Please don't tell me we have to endure weeks, months and years of the "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Inquiry". Please spare me.
Last night I caught a glimpse and it was painfully pathetic. Women crying about how much they loved their lost sisters, mothers, daughters.....etc. Well, obviously. But how does sitting there crying and saying how sweet she was before she became a drug addict/alcoholic/prostitute/homeless/derelict do anything?! The RCMP has already determined what happened in most cases. These souls were murdered by their fathers, husbands, boyfriends, brothers.....whatever. They were murdered for the most part by people they knew and the stats prove it. The stats also show that the number of unsolved native cases is roughly the same as the non-native.
Let's get a grip here.
One woman, whose mother was shot in her own home, tearfully said she didn't believe her father had done it. Whaaaaaat?? The guy confessed and was sentenced. "The case was heard in English and not in his native tongue, so he didn't know what he had confessed to," complained the daughter.
Please.
This circus will be nothing but a travelling road show of crying and wailing solving nothing. Folks, welcome to your tax dollars at waste.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Another four, maybe eight
Well, the Federal Conservatives really did it this time. They elected a boring, chubby kid -- with a fat wife -- as their leader. Basically, "Harper 2" -- although the latter's wife wasn't fat.
That's the problem with the election process. It involves ballot-after-ballot and finally spits out a compromise candidate no one really wanted in the first place. Remember Stephan Dion? Ed Stelmach? Michael Ignatieff, Allison Redford? All come-from-behinders with no broad appeal. Frankly, the only reason Harper stayed there for 10 years was because the Liberal leaders were unappealing losers.
Never mind policy, to win you have to possess the Royal Jelly and Trudeau has it in spades. Never mind that he is an idiot with absolutely no clue how to run the country. The guy and his wife are media stars and professional selfie experts the public eats up every time they step into the public thoroughfare.
The only guy who might have had a shot at taking him down was Bernier because without Quebec, you can't win. It's all about numbers and seats, folks. But in the end, the party opted for a pudgy nobody. It's all so stupid and I can just see the glee erupting in the Liberal back rooms over this perfect choice from where they sit. Whew, we can sit back, save money and coast for another two terms.
In the end, losing candidates did the stupid thing and let supporters go, instead of sending them to someone who might actually have a shot. It was all personal and not about the party. How dumb can you be.
That's the problem with the election process. It involves ballot-after-ballot and finally spits out a compromise candidate no one really wanted in the first place. Remember Stephan Dion? Ed Stelmach? Michael Ignatieff, Allison Redford? All come-from-behinders with no broad appeal. Frankly, the only reason Harper stayed there for 10 years was because the Liberal leaders were unappealing losers.
Never mind policy, to win you have to possess the Royal Jelly and Trudeau has it in spades. Never mind that he is an idiot with absolutely no clue how to run the country. The guy and his wife are media stars and professional selfie experts the public eats up every time they step into the public thoroughfare.
The only guy who might have had a shot at taking him down was Bernier because without Quebec, you can't win. It's all about numbers and seats, folks. But in the end, the party opted for a pudgy nobody. It's all so stupid and I can just see the glee erupting in the Liberal back rooms over this perfect choice from where they sit. Whew, we can sit back, save money and coast for another two terms.
In the end, losing candidates did the stupid thing and let supporters go, instead of sending them to someone who might actually have a shot. It was all personal and not about the party. How dumb can you be.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
They wanted it
I refer to the 'Native kinship program' whereby native children, whose parents are unfit, are placed in foster care with relatives. The whole idea, dreamt up by natives who pushed for it (afterall, they get money for taking a child in) is to raise native children within their own cultures.
Great idea in principle, except it is often fatal to the children who live in it.
Such was the case of little Serenity, a toddler who was beaten, starved and sexually abused by her relatives when she was removed from her parents' squalor and abuse. Severely under-nourished at the time of her death, she died from having been beaten and abused over a considerable length of time. Finally charged, the relatives who killed her still have other children in their care while the trial unfolds.
It's ludicrous.
But what is even more ludicrous and outrageous is that the family blames the Alberta government and wants an inquiry into her death. Whaaaaaaat??!!??!! These are the same people from whom she was taken because they were deemed unfit to raise their own child. Extremely difficult to prove, it must have been a very bad situation for this baby. My question is, where is the shame of the family? How can they stand in a press conference with their faces hanging out and take absolutely no responsibility for the death of this innocent little girl. Were a child of mine taken into care because I had been unfit, I would have hidden in the basement for the rest of my life.
