Here's where your money is going

In addition to Zelensky's questionable personal decisions about the billions being sent to Ukraine, (See "My theory", Sept. 6, 2023) his officials have now been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.  But we're not talkin' cookies or crumbs. We're talkin' millions. 

While he's jetting around begging for yet more billions, Zelensky's "comrades in arms" are busy stealing it.  Why was this not the main headline on the front page, instead of buried in the back pages?  Ponder that for a moment.   

If you get 'The Globe and Mail', have a read of a little article buried in the middle pages:

Corruption

This is where the pennies, caringly collected from kids in schools to help Ukraine, end up.

Senseless

Thomas

Jody Thomas, the outgoing "security advisor" for Trudeau -- whatever that means?  Don't walk under a ladder?  Throw salt over your shoulder to ward off evil?  Don't let a black cat cross your path?  Don't step on a crack? -- told Vassy Kapelos that she really couldn't be held responsible for the truckers' convoy protest because she'd only been in the job a couple of weeks. 

What??!! 

In that same interview, the never-misses-anything Ms. Kapelos asked her if she could have done anything differently, or taken any different decisions?  Thomas said that perhaps she should have, or perhaps she could have sought other advice, but in the end she was satisfied she had made the right choices.

Really??!!

In effect, what she was saying was that she really wasn't the right choice for the position in the first place, given that she didn't know what to do when she got there, and that she'd followed up by admitting her decisions were poor.  Of course, she didn't know that's what she was saying, or she wouldn't have said it.  But she was.

So, evidently, her appointment was another Affirmative Action fiasco.  She was not up to the job in the first place and then admitted she'd made poor decisions.  How's that for incompetence!  

Privileged?

 

This is from 'The Catholic Digest'.  It is another example of how the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion 'Woke" are contaminating public discourse with unsupported claims, personal race agendas, prejudices and incorrect data: __________________________________ Since When Are Christians A “Privileged” Group?   Bill Donohue sent the following letter to the Chief Diversity Officer at The Johns Hopkins University wanting to see the evidence that Christians constitute a “privileged” group.                                                                                   January 29, 2024   Dr. Sherita H. Golden Chief Diversity Officer The Johns Hopkins University 2024 E. Monument Street, Ste. 2-600 Baltimore, MD 21205   Dear Dr. Golden:   You recently posted a piece in the university’s “Monthly Diversity Digest” listing various demographic groups which, you claim, enjoy a “privileged” position in American society. They include “whites, Christians, males, and heterosexuals.”   I am aware that a spokesman for Johns Hopkins Medicine addressed the ensuing controversy and that you have since retracted your comments. That is all fine and good, but there is one demographic group that you mentioned that is of particular interest to me, namely, Christians.   I would like to know how you determined that Christians are a “privileged” group. As a sociologist and the president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am concerned that if your assessment is wrong, it could have far-reaching consequences for Christians.   In a survey done by the Pew Research Center on the income of various religious groups, it listed 15 Christian ones. Only two of them—those who belong to the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)—have a family income above that of atheists and agnostics. (The two wealthiest religious groups are Jewish and Hindu.)   Those who earn less than atheists and agnostics, but who are nonetheless above the median income, belong to the following groups: Orthodox Christian, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church in America, and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.   Those who earn below the median income, and are considerably less well off than atheists and agnostics, belong to the following groups: Catholic, Churches of Christ, Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, American Baptist Churches USA, Church of God in Christ and National Baptist Convention.   The data do not support your conviction that Christians are a “privileged group.” But they do indicate that atheists and agnostics qualify as such. Could you explain why they were not listed as “privileged” groups but Christians were?   Thank you for your consideration.   Sincerely,    William A. Donohue, Ph.D. President   cc: Ronald J. Daniels, President, The Johns Hopkins University ___Louis J. Forster, Chairman, Board of Trustees Sherita Golden.

The best weekend!

