tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11864511536610963502024-03-27T18:25:57.494-06:00The Sheep River Wool FactoryA commentary on social issues, a look back at important historical events, a pursuit of creative writing, and passionate travel articles.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-10266765579454331122022-04-23T15:00:00.000-06:002022-04-23T15:00:17.372-06:00Beware Impaired Drivers<p>Tennessee wouldn't be the first state to come to mind for being forward thinking, but how's this for progressive action? Tennessee is on the verge of enacting a novel law that would see impaired drivers be held responsible for child support if their drinking and driving caused the death of a parent.</p><p>The House and Senate passed the bill unanimously. All that remains is Governor Bill Lee to sign the bill into law. All indications are that he will do so.</p><p>Beware impaired drivers in Tennessee. If you choose to drink and drive and you cause the death of a parent, you will be on the hook for supporting the offspring of that parent until they reach the age of eighteen. This is in addition to other redresses existing, such as jail and fines.</p><p>Great news. Other states and provinces should follow suit. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-89913098114061310092022-03-21T20:49:00.002-06:002022-03-21T20:52:26.097-06:003D Printing Human Sperm<p> According to the Government of Canada, roughly 1 in 6
couples experience infertility in the country, presumably half of which can be
attributed to reproduction issues in each gender. This number has doubled since
the 1980’s. For those males unable to produce sperm, little in the way of
treatment is available. But hold on to your hats folks, because recent
breakthroughs at the University of British Columbia (UBC) may hold the key to
artificially stimulate sperm production in some men.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>How is human sperm produced?</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The science is too complicated for the average Jane and Joe
to wrap their heads around, so allow us to explore this topic by dumbing it all
down a few notches so we can begin to understand.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What is known is that tiny microscopic tubes called seminiferous
tubules are located in the testicles, measuring 300-400 microns across each. A micron
is a millionth of a metre. An average male will have 750-1200 of these which
are around 50cm in length and heavily coiled, each with the mysterious
instructions on how to produce sperm. As a comparison, a human hair is about 70-90
microns across in size, and the human eye can see objects no smaller than 40-50
microns. So, these tubules are not microscopic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The tubules communicate within the body (somehow) to collect
the relevant sequences that make up the sperm, which delivers the man’s DNA to
a friendly egg, and wham-o, you got yourself a fetus.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In some men experiencing infertility issues, the tubules
malfunction and fail to produce sperm. The ‘why’ is not clearly understood.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>The University of British Columbia (UBC) connection<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Ryan Flannigan is an assistant professor of urology at
UBC. He and his team have successfully created seminiferous tubules using a 3D bio-printer
that saw stem cells survive 12 days, maintain themselves, and begin to
specialize themselves in sperm production.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The goal is to develop this medical science to the point
where seminiferous tubules producing sperm can be implanted in the testicles of
men experiencing this type of infertility issue, to the relief and delight of
countless wanna-be parents.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, it is too early to be lining up at your local
infertility clinic to receive the implants. Flannigan indicates more needs to
be discovered about the interplay of seminiferous tubules with the rest of the
body, albeit the results thus far are encouraging.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>The trouble with science<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Will we, one day, regret medical science advancements such
as 3D printed human parts? To be sure we will, insofar as another power-hungry
dictator such as a Hitler could become hell-bent on creating a master race, or
perhaps some elements of an eugenics society could emerge to become
commonplace. Ethics aside for now, this argument could be attached to any
scientific breakthrough in any field and, unless we are prepared to return to a
pre-Industrial Revolution era, the Pandora’s Box of 3D printed body parts is
only going to become more prolific. And more normal.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-84532663987122676322022-03-05T13:18:00.000-07:002022-03-05T13:19:48.990-07:00Now, More Than Ever, We Need Alberta Oil<p>Recent world events have seen a return to Cold War-era
tactics by Russian forces as they invade Ukraine to capture oil-rich deposits
and feed off the bread basket of the East. And there is no telling what Russia’s
end game is.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One thing is certain, however. Putin’s oligarch friends who
have enjoyed an obscene free for all in the accumulation of their wealth are
feeling the pinch of world pressure as real estate holdings, professional
sports teams such as the famed Chelsea football (soccer) club, luxury retail
brands such as Rolex, and international banks such as Credit Suisse, all of
which have strong ties to Russia’s super rich, come under fire of their own.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline, lost its capacity for
accepting reservations, and getting replacement parts for routine maintenance
is now impossible. Cargo ships carrying goods to and from Russia are not being
loaded or unloaded in most places around the globe. Wines and spirits made in
Russia are removed from store shelves in the West. The cumulative effects of
these relatively minor sanctions are causing grave concern for Russia’s elite.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Putin has a cache of weaponry all his own in the form of oil
and the pipelines that carry his Black Gold. His cunning and foresight into
developing key world markets for his oil, particularly that of Europe, during
the kinder, gentler period of his reign is serving him well as he turns off the
taps to his reserves. GazProm, Russia’s national oil and gas company, is
currently squeezing Germany by suspending all agreements for oil to that
country. Perhaps it is an attempt to hedge against the world boycott of Russian
goods and gain a strong and empathetic voice among the European Union.
Nonetheless, Germany finds itself a target of Russia while it scrambles to
replace a supply of fossil fuels, which has the very real potential of developing
strange bedfellows.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Canada is friends to the world, and within its borders
produces enough crude oil to export around the globe while maintaining a
lucrative supply for its own use. What it lacks is sufficient capacity in its
pipelines to bring that crude from Alberta’s oil producing areas to ports that
can then ship to markets, without limit. A groundswell of environmental and Indigenous
groups in practically every direction leading out of Alberta have exterminated
or severely limited new pipeline construction to a dangerously low output.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What does this mean? Immediately, it means our rate of
inflation in Canada will soar, as we remain reliant on imported oil for our
needs. Remember the 70’s when OPEC turned off its taps? That is exactly the
course of events we are likely to see in the foreseeable future. Even if all
the pipeline construction projects were to be approved today, it would be years
before they would be operational. There underlies why now, more than ever, the
world needs Alberta oil.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What it also means is that an oil-rich country like Canada,
with an oil-rich province like Alberta, cannot properly supply itself and its
allies with the fossil fuels on which the world still relies. Imagine how much
smaller the impact on world events would be if there were a safe, steady supply
of crude oil from Alberta to replace that from a dictatorship like Putin, or
anyone else for that matter. <o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-41175468342846213722020-04-10T23:45:00.000-06:002020-04-10T23:45:10.050-06:00Spanish Flu of 1918 vs. Covid-19 of 2020<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Spanish Influenza swept around the world with the
lightning speed with which we now observe Covid-19. It was 1918 and the First
World War was winding down. In Canada, the Spanish Flu killed some 55,000 Canadians
by the time the pandemic ended in 1920.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Canada quickly became a Covid-19 victim, likely spread
initially by Patient Zero in Wuhan, China. Because Canada enjoys a favored
nation status, Chinese nationals are permitted to travel to Canada and enjoy
the scenery and visit relatives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There was no television in 1918. No internet either.
Radio was not yet the familiar entertainment box it would soon become.
Newspapers were the king of media and how most folks received news. And the
news in 1918 was grim. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As the numbers of dead were being finalized for Canada’s
involvement in World War One, the numbers began trickling in of dead due to the
Spanish Flu. Approximately 61,000 soldiers killed during the Great War. By the
end of 1920, Canada would count 55,000 people dead due to the Spanish Flu.
Canada’s population in 1918 was 8.2 million, so losing 116,000 of its citizens
represented a significant portion of her being.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A new normal had arrived for Canadians. And today, a
newer normal takes its place with Covid-19 already challenging the Spanish Flu
numbers for supremacy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Computer generated models for Covid-19 appear to show
that late May 2020 will deliver the highest number of infected persons, along
with high rates of deaths, up to 44,000. If Covid-19 continues on such a
trajectory of death, it will surpass the Spanish Flu in infections and deaths
in Canada within the first several weeks of the pandemic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Today, Canada’s population stands at around 38 million.
Percentage-wise, Covid-19 is projected to take a bigger chunk out of Canada’s
population initially, with accumulated losses to rally that portion even
higher.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
One sombre attribute to both the Spanish flue of 1918 and
Covid-19 of 2020 is that they both absolutely paralyzed the Canadian economy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-86670714943658241562020-03-28T20:34:00.000-06:002020-03-28T20:34:43.314-06:00Rationing in a Digital Age<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With little warning, and so many people ignoring and
dismissing tales of the coming Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, one area that
was tested, and continues to feel the impact, is our food security.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Supermarket shelves lay half bare and store management is
limiting quantities for purchase of some items. Another word for this, despite
government’s reluctance to use it, is rationing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It is difficult to treat food security as a priority
when, living in a relatively wealthy nation, I am afforded the luxury of
throwing food away, shunning leftovers, and being able to choose when I eat.
Others, in fact most of the world’s human inhabitants, do not share in the
bounty I feel privileged to consume.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing the world’s economies
to their respective knees, rationing of key staples in food, fuel, and other
commodities, as experienced during the world war years, will become a
certainty. It will be followed by mass unemployment, homelessness, and civil
unrest. It will happen sporadically in Canada and United States, perhaps even
much of the European Union. New laws designed to limit your freedoms will be
enacted in secret and without parliamentary debate. Poor people will be made
into criminals by the state.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The trickle will begin in the poorer countries of the
world who are unable to withstand the punishing effects of the Covid-19
pandemic. What happens there is a template for repetition in neighboring
countries, with a ripple-like tide washing over the planet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We have seen major architypes throughout history where
monarchs, governments, and corporations have been toppled. When people are
unable to feed their families, they tend to get a tad antsy. Not the kind of
people you need working against you. Passion is a great motivator. So is
hunger. And fear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In today’s world of instant gratification, no amount of
coding, no amount of texting, and no amount of consumerism will ensure we have
available, and can afford, a loaf of bread for feeding one’s family.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Plant a garden, even ever so small.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-43086215176523481672018-12-15T21:25:00.000-07:002018-12-16T10:28:09.506-07:00Fort McMurray is Not the Enemy<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Few small cities can lay claim to the celebrity
connection that Fort McMurray does. And likely none wants to shed the limelight
those celebs bring, faster than this city of 67,000 located in Alberta’s
northeast.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Typically, when stars of song and screen mention your
city’s name, it’s a boon for tourism, recognition, and to some degree,
legitimacy. However, when celebrities pontificate to the masses of the evils of
industries such as Fort McMurray’s oil sands, citing dubious information or
playing the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do game, it does a disservice to the image of
the community, to its residents and workers, and to those companies investing
billions of dollars into the economy while producing the most in-demand product
in the world.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Inconvenient
Truth</span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Regardless of the method used, discovering and producing
oil and gas is not the most sanitary of businesses. The demand for oil and gas
has been increasing steadily for decades, and despite our plentiful reserves,
we are still largely reliant on foreign oil from countries such as Russia,
Venezuela, and those in the Middle East.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The inconvenient truth is that this burgeoning demand for
oil is not created by countries. It comes from you. You soccer moms, commuters,
and anyone stepping on an accelerator. Your plastic totes storing stuff you’re
convinced you will use again, the film wrap protecting your sandwiches at
lunchtime, and even your toothbrush are made from products that started their
life, at least in part, as oil. Let’s face it, fossil fuels have become an
inseparable part of our daily life. That’s okay. Our evolving and prevailing
demand now is that we find cleaner ways to produce and process fossil fuels.
And that’s okay too.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Credit Where
Credit Is Due</span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Public sentiment and internal corporate pressure to
become more efficient drives resource companies to find and invest in new
technologies for producing their products. Fort McMurray’s oil sands industry
can be held in high esteem for their inventions and applications in reducing
emissions, reclaiming land used in the production of heavy crude, aggressively
mitigating the effect their operations have on wildlife, recovering tailings
previously thought to be waste, and being the unsung heroes in driving the
economy of our nation.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Is there more work to be done? Definitely. And nobody in
Fort McMurray would argue the point.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Comparing Apples
to Apples</span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Comparatively speaking, however, putting Fort McMurray on
trial for being dirty and destructive while ignoring current environmental
disasters wreaking havoc on countless ecosystems is misleading at best. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A mammoth underwater well spewing raw oil into the Gulf
of Mexico akin to that of BP’s 2010 much-hyped and devastating Horizon
Deepwater leak that saw roughly 5 million barrels of oil contaminate the waters
and shorelines of Gulf states, threatens to put BP’s record-breaking blight to
shame. Nobody is talking about Taylor Energy’s sunken platform #23051 leaking up
to a reported 700 barrels of oil per day, and it has been leaking since
Hurricane Ivan ripped through the Gulf in 2004. Damage estimates already run
into the billions of dollars with no end in sight. Nobody is accepting
responsibility. No celebrities here wagging their admonishing finger and
demanding someone clean up their act.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Even “green” energy solutions come with dark clouds.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 birds are killed annually in those
huge rotating blades of wind turbines. Again, no celebs speaking out with the
disgust levied against Fort McMurray’s oil sands.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Fracking. Nuclear reactors. Coal-fired electric
generating plants. There are plenty more examples in North America that pose
environmental complications, the point being that picking on the low hanging
fruit of Fort McMurray’s oil sands only serves to ingratiate celebrities to a well-meaning,
albeit, ill-informed public and spread misinformation, all the while these same
celebrities engage in behaviors that are wasteful beyond that of the average
Joe and Jane.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Leonardo DiCaprio</span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Leo to his friends, Mr. DiCaprio finally garnered the
support he needed and was awarded his first Oscar in 2016 for Best Actor in a
Leading Role for his part in The Revenant, a film shot partly in Alberta.
