DCC

The gorgeous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!

I was thumbing through Netflix and came across a series about the 'Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' (DCC).  Fancying myself above such frivolity, I almost missed a fabulous look at one of the most impressive groups of women around!  

I had been a cheerleader myself in high school -- head cheerleader for Lisgar Collegiate Institute, don't ya know.  Our tryouts consisted of doing a few cartwheels in the gym over the lunch hour with the Phys Ed teacher evaluating us.  I made it because I had taken ballet and did a pretty good cartwheel.  However, I do remember ripping a muscle in my right upper thigh, which resulted in a huge, bright-red bruise, which was extremely painful and lingered for weeks while I still had to perform.

So, I decided to dive into the entire DCC series.  

Man, was I impressed!  These young women are not bimbos, they are way above-average professionals.  For example, one was an orthodontist, another a veterinarian and another a medical supply technician -- you name it, these girls are very impressive.

And so are their talents.  For the 2023 season, 500 girls applied; the squad is made up of only 36.  Watching the various stages when so many are weeded out was heartbreaking, as they were called in for the cut talk they knew was coming.  Many cried and I don't blame them.  They had put their entire lives on hold for a chance to be part of an iconic team and they had worked so hard, only to be told they hadn't made it.

The two women in charge had been cheerleaders themselves back in the day and they still looked great.  One of the highlights was a reunion of ex-cheerleaders going back to the seventies.  What a show they put on!  

So, I stand educated about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.  An amazingly professional and talented group of women!  

 

More to chew on...........

 

June 24, 2024 

On June 14, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a report on boarding schools for Native American children, some of which were run the Catholic Church. From 1869 to the 1960s, the government removed thousands of these children from tribal lands and placed them in boarding schools. The express purpose was to assimilate them into American society.  

  

There were more than 500 of these schools, more than 80 of which (only 16 percent) were Catholic-run. According to an investigation by the Washington Post (WaPo) at least 122 priests, sisters and brothers who were assigned to these schools were later accused of sexually abusing these children.  

  

The timeline of the investigation under review extends back to 1869, so the kind of record keeping that lends itself to conclusive results is simply impossible. The WaPo report, which claims "pervasive" abuse in Catholic-run boarding schools, readily confesses that "lists of accused priests are inconsistent and incomplete, and many survivors have not come forward. Others are aging and in poor health, or, like their abusers, have died."  

  

Instead of admitting that this is a clear shortcoming, the journalists conclude this means that "the extent of the abuse was probably far worse."

Really? Let's face it—they could have come to a very different conclusion. Precisely because the record-keeping was found wanting, it is hard to know the truth. It is even possible that good data would reveal how small this problem was. But such considerations would have gotten in the way of their narrative.

(It has also come to light that much of the abuse was perpetrated by older students on younger; this too is never pointed out.)

  

WaPo cites Rev. Mike Carson, who worked on this issue for the bishops, and he "also noted a likely dearth of records." Similarly, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland acknowledges that given the situation, "I doubt that you could find a lot of Catholic records or federal government records about abuse and neglect toward the students."  

  

There are other problems that should have given the journalists pause. In several parts of the report, they admit that the alleged victims whom they spoke to "kept secret" what happened. That being the case, how can Church officials be blamed? Indeed, after detailing one case of alleged abuse, they write that, "It is unclear whether church officials were aware of the abuse at St. Mary's at the time." 

  

WaPo journalists offer no comment on something that should have concerned them. Why is it that when the federal government commissioned a study of this issue in 1928, this report "chastised the schools for the mistreatment and malnourishment of students," but never said a word about physical or sexual abuse? Was it a cover up? Or was there nothing to report? It seems plausible that a probe that took notice of "mistreatment" would have cited serious cases of abuse.  

  

The credibility of the WaPo authors is seriously undermined by their decision to cite the Catholic Church's legacy of abuse in Canadian boarding schools for indigenous peoples. That story has positively been proven to be a hoax. It does not help their cause to say that Pope Francis apologized for what happened—but he did so before the story was proven false.  

  

There is also the matter of the scope of the WaPo investigation. Why didn't they investigate the boarding schools run by the government? After all, they operated most of them. Are they content to rely on the Department of Interior study? Similarly, they mention that several Protestant denominations also operated these schools. Why were none of them probed? 

  

As I point out in my book, The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse, wherever adults regularly interact with minors, unfortunately we find abuse. So why is it that time and again, the public schools get a pass, Hollywood gets a pass, etc.? Why is it always the Catholic Church that is the source of investigation? Isn't this religious profiling? And wouldn't that suggest that bigotry is at work? 

