Everything old

Is new again.  When my first marriage ended in 1980, I was on my own with two toddlers and no child support.  I thought making my own bread would save money, so I started.  But man, it was hard to learn how.  Proving the yeast?  What does that mean and how do you do that?  "Kneading"?  What was that?  How many times do you let it rise?  How do you shape the dough to get all the air out? 

Needless to say, I made quite a few unsuccessful batches.  One day, at a flea market, I spotted 'Robin Hood Prize Winning Recipes', a 1947 relic cookbook that solved all my problems and answered all my bread questions.  I grabbed it and suddenly, my bread turned out perfectly.  Back then, with a nanny to feed too, I made six loaves every week.  How I did that with a fulltime demanding job, I have no clue?  Making bread the way I did took four hours, by the time you let it rise three times and baked it.  Still does, but trust me, I will not use a bread maker; that's cheating.   

The other week, I had an urge to make bread.  So I dug out the old Robin Hood book after 35 years and refreshed my memory.  That batch was a bit of a bust, but I got at it again today and achieved the success I knew in my early thirties.  Here are the steps:
 

I needed all these pictures to get the hang of it.  Here is my effort of today:

 

Pretty proud of myself!



 

Last time I checked....

.....Indian Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett wasn't the PM.  So how she thinks she can tell a head of state what to do is beyond me?!  The other day, she -- and about a 100 other people -- was telling the Pope he had to apologize to natives for residential schools.  The Pope is the head of the ecclesiastical Diocese of Rome, or the Holy See, and governs Catholics worldwide. 

He does not answer to Carolyn Bennett -- she of the ultra-Anglican Havergal College.  The problem with apologies is that they are always followed by demands for $$$$$ and the Pope knows this.  What I want to know is, why don't Canadian bishops apologize; afterall, they were the ones turning a blind eye?  There were also Anglican, Baptist and United Church residential schools, but people have conveniently forgotten their misdeeds.

My granddaughter has a foolproof way of determining what is real and what is nonsense.  She asks, "For real life, grandma?"  Yes my dear, this is for "real life". 

  

Climate Barbie gets the finger

Not one province has signed onto to Little Miss Sunshine's carbon-pricing scheme.  In fact, not one has even shown interest or hinted in that direction.  No one is inclined to slap a $20-a-tonne on "pollution" by January 1st.  And every year after that, the tax will be upped $10 a tonne until 2022.  The deadline for the provinces is March 31st.  Last time I checked, that's tomorrow.  Oops!

As long as China and India continue to belch out masses of carbon monoxide (or is it dioxide?) what's the point?  And let's not forget sanctimonious BC's firing up of the old coal smelters.  That province's hypocrisy is about as breathtaking as you can get!  Although the feds have promised any revenues raised will stay in the provinces, we all know what that means.  Won't be happening.

Barbie is trying in vain to meet the 2030 Paris targets of cutting emissions by 200 million tonnes.  That's the equivalent of eliminating 44 million cars per year.  Problem is, Canada only has half that many registered, making it a tad difficult to accomplish.  Here she is, looking like a duck, walking like a duck and talking like a duck -- making her a bonafide "Barbie".

 

Barbie lecturing some group or other



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Watched two excellent documentaries about "Formula One" racing -- one about Ed Williams, of the Williams Team, and the other about Bruce McLaren, of McLaren Racing.  Williams cracked up racing to an airport after a race and has been a quadriplegic ever since; McLaren killed himself on a curve during a race at 32.

I used to go to Mosport and St. Jovite with a bunch of friends for weekends to watch these guys try to defy death.  Back then, you could tent on the grounds, next to the track, drink beer and see if the same people rounded the hill.  Sometimes, someone wouldn't and the thrill was wondering if they had crashed, or headed into the pits.  It was all great fun.