DiCaprio used the platform of his acceptance speech to state (in part), “<i>Climate
change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing
our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop
procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak
for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous
people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people
out there who would be most affected by this. For our children’s children, and
for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics
of greed.”</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">DiCaprio is a
fine actor and leading man in Hollywood. He personally visited Fort McMurray to
“research” the oil sands for a documentary. Somewhere along the way of his
ongoing critical commentary of the oil and gas industry in general, and the oil
sands in particular, he forgot to inform his adoring fans of his wasteful
energy practices.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Owning
multi-million dollar homes, using private jets and the world’s fifth largest
yacht, Topaz, (owned by a Middle Eastern oil tycoon) and measuring a whopping
453 feet in length, destroys DiCaprio’s moral authority to be preaching
restraint while his carbon footprint sprawls. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVFqg3jieDqh54Cf9X7At65PfcJG_14IeIoA8OfBO1DNv2WpN_l_ZQEQl34Rm8BmswVNd3ICCjfqJZ18ycEDdO5n8eRUKsghSrsX3s6bu3uWzPOk3J_7VjyIrEuNVqkp82y5BKHeNU4s/s1600/Topaz%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="620" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVFqg3jieDqh54Cf9X7At65PfcJG_14IeIoA8OfBO1DNv2WpN_l_ZQEQl34Rm8BmswVNd3ICCjfqJZ18ycEDdO5n8eRUKsghSrsX3s6bu3uWzPOk3J_7VjyIrEuNVqkp82y5BKHeNU4s/s320/Topaz%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">Topaz photo
source<a href="http://www.moneyinc.com/" target="_blank"> moneyinc.com</a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Neil Young</span></span></b><span style="margin: 0px;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It would be
difficult to name a more recognizable Canadian singer and songwriter than
Ontario’s own Neil Young. With over 50 years of award-winning recording under
his belt, his music is iconic and often reflects the moods of the era.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Flying over Fort
McMurray in 2013, Young later reportedly commented (in part), “<i>The fact is,
Fort McMurray looks like Hiroshima. Fort McMurray is a wasteland.”</i> There
can be no confusion over where Young’s line in the proverbial sand is.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Neil Young owns
multiple homes, including a 1500 acre ranch in California, flies in private
jets, and takes upwards of five tour busses and several semis when he tours.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Here is a link to a view of Neil Young's massive home from <a href="https://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/neil-youngs-house/view/google/" target="_blank">VirtualGlobtrotting.com</a></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
I<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ntegrity is
what seems to drive Young these days, unless you count his ranch built on
indigenous lands (the tribe seemingly slaughtered long ago, as was the norm),
or the straggling carbon footprint from his touring operations, or the 23
million dollar home in Hawaii that he recently sold. It takes utilities to run
those houses. Where does the energy for them come from, Neil?</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Other notable
celebrities spouting their negative opinions about Fort McMurray have included <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane Fonda, James Cameron, </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jann Arden</b>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Speaking Out is Okay</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is doubtful
anyone would want to stifle intelligent conversations from occurring on what is
perhaps the most important topic in the history of mankind. The way each of us
has contributed to the waste on this planet is cause for concern and we all
must be part of the solution. But the answer does not include those with
celebrity platforms spreading what amounts to as gossip while attempting to enhance
their public relations credibility or making themselves seem otherwise relevant.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Celebrities are
entitled to their opinions. However, when they speak publicly about any issue,
it generates media coverage, and we all know media just loves negativity. If
the same celebrities noted above were to expound the virtues of discovering and
processing fossil fuels, nary a peep would be reported, and the masses would
think their fuel, and products derived from petroleum products, somehow just
came into being, much in the same way those who believe their food comes from
the supermarket but don’t want any animal slaughtered.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Let us
communicate and debate significant issues with respect, armed with rational
data, and commit to solving complicated topics together. Mudslinging by
celebrities at hard working men and women just out earning their daily bread,
at a community not reduced to sucking at the dry nipples of government
handouts, or at an industry at the forefront of delivering world-class scientific
innovation and the energy you demand, is as ugly and greedy as the Fort
McMurray they claim exists.</span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-71933327109536268332018-02-26T00:34:00.001-07:002018-02-26T00:37:15.278-07:00Everybody Should Own At Least One Gun<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We have, unfortunately, become such a wimpy overly
politically correct society that it is a challenge to have an open and honest
dialogue about the many issues we face in a world manufactured by oligarchs who
plant fear through propaganda and reap trillions in profits yearly from their
smoke and mirrors.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Let’s take the renewed passion regarding gun control as
an example.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Mainstream media unapologetically tugs at the emotional
heart strings following any school shooting involving more than three or four
victims. Yes, it is tragic that some people in this plastic world which we
created see no alternative to their angst and are propelled into making
whatever bold statement they have conceived, by slaughtering children who are
in an environment where they believe, as do their parents, that of all places
that could possibly be chosen as a backdrop to such dastardly deeds, an
education facility certainly adds to the hysteria.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I happen to live in the second most violent community in
my city, and I happen to live in Canada where gun control laws are incomparably
restricted than most of the United States. I recently moved here from the most
crime ridden community of the city. A step up perhaps. I am also a double
amputee who spends a great deal of time in a wheelchair, so I am always an easy
target once I roll around the neighborhood. I believe I have a something of a
unique perspective on crime from, literally, the ground floor.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite the restrictions Canadians face on gun ownership,
I can easily roll outside and obtain a handgun and most other weapons in the
time it takes me to reach the supermarket. I choose not to; however, I am
compelled by recent events to rethink my current passive position on gun
ownership.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The FBI released their <a href="https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/index-page"><span style="color: #0563c1;">crime
statistics</span></a> for the United States from 2011 (most recent year for which data
is available as of this writing) intimating that where gun ownership is more permissible,
violent crimes such as rape, aggravated assault, murders, robberies, etc.
markedly decrease. Presumably someone about to commit a violent crime in these
communities may think twice, fearing their intended victim might be packing
heat.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I understand such an extrapolation. As a counter to this,
violent crime generally in Canada and United States has reduced. So, the
comparative literature from academia, law enforcement agencies and other
credible sources such as the <a href="https://home.nra.org/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">National Rifle
Association (NRA),</span></a> <a href="http://americangunfacts.com/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">American Gun
Facts</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">Fact Check.org</span></a> can seem
foggy for the average bloke such as I. Like all statistics, they are subject to
bias and interpretation.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, lets take the statistics out of the equation for a
moment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The second amendment to the United States constitution,
essentially the right to bear arms, was expertly crafted so that government cannot
prohibit gun ownership nor the right to protect oneself, their property and their
family. During the 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century, somewhere around 200 million people
were eliminated worldwide. The first tenet of being able to annihilate entire
populations by deranged dictators is to greatly restrict, and then ban, gun
ownership by their citizens, depriving them of any means of defence. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is easy to imagine how the comfort and peace of mind
armed citizens would feel, and how risky and audacious any despot would have to
be, to march their robotic military, crushing any opposition, subverting
intelligent debate, burning books, rewriting history to sanitize their carnage,
and cleansing their little spot on Earth of whatever they consider vermin.
Hitler. Stalin. Mao. Pol Pot, Idi Amin, and right on back to the colonial
powers throughout antiquity that invaded and enslaved entire populations. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And it continues to more recent times. Rwanda,
Yugoslavia, South Africa, Chechnya, Ukraine, Iraq, blah, blah, blah. I wonder
how much different the world would be if the victims of such oppression and
horror were armed. And it’s that very thought that has me purposely rolling my
wheelchair to the right to bear arms camp.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In February 2016, I interviewed David Thweatt, Superintendent
of the Harrold Independent School District in Texas, and the spirit and driving
force behind being the first school in North America to arm teachers and staff.
You can read the article <a href="http://sheepriverwoolfactory.blogspot.ca/2016/02/teachers-with-guns.html"><span style="color: #0563c1;">HERE</span></a>.
In it, you probably can hear my fence-sitting posture, trying to imagine what
school would have been like for me knowing at least one teacher or staff member
was armed. School for me was difficult with many “interactions” with teachers
and principles, receiving various degrees of admonishment. Could one of those
interactions have created a scenario where I would have been on the wrong side of
a concealed gun? I can recall a few testy sessions where physical contact was used
and can conceive the possibility. Would I have behaved differently having that
little kernel planted in my head when I first enrolled?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is also true that some people should not own guns. The
system is broken. There are plenty of examples where assassins slipped through
mental health cracks, law enforcement gorges, and other points of contact,
failing to protect the public. Our social systems must learn to talk to each
other, share pertinent information, arrive at solutions that limit infringement
of personal rights while identifying and intervening where high-risk factors
are imminent. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s a mountainous task indeed. So many lines in the sand
are blurred. But we must be honest with ourselves and others, approach the conversation
with an open mind, and most of all, we must be courageous enough to take those
first bold baby steps. There will not be a magic wand that, when twirled, will
be the one eureka moment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Limiting gun ownership is not the answer. If someone
wants to get a firearm, it’s almost as easy as ordering a pizza. The answer
must be deeper, more intrinsic, thoroughly involved, and somehow more relevant than
the systems we have, or arguably don’t have, now.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Here’s a baby step. Perhaps we can start by demanding
background checks, waiting periods, and safety training across the board for
anyone wanting to own a gun. I have not yet met a gun owner that opposes these
basic foundations. Some jurisdictions already have components of this move
forward. In this regard, the Canadian gun ownership process is far superior to
any of those in the United States. It’s not perfect. No system is. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s also easy to pick on the low hanging fruit, in that
the United States is always in the spotlight over gun ownership. Other
countries also experience mass shootings. We don’t get to hear much about them
in mainstream media. Some assassins use bombs rather than guns. We certainly
hear about most of those. The IRA, the Unabomber, and whatever Muslim core we
are fighting this week are but a few examples. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s rather easy to construct a bomb in your garage with
rudimentary everyday items. The internet is rife with DIY bomb making
tutorials. We don’t seem to be in any rush to restrict or ban the ingredients
for explosive devices.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">More people are killed in the United States and Canada
every year with automobiles than with firearms. We are perfectly happy to welcome
each new unveiling of these weapons of mass destruction.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The bottom line is anything can be used as a weapon. The
concern surrounding mass shootings (beyond gun ownership) seems to dwell in the
capacity of guns. Monstrous magazine clips and what are condemned to be called
assault rifles appear to be the epicenter of eruption each time a mass shooting
is overly hyped. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I get it. I don’t need a firearm that can shoot 50 rounds
a second to hunt a deer. But if there are enemies, domestic or foreign, that
want to ravage my country, I am guessing that 50 rounder is going to come in
mighty handy. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-68848879152381453762017-11-12T08:22:00.000-07:002017-11-12T13:58:06.078-07:00The Casting Couch<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Unless you have been living under a rock for the last
several decades, you must have heard and been aware of what is euphemistically
called The Casting Couch, a phrase attributed to those (mostly) female actors and
models who trade sexual favors in return for roles in movies, television, the
stage, and in magazines, on billboards, etc.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The practice is so widespread that the stately Oxford Dictionary
and Merriam –Webster Dictionary both have included Casting Couch as inclusions in
their reference tomes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The recent barrage of accusations of sexual impropriety by
high profile celebrities against equally high profile directors, producers, and
the like, are impossible to ignore in the mainstream media. Certainly, one must
give credit to those brave enough to come forward to publicize the obnoxious
behavior of their perpetrators. Sexual assault in all its forms is repugnant,
illegal, and has long lasting psychological affects for the victim that, for
them, shred the fibers of morality and peacefulness in their community.</div>
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What we are not hearing in the mainstream media and from
the so-called victims is a discussion about the trade-offs these “victims” made
for cashing their multi-million dollar pay cheques. In many circumstances, one
can liken the plight of the adult accusers to that of prostitution rather than
sexual assault. The appearance of swapping sex for huge money and fame cannot
be overstated. Where was their outrage when they were depositing those fat
paycheques?</div>
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<br /></div>
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There are, sadly, a tremendous amount of sexual assault
survivors on this planet who, unlike the celebrities now coming out of the
woodwork to air their dirty little secrets, do not have the voice, the means,
nor the strength, to confront their perpetrators and hold them accountable.
