Do you want to talk to Bubbie?

Ah, the innocence of children.  That's what B's grandson asked him on the phone from Houston yesterday.  "No thank you," B replied.  "Bubbie" is his ex-wife (why this ultra-wasp uses the Jewish term for "grandmother", I have no clue?  Must be ordinary, garden variety contrariness. )  Their divorce was as ugly as any in history, which is why we have made it a point for many years to never, ever speak.   

All I say is thank God we no longer live in the same city or part of the country as this person.  Keeping B's last name meant Ottawa was like an in-grown toenail because we were always bumping into people who would ask if we were related to her?  "No relation," is what I would reply; saved a lot of b-llsh-t.

Why divorces have to be so ugly is a mystery?  Oh yes, it's because someone wants more money, or wants to deny the other parent access.  So, whenever you hear the term "ugly divorce", you know it's about $$$$$. 

Seriously?

So annoying.  The channels that have that ridiculous audio description of everything happening.  "A man walks into the room; a woman turns her head."  Seriously!?  Apparently such descriptions are for blind people.  Whaaaaaaat??!!

My question is:  How can blind people "watch" TV?

The reason I have blogged this, instead of just making a comment on facebook, is that some of my "friends" would be offended.  Hey, I am not decrying the blind, just wondering how they can possibly "watch" TV and expect everyone else to listen to these distracting descriptions?  Thankfully, my tech-savvy son is here from Toronto and disabled this annoying "feature". 



   

Finally happened

I went to someone's house and was told I could not wear my high heels!  Really?!  "The floors can't take it," said our otherwise very gracious host.  I love these people, but to have floors one can't wear shoes on baffles me?! 

So, my lovely outfit was incomplete because I spent the evening in stocking feet.  You know me, I always say shoes make the outfit, so mine didn't work.  Call me a self-centred loser, but I am too old to change and besides, I love my high heels.

$6K later

"The furnace is making weird sounds?" I said to B yesterday.  Then it quit altogether.  Perfect timing.  But only in Canada could I call a repair company and have it done and installed the next day, which was today.  Yep, a new furnace costs $6,000, folks!  Unfortunately, we didn't have that kind of change lying around in the kitchen drawer!?  A word of warning:  Even though I am probably the only Calgarian who regularly changes the filter, it still quit. 

I was grateful it hadn't given up the ghost two days later, and we do get a provincial rebate of $1,500 for the super-efficiency one just installed, but that was still a huge chunk of dough.  Ah well, it's only money, or as I always say, "It's not cancer, so shut up."

Merry Christmas!         

Smart guy

"I am part of the problem," wrote film director Morgan Spurlock in a blog post the other day.  The Globe and Mail carried some of it and either this guy is very smart, very crafty or both.  Apparently, the director of 'Super Size Me' was, to say the least, very naughty with women during what he said had been a long history of sexual misconduct against classmates, co-workers and two wives.  So, he decided to come clean before anyone outed him. 

"As I sit around watching hero after hero, man after man, fall at the realization of their past indiscretions, I don't sit by and wonder who will be next?  I wonder when they will come for me?" he wrote.  I can't blindly act as though I didn't somehow play a part in this.  Over my life, there have been many instances that parallel what we see every day in the news," he confessed. 

He recounts one instance in college where he coerced a co-ed to have sex, even though she said no.  When she began to cry, he stopped, believing she was OK.  "She believe she had been raped," he writes.  In another, he paid off a female assistant he had called "hot pants" and "sex pants" because, "I paid for peace of mind.  I paid for her silence and co-operation, but most of all, I paid so I could remain who I was."

Reaction was swift and varied.  Some thought him brave, others honest, but many didn't feel he deserved any praise.  "Morgan Spurlock is not brave, he's trying to get ahead of the story and give you a reason, so when you hear about how garbage he is, you think of the reason," comedian Peter Coffin wrote on Twitter.  "Opportunistic," was how someone described him.  Someone else said, "He's still bad and I want him to go away."

I still think it was a craftier move than waiting for the myriad of shoes to drop and then denying everything.  That never works. 

What peace process?

The hullaballoo in Israel about Jerusalem's now being the official capital is laughable.  "It will impede the peace process," said someone-or-other.  All I can say is, what peace process?  Never going to happen.  One of my closest friends from our university days moved to Jerusalem almost 50 years ago, so if anyone knows what's going on it's she. 

"Unofficially, Jerusalem has been the capital for 3,000 years," she wrote me the other day.  "Mostly it just provoked the Palestinians into violent demonstrations and kept the army and police busy.  Just another reason to demonstrate.  Neither side really wants to sit down at the negotiating table.  In order to hold political power, both need to incite against the other because both will need to give up more than they want and take less than they promised.  The old guard has to die off before there's any hope," she concluded. 

Maybe she's right, but I doubt it.  Palestinian mothers raise their children to hate Israelis; not sure how Israeli mothers handle it?  Mothers have a huge responsibility in all this, but no one ever mentions it.  I also think the tons of too-much, super-strong coffee they drink doesn't help.  (I'm serious about that last sentence, by the way.) 
___________________________________________________

But what I really want to talk about is Beverly McLachlin.  Adrienne Clarkson, a previous GG, wrote a worship-piece in the Globe and Mail the other day and it's nauseating in its fawning.  "What you've always been able to do, my dear Chief Justice, is to(sic) make us understand as Canadians that the Supreme Court is not only a superbly important Canadian institution, but(sic) it has(sic) a dramatic impact on all of our lives.  It is a guarantor of our democratic process.  You in your 28 years on the Court have embodied this."  (Note:  Clarkson went to the same high school as I, one of the best in the country, but sadly, she cannot write.)

Basically, Clarkson is lauding herself as a superb Canadian pioneer and leader, something with which I beg to differ.  In my view, McLachlin thought she was making law, instead of interpreting it.  Laws are made by Parliament, not the Supreme Court.  The new Chief Justice is the son of Claude Wagner, one of the toughest politicians ever to hit the Quebec legislature.  I just hope his head isn't as big as McLachlin's. 

That's why

Before I get started on "That's why", I just want to say that Hilary Clinton's book, 'What Happened' should contain two words:  "You lost."  What else is there to say?!?  The Clinton's and Obama's spent 16 years in the White House and did nothing.  They stalled everything they had promised, but did nothing.  Frankly, if Trump ran again today, he'd win. 

What I really want to talk about is the appalling agenda Trudeau has set for our county's upcoming G7 presidency.  Our ridiculous PM has said that he will focus on....wait for it.....sit down......hydrate....:

• gender equality
• climate change
• oceans and clean energy
• economic growth that works for everyone
• preparing for jobs of the future, and
• building a more peaceful and secure world.

Firstly, economic growth can never work for everyone.  It's a zero-sum game, there are winners and losers.  Remember that saying, "The poor will always be with us"?  Economically, the poor are essential to any economy.  I mean, if you quit school at 15, you're doomed to poverty and jobs that need to be done no one wants to do.  And if you have a kid at 14 or 15, you are also doomed to poverty, selfishly sharing the dismal state with your kids -- probably from different fathers. 

It's all so sad and it's the reason Canada will never be taken seriously on the world stage.  We're a laughing stock, we have neither army nor navy for Gawd's sake! 

Trudeau, a self-identified "feminist" (seriously?), is going to spend $650 million over three years on sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide, including contraception, sex education and legal abortion.  Here's a bulletin:  The countries where this is a problem will never spend the money on those issues; male domination and rape are the accepted norm in the very countries he thinks he will "help".

Not going to do a thing.

 "The G7 is about building consensus and moving forward together, but it's also about making sure people hear loudly and clearly what our own priorities are.  And that's why we're going to keep talking about the environment and about how important it is to fight climate change," Trudeau said.

OMG!  How delusional can anyone be?  A trust-fund kid, our hapless PM will never get the reality in which most of the world exists. 

Seriously?!

So, veterans want cash for life for serving two years...somewhere.  Really?  And those who pocketed a lump sum of $200 K are also demanding the monthly stipend being offered those who didn't get it. 

It's insane.  Here's the deal.  You only go into the army if you can't get any other job.  The lower ranks are usually unskilled people who are hard-pressed to find other employment.  They need to get out of their parents' basement, so they join the infantry.  Sorry to be so blunt, but them's the facts, folks.  I mean, why would you go into the army as a foot soldier with a good chance of dying if you could get any other employment?  To enjoy Afghanistan and Bosnia?  Hardly. 

Just watched a guy crying on 'Power Play' about how he needs a lifetime pension.  I had to work for 40 years to get one; two years doesn't really cut it.  But vets have an aura, thanks only to people such as my father-in-law, his brothers and my uncle who served with distinction.  One of them died at 24.  Those who survived received small pensions, but then went out and got jobs.  They thought their lot a good one. 

