. God forbid (sorry! mea culpa) anyone should suggest that the Almighty does not know the best shape for one's nose.
Knowing his party's attitude and being of a rather deceitful bent, al-Balkimy tried to cover up his tracks with the carjacking story. Unfortunately for him, it seems his story smelled suspicious to the party leader and other officials. They followed their noses to the hospital to check on the story with the doctors who treated the prevaricating politician. Based on what the medics had to say, the decision was made to expel the liar from the party, which then had the onerous task of issuing an apology for the conduct of its former member.
The state prosecutor is now awaiting the dissolution of al-Balkimy's parliamentary immunity so that he can be questioned. IF found guilty of filing a false police report, our man Anwar could face a jail term.
That brings us to the bothersome question - why is there any waiting involved here? Why isn't Anwar already under a death sentence? Why does there need to be any interrogating? There are pictures widely available of a heavily bandaged al-Balkimy with only his eyes, mouth and chin visible through the bandages. There is the testimony of the doctors at the hospital which was sufficient to cause him to resign and the party to offer a public apology for his behaviour.
Why isn't al-Balkimy even now being rushed out to be buried up to his armpits in preparation for being stoned to death? This is the fate of so many women who are "convicted" of insulting the finer sensibilities of their deity by such horrendous conduct as talking to a man other than their husband. Both these women and al-Balkimy have behaved in a way deemed abhorrent to Allah. For far too many of these women, the supposed evidence presented against them is so flimsy, it could be blown away by only the slightest breeze wafting through the miasma of misogyny so prevalent in their world. Yet this vain politico has admitted to his own questioning of Allah's authority, without any of the tortures so often visited on the women, and he is only awaiting questioning. He is only facing the possibility of a prison term. The leader of the Al-Nour party has made no mention of a death sentence.
This story speaks sad volumes about the unbelievably skewed version of justice that stands in so much of the Muslim world. If you are male and you dare to buck society, your fate will likely be vastly different than that which would be visited on any woman who even inadvertently aroused the self-righteous wrath of the patriarchal society that rides roughshod over her life. Until this incredible imbalance is rectified, stories like that of Anwar al-Balkimy are nothing more than a laugh.

Here's To You!

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:51:00 +0000

I've heard a lot lately about two drinks for which great claims are made. Claims for the one label it as a cure for everything that ails humankind. Claims for the other label it as a way to be nice to oneself, a way to indulge oneself that would be hard to beat. Neither of them are quite what they might seem at first glance.
First, noni juice. Heard of it? It has been widely promoted as an absolute panacea, supposedly able to affect the cure of everything from cancer to heart disease and diabetes. Too bad there haven't been any serious lab studies done yet to substantiate those claims. Although preliminary research into the juice finds it has antioxidant properties and suggests it warrants further study,the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the States declares that noni has not yet been well studied in people for any health condition. According to one study of the product sold as Tahitian Noni Juice, conducted by the European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General, the juice offers no specific benefits to any greater degree than other berry juices on the market. Currently, the only condition which science knows without a doubt that noni really could improve is that of the wallets carried by those who market it to the gullible and the desperate as a miracle cure.
Next, Tim Horton's French Vanilla Cappuccino Supreme. Although the chain makes no health claims for the product, they do suggest their patrons "indulge in one today" suggesting that it would be gratifying to pamper oneself with the concoction. What they fail to detail, right up front, is the cost tag to their customers' health attached to this extravagant excess. Many who heed the exhortations to indulge will order the extra large, and it is that size to which the following figures apply.
One extra large French Vanilla Cappuccino Supreme will dump into the imbiber's digestive system 20 grams of saturated fat, the amount recommended as the maximum anyone should take in for one whole day. If people knew that, one wonders, would they them make this deadly drink their only intake of the day? While that is, of course, highly unlikely, the problem is that the sat fat alone is not the only shortcut to health problems found in this Supreme offering. It will load 630 calories onto the hips of those indulging (the same as scarfing down three Honey Dip donuts in one sitting), and accompany those calories with the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar. Try to imagine yourself sitting down with a cup of coffee and loading into it 20 teaspoons of sugar before you began to drink! It would simply never happen! One of the most surprising ingredients in this ersatz cappuccino, (not counting those like the carboxymethyl cellulose gum and the silicon dioxide - mmm! sounds downright yummy!) is the instant coffee used to make it. That just seems like adding insult to injury to make this let's-pretend cappuccino with instant coffee, rather than the freshly brewed espresso with which it should be made.
There doesn't seem to be anything genuine, or genuinely good about this product. Too bad Tim's doesn't offer a "Noni Supreme". At least those who ordered a glass of that juice would get a little vitamin C, and that's definitely better than an overload of calories and sat fat!

