Regular visitors

Last year, they wandered down our street on Christmas Eve, no doubt on their way to join up with Santa's reindeer for the big annual voyage across the skies.  This year, about seven sauntered along in front of our house on Christmas Day night, no doubt relaxing after a long night of zooming over the world on their annual mission.

Welcome visitors in downtown Cochrane.

The deer in Cochrane are ubiquitous and fearless and, so it was cool to see them on our front lawn at the feeder in the moonlight last night, as they emptied it.  That was the height of our Christmas excitement; B has COVID, so we quarantined instead of celebrating with family.  Christmas feast?  We had beans and wieners:

Christmas dinner, ugh!

 _________________________

The scourge of Alberta's natives.

"People have stopped counting how many people are dying of drug overdoses," said Will Jerry, an elder from the nearby Siksika Nation, in an essay on the problem in 'The National Post' the other day.  "We're burying people every two or three days," said Jerry.

It's so bad, first nations communities recently declared a state of emergency over the addiction crisis that is crippling reserves and extinguishing thousands of lives.  Millions are being poured into these communities in a vain attempt to stop it.

But money won't do it.  Neither will sweat lodges or smudging ceremonies.  As always, the colonialism trope is being blamed for the loss of Indigenous culture and the resultant drug crisis.  Really?  That's a cop-out, but people like Trevor Pelletier who spent six years working in the Siksika on-reserve shelter and recovery centre -- where 19 people have died from overdoses anyway in the past three years -- still insist that "pharmaceutical colonialism" is to blame.

That's a new one for me, but very creative in the blame-the-White-man game.  Prescription drugs are rampantly available everywhere in native communities because there's lots of money to be made.  Even children are becoming addicted and dying.  It's beyond tragic, but it's not White people who are selling the drugs; it's natives.

Why?  In my view because there's nothing else to do on reserves.  Diverted opioid drugs are the main industry.  The Indian Act must be abolished and replaced to enable natives to live off-reserve and lead productive and meaningful lives.

But it won't be because the act is how the money flows.  It's as simple as that, so residents stay there and die.  So many well-meaning politicians (well, maybe not well-meaning, but you get my drift) and recovering addicts are earnestly trying to fix the problem, but with nothing to do on reserves, and peer pressure and idleness ratcheting up the problem, it'll just keep happening.

"On first nations, we've got so much poverty that anything that can make money, like opioids, somebody's going to do it," added Jerry.

Poverty!?  Did Mr. Jerry miss the news that Chief Ouray Crowfoot just inked a juicy $1.3 billion land-claim settlement with the Canadian government -- over and above what the 3,479 souls who live there already get annually?  Time for Will Jerry to ask the chief:  "Where's the dough?!"

Something is very, very wrong and native leaders must be held accountable.

But they won't be.     

  

"Alls"

Tiffany

When I heard the governor of the Bank of Canada use the word "Alls", the iffy reputation and opinions I had had of him were unfortunately confirmed.  

He's uneducated.

"Alls I can say is....." said Tiffany Macklem (Yes, his name is "Tiffany") during his end-of-year interview with the remarkable and professional Vassy Kapelos.  "Alls I can say..." means, "I really have no clue about what's going to happen?"  It's equivalent to throwing up your hands -- not a good look for a bank governor.  Even if he had said "All..." I might have glossed over it, but "Alls"?!  No, that made me stop, stare and pay attention.  Who says, "Alls"???  No one with a half-decent education.

But this guy is running Canada's monetary policy.  He's the guy who controls inflation and therefore, the lives of all Canadians as we struggle with soaring costs on every front.  B went to the London School of Economics as a post-graduate student on a scholarship, so I pay close attention to his musings on the economy.  He has never been a fan of Macklem; now neither am I.  

Ms. Kapelos

But, a word about Ms. Kapelos.  I am so impressed with her.  Always with a complete knowledge of the subject at hand, she doesn't let guests get away with not answering questions, saying, "With respect, you didn't answer the question."  She brilliantly nailed the smarmy Chrystia Freeland to the wall the other day; it was a delight to watch.

Vassy is one of the best you'll see on any network and I would not be surprised if she were hired away by an American one.  I hope I'm wrong, and that her professionalism and loyalty will keep her in Canada, but I wonder....?  She's head and shoulders above anyone anywhere on the air waves.

This is Canada's immigration minister!

Along with Freeland, the immigration Minister is another disastrous appointment.  A drinking buddy of Trudeau's from their McGill days, Marc Miller lurches from pillar to post with nary a clue about the various files he is handed.  The other day he said, "The temporary foreign workers policy in Canada has been a bit rampant for far too long."

Miller's policy on immigration, "It is what it is".  Brilliant!

Huh?!

How can something be "a bit rampant?"  It's either rampant, or it's not.  Nothing can be a "bit" rampant.  He then added that government policies have run into "unanticipated" consequences as a result of how they are handling temporary workers and students.  

Huh?!

