I am a Yellow Dog Conservative

Canada’s current election is really making me fatigued.

See, I am a ‘yellow dog’ conservative. 

 

A yellow dog

(the wonderful yellow dog in the picture is available for adoption.  http://www.paws-saipan.org/homeless.asp)

This phrase comes to me from my father, from his French Canadian grandfather, who proudly exclaimed to all who would listen that he would have voted for the Conservative party even if they ran a yellow dog.   I recently learned the common historical roots of the phrase.  It stems from a 1900 governor’s race debate in the United States, but became commonplace during the 1928 presidential race in the United States, where a senator crossed party lines to vote for the opposition and another senator in rebuking him, stated he would vote for the Democrats even if they ran a yellow dog as the candidate. 

My father, his father, his father’s father, we have all voted Conservative since we had the capacity to vote.  Its just who I am, and who they were.  I grew up knowing they were the ‘businessman’s Party’, just like Bank of Montreal was known as the businessman’s bank, when and where I grew up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dog_Democrat

The problem with being a yellow dog conservative is that sometimes you don’t like the party leader although you in principal, lean towards the parties lines of political thought.  Every time I watch the Leader’s Debate when it is held in French, I am a touch wistful that I cannot vote for the charismatic leader of the Bloq Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe, as he is the most well-spoken of the lot of them.  I come from a historical line of separatists, but our family lives in Ontario now, so that dream has long gone, and there is no sense wasting a vote.  I always watch the French debates in French, for the pure pleasure of watching Mr. Duceppe slaughter opponents in his native tongue.   Much of his vigour gets lost in translation to English. 

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/bloc/p/gillesduceppe.htm

But seriously – why did they use a MIME in one of their commercials! 

http://www.presentpourlequebec.org/bloc.aspx?bloc=44d228fa-77fb-45c0-a297-8d3cc396cc82

http://www.presentpourlequebec.org/dossiers/campagnePublicitaire/pubTele081002.asp

I am tired of the political rhetoric.  I’m tired of the Liberals lying.  I would never vote Liberal.  Period.  I do not like their philosophies and I can’t think that a federal Liberal leader would lie any less than Jean Chretien did or Dalton McGuinty (the Liberal Ontario Premier) does.  Plus I am French Canadian (so have some facility in listening to speakers with French accents) and still cannot understand about 1 out of 3 words that come out of Stephane Dion’s mouth when he speaks in English.   I’m not being mean here – how would Mr. Dion do on the world stage?  Not well, I’m guessing. 

But I’m tired of not LIKING Stephen Harper, and while he tends to do what he says he will, he has an infuriatingly condescending manner about him in the debates and comes off looking like a liar or shifty. Or something that causes me to nash my teeth.

I won’t say anything about the New Democrats, or the Green Party.  Other than to say that Elizabeth May was severely outclassed at the leader’s debate, and her French is reprehensible.   And I question that she was qualified to attend the leader’s debate, despite the press blather to the contrary.  And she need some serious wardrobe assistance.   Both her and Jack Layton need to come up with some party platforms that are more sophisticated than, “Stephen Harper did it”.  Of course, I am prejudiced anyway – since I think that the country should have a two party system – Conservative or Liberal – so that perhaps some effective majority governments could get elected.

Come to think of it, how could I not vote for Stephen Harper?  He is surely some kind of god, since in one year of running a MINORITY government in power, he is apparently, according to the 4 other parties, responsible for every ill that has ever been visited upon this country.   Somehow, it gets forgottent that a MINORITY government can do nothing without the cooperation of the other parties. 

And for the record – leaders NEVER WRITE THEIR OWN speeches.  I really could care less that some writer for Stephen Harper plagarized a speech that was given by the Australian Prime Minister, so long as he actually believed what he was saying.  It was a pretty good speech.  The writer shouldn’t have stolen it, but I think there has been far too much made of it.  The guy got fired.  Rightly so.  How could Harper possibly have known? 

