And there it is again.........

...the reason no one wants to consult with the Indigenous:  "Consultations can't be rushed," declared AFN Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak.  "You can't put a deadline on moving forward with major projects."  

Cindy, in all her glory putting her foot on progress, as usual.

Well, Cindy, that's why nothing gets done because you take forever to "consult".  In fact, you believe "consultation" means "veto".  It doesn't, but that never stops you because there's never an end date or time limit for consultations with the Indigenous.  Why? Because your funding doesn't depend on anything getting done or built.  If it did, you'd shut down the chatting and start collecting money.

The government is asking to limit chatting to a year, but apparently, that's not long enough.  Well, what is long enough, Ms. Nepinak?  Two years?  Five?  Ten?

It's absolutely ludicrous.  No wonder Canada's economy is in the toilet and heading straight for the prosperity sewar.  I'm sooooo sick of it.

I'm trying

.....but I'm failing.  I can't really drum up much sympathy for the Nepo movie star babies who have turned deadly, either on themselves, or on their parents.  (And I'm talking as the sister of a young man who committed suicide at age 32 and broke our parents' hearts.)

Today I'm talking about the kids of stars like Ryan O'Neil, Michael Douglas, Rob Reiner, Tom Hanks, Jackie Chan, Paul Newman and Sylvester Stalone and others like the Menendez brothers, Matthew Perry, Mucaulay Culkin, Brittany Spears, Tatum O'Neil, Drew Barrymore....and many others.

Big problem among rich Nepo babies.

Now we have Presley Gerber, son of a super model and billionaire, who just died of an apparent overdose while in a rehab facility -- just the latest of many such facilities he had been placed in.  Watched a video of him talking about how tough his life was and how misunderstood he was.  Have to admit I was unsympathetic.  Seems his parents' billions could not save him.  

Could a few visits to the homeless have given him some perspective on his privilege?  Princess Diana did this regularly.  Granted, it didn't help Harry, but it certainly seems to have strengthened William.  Harry, I'm afraid, allowed his evil shrew of a wife to influence his chronic "poor me" syndrome. 

Do these kids have too much money?  I think that's part of it.  Matthew Perry's mother was my best friend all through high school and, although we have lost touch, we did talk about how money kept allowing Matthew to continue using.  The substance abuser in my family didn't have the money to keep using, so he cleaned up and has been a model of success since.

I'm also getting tired of people blaming mental health for drug abuse.  I think the drug abuse comes first, not the other way 'round.  I think it's the drug abuse that causes the mental health problems and functions as a convenient excuse for whatever heinous acts the addict commits.

So, call me callous, but that's my take on it.  I agree with Megyn Kelly on this one.

 

Betty

One of the most fascinating women I have ever met was Betty Noe.  B and I met her when we were guests of a mutual friend on a private island on Lac des Trente et un Milles, located at the Gatineau Fish & Game Club in Point Comfort, Quebec.

Betty was a close relative of the Louisiana State Governor, so needless to say, she was pretty well connected in those southern parts.  For some reason, Betty took an instant liking to me and we got on like a house on fire.  Even her two nieces, who were there with us, could not understand how Betty and I clicked -- to the point that I could insult her about anything anytime.  

"Betty, no one cares what you think," I'd say, when she was rambling on.  Rather than get upset, we'd both roar uproariously.  "How do you get away with that with Aunt Betty," they'd ask incredulously.  "If we did that we'd be banished!"

Betty never appeared at breakfast without every hair in place in her carefully coifed locks, bright red lipstick and resplendent in a perfectly coordinated outfit -- even as I appeared in a terrycloth robe, having just swum around the one-km island.

Betty Noe.

Frankly, I don't know how I got away with how we interacted, but I did.  "Nancy, you must come visit me in New Orleans," she said one day over pre-prandial cocktails.  "We'd love to!" I replied, never thinking for one minute she'd actually follow up.

But she did.  Back home the next February the phone rang.  "Nayancee, when are ya'all coming here?" Betty asked.  So we did.  When we arrived, her chauffeur met us at the airport and took us to her magnificent Antebellum home in the Garden District with its majestic verandah and lush gardens.  

There, she introduced us to her cook, her maid and the gardener -- all Black, I might add; that was the culture.  I was flabbergasted.  I mean, I knew she had money, not just how much.  We had our own suite on the top floor and spent a wonderful week enjoying that lovely town and her lavish hospitality.  

One day, B and I decided to take a bus tour of New Orleans and as we drove by one house I said, "B, that's Betty and Jimmy's house and that's our room on the top floor!"  Yep, her home was on the tour. 

"I didn't like the neighbours behind us," she told me one day.  "So Jimmy bought the house and got rid of them."  Yep, that's what it was like.  

Another, her driver took us to a charity luncheon called 'The Mad Hatter's Lunch'; luckily, I had brought a decent hat.  We were seated at a prominent table and every woman in the place came by to pay homage to the Doyenne of New Orleans and her charming peasant friend from Canada, me.

