A Step in the Right Direction

Indoctrinate U alive and well in high schools too!

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:09:00 +0000

A high school student was allegedly lectured and scolded in front of his peers for reading Fox News.

In my experience, I found this to be the case more so in university of blatent disapprovals (e.g. Fraser Institute not acceptable academic source, but Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is okay!)

However, when I was in high school, I found that I didn't know about the biases of different news sources/organizations. Thus, when I was provided documents from Maude Barlowe and the Council for Canadians (fairly neutral sounding organization) from my teacher in class, I was not asked to be critical of what he was presented...just on whatever/whoever else was out there that was putting forth their "agenda".

Therefore, just appearing to be presented neutral information is still a form of indoctrination by teachers, especially when a student's critical thinking skills may not be as developed in high school as they would be in university.

A young man who identified himself only as Mitchell, an 18-year-old senior at Traverse City West Senior High School, called in to Rush Limbaugh's radio show Thursday and said he was yelled at in front of his classmates for reading the "wrong" news.

The teacher of his video production class saw what he was looking at and "proceeded to give me a 10-minute lecture on why I can't read FOX News ... and that I can only listen to BBC and other news venues," the student said.

James Feil, superintendent of Traverse City Area Public Schools, told FOXNews.com that any attempts to pressure students politically would go against his schools' policies.

"It would be inappropriate. I would clearly tell you that is not something that we would do anything to indoctrinate students here," he said. "That would clearly be a violation of our policies and guidelines, written or non-written."

Modern-day Lysistrata

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:04:00 +0000

For those who don't know the ancient greek comedy play, Lysistrata, the female characters witheld sex from their husbands in an effort to end the Peloponnessian war. In Kenya, it's for 7 days:

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- The fight for political reform in Kenya has moved into an unlikely venue -- the nation's bedrooms. Activists in the East African nation are urging women to withhold sex for a week to protest the growing divide in Kenya's coalition government.

Source: CNN

I AM-a-not-so-smug-CANADIAN-anymore

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:25:00 +0000

"Hey. I'm not a subprime mortgagee.

"Or one of Bernie Madoff's victims.

"And I don't live in a foreclosed house.

"I have a Prime Minister who says that, while American consumers bought into the idea that it was okay to live beyond their means, 'thankfully, Canadians, among few nations in the Western world, did not embrace this idea so recklessly.'

"I pronounce it RRSP. Not 401(k). (And I even managed to put a little money in this season.)

"I can proudly recount the latest profit statements from all five of Canada's biggest - and still solvent - banks. I believe in medicare, not screw the sick.

"A tuque is still a hat.

"A chesterfield is still a couch And it is still pronounced 'zed' not 'zee.'

"Canada is the second-largest land mass! The proud nation of Employment Insurance! And the best part of the North American economy, or what's left of it.

"My name is Joe! And I am a recession-hardy CANADIAN!"

*

I will enter your country illegally...and if you try to stop me, I'll sue you!

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:50:00 +0000

This is yet another reason to support the building of a fence.

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home.

His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Trial continues Monday in the federal lawsuit, which seeks $32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes.
...
In March, U.S. District Judge John Roll rejected a motion by Mr. Barnett to have the charges dropped, ruling there was sufficient evidence to allow the matter to be presented to a jury. Mr. Barnett's attorney, David Hardy, had argued that illegal immigrants did not have the same rights as U.S. citizens.
...
Mr. Barnett said some of the ranch´s established immigrant trails were littered with trash 10 inches deep, including human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil - which supposedly is used to pack the drugs the immigrant smugglers give their "clients" to keep them running.

Enjoy the Snow-maggedon Canada!

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:34:00 +0000

My parents are snowbirds. I was supposed to fly out Sunday AM with a layover at Pearson. With the coming of snowmaggedon, I changed my flight ($$$$) to go directly to Florida and it was well worth it. Outside my window 5 stories up, I am now looking at this instead of snow and ice (this post was to rub it in a little further Jarrett. Are you going to rub those flower blossoms in my face in February again?)

