Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez was beaten because her blog describes life in a Third World dictatorship.
Her blog is right here (in Spanish only).
A translation of one page here (courtesy of Babel Fish).
Why visit a communist hell-hole when you can visit any other country?
Monday, November 30, 2009
It's Monday....
I wanted my posts for the pre-Christmas and Christmas season to be absolutely positive.
Unfortunately, the world feels differently.
(sigh)
The federal government is devising a plan to fast-track immigrants with foreign credentials. Under this system, a foreign-trained worker will submit an application to see if his credentials will be accepted. Professions such as nurses, engineers and various medical staff are among those to whom this fast-track process would apply.
I have mixed feelings about this. Granted, there are shortages in some fields and there are well-trained workers pushed aside because they lack Canadian papers, there is also the problem of how well these workers are trained and if they can blend into the Canadian system. I know Commonwealth-educated, English-speaking citizens who have been denied the privileges granted to other Canadians because they didn't train in Canada. This was and is still a grave injustice and a great disservice to the Canadian populace who certainly could have benefited from their knowledge and experience. However, many countries thrive on standards many here would find unacceptable or unworkable. There is also the matter of Canadian-born and educated professionals who are unable to find work. Their experience should also be utilised before someone fresh of the plane.
***
From Barbara Kay:
My attention has been drawn to the disturbing phenomenon of overt Jew hatred in high schools, especially those with high populations of students from countries where Jew hatred is officially sanctioned in the law of their countries of origin.
Mrs. Kay relates testimony from a hearing of the Canadian Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism. It's nothing short of disgusting and shocking. It's certainly a wake-up to unabated "multicultural exchange", where political correctness trumps decency.
From the article:
Unfortunately, the world feels differently.
(sigh)
The federal government is devising a plan to fast-track immigrants with foreign credentials. Under this system, a foreign-trained worker will submit an application to see if his credentials will be accepted. Professions such as nurses, engineers and various medical staff are among those to whom this fast-track process would apply.
I have mixed feelings about this. Granted, there are shortages in some fields and there are well-trained workers pushed aside because they lack Canadian papers, there is also the problem of how well these workers are trained and if they can blend into the Canadian system. I know Commonwealth-educated, English-speaking citizens who have been denied the privileges granted to other Canadians because they didn't train in Canada. This was and is still a grave injustice and a great disservice to the Canadian populace who certainly could have benefited from their knowledge and experience. However, many countries thrive on standards many here would find unacceptable or unworkable. There is also the matter of Canadian-born and educated professionals who are unable to find work. Their experience should also be utilised before someone fresh of the plane.
***
From Barbara Kay:
My attention has been drawn to the disturbing phenomenon of overt Jew hatred in high schools, especially those with high populations of students from countries where Jew hatred is officially sanctioned in the law of their countries of origin.
Mrs. Kay relates testimony from a hearing of the Canadian Parliamentary Inquiry into Anti-Semitism. It's nothing short of disgusting and shocking. It's certainly a wake-up to unabated "multicultural exchange", where political correctness trumps decency.
From the article:
"Miriam" had taught in French language schools in the 1970s and 1980s in schools with large Lebanese Christian populations without incurring any anti-Semitism. In her current career she works amicably with Muslims. A child of Holocaust survivors, Miriam is demonstrably neither racist nor anti-Muslim.
In 2001 Miriam started teaching at a school largely populated by children of refugees, mainly from Djibouti and Eritrea, countries where there are no Jews but where hatred of Jews is deeply entrenched in the culture.
During the academic year of 2002-2003 Miriam started to encounter anti-Semitic taunts from students, such as "Does someone see a Jew here, someone smell a Jew? It stinks here." When she reported this and similar insults to the principal, the principal did not follow up. Indeed, the principal seemed more concerned about the students' sensibilities than hers.
The principal instructed teachers not to offend their Muslim students; they were not to look students in the eye, they were not to gesture with the forefinger to bid them approach and they were not to interfere with male students who were physically aggressive to male teachers.
During the invasion of Iraq, moments of silence were held in the classroom. Cultural presentations involved only Muslim culture and no Canadian content. Students were allowed to leave assembly during the playing of the national anthem.
The crisis of this story occurred when Miriam admonished a student for wearing a Walkman in class. The student screamed at her: "I don't have to listen to you; you are not a person, you are nothing, you do not exist as a person." When Miriam demanded he accompany her to the principal's office, the student followed her down the hall yelling, "Don't speak to me, don't look at me, you are not human, you are a Jew."
All I can say is: what the hell?!
Why is this tolerated? Why are these people making Canada a haven for this kind of disgusting behaviour?! How many immigrants come into this country, work hard, make friends, send their kids to school and live as good citizens? Why should this particular rabble destroy that hard work and good will?
These incidents are not isolated.
I know of a multicultural centre that was also a scene of xenophobic snobbery and it was tolerated by those who ran it. Illiterate girls from Eritrea didn't have to shake hands with Jews or other non-Muslims. They didn't have to be acquainted with Hannukah even though Canada- as a "multicultural mosaic"- is home to several cultures and religions. Nary a word from the centre's managers.
This is something we can stop now. It's hardly "racist" or xenophobic to expect- nay, demand- that newcomers respect the values and customs of their new home, the one that gives them welfare. We should not think twice about stamping anti-Semitism or any other exclusionary behaviour. Unless we're satisfied with emotionally backward masses refusing to honour Canadian customs or with treating certain members of our society like dirty socks or being bullied at every turn, we'd better do the talking and now.
***
Now for nicer things, like Christmas cookies. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, cookies speak to the human condion, the condition that likes cookies.
Why is this tolerated? Why are these people making Canada a haven for this kind of disgusting behaviour?! How many immigrants come into this country, work hard, make friends, send their kids to school and live as good citizens? Why should this particular rabble destroy that hard work and good will?
These incidents are not isolated.
I know of a multicultural centre that was also a scene of xenophobic snobbery and it was tolerated by those who ran it. Illiterate girls from Eritrea didn't have to shake hands with Jews or other non-Muslims. They didn't have to be acquainted with Hannukah even though Canada- as a "multicultural mosaic"- is home to several cultures and religions. Nary a word from the centre's managers.
This is something we can stop now. It's hardly "racist" or xenophobic to expect- nay, demand- that newcomers respect the values and customs of their new home, the one that gives them welfare. We should not think twice about stamping anti-Semitism or any other exclusionary behaviour. Unless we're satisfied with emotionally backward masses refusing to honour Canadian customs or with treating certain members of our society like dirty socks or being bullied at every turn, we'd better do the talking and now.
***
Now for nicer things, like Christmas cookies. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, cookies speak to the human condion, the condition that likes cookies.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
400
The first Sunday in Advent marks my four hundredth post.
Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in the Church and the start of the slow crawl towards Christmas. I loathe to think that people perfunctorily put up decorations and listen to maudlin Christmas tunes and bide their time until Boxing Day. It's a sad way to prepare for one of the most pivotal moments in human history and (from my perspective) the most wonderful time of the year (stop singing). Christmas does mark the Birth of Christ. It also marks a time in our lives when we can put aside our cold remove of others and relax into a state of fellowship and good cheer.