"Grandma, let's have a girls' weekend," said granddaughter the other day, driving home from water polo.  So this weekend we did.  And it was even better because it had been her idea, rather than mine; I didn't have to beg her to spend time with me.  

I'm going to take every one on offer because it won't be long before hanging out with grandma is the last thing this soon-to-be-10-year-old will want to do. 

First stop, Milestone's in Market Mall for lunch, after which we hit 'Old Navy' where I treated her to jeans, casual pants and little gold earrings:

Lots of fun!

Then it was Dim Sum for dinner.

A virgin Shirley Temple.

                                                 

Pancakes and bacon.

Next morning, waiting for pancakes and bacon (above).

Very poor show

Watching the 36-year-old Djokovic being hammered by the 22-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open reminded me of when Pete Sampras used to lose a match.  "I wasn't feeling well, I had stomach problems," Sampras used to whine.  Never would he say his opponent played better.  Never would he congratulate his adversary.

Sampras, always ungracious in defeat.

That's what Djokovic did yesterday.  He railed about his "poor level" and said "he didn't understand how he could have played so badly to lose".

Never did he say Sinner bested him, pure and simple.  Just couldn't do it.

Sinner in his deserved glory.

Serena Williams always did this too.  When she won, she would magnanimously praise her opponent, but when she lost, she always said she was under the weather, blamed a linesman, screamed at a chair umpire, or claimed the calls were bad....blah, blah, blah.

Can you imagine Rod Laver, John Newcombe or Ken Rosewall ever behaving like that?  Never.  Gone are the days of "The Gentlemen's or Ladies" Game.  Now it's all about money.  I find it sad, frankly.

And speaking of sports, London police have FINALLY charged five former players on the Canadian junior hockey team for the 2018 sexual assault and rape of a young woman with whom they had been "partying".  After an initial investigation, the police failed to lay a charge and closed the case.  Huh??!!

Other investigations of the Hockey Canada good old boys running the organization were too obvious to ignore, so charges were finally laid.  Six years later.  To this day, they are refusing to release an "internal" report on the crime.  How can it be deemed internal?  Rhetorical.

My question is, what kind of parents -- and particularly mothers -- raise their sons to think it's a lark and part of their entitlement to repeatedly gang-rape a girl?!  Who are these people?!!??  

Naturally, his parents weren't by his side, when Alex Formenton turned himself in the other day.  Why wasn't his mother with him?  Afterall, she's the one who gave him his outlook on women.  Just another rabid, frothing hockey mom, shouting and screaming at refs over the years from the stands.  Shame on her. 

Alex Formenton, one of the accused, was the only player to turn himself in.  

Evidently, William Golding's 1954 novel 'Lord of the Flies' is alive and well.  But in this case, it didn't take months for the boys to revert to caveman behaviour and begin attacking and killing each other, as they did in the novel.  No, in that hotel room in London it only took a few hours and a bunch of booze for them to drag a young girl by the hair into a room, onto a bed and repeatedly attack her.  

Can't you just hear them laughing, hooting and egging each other on.  Tragic for everyone.  Thanks to their parents' indulgence of them, in the hopes they would all become multi-millionaire NHLers, every life in this mess is now ruined.

Great job Mom and Dad!  

Yep, we are just a few baby steps out of the cave.  

 

Images that need to be saved

I previously put these on facebook, but I want them in my next volume of blogs when I print it:

This is supposed to be high fashion.  Gawd help us!

It's the RCMP's fault

That's the position lawyers for Myles Sanderson, the Cree who stabbed and killed 11 people and injured 17 others on the James Smith Cree reserve, are taking in the inquest into the 2022 tragedy and massacre.

Convicted drug dealer and murderer, Myles Sanderson.

Nevermind that Sanderson and his brother Damien, both long-time drug dealers, were high on crack and drunk, terrorizing the community and marauding through it at the time.  Nevermind that he had been "unlawfully at large" for no reason anyone can determine.  No.  It the RCMP were the problem because Sanderson said he felt "threatened".  Well, I guess if you're a criminal drug dealer, you might feel threatened when the police try to arrest you.  What a crock! 