How can you not have anticipated that letting hundreds of thousands of illegals into Canada -- who are never "temporary", by the way -- would create a huge housing and health-care crisis?!  Anyone could have foreseen that, but of course, it's all about votes.  Here's the guy in charge:

Trudeau mocking Blacks at a party.  This is the Canadian prime minister.

On another linguistic note, the other day I heard an announcer on the Cochrane radio station say, "When that happened, the whole town was shook up."  It's so depressing for me when I realize no one knows grammar anymore.  Sigh.....

We don't have to bring in the clowns.  Don't worry they're here.

        

   

Just wondering??

I follow 'The Ottawa Jewish Archives' site because I went to school with so many Jewish friends.  Posted today was a notice that the site will be closed from December 22 to January 2.  Since Hanukkah is from December 7 to 22, I have asked the admin why they have closed the site over Christmas?

Not Christmas

We'll see what they answer.  (Note:  They answered and said it was closed because the archivist would be away.)

But it begs a larger question.  Why have so many other religions and sects co-opted Christmas?  And why have we allowed Christmas to be changed to "Seasons" or 'Holidays"??

Pisses me off.  Last time I checked, December 25th was and remains Christmas Day.  It's not "Holiday" Day or "Season's" Day.  It's Christmas Day and I'm sick of its cancellation and denial.

Christmas

I worked with a few Muslim and Hindu colleagues and actually asked them if they would be at work on Christmas Day.  Ha, what a joke!  All other religions take their own holidays, but also stay home during the Christian and other Christmas holidays.

Complete bullsh-t.  

Cultural appropriation

Cultural appropriation is an outrage to Indigenous people in Canada.  They rave and write about it everywhere when white people adopt anything "native" in word, deed or song.  Natives are allowed, indulged and encouraged in their objections to this unspeakable practice when whites do it.    

But how about when cultural appropriation goes the other way?  I was flabbergasted when I learned that the American classic 'Star Wars' movie was to be translated into Ojibwe.

Yep, you read that right:  Ojibwe!  

Could anyone please tell me what 'Star Wars' has to do with native, Ojibwe culture and history?

You can't because it doesn't.

Will anyone -- other than me -- point that out?  Rhetorical.  Why Ojibwe?  Apparently because that is the predominant language of Indigenous people in Canada, spoken by more than 300,000 people in Manitoba, Ontario and also Minnesota.  And who's behind this insanity?  Patricia Ningewance of the Lac Seul First Nation.

Ningewance

This has been backed by the Dakota Tribal Council and the University of Manitoba.  I looked Ningewance up and she is "an artist".

It's all so nonsensical.  Society has been rent asunder by wokeness and I am sick of it.

p.s.  I wear a jacket I bought a few years ago in Ottawa's Chinatown often.  Maybe I have committed cultural appropriation.  The horror!

  

 

Sanitary pads

The big announcement from the Liberals this week was.....wait for it.....sit down.....hydrate....breathe deeply into a paper bag.....the passing of a law that will require all federal government washrooms to stock sanitary pads and tampons in both the women's and MEN'S washrooms!%$^&#!@%$#@

Soon to be equipped with pads and tampons.

Yep, you read that right.  All men's washrooms will have to provide sanitary products for women who identify as men or non-binary.

I AM NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!!  

In addition, these products will have to be stocked in each stall, so a non-woman, who is menstruating (huh??!!) can change her -- sorry "its" -- pad or tampon in private.

How much will that insanity cost??!!!  Don't even ask because you will undoubtedly be outraged.  It'll mean individual dispensers in thousands and thousands of stalls across the country.  Thousands!

Yep, that's what this government has sunk to.  Their priority, when people can't even afford food, is to make sure non-women-women can use a men's washroom and change "its" pad.

I have no words.

Here's another biggie:  Because a 14,000 people signed a petition, the name of Dundas Street in Toronto was to have been done away with.  Why?  Because Lord Henry Dundas delayed the abolition of slavery in England -- the first country to abolish the practice -- by a few months in 1834.  Dundas delayed it only to lobby to ensure all members of parliament would vote for it; otherwise, they would not have.  

Think about it.  There are 281,280 Blacks in Toronto, out of a populations of 2.93 million, but because a measly 14,000 people signed a petition, they held sway and were about to do away with the name "Dundas".  

Cancel culture run amok.  That's what is happening all over the "civilized" world.  Naturally, the ethnically-rabid Olivia Chow...

Ms. Chow

...vowed to dump the Dundas name when she ran for mayor.  Chow was born and educated in Hong Kong, so she knew nothing of Lord Dundas.  But you'd at least have thought someone on her staff would have looked the man up and briefed her on who he really was.  

Thankfully, a huge backlash ensued, so now only the Yonge and Dundas Square will be re-named.  But the name "Dundas" will still be stricken from the subway station that bears it.  But those moves in themselves are an outrage!

And what will they rename Yonge-Dundas Square?  Councillors in a moment of breathtaking, self-flagellating insanity, voted to rename it "Sankofa Square".  Huh!!??  Whaaaaat??!!!  Evidently, this historically-deprived -- or should I say, "hysterically" -- mob also hadn't bothered to look up origins of the word.  It derives from the West African Akan people who were themselves avid slave traders.  Oops. 