Betty on the left at the Mad Hatter's Lunch (that's not me on the right.  I'm below.)

As one women left, Betty said, "Nayancee, you know that woman I just introduced you to?"  "Yes," I replied.  "She seemed very nice."  "A kill'a bee-itch from Hell," Betty said.  I nearly fell off my chair, but she said it behind her signature huge smile, so no one was the wiser. 

Another, we were sitting laughing in her drawing room while the maid was sweeping one of her superb Oriental carpets.  She said something in contradiction to Betty at which Betty swung around and said, "If I told you to dig up dirt and throw it on the carpet, you'd do it."  Again, I was dumbfounded!  Again, that was the culture.  

Later, I found out that all Betty's staff lived in the lowland area most devastated by Katrina.  What did she do?  She built all her servants -- including the maid she had just torn a strip off of -- new homes and looked after everything for them and their families.  A devout Catholic, Betty also she paid for the restoration of her church and bought them a new Casavant Frères organ.

As for the family name, Noe, I pointed out that it was probably from the French, "Nault", but no one bought it.  I think I was right, but her son argued it was German.  I begged to differ because my explanation made more sense, but I let it lie.

Betty and her eccentric husband, Jimmy, had five children, one of whom was gay.  When James finally came out to Betty he said, weeping, "Mum, I have to tell you something, I'm gay."  Her reply?  "Honey, you're not gay you're miserable."  What a retort and completely honest.  Loved that about her.  

Betty Noe a walking contradiction, but I loved her.  Sadly, she died a few years ago.  Her charm, grace and wit, however, will not soon be forgotten.        

p.s. That's me in the hat I wore to The Mad Hatter's Lunch.  It's also the hat I wore when I met Queen Elizabeth in London. 

Incomprehensible

Carney is deliberately incomprehensible.  Try as I might -- and I watched it twice -- I could not figure out what he was saying when he addressed the EU in Strasbourg.  

"I hope -- and I believe......" he said at one point.  What does that even mean?  You cannot put those two words into the same sentence.  Either you "hope", or you "believe".  You can't do both.  He's starting to remind me of the turgid, baffling and  and obfuscating Andrew Coyne -- one of the worst writers I have ever read. 

"We believe that a strong economy is not an end in itself, but the means to a just society.  We are committed stewards of our natural heritage. We believe that our prosperity grows when it is shared," he said.  

No, a strong economy is the end, Mark, it is not just the means.  Again, what does that even mean?  And, "...committed stewards of our natural heritage..."  Coming from the guy who has just sold us out to the EU and its crippling regulations is rich.  Huh?!

Read his whole speech.  It is a master class of gobbledygook, but the braying donkeys in Strasbourg -- desperate to keep their jobs -- bought in hook, line and sinker, clapping like trained seals begging for a rancid fish or two.

Ursula planting the kiss of economic death on Canada.  Trump, however, will have the last word.

   

Two gentlemen

The coverage of the anniversary of the death of Les Emmerson prompted a lovely memory.  A number of years ago, B and I were invited to a party hosted by Les' (or is it "Les's?) sister, Darlene, because B was a great friend of her boyfriend.  Sitting at a picnic bench on my own, I was joined by a charming man, who turned out to be Les. 

The two of us just sat for three hours and talked.  No one interrupted.  He was very smart and engaging, something I wonder if people knew?  To most, he was just the lead singer of  'The Five Man Electrical Band', with hits like 'Signs' and 'You can cry your eyes out'.  That afternoon he was just a smart, charming guy and I was captivated.

Never ran across him again, but he left a lasting impression.

The late, great Les Emmerson.

________________

Talking to another old friend last night, we started reminiscing, as we always do, about old times.  JR and I go back almost 60 years!  He was married to my late cousin and I think he never fell out of love with her.  She died 24 years ago and his second wife five months ago.  As I say, I am in the death zone!

Anyway, one guy we talked about was an old beau of mine.  "I could never figure Paddy out?" I said.  "I mean, we dated for a whole summer, when he flew me back and forth from Toronto to Ottawa every weekend and back, where we stayed at his cottage at Lac Ste. Marie, but he was not romantic in the least," I said.

I soon learned what "not romantic" meant.  "I think he was gay," said my friend.  Well, now it all makes perfect sense!  We slept in the same bed, but absolutely nothing happened.  Weird.  I mean, I was 22 years old and relatively hot.  

Paddy was from a very prominent old Ottawa family.  He was handsome and charming in the extreme and died a few years ago.  At last everything about our "romance" made perfect sense.  You never know who's what!  May Paddy Rest in Peace.         

I was 33...........

..........when my first marriage fell apart.  But to his credit, my ex (now deceased, may he RIP) husband gave me two wonderful children, who were four and nine months old when we parted.

However, when life gives you lemons...........  And that's what I did, I made the best lemonade you could ever have wished for.  I rented a lovely house on Rockcliffe Way in Lindenlea, which happened to be right down the street from my parents' house, the one in which I had grown up.