"In our country, any CBC reporter can dream of becoming head of state"

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:29:00 +0000

A very well written summary and explanation of the past few months of what's been going on Canada.

My dear American neighbours,

I see the political crisis in Canada has finally made it into the Washington Post's Foreign Briefs column.

So, anticipating a flood of interest from all of you at the dog run in the morning, let me try to give you some idea of what's happening up there.

A few weeks ago, we had an election in Canada, a couple of weeks before yours, actually. A political party known as the Conservatives won.

Well, sort of. They didn't win in the sense that most of you understand winning. I'll get to that in a second.

They also aren't what most of you would consider conservative.

They support what you call socialized medicine, they believe in protecting a Canadian-controlled banking system, they believe in government as a vehicle for transferring wealth between regions, and they've actually muzzled party members who tried to make abortion a campaign issue.

Please do read the rest

Need an escape from the madness? Will puppies be our Shirley Temple?

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:20:00 +0000

With all the political hot air that's going around. And being as going on vacation is not an economically viable option right now, here is a quick escape from the madness ensuing in our country right now. Puppy Cam! Ok collective "awwwww" now!

From the file of weird and unfortunate events...

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Comes this,

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Police say a woman has died on the way to a cemetery when a traffic accident hurled her husband's coffin against the back of her neck.

Police say 67-year old Marciana Barcelos was in the front passenger seat of the hearse when the accident occurred Monday in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Barcelos died instantly.

Her 76-year-old husband Josi Coimbra died Sunday of a heart attack while dancing at a party.

The driver of hearse and Barcelos' son suffered minor injuries.

A different type of white guilt

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:26:00 +0000

My maternal great-grandfather died in World War II. But he was fighting for the Germans.

A comment on the Globe and Mail website on this article about Ancestry.ca's big blunder got me thinking:

Call it a Remembrance Day story that a leading genealogy website would rather not remember.

To honour the memory of the Canadian soldiers who died in the First World War, Ancestry.ca was offering, until the end of the month, a free Web search of military databases that contained the records of this country's soldiers.

A half-page ad that ran in a Toronto newspaper on Sunday, adorned with a large red poppy, was titled "My Grandfather. My Hero," with details of how to do the search.

But the colour ad featured a photograph of a German, not an Allied soldier, a blunder that angered some veterans and historians.

Comment:

K Ordos from Canada writes: Didn't German soldiers die too? Don't forget it was the German Government who started WWII, not the troops. The soldiers were doing the same job as ours were. Fight and die if necessary. I think Remembrance day should be recognized for all the troops, regardless of nationality who have died in conflict. A Soldier is a Soldier. End of story.

I have been embarrassed about my heritage sometimes. I distinctly remember a project in grade-school where the school was submitting names of family members of students and staff that died in WWI or WWII. I remember asking my parents about our family members and I submitted two names. I didn't know at the time that one of the names submitted was actually for the "other side." Perhaps I was too young to talk about it. Perhaps my family was embarrassed to have to explain it. This doesn't stop me from proudly celebrating Remembrance day each year as I also have a line of Canadian Forces family members from both maternal and paternal sides and also served in the Army Cadets myself. I've learned to live with my history and heritage.

Remembrance Day Videos You Should Watch Today

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:56:00 +0000

Lest we forget.

Also check out the Dear Sweetheart letters the Globe and Mail is posting.

My Experience as a Poll Clerk

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:56:00 +0000

I was a poll clerk for this past election. A 16-hour day for around minimum wage it wasn't worth it for the monetary reward, but I enjoyed it for the grounding experience it gave me.

I know that having a Masters degree and working for the government at the national office I can get caught up in the ivory tower/Ottawa bureaucrat. Even socializing with people who watch CPAC for fun or people who enjoy dinner parties, I have had a major wake-up call. I am not an ordinary Canadian.