So, stop treating Christmas as a chore. Treat it as a time to prepare yourselves. Make a batch of sugar cookie dough ahead of time and bake as needed (include the kids as they love cookies and baking is a useful skill). Forget the trendy gifts and get something your friend or relative really needs. Remember that there are people who have nothing and give. Remember that centuries ago a remarkable thing happened.
Just my thoughts.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
(sigh)
It's just too much.
Al-Jazeera English gets CRTC approval (scroll down the page for comments)
Why?
The mouthpiece for Osama bin Laden gets approval from the CRTC. The pro-Arab, pro-Islamic news agency with its biased reporting and incredible claims match a more familiar, more publicly-funded network. Why such a decidedly controversial network has been given approval so easily beggars the imagination. The Fox News Network was allowed only after the CRTC was satisfied a combined network effort would not produce Fox News Canada. Even EWTN had to jump through hoops to get approval. Yet, Al-Jazeera will be coming to a channel near you. It's one thing to have many sources of news to choose from; it's quite another to have this particular news source.
Stupid comment of the day (from the comments at 3:45 PM ET):
Where do we start with this drivel?
I object to the word "racist". The contemporary use of the word is as hollow as the person using it. When once it accurately described an irrational and ignorant person or attitude, the word "racist" now finds itself as a plug for any debate that seems to go south for one side. Suddenly, it's "racist" to criticise Obama's inaction or- as the case may be- the approval of a pro-Islamic and evidently biased network which airs bin Laden's cave ravings. Did it not occur to the writer that objection to Al-Jazeera might stem from pan-Arabic bigotry? How, then, would the comment writer explain the truly horrid belief of some Arabs that black skin is "evil" (Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks of this bigotry and pan-Arabism) or tolerating the existence of the Arab-backed janjaweed? Would this Arab-drawn cartoon of Condoleezza Rice be allowed anywhere else (with all apologies to Miss Rice)? Let's not forget that ARAB does not equal PERSIAN. Would the CRTC allow state-run news from Iran or a freedom-loving Iranian blogster hiding in Turkey? How does the writer feel about these issues?
Too stupid to comment on. Moving on.
There are channels on Canadian television that include news shows and documentaries in other languages, including Chinese. To my knowledge, though, Canadians of Chinese descent haven't tried to manoeuvre planes into buildings. The inclusion of this fact in the aforementioned comment is some poor attempt at a red herring.
Again, too stupid to comment on. It seems that the comment-writer used this particular issue as a hobby-horse for typing up irrelevant and unsubstantiated muck and it will still come back to bite him. Yes, there are people (including homosexuals) tortured and killed- in the Islamic world. The cruelty there isn't in the same ballpark as North America where women can not only vote but be educated and get justice if someone wrongs them.
I still don't understand having a biased new agency for a handful who long to glean meaning from bin Laden's next "death to America" rant or why CRTC thought it was in Canada's best interest. It's about as sensible as the comment.
At the trial of one of Cambodia's worst criminals, Kaing Guek Eav (also known as Duch), Cambodians hear once more how their population was brutally decimated.
It's this paragraph that gets me (emphasis mine):
Just getting to this point has not been easy. This UN-backed trial was established in 2003 and has been teetering with uncertainty for the past two years as the current government resisted expanding the docket and the international community balked at the growing financial tab.
In fact, the trial opened in a near state of bankruptcy after widely corroborated allegations that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kick-backs to secure their jobs put a freeze on international funding.
Pol Pot fled after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1979 (the US' refusal to recognise their former enemy's, Vietnam, backing of an erstwhile Cambodia government ended up helping the Khmer Rouge). The UN finally set up a trial five years after Pol Pot died. Even then, the international community, which still labours under "carbon footprint" bunk, froze funding impeding the efforts to try the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders. Would the international community like to put its dibs in the Manhattan trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
Priceless.
Al-Jazeera English gets CRTC approval (scroll down the page for comments)
Why?
The mouthpiece for Osama bin Laden gets approval from the CRTC. The pro-Arab, pro-Islamic news agency with its biased reporting and incredible claims match a more familiar, more publicly-funded network. Why such a decidedly controversial network has been given approval so easily beggars the imagination. The Fox News Network was allowed only after the CRTC was satisfied a combined network effort would not produce Fox News Canada. Even EWTN had to jump through hoops to get approval. Yet, Al-Jazeera will be coming to a channel near you. It's one thing to have many sources of news to choose from; it's quite another to have this particular news source.
Stupid comment of the day (from the comments at 3:45 PM ET):
It is not much of a suprise to see the amount of racist spoutings coming out
to this story. People making these comments need to remember that Canada is a
multicultural country, which does not mean we are a white anglosaxon christian
views country only. Al Jazeera would not be the first multicultural station in
Canada, we already have a Chinese language network, also the Omni stations.
There is also multicultural shows broadcast on Vision TV. The negative
commentators need to get their heads out of the sand and drag themselves into
the 21st Century. It has been less then 100 years since Women were allowed to
vote, and we still beat, torture and kill people who are different then
ourselves. Look at the issues still going on with bullying in schools and
attacks on Gays and Lesbians.Also, the negative commentors need to look more
into what Islam stands for, instead of what they see on TV and hear from other
racists around them.
Where do we start with this drivel?
I object to the word "racist". The contemporary use of the word is as hollow as the person using it. When once it accurately described an irrational and ignorant person or attitude, the word "racist" now finds itself as a plug for any debate that seems to go south for one side. Suddenly, it's "racist" to criticise Obama's inaction or- as the case may be- the approval of a pro-Islamic and evidently biased network which airs bin Laden's cave ravings. Did it not occur to the writer that objection to Al-Jazeera might stem from pan-Arabic bigotry? How, then, would the comment writer explain the truly horrid belief of some Arabs that black skin is "evil" (Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks of this bigotry and pan-Arabism) or tolerating the existence of the Arab-backed janjaweed? Would this Arab-drawn cartoon of Condoleezza Rice be allowed anywhere else (with all apologies to Miss Rice)? Let's not forget that ARAB does not equal PERSIAN. Would the CRTC allow state-run news from Iran or a freedom-loving Iranian blogster hiding in Turkey? How does the writer feel about these issues?
People making these comments need to remember that Canada is a multicultural
country, which does not mean we are a white anglosaxon christian views country
only.
Too stupid to comment on. Moving on.
There are channels on Canadian television that include news shows and documentaries in other languages, including Chinese. To my knowledge, though, Canadians of Chinese descent haven't tried to manoeuvre planes into buildings. The inclusion of this fact in the aforementioned comment is some poor attempt at a red herring.
The negative commentators need to get their heads out of the sand and drag
themselves into the 21st Century. It has been less then 100 years since Women
were allowed to vote, and we still beat, torture and kill people who are
different then ourselves. Look at the issues still going on with bullying in
schools and attacks on Gays and Lesbians.
Again, too stupid to comment on. It seems that the comment-writer used this particular issue as a hobby-horse for typing up irrelevant and unsubstantiated muck and it will still come back to bite him. Yes, there are people (including homosexuals) tortured and killed- in the Islamic world. The cruelty there isn't in the same ballpark as North America where women can not only vote but be educated and get justice if someone wrongs them.
I still don't understand having a biased new agency for a handful who long to glean meaning from bin Laden's next "death to America" rant or why CRTC thought it was in Canada's best interest. It's about as sensible as the comment.