Life at 43 Rockcliffe Way were the happiest two years of my life.  I had my independence, I hired a live-in nanny -- my literal wife -- and I was free!  With no child support, I was on my own and relished it.  Wild oats were sown in those years, when I would go out with girlfriends to dives like 'The Golden Rail' on Montreal Road and other such fun dumps in Hull.  

Me outside 43 Rockcliffe Way, where I lived in bliss.

We used to do things like send over drinks to cute guys at other tables we didn't even know.  I got a kick out of waving and smiling at the shocked recipients, when the waiter turned and pointed out the woman who had bought them.  It was one night at the Rail where I met a charming 23-year-old long-haul trucker and began a short, devil-may-care fling.  He was so much fun and frankly it was damn the torpedoes! 

I wonder where Bruce is these days?  Sadly, this period only lasted a brief time, until I met B and inherited his baggage.  I thought I was marrying one man, but I married his clingy, destructive ex and two more children.  His wicked daughter has nothing to do with him -- on orders from her evil, but rich,  mother -- and his son is lost and forlorn back in Ottawa.  By the way, I am not telling you anything I haven't told B a million times and he agrees.  "Yep, 43 were your best years," he admits.

Ah well, all's well that ends well.  I now have my beautiful grandchildren to dote on, but I do look wistfully back on these years with comforting nostalgia.  

Another dumb and dangerous move

So, Carney, in his economic brilliance, has got us smack dab stuck in the European Union.  That'll be a disaster.  In fact, it's already had consequences, as Trump announces that all Canadian goods and services will be immediately removed from U.S. federal procurement lists.

The ink wasn't even dry on the EU agreement when Trump immediately removed Canadian products from U.S. procurement lists.

Brilliant!

There he was, front and centre in Brussels grinning like a Cheshire cat, as von der Leyen welcomed him -- and Canada -- aboard.  But don't say he didn't warn you.  He has been touting Canada as a "European" country since before he snatched power.  He describes himself as a "Europhile".  Was no one -- except a few of us with a brain in our heads -- listening?  Apparently not. 

He claimed that he pulled out of trade negotiations with the U.S. because of "sovereignty" issues.  What he doesn't mention is that there will be many and much more restrictive regulations Canada to which Canada will have to adhere as part of the EU and they will make Canada less productive and poorer.  But, of course, no one mentions this.  Except me. 

Former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warned two years ago that Europe faced a "slow agony of decline".  Draghi left back then, amidst the reality of a continually bloating and useless EU bureaucracy.  The continent is an economic also-ran, so why is Carney dragging us into it?  Frankly, I'm still trying to figure it out?   

Before jetting in to Brussels, he stopped over in Jolly Old to catch a soccer match with the incompetent new PM Andy Burnham.  The image of Carney squealing with joy, while Canada descends further into economic doom is so wrong.  Either he has stupid advisors, or he has none and just does whatever his arrogant self pleases.  I believe it's the latter.  

Carney living it up.  Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

Carney and his new down-at-the-heels paramour.

  

Checkmate

Or maybe it was just check?  That's what I thought when I read about Stephen Harper's speaking at Carney's 'Investment Summit' in Toronto.  I wondered how Carney would let that happen, a former Conservative prime minister speaking to international investors?

But then I thought, well, that sort of check's Carney's whitewash and phony conference.  And, let's face it, Carney is really a Conservative at heart.  Harper is now the chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., so Carney could hardly have refused to let him speak.  

"This had to be a very difficult decision, but I do believe that our government had no choice," said Harper.  "We must pursue diminished reliance on the United States.  I find this all very sad, but just as equally necessary."

Former prime minister Stephen Harper.

When I say "phony conference", I mean that it isn't bringing in more money.  No, it's bringing in about half of what the Liberals lost in money which fled in terror over the last 10 years over their disastrous policies.  So, frankly, it's not even a wash.

The tables hadn't even been cleared when Carney hightailed it over to Europe to put the finishing details on his "associate member of the European Union" sleight-of-hand.  Make no mistake, Carney is bound to get us all wrapped up in the EU -- which will be a disaster because the EU is falling apart at the economic seams and guess who'll be expected to inject millions to shore it up?  Rhetorical.

Folks, we don't have the money!

Carney walked away from a deal with the U.S. because of sovereignty issues, but joining the EU will seriously diminish Canadian sovereignty and make it much worse.  The EU regulates everything and Canada will have to abide its strangling regulations!  

He has also announced he will be giving airports over to private interests.  Is he insane?!  And he's doing it all by declaration, with absolutely no Parliamentary debate or approval.  He is operating by illegal fiat!  These moves are very, very serious and he has to be stopped!

Carney has been a calamity and a tragedy for Canada.  He is hiding his evil George Soros agenda behind a mask of "Trump's the problem, the sky is falling and it's all his fault!"

Canadians are in a lather, but for the wrong reason.

How can Canadians continue to fall for this?  These people are sleepwalking the country further into financial doom.  

