The news this morning brings to our attention two individuals who feel sure they have the right to arrange reality to their own liking. Prince Harry of England has been found out on the front lines in Afghanistan, trying to pretend he's just another one of the guys. Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer, the man who rearranged his reality by killing his own daughter, has been granted day parole much to the dismay of many. Prince Harry, poor spoiled little rich boy is going to be forced back to the reality of his pampered, sheltered life now that news of his deployment in Afghanistan has been broadcast worldwide. Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British Army will be much relieved. He was the one who convinced his political superiors that 'arry's presence in Iraq would be totally counterproductive. With the deal struck with the British media to keep the big news to themselves, Dannatt said the risk in deploying the prince "was manageable". The risk was in guarding the safety of the "bullet magnet" known as Second Lieutenant Harry Wales. What other soldier has special measures taken to guard them? No-one else represents the same target value to the Taliban as this game-playing British royal does. When asked why he had wanted to be there, Harry had no altruism reasons to offer. No, the third-in-line to the throne just wanted a chance to pretend that he is someone else. Said Harry, being dressed in the same uniform as the others "will give me one of the best chances to be just a normal person". Newsflash, Harry. The reality is, you are not just another person. You come from a pampered lifestyle that is anything but the norm. You've done pretty good at dealing with it before on your nightclub rounds. If you're tired of partying, try involving yourself in some worthwhile causes like your mother did, but stop playing games that put others at risk. It's time to take yourself off home, Harry, and thereby make the front lines just a wee bit safer for your former comrades-in-arms. Robert Latimer, on the other hand, has never known the privilege that Harry has, but he joins the prince in his disconnect from reality, nonetheless. Latimer has now served just seven years of a sentence that stipulated he serve a minimum of ten before any parole, after his conviction on a second-degree murder charge. He had asphyxiated his daughter Tracy in the cab of his truck after deciding that she needed to be put out of her pain. But Latimer had alternatives to that horrendous choice he made. There was help available to him and his family. There was laughter and love available to Tracy. There was life, until he decided he had the right to take it away. The concern in the disabled community today is that the parole granted to Latimer represents a dangerous, precedent setting acceptance of his decision to rearrange reality on behalf of someone unable to defend herself against him. Marie White, chair of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities asks a valid question when she wonders if the board "would have reversed the decision (to deny parole) if Tracy had been a non-disabled child"? There are many "realities" we should all struggle together to rearrange - global warming; the scourge of AIDS in Africa; the state of affairs on Canada's native reserves - the list goes on and on. There is one thing they all have in common, however, and it is that they each would serve to ameliorate conditions for others. None of them seek to serve the selfish interests of one individual only who is willing to ignore the safety and right to life of those around them.
If you're from the southern U.S., you'll recognize the above title as the list of requirements for a good cup of coffee. Whatever you standards are for a good brew, there might be a thing or two about the libation that you don't know. Whether or not you're approaching 50 - the average age at which people begin making the switch from caffeinated to decaffeinated - you might be interested in the following.
Having trouble making yourself down that magic-bullet 8 cups of water a day? Here's something that might help coffee drinkers. According to hydration expert Lawrence Armstrong of the University of Connecticut, "Caffeinated fluids contribute to the daily human water requirement in a manner that is similar to pure water." What better reason to stop at Timmie's or your local Second Cup on the way to work?
We all know exercise is something we should try to include more often in our daily schedules, especially since couch potatoes may be as much as ten years older biologically than their active-lifestyle neighbours; but is there any link between caffeine and lifting those weights? Consuming 100 mg of caffeine (an average 8 ounce cup of joe) can raise your metabolic rate by approximately 5% over a one-day period. Add that to the fact that caffeine helps your body burn fat instead of carbohydrates, and you have all the incentive you need to make a pre-gym coffee a regular part of your workout. Just make sure you don't sabotage this one by "treating" yourself to a hit of empty calories after the gym. No Häagen-Dazs!
Beware the late night cup of coffee. Medical personnel caution against consuming caffeine within three to five hours of bedtime. Depending on how much you do knock back from your late night coffee cup (as little as 200 mg) it can take you two to three times as long to fall asleep, and seriously reduce your REM sleep. REM sleep occurs more than once during a night's slumber, but in total, it may only add up to one and a half hours for the average adult, so you can see you don't have a lot of leeway to work with, if you interfere with it in some way. Studies at MIT indicate that learning ability is directly linked to REM sleep. Caffeine messes with adenosine, the brain's natural sleep regulator, and can create a vicious cycle of dependency. If you consume more coffee after a restless night, in a compensatory bid to be more alert, you're likely to adversely affect the next night's sleep as well. You can just see where this is going, can't you? If you want to know more about coffee and caffeine, make yourself a cup of java, settle down with the March 2005 issue of "Nutrition Action", and read David Schardt's "Caffeine: The Good, the Bad, and the Maybe".
