Sukho Park, of Chonnam National University in Korea, has worked with a team of researchers to affix heart tissue from a rat onto a robot smaller than the thickness of a fingernail. When the cardiac tissue contracted, the bot's six legs pulled together. When the tissue relaxed, the legs drew apart. This motion allowed the robot to move itself forward through a solution at 100 micrometers/second, or about 0.0002 miles/hour. The hope is that this technology will one day lead to other biocompatible bots that could carry dissolving substances, clot-busters, to blocked veins and arteries. The university's motto "Serving the Community with a Global Vision" would truly be well served by such an accomplishment.
You have to wonder how Sukho Park and his team would have done at the Annual Micromouse Contest. I'm betting first prize would have gone back to Korea with them. This contest is held in the spring each year to see which designer of a small microprocessor-controlled, electro-mechanical robot vehicle imbued with sufficient "intelligence" and the capability to decopher and navigate an elaborately contrived maze will take the prize. To do so, their creation has to reach the maze's centre before any other of the fully autonomous mice do so. The allowable dimensions for the mice are strictly enforced as is the rule that no mouse is allowed to have remote controls. This year's contest will take place on February 25 in Austin, Texas, at the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exhigition. Variations of this contest have made their way into colleges and universities across North America, as well as around the globe. It began in the 70's, and doesn't seem about to end any time soon. Who knows? Maybe the next great medical step forward will come from this year's contest winner.
A discussion paper, 156 pages in length, has been written to put forth the case for establishing Afrocentric schools in the Toronto District School Board, as a way to address the problem of disproportionately high dropout rates among its black students. At the moment, the rates for those who do not complete grade 12 stand at 40% for Caribbean students; 32% for students from East Africa; and 26% from West Africa. Obviously, there is much work that needs to be done on our school system, but it is not there alone that solution to the problem will be found. Societal values need an overhaul. The problem is almost staggering in its proportions, and the solution will take years to effect, if it ever does come about. The assigning of perceived superiority to racial groups and to societies can be seen in so many places; like the attitude of the western world toward the fair treatment of the developing world in terms of our theft of their natural resources, for instance. Until the majority of the privileged dwellers of the western world change from seeing it as our right to take those resources, to seeing it as the theft that it is, little can be done to address the Pandora's box of attendant problems spawned by this attitude. Until the privileged begin to see the wisdom in Gandhi's admonition to "Live simply, so that others may simply live" problems such as the school dropout rate will continue to assail those seen as being part of the "less-worthy". When Paris Hilton, and all of her ilk, are ostracized as the pariahs they truly are, and dismissed from the minds of all as anyone worthy of attention, the day will have come closer when the problems of disproportionate dropout rates can be more successfully addressed. When George W. Bush and others of his ilk are denounced as the war-hungry, equality-destroying defenders of the rights of the few that they really are, the day will have come a little closer. Until then, I share the concerns of trustee John Matlow who opposes schools that promote division by race. He puts it well when he says, "No one disputes the fact that there is a disproportionate number of black students who the system is failing, and we need to do better. But we need to do better in every one of our schools, for every one of our black students." (emphasis my own) John Campbell, board chairman, echoes the sentiment with his declaration that Afrocentric schools will not serve as a panacea for the problem of boosting academic achievement among the black students. The answer is far more complex than that. The creation of such schools may, however, go a long way toward creating further division than already exists. I think it's a very real possibility, especially after the exchange I overheard last night at the gym where I work out. As I worked my way through my repeats with a set of hand weights, I found myself beside two young men, both in their late teens to very early twenties. What came out of their mouths can not be dismissed as the words of "old" men who might represent a dying attitude. The one asked the other if he had heard about the vote coming up at the school board. When his friend said no, the first one explained it to him, drawing out the syllables in exaggeration. "It's a vote for the Ne-groes" said he. "It's to see if they're going to start some nappy-head schools." Maybe these schools are not the answer their proponents are hoping they will be. It might seem like a quicker, easier fix, but I think implementing the idea might turn out to be a bomb that will go off in their hands.
Opinion-Editorial: Uganda peace talks need diplomatic surge
"Could it be that peace in northern Uganda is once again suffering from the 'bystander effect'? In the 1960s, a young woman on the streets of New York was stabbed to death over a period of 30 minutes while as many as 38 witnesses did nothing, despite her pleas for help," write GuluWalk founder Adrian Bradbury and Resolve Uganda senior researcher Peter Quaranto in Uganda's Sunday Monitor and at Reuters AlertNet.
Psychologists explain it as the 'bystander effect.' In the face of an emergency, a person is less likely to intervene when others are present. It's our nature to assume that the next person will act, thus relinquishing responsibility.
That description sounds a lot like the international community's response or lack thereof surrounding the faltering Juba peace process. The diplomatic corps, hampered by fatigue and impatience, has adopted a wait-and-see approach as events unfold. Yet, when everyone expects the other to take action, no one will."
Follow this link to read the entire Op/Ed at Reuters Foundation AlertNet.