This is why it's not always a good idea to go to university

Re-printed from 'The Catholic League' newsletter, by Bill Donahue.  It is shocking and probably the same -- or worse -- in Canada.  The presidents of the two biggest offenders are female, which, sadly, doesn't say much about our gender these days: 

___________________

September 14, 2026

 

"Every year we learn about the status of free speech on college campuses from the surveys taken by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). The 2027 “College Free Speech Rankings” that was recently published covers 261 colleges and universities encompassing almost 63,000 student responses to questions about free speech on campus.

"At the top of the list is the University of Chicago. Last place went to my alma mater, New York University."  (Note: the president is Lisa Mills.) "Of the 261 schools, 121 received a grade of “F” for their commitment to free speech; only 24 received a grade of “C” or higher.

"Students were asked about 22 controversial topics discussed on campus. The top ten most difficult to discuss are the following:

1. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

2. Donald Trump

3. Charlie Kirk

4. Abortion

5. Immigration

6. Transgender rights

7. Gun control

8. Racial inequality

9. Religion

10. Gay rights

"It is conservative students, of course, who are feeling the pinch more than any other students.

"Students were asked about three kinds of protest that in normal times would have received little support. But we live in abnormal times.

• 69% say that shouting down a speaker is acceptable
• 50% say it is okay to block the speaker from speaking
• 30% approve of using violence to stop the speaker

"It is a sure bet that if truck drivers were asked about the same items, they would evince a more tolerant attitude. That’s one of the benefits of not going to college—you are less likely to be a fascist.

"Of the 261 colleges, eleven were Catholic. All got lousy scores.

"The grade of “D-” that Georgetown* received is better than the other ten, all of which received an “F.” Those schools are, in descending order, Fordham,* Duquesne, Marquette,* Notre Dame, Creighton,* Dayton, DePaul, Villanova, Loyola University of Chicago,* and Boston College.* The last two were ranked #254 and #255, respectively. [*Jesuit schools.]

"The biggest rip-off Catholic school in the country is Fordham University. Why? The Washington Post recently did an analysis of the most expensive colleges in the nation. Fordham is the eighth most expensive: it costs $102,188 a year. Yet it merited an “F” for respecting the right of students to exercise free speech."

(Note: the President is Tania Tetlow, look her up, a frothing Liberal.)

"Why are some of the more prominent Catholic colleges such hotbeds of intolerance? Note that six of the eleven are run by Jesuits. They need to explain themselves. Perhaps Father James Martin can shine some light on this.

 

"Parents of students looking for colleges to attend next year need to read the FIRE survey. If free speech is a problem on campus, that alone is reason to shop around."

I'm sick of being called...........

..........a "Karen" on facebook.  And it's always the same gang, Black women*.  I am a lot of things, but I am not a "Karen".  Why do some Black women seem to think that all middle-class white women must be "Karen's"?

(*Note:  Before you call me racist, remember there is only one race, the Human race; everything else is culture, upbringing and personal decisions.  Let's just get that out of the way.)

Talk about jumping to conclusions and lumping us all into one group!  Does this label come from envy?  Frankly, I'd call it prejudice and the odious Meghan Markle is a master at being both a Black woman, trashing the White Monarchy, and a wanna-be "Karen" at the same time. 

I do know at least one "Karen".  She and her husband used to invite us up to their beautiful island, Half Crown, on 'Lac des Trente et un Milles" in Quebec every summer for a beautiful week.  This "Karen", I'll call her "J", was so perfect every female guest had to hide her light -- however dim -- under a bushel.  (They only invited us because B had been president of the GF&GC and her husband, then the president, wanted to pick his brain.  Hence, she had to tolerate me.)

When helping out in the kitchen, I was careful not to refer to myself as a sous-chef, or G-d forbid an actual chef!  No, I called myself a scullery maid and  was permitted to do the dishes -- and only the dishes.  Every offer I extended to make something, like fritters for example (which anyone can make from anything), was rebuffed in case they were too good.  We were permitted to make Indian because that was cultural and charming and therefore not threatening.

Me in the kitchen at Half Crown.

That was the only holiday during which I lost weight.  J was always on some fad or other.  One year it was nothing white (Note: don't bother with black rice), another it was no carbs.  You name it, J globed onto it.

Once I had to travel back to Ottawa mid-week and her husband allowed me to pilot one of his boats solo off the island -- something he apparently never let J do.  As I was zooming off, a fellow guest, watching from the window, said in admiration, "Is there nothing that woman can't do?!"

She also fancied herself a brilliant painter and one afternoon sat in the living room painting.  Intrigued, I came over to admire her work.  What did I see?  Gobsmacked, I saw she was doing paint-by-numbers!!!!

For some reason, she stopped inviting us.  Was it the boat ride?  The fritters?  My sense of style?  Who knows, but I will give that place one huge credit:  It was where I first started back swimming seriously.  