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=dafea59b-825c-436f-b11e-43b04c20a72a

If you want to blame Stephen Harper for something, blame him for that insipid sweater vest he wears in his television ads.

http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4579

http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4579/102768

Or blame his for his tacky American style ads.

http://www.conservative.ca/EN/4579/104099

If I were Harper’s strategist, I’d tell him to stop looking so goofy and sneaky.  I don’t know how you get someone else to do that.   And for the sake of the civilized universe, LOSE the sweater vest, Stephen and that infuriatingly earnest look of yours.  I still wouldn’t vote for Stephane Dion, but at least he looks to be sincere and genuine when he speaks.  There is something in Stephen Harper’s eyes that reminds me of the old Reform Party, and their old leader whats-his-name, Stockwell Day.  You know, I’m a pretty conservative Catholic and I gotta say that something about Stockwell Day still scares the be-jesus out of me.  And I don’t like that glint coming out of Harper’s eyes somedays. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockwell_Day

The point of all of this is that when even us yellow dog Conservatives are getting tired of our leader, Stephen Harper, something is seriously amiss.

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Lowes in Canada – Oh Yes!!

I rarely write about a retailer being a great place to shop.  But I have to say I had a pleasant shock going to the new Lowes up here in the GTA earlier this week.   I was quite embittered about home centres, having been to Rona a few days before, which had exactly ONE cashier checking out, oh, about 20 customers, during the busiest time of the day.  Thank goodness we no longer hold their stock.     I decided to give the new Lowes up here a try when I discovered they were the only store that apparently stocked what I was looking for.  There are about half a dozen stores now in the Greater Toronto Area.

Our puppy has developed a bad habit of digging whatever she can get her paws on.  The recent victims are a newly planted crabapple and a river birch.  So I went looking for those fake mulch rings that you can place around trees, figuring the dogs would eat the real stuff.  So you won’t believe what happened next.  I drove to the Lowes.  Then,

1. I got a close parking spot.  Typically, for us this is a harbinger of shopping-doom, but stay with the story anyway.
2. I found a Lowes associate immediately (actually 2 of them, a more senior fellow, and a new employee)
3. They escorted me to exactly what I was looking for
4. They LOADED them into my cart WITHOUT being asked
5. They asked me if there was anything else they could help me find.  By this point, I was quite speechless.   I managed to thank them, and staggered off.
6. I wanted to shop for more garden merchandise – and they STILL had some, unlike my local Canadian Tire which has had bare wall in the seasonal area for at least 3 weeks
7. At the check out, when one of my minor items wasn’t tagged, the clerk asked me the price, I told him the correct price, and he rung it through.  Simple as that.   No standing around like a fool waiting for a price check.  He actually believed me!  It sort of restored my faith in humanity.  When was the last time a store clerk did that?  

It was as it I’d fallen into an alternate universe, where home centres had STAFF that were POLITE and wanted to HELP.

I felt like that cheesy lady from Its a Wonderful Life.  You know, the one who takes her kid to see Santa, and the Santa tells her to go to another department store that has the toy her kid wants.   And she walks up to the store manager and says, “I’m going to be a loyal customer of yours from now on”.

I stopped myself from doing this, and decided to write this little blog instead.  So guess what, Lowes?  You sure as heck got my attention.  And my business.  And we drove to your store today, just to buy a new hose reel. 

GO LOWES!   Hope you kick Home Depot’s butt  (and Rona’s too, after making me stand in line the other day and for having a cheeky clerk that called me by my first name, like he knew me, just because he swiped my credit card.  And Canadian Tire’s too, for their lack of staff (and knowledge) up here in my neck of the Canadian woods and their excessive rushing of the seasons….)

http://www.lowes.ca/

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

5th Anniversary of the Big 2003 Black Out – and where were you?

It was the 5th anniversary of the ‘great’ Ontario/US blackout yesterday, when 50 million people in Ontario the Eastern US went without power for several days. 

“Five years ago Thursday, some 50 million North Americans suddenly lost their power and briefly learned to live without light, television and all the other energy-sucking conveniences that have become staples of modern life.

Surprisingly, a great many found they loved living in the dark and vowed to change their lifestyles by unplugging more often — voluntarily — and doing their part to help protect the environment.

But experts say most of the good intentions born in backyards under starlight on Aug. 14, 2003 faded away before long, and the returning cacophony of air conditioners humming betrayed those promises at first opportunity. “

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/08/14/tto-blackout.html

Everyone has been talking about where they were during the black out.  I was near downtown Toronto, just north of the main downtown.   I was visiting a client at their home office, and the place went black and very, very quiet.  As time went on, we realized the lights were not going to come back on.  We looked out the front window which looked out onto a major street and saw a strange site – hundreds of people walking down the street.  