Some statistics state that one in four females will experience some form of
sexual assault in their lifetime. That’s 25% of the population of mothers,
sisters, aunts, daughters, and nieces that will have to heal from the trauma
and devastation that this crime envelops on these true victims. No big, fat,
multi-million dollar paycheques and accompanying fame for them. </div>
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<br /></div>
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If the mainstream media would commit as much air-time and
publishing space to the real victims of sexual assault as they are to the few
celebrities who prostituted themselves for fame and fortune, then perhaps major
in-roads can be made into eliminating sexual assault from the behavior of all
its perpetrators.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-41339085529528541362017-06-06T10:31:00.000-06:002017-06-11T14:39:03.405-06:00Volksdrog - How Armed Forces Used Crystal Meth to Win Their Wars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The first thing one should recognize is that what is now known as crystal meth is not a new drug. First developed and used as far back as the 19th century by Asians, the highly toxic cocktail was used to induce a sense of euphoria and drive in their military ranks, allowing soldiers to march all night and fight all day. And love it!</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But it was the Nazis and their war mongering industrial enterprises who took things to a whole new level. Pharmaceutical companies, now household names such as Bayer, IG Farben, BASF, Hoechst, and Merck, produced billions of methamphetamine tablets to be distributed to the various German Reich branches of military. Volksdrog (The People’s Drug) was chic, hip, and wildly successful in pushing the limits of human endurance on all fronts leading up to and continuing into the Second World War. Among its most devoted supporters (and users) were Hermann Goring and Adolph Hitler, although Goring’s drug of choice initially was morphine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The edicts set forth by the puritanical Nazis emphatically stated that substance abuse was far beneath that of a true Aryan. As the world would learn soon enough, this would be but one of the many contradictions to swirl unabated throughout the supposed thousand-year reign of National Socialism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Nazi version of crystal meth needed a non-chemical sounding name to make it more palatable and sterile so as to sound like a health food, or vitamin (Hitler always referred to his injections as <i>vitamins</i>). Henceforth all crystal meth developed in Germany became marketed under the brand name Pervitin. It wasn’t long before Pervitin was being handed out to factory workers to boost productivity of the munitions and wares needed to mount a campaign of world domination. The rest of German society eagerly followed (Joseph Goebbels ensured his Ministry of Propaganda <i>touched</i> the lives of all), and in this context, one can appreciate how a demoralized and repressed nation was able to secretly manufacture and amass the advanced armaments and supply chain, in violation of the Versailles Treaty, that would soon stun a continent, and then envelop the world.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In his exceptionally well researched New York Times best selling book, Blitzed, author Norman Ohler focuses principally on the rampant drug abuse of the National Socialists of Germany, but is quick to point out that there are no clean hands among any of the warring nations of the period. The Allied nations were only too willing to fight fire with fire and began feeding their respective militaries methamphetamine to achieve similar results as those being realized by the Third Reich, rarely with the permission and knowledge of its own troops. The Axis nations quickly adopted the Fuhrer’s secret potion.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Nazi Germany would hardly be the first nation to foray into mind altering substances to increase bravado and fearlessness. Zulu warriors in Africa, Inca and Mayan dynasties of Mezo America, the Navaho and Apache of Southwest United States, Amazonian tribes of South America, and a virtual cornucopia of indigenous and ancient peoples worldwide have used artificial means to achieve sometimes unimaginable military conquest, creating cult-like rituals of dance, extreme physical exhaustion, and intoxicating fanaticism from which to feed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The victorious Allied Forces were quick to rewrite history, as is the prerogative of all victors, and it is therefore tremendously difficult to secure documentation exposing Allied use of methamphetamine by their militaries. This was not the case with Germany, who documented everything in minutia. In fact, were it not for such detailed accounts of Nazi rule in general, the likelihood of evidence existing against top ranking German officers on trial at Nuremberg post World War Two would be paltry to non-existent.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Some Allied Forces fed methamphetamine to unsuspecting front-line troops to fine tune dosage amounts and tweak performance (pun intended). They became human guinea pigs. Pilots often took methamphetamine prior to a sortie. It sharpened their reflexes and heightened their awareness of surroundings, both critical attributes in any aerial combat. As the Top Secret clearances expire on related documents in the West, the Allies are sure to be exposed for conducting the very methamphetamine program on their own soil as used by Nazis. In fact, we already know that the British fed Benzaprine to their military, as it has less adverse side effects than the German Pervitin.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Japanese kamikaze (Divine Wind) pilots were flying high, literally and figuratively. How else does one convince otherwise proud and patriotic pilots to dive their planes into targets of opportunity without question?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">German ingenuity being what it is and was, the pharmaceutical manufacturers produced a purity of crystal meth unrivalled at the time, and perhaps since. Maintaining strict quality control over all output gave military leaders in Germany predictable results of behavior of users. A drugged up soldier is pliable in the iron grip of a sinister regime. Together with the right dash of propaganda, is it any wonder Hitler could conquer as many nations as he did in such a relatively short time span?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It would be wrong to credit methamphetamine use/abuse for Germany’s conquests during World War Two, just as it would be equally wrong to credit crystal meth use/abuse for the eventual and rapid decline of the Third Reich. However, in its context of the day, perhaps it could be said that the widespread methamphetamine use/abuse was one of the key contributing factors to both the rise and the fall of the Third Reich. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And while we begin to lay to rest the few remaining fighting men and women from World War Two, one has the sense that methamphetamine use/abuse in the militaries of the world has neither ebbed nor been terminated. Now painfully obvious spilling into the streets of suburbia, methamphetamine abuse world wide has skyrocketed beyond the highest aspirations of Hitler and Goebbels. The difference now is that the neighbor’s twelve year old kid can make crystal meth using chemicals found under the kitchen sink and rudimentary access to the internet. And the tween need not follow any protocols for quality control.</span><br />
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<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">To visit Norman Ohler's web presence <a href="http://www.normanohler.com/blitzed" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b>Common Street Names for Crystal Meth:</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Batu</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Biker’s Coffee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Black Beauties</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Blade</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Chalk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Chicken Feed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Crank</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Cristy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Crystal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Crystal Glass</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Crystal Meth Glass</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Go-Fast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hanyak</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hiropon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hot Ice</span><br />
I<span style="font-family: "calibri";">ce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kaksonjae</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">L.A. Glass</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">L.A. Ice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Meth</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Methlies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Quick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Pint</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Poor Man’s Cocaine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Quartz</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Shabu</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Shards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Speed</span><br />
S<span style="font-family: "calibri";">tove Top</span><br />
S<span style="font-family: "calibri";">uper Ice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Tina</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Trash</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Tweak</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Uppers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ventana</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Vidrio</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yaba</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yellow Bam</span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-89808663690994165582016-05-04T18:14:00.000-06:002016-05-04T18:15:49.880-06:00Preparing To Die - The Bittersweet Opportunity Of A LifetimeThe fact remains, we will all die. We just don't know when. One well-heeled adage claims that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. To counter this, however, if one has a good accountant, the taxes become less certain. Death, on the other hand, not so much.<br />
<br />
We live in a rat race society, selfishly accumulating 'stuff' before someone else has the opportunity of amassing it in their collection. We cherish our 'things' and alter our behaviors by our very ownership of these inanimate objects, whether they be toys, gadgets, art, commemorative widgets, or whatever.<br />
<br />
Circumstances change quickly when facing our imminent demise. Suddenly, those trinkets of artificial value become worthless reminders of how we got wrapped up in a consumer culture at the cost of sharing the experiences life offers. Few of us can honestly admit to a life of chasing dreams, having fun, enjoying the moment, smiling more, and regretting less.<br />
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Those faced with a terminal illness share a common, if not unlikely, bond with inmates on death row as well as those mere seconds away from a mortal infliction. They all have time to prepare for death. The amount of time may differ, but the fortuity remains nonetheless.<br />
<br />
A perilous journey ensues when you know you are about to die. One of the most immediate thoughts harken to the unrealized ambitions in one's life. "If only..." could be heard their inner most thought.<br />
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Therein begins a journey within oneself of identifying the many regrets that can accumulate during a lifetime. We all have them. Some we quietly tuck away in our cerebral vault. And some are so strong and prominent as to actually help define us as a person.<br />
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We worry about loved ones, particularly our children, and what effect one's passing will have on their impressionable beings. Not being there for important milestone events, seemingly insignificant boo-boos, or shepherding them to become productive and responsible adults, all cloud prevailing thoughts.<br />
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Such notions can occur in nano-seconds, as is the case if someone is becoming the victim of a violent end. Others have the luxury of having more time to contemplate their impact on Earth and what sort of legacy we leave behind to inspire those who choose to remember and follow.<br />
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Having precious time to 'fill in the blanks' allows one to bring closure to life chapters that, for whatever reason, remain unexperienced. Some choose to travel, seeing the marvels of the world from a somewhat unique perspective. Others find the strength to educate us of the warning signs of their affliction. Still others might embark on an oddessy to fill their backpack with experiences, outlandish or otherwise. Sadly, some opt to curl up in a dank corner somewhere in a pitiful cocktail of 'woe is me'.<br />
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Religion plays a hefty role in the lives of some. Even those who barely practice their faith turn to their creator in these desperate times. For each, these pious explorations are very personal, reflecting the nature and nurture of their lifetime.<br />
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There is, perhaps, no other more profound contemplation than that undergone between the moment one learns of his or her sentence of death and when that inevitable day actually occurs. Values shift. Senses are awakened. Motivation is refocused. All is compared to how things were yesterday when everything was so routine. Regardless of the person facing this liberty, a decision is made about how our remaining time will be invested.<br />
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Those outside the fold see those facing mortality as brave, courageous, and unfailing. How can we deny the whims of someone not long for this planet?, we reason. Yet we fail to absorb those same passions and empathies for ourselves as we cling to the familiarity of our daily rut, afraid of making the changes, perhaps even enduring sacrifices, that could lead to a more fulfilling life while we still have the wherewith all to truly enjoy it. There is always a 'but...', an excuse, why we choose to continue on an unsatisfying path of blah rather than embrace the adventure awaiting around every corner.<br />
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Raise a glass and toast to those facing imminent mortality, to those who choose to complete whatever chapters in their book of life, with feats of valor, despite the challenges that await. Hail to the bravado in grabbing Death by the gonads forcing it to wait until you accomplish a few more deeds. It is something we shouldn't lack in undertaking while we can. Today. Now.<br />
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The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-48702872990494006652016-04-06T14:24:00.000-06:002016-04-06T14:32:20.401-06:00Mississippi Burning Again<!--[if !mso]>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mississippi’s history is a colorful one, but a new law signed
on April 05, 2016 in the Magnolia State, threatens the rainbow, allowing
businesses to discriminate against same sex couples on moral grounds and
plunging the state right back into the era of Jim Crow and its devastating human
rights violations.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Way It Was</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In many respects, Mississippi was the poster child for
black slavery and the accompanying human rights abuses so prevalent in a
fledgling America. Formerly part of a vast expanse of Indian lands, Mississippi
became the twentieth US state in 1817, and by the 1830’s, it was a powerhouse
in the cotton trade. Cotton was king, making the Old South the ninth largest
economy in the world, with Mississippi the king of kings, commanding
considerable influence among her less affluent peers.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The cotton trade (White Gold) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">made</i> the Old South. During its heyday, there were more millionaires
in Mississippi than anywhere else in the world. Mammoth plantations fed a
worldwide frenzy for cotton. And none of this would have been possible without
the backbreaking servitude of black slaves under barbaric conditions. In 1861, Mississippi
became part of the Secession Movement, breaking away from the Union over
disagreements about state’s rights in the republic.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fast forward several generations, and Mississippi would
become known as a hotbed of civil rights conflict and home to the notorious 1955
lynching and mutilation of Emmet Till and the 1964 murder of three civil rights
activists that would form the nucleus plot of the Academy Award winning movie
Mississippi Burning, starring Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, released in 1988.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Way It Is</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Gambling aboard paddle boats amid a sweltering sun. Home
to blues pioneering greats such as BB King, Bo Diddley, and Willie Dixon. Residents
speaking with a drawl reminiscent of time slowly passing. The Bible Belt, and
an equally religious passion for college football. These all describe
Mississippi today.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As firmly planted as one foot is in the past, so too is
the other foot marching forward. There is an air of sophistication among
Mississippi’s simpler way of life that is uniquely placed. Most would be
startled to learn that the world’s first heart and lung transplants were
performed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Or that Jackson,
Mississippi is the only North American city to host the International Ballet
Competition. Or, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment
Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi is the world's largest hydraulic research
laboratory.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Despite their advancements in culture, science, and
medicine, Mississippi and Mississippians cannot seem to shake its Rebel
heritage. Thumbing its nose at international covenants and federal law, Mississippi
Governor Phil Bryant signed into law House Bill 1523, or more formally, Protecting
Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, that paves the way
for widespread discrimination and human rights violations against a broad swath
of people.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Protecting Freedom
of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn claims House Bill 1523
does not enable discrimination, but rather promises that the state government
will not punish people who refuse to provide services to people because of a
religious opposition to same-sex marriage, extramarital sex or transgender
people. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To some, HB1523 protects religious freedoms. For others,
it’s just another Jim Crow law painted in the colors of a rainbow.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Governor Bryant took to Twitter in response to the
explosive backlash against signing HB1523 tweeting that he did so, "to
protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions ... from
discriminatory action by state government."</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mississippi is a state that is already known for its extremely
narrow protection of human rights. Mississippi legislation protects only three
beliefs or convictions: that marriage is between a man and a woman, that sex is
"properly reserved to such a marriage," and that words like
"male" and "female" are "objectively determined by
anatomy and genetics at birth." This bill appears to constrict any
remaining legislated human rights in the state.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Governor Bryant’s full statement regarding the signing of
HB1523 is as follows:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9uuhF1dttwwqYJxgGGH5LGDzMA2OrYKG6lEiLC0NpytU6euXxhE_rORokbQlt1hUJbg1zsqmUsdbiX31OIRYJvOk33sVyU3bBnakKk-gxsVaYnsw3StO1OSMIb_KCTMZb5qNkVfXO_U/s1600/CfSrN6cWAAA6sK3.jpg+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9uuhF1dttwwqYJxgGGH5LGDzMA2OrYKG6lEiLC0NpytU6euXxhE_rORokbQlt1hUJbg1zsqmUsdbiX31OIRYJvOk33sVyU3bBnakKk-gxsVaYnsw3StO1OSMIb_KCTMZb5qNkVfXO_U/s320/CfSrN6cWAAA6sK3.jpg+large.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A link to the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from
Government Discrimination Act in pdf format is listed below.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What It Shall Be</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Tyson Foods and Nissan North America, both with major
holdings in the state, called on Governor Bryant to veto the bill. He didn’t
listen. He also did not heed the pleas from international conglomerates such as
Time Warner and The Walt Disney Company. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mississippi’s ally is North Carolina, who also adopted a
new law violating LGBTQ rights recently. The consequence to North Carolina was
immediate, when PayPal nixed its planned expansion into North Carolina that
would have provided 400 jobs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It would not be out of line to suggest court challenges to HB1523 and its similar legislation in North Carolina. In commenting on the Mississippi bill, the ACLU said, "It's a sad day for Mississippi".</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In brighter human rights news, Georgia's Governor shot down a similar bill in the Peach State. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government
Discrimination Act becomes law in the Magnolia State on July 01, 2016.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Links</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://index.ls.state.ms.us/isysnative/UzpcRG9jdW1lbnRzXDIwMTZccGRmXGhiXDE1MDAtMTU5OVxoYjE1MjNpbi5wZGY=/hb1523in.pdf">House
Bill 1523 Official Act</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.governorbryant.com/contact/">Contact
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-13891756772776876942016-04-02T12:19:00.001-06:002016-04-02T23:52:23.551-06:00OJ Simpson vs Jian Ghomeshi<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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The legal systems of Canada and United States are similar
in many ways, particularly as it applies to criminal matters. The recent acquittal
of Jian Ghomeshi on four counts of sexual assault sparked deep division among
Canadians in much the same way as OJ Simpson’s double murder acquittal did in
United States, which should not come as too much of a shock, given the
similarities between the two.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It would be difficult to laud the same degree of
celebrity on Jian Ghomeshi as that enjoyed by OJ Simpson. Still, in Canada and
anywhere within the reaches of CBC’s airwaves, Jian Ghomeshi was their
brightest star. Handsome, well-paid, and very much in the public eye, Ghomeshi attracted
throngs of eager and willing sexual partners for all the same reasons as did OJ
Simpson and other celebrities.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Nobody died in Ghomeshi’s cases. However, the sexual
assault allegations made against him was about to lay waste to five individuals
(Ghomeshi himself and the four alleged victims) who were at the center of this
melee. </div>
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<br /></div>
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What is strikingly similar between the cases of Ghomeshi
and Simpson was the absolute floundering of the prosecution team to vet their
own witnesses, and arguably, it was this pivotal point on which the justice
system failed any victims, and further impeded the likelihood of future sexual
assault victims of any perpetrator coming forward to endure the trial process. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In Simpson’s case, Mark Fuhrman, a Los Angeles Police
Detective, lied on the witness stand, and then pled the fifth on the direct
question of did he plant evidence. It would be a crucial hurdle for the
District Attorney to overcome, and a point that distracted the jury from
maintaining any focus on the double murder for which they had been convened. If
one of the key LAPD Detectives planted evidence and lied in court, then how can
any evidence presented be untainted? Marcia Clark, lead prosecutor against Simpson
ought to have known. On the Fuhrman perjury alone, Marcia Clark failed the
Goldman and Brown families.</div>
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<br /></div>
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With Ghomeshi, Crown prosecutor, Michael Callaghan,
equally failed in his duties bringing forth a high profile case against one of
Canada’s most celebrated broadcasting personalities with alleged victims who
were not as innocent as one might expect. In allegations against Ghomeshi
claiming that he sexually assaulted four women, his brilliant defense counsel, Marie
Henein, was able to prove that his alleged victims engaged in behavior that
would be difficult to assimilate to that of one being sexually assaulted. One
woman sent him flowers after being allegedly sexually assaulted. One messaged Ghomeshi practically begging for another
date. Prosecutor Michael Callaghan failed all legitimate sexual assault victims
in his quest for glory with little regard to the impact his personal agenda
would have on Canadian society.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Due to double jeopardy laws in Canada and United States,
we will never truly know whether OJ Simpson and Jian Ghomeshi participated in
the crimes for which they were accused. Everybody will have their personal
beliefs, but in the eyes of the law, both men are not guilty of those crimes.