Yep, history has been thrown to the curb in all the woke school curricula these days.  Take poor Egerton Ryerson.  Protesters defaced and toppled his campus statue in 2021, claiming he was one of the evil founders of Indigenous residential schools.  Apparently, they forgot to do their research and missed the bit about how Ryerson himself actually had no direct role in their creation.

They also missed the part where he learned to speak Ojibway, lived among the "Mississaugas of the Credit" as a missionary and vigorously defended their land claims.  Oops again.  But like Dundas, Ryerson -- along with Hector Langevin and Sir John -- is the victim of an age that ignores historical accuracy in favour of political orthodoxy.

And who were the dunderheads behind this nonsense?  Some guy named Andrew Lochhead, who Wikipedia describes as being, "an artist and goth detective", and Black city councillor Chris Moise -- a self-described "he/him".  WTF??!!!

Moise.  I imagine his race determines his opinions about White history in Canada.

According to Moise, the word "sankofa" is a concept with roots in Ghana and refers to "The act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past which enables us to move forward together".

Huh??!!  What has a Ghanaian saying got to do with the Toronto subway??!!  Nevertheless, Toronto councillors covered their eyes and ears and actually voted for the disgraceful change. 

And just to top it all off, council also voted to rename an Etobicoke stadium after the late crack-head mayor Rob Ford.  All in a solid day's work, I'd say, wouldn't you?

Rob, you will remember, was the guy who created many dramatic scenes of ugly slurs, drunken rants and lewd remarks which put Toronto on the international map, but not in a good way.  He made Toronto a laughing stock.  As 'Globe and Mail' columnist Marcus Gee put it:

"We usually name public building after admirable figures like Nathan Philips, Terry Fox, Roberta Bondar or Nelson Mandela.  What sort of message does Rob Ford Stadium send?"

The late Mayor Ford smoking crack with a couple of his buddies from 'The Hood'.

Precisely the wrong one.  The respectable, dead burghers of what was once known as "Toronto the Good" must be rolling over in their graves.   

And let's not forget a truly "Emperor's New Clothes" moment for the ages.  While the climate fanatics were signing, decreeing and declaring impossible nonsense at COP28 in Dubai, having flown there in their private jets, three of the world's largest oil companies were announcing a huge, new $10 billion investment in oil and gas.

Environment minister Stephen Guilbeault, when he was arrested as a felon for violent destruction of property in Alberta.  Yep, all true!!!

Hahahaha!  

You could not make this stuff up.

The "Joys" of snow!

This was sent to me by my cousin in Stittsville, Ontario.  If you've always lived where snow lives, you'll appreciate this:

DIARY OF A SNOW SHOVELER:

The "lovely" white stuff

Moved to North Dakota this fall.  We heard that summers are fun and winter is beautiful.  We think there is no more beautiful a place in the whole world!

December 8 - 6:00 PM It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses print. So romantic, we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!

December 9 - We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had! Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks.

This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life!

December 12 - The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment! My neighbor tells me not to worry- we'll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we'll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I'll never want to see snow again. I don't think that's possible. Bob is such a nice man, I'm glad he's our neighbor.

December 14 - Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so.  The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn't huff and puff so.

December 15 - 20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and 2 extra shovels.  Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.

December 16 - Ice storm this morning. Fell on my ass on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.

December 17 - Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her. God! I hate it when she's right. I can't believe I'm freezing to death in my own living room.

December 20 - Electricity's back on, but had another 14 inches of the damn stuff last night. More shoveling! Took all day. The damn snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but. they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they're lying.  Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he's lying.

December 22 - Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white shit fell today, and it's so cold, it probably won't melt 'til August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to piss. By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again, I was too tired to shovel.  Tried to hire Bob -- who has a plow on his truck -- for the rest of the winter, but he says he's too busy. I think the asshole is lying.

December 23 - Only 2 inches of snow today. And it warmed up to 0.  The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning.  What is she, nuts?!! Why didn't she tell me to do that a month ago.  She says she did but I think she's lying.

Arrrrrgh!!

December 24 - 6 inches - Snow packed so hard by snowplow, l broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the son of a bitch who drives that snow plow, I'll drag him through the snow by his balls and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling, and then he comes down the street...at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I've just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents...but I was too busy watching for the damn snowplow.

December 25 - Merry f---ing Christmas! 20 more inches of the damn slop tonight - snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil.  God, I hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's a fricking idiot. If I have to watch "It's A Wonderful Life" one more time, I'm going to feed her through a chipper shredder.

Like this!

December 26 - Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.

December 27 - Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze; plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $4,400 to replace all my pipes.
December 28 - Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in. The BITCH is driving me crazy!!!

December 29 - 10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?

December 30 - Roof caved in. I beat up the snow plow driver, and now he is suing me for a million dollars, not only for the beating I gave him, but also for trying to shove the broken snow shovel up his ass.  The wife went home to her mother. Nine more inches predicted.

