Now if Only the Rest could get along.

About half the students who attend the Jewish primary school King David, in Birmingham, England, are Muslims, and in fact, their parents work hard to get them in because they so respect the school's ethos and its halal-like diet. All students learn Hebrew, recite Jewish prayers, and celebrate Israeli independence, but there is a Muslim prayer room, also, and Muslim teachers are hired for Ramadan. However, confided one parent, the school tries to keep a low profile so as not to inflame the religious rabble-rousers. [The Independent, 2-4-07]

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum.

The Case of Julie Amero

In short, a 40 year old substitute teacher faces up to 40 years in prison because of malware. I really can't believe that this case has gone to the levels it has reached. Her crime? Being computer illiterate.

People as her why she just didn't pull the plug.

1. She was told not to turn the computer off.
2. I work in technical support, and I speak to people every day who can't even recognize a power cable. Or for that matter, understand the that the co-relation between a power outtage and the fact that their equipment doesn't work. No, that's not an urban legend. The world is full of them.
   

This had got to be one of the worst cases of judicial stupidity I've seen of late. A so called "expert witness" who is completely and utterly clueless about the subject, a computer illiterate prosecuter, an ignorant jury and a judge who slept through the proceedings.

A couple more articles:

Can a Legal System Unversed in Technology result in a fair Trial?

Mouse Trapped

The latest news says that her sentencing has again been delayed until April 26/07.

Scent of a Woman

Woman's scent not 'Very Irrésistible' to Calgary bus drivers

Allow me to state first off, that I like perfume - when used sparingly. However, out of respect for my fellow employees (I work in a high density setting), I do not wear it at my place of employ. Likewise, I do not where it when visiting my Dr, or hospitals. In all other situations, less is truly more. Scent should be a subtle'hint' not a sledge hammer to the senses.

I once had to sit at a trade show with a woman who insisted on marinating herself in Body Shop Dewberry perfume every 15 minutes. She was 20 feet away from me. No one could stand to go near her display and she ruined business for the rest of us too.

I don't care whether her perfume is Givenchy, Chanel, or any other designer name; Too much is too much, and of the bus has to pull over to open windows, it is too much. However, if this woman wants to make a fool of herself in public, there are more than enough rope to hang herself.

In comparing herself to Rosa Parks she has proven that she has little sense and less shame.

Oh.. and it's not only women:

Body spray banned from N.B. school

The Value of Silence

Pause for a moment, Dear Reader and listen: Listen and make note of the sounds around you. From where I sit, I hear the hum of my computer, and further in the background the mutter of the television in the living room where my Dear Husband watches a British mystery, from the kitchen, the refrigerator vibrates away, and then there is the sound of the fan from the furnace as the fire takes the chill off the house. I have grown so used to these sounds that I don’t even hear them, as a matter of fact, the only time I notice them is in their absence during a power failure. At various times during the day, I hear the train go by on the track about a kilometer away. Sound is all around us: phones, doorbells, mp3 players, radio, traffic.

At this time of my life, I live in the country, far away from the din that accompanies urban centers and for this I am grateful. I once spent a week visiting a friend who lived in a high rise in down town Calgary. The noise funneled up from street level during the day, and wasn’t much quieter at night. I could never, ever live there; it would drive me mad. I lived in an apartment for a while where my neighbours were heavy metal maniacs at all hours of the day and most of the night. I have come to realize the blessing and the value of peace and quiet. This realization was particularly true for me three years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer. I saw four doctors in three cities in two provinces over the course of one month while trying to find one who had a clue how to treat the very rare type that I have. To say this was a stressful time was an understatement to say the least. I wanted nothing more for a while just to go on retreat for a time, far away from telephones, televisions, radios and just be alone with my thoughts.

This brings me my real topic today: 2007 marks the 10 anniversary of the beginning of the end of Nova Nada Monastery in Nova Scotia.

Nova Nada never really had much luck when it came to choosing a location. Their first monastery/hermitage in Sedona was abandoned due to urban development. When that happened, they found an old camp off the beaten track near Kemptville in the early 70’s and relocated there. All was well until J.D. Irving and Co began intensive logging in the area. Now to understand what this means you have to get a feeling for the J.D. Irvings and their way of doing business.