I wasn't able to file this alert when I first found out about it a couple of weeks ago. I had to wait until I could stop the helpless giggling that came on every time I thought about this one. Now, however, I am able to confer Idiot Alert File membership on Gariele Amorth. It seems that Pope Benny the funky-hatted one, has decided to engage the devil in fisticuffs and so he has called on his trusty sidekick, Father Gabriele Amorth, Exorcist in Chief of the Roman Catholic Church. Amorth's response to his captain's call is to begin the training of hundreds of priests as exorcists. Under Amorth's master plan, each bishop worldwide would have a group of priests in his diocese who were specially trained in both exorcism and sneaking their way into the devil's various strongholds while Mission Impossible music plays in the background. "Thanks be to God that we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," Father Amorth says. "Now bishops are to be obliged to have a number of established exorcists for their diocese. Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a proper, trained exorcist. Worse for me than the idea itself is that last quote. I haven't yet been able to keep a straight face while I'm reading that blather. I swear the images of Bugs Bunny come unbidden every time I read it. I see Bugs innocently chewing on a carrot, unaware that Elmer Fudd is creeping up behind him, his every step punctuated by the string section of the orchestra playing pizzicato. As the dastard raises the barrel of his shotgun and aims it at Bugs' head, all seems lost. Then our hero comes through - how could we ever doubt him? - reaching into a breast pocket (cleverly concealed in the fur on his chest) and pulling out a sledge hammer that would defy Atlas himself to lift it. Never missing a chew on his carrot, Bugs easily swings it behind his head and connects with Fudd's bald pate, laying the villain low. Variations on that scenario are all that I can picture when I imagine Amorth's hosts taking on the manifestations of the Cloven Hoofed One. I refuse to think of Amorth having any ulterior motive here, like trying to drum up sales for his books, "An Exorcist Tells His Story" and "An Exorcist: More Stories". If sales were a little slower than he might like, I'm sure it would give them a boost to have a sudden boom in cases of exorcism, worldwide, but I steadfastly refuse to believe the good father would dabble in a little of his own devilry to manipulate the take. Geez, all I have to do is remember the picture taken in December 2005, of Pope Grinch the First. The look on his face that day makes me wonder why Amorth isn't gathering his troops and paying a call on Il Papa himself. I think they should try a little exorcism there. It couldn't hurt. Until I read news of Amorth doing just that, I'm giving him star billing in the Idiot Alert Files.
Which one is the more important of the above two, especially if both are in danger and one might have to be sacrificed to save the other? The film I just saw, "The Rape of Europa" raises the question and returns to it more than once through its length, but never really posits a definitive answer, leaving it instead to the viewer. The film was kick started by the award winning book of the same name, written by Lynn Nicholas. It looks in detail at the recovery (sometimes) and repatriation of works of art stolen by Hitler and the Nazis over a period of twelve years. The viewer is informed that when Hitler was poised to invade a country, his habit was to prepare a shopping list of art works that were to make their way to his private collection of to the planned art museum he wanted to construct in Linz. If he regarded the people of that country as sufficiently cultured to be allowed to remain in the world of the Third Reich, he generally regarded their art treasures as worth purloining. This was the case, for instance, in both France and Italy. If he regarded the people as "degenerate" such as the Poles, and the Russians, then their art was to be destroyed the same way as the people themselves were. He did, however, find it possible to make exceptions, personally browsing the collections of many Jewish collectors he had consigned to death camps. Presumably, he was looking for creations attributable to Aryan masters, only. There is heartbreak in the film. How could there not be? In one scene, a German officer uses what looks like it might be a riding crop to forcibly turn the head of an old woman from side to side, perhaps to better display this living example of a degenerate people. In another part of the film, the viewer meets Jacques Altman, a Parisian Jew who survived the war. He tells the camera about his time spent in Paris in forced labour, sorting through the belongings of other Parisian Jews sent to concentration camps. He says he was one of five brothers, and that he had already lost his parents and all his brothers before his own imprisonment began. Altman tells how he came across his family's belongings one day and how he managed to "steal" some family photos. All were lost to him when he was sent to a camp, himself. You can only try to fathom the grief he went through. There are stories of triumph told in the film, as well. Maria Altmann, Vienna-born heiress of the Bloch-Bauer family spent long years fighting the government of Austria for the return of the Gustav Klimt paintings stolen by the Nazis. They included the portrait of her aunt Adele, perhaps the most famous one. Finally, she was awarded the paintings. The Louvre presents the film's audience with another tale of triumph and one of a little-known heroine, as well. When the museum's imminent fall to the Nazis loomed large, the staff mobilized an evacuation that saw many of the works of art, including the Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa, stored in secret in countryside chateaux. While