And as to PTSD, that's what the legions were for.  That's where the vets met comrades, shared stories and hoisted a few just to get through the day.  B's uncle suffered all his life with malaria and assorted other maladies, but he worked hard and never complained.

In Canada, everyone wants a big handout.     

Lots of money there

I know where Trudeau and Morneau could find a lot of money.  All they have to do is not allow the Athabaska Chipewyan people to keep the money they take every year from five oil companies (see "All Yap, no facts", 12-01-2017).  Are you sitting down?  Chief Allan Adam pockets $250 million a year from Syncrude, Suncor, Cenovus, Husky and Esso.  And I am sure he is not the only one doing this. 

Yep, that's right $250 million!  Hey Mr. Morneau, do the math! 

Apparently, the money is to permit these oil companies to pass over "their" land.  But guess what, it's not native land, it's Crown land and legally all monies should go to the feds.

But of course it won't.  These are readily-available facts for anyone to look up at the touch of a keyboard, but for some reason, no one wants to expose this scam because it's a native one.  So, this government is hosing small business owners and the middle class instead of enforcing the law and getting rightful royalties.

All so wrong.   

You can't get one in Houston

I'm talking about a "Caesar", you can only get a "Bloody Mary" and no one has ever heard of the former.  Told one barman about how good they are and he googled it.  "I'm going to try this out here," he said, surprised to learn it had been invented in Canada. 

Just back from a five-day visit to Houston, where we spent time with the grands and my stepdaughter to celebrate her birthday.  You cannot get a sense of the devastation she and her family have suffered until you walk into their house.  The entire first floor and everything in it is gone and they have to completely re-build.  I'm talkin' walls, floors, electrical, plumbing, furniture, rugs and appliances.  They have nothing left.  Were it me, I'd probably cry all day, but she is a very positive woman, so I mucked in with that personality so the kids wouldn't freak.  They have been troopers, but we took them with us to our hotel for the weekend to give the parents a break. 

In her neighbourhood, people have gone all out with lights -- flood wreckage or not.  It was very heartening.  Settling into the plane on the way there, the captain came on and said, "Good morning, this is Captain Jamie Roth speaking, welcome aboard."  "We know that guy," I said to B.  "He's that ironman friend of our daughter and son-in-law.  They're neighbours and we met them at a barbeque last summer in Cochrane."  I knew he was a WestJet pilot, but I didn't expect to be on one of his flights.  After introducing ourselves to the flight attendant, we were pleased he came out to chat a bit. 

"It's only harassment if I work for you," said a very handsome Milt Stegall look-alike I had complimented in the lobby.  "Would it be harassment if I told you how gorgeous you are?" I had asked.  So, I guess I was off the hook on that one.  When people found out we were from Canada, we were credited with bringing snow to Houston for the first time in eight years.  People went crazy! 

We attended a beautiful mass at a huge local church, St. John Vianney.  It is always so packed, they need police to direct traffic for every mass!  The pastor gave a fabulous homily lamenting the demise and denial of Christmas in this secular world.

"These are strange times," he wrote in the bulletin.  "I recently read that groups of atheists and satanists were demanding to erect monuments to Satan in public spaces and their requests were approved!  All this at the same time the Archdiocese of Washington was prohibited from purchasing advertising on the D.C. metro system encouraging people to go to church at Christmas!  Religious observance by Christians is mocked and scorned, while mass shootings are lamented.  The world has indeed gone mad!" 

Indeed it has, when it comes to celebrating Christmas.  Sad state of affairs.

The Houston grands







You know me...

...and what I think hair says about our personalities, so naturally I have already formed an opinion of the new dyed-blonde justice, Sheila Martin.  Not only does dyed-blonde hair define a young woman's personality, it is also a bizarre statement for a 60-year-old to make.  What is a woman of her age doing with hair like that?

Tells me she is very concerned about her hair and about trying to look younger.  At a certain point, a woman has to cut her hair.  When your face and hair don't match, you look even older.

 



 

What a disaster

Having worked directly for ministers of The Crown, I cannot understand why the PM was hustled off to China with a buggered-up and unknown agenda??!!  B also worked for Trudeau's father and was incredulous that the outcome was not clear before junior stepped on the plane??!! 

There is no way a prime minister should ever be put in the position of being seen as having failed on a trade mission.  Or on any mission, for that matter.  What the eff was the problem with the advance staff work?  It's definitely a firing offence for John Mccallum, the current ambassador to China who did not do his job by letting the PM stumble into this mess and humiliate Canada.  I do remember Mccallum's having had an "over-refreshed" problem a few years ago.  Was this a repeat performance and he didn't do his job?  Just sayin'............. 

Speaking of ministers who should be fired, Kent Hehr and Bill Morneau are right up there.  With this trade debacle, Freeland is also at the head of the line.  She is incapable of negotiating NAFTA.  Will never be a win for Canada.  And Hehr dressing down and blaming thalidomide victims!?  Seriously.  Was he "over-refreshed" at the time?

God help us all.  Can we impeach this PM?  Please..........someone.
  

Flirting

"Hey, "D", has anyone charged you with criminal flirting yet?" I said this morning to a guy I swim with.  A large-animal vet and industry leader, this guy is a world-class flirt.  Frankly, I think he is the cat's meow.  Middle-aged and still very handsome, he is not only charming, but also outrageous.  Frankly, I told him, I am flattered you flirt so well, but don't try it on any young women.  They won't appreciate it like I do.

When I say "outrageous", I mean outrageous.  He says graphic things to women he likes that are beyond belief, but it's pretty innocent in my view because he's such a gentleman.  In fact, if D flirts with you, you're OK.  It's actually a compliment 'cause he doesn't flirt with just anyone.  The first time I met him in the lanes, he asked if I were stalking him.  "No, but I will if you want," I replied.  We both laughed and it's continued from there. 

But not anymore -- although I told him to keep it up with me.  We'll see.  But it's all so sad, now that even good-natured flirting is being outlawed.  I feel sorry for young men today because no one will be having any innocent fun in the workplace, thanks to the real bums who took it too far.

Sexual assault and harassment are crimes; flirting was fun. 

    



 

This is a problem

With everyone tumbling out of the woodwork about having been sexually harassed or assaulted, we still have a problem.  Women continue to portray themselves in sexual ways and then wonder why men night want to have a go at them?  I know it's not politically correct, but if you dress provocatively, don't be surprised if a man flirts with, or propositions, you. 

Here's a picture from 'The Herald' today promoting an upcoming Christmas special.  Might as well have been out of the fifties:


Note the scanty outfits.  Just sayin........ 

 

But I have to say, I am glad people such as Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose are getting the heave-ho.  They have been getting away with sexual "murder" for years, so it looks good on them.  No one more self-satisfied than Charlie -- even though I did enjoy his guests.  Of course, it's all about power and those two have (or had) it.  I bet a lot of men are hiding under the bed, waiting for the other shoe to drop! 

Here's a guy who might regret his hug, but see how adoringly she gazes at him.  Go figure!?

This is the mayor of Tampa, congratulating a police officer.  Oops!

   



What's the point?

I was just upbraided by a fellow, unknown-to-me member of the Retired HQs CRA facebook group for posting a comment about what I thought about the ridiculousness of the agency now targeting rich neighbourhoods to see if people are cheating on their taxes.  I think it's crazy that with all the data we have, we are forced to resort to peeking into people's garages to see what kind of cars they are driving, or checking marinas to see if they have a yacht, to surmise if they might be avoiding tax.  I said I thought whoever was advising the minister should be fired.  And that's exactly what I think. 

With all the data we collect and with all the numbers we import from StatsCan, we now have to rely on postal codes and snooping to find out what's going on?  Frankly, the CRA needs to close the legal loopholes these people are using, instead of stalking neighbourhoods and spying on people. 

I was very proud of having been a part of the Canada Revenue Agency and it upsets me to see it trashed and ridiculed in the House of Commons and public thoroughfare.  But apparently, opinions are against the group's rules, so I have left.  Thanks to whoever put me into it in the first place, but what is the point of any group if members can't comment?  If it's just about who died, who went on vacation, who played golf and who retired, no thanks.   

A very costly arbitrary word

This letter went into 'The Calgary Herald' today and since I have no clue how to send links, I am re-posting it:

"Dear Editor,

"The issue about who is, or is not, Metis lies in the constitutionally-vague definition of the term.  A Metis is described very broadly as a person who is descended from mixed native and European blood, but it can also mean people who have lived among Metis, married into the society, are accepted by the community or self-identify as Metis.  This is what the Supreme Court ruled in 2003 and it can also include “non-status Indians”. 