Sitting there one afternoon, sipping a cocktail, I saw two other women guests swimming around the island.  Naturally, my competitiveness took over and, having been a serious swimmer in my youth, decided I had to get in that water and do the same.  It was about one km around and I began to do it every day.  When I returned to the city, I joined the local pool and have been pounding the lanes ever since.  I did the math and have since swum about 8,500 kms.  (Imagine how fat I'd be if I hadn't!)

So, thank you, J.  You did me a favour -- even though you didn't mean to.

      

    

  

Well, well, well

All this talk about names and re-naming countries and lakes pales when you realize where the name "America" came from.  Charles Spearin, a Toronto-based etymological historian, has researched the name and low and behold, America is named after someone called Amerigo Vespucci.

And was this guy?  He was a Forentine merchant who kept the books for the Medici family and made a handful of voyages to the New World who deduced, correctly and ahead of Columbus, that they hadn't reached Asia after all.  Thus, Vespucci called this new continent the New World.  

The modern spelling of America came from a German cartographer, Martin Waldseemuller, who was putting together a new map and needed something to call this fourth continent.  Europe, Asia, Africa were all female names, so Waldseemuller latinized and feminized Amerigo's first name and came up with "America".

Who knew!!??

So, America wasn't named after an Indigenous or family name, like Canada which was derived from the Iroquoian word for "village", or "Ontario", a Wendat name for that great lake which pre-dates the united States, Canada and the very idea of either.  No, it was named after an Italian.

Vespucci's mother, Lisa Mini, had a son in 1454 and named him Amerigo, which was a fairly ordinary Florentine name at the time.  Little could she know that half a millennium later, a nation of 340 million would build its entire identity around her son's first name:  America.

Who knew!!??

Well, no one, but with a little research, we do now.  So, who has the last laugh?  Certainly not Trump, who undoubtedly does not know America is Italian.  You have to laugh at the absurdity of the whole mess from the ground up.  

So, next time you hear "American the Beautiful", picture that glowing little Italian bambino, Amerigo Vespucci, and smile.

Little Amerigo Vespucci, awaiting his destiny.

     

Brain health?

I laugh when I see ads for navel gazing seminars on things like 'Women's Mental and Brain Health'.  I think of my Mother, who would never in a million years have  entertained any such notion.  Her recipe for "brain health" was getting breakfast, lunch and dinner on the table every day.

A money-maker if ever there was one.

She didn't use words like "narcissistic", but that's what she would have thought of such gatherings.  The most practical, commonsense woman I have ever known -- except for her two sisters, who were exactly the same -- Lillian did things, she made stuff happen.  She didn't ponder.

She shopped, she cooked, she played in a neighbourhood mixed bridge club, she hosted cocktail parties and ladies' dessert bridge parties, she sewed, she mended, she canned fruit and made preserves, she celebrated every feast day with an elaborate family lunch, she faithfully went to church every Sunday, she took me to the funeral parlour from the age of four to teach me to not be afraid of dead bodies and to pay my respects when an acquaintance died, she played tennis, she did laundry, she ironed everything -- and taught me to iron, starting with my Father's hankies, she was part of a community daycare cooperative, she made sure my Brownie and Girl Guide uniforms were clean and sharp, she enrolled me in ballet lessons and a thousand other things I can't even remember. 

As I said, she did things.  I once asked her what was wrong with Mrs. So-and-so down the street, who it was said, had had a nervous breakdown, and she replied -- without looking up from peeling carrots, "She just took a notion, dear."

And that was that.  No discussion, no analysis.  Nothing.  Kind of the perfect answer.  I asked my scientist father the same question and he said, "It's caused by a lack of sleep."  That was it from him too and when I think about it, both explanations make sense.

To the psychiatrists making millions off nervous breakdowns, I am sure you are not amused, but breakfast, lunch and dinner had to happen, regardless of how you "felt".  Feelings were also a verboten topic in our house.  I never once heard either of my parents express their feelings.  I mean, everyone had them and no one needed to talk, or care, about yours.  

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once said that civilization happens when a society had a reliable source of food.  If you have time for brain health seminars, you are overly-civilized.

$$$$$$$$

I was raised within the bosom of a very accomplished family.  My Father, Thomas Raymond Griffith, was head of the rubber lab at the National Research Council.  He had 350 patents to his name, which made the Canadian government billions.  He just earned a modest salary and didn't care.

Instrumental in the invention of synthetic rubber during WWII, when natural rubber could not be sourced in Burma, my Dad was often loaned out for months at a time to BF Goodrich, Firestone and Goodyear to help them develop and refine their tires for the commercial market.

Whenever you think of tires, think of T.R. Griffith.  He invented them.

He was also the inventor of rubber shoes for propellor planes, which could be switched on to rid the props of ice.  "The most difficult thing," he told me, "Was making rubber electrically-conductive and inventing the glue that stuck it to the propellors."

Every, single prop plane in the world uses my Dad's de-icing rubber shoes.