the Nazis conducted their "shopping" and stealing, one museum curator risked life and limb to record the activity. Described in the film as a "mouse" to whom no-one paid much attention, Rose Valland used the carefully guarded secret of her fluency in German to keep track of who took what; from whom it was taken; and to where it was sent. Her list has helped to repatriate many of the stolen pieces, but it has done nothing to aid in the cases of those pieces bought by the German invaders. The film's narrator, Joan Allen, mentions briefly the fact that many Jews who had possession of any collectible piece sold them in exchange for a life, when possible. Of course, fair prices would never have been paid, but the pieces would never have been sold either, except for the dire circumstances in which the owners found themselves. Nearly 2,000 works of art - including sculptures by Rodin and paintings by Picasso - remain in question. The film introduces the "Monuments Men" or "Venus Fixers" of the U.S. military, given the task of protecting endangered works of art and architecture from bombings, and returning purloined pieces, when possible. General Eisenhower facilitated their work, when possible, by forbidding looting and destruction, as well as forbidding the billeting of troops in culturally significant structures. Although the assumption might be made that these men worked at one of the war's "safe" tasks, they were at the front lines and in danger. Captain Walter Huchthausen and Major Ronald Edmund Balfour, both Monuments Men, were killed while helping to rescue treasures of the western world's culture. Scenes of the population of Florence holding a victory parade in 1945 when their treasures were returned by the Monuments Men give the audience a chance to feel better about the fate of the western world's threatened artistic heritage, certainly, but given the Holocaust, perhaps the happiest scene of all comes at the end of the film when we see the return of some rimonim to the Torah scrolls they were meant to adorn. Returned to their rightful place by a German man dedicated to returning these bell-festooned scroll toppers, the rimonim occasion a celebration and dance, in which the German participates. Smile all around. The question posed at the beginning of this entry, however, is still unanswered when the credits roll. One vet of the war narrates his part in the taking of Montecassino, relating the time spent trying to avoid bombing the centuries-old monastery that perched high above the allies' position. He emphasized the strategic importance of the high ground it occupied and makes it clear that his opinion was the monastery had no importance at all to him when he viewed it as part of the choice between his comrades-in-arms and its continued existence as a heritage site. The film's makers are careful to point out that after the decision to bomb the site was taken, it was discovered that the Germans were not using it as a fighting post, after all. They were sheltered all around it, but not actually in it. I wonder if the film makers' taking care to make that point indicates belief that the answer to the above question is that historical works of art are worth the saving, no matter the cost in human life. I can not agree. If a piece of cultural heritage must be sacrificed to save a life, so be it. I think that no matter how irreplaceable the perceived masterpiece might be; no matter how much of a cultural treasure it is deemed, it can not be worth more than even one human life. Each and every life is a masterpiece in itself; a true work of art worth more than paint or marble, stone or gold could ever be.
In 1999, Doctor Doug Snider disappeared from the northwest Alberta town of Fairview. His body has never been found but his blood has been - both on the clothes and in the trunk of the car owned by Abraham Cooper, a former doctor. Having served time for the manslaughter he was convicted of in 2000, Cooper is due to be released next month. A statutory release date was set for Sept. 1, 2005 but it became publicly known in January, 2005 that prison officials were asking the federal parole board to keep Cooper in prison past the release date. Such a move is allowed to Correctional Service Canada only when it believes the inmate is likely to commit another serious crime when s/he is released from custody. Shouldn't such a move be waving huge red flags in the faces of everyone who has anything to do in any way at all with this case? If the man is still in custody today, we can assume that the National Parole Board saw the wisdom in the Correctional Service Canada's 2005 request. The Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons has also seen fit to drop Cooper from its medical register, doing so in January 2004, despite Cooper's claims that Snider had faked his own death as part of his plot to ruin Cooper. The college obviously did not believe Cooper. It is also known that during his time behind bars, Cooper has been vowing to "get even" with everyone involved in putting him behind those bars. Can anyone explain to me why this man should be released? If he is uttering such threats, shouldn't they be sufficient grounds to keep him in custody? Can you tell me why someone viewed by authorities as a criminal at high-risk of recidivism is going to be unleashed on the community again? Why? Lock the creep up and throw away the keys. Since he is 69, we could put him on a hard-labour detail. He would either have the good grace to die of cardiac arrest; or he would benefit from the exercise, toughening up and living longer than he might have otherwise. If that were the case, Canada could pat itself on the back for taking such good care of its prison system denizens. Those on whom Cooper has vowed revenge could also enjoy a longer life span than what he apparently has in mind for them if released.