A Twisted Concept of Honour

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:30:00 +0000

When Judge Robert Maranger spoke to the killers at their sentencing in the Sharia trial, he said to them, "...the four completely innocent victims offended your twisted concept of honour, a notion of honour that is founded upon the domination and control of women, a sick notion of honour that has absolutely no place in any civilized society." He showed no hesitation in referring to the murders as honour killings, and yet now a heated debate has begun over whether or not the crimes should be referred to as honour killings, or domestic violence.
I love Canada. I was born here and grew up here, and I know it's one hell of a good place to live, but I am not blind to its shortcomings. I know domestic violence lives here, right alongside our generally accepted ideal of equal rights for women and men. I know there is still a long battle to be fought before the White Ribbon Campaign can become a thing of the past, here in my Canada. I also know, however, that Mohammed, Tooba Yahya, and Hamed Shafia come from a cultural background that freely accepts, even idealizes the ignorance of misogyny; a culture that dictates male ownership of females. Just this week, in Afghanistan, a man strangled his wife, already a mother of two daughters, when she gave birth to a third daughter. He had wanted a son. Horrific as her death was, it was made all the more horrible by two details. One was that the misogynist who ended her life was so stupid he didn't even know the baby's gender was his doing in failing to contribute a Y chromosome. The other was that his mother helped him in his grisly undertaking. There are far too many women in such cultures who not only accept the misogyny under which they live, but also willingly abet it.
Canada needs to denounce the Shafia murder case as one of honour killing, because it is the only way for our society to get the public education out there about our society's official intolerance of such an attitude toward women. It is the only way for us to get the word out to women newly arrived from such cultural backgrounds, that they have the right to determine their own course through life, here, in Canada. It may be a right they have never even dreamt of before, and it may be hard for them to comprehend, but they need to know men here do not own women. They need to know that honour killings simply will not be tolerated here. They need to know there is help if they are afraid they may become the next victim. Society, in general, needs to know these facts.
The people in official capacities to whom the Shafia sisters reached out for help before their murder, and every other person like them, need to know that if such a request for help is ever made again, it needs to be dealt with directly, and immediately, not swept under the rug in Canada's usual fear of seeming to question multiculturalism.
The despicable crime of honour killing has come to Canada, brought here by those who have left behind a country where it is accepted. In December, 2007, Aqsa Parvez,a 16 year-old Mississauga girl whose family came here from Pakistan, was strangled to death by her own father and brother. Her crimes, as perceived by the two murderous males, were her reluctance to continue wearing the hijab, and a desire to wear western style clothing. Apparently, as the police conducted their investigation into Aqsa's death, a man who had worked with Waqas, the girl's brother, came forward to tell them that Waqas had asked him how to get a gun because his sister was “causing the family embarrassment” and he intended to kill her. The co-worker told police the brother had asked “what happens to someone in Canada if they kill someone.” Asking such a question should have resulted in an immediate encounter with the police, but it didn't. Perhaps it might have if the co-worker and all other Canadians had their awareness of honour killings raised by a public education campaign.
The Parvez murder, like the Shafia murders, was premeditated. It was also something that others had been told to expect. A friend of the slain girl remembers walking down the street with Aqsa when they saw her brother approaching. Having taken off her hijab, Aqsa was in a panic to replace it. Aqsa said to her friend, ‘He’ll kill me, he’ll kill me.’ The friend quotes herself as replying ‘He’s not going to kill you,’ to which Aqsa responded with the assertion, ‘Yeah, he will.’ The very sad part of the friend's memories is her final statement, "And nobody believed it.” Perhaps someone might have believed it and secured help for Aqsa before it was too late, if Canadians had an accurate awareness of the twisted concept of honour killings; an awareness brought about by our giving the crime its proper name and getting a public education campaign about it underway.
Feeling free, here in Canada, to address one's prayers to Lord Hanuman, Allah or Jesus is a good expression of multiculturalism. Feeling free to celebrate the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar or the Lunar; using split peas to make dal or boiling them with a ham bone to make soup is a good expression of multiculturalism. Feeling free to take murderous action based on a completely twisted concept of honour is anything but a good expression of multiculturalism, and it needs to be made clear to any and all that this is the case.
There is more than one kind of violence aimed at women, unfortunately, ranging all the way from female foeticide to honour killings. We need to stop the nonsense of playing with an umbrella term and label each type of violence separately for what it is. Judge Maranger was completely right to use the term 'honour' in his address to the three murderers who stood before him. There is, indeed, no "more honourless crime".

