Nearly 200 First Nations could lose funding for failing to report finances

Bring - it - on!!!

An Aboriginal Woman...

...tells it like it is:

Aboriginal women fear their own kind the most

"In the fall of 1988, I was in first-year law school at the University of British Columbia. Our criminal law teacher recommended we all go downtown and watch a trial where alcohol was being considered the murder weapon for the first time. There were over 200 of us in first year criminal law. Only my mom and I attended the trial.

Although Gilbert Paul Jordan, a.k.a. "the Boozing Barber," was linked to the deaths of at least 10 women, he was convicted of manslaughter in relation to the death of only one. Evidence at his trial showed all the women he had targeted, hundreds of women, were aboriginal. Fact is, aboriginal women who were alcoholic or down on their luck ended up dead.

That was 1988. I was 28, and had just finished undergrad work, escaped a violent marriage in my early 20s and had survived a teenage rape. In 2011, some 23 years later, I ran for national chief of the Assembly of First Nations as one of eight candidates, one of four indigenous women.

I'm writing this to share my views on sexism in our community and any linkage I see to violence against women in our community and our conspicuous absence as leaders within our communities. Some 90 per cent or so of the chiefs eligible to vote for national chief are men.

In my opinion, there is a link. Aboriginal men kill aboriginal women and girls, rape aboriginal women and girls, beat aboriginal women and girls, and no one is really talking about the moose in our living room."

As if we didn't know. But thanks for confirming it. Godspeed.

You Go Girl!

Hirsi Ali slams feminism's 'trivial BS'

"Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a harsh critic of Islam’s treatment of women, said Wednesday that modern American feminism is focused on “trivial bullshit” and needs to be reclaimed."

We got what we fought for in the sixties and seventies, now quit your bitching.

My Sentiments, Exactly

We Humans...

...are destroying the earth, I tell you:

Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species: Health

"Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason.

Waning infestations of the bloodsuckers have been linked by doctors to pubic depilation, especially a technique popularized in the 1990s by a Manhattan salon run by seven Brazilian sisters. More than 80 percent of college students in the U.S. remove all or some of their pubic hair -- part of a trend that’s increasing in western countries. In Australia, Sydney’s main sexual health clinic hasn’t seen a woman with pubic lice since 2008 and male cases have fallen 80 percent from about 100 a decade ago."

And we're gonna have to come up with a different excuse if we're caught scratchin'. It's enough to drive you crazy.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Sacred cows are being slaughtered as we speak:

Reporters barred from site of Spence's hunger strike

"Reporters were asked Monday whether they were "friend or foe" by supporters of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, and were turned away when they said they were journalists hoping to ask questions about the leaked audit of finances at her northern Ontario reserve."

I think the tide has turned and we're finally getting the truth from the timid MSM.

Yawn

The old boys club has their backs up again:

Saskatchewan MP says Indian Act 'major barrier' to First Nations success

"Clarke has a private member's bill before Parliament to amend the Indian Act and provide for its replacement.

He outlined his proposal to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations this week and came under immediate criticism.

The federation says chiefs haven't been consulted and have — quote — "grave concerns" about Clarke's bill."

Stock in trade 'group-speak' reaction. "We haven't been consulted" while the consultation is taking place right in front of their eyes.

"'In my aboriginal affairs committee work since 2008, I have heard over and over again from First Nations leaders, grassroots band members and non-aboriginal Canadians that the Indian Act has to go,' he said Thursday in a release out of Ottawa."

{---]

"Federation vice-chief Morley Watson said Wednesday the Conservative government is behind Bill C-428 and has sent a First Nations MP to front its agenda."

Attempts to change the status quo, which will require a major overhaul of the Indian Act or it's replacement entirely, have been made since the early 1970s. And every freaking time, they are met with this reaction from the tax payer funded Indian organizations, especially the FSI or FSIN as it's known now.

The status quo, and the Indian Act, is just fine, because it provides the basis upon which the FSIN can whine and bitch and point a finger of blame, while the Chiefs line their pockets. Why, any attempt to actually resolve the problems plaguing their communities could have the affect of kicking the soapbox right out from underneath their feet. Then what would they do?

And then there's the Industry. My God. It would dry up. Can't let that happen.

Unions in Crisis?

Maybe if they stuck to their original purpose, they might have a better chance of survival. Look at this:

It could be hike-dues-or-die time for federal union

"One of Canada’s largest federal unions could face extinction as an independent organization unless its members accept a 42-per-cent dues increase to forestall a financial crisis triggered by the Conservatives’ job cuts."

Too bad. So sad.

Or this:

Caw tackles social issues to boost ranks: Union steps in to pro-choice debate

Are you telling me that each and every member of the CAW is pro-choice? Or those that aren't are okay with their money going to support that cause?

Or this:

Elections Canada orders NDP to pay back some union sponsorships at convention

"For the second time in a year, the NDP has run afoul of political financing laws.

Elections Canada has ordered the NDP to pay back money it collected from unions who sponsored events at the party's national convention last year.

The party, which has criticized the Conservative government for a lack of transparency, offered no details on how much it paid back or to whom."

And this is just hilarious:

Public sector sick days cost $1B a year

From the CBC, yet! Whose annual budget costs the taxpayer the same amount and a bit more, if you call $100,000,000 a "bit more".

And this?

Unions see benefit to open membership

"Two of Canada's biggest unions are considering opening member-ship to everyone, including the unemployed and retired, when they merge. A committee working on the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions floated the proposal in a recently released report outlining the potential structure of the new union."

Let's just say they're getting desperate. Or the Union bosses want a bigger raise.