The great Jackie Stewart summed it up in the McLaren documentary nicely.  "Speed only happens when you have an accident.  You've actually got plenty of time to change direction or brake," he pointed out.  If anyone knew how to ride the edge between winning and dying it was Jackie Stewart. 
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Just wanted to point out something that caught my eye in 'The Herald' today.  Apparently, turban-wearing Sikhs are now exempt from Alberta's motorcycle helmet laws; BC and Manitoba have granted similar exemptions.  The Sikh Motorcycle Club of Edmonton hailed it as a "milestone and memorable day in Alberta's history.  It gives us a platform to share our values and our beliefs with other communities in Alberta," said Parmeet Singh Boparai, president.

Really?  I don't care what your beliefs are, all motorcyclists need to wear a helmet.  That's what the separation between "church and state" is all about.         

Too bad

The province of Alberta identified the 50 top opioid-dispensing doctors and pulled the licence of one for life.  I think that's sad because maybe that doctor was giving his patients these drugs to keep them off the streets and out of criminal activity.  Maybe he was trying to enable them to be productive parents or workers?  Maybe he was trying to protect society from those who would do anything for a fix?  Maybe he was actually acting for society's greater good by prescribing safe levels of drugs that would not kill people?  I don't know, but now the people for whom he prescribed opioids will be scouring the streets and breaking into our homes to get the money they need to "fix". 

With Canada about to post 4,000 fentanyl deaths in 2017, a few thoughts occur.  Why is everyone running around in public libraries and schools with narcan kits?  To what end?  So these people can be revived to OD again?  Even if they enter a treatment centre, odds are they will actually overdose there.  I have an extended family member who works with some of these people now and then and the stories I hear do not paint an optimistic rehabilitation picture.  I also have a firefighter son-in-law who must treat overdoses.  Last time I checked, ODing was not a fire, but as first-responders, firefighters are on the front lines -- often putting their own lives in jeopardy. 

To me, it's a form of suicide -- especially for those in costly treatment centres.  It's ironic that society now allows assisted dying, but won't allow addicts to OD of their own volition.  Many summits and meetings have taken place, all to no avail.  Addicts are addicts and no amount of hand-wringing will change the behaviour of those who can't -- or won't -- stop.
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A word about the status Indian (under the definition of the act) who again reacted angrily to my perspective on Trudeau's exoneration of six war chiefs hanged in 1864 for warring on the Crown.  Here's the thing, like it or not, the land they raided was Crown and the people they killed occupants.

As to "Divine Right", good point.  I know what "Divine Right" means within a constitutional context, but what does it mean to the natives?  Do natives have a "Divine Right" to the entire country?  Apparently, they believe so.  Is the"Great Spirit" or "Mother Earth" the divinity which gives them title to Canada? 

As to the Royal Proclamation of 1763, it is open to vast interpretation and has been argued a number of ways by scholars more qualified and learned than I.  So, nothing in stone there.  Let' face it, all colonialism -- be it French, English, Spanish or Portuguese -- is, and always has been, about real estate.  Look at Israel today.  Same thing.

No peoples are "indigenous" to Canada.  We have all come from somewhere else, a fact proven by genetics beyond the shadow of a doubt.  Sadly, this gentleman is dead-set against reconciliation, calling on his daughters and grandchildren to keep up the fight, which he obviously intends to pass on to them.  In fact, he boasted that his little granddaughter's "sense of justice is well in tact."  We know what that means and it will not help future generations with reconciliation.  The problem will remain baked in, unless progress is made in good faith. 

And as to natives being "nations"?  Regardless of what Perry Bellegarde claims, nations have to be able to defend and finance themselves.  But those working within the native "industry" will not be swayed by facts.  It is in their interest to continue the fight -- just as it is in the interest of those in the cancer industry to keep cancer going. 

Canada is no longer unified.  We are a bunch of self-interested provinces without a strong federal leader to hold us together.  Mr. Happy Socks is just not up to the task. 
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p.s.  It's "thou", not "though", as in "holier".       