The Irvings are the “big fish” in the relatively small pond of the Maritimes. To give you an idea of just who pervasive this family is, you can’t even wipe your butt without helping to fill their coffers. Feelings about J.D. Irving tend to fall into one of two camps: He is either the second coming of Christ, or should burn in the lowest reaches of hell. They have singularly done the most to damage to the environment in these three provinces, and for the most part, without any accountability whatsoever. I was talking to some guy from Ducks Unlimited who extolled about all the money they had donated to them for wetlands preservation. However, as last year the company destroyed 5 blue heron nests (an endangered species) without so much as a second thought, clear cut everything in sight and the motto of St. John New Brunswick, home of Irving’s oil refinery as well as several pulp mills should be “Nice City, But it Stinks”, all the while adding whole new dimensions to the term “acid rain”, I somehow doubt their commitment to the environment. An oil barge, “the Irving Whale” went down near the malpaque oyster beds near PEI. It went down intact, but every so often, it would burp out a bit of crude. Finally, when it had deteriorated to the point where it was about to break up entirely, the government mounted a multi-million dollar project to bring to salvage it. And the Irvings said, “oh… and we guess we should tell you – there are pcbs on board. Oh, and if you manage to bring it up intact, we want the oil back, (the insurance had already paid out for both barge and contents). While the Irvings did not get the oil back, I guess you can see where this is going: They have a finger in every pie, are very used to getting their own way, and more often than not, they do. .

Basically, clearcut logging (that is the only type that the Irving’s do) besides being an ecological nightmare, is a noisy proposition, and during the summer, they go at it 24 hours a day. All the monks at Nova Nada wanted were peace and quiet – a two-mile buffer zone around the monastery. This was not to be had, and they countered with this offer. The monks were not alone in their fight; petitions were circulated (170,000 signatures), there was support from the Sierra Club but to no avail. The monks even offered to buy the land, and appealed to J.D. himself. Since the Irvings worship only one god and his name is Mammon, I imagine that it was rather like talking to a wall.

The monks of Nova Nada eventually gave up, and moved to Ireland to found another monastery. The monastery near Kemptville was eventually sold. I hope that the monks are more successful in their new home, and that they find the peace and solitude that they sought. As for the rest of us; in losing both the monastery and its inhabitants, we are all that much poorer.

Space Bricklin

We don’t have the paper delivered here for 2 reasons a) newspapers accumulate, while we heat with wood, and we can use them to start fires, to me it seems like such a waste. (Yes, I know we can recycle, which we do. However, why get it in the first place if we don’t really need it?) Then, b) and this is the real clincher, every newspaper in New Brunswick, (even the giveaway rag on what’s going on in the local bar scene), is owned by the Irvings and the standard of journalistic excellence sets whole new lows. Therefore, it boils down to this: why waste the money on a crappy newspaper, only to recycle or burn it? Believe me, there is no lack of scrap paper and cardboard around to start the fires in the furnace.

That said; thank all the gods for the Internet and CBC radio, without which I would be at the mercy of the Irvings, with crop circles as front page news.

But my commentary on articles of major or minor importance:

Last summer, the Nova Scotia Provincial Government in partnership with a private company to open some sort of a Space Launch Facility in a yet to be announced location on Cape Breton. Now, everyone seems to think that this is a dandy thing. However…….. For those of you who are not familiar with Cape Breton, it is an technically an island, separated by the very narrow Canso strait from the mainland. It is a lovely place to visit, you will find the summer home of Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, but unfortunately did not get it patented first. He was a very prolific inventor, and among other things, developed the Hydrofoil, the prototypes of which were tested on the Baeddeck Lakes practically on the front door. It is now a museum and a fascinating place to visit if you are interested in such things. Cape Breton is also the home of the only Gaelic University in North America, if not the world. The Cabot Trail is a wonderfully scenic trip, and utterly spectacular when the fall colours are at their peak. Mabon is the home of Glenora Distilleries the only single malt distillery in North America. There is produced Glen Breton, the only single malt produced in North America. I am told it is very good, and sells for about $75.00 a bottle. It is also an area with high unemployment and has been since the coal mines closed.

Why, do you ask, is this worthy of commentary?

On the surface, this looks like a pretty sweet deal: good jobs to the area and all those benefits thereof.

But there is one thing that makes me wonder: The Weather.

Over the years I have watched many a space launch: from the Gemini orbits, to the Apollo missions that culminated in the moon landing, and many, many space shuttle launches. They all have one thing in common: as soon as the weather becomes less than optimal, the launch is postponed. .

Now, Cape Breton, with its head stuck out in the north Atlantic, is the eastern most point in continental North America. (Newfoundland notwithstanding since it an island that is not considered part of continental North America). As some of you know, my DH Dan, worked for Environment Canada, even before it was Environment Canada and it was the Dept of Transport. As a result, in our house we watch the weather like other people watch Canadian/American/Whatever Idol. It has been my observation that sometime in the early part of November, the weather in Cape Breton reads as follows: High Wind Warning, Heavy Snowfall Warning, and Freezing Rain Warning with any combination thereof. This streak of “interesting” weather will continue for, at very least, the next 6 months. This has led me to two possible conclusions: Environment Canada has gotten very lazy in its forecasting and is hitting the “repeat” button for at least 6 months of the year OR the weather really is that foul.