  

It is important that the truth be told. The WaPo report contains some disturbing information, and undoubtedly instances of abuse occurred. But when the data are incomplete, it's time to tap the brakes and not come to condemnatory conclusions.  

  

The issue of abuse must also be put in context. If corporal punishment was commonplace at the time, why should we be horrified to learn that it existed in Catholic institutions? It must also be asked how common was abuse within the Native American community? Not to ask questions like these reveals a bias, thus further undercutting the credibility of those pointing fingers.  

  

I am sending a letter, and this commentary, to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee. They are interested in having a federal commission do a more thorough investigation of the assimilative polices of Indian boarding schools. It's time they raised issues that seem to have escaped the WaPo journalists, as well as many others.

Reprinted by Bill Donahue from 'Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights'

Pool refugees

Crowded lanes

The pool was jammed with them this morning because all the pools in Calgary are closed, thanks to the incompetence of the water "managers" in that city.  In addition to lane swimmers, six lanes were taken up by swim teams that had arrived at 5 a.m.  When I arrived around 7:30, it was still packed.

But I persevered and finished my set!  Someone naively said they'd probably be using our pool for the next two weeks.  "Two weeks?" I said.  "Make that four at a minimum, but probably six."  As I said, the entire summer will be a write-off for anyone wanting to use a pool in Calgary.  

___________________________

But what I really wanted to talk about is the latest on the Indigenous child-welfare file.  Sorry to hammer on, but it never ends!  Remember when Harper held an apology ceremony in the House of Commons a number of years ago?  Well, the natives want another.  Yep, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) national chief, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, announced that the prime minister would AGAIN be apologizing for the child welfare system next year.

"This apology is very significant," said Ms. Nepinak.  "It amounts to another step in trying to right the wrongs of the past.  It's a hard, dark issue that Canada has to face up to and I think this whole country needs to hear it and it needs to be on the record.

Apparently, all these children weren't educated, they were tortured.

"Money is not going to solve everything, neither will an apology, but this is about moving forward in a better way," she added.

Well, if money isn't going to solve anything, why take more of it?

Haven't we heard enough?  Haven't we done enough?  Haven't we handed over enough billions already?  No, apparently not.  And, of course, Cindy Blackstock and the child and family caring society are right in there waiting to collect the $23 billion which has been awarded natives on this file.

$23 billion!!!  Oh, and naturally Murray Sinclair is in the mix as a negotiator.  

But wait, there's more.  In addition to the $23 billion, there is another $20 billion earmarked for reforms to the child-welfare system on first nations.  But hang on, don't the natives run their own child-welfare programs?  Haven't they insisted on it?  So, if the whole mess they have created needs to be reformed, why are Canadians handing over more money to do it?

Alas and alack.  Sigh.............

  

Shout out to San Diego!

That's where the pipe was sourced to repair the watermain.  San Diego, California.  Can you believe that?!  Well, yes I am sure you can.  Calgary was completely unprepared for the disaster that has befallen the water system feeding the entire city.

Leaky pipes

After initially announcing the whole thing would be "done and dusted" in three to five days, it took them three days to actually find the leak and uncover it.  How the mayor could make such an announcement when they hadn't even found the pipe was pure negligence and incompetence.

When I heard three to five days, I immediately said, that means it'll be at least two weeks.  Next thing we know, she announces that oops, another five hot spots had been unearthed and the whole repair will now take three to five weeks.  In my world, make that a minimum of two months.  

Now, Gondek has officially declared a 'state of emergency', so, the entire summer will mean no watering anything and all pools closed.  All the kids who rely on splashing around in a city pool during their summer holiday will now not even be able to turn on a hose to cool down.  So, so sad and all because the city has neglected its infrastructure for years and years.

Her Wokeness

First she tried to blame and province and the feds for the break.  Then she had to apologize because it was entirely a city problem.  Her excuse was that the pipe still had 50 more years' service and should not have broken.  But it did and that's because no inspections were carried out because, because....??  Oh ya, she was spending $2.8 million on a task force to re-brand Calgary's motto from "Feel the Energy" to "Blue Sky City".  In her world "energy" is a bad word; "sky" is better. 

$2.8 million!

So far, there is no clear word on what caused the problem?  However, the city has known since 2004 -- 2004! -- that the outer concrete sleeves of some of the major waterpipes were alarmingly susceptible to breaking down -- including this main feeder.