One of my uncles, Rollie, was a decorated major in the Canadian army and the other, Elgin, rose to be deputy minister of National Defence.  (If you're American, the equivalent of Pete Hegseth's 2IC, but without the ego, boozing and philandering.)

What I remember most about Uncle Elgin was his modesty.  He had but one secretary, Miss Mitchell, a small office, a desk and a runner out from it that sat four people.  No chief of staff for him, no driver, no board rooms, no private washroom, no policy advisors and no entourage.  Elgin used to drive us to Lisgar every morning and then head off to his office around the corner in the old "temporary" buildings.  They stood for decades, where the gargantuan and ostentatious City Hall is located now.

Uncle Elgin came to mind when I was reading about the opulent and lavish gathering of Carney's cabinet in Banff (not Sarnia, or Hamilton or Wawa, of course) was the stark contrast between how our public service was run in the fifties and sixties and how it is now.

Conservatively, each cabinet minister would probably be accompanied by at least four assistants and hangers-on, so with 28 members and 10 junior ministers, that's 152 people taking over the grand Banff Centre at $275 a night.  

Frankly, I bet they're not staying at that lowly dump.  They're most likely at the Banff Springs Hotel at an average cost of $800 per night.  That's $121,600 right there -- not to mention flights, meals, booze and all the rest of the palaver.  BTW, Carney's room would be at least $2,000 per night and so would Zelensky's. 

(Note: I'm lousy at math, so if I'm out by a few decimals, please correct me.) 

In addition to the millions Carney spent wandering around the world signing toothless MOUs, I bet'cha we're talking at least $300,000 for this latest gabfest (not including flights, etc.) which will lead to zero outcome.  In the end, the munificence of this gathering will likely piss Trump off and remember, he's the only one who'll decide the fate of tariffs -- not Carney or the likes of Mélanie Joly, Anita Anand and FP Champagne.  Please.

So, here's Carney, signing an (illegal) 100-year pact with one of the most corrupt leaders in the world, judging by the fact that most of Zelensky's inner circle is either in jail, or facing trial for corruption and money laundering.  He's also courting China, another poised disaster.

AND ALL WITHOUT CABINET APPROVAL!!%$%^#!!  ALLWITHOUT THE PEOPLE OF CANADA GIVING PERMISSION!!#%@%$^@$^

Folks, that's where we are.  This weasel slithered and snuck into the top job in Canada and is now in the process of personally and willfully destroying it.

It is to weep.

No, no, no!

So, Zelensky is coming to Calgary for a "signing ceremony".  The only thing Carney will be signing is a blank cheque to this (allegedly, reportedly) coke head billionaire.

At first it was Toronto, but apparently the head of the Ukrainian mafia (just my opinion) landed in Calgary and was whisked off to Banff, where Carney is meeting with the premiers to discuss which major projects should be "fast-tracked".  Not Sarnia, not Biggar, not Hamilton, not Carp.  No, of course it's Banff.  Folks, it's been 15 months and nothing has even been slow-tracked, let alone fast!  

Carney has treasonously (my opinion) signed a 100-year agreement to basically fund every aspect of Ukraine forever.  I mean, it's insane!!!!!  A 100-year pact.  WFT times a thousand!!@@$%%!$@@#

Canada has already handed $26 BILLION to this crook.  $26 BILLION!!!!!!!  Let that sink in.  Meanwhile, Ukraine has vast gold reserves and a booming tourist industry, while Canadians are lining up in record numbers at food banks, grocery prices are soaring and vets are sleeping in the streets.

Carney and Freeland's foreign policy in Ukraine.

What in Gawd's name is Carney doing??!!!  Is he waiting until our pension, CPP, OAS and GIC cheques start bouncing??!!!

This has to stop!  Why are supposedly "intelligent" Canadians worrying about how many genders there are and what's on the cover of an elementary school scribbler??!!

Carney is been told to form New World Order, with him as the puppet head.  It will be controlled by Soros et al, of course, and in so doing Carney has signed up to ruin Canada.  Who cares about the collapse of the auto industry, the steel industry, the aluminum industry?  Who cares about the thousands of jobs that will be lost?  And he's doing it all without recalling Parliament!  Someone needs to do something!

I grieve for my grandchildren.

Georganne Burke

A conservative political commentator and citizen of both the U.S. and Canada, who divides her time between both countries, Burke is a brilliant and objective observer of the politics of the current trade war from both side of the 49th.  (You can find her on YouTube.)

She points out things you will never hear on legacy media, but should.  Her observations about how voters have to first warm emotionally to a candidate explain why Pierre Poilievre cannot win power, even though his policies are far and away better for Canada than the duplicitous, meaningless word salads Carney is putting in the window.

Carney is actively trying to replace Canada with his 'New World Order' lunacy, while domestically stealing Poilievre's policies to win and stay in power here.  He also shamelessly promotes 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' by lying (just my opinion because he has refused to make the deal public) about why Canada pulled out of negotiations when we had essentially reached a deal.

Give her a look and if you don't agree, you have TDS.  