But no, it's all the government's fault for turning a "blind eye" they insisted. I was absolutely appalled and sickened by the attitude and entitlement shown by these natives. (I was going to use the word "bums", but you get the picture.) Frankly, they caused the child's death by neglecting her in the first place. And obviously, she would have been better placed with an ordinary family instead of into the 'kinship' program that killed her.
Complete BS.
I wrote a letter to the editor of The Calgary Herald a while ago, one which I thought reasonable and measured. Here it is:
"Dear Editor,
"Why is it the government's fault that a baby had to be taken into care in the first place? The birth parents obviously failed the child and so did the extended family in the kinship program into which she was placed. Where is the parents' sense of responsibility for this tragedy? Civic leaders didn't turn a "blind eye". The parents have as much to answer for as anyone.
Nancy Marley-Clarke"
I thought this a pretty objective letter, but it did not get published. Such is the political correctness surrounding natives in this province. The truth cannot be spoken.
Sickening.
Great idea in principle, except it is often fatal to the children who live in it.
Such was the case of little Serenity, a toddler who was beaten, starved and sexually abused by her relatives when she was removed from her parents' squalor and abuse. Severely under-nourished at the time of her death, she died from having been beaten and abused over a considerable length of time. Finally charged, the relatives who killed her still have other children in their care while the trial unfolds.
It's ludicrous.
But what is even more ludicrous and outrageous is that the family blames the Alberta government and wants an inquiry into her death. Whaaaaaaat??!!??!! These are the same people from whom she was taken because they were deemed unfit to raise their own child. Extremely difficult to prove, it must have been a very bad situation for this baby. My question is, where is the shame of the family? How can they stand in a press conference with their faces hanging out and take absolutely no responsibility for the death of this innocent little girl. Were a child of mine taken into care because I had been unfit, I would have hidden in the basement for the rest of my life.
But no, it's all the government's fault for turning a "blind eye" they insisted. I was absolutely appalled and sickened by the attitude and entitlement shown by these natives. (I was going to use the word "bums", but you get the picture.) Frankly, they caused the child's death by neglecting her in the first place. And obviously, she would have been better placed with an ordinary family instead of into the 'kinship' program that killed her.
Complete BS.
I wrote a letter to the editor of The Calgary Herald a while ago, one which I thought reasonable and measured. Here it is:
"Dear Editor,
"Why is it the government's fault that a baby had to be taken into care in the first place? The birth parents obviously failed the child and so did the extended family in the kinship program into which she was placed. Where is the parents' sense of responsibility for this tragedy? Civic leaders didn't turn a "blind eye". The parents have as much to answer for as anyone.
Nancy Marley-Clarke"
I thought this a pretty objective letter, but it did not get published. Such is the political correctness surrounding natives in this province. The truth cannot be spoken.
Sickening.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Wait a minute...
"It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our child, Baby blank-blank, at five months' gestation. She will be dearly missed by her parents and big brother. Baby was adored by her grandparents.... and aunts and uncles...", etc., etc.
Wait a minute. This kid had not really been born??!! How can you post an obituary for a fetus??!! I know it's sad and tragic, but how can she be "sorely missed" by everyone when she was a fetus? Put me in mind of a guy I worked with whose wife had given birth to a stillborn which they dressed up and took pictures of -- mementos this poor chap had framed and displayed all over his desk. I mean, the newborn looked decidedly dead and it was very weird when I had to admire the photos of him and his wife holding the tiny corpse in the ghoulish photos.
Very creepy.
_______________________________________
On another note, I thought VD had been pretty much eradicated. But no, it's alive and thriving in Alberta. The latest stats tell a sad tale:
It's all very alarming.
Wait a minute. This kid had not really been born??!! How can you post an obituary for a fetus??!! I know it's sad and tragic, but how can she be "sorely missed" by everyone when she was a fetus? Put me in mind of a guy I worked with whose wife had given birth to a stillborn which they dressed up and took pictures of -- mementos this poor chap had framed and displayed all over his desk. I mean, the newborn looked decidedly dead and it was very weird when I had to admire the photos of him and his wife holding the tiny corpse in the ghoulish photos.
Very creepy.
_______________________________________
On another note, I thought VD had been pretty much eradicated. But no, it's alive and thriving in Alberta. The latest stats tell a sad tale:
- gonorrhea up from 3,388 cases to 3,723
- syphilis up 363 to 405
It's all very alarming.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Really?
I know I seem to start a log of blogs with "Really ?", but that's because much of what I encounter is mind-boggling -- at least to me. Apparently, those who inspire my "Really?" headings think their behaviour perfectly normal.