We can thank the respective prosecutors of these cases for wasting millions of
dollars in taxpayer money in bringing cases before court that were not sufficiently
vetted, and for which there is no accountability.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-65426680160937871792016-03-30T13:45:00.002-06:002016-03-30T14:07:06.145-06:00Canada's Homegrown Terrorism<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It has been said and repeated ad nauseam that one man’s
terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Difficult to argue the point when
the acts of ‘terror’ are limited to a couple of countries, or kept internally,
where one faction is hell-bent on convincing a narrow population of a
particular point of view. Impossible to maintain a ‘freedom’ perspective once
multiple countries are caught in the crosshairs, or when innocent civilians are
being shredded to bits while sipping a beverage in a sidewalk café.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Canada has long enjoyed a positive international
reputation, and with only a few exceptions, this country has been inoculated against
participation in acts of terrorism, the Air India Flight 182 in June, 1985 being
the most direct and public level of global terrorism participation.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As Canada continues with its immigration and
multicultural policies welcoming tens of thousands each year to enjoy her way
of life, and as Canadians themselves become more radicalized to a particular
ideology, the threat of more frequent occasions of homegrown plots will
undoubtedly challenge the intelligence community to identify and intercept the
purveyors of domestic terrorism. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Nonetheless, Canadian citizens have left their shores to
train with radical factions of Islam, contributing to worldwide panic and
terror. Too, Canada has been abused as a thoroughfare for the transit of people
and armaments focused on wreaking havoc on a more prominent international stage.
From banking to flying to cyber-attacks, and all points in between, Canada has
played a more important, albeit gullible, role in facilitating acts of
international terrorism than its citizens would care to admit.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That said, one does not have to venture outside Canada,
nor look very far into her past, to find numerous acts of domestic terrorism
that created the much anticipated levels of fear, panic, and destabilization
desperately sought by the perpetrators of these villainous deeds. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Here is a brief reminder of three notorious moments in
Canadian history where homegrown terrorism ruled the news headlines and struck
a major blow to the innocence and peace of mind of her conscience.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Doukhobor</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Aided in their escape from persecution from Tsar Nicolas
1 and the Russian Orthodox Church by the likes of renowned novelist Leo Tolstoy
and international Quakers, the Doukhobor (Spirit Wrestlers) emigrated to Canada
between 1899 and 1914 to land that is in present day Saskatchewan. Around 1908,
some 6000 Doukhobor migrated further west to British Columbia, where they were
permitted to live a communal lifestyle, forming a splinter group called Sons of
Freedom (later to be known familiarly as the Freedomites).</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
For the next six decades, the Doukhobor often clashed
with provincial and federal authorities over issues such as vital statistics
registrations, education of children, and military service. Though claiming to live
a life of passiveness and peace, the Doukhobor marched nude in parades,
committed acts of arson, and bombed public buildings and railways. Their
skirmishes with the British Columbia authorities over registering live births
and sending their children to school led to the police seizing the children and
holding them in captivity (forcing the provincial curriculum down their
throats) for up to six years, while the parents languished in prison. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Stopping short of an apology to the Doukhobor, the
British Columbia government issued a ‘statement of regret’ in 2004 for their
heavy handed approach in seizing and holding the Doukhobor children.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The FLQ </b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This is arguably the best known version of Canadian homegrown
terrorism.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During the period of 1963 to 1970, the Front de
liberation du Quebec (FLQ) was involved in kidnappings, murder, bank robberies,
and bombings to further their efforts to separate Quebec from Canada. The FLQ
would lay claim to nearly 100 bombings in the Montreal area, most notably the February
13, 1969 bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange where 27 people were injured. The
FLQ robbed banks to finance their activities and stole dynamite and explosive
materials to construct their bombs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In what would be known as the October Crisis, the FLQ
were responsible for the kidnapping and murder of provincial cabinet minister
Pierre Laporte in 1970, and the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross. In
response to these acts of domestic terrorism, then-Prime Minister of Canada,
Pierre Trudeau, invoked the War Measures Act on October 16, 1970, the one and
only use during peacetime this country has been under what is commonly called
Martial Law.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eco Terrorism</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There have been numerous incidents of eco terrorism
desperately carried out in Canada. Typically these include acts against
resource companies such as tree spiking and pipeline sabotage. None, however,
rose to the frequency and intensity of those involving Wiebo Ludwig near Hythe,
Alberta.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Wiebo Ludwig was the leader of a Christian community
called Trickle Creek located in northwestern Alberta. They were a quiet and
peaceful group until the 1990’s when conflicts arose between the Trickle Creek
community and the oil and gas industry, who were rapidly installing new
facilities in the area to extract sour gas.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ludwig and his followers (mainly extended family members)
linked the toxins from nearby oil and gas activities to the sudden onset of
birth defects and stillborn deaths of animals and humans, and the poisoning of
soil and water on the Trickle Creek farm. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Following peaceful attempts to have the oil and gas
conglomerates held responsible for contaminating the environment, acts of sabotage
against assets of the polluting companies became more frequent, including
bombings of pipelines and distribution sites, some of which Wiebo Ludwig would
later be imprisoned.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Interestingly, during one of the trials against Ludwig,
the Crown was forced to admit that the RCMP acted as agent provocateurs when
the storied police force themselves detonated a bomb at a pipeline facility,
with the apparent blessing of the Province of Alberta and the energy company
that owned the asset. As intended, the media ate up the story and made veiled
or direct links to Ludwig and his followers.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In 1999, adolescents in a pick-up truck took a joy ride
out to the Trickle Creek farm and trespassed onto the land, driving in an
erratic manner without regard to the well-being of humans or animals. In
non-legal terms, they were spinning donuts and frantically racing around the
property near some occupied camping sites. Fearing for their safety, some
residents of Trickle Creek shot at the pick-up truck. One of the bullets
ricocheted, striking and killing one of the joy riding teenagers, Karman
Willis.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Wiebo Ludwig died on April 12, 2012.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-51833352807774658832016-03-17T09:00:00.000-06:002016-03-17T09:00:20.113-06:00Tinkering with Nature – Man’s Failure to Coexist with Wildlife<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mankind continues to encroach on the last remaining
vestiges of wild lands as urban sprawl drives short sighted governments to
increasingly carve up migration routes and natural habitat in favor of
furthering the financial agenda.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
On its own, there is absolutely nothing nefarious about
financial growth for corporations that provide jobs and drive those economic
indicators heard on nightly newscasts. However, when that expansion clashes
with ancient ecosystems, migratory paths, breeding grounds, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and wildlife habitat, our response is to
slaughter the diminishing numbers and genetic purity of wildlife that most
concrete jungle dwellers rarely have the opportunity to see outside the caged
prison of a zoo.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To ease barriers faced by developers, mankind seems
perfectly willing to slaughter any wildlife in the path of ‘progress’.
Routinely, those charged with wildlife management have introduced wild horse
culls, coyote culls, wolf culls. bison culls, elk and deer culls, and a host of
marine and land based wildlife culls to suit short sighted agendas.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Recent news reports of the bison cull at Yellowstone
National Park and British Columbia’s wolf cull led to outrage as it was learned
the reasons behind the culls. Most would likely agree that, if the reason for
the culls is to prevent the spread of disease, then the ends justify the means.
However, when those culls are introduced because of a contractual obligation,
as is the case with the Yellowstone bison, then perhaps the contracts need to
be renegotiated to reflect the realities of a more educated and enlightened
people of today.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Bison Cull at
Yellowstone National Park</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Once, up to 60 million head of bison thundered across the
prairies of North America, providing the aboriginals with a staple of food,
clothing, and other uses, until they were hunted to extinction by whites
seeking only the commercialized pelts. By the early 1900’s, only a few dozen
bison remained.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Today, the successful protection of bison has resulted in
approximately 4900 head in Yellowstone National Park. But that’s too many
according to a contractual agreement between federal agencies and Montana state
representatives that has legislated a maximum 3000 head in the Park.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), signed in
2000, was the result of rancher’s fears that when bison migrated to lower
elevations for winter forage, they would infect grazing cattle with
brucellosis, a bacterial infectious disease. This, despite there not having
been recorded such a case. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ranchers in Montana are a powerful and influential lobby
that are principally responsible for the eradication of wolves in Yellowstone
until that species was successfully reintroduced using packs from Canada in
1995. Simmers to revert to large scale wolf culls in Yellowstone are brewing
again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To be fair to ranchers, they are hard-working people raising
their herds as a source of income from which they make their living. However,
in the interest of protecting an ancient ecosystem that existed long before
their arrival, better solutions need to be introduced that can ensure the
survival of wildlife and ranches alike.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Wolf Cull in
British Columbia</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
British Columbia is its second year of a two year planned
cull of 500 wolves throughout the province, costing the taxpayers 2.2 million
dollars. What makes this massive cull even more devious is its alleged use of a
Judas wolf, something provincial authorities deny but the <a href="http://www.wildlifedefenceleague.org/">Wildlife Defence League (WDL)</a>
says it has proof in the form of an audio confession from one of the
contractors bloodying its hands on behalf of the province.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A Judas wolf (so-called in a biblical reference to its betrayal
to the pack) is outfitted with a radio transmitter collar which is tracked by a
helicopter. When the tracking signal shows the wolf stationary for a period of
time, it is indicative the wolf is at the den, at which time the chopper swoops
in and a sniper opens fire. The wolves don’t stand a chance, except Ghost, the
named Judas wolf, whose life is spared so it can lead the flying assassins to a
future pack.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Wolves are revered in aboriginal culture and are an apex
predator, helping to balance the ecosystem we seem hell-bent on destroying. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, why is the beautiful province of British Columbia
tinkering with the wolf population? Not coincidentally, it is because it has
previously tinkered with populations of prey species, and before that, with
other predator species. The circle continues to tighten like a noose, as the
boundaries for wildlife shrink.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Now What?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Evidently, we lack the foresight to coexist with
wildlife. Those agencies we task to help us understand the behaviors and ecosystems
of wildlife are failing in their mission to be the advocates for managing
development of our public lands. Agreeably, it cannot be an easy mandate.