I always like learning about people who devote time and effort to changing the world, even if it does mess with their winning the popularity polls. Since I am a women myself, I like it even better when those who dare to challenge the status quo are female. Yesterday, I learned of two such delightful individuals; Rebecca Lee Crumpler, and Shiri Pasternak. Rebecca Lee Crumpler is no longer with us, having spent her years in this world from 1831 to 1895. While she was here, however, she dared to break down barriers and challenge stereotypes, leaving the world a better place for her sojourn in it. Born in Delaware, she was raised in Pennsylvania by an aunt who gave much of her time to caring for sick neighbours. Because the first formal school for nursing did not open until 1873, Rebecca was able to practise nursing from 1852 to 1860 without formal training. When she did seek this training, she enrolled in the New England Female Medical College, graduating in 1864 as the first African American woman in the U.S. to earn an M.D. degree. The act of practising as a female M.D. would have been enough of a challenge to society at that time, even without the complicating factor of her skin colour, but the good Doctor was not one to seek the easy way. After the end of the Civil War, in 1865, Rebecca made her way to Richmond, Virginia, where black physicians experienced extremes of racism. While there, she worked with other black physicians to care for the newly freed slaves, who you know very well would have had no other access to medical care. You also know they would have had little to no ability to pay for her services, on average, and so it is clear that Rebecca was indeed a good woman; a gentle soul. When she was done in Richmond, she moved to Boston to practise her calling, continuing to exercise her social conscience by providing care for children, "regardless, in a measure, of remuneration". In 1883, she joined the ranks of the very few African Americans who had been published, with her volume "Book of Medical Discourses", medical advice for women and children. You also understand, from reading what little is known about Rebecca Lee Crumpler that this could not have been a woman smiled upon by the powers-that-be of her day. In fact, I'm guessing that with many of them, she was about as popular as a skunk at a garden party. Far too feisty an independent thinker for the upper echelons of her day, they were content to allow her to slip from the collective consciousness upon her death. Likely being judged by the same odoriferous standards of popularity as Crumpler is Shiri Pasternak. Shiri is an urban planning graduate student at the U. of T. who is fighting to implement a bylaw that seeks to set a precedent in affordable housing develpment. This bylaw, if implemented, would give the City of Toronto a framework for expropriating vacant and neglected properties, and turning them into affordable housing. Pasternak says it was her work on private property rights that got her interested in championing the cause. She gathered data from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and presented her idea to map these properties at a Toronto School for Creativity and Inquiry event. Her proposal has been gathering support from various individuals, but she needs above all to gain the support of the city's councillors for the "Use It or Lose It" bylaw to be adopted. Pasternak summarizes her idea by saying "You either use property responsibly or lose that privilege to own private property. And the city can expropriate that building." She and her group have been documenting what they view as available sites, having collected info on "about 25 to 30" in the city and inner suburbs. A spokesman for the city's affordable housing office, Sean Gadon, says that the city does not like to have vacant buildings because they "run down the neighbourhood" but he also says the proposed bylaw could be expensive, and that's when Ms Pasternak begins to take on a certain odour, at least for those who dislike the idea of anyone rocking the status quo boat. Given that almost 48,000 households are currently on Toronto's waiting list for affordable housing, the "Use It or Lose It" bylaw makes a hell of a lot of sense. The only people who won't see it that way are those for whom the lining of their own pockets is far more important than the fate of anyone else on the whole planet. They are the people against whom Shiri will be pitting herself in her efforts to help those struggling to afford decent housing in Toronto. Shiri is much like Rebecca. Both women obviously possess(ed) the ability to see beyond their own little spheres of existence; the penchant for caring about the welfare of others, whether or not they win popularity contests by doing so. We need more just like them.
Pakistan has taken another stop to prove itself as anything but hospitable to people capable of independent thought. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced on Friday that YouTube would be blocked until further notice. Apparently, it contains some material that the authorities find "offensive", material that might actually suggest they don't quite know everything. Since it is essential to such a backward regime to keep its people in the dark about the rest of the world, and order them to think in prescribed ways only, this step was taken. The Authority should busy themselves with providing an alternative; a site showing a plethora of videos starring multitudes of happy little Muslims. They could all be singing unsolicited paeans of praise for the blinders their leaders want to nail to the sides of their heads, so that they will be saved from any annoying need to think for themselves. I'm sure that would draw viewers in droves.