Despite Jack Layton abusing the "ordinary Canadian" phrase, I did see these ordinary Canadians that politicians were referring to.

And while yes, the current economic situation is a "buying opportunity" for me, the reality is, it isn't for many people.

So would I do it again? I would probably be a deputy-returning officer (DRO) as I could handle the responsibility.

I encourage everyone to take part in the democratic process more than dropping your ballot into a box.

With a voter turnout of less than 60 per cent, I might have to agree with Andrew Coyne, that Our Electoral System is Broken:

If we must have five-party politics, let them at least be parties with real differences, and national appeal. Away with the system that guarantees the Bloc two-thirds of the seats in Quebec on the strength of little more than one-third of the vote. Away with the ghettos of Conservative Alberta, or Liberal Toronto, where it is scarcely worth campaigning, so predictable are the results. Away with "strategic voting," and other attempts to tell people they may not vote for the party they support, but must vote against the party they fear. Away with the disgraceful situation of a party winning almost a million votes, as the Greens did this time out, and getting zero seats.

So you want to be Prime Minister?

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:27:00 +0000

There was an Obama campaign ad making fun of McCain's disability and it is alleged that Mr. Dion has a hearing problem. But, seriously if you can't do the job...or at least can't articulate how you would do the job, you shouldn't get the job.

Not that Dion believes in the merit principle....

Hat tip: Stephen Taylor

BOOK REVIEW: Unlikely Utopia: the Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:37:00 +0000

Environics pollster, Michael Adams, is known for his other books, Sex in the Snow: The Surprising Revolution in Canadian Social Values, and American Backlash: The Untold Story of Social Change in the United States. While, I really enjoyed one of Adams’ last book Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, I was somewhat disappointed with this book.

In Fire and Ice Adams dedicated an entire chapter to Methodology. As a student of statistics and economics, I am very skeptical of anyone who uses statistics. I am always pleased to see a methodology section, as it is much more transparent of the researcher/pollster/author. What makes this book different from Fire and Ice is that it uses a bunch of Census and Stats Can data, instead of primarily a research poll for the premise of the book.

There was not enough citation of sources and methodology in the book. Anyone can manipulate StatsCan and Census data to make it say what they want; depending on the variables they choose (or choose to drop). For instance, Adams tries to make a point (Chapter 2) with using Census data of the percentage of the Canadian population who are foreign-born (19.3%) compared to the number of federal MPs who were foreign born (13%). To make a fair comparison, you should compare the Canadian foreign-born adult population with the number of MPs, otherwise your statistics would, of course, be lower with a large number of children in that population statistic, who could not be MPs. There are several examples of simplistic uses of statistics—which I won’t bore you with in this review—that without a critical eye, one would just accept the “facts” how they are being presented.

Adams further uses this argument with other countries and then conducts a micro argument of taking these 308 MPs and stating that we have 41 foreign-born MPs—pointing out that if it “truly” mirrored the country we would have 55 foreign-born MPs—and then names off how many we have from each continent/region (20 from Europe, 9 from Asia and so forth)—pointing out that if it “truly” mirrored the country it would be 25 from Europe, 22 from Asia and so forth. But there is no source listed with how he obtained this information (whether it was a Wikipedia search or a more legitimate source). Further it is a fallacious argument that our political representatives should or must represent us through gender and ethnicity, when you vote for someone to represent your ideas, not your ethnic heritage/gender/race or other category. To say that we need X number of MPs born in X region assumes that all foreign-born MPs from X region will act, think or represent in the same way. This is silly! The concept of ‘representation’ has lost its original meaning and has been manipulated to think that we need perfect “representation” in order for it to be “equal” or “fair.” This of course has led to quotas or “targets”, affirmative action and other manipulations of the system to achieve this idea of “equality.”

Adams opens by stating that multiculturalism is easily blamed for social problems: “Creeping racial segregation? Blame multiculturalism. Gangs in schools? Diminished civic engagement? Global terror? Must have something to do with multiculturalism…” Adams points out how problematic this is. While I agree, it’s too bad the same criticism isn’t done when things like global warming being blamed for everything.

