Blog or white ... because it never is.

Whether it is a small town or a big city, when there is an application to rezone something in a residential neighbourhood, it seems everyone has the same reaction.  Not in my backyard.   Whether it is a women's shelter, a transition home for refugees, a half-way house for newly released prisoners, or a group home for adult developmentally challenged, it doesn't seem to matter, no one seems to want it in their neighbourhood. It almost always plays out the same way.  A community group forms and opposes the rezoning to their local government.  Their argument is usually the same, that their property values will go down or putting "these people" in the area makes a risk to the community.  The other side points out that this venture will bring increased employment to the area and increase revenue to the local government in increased property taxes.  The government approves the rezoning.  There is hard feelings for a while.  After a few years...

Probably one of the worst movies, ever.  However, I was thinking of the job interview.   I was thinking of the job interview that landed me my first adult job.   It was in a small town several hours from where I lived.  I arrived the night before to get a good night sleep and to have some time to research the community so I could answer any questions about linkages and underdeveloped resources.  My interview was at 1 pm and lasted for a few hours.  At about 2:15, my prospective boss and I went for coffee in the hospital cafeteria.  Someone asked me what I had done in the morning.  I replied that I came in the night before and read the community paper, and toured the community.  In the morning, I had a little nervous energy so I decided to get my hair done.  Once I was hired, my new boss told me that I got the job because I got my hair done.  At the time, I was 20 something and proud of my appearance and fashion sense....

I always thought that the strength of Unions was the unity of workers for the protection and enhancement of workers against their employers.   The power of Unions was strength in numbers.  One worker could hardly make a difference in management, but their power together could make a huge difference.  Over the last century, Unions have been integral in establishing employment equity, protection against bullying and workplace harassment policies, negotiating fair wages and benefits, etc.  The Union represents their workers in grievances.  Unions have been successful largely because of their autonomy from the employers,.    In the last decade, however, society has started to question whether Unions have outlived their purpose.  That is a very complicated question and I have heard many thoughtful arguments on both sides of the issue. However, I really don't understand the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg. The fire fighters are empl...

Happy Ukrainian New Year !! I was raised about as Ukrainian as anyone, yet, I never remember celebrating Malanka.  I remember celebrating Ukrainian Christmas but think this extrapolation to Ukrainian New Year is just made up. Regardless, a New Year is always about a new reset and I will take any reset available.  Time to make more resolutions, another clean slate.  I think I am going to try early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. Ukrainian Christmas wasn't about presents, it was a time to celebrate Christ and all that faith brought to us.  On Christmas Eve, we had the traditional 12 meatless dishes.  This year, I had a craving for boiled wheat. I don't know for sure the origins of the Christmas Eve feast but I can speculate that the Ukrainian women wanted to have a special feast of celebration and didn't have much so made dishes out of what they had.  Life for people living in Ukraine has always been difficult.  The...

Since the Ontario government raised minimum wage to $14.00, select Tim Horton's franchises appear to be frustrated, and they seem to be taking their frustration out on their employees.  Some of us have even suggested that select Tim's franchises are bullying their employees.  Others are outraged at any suggestion that their all Canadian institution could be accused of being a bully.  There are a number of reasons that many think Tim's are bullies. The minimum wage increase applies to all employees in the province of Ontario, not just Tim Horton's.  That means that all employers would be affected.  We have heard from some small businesses, particularly family farms, or employers employing less than 10 workers.  Select Tim's franchises are the only big corporation that are complaining about the increase.  \Plus, we know that government never does anything overnight.   Select Tim's franchises had time to prepare for this, the same as other ...

I had never heard this term until today when I perchance happened upon it.  Earlier this week, in Baltimore, an incident was recorded by a bystander.  This incident happened out of the University of Maryland hospital where two security guards were recorded taking a female patient wearing a hospital gown and little else and "dumping" her on the street.  It was pretty cold this week in Baltimore.  After this video went viral, the CEO of the hospital apologized profusely for the incident.  It seemed to me that his apology was for getting caught.  From there, I went to look up patient dumping which is the practice of a hospital dumping patients outside when they can't afford their care.  It is particularly prevalent among patients who are suffering mental illness or who are homeless.  It is something that is so common that it has its own definition.  Not only does it has its own definition, it also has a law against it.  President Reaga...

"You have a really great vein." I used to joke that the only reason I donated blood every 56 days was because that was the only compliment that I got.   Yeah, I have a really good vein.  But, that wasn't why I donated blood.  A couple of days ago, I donated blood for the 70th time.  Other than being told that I have a really good vein, that was the only mention of it.  I had missed my regularly scheduled appointment because of weather and decided to go in the early evening.  It wasn't busy.  There were many 4 donors in the hour that I was there. I wish I had more contributions than 70.  I started young.  I believe I was only 16 at the time.  I know I was in high school and I went after school.  I would have more donations but I had two children so between my pregnancies and nursing, I lost time.  I also lived in communities that only had mobile clinics twice a year and I ended up missing them for various reasons...