No wonder they are getting nervous:

Union bill causes stir in labour circles

"A proposed private member's bill that would compel unions to disclose their spending is causing ripples in Canada's labour community.

Bill C-377 -- put forward by Conservative MP Russ Hiebert -- would reveal how labour groups use funds collected through union dues."

Some good background reading here.

Universities = Indoctrination

Again, from my favourite think tank:

How to Improve Undergraduate Teaching

"...students are short-changed by indifferent instruction, huge classes, run-away grade inflation, ideological indoctrination, political correctness, and the dumbing down of the curriculum." (Emphasis added).

Yup.

Is There A Difference?

Between this and this: Still, it's nice to see a Christian standing up for himself. But I think we all know what would happen if some young Muslim showed up in school with a T-Shirt with "Islam Will Dominate" emblazoned all over it.

Hmmmm

I wonder if he could wangle a workers comp claim outta this? And we learned a new word today, didn't we. Priapism. Use it to impress your friends. But I guess in this case it's not a case of "use it before you lose it".

CBC Salaries

Finally, we get some info from the Ceeb.

Some 700 or so CBC employees get more than $100,000 per year. I actually don't think that's so bad, BUT...I'd like to know how that compares to the salaries paid by other broadcasters to their top 700 AND I'd also like to see advertizers paying for these people.

I'm pretty certain there are some top civil servants making similar salaries (in all three levels of government in every province) and I don't begrudge the upper levels of management getting decent compensation, especially if it keeps the organization competitive in the search for competent people to run the organizations for which they work.

We need government (much less of it, though, I would argue). BUT, in this day and age we do NOT need a publicly funded broadcaster.  Let them compete with the rest of the broadcasters out there and see where the chips fall.  If they can't command an audience large enough to attract advertizers willing to pay big bucks (or paying customers, if they want to raise their own money), like everyone else in business, let them adjust their programming until their audience share reaches the point of viability.

I know  I'm sounding like a broken record, but I will keep at it until privatization or dismantling of the beast is accomplished.

I Wonder What The...

I wonder what the Met Office and the folks at East Anglia University have to say about this. I'd really love to read their spin. I'm betting they'd say something like "It would have been worse if not for the human produced CO2 in the atmosphere":

Winter cold snap kills 36 in Europe

Perfect Time...

..to turn a corner:

Gov't-appointed consultant kicked out of Attawapiskat

There is no treaty right to housing or mega-bucks for Band Councils.

I doubt the government will take any decisive steps, though. The Indian Industry always wins.

I've Been Watching...

...the rapid rise and disastrous crash of Herman Cain and I wonder, if only the squeakiest of the squeaky clean can survive a bid for high office, what does that do to the pool of good candidates who may have more than enough of the right stuff to provide the needed leadership? And what does this say about the mainstream media? Who among us does not have something in our past that can be paraded out and dwelt upon ad nauseam. And why is the media so selective about who they choose to pillory?

Oh Dear!

We're slipping:

Corruption Perceptions Index 2011

(Note the amateurish botch-up job CBC does of the chart. Two entries for Germany. Twenty countries (those ranked in the 4 to 5.9 range) completely ignored. I'm surprised they didn't at least include Israel, which at 5.8, is ranked 36th.)

Hah!!

Nobody should be surprised about this:

Tories take Attawapiskat finances out of native hands

This is what happens in far too many cases where a *cough* *cough* First Nation takes control of the finances and administration of their own affairs.

Well done, Harper and company. To hell with the bleeding hearts sipping their lattes in downtown Toronto.

Nor should this bit be a surprise (from the article):

"Charlie Angus, the NDP MP whose riding encompasses the community, paid a visit to Attawapiskat on Tuesday. The Conservative solution, Mr. Angus said, “is to blame the community.”

When disasters occur in parts of Canada that are not on aboriginal territory, the government has responded, he said in the Commons. “Why are the people of Attawapiskat treated so differently. Why is it that when it’s a first-nation community in distress, this government’s response is contempt?”"

Snake. The NDP has been in bed with corrupt native leaders for years and years in Saskatchewan, and this is exactly the language they have used. Remember Dwain Lingenfelter's election campaign promise about sharing resource revenue with First Nations? Nobody would see any benefit from such a policy except for a handful of corrupt Chief's and councils who would be able to go to Hawaii more often, or buy a fancy new pick-up truck more frequently, reward his clan, etc., etc., with various monetary perqs.

CBC Faces More Music

Conservative MP requests CBC salary, spending details

Hmmmmm!

CBC must hand over files to information watchdog

The CBC does report on itself after all. But then again, their omission of a story this large would be an even bigger story. They must recognize the bind they are in and are running scared.

NDP accuses Tony Clement of doctoring Hansard

How many Canadians even know what Hansard is? And how could a MP possibly "doctor" it, short of making threats to the folks who write the stuff up. Nice try, Dippers, but you'll have to do better next time.

Things the "99%" Need To Learn

Trial of Khmer Rouge Leaders Starts in Phnom Penh

"On Monday the long-awaited trial of three surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge opened in Phnom Penh. This week the tribunal hears opening arguments by the prosecution and by the defense. The three accused are charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes."

[---]

"The list of alleged crimes is long and includes murder, extermination, enslavement, imprisonment, torture, persecution and willful killing, among others."

Now, if you soft, spoiled, incorrigible little brats occupying various parks here and there were seeking justice for something along those lines, you would have my sympathy. But, sorry, your cause is just as silly as you are. We haven't had this kind of injustice in the West for a very long time, and where it has materialized, most Western nations banded together to eliminate it, removed the regime that was responsible and/or brought the perpetrators to justice. This trial is a case in point. I spit in your general direction.