Pious Perverts

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:38:00 +0000

The state-funded religious-nationalist school of Orot Girls opened in new premises in September in the city of Bet Shemesh. As per school regulations, all the girls wear skirts to their knee or even below, and their sleeves reach the elbow, at least. All of the modestly attired students are between the ages of 6 and 12.
Since the school's opening in September, groups of fanatic Haredim men have been gathering regularly at the gates to harass the students, yelling "whore" and "slut" at the girls and their mothers as they enter the school grounds. These fanatic fundamentalists claim the girls are immodestly attired and want to impose on them their extremist view that even little ones as young as six should cover up all of their skin. Being the mentally challenged types that these Haredim are, they resort to such tactics as launching stink bombs of excrement and rotting fish through classroom windows to try to force the school out of the neighbourhood.
Of course, it must be noted that not all Haredim are funcionally brain-dead, as are the protesters outside the school. Jonathan Rosenblum, a Haredi columnist for the Jerusalem Post, has vocalized his opposition to the "vandalism, taunts and threats" being employed in Bet Shemesh, and some Haredim women in the city, wanting to distance themselves from the extremists, have approached the students "sister to sister" to give them flowers and tell them that they are beautiful.
Unfortunately, none of that changes the fact these morons are out there harassing these innocent children on a daily basis, subjecting them to fear they have done absolutely nothing to deserve. Community activist Rabbi Dov Lipman asked one protester why they were so focused on the way the girls were dressing. The answer he received was "even an eight-year-old draws my eyes".
I have said it before, and I will say it again. The fact that a person has several fleshy protuberances dangling between their legs means nothing more than the owner of those protuberances is a male of the species. In no way does it signify any kind of superiority, no matter what the owner of the aforementioned danglers might want to think.
A child of eight has no wish to draw the eyes of any adult male in a lustful manner. She hasn't even got any real understanding of lust at that age. It is only the lustful adult male casting his eyes on a little one who is engaging in improper behaviour. Any male who indulges in such thoughts is a pervert, plain and simple. Such a possessor of those fleshy protuberances is naught more than a pedophile. It is the children who need protection from such a one, not the other way around, no matter what the pious pervert might try to say otherwise.

Just Sayin'

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:16:00 +0000

Yue Yue, the two-year-old girl that was viewed by the world on you-tube as she was run over twice and ignored by 18 passers-by in a Chinese market place has died of the massive injuries she sustained. Reaction has ranged from shock and outrage to the simple statement of "That's China for you." One explanation for the seemingly total indifference to the little one's ordeal is that those who left her there were too afraid to help, too worried about having a lawsuit brought against them for supposedly causing injury in their attempt to help.

Bullshit.

Let's start with the person making the video, shall we? This person was not taping the agony of an injured child. This person was greedily pursuing their moment in the spotlight as the maker of a vid that could go viral. They did not even care enough about the little girl to move her out of harm's way after filming the initial hit-and-run. Like the videographer, the others who passed her by did so because they are all members of a society that values the male above the female.
Look at the great imbalance in female-to-male ratio at birth in China. "For every 100 girls registered at birth, there are now 118 little boys - in other words, nearly one seventh of Chinese girl babies are going missing." With China's one child policy firmaly in place and the technology available to i.d. the gender of a child in utero, one female after another has been aborted in order to facilitate the next attempt to conceive the much sought after male. It is estimated that the number of such abortions reaches one million a year. Females who do make it to birth are abandoned at an alarming rate. It is not known how many of these poor unfortunates there are yearly, but it is known that many of them are found tossed onto garbage heaps. They are usually found there by garbage pickers.
It has been said that Chinese tradition despises girl children. (click to see further detail) That is the reason little Yue Yue was ignored by so many as she lay in agony, in peril of her very life. She was nothing more than a despised female.
Just sayin', that's all.

How Wonderful It Would Be

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:48:00 +0000

British Prime Minister David Cameron went on record this week to say, "Forced marriage is little more than slavery. To force someone into marriage is completely wrong." Truer words could not be spoken.
Cameron announced he was making it a criminal offence to breach an order issued by the courts to prevent a forced marriage and is asking Home Secretary Theresa May to consult on making the practice an offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Earlier this year, the cross-party Commons Home Affairs Committee had called for forced marriage to be criminalised, but the Home Office rejected the recommendation in case it discouraged victims from coming forward. Cameron addressed that issue, saying, "... as a first step, I am announcing today that we will criminalise the breach of Forced Marriage Prevention Orders. It's ridiculous that an Order made to stop a forced marriage isn't enforced with the full rigour of the criminal law. And I am also asking the Home Secretary to consult on making forcing someone to marry an offence in its own right, working closely with those who provide support to women forced into marriage to make sure that such a step would not prevent or hinder them from reporting what has happened to them."
It should be noted here that I am not discussing the practice of arranged marriages. When someone's parents select a prospective spouse, so long as the intended bride or groom is given the final say on whether or not they accept the choice, arranged marriage does not rob an individual of their rights. It is not a problem. What is a problem is a marriage that is forced on someone whether they want it or not. Relatives who try to claim they were acting in the "best interests" of their child need a crash course in the concept of personal freedom and rights.
Forced marriages occur here in Canada, (details here) as well as in the UK and many other parts of the world, but perhaps most especially in the western world, the occurrence generally takes place under society's radar. Those perpetrating this form of violence -for violence it is -are usually quite aware that what they are doing is wrong. They know that if authorities became aware of the despicable deed, they would be stopped. This abhorrent act is not a part of any particular culture. It is, quite simply, an abuse of control and power that needs to be stopped.
Kudos to David Cameron, and to everyone that supports his measures. Canada needs to follow his lead, as does every other country, worldwide. How wonderful that would be.