It all looked slightly apocalyptic, since no one really walks in that neighbourhood, except between the transit stops and even there, they are few and far between.    Fat people, old people, businessmen with bright red faces talking furiously on their cell phones, students with their backpacks, sad looking people dragging luggage.  No one was really talking, just more stolidly walking.  Some had business suits on, and had taken their high heels off!  We sat mesmerized by the window for a while, just watching the strangeness of it, and offering water to those that looked particularly pressed.  

It was quite ridiculous that we couldn’t locate a battery operated radio anywhere in the house.   But it was still daylight so we were not yet panicked.   My client and I spent quite a bit of time on our cell phones trying to locate both of our husbands who were working in the skyscrapers downtown.   I called and called, and started to feel slightly panicked that I couldn’t get any answer.  It took almost an hour to track my husband down.   

We were all quite convinced that there had been a terrorist attack on the downtown core.    We finally went out and sat in one of the cars, listening to the radio.  It took a while to establish that the cause of the blackout was a short in the power grid.  Again, we all still assumed terrorists were involved when it was identified as a short in the grid in the US, which had travelled to Toronto due to their purchase of US energy.  

I finally met up with my husband hours later at our friend’s house north of downtown.   It took him that long to drive a few kilometres, because he couldn’t get out of the parking garage as the surrounding streets were gridlocked, with volunteer citizens trying to direct traffic, during the super hot summer day.  When he arrived, I just wanted to hug him and not let go.  It was such an unsettling feeling to not have him at my side when the black out ‘hit’. 

We finally got home, to a fridge full of food we had just purchased the day before.  We opened the door sparingly, hoping the power would come back on any minute.  We sat with candles and had a quiet dinner, marvelling at the silence, after a frantic search for the non-electric can-opener.  We have boxes and boxes of candles, loads of flashlights, batteries and other emergency supplies.   My husband was a boyscout and is ALWAYS prepared. 

However, it was quite frightening when we realized that only one of our vehicles had a completely full tank of gas.  The line ups at the few working pumps in the city stretched for hours, which made no sense.    Your sense of personal security is altered, as well.  Would there be looting?   Were our elderly parents safe?  Our firm was in the midst of issuing a huge report, and we were dead in the water for those days. 

These were minor issues when looking at the bigger picture especially for those most at risk.    How could emergency services deal with any substantial issues?  What would happen if you were in the hospital – how long did the back up generators have?  Basically, the world was put on hold for us.   Eventually the power was restored, days later.   The noise returned, and our lives went back to normal.

Many of us had little sympathy for those that blamed the black out on our energy usage patterns.  We felt it had little to do with usage on that particular day, and more to do with an accident at that plant in Ohio(?), which can happen.   Yes, yes,  looking at the big picture, if we used less, we would not have to purchase US energy, but that’s another posting!   So did we reduce our energy usage as a result?  Not that I’m aware but we’re pretty good anyway.  We turn lights and applicances off in rooms that we aren’t in and aside from that, there’s not much else we can do in our fairly new home….   

We refuse to switch to those low energy bulbs ever since we saw a local news cast where the ladies’ ceiling caught fire from using those bulbs.   I’m sure the environmentalists will chastise me for this.  Can’t help you.  See, we have a particular fear of fire that no one will argue us out of.  In our old house (which was an OLD house), the basement ceiling DID catch fire at 2 a.m.  when we were sound asleep.  We awoke to the sound of small explosions -normal-style fluorescent lighting had been improperly wired by the previous owner – the lights had exploded and the ceiling tiles went up in flames.    My husband threw buckets of water up in the air while I called 911.  The firefighters, God bless them, arrived in 3 minutes, and the disaster was averted. 

The firemen knew our house would have burned to ground (with all our pets in it) if we had not been home.  The lead firefighter pulled me aside and remarked, “You folks have one heck of a guardian angel.  Even if you’re not religious, you might want to think about that, and also whether you want to stay in this house.” 

Fire experts say that you should not use the low energy fluorescent bulbs where there is not good air flow (i.e. ceilings) or with dimmer switches.  Since they contain mercury, you shouldn’t use them where they can be knocked over. Sorry folks, with two spastic dogs in our house, you have now eliminated any possible uses for the bulbs!!