Take the woman seated next to me on a flight to Montreal last weekend. She kept asking the stewardess (excuse me, flight attendant) to fill up her GIGANTIC water bottle with (free) ice. "Can I have some ice," she asked, every time the beleaguered attendant was within earshot. Lady, this is a plane with a few hundred people on board so ice is at a premium. Why you think it should all be given you several times over takes a lot of nerve. I mean, water is water and one doesn't need to add ice to be hydrated.
But this "dyed-blonde" had nerve. In spades.
The first time she asked, the attendant had to leave her cart -- and postpone the wine she was serving me -- to retreat to the back of the plane to get some cubes. But these were not nearly enough for this jerk. "Could you get me some more?" she actually asked. Unbelievably, the attendant did?! The rest of us were waiting to give Air Canada money while she bugged everyone for effing ice. What do I always say? When a woman dyes her hair blonde, she morphs into an entitled "dyed blonde".
All the while, the rest of us were waiting for our treats. I hate to say it (actually, I don't), but this woman was young-ish and fat and thus generally repulsive to me. For some reason, I think fat people should stay quiet and not make outlandish demands. My seat-mate evidently missed this etiquette class.
West of Montreal, where I reside, there is nothing like Montreal. Come to think of it, east of Montreal there is nothing like Montreal. Montreal is unique. I felt perfectly comfortable strolling through the lobby of the beautiful Hotel Bonaventure dressed to the nines; in Calgary I feel like a freak. On the down side, Montreal's infrastructure is a disaster. Overpasses are crumbling everywhere and have merely been precariously patched at the joints. Won't be long before one crashes onto the cars beneath and people are killed -- in fact it has already happened in a couple of cases. What the eff is mayor Coderre spending the money on?
The visit prompted vivid memories of 45 years ago, when I worked as a journalist for Maclean-Hunter and travelled there many times from Toronto on business in my twenties with colleagues and my publisher. Back then, everyone smoked everywhere-all-the-time -- including me -- and everyone drank everywhere-all-the-time -- including me. We always stayed at the Bonaventure, still a marvellous engineering feat, with the top two floors serving as the hotel part of a downtown convention centre, complete with an inner courtyard of ponds, lagoons and ducks.
You would never know you were 15 floors up in downtown Montreal.
We were there for a dinner honouring new and past members of the 'Garnet Key Society', an honour society of which B was an early member. This was the 60th Key; B was in the fifth. Never mind, we were seated at the vice-chancellor's table and I think I impressed him with my story of having attended a lecture by the great Northrop Frye, a brilliant man my tablemate had not met in person. (I would refer you to my blog about this great man, but I can't find it.) Anyway, Frye changed the direction of my life and made me a writer.
Farewell Montreal, until the next time.
Take the woman seated next to me on a flight to Montreal last weekend. She kept asking the stewardess (excuse me, flight attendant) to fill up her GIGANTIC water bottle with (free) ice. "Can I have some ice," she asked, every time the beleaguered attendant was within earshot. Lady, this is a plane with a few hundred people on board so ice is at a premium. Why you think it should all be given you several times over takes a lot of nerve. I mean, water is water and one doesn't need to add ice to be hydrated.
But this "dyed-blonde" had nerve. In spades.
The first time she asked, the attendant had to leave her cart -- and postpone the wine she was serving me -- to retreat to the back of the plane to get some cubes. But these were not nearly enough for this jerk. "Could you get me some more?" she actually asked. Unbelievably, the attendant did?! The rest of us were waiting to give Air Canada money while she bugged everyone for effing ice. What do I always say? When a woman dyes her hair blonde, she morphs into an entitled "dyed blonde".
All the while, the rest of us were waiting for our treats. I hate to say it (actually, I don't), but this woman was young-ish and fat and thus generally repulsive to me. For some reason, I think fat people should stay quiet and not make outlandish demands. My seat-mate evidently missed this etiquette class.
West of Montreal, where I reside, there is nothing like Montreal. Come to think of it, east of Montreal there is nothing like Montreal. Montreal is unique. I felt perfectly comfortable strolling through the lobby of the beautiful Hotel Bonaventure dressed to the nines; in Calgary I feel like a freak. On the down side, Montreal's infrastructure is a disaster. Overpasses are crumbling everywhere and have merely been precariously patched at the joints. Won't be long before one crashes onto the cars beneath and people are killed -- in fact it has already happened in a couple of cases. What the eff is mayor Coderre spending the money on?
The visit prompted vivid memories of 45 years ago, when I worked as a journalist for Maclean-Hunter and travelled there many times from Toronto on business in my twenties with colleagues and my publisher. Back then, everyone smoked everywhere-all-the-time -- including me -- and everyone drank everywhere-all-the-time -- including me. We always stayed at the Bonaventure, still a marvellous engineering feat, with the top two floors serving as the hotel part of a downtown convention centre, complete with an inner courtyard of ponds, lagoons and ducks.