Just to further complicate matters, one of the drafters of the Constitution Act of 1982 added the term “Metis” at the last minute to have it ready for the Queen to sign when she was here in 1982.  Because of the urgency, no one correctly calculated the downstream impacts of adding Metis to the document.

 "With the financial implications for 600,000 people, no wonder it’s become such an issue.

 

"Nancy Marley-Clarke"

 

The arbitrariness of it all is simply breathtaking!  The guy who just threw the word "Metis" into the mix was a New Zealander who came on secondment and went like the wind, leaving an unholy mess in his wake.  A champion and scholar of the Maori people, he thought he'd solve the same problems for Canada.  But all he did was cost us millions.  The reason I know this is because B was also part of the constitutional team and argued against it at the time.  But seriously, it was all rushed so it would be ready when Her Majesty arrived to sign.  

That's the kind of mess you can create by trying to be a hero.  Dumb.   

 

Pregnant and penalized

If you want to have a career and children, get ready to be penalized.  The problem is both biological and profession years bump up against each other:  Female biological and reproductive functions are at their prime at exactly the same time. 

This happened to me when I was pregnant with my son in 1975 and up for a promotion at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.  I won the job, but when they found out I was pregnant, they cancelled the competition and a few months later appointed the guy who had come second.  The next time it happened, I was pregnant for my daughter and had to wear baggy clothes and walk around with files and envelopes covering my belly because again, I was up for a promotion. 

Didn't get it when they found out.

When I worked for DuPont of Canada long before all that, I went to a reception in Toronto and chatted with the then-president, Bob Richardson.  I told him it was too bad women were penalized for bearing the biological function of having children.  He scoffed, brushed me off and walked off.  Guess his wife was a stay-at-home.

With Trudeau apologizing to anyone and everyone for everything, he should apologize to all pregnant women in the workforce who were effed back then.  Now everyone gets a year off and maternity and paternity benefits, but back then I lost my job, had to go on unemployment and did not get my job back.  That was a bit of a sacrifice, I'd say, to come back to work after six months and find someone else sitting in your office.  My question is, why should all the natives and LGBTQs get an apology?  We mothers, who reproduce and contribute to the next generation, should get an apology too.  

But we won't.  Trudeau's wife is set for life; so many mothers aren't.  That must be how he views life.  But, that's the way it was and still is.  Women have a small window to reproduce, yet are penalized. 

Outrageous, but as a grandmother I am so happy I took the penalty.  I still had a great career, albeit with less money.  Money can't replace the joy I have with the wee ones.  All I can say to working women is hang in there and work, but have a kid or two.    

Last time I checked....

....December 25th was Christmas.  It wasn't "Holiday Day" or "Seasonal Day", it was Christmas Day.  Every year this bugs the sh-t out of me and it's doing it again this year.  Why in G-d's name do we have to do away with the term "Christmas"?  Because some people don't celebrate it?

Bullsh-t.  I'm surprised 'A Christmas Carol' hasn't been banned!  And 'Handel's Messiah' must be another sacrilege that should never be heard in the multi-cultural public thoroughfare.   

People have no problem with actual Muslim, Hindu and Jewish days being celebrated -- in fact they're publicized all over the place.  So why are Christians disenfranchised?!  And why do we put up with it?  When I was a kid, Christmas was Christmas and those who didn't celebrate stayed home, or joined in to support those who did.  Remember Nativity Plays at schools and churches?  Whatever happened to them?  It's complete bullsh-t and I'm sick of it.

What I remember is that the Jewish kids in my classes took their own holidays off, but they took Christmas as well.  I also remember asking a Hindu colleague of mine if she would be at work on December 25th.  She laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea.

It's time for those of us who celebrate Christmas and love Jesus to stand up and be counted.  Here's the button I wear every year:

   

    

     

Here's the deal......again

So, a native grandmother, testifying at the MMIWG inquiry says social services failed her family.  Really?  How about you failed your family.  Firstly, her 21-year-old daughter was found dead in a dumpster in 2013.  Why was she wandering the streets of Regina?  Yep, a drug-addicted street prostitute. 

The year before, her four-year-old granddaughter had died of a heart attack because relatives -- in whose care she had been placed in the wildly-unsuccessful and tragic native kinship foster care program -- starved her to death.  Why was the child placed in the first place?  We all know the answer to that one.

Another grandson was left motherless after another death and this grandmother took him in.  But guess what?  "Social services failed her family."  It's all so outrageous.  "Make sure these workers are educated on our history, our background, inter-generational effects.  Make sure the workers understand this, get to the background of why these kids are in care," she added, unhelpfully.  If your kids are in care, look in the mirror.

To blame "the system" is unconscionable.  But that's what this whole inquiry charade is about.  Your tax dollars at work -- not.

On another note, Harrison Thunderchild has taken his band chiefs to court to be allowed to see what's going on with the money.  Good on him.  "I don't consider myself an activist.  I consider myself a concerned person who's been driven to a point where I can no longer remain silent," he said.  Stephen Harper introduced the First Nations Financial Transparency Act in 2013, but guess what?  First nations don't like it and many don't comply.  No kidding.  Every other body receiving public funds must release audited figures, but the natives don't want to.  Wonder why?

And good on Charmaine Stick, a member of the Onion Lake Cree who last year won a court order requiring her band to disclose basic financial statements.  Hasn't happened yet because -- surprise! surprise! -- the band is appealing. 

With the billions we're talking, natives need to hold their own leaders to account.  Not the rest of us. 

Africa, a stupid continent

There is no such thing as democracy in the entire continent of Africa.  Why?  Because it's all tribal.  Finally, Mugabe has been ousted from Zimbabwe (formerly known as Rhodesia when everything worked better under British rule.)  Naturally, as in every other case, the military had to do it -- never mind that annoying encumbrance known as "parliament", with its annoying voting and such.  No, tanks had to roll in to get the bum out.

But guess what will happen now?  The military will rule for a while and then another leader will be "democratically" elected who will be yet another dictator.  That's just the way it works in Africa:  dictator, military coup, leader....dictator, military coup, leader....dictator, military coup, leader.....and on and on.

Same thing in all the "stans", i.e., Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kurdistan, Uzbekistan.....whatever.  It's tribal and brutal and G-d help you if you're a woman.  And when I think of all the lives uselessly lost in various ridiculous wars in those places, it makes me weep.  I was once upbraided by a self-exiled African at a cocktail party for pointing out that his whole native continent was "tribal".  He took great offence, but I added, "If it were so wonderful and democratic and parliamentary back there, why are you still here 50 years after you left 'temporarily' for an education?  Why aren't you back there improving your country?" 

Didn't go over too well.  Ah well, the ugly stench of truth......

Nimby-ism

That's today's watchword.  Now the Stoney Lakoda "Nation" want everything re-named with Indian names here in Alberta.  Really??!!  Calgary, the Bow River, Canmore -- you name it -- everything must be renamed because they don't want "foreign" designations on anything in Canada anywhere near their reserve. 

Hey, if that's the case, the entire country should be "Indian".  Not gonna happen.   

Calgary was not established by the natives, but by James Macleod who named it after the Scottish town in which his sister lived.  It's bad enough idiots want to erase the name of Sir John A. Macdonald -- the Father of Confederation -- from everything because in a well-meaning move the guy tried to educate natives.  Now the demand is for everything to be re-named.  That would mean Montreal would become "Hochelaga"....and on....and on....and on.....

You can't erase history just because fashion has changed.  The revered Langevin Block, named for Hector Langevin, has now been disgracefully re-named "The Prime Minister's Office".  What a joke. 

Margaret Atwood also practices "Nimby-ism".  She recently got into a big fight with developers in Toronto who had the nerve to want to build a not-very-high highrise condo in her tony Annex neighbourhood, which would have spoiled her view.  Eff off, Ms. Atwood. 

A very "white" ceremony

Watching the Remembrance Day Service from Ottawa and it struck me.  How "white" it was.  All the vets and most attendees were white.  Why is that?  I guess we all know the answer:  Canada is a "country of convenience" for most immigrants; they don't really feel "Canadian".

How sad. 

And speaking of sad, there was our disaster of a Governor General strolling about with her son!  As I have blogged, the occupant of the office represents The Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II, who would never have brought one of her kids along when on official duty.  Ludicrous -- a 15-year-old walking the receiving line shaking hands with revered veterans!  Ludicrous.  My step-son was forced into the role of "alter husband" when B and his ex divorced.  It completely screwed him up and I see the same thing with that poor kid.  Hey, if you divorce your husband, don't co-opt your kid into being your chaperone.  You wanted to go it alone, so do. 