I can’t find our local fire, but as an example, over in New Zealand -

“Concerns that energy-saving light bulbs can short-circuit and melt are warranted but need to be taken with a degree of caution, fire safety experts say.  Dunedin woman Sandra Mann was shocked after an energy-saving bulb in the kitchen of her home, caught fire, damaging the ceiling and light fitting.  However the Energy Safety Service, part of the Ministry for Economic Development, said it had no reported instances where the bulbs had caught fire, and all bulbs were subject to strict safety requirements.  Mrs Mann said after checking on her three children in bed one night recently, she noticed a strong smell of burning plastic as she walked back to the kitchen. She and her husband tracked down the smell to a bulb which was burning, and dropping molten material on the floor.”

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/16316/energy-saver-bulb-fire-worries-family

Lots of folks seem to be having similar sort of scary experiences.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/16555/readers-recount-eco-bulb-woes

About the fire hazards, from Canadian sources:

http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/english/Publications/Communiques/2005/2005-20.asp

http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/Publications/Communiques/2006/2006-08.asp

On mercury poisoning:

“The lights use about 1 percent of the mercury found in old thermometers, or 1 to 30 milligrams, but some amounts can be vaporized into the air if the lights break, posing a health risk. All fluorescent lights use mercury to produce light. Many states require that the energy-saving lights be recycled or disposed of as hazardous waste. Massachusetts is expected to ban disposal of the lights in the trash this spring.

Consumers were cautioned to avoid using the energy-saving bulbs on tables or in other places where they can be easily broken. Even so, the reports said, the bulbs, which use 75 percent less energy and last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, are still the best way for homeowners to try to save on electricity, adding that the benefits of using them outweigh the risks.  “The bulb lasts 10 times as long. It uses a fraction of the energy,” said Gary Katz, of Harvey’s Hardware Store.  Sales of the fluorescent bulbs have leaped in the U.S. and a new law requiring all bulbs to be more energy efficient will go into effect in 2012. The U.S. Energy Department said millions in energy costs could be saved if more Americans used the energy-saving bulbs.”

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/15411553/detail.html

Lightbulbs aside, what has changed for us over the past few years? 

• We make a point of lecturing merchants that leave their front doors open with their air conditioning running and then buy nothing from them if they don’t close the door while we are standing there. 
• We openly mock our neighbours that are too lazy to turn off their electronic sprinklers when its RAINING. 
• We are now willing to fully participate in the municipal recycling program which now takes food wastes, paper napkins, etc. separately from other waste.  At first, it was a serious hassle and change in our behaviour.  Compliance in our area was low.  However, when the municipality pushed back and reduced garbage collection (charging for extra bags), we reluctantly complied. As a result, we have now reduced our non-recyclable waste from 4 large garbage bags every week, to two bags every OTHER week, essentially a 75% reduction. 

We are pretty proud of ourselves for that last one.

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Why Accounting Firms are Like Paramilitary Operations

I was sitting here the other day and had a strange thought.  Major accounting firms are similar to paramilitary operations.  In my youth, I spent about 10 years in these types of firms, so I feel qualified to make this strange observation.  Why do I think this, you may ask?

1. Rigid chain of command
2. Staff receive very specialized training that is somewhat but rarely ~totally~ relevant outside the firm/operation
3. Rigid pay structure and staff hierarchy
4. Intense performance review process
5. There is no such thing as a successful “nine-to-fiver”
6. You rarely get to go home when YOU want to
7. Its hard to plan nights at the theatre – work always interferes
8. Clients/(countries) you are investigating/(invading) get agitated when you show up/(stay too long) and ask too many questions
9. Clients/(countries) you are investigating/(invading) get agitated when you ask too many questions which makes you wish you were armed/(glad you are armed). 
10. For just about everything you do on the job, there is a right way (your firm’s/your outfit) and a wrong way to do it (the other firms’ on the block/the Navy/Army/whoever you aren’t).
11. Defined methods of advancement
12. Relative job security since you are not easily replaced
13. You are surrounded by bad haircuts
14. Staff have questionable fashion sense when out of ‘uniform’
15. There is a strong pro-organization culture in place which makes it difficult to leave.  You work so much that much of your social network involves your co-workers.
16. Holding out the carrot of one day making partner/(general) is not nearly as effective on your junior staff/(non-coms or junior officers) as it once was.

This is not to say that I don’t have a good deal of respect for either entity.  They each have important roles to fill in society.  I just never saw the similarities between the two before…..