The other aspect of Burke that impresses me is that she has six kids, 14 grandkids and six great-grands.  This is clearly a woman who didn't rely on the state to look after her kids, made her own arrangements and kept on working.  Not to brag, but that's exactly what I did.  O.K., I'm bragging.  Her kids, by the way, are all very successful in their respective fields.

So, so much for the benefits of staying home and joining a 'Mums' Club'.  When I had kids, there was absolutely no question I would continue working, even though my employer made it very difficult to do so.

Mums' Club-ers paralyzing their minds.  

Never quit work and joined a 'Mums' Club' because you know what a 'Mums' Club' is?  It's an excuse to drink wine and gossip.  It's no Montessori, I can assure you.  And when the kids go off to school, what do the Mums do?  Why, they form a book club!  Guess what the main activity in that gang is?  You guessed it, a generous grog of the grape.

Staying at home causes what I call "personality paralysis".  Daycare provides far superior care for infants and toddlers than any walk in the park or screen time will ever do.  Burke never did any such thing and remains as sharp as a tack in her seventies.

She, not Gloria Steinem, is my idol.

 

42,000

That's the number of jobs our "genius economist" prime minister has managed to wave bye-bye to in just one month, August, as the U.S. saw robust hiring.  The latter saw a gain of more than 162,000.

Our unemployment rate remains at 6.4 percent, with employment declining in 11 of 16 sectors.  Yep, Carney's nailin' it!  A whopping 10,000 Canadians a month are decamping to the U.S.  And, while I'm at it, why do we need a governor of the Bank of Canada?  Bay Street bond traders, who seem to do a better job, are predicting a 60 percent chance of a rate hike in the coming weeks.

Is this where we're heading under Carney's "leadership"?

Maclem's main job is to ensure currency stability and avoid stagflation by monitoring inflation.  Judging by prices at the grocery store -- Carney's sacred pledge to lower them when he ran -- the whole thing seems a tad off-the-mark.

And remember Dominic Barton? He's been resurrected as chair of 'Invest in Canada', something the PM himself doesn't do.  "Dominic Barton has the experience and ambition Canada needs," Carney said.  Really?  Barton's advice has always been to get cozy with China and invest there.  

Apparently, Barton will, "work closely with provincial and municipal officials, as well as with the Major Projects office and Indigenous officials" to get the ball rolling.  Whenever you see the term, "Work with the Indigenous", you know that's the kiss of death because working with the Indigenous produces nothing.

To boot, 'Invest in Canada' has been moved under the bailiwick of Dominic Leblanc, another wildly successful negotiator.

Does any of this make any sense?  I guess, yes, if you are trying to destroy Canada because we are well on our way straight into the economic toilet.

Time travel

There is an amazing site on facebook called "Absolutely Free Photos".  If you post a picture and ask them to clean it up, hide a bulge or get rid of wrinkles, you get back the most gorgeous photos of your new (fake) self!  Here are a few examples: 

My fav.

 

Nice look.

Me, but not me.

Pretty cool!

Well, my first husband did have a BSA 650 and we took long road trips, but I never dressed like this!

I guess I actually looked like this many years ago.  Sigh..........the runway's getting shorter..........sigh

Remember the "Merit Principle"?

During the end of my "illustrious" career, I found myself working at the Public Service Commission.  Remember that bunch?  Guardians of the sacred "Merit Principle", at the time headed by Chairman Edgar Gallant, a wanna-be buddy of every deputy minister in the federal government.  That meant he had to hire whoever they proposed, rendering his sacred principle a hollow, laughable hoax.  

The Commission had been created to put an end to cronyism and inside hiring by the politicians.  It may have worked for a while, but not when I was there.  They tossed that guiding moral light overboard when someone looked around and decided they needed to start hiring more women, lots of francophones and smatterings of ethnics here and there -- the best candidate would have been a Black, female francophone -- preferably handicapped -- from some place like Sierra Leone, for instance.

Let's hope that candidate is an ethnic francophone, or she won't get the job.

So, I wrote a memo destined for Gallant, stating that he should declare that the Merit Principle was being set aside to redress historical wrongs in hiring practices.  

Well, the roof came off!  My direct boss, Chuck Jeffrey, came rushing down the hall, hair on fire and launched himself into my office in a complete panic.  "You didn't send that up, did you!" he raved.  "No, I wanted your approval."  Needless to say, that memo was quickly buried, never to see the light of day, or find itself on His Lordship Gallant's desk.

Well, that never went away and the venerable Merit Principle is but a fond, faded and jaded memory.  The following is from the 'Aristotle Foundation'.  Turns out I was right 40 years ago:

____________________

"The Canadian government almost universally turns to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies before hiring anyone in the public service today. 

"But is this a good thing for the country? 

"This morning, we released a new study, led by Conrad Eder, which finds that the Canadian government’s DEI policies are, in fact, eroding merit-based hiring (that same old bugaboo) in the federal public service—with potentially serious consequences for the country. 