During the rampage, Myles and Damien got into an argument and Myles killed his brother too.  And why is there an inquest, after Sanderson has been convicted?  Why, to blame the RCMP of course.  That's why.  Otherwise, there would be no need to call one.

I bet it'll be "colonialism and residential schools" that have caused it all.  And I bet a lot of "wokes" are buying it.  I'm not.

(Please, Gawd, don't let Tanya Talaga weigh in.)

Worth re-printing

 As posted in the 'Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights':

Moms For Liberty Told To Stay Out Of NYC   Bill Donohue   January 16, 2024   'Moms for Liberty' is a pro-family organization dedicated to protecting the wellbeing of children. But to radical left-wing politicians and activists, it is a threat to their agenda. The latest public foe of this organization is Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine; he previously served in the New York City Council.   Levine went ballistic when he learned of an event that 'Moms for Liberty' will hold in New York City on January 18. He said they “have no place here,” accusing them of supporting “book bans” and the harassment of teachers and school librarians. He added that they have been labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “far right extremist organization.”   Levine does not speak for all New Yorkers, so he has no business deciding which organizations have a “place” here. Indeed, as an agent of the state, his words are dangerously censorial: government officials should never threaten law-abiding voluntary associations.   The arrogance of this man is unfortunately not a novel experience for New Yorkers.   In 2011, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio [he would later become the mayor] publicly objected to a billboard erected by black pro-life Americans. Life Always posted a billboard that said, “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.”  Sweet De Blasio called for it to be removed, simply because he objected. He succeeded.   In 2014, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told pro-life conservatives that they “have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.” So he decided to speak for all New Yorkers (like Trudeau does all the time with his "Canadians think....Canadians want.....Canadians have never.....") effectively telling pro-lifers to get out.   Levine shares the same radical politics that marked the tenure of de Blasio and Cuomo. His enthusiasm for abortion is so strong that he has invited “everyone in any place in the country” to come to New York to abort their babies. He also supports federal funding of abortion and abortions performed for sex-selection purposes.   During Covid, Levine proved to be more controlling than even Gov. Cuomo. When the governor issued an executive order at the end of May 2020, allowing groups of up to 10 to gather without a mask, Levine was livid. He called it a “shocking order.”   But not wearing a mask and not practicing social distancing was perfectly fine by Levine when it came to the rioters who destroyed New York City during this time. “If there is a spike in coronavirus cases in the next two weeks, don’t blame the protesters”; rather, he said, blame racism and the cops.   The man is also clueless. When there was an outbreak of monkeypox in New York—a direct result of gay sex practices—Levine tweeted that “95% of the cases are in men, for some unexplained reason.” He just doesn’t get it.   When he was a New York City Councilman, Levine showed his contempt for diversity and religious liberty when he refused to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2014. Gays were allowed to march in the parade but not under their own banner (the same was true of pro-life groups). But that didn’t matter—Levine wanted to force parade organizers to follow his politics.   It is one thing to adopt a radical political agenda; it is quite another to smear innocent Americans.   'Moms for Liberty' is not in favor of book banning. Like most Americans, they believe that there are certain books—e.g., those with graphic sexual content—that are not appropriate for children. Nor do they promote the harassment of school employees. In fact, what Levine calls “harassment” is what most would call free speech.   Most risible of all is Levine’s reliance on the Southern Poverty Law Center for assessments of extremist organizations. This far-left entity has branded mainstream pro-family and non-profit law groups (the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defending Freedom) as extremist, yet when it comes to bona-fide urban terrorist groups—such as Antifa—it not only says they are not violent, it actually says that classifying them as such is “dangerous” and a “threat” to civil liberties.   The Catholic League, which is headquartered in New York City, welcomes 'Moms for Liberty'. We also have a piece of advice for Levine: know your place, back off, and learn the virtue of tolerance.