Interesting, Ernst and Young was recently forced to pay overtime to its administrative staff (where they were performing professional work)- but not its actual professional staff….

http://steeplemedia.com/blogs/krupo/archive/2008/04/28/three-of-canada-s-big-four-ca-firms-to-pay-overtime.aspx

 

I suspect others may have a few suggestions for the list.

The Northerngardener (an ex-road warrior)

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Canadian Driving Tips

Having driven in major cities within Canada for several decades now, I’d like to share some thoughts with others that I share the road with, since some fellow drivers seem to be lacking in a few areas.   I see these driving behaviours at least once a week.

DO NOT BACK UP ON ON-RAMPS

This has to go down in history as the STUPIDEST practice ever.  You WILL get KILLED.  Or you WILL KILL someone else.  Eventually.  Get on the blessed highway and get off at the first stop.  Turn around.  Get back on the highway in the opposite direction.  See?   Simple.  Its not the end of the world.   Stop endangering every one around you because you made a mistake.  Suck it up, drive the extra ten minutes, and keep our roads safer. 

If you cannot ”do” 4 way stops correctly, the only thing that fixes this is PRACTICE.  

As you come to a complete stop, take an inventory of who stopped before you.  Once they have gone, THEN you go.   I cannot tell you how many drivers either do not understand this or are unwilling to respect it.  There are the drivers who create a standstill in traffic as they are terrified it is actually their turn.  Or those that just charge through, regardless of order.  They usually get a good dose of my very loud horn, and I hope I’m shaming them into better behaviour.

Drive with the crowd

If you or your vehicle are incapable of driving the speed limit, please get off the road for everybody’s safety.  If you want to drive the speed limit on a major highway, please do so in the right hand lane.  If you stay in the left lane because you think it is your “right”, all you are doing is creating a dangerous situation for everybody, including those drivers who are now illegally passing you on the right.    I have known someone to receive a ticket for driving too SLOWLY on a 400 series highway, which caused me no end of pleasure – as the person vowed to stay off the highways thereafter until they were more comfortable. 

Park your ego at home 

We have road rules for a reason.  Unless you are a trauma surgeon rushing to save someone, you really have no good reason to drive like a maniac.  And I don’t necessarily mean speeding.  I’m talking about the combination of speeding and agressive driving, like weaving in and out of traffic.  You are not Mario Andretti, and even if you were, you shouldn’t be driving like that.  If someone does something really stupid in front of you, go ahead and mumble at them, but then GET OVER IT AND YOURSELF.  We’ve all done stupid things while driving.  Remind yourself of this.  Offer it up.  And at the end of the day, that person’s punishment is that they have to go home and be themselves for the rest of their lives.  If they are driving that stupidly, this thought should be sufficiently karmic to satisfy most of us. 

Respect the weight of your vehicle 

Do not drive your sport utility like it is a regular compact car.  You cannot stop as fast as other vehicles because you are heavier.  So stop tailgating lighter vehicles and causing accidents.   I learned this the hard way, as a very young driver driving a four door sport utility, I tailgated a civic hatchback who decided to do a break stand.  I almost lost control of my vehicle into a guard rail while stopping so as not to crash in to his butt.  And PS, if you do crash into his butt, its ALWAYS your fault.  Another good reason to leave some breathing room, no matter what size your vehicle.  Also, you avoid overuse of your brakes, another annoying habit some drivers seem addicted to.  Sometimes taking your foot off the accelerator works too, people!

Respect the truckers 

They are often the safest drivers on the road.  Don’t cut them off.   Let them in.  They don’t have time or luxury to react properly because they are exceedingly LONG and HEAVY.    When they are trying to change lanes to get in front of you, be courteous.  Flash your lights once briefy to acknowledge you see what they are doing, and will not attempt to cut them off.   Change lanes and drive around them if you don’t like driving behind them.  and don’t tailgate them.  If you can’t see their mirrors, they can’t see you.

When you are driving, DRIVE

Get OFF your cell phone. While this could potentially be illegal in Ontario, anyway, it is presently illegal in Quebec and it just makes sense.  Studies have shown as much as a 30% decline in spatial/cognitive abilities when trying to drive and talk at the same time.   Most drivers can’t spare the decline.