As a child, I remember attending the ceremony at The Cenotaph with my mother, aunts and cousins. My late Uncle Rollie was a vet and always a part of the ceremony.  The last time we took him he was very old, but gamely stood to honour his fallen comrades.  I miss him to this day.  My own father and other uncle were not permitted to join up; the former being in the midst of inventing synthetic rubber and the latter running the finance department that funded the exercise.

When our kids were little and into their teens, we always took them out of school to bring them to "Confusion Square", as my mother called it, for the service.  B's father and two uncles fought, one dying at 23 on the march to Florence. 

Watching the service today, I was reminded of my step-son, Scott Marley-Clarke (see above), who used to be proud to attend with his father.  Sadly, since he asked for yet more money last March and was finally told "no", we haven't heard a word.  It has been eight months.  I would not like to be in his shoes when his father dies because G-d help him if he shows his face at the funeral.  How you can eliminate your own father, as he has done, is beyond me.  Unforgiveable.  I would give anything to have mine back.  RIP. 

A tribute

Dear Josie, only 19 and killed herself.  She was a staff member at the Calgary Tennis Club and one of the most beautiful people inside and out, with a smile that lit up the room.  The last time I saw her was at the club's closing party a few weeks ago.  She poured me wine and was her usual, charming self.

We went to her funeral today, but who knew what lurked under the surface?  One never does.  My brother committed suicide and frankly, nothing could have stopped him.  For those who say, "spot the signs and danger signals and intervene," I say you may, but you can't stop someone who is determined to kill themselves.

Rest in Peace, dear little Josie.  xoxo

 



Yep

Me too.  When I was 12, my orthodontist, Richard B, sexually molested me.  While confined to his chair, I would recoil as his hand "slipped" farther and farther down my chest until it was resting on one of my breasts.  Panic-stricken, I tried to tell myself he hadn't done it on purpose, but he had and I knew it.  And all the while, my mother -- who thought Dr. B the most gorgeous thing ever -- was sitting blissfully unaware in his waiting room.  Did I ever tell her?  Not on your life because I assumed it was my fault for being too cute. 

Even when he would tell me to stand up against the wall, because he said he couldn't see into my mouth properly (as if!!), and pressed his groin on me I still didn't say a word to anyone.  Again, it must have been my fault. 

Years and years later, I was invited to the Britannia Yacht Club and whose picture was on the wall in all its glory?  Yep, Richard B's.  He was the Commodore and I was sorely disappointed he hadn't been there because I would have confronted him in all his public splendor.  What still amazes me is that no one has ever charged him -- at least to my knowledge -- because I could not have been the only one he had done this to?!   

With everything that's cascading out about women and girls having been assaulted, these incidents come back to me.  So too did another that took place at a cottage when I was about 20, where a young man forced himself upon me.  In spite of my protestations, he would not desist and I, not wanting to wake up his parents by making a scene, eventually succumbed.  "Don't make a scene," was the watchword back in those days.  God!

When the phone rang in my hotel room late one night in Vancouver in 1976, I sleepily picked it up.  "Could you please come to my room, I want to go over the speech," said a prominent Quebec minister in Trudeau senior's cabinet.  Turned out that wasn't what he wanted to "go over".  Having just had a baby and no job, I was freelancing as a speech writer, hoping to get a permanent placement in a government department.  Knowing this minister was key in securing me one, I had to comply.  While not technically "rape", it was not consensual.  Or maybe it was rape, even though I did not physically fight his advances.  I felt obliged to succumb because he had the power and I needed him to use it for me.  That's just the way it was.  So much for Trudeau junior's "feminist" claims.  Please.       

The next day the cottage guy and his mother were laughing uproariously about it.  A few years later, when attending a parent-teacher event, I ran into Bill M again.  He was the chair of the association -- a supposedly upstanding citizen.  What a laugh!  This time I reminded him:  "Hey Bill, remember when you raped me at your parents' cottage in 1967?"  His adoring audience was dumbstruck, as he tried to laugh it off, but you have never seen anyone run away so fast in your life.

All this to say that so many of us have been subjected to sexual assault.  The key is to not let it ruin your life.  We all need to get over ourselves and get on with it.  Never be a victim.
_______________________________________

p.s.  I don't know why I haven't used these men's last names?  I should have more courage.  Google Pierre Trudeau's minister of Supply and Services and you will find one of them.        

Give her a copy of the Canadian Constitution

I told you Julie Payette was a dumb choice for Governor General and she has proved (I meant "proven", Bob) my assessment correct.  In her first speech, she actually crapped on "believers"!  This is the representative of Her Majesty, Queen of Canada and Head of the Church of England.  Hello, last time I checked, the Queen was a devoted servant of God and defender of The Faith at all times. 

Payette has absolutely no business giving her opinion on anything.  She is a figurehead and needs to shut up and cut ribbons.  How did the hapless Trudeau pick her?  "Hey, let's pick a woman," Sophie must have said one morning in bed.  "Great idea!" Justin must have replied.  "And what about a celebrity?" Yeah, let's go for it! 

So, they lighted upon the arrogant Ms. Payette.  She needs to read up on her role and, as I said, shut up. 

A friendship "poofed"

Des. 22, 2012 -- The Dreaded Christmas Letter
Dec. 21, 2015 -- The Hideous Christmas Letter

Read those blogs of mine and you will see what I think of people who turn the birth of Our Lord into a boring, tedious, hubris-ridden litany of  'who cares?'

We ran into the husband of an author of one of these ridiculous musings yesterday, when we ventured to The Palliser for lunch.  "Look who's sitting over there," I whispered to B.  "It's MG."  And indeed it was.  An old and valued friend of B's from his post-graduate days in London at the London School of Economics, M used to make it a point to get in touch with us whenever he came to Calgary.

Frankly, I'd rather listen to Jimmy than Warren -- the two Buffets, the latter of which M is a disciple of.  When the 2008 crash happened, the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada said he wished B had handled his finances.  We put ours under the mattress. 

No more.  Not since I blasted his wife in a couple of blogs about "Christmas Letters".  Why do people think anyone cares about what they did over the past year?  Why do they think the rest of us value so little what our year wrought they think we will enjoy theirs?  It's so insulting.  Sending out a Xeroxed copy of blah-blah-blah to everyone means the author couldn't care less about what we were doing in our little corners of the world.

"I'm just having a reflective lunch on my own," he said when B approached.  Translation:  Don't sit with me and don't ask me to sit with you.  That's the influence his wife must have had on him.  "All my friends think you're a terrible snob," their daughter said to this woman a while back when I was in the car somewhere in Toronto.  N was visibly shocked, but I wasn't.  In fact, she would have got on like a house on fire with B's ex -- two women who do not have a proper conceit of themselves. 

As the English say, the worst sin one can commit is to be a bore.  Not my cuppa. 



     

Ether bears

So, now natives are claiming territory based on ghost grizzlies.  After fighting in court for years -- making lawyers very rich -- The Supreme Court has struck down their claim of "religious freedom" in a case against a resort company that wanted to build in so-called native land.  Their case?  The natives believe ghost bears "haunt" the area.   

Thank G-d judicial sanity prevailed!  Has Beverley Mclachlin finally come to her senses?  According to the Canadian Constitution, Natives do not have a veto over anything, but seem to think they have.  The Crown's duty is to consult, not roll over.     

"These are our relatives," said the demented Perry Bellegarde.  "These ghost bears are our religion."  OMG!  I think maybe my mother haunts me.  Should contractors be prevented from building next to my home because Mom might show up in the ether?

It's completely insane. And as to the real grizzlies in the area, Fish and Wildlife and Parks Canada have that covered, thanks anyway.   

And speaking of insane, native child advocate Cindy Blackstock was on 'Power Play' today demanding more $$$$$$$$$$$$$ for native children.  These are kids whose parents have neglected and abused them, but guess what?  It's our fault they have been taken into care.

I can't handle much more of this.      

Wrong person to ask

"Can I ask you something?" said my friend "K" at Dim Sum today.  Sure, I replied.  "What is the problem with the natives?  What's wrong there?"

OMG!  Where to start?  Not knowing, I simply hung my head in my hands and shook it for a few minutes.  K is a friend from the pool and a bit of an innocent.  Chinese-born and a heads-down research doctor, she is a tad out of it when it comes to the day-to-day bullsh-t that defines Canada.  She also tries to give people the benefit of the doubt and sees the good whenever she can.  (Why she hangs out with me, I have no clue?!)