Did they listen?

 This letter was in 'The Calgary Herald' the other day:

Today this was the headline.  I guess I was not the only one outraged at council's pay hike:

Ya gotta stand where you sit, folks.

Letters............

The first one was to 'The Globe and Mail'; hasn't been run -- probably because I just had two in.  My name is problematic because it stands out (thank you Brian Marley-Clarke!):

Dear Editor,

History has shown that giving politicians more money only results in more spending.  It does not result in a reduction of debt or deficits.

 In fact, it might be argued that not taxing more heavily results in more prudent fiscal spending.  I shudder to think what shape Alberta would be in if our provincial burghers introduced a sales tax.  Who knows what crazy vanity projects they would come up with?

 No, Mr. Coyne, the logic of economics is not at play here.  It would all be about politics and votes.  That’s where any windfall would end up.

________________________________

This was just to John Ibbitson; he won't reply, but I sent it anyway:

Dear Mr. Ibbitson,

 Your column today is accurate.  We haven’t had a prime minister since Pearson who governed with the objective of improving Canada and the lives of its citizens.

 Every decision is about votes, money or personal positions.  Katie Telford, who speaks for the pm and usually decides his positions, is married to a Jewish man, Mr. Silver, which obviously determines her influence on Mr. Trudeau.  Add to that the fact that his recent luxurious holiday in Jamaica was at the largess of Peter Green, a British billionaire, who happens to be Jewish, and you can see why he will not call Israel’s actions “genocide”.

 This is in no way anti-Semitic; his decisions would be different were other religions involved.  I know no mainstream media or columnist can mention these connections, but if you pull back the curtain on anything, you will see why things are done the way they are:  Money and votes – not objectivity.  Money talks in politics.  In fact, it’s usually the only thing that talks.

 I would pen a letter to the editor, but it would undoubtedly be considered anti-Semitic and discarded in horror.  I also hesitated to write to you for the same reason, but I just wanted to add another dimension to why this pm takes the position he does on Isreal.  Avi Lewis’s column today is the only one I have read, written by a Jewish person, which calls on the ICJ to side with South Africa on the genocide charge.  Brave of him, bravo, for his objectivity.

____________________________

More insanity

Apparently, McMaster University had to issue a public apology for the "grave" error of including Sir John A. Macdonald Day on its calendar of notable events.

The founder of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald

Yep, Sir John -- the incredible man who created Canada -- has been erased from McMaster, just as he has been from many other venues because he had the cultural temerity to strive to educate the Indigenous by setting up boarding schools away from their remote reservations.  (I know, I know, they called them residential schools, from which they barely "survived", but they are really just boarding schools, from which they graduated with an education.  But let's not quibble.)  

And who's banned Sir John?  Why, the brilliant David Farrar, McMaster president and vice-chancellor.  Cancel culture has erased Sir John, but I refuse to.  The man should be revered and celebrated in the face of the Trudeau Liberals who have been trying to destroy the country Macdonald created for the last eight years.

And what else is going on in this "woke" country?  Well, the Toronto Catholic School Board has decreed that the N-word is to be banned from its entire curriculum.  Yep, as per the gospel according to the chair, no books that contain it shall be kept on any shelf in any school.  This includes such masterpieces as 'Huckleberry Finn', 'Heart of Darkness', 'Of Mice and Men' and 'To Kill a Mocking Bird", along with many other historical works that define the evolving culture of the Western world.  

Nancy Crawford, the goodie-two-shoes chair of the Toronto Catholic Board and a leading light of the cancel culture movement.

And where's Her Supreme Wokeness, Jyothi Gondek, the miasmatic mayor of Calgary, while the province is suffering through the worst deep freeze in a hundred years?  Why, basking in sunny Los Angeles, trying to drum up more film business for Alberta.  Here's a bulletin:  Alberta and Calgary are awash in film productions to the point they disrupt commerce and ordinary life everywhere.  But instead of staying here and visiting the many warming centres that have been set up to support the  homeless and show she "cares", Her Wokeness is thousands of miles away enjoying the sunshine on the public purse.