Robert Mueller wants to interview President Trump as part of the investigation of Russia interfering with the US Election.   I don't understand why.  In these times of unpredictable politics, there is only one thing that we can say with absolute certainty.  TRUMP KNOWS NOTHING.

Someone in the White House is suffering from mental illness and seems to be getting worse.  The mental illness is also not receiving any attention.   It is my hope that by shining a light on this, that help can be mobilized.    Melania Trump is living with a serious depression.   Fire and Fury claimed that Melania cried for days prior to the election as she was afraid that Trump would win.    I don't blame her.  I am sure she was having anticipatory grief for her life as she knew it.  After the election a number of things happened which were likely triggers for her depression. 1.  Even on election night, reporters started making derogatory remarks about her son, Barron.  They said he looked frightened and/or stoned.  I am sure this affected Melania deeply.  This was her baby that she largely raised as a single mom and of which she was very protective.  Now, she would have to share him with the...

Across social media, we are being encouraged to boycott Tim's this Tuesday.  The reason is to take a stand against corporate bullying. I think this is a great idea.  Social activism.  Making a statement where it hurts, in their wallets.  We have already seen that #MeToo can make a tremendous difference.  I hope it continues to inspire other acts of social activism. I also want to encourage people to boycott Tims this Tuesday and every Tuesday following.  In fact, I want to encourage everyone to stop patronizing Tims all together.  And not just Tims, but Starbucks as well, and Second Cup.   I am encouraging this not for social activism but rather I am encouraging this for your own health. We are fast becoming a society that is conditioned that in order to be a part of the workforce, we need to enter it with a cup of coffee in hand. It is just not good for our financial health.  Consider this.  Let's say you are a 25 year o...

I only remember one thing about The Drew Carey Show and that was the opening theme.  Cleveland Rocks.  I haven't thought about it in a while but I was reminded of it yesterday. Cleveland Browns fans held a parade in Cleveland.  They were celebrating the Browns "perfect" season of going 0-16.   One better (or worse) than the previous season where they were 1-15.  Mother Nature also appeared to join in the celebration by making sure the temperature was 0 degrees.  I guess in the climate language of America, this is cold.  I'm Canadian and can take the moral authority on temperature and call y'll wimps.   So, why did 3200 people go out in the cold to have a parade in homage to a perfect losing season?  Well, the people who participated had a variety of reasons.  Some Browns fans claimed that they were just looking for something to celebrate because it had been so long.  The whole thing about life giving you lemons and...

Canada is moving towards a minimum "living" wage of $15.00 per hour.  Ontario has raised their minimum wage to $14/hour from $11.40/hour.  It has been criticized for being too much of a raise too quickly and causing difficulty for small businesses.  It may be too onerous for some small businesses and may result in a few lay offs, however, unemployment is also at the lowest point in over 40 years, so those displaced are likely to find other jobs quickly.  There is only one "big business" that is leading the charge against this and making their employees pay for this action and that is Tim Horton's.  Tim Horton's head office would like us to believe that they, as a corporate entity, has nothing to do with this and actions in retaliation are done by individual franchisees.  Don't be fooled by this.  For every dollar spent at a Tim's location, about $.20 goes to Tim Horton's corporation.  There is no room for individual franchisees to have an...

am, like, smart.  Just ask me.  I am really smart.   I know I am smart because I do sudoku puzzles.  I always keep a novel at my bedside table.  I don't read it, but, I keep it by my bedside, just in case I have unexpected company and they snoop in my bedroom, I look smart.  I can speak to any topic, even the one's I know nothing about, but, people listen to me because I tell them I am smart.   I know the difference between there and their and they're so their you go, I'm smart. That was fun.  I put some errors in just for more fun.  Do you believe I am smart?  Well, it has been my experience that if you have to tell someone that you are smart, then you probably aren't.  Just the same as good work speaks for itself, intelligence does as well.  We all know smart people and they don't need to tell us that they are smart.  I was just having fun.  Sadly, the President of the United States had a similar e...

January 1 is just another day on the calendar, but it is one of the most powerful days.  It is time for reflection of the past and looking forward hopefully to the future.  What makes it particular powerful, I think, is it the time of resolutions.  It is the time of year that we acknowledge the power we have in our own lives.  We don't depend on luck or fate, but, we determine how to make our lives better.  No one resolves to win the lottery, but we resolve to eat healthier, exercise more, spend more time with people we love, volunteer to make the world better, etc.  We believe we have a clean slate to begin again.  The first day of the rest of our lives.  Most people are unable to keep their resolutions to January 31, but we always start hopeful.   Personally, I don't think 2017 was the best year of my life but I enjoyed many wonderful moments.  2017 was also not the worst year of my life, even though I experienced my share of l...