December 31 - I set fire to what's left of the house. No more shoveling.

January 8 - Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed ???

-Author Unknown

They've all effed up

Dare I say the words "Affirmative Action" (AA)?  Unfortunately, I have to.  Three women presidents of elite US Ivy League universities have f-cked up royally at congressional hearings in the US on anti-Semitism.  They all waffled and fumbled and used legalese double speak to explain that calling for death to Jews is not really anti-Semitic genocide.  "It depends on the context," said Claudine Gay, Harvard president.

Gay

OMG!  You have got to be kidding.  So, it's not always wrong?!?!  These are the depths to which such universities have sunk.  University of Pennsylvania president Sally Magill at least had the grace to resign, but not Gay and not MIT president Sally Kornbluth.  Big mistakes.  Their hanging on will only make an already big mess even bigger.

Magill

Kornbluth

You can bet AA and hysterical wokeness played a major part in their selection.  One letter in yesterday's 'Globe and Mail' said the word "elite" should be removed from any reference to their universities and that Canadian students should save themselves thousands and stick to universities this side of the border.  Hear hear.  The caché once attached to a framed Harvard degree on your wall has now evaporated.  And you just watch how endowments to these universities poof into thin air.   

A few MPs have written to five major universities here in Canada, asking them if they consider Palestinians calling for Genocide "Harassment" of Jews.  Can't wait to see how they respond!

Fareed Zakaria broadcast a scathing and brilliant analysis of these three.  It's on YouTube; have a listen.

And speaking of people who should resign, Greg Fergus is also at the top of the list for the shambles he is making of the speaker's role in the House of Commons.  Posing in your speaker's regalia in the speaker's office, while wishing a Liberal colleague a happy retirement, was very wrong.  You'd think Fergus, who has been in the House for decades, would have known this.  

Fergus

Hmmmm....Do you think the extra $195,000 in pay he gets, plus a fancy summer residence, for the job had anything to do with his refusing to step aside?  That's on top of the measly $185,800 he gets for just being a regular PM.  Rhetorical.  Personally, when I look at the vacant smirk he always has on his face, two words come to mind:  Empty head. 

The NDP are calling for a fine for Fergus.  What a joke!  That's an even bigger insult to the position.  He needs to go.

As a Canadian who couldn't get any more cynical, even I am straining at the parameters of my own bias.  We are sooooo badly governed.   

Ditto

There are as many Islamophobic incidents as anti-Semitic these days.  To me, this means Canadians don't want foreign wars of any kind in this country.  I completely agree.  Why do people bring their issues here?  As B's grandfather told him when they emigrated from India via England to Canada, "You're a Canadian now.  Forget about India, forget about England.  Just be a Canadian."

Great advice, which he took.  Other cultures should heed this, but they don't.  Immigrants, leave your shoes at the door, please.

Mayor Gondek

Host societies have a duty to welcome newcomers; immigrants have a duty to integrate.  But it's the last part of that statement that's missing and that is what is causing all the problems.

In spite of the vilification she is enduring for not attending the lighting of the Menorah ceremony at city hall in Calgary, I think Mayor Gondek did the only thing she could have:  Decided not to go.  You just know that Muslims and Palestinians would have disrupted the event with protests that would have turned violent.  That's a given.  Remember all the Eritrean "cultural festivals" that became violent battles right here in Calgary?  Exactly.

But naturally, the Jewish population is up-in-arms and outraged.  I am not in the least a fan of Gondek, with her rabid political correctness, inclusivity and decisions always coloured by her ethnicity, but she had no choice.  Frankly, protesters would have been injured or arrested.  Another given.  How would that have looked?  Rhetorical.

On this file, Gondek couldn't win.  

Can we not just celebrate Christmas?  Can we not just celebrate the birth of Christ?  Can we not let December 25th be Christmas?  Christians are discriminated against when the whole month is re-branded "Holiday Day" or "Season's Day".  Imagine if Christians objected to Hanukkah or Eid?  Would never happen.

So, Merry, Merry!  And leave your ethnic and religious battles at home.

   

Hardly united

Cindy Woodhouse

"To Canada: We are coming for you."  Those were the first words the newly-elected chief of the Assembly of First Nations uttered when she was finally confirmed as leader in the middle of the night after six ballots, numerous procedural battles, resolutions and omnibus motions.

Yep, that's Cindy Woodhouse magnanimously calling for "unity" in the face of the fractious process that saw her elected.  Never mind the evident disunity among the chiefs, there won't be any unity with Canada either.  I mean, how can you achieve consensus when you have to deal with 634 chiefs and 900,000 people?  That's why they were on the verge of a seventh vote, when David Pratt finally caved and withdrew.

Chief Woodhouse, you will remember, was part of the gang that wrestled a $40 billion settlement around the class action suit over racial discrimination in child welfare.  This "Battle of the Cindy's" pitted her against Cindy Blackstock, head of the First Nations Family and Caring Society, who wanted even more money.