As I have said, Gondek's biggest problem is her PhD in urban sociology.  That skews her "vision" for the city, but in the wrong direction.  She is a proponent of the cult of "wokery".  Shame on the people who gave her a PhD.

But enough of this.  I have to go out and try to start my car.  

Here's how it works

The path to power in politics.

Politics is about money.  To get your candidate elected, you have to give him/her money.  A lot of it.  If your candidate is elected, you get access to the office he/she holds.  This access gives you power -- power to garner favours for your friends, give them jobs and take positions you want -- or don't want -- them to take.  Basically it's:

• Money
• Power
• Access
• Favours

This, my friends is what political "economy" and political "science" are all about. (Hold on, I think I just earned a PhD in the subject right there.)

Never has this formula been on such egregious display as yesterday, when Trudeau twisted his mouth -- or rather Katie Telford twisted it for him -- into the contorted announcement that although Israel's stated objective was to wipe Hamas off the face of the earth altogether, it was not genocide.

Guess who Katie Telford is married to?  Yep, a Jewish consultant called Rob Silver.  Guess who hosted Trudeau's "Let them eat cake", $9 K a night stay in Jamaica?  Peter Green.  Who is Green?  A British Jewish billionaire whose ties with Trudeau's family go back 50 years.

Does anyone really think that with the largesse handed Trudeau by a Jewish man and the mouthpiece that speaks for Trudeau, married to a Jewish consultant, would allow him any other position than to deny Israel is committing genocide?  If Telford were married to an Arab and his holiday provided by an Arab, Trudeau's position would be different.  

Canada is no longer governed by people who value Canada and hasn't been for a long time.  With the exception of Harper, every politician since -- and including -- Trudeau-the-Elder has run the country on a personal agenda with nary a perfunctory nod to what is good for the country.  Lester Pearson was the last one to do that.

People, you've got to look behind the curtain.  You've got to see who's pulling the money strings.  Only then can you know what's going on.  Naturally, no mainstream media will dare point this out, for fear of being labelled anti-Semitic, but I will.  All the rending of garments in the public thoroughfare by one side or the other always follows the ethnicity of the author.  

If Jewish, it's pro-Israel; if Palestinian, pro-Palestine.  Objectivity and scholarship have been stomped upon and sacrificed on the altar of personality and religion.  Even previously-respected judges, such as Rosalie Abella, have lost their credibility with the positions they have taken.  Abella should take a page out of Avi Lewis's column in 'The Globe and Mail', Jan. 15.  He calls Israel's action genocide and he's Jewish.  That's the only exception I can find. 

What's the international definition of genocide?  It's, "the destruction of a large group of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the intention of destroying that group."  The evidence shows that Israel is indeed culpable and by the same token, so is Hamas.  But not even the 25 jurists who make up the International Court of Justice have been able to figure this out.  Frankly, any elementary school kid could figure it out in a few minutes, but these 25 "learned" guys can't?!

My poor grandchildren.

Now he doesn't like me

"Are you South American?" I asked the young bartender at a restaurant we frequent.  "No, I'm Indigenous," he replied.

Oh.

Naturally, I launched into a discussion about native finances in Canada and Alberta.  He knew nothing and actually told me I was wrong and I needed to do more research.  Really?  I have done more research than anyone I know and the picture is not pretty.  Thirty different federal departments give billions to native communities.

Here's what Tom Flanagan, professor of public policy at the University of Calgary wrote recently:

• Overall spending increases announced in Budget 2022 were more moderate than federal spending increases during the pandemic years of 2019-2021.

• Federal Indigenous spending, however, continues to grow faster than overall spending.

• It is projected to rise from about $25 billion in fiscal 2021-22 to about $35.5 billion in 2026-27, an increase of 42 percent in nominal dollars.