Don’t put your makeup on, eat cereal, talk on the phone, or play with your GPS.  Seriously. If we all just concentrated a little bit more on what we were doing, and had a little more respect for our fellow drivers, and spent our leftover time anticipating the errors that other drivers will make, we would have a lot less road congestion from accidents.  And hey – perhaps it will reduce fatalities, too.  If you don’t believe me, this is what a Canadian policeman has to say,

“…Bulmer, who has investigated upward of 500 fatal collisions, said one factor that continues to contribute to serious crashes are people’s relaxed attitudes toward driving….One thing that I have seen over time is that everybody’s life is so much faster-paced now…Everyone has BlackBerrys and cellphones and are responding instantly to any piece of information.

“It’s spilling into driving. I catch women doing makeup, men shaving while they’re driving, and working on spreadsheets. People still think the car is an appropriate space to conduct business.”

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=6a901486-5671-4c6c-8ee8-25dee8c3f948

Pull over for ambulances, police and funerals

If you have ever ridden in the back of an ambulance, desperately trying to get to a hospital with a loved one, you know what it is like to have traffic part for you.  It is wonderful.  You also have experience traffic ignoring you.    If you have participated in a funeral, you know what it is to experience complete strangers acknowledging the magnitude of your loss.  You will see it if you ever go to a funeral in small town Canada.  The road simply stops, and allows the funeral party passage.   This is a little seen tradition in the big cities.  Pity.  A little of our shared humanity has died with the tradition.

Learn how to handle emergency situations, especially the wintery kind

When it is snowy, go to an empty parking lot, slam on your brakes, and practice controlling your car in a skid situation.   When it is snowing, make sure BOTH hands are on your wheel when you are changing lanes to fight against the snow build up, or to steer out of hydroplaning.  If your wheel falls off the road, do NOT jerk the wheel.  That’s the best way to roll-over.  Slow down, and ease back on the road once you have control of the vehicle.    When it is snowy, try easing up on the accelerator before braking.  Its much easier on the drivers around you, who are not constantly jumping from your brake overuse.

Challenge drunks with keys in their hands

I HATE drinking and driving.  I’ve lost two close friends from it.   I don’t care who knows it, either. I think MORE of us need to get more OBNOXIOUS about taking keys away from our friends and less worried about the SOCIAL ramifications.   I stopped being embarassed about challenging drunk drivers the day my best friend was run over by a drunk driver while walking home down a country road.  We were both 14 at the time.

I was once in the US on a somewhat tense business trip with a colleague from another firm.  We were meeting a client for dinner.  My colleague, who had driven us from the hotel, started to drink excessively.  In front of our client, I told him to give me his keys.   He jokingly said, “Or what?”  I, not jokingly said, “Or I’m going to take them, and you aren’t going to enjoy the process.”  He replied, “You know, I believe you when you say that” and surrendered his keys.   When we left, the client pulled me aside and said, “Thank you for doing that.  I was about to, and wouldn’t have been as gentle about it”.   When I looked confused, he pulled back his jacket to show his police revolver.  I had no idea he was a part-time policeman.   If there is a moral to these meanderings, it is that when standing up against a drunk, you never know what allies will surface. 

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/24/impaireddriving-charges.html

Thank you all for bearing my rant.  I feel better now.

The Northerngardener (an ex-road warrior)

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Remove Police Forces’ Ability to Use Tasers with Impunity

I couldn’t stop shaking my head as I read the latest in Canadian cops and their use of tasers.  So not only are we the country that tasers non-English speaking tourists to death in airports, apparently we also tase 17 year old boys to death, and use repetitive taser shots to subdue an 82 year old man who is in hospital.  

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/08/bc-kamloops-man-taser.html

It is unclear exactly what happened in the case of the 17 year old, except we are told he was a suspected thief who refused to surrender a knife. 

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/466428

I have a great deal of respect for the concept of law enforcement in this country.  I don’t have the guts to put on a uniform and go fight the bad guys every day at the same time being a walking target, so I admire their gumption.  However, I have less respect for how law enforcement actually gets put into practice.  In the case of the 82 year old – described by reporters as frail – he recently had heart surgery and was in hospital for pneumonia.  He was not getting enough oxygen and became delirious and apparently was waving a knife at staff.  OK guys, perhaps you could start thinking outside the box a bit, and find alternative solutions to situations rather than shooting people with 50,000 volt tases.  Perhaps, and I may be crazy here, our police could have THROWN A BLANKET on top of the elderly man, grabbed his arms, and removed the knife.  No harm, no foul.  Perhaps you could have put some extra oxygen in the room and he may have come to his senses.  But no, no, these fellows in Western Canada decided to tase the poor guy THREE times apparently because they wanted to resolve the situation as quickly as possible to move onto more pressing police matters. 

