What am I missing??

The weeping, gnashing of teeth and public apologizing over the stats that purportedly prove that Blacks in Toronto are subjected to more use of force that other "races" during police interactions made me wonder.  So, as I always do, I dove into the stats.

Stats, as we all know, can be interpreted any way anyone wants, so here's my interpretation:

• 45.5% of Whites are strip-searched when stopped by police; however, only
• 31.2% of Blacks are strip-searched;
• 36.1% of Whites experience violence when arrested; but
• 39.4% of Blacks experience violence.

So, fewer Blacks than Whites are strip-searched, but admittedly Blacks experience slightly more violence when arrested.  But the difference is only 3%, so why the HUGE fuss??!!  I don't get it?

The HUGE fuss, of course, is made by the Black community which no one dares challenge with the numbers.  And what did the Toronto police chief get for his public and groveling apology from the Black community?  "We don't accept your apology," screamed one female Black leader I heard on tv.  So, why bother?

"The report leaves many questions unanswered," said Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid.  "What are their disparities and what factors led to an encounter with police in the first place?"

Exactly.  That's also my problem with those decrying the disproportionate numbers of Indigenous men and women in Canadian prisons.  What did they do to get there?

But this being Canada, we will all just roll over and get stomped on while the truth gets shoved under the carpet.

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A word of support for AFN Chief Roseanne Archibald, who is finally getting mainstream media coverage for her brave fight against corruption in the ranks.  For her battle she is being attacked by native leaders on all sides, but is continuing to call it out, demanding a forensic audit and investigation.  Many are now shaking in their expensive boots and going after her harder.  Who actually thought all natives and leaders were pure as the driven snow?  

It's about time someone -- other than me and Charmaine Stick -- started looking into where the billions go.  Natives have to start speaking with more than one voice if they want to advance.  They need to question their leaders and the rest of us need to start demanding accountability -- something Trudeau cancelled the minute he took office.  Bravo Roseanne!      

  

More of our money wasted

So, our Indigenous Governor General, Mary Simon, and 29 "essential" advisors racked up $100,000 noshing on food and booze on one flight to the Middle East.  What an outrage!

Firstly, why was she going to Saudi Arabia at all?!  Last time I checked, she represents The Queen, the latter of whom has nothing to do with running the Middle East.  And why did she need another 29 people to go with her?  All she would have been doing would have been saying "Hi" and eating and drinking at various receptions, so why the advice?  The GG makes no decisions on behalf of the government, so what was the point of the trip because I'm sure she is capable of putting food into her mouth and swigging booze all by herself without 29 people telling her which fork to use.  

When the press got hold of this, she blamed the department of defence, saying they pick the food and she had nothing to say about it.  Please.  

(Note:  I happen to know the guy in charge of these things in Foreign Affairs and I'm going to ask him what went on.  I'll get back to you.  Update:  He just told me that it's going on everywhere with this government, but he had nothing to do with this because instead of going through his channels, Simon went through DND.)

And what's with the baby seal-skin shawl?  Someone must have savagely clubbed it to death for her to have obtained the skin -- and here I thought clubbing baby seals was a sacrilege!  

Trudeau apparently gives her her flying orders, so the trip must have been a boondoggle to impress the rest of the world about what a great international statesman he is.  Trust me, no one will ever think that -- regardless of who he sends traipsing around the globe.

The sooner we can get rid of him, the better off this country will be.  

 

Were we that incompetent?

The airports are federally-regulated, correct?  Run and overseen by bureaucrats, right?  If all those people are getting paid, why are the airports in such a disastrous mess?  The coverage of Pearson is absolutely appalling, with people lined up for days, flights cancelled and overall mayhem ruling supreme.  And that ludicrous Alghabra telling people that many large airports are in a post-COVID mess too.  That's your excuse when you knew -- or should have -- that this was coming for at least a year?!  

Were we that incompetent?