Idiot Alert Files Updated

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:53:00 +0000

Ontario's provincial election is today, so out I went to my polling station to exercise my right to vote. I had just finished marking my ballot and fitting it into the designated slot, when I saw Little Miss Brain-Dead making a fuss at the door. She was standing at the table where voters are asked to show their registration cards in order to be directed to correct booth. In her arms was a puppy. He was just a puppy, much too young to be a service dog, and neither was he wearing any I.D. as a service dog-in-training. In other words, there was no reason for the puppy's owner was creating.
Just as I approached, the idiot threw her voter registration card down on the table and declared she "would be in touch with the party". The woman at the table apologized and said she could tie the dog at the door for a moment while she voted, but that she could not bring the dog with her to a voting booth. Says the dog owner, "He's just a puppy and I'm not leaving him anywhere."
Since I had a little time to spare and I thought it might help defuse the situation, I offered to stay with the puppy at the open doorway while the woman voted. Her response was a curt, "No. I don't need your help."
She then declared that she would be contacting her party to tell them why she hadn't been able to vote for them. Obviously, it filled more of a need for her to take umbrage and stage a dramatic stalking out of the place, with the puppy firmly in her arms, than it did to exercise her civic right to have a say in the government.
Women weren't even allowed to vote in Ontario until 1917, not even one whole century ago, but she probably wouldn't know or care about that. Aboriginal women (and all First Nations people, for that matter) were not allowed access to the voting booths of the nation until 1960. She probably wouldn't know or care about that either. She just threw away her right to vote in order to have all eyes on her for her moment in the spotlight, whether it was a valid one or not.
Idiot.

Give Your Head a Shake, Sarah

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Sarah Grunfeld is the one to whom the above title refers, and at the moment she is acting very much like a spoiled little brat. While sitting in the “Social Sciences 1140: Self, Culture and Society” class at York University on Monday of this week, she started a furor for which she owes a sincere apology. It's an apology she refuses to give.
During the lecture Professor Cameron Johnston, was seeking to make a point. He wanted to point out to his students that the much-mouthed platitude "everyone is entitled to their opinions" is incorrect; that is is, in fact, a dangerous belief to foster. Seeking to better explain his point, he gave an example of what he felt to be a totally unacceptable and dangerous opinion, and quoted “All Jews should be sterilized” as a deplorable belief to which no-one should feel entitled. Grunfeld practised a little selective hearing at that point, and jumped off the deep end into the whirling eddy of poorly thought-out mud-slinging.
Rather than checking to see if she had heard correctly, or asking for any clarification, she walked out and immediately contacted an Israel advocacy group to inform them that her professor was an anti-Semite. Press releases were fired off to Jewish groups and the media, and demands were made for Johnston, a professor with 30 years tenure at York, to be fired. The whole mess instantly went viral.
Johnston himself is Jewish, and was terribly upset by the whole misadventure, but he at least had the good grace to say he saw a silver lining in the allegations of anti-Semitism Grunfeld has hurled at him. Says Johnston, "It's a very good thing that people are sensitive to this kind of remark, and I think it's a very good thing that someone would respond immediately and deal with it if they thought that they heard an anti-Semitic comment."
It would seem a duty more than incumbent on Little Miss Entitlement to admit her mistake now and offer an apology for her inaccurate allegations, but she refuses. Says Grunfeld, "I understand that there may have been a miscommunication, but any miscommunication was on the part of the professor, not me." (emphasis my own) The little brat offers as the reason for her intransigence the fact that the words 'All Jews should be sterilized' came out of Johnston's mouth. Reality be damned, according to Miss I-Know-Everything, that's just not something he should ever say.
Newsflash, Little Sarah-la. The world today is full of people who feel more than entitled to opinions that would mean death and destruction to many a targeted group, if no-one challenged their "right" to that opinion. Throughout history, the world has seen more than its share of such types, but apparently, if Miss Grunfeld were to have her way, history books for instance would have to be rewritten. They would now have to make such statements as "Hitler loved all the Jews" and "bin Laden loved all Americans". If they actually stated reality, any teacher or professor who tried to quote from them would find themselves on Little Miss' hit list.
What a joke.