Last night I saw one of my former heroes displaying feet of clay, and I went home feeling so disappointed. I'm talking about Stephen Lewis, former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. A Companion of the Order of Canada, and recipient of honorary degrees from various universities, the man has spent a lifetime raising his voice in concern over things that matter. Last night, however, I heard him speaking for the Ontario Heritage Trust, an agency of the government of Ontario, and it was like hearing him dishonouring his own past. Walking into the Winter Gardens Theatre in Toronto, I was handed a double-fold brochure, as was every other ticket holder. It held the evening's program, but as I looked at it, the agenda was not what I was seeing. In front of me, instead, were all the trees killed to make those one-use papers that most people littered the floor under the seats with and/or ignored. Upon leaving the theatre, every guest who reached for one was given a package of more dead trees, with three booklets, two more brochures and a CD, all wrapped in a plastic sleeve. Surely, an agency concerned with preserving heritage, including natural heritage resources, as we were told repeatedly, could do better than that. Rather than endangering so much of Ontario's natural resources, would they not have done better to simply guide us to a website we could visit, if we wanted more info? The evening was one of profligate waste of the very natural heritage they purport to preserve. Seeing Lewis align his name with such a group was saddening. The man has such a way with words. Describing himself as having just finished a time of "travelling peripateticly" around the U.S., Lewis played with multi-syllabic words, rolling them around his mouth and firing them off at his listeners at a rapid-fire rate. His innate aptitude for using words to draw shimmering castles in the air just seemed so wasted on the topic he had agreed to present. I noted from the beginning of the evening that mention of the heritage of Ontario's First Nations' people was conspicuous only in its absence. Apparently, the Heritage Trust regards its mission as relating only to the heritage of those of European descent, although if they were queried on the issue, you could safely bet your whole life savings on a blustery denial of the accusation having any veracity. At one point in his address, Stephen Lewis, the man of causes, did come through when he spoke of the United Nation's heritage fund being able to find millions to send to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to save some parkland there. Noting that the locale is the "worst place in the world" to be a woman, he said that the violence routinely directed against the women of the republic is "unimaginable". Lewis mentioned that it would be nice if such funds could also be found to help the women, but that wasn't the thrust of his talk. Raising money for an agency that wants to use it for such activities as erecting plaques throughout Ontario, the United Kingdom, Europe and the U.S. was; and so he went on to tell us that the Heritage Trust couldn't accomplish their mission without us. Mercifully, the talk did not last more than an hour. It was more than long enough to see someone like Lewis tarnishing himself by associating with such Euro-centric money grubbers who specialize in ignoring the things that really matter.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." So said Martin Luther King, Jr. He was right about that, as he was about so many other issues. He remains a man to be emulated, a man to serve as a role model and a hero. King obviously occupies such a position for SOL GUY, the host and co-creator of 4REAL, a TV series that takes celebrity guests, like Mos Def, Joaquin Phoenix, MIA and K'NAAN around the world. In places like Kenya, Peru, Haiti and Liberia, they connect with young leaders who are affecting real change in spite of the extreme conditions they live under. You can catch the series on National Geographic International Channels, beginning in February 2008, or you can visit the website now. Sol's decision not to be silent arose from a trip he made to Africa where, he says, he held babies who had had arms and legs chopped off over diamonds. "I couldn't come back to New York and do bling-bling hip-hop after that." he declares to anyone who will listen. With the 4REAL project, he is reaching out to his target audience -today's youth- asking them to get involved and eschew the silence, too. Talking about MLK, Sol makes a strong case for all of us to avoid the dangers of relegating the man to a memory we drag out for one day of the year, before putting him back on the shelf to gather dust. "I mean a holiday is cool but I am always skeptical cause holidays are the cousin of nostalgia and once things become "historic" they can lose impact." Sol writes, going on to add "... we can STAND UP and demand change even in the face of adversity, threats, potential loss of position and even death. We are all capable and able. Honor his memory by truly standing for what you believe in, this action starts within and slowly extends outwardly! On the real what would Dr. King think of the racial or political situation of America and the world? Honor him by being him, not simply remembering him." Every one on this planet has a right to get to that promised land of equality that MLK envisioned. Every one of us has a duty to break the silence of complacency and reach out to our less privileged brothers and sisters. Teachers and parents should be on the front row of those viewing 4REAL, so that they can walk to that land with the young people they lead. I want to end this entry with the clip below, because I feel that every word on it spoken by the great man is relevant to the need of our brothers and sisters for us to raise our voices about things that matter. I can not watch this clip, even all these years after this hero left us, without tears in my eye and a catch in my throat. If you're interested in keeping the spirit of MLK a vital force on more than one day of the year; if you're interested in affecting change, start with the video clip below for some powerful inspiration, and then join in the chorus. Please, break the silence.
On February 6th, Paris Hilton will be at Harvard to accept her woman of the year award. Yep, it's true, but before you snort your coffee out your nose in surprise, let me give you one important detail. The title bestowed on her is from the Harvard Lampoon, and the carryings-on will take place at Lampoon Castle in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The good folk at the Lampoon say that "all are welcome". After all, a joke's humour increases exponentially when you share it with others and what is this woman, other than a bad joke? The Harvard Lampoon first appeared in February, 1876, when then-president Ulysses S. Grant was advised not to read the mag so as to avoid the danger of being left too much "in stitches" to properly run the government. They credit themselves with having invented some humour standards, like the one "Have you taken a bath? No, is one missing?", and some vocab like "pizazz". Honorary members of the Lampoon include Robin Williams, John Cleese, Bill Cosby and the cast of SNL, among others. Joke or not, I'm still having a little difficulty getting my mind around seeing Paris Hilton's name within a ten-mile radius of anything that bears the name "Harvard".