Then there's the Afghanistan mess, with promised refugees left in danger while bureaucrats fiddle around.  Not that I want any more refugees flooding the welfare offices, but why did that dunderhead Trudeau promise we'd take thousands?  Same with Syrians and same with Ukrainians.  We can't even find housing for legal residents already here, but he's bringing them in by the plane load.  Insane!

Then there's Marco Mendicino blatantly lying to Parliament about law enforcement having requested the Emergency Act.  Turns out they didn't, but he just keeps lying.  He'll probably be blaming bureaucrats for that mess.  

Were we that incompetent?

The MP who first introduced the "blame the bureaucrats" game was Doug Harkness, appointed minister of defence in 1960.  At the time, my uncle, Elgin Armstrong (later minister of national revenue), was the deputy minister and Harkness made him wear the Bonaventure scandal about the cost overruns in the overhaul of the HMCS Bonaventure.  Uncle Elgin had nothing to do with the mess, all the decisions about handing out the lucrative contracts were political and awarded by the minister, but he actually named my uncle in Parliament.  Thus began the tradition of blaming the bureaucrat.

I remember that time very well.  Uncle Elgin's office was in one of the "temporary" buildings at the corner of Elgin and Laurier, where city hall now sits.  Back then, deputy ministers didn't have drivers and palatial offices.  Elgin drove us to high school (Lisgar) every day before continuing on to his tiny office with his one secretary (Miss Mitchell -- not scores of assistants and policy advisors and chiefs of staff) around the corner.  

Uncle Elgin was one of the wonderful uncles I had in my life back then and around the time of the "Bonny", I was at my aunt Betty and Uncle Elgin's place almost every day because his kids and I were very close and lived around the corner.  I started noticing that he was smoking more and having maybe two, instead of one, cocktails at the end of the day.  The consummate professional public servant, however, he never mentioned a word about what he was going through.  The only hint I had was when my mother once quietly said that Uncle Elgin was under a lot of pressure.  Matter closed.

No, he most definitely was not incompetent.

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I'd like to put my two cents' worth in about Pride Month.  Firstly, it's a month.  As I have pointed out before, it's Aboriginal Awareness Week, Black History Month and International Women's Day.  Now the gay community is also getting a month, but that's not my issue.  As you know, my late brother was gay and committed suicide at 32 because of it.  I'd like to take my grands to a parade, but I can't.  Why?  Because the participants have turned such parades into pornographic lifestyle displays.  From what I have seen, people march and gyrate wildly in G-strings and other suggestive garb.  I'm certainly no prude, but I can't let little children watch, so we don't go.  That's on them, no one else.

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And what about Trudeau traipsing around California for the Summit of the America's.  Galling, when there are so many messes right here at home.  But instead of getting down to the work that needs doing here, he's off in Los Angeles handing out $27 million to help illegals escape....whatever.  The other galling thing is the president of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason, sat down with him to ask for money.  You should not have hived your country off from the Commonwealth, Sandra; now you have to go hat-in-hand begging.  And, now that you no longer have the Queen as Head of State, please drop the "Dame" moniker.  

But you won't, will you.          

     

No, I didn't get the job

A number of years ago, I applied for the job of communications director at the 'Canadian Council on the Status of Women'.  Without even reading the rest of this, you will surmise I was not hired.  My crime?  In the interview, I promoted and advocated for all women -- not just entitled university graduates and smarty-pants "feminists".  That was the nail in my coffin.

"I think the office should advocate for all women, like the single mother working the late shift at Walmart, or the drug addict on the street, or the downtrodden immigrant from a country that denigrates and 'honour' kills women," I suggested.  The entitled women around the interview table were clearly horrified! 

A little background on my history as a "feminist":  Our late-sixties cohort got tired of being screwed around because we were pregnant.  We got tired of getting six months' unemployment insurance.  We got tired of losing our jobs to someone else, only to return and find that lesser-qualified person sitting in our offices doing our jobs.  We got tired of having to start all over again when we returned from so-called "maternity leave".  Frankly, we got tired of being penalized for having the biological function of bearing children.  