**
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will still attend the Copenhagen conference despite the bunk. Deal with it in your own way.**
It's this paragraph that gets me (emphasis mine):
Just getting to this point has not been easy. This UN-backed trial was established in 2003 and has been teetering with uncertainty for the past two years as the current government resisted expanding the docket and the international community balked at the growing financial tab.
In fact, the trial opened in a near state of bankruptcy after widely corroborated allegations that Cambodian staff were forced to pay kick-backs to secure their jobs put a freeze on international funding.
Pol Pot fled after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1979 (the US' refusal to recognise their former enemy's, Vietnam, backing of an erstwhile Cambodia government ended up helping the Khmer Rouge). The UN finally set up a trial five years after Pol Pot died. Even then, the international community, which still labours under "carbon footprint" bunk, froze funding impeding the efforts to try the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders. Would the international community like to put its dibs in the Manhattan trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
Priceless.
American Thanksgiving
Summer ends now; now, barbarous in beauty, the stooks arise
Around; up above, what wind-walks! what lovely
behaviour
Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier
Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?
I walk, I lift up, I lift up heart, eyes,
Down all that glory in the heavens to glean our
Saviour;
And, éyes, heárt, what looks, what lips yet gave you a
Rapturous love's greeting of realer, of rounder replies?
And the azurous hung hills are his world-wielding
shoulder
Majestic—as a stallion stalwart, very-violet-sweet!—
These things, these things were here and but the
beholder
Wanting; which two when they once meet,
The heart rears wings bold and bolder
And hurls for him,
O half hurls earth for him off under
his feet.
- "Hurrahing in the Harvest", Gerard Manley Hopkins
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Climate-gate
There has been so much going on with this "Climate-gate" business (go here for more). The upshot is that the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit has been inventing figures on "climate change". There is a lot of stuff to sift through but if it's all genuine then we should be not only concerned but angry. Policies are devised and enforced from the fraudulent data this research unit claimed to have acquired. We've been lied to and now have to live our lives according to "green" whims.
Look through the texts yourselves and decide.
Look through the texts yourselves and decide.
Friday, November 20, 2009
How the National Socialist Grinches Tried to Steal Christmas
I know it's not even December yet but I found this article and it's just too good to turn up:
From the article:
The Nazi Party tried their best to remove Christ from Christmas by
paganising carols, producing glittering swastika, iron cross and toy grenade
baubles for the fir tree, research for a new exhibition has found.
Many of the changes made under Hitler, put in place to remove the
influence of the Jewish-born baby Jesus, are still in use today, much to the
alarm of modern Germans.
The swastika-shaped baking trays and wrapping paper adorned with
Nazi symbols have long gone, but traces of the Third Reich Christmas can still
be found in the subtly rewritten lyrics of favourite carols.
The discoveries have been highlighted by a new exhibition at the National
Socialism Documentation Centre in Cologne.
The Nazi version, which removed the religious references and replaced
them with images of snowy fields, remains in some song books and is sung in many households. The same goes for carols referring to Virgin Birth and lullabies
that invoke the Baby Jesus.
The Nazis, perpetrators of some of the worst atrocities of the twentieth century and epitomes of evil, tried to secularise a Christian holiday (but, really, isn't Christmas rather universal in some ways?) to make it more palatable for the current political environment.
That sounds familiar.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Homework
For any student, homework is a bane of his or her existence.
One father in Calgary has taken this bane to task and drew up a contract not necessarily to ban homework but to apply it differently and with less amount.
This leads to the question: is homework necessary?
I would argue: yes.
As a kid, I hated homework. I balked at it and waited for the last minute to do it. In retrospect, it wasn't prudent to do so. Not every homework assignment is pointless busy-work. It can also be an opportunity to review and practice the skill learned that day.
As I grew older and started teaching in South Korea, my North American perspective on homework completely changed. In Asia, education is one of the primary points in life. Shaped by Confucian ideals, much of Asia devotes its energies and resources to schooling. Hogwans- or private schools teaching certain subjects- were examples of the length to which parents would go to ensure their children were fully-fledged academics. Such hogwans could mean the difference between ending up at a top university or community college. As a result, children from the time they were seven years old had a fire lit under them. It was not uncommon to have students go to as many as six hogwans a week on top of going to regular school. Even their vacations were "working vacations". Imagine going to zoos or museums and then writing essays on them in the middle of August.
When I taught at these hogwans, I was expected to give my students English-language homework which, in truth, amounted to pointless regurgitation exercises that served only to show the parents that the kids were working. Writing a sentence five times doesn't count as constructive in my opinion. I would try to give my students homework that would require critical thinking rather than simply studying or rote memory work. Granted they had to review the daily lesson but they would also have to write their own sentences with the new words they learned or give me a "recipe" for a peanut butter sandwich. Sometimes they would be required to strike up an English conversation with their mums. For forty minutes a day, twice a week, in an homogeneous country, I did what I could. The homework, I believe, was taxing but not because it of the amount but because it required the kids to think critically about whatever English they learned that day. Anyone can say: "The fire truck is red" but how many can say: "The fire truck is scarlet in colour"? Yes, there are other words for red. I realise this is a simplistic example but when you consider that rote learning is the pillar of many schools here and abroad, a bit of word power and thinking on one's feet goes a long way.
When I returned to Canada and was informed by the students I was tutoring that a staggering twenty minutes cut into their TV-watching or hockey-playing time, I was purposefully indifferent. In South Korea, I saw kids fall asleep or have emotional meltdowns because the weight of their many private schools was bearing down on them. It was no surprise that I would have no pity for soft Canadian kids. Unless it was hockey, there was no real impetus to arrive at results. It is no surprise, therefore, that many students lag behind or become only marginally useful. This isn't everyone but it's enough to be concerned.
The problems in education in Canada, I feel, are threefold- the students, the parents and the teachers. Is the student motivated by the will to learn? Does he have a good attitude and work habits? Do the parents read to him? Do they encourage him to learn or take up a skill (Guitar Hero is a pretty strong argument against the perception that parents do encourage skills or hobbies. Why not actually learn to play the guitar instead of pressing a few buttons?)? Are the parents aware of what is being taught in the schools right now? Are the teachers motivated by benefits or desire to see a student excel? Is a curriculum properly balanced or watered-down so that student get little information and insight and topics therein can be completed by the end of the month? Are we all too pre-occupied (not necessarily busy) to care?
Homework does help the student practice and reinforce skills. Homework also teaches a student tolerance of unpleasant yet necessary tasks. Homework also gets the students to independently complete an assignment correctly and in a timely fashion. It isn't always pointless busy-work, as was previously stated. Some teachers do hand out homework for the sake it. This is wrong. Are the teachers expected by the powers-that-be to do so or are they inexperienced or even (hopefully not) indifferent to a student's skill level or time constraints? If a student does not know how to complete an assignment, is it because the teacher did not provide the students with the skills to finish the work or has the student been drifting off during a crucial instruction period? How much homework is too much? Twenty minutes every few nights can't be overwhelming. Are the parents expecting too little or too much? So a child doesn't want to do homework. That's not new. A review of the expected assignment is in order. Is the assignment something that can be done independently and with a little elbow grease? Some parents indulge their kids' whims and offer them a way out from a tedious yet important task. It might be cute when an eight year old pouts at math but not when he's eighteen. If the assignment is too difficult or overwhelming, why not discuss things with the teacher? I've found that unless a parent is unhappy with a test result and would rather have the teacher change it in an A, parents are very much absent from the academic scene.