For every one of us in the developed world who uses pads or tampons, there is now the opportunity to help change the world by the simple act of buying monthly necessities. The two brands Tampax and Always are partnering with HERO to support the Protecting Futures program. This initiative is helping young women to maintain regular school attendance, rather than having to miss up to 20% of their school year because they lack the feminine products women of the western world take for granted. According to the United Nations, women make up approximately half of the world's population, yet they do two-thirds of the world's work. Even though they are so hard-working, they earn only one-tenth of the world's income. The importance, or lack thereof, of the roles played by women in their respective societies can impact their whole family. The importance of an educated woman filling these roles can not be overemphasized. As well as providing feminine hygiene products, Always and Tampax are both involved in the giving of school supplies, the building of schools and the construction of pipelines to bring fresh water to schools located in remote areas of Southern Africa. This last project, for instance, helps to illustrate the desperate need for education in the area. It is the girls who are expected to walk the necessary miles every day to fetch water. Since they can't be in two places at once, these students miss even more of their schooling. Life is more than hard for them. If we can do something to ease their burden, shouldn't we? If it requires no more effort than buying one of these two brands, how can we not? Nelson Mandela had it just right when he said that education is the most powerful weapon there is for changing the world. Helping these girls to obtain an education is an essential for the health of our whole world. As the website states: "One girl can change a family. One family can change a community. One community can change a nation. One nation can change the world. " Ladies, let's get involved with this one. Think of how easy it will be to do so much good!
For another take on environmental issues, you'll find a thought-provoking read here. Titling the entry "There are Two Wolves Inside Each of Us", the blogger writes about Thomas King's theory of the good and evil in each of us - the two wolves. The image painted by King of humankind pushing the earth to the edge of a precipitous cliff and then standing there with cameras poised is indeed a powerful one. Take a moment to visit the blog linked above if you're one of those interested in having a viable Earth to pass on to your grandchildren. Read the article to meet Raoul and see how welcoming a Raoul of your own into your life could be the very step you'll take toward that viable planet.
There are so many stories every day that deal with the sad; the horrible. That's why I'm quoting this one from the Herald Sun to share a smile with you for a change.
Actor Johnny Depp secretly visited London's Great Ormond St Hospital yesterday to donate a million pounds to thank staff for saving his daughter's life. Depp arrived unexpectedly at the renowned children's hospital where eight-year-old Lily-Rose was treated last year when her kidneys failed. Last week he invited five Great Ormond St doctors and nurses to the party for the London premiere of his film Sweeney Todd. And unknown to the public, Depp spent four hours at the hospital telling bedtime stories to patients dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates Of The Caribbean. Last March, Lily-Rose spent nine days at Great Ormond St when E.coli poisoning led to the failure of her kidneys.
Can you just imagine the looks on some of those patients' faces when Captain Jack Sparrow walked in to read them a bedtime story? Kudos to Johnny Depp on this one.
There's a tempest brewing in the Quebec teacup about the "right" to be served in French in la belle province. Beaucoup de grincer des dents has been going on lately, enough so that CBC radio hosted a segment dealing with the perceived problem this morning. I was listening to it on the way back from an outing and doing some of my own gnashing of teeth. For me, this radio show was coming right on the heels of a little blurb I read in one of yesterday's freebie newspapers. I'll get back to that blurb in a minute. Many of the people calling in to the show were whining in heavy French-Canadian accents about not being greeted on all sides with a never-ending stream of French. It reminded me of the complaint made in October 2007 by lamebrain lawyer Guy Bertrand. On October 13, Saku Koivu, captain of the Canadiens, introduced teammates in a pre-game ceremony in English only. "I have the right to be served in my language," Bertrand whined. "He has been playing for 12 years (for the Canadiens). He is married to a francophone. It demonstrates contempt for our language. It is not respectful." Like the complainers on this morning's talk radio, Bertrand asserts that French has an historical place in our country and should be carefully preserved. Bill 101 was mentioned repeatedly by those on today's CBC segment. That bill specified French as the only language to be used on commercial signs, among other things. If business owners did want to include the country's hated other official language, they were to make sure it was teensy-weensy in size compared to the French. There have been court challenges to the bill, of course. One Quebec court ruled in 1999 that the province could not continue to impose restrictions on the use of English in commercial signs unless it could prove the "fragility" of the French language in Quebec society. That ruling was overturned by the Quebec Superior Court in 2000, but I think it's particularly significant in the midst of this tempête dans une tasse de thé, because of that word "fragility". Now let's get back to that little blurb in the newspaper. It was so small in size. It had the look of one of those articles stuck in simply to fill an empty space. The news it carried, however, was huge in significance. It dealt with the incontestable fragility of the Aboriginal languages of Canada. I'm betting Guy Bertrand et alii don't give a rat's ass about this, although these are the languages that have more of an historical place in Canadian society than any other, including their beloved French. I'm betting they don't see any contempt or lack of respect in the treatment accorded Aborignal languages. The relevant numbers are sad. In 1996, for instance, the number of Inuit who reported speaking Inuktitut as the main language at home was 58%. By 2006, that had already declined to only 50%. Among Canada's Metis population, only four per cent report speaking an Aboriginal language in 2006, compared to five per cent in 2001. Among Canada's First Nations people, 29% report being "able to carry on a conversation" in an Aboriginal language. Having the ability to carry on a conversation, however, is not necessarily the same as possessing fluency. StatsCan reports that there are currently 50 or more Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada, but over approximately the last 100 years, ten languages have become extinct. Does that not constitute a state of fragility for Aboriginal languages? At the moment, only one in four Aboriginal people speaks an Aboriginal language, and young Aboriginal language speakers are increasingly more likely to acquire their language as a second language rather than as a mother tongue. Does that not constitute dire straits for these languages? Fragility, indeed. I would like to ask Mr. Bertrand and the others of his ilk, where does an Aboriginal language speaker have the right to be served in their own language? Inuktitut, Haida, Cree, Tlingit or any other - they all have centuries more historical place in Canada than does your mother tongue. Do you care? Will you donate any of your time to the Aboriginal struggle to have their languages granted honour of place? Can you spare any of your vehement declarations about rights for those languages declared endangered, or is it really just all about you?