• Indigenous spending continues to rise as a proportion of the federal budget, from 6.1 percent in 2019-20 to 7.7 percent in 2026-27—an increase of 26 percent in seven years.

• Indigenous spending is increasingly driven by the negotiated settlement of class actions, such as those for Indian residential schools, Indian day schools, Indian hospitals, and boil-water advisories on Indian reserves.

• The biggest of these settlements is the $40 billion child welfare settlement announced in December 2021.

• The impact of this settlement upon Indigenous spending is difficult to observe because, under the principles of accrual accounting, much of it is backdated to earlier years.

• The Trudeau government has missed all its previous budgetary targets for Indigenous spending, so the increases announced in Budget 2022 will probably prove to be underestimates, especially if class actions continue to put unpredictable pressures on Indigenous funding commitments.

The other thing this young man did not know was the difference between elected and hereditary band leaders.  I googled it and he became annoyed.  Eventually, he just walked away.  It will be interesting to see how he greets me the next time our paths cross.

See, that's the problem with many Indigenous people.  They don't want to know the facts -- a sort of "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up" mentality.  

Many native minds and ears closed.

Until there is real debate among these communities -- instead of mass piling on to the White "colonialists" -- nothing will change.

Except they'll get more money.

The dreaded family "Christmas" card

A few years ago, I did a blog about the dreaded Christmas newsletter (See "The dreaded Christmas newsletter", Dec. 22, 2012).  I mercilessly mocked one we used to get from the wife of an old friend of B's, due to the pomposity, self-importance and self-aggrandizement that ran through her whole, turgid tome.  (Just went back and re-read it; yes, it's merciless, but very funny.)

Happily, that was the last one received from this woman.  Evidently, she didn't like being made fun of.

Now my quest is to get rid of "Christmas" cards that feature family pictures instead of actual Christmas messages -- you know, like the fact that we are celebrating the birth and adoration of Christ, not the adoration of mum, dad and the kiddies. 

Look at us!  We're more important than Jesus!

People must actually plan these all year, because most feature photos taken throughout each season.  Imagine!  Spending your time thinking of your non-Christmas card while you are on summer vacation!  Sure, by all means, add a couple of photos with the card, or put a Christmas greeting on the picture, but to just feature yourself with no reference to what the day is all about?  No.

One of the most thoughtful cards we used to receive was from a Jewish friend, who always sent us a Christmas card because he knew we were Christians.  He's gone now, but his sentiment at Christmas I always remember.  He took the time and trouble to send us an actual Christmas card.

It's too bad Christmas has been highjacked by the folks who celebrate with "Holiday" or "Season's Greetings" cards.  Can't stand these either.  But the absolute worst are the cheap, lazy people who send greetings via the internet.  How cheezy is that!  I mean, spring for a few cards, slap a stamp on them, put them in the post and make an effort to show people you care.

I remember my parents setting up a card table in their bedroom every year and writing a couple hundred cards in early December.  What an ordeal, but they did it.  B and I still do.  

Tomorrow is The Epiphany, so the final Christmas decorations and lights will be put away for another year.  It's a tough task, but life moves on.  Roll on Spring!   

  

Let's call it

This is what drives academia.

Diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) has resulted in moral rot and the elimination of merit in universities.  I mean, DEI is the squishy mantra now running previously-important and relevant educational institutions.  I'm not sure how rabid it is in Canada -- although I suspect it's at the heart of every discussion, course curriculum and hire -- but the fiasco now-ex Harvard president Claudine Gay has caused underscores how off-track institutes of higher learning have become.

No longer does merit determine who gets hired.  No, it's DEI all the way.  YouTube is full of excellent coverage of Gay's duplicity.  I've watched a bunch and it's disheartening to see that Affirmative Action (AA) and DEI were behind the choice of her for president.     