Calgarians are owed a full explanation, but they're not getting one from Gondek.  However, she has announced a formal review of how exactly the break happened, which will report.....ah.....whenever it reports.  Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted!

The mayor says the panel will be made up of "experts" from academia, the water industry, water utilities management, engineering and government entities focused on infrastructure and resilience.  If we already have all these august, highly-paid experts, my question is, "What in Gawd's name have they been doing?"  Obviously fiddling while Rome burned.

Gondek's PhD in Urban Sociology makes her prone to things like panels and committees.  That's one of her problems.  

And of course, the panel will need to hire outside consultants, says Gondek.  Whaaaaat??!!??  My next question is, why?  With all the internal "experts" no consultants should be required.  However, in order to get (well) paid, the consultants will have to paper over the cracks and exonerate staff -- especially Gondek because she signs the cheques.  

So, basically, it's all an exercise in butt-covering and white-washing.  The other day she actually said, "I know Calgarians want to know how this happened and so do I."  Those last three words are a clear signal that finger-pointing and white-washing lie ahead.  Count on it.

Other luminaries like water "services" director Nancy Mackay, director of capital prioities and investment Francois Bouchart and Calgary Emergency "Management" Agency deputy chief Coby Duerr are busy running around giving briefings to anyone who'll listen, but again, what have they been doing?!!  There's gotta be a few million in salary dollars handed over to these folks, but still the pipe burst.  That's inexcusable.  Heads should roll, but won't.

Well-paid dunderheads "managing" Calgary's water mess.

Frankly, what did we expect from Her Wokeness and her ludicrous "climate emergency" agenda.  

  

  

 

Everyone's fat

Every time we go out to eat, I notice that everyone's fat these days.  Don't panic, I include myself, but the people I'm talking about aren't middle-aged with disappearing waistlines like me.  No, I'm talking about young men and women in their thirties and forties who are actually obese.

Why is that?  I have no clue?  I once asked my father, "Daddy, why are some people fat?"  "Just look at what they eat, dear," he replied.  I guess that must be it, processed food and sugar.  The saddest are the fat children.  That's child abuse, in my world.

Child abuse.

When I was a kid in the fifties, there was no such thing as processed, or fast, food.  It was all prepared from scratch and we NEVER ate out.  Oh, about once a year, when my Mother's uncle would visit from Toronto, he'd take the family to the wonderful, now gone, 'Green Valley' restaurant off Prince of Wales drive.  What a treat!  But, that was about it.

Back then, I don't recall any fat kids in my classes.  There might have been one or two here and there in the entire school, but we were all skinny.  That's because we ran around all day and didn't have cellphones or tablets.  We actually played sports and games, not watched them on a screen.

The seventies, no one's fat.

When I see fat thirty-something people I say, "What will they look like when they're my age?!"  It's funny to watch TV and see a multitude of ads for greasy foods running alongside ads for weight-loss products.  Does no one get the connection?

Oh well, think I'll pop upstairs and grab a vodka-tonic.  

Is it possible?

I think it is.  Just as Churchill didn't warn the Americans the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbour, in order to force the Americans into WW II, so Netanyahu allowed the October 7th massacre to happen so he could have an excuse to vapourize the Palestinians living in Gaza in an effort to eradicate Hamas.

Yep, that's exactly what I think happened.  It has long been proven that Churchill knew about Pearl Habour, but didn't warn anyone, and Netanyahu's continued slaughtering of Gaza shows no sign of letting up -- even though it's literally "overkill" times 100.

Of course, he will never eliminate Hamas, but he certainly doesn't want to stop the war because no sitting Israeli prime minister can be deposed during a war and he knows he will be voted out in the next election by sensible Israelis who have had enough of his wholesale butchering of civilians.  

But now that Benny Gantz has resigned from the war cabinet over his opposition to Netanyahu's criminal tactics to save his own political skin, the game has changed.  To what, I don't know?  But Gantz is very popular and an obvious rival for replacing Netanyahu, so hopefully the latter will come to his senses and realize he has to stop the destruction and try to cobble together a two-state solution.  It's the only option.

Now bitter rivals.

Perhaps the last straw for Gantz was the murdering of 234 Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp to get a measly four hostages out.  That's an abomination.  234 for four!

So much blood on Netanyahu's hands even Lady Macbeth's "Out damn spot!" will never cleanse them.  Talk about a Holocaust. 