Tanya Talaga weighed in this morning, as predicted, calling for Woodhouse to summon the backbone to, "Look the Crown and Canada in the eye, refuse to give an inch on treaty rights and reject bills such as C-53 that would extend treaty rights to a community that had appropriated First Nations history, i.e., the Métis.  But wait, Tanya, aren't you a Métis yourself?  Aren't you half Polish?  Ah, but never mind those annoying details.

So, with the long history of unruly and unmanageable infighting among the AFN, don't look for unity any time soon.  Look instead for more lawsuits for more money.  If she doesn't get enough, I predict she be unceremoniously dumped in the tradition of poor, old RoseAnne Archibald.  

p.s.  Why does Woodhouse dye her hair blonde?  Natives all have black hair, so why does she not want to identify as one?  Makes no sense.  Illogical.

 

I'm with Tasha

Tait -- pretty pleased with herself, isn't she!

CBC CEO and president Catherine Tait actually made her own case for abolishing this monstrosity of a network during an interview she gave to Adrienne Arseneault the other day and Tasha Kheiriddin hammered about it in a recent column.  "Catherine Tait has perfectly made the case that the entire CBC should be abolished," writes Kheiriddin.  

According to Tait's brilliance, viewers will hardly notice any changes -- in spite of the Mother Corp (aka the Mother Lode) having to axe 600 positions.  No changes??!!!!  Then what the hell have you been doing with our money, Ms. Tait??!!!??  If there's that much superfluous fat in the system, you have failed Canadians miserably.

How about starting with cutting bonuses?  Tait makes $520,000 a year, or $43,000 a month.  $43,000 a month!!??!!  Under her are two "executive" vice presidents, who make about $400,000 each, and three "regular" vice presidents, who pocket about $350,000!!!  Last year, they also handed themselves $16 million in bonuses!!!!

For what??!!!!

That's obscene!!!!!

CBC TV is appalling and since the loss of Peter Gzowski and Jian Ghomeshi, et al, radio is well on its way to the dumpster -- in spite of the valiant efforts of Tom Power.  The CBC's original mandate was to ensure all Canadians -- even those in remote areas -- had access to national news.  That meant a few microphones and receivers in a few shacks up north.  Doable, fair enough, but what's its mandate today?  No one seems to know, especially Ms. Tait, who hasn't ruled out bonuses this year.  Maybe that's her mandate:  Give myself a few million as a bonus.

Ms. Tait has hobbled the broadcaster with her obsessive political correctness, diversity and Indigeneity at the expense of basic journalism and compelling programming.  It's just wrong.  

I used to babysit her and her two older sisters and she was a holy terror back then.  Her mother, Janice, worked for B.  Let's just say the apple doesn't fall far....

Speaking of money, Canada's native chiefs are meeting in Ottawa this week to elect a new head of the AFN, having dumped the hapless RoseAnn Archibald when she started poking around in their offshore bank accounts.  What's on the agenda?  Patting themselves on the back for wrestling another $23 billion -- yes billion! -- for past "injustices and underfunding" for child welfare.  Hey, if you were doing such a great job of looking after your kids, why were they put in care in the first place?  Rhetorical.

The other biggie is the opioid crisis on reserves.  While bemoaning the "whiff of colonialism" they claim still lingers on the file, they are asking for yet more money from Ottawa to deal with it.  Isn't that colonialism?  Asking for money from someone else?  You can't have it both ways.  You can't rail against colonialism at the same time as asking for money from them.  Sorry, you can't suck and blow, friends.

And, by the way, why is there an opioid crisis in the first place?  Oh, sorry, no one can ever ask that question, not allowed.  Ever.  That logic evidently escapes them.

It's all so depressing and predictable.  Can't wait for Tanya's take on the gathering!

The guy on the left is the guy who'll be caving.

p.s.  At this rate, I'll never get an essay in 'The Globe and Mail'.

They'll never settle anything

At the risk of jeopardizing any chance of getting a 'First Person' essay in 'The Globe', I'm going to weigh in on the upcoming election of a new leader for the Assembly of First Nations (AFN).  The voting starts this Wednesday, with six contenders hoping for the job.

Just to throw a monkey wrench into the whole process, interim national chief, Joanna Bernard, has called for the government to rescind Bill C-53, which recognizes Métis governments in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan.  She claims Ottawa did not do enough "consulting" before tabling it.  

Soon-to-be-gone Chief Bernard

How you can ever do enough consulting when you're dealing with chiefs in 634 communities, comprising 900,000 people, is beyond me?  Can you imagine ever getting consensus and settling anything?  Rhetorical.  I suspect Bernard felt she didn't get her way, so threw a hissy in the media.  I also think she didn't want to start sharing the federal booty with a bunch of upstart Métis Johnnie-come-lately-s, who aren't "real" Indians.

But, why Bernard pulled this with mere days left in her tenure is beyond me? -- unless it was to ensure chaos reigns supreme at the convention in Ottawa, which it most certainly will.

