Clara Hughes Comes Up Big For Charity

In an interview with Brian Williams of the CBC, Clara Hughes said that she was inspired by the US $40,000 that Joey Cheeks was donating to Right To Play and that she was donating $10,000 of her own to the cause.

I suck in so many ways.

The End Of History...Again?

From Francis Fukuyama's article in the New York Times Magazine :

"As we approach the third anniversary of the onset of the Iraq war, it seems very unlikely that history will judge either the intervention itself or the ideas animating it kindly. By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadist terrorists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at."

I Could Not Work At A University

Recursivity: Christian Grad Student Fails to Prove Discrimination

Jeff Shallit follows the case of Cynthia L. Maughan, a UBC grad student, who filed a religious discriminations suit against The University of British Columbia, Lorraine Weir, Susanna Egan, Judy Segal, Anne Scott, the University of British Columbia Faculty Association and The Canadian Association of University Teachers.

Here is the Human Rights Tribunal's introduction:

The complaint arises out of events that started in the spring of 2001. Ms. Maughan was a student in a graduate seminar conducted by Ms. Weir. After the class had started, Ms. Weir decided to hold an important class on a Sunday (the “Sunday Colloquium Class”). This class was important because it was an opportunity for students to present their proposals for their final papers and be critiqued on those proposals. This final paper represented a significant part of the final mark for the course. Ms. Maughan, a practicing Christian, could not attend the class on a Sunday because of her religious beliefs. Ms. Maughan also says that she could not join a class on a Sunday where “there was a progression of acutely gratuitous, intolerance and disrespect being exerted, specially towards the Holy Eucharist and Christianity”. Ms. Maughan alleges that Ms.
Weir knew of her religious beliefs.

[9] Ms. Maughan alleges that Ms. Weir made the decision to hold the Sunday Colloquium Class at the home of another student who Ms. Weir knew had sent an email on November 16, 2000, “fondly re-calling the stoning of Christians” (the “Stoning Email”). Ms. Maughan says that Ms. Weir knew of the email and further, that there were serious religious issues between that student and Ms. Maughan. As a result of this email, Ms. Maughan filed a complaint with the UBC Equity Office, which was dismissed. She alleges that UBC and the faculty took the position that this email was “humorous”.

[10] Ms. Maughan, following UBC policy, requested, on at least two occasions, that the Sunday Colloquium Class be changed to another date because of her religion. She also requested that the location be changed. Ms. Maughan says she received no response to her emails. On February 2, 2001, Ms. Maughan advised Ms. Weir that she would not be attending the Sunday Colloquium Class. Although she acknowledges that she did school work on Sundays, and did not regularly attend Church, she felt that attending the seminar, under the circumstances, violated her religious beliefs.

Trying not to offend a university student these days must be like walking through a minefield. No thanks. Even if I could get the job, I am sure I would get fired by week's end.

Still Canada's Dullest Web Cam

AFC Webcam - Cam�ra Web de CFA

Olympic Flashback

Here is a rant from Honshui posted way back in August, 2004. It was funny then, is now, and still applies. And I agree with it more than I did two years ago.


Honshui speaks: "I don't know if any you readers out there caught Rick Say's little meltdown after his relay team finished 5th in the 4X200 relay. He tried to be noble and take responsibility for his teammates swimming so poorly, and he did say that he swam his hardest to make up for their mistakes ... IN FRONT OF HIS TEAMMATES ON INTERNATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE!!!! I was waiting for one of his team guys to brain him with one of their speedo sandals but they seemed pretty honourable about it. The fact is that spending money on olympic athletes is a deadweight loss to society. They eat food in order to expend energy for no victory. Hell even if they win, what does a medal do for Canada? Does it shorten waiting lists in hospitals? put resources in schools? No, in fact it contributes to longer waiting lists and a crappier school system because we funnel money into guys and gals doing glorified hobby sports that canadians only care about one week out of every four years apparently. Add to this social cost, the fact that Brian Williams continues to draw a salary from cbc... Oh, and in case you want to try the old 'medals encourage more canadians to be fit and healthy', think again. My experience is that money we spend on elite athletes reduces program resources for the masses. When I was at UBC, Lori Fung, Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymastics, used to kick 30 basketball players out of the main gymnasium so three rhythmic gymnasts could train.

So canada's athletes, go ahead and underachieve. Go ahead and blame taxpayers for not supporting your goals, and your gains. In return I will say to you 'thanks for not supporting my career and my goals.' You suck too, but your failures happen on tv every four years. Mine happen in private every day."

The True North Strong and Free? Part 3

Continuing our focus on the northern part of Ontario, I point you to this article by Dr. Livio Di Matteo, of Lakehead University, Department of Economics.

Dr. Di Matteo points out that:

The announcement that StarTek will open up a new call centre in Thunder Bay creating 450 jobs and an annual payroll of 10 million dollars is positive economic news for Thunder Bay.

But that:

Call centre jobs do pay less, are often part-time and will come with less generous benefit packages. Moreover, not all unemployed mill workers will either want to or be able to make the transition from highly paid and skilled work in area pulp mills to jobs that pay 10 dollars an hour and entail talking on the phone on matters ranging from servicing your new dishwasher to assisting customers with their internet dial-up connection.

Professor Di Matteo notes that Thunder Bay, and the north, to quote the Muppets, will have to "hope that something better comes along". And if they are to ever break free of the choking yoke of Mega Toronto, a new and solid economic infrastructure will have to be in place. This may be a starting point.

The True North Strong and Free? Part 2

More tidbits of information continue to seep southward regarding the growing secessionist rhetoric from north of the French River. From this article we learn that MPP Mike Gravelle is ready to put himself before the wall in the effort to get Northern Ontario to join Manitoba. Is Mike a stalking horse for noted economist Dr. Livio Di Matteo and the politically confused Dr. J.C. Herbert Emery Associate Professor of the University of Calgary?

And are these two machiavellian elites funded by the ominous sounding Central Canadian Public Policy Trust? The group whose sole purpose is to:

"fund research in universities to make decisions about the region’s future by examining the possibility of different regional structures, including joining the province of Manitoba."


Next time...who is Ryan English?

Russia 2 - Canada 0

All the beer-league experts out there should take a moment to shut the fuck up for the next couple of days. You don't know better.

Now, let the caterwauling and hand-wringing begin.