Adams dedicates a chapter to Muslims and another chapter to Quebec, this book clearly identifies many of the contentious issues regarding multiculturalism in Canada, however there is a clear (unadmited) bias and assumptions. For instance, “the current identity crisis isn’t about whether white, European, Christian Canada can survive the presence of ‘Others.’ That question has long since been resolved.” Actually, Mr. Adams, with the simple example of the erosion of Christmas cards, Christmas trees, and Christmas school plays to becoming “holiday” cards/trees/plays, I believe Canada’s identity crisis actually has something to do with the survival of Euro-Christian culture!

I did like Adam’s distinction between the Paris youth riots and 9/11. He argues that a terrorist attack does not tell us how newcomers or minority group are doing. He states that had male youth from North Africa had the same job opportunities as white French youth and felt a part of French society, the Paris riots likely would have never happened. However, if every Muslim in the US had the above described opportunities, 9/11 very likely still would have happened. His point is, “discussions about terrorism are important, but they’re not at the bottom discussions about migration, diversity, and multiculturalism.”

Adams admits, “this book isn’t the work of a historian or a futurist; it is the work of a pollster who, decidedly not an academic, at times aspires to be considered a social scientist.” Unfortunately, in an effort to make a book appeal to the general Canadian population, the “scientist” part is gone and all that is left is a “social book”—something to talk to people about at your next dinner party, but ultimately, not worth a whole lot.

Running at 152 pages (180 with the index, appendix, notes and acknowledgement), it was a quick—and disappointing—read. I would still recommend this book, but borrow it from the library.

Overall Rating: 6/10

BOOK REVIEW: Stuff White People Like

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:32:00 +0000

Written by the same author who wrote the blog, Stuff White People Like is a book format of the blog but has at least half new material. This book is laugh out loud funny and summarizes many of the people at my alma mater, Trent University. Basically it describes liberal urban yuppies (and most of my friends). Why do I say this?

Going to an undergrad school filled with Birkenstock-wearing-Marxist-loving-hippies and a grad school in a program for policy makers/analysts grows one accustomed to having friends and colleagues with interests in many of things listed in the “stuff white people like” such as: farmer’s markets, organic food, Barack Obama, Non-profit organizations, having black friends, awareness, microbreweries, not having a TV, veganism/vegetarianism, Apple products, Indie Music, Sushi, Documentaries, knowing what’s best for poor people, modern furniture, hating corporations, having gay friends, music piracy, Noam Chomsky, natural childbirth, Che Guevera, Premium Juice, and dive bars.

A passage from # 82 Hating Corporations:

One of the more popular white-person activities of the past fifteen years has been attempting to education others on the evils of multinational corporations. White people love nothing more than explaining to you how Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Microsoft, or Haliburton is destroying the Earth’s culture and resources....WARNING: When engaging in a conversation about corporate evils it important to never, ever mention Apple computers, Target, or Ikea in the same breath as the companies mentioned earlier. White people prefer to hate corporations that don’t make stuff they like.”

In fact, I actually pictured a few of my friends or people I have known over the years when reading certain parts of the books. Did I see myself in this book? Not really.

According to Lander’s rating scale I am 11% white because I like: coffee, yoga, gifted children, wine, architecture, brunch, living by the water (I am writing this review on the deck at the cottage staring out at the beautiful lake), bicycles, expensive sandwiches, recycling, water bottles, multilingual children, grad school, bad memories of high school, outdoor performance clothes, dinner parties, New Balance shoes, red hair (duh!), scarves, high school English teachers, acoustic covers, not having cash, books, glasses and cheese. (16/150)

Overall rating 8/10

BOOK REVIEW: The Last Lecture

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:11:00 +0000

If you have seen Randy Pausch’s lecture on YouTube, or saw him when he was on Oprah it still doesn’t compare to this book. The book tells what was going on in his head before, during and after his lecture. Further to this, he provides an inspirational story about life lessons and learning what’s truly important in life. Moving and inspiring at the same time, I laughed and cried. This books beats Tuesdays with Morrie hands down and is now my new favourite book.