The doomed Chief Archibald

RoseAnn Archibald was thrown out of office when 71 percent of 231 chiefs voted to dump her amid accusations that she bullied and harassed staff.  Frankly, I think it was a gang-up of male chiefs who didn't like a woman running their show.  Oh, that, plus the fact that she was starting to dig into band finances to see where all the money was going. But, isn't native society a matriarchy?  I'm confused.

(Note:  If you want to see what staff bullying and harassment really look like, tune into 'The Thick of It', an hilarious British series about life in a Minister's office, where abuse is rampant.  But, that's a blog for another day.)

So, I'm looking forward to coverage of this melee and who emerges the "winner".  Whoever it is, they better not start poking around in bank accounts if they know what's good for them.

(p.s.  Can't wait to see the righteous Tanya Talaga's take 'cause you can bet she be there with feathers on and pen out.) 

War fatigue

Sorry to sound callous, but I have a severe case of war fatigue.  You can't turn on a TV without having Gaza, Hamas, Israel or Palestinians blared in your ear.  

There seems to be nothing else happening in the entire world!  And as for objectivity?  Forget about it.  If the interview is with a Jew, it's all Hamas' fault; if with an Arab, it's all Israel's fault.

I have done quite a bit of research on the mess -- unlike most people who yap -- and I can tell you this goes back about 80 years.  As for a solution?  There isn't one.

Saw something totally ludicrous on tv yesterday.  Apparently, a group of Arab/Palestinian women are holding a food fair to showcase their native food.  "We think this is one way to stop the war, by offering people in Canada our food and letting them see how delicious it is.  I am sure this will change their minds and bring peace."

Eat up!

Are you seriously serious??!!!???!!!!  Eating food here will stop the war in Gaza.  Wonder what Netanyahu will think of that?!  Hahahaha!

So, folks, get used to the air waves being full of ignorant nonsense for the foreseeable future.  Poor Zelensky, his mess has been obliterated from view.  All he can do is tilt at hopeless windmills.  But never mind, he's a billionaire from all the aid he's been given, with dachas and yachts galore!

Speaking of tilting at windmills, the COP 28 gathering is absolutely useless.  And to see the delusional Climate Barbie there was appalling.  Here's Canada, with absolutely no unity on this file.  Along with Barbie -- another disgrace to her gender -- we've got Alberta, Saskatchewan and felon Steven Guilbeault all singing from different hymn books at the same conference.  And to top it all off, a Canadian Indigenous contingent is also there!  We look absolutely ludicrous.

Canada contributes only 1.5% of carbon emissions in the world, compared to 30
% for China.  Feature that!!!!!  

Should actually be called COP-"out" 28, because nothing will come of it.  India is there, while building zillions of coal plants and, by the way, Canada hasn't met any of its photo-op targets for decades.  

Our poor children and grands.  They're all doomed.

_______________

On a more personal note, I had this remembrance in 'The Globe and Mail' the other day.  

He was a lovely man and a lovely boss.  May he rest in peace.  Still trying to get a 'First Person' essay in; that's on my bucket list.

 

 

$741.59

That's what someone charged on my Mastercard and I have been trying for THREE DAYS to get to the bottom of it!#^#$%!!!

I lodged a dispute with MC, which will take up to 30 DAYS to even be seen!!  So, silly me, I tried calling.  After being on hold with various, "Your call is important to us" bullsh-t recordings blaring in my ear, another voice came on and said that when posted, charges cannot be reversed until you have checked with the merchant.  Huh??!!  I thought that's what you'd be doing with my dispute??!!

So I called the merchant, which was Air Miles.  Huh??!!???!!!!  I haven't even had an air miles card since 2000!!!!  After waiting for two hours on another hold, a voice came on and said I would get a callback.  Why make me wait for two hours to be told I can get a callback??$%^@Q?!!!

It's now been three-and-a-half hours and still no callback.  And who's supposed to call me back?  One of their.....wait for it....."Customer Care Ambassadors"! 

I kid you not!  That's what they call themselves!!!  "Care" Ambassadors?!!!!  Are you kidding me??!!??!!!!  More like a "Customer Who Cares?! Ambassador".  'Cause they most certainly don't!!!!

So, this morning it's been no swim and no shower in case someone who "cares" calls me back.  I predict I will be staying in my pyjamas all day and still won't get the callback!#$%!!#$!!

Update:  Just got a "callback" from a recorded voice that said -- and I kid you not! -- "You will not get a callback today because we have an unusually high volume of calls.  Please press this and that and this and that to select a time for a callback.  Sorry, that time is not available.....Sorry, that time is not available.....blah, blah, blah."

Guess when my callback is scheduled?  Nov. 30th!!!!!  That's absolutely appalling!!!  

Canada is the most non-service-oriented country in the entire, effing world!!!!!

If I had long hair, it'd be in this shape!!!

 

Did they think I was a lonely bag lady?

"It's already paid."  That's what the server at a Dim Sum restaurant said to me last night when I asked for my bill.  

Whaaaat!!??  Paid?  By whom? I asked her incredulously.  Why would a stranger pay for my dinner???  "Who paid it?" I asked.  "That woman over there," she said, as she pointed to a family seated at the other side of the restaurant.