I've posed these questions and observations because I think we are headed into a direction of softness and mediocrity instead of examining any underlying issues and dealing with them. Homework may not be fun but it is essential. Frowning at it won't make it disappear.
Just my thoughts.
One father in Calgary has taken this bane to task and drew up a contract not necessarily to ban homework but to apply it differently and with less amount.
This leads to the question: is homework necessary?
I would argue: yes.
As a kid, I hated homework. I balked at it and waited for the last minute to do it. In retrospect, it wasn't prudent to do so. Not every homework assignment is pointless busy-work. It can also be an opportunity to review and practice the skill learned that day.
As I grew older and started teaching in South Korea, my North American perspective on homework completely changed. In Asia, education is one of the primary points in life. Shaped by Confucian ideals, much of Asia devotes its energies and resources to schooling. Hogwans- or private schools teaching certain subjects- were examples of the length to which parents would go to ensure their children were fully-fledged academics. Such hogwans could mean the difference between ending up at a top university or community college. As a result, children from the time they were seven years old had a fire lit under them. It was not uncommon to have students go to as many as six hogwans a week on top of going to regular school. Even their vacations were "working vacations". Imagine going to zoos or museums and then writing essays on them in the middle of August.
When I taught at these hogwans, I was expected to give my students English-language homework which, in truth, amounted to pointless regurgitation exercises that served only to show the parents that the kids were working. Writing a sentence five times doesn't count as constructive in my opinion. I would try to give my students homework that would require critical thinking rather than simply studying or rote memory work. Granted they had to review the daily lesson but they would also have to write their own sentences with the new words they learned or give me a "recipe" for a peanut butter sandwich. Sometimes they would be required to strike up an English conversation with their mums. For forty minutes a day, twice a week, in an homogeneous country, I did what I could. The homework, I believe, was taxing but not because it of the amount but because it required the kids to think critically about whatever English they learned that day. Anyone can say: "The fire truck is red" but how many can say: "The fire truck is scarlet in colour"? Yes, there are other words for red. I realise this is a simplistic example but when you consider that rote learning is the pillar of many schools here and abroad, a bit of word power and thinking on one's feet goes a long way.
When I returned to Canada and was informed by the students I was tutoring that a staggering twenty minutes cut into their TV-watching or hockey-playing time, I was purposefully indifferent. In South Korea, I saw kids fall asleep or have emotional meltdowns because the weight of their many private schools was bearing down on them. It was no surprise that I would have no pity for soft Canadian kids. Unless it was hockey, there was no real impetus to arrive at results. It is no surprise, therefore, that many students lag behind or become only marginally useful. This isn't everyone but it's enough to be concerned.
The problems in education in Canada, I feel, are threefold- the students, the parents and the teachers. Is the student motivated by the will to learn? Does he have a good attitude and work habits? Do the parents read to him? Do they encourage him to learn or take up a skill (Guitar Hero is a pretty strong argument against the perception that parents do encourage skills or hobbies. Why not actually learn to play the guitar instead of pressing a few buttons?)? Are the parents aware of what is being taught in the schools right now? Are the teachers motivated by benefits or desire to see a student excel? Is a curriculum properly balanced or watered-down so that student get little information and insight and topics therein can be completed by the end of the month? Are we all too pre-occupied (not necessarily busy) to care?
Homework does help the student practice and reinforce skills. Homework also teaches a student tolerance of unpleasant yet necessary tasks. Homework also gets the students to independently complete an assignment correctly and in a timely fashion. It isn't always pointless busy-work, as was previously stated. Some teachers do hand out homework for the sake it. This is wrong. Are the teachers expected by the powers-that-be to do so or are they inexperienced or even (hopefully not) indifferent to a student's skill level or time constraints? If a student does not know how to complete an assignment, is it because the teacher did not provide the students with the skills to finish the work or has the student been drifting off during a crucial instruction period? How much homework is too much? Twenty minutes every few nights can't be overwhelming. Are the parents expecting too little or too much? So a child doesn't want to do homework. That's not new. A review of the expected assignment is in order. Is the assignment something that can be done independently and with a little elbow grease? Some parents indulge their kids' whims and offer them a way out from a tedious yet important task. It might be cute when an eight year old pouts at math but not when he's eighteen. If the assignment is too difficult or overwhelming, why not discuss things with the teacher? I've found that unless a parent is unhappy with a test result and would rather have the teacher change it in an A, parents are very much absent from the academic scene.
I've posed these questions and observations because I think we are headed into a direction of softness and mediocrity instead of examining any underlying issues and dealing with them. Homework may not be fun but it is essential. Frowning at it won't make it disappear.
Just my thoughts.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
It's Tuesday
Yep.
Michael Moore emerges from irrelevance to tell Canadians what to do:
He says Canadians seem to be on a misguided quest to become more like Americans when it comes to health care. As a result, he tells a conference in Toronto, Canadians are straying from one of their core principles of looking out for one another.
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.
First of all, Canadians do not want to be Americans; they want to be Canadians. What ignorance and arrogance to even suggest that! Way to display your stupidity, fool!
Secondly, would Moore like qualify his statement of Canadians "looking out for one another"? Is it based on his years of living in Canada? Oh, that's right! Michael Moore doesn't live in Canada and he never has. He has just has a romanticised view of Canada as a socialist utopia. Big clue, dingus: utopia means "no place". Were he to take up residence in Canada, it would be far removed from the "dregs" of Canadian suburbia. He certainly wouldn't find he has celebrity status here. We don't care about celebrities. So you've made a few movies. Big deal. Want a medal for that? Well, you're not getting one.
Thirdly, has this porcine blowhard ever been left on a gurney in a cold hospital hallway for three days, or waited in an emergency room for thirty-four hours, or had a cancer test botched? Nope.
Michael Moore emerges from irrelevance to tell Canadians what to do:
He says Canadians seem to be on a misguided quest to become more like Americans when it comes to health care. As a result, he tells a conference in Toronto, Canadians are straying from one of their core principles of looking out for one another.
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.
First of all, Canadians do not want to be Americans; they want to be Canadians. What ignorance and arrogance to even suggest that! Way to display your stupidity, fool!
Secondly, would Moore like qualify his statement of Canadians "looking out for one another"? Is it based on his years of living in Canada? Oh, that's right! Michael Moore doesn't live in Canada and he never has. He has just has a romanticised view of Canada as a socialist utopia. Big clue, dingus: utopia means "no place". Were he to take up residence in Canada, it would be far removed from the "dregs" of Canadian suburbia. He certainly wouldn't find he has celebrity status here. We don't care about celebrities. So you've made a few movies. Big deal. Want a medal for that? Well, you're not getting one.
Thirdly, has this porcine blowhard ever been left on a gurney in a cold hospital hallway for three days, or waited in an emergency room for thirty-four hours, or had a cancer test botched? Nope.
Canada doesn't want your advice, Moore, you capitalist liar! Stuff it!
Moving on...