"Zen....

...and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."  Ever heard of it?  In my thirties, when I thought I was extremely sophisticated, I bought that book and tried to read it.  Written by Robert M. Pirsig, it was an impossible read of 406 pages, but believe me, I tried to get through it about three times.

It made no sense and I eventually gave up.  

But this isn't what I want to talk about today.  I mention it because it was referenced in a column I read today and I wondered who else struggled to read it?

I want to talk about an encounter I had this week with a deaf man at the bar of a 'Milestones' near here.  Waiting for B to buy a bathing suit, I happened to be sitting beside a guy who was ordering via gesture and pointing.  When he left to go to the washroom, I asked the bar server if he was deaf?  Yes.  

When he returned, he and I started "chatting" using his cell phone and texting back and forth. It was fascinating and I quickly found myself using my hands and face much more trying to communicate.  I learned he had been deaf since birth, that he had a 20-year-old son and 18-year-old twin daughters.  "But no wife anymore, thank God," he texted.  We both started laughing.  

He is a massage therapist, a perfect trade for someone who is deaf.  But can you imagine a life lived never hearing music?  Never hearing the roar of a crowd at a hockey match?  "But," he texted, "I don't have to hear all the bullshit people spout," he wrote.  Very true!  

Tyler and B.

So, that was my first conversation with a deaf person and I have to say it was a very rich and nuanced one.

______________________________

On another note, I am sure you have read about the major watermain break in Calgary.  Naturally, Mayor Gondek is already hard at work all over the airwaves blaming the province.  No, Jyothi, it's entirely a city responsibility.  It's a city main and it's supposed to be maintained by the city -- not the province.

And it's not just a wee leak.  No, it's a break in the 11K line that serves the entire city.  It also serves Chestermere, Strathmore and Airdrie, so they're effed too.  "We don't know what caused the break, we don't know where the break is and we don't know how long it will take to repair.  It will take as long as it takes," Gondek had the nerve to say with her face hanging out.

Hey, you have huge staff who are supposed to know these things!  What have they been doing?!  "We're providing $223 million to Calgary for infrastructure funding, no strings attached," shot back Premier Danielle Smith.  "I urge the mayor to use it to immediately assess all water-supply issues."

Gondek's attitude is why she has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in living memory.  

To boot, the break is in the same area that was just "repaired" in April -- fewer than two months ago!  What's even more ludicrous is that it's local charities who are handing out water to nearby residents.  Not the city!  That's the city's job, no one else's.  Great contingency planning, Ms. Gondek!  Not.

Why are we surprised?  Just the same old same old.  Thank heaven in Cochrane, we have our own water system, so are not affected.  But I wouldn't be surprised if we are asked to supply water to Calgary in the very near future.

 

11 Million

That's the number of illegal, undocumented migrants now hiding out in the US.  11 million!  Biden just announced he'll be capping the number at 2,500 a day.  2,500 a day!  Wow, that'll fix things.  Not.  That's because he knows Trump, with his strict immigration stance that actually adheres to legal borders, will soon be replacing him.  Biden is trying to show that he'll stop the emptying out of the entire population of South America into the US.

It won't work, of course, and Trump will reimpose his policies of zero tolerance for illegals.  So, guess what?  Will those 11 million go back from whence they came?  Of course not.  They'll be heading north to Canada!

Coming soon to a border near you.

We're f-cked.

We already have a housing crisis, remember?  We also have an economic crisis, thanks to Trudeau and Freeland, so how will that work?  It won't.

Is anyone paying attention?  Is Sean Fraser, minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, listening?  Is Marc Miller, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship listening?  Rhetorical.  Are they aware of this threat to our country?  Are they even planning for this looming tsunami of illegals pouring across the 49th parallel?

No.  Obviously not.  They're too busy worrying about what they'll do when they're booted out of office.  Right now, Canada has 500,000 illegals migrants lurking around the country.  500,000!  And where are they coming from?  First from India, with the Philippines next.  What are we doing about it?  Nothing.  It takes years to get a hearing by the immigration and refugee board and by that time, they'll have settled and had about 12 Canadian kids.

Coming soon to your downtown.

Today, people run for office, not for the betterment of Canada.  They run for the perks, the salary, the travel and the pension.  They also run to give jobs to their friends and family as staffers, policy advisors (don't get me started on that one), consultants and lobbyists.  Those are the reasons.  The days of anyone high-minded running for office are long gone.

So, settle back and wait for the coming disaster.