I was dining on my own because B was at a meeting and I was waiting to pick him up.  I do this often at the same restaurant on Saturday nights, not far from where he meets regularly with his charity colleagues.  

I love Dim Sum and he doesn't, so it works out perfectly.  But why would this woman cover my tab?  Did they think I was a lonely, old bag lady sitting forlornly on my own on a Saturday night?  I may have looked like one, with no makeup and an old jacket.  (Maybe it wouldn't have happened, had I been wearing my mink?!)

Incredulous, I walked over to their table.  "Did you pay for my dinner"? I asked the woman.  "Yes, but I told them not to tell you who paid," she replied.  "I wanted it to be anonymous," she added.  "Are you a Secret Santa tonight?" I asked.  "I guess so!" she replied, laughing.

Their daughter said they try to do this every time they go out as a family.  Why they picked me, I have no clue?  Maybe because I was the only one dining on her own; every other table was full of Chinese families, which would have been expensive.  

We chatted for a while and I learned she was a 911 operator.  "My son-in-law is a firefighter, so I know what you deal with," I said.  "He tells me people call 911 because they have a sniffle."  "Oh ya, you wouldn't believe the kind of calls I get," she said.  "Can I have a hug?" her husband asked.  "Of course," I replied, whereupon she, their daughter and I enjoyed a group hug Christmas-style.

"I promise to pay it forward," I said as I left.  "That's what we hope," said the daughter as I walked away.  

I promised and I will.  What a beautiful start to the Christmas season of giving!

 

  

Only two

The only opinions worth listening to these days are those of Douglas Murray and Jordan Peterson.  

Murray

Murray is a British journalist, author and truth speaker.  Oxford-educated and vehemently against open immigration -- legal and otherwise -- he slams the woke so articulately you would do well to have a listen to anything he says. You can find him on YouTube.

Peterson, as you may know, is a Canadian psychologist and author and another guy I highly recommend you catch on YouTube.  He has clinically analyzed our Monster-in-Chief, Justin Trudeau, and correctly assesses him as a destructive narcissist who is dismantling Canada piece by piece on every file.  

Peterson

Any panels where they debate various specious woke gangs are highly entertaining, as each man meticulously shreds such gangs' erroneous points and opinions.  BLM gets eviscerated as does multiculturalism.  Both men argue that instead of uniting cultures and ethnicities, both movements have created deep and divisive chasms among many sectors of society.  Peterson calls multiculturism, "A miracle of stupidity."  I agree wholeheartedly, but cowardice is catching and that's what fuels woke-ism.    

Murray singles out Muslim ghettos in London, for example, where people can live out their entire lives without once interacting with anyone outside their home bases.  Many, in fact, never learn to speak English, "So what are they doing here?" Murray asks.  I agree.   Murray even had a go at Piers Morgan, the latter coming off very badly.

Treat yourself to a few broadcasts.

They fought the good fight

The ubiquitous poppy.

As we pause on this day, November 11, 2023, to remember all those who gave us the freedom we enjoy and take for granted every day, I salute the members of both my birth and adopted families who were heroic soldiers. 

When I was a kid, my Mother and aunts would take us all to the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Ottawa to pay our respects to our fallen and serving relatives.  When we had our four, we did the same and today, still watch it on television with respect.

First, I'd like to recognize my Father, Thomas Raymond Griffith.  Born in 1899, he was a brilliant scientist who was head of the rubber lab at the National Research Council.  When natural rubber became unavailable because of the second world war, he was tasked with developing synthetic rubber, an invention that saved the war effort and is still vital to the running of the world.  Because of his work, he was not allowed to enlist; he was too valuable:  

My Dad, Tommy Griffith, with my Mother, Lillian.

My maternal uncle, Rollie Brousseau, fought on the front lines in Italy:  

The last time I saw him before he died.

Brian and his Dad, Ivan Marley-Clarke, captain in the British Merchant Navy in the war.  A very brave seaman.

My birth father, William Doyle who I just discovered.  He was a US Marine and fought in Okinawa.  A brave soldier.

Brian's maternal great-grandfather Walsh, a Colonel in the Indian Irish Hussars, with his two sons, Jack, left, and Brian's grandfather, George Walsh, right.  The regiment was first deployed to India in 1703.  

Clive Marley-Clarke, Brian's uncle, killed by a German sniper in Italy.  He was a Ghurka and only 23 when he died.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Remember that fable?  If not, google it because that's what's happening with two global figures who are supposed to transcend statehood:  The Pope and the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Antonio Gutteres

Pope Francis

Sadly, both are impotent when it comes to the jobs they are supposed to be doing.  

They are the only two heads of organizations in the world whose sphere of influence cuts across country and state lines, which should give them great influence worldwide.  But it doesn't.  They are both useless, in my view.   (See note, below.)

There's Pope Francis, waving from windows and giving speeches to which no one pays any heed.  And there's Antonio Guterres doing exactly the same thing.  With war and chaos ravaging the world, both men are useless about doing anything about anything.