So we went to the barricades.  

Thanks to our efforts, women and men now get full-paid maternity/paternity leave for a year and they get their jobs back.  It was these same women who were interviewing me and they could not relate.  I subsequently learned the woman who beat me for the job happened to be my next-door neighbour.  She was impeccably "liberated", perfectly-groomed, smartly-dressed, had several fancy degrees, a "feminist" husband and was unbridled by the messy and annoying task of raising kids.  She was perfect.

I must tell you that at that time, I was between husbands and living in a lovely house with my "wife", Frances the Wonder Nanny.  That meant that in effect, I didn't have kids and was wholely able to do the job -- just as any man with a real wife at home.  But that was not good enough; as I said, I didn't get the job.  

Sorry, I forget why I am telling you all this?  Oh yeah, because when a female acquaintance asks me to send her the link to my blog, I will hesitate.  I hesitate because I know some won't like it.  This was the case with a past-president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women.  I was acquainted with her because B was a colleague of her husband and we were thrown together at various functions and get togethers.  In other words, she was not a woman I would ever have purposely sought out.  But when we got together, I shut my mouth while she espoused and waxed lyrically and didactically on the superiority of women, the downtrodden plight of so many (not in her highly-paid case, by the way) and collected a fat cheque with nary a thought to the hardships of the night cashier at Walmart.

We actually used to chat regularly.  Until she asked me to send her the link to my blog.  Haven't heard from her since.  That told me I was on the right track.  You know, I think without kids, you really can't be an authentic, working "feminist".  She had no kids so telling women which end was up was unauthentic.  On the other hand, don't get me wrong.  That doesn't mean I approve of women who get expensive educations, marry, have kids and then sit on their ass-s, join Mums' Clubs, yap at Book Clubs, drink wine and stay home with the kids while being supported by husbands.  I also don't approve of wives who are camp followers and pad around and traipse around the world after their husbands because they don't earn their own money and can't support themselves.  When I first started dating, my mother used to give me "mad" money -- money I could use to get home if I felt I had to.  Women always need their own money and that few dollars was how she taught me to be independent.  If you don't have a job, get one, please.  Your camp-follower behaviour is not why we went to the barricades.  

Now and then an unsuspecting, mature female swim buddy will ask for my blog.  I sent the link to one the other day and I am sure she will be flabbergasted when she reads who I really am; not just a doting grannie.  Will she shun me?  Time will tell.  That will be the test of what she's all about.  As I have said, I don't reveal myself unnecessarily to the vulnerable.

    

  

  

 

      

Insanity

In the U.S., State Farm Insurance created a booklet on LGBTQ diversity that it planned to distribute to kindergarten kids.  Kindergarten kids -- five years old!  An employee leaked the plan and all hell broke loose!  The company abandoned the plan after one day of explosive push back.  That was a very good thing, in my view.

How can a five-year-old decide he/she is gay or queer or trapped in the wrong body or transgender?  That's taking the ridiculous "woke" fad to new heights.  State Farm wanted teachers to have, "challenging, supportive and empowering conversations with toddlers to promote diversity."  Diversity!?  In Five-year-olds?!  I'd say State Farm is promoting confusion and chaos, but cooler heads prevailed and the program was promptly scrapped.  

What is wrong with people??!!

Not to be out-done, Mattel is selling transgender Barbie's!  The epitome of femininity, someone thought Barbie should also be trans.  Whaaaat!!??  The company said its aim is to "celebrate visionaries whose incredible contributions have helped shape and impact culture."  It's modeled after transgender actor (actress?) Laverne Cox and that they had consulted with leading neuroscientists to "uncover the profound influence dolls have upon children."  Laverne Cox, a visionary?!  Who knew a wash-up B-list actress was actually a visionary.  Boy, Laverne's money must really be drying up for her to get into this.  

