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!