Randy passed just this past month. I was incredibly disappointed that I honestly didn’t get around to watching the lecture on YouTube or reading his book until after his passing. After reading a good book I like to contact the author to tell them how much I enjoyed it. Sadly, I did not live in the moment and waited until it was too late for this opportunity. This does not negate the wonderfulness of this book.

Coming in at 207 pages, I read it in a day and truly could not put it down. I would recommend this book to everyone young and old.

BOOK REVIEW: Fifteen Days

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:09:00 +0000

This book is filled with terrific stories of Canadian soldiers told by Globe and Mail writer, Christie Blatchford. I love her humble writing style in her telling of the stories of soldiers she met or heard about in her three embedded assignments in Afghanistan in 2006. Running at 385 pages with a full index and glossary, this book was difficult to put down. It definitely tells the stories of soldiers not heard in the mainstream media.

Growing up in a military family and spending several years as an Army cadet, I was quite familiar with most of the military lingo/lexicon. However, reading this book late at night sometimes you can get lost in all the military jargon and acronyms. To really understand and absorb all of the detail that Blatchford provides, in my opinion this book requires a second read—which I don’t mind at all—and I plan to do once everyone who wanted to borrow it from me has read it.

I received this book from my roommate last Christmas. I started reading it over a week of holidays I had back in April, but had to stop when I started working overtime at work and an intensive summer course in health economics. I picked it up again once my summer vacation started last week and read it non-stop until I finished it. Because each chapter is one “day” I didn’t feel too lost after putting it down for a little while.

A moving account of Canada’s greatest heroes, I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to know what’s going on beyond the headlines and who these soldiers are.

Overall rating: 9/10

Bizarre Human Customs: Safe Injection Sites

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:07:00 +0000

Author note: I couldn't resist talk about this issue....On vacation starting...now.

In the year 5000 CE archaeologists and anthropologists are investigating the civilization known as Canada circa around 2000CE. One discovery has puzzled anthropologists for months. The discovery was evidence of what this society referred to as "In-site." Newspaper articles were discovered in a well-preserved time capsule.

“In-site” was also known as a “safe-injection site” was a place in the city of Vancouver where people, addicted to illegal drugs were able to shoot up, supervised by medical professionals. This discovery has completely baffled our leading anthropologists.

According to the newspaper articles found, a government leader responsible for health, known as Tony Clement, was an outspoken advocate against this, questioning the ethics and morals of medical professionals supporting this pilot project. However, leaders of medical professionals, such as the Canadian Medical Association, are in support of this alternative, with individual doctors criticizing Mr. Clement’s comments as “repugnant.”

Through our other discoveries, we have learned of physician practices and rituals. After going through medical school a new physician must take a “Hippocratic oath” to promise to “first do no harm.” “In-site” is also known has a “harm reduction strategy,” however our leading scientists cannot understand how this approach reduces harm. Further to the point, it is a confusing message that we don’t understand. The articles state that these drugs are illegal. We have also learned that these drugs are highly addictive, destroy family units, and ultimately destroy the user in many cases. So we are confused with what message this sends to the rest of Canadians, especially impressionable children, as well as the rest of the world.

Another article talk about how the Head of State of Canada, Michaelle Jean, hosted the Queen Silvia of another country known as Sweden. In the article, it spoke of how these two women discussed how to deal with social problems. When the topic of illegal drug use came up, the woman had two different approaches. Michaelle Jean told the Queen about “In-site” as “an enlightened approach.” The Queen told the Governor General that Sweden, while often known as a “socialist” country, does not tolerate illegal drug use and offers drug users a choice: prison or treatment. It appear that the Queen was not impressed with Canada’s approach.