"We're proud to highlight the importance of inclusion at every age," they explained.  I was a tomboy.  Would I have identified as "trans" at five?  Who knows?  Would this have ruined my life?  Yes.

But this is not just happening in the U.S.  A friend in Quebec told me her 12-year-old grandson's class had been subjected to a graphic presentation on LGBTQ by a trans person with the teacher's wholehearted support.  This wise kid got up and walked out, causing the principal to call his mother.  If you've met the daughter, also a teacher, you would not have wanted to have been on the receiving end of that conversation.  The principal claimed to have known nothing about the presentation and promptly cancelled it.

More parents need to take a principled stance and stop this insane brainwashing of young minds before "wokeism" takes hold of everything and lunacy supersedes rationality. 

What was he doing?!

On the day we celebrated 70 years on the throne of our Head of State, the magnificent Queen Elizabeth II, the prime minister was swanning around London (the wrong London) at a memorial for a Muslim family mowed down and killed a year ago by a deranged driver.  While I agree this was criminal and tragic, I believe the PM's duty and obligation should have been to Canada and our Queen.  But, oh yeah, I forgot, Trudeau's only agenda is virtue-signaling to get votes.  Remember when he was photographed laying a teddy bear on a grave at a residential school?  Exactly.  It is cynical, appalling and spits in the face of what he should be doing and how he should be leading Canadians. 

But no, he was nakedly courting 905 votes, making speeches and marching "in solidarity" with Muslims to eliminate racism.  Here's a bulletin:  A march and a hollow, phony speech will not rid us of racism.  In my view, so-called racism is ingrained in certain people and peoples -- on both sides of the colour bar.  Ethnics in every society can be as "racist" as Caucasians.  In fact, I have noticed that often people of colour tend to view every issue through a race lens before they get to their point.  (This may get this post deleted by Blogger (it's happened before, but they wisely put the posts back after review), but I believe what I write -- even though most people would never write, or say, what I write.)

And let me remind my readers that we are all one race:  The Human one; everything else is culture, upbringing and personal decisions.  So don't call me "racist".  One cannot be racist when we are all the same race.

So brick bats to the Prime Minister on this one.  Just as his father disrespected The Monarch, so does the son.  This is not what Canada is about, in my opinion.

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One of the big stories in 'The Globe and Mail' today was about the fact that trans and LGBTQ teens are five times more likely to contemplate, or commit, suicide.  It floors me that it took a lengthy and expensive study by Ottawa U "experts" to determine this.  Wouldn't it be obvious?  I mean, teens try so desperately to fit in and those of different gender identities must face many daunting barriers.  My own brother committed suicide because he was gay, so I know the struggle from personal and tragic experience.  May dear John rest in peace. 

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Speaking of teens, I saw a very sad one today in a waiting room.  This young lady, about 18, is in a bad and unhealthy way, in my view -- even needs a walker to get around at 18!!!  What do you think?

          

Just a beginning??!!

That's what Siksika chief Ouray Crowfoot called the $1.3 billion -- BILLION $$$$$$!!!!! -- Trudeau (i.e., you and I) handed him yesterday.  "Full reconciliation will never be possible and past wrongs can never be made whole, but it's a start," said Crowfoot, hand out and mouth open.  This is over and above what they get annually as part of the Act.  

That'll be about $20,000 per native for.....for.....uh, nothing!  "We're not looking for anything other than equitable treatment that any other Albertan, any other Canadian would receive elsewhere," he stupefyingly added.  Really??!!!  Last time I checked the mail, my $20 grand wasn't there.  Has anyone else got theirs?!  