An excerpt from Mrs. Palin's new and wildly popular book:
From what I could see from my position in the center of the state, the
capital of Juneau seemed stocked mainly with "good ol' boys" who lunched with
oil company executives and cut fat-cat deals behind closed doors. Like most
Alaskans, I could see that the votes of many lawmakers lined up conveniently
with what was best for Big Oil, sometimes to the detriment of their own
constituents.
Whoa! From that passage, I can totally tell she cares about no one else but herself!
(WARNING: the above quote was sarcastic and not to be take seriously. Do not take internally.)
In the last election I took part in, the race was essentially down to two candidates: one representing a socialist party and the other was a self-made individual whose hard work helped define him. His working the land, however, sent most voters into a tizzy so they aligned themselves with the candidate most likely to bark for welfare cheques. The day after the election, members of a certain school board, whose ascendancy into well-paid, heavily unionised, plum positions did not depend on any real merit, were aghast- aghast!- that a farmer could have represented them in their riding.
It's this kind of toffy-nosed snobbery and uselessness that still mars civilised politics today. Obama-good/Palin-bad.
Oh really?
I commend the president for acknowledging today that “there are limits to
what government can and should do” to ease our 10.2% unemployment rate – the
highest it’s been since 1983. I also applaud his call for suggestions and
expression of openness to considering “any demonstrably good idea.” Taking him
at his word, I’d like to suggest this one: let’s learn from history and follow
the example of the man who occupied the White House in 1983 and was able to
transform an even worse recession than the one we’re currently experiencing into
the largest peacetime economic expansion in American history.
Are those the words of an ungrateful, ill-educated bumpkin? This sounds like a sensible reminder of what worked historically and economically for America. It was even pernicious. Had Mrs. Palin been a columnist rather than a governor, would her words be dismissed as easily as they are now? Obviously not. Mrs. Palin- whatever her ambitions- reminds the lazy voter (the one who forgot Obama has zero experience doing anything) that their vote was wasted. The current administration doesn't have the grip previous administrations had. To paraphrase a clueless yet photogenic character: he was elected to read, not to lead. Well, that's dandy but what about this unemployment and despotic environment polluters?
This article says it.
Louis Riel 'murdered by the Crown,' MP says
Louis Riel, a Metis rebel, was hanged on November 16th, 1885. His role in the Red River Rebellion and his subsequent capture, trial and execution have long been celebrated and reviled in western Canada. His demand for rights for the truly downtrodden in an era of loyalty to an absent and indifferent Crown paint him as heroic. The move to overturn his conviction would, ostensibly, remove the stain of villainy set up on him.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Unbowed
Ha! See what I did there?!
Sorry.
(oh dear...)
The event:
News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have
incensed critics here, who said the US leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.
The criticism:
"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The
president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the
United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.
The defense:
"I think it's a gesture of kindness," she told CNN, adding that the bow
appeared intended to show "goodwill between two nations that respect each
other."
The bowing etiquette in Japan:
The saikeirei explained (boy, are the Japanese stickers for this stuff!):
When bowing while standing, their is the “highest respectful bow”
(saikeirei), which is executed from a position of standing straight upward, and
then bending 45-degrees or more. “Respectful bow” is at 30-to-40 degrees, and
everyday “eshaku” around 15-degrees.
“Saikeirei” is not seen on a regular basis, but is used in order to
offer an apology, or when one is extremely grateful for something received, as
well as performed before the altar of Shinto shrines and Bhuddist temples.
A handshake is appropriate upon meeting. The Japanese handshake is limp
and with little or no eye contact.
Some Japanese bow and shake hands. The bow is a highly regarded
greeting to show respect and is appreciated by the Japanese. A slight bow to
show courtesy is acceptable.
The Emperor (天皇, tennō, literally "heavenly emperor," formerly referred to
as the Mikado) of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the
Japanese people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. He is also the
highest authority of the Shinto religion. Under Japan's present constitution,
the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a
ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy.
My take:
It is said a country is someone's home, hence, when one is in another's home, it pays to be courteous. If that means greet someone with a slight bow, then bow. It's courtesy. Obama has never struck me as courteous, not altruistically. For a man whose apologies for America's "bad behaviour" has caused enormous dissatisfaction among the flag-waving masses, Obama's newest misstep is in a long line of missteps. Is he as "multicultural" as he claims? Apparently not. Was his cartoonish low bow appropriate, a "gesture of kindness"? No. It was Obama being Obama. He tried to show the world how he does things- the demi-god among the lowly American mortals (after all, he does have the blood of Africa running in him, doesn't he?). In the end, he made himself appear the bumpkin, incapable (or unwilling) of accepting cultural direction and incapable of asserting his country's prominence.
When asked about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Obama again bowed, though not at ninety degrees. He didn't need to be sanguine to an audience of Japanese press, just assertive that his country- a victim of an unprovoked attack and whose servicemen were brutalised by a repressive militaristic state that once held the belief that its emperor was a god- acted the way it did to end the war they helped start.
This is why the bow stinks.
***
The secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Japan Ichiro Ozawa considers Christianity and Islam to be "very exclusive."
What a rich thing to say given that Japan's history is just rife with persecution of its own people and others. When I was in Japan, I saw that Japanese Christians reached out to Korean Christians, inviting them to stay at their centres, to visit their houses of worship and enjoy their food.
That doesn't sound exclusive to me.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Like a Hole in the Head
Canada seeks to not repatriate Omar Khadr, "alleged" terrorist.
I don't want him back. Let the Americans try and convict him. They can take his free-loading family, too.
Many speculate- and I believe correctly- that the recent Fort Hood shootings have become a shame-based exhibition of political correctness. Terrified that Nidal Malik Hasan was in perfect control of his faculties when he shouted "Allah Akhbar" before killing and wounding innocent people, the left were in a rush to hide his apparent motives and veer the discussion away from what the public (at least by now) already knows (that being the danger of Islamism). The mission is in full tilt.
One bit of stupidity:
[T]o ignore the circumstances of this particular shooting would be like saying Oswald was just some random wacko whose actions occurred in a total vacuum, that the Cold War, his Marxist sympathies, the fact that he lived in the Soviet Union for a time, were all basically irrelevant. They weren't. And while the are are many things we don't yet--and may never--know about Nidal Malik Hasan and what drove him to commit such an evil act, we can't ignore the things we do know. If only because, by ignoring them, we allow others, like Malkin and her ilk, to try to define them for us.
I don't like people telling me what conclusions to arrive at either but when a gunman screams "Allah Akhbar" and has a history of very terrorist-oriented feelings and actions, it's pretty obvious what drove him to do what he did. Plunge one's head in the sand if one must but really it's a waste of time. If "Malkin and her ilk" are the only people who know when to duck then so be it.
It gets better:
We have occupied one or more largely Muslim nations for several years, led by the dunderhead who described himself shortly after 9/11 as "on a crusade." And yet Fort Hood stands out precisely because of the rarity of Muslim American attacks on fellow Americans. This matters.
Yes, the "dunderhead" who visited the Fort Hood wounded when the Chosen One did not. The "dunderhead" whose response to the September 11th attacks would never have been mirrored by the more "progressive" likes of Jimmy Carter, Al Gore or Jimmy Carter 2.0. There has to be a point when people stop blaming Bush for things. It's getting old, not to mention just plain stupid. And no, there is no rarity of attacks on American soil, attempted or otherwise.