You would never know you were 15 floors up in downtown Montreal.
We were there for a dinner honouring new and past members of the 'Garnet Key Society', an honour society of which B was an early member. This was the 60th Key; B was in the fifth. Never mind, we were seated at the vice-chancellor's table and I think I impressed him with my story of having attended a lecture by the great Northrop Frye, a brilliant man my tablemate had not met in person. (I would refer you to my blog about this great man, but I can't find it.) Anyway, Frye changed the direction of my life and made me a writer.
Farewell Montreal, until the next time.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along
Couldn't figure out why the 'Missing and Murdered Native Women' inquiry was almost a year behind? Formed nine months ago, the inquiry is under the jurisdiction of Minister Bennett who announced today it would not hold a single hearing until the Fall. Which year she didn't say.
Really?
Naturally, the politically-correct and moribund CBC didn't give any reason why and the native women it interviewed all blamed "the government". Well, of course. So I googled the mess to see who was heading it up and, as I suspected, it's native women and one man who works closely with them -- a recipe for confusion and waaaaay too much consultation.
You can't have a serious inquiry with sweet grass, sweat lodges and smudging. But I can just see everyone tripping all over themselves to "be heard" and fighting over jurisdiction. What a disaster. The inquiry needs rigor and discipline and if it's nine months behind, neither are in force. Oh, and I note that they have fired their second communications director. Par for the course when leaders completely mess up. "Let's fire the messenger."
So, the whole thing will lumber along with internal bickering. It will also be given more than its two-year mandate and extended ad nauseum. Remember Murray Sinclair's dog-and-pony which lasted years, cost millions and achieved nothing? This will be a repeat. And let's not forget that RCMP statistics show that native women are mostly murdered by their boyfriends and husbands.
Mark my words. It'll be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Really?
Naturally, the politically-correct and moribund CBC didn't give any reason why and the native women it interviewed all blamed "the government". Well, of course. So I googled the mess to see who was heading it up and, as I suspected, it's native women and one man who works closely with them -- a recipe for confusion and waaaaay too much consultation.
You can't have a serious inquiry with sweet grass, sweat lodges and smudging. But I can just see everyone tripping all over themselves to "be heard" and fighting over jurisdiction. What a disaster. The inquiry needs rigor and discipline and if it's nine months behind, neither are in force. Oh, and I note that they have fired their second communications director. Par for the course when leaders completely mess up. "Let's fire the messenger."
So, the whole thing will lumber along with internal bickering. It will also be given more than its two-year mandate and extended ad nauseum. Remember Murray Sinclair's dog-and-pony which lasted years, cost millions and achieved nothing? This will be a repeat. And let's not forget that RCMP statistics show that native women are mostly murdered by their boyfriends and husbands.
Mark my words. It'll be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Friday, May 5, 2017
She should pay
That ridiculous South American, solo climber who became stranded on Mt. Logan, should be handed the bill for her dazzlingly-expensive rescue. Paid for by Canadian taxpayers, it must have cost thousands and thousands -- not to mention having put the lives of the dedicated rescue team at considerable risk.
She did not contribute taxes to this mission, but you can bet she won't get a bill because Canadians are too "nice". And I guarantee she won't have given a thought to any of this because it's all about her. She reminds me of that idiot woman in Toronto who scaled a crane and also had to be rescued at great peril to everyone involved. I certainly hope that because this egomaniac didn't reach the summit, she won't have the nerve to try it again.
But I'm probably wrong.
________________________________
On another note, I can barely watch that ludicrous and bizarre commercial featuring Kurt Browning and Don Jackson skating for reverse mortgages. It is embarrassing and cringe-inducing to have to watch the magnificent Jackson reduced to slow, almost-falling-over back skating while spouting meaningless drivel. The 1962 World Champion in Prague, the poor guy is now 77 and should be enjoying a little common decency and well-deserved retirement with dignity -- not following Browning around on a rink. And the lines Browning has to deliver?! Sad. He needs to give his head a shake.
The other commercial I cannot stand is for Trivago. That dancing, pointing fool should be arrested.
She did not contribute taxes to this mission, but you can bet she won't get a bill because Canadians are too "nice". And I guarantee she won't have given a thought to any of this because it's all about her. She reminds me of that idiot woman in Toronto who scaled a crane and also had to be rescued at great peril to everyone involved. I certainly hope that because this egomaniac didn't reach the summit, she won't have the nerve to try it again.
But I'm probably wrong.