Financial pressures and bureaucratic meddling make the job difficult.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What is needed is international and inter-regional
cooperation between agencies. That means federal national parks agencies,
provincial and state wildlife agencies, municipal land use planners, affected
special interest groups (such as ranchers) must all approach this imperative
with open minds and solution-based long term vision, with the goal of
eliminating the short sighted sporadic and conflicting wildlife policies that
currently exist.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What we are doing is definitely not working well for man
or wildlife.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-91508117142457702492016-03-13T09:00:00.000-06:002016-03-13T09:00:16.856-06:00Top Thirteen Tips for Exhibiting Success at Trade Shows<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As someone who has participated in umpteen trade shows
exhibiting services with the goal of generating sales leads, my keen eye has
observed trade show booths that seem to be flush with attendees, whereas in others
you could shoot a cannon and not hit a sole. Working a trade show booth is hard
work. If you don’t think so, you’re probably not doing it right. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Regardless of the size of your company, a trade show
exhibit can be a cost-effective way to introduce yourself to the greatest
number of potential customers who are interested in the types of products or
services you offer. Your role at the trade show or exhibition is to engage
those attendees to garner sales leads for immediate purchase and to plant the
top-of-mind seed for future contact. But if you wait for customers to come to
you, you might as well pack up and head home because you are wasting your
company’s time and money. It could even be argued that you are harming your
employer’s image by sitting back and watching the world go by.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Here are my Top Thirteen Tips for Exhibiting Success at
Trade Shows…</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Be Ready.</b>
Ensure your booth is set up, neatly arranged, attractive to the eye, and that
you have sufficient quantities of sales literature (collateral material)
available. Take the time to ensure your pen works, as well as those you are
using at the booth. Test the writing surface so you can mitigate any issues
with customers filling out entry ballots, etc. If you are using visual
presentations, test the Wi-Fi to ensure you are signed on and can receive a
signal. Make sure everything works. Ease up on your cologne/perfume, make sure
your hygiene is in check, and wear comfortable shoes. Remember, this may be
your very first impression with a buyer. Make sure you appear like you deserve
their business.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Get Rid of Your
Chair.</b> No matter what you think, nobody likes approaching a trade show
booth where people are sitting down. You look lazy and uninterested. Being on
your feet for an entire trade show is exhausting, but you are there to hype
your products and services. Working in tandem with your colleagues can provide
ample opportunity for rest breaks, but sitting down on the job sends the wrong
message.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stay Off Your
Phone.</b> I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why someone needed to
answer a Tweet or text or call. Treat your shift on the trade show floor as an
important meeting with a VIP client. When you are focused on that smartphone,
you look obviously preoccupied and distracted. You can’t help your potential
customer when you are in that mode. Treat this time as if you were with another
customer back at the office, or wherever you conduct your business.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">No Eating at the
Trade Show Booth. </b>The worst case I have ever personally witnessed was a
trade show exhibitor who happened to be representing a restaurant chain openly
eating food obviously obtained from a competitor. I was gobsmacked. Even if you
do not represent a food and beverage company, eating in your booth while
working not only is rude and makes you seem unapproachable, it is rife with the
dangers of spilling on yourself or getting some little bit stuck in your teeth,
etc. Just don’t do it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arrange Your Booth
to Draw Attendees In. </b>Having an attendee step into your trade show booth is
like getting your first YES in the sales process. The attendee is obviously
curious enough in whatever you’re flogging to commit extra time to learn more
about your company. It also removes this potential customer out of the traffic
flow where his attention will be diverted by passers-by bumping into him or
other attendees rifling around near him. Accordingly, do not place a table
blocking the widest end of your exhibit. Better that any table you may need be
off to the side to avoid it being a barrier.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Be Professional.
Act With Integrity. </b>At many trade shows and conventions, you are likely to
be exhibiting alongside your competitors. No matter what a potential customer
says or does, never ever use this forum to put down or in any way disparage
your competitor or another exhibitor. Take the high ground or else this will
come back to bite you on the derriere. This is your opportunity to promote your
products and services, not compare them to others.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Introduce Yourself
to Neighboring Booths. </b>I have often picked up a direct referral from a
neighboring exhibitor as they engage an attendee who asked a question or made a
comment to that booth. The referral you get in such a situation sounds to the
potential customer like a ringing endorsement, even if the other exhibitor
knows little of you. Having that kind of segue into a conversation with a
potential customer means you are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this
close </i>to a sale. Do not overlook your neighboring booths.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hello. Eye
Contact. Smile. </b>No matter if you have to say it ten thousand times in a day,
make eye contact, smile, and say a genuine hello, even if they are passing you
by. Do not judge the attendee on how they are dressed. Every attendee is either
a potential customer, or a potential influencer. If they respond, you can gauge
their interest through body language and set in motion your sales pitch
accordingly. If not, you have lost nothing. Be real.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Move It. </b>Keep
moving slowly around and outside your booth. It gives the impression of
activity. And as you know from frequenting your favorite hangout, people want
to be where other people are. Standing idle makes you look bored. So does
having your hands in your pockets, so avoid that too. Besides, if you are
moving around, even during a lull in the general trade show activity, you are
more likely to avoid the negative images of boredom and disinterest.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Actively Engage
Attendees. </b>You must be active in reeling in attendees. Chances are they
have only limited time to spend at the trade show, so engage attendees to
invest their time with you. You don’t have to act like a carnival game
operator, but you do have to initiate the first contact. Do so with enough
gusto without seeming creepy.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Invite Attendees
to Interact. </b>After you have engaged an attendee, invite them to interact
with your booth. There are plenty of examples in which this can occur. Invite
them to enter a draw. Offer wrapped candies or promotional giveaways. If you
wish to get more elaborate, offer an attendee a complimentary photo against
your backdrop. Maybe you have a complimentary 5 minute massage by a
professional masseur. Inevitably, while the attendee is interacting with your
booth, they are chatting with their colleague, or asking you questions about
your product, or maybe only subconsciously imprinting your company in their
memory bank. Like any sales process, the more time that attendee spends with
your company and its products, the more likely they are to consider purchasing
from you.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Own Your Real
Estate. </b>This is by far my most important piece of advice. Your booth may
only be 10x10 feet, but there is no law that says you need to be imprisoned in
that invisible gate. I always step in front of my booth space with brochures in
hand so attendees must encounter me. Be omnipresent around your booth actively
moving about greeting attendees and inviting them to interact with your booth.
This is uber effective when you are working your trade show booth with
colleagues. I am usually the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wrangler</i>
due to my outgoing personality. I spend 3 seconds with anybody coming my way. I
am unavoidable but not interfering or pushy. Think of the wrangler as a resume.
Its job is to get you to the interview. Same holds true for the wrangler. His
or her job is to get an attendee to interact with the booth where the real
sales process can begin. Your reach during your trade show presence is increased
significantly by utilizing this tactic. I spend zero time inside my trade show
booth and sales leads quantity and quality skyrocket.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Follow Up After
the Show. </b>No company can afford to send you and your colleagues to a trade
show or convention <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">just because</i>. You
are there to promote your products and services. If you have taken a sales-oriented
approach, you will have captured some follow-up data from attendees you have
engaged. Use it wisely. Sift through to separate those attendees into
categories. I like to use three divisions. The urgent pile represents potential
customers most likely to buy immediately and those who have asked you to send
additional information on a specific product or service. Next, is what I like
to refer to as lookers, or shoppers. These seemed interested in your company
and what it has to offer, but are in no immediate rush to buy. Then there are
those who perhaps just stopped by your booth to enter your free draw or did not
demonstrate much interest in your company. While all are worthy of a follow-up,
spend your immediate time with the keeners, then the lookers, then the ballotters,
in that order. If you do this correctly, your entire list should be
appropriately addressed within two weeks.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Each trade show and convention poses a myriad of
challenges and opportunities. Booth sizes may differ. Placement on the show
floor can impact the traffic you experience. However, regardless of what you
sell, or where you exhibit, or how large your company is, employing these tips
will deliver a profound influence on your next trade show exhibition.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-92030499259563245652016-03-10T15:12:00.001-07:002016-03-10T15:12:43.292-07:00The Truth About War History<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It is possible to have more than one interpretation of
history. Whether that history is one of your darkest skeletons or that of
cataclysmic world events, your perspective shapes the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">truth</i> of what occurred.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The waters get murkier as external influences interfere,
adding another dimension replete with its own agenda. The same events,
therefore, can have multiple histories.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
World War Two, and in particular the European Theatre of
that calamity, created a new international map drawn by the triumphant Allied
Forces. Within the confines of what became the most devastating world event in
terms of human suffering, were sidebar episodes, no less shameful, no less
tragic, and no less evil than the war itself.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Estimates of 50 million killed during World War Two were
widely held as a reasonably accurate estimate. However, that figure was
established long before news of atrocities emerged from Russia and Asia that
easily double that estimate. Shrouded in secrecy in a pre-internet era,
totalitarian rulers could conduct mass murder to their heart’s content.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During times of war, morality and humanity rarely take
center stage. Often used as an excuse, war itself becomes the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reason</i> to violate man’s basic tenants,
setting neighbor against neighbor, and dredging up disagreements from antiquity
based on perception.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
World history is unfortunately rich with examples of
holocausts. In more modern times, euphemisms such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ethnic cleansing</i> are substituted, presumably to reserve the former
for what the Jewish people and others experienced under Nazi occupation. Or
perhaps we do so in an effort to put lipstick on a pig. Regardless of the term
used, the practice of exterminating a people based on whatever criterion is not
a new concept. Nor is the ideology passé.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We tend to use the Nazi regime as a benchmark due to its
chronological proximity. Either we, or someone close to us, were personally
affected by World War Two. The other primary reason Nazi atrocities are often
cited is the amount of propaganda and profile that it received, and continues
to receive by the likes of scholars and Hollywood. Contrast this with the
equally grave atrocities being committed in the very same time period by such
nations as Russia, China, and Japan, little of which is studied or discussed
with the same veracity today, even by direct descendants of their respective
victims.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Too, the glare of the Nazi atrocities continues to blind
us to those abominations occurring today, particularly if those ethnic
cleansings are of those where we are not fully vested, or from where our
attentions are purposefully diverted. In an attempt to rationalize, we ask
ourselves, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How can we equate today’s
holocausts within the framework of what we have been taught by the horrors of
World War Two</i>?</div>
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<br /></div>
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As in our private lives, we like to tuck our collective
ugly history into neatly compartmentalized crates, out of sight, out of mind.
Perhaps that is why the old adage of history repeating itself is so accurate.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Rarely do wars solve anything. They merely create another
historic chapter in which to arm one side with enough desire for retribution to
rile the minions into a frenzy fevered enough to ignore humanity and morality
yet again.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-2766413730424192232016-02-29T18:03:00.001-07:002016-02-29T18:43:16.538-07:00Josiah Henson – The Real Uncle Tom and His Canadian Connection<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Black slavery in the United States remains a smudge on
that country’s history, polarizing and almost imploding the nation. After the
passing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Slavery itself may have been
officially eradicated, but that in no way meant there was any sense of equality.
In fact, many might argue today that the struggle for equality continues.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Runaway Train</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During the decades leading up to the bloodiest war ever
experienced by America, a movement led by northern blacks, Quakers, various
missionaries, and their supporters, developed a comprehensive network of guides
and safe houses to assist slaves in escaping their brutal conditions. Known as
the Underground Railroad, its storied history dates back to before the Founding
Fathers united the colonies, but are most chronicled during its rescue work in
the 19<sup>th </sup>Century. It was not an actual railroad, nor used trains,
but rather gained its moniker due to its use of railroad terminology as code
when communicating among its network. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In essence, runaway slaves needed to escape to a haven
wherein the state laws that treated slaves as chattel and granted white slave masters
impunity in all dealings with their property, had no force. Many runaway slaves
resettled in abolitionist northern states, while some made their way into Upper
Canada, all with the logistical planning and integrated systems operated by the
Underground Railroad.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Things heated up and became more dangerous for the Underground
Railroad and its passengers (railroad terminology to describe runaway slaves) when
the United States passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, allowing bounty
hunters to cross state lines to pursue, capture, and return to owners, runaway
slaves. That enactment made the Canadas the most preferred destination for
runaway slaves, placing them out of harm’s way of their pursuers. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Underground Railroad became almost entirely
responsible for populating Upper and Lower Canada with a black presence in its
day. Even now, family trees can trace ancestral roots to those who found their
way north of the 49<sup>th</sup> parallel to freedom on the Underground
Railroad.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Slave Like All
the Others, Yet Unlike Any Other</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Josiah Henson was born into slavery in Maryland on June
15, 1789, on a 3700 acre tobacco plantation and lived a typical slave existence
just like the 10 million black indentured servants in America who did so before
him. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As was the custom of the day, slave families were
routinely split up and sold off by their controlling masters. Henson’s family
would not escape this reality, but his mother begged slave master Isaac Riley who had
just purchased her (by this time it was in the early 1790’s), to keep Josiah,
the youngest child, with her. She must have been very convincing because Riley
bought Henson from the successful auction bidder to whom Josiah was sold.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Unable to read or write, Josiah’s illiteracy would not
stand in the way of his learning. He was a keen observer and listened intently
as others spoke, regardless of the subject matter. As his knowledge base
increased, so too did Josiah’s gift of oration. He exuded confidence and wisdom
beyond his years, often quoting the Bible, which led to him becoming the de
facto preacher among his fellow slaves on the Riley plantation.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
While fellow slaves looked to Henson as their spiritual leader,
Riley began to depend on Josiah with more tasks and duties. He started out
carrying buckets of water to the field hands and weeding between the corn rows.
As Josiah aged, he would faithfully serve his master by taking care of horses
and eventually became another field hand, and then promoted to superintendent and
overseer of the field slaves. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Through it all, Henson developed a sphere of influence he
would later parlay into becoming Reverend Josiah Henson. For now, he was the
go-to person on the plantation, a role in which he both relished and excelled. Riley
would learn the value of his purchase of Josiah, as Henson was to become a most
reliable slave, hardworking and loyal.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To some extent history looks upon Josiah Henson in an
unfavorable light because of this loyalty. There is a documented case when
Josiah was entrusted to transport fellow slaves down south from the Riley
plantation in Maryland unescorted. There would have been ample opportunity for
Henson and his cargo to escape, but true to his word, Josiah delivered the slaves
to their intended destination, and returned, again unescorted, to Riley.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As slavery and slave masters go, Riley certainly wasn’t
the cruelest to their property and would have been seen as fairly lenient by
his contemporaries. With plantation slaves frequently interacting with their
neighbors beholden to another master, it is inevitable comparisons were made
and conclusions shared.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As William Still would document in his book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Underground Railroad Records, </i>published
in 1872, many escaping slaves using the network recounted that they left
families behind just so that one or a handful had a real opportunity for
freedom. For they and their families, the sacrifices made and felt were the
only hope for the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
By now a family man, Henson’s loyalty to Riley in this
particular instance may have had more to do with not wanting to leave his wife
and children behind than any true sense of obligation to his master. Many
slaves had no intention of escaping unless the entire family could make the perilous
journey together. For these, they were willing to endure continued untold
cruelties for the sake of remaining as a family unit. Given that the Hensons
escaped together as a family, it would be more apt to conclude that this was
the pivotal consideration for Josiah as he marshalled those slaves southward to
an unknown future.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In 1824, slave master Riley fell on hard economic times,
largely due to a protracted lawsuit with his brother-in-law and was on the
verge of ruin. His only remaining assets were his slaves. Throughout his
ownership of Josiah, Riley would often confide in him, but the tone this time
was desperate, master shedding tears in front of the slave he reluctantly
purchased.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With the sheriff about to seize the slaves to satisfy
judgements, Riley had Josiah make him a solemn promise to take the 21 slaves to
his brother’s farm in Kentucky. That journey would begin in February, 1825.