In all of our years of discovering civilizations, the discovery of a group of people in favour of a safe-injection site of additive and illegal drugs is troubling.

On Vacation...See you in September

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:23:00 +0000

A reason to say "go leafs go"?

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:08:00 +0000

Growing up in Ottawa, I was always a Sens fan. Moving in London, ON when I was 10, I was exposed to an interesting species known as "Leafs fans." However, I am not too "fan" enough to not support the Leafs, if they are the only Canadian team left in the playoffs (unlike many Leaf fans out there). Come September, I might have a reason to support the Leafs with rumors of Mike Van Ryn--with whom I went to high school, and same elementary class as his younger sister--being traded to the Leafs.

I also went to high school with Jessica Zelinka who performed well at the Olympics (6th place)!

Farewell Frank and Gordon

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:01:00 +0000

First there was the untimely demise of Joe (I AM) Canadian, then we said "bye, bye Mr. Canadian Tire guy..." Now, we must say farewell to another prominent Canadian icon...the Bell Beavers.

Sure, I loved them when the first came out...but that one beaver's voice (haven't a clue which one) drives me crazy! And so, Frank and Gordon, from the land of Bell have officially retired.

I am sure that in 10-20 years the images of these characters will return and I will reminisce to the tune of "I remember those beavers..."

My prediction of the next corporate "mascot" to retire.......the Montana's Moose and Buck.

Presumed consent for my organs but not telemarketer calls?

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:56:00 +0000

So let me get this straight.

While I have signed my organ donor card, I find it quite troubling that some politicians are pushing for presumed consent for organ donation, while I have to opt-out of getting unwanted phone calls.

Kind of backwards don't you think?

Christie Blantchford Experience of Saying "Illegal words" in the Ottawa airport.

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:56:00 +0000

Unbelievable.

Anyway, while waiting for my flight home at the Ottawa airport, I was on my cell talking to my pal Rosie DiManno, the gritty Toronto Star columnist just returned from another trip to Afghanistan, where she travelled the country all on her own but for a young interpreter.

We were meant to figure out the guest list for an upcoming party, but she said, "That's a great trial you've got going there," and off we went, soon discussing our shared frustration with those who persist in believing that youthful goofiness or general haplessness are incompatible with terrorist aims and missions. They never have been with ordinary criminals - that's why most of them get caught most of the time - so why would it be any different with terrorist criminals?

To illustrate this, Rosie mentioned a book she was reading which notes that two of those wanted in the Oct. 12, 2000, attack by an al-Qaeda cell on the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden are also wanted in an earlier unsuccessful attempt to blow up the USS The Sullivans in the same harbour, an attack averted only because the thugs - oh, those goofy kids! - overloaded their small boat such that it sank.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice indictment, Jamal Ahmed Mohammed Ali al-Badawi and Fahd al-Quso were among those who allegedly salvaged their explosives, regrouped, built a better boat - and eureka, less than nine months later, pulled alongside the USS Cole and blew a 40-foot hole in its hull, killing 17 sailors.

In the same vein, I told Rosie about some evidence at the Khawaja trial, particularly the testimony of a key witness, himself a convicted al-Qaeda operative, about the loose connections between the Khawaja group and others who had succeeded - one was a London Tube bomber, and two unnamed others were described as completed a mission in Israel, presumably a suicide bombing.

It was at that point that the Air Canada clerk at Gate 27 approached me.

"Excuse me," he said, "you can't say those words. Those words are illegal."

"What words?" I asked, bewildered, given that by then I'd said probably 2,000 words.

"Suicide bombing," he whispered.

Now, I know of course one is not to make jokes or threats about bombs at airports, and properly so. But I hadn't been doing that, rather recounting some of the public evidence heard that day at a public trial in the nation's capital.

"That's not illegal," I snapped, barely restraining myself from adding "You ninny." Besides, I told him, I was a reporter telling another reporter about my work day, which was true enough.

