Blog or white ... because it never is.

I hope there are little girls all over Canada and the world saying that they want to be Jody Wilson-Raybould when they grow up.  What a role model.   I also hope there are little boys all over Canada and the world saying they want to be Jody Wilson-Raybould when they grow up.  I know that is what I thought when I listened to her yesterday.  I want to be her.  I'm pretty grown up but I still have lots of unfinished business.  Her courage, intelligence, and integrity represent some of my unfinished business.  We all have forces around us that don't want us to succeed.  We can't control that.  We can control our reaction to these forces.  Yesterday, I felt I couldn't control my reaction, so I allowed those forces to affect me.  I spent all day curled up in a ball and feeling the depths of depression.  I own that.  That was my choice.  No one forced me to do that.  Although, yesterday, I was so affected that I felt I didn't have a choice.  I was wrong.  Today, I

Jagmeet Singh has not had an easy ride since being elected leader of the New Democrat Party.  He has had a few bumps.  Now that he actually has a seat in the House of Commons, there will be more pressure on him to perform.  There is one thing about him that I have always admired about him.  He seems to choose joy.  He seems to always be joyful and happy and looks forward positively.  The expression of joy that he showed when he won Burnaby South was awesome.  And, then he was interviewed on CBC Newsworld the next morning.  Granted, he was tired and probably emotionally spent.  We ask too much of our politicians.  Instead of focusing on his win, the interviewer asked him about the two other by-elections.  She asked him what his national focus would be as a campaigner in the upcoming election.  He said affordable housing.  I don't like that answer.  That maybe the issue that is important in the GTA and the greater Vancouver area, but the rest of the nation has some other issues

Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould may be speaking to the Justice Committee of the House of Commons as early as tomorrow.  As I write this, I think they are still ironing out some logistics.  She wants to do a 30 minute speech upfront before her questioning to speak her truth.  The Prime Minister has waived her Privilege on this one matter and also waived her Cabinet Privilege to allow her to speak her truth.  I am interested in what she has to say.  Meanwhile, south of the border, Michael Cohen is apparently speaking for three days in front of various committees of the House of Congress and Senate.  He has lied to both groups before.  No one really cares what he has to say.  Basically, anyone who worked for Trump for more than 10 minutes and was either fired or quit has written a tell-all.  I've heard all of their news bites and I am no longer shocked or interested.  A couple of months ago, Bill Cosby sent a message of his truth to the world via his wife Camille while she visited him

Pope Francis made a speech on the weekend addressing the sexual abuse scandals that have permeated throughout the Catholic Church over the last decades.  Like many Catholics, I became disillusioned with the Church.  Mine happened while I was still in my teens.  The hypocrisy of the Church was exposed to me in a personal way.  It was difficult to be angry with the whole Church when that was all I knew of faith.  I was fortunate enough to see Pope John Paul II in Ottawa.  We were placed in corrals of 10,000 and waited several hours to catch a glimpse of the pontiff.  It didn't really matter.  I felt the presence of my God.  So, my feelings of the Church shifted.  They became complicated.  The Church also shifted.  Our God became a forgiving God rather than a punishing God.  I became more spiritual and less secular.  My relationship with my higher power became personal.  Then, Pope Francis came along.  A breathe of  fresh air with the promises of reform. A man worthy of worship and

My uber curling fandom is pretty extreme.  Go ahead, test me.  Ask me any trivia question.  I've got it.  Volunteering at the World Men's Championship in Vegas last year was like me going to Disneyland.  Unfortunately, I was disillusioned by Brad Gushue.  I still am strong on the rest of his team.  I want to tell you what Team Carey's victory meant to me.  It meant a lot to me. My partner has become a curling fan due to repeated exposure.  He has always been a fan of Chelsea Carey.  Oh, let's be honest.  He has always had a crush on her.  I haven't always shared his enthusiasm just because she has been hard to get to know her.  I know she is really close to her dad and said she spent a lot of time in the curling rink watching him and she learned how to order french fries and gravy and have them put it on his tab.  I also used to spend a lot of time watching my dad at the curling rink.  I also idolize my father.  I'm older than her, though, so it wasn't a