The garbage has a name, and it's Junior Spencer. You want to know about him if you live in Toronto, where police have just issued an alert to the public about this piece of slime. Spencer is considered at high risk to reoffend. He's being released after serving a 2- 1/2 year sentence for making, possessing and distributing child pornography between 1995 and 2005. With the public alert, police have begun their campaign to monitor Spencer, who makes good use of disguises and gaining a family's trust before subjecting their children to depravity. The pedophile's defense lawyers are already bleating about the police using tactics that might breach Spencer's constitutional rights. Too goddamn fucking bad. The man is garbage, and keeping garbage off the streets is always a good idea.
If eating ice cream makes you feel a little guilty and you wish you could come up with some great justification for indulging in the frozen delight, you're going to love the folks at Häagen-Dazs. Forty percent of their flavours contain ingredients that rely on honeybee pollination, but the bees have been suffering from CCD lately, and there is no available explanation for their distress. While the continuing disappearance of honeybees could cause the loss of a disastrous amount of our food supply, it could also mean disaster for ice cream. That's why Häagen-Dazs is launching two new flavours to help save the beleaguered bees. A large lump-sum grant and a portion of the proceeds from the sales of Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream and Vanilla Honey & Granola frozen yogurt will go to geneticists, entomologists, and educators at two american universities who will be researching the cause of the bees' mysterious problem and conducting public education as to helping make their environs more bee-friendly. If you want to be sure you're buying a bee-friendly flavour, look for a bee-striped heart and the "hd loves hb" icon on the packaging. How could you possibly find any better reason to eat ice cream than taking socially conscious action to help save our endangered honeybees?
Continuing on the above theme ... "Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle for the Eco & Socially Conscious ... with "knock your organic socks off" discounts & exclusive offers" proclaims the White Apricot website. If you're someone who takes missions like finding the latest lead-free lipstick or vegan shoes seriously, you really need to check this out. Among others, Better Botanicals body, face and hair products, and Energy Muse Jewelry are available at 20% off; while Terra Plana shoes and Edun clothing can be had for 15% off. A visit to the site will allow you to link to all kinds of others worth investigating. Some of them include White Apricot's choice of the top statement-making tees. You could outfit yourself with a new tee for each day of the week from suppliers that range from The Green Project in New Orleans and Save the Children to the Good Dog Foundation. What's not to like about a tee that's comfy for you to wear while you help change the world? Follow the link and sign up for their free newsletter. They can help you take your lifestyle in a more eco-friendly direction, while you save a little money.
The latest outbreak of violence in the States saw 27-year-old Stephen Kazmierczak dead by his own hand before it was over. Dressed all in black, Kazmierczak stepped out yesterday afternoon from behind a curtain on the stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, and opened fire with a shotgun. He fired repeatedly, 20 times or more according to eyewitnesses, killing five and wounding fifteen, before he turned his weapon on himself. This morning, a sixth victim succumbed to the wounds inflicted by the murderous Kazmierczak. Now, the sorrowful vigils and the memorials begin. Universitites across the continent will check on their security systems and beef them up where the need is perceived, but who will move to address the problem at its actual roots? There is something increasingly wrong with a society that produces more and more Kazmierczaks. I doubt there will be an answer to the problem until we, as a whole, begin to rethink our approach to life. We assign value and worth to so much that is worthless, but too frequently we assign so little to the things we really need to treasure. The problem is complex, as is the answer, but beefing up security is only a stopgap. It will do little to stop those determined to kill.