"Do you want me to call security?" he asked primly. "I'm supposed to call security in these situations."

"You do what you like," I said, talked to Rose a bit longer, then sat down and resumed reading my book.

About 10 minutes later, a fellow passenger warned me that she thought the clerk had called security. I couldn't believe it, and kept reading, and sure enough, within a few minutes, a young woman with a walkie-talkie in her hands (I guess so if I suddenly turned into a human missile she could call for help) asked to speak to me. She'd had a report about "an incident," she said. So I told her through gritted teeth what had happened, she magnanimously agreed it was "not illegal" to say what I'd said, apologized and went on her way.

When we boarded a little later, I asked for the ninny's name. He refused and hissed, "If you make a scene, I'll call the pilot and you won't be flying tonight."

I was so very tempted to tell him to go ahead, but I knew he probably would do it and I wanted badly to get home, so held my tongue. I was quietly praising myself for my steely calm when another passenger remarked, "I didn't know you were an anarchist, Christie."

Another “You’ve got to be kidding” Moment Brought to you by the Canadian Justice System/Our Legislative Government!

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:28:00 +0000

The Senate has passed a bill that could subject parents to criminal prosecution for spanking their child.

A Quebec judge rules that father had no right to ground her by not allowing his 12-year-old daughter to go on a field trip.

A famous Liberal prime minister once said that the state has no business in the bedroom of nations.

While Trudeau was referring to consenting adults, I believe that the state has no business telling you how to parent your child. Critics will argue that spanking or grounding could potentially have psychological trauma blah blah blah.

So does divorce, are we going to ban divorce?

What next? Criminal prosecution or fines for feeding children donuts or making your child stand in a corner for time out?

Other bloggers who have commented on this issue:

Rootleweb: Parental Concern Outlawed! Coming to a country near you and Parenting Outlawed! Also coming to a country near you

Daimnation! Sue your Parents?

Christian Conservative: Liberals attacking Mom and Dad, yet again

CBC: "One-third of people shot by taser need medical attention"

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:44:00 +0000

...As opposed to how many (in my opinion more than one-third) people who need medical attention after they have been pepper-sprayed or hit with a baton?

How about we consider the proportion of people who get shot by police who need medical treatment? Probably all! And the proportion of people who have been pepper sprayed or hit by a baton that need medical treatment? Probably a lot more than “one-third!” (Which is paid for by taxpayers, by the way.)

What about the proportion of people that actually cooperate with police who need medical treatment? Probably none!

Are tasers being over used? Perhaps. But in comparison to what? Guns, Pepper-spray, batons? Where are these statistics?

Are there policy issues that need to be addressed in terms of creating protocol on the appropriate use of a taser? Absolutely.

But the reality is that police have to subdue suspects or unruly behaviour. And do they use their baton or taser every time? No.

Every time a police officer unholsters their gun they have additional paperwork to do. Do really want police officers sitting writing more paper work about using their taser when municipalities are crying they need more officers on the street?

Where is the public outcry about the increasing number of people who disrespect police?

While “statistics” may report that in general crime is going down, they also report that violent crime is going up.

I am really getting tired of the slanted media attention to many policy issues today. The media have the power to control how we perceive a situation and influence how we form our opinions about the issue. What ever happened to objective journalism standards?

Unfortunately, we aren’t born with critical thinking skills. And in school the “critical thinking skills” are being taught are that if you question or challenge authority (government, police) you’re being a critical thinker.

By the way CBC, 28% is a lot closer to one-quarter (25%) than one-third (33.3%).

More Random Acts of Kindness

noreply@blogger.com (Spitfire) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:58:00 +0000

About a year ago, I was the recipient of a random act of kindness. About six months ago, I posted some great stories of random acts of kindness from the Toronto Star.

These stories truly touch your heart. Here are the June stories. Bookmark the page to read them every month. Here are some of the archives

May
April
March
February
January