The fellow, Mr. Lasser, is an ex-prison guard, and was understandably unimpressed.  One would think that the RCMP would be taught how to disable a feeble knife-wielding-pneumonia-stricken-man-confined-to-a-hospital-bed, without the use of lethal force?  Seriously.    Pretty shabby, guys.  I’ve always had this noble image of Mounties in particular, riding up on their very cool horses, rescuing people in distress.  Not so much anymore.

I have a certain philosphy about dealing with police, if I do get pulled over while driving.  Be nice.  Be contrite.  Whatever you do, don’t lose your cool.  I was once pulled over for speeding (and weaving around four slow moving vehicles, one of which happened to be a police car).   I pulled off into a side street since I didn’t want to block the majority artery I was driving up.  It was dark.  The policeman got out of his car, took out his bully stick, and came up to my window.  He filled the entire window of my sport ute with his huge torso (he wasn’t fat, but he was about 6′ 6″).  Then he banged on my window quite contemptously with his stick.  He was so mad his nostrils were flaring. 

I rolled down the window and he literally shouted at me, “Lady, did you GET your LICENSE out of a CEREAL box?”  He then stared at me.  The question obviously required a response.  I had two choices.   #1 – lip off, and risk this gentleman beating me about the head with his stick, which was still out, and us down this fairly deserted road in the dark and all, or #2 – answer politely and try to diffuse the situation.  So I looked him right in the eye and with a completely straight face (a “court face”) I said, “No sir, I got it the regular old way.”   He stared at me, and responded, still shouting, “SO what IS the SPEED limit where it is not marked”.  I responded, “50, sir”.   I was starting to feel like I was in the army or something.   ”So WHY exactly were you driving like that?”.  I explained, very politely, very calmly, that I had been working late, was finally getting home in good time after several nights of working until 1 a.m., but was late again versus what I’d promised my husband.  And I also explained that I didn’t think it was an excuse for driving like a jerk, but that he had asked and I was trying to be honest. 

This finally got him to settle down a bit.  He stared at me for another minute while he digested my response, possibly coming to the conclusion that he had seriously lost his temper.  Then he asked in a much quieter tone, “WHERE do you work?”  I responded with the name of my then employer (a large, downtown, ahem….law firm).   

So, go figure, I didn’t get a ticket after all this.  I did get one heck of a lecture.   That’s fine, I deserved one.  He knew it, and I knew it.   I do think the officer realized that he had gone off his noodle, and I was going to make him look ridiculous to the judge if he did give me one, and that I was potentially tallying up names of judges to mention this whole incident to (he was correct on all counts).  It still didn’t stop it from being a very frightening experience, in the dark, with one of our city’s armed finest.   My fancy education won’t do much good if I get bonked on the head with one of their sticks, or shot with one of their tasers and have a heart attack (since I do have a mild heart condition). 

I think that the use of tasers need to be much more strictly regulated and treated explicitly like the use of a lethal weapon.  So, if you discharge your taser, you get to file a real big special report, that gets reviewed by a special commission made up of police representatives and the general public.   Perhaps our boys in black  will start using their brains and imagination a bit more like the good old days, once the ability to zap people whilly-nilly is removed.  Blankets, boys, break out the blankets the next time an 80 year old man poses a threat…..

The Notherngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Animals Left in Cars in the Heat – Check if the Air Conditioning Is On!!

We are animal rights people.  Not those goofy people that go running around spraying people wearing fur with paint, but rather, we believe that if you own an animal it should be integrated into your life.  If you own a dog, it should live in the house so that it can be with its pack – the family.    As a result, we take our dogs everywhere.  In the summer, this can cause a bit of a quandary.  We don’t want to leave them at home, but many places won’t let them in.   So we spend a lot of time in the summer wandering around greenhouses – dogs on leash are always welcome. 

I had to travel by myself the other day to take one of my doggies to the vet.  By necessity, I had to run into Tim Hortons for a few minutes, so I left my poochie in the car with the AIR CONDITIONING ON.  Imagine my surprise when I came back to my vehicle and overhead the discussion from the car sitting next to me.  Fellow dog lovers, they had spotted my pooch and assumed he was trapped in the car with no windows down.  In 90 degree heat with a ton of humidity.  So they were discussing how much time to give me before they smashed my window in. 