Those determined to take lives leave devastation in their wake; consequences that can last for a lifetime and more. The families of yesterday's shooting victims now have to face the horrendous task of continuing their day-to-day lives in spite of the gaping hole left by senseless death. They share an unwanted solidarity with families a whole world away from them, in Viet Nam. Many people there, too, are desperately seeking a way forward from the aftermath of violence. That outbreak of taking lives was officially over decades ago, however, unlike the shooting at the university. The Viet Nam citizens trying to leave behind the war are facing a far more insidious enemy than one wielding a gun. They are living with agent orange, still. They are the children born with defects caused by this dioxin-laden herbicide and defoliant; to parents who had no idea of the devestation that would be visited on their loved ones, the same as the parents now grieving in Illinois. The little girl, Van, five years old in 2006 when she was profiled in the Washington Post, stands for every one of the victims still coming forth to be added to the toll wreaked by agent orange. Anthony Faiola, writing in the Post on Nov. 13, 2006, said this about the little one: "Van, 5, spends her days at home, playing by herself on the concrete floor because local school officials say her appearance frightens other children. She has an oversize head and a severely deformed mouth, and her upper body is covered in a rash so severe her skin appears to have been boiled. According to Vietnamese medical authorities, she is part of a new generation of Agent Orange victims, forever scarred by the U.S.-made herbicide containing dioxin, one of the world's most toxic pollutants." The clean-up that needs to be done will take an estimated $60 million U.S. Of course, it has to be kept in mind that the clean-up is what we think it will be possible to do. No-one really knows for sure, yet, what will and will not be possible when we are talking such a pollutant; such an instrument of mass destruction. How many North Americans are even aware of the plight facing parents of children like Van? How many prayer vigils will be held for her and the others like her? Maybe, if we could join together in making Van and the others in her situation more important than the purchase of the latest must-have electronic equipment, the number of incidents like yesterday's shooting at Northern Illinois might actually decrease. The U.S. government denies responsibility for the havoc created by agent orange, saying that there is insufficient proof that the defects are directly attributable to the defoliant they used. American vets are still seeking compensation from the government for themselves and their children. Those vets understand. They say the government is just waiting for them all to die and end the pesty claims that way. How can a society governed by official bodies displaying such attitudes hope to do much better than to exhibit the same indifference to the value of life, and suffer tha malaise that accompanies such a disconnect from reality? Maybe if we, as a whole, could decide that life is the most important possession for all of us, and that sharing it with every other one of our species is a guaranteed way to find happiness; maybe then we could stop doing such horrendous things to each other.
On a related note, a death knell is sounding today in Toronto for the clothing line produced by Linda Lundstrom. For me, it sounds a note similar to the mournful tones of the Illinois University shooting and the children still falling victime to agent orange in Viet Nam, because so much of our complacent indifference to the plight of others is based on the dollar sign. Pursuit thereof and the disinclination to share it with others is right in the middle of every one of our planet's major problems. Lundstron ran her clothing factory on the principles of environmental stewardship. She believed in corporate accountability, and proved it by taking such steps as giving stock overages to women's shelters rather than selling them to discounters, and using bamboo grown without pesticides to make some of her fashion line. She has found, however, that environmentalism lacks importance for too many people. She has found that while so many pay lip service to caring for others, few are willing to put their words into actions, especially if it is perceived as being unprofitable. While Lundstrom did run afoul of more than one causal factor in her company's bankruptcy, like the strength of the loonie against the american buck, she has also refused to close her north american production and switch to sweatshop production elsewhere. She is suffering the consequences of having a global awareness that places her in the minority of those who actively care about the plight of others. If everyone would stop buying sweatshop products, manufacturers would soon change their ways. After all, the dollar sign is the bottom line for them. We could do it. We could make the world a friendly place for every one of us, if we got out priorities straight. What is stopping us?
Here's something for Ontarians to read with pride. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has just released results of a study which included 23 rural and urban high schools in southwestern Ontario. The study by Doctor David Wolfe found that almost half of the female high school students are subjected to sexual gestures or comments, such as having body parts "rated", and one-third are touched, grabbed or pinched in a sexually aggressive way. Between 2004 and 22007, 1,819 students were involved in the study when they were in grade nine, and then followed-up two years later. 46% of the girls were targeted sexually both in grade 9 and in grade 11. By the time the girls were in grade 11, they were reporting feeling pressure to take part in sexual activity they did not want and participating in oral sex in order to "avoid having intercourse". Do they not understand STD's, or are they just too intimidated to be able to take care of their own futures? Doesn't this study prove that the experience can not be dismissed as merely a "big city" problem? Too many people who already live in, or move to smaller towns to raise their children, think that the smaller town size is some kind of magic protection against the evils they are sure dwell only in the big city. It is nothing so simple as that, unfortunately. Twenty-nine percent of the grade nine girls reported feeling unsafe at school. These study results are indicative of a malaise our whole society suffers from, and until it is acknowledged as such, the situation will not be ameliorated. We need to stop worshipping at the altar of consumerism and begin instead to value life. The challenge of living a more simple life; of finding fulfillment in places other than at the mall seems beyond the grasp of so many. It is not a magic bullet, either, but it is a huge part of the solution to many of our societal problems. When will we wake up to this fact?
I found this little nugget just yesterday, the same day when I saw the results of the study mentioned above, and they fit together, in my opinion. The Vanier Institute of the Family has just released a new report detailing stats on the IOU's being juggled by Canadians. The report's author, Roger Sauve, found the average debt of $80,000. per household to be an incredible 131% of household income after income tax and benefits, a figure which is up from 1990's ninety-one percent. You know very well that all that money spent was not for necessities alone. Far too much is spent on maintaining status and providing instant gratification. It is sad that there are so many who think they need longer shopping hours in order to have any hope of finding happiness. It is overwhelmingly sad to know that their debts will continue to accrue while they search in vain.