________________________________
On another note, I can barely watch that ludicrous and bizarre commercial featuring Kurt Browning and Don Jackson skating for reverse mortgages. It is embarrassing and cringe-inducing to have to watch the magnificent Jackson reduced to slow, almost-falling-over back skating while spouting meaningless drivel. The 1962 World Champion in Prague, the poor guy is now 77 and should be enjoying a little common decency and well-deserved retirement with dignity -- not following Browning around on a rink. And the lines Browning has to deliver?! Sad. He needs to give his head a shake.
The other commercial I cannot stand is for Trivago. That dancing, pointing fool should be arrested.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Scary birthday
I just celebrated one -- to use the term with trepidation. But daughter stepped up and invited all my swimming buddies to a surprise party! Unfortunately, as we drove up I spotted one of them entering her house. "What the heck is A doing here?" I asked myself as it was dawning on me that this might be more than a quiet family gathering.
So, while that kind'a let the cat out of the bag, I was completely surprised when I walked in and faced about 12 fellow lane-swimmers beaming at me. It was such a treat juxtaposed against a really bad number. Yikes!
So, while that kind'a let the cat out of the bag, I was completely surprised when I walked in and faced about 12 fellow lane-swimmers beaming at me. It was such a treat juxtaposed against a really bad number. Yikes!
 |
| Daughter and me |
 |
| I'm in the back, opening some lovely pressies |
 |
| The grands |
 |
| My new flamenco bathing cap -- perfect for a bird brain such as I! |
It was a wonderful day.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
It's cultural
In my opinion, the mess Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is in is due to his culture. One of my dear friends was born in Bombay and grew up with a house full of servants who felt it perfectly fine to lie and steal. In fact, the memsahib always budgeted 10% extra to cover pilfering losses. And of course, the servants would never admit they had taken anything.
"That's the way they think," my friend explained. And don't dare call me racist, I am talking about culture here. So, while we in Canada are rightly outraged at the bold-face lie he told about his role in a battle in Afghanistan, it's all perfectly normal for some Indians to stretch the truth -- or outright bend it in two.
This same friend did graduate work in London, where it was common for Indian students to describe their educational achievements as, "B.A. Oxford," before adding the word "fail". So, as ridiculous as it was, "B.A. Oxford fail" was how they described their non-degrees. Not unlike Sajjan overblowing his role in Afghanistan.
When I worked for the taxman, we were well aware that folks from failed countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy, for example, considered it a badge of honour to not pay taxes. (And by the way, if you want to know the truth about global economies, just read the weekly stats in 'The Economist'. GPD and unemployment rates tell the whole tale; I'm not making this up.) So, as I was saying, these filers were quietly targeted, along with Chinese merchants who are notorious tax evaders. Next time you go to a Chinese restaurant and they make change from an open til, take note. Why do you think those countries don't work? 'Cause no one wants to pay taxes.
It's cultural.
The problem is Sajjan is a minister of the Canadian Crown, where this is completely unacceptable and grounds for kicking him out of Cabinet. Will Captain Selfie do so? Not on your life and this refusal to fire him puts the future of the defence review paper in jeopardy because Sajjan will not be able to sell its recommendations to Canadian military brass.
His hitherto credibility has been reduced to zilch. Good luck, Minister.
"That's the way they think," my friend explained. And don't dare call me racist, I am talking about culture here. So, while we in Canada are rightly outraged at the bold-face lie he told about his role in a battle in Afghanistan, it's all perfectly normal for some Indians to stretch the truth -- or outright bend it in two.
This same friend did graduate work in London, where it was common for Indian students to describe their educational achievements as, "B.A. Oxford," before adding the word "fail". So, as ridiculous as it was, "B.A. Oxford fail" was how they described their non-degrees. Not unlike Sajjan overblowing his role in Afghanistan.
When I worked for the taxman, we were well aware that folks from failed countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy, for example, considered it a badge of honour to not pay taxes. (And by the way, if you want to know the truth about global economies, just read the weekly stats in 'The Economist'. GPD and unemployment rates tell the whole tale; I'm not making this up.) So, as I was saying, these filers were quietly targeted, along with Chinese merchants who are notorious tax evaders. Next time you go to a Chinese restaurant and they make change from an open til, take note. Why do you think those countries don't work? 'Cause no one wants to pay taxes.
It's cultural.
The problem is Sajjan is a minister of the Canadian Crown, where this is completely unacceptable and grounds for kicking him out of Cabinet. Will Captain Selfie do so? Not on your life and this refusal to fire him puts the future of the defence review paper in jeopardy because Sajjan will not be able to sell its recommendations to Canadian military brass.
His hitherto credibility has been reduced to zilch. Good luck, Minister.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)