Some natives didn't sign it because, as one put it, "The original Surrender Claim would be worth $8 billion."  Gee, wonder if she'll refuse her $20K?  And in another 50 years, it might be worth $20 billion, so should we have just handed over a speculative $20?  Said another in a display of sincere gratitude, "It's not enough 100 percent (sic), but it's something that both parties agreed on.  I want people to invest into (sic) real problems of the nation.  I want people to invest into (sic) a detox centre, a dialysis machine, community centres; there's lots (sic) that this money can do to actually help our people." 

Well, Stoney-Nakoda just got $11,000,000 for a new health facility (see, Here's a number, May 4, 2022), so maybe you can get that thrown in too??  I mean, why not??!!

The chief is paid between $75,000 and $100,00.  If I were a band member, I'd watch his bank account very carefully.  Here's the money moment:

I must point out that these are obviously fake feathers because it would be against every sacred bone in the chief's body to kill that many sacrosanct, holy eagles for a headdress.  I mean, even The Queen is now wearing fake fur, so rest assured, Chief Crowfoot's feathers are fake. 

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While Crowfoot was signing for his cheque, Lynne Groulx, CEO of the Native Women's Association of Canada, was demanding money for action plans and money (of course) to stop the "genocide."  "Let's be clear," she said.  "No one expected to end the genocide in a single year with a single plan.  But we need a national task force (another one??!!) to review and investigate the unresolved files of the missing and murdered women and girls and redress (i.e., money) for the the unresolved files those women whose families' rights have been violated."

Lynne, you really need to google the RCMP stats on who's killing who.  Most native women -- just like non -- are killed by their own kith and kin and there are just as many unsolved non-native murdered and missing cases as native.  Ms. Groulx goes on, "We need a National Action plan (another?!) that is costed (money, again).  Hoping to keep her job, she continues...."We need timelines and measurable goals, more transparency on funding (money, again), especially those that are meant to pay (we'll be paying, not you) for the creation of accountability mechanisms and oversight bodies.

"The abominable rate of murders and disappearances among Indigenous women in Canada would not be tolerated if it is (sic) applied to all women in this country.  It should not be tolerated just because the victims are First Nations, Métis or Inuit."

See above........same numbers, same people doing the killing in both cases.  The fact that she gets away with this is wrong.  But never fear, there is a new financial army on the march looking for "victims":  The group fighting for money for anyone who went to an Indian Day School.  Now, if you went to school and came home at night -- as most of us did -- you can get money for the "abuse" you must surely have suffered at the hands of the "evil" teachers who laboured to give students an education.  

Ads are now appearing all over the television urging anyone who went to one to come forward for "compensation and legal assistance".  I mean you don't even need to fork out up-front legal money to get money; it's all there on a platter.  As Chief Crowfoot put it, "We're only asking for what any Canadian is entitled to."  Really?  I can remember several mean and brutal teachers and principals who regularly hurled chalk across the classroom, insulted students, made them stand in the hall and ultimately meted out the ultimate punishment, the dreaded strap.  

But all my memories pale when I listen to B's horror stories of heads being slammed into desks for getting a Latin verb conjugation wrong, or of the Irish brothers who taught them hockey, crushing young players into the boards while delivering other "instructive" physical checks on 12-year-olds.  "They were the toughest people I have ever known, but if I have any toughness at all, I can thank them for it," asserts B.  "About two years after I left, the meanest and toughest brother was kicked out of the order and promptly joined the Hell's Angels," he added.  "I heard he had quite a few illegitimate children in that gang."  Guess he didn't have a vocation afterall.    

In my case, what I don't remember about the "day school" I went to is being entitled to money?  Why is that?  Why don't we all get money for having had to stand in abject humiliation in the hall for chewing gum or whispering and getting caught?  And what about that male phys ed teacher who instructed us about the birds and the bees a little too enthusiastically and graphically?  Looking back, he clearly crossed a few lines, but we just laughingly shrugged it off.  Nothing happened, so there was no need to tell anyone.  Just all part of growing up.  

Sadly, that's where this entire conjured mess has left us:  Floundering in a morass of misplaced blame and unnecessary compensation.