Toronto's snowiest winter on record was 1937/38 when 207.4 centimetres fell on my hometown, but this winter has been doing its best to beat that record. We're up over 130 cm so far, and there's more in the forecast for this weekend. I've got no problem at all with this form of precipitation. In fact, as fas as I'm concerned, winter is the best of the four seasons. It does present one with a hazard or two, however, when you venture out into it and I encountered one this morning. I was walking home from dropping my car off at the mechanic's so he could work a little of his wizardry on the brakes. The walking was not too bad on the sidewalks, but when I got to one intersection, I found myself facing a high snowbank that I had to climb over. I thought for a moment of what an obstacle this would present to a senior or someone who is visually impaired, and then I tackled the problem. I tried to make sure I had good, solid footing for my right foot and started to lift my left leg up and over. Halfway through the maneuver, however, my right foot slipped back from under me and I went down, flat out. At that point I discovered that it wasn't just a nice soft snowbank. It was icy hard and my left shin took a good hit. When I went down there were two boys approaching me, making their way to the local high school. They moved apart from each other in order to walk around me, which they did without a word. No "are you OK?". Nothing. I picked myself up and continued. It took me an hour total to walk home and my shin was painful the whole way. When I got home, I found broken skin and a nasty big lump already coming up. I'm sitting here with my leg up and an ice pack on it, while I type. I'm OK with the icepack and the sore shin, but I'm not OK with the total lack of concern evidenced by those two boys. I wonder if they'd want someone to stop and offer help if a member of their own family went down in the snow?
Hannah Taylor of Winnipeg comes as a wonderful counter-balance to the who-gives-a-shit attitude displayed by the two unfeeling louts I encountered this morning. What an incredible example this girl sets of caring for others. Her particular concern is for the homeless, and it began when she was just 5. Out with her mother one day, she saw a homeless man eating out of a garbage can. The world changed for Hannah that day, and ever since then she has been busily working to change it for others. To date, she has raised over $1 million through her Ladybug Foundation. Her efforts are gathering attention from more than one source. In 2005, she became the youngest person ever to speak at the Empire Club in Toronto, and in 2007, she was made the recipient of a Brick Award for her fundraising efforts on behalf of the homeless, as well as the Gloria Barron Prize, for her leadership in making a positive difference. The students I met this morning could land someone in a real funk if they thought of those twerps and their ilk as the only hope for tomorrow. Someone like Hannah Taylor could lift them back out of the funk. She really does represent hope.
Now, from one Taylor to another. U.S. economist George Taylor earned himself a dubious fame in 1926 by theorizing a connection between women's hemlines and the economy. I'm willing to assume that he made more of a contribution than that to his chosen field, but I don't know if he's remembered for anything as much as his theory that womens' hemlines rise and fall in line with the strength of the economy. Taylor theorized that boom times meant higher hemlines because women could afford to wear expensive silk stockings, and they weren't about to hide them under a long skirt. In hard times, however, the hosiery might be worn and shabby or even outright conspicuous in its absence, and so hemlines crept further down to hide all that. In seeming support of the theory, hemlines cerainly did rise during the roaring twenties, and fall again during the great depression of the 30's. They rose again during the swinging sixties, but there would seem to be a snag running through the fabric of Taylor's theory now. The silk stockings of Taylor's day are pretty much a thing of the past, replaced by bare legs or panty hose generally made of nylon. So many women wear jeans or slacks as daily routine, and those who wear skirts buy the ones with the hemline they prefer, anywhere from their ankles up to damn near their crotch. I wonder what good ol' George would make of these wandering hemlines today, and their connection to the economy.