"We came here 37 years ago from China, when I was 12, and we had no running water or sanitation back in my village," she offered.  "But I don't understand why the natives still live like this in Canada?" 

OMG!  "It's all about money," I explained.  But there's so much of it that doesn't get down to the folks in the reserve slum housing I didn't really know how to break it to her?  I started to spew the numbers -- you know, number of bands, number of natives, number of children in care, number of $$$$ handed out here, there and everywhere -- but this confused her even more.

"So why do they still live in squalor?"  Exactly.  Good question.  We know the answer, of course, but no one ever speaks truth to power.  She went on.  "And what's all this fuss about Gord Downie?  I mean, wasn't he just a singer?"  Out of the mouths of babes. 

All I can do is send her a sampling of my blogs on the natives and Gord to give her a bit of a reality check.  Dear K, wake up!       

Illogical nonsense

The confused Rachel Notley has decreed that the proposed Catholic Sex Ed program for schools in Alberta will never pass.  Really?  For her information, the provincial government has no business telling the Catholic School Board what it can and cannot teach.

It's a Catholic institution -- not the public board -- and if non-Catholics want to direct their taxes there and send their children to these schools because educational outcomes are better, they are at liberty to do so.  And if their kid gets exposed to Catholic dogma about sex ed, so what?!  It's a Catholic institution so guess what?  It teaches the Catholic curriculum -- sex and all.  If you don't like it, don't deliberately send your kid there.

Can you imagine Notley decreeing that private Muslim schools cannot teach Muslim values?  Just feature it!  And by the way, we all know what Muslim schools in parallel societies worldwide are teaching students.  You can bet Sharia Law and separateness are in there with bells on, along with the wearing of the niqab and burka for girls past puberty -- a demeaning practice Notley vigorously supports in the public thoroughfare.  What does she tell herself when she supports a Muslim practice, but won't allow a Catholic one?  I mean, what goes through her mind to justify this oxymoronic stance?

If you are going to dictate teachings in one school, other than a public institution, then you have to do so in all, which means you have to ban all separate schools.  What's next -- book burning?  It's ludicrous. 

And what about Jewish Shuls and Temples?  Will the muddled Notley jump in there too and tell rabbis which end is up in that religion?  Just let her try it.  Growing up, I went to Sunday School to be taught scripture that wasn't part of the Monday to Friday public curriculum.  Will this too be banned?

But never mind all that.  It's always open season on the Catholic Church.     

    

The veil ban

As you can imagine, I am in favour of the ban on the niqab and burkha.  In fact, I think it should apply to all of Canada, but of course it won't because all the so-called feminists are decrying it because....well, I don't really know why? 

Margaret Wente, with whom I seem to share a brain, nails the issue in her column today.  While not as direct as I, she is definitely of the opinion that it is a retrograde step for women to cover their faces.  "It fights integration," she quotes Roksana Nazneen, a Muslim from Bangladesh, who argues that guilt-ridden feminists just don't get it.  "Canadian women do not know what the niqab means and they should not be fighting for the right of women to self-oppress.  And make no mistake, the niqab means that men do not want to hear your voice."

Well, of course it does and I wholeheartedly agree.

Frankly, I think that Canadian women who fight for it are expressing a sort of reverse feminism.  It's as if they are stamping their feet and having a tantrum for the right of women to subjugate themselves.  Really?  People come to Canada to shed these veils of male tyranny and suppression; they have no place in an open, secular society, but women are becoming hysterical about the issue.

I fought in the vanguard of the "women's movement" in the late sixties so I could come out from behind the sexist rocks, in which society had us imprisoned, and be myself.  After university, I was determined to earn my own money so I would never be beholden to a man for my livelihood.  The niqab represents a parallel society and has no place in Canada, according to Angela Merkel and other world leaders.  And as for religious freedom, in Canada it is not an absolute.  We don't tolerate polygamy and "honour killings", so why allow the niqab?  This is not a question of rejection, but rather of Canadians overwhelmingly wanting newcomers to fit in.  The niqab prevents this. 

Right on queue, Rachel Notley and Kathleen Wynne immediately jumped up and denounced the ban because they have no clue what it really means.  It is not an attempt to dictate what women can wear.  It might be a good idea for Wynne and Notley to sit down with female scholars of the Quran.  They would soon learn it is not prescribed garb in the Muslim religion in any way, shape or form.  The debates between Muslim women on both sides of the issue always end with the young "feminists" falling back on their one-note, freedom-of-dress argument, while the mature scholars tell them they are sadly uninformed.

But what a bonanza for lawyers!  So, sit back and enjoy the looming mess.  

   

Why did it take so many seasons?

...to cancel the ridiculous "Scandal" series?  I made the mistake of watching the first couple of seasons on Netflix, but as it started to get more and more fantastic and farfetched, I kept watching just to see how much more ridiculous it could possibly get.

And boy, is it ridiculous!  It just gets ludicrous and I have to ask myself how Shonda Rhimes got away with it for so long!?!?  She is the creator of this embarrassing and mortifying show about keeping power in Washington and the Oval Office at any and all costs.  But who was the casting director????  The guy playing the president, Tony Goldwyn -- gee, wonder how he got the part? -- is a weak pussy.  Here are a few other preposterous characters:

Olivia Pope -- desperately hysterical and absurd;
Susan...something or other -- the VP, played by an overweight dummie who could not possibly be a VP in reality;
The auditor general -- having an affair with the VP! 
The chief of staff -- a gay guy who thinks he can make it to the presidency!
The president's ex-wife -- a giddy freak becomes president! 
The Director of the FBI -- now here's the capper!  A young, black, female disco-Queen type.  Feature it!  Just feature it!  FBI director!!

Ms. Rhimes is black and black music and characters are everywhere.  So over-the-top and obviously an over-compensation for.....whatever Ms. Rhimes has experienced in her own personal background. 
The plot is beggars belief.  I am now watching just to see how much more ludicrous it can possibly get!  Don't bother -- unless you need a dose of 'Monty Python'.  Now, that interpretation works.   
  

Two shameless "industries"

Cancer is one, native issues another.  Sorry, but firstly no one actually wants to cure cancer because millions of people, thousands of companies, corporations and charities -- not to mention billions of dollars -- are at stake in keeping cancer humming along and thriving.

And the more researchers discover about cancer, the more they conclude that no one can actually cure it because there are so many thousands of varieties and mutants.  Find a key to one type and another jumps to the fore.  People used to die before they got cancer; now we all live to greet it on our way out. 

Sorry to all who genuinely, honestly and earnestly "run for the cure", but there isn't going to be one.  That's just the way it is.

Native issues are another shameless industry, which preys upon the most vulnerable and gullible to extract obscene amounts of money from ill-informed and unwitting victims whose cases are taken up by unscrupulous lawyers.  That's not me talking, that's Doug Racine, of the Aboriginal Law Group in Saskatoon, who has written a nine-page letter to the Law Society of Saskatchewan revealing the facts and figures behind many unprincipled lawyers who handle the claims of residential schools "victims". 

According to Racine, the average payout per claimant was $91,753, of which 15%, or $13,756, went to the lawyers who processed the claim.  Problem is, most lawyers argued the case was "inordinately complex", so whacked another 15% up front, making their average take for two-and-one-half days of their time 30% of the take.  Sadly, that's what Racine's research has shown.  Are we surprised?

When I research and write a blog such as this, no one ever "likes" it on facebook and I wonder why?  I guess everyone's drunk the Trudeau/Bellegarde Cool Aid. But  I don't post material that is not backed by facts and figures before I render my opinion, which must grate on those who support the native industry to the back teeth -- regardless of reality.  Actually, I was surprised The Globe and Mail carried this story on its front page this morning?  Maybe a few journalists are starting to smell rats.  If so, that's a good thing because the government and our naïf PM remain in the dark, helping none and exploiting all.  Money won't cure this national disgrace.  Only chucking the Indian Affairs Act and getting people off the reserve will.

Those poor creatures I walked around yesterday in Calgary?  They're off the reserve and have gone through their $66,497, judging by the shape they were in.  But they do not have the skills to cope in the city and certainly won't acquire them in a remote reserve. 
           
The Globe also ran a lengthy obituary of Michael Pitfield, former Clerk of the Privy Council, and the guy in charge when the word "metis" was added to the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982.  Anticipating big trouble down the road, many experts holding the pen challenged the word, but alas it went through.  So now we're stuck.  Good work everyone.      

Things have definitely moved on

"It was too baby-ish, Grandma," said grandson yesterday after the Fred Penner concert to which his other grannie and I had taken him at the Jack Singer Centre. 