And the "cry for help/no one's-really-to-blame" excuse:
Except that it does reflect Hasan and his "co-religionists" who have serious issues with Western culture. They believe they have a directive from Mohammed to destroy what the West stands for. Throw in the completely disingenuous remark about the gunman who killed Tiller and voila! You have a reasoned argument, except that you don't. Tiller got killed and instantly the pro-life movement was tarred once again as a fringe terrorist movement no matter how mainstream pro-life groups swore they had nothing to do with him. After all, the right to life is not a part of the liberal media fabric. To depict (and properly so) Roeder's actions as radical and removed from the mainstream would give voice and credence to the pro-life movement. "Maybe they are peaceful Everymen" . Indeed. No one would dream of applying the same standard to Scott Roeder now being applied to Hasan, the one of complete disbelief and disconnection from the majority. What if someone had said: "Scott Roeder just snapped under pressure" or "Gamil Gharbi was just a victim of cirumstance" (you might know him better as Marc Lepine). I would imagine the torches and pitchforks would be out quickly. Not so. It's better to feign ignorance of true motives or circumstances than it is to embrace facts, those dreadful nuisance things!
Again:
I'm not filled with delight at all. Fourteen people (a pregnant woman was shot) were killed. What is to delight in? The writer of the above quote may be inclined to be contemptuous of others who had valid concerns for Islamic extremism if that's the thing. It's not constructive, just childish and boorish.
According to Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue (which apparently makes a great Christmas gift), she felt sorry for Katie Couric:
If I was Katie Couric, I would thank Sarah Palin for her pity, call it ice cream and ask for seconds. As powered up the light of the yellow sun as she is, Mrs. Palin still finds time to be gracious.
You can see more from this amazing site here.
I don't want him back. Let the Americans try and convict him. They can take his free-loading family, too.
Many speculate- and I believe correctly- that the recent Fort Hood shootings have become a shame-based exhibition of political correctness. Terrified that Nidal Malik Hasan was in perfect control of his faculties when he shouted "Allah Akhbar" before killing and wounding innocent people, the left were in a rush to hide his apparent motives and veer the discussion away from what the public (at least by now) already knows (that being the danger of Islamism). The mission is in full tilt.
One bit of stupidity:
[T]o ignore the circumstances of this particular shooting would be like saying Oswald was just some random wacko whose actions occurred in a total vacuum, that the Cold War, his Marxist sympathies, the fact that he lived in the Soviet Union for a time, were all basically irrelevant. They weren't. And while the are are many things we don't yet--and may never--know about Nidal Malik Hasan and what drove him to commit such an evil act, we can't ignore the things we do know. If only because, by ignoring them, we allow others, like Malkin and her ilk, to try to define them for us.
I don't like people telling me what conclusions to arrive at either but when a gunman screams "Allah Akhbar" and has a history of very terrorist-oriented feelings and actions, it's pretty obvious what drove him to do what he did. Plunge one's head in the sand if one must but really it's a waste of time. If "Malkin and her ilk" are the only people who know when to duck then so be it.
It gets better:
We have occupied one or more largely Muslim nations for several years, led by the dunderhead who described himself shortly after 9/11 as "on a crusade." And yet Fort Hood stands out precisely because of the rarity of Muslim American attacks on fellow Americans. This matters.
Yes, the "dunderhead" who visited the Fort Hood wounded when the Chosen One did not. The "dunderhead" whose response to the September 11th attacks would never have been mirrored by the more "progressive" likes of Jimmy Carter, Al Gore or Jimmy Carter 2.0. There has to be a point when people stop blaming Bush for things. It's getting old, not to mention just plain stupid. And no, there is no rarity of attacks on American soil, attempted or otherwise.
And the "cry for help/no one's-really-to-blame" excuse:
Ft. Hood’s commander, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, said today that there are
unconfirmed reports that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shouted “God is great” in Arabic
before opening fire yesterday at the Army base. Again: we will soon be able to
hear Hasan’s motivations in his own words. Even if he shouted such a thing, it
would no more reflect on his co-religionists than does the fanatic who murdered
Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller and who happened to consider himself
a devout Christian does on his co-religionists. It’s worth remembering that
nearly all mass shootings in this country are committed by white men. Do we have
a white-man problem on our hands?
Except that it does reflect Hasan and his "co-religionists" who have serious issues with Western culture. They believe they have a directive from Mohammed to destroy what the West stands for. Throw in the completely disingenuous remark about the gunman who killed Tiller and voila! You have a reasoned argument, except that you don't. Tiller got killed and instantly the pro-life movement was tarred once again as a fringe terrorist movement no matter how mainstream pro-life groups swore they had nothing to do with him. After all, the right to life is not a part of the liberal media fabric. To depict (and properly so) Roeder's actions as radical and removed from the mainstream would give voice and credence to the pro-life movement. "Maybe they are peaceful Everymen" . Indeed. No one would dream of applying the same standard to Scott Roeder now being applied to Hasan, the one of complete disbelief and disconnection from the majority. What if someone had said: "Scott Roeder just snapped under pressure" or "Gamil Gharbi was just a victim of cirumstance" (you might know him better as Marc Lepine). I would imagine the torches and pitchforks would be out quickly. Not so. It's better to feign ignorance of true motives or circumstances than it is to embrace facts, those dreadful nuisance things!
Again:
[T]he above would seem to confirm what many on the wingnut right seemed to
positively hope was the case last night—that Hasan's rampage was an act of
Islamist terrorism, as opposed to the result of a breakdown or mental illness or
the garden-variety insane rage and alienation that has inspired what seems like
a mass killing every other month. We all know what first came to mind when
Hasan's name was released yesterday. But we suppose a handy guide for finding
the line that divides the Glenn Becks of the world from the rest of us is
whether you reacted with dread at the idea that it may have been related,
however murkily, to Islamism, or if you were filled with smug delight.
I'm not filled with delight at all. Fourteen people (a pregnant woman was shot) were killed. What is to delight in? The writer of the above quote may be inclined to be contemptuous of others who had valid concerns for Islamic extremism if that's the thing. It's not constructive, just childish and boorish.
***
According to Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue (which apparently makes a great Christmas gift), she felt sorry for Katie Couric:
Nicolle went on to explain that Katie really needed a career boost.
“She just has such low self-esteem,” Nicolle said. She added that Katie was
going through a tough time. “She just feels she can’t trust anybody.”
I was thinking, And this has to do with John McCain’s campaign
how?
Nicolle said. “She wants you to like her.”
Hearing all that, I almost started to feel sorry for her. Katie had
tried to make a bold move from lively morning gal to serious anchor, but the new
assignment wasn’t going very well.
If I was Katie Couric, I would thank Sarah Palin for her pity, call it ice cream and ask for seconds. As powered up the light of the yellow sun as she is, Mrs. Palin still finds time to be gracious.
You can see more from this amazing site here.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
We Shall Remember Them
I took these photos when in Ottawa this past summer. I apologise if they seem skewed somehow but given that may have been taken in dimly-lit areas, from moving vehicles or in the crooks of tourists' elbows, I tried my best.
The first photo is of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The remaining photos were taken at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa which I strongly recommend you visit if are ever in Ottawa.