The Idiot Alert Files Welcomes the Archbishop of Canterbury
Dr. Rowan Williams, Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury, has earned himself indisputable front rank membership in the Idiot Alert Files with his assertion this month that the incorporation of some aspects of sharia was "unavoidable" in Britain. Reactions came swiftly. Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission made note that the Archbishop's comments were "muddled and unhelpful", while senior clergy declared they were "surprised and concerned" by Williams'call for "constructive accommodation". The Muslim Council of Britain themselves insisted that most members of Britain's Islamic community did not want Sharia. The words that issued from Williams made it clear that the man is good for little more than to don fancy robes and play dress-up. He has made a public call that denigrates every one of Britian's loyal defenders of freedom; those who have made the supreme sacrifice through the years, and those who continue to hold equality dear. The feeble-minded Williams made his argument for a "plural jurisdiction" in a speech he gave at the Royal Courts of Justice. Arguing that there was no place for "extreme punishments" or discrimination against women, he declared his belief that all communities should be "part of the public process", since his view is that it would aid social cohesion. A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown saw things differently, declaring that British law must be based on British values, and that, "Sharia cannot be used as a justification for committing breaches of English law". England is now awash in calls for the idiot's resignation. How anyone who is supposedly an educated man could believe that the institution of one law for some and another for others could aid in building social cohesion defies understanding. How anyone supposedly concerned with the welfare of all could call for the institution of a system of law that deals out extreme punishment and violent discrimination against women at every turn is beyond understanding. In an interview last Thursday, Williams said the country should "face up to the fact" that some British citizens do not relate to the British legal system. If they do not, my opinion is that they should leave the country immediately, and return whence they came. This is true for everyone, in every country. Minette Martin, jounalist, broadcaster and fiction writer, said it just right in her articulate response to the ramblings of Williams. Her words express exactly what I feel about sharia being brought to my country, or any other, for that matter. "Our law expresses and maintains the best virtues of our society. Anybody who does not accept if does not belong here." says Martin, as she denounced Williams' idiotic nonsense as the advocating of multicultural "legal cherry-picking", in which individuals would be free to choose the jurisdiction they prefer. I am truly worried by the brain-dead idiot currently wearing the robes of Archbishop of Canterbury. There is no better way to end my invection against the moronic Williams than to quote Martin's charge of treason against the half-witted cleric: "Williams’s behaviour looks like vainglorious attention-seeking, but it is also something much worse. To seek to undermine our legal system and the values on which it rests, in a spirit of unnecessary appeasement to an alien set of values, is a kind of treason. It is a betrayal of all those who struggled and died here, over the centuries, for freedom and equality under the rule of law and of their courage in the face of injustice and unreason. Theirs is the good that we should hold fast and so of all people should the Archbishop of Canterbury. Otherwise, what is he for?"
The Idiot Alert Files have joined ranks to keep out the religious police of Saudi Arabia. Citing intelligence and ethical standards too high for the members thereof to meet, the proud Idiots have declared their need to draw the line at just whom they will accept in their midst, especially since these clerical police are government-authorized, meaning the mentally-challenged Saudi Arabia government would have to be admitted as well. Some ideas are just too odious. The mutaween of Saudi Arabia are entrusted by the Committe for the Propagaion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice with the task of enforcig Sharia. They are empowered to arrest unrelated females and males caught in such depraved behaviour as talking together. They did just that this February when they arrested, strip-searched and jailed an American businesswoman who was indulging in the depravity of sitting in Starbucks near her office in Riyadh, and talking with a male colleague. They enforce dress-codes, and dietary laws; they seize banned consumer products, like CD's of western musical groups. The approximately 3,500 officers of the mutaween are joined by thousands of enthusiastic volunteers throughout the country who get their jollies by laying a good beating on someone less powerful than themselves. Among the worthy activities undertaken by this group of thugs has been the banning of Valentine's Day gifts. You have to wonder how many husbands and wives carefully avoid even looking at each other on Feb. 14 in order to ensure the mutaween don't burst into their homes and start laying about with cudgels to make themselves feel all happy and warm inside. Such brain-dead individuals are always among the first to scream long and loud at any perceived injustice dealt to them and their religous kin, yet they regularly arrest priests for attempting to say Mass. Such open-minded fairness, don't you think? They also deal out floggings on a regular basis to those they decide are guilty of stepping on Allah's toes. In March of 2002, the religious police of Saudi Arabia showed their colours like never before, when they decided to burn alive 15 schoolgirls in the city of Mecca. Firemen trying to do their job and save lives were actually beaten back by the mutaween. These worthies even beat back girls trying desperately to escape the burning building. Men who were trying to help the girls were stopped These evil ones who pretend to defend virtue stopped men trying to help save the students, warning the men it would be sinful to approach the girls. Allah forbid any of the male rescuers should glimpse something as wildly provacative as an elbow. In case you're thinking this was a case of rampant misogyny run amok, let me set you straight. These stalwarts of the faith would never undertake such an action without totally righteous justification. The girls deemed worthy of this horrendous death were gulty of an unforgiveable sin. They were not wearing the abaya at the time the blaze broke out. WTF, you say? This absolute essential to fire safety is the overgarment draped from the shoulders and meant to cover the whole body of a woman in public. While it does not cover the face, it is often combined with the niqab, a face veil that covers all but the eyes of the female shrouded by this offensive garment. WTF, you repeat? Those perpetrators of diabolism sacrificed 15 innocent young girls to the wearing of a square cloth sack? Yes, that is exactly what these women-haters did. One of the things that raises my hackles every time I read about these soul-sucking purveyors of oppression, is that the outcry raised at the time of this human sacrifice was swept under the rug. International protest, even incredibly brave protest by the al-Eqtisadiah daily and other media members in Saudi Arabia did nothing to lessen the powers of the mutaween. Why is such a perversion allowed to continue its existence? How could anyone with even half a functining brain ever excuse the existence of such a group, let alone actually endorse it? What scares me even more than the thought of such a group wielding the power they do in Saudi Arabia, is the fact that were those in Canada who actually debated allowing Sharia to be instituted here. Give your head one hell of a shake, people. The idea of such a group should scare the hell out of you. It should ring deafening alarm bells in your mind. Women are always the oppressed of the oppressed, but those who do nothing to try and stop this oppression should remember the words of social activist Martin Niemoller:
"First they came for the Communists and I said nothing; after all I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I said nothing; after all I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I said nothing; after all I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."