Yesterday's entry about the hours in-flight logged by the members of the NHLPA included info about buying carbon credits in their efforts to offset environmental impact created by those hours. The players aren't the only ones, of course, encouraged to take such a step. You and I would be well advised to get on board this one, too. We might just want to give it a second thought before we climb on board any plane that has to traverse the tarmac before it takes to the air. According to the results of a study released in the January 2008 issue of "Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine", the tarmac is becoming the most dangerous place for airplane travel. Using the data from 558 reports tabled during the period from 1983 to 2002, the study determined that pilot error, which accounted for 42% of dire in-flight situations in the '80's, has been reduced to just 25%, due to better technology and pilot training. Takeoffs are safer, as well. The 70% risk factor of the '80's has also been lowered. The only fly in all of this good news ointment is that mishaps on the ground - aircraft collisions, for instance - have more than doubled. The prediction is being made that with more and more people flying; more and more aircraft jockeying for position of the runway; aircraft travel might soon involve more fatalities on the ground, before the wheels even lift off from the tarmac. Makes you wonder if we could come up with some variation on the theme of in-flight refuelling. A little hovercraft technology could be mixed into the design of airplanes to allow them to take on their passengers from atop a tower, only after the safe takeoff is a fait accompli.
NHL players are always on the road, travelling to away games. The estimate is that each player generates 10 tons of carbon emissions per hockey season, and that NHL players in total make at least 5,000 flights a year. Enter Andrew Ference, currently playing defense for the Boston Bruins. "It's important, as high profile athletes, to use our platform to deliver a message of environmental responsibility and accountability.", says Ference. To that end, he has initiated the National Hockey League Players' Association "Carbon Neutral Challenge" to get the players actively involved in taking environmental responsibility. The program's goal has been to have NHL players purchasing carbon credits to offset their own carbon footprint. Researched and designed for the players by the David Suzuki Foundation, the initiative has seen more than 350 players take on the challenge so far. Gold Standard carbon offsets for the challenge are being purchased through the Montreal based, not-for-profit Planetair. Also initiated by Ference is a partnership between the NHLPA and the David Suzuki Foundation that will include the Carbon Neutral Challenge. The partnership will see the Foundation acting as an environmental resource to help the NHLPA become more eco-friendly. Steps are already being taken to "green up" the NHLPA's Toronto office, with a focus on energy efficiency improvements and waste reduction in the office, as well as offsetting staff business travel. "I congratulate the NHLPA and the players for showing leadership on the issue of climate change," says Dr. David Suzuki, co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. "We have worked with them to ensure that this initiative has environmental integrity, including the use of high quality Gold Standard carbon offsets. Not only are players addressing their own climate impact, but their actions will deliver an important message that will inspire millions of hockey fans and be a model for other sports." If reading this is getting you inspired to see how you can get involved, it is suggested that hockey fans (and anyone else) check out both www.nhlpa.com and www.davidsuzuki.org for the information you'll need. Back to Ference, if he isn't a guy to get others inspired, no one is. Not content to be involved only with the Carbon Neutral Challenge, the man also is active with The Right to Play This global, nonprofit organization teaches sport and play programs to kids whose lives have been impacted by war, poverty and disease. Their self-declared mission is to create "a healthier and safer world for children through the power of sport and play" and you can help them out too, if you're interested, by purchasing one of Right to Play's Red Balls. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of every Red Ball will go to Right to Play. You can buy them online, so this helpful gesture won't even have to take you outside the comfort of your own home. Maybe you can mark the purchase of a Red Ball on your calendar as something to do between periods the next time Ference and the Bruins take the ice.