True to his pledge, Josiah delivered himself and 21 slaves to the farm of Amos
Riley in Daviess County, Kentucky, in mid-April.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
By the spring of 1828, Isaac Riley sent word that he
would not be relocating to Kentucky and had his brother Amos sell off all his
slaves except Josiah and his family (Josiah, his wife, and two children).</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During that year, Josiah’s gifts of oration and
leadership were recognized by a Methodist minister who helped secure occasional
leave from Amos Riley for Josiah to preach on a circuit, including in
Cincinnati, where he could earn money to purchase freedom for he and his
family.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
By 1829, Josiah earned enough to purchase his freedom but
the transaction would be imperiled due to Isaac Riley fraudulently altering the
bill of sale, claiming more than a thousand dollars still owing on the
transaction. In mid-1829, the Riley brothers conspired to sell Josiah while he
was in New Orleans offloading farm crops from Amos’s barge. They were
unsuccessful in their attempt, however, the seeds of distrust were sown and
Josiah knew he and his family were to be not long together under the present
circumstances.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Now back in Kentucky, Josiah devised a plan of escape,
doing so with his family via The Underground Railroad in 1830, making his way eventually
to Upper Canada.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thriving North of
the 49</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Josiah Henson, his wife Charlotte, and his two young
children arrived in Upper Canada (now Ontario) on October 28, 1830.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Finding work and shelter the next day from a man called
Mr. Hibbard, Josiah’s labor work ethic and productivity would not go unnoticed,
finding himself favored by his employer. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
One of his Maryland acquaintances arrived in Upper Canada
and would proudly tell the entire neighborhood of this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">preacher</i>, Josiah Henson, something Henson himself did not pursue at
this time. Before long though, Josiah found himself at the pulpit preaching the
gospel to a congregation of blacks and whites.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He remained with Hibbard for three years, all the while
improving his wealth and acquiring pigs, a horse, and a cow, changing jobs to
work for Mr. Riseley, only a few miles away. It was here that thoughts of
establishing a slave refuge and religious settlement became serious conversation.
Josiah was stoked!</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Those embryos of salvation would come to fruition with
the founding of The Dawn Settlement, near present day Dresden, Ontario,
becoming a prominent destination for escaping slaves on the Underground
Railroad and offering a fresh start for those who suffered at the hands of
entitled brutes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Uncle Tom’s Cabin</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Of those who read Henson’s first autobiography <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave,
Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself, </i>was Connecticut school
teacher, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Already an active abolitionist, Beecher Stowe was
so awestruck by what she read that she would base the title character of Uncle
Tom almost entirely on the real life Josiah Henson, with the publishing of her
novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among
the Lowly</i> in 1852 (the novel was originally published as a 45 part weekly newspaper
serial beginning 1851).</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
An instant best seller, Uncle Tom’s Cabin catapulted Harriet
Beecher Stowe to worldwide fame, and would sell more than 300,000 copies in the
United States (despite being banned in much of the South) and over one million copies
in Great Britain within its first year of release. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So profound were the sales numbers of Uncle
Tom’s Cabin that it became the best-selling novel of the 19<sup>th</sup>
Century, and the second biggest selling book in that century, outdone only by
the Bible.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It has been, and continues to be, argued that Uncle Tom’s
Cabin helped propel America into its Civil War and sowed seeds of revolution
worldwide. While considerable controversy surrounds such claims, there exists
little doubt that the mass appeal that Uncle Tom’s Cabin engendered served to
open the eyes of readers to the plight suffered by black slaves in America, and
turned the court of public opinion against slavery.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Josiah Henson’s place in history was forever enshrined
alongside that of Uncle Tom and Harriet Beecher Stowe.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">After the Passing</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Josiah Henson died peacefully at the Dawn Settlement on
May 05, 1883, having lived to six weeks shy of his 94<sup>th</sup> birthday.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
By the time of his death, Henson had been influential as
a religious leader, a community shepherd, and an early human rights advocate on
both sides of the 49<sup>th</sup> parallel. Few before or since have risen to
the levels of piety and obeisance than that of Josiah Henson.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Canadians and Americans continue to learn more about the
contributions of Josiah Henson. In more recent times, the Ontario Heritage Trust
has preserved The Dawn Settlement as a tribute and testament to the
significance of Henson. What started out as a museum in the 1940’s by a local
farmer has evolved into an iconic visitor destination sitting on five of the
original 200 acres of The Dawn Settlement.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In 1983, Canada Post issued its first stamp to feature a
black man. It was a 32 cent stamp (then the cost to mail a regular letter
within Canada) depicting Josiah Henson. See picture below.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In 1999, Josiah Henson was recognized by the Historic
Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as a National Historic Person.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The original Riley home in Montgomery County, Maryland is
now part of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network
to Freedom program. While the Riley home was never Josiah Henson’s living
accommodations during his younger years, the site is being preserved and
studied precisely because of its formidable and familial connection to Henson.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWpJNFX4POhZJfZL2Y5W5Cq1nZn-DBYkxg6VeRIXOxQQhyphenhyphenoFheVBrTglG7ZouSCbGLTiA1dAGJy8r-CuOJF6cyC79aEuWDwnNEQ9CzRWsrcNI3H3x5BO0Fpk7WJHrq3v-HP4HCWODbwE/s1600/Josiah+Henson+Stamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWpJNFX4POhZJfZL2Y5W5Cq1nZn-DBYkxg6VeRIXOxQQhyphenhyphenoFheVBrTglG7ZouSCbGLTiA1dAGJy8r-CuOJF6cyC79aEuWDwnNEQ9CzRWsrcNI3H3x5BO0Fpk7WJHrq3v-HP4HCWODbwE/s320/Josiah+Henson+Stamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Links:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.nationalcenter.org/FugitiveSlaveAct.html">Fugitive Slave Act</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson49/henson49.html">The Life of Josiah Henson
Autobiography 1849</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson58/henson58.html">Truth Stranger Than
Fiction 1858</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson/henson.html">Uncle
Tom's Story 1876</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Uncle-Tom-s-Cabin-Historic-Site/Home.aspx">Ontario
Heritage Trust Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.unc.edu/">University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thank You:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A special Thank You to the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill for providing online access to its vast collection of archives,
including those referencing Josiah Henson’s written works used in our research
for this article.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-3714728292417739052016-02-25T16:05:00.001-07:002016-02-25T16:05:00.484-07:00The Face of Extreme Islam<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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According to its just released Intelligence Report, the <a href="http://www.splcenter.org/">Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)</a> says
there has been a 42% increase in the number of anti-Muslim hate groups in the
United States in 2015 from 2014. This alarming statistic perhaps signifies in
some manner how victorious extreme Islam has already become in promoting its
doctrine against the infidels of the West.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With intensified radicalism, Islamic Jihadis focus on the
United States and the United Kingdom as the poster children for all that is
wrong in the world. Those countries that generally support the US and UK
foreign policy, such as Canada, Australia, and France, quickly find themselves
lumped in with the primary extremist Islamic targets. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As the war of words, chest puffing and exploding bombs embolden
each side of what has become both a religious as well as a political conflict,
citizens of the West increasingly find themselves torn between embracing
religious freedoms for Muslims in general, versus the need to protect
themselves from extremism and to ensure safety and security in their country.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Planting Seeds of
Destruction</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Increasingly from within our domestic borders, the
propaganda from radical Muslims is resonating with young disciples, encouraging
them to train for martyrdom. Lured by a bouquet of afterlife assurances, and
caught up in a frenzy of glory to serve Allah, extremist seeds are planted in
the fertile soil of developing minds, so easily done in a western society rife
with unemployment, emptiness, and pessimism.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Converts to Islam and Muslims born into the faith alike,
at home and abroad, swell the growing ranks of those willing to fight to the
death for fundamentalist and extremist beliefs. National security agencies in
western countries warn of the radical cells already living among us, determined
to destabilize society with promises of home grown violence. Indeed, the recent
bombings in Paris are a vivid example of the boldness and tenacity of extreme
Islamic youth.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Anjem Choudary is
a Top Shelf Extremist</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Anjem Choudary, an outspoken Islamist based in London,
England and unapologetic crusader of Sharia Law, vows to one day fly the flag
of Sharia over 10 Downing Street and The White House. Strong words from an
equally resolute personality who was quoted by <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/">Press
TV</a> in 2013 as saying, "As Muslims, we reject democracy, we reject
secularism, and freedom, and human rights”. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If not for the rhetoric of extreme Islam he preaches,
most would find Choudary an eloquent and convincing promoter, obviously
passionate about his cause, and supremely influential in his teachings. He
exudes charisma not unlike history’s despots, that alone making him a dangerous
threat to British society and the west.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
According to the <a href="http://www.counterextremism.com/">Counter Extremism Project</a>, a
not-for-profit, non-partisan, international policy organization formed to
combat the growing threat from extremist ideology, Choudary has founded or
co-founded a number of Islamist organizations over the years, only to have them
systematically outlawed and proscribed as an illegal ISIS operation by British
authorities.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A capable lawyer trained under the British educational
system, Choudary seems to have forsaken earning an honest living in favor of
receiving public welfare from those he promises to overthrow. Again, from the
Counter Extremism Project, “Choudary’s more subversive tactics include
advocating that Islamists and would-be jihadists live off of British welfare as
Choudary does with his wife and four children in East London. Choudary calls
this the “jihad seekers allowance.” </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Choudary and his cadre are adept at using the internet
and social media to spread their ideology and recruit followers. As quickly as
British counterterrorism agencies can dismantle his presence on Twitter and
Facebook, Choudary springs up with another account. While no concrete proof
exists that Choudary actually trains these neophytes, there is a body of
evidence suggesting he indoctrinates them to a particular apex of readiness
before pointing them in the right direction for martyrdom training in ISIS/ISIL
dominated strongholds.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The British government has charged Anjem Choudary and a
counterpart with supporting terrorism by repeatedly violating the UK’s
Terrorism Act 2000, with trial set for March 07, 2016. Already stripped of his
passport to prevent him from fleeing the jurisdiction, if convicted, Choudary
could receive up to ten years in prison.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As reported by the <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/">Gatestone Institute</a>, an
international policy think tank, “Choudary says he is not afraid of going to
prison, which he describes as a fertile ground for gaining more converts to
Islam. "If they arrest me and put me in prison..." he warned, "I
will radicalize everyone in prison." </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Other ‘N’ Word
- Nuclear</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Choudary paints a bleak picture, being absolutely
committed, by all means necessary, to his beliefs. He has openly endorsed Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as
reported by The Observer, as "the caliph of all Muslims and the prince of
the believers". (A caliph is regarded as a person who is a religious
successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Recently, it was widely reported that extremist Islam is
shopping for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">nuclear weaponry</b> to
bolster their campaign for world domination. If successful with such
acquisitions, western countries will have to rethink their current strategies
regarding extreme Islam as well as those who fund and support such causes.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-90728564741479040162016-02-22T10:20:00.000-07:002016-02-23T17:10:31.490-07:00Teachers With Guns <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It is in the human quest to know what is to blame for the
mass shootings at schools. We have an insatiable need to assign blame as a way
of coping and understanding.
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
From Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and many others
in the United States, to those in Canada at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique,
Taber’s W.R. Myers High School in Alberta, and most recently at La Loche Community
School in Saskatchewan, educators and law enforcement seem baffled and
bewildered at how to prevent mass shootings in schools.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
According to <a href="http://www.everytown.org/">Everytown
for Gun Safety</a>, an advocacy group working to prevent gun violence and build
safer communities, between early 2013 and late 2015, there were 164 reports of
school shootings in the United States, few of which made national or
international headlines. That equates to about one school shooting per week.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It all started in
1966</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Things seemed simpler in the days of black and white
television. Educational centers were hallowed ground where crime was rare.
Teachers shared a pedestal with police, clergy, and society’s leaders. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That all changed beginning on August 01, 1966 when 25
year old former Marine sharpshooter and mechanical engineering student, Charles
Whitman, perched atop the tower on the University of Texas at Austin campus, and
shot 43 people in a 95 minute bloodbath, 14 of whom died (officially
reclassified as 15 dead when David Gunby died in 2001 at age 58 as a direct
result of injuries received in 1966 and the Coroner ruling Gunby’s death a homicide).