I have said it before and I will say it again. Any group that is oppressed can be readily fit into Niemoller's ode to complacency, and the dire warning will still stand strong. In this case, substitute the word "women" in one of the lines penned by Niemoller. It will fit all too well. Too many of us ignore Niemoller's words, much to our own peril. We all need to denounce this idiocy. We all need to protest the existence of the mutaween.
On March 31, 2007, Sydney, Australia was the scene of the first Earth Hour. That night, 2.2 million people and 2,100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for an hour at 8 p.m., reducing the city's energy consumption by 10.2% for sixty minutes. It was the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road for that hour. This year, the event has gone global. At the writing of this entry, 1,110 businesses have signed and 25,931 individuals, as well, making the commitment to turn off their lights for one hour at 8 p.m. on March 29. The list of cities signing up includes Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Odense, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Toronto. A short jaunt to the Earth Hour website will give you all the pertinent info you need to get involved. Ease yourself in gently by just spending a moment or two, when you first get there, watching the countdown to the event on the right-hand side of your monitor. Then, you can begin exploring the site. Add your name to the list of those ready to switch off for an hour, and send helpful info to all your contacts. You'll find a PDF available for download to help you organize an Earth Hour in your hometown, if you're feeling inspired. Many support opportunities are detailed, including ways to get your business on the band wagon, as well as suggestions for reducing your impact on climate change at home, at work, and at school. The event is a great one for individuals, and families; schools and businesses to join in. Become a part of "green power". It won't take too much effort for just this one hour, at 8 p.m. on March 29. You never know. You might just find yourself getting all involved.
Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday - you know, Pancake Day. Traditionally, this day, also known as Fat Tuesday, was the day to use up your butter and eggs, foods usually proscribed during Lent, which starts the very next day. Perhaps one of the oldest celebrations of the day to be held outside people's private homes takes place in Olney, Buckinghamshire. The Pancake Day Race there has been an annual event since 1445. Only women race in the event, and only women wearing a dress and an apron, at that, are allowed as entrants. The winner is the first one to cover the 375 meter course to the church with her pancake still in her pan. Once there, she must serve her pancake to the bell ringer and get a kiss from him in order to claim her prize of a prayer book from the vicar. I think I prefer our rather less demanding trek to the table to feast on the pancakes and eggs. We don't hide anything inside our pancakes, although some do. In Newfoundland, Canada, for instance, finding a coin in your pancake promises you will be rich. The only thing you'll find in our pancakes is some really heart-healthy ingredients. If you're interested, the recipe follows. Serve them warm with lots of maple syrup for that true Canadian touch, or with jam or sour cream. If you want to really up the nutrition value in your pancakes, try replacing 3 tbsps of the flour with ground flax seed, golden or regular. The flax will give you added fibre (did you know, for instance, that each gram-per-day of fiber that you consume cam help lower LDL by 1%?) as well as lignans (phytoestrogens), and Omega-3 content. You can also toss a handful of blueberries right into the mix, before you cook them - either fresh berries or frozen ones. As well as contributing to the taste, these little blue power houses will give you insoluble fibre, vitamins A and (especially) C, plus a little iron. How can you go wrong?
* 2 cups whole wheat flour *3 tbsp. each wheat germ, corn meal, and oats (NOT instant oats) *4 tsp. baking powder *1/2 tsp salt
Place all the above in a large bowl and mix them together with a fork.
Mix all the wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl, and then plop 'em into the dry mix! Stir until it's all well mixed, but NOT smooth. There should be a slightly lumpy texture to the mix.