Ignorance doesn't help reconcilation

It appears many Canadians are ignorant of the facts surrounding the Chilcotin War of 1864.  In fact, many are unaware of how the country was governed in 1864, hence the vilification by some of my comments on the inappropriateness of Trudeau's apologia to BC natives in the House yesterday. 

One native called me spiteful, hateful and ignorant for questioning why a Canadian prime minister would apologize for something which had happened before Canada was even a country and BC a province.  At the time of the hangings, "Canada" did not exist; the territory was a colony of England.  If anyone should apologize (which in my view they should not), it would be the prime minister of Britain.

Crown Land began with the reign of George III in 1760 and continues to this day in Canada and many other countries around the world -- although the ownership and administration of the land now lie with the federal government.  The war chiefs who attacked the British were attempting to raid Crown Land and take back what they had lost.  This, however, does not negate the fact that the land was in the hands of the Crown at the time.

Calling the executions "wrongful", Trudeau said, "We recognize that these six chiefs were leaders of a nation, that they acted in accordance with their laws and traditions and that they are well-regarded as heroes of their people."  Trouble is, the land at the time was in the possession of the Crown and so they were illegally trying to claim it.  Crucially, the natives did not deny they had killed whites, but maintained it was an act of war.  Precisely, which is why they were hanged.   

That was the law of the time and colonial governor Frederick Seymour agreed their actions had constituted open war.  Trudeau now wants to revise all history -- from the names of buildings to the law of the land.  Who does he think he is?  At the very least, he needs a constitutional expert in the PMO who can fill him in on annoying details -- such as reality. 

To this day, 94% of all land in BC is provincial Crown Land.  That's just a fact, conveniently ignored by natives, politicians, journalists and many ignorant Canadians who spout bromides instead of truth.  To point out historical and constitutional accuracy does not make one ignorant, hateful or spiteful.  It just makes one correct.   

Huh??

How can the Prime Minister of Canada exonerate people executed before Canada was a country?  This event for which natives are being pardoned happened in 1864; Canada became a country in 1867.  Trudeau must be delusional!  And his advisors should be fired.  No one has a clue in the PMO.

But what I really want to talk about is facebook and the hullaballoo about the release of information.  What am I missing?  We put that information out there, we dump it into the ether ourselves and then we are outraged when someone uses it?  A while ago, I was being stalked so I re-did all my privacy settings so no one, other than "friends", can now see it.  Oh sure, I know fb knows I sometimes take ridiculous quizzes and search restaurants and directions, but who cares?  Why can't people restrict their settings?  Every time I open fb, I get a "sharing/privacy" warning; if people choose to ignore it, hit that keyboard at your peril.

Unless you are searching kiddie porn sites, why the outrage?  Oh, maybe these people are searching illegal sites and don't want to be caught?  I also know people whose real lives are so effed up and dysfunctional, they invent a new one, made up of complete lies, and put it in its entirety on fb -- every meal they eat, every party they attend, every place they go, every pic, pic, pic, pic.  So how can they be upset when this data is mined for whatever use?

Anyway, as I said, I am probably missing something about the gravity of the fb info.  But then, I only have 18 "friends", so how much damage can I do? 

 

Could not watch

The Junos.  Against my better judgement, thought I'd give it a chance, but when I watched the first number with 'Arcade Fire' and saw all the drumming and native stuff, I packed it in.  A few minutes later I switched back, hoping that act had departed, but was confronted by some guy who won something and kissed 100 people before taking the stage. 

That was it.  I knew it would have all been downhill from there, so I tuned in a Titanic movie marathon instead.  What I truly dreaded, however, was the veneration of Gord Downey -- which I knew was to come.  Can they not let the guy rest in peace?  Guess not, too much money to be made off of his cadaver.  And apparently, there is a whole lot of unreleased Downey music that lies in wait for his adoring fans.  So, it will never end.

This has been -- and continues to be -- happening with all kinds of dead people.  'Vanity Fair' had a huge ad featuring Marilyn Monroe advertising cameras.  The poor woman's been dead since 1962 -- that's 56 years!  It's all so sleazy.