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:17:00 +0000

Talk about an exercise in frustration.
I went to my local Shoppers Drug Mart this morning looking for a particular brand-name ophthalmic gel, which I have purchased before at a Shoppers', although not at this specific location. I found the eye drops made by that company, but the gel was not there on the shelf beside them. I went, therefore, to the prescription counter to enquire if they might have any in stock.
The woman who came to help immediately began turning my quest into the aforementioned exercise in frustration. First, she told me the store did not carry that brand-name. I told her there was some of it on the shelves just behind me. Then she told me she would have to look it up on the computer to see if they carried that brand. I said again that they quite obviously did and that all I wanted to know was whether or not they had any of the gel, perhaps behind the counter. By then, she had completed her search and she told me that they did not carry Lipitor. The name I had said was Liposic. Obviously, from her appearance and her accented English, she is from somewhere in Asia, and I was beginning to suspect that the English of our conversation was posing difficulties for her. I tried once more to explain to her what I was hoping to find.
At that point, she said to me that she could ask someone else. The person in question turned out now to be just behind me dong something at the shelf VERY CLOSE TO THE BRAND-NAME PRODUCT. The woman from behind the prescription counter came out and asked the second woman if the store carried the particular brand name that I had finally gotten across to her. From the second one came a firm "No." Starting to sound like a scene from a sitcom, isn't it?
I smiled at the second woman as I lifted one of the brand-name bottles of eye drops off the shelf to show her while I told that yes, they actually did carry that brand. I explained then that I was looking for the gel, not the drops. She said they could look in the computer for me to see if that brand made a gel. I told her I knew they did because I had previously purchased some. She said again they could look in the computer to see if that brand made a gel, and if Shoppers' carried it. Rather than turn and run screaming, which was what I really felt like doing by then, I thanked them both for their time and quietly walked away.
I have no interest in playing a role in any one's poorly written sitcom, and this was, indeed, a very poorly written one. It was, in fact, a veritable comedy of errors. I think it's one that needs a new script written, ASAP. The new script should include employees with a better aural grasp of English, and a better knowledge of the stock carried by their employer. Given the fact they were so inefficient at offering any help with medications, their shoddy performance would give reason to doubt any guidance they might offer on products that could impact the health and safety of Shoppers' customers.
Those two give Shoppers' a bad name, a name that means frustration, much more than it means satisfaction. Something should be done about it.

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Recently, an 80-year-old woman of my acquaintance passed away. Several years ago now, my father did too, at about the same age as this woman. Both of them left behind family members who handled the passing in somewhat similar fashion, with a seeming need to try and ensure that person would be guaranteed a place in the memory of the living. What these relatives failed to understand is that this is not something that can be done by anyone other than each one of us, on our own, while we still draw breath.
One of my sisters, the executor of my father's will, purchased a granite gravestone and had it engraved in the usual fashion, with dates and a pithy little saying. I had no problem at all with the purchase, but the reason given for it seemed to me to miss the mark entirely. "Without the stone," said she, "it's as though he never lived."
Likewise, upon the more recent death, a surviving son said he felt the need to write something about his mother and post it in an online weekly. No problem except that the reason given was that he "didn't want (his mother's) life to be in vain". There again, a total miss of the mark.
For both of the deceased, in this case, they had lived a span of many years, in situations of peace and relative ease. Neither had ever faced starvation or lost family to any horrendous circumstance. Both had had more than enough opportunity during the span of their years to create their own memorials, to ensure for themselves that they would live on in the hearts of others. (Victims of calamity beyond their control, have had years of opportunity stolen from them,and for these people, like the victims of 9/11, every memorial constructed is more than fitting.)
When Charles Dickens wrote his story "A Christmas Carol" he gave the ghost of Jacob Marley words to say that express exactly that point which I seek to make, "It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men..." Through Marley, Dickens exhorts his readers to "make mankind (their) business" When someone does this while they are alive, they create their own memorial, one with much greater meaning than a slab of stone that sits perched above their remains, or words posted somewhere online. Granite may last untold years, and readers in their thousands may peruse the online piece, but neither one means anything more than a curiosity, if the deceased never made mankind their business. If they never set out to make the world a better place for someone less fortunate than themselves, what is there about them that anyone should remember? If they never did their best to put others ahead of themselves, what is there about them that is worth remembering?
That slab of granite will last far longer than will anyone who knew my father. When the last one of them dies, the granite will then be truly nothing more than a random slab of stone. Perhaps some day in the distant future, a class of school children might walk among the stones where it stands, and use paper and pencil to make rubbings, but they will have no idea of the man whose marker they stand beside. Neither will the words online bring any reality to the name they appear with.
The only hope for these two, or any other of our species once they are deceased, is to be held in the hearts of those for whom they made a difference; those for whom the world was, indeed, a better place because of their determination to make mankind their business. If there are such people left behind, they will hold the memory of the deceased close and help it to live on in the stories they pass along to their family and friends. If the deceased never built bridges from themselves to any others, then the last breath they drew will be truly their total and absolute end.