The remaining photos were taken at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa which I strongly recommend you visit if are ever in Ottawa.
From the top:
-a photo of a photo of nurses serving in Korea
-a plaque dedicated to James Doohan (God rest his Enterprise-fixing soul)
-ration cards in an era of "waste not, want not", symbols of a culture geared towards national service
- a war poster
-black servicemen in a foxhole during the First World War
- to Lt. N.H. Pawley
-a memorial stone
-a propaganda poster for the Boer War
-a depiction of a gas attack during the First World War
-marching to war
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Stuff About the Things
The House of Representatives, failing to heed the warning of Canada's disastrous "universal" health-care plan (for example, OHIP, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, only covers seventy percent of what one might pay for hospital care) passed a bill that would purportedly give Americans a public health-care plan. It must, however, go through the Senate.
And there's the rub.
The abortion language in the bill is too strong for some.
From the article (emphasis mine):
The standing bill really isn't prohibitive of abortion at all and still sticks tax-payers with the bill. Nevertheless, some are quite displeased:
It would be quite laughable if it wasn't so serious. The basic right to life for all humans and the right to autonomy are so far removed from the liberal mind because they are not getting their way. The people who would defeat Obama's incredibly expensive socialist plan are the same people who would support it in the first place. It's like watching sharks eat the carcass of another shark.
Back to Obama's expensive plan...
As was stated before, the plan costs $1.1 trillion USD. There are 307,904,351 people in the United States as of this posting with an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, 54.4 disabled persons, about 31.5 million retired workers and the number of elementary school age children was 36 million as of 2008. The number of people with health insurance increased slightly in 2008 to 255.1 million in 2008 and those who had governmental health insurance numbered at 87.4 million. The unemployment rate stands at 10.2 % as of this posting.
Canada's population now stands at 33,739,900 (Alberta experienced the fastest demographic growth) with Ontario being the most populous.
Despite common beliefs, Canada's health-care is neither free nor is it universal. We are taxed for it. The government accounts for seventy percent of health-care coverage while private insurance for dental care and drugs covers the remaining thirty percent. As one can see, the latter does not count as universal. Many provinces charge premiums or user fees (though user fees are supposed to be prohibited under the Canada Health Act). As of 2008, the provincial spending rate per person in Ontario was $3,270.
An overview of the Canada Health Act.
Despite increased awareness of wait times, waiting for essential services has decreased only slightly. One in five Canadians have no regular doctor. Let's not forget the dire situation of emergency rooms around the country and the care one is expected to receive. One court ruling found that an ER doctor was not expected to have any more or less knowledge than the average family physician in an emergency setting and it was for this reason the doctor in question was not responsible for a death. It sounds like civil servants looking after civil servants. Even Europe, Obama's grand template, leads over Canada's health-care system.
I personally know how abysmal emergency room treatment can be (apparently it's acceptable to make people waiting on gurneys for three days with pneumonia or broken ribs, for nurses to shout at patients and their families, for elderly cancer patients to wait and never be referred to specialists) and how universal standards are not applied across the country making it difficult for a trained Canadian (or Commonwealth) medical practitioner to practice in another part of the country. How dispensing over-the-counter cold medicines or delivering babies differs in time zones I am unsure but this raises a particular predicament: will each state prohibit a medical practitioner from practicing in another part of the country?
We are buckling under the system right now. How can the US, with its massive debt, high unemployment, unemployable populaces and high cost of living, adopt and make work a system that it's own neighbour has trouble maintaining?
Speaking of doctors:
A doctor who said cancer rates were higher in a small aboriginal community downstream of Alberta's oil sands made misleading and inaccurate statements and obstructed Health Canada and the Alberta Cancer Board in their efforts to investigate his claims, the College of Physicians and Surgeons has concluded.
You mean to tell me that a Canadian doctor lied about cancer rates in order to make a point (I'm sure now to be invalid) about the Alberta tar sands? Isn't there a Hippocratic Oath or just plain decency to prevent that kind of political treachery?
Life, as we suspected, was horrible behind the Berlin Wall. Good thing it came down.
And Obama makes some blithering statement about an obviously motivated individual who deliberately killed thirteen people.
And now, the Matrix as it might have been.
And there's the rub.
The abortion language in the bill is too strong for some.
From the article (emphasis mine):
President Barack Obama is facing a potential mutiny among liberal Democrats
in Congress over a US$1.1-trillion health care bill that
includes new restrictions on abortion in the United States.
The House bill would prohibit coverage of abortion services under a new
government-run public insurance plan except in case of incest, rape or
life-threatening situations. That language reflects existing U.S. health
care law.
But the legislation also bars individuals from purchasing
private insurance that covers abortion if they receive a government subsidy to make health coverage affordable.
About 85% of private insurance plans in the U.S. currently cover
abortion.
The standing bill really isn't prohibitive of abortion at all and still sticks tax-payers with the bill. Nevertheless, some are quite displeased:
Instead, the anti-abortion amendment "represents an unprecedented and
unacceptable restriction on women's ability to access the full range of
reproductive health services to which they are lawfully entitled," Ms. DeGette
wrote in a letter signed by 40 other Democrats. "We will not vote for a
[final bill] that contains language that restricts women's right to choose any further than current law."
It would be quite laughable if it wasn't so serious. The basic right to life for all humans and the right to autonomy are so far removed from the liberal mind because they are not getting their way. The people who would defeat Obama's incredibly expensive socialist plan are the same people who would support it in the first place. It's like watching sharks eat the carcass of another shark.
Back to Obama's expensive plan...
As was stated before, the plan costs $1.1 trillion USD. There are 307,904,351 people in the United States as of this posting with an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, 54.4 disabled persons, about 31.5 million retired workers and the number of elementary school age children was 36 million as of 2008. The number of people with health insurance increased slightly in 2008 to 255.1 million in 2008 and those who had governmental health insurance numbered at 87.4 million. The unemployment rate stands at 10.2 % as of this posting.
Canada's population now stands at 33,739,900 (Alberta experienced the fastest demographic growth) with Ontario being the most populous.
Despite common beliefs, Canada's health-care is neither free nor is it universal. We are taxed for it. The government accounts for seventy percent of health-care coverage while private insurance for dental care and drugs covers the remaining thirty percent. As one can see, the latter does not count as universal. Many provinces charge premiums or user fees (though user fees are supposed to be prohibited under the Canada Health Act). As of 2008, the provincial spending rate per person in Ontario was $3,270.
An overview of the Canada Health Act.
Despite increased awareness of wait times, waiting for essential services has decreased only slightly. One in five Canadians have no regular doctor. Let's not forget the dire situation of emergency rooms around the country and the care one is expected to receive. One court ruling found that an ER doctor was not expected to have any more or less knowledge than the average family physician in an emergency setting and it was for this reason the doctor in question was not responsible for a death. It sounds like civil servants looking after civil servants. Even Europe, Obama's grand template, leads over Canada's health-care system.
I personally know how abysmal emergency room treatment can be (apparently it's acceptable to make people waiting on gurneys for three days with pneumonia or broken ribs, for nurses to shout at patients and their families, for elderly cancer patients to wait and never be referred to specialists) and how universal standards are not applied across the country making it difficult for a trained Canadian (or Commonwealth) medical practitioner to practice in another part of the country. How dispensing over-the-counter cold medicines or delivering babies differs in time zones I am unsure but this raises a particular predicament: will each state prohibit a medical practitioner from practicing in another part of the country?