Shouldn't these two guys have some sway?  Shouldn't these two guys have some influence on stopping war and death to children?  You'd think so because that's what they get paid to do.  But, no.  Neither is anything but a eunuch.

It's pretty outrageous -- especially since Guterres is paid $227,253 a year and Francis a whopping $384,000!  However, I have to hand it to the Pope:  He donates all his salary to charity.  Guterres?  Keeps his.  

(Note:  I should have added the Dali Lama, another useless leader.)   

He liked them young

Very young.  Bored and meandering around on YouTube and other day, I came across a documentary about Elvis Presley and his abnormal proclivity for children.  It was really quite disturbing.

A number of now middle-aged women were interviewed about their affairs with Elvis, revealing that he evidently was a pedophile.  According to the women, he had his handlers seek out girls of 14 in his audiences that he fancied and invite them to Graceland.  Naturally, they were absolutely thrilled to go.  

Asked if they had had a sexual relationship with Elvis, all said it only went as far as necking and petting, but no intercourse.  Why?  Because they said Elvis was really just a teenager himself at heart and enjoyed the company of young girls -- like the teenager he had wanted to remain.  One said he had told her that because he was who he was, he was expected to have a very aggressive and robust sex life, but all he wanted was some teenage frolicking.

Weird?  I'd say.

"Elvis, why is a man of 39 asking to date a 14-year-old child?" one mother asked him.  He replied that if she were worried, she could come along as a chaperone, which this mother did.  "We played parlour games and went swimming in his pool," she said, "but it didn't go further than teenage behaviour."

Weird?  I'd say.

But it's no different than the Mormon cult, whose females marry very young, often to older men, and are encouraged to have as many children as they can to keep the cult going 'cause not too many people are lining up to convert.  It's a very closed sect.

(Note: I no longer have to censor myself when I talk about the Mormons because I recently blocked a Mormon acquaintance who was an avid reader of my blog.  He never commented on anything I blogged  -- except to take offence at my research and views on Mormons -- so in a moment of childish pettiness, I blocked him, along with a few other ghost followers.  When he discovered this, he "unfriended" me, in his own moment of juvenile behaviour, so he won't be able to read it on fb either.  I know, I know, small-minded of me but I'm far from perfect!)  

But back to Elvis.  His seems a case of arrested development which never abated.  With Pricilla, he met her when she also was 14 and had to wait a few years until she was of age to marry her.  But her parents let her live with him all that time, under the same roof.

Weird?  I'd say.

She looks 14 here.

Even weirder, Pricilla said that after she had had the baby, Elvis never slept with her again.  He was repulsed by the fact that she had given birth.  Evidently, he still preferred his virgins.  That's when she started her affair with one of his body guards, which ended their marriage.  But I mean, do you blame her?

The whole thing non-plussed me.  Have a look and I think you'll agree:  Elvis was one weird guy.

 

My teenage years with Matthew Perry's Mother

Suzanne Langford, when I knew her, with Pierre Trudeau.  She was his press secretary.

Suzanne Langford was my best friend throughout high school in Ottawa, Canada.  We both went to Lisgar Collegiate Institute from 1960 to 1965.  

She is the mother of Matthew Perry.

We had the most fun back then!  We double-dated, snuck into the sand pits with our dates for an illegal, midnight swim and made our own outfits -- some with décolletage a little too daringly lowcut.  We laughed 'til we cried.  We listened to Françoise Hardy and thought we were the most sophisticated teenagers ever.

She has two older brothers, John and Stuart.  Stuart was the funny one, with a constant and well-timed quip for every occasion.  I suspect this is where Matthew got his own talent.   

Suzanne was scouted by the Eileen Ford modelling agency in New York and moved to start an exciting career.  She graced the cover of a number of fashion magazines and that's where she met Matthew's father, John Perry.  Theirs was a whirlwind romance and they wed in 1968.  I was her Maid of Honour and she gave me a beautiful, engraved silver bracelet to mark the occasion.

At her wedding, I met John's brother, Tony, and began my own whirlwind romance.  He was a musician and singer with 'The Serendipity Singers' and used to fly me to New York, where we'd hang out with people like Neil Diamond and Peter Paul and Mary at local clubs.  My relationship with Tony didn't pan out, but those were heady days!

When she became pregnant with Matthew, I was the first person she called.  When he was born, I was again the first person she called after her parents. 

Her marriage to John ended after a couple of years and she moved back to Ottawa for a while.  That's where she met TV journalist Keith Morrison, her husband of more than 40 years.  They went on to have four more children.

When she moved to California, we lost touch.  But we got together again a few years later in Ottawa when her father, and then her mother, died.  The laughs continued.

I just wrote her a long letter about everything.  I don't know if she'll reply, but I wanted her to know I am still here after 56 years.  I am still her friend in her time of tragedy.  

Matthew with his father, John, and his mother, my friend Suzanne, above.  Suzanne and Keith, upper photo, on their way to identify Matthew.  My heart breaks for her.

Rest in peace, Matthew.  Your struggle over, as is the years-long anguish you have put so many loved ones through, including your Mother.