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The shooting was an event without precedent and was the
embryo for the creation and proliferation of SWAT teams that now impregnate police
forces. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Whitman knew he had mental problems, and he knew he would
die that day too. In his handwritten letter left at the scene where he murdered
his mother and wife prior to embarking on his sniper carnage, he asked that
there be an autopsy performed and that his brain studied, explaining his long
suffering of severe headaches and depression. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At autopsy, it was discovered that Whitman had a pecan
sized brain tumor, but an inquiry into the mass shooting denied the tumor
played any role in the campus shooting or in that of the killing of his wife
and mother.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Awakening in
Columbine</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Littleton, Colorado achieved infamy in a way nobody
wanted, save for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students of Columbine High School
and perpetrators of what was described in 1999 as “the deadliest high school
shooting in US history.” The pair slaughtered twelve students and one teacher, and
injured twenty one others before committing suicide.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Both Harris and Klebold were considered outcasts in the
community, never quite fitting into any prescribed pigeon hole for which school
cliques can be ruthlessly notorious. They were heavily armed with multiple guns
and knives, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and 99 home-made bombs. They were
determined to make their mark in history.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To the extent that the pair reportedly aspired to mimic
the devastation and impact of the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Building in 1995, and given the level of media attention that continues
to this day, it could be argued that they achieved those aims. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That said, some would add that the massacre at Columbine
not only woke the nation up to bullying and mental health issues at school, but
that the duo also touched off a wave of copy cats intent on making their own impressive
statement of revenge against perceived injustices.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Taking the Plunge</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
School boards began openly discussing arming teachers and
staff to countermand what some would describe as an epidemic in terms of the
volume and intensity of school violence.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Texas has long marched to the beat of its own drum and
therefore it should come as little surprise that a school district in the Lone
Star State would be the first on the continent to usher in a measure to arm
their teachers. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Located in north central Texas in eastern Wilbarger
County, the <a href="http://www.harroldisd.net/">Harrold Independent School
District</a> voted in favor of arming school staff in 2007 in response to not
only the Columbine shooting, but particularly that of the 2006 West Nickel
Mines School, an Amish school in rural Pennsylvania, where circumstances
mirrored those of Harrold.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sparsely populated and located along a major highway
connection between metropolitan cities and a considerable distance from first
responders and the nearest major tactical team, geography was a primary
consideration in the decision to arm school staff as a way to provide safety
for Harrold’s 120 students.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Under the District’s established policy, employees are
permitted to carry concealed guns on school property and to school board
meetings. As a rural community in Texas where hunting is a pastime enjoyed by
many, protection from critters is a necessity, and in the state with some of
the most liberal gun ownership laws in the US, residents of every age are not
unfamiliar with being around guns of all sizes and descriptions.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Asked if he believes arming teachers makes his school
safer, <a href="http://www.harroldisd.net/">Harrold Independent School District</a>
Superintendent David Thweatt emphatically answers affirmatively, adding philosophically
“Bad things happen… Lots of people like the idea of not being responsible for
their own fate. .. I don’t like being a victim”. In speaking with Thweatt,
there can be no illusions on his well-informed stance on how being armed makes
everyone safer, and he makes no apologies for taking responsibility for
protecting himself, his colleagues, his family, and his students, rather than
waiting for a law enforcement response.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Since the <a href="http://www.harroldisd.net/">Harrold Independent
School District</a> took the plunge in allowing employees to carry guns, more
than half the states in America have passed legislation allowing school
districts to do so. Some have even gone so far as to propose deputizing armed
teachers, as allowed for under the Protection of Texas Children Act, although
Thweatt is quick to point out the differences of deputizing teachers to his
Guardian model.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
While the <a href="http://www.harroldisd.net/">Harrold
Independent School District</a> opted to allow staff to carry concealed guns,
it is not the only solution in arming teachers. Some school districts in the
United States have created a central armory inside their schools, so nobody
actually carries weapons, prompting questions about how accessible those
weapons would be in a tactical emergency situation. Other schools have chosen
to arm only a select few staff, rather than leaving it open as to how many guns
would be on school property at any given time. Some have chosen to inform
students which employees are armed, while others hold that information close to
their chest. Still others have proposed wall mounted gun safes in each
classroom with an authorized user.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The mobility of carrying concealed guns offered under
Thweatt’s Guardian model appears to answer coverage concerns of classrooms and
school yards other practices cannot.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Arming teachers appears to be a largely rural solution.
Many urban school districts have long employed the use of armed security guards
or armed volunteer parents as School Marshals. Proximity to rapid police
response and SWAT-style forces allow urban school districts the luxury of
taking a more hands off approach. Response time is the biggest enemy for rural
schools. Columbine had one uniformed armed security that was located outside,
but on school property, the high school at the time of the shootings</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With Canada’s more conservative approach to guns, the
prospect of arming teachers in this country isn’t even on anyone’s radar, being
quickly dismissed as a typical American recipe – add guns and stir.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Not Everyone is in
Favor of Arming Teachers with Guns</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
For its part, the largest teacher’s union in the United
States, the <a href="http://www.nea.org/">National Education Association (NEA</a>),
representing some three million members, sees no redeeming qualities in arming
teachers. “Guns have no place in our schools. Period. We must do everything we
can to reduce the possibility of any gunfire in schools, and concentrate on
ways to keep all guns off school property and ensure the safety of children and
school employees.``</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The NEA is not alone. The <a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/">Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence</a>
adds its clout against guns in schools, calling the notion of arming teachers
``insane``. The <a href="http://www.vpc.org/">Violence Policy Center (VPC</a>),
a Washington, DC based educational organization working to stop gun death and
injury in America says, `` The focus should remain on preventing guns from
getting into schools, rather than relying on teachers or other education
professionals to prevail in a shootout.``</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Muddied Waters</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With the Second Amendment firmly entrenched in the US
Constitution, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed", gun ownership advocates view any limitation to their right to
bear arms as a slippery slope into tyranny. Conversely, having more guns owned
by law abiding citizens makes society safer.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Promoting such a viewpoint distracts from getting to the
root causes of school shootings. While the Second Amendment needs to be
respected and upheld, one might think that setting aside any arguments about
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right</i> to own guns has any bearing
on identifying how these youth are accessing massive amounts of weaponry and
ammunition outside what might be considered acceptable for personal protection.
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Further muddying the waters might be the culpability of
parents of mass shooters, if they failed to secure guns, or failed to obtain
health care intervention, or any other failure on their part as wardens.
Regardless of any such shortcomings, it doesn’t change the outcomes of the
horrific school shootings. And, as if the waters couldn’t get any murkier, it
should not escape anyone’s attention that school shootings occur on college
campuses as well, where students are of, or approaching, the age of majority. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Too, not all school shootings are the work of a student,
as was the case with gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV where he shot eight school
girls at the West Nickel Mines School, killing five.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Looking for a
Scapegoat in Mental Illness</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Using mental illness as the raison d’etre for school
shootings is an oversimplification of a much deeper and darker issue. Media
tends to quickly suggest or assign mental illness, diagnosed or otherwise, as
the instigator behind school shootings, something at which mental health
practitioners collectively roll their eyes and audibly sigh.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Says Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health “Mental illness, in and of itself, isn’t a risk factor
for committing violence. We see that people who are suffering from mental
illness are more likely to be victims of gun violence than those who are not
suffering from mental illness.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Some in the mental health field equate the stigma of
marrying mental illness and mass shootings in two ways to that of cancer. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Firstly, there is no one singular cause for cancer and
therefore there can be no one singular treatment. In further using the cancer
analogy, there are different reasons that trigger perpetrators of school
shootings, and therefore, the need exists to cut a wide swath in addressing the
prevention and treatment of school shootings. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And secondly, not everybody with cancer dies. So too, not
everybody with a mental illness commits a violent crime such as a school
shooting. However, some cancer patients do die, just as some school shooters
suffer mental illnesses.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What seems ubiquitous among mental health professionals
is that predicting school shootings is impossible, just as that of predicting
mass shootings anywhere. Some believe there are key indicators that may help
identify students who require intervention, regardless of whether the student
has any intention of going on a shooting rampage.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In a study published by the American Journal of Public
Health, lead author and Vanderbilt University Professor of Psychiatry, Dr.
Jonathan Metzl, supports the position that rather than trying to predict a
mental illness as the cause of school shootings, it is far more productive to
focus on known predictors of gun violence, namely alcohol and drug use, history
of violence, access to firearms, and personal relationship stress.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Evolving the
Conversation</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It would be wrong to think school districts that choose
to arm employees rely exclusively on this solution alone for their security
protocols.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Typical preventative security measures at schools only
scratch the surface. Installation of metal detectors and surveillance cameras, employing
roaming guards, profiling students that exhibit warning signs for violence, and
similar passive countermeasures all form part of security in many school districts..
Obviously, it has not been robust enough, and all signs point ominously to it
being insufficient in the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Misguided as it may be in blaming mental illness for
school shootings, the conversation surrounding mental health in Canada has
generally evolved to be more open and has broken the stigma that it is the
bastard child of public health. That must be seen in a positive light.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Publicity campaigns against bullying and sexual assault
in schools and in the community have been successful in raising awareness of
violence and mental health issues. Both are now seen as part of the broader
spectrum of health care delivery in Canada.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In his 2012 report, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">School
Shootings and Student Mental Health – What Lies Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg</i>,
Minneapolis based psychiatrist, William Dikel, MD, advocates an intervention
model of locating a mental health clinic<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
inside</b> the school as a real solution, providing easy accessibility for, and
closer monitoring of, students.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Somebody needs to open the chequebook and pinpoint
effective methods of early intervention. The conversation has begun but more animated
action and innovative thinking is paramount if devastating tragedies such as La
Loche and similar once weekly school shootings are ever to be prevented.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Last Word</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Almost a decade into their policy of permitting employees
to carry guns, <a href="http://www.harroldisd.net/">Harrold Independent School
District’s</a> David Thweatt believes his policy is prudent in preventing
school shootings. He adds that nobody is looking forward to a time when they
may have to draw their weapons, summing it up this way, “I wouldn’t want to
have to call a parent to say we had a shooting at school, but if it did happen,
guess what? The bad guy is dead and your child is coming home”.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Links:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.bradycampaign.org/">Brady Campaign to
Prevent Gun Violence</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.everytown.org/">Everytown for Gun Safety</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.harroldisd.net/">Harrold Independent
School District</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.vpc.org/">Violence Policy Center</a><br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-72060345012480460752016-02-17T21:22:00.000-07:002016-02-17T21:53:13.558-07:00Nine Things You Need to Know About FentanylFentanyl has moved to the pinnacle of media and law enforcement attention amid the growing number of overdoses and deaths of Canada's youth.<br />
<br />
Used as a powerful pain reliever in medical settings, Fentanyl is being manufactured by criminal organizations with little regard for quality control. Like most synthetic street drugs, Fentanyl can be cut with any powdery substance, legal or not, toxic or otherwise. And that is what makes Fentanyl so dangerous.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Here are nine things you need to know about Fentanyl...</b><br />
<br />
1) Medically speaking, Fentanyl is an opioid used to treat persistent chronic and severe pain. It acts on the brain to increase pain tolerance.<br />
<br />
2) The top two sources of Fentanyl are pharmaceutical manufacturers and Mexican drug cartels. But do not be fooled by this statistic. Illicit Fentanyl pills cut with whatever someone wants to add, can be cranked out by any remedial teen in a basement or garage.<br />
<br />
3) Illicitly manufactured Fentanyl has been discovered in<br />
<ul>
<li>Pill form being sold as fake oxys and other club drugs</li>
<li>Powder form sold as heroin or fent</li>
<li>Powder form mixed into other drugs (heroin, cocaine, crystal meth, etc) </li>
</ul>
<br />
4) Fentanyl binds to the body's opiate receptors that are highly concentrated in areas of the brain that control pain and emotions, and drive up dopamine levels in the brain's reward areas, producing a state of euphoria and relaxation.<br />
<br />
5) Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.<br />
<br />
6) For science nerds, the molecular formula for Fentanyl is C22H28N2O.<br />
<br />
7) A large percentage of Fentanyl overdoses are due to users being unaware they are taking Fentanyl. Medical tests have confirmed this. Bottom line is you do not have to knowingly use Fentanyl to be at risk from a Fentanyl overdose.<br />
<br />
8) Street names for Fentanyl include China White, China Girl, Dance Fever, Goodfella, Jackpot, Murder 8, TNT, and Tango & Cash<br />
<br />
9) Know the signs of a Fentanyl overdose. They include...<br />
<ul>
<li>Severe sleepiness</li>
<li>Slow heartbeat</li>
<li>Trouble breathing</li>
<li>Slow shallow breathing or snoring</li>
<li>Cold clammy skin</li>
<li>Trouble walking or talking</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>Links: </b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.towardtheheart.com/" target="_blank">British Columbia Harm Reduction Program</a> </b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.drugabuse.gov/" target="_blank">National Institute on Drug Abuse</a> </b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.streetdrugs.org/" target="_blank">StreetDrugs.org</a> </b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-50069336363702430152016-02-09T13:11:00.001-07:002016-02-09T13:27:44.562-07:00Alberta’s War on Booze<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Long before Al Capone and his ilk began making millions
of dollars peddling their prohibition libations to a thirsty throng south of
the 49<sup>th</sup> Parallel, Canada had experimented with years of its own
brand of booze-banning dating back to 1875. None were really successful, as the
Northwest Mounted Police, sparse in numbers with a vast new territory to patrol,
were preoccupied with other priorities such as an influx of immigrants settling
wide open prairies, enforcing Indian treaties, quelling Metis uprisings, and
generally attempting to bring law and order to a rapidly evolving and expanding
country.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Like all prohibitions on any commodity before and since,
when there is a demand for a product, some enterprising individual is going to
find a way to supply their customer. Despite the federal alcohol prohibition,
there was no shortage of product on the Prairies. In fact, alcohol abuse was so
rampant that entire crops were not planted or harvested due to farmers being on
a drinking binge. Recognizing the utter flop in its prohibition program, the
ban was ended in 1892, eventually ceding governance of alcohol to the provinces
in 1898.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
On July 01, 1916, Dominion Day (a Saturday), Alberta
began enforcing its own prohibition, three and a half years before the 18<sup>th</sup>
Amendment to the Constitution in the United States that would usher in the most
prolific growth to organized crime in that country.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Alberta’s prohibition was bedeviled from the start with
enough loopholes through which one could toss a keg. A prescription from a
doctor could get one medicinal alcohol, and beer with 2.5% alcohol by volume
was legal. Curiously, booze imported from other provinces was legal. The
criminal underworld would seize this opportunity to supply thirsty farmers and
