Bilingualism

And to top it all off, he had me laughing several times.

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.

At Last...

...someone tells the truth:

The Real Number Of Hours Teachers Work In One Eye-Opening Graphic

"The real teaching day is around 12-16 hours a day."

• standard teaching day - 8 hours (includes supervision of students on the playground, in the lunch room, during, before and after school)
• 1 hour - come before school or come after school to offer extra help to those who need it
•  3 to 5 hours - day by day planning, grading answering emails, making home phone calls, making home visits, attending meetings required by school district, holding teacher parent conferences, etc.
• in the summer months, spring and Christmas break teachers spend:
• continuing education to keep up with the latest research in their field (two to four weeks)
• three weeks planning for upcoming term
• four weeks getting ready for work: most teachers need to show up one month before school starts to participate in meetings, training, etc. (That might be a bit of an exaggeration. My experience has been one week in advance of the return of the students, and frequently during the Christmas and spring breaks.  But, still, you have to be ready for when the students show up, and by ready, I mean not just lessons and units prepared but have the classroom all spiffed up to go along with the lessons and units and this has to be done several times a year. Nobody else does that for you.)

I'll Wave When I Float By

They Obviously Don't Live In Canada

http://youtu.be/q2fizeoT22g

And then there's this Irish lad:

I'm Baaaaaack...

Since October 6 my life has been  a textbook case of the principle that says "If something can go wrong, it will."

It all began on that long lonely road between Saskatoon and Regina, the day after the wedding, when my "check engine" light came on. That was all that happened.  There was no smoke; no strange sounds; nothing heating up; no smell; nothing. Anyway, $160+ later everything car related is tickety-boo.

Then my computer died, or rather the modem, died. I figured it was about time for a new computer, too, so I have been without one for several days (three weeks and a bit). I asked the techie at the computer shop to transfer all my existing documents, address book, bookmarks, etc. to the new one, but even so, everything is different!!...and that after waiting 22 days. (And there ain't no methadone treatment for computer withdrawal. But I did manage to get some books read.) Everything on this brand new computer is different. It will be like starting from scratch.

Somewhere in the midst of that, on an especially cold day, the boiler that keeps the place warm conked out. There was an upside to that, though. The company that I called to fix it sent two young pieces of male eye candy over.  So, I sat and chatted them as they went about their business.

But  ---  or should I say butt --- being plumbers, these young fellows also offered some man cleavage to look at.

Now my stereo system appears to have died. The manuals that came with it might as well be written  in Greek. I'll likely have to get someone from Regina to come out here.

To top it all off, it's been snowing off and on all day. This is the second time since I went offline. GGGGRRRRRRRRR!

Bottom line is, I am now in the poor house and am accepting donations. Gifts in kind, like computer  lessons, or a warm winter coat, will be accepted.

Truer Words...

Holy Crap!!

I don't know whether I like this or not, but on Google.ca there's a bunch of birthday cakes and when I drag my mouse over the image it says; "Happy Birthday Louise!"

They're out there. DO, DO, DO, DO, DO, DO, DO! Screech! Screech!

Yup!!

Are our household appliances getting too complicated?

"Who needs a kettle with four heat settings? A washing machine with a 'freshen up' function? A toaster with six browning modes? What happened to the good old days of the on/off switch?

The modern washing machine has a dozen or more cycles that no one has ever used. The "baby cycle", for example, aimed, presumably, at parents too lazy to wash their babies in the bath. Or, quoting now from a variety of machines, the "duvet", "sports", "bed and bath", "reduced creases", "allergy" and "freshen up" cycles. As in "I'm just going to hop in the washing machine and freshen up.""

Yup. And the more useless components there are, the more likely one will go "pstttt" on you and the whole damn thing won't work any more...and it costs more to fix it than it does to buy the "next generation", "new and improved" model.

Grrrrrrrr. /old fart speak

Rub It In, Rub It In

5 places that are colder than Saskatchewan

They are:

Alert, Nunavut: -41.
The North Pole: -39.
Dzalinda, Russia (in Siberia): -51.
Vostak Station, Antarctica: -36.

 And (drum roll, please) Mars: -55.

Where IS that global warming????

Listening to...

...Jock Talk in the prelude to the big game later today. AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH!

It always amazes me how these guys find so many ways to say the same thing, over and over. It all comes down to AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH!

GO STAMPS!!!

Now they're talking about balls and sacks.  AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH! AAARRRRGH!

It's a guy thing.

==============================
BAH! HUMBUG!!!!!!!

Okay, Alright...