Whoa!  The kid's five, OK almost six, but I thought he would get something out of it?  "Is it over?" he said after every number, fidgeting around and bumping up and down in his folding seat.  "Can we go to your house and watch a movie now, grandma?"  His three-year-old sister got more out of it, but not much.  "I have to go pee," she predictably announced after assuring me she didn't have to go before we took our seats.  Such are the joys of taking kids to concerts, where that genre of entertainment has obviously gone the way of the dodo bird.  . 

Granted, Penner is about a hundred years old and his nursery rhymes are obsolete, but I thought they would enjoy it.  (Just googled him and he is only 70, but looks much older thanks to the ugly, white beard he now sports.  Man, if I look that old, shoot me.)  The hand games and sing-alongs went over, but I think I was the only one in the audience who knew the words to "Ugly Duckling", one I learned in the fifties.  I grew up watching "Howdy Doody", but it was all so long ago when times were so much more innocent.  When I started singing along to 'Duckling', grandson looked at me in wonderment, as if I had lost my mind, or crawled out of some prehistoric cave.

The people who were really into it were the parents who had grown up to Penner in the eighties.  They were cheering and clapping and waving their arms with gay abandon, as they recalled their own pre-handheld-device childhoods, when Fred, Mister Rogers, Mr. Dress-up and The Friendly Giant reigned supreme.

The walk through downtown Calgary from the car to the venue and back was an eye-opener for me, as well as our sheltered grands, as we picked our way past desperate street people (sadly, mainly natives).  I pulled my sleeves down to try and hide my jewellery because I was at once fearful someone would rip the gold off my arm, and a bit ashamed of my well-to-do accoutrements in the face of such desperation. 

But the main point was an outing with The Two Grannies -- a first for us.  She is such a lovely, spirited woman, it's a treat for just the two of us to share a few laughs.  Here we are, post-concert.

(One of my dear mother's jackets, which I kept.  Still honour her by wearing some of her clothes.)

 

 

 

From Bad to Worse

What can I say about these two?  Sorry examples of their gender, in my view.  Kim Campbell, PM for an embarrassing 10 minutes and Rachel Notley, a current embarrassment.  Neither performed and here they were in Calgary last week at a conference entitled "Equal Voice -- Elect More Women". 

Really?  Why?  Just because they're women?  How dumb.  You would think Campbell would hide at home, after her dismal performance as PM.  And Notley!  She has totally ruined Alberta's economy with her carbon tax fiasco and her inability to get pipelines approved. 

Before Denis Coderre  cancelled the Pipeline East project, Notley should have got off her a-- and enlisted Brad Wall in a PR media offensive in Montreal, meeting publically with Coderre, holding press conferences and going on talk shows to point out how Alberta holds  -- or rather held -- Canada together financially.  She should have talked transfer payments, she should have talked about foreign oil, she should have talked about how pipelines are far safer than rail -- Lac Megantic anyone?  But she sat in Edmonton and did nothing.  Had I been advising her, as I did executives of DuPont and IBM when I worked for those companies, that's exactly what I would have told her.  She should have taken the initiative and embarrassed Coderre with numbers and facts.

But shamelessly she didn't.  She let Coderre set the agenda.  Pathetic.   

So here's Rachel, looking like a thrilled, giggling school girl on her first date with the irrelevant has-been Kim --  a couple of women who should never have been elected to anything:



   

The Mess Canada is in

Well, Naheed Nenshi was re-elected mayor of Calgary -- much to the despair of many, including me.  Initially, his arrogance caused voters to jump to Bill Smith -- a money guy who would not utter a word of policy or whisper a promise.  But so desperate were Calgarians to rid ourselves of the odious Nenshi that we were prepared to hold our noses and vote for anyone but.

Sadly, this backfired because when ethnic voters, who vote as a block (as black Americans did for Obama), noticed their boy slipping badly, they all came out in droves and the ego-on-a-skateboard squeaked in.  People were shocked and disappointed, but did this humble His Worship?  Not on your life.  When interviewed by Don Martin on CTV the very next day about the voting system fiasco that resulted in insufficient ballots and hour-long lineups at many polling stations, he claimed no responsibility and actually added that people should be happy they were actually able to vote at all.  Afterall, he pointed out, in many countries people die trying to vote.  OMG!  So, we should all be grateful we at least lived through voting day?  Hey, this is not South Africa or some other corrupt country, this is Canada and the process was a manually-run disaster.

Basically, the vote divided among those who wanted a new arena (Bill Smith's gang) and those who wanted to keep an ethnic mayor, but weren't sure about an arena because the incumbent didn't really come clean about his position (Nenshi's bunch).  I fell into the camp who couldn't vote for either, so threw away my vote on the decent Andre Chabot, who finished a far distant third.   

So it's "let them eat cake" and back to the trough!  In other words, business as usual for the mayor.
______________________________________

The other mess is the Morneau/Trudeau tax reform debacle and Morneau's "villa-gate".  It appears both Trudeau and his sidekick were wearing Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 suits of "The Emperor's New Clothes" and had no idea the serfs would see through their scheme.  Duh?!  They also ignored Abraham Lincoln's lesson that, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."

Neither is fit to govern and neither has any political instincts about what the "great unwashed" are thinking on Main Street.  Just ask poor old Bev Oda, who had to resign over a $16 glass of orange juice.  Up with that Canadians will not put. 

The only thing to do is to fire Morneau, or ask him to resign.  Blaming the inept Ethnics Commissioner (and remind me to ask why exactly we need one, if politicians claim to be unimpeachable.  Oh ya, they're not) cannot fly and she cannot possibly asked to resign at this point.  In fact, no government can ever fire an ethics commissioner -- even if the guy/gal is starkers.

But Morneau will neither be fired, nor resign and thus the media will continue to hound the issue, enabling Trudeau to confirm he has neither guts, nor leadership.

And let's talk about Gerald Butts' role in this.  Butts, the PM's right-hand -- or should I say left-footed -- chief of staff -- is the guy who pulls the twisted and snapping strings on Trudeau.  He's also the guy who guided disgraced ex-Ontario Premier Dalton McGinty's political missil right into the ground.  Unfortunately, the premier took the province with him.  You can thank Butts for your hydro rates because he was the guy advising the wretched and doomed McGinty to close nuclear power plants and champion wind.  Insanity reigned there.  And to think Harvard hired McGinty as a professor!  Remind me never to go there.
______________________________________

One last thing:  When did the word "challenge" start replacing "problem"?  I have a real "problem" when anyone says, "Our challenge there is.....", when they really mean, "Our problem there is....."  If you look both up in the Oxford Dictionary they are not synonyms, but it must be PC to use "challenge" in case anyone is offended being called a "problem".

OMG.

A little perspective, plueeeese

I always thought Tony Clement delusional, but he confirmed it today by calling for a state funeral for Gord Downey.  OMG!  I mean, I loved a lot of the guy's music and feel terrible for his family and friends obviously grieving, but an official state funeral?  Let's get a grip here.

Sadly, judging by the infantile and vacuous Trudeau's public weeping and gnashing of teeth on the airwaves this morning, the Tragically Hip frontman will probably get one!  From what he blubbered on about Canada's being less of a country without Gord in it, we must be a pretty weak country.  I mean, Downie was a talented guy beloved by his fans, but he was not an official Canadian figure.  Sorry, but it would be an insult to the likes of fellow Kingstonian Sir John A to accord Gord the same honour and have him lie in state in The Senate.  OMG again.

As a matter of fact, I have a good friend who has the same brain cancer.  Knowing her well, I will grieve if she dies before I, but I didn't know Downey personally, so am not grieving.  And we still have his music which will live on.  If they don't know me, anyone reading this will think me harsh, but I am talking about the appropriateness of a state funeral, not the man himself, who I didn't know. 

Remember how the world went crazy when John Lennon said The Beatles were more popular than Jesus, accusing the former of sacrilege?  Well things have certainly changed because it appears Gord was way more popular than Jesus, yet no one bats an eye.     

According to protocol, "Canadian state funerals are reserved for governors general, prime ministers, cabinet ministers and other official eminent Canadians.  Conducted with ceremonial, military and religious elements incorporated, State Funerals are executed by the governor general to provide a dignified manner for the Canadian people to mourn."  By the way, I noticed when interviewed by CTV last evening, Clement didn't again call for a "state funeral"; someone must have dragged his knuckles off the ground and rapped them. And by the way, do three sitting MPs not have better things to do than sit in Centre Block and cry about what huge fans they were for the duration of an entire interview?