Penny Pritzker, the billionaire (thanks to her family's wealth; didn't earn it herself) head of Harvard's board of trustees, hired Gay in a naked bow to DEI because Gay's academic qualifications were clearly not up-to-snuff for the job.  But, never mind all that.  Gay ticked all the boxes in the DEI world, so presto-chango!  She was hired!

Penny Pritzker, someone who's glad her father was born before her.

(Blogged this before, see "They've all effed up", 13 Dec. 2023)

Just to double down on the mess, Pritzker said Gay's resignation, "came with great sadness" and thanked her for, "her deep and unwavering commitment to Harvard and to the pursuit of academic excellence."

Say what??!!  It has now become fact that Gay didn't just, "omit adequate citations" in her PhD dissertation.  She outright cribbed and plagiarized other academics' work word-for-word.  In other words, she cheated bigtime.  

It was all predictable when Gay was installed.  Thankfully, as millions in funding were being pulled by large doners, Gay was finally told to "resign".  The money was drying up.  But don't fret.  She is going back to teaching there and will earn $900,000 a year, so no need for a tag-day for Ms. Gay.

Why does it always take large, entrenched institutions weeks to see the writing on the wall and act?  They dig in, double down and try to excuse their way out of something they should know will not go away.  The press, one of the most important checks we have on bullsh-t, will see to that.

And speaking of bullsh-t, Trudeau and his family are vacationing in Jamaica, "at no cost to the taxpayer."  After several ethics violations, his office was quick to point out that he will be reimbursing the treasury board the equivalent of commercial airfares for his family.  Except that he's using an entire plane, not just a few seats, so that doesn't add up.  Add to that the cost of the RCMP accompanying him and we're talking hundreds of thousands.  What did your last trip to Jamaica cost?  Exactly.  

As for Gay, wonder how many Harvard grads are taking their framed degrees off their study walls?  

If you're wondering I might be coming down too hard, google Gay.  You'll learn that she fired two Black profs because their ideas didn't match hers.  Also, look into her beef with Roland Fryer, the brilliant Black Harvard economics professor, who dared to call her out and paid for it.  Free speech?  Forget about it.  If it didn't align with Gay's mantras, it was verboten.  

And naturally, Rev. Al Sharpton had to hit the ether, braying and bleating out his usual, standard racism rant.  Hey, Al, Gay was hired because of reverse racism, so I wouldn't get too carried away on your career hobby horse there buddy.

I'm with former president of the University of California from 1958 to 1967, Clark Kerr, who said:  "My job could be summarized as providing sex for the students, athletics for the alumni and parking for the faculty."

That's about it.  

We all have one

The junk drawer.  Actually, we have two, but one has a few useful items, such as ladles and larger utensils.  

Got a great feed on facebook -- which I, of course, can no longer find -- asking people what was in their junk drawer.  Here's ours:

Useless, but maybe one day....?

The most amusing answers were batteries, cords for unknown devices, screws, paperclips, vitamin pills, bread clips, safety pins, elastics, dead pens, glue, tape, a hammer, string, wire, cords, a screw driver, a flashlight, expired flower-seed packages and sauce packets from restaurants........most absolutely useless and some possibly dangerous!

When we moved three years ago, I vowed to clean out the junk drawer -- which I did.  Sort of.  But I actually moved most of it into a new junk drawer because you never know!

Let's face it.  The junk drawer is indispensable, ubiquitous and immortal.  It will live outlive us all.  Here's one I found online:

One of the best I've seen.  A classic!

What's in yours?

 

New Year's Eve in Cochrane

We visited daughter, son-in-law and grands for a wonderful New Year's Eve, enjoying cheese fondue and playing 'Clue'.  What a blessing it is to be so close to those we love:

Hilary

Not the best lighting.  I look 150 years old!

Daughter and her babies.

My very handsome son-in-law.

Daughter got a new puppy.

Guess who?

So, that's a wrap for Christmas and New Year's, 2023.  Here's to 2024!