...I have to accept it. Winter has arrived, a bit early. The weather man/woman is predicting a balmy +8C on Tuesday, but they've been changing their minds every day for the past week. It's been hovering around the freezing point for the past week or two, with heavy frosts at night. And the snow that fell last week is still laying there.

There are trees on the town side of the sidewalk that runs in front of my house with the leaves still on them, though, which is fine with me. I didn't want to do all that raking anyway.

Oh, and there's still a few stupid birds poking around. Birds that should have gone south before now. Maybe November will be warm. (Knocking on wood.)

Where IS that global warming when you need it?

The Business of America is....

...(betcha you thought I was going to say "business", didn't ya?)

Well, apparently, in Bellingham, Washington, it's "bitching".

Gotta like what the president of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce says, too:

"“In the last two years, our sales tax generation has doubled or tripled the pace in the rest of the state, and it’s almost entirely because of Canadians coming south,”"

And look at that lineup!! Must be getting some good deals. But, oh, the CO2!! The climate! Damn those Canadians! Maybe Bellinghamers could get the environuts on their side.

More here:

"Residents angry at the 'rude Canadians' have now started a Facebook page calling for them to be banned during certain times.

The site, named 'Bellingham Costco needs a special time just for Americans', shows pictures of cars with BC plates "taking up two parking spaces."

What rude bastards those Canadians are, eh? I tell, ya. Times are changing. We're not a British colony any more. We're becoming more and more like those wretched rebels. Yee God!! What's this world coming to!!!

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.

Alms for the Poor

Correction: $1,750. Time to trade the baby in on a new one. I'm thinking of buying a pickup truck, so I can fit in. =====================

Got my car back. $750 smackeroos. Ouch!! Mac and Cheese is good for you. Mac and Cheese in good for you. Mac and Cheese is good for you.

That's Nice...

Have Scientists Found a Potential Cure For Aging In Space?

I'm all for advances in sciences, but how about a cure for aging down here on earth?

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".

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Once upon a time in the not too distant past, it would have been considered sacrilege to mention the accused's ethnic or racial background, but looky here!!

Cabbie unharmed after being forced into car's trunk

"A Saskatoon cab driver was unharmed after being robbed and forced into the trunk of his cab Tuesday night.

Police received a call about 7:30 p.m. that a man with a gun had forced another man into the trunk of a taxi in the 3800 block of 33rd Street West and then driven off in the vehicle."

[---]

"The suspect is described as an East Indian male in his mid- to late-20s with new growth facial hair. He was wearing a light-color hoodie and a dark toque."

Even the CBC has let the mask slip:

Saskatoon cabbie locked into trunk of taxi

"The suspect is described as an Indo-Canadian male in his mid-to-late 20s with new facial hair growth. He was wearing a light coloured hoodie and a dark toque."

I mean, who would suspect the man at the steering wheel was NOT the cab driver? Do you supposed there was anything about dogs, beer or Muslims involved in this story that may have been left out? (Oops! Bad Stubble Jumping Redneck. Bad!!)

But seriously, why not describe suspects as accurately as possible? Maybe that bit of PC nonsense is reserved for suspects of Aboriginal decent, but I digress.

Nickel And Diming Them To Death...

UPDATED AND BUMPED: (Updated with links at bottom.)
====================
...is not what I had in mind, but it's better than nothing and waaaay better than topping up their grant the way what's his face did earlier this year:

"The CBC, embroiled in both a legal fight and a parliamentary probe over its record on responding to access-to-information requests, is now also bracing for deep funding cuts, perhaps $100 million or more from its annual federal allotment of about $1.1 billion.

The prospect of a severely slashed budget has emerged despite Conservative election promises to "maintain or increase" support for the public broadcaster, and amid fears now openly expressed by top executives that the coming cuts could be driven even deeper by relentless attacks from the CBC's competitor, Quebecor, and its conservative-minded network of television stations, websites and Sun newspapers.

After a Quebec arts-funding flap that may well have cost the federal Conservatives a majority government in 2008, Heritage Minister James Moore made it a mission to reassure anxiety-filled, culture-minded Canadians — right through the 2011 election campaign — that the CBC was in no danger of being de-funded or otherwise diminished."

To hell with "anxiety-filled, culture-minded Canadians". They've had their hand out expecting us to believe they are God's gift to Canada for waaaay too long.

More here:

Whither the CBC?

Pledge to CBC looks shaky

Good news at those two links. Seems the government is listening to Canadians. Hopefully the starvation of our grandmother's corpse won't be too long and drawn out. Better to die a quick death than a long slow one.

Ya, But Did You Have To Make It So Embarrassing?

Learn how to spell, eh?