For my own part, I believe it to be the latter rather than the former. Now this does beg the question: Why would a facility that is so dependent on good weather be placed in an area where the weather is so marginal for such a large part of the year?

Forgive me if I sound more than a little cynical, but I smell a boondoggle.

I am no stranger to boondoggles – from the Gigatext program that was supposed to be an English/French conversion program that the Government of Saskatchewan invested 5 million dollars, with no follow up whatsoever. Needless to say the 5 million vanished into the either, never to be heard from again. Then, there was the Squalus Jet Trainer, an apparently very nifty jet that could, supposedly, but used to train fighter pilots. With only a little Government funding, this could have brought the aerospace industry to Saskatoon, providing jobs and prosperity. Again, a nice idea in theory, but they had no real potential buyers for this item. Much to the chagrin of the good Burghers of Saskatoon, the provincial government declined to invest in this project. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth by said Burghers, when the company that produced the Squalus folded up their tents and took their prototype to pastures anew. The wailing decreased after it became known that there was some extremely “creative” marketing projections by that company. I suppose there was more than a little schadenfrude when that company in another guise moved to Alberta in 2003, with a revised version of the trainer which even after much investment, literally and figuratively, never got off the ground.


And who can forget that crowning achievement of all Maritime boondoggles: The Bricklin

It seems as though the government in its need not so much to do something but to be seen to be doing something, is ripe for the picking. The hopes of the people rise high as the purveyors of snake oil and humbug close in for the kill and the rustling sound you hear is that of money being tossed into the wind.

Never, Ever Piss Off A Senior - The Story of the OLC

As I said, it was an auspicious day to begin this blog with not only one, but two articles upon which to comment, and it's not even noon yet.

First, allow me to state that I'm not much of a gambler; I've been to Vegas twice in my life; Both times in the 80's, when there were still remnants of the old "Rat Pack" days to be found. Each time, the limit of my gambling consisted of the nickel slots. I have no interest in cards, much to the annoyance of my family and extended maternal family, all of whom seem to have been born with a deck of cards in one hand and a bottle of rye in the other. I can forget how to play a card game as fast as I have been taught, and utterly despise rye whiskey. Those qualties plus the fact that I am the only one on either side of my family who enjoys Shakespeare and would give my eye teeth to see the entire Ring Cycle live, lends credence to my theory that I was stolen at birth by Polish Peasants. but I digress.

I have, however, bought the occasional lottery ticket knowing full well that the odds of winning the big one are not much better than if I had not bought a ticket at all. But, you never know.....

I, like many other Canadians, have been watching with great interest, the story of 82 year old Bob Edmonds and his stolen lottery ticket since his story first broke last fall on The Fifth Estate. If you have an hour or so to kill, I recommend watching both the original story, the follow up and the follow up to the follow up available on the web site linked above.

In short, Mr Edmonds bought a lottery ticket, was scammed out of his winnings ($250,000)by the unscrupulous owners of the convenience store where he had the ticket checked. It took four years, of cover ups, denial, and litigation to have this matter more or less set to rights. The Ontario Lottery Commission spent $400,000, nearly double the original prize, in legal fees fighting Mr. Edmonds. In the end Mr Edmonds won, but the story is convoluted, and to long to explain all the nuances here. The ensuing scandal has rocked the OLC to its very foundation, and cast doubts on every other provincial lottery in the country, when it was found that inside winners (retailers) were winning huge prizes at 10 times the rate of the rest of us. In Atlantic Canada, the inside winner with ratio is 25 times higher.

Yesterday, in a long overdue move the head of the OLC, Duncan Brown was fired and escorted from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission building. This occurs just days before the Provincial Ombudsman is due to release it's report on the wrong doing at the OLC.

It is interesting to note that the hierarchy in the OLC really pissed off not only Bob Edmonds but a lot of people withing the OLC itself. This was indicated by the number of documents "leaked" to The Fifth Estate during its ongoing investigation. The fingers of this cover up even reach into the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

This story isn't over yet.

An Auspicous Day to Begin

Now, I had planned on starting this blog some time ago and just needed a little "push" to get things started. This morning, my Dear Husband woke me with this bit of news:

Schreiber files suit on Mulroney

Now to be honest, I did not know that bribes came with a money back guarantee. Some one once said that the problem with bribing some one is that they don't necessarily stay bribed. What I would really like to know is:

1. will we get back the 2.1 million that was paid to Brian for his "legal and public relations costs"?
2. If it is not a bribe, will Brian once and for all, explain to us why Schreiber gave him $300,000 in the first place?