Democracy?

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:47:00 +0000

I recently visited the Toronto area Shri Swaminarayan Mandir complex. At 32,000 square feet, it is the largest Hindu temple, or mandir in Canada, and impressive it is, indeed. The carvings that grace the ceilings alone are more than enough to give a visitor quite the crick in their neck from looking upward so long in an effort not to miss any of them. The ceiling carvings are not all there is to see in this amazing structure, and it would take a very long time to truly familiarize oneself with all the visual wonders of the mandir.
The main floor display that details the contributions of the Hindu community to the world at large, however, is where the wonder of the place comes crashing down on the head of reality, with a resounding thud. The many wall displays rhapsodize claims that those who practise Hinduism have, through the ages, discovered or invented damn near everything worth note in our world. Each to their own opinion, perhaps, except that when one arrives at the display that claims India to be the greatest democracy in the world, that opinion is unacceptable. That is where the claims all become hollow sounding gongs clanging out a cacophony with the claim about democracy the most strident noise therein.
Before going any further, perhaps a definition of democracy would be helpful. Most would agree it is a form of government by the people, in which power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them and/or by representatives elected by them under a free electoral system. It is, further, a state of society that is characterized by an equality of political and social rights and privileges. Having established this as the definition of democracy, one needs only to look at a few figures for India to see how far short of the definition the country falls.
When the "great democracy" claim is made, those who make it usually follow it up with mantra of "one person, one vote" as though that should suffice to clear away any doubts there might be about the claim.
According to UNICEF, for instance, "A report from Bombay in 1984 on abortions after prenatal sex determination stated that 7,999 out of 8,000 of the aborted fetuses were females." Those who intone, "one person, one vote" forget to account for the females murdered throughout India each year, before they have a chance to be born; a chance to grow old enough to cast a vote. Obviously, the alarming state of affairs in Bombay (Mumbai) would hold true throughout the country where females are so devalued.
The 7,999 females referred to above are only one example of the chilling numbers one can discover upon looking into the gender inequality in India. Follow the link to find more, or simply type "female infanticide in India" into a search engine. Nor is infanticide the only type of gender-based violence practised in the country. Read about the women who have had acid poured on their faces as part of a bid to secure more dowry money, or as revenge for their spurning sexual advances or marriage proposals. Look at pictures of victims of these acid attacks and remember that legal persecution of the attackers is rare, with most lawyers portraying those women who do dare to take their tormentor to court as wantons who drove their attacker to throw the acid. It must be remembered that such attacks can never really be spontaneous crimes of passion, since the attacker has first to go out and purposefully purchase the acid, and then carry it in a careful manner so as to avoid harming himself with it. How even one of these attackers could be allowed to go free by a judicial system unless it accepts a less than democratic view of females as valueless is a question that needs to be asked of those who claim India to be such a great democracy.
I understand, of course, that India is not the only location in the world where life is an unending struggle for so many women, simply because they are female. I also realize that gender-based violence is not practised solely by those who call themselves Hindu. I do, however, find it impossible to listen to the claim that India is the world's greatest democracy, without thinking of all the females for whom this claim is nothing but empty words blowing in the wind. At the mandir, I found that claim negated the beauty of pretty much all the awe-inspiring carving to be seen on the ceilings.

Nothing Less than Disgusting

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:51:00 +0000

I know two things about the entry I'm about to write. One is that many will say I'm overreacting and belittle my concerns. The other is that many will feel just the same as I do.
Yesterday, in the Spanish town of Bunol, near Valencia, over 40,000 people took part in "La Tomatina" a gargantuan food fight held each year in August. During this inexcusable descent into debauchery, more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown around in the streets. More than one thousand metric tons of food is wasted, wantonly destroyed, with no thought to what it could mean to those currently suffering in the Horn of Africa.
According to the UN, more than six out of every 10,000 people there are dying of hunger every day. In some parts of Somalia, more than half the children are suffering from acute malnutrition. "Somalia is facing its worst food security crisis in the last 20 years, This desperate situation requires urgent action to save lives." So says Mark Bowden, the UN official in charge of humanitarian aid in Somalia.
In that same region, Ethiopia and Kenya are also facing a famine because of the worst drought in 60 years in some places. While the disgusting scenes of La Tomatina played themselves out in Bunol, there were 11 million people starving in Africa. They all require humanitarian assistance. They all would have been more than delighted to eat those tomatoes. They would have treasured that food so willfully wasted in Spain.
La Tomatina should never happen again.