Opening that can of worms means we'll have to have one for Saint Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Gord Lightfoot, Ian and Sylvia, Bryan Adams, Ann Murray, Rita McNeil, Burton Cummings and every other singer who apparently "defined" Canada.  But what about Guy Lombardo, a guy whose music carried Canadians through WW II?  Didn't have one for him.  No because back then Canadians had respect for authentic tradition and decorum.

And speaking of our vets, every Remembrance Day our hapless PM spends most of his time grinning and taking selfies, instead of honouring the fallen.  Yet he cries about a rock star.  He is clearly unfit to govern.       

Every radio station is playing The Hip's music and call-in shows everywhere are jammed with people weeping and recalling their greatest memories of Gord -- mostly drunken parties at cottages, from what I can gather.

It's all bizarre. 

Just shut up. Please

Watching CBC this morning and Natasha Fatah is so annoying.  When asking a question, she delivers a long op-ed piece of her own while the columnists I really want to listen to sit and wait for her mouth to stop moving.  Please!  We don't care what you think -- or at least I don't.

Another blabber mouth even more irritating is that crashing bore Evan Solomon on CTV.  Gawd!  He is so full of himself it's breathtaking.  I was delighted when CBC fired him, but CTV picked him up so we cannot rid ourselves of his mug and yap on the screen.  And don't even get me started on Heather Hiscox! 

The guy who does it best, in my opinion, is Don Martin on 'Power Play'.  He has an excellent format and keeps his questions to the actual question itself, rather than blab for two minutes before he permits his guests to answer.  He has great people on, such as Stephanie Levitz, John Ivison, John Ibbitson, JD Bellavance, Kadie O'Malley and Susan Delacourt, among others.  Happily we get very informed stuff from them.

To the rest of them, remember why you're there. 

Insanity reigns

So, now a school board in Toronto -- of course -- has banned the word "chief" in occupational titles.  How completely insane and bonkers!!??  And it was the decision of a woman, unfortunately, who thought the term derogatory to natives, so has forbade its use.  Why are we our own ludicrous worst enemies?? 

OMG!  What an insult to natives to think they would find a homonym for a word they use offensive.  Reminds me of when "man" was banned.  B sarcastically suggested in a meeting in the PCO no less that henceforth "chairman" should be changed to "chairperson", "Germany" to "Gerpersony" and "manhole" cover to "personhole" cover.  "Chairperson" was actually adopted, although I preferred "chairman" or "chair", but the others thankfully have not appeared.  Yet.  Stay tuned!

People have gone insane with political correctness!

And to top it off, another school board in Toronto has issued a directive that Halloween costumes must be politically correct.  The official didn't say "politically correct", but that's what it amounts to when no costume can depict a visible minority, fake terrorist or any other specific group.  Great!  Kids will now be going out on Halloween dressed as.....themselves.

How pathetic.

And what have I been banging on about the woeful state of the Missing Women's Inquiry?  How pointless it all is.  Yet another commissioner has resigned amid chaos.  But will Carolyn Bennett pull Marion Bullard?  Not on your life.  The whole thing is a pointless, useless and expensive mess -- a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

More insanity emerged when an immigration lawyer -- what else -- voiced loud objections to a questionnaire illegal immigrants sneaking into Canada are asked to fill out.  Imagine!  Some of the questions pertain to religion and whether the criminal entrants belong to any specific group, or would object to working for a woman.  Apparently, it's all anti-Muslim.  The whole thing is dumb because no one is going to admit to anything anyway, but the questionnaire has been pulled so G-d knows who's slinking across the border.

Oh Canada!   

You know what I'm going to say

I'm talking about the $750 million settlement given the natives in the "sixties scoop" boondoggle.  I probably don't need to bother writing about it because you know I find it appalling. 

Thirty-eight-thousand people are going to be handed between $25,000 and $50,000 each simply for having been taken away from unfit parents and raised by others who cared.  If you do the math, that means that 76,000 mothers and fathers were deemed unfit to care for their own children.  If you do more math, it means that extended family and kin -- let's say only three per parent -- were also deemed unfit.  That's a  whopping 228,000 relatives judged unfit to take these children into their culture and care!

228,000 for a population of fewer than a million back then.  That's a quarter of the entire group.  Absolutely outrageous.  And the public weeping and wailing as they are handed their cheques is unconscionable.

But G-d help anyone who dares ask why these children had to be taken into care in the first place.  G-d help them!

And what did native leaders say?  "It's a start." 

As an adopted child, I was also "scooped" from my culture and raised by better parents.  I thank G-d every day that I was not reared by the white-trash, townie gang in Kingston from which I came.  Had I not been "scooped", I would have been raised in a boarding house by people on welfare.

Every single Canadian is being held hostage by the natives whose rapacious grasp for cash never ends.  Please G-d, let's not give Trudeau another disastrous term. Along with the "no pipelines" mess, Canada is being effed by this clown.      

 

Cro-magnon man

Denis Coderre.  That's what he is.  A throw-back and a disgrace to the federation of Canada.  He is claiming victory, now that the energy east pipeline has been cancelled.  He'd rather refine oil from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia than from another province in his own country.

Oh, I forgot, every francophone is actually a separatist and not a Canadian.

Alberta has been effed big-time.  The National Energy Board is out of control and has widened its mandate to outrageous proportions.  And let's not forget the enviros and natives who sabotage Canada at every turn.  Non-native Canadians who attend smudging, sweet-grass and sweat lodge ceremonies are as sorely misguided as the natives themselves.  Canada is still a primitive country, relying on water, oil and wood, yet natives and tree-huggers will not allow its resources to get to market.

Are they crazy?!

Yes.

Shame, shame.

Hmmmm, wonder if Denis Coderre ever uses petroleum products??  You betcha.

 

Is it just me?

Or did anyone else notice how inappropriate the new GG, Julie Payette, looked at her installation?  That hair!?  She is 53 years old, yet still sports a frizz hairdo from the sixties -- grey roots and all.  I don't get it??  And that male outfit?  What was that all about??  She looked like the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.  The representative of our Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, she looks like she just hitchhiked out of Woodstock. 

The other misstep was her speech.  Last time I checked, Canada had two official languages:  French and English.  She opened with "Indian" (not sure which of the 600 tribal languages she mouthed), but it was not appropriate.  The rest of the time she then spoke mostly in French.

Ah, Separatism.  Alive and thriving in every francophone. 

Oh dear, reminded me of a dinner I attended at Rideau Hall when Michaelle Jean's French/France husband took the stage and lambasted all of us after a few pops.  In French.  Let's get a grip here.  Wonder what poor Elizabeth thought of her representative when Payette visited Balmoral a couple of weeks ago.  Yikes!

I shudder.       

A "For Sale" sign

That's what I'd put on my front lawn if I had been flooded out in Houston because Houston is -- and always has been -- a flood plain.  It's 15 vulnerable metres above sea level; Calgary is 1,049.  Do the math, fifty- to 100-year flood events will now be happening every five to 10, thanks to melting sea ice and glaciers -- the case with all coastal cities in North America.  Even Toronto is not immune, witness the flooded islands this past Spring. 

"Houston has been wet since birth," says an article in 'Bloomberg Week'.  The Brazos River prairie, just outside town, was an endless swamp paved over by Houston as it grew and grew.  With nowhere to go, water now has no choice but to flood, a fact that is not going to change.  According to this article, Houston (and Texas in general) has one of America's most relaxed approaches to building codes and other protections.  The motto there is "build first, ask questions later". 

It's all about money and stupido (see "Two Words" blog, August 19th).  As for flood insurance?  It's a joke, with adjustors granting peanuts to those making claims.  Homebuilders' associations violently oppose increased regulation and codes so they can continue to make money with gay abandon and the city endorses it because of the tax revenues development generates.

It's a win-win for them and a lose-lose for home owners who will eventually face another major flood.  Don't worry about renovating and re-building because it won't matter what colour you paint your new kitchen, everyone knows it will flood again.  So unless you plan to re-make your wet bed and lie in it again, stick a "For Sale" sign on your lawn and move to higher ground.  How about Austin?  Lovely place.         

I thought he was a feminist

So, Hugh Hefner has died.  The media is all over it, with many people saying he exploited women.  I don't agree.  Here was a guy who paid women well to pose naked for his magazine.  They didn't have to do it, but when I was young and thought I was a liberated feminist, I too thought it degraded women.

Until I grew up and realized we all do sexual things for remuneration of some kind -- be it financial or otherwise.  At least the women in his centrefolds took off their clothes, posed, put them back on and collected a handsome cheque.  How is that not liberated?  Hefner was a feminist, as opposed to our current prime minister who purports to be, but is actually a male chauvinist pig in the same vein as his father.  Now there was a guy who put women down! Just ask the befuddled Margaret.   