• DEI language was virtually ubiquitous, appearing in 95 per cent of job postings. More significantly, 42 per cent of postings explicitly or potentially prioritized applicants based on race, ethnicity, or other group-identity characteristics. Four per cent of postings restricted eligibility to certain groups. 

• These practices continue despite the expressed preferences of most Canadians who, in polling, support inclusion in principle but reject identity-based hiring. 

• Although Canada’s Employment Act prohibits hiring quotas, these federal employment-equity initiatives operate like a quota system.  

• Empirical evidence challenges the rationale and need for such preferential DEI job postings. Treasury Board data show most designated groups already meet or exceed workforce availability benchmarks, including at the executive level."

___________________

So, folks, DEI continues to ruin the quality of the federal workforce and it shows no sign of letting up. 

Cultural appropriation

Carney accused the U.S. of "Throwing shade".  Last time I heard that was on 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' when the girls were drunk and slamming each other over wine.  That's a very Southern Black expression; it's not foreign policy diplomacy speak.  Why would he use that phrase?  Why is he channeling these women?  Usually I get this stuff, but this one has me stumped? 

Carney's new "Hood".

He also talked about "memes".  What's that about?!  

So, what is our uptight, button-downed PM doing?  Whatever it is, it doesn't work.  

A few home truths

So, Zelensky's popping into Toronto to continue stealing more millions from hard-working, struggling Canadians.  Why is this continuing?  Oh ya, Chrystia Freeland is over there overseeing "re-construction".  Re-construction?  There's still an active and expanding war going on!  There's no re-construction possible.  

Face it.  She's over there to make sure money gets laundered and deposited into the right bank accounts.  (Just my opinion.) 

_____________________

Gloria Steinem in the later years, still trying to look 25 -- a mistake a lot of women make.  AI is one thing for a laugh, but she was serious in her fruitless quest.

A word about Gloria Steinem.  She has died at 92, apparently still a card-carrying feminist icon for the ages.  I found her a complete hypocrite.  She always had millionaire boyfriends who bank-rolled her many liberation projects.  'Ms.' magazine, for example, was funded by one of them, Clay Felker, and when he pulled out, it went bust.

Her big "breakthrough" came when she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny and discovered there was blatant sexism in the Playboy Mansion.  Wow!  What a scoop!  Who would ever have guessed that women dressed in skimpy costumes, boobs hanging out, could possibly be sexist!  Shocking.  

From then on, she was always on a harangue about equality in a marriage and child rearing and other such matters.  Funnily enough, she never had children of her own.  

My cohort invented "feminism" in the late sixties and we didn't need Ms. Steinem to motivate us with marches, magazines and protests like burning our bras.  We did it in our own backyards, righting our own injustices in our own workplaces.  

In my case, I was interviewed for a job at 'Canada Mortgage and Housing' when I was pregnant.  I had to hide it with loose clothing and lo-and-behold, landed the job.  However, when they found out I was pregnant, they cancelled the competition.  

After a few months, when I was on my measly maternity leave of six-months on EI, they re-opened it and guess who won?  Yep, the guy who had come second.  I sent a letter of protest to the then Minister of Labour, who sent a weak slap on the wrist letter to the president of CMHC, Bill Teron, who did nothing.  

Yep, that's how it was.  That blip set me back a couple of years, but I got back in the saddle and kept moving up.  So, no, Gloria's antics didn't help me and I think actually weakened her cause.  Over the years, her tired schtick got annoying.  In fact, it actually sidelined her, as reason and logic prevailed in the real world.

Here is a quote from 'The Remnant' newspaper, which is very perceptive:

"In the end, Ms. Steinem’s revolution left 'all' the sexes miserable – but especially feminists who today can’t even define what a ‘woman’ is. What is she? Nobody knows. Where have all the women gone? Nobody knows. They/them can’t even dominate the women's restrooms anymore, not even in stadiums where men get to beat the estrogen out of girls on the basketball court."

_______________________

Speaking of 'Women's Lib', people are up-in-arms because Pete Hegseth criticized a female army recruit for being so overweight.  They called it "body shaming", but I call it unfit for combat.  Sorry, but if you're that overweight, you probably can't get the complete job done.

Take the average fire department.  To get in there, you have to pass a number of rigorous physical tests, involving scrambling up ladders while wearing and carrying heavy equipment, crawling around burning buildings and carrying heavy people down ladders.  If you're able to do it within the prescribed time, even if overweight, you're in; if you can't, you're not.  It's a simple as that.  Nothing to do with gender.  Nothing to do with body size or image.  It's all about being physically able to meet rigorous standards.

So, it's rich for George Clooney to rant on about how he was ashamed of Hegseth's "body shaming".  Here's a question:  George, would you marry a fat woman, or would refusing be "body shaming"?  Have you seen his wife?  Rhetorical.  

As I said, the hypocrisy in Hollywood is breathtaking.  Nevertheless, Rest in Peace Ms. Steinem.  You certainly made your mark.