city folk alike.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Entrepreneurial Albertans set up illegal stills in every
conceivable building – barns, garages, churches, houses, and commercial
buildings were transformed into lucrative home-based businesses. The money
flowed as easily as the booze.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The sheer failure of prohibition in Alberta came to an
end on May 10, 1924, when the provincial government began regulating the sale
of alcohol and imposing draconian rules that carried forth for seven decades
until finally turning over the public sale of alcohol to the private sector in
1993.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alberta’s Windfall From Alcohol</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
According to its 2014-2015 Annual Report, the Alberta
Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) nets just shy of 782 million dollars from
wholesaling alcohol throughout the province, up from just over 758 million dollars
the year prior. Contributions from alcohol and gaming operations are
contributed back to the Government of Alberta’s General Revenue Fund. In
2014-2015, alcohol’s contribution to Alberta’s General Revenue Fund was approximately
766 million dollars, up from 747 million dollars the year prior.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Worlds Away From
Prohibition</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Today, AGLC offers consumers 20,105 different alcohol
products, helping Albertans consume more than 3.8 million hectolitres (1 Hectolitre
= 100 Litres) in 2014-2015. Based on population figures, AGLC data would indicate
Albertans consumed around 98 litres during that year for every man, woman, and
child.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Albertans Love
Their Beer</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
74.1% of all alcohol sold in Alberta was beer during
2014-2015.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the same period,
approximately 11.5% was wine, Coolers and Cider represented 7.1% and Spirits
represented 7.2%.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-39434860267642129342016-02-05T19:24:00.001-07:002016-02-07T14:23:10.900-07:00Cautionary Heroes<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Rightly revered as five of the most influential women of
Canada’s 20<sup>th</sup> century, Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby,
Louise McKinney, and Henrietta Edwards sued the Attorney General to have women
considered persons in August of 1927. Eight months later, the Supreme Court unanimously
ruled women were not persons. This, in turn, was overruled by Britain’s
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1929 in what would be known as the
Persons Case.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In recognition of their important contributions in spearheading
equality for women in Canada, the Famous Five, as they would come to be known, are
lauded throughout the country with monuments and named public spaces, as well
as holding a special place in the hearts of Canadians for advancing human
rights at home and abroad.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What should also be recognized about the Famous Five is
that they were very much women of their time, in that they fought vehemently
for the rights of white women, not all women, and that their contributions to
eugenics in Alberta cannot be overshadowed by any of their successes in
shattering the patriarchal stronghold in Canada.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Alberta Eugenics Board came into being in 1928, its
first meeting in January 1929, and consisted of a four member panel who
conducted their business almost entirely in secret. Its establishment was the
result of heavy lobbying by many who were concerned about the number of immigrants
flooding into the country. Among the more vocal sponsors of eugenics were Emily
Murphy, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, and Nellie McClung.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During its 43 year existence, the Alberta Eugenics Board
approved the sterilization of more than 99% of the almost 4800 cases it heard,
devoting an average of 13 minutes to each case. Of the cases presented to it,
the Board forcibly sterilized women, men, and children, a disproportional
number being those of aboriginal heritage. Many of the subjects of these cases
were unaware there was a tribunal about to make a decision about their ability
to become parents, and even if they or their family were aware of such a
hearing, there was no opportunity for representation or to counter the petition
from the medical facility putting it forth.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The Alberta Eugenics Board lasted until 1972, when Peter
Lougheed’s Progressive Conservative party repealed the Sexual Sterilization Act
and shut down the Board. Among its three primary reasons for doing so, the government
acknowledged the Sexual Sterilization Act violated fundamental human rights,
the science supporting eugenics was without merit, and that the Act itself was
rife with legal ambiguities such as its sheltering of medical personnel from
civil litigation.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The world is apparently a different place now than it was
when Alberta openly embraced and legalized eugenics as a method of population
control. Yet, in reading mainstream news, it is difficult to differentiate the
sentiments between what is occurring now versus what transpired back then. While
the term ‘eugenics’ is not often used today unless one is describing a Nazi
program or a slavery theology, the definition is thinly veiled in other popular
terms and phrases used by politicians and tycoons that permeate headlines worldwide.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Heroes are subjective. Even Hitler was considered a hero,
as was Chairman Mao and countless other despots, sports icons, celebrities, and
notables from all walks of life. Hindsight affords us the luxury of balancing
their positive outcomes with those of a more dubious nature, and yet rarely are
those same heroes held to account on the same symmetry that propelled them to
the pedestal on which they sit.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-90393831469691875952016-01-30T11:32:00.005-07:002016-01-30T11:32:55.978-07:00Reversal of Fortunes for Syrian Refugees<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It began with the best of intentions. Another war-torn
country facing unimaginable suffering with western countries trying to do the
right thing by stepping up to the plate and offering a new beginning for
families caught amid the constant shelling from above.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There have been times throughout recent history when
first world nations have extended the life-changing offer of refugee status on
an emergency basis to accommodate a large scale influx of foreigners in peril,
however, the mass migration of Syrians to Europe and North America is without
precedent in terms of sheer volume. So much so, that a sense of buyer’s remorse
has taken hold, forcing some well-meaning politicians to back-peddle on pledges
made to those who have less than nothing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The overly ambitious plan to resettle millions of Syrians
in western countries that are themselves struggling to keep their economies
afloat and their citizens working was perhaps an exercise in futility. The
sacrifices being requested of first world nations were met with legitimate
questions of how so many with such little education or the ability to speak the
language could be integrated into the adoptive homes that had precious little
time to prepare. From finding warm weather clothing, to locating affordable
housing, to identifying established communities of Syrian heritage, the
timeline to execute such audacious plans was too daunting. </div>
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<br /></div>
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There were well-publicized reports of Syrian refugees
decrying their temporary conditions once entering their adoptive homes. To
some, the refugees seemed ungrateful or felt entitled. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Canada, personnel were evicted from their
homes on military bases targeted to house incoming refugees. Cities such as
Vancouver begged Trudeau’s government to slow down the gorging river of
refugees, as they realized how overwhelmed they were in attempting to secure and
commit the resources necessary to tend to a people whose previous emigrants
were few in number.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Germany accepted 1.2 million Syrian refugees, a sticking
point with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s electorate who vow to make her pay dearly the
next time votes are cast. Her spin to soften her position is to now say the
refugees are temporary, citing those from the former Yugoslavia, 70% of which
returned to their homeland. That still leaves 30% more than 20 years later.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Danish are demanding refugees surrender valuables upon
arrival as a hedge against that country’s well developed social structure from
imploding under the weight of its new inhabitants. Prime Minister Lars Lokke
Rasmussen has even called for the abolishment of the UN refugee convention of
1951.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the United States, where an election this year to
choose the next President has created controversial statements from
frontrunners regarding immigration in general, many are questioning the wisdom
in accepting so many refugees while `there is a war going on with them`.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Back in Canada, a country upheld as a model of the
multicultural cauldron, Syrian refugees face a steep uphill battle to master
the English language as a fundamental necessity to compete for employment in an
arena already filled to capacity amid a crumbled economy. Even with the short
term assistance provided by Justin Trudeau`s Liberals, and not without its own
vocal opposition attached, one can only wonder how sustainable it is to import
low-skilled masses before regret manifests itself into hostility.</div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Who else could have devised the ultimate ‘interactive’ urn
for preserving the cremated remains of a lover passed than those darn tulip
farming, chocolate obsessed, cheese waxing, pot smoking, sex crazed, windmill
spinning, wooden shoed Dutch?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
From the contemporary Netherlands design studio of <a href="http://www.marksturkenboom.com/">Atelier Mark Sturkenboom</a> comes <b>21 Grams</b>,
a customizable memory box in which a widow can preserve keepsakes of her
departed intimate partner. As Sturkenboom’s website gracefully annotates, “After
a passing, the missing of intimacy with that person is only one aspect of the
pain and grieve, and often remains unspoken. A difficult time for a widow”.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sure, there is the nifty iPod connector to amplify music
once beloved by the couple. Yes, the locking mechanism opens with a pendant
collier crafted from gold and brass as one might expect. And there is ample
room in the memory box to stow tributes such as a special photo, a trinket, or
a vial of her partner’s favorite cologne. But, storing his ashes in a hand
blown glass dildo to relive intimate experiences, well, that’s pretty damn creepy indeed!</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Once that furled eyebrow has been given the opportunity to acclimatize to the notion of
mixing thoughts of sex with those of death, an uneasiness
prevails, as those are two very sensitive topics that rarely
belong in the same sentence. “21 Grams speaks in metaphors, not shock value”, grants Sturkenboom.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It would be tempting to insert some levity here given the
uncomfortable product description just read. But in the interest of keeping it
real, unless one has been in the situation of becoming a widow and who now
finds herself craving a physical connection with her former lover, it would be
hard to imagine a more gratifying release. This urn is a shrine to her former
companion. Besides, who could deny her one more time for old time’s sake?<br />
<br />
As the glass dildo is a discriminating characteristic of <b>21 Grams</b>, it remains an open question<b> </b>of who could be the model for its form.<br />
<br />
This is one of those types of products that defies category. It is not something one could offer as a gift for any imaginable occasion. Nor could it be considered an impulse or add-on purchase. And given its intended use under taboo-like conditions, one cannot help but be a little grossed out at the prospect of its mere existence. From a business perspective, the hope of recouping any research and development costs by selling units of <b>21 Grams</b> ignores all reason, although when contacted, Sturkenboom refused to discuss sales and pricing data for this article.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Pushing boundaries and smashing barriers is hardly novel for
Mark Sturkenboom. He seems to thrive on it. From his <b>Ark</b> time capsule, to his
<b>Sweet Anticipation</b> humane live mouse trap, to his <b>Separation Anxiety</b> self
destructing safe, this Dutch designer thinks on a more antithetic level than
most.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The <b>21 Grams</b> cabinet is constructed of wood, measures
25x15x15 cm and weighs in at 2 kilograms.<a href="http://www.marksturkenboom.com/"><br /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1186451153661096350.post-54602556039713432062016-01-23T12:30:00.000-07:002016-01-23T12:30:04.891-07:00Rape on Campus<b><i>This is a reprint of my article originally published in 2010. With mainstream media giving this issue more attention lately, I felt it prudent to republish.</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">For many parents, watching their spawn
begin post-secondary education brings back memories of being all choked up over
the tike’s first day of kindergarten and elementary school. It’s a time when
parents realize how the years have flown past and with heavy hearts reminisce of
the reliance the children once had on them. They grow up so fast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">Campus life is many things. It brings
together students from the full spectrum of religious and spiritual beliefs,
socioeconomic backgrounds, and political slants. They attend their chosen
studies to achieve the education needed in their future occupations, adhering
to an impossible timetable of study, work, and play. This mixture of
personalities and purposes results in a vibrant elixir that sharpens
imaginations, stimulates the senses, and propels minds to achieve. And after a
few years of indoctrination, graduates are dressed in an unflattering gown,
capped with a funny matching hat, and urged to take on the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">Campus life is other things too. Those
very same students with all their prides and prejudices become citizens of a
city within a city where not everyone plays by the rules. In the United States,
a recently released report by <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/" target="_blank">The Center for Public Integrity (CPI)</a> claims that
one in five female students will be the victim of rape or attempted rape by the
time they graduate. The US Department of Justice says that figure is closer to
one in four.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">As with sexual assaults in the general
population, pinning down an accurate figure is difficult due to the high degree
of under reporting. The CPI research goes on to say that prosecutors are
reluctant to prefer charges against alleged campus perpetrators largely because
the cases boil down to a He Said, She Said situation where various levels of
intoxication are involved by both assailant and victim.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">With the victim lacking any feeling of
justice, she follows the only other path available; that of seeking sanctions
against the offender through the university’s Code of Conduct process. The
harshest penalty available for the ill-trained resolution panel under this
loose amalgamation of vague passages is the expulsion of the offending student,
but it is a rarity that this measure is undertaken. Statistics show that in
better than 85% of cases adjudicated under these processes, absolutely no
sanctions were meted out to the offender, even if he has confessed to his
complicity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">The overall stance from institutes of
higher learning appears to be that they are educators, not judiciary, and cases
brought forward under resolution panels are a thoughtful way to hold the
offender accountable and should focus on lessons to be learned by the offending
behavior, rather than punishing anyone. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">Campuses in the United States, eager to
attract tuitions and grant money, are subject to the Clery Act and to what is
known as Title IX. The Clery Act and Title IX are federal laws that mandate
colleges and universities to report crimes on campus and provide key rights to
victims. It is full of loopholes that campuses exploit to paint a picture of a
safe learning environment for prospective and current students.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">One of the more glaring findings
contained in the CPI’s report is that campus rapists tend to be serial
offenders who have, on average, six victims. Clearly the perpetrators are aware
that their felonious activities are given little importance by campus
administration and are likely to be covered up to avoid embarrassment to the
school. There is no research to show if campus offenders continue their plunder
in the general population once they graduate. Even if you don’t buy lottery
tickets, you would still have to bet that offenders do not cease their criminal
acts once they receive their parchment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">In Canada, there is no equivalent of the
Clery Act or of Title IX. No recent research has been conducted a la The Center
for Public Integrity. But none of this should suggest that the crisis of rape
on campus is any different in Canada than it is in the United States.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">As with the United States loopholes,
crime on campus statistics in Canada is full of inconsistencies. While there is
no legislation for post-secondary institutions in Canada to publish their crime
data, most do so as part of their disclosure to parents and students. However,
some publish only the previous month’s crimes and there is no standard for equity
in reporting. Others, such as the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon
openly post all their crime statistics online, and according to Bob Ferguson,
Director of Campus Safety, were the first in Canada to do so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">Victims of sexual assault on campus face
peculiar hurdles not faced by victims in the general population. Because of the
intermingling of offender, victim, and witnesses in close confines such as
dorms, fraternities, and sororities, when a victim makes an allegation of
sexual assault, it often causes dissention among the various close-knit
demographics, splitting opinions, friendships, and interpretations of the
assault. This is further aggravated by these groups of people attending classes
together and the institution wanting to protect its reputation and exposure to
litigation. These factors contribute heavily to complaints being recanted by
the victims, or the victim dropping from or transferring out of the university.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">There is considerable reluctance on the
part of educational institutions to discuss sexual assaults on campus in
Canada. Few of the universities, all household names in primary cities of
Canada, contacted for comment and input for this article responded. There could
be any number of reasons why they did not wish to contribute to this article,
but it should not go unnoticed that the faculty and staff presumably have
children who currently, or will soon, attend a post secondary facility. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN-US">Given the odds indicated by The Center
for Public Integrity or the US Department of Justice that 20-25% of young women
who attend a college or university will be the victim of a sexual assault or
attempted sexual assault during their years of study, one would have to
question why this subject is not on top of every campus agenda to protect potential
victims, advocate for victims who come forward, and contribute greatly to the
punishment of offenders.</span></div>
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