Heat a griddle on medium heat, or 350 degrees F, if you're using an electric griddle. LIGHTLY oil the surface. Remember, you are not wanting to deep fry these little gems, so do go easy on the oil. When the pan is warmed, drop the batter on from a ladle, or large spoon. When the pancakes are beginning to show bubbles on the top surface, lift the edge to peek beneath, If they are nicely browning underneath, and holding together well as you lift, then it's time to turn them over. When both sides are evenly browned, they're ready for your plate.
We've all heard that only the rich sermonize that wealth can't buy happiness. It is not supposed to be an axiom ever voiced by the poor. It would seem, however, that someone has been derelict in their duty, nelgecting to inform several groups of "the poor" of this fact. Although most nations of the western world have been using economic growth as a main indicator of human happiness, certainly since the second world war, a study published by Ed Diener and Marin E. P. Seligman in the July 2004 issue of "Psychological Science in the Public Interest" seems to indicate it is a faulty measure. According to Diener and Seligman, once a nation reaches a moderate level of per capita income, further increases in wealth bring very little perceived betterment in well-being. Interestingly, the mighty U.S. of A., one of the world's most strident champions of consumerism as the highway to happiness, has not been the best example of this belief system. Again according to Diener and Seligman, surveys conucted over the last half of the twentieth century show little to no increase there in self-reports of satisfaction with life despite leaps in per capita gross domestic product. What did increase, tenfold, was the incidence of depression. Diener and Seligman do identify "poor" groups of people who lack the generally acknowledged accoutrements of wealth and yet, somehow, still manage to see themselves as happy and satisfied with their lives. One of these groups is the Pennsylvania Amish. These people willingly eschew the abovementioned trappings of wealth, to a degree that makes them the butt of many a stand-up comic's routine. Nonetheless, they report themselves in a fashion that lands them at the top of the life-satisfaction scales. Some might argue that the Amish would be more able to view themselves as happy because they do live in the western world, whether or not they avail themselves of its luxuries. That wouldn't, however, explain the self-reporting done by the Masai, as included in Diener and Seligman's study. The Masai do not dwell in the developed world. A people of Kenya, they are traditionally herders of cattle. Their traditional dwellings would defy any westerner's attempt to view them as indicators of wealth. Made of a mixture of twigs and grass held together by cow manure and urine, the huts are generally too small to allow an adult to stand up straight inside. Running water and electricity are the stuff of bedtime tales in the kraals of the Masai and yet the surveys indicate that these people rate themselves at a life-satisfaction level of 5.7 out of a possible 7. So, what gives? Maybe, as I and other denouncers of "affluenza" like me have been wont to say, accepting the western world's creed of consume and then consume some more, in order to be happy, is the wrong way to live your life. Maybe, Gandhi had it right when he advised us to live simply. Maybe looking for it in the laughter of someone important to you; in owning less and sharing more; in "using personal strengths to serve some larger end" (February 2006 Editorial: The Science of Happiness) is indeed the best way to find happiness. Now all someone needs to do is figure out how to get the word out to the consumerist societies of the world.
I just finished 2,100 steps on my stepper. If I can't get to the gym, and no outdoor fitness is on the schedule, that's the number I try to include in a day's activity. Even in a busy day, it takes only 21 minutes of my time to make that investment in my health. I just wonder how the Activity Watch by Polar would rate my little workout? Billed as the "stylish way" to inspire yourself to healthy acitivity levels, the watch sells for $199.95 U.S. It is, however, a whole lot more than just a watch. Among other things, it will measure active steps, which is body movement with the "right intensity to improve fitness", the minimum target to aim for being 7,000 steps/day. The device will also measure your energy consumption in kilocalories - 1,000 calories being one kilocalorie. The Activity Watch even includes outdoor features which will tell you your current altitude; the air pressure; and the temperature. If you take your physical exertion super seriously, this gadget might be just right for you. It's available online, as well as at The Running Room stores all across Canada. If you're a teacher wondering how to inspire your students to take their fitness levels more seriuosly, go to the website. The "Schools and Educators" section includes some interesting reads, not all of which are centred around using the Polar technology in physical education. "Success Stories" and "Polar in Action" will introduce you to schools and staff that make use of the technology. While those schools are all in the U.S., you don't have to teach stateside to go to the section called "Lesson Plans" which includes ones like heart attack, and the heart rate obstacle course. These won't cost you a penny to bring to your elementary classroom. There are suggested lesson plans for older students, as well. It might be a good place for you to get some ideas from; a place that will help you help your students learn to better care for their own health, long after they've left your classroom.