The organizers of this month's Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland are asking the citizenry of the world to post videos on YouTube describing the ways they envision to ameliorate the mess our little blue planet is in. A selection of the best offerings will be screened during the annual gathering in Davos, at the end of January. The above invitation to "do something" could lead to your idea being given the red carpet treatment. It could lead to you becoming an instrument of change. I suppose some might find that a heady thought, but I wonder how many who submit ideas will really be ready to make changes. How many will be wanting the government or someone else to make the magic changes necessary, while they prefer to be left alone to continue with their present lifestyle? If you had been at the Naked Ape Party held last night here in Toronto, you would have heard Doctor David Suzuki address that very issue; the idea that the problem is some vague "somewhere" out there and not right in their own backyards, let alone their own bodies. He gave a short talk. It was definitely not one of his more taxing appearances, but it was pithy and he made every syllable count. If you listened, you came away with food for thought, although I suspect that many of the people there last night were already the converted; the ones already finding more than enough of a challenge in trying to figure out how to cure the present environmental ills. Suzuki told his listeners that we are all made of the four elements; the same four that comprise our world - earth, air, fire, and water. We are earth since so much of our food grows in the earth. He told us that we do to the earth, we do to ourselves. We are water, since the human body is approximately 70% water. He told us that we do to the water, we do to ourselves. We are air, since we breathe it in every minute of our entire life span. He told us that we do to the air, we do to ourselves. We are fire, since the fire of the sun is what allows us to grow the crops we eat, as well as so many of us eating animals that eat those crops. He used argon gas as an indicator to help us understand just how much we are all part of each other; to tell us how we need to understand that the problems are not "out there". They are right inside of our very being. Argon gas does not interact with other substances, the way oxygen does, for instance. So much of the oxygen that we inhale remains in our lungs, binding to cells. Not so argon. What we inhale, we exhale. Prevailing winds blow it continuously around the globe and so it is calculated that on any given day we are again inhaling some of the very same argon we exhaled approximately one year ago. He explained to the audience that given the finite supply of air on Earth, and the nature of argon gas, at some point in our life we all inhale argon exhaled by Gandhi and other historical figures. Suzuki went on to explain that when he is telling young school children about this, he tells them that the air he exhales from his nose will be going up theirs in a moment. He says they all exclaim in disbelief, as if, says he, they all think they have their own private bubble of air in front of their face - a bubble off limits to everyone else. While the audience laughed at this little anecdote, I am sure many were thinking as I was, that far too ,many adults act as though they believe exactly the same thing those kids do. What we do to the air, indeed, we do to ourselves. Before Suzuki took the stage, a video was shown of his then 12-year-old daughter Severn speaking at the UN Earth Summit in 1992. She made an impassioned plea to the powers that be in the world to understand that they are only borrowing the world from their own sons and daughters. She called on them to understand that the world they would be handing on to their grandchildren is not the Eden it should be. It is, in fact, becoming more of a cesspool of pollution everyday. Her short talk should be required viewing in every business boardroom; in every school. It isn't. Unfortunately, the attitude to the environmental problems our species is facing is far too much one of expectation that someone else will fix them. There are too many who feel that attendance at an event like last night's fundraiser for the David Suzuki Foundation allows them to sit back on their laurels and feel righteous, without ever really taking any positive, ongoing action in their own life. Writing in Time magazine in August 2002, Severn told her readers that as a twelve-year-old, her confidence in the world's powers making the necessary changes was strong. In the ten years since then , she has come to realize that the prevailing attitude that the changes will be made by a vague someone else have precluded the amelioration she expected. "(A)ddressing our leaders is not enough. As Gandhi said many years ago, "We must become the change we want to see." I am sure that some came away from last night's gathering feeling good; feeling reassured. I came away feeling despondent; feeling like what we are doing now is very possibly too little, too late. Even at last night's gathering, there were those who were more concerned with their drinks and their socializing than they were with giving any polite attention to those on the stage. It is sometimes so hard to hold on to faith in our species. I understand the younger Suzuki's declaration that, "My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual's voice to reach them has been deeply shaken." Sometimes I wonder, when will humankind learn?
I know there's no shortage of quotes from George W. that would make anyone shake their head, but the following is one of my favourites. Reading something like this, you just have to wonder, is the man really that stupid, or are there some Freudian slips going on every once in a while?
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -- Aug. 5, 2004
Magazine Monitor, of the BBC News, publishes a weekly feature called "10 things we didn't know last week". To mark the arrival of 2008, they have put together a list of 100 of the best from the previous year. The list gives a short blurb about each followed by a link that will give you more details, if you're curious. You can get the goods on everything from Saddam Hussein's codename while he was in U.S. custody, to why you'd want to put your dishcloth in the microwave. Finding out that chimps have been observed making weapons. particularly spears, may come as a surprise to you, as might the news that "females, particularly adolescent females, and young chimps in general were seen exhibiting this behaviour more frequently than adult males." This item on the list made for some interesting reading for me, but you might prefer to find out more about harvesting rhubarb by candlelight, or what Dr. George Fieldman of Buckingham Chilterns University has to say about the "ideal combination of measurements and wiggle". Learning the stats on gun ownership in Finland may not make for the most fascinating reading, but getting the details on how pheasant hunter James Harris' dog shot him in the left leg could be a giggle for anyone opposed to hunting. Wherever your interests lie, there's bound to be something on this list to catch your eye.
Researchers from the Oxford Hair Foundation in the U.K. have set the date. By the year 2100, according to these lab coat wearers, the only redhead you'll see is one that comes to you courtesy of Miss Clairol. Now that the races are intermingling to beat the band, the "incomplete dominant" gene responsible for natural redheads is being completely dominated out of existence. At the moment,less than 4% of the world's population boasts natural red tresses.
Team Canada will be heading home from the world junior hockey championship, held this year in Pardubice, with its fourth straight gold medal.Canada's 3-2 win over Sweden came in overtime with a goal by Matt Halischuk. Earlier in the day, Russia laid the U.S. low with a 4-2 win to take the bronze. Victory is sweet.