He took the girlie-picture trade out of back alleys and smutty corner stores and celebrated beautiful women.  And those who worked in his clubs made good money to put themselves through college or do whatever they liked.  In fact one ex-bunny said she felt safe, was very well-paid and if anything thought she was exploiting Playboy, not the other was 'round.  Hefner was a liberal feminist, not a radical feminist.  Unlike the radical feminist, who thinks women should not show off their bodies and be sexy, Hefner loved and celebrated women. 

Never having ascribed to radical feminism, I nevertheless did very well as a working mother and wife and didn't once think I had to kowtow to a man to get ahead.  I thought a woman could look good, wear high heels and do a professional job at the same time.  No bra-burning for me.  I consider myself a feminist because I have never relied on a man to support myself or my kids.  I did it on my own -- no child or spousal support of any kind because I never wanted to have to ask a man for money. 

But trading sex for money and support is what stay-at-home women do every day.  That's what many marriages today -- and all in my mother's time -- are all about:  the husband supports the wife and in return she provided services, including sex.  While the playboy bunnies could collect a cheque and go home, women who are supported by their husbands are stuck.  Them's just the facts. 

I have a very attractive male friend who is 69 years old with a body that would rival most 20-year-olds.  Women are crazy about him, but married and divorced three times with children and grandchildren, he no longer wants a wife or girlfriend so he pays for sex.  "The last thing I want is to lead any woman on into thinking we have a future," he maintains.  "So I am very upfront and tell them they are lovely and attractive, but I am not interested in a relationship," he says.  "It's a lot easier for me to pay for it without any strings."

That is one of the most honest approaches I have ever encountered and I admire him for it.  Instead of being dishonest and pretending he is interested in a woman, he just pays one of his high-class regulars and gets on with his life.  With a huge annual income, he is also one of the most generous people I know with his family, friends and the ladies he dates.  I admire the guy immensely. 

As for Hefner, I wonder what Camille Paglia thinks?  I bet she agrees with me.  (Just googled her, she does.)

Same thing, different year

The Civil War still rages in America.  Now we have millionaire NFL football players disrespecting the American Flag.  Why?  Because the Civil War still rages.  It's all about race.  I mean, these guys are people who can play one sport, but have no clue about anything else, so why they think they have any business spitting in the face of their national flag is beyond the beyond.  I mean, without the beloved sport of American football in America -- the America represented by the flag they are trashing -- where would these guys be?

The Obama presidency was also all about race.  Every black American who hadn't bothered to vote for generations turned out and voted for a black man.  Just because he was black.  That's all it was about.  In my opinion, Obama was a do-nothing president, basically a "chicken shit" afraid to take a stand.  And look what he hath wrought:  North Korea.

I am outraged that Americans are now calling out the Pittsburgh Penguins -- captained by and full of Canadians -- for looking forward to going to the White House.  The American press should stay out of Canadian hockey, but what's more infuriating and dumb is that Sidney Crosby's hometown fans are also turning on him.  Crosby says it is a great honour to be invited to the White House and it is -- regardless of the occupant at any given time. 

American (black) football players in the CFL should also not kneel during our anthem.  It's disgusting and disrespectful.  We need to bring back the rule that stipulated more Canadians than Americans be part of the CFL because Canada is losing its identity on home turf.  Why should black Americans in the CFL be bringing their Civil War to a Canadian football field?

Ah, look what money hath wrought. 
_________________________________________

On the next topic, my fingers almost type themselves:  The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Inquiry.  Although I am sick of myself on this one, I have to point out once again that there is no point to any of it.  The first hearings -- after almost two years! -- got underway in Smithers, B.C., and what did we witness?  A native woman weeping over the death of her daughter who had been beaten and left to freeze by guess who?  Yep, her own native husband.  Why is this happening, she wailed while being comforted by a relative who wrapped her in a blanket.  Why indeed?!  Hey, it's your people, your culture, your way of life, so look in the mirror and ask yourselves.  

As I keep saying, what is the point of all this?  There are 40 others in the wings registered to tell their sad tales to no avail.  As to the "highway of tears", this is the only route out of remote reserves from which natives want to escape.  It's a "highway of tears" because women dangerously hitchhike alone along it to get to the city to do whatever they can't on the reserve.  Get off the reserves, for Gawd's sake!

Frankly, I think the whole inquiry was dreamt up by the PM's chief coverer-upper, Gerry Butts, to have the relatives just go away and tell their tales to each other so the government appears to actually care.  Trudeau probably does care, because he's stupid enough to not know the inquiry will accomplish nothing, but Butts just wants the whole thing to play out like a Greek Tragedy, with neither purpose nor resolution possible. 

It's all so cynically ridiculous.  

Let's make up laws

That's what a recent opinion piece in The Calgary Herald advocated.  Entitled, "Judges need training on Indigenous ways", it was written by a female native, Anita Olsen Harper (never heard of her), and basically said that natives should be given special treatment in the eyes of the law.  Really!?  I think they already are, judging by sentencing circles and other separate measures.

I had to think a while before I wrote a reasoned letter to the editor, but I managed it.  Here it is:

"Dear Editor,

"In Canada, the law separates church and state.  This should also apply to keeping cultural traditions of any kind -- including Indigenous -- separate from the universal law of the land, to which all Canadians must abide.

"Otherwise, what would prevent other groups from seeking justice and redress under their own preferred unique and separate cultural systems?  No country can operate if it applies different justice systems to different ethnic groups."

It was published today.  Frankly, it has to be said because the law is the law and I don't care if you're native or Muslim, you have to obey it.  The Canadian Constitution recognizes two founding peoples: the English and the French.  I'm sorry if natives think they are the true founding people, but that's not the way the constitution was written.  Canadian law is based on this fundamental principle -- even though Quebec provincial laws adhere to the more French "code civil" version.  The Supreme Court is the final arbiter and that, my friends, is that.  With 600 individual bands across this country, there is no way the law can accommodate them.

And that's as it should be. 

 

Three

That's how many times we had to circle back and start over to get out of downtown Edmonton!  Duh!  It's a mess of twisting and turning roads, uphill, down dale, lanes and strip malls via which one has to navigate in opposition to the 'NO ONE' allowing a merge.  But we eventually found our way out of town.

What a weekend!  Seeing Denis Shapovalov leave it all out on the court was thrilling.  He is now in Prague, probably pinching himself as he leads the non-European team in the Laver Cup.  There he is with the best North American players on a team captained by non-other than John McEnroe.  And the kid is barely 18! 

Stopping at a Boston Pizza for lunch on the way to Edmonton, we chatted up the owner, a 40-something man with Parkinson's.  What a great guy.  Stopping again on the way home, we had another great chat with Richard who "comped" our lunch.  Speaking of "comping", when the waiter asked how dinner was in the hotel dining room, I said great, but the wine was not cold enough.  Another courtesy glass promptly appeared.  Asked how my salad was at lunch at the bar another day, I told the waiter I didn't like it because it had smoked bacon in it, something I can't stand, but hadn't realized was there.  He promptly produced another sans bacon and didn't charge me. 

I mean, don't ask if you don't want to know.

At the recommendation of the maître'd, we booked a formal tea in the main dining room.  Trouble was, he hadn't reserved it afterall, so when we arrived, we were initially turned away.  "Never mind me," said B to the apologizing host as I walked away, "It's my wife you have to worry about."  A few minutes later, the entire tea service appeared in the bar, to which we had repaired to have a sandwich.  It was glorious and I was very impressed.  When we asked for the bill, the server said, "It's all been taken care of madam."  I was stunned because that was a $150 gift, thanks to one of their staff having screwed up the booking.  And the thing was he had picked the time, not we. 

I guess it pays to tell the truth in a class hotel like that.  But never mind, I figure we dropped at least $250 in tips over three days. 

While we were there, a convention was underway.  "Excuse me, where are you from?" I asked one gorgeous participant.  "We're from 'Arbonne', an on-line beauty products company," she answered.  "We promote beauty inside and out."  Really?  "Most of these young women are considerably overweight," I said injudiciously.  She stared blankly.  "They are probably working on that," she replied.  I guess if you're an on-line company and no one ever sees you, you can get away with 20-30 extra pounds.  Or maybe it's good business to sell to heavier women?  I have no clue.

One thing that did depress me was the collection of young, homeless native men hanging out in the subway.  Very menacing, they begged for money and rode about on bicycles almost knocking people over!  At one point, we literally had to walk over one guy holding a hammer.  There must be a better way to spend your day than threatening people underground. 

But all-in-all, the trip was a lot of fun.  And don't we all love to spend money on holiday!