Bacon-izing America's Waistlines

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:43:00 +0000

The home of the brave and the free is getting more and more obese every day. Latest figures show that Colorado is the last state left where obesity rates have not yet topped 20% of the state's population. Before Colorado gets too puffed up with pride, however, it should be noted that their rate is 19.8%.
Ever ready to help out with the problem, the fast food chains continue to pump out the products that will pad the waistlines of their customers. One of the most unbelievable offerings is the recently announced bacon sundae available at Denny's. “Bacon is magical,” chirps the enthusiastic writer for Denny’s website. “Bacon transforms classic foods into colossally awesome ones.”
I know the sundae is now old news, but the rising obesity rates stateside is today's news, and the two really go together. For the fast food chains, the bottom line is strictly their profit. They don't give a damn about any of their customers, other than as someone who might come into the store with money to spend, and Denny's bacon magic is a perfect example of that attitude.
Anyone who chooses one of those artery slammers needs help. It would be wonderful if Denny's and the other chains that offer obesity-to-go could come up with something else that was magical, as well - something like a new technology that would show the diner a video of their arteries, and an interior close-up of any abdominal fat they are likely lugging around, while they munch away on their purchase. The vid should include numbers, too, like the 810 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 460 milligrams of sodium packed into one of those bacon sundaes.
A magical finishing touch for the vid could be to have it include the fact that you have to burn 3500 more calories than you take in to lose just one pound, and then have it go on to show some numbers from the Mayo Clinic website. There they would see that if they want to ingest that sundae without having it load the lard onto their waistline, they are going to need an hour of jogging at a steady 5 miles/hour pace to use up the 810 calories and maintain their bodily status quo. Make that seat magically impossible to get out of until all the above has been viewed, and then presto! away would go another happy and satisfied consumer of garbage masquerading as food.

The Best to You Natasha!

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:02:00 +0000

Have you ever treated your taste buds to a halibut burger? The best one I have ever had danced its way across my tongue on June 17, just last week, and it has likelly spoiled me for any other!
I found this delight on Vancouver Island, at the Port Renfrew West Coast Trail Motel, facing the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The weather was cool and a little overcast, but as I took my seat in the restaurant/pub, a few rays of sunshine peeked in through the window and lent a bright touch to my table. They were soon put to shame, however, by the lovely smile on the young waitress who came immediately to take my order. She mentioned the specials being offered that day and recommended the burger. I took her advice and ordered one. When she asked me what I would like to drink with my meal, and I asked for a house white wine, she began to list the choices. The first one was a sauvignon, but she tripped herself up in the pronunciation of the word. When I tried to help her it out with it, I fared no better than she had and we both shared a good laugh over our misadventures with the French. I was impressed by that because she had the confidence to laugh at herself, instead of trying to cover up the slip.
Then the food was served, and the culinary delight began. I had asked for a salad to go with my burger and found myself with a most generous serving of greens, garnished with artfully cut and arranged slices of carrot and cucumber. The waitress returned, as all good staff do, to enquire if all was to my liking, and I told her it was the best meal I had eaten in my whole week-long stay on the island. I told her, too, that she was also the most friendly waitress I had encountered. I asked her then for her permission to include her smiling face in this entry and she said yes, much to my great pleasure.
On chatting with the young lady, Natasha by name, I found out that she takes seasonal employment there, but would like very much to be able to attend a college for training to work in the hospitality industry. She says she hopes someday to travel the world. I say, "All the very best to you, Natasha." Our world needs all the warm smiles that Natasha and her ilk can share.
If you are out on Vancouver Island and you've got some time to spare, head up the west coast to 17310 Parkinson Road, Port Renfrew. Rest assured that if Natasha's there, you'll have an excellent waitress helping you. Try one of the corn-breaded halibut burgers, but make sure you arrive hungry. You wouldn't want to leave any of that meal!