We are buckling under the system right now. How can the US, with its massive debt, high unemployment, unemployable populaces and high cost of living, adopt and make work a system that it's own neighbour has trouble maintaining?
Speaking of doctors:
A doctor who said cancer rates were higher in a small aboriginal community downstream of Alberta's oil sands made misleading and inaccurate statements and obstructed Health Canada and the Alberta Cancer Board in their efforts to investigate his claims, the College of Physicians and Surgeons has concluded.
You mean to tell me that a Canadian doctor lied about cancer rates in order to make a point (I'm sure now to be invalid) about the Alberta tar sands? Isn't there a Hippocratic Oath or just plain decency to prevent that kind of political treachery?
Life, as we suspected, was horrible behind the Berlin Wall. Good thing it came down.
And Obama makes some blithering statement about an obviously motivated individual who deliberately killed thirteen people.
And now, the Matrix as it might have been.
Monday, November 09, 2009
November 9th
On this day in 1989, Germans, separated by a gigantic wall built by the communists, started to crumble the Berlin Wall into pieces. Nearly a year later, there was a formal reunification of Germany.
It was a bizarre yet hopeful time. I imagine living in East Germany (how droll that sounds these days!) was horrifying, as it was living anywhere in the Eastern Bloc. Not being able to go anywhere or do anything without being watched by some malevolent government just freezes my nerves. That changed with a few hammers and millions of people thirsty for a chance at a normal life.
Forget Gorbachev and the other communist octopi. They were never the real characters who mattered in this drama. It was the Reagans, the Pope John Pauls, the Lech Walesas and- in this case- the Germans who stand out.
You can't keep walls up forever.
Check these photos out.
It was a bizarre yet hopeful time. I imagine living in East Germany (how droll that sounds these days!) was horrifying, as it was living anywhere in the Eastern Bloc. Not being able to go anywhere or do anything without being watched by some malevolent government just freezes my nerves. That changed with a few hammers and millions of people thirsty for a chance at a normal life.
Forget Gorbachev and the other communist octopi. They were never the real characters who mattered in this drama. It was the Reagans, the Pope John Pauls, the Lech Walesas and- in this case- the Germans who stand out.
You can't keep walls up forever.
Check these photos out.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
While No One Was Looking...
Mr. and Mrs. Bush (of the White House fame) quietly visited the patients at Darnall Army Medical Center after having been shot by a crazed individual.
I'll let others assign blame instead of facing an enormous societal problem and doing something constructive about it.
I'll let others assign blame instead of facing an enormous societal problem and doing something constructive about it.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Must-See
I am very intrigued to see how this turns out. Martin Scorsese is making a movie about the Japanese martyrs. The movie will be called "Silence". I'm stoked to see what he does with the subject matter.
Some info on the martyrs.
Some info on Shusako Endo and the novel upon which the movie is based.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
China's Filthy Present
The same government that oppresses its own people, builds up a massive army and backs Stalinist North Korea leaves its own landmass a filthy, unlivable wasteland.
Do yourselves, your kids and the Chinese a favour and don't buy any products made in China. I don't like harping on things but this is an exception (at least one of them!)
Hippie-crites
Ha! See what I did there? I made the word "hypocrites" look like "hippies" and....
It doesn't matter.
Just feast your eyes on the hypocrisy of the earth-lovers.
This rubbish was left behind in Tasmania by activists hoping to put a stop to the timber industry there. Please see here.
Isn't leaving garbage in a delicate ecosystem "ungreen"?
Low Expectations
Remember when Obama was elected and everyone (and by everyone I mean only the people naive enough to believe he had the qualifications to lead the free world) thought things were going to be okay?
Then- slowly- people began to realise that character and experience do count when electing a leader.
And now: Obama love-in has little impact on how Canadians view Americans, poll finds
Join with me now: aaaaawwwww......
First of all, let me point that I never thought he would even be appropriate as one of those page-boys that adjusted Ted Kennedy's foot-stool the second he promised to meet Iran- the same Iran that threatened to wipe Israel off the map- without pre-conditions. Anyone who thinks they can just talk to dictators who starve and threaten their own people is either naive or just evil. Yes- evil. There is sufficient moral reason not to trade, bargain or coddle with totalitarian regimes no matter how sunny their vacation spots or cheap their goods.
Secondly, how many Canadians actually like Obama? I don't. Many other Canadians don't. What's to like? Obama's protectionist policies (Buy American and the carbon tax) could dry up Canada's economy. Why would our neighbour and trading partner put enormous financial strain on us? No doubt, he- like other American celebrities- like the idea of Canada but won't tolerate its standing up for itself.
The disconnect from the previous administration and the relentless campaigning of the current one hasn't even mollified the most virulent anti-Americanists. I don't mean Canadians whose experiences with Americans has been poor but those who haven't even set foot in the US or met any Americans. Envy, nationalism, righteous indignation- whatever the reason for some Canadians to hate America and define our national identity on it cannot be assuaged by the election of an empty suit. People should be judged by what they hate and not by what they love. If someone loved peace more than war, we would see peace. Instead, we see discord and irrational hatred of a more powerful nation, one that has the guts to be a republic.
I argue it wouldn't matter who was elected. Those who are determined to hate the US will hate it no matter how socialist or naive (or how conservative and cautious) the candidate is.
Just note that this is yet another fallacy in the Obama myth.
Then- slowly- people began to realise that character and experience do count when electing a leader.
And now: Obama love-in has little impact on how Canadians view Americans, poll finds
Join with me now: aaaaawwwww......
First of all, let me point that I never thought he would even be appropriate as one of those page-boys that adjusted Ted Kennedy's foot-stool the second he promised to meet Iran- the same Iran that threatened to wipe Israel off the map- without pre-conditions. Anyone who thinks they can just talk to dictators who starve and threaten their own people is either naive or just evil. Yes- evil. There is sufficient moral reason not to trade, bargain or coddle with totalitarian regimes no matter how sunny their vacation spots or cheap their goods.
Secondly, how many Canadians actually like Obama? I don't. Many other Canadians don't. What's to like? Obama's protectionist policies (Buy American and the carbon tax) could dry up Canada's economy. Why would our neighbour and trading partner put enormous financial strain on us? No doubt, he- like other American celebrities- like the idea of Canada but won't tolerate its standing up for itself.
The disconnect from the previous administration and the relentless campaigning of the current one hasn't even mollified the most virulent anti-Americanists. I don't mean Canadians whose experiences with Americans has been poor but those who haven't even set foot in the US or met any Americans. Envy, nationalism, righteous indignation- whatever the reason for some Canadians to hate America and define our national identity on it cannot be assuaged by the election of an empty suit. People should be judged by what they hate and not by what they love. If someone loved peace more than war, we would see peace. Instead, we see discord and irrational hatred of a more powerful nation, one that has the guts to be a republic.
I argue it wouldn't matter who was elected. Those who are determined to hate the US will hate it no matter how socialist or naive (or how conservative and cautious) the candidate is.
Just note that this is yet another fallacy in the Obama myth.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Halloween Week: Coda
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door...
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away
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