It has been a busy week for Chicago Police.  They have arrested and charged R. Kelly.  They have investigated an incident involving actor Jussie Smollett and have charged him with mischief.  I wish the world could be more peaceful and less complicated.  I love napping with my grandson.  He looks particularly angelic while he is sleeping.  I hope he never has reason to worry and can always sleep soundly.  I know that is not realistic or even healthy.  We learn resiliency and character from strife.  I confess I have a personal bias against the police.  I don't like it, but it is part of my reality.  I really wish I didn't automatically have a suspicion of the police.  I know better than anybody that everyone makes mistakes.  However, rightly or wrongly, we know a great of the police mistakes as they are often public.  It makes people like me have a hard time trusting. The R. Kelly situation is particularly troubling. I admit he was not on my radar, but people in the kn

This big box represents something very good in my life.  My partner.  We have an inside joke.  Whenever we make future plans, we always say |"contingent on us still being together".  We both make the joke equally.  Two out of three members of his family use this as evidence that I am emotionally blackmailing him into staying with me.  Believe me, I am not complaining about that.  A couple of months ago, it was all three.  After almost 9 years, one family member acknowledges that I have brought value to my partner's life.  An incredible victory, not for me, but for the power of love.  Back to the box.  For the last couple of years, I have cheered loudly and strongly for the Washington Capitals to win the Stanley Cup.  My passion was because of their coach, Barry Trotz.  He is good Dauphin boy.  Are there any other kind?  I may be biased about my hometown, but I really believe that there was something in our water. People from Dauphin are just great!  When the Caps wo

The Manitoba government is cutting funding to child welfare agencies.  Not a couple thousand dollars here and there, but about a hundred million.  Manitoba doesn't have a good history when it comes to child welfare.  Foster hotels are common and don't work.  There have been some epic fails resulting in public tragedy.  I don't know much about the Manitoba Child Welfare System but I am very familiar with the Ontario system.  Being a child protection worker is very stressful and the average tenure of a worker is 18 months.  Somehow, I lasted 13 years.  Since we weren't far from the Manitoba border, we got more than a few families relocate to our jurisdiction trying to outrun the agency.  \These families were extreme cases.  We usually had involvement with the family prior to receiving the official referral from Winnipeg.  On one referral, we got a very valuable tip from Winnipeg.  The family was moving from a street that was well known to child welfare.  The residen

I am support of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre to be located at the Old Vimy Arena Site.  I am aware that this matter is up for appeal on the conditional use permit.  I have read all 607 pages that have been presented to you by people in opposition of the Centre.  I am sure it is not lost on you that many of the pages before you are form letters and have very little variance in their substance.  I have no vested interest in the project.  I live within the City Ward of the proposed Centre but I have nothing to gain nor lose from the project.  I am also a local blogger.   spitfiretakesontheworld.blogspot.com  My blog is focused on social justice.   My first blog entry on the subject was in January, 2018. Not In My Backyard January 21, 2018 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,

My partner gets a new boss today.  He is so excited and can't wait to get to work to start this new module in his working life.  He had a great relationship with his previous boss.  He really admired her and enjoyed working with her.  Despite this,  he wasn't sad when she announced she was moving on because he was so happy that she was continuing on her journey with a new opportunity.  He has already decided that he is going to really like his new boss.  I am so proud of this guy and I have to say he wasn't always like this.  He used to not like change and got stuck easily in the ebbs and flows of life.  He used to make up his mind against someone before he even met them.  What changed?  Depression.  That may not make sense.  Depression made him positive?  Well, actually, yes.  My partner suffered with depression for a long time.  He was fearful of everything, most of all change, which was problematic.  People say there is only one constant in life and that is chang

Louis Riel Day.  A day when my hair can look like this all day.  I mean it pretty much looks like this all the time, but at least on a Statutory Holiday, I have an excuse.  I have one American friend who laughs uproariously whenever I mention a Statutory Holiday.  Mandatory Rest.  She finds that hilarious.   Louis Riel was the father of the great province of Canada.  Thinking of him reminds me of all that I have and some things I have missed.   For one thing, people understand Louis Riel very differently.  To some, he is a hero.  To others, he is a traitor.  For still others, it is complicated.  I love that.  I love when we disagree and can talk intelligently as people about our disagreements.  I think it makes for a healthy democracy and I wish we would have more healthy debates.  I also love that our history is unique and not that of traditional province building.  It makes Manitoba interesting and I love that our founder was Metis, as it should be.   It is sad that