A Census Comedy of Errors

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:18:00 +0000

Like the good, dutiful Canadian citizen that I am, I filled out my census form and returned it the day after I received it. That was a while ago, but silly me, I didn't make an exact note on precisely when that was. I didn't think I would need to.
It was before any of the work disruptions due to the labour problems with Canada Post.
Yesterday, I returned from a seven day sojourn in British Columbia to find a sturdy, card-stock notice wedged into my door, informing me that my census form had not yet been received and that it was my "legal requirement ... to fulfill this legal obligation." Whoever left the notice took a moment to underline in ink the words "legal requirement", that being the written equivalent of a stern vocal admonition, or perhaps even a vague threat.
This morning, I dialed the number given on the card and patiently made my way through all the various choices and "please wait" options until I was finally connected to someone live. At that point, I told her I had indeed filled in and returned my form, but that it could now be languishing at the bottom of some postie's bag. She told me that there is a "lengthy process involved in getting each one into the system" and so, not to worry, says she. I said to her, "What you're telling me then is that the government is busily hacking down trees to make these unnecessary forms to stick on people's doors." She had no direct response to that, but did say that if the ever-mysterious "they" had not received my form in a couple of days (definite time line there, eh?) that someone would come by again, and if I happened to be out they would leave a reminder on my door, since it is a legal requirement that everyone fill out the forms. It was just like I had never told her I had already fulfilled the aforementioned legal obligation.
I had barely sat myself down with a cup of coffee, after that most dissatisfactory phone conversation, when there came a knock at the door. Upon answering said knock, I found myself looking at a fresh-cheeked young woman, perhaps a student, eagerly conducting the protocol of bothering people on a Sunday morning to remind them of their legal obligations to the government. After she told me that "they" had not yet received my census form, she offered to fill it out with me on the spot. I recited for her the whole litany detailed here, the whole comedy of errors that is the Harper government conducting a census. I included the part about the government killing trees needlessly, assuring her of course, that I realized it was none of her personal doing, but that I still found it distressful to know it was being done. She told me that if my form had not been received in a couple of weeks, "they" would send another reminder. Will that reminder be a person at my door, or another piece of dead tree left on my door?
Although I searched the Statistics Canada Notice of Visist - Census 2011 form, nowhere on it could I find mention of it having any recycled paper content. It would be of great interest to me to know exactly how many of those forms are being left on doors across the country; exactly how many trees are required to make those forms, and exactly how many of them are uselessly carrying coal to Newcastle, as was the one on my door.
At no point in my telephone call or my at-the-door encounter did I raise my voice. At no point did I resort to any four-letter words. I was, however, firm in telling both of my conversation partners that the government really needs to rethink and rework their badly flawed conducting of this census. It needs to be an efficient operation, rather than the sad little comedy of errors that it currently is.

Tell Me Why Not

noreply@blogger.com (aka.alias) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:46:00 +0000

The people of Ontario will be voting for their next provincial government on October 6th of this year. One election promise being made by the hopeful PC party is that if they are brought into power, they will create a publicly accessible website to list the names and addresses of the province's registered sex offenders. It would likely be the first such website in Canada, and would currently inform the public of the names and locations of over 14,100 individuals.
Of course, there is controversy over the proposal. Some are saying that it would serve the purpose of better protecting children from predators. One of these is Paul Gillespie, the former police officer who co-founded Kids' Internet Safety Alliance. Others, however, are saying that the website would only lead to vigilante-style action being undertaken by parents. They say the police already keep track of registered offenders and can alert the public of looming dangers in the form of pedophiles who move into a neighbourhood.
I agree with Gillespie on this one. I think those who bemoan the rights of the registered sex offenders as being trampled on by having their names listed on the proposed website are forgetting the rights of those victimized by the perps. There are too many bleeding-heart liberals in Canada willing to twist themselves into pretzels in order to protect the rights of those who victimize others. Unfortunately, they expect the rest of us to do the same. They forget that these predators have willingly declared themselves to be more desirous of perverted pleasures than they are of giving any thought to the matter of rights. They often come to the consideration of rights only when they don't like the living conditions in the pen or when they find themselves about to be exposed to the general public as the undesirables they are.
I know such a declaration as the one I have just made will lift many an eyebrow and elicit many an expression of dismay over the perceived lack of willingness to forgive it entails. So be it. People who expect that forgiveness to materialize do so in spite of the fact that the rights of the victimized children have been trampled into the dust. Many of these children will have had their childhood completely stolen away; their innocence completely destroyed. They will have been left to spend a lifetime trying to piece themselves back together after the offenders have shattered their wholeness of spirit. Why should those responsible for shattered lives be given so much consideration when they decide they want to move on?
Part of the debate about such measures as the website is the seeming lack of definitive answers available in current research into recidivism rates among sex offenders. Available research, however, does suggest that "incarcerated child molesters committed on average two to five times as many sexual assaults as resulted in conviction." While the jury is still out on this one, maybe we should listen to people like Gillespie, and err on the side of caution, with the children first and foremeost in our consideration.
When pedophiles make the choice to forever damage a child, they make a declaration. They choose to mark themselves, forever, as people who have taken pleasure from victimizing the vulnerable. Why should we worry about everyone knowing the choice they have made?