Several new entrants to the files presented themselves today. First are the young couple who entered the Future Bakery on Bloor Street West at 3:00 this afternoon. I was already seated there, at a table just behind the one where a young man was sitting. His wheelchair was beside the table and he was sitting in one of the regular chairs while he ate. It was apparent from his speech and his movements that he has cerebral palsy. The table beside me was one of the few left available at that point. When the couple entered, they would have had difficulty finding a table to sit at, and so they ended up asking me if there was anyone sitting there and if I minded if they sat down. Of course, I smiled and said they should pull up a chair. Just as I was saying that, the young man angled his head back and greeted them with a loud "Hi!". It took him a moment or two to get it out just right, because of the CP interfering with his speech. Although the couple had already put their bags down and begun to sling their coats over the backs of the chairs, right after the young man's greeting they picked their belongings back up and walked away. Idiots. Running a close second is the moron who owns the vehicle bearing the license plate ABVR 226. They left their car running while they went inside to do shopping at the Galati Bros. store on Leslie Street north of Cummer Avenue this afternoon at approximately 4:30 p.m. They obviously are just too damn stupid to understand the public appeals being made to STOP leaving a car idling. Your thoughtless ways with your car are fucking up the air you're breathing in, too, you moron!
Have you got twenty minutes to spare? Actually twenty minutes and forty seconds. That's all the time you'll need to watch "The Story of Stuff" written by Annie Leonard and produced by the Free Range Studios. Described as a "fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns", this is a film that might come across at first as a little "preachy" but if you stick with it, you'll find some food for thought, guaranteed. . It could very well be the kick start to a new lifestyle for more than one viewer, maybe even you. The film discusses the "designed for the dump" approach to consumerism, and the western world's concept of seeking spiritual satisfaction in consumption. If any of Leonard's message resonates with you, you'll find you've come to a veritable gold mine of resource listing, recommended reading, lists of NGO's and steps to take you on "Another Way". What have you got to lose, beside 4 billion pounds of pollution a year? Take a look.
The "Beast" has issued its 2007 list of the "50 Most Loathsome People in America". While I don't quite agree with all of it, I do agree with their number one choice. Read it below, or go to their site to read the whole list.
1. George W. Bush
Charges: Is it a civil rights milestone to have a retarded president? Maybe it would be, if he were ever legitimately elected. You can practically hear the whole nation holding its breath, hoping this guy will just fucking leave come January '09 and not declare martial law. Only supporters left are the ones who would worship a fucking turnip if it promised to kill foreigners. Is so clearly not in charge of his own White House that his feeble attempts to define himself as "decider" or "commander guy" are the equivalent of a five-year-old kid sitting on his dad's Harley and saying "vroom vroom!" Has lost so many disgusted staffers that all he's left with are the kids from Jesus Camp. The first president who is so visibly stupid he can say "I didn't know what was in the National Intelligence Estimate until last week" and sound plausible. Inarguably a major criminal and a much greater threat to the future of America than any Muslim terrorist.
Exhibit A: "And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it."
Sentence: Dismembered, limbs donated to injured veterans.
I love the acronym "ARK", standing for "acts of random kindness". When enough people join together in such acts, you can damn near build an ark to rival the proportions of Noah's. Amid all the never ending headlines that trumpet the constant acts of cruelty people inflict on each other, I had the honour this past couple of weeks to take part in building an ark. Volunteering at the CNIB had connected me a couple of years ago with a young man new to the city from Jamaica. As well as being visually impaired, he was also in need of adult literacy. He and I took on that challenge together and we surmounted it in style. Recently, however, he was presented with a veritable Everest to scale. Having moved in with a family member when he arrived in Canada, I imagine he felt safe at least about having a place to call home in this new country. He found out otherwise. This person had been using his ODSP funds unfairly and taking advantage of him in such a way that it became apparent it would be right to say, "with a relative like that, who needs an enemy?" In early December this person announced to him that he was no longer welcome in the house where he had helped to make the mortgage payments for several years. He was expected to vacate the premises and take nothing other than personal documents, clothing, and the computer that he had been helped to purchase with government funding because he was a client of the CNIB. When he was merely "my student" I would regularly tell my friends about his accomplishments in his effort to achieve literacy. Now, I told them about his sudden dire straits, and the ARK began to be built, rising up from a barren ground of family relations gone sour on a framework of friends, family, and even total strangers coming together to help someone in need. Follow this link and you'll see another telling of the story that will give you the viewpoint of one of the ARK builders and a few pictures, as well. If you're one of my friends or family who helped, you already know you have my thanks, but let me say them again. If you're on of those strangers who lent a hand, I may never have the pleasure to meet you face-to-face, but I want you to know, too, you're one hell of an ARK-itect!
For someone like me, there just couldn't be any better weather to wake up to on New Year's Day than the weather Toronto is experiencing this morning. The sky is a solid gray promise, and the air is filled with softly falling snowflakes. The branches of the trees have all been coated with a frosting of white. It softens the gauntness of the bare deciduous trees and transforms the evergreens to magical creations. A low pressure system is responsible for the storm and has resulted in a snowfall warning issued for the city of Toronto, as well as other Ontario locales. Those who issue the warning are teasing people like me with the statement that the storm may leave us with up to 15 centimetres of snow before it moves on. So often, their "warning" turns into an empty promise that brings only a disappointing trace of snow. I know many would be more than glad for the meteorologists to be wrong yet again, but today I have my fingers crossed that they will be right in their promise of winter's inclement beauty.