Firstly, this is a conversation my husband and I have had on more than one occasion when spotting a dog apparently left out in the heat.  However, for all those activists out there, I would suggest that you CHECK to see if the engine is running before you decide to put out someone’s window.   We have a very quiet running vehicle.  Unless you place your hand on it, you might not hear the engine running.  Otherwise, you will be left with an enraged citizen, a lovely repair bill, and likely, a court date.

On a more personal note, please don’t hesitate to act – responsibly- if you think or even suspect that a dog is in danger!  I once saved a dog from certain death in a parking lot because I bothered to go inside the associated professional offices and announce loudly that there was a dog, in a certain vehicle, with the windows rolled completely up, which looked like XX, in the parking lot and I was going back out to put a rock through the window if the situation wasn’t resolved immediately.  There are studies that show that on an 80-degree day the interior of a vehicle heats up to 102 degrees in 10 minutes. It will reach 120 degrees in 30 minutes.  

One of the staff members leaped up and ran out to the vehicle.  Turned out the business owner had, completely by accident, forgotten the dog in the car when they came into work that morning.  I’ve known this person for 20 years and they are the biggest animal lover I can think of.  They were in tears when they realized what could have happened.  So, get involved.  Ask questions.  Maybe you will save a life one of these days.

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Does Forced Community Service Do Any Good?

I’m very curious about how its going with the Ontario Government’s test project that has high school students perform 40 hours of mandatory community service prior to graduating.   As in, are the kids taking part more or less likely to be adult volunteers?  Mandatory service is not volunteering as the choice has been removed from the individual.  Does the presence of forced service workers affect the regular volunteers who have chose to participate?  I don’t know.   What I do know is when I hear the phrase, “mandatory community service” it makes me think of prisoners out on parole…..   

Personally, I don’t think forcing youth to provide services is a good way to go.  It essentially creates a captive market of unpaid labour for the not for profit organizations.    Which is nice for the NPO’s (maybe, but I still think staff supervision time could increase unduly), but how happy would I have been essentially being used for slave labour at that age?  If I ran an eldercare facility or had a parent in one of these facilities, for example, how happy would I be knowing that some of the ‘helpers’ were forced to be there?   I think we also run a risk when we force people to interact with the most vulnerable members of society – the poor, the elderly, the mentally handicapped, etc.    Teenagers have such a varying level of maturity (so do adults, but they are not the topic of this post.)

Maybe being exposed to the community work situation introduces the youth to types of work and members of society that they would not otherwise meet.  Which is a good thing, so long as the youth takes something positive away from it.

Also, NPO’s need to follow stringent reporting requirements in order to apply for and receive government funding.  By providing them with a captive free labour market, will we reduce the transparency of their operations, since they may need to report less details if less funding is sought?    Again, just a thought….

I’d be curious to hear from teenagers or parents of teenagers that have participated in the program, what is everybody saying about this?  Would your teenager have volunteered anyway?  Has the program caused your family to volunteer as well? 

There was a U of Toronto study done in 2004 which examined the situation.  With the forced community work program in place, 94% of students performed services.  High number, you say.  BUT WAIT.  It also says that 77% of them would have volunteered anyway.  It also says that those students who were NOT interested in providing community services were NOT made more likely to do them as an adult as a result of the program… so where is the justification for the program?  15% of students are made to do community work, and it does not enhance their willingness to do it in the future.  Happily, parent’s particpation in community service was identified as an indicator of a youth’s future tendency to volunteer.   What really affected future particpation was how much the students enjoyed their experience in volunteering.  It is worth noting that this was a small study, and it focused on students attending Wilfred Laurier and Guelph which are smaller universities  I’m no statistician, but I would also guess that the youth more likely to go to university (and perhaps smaller universities) are also more likely to volunteer (for application purposes, due to community culture of giving, etc.) so the respondent group may be skewed towards being more likely to volunteer in general. 

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:VzDeHBiWQIAJ:sec.oise.utoronto.ca/english/pdfs/2008_symposium/23_poster_0508.ppt+Ontario+Government+mandatory+community+service&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=ca  

Wouldn’t it be more effective to work to create a ‘culture of volunteering’ where families get involved?  There are so many organizations that need help.  Hopsice care.  Homes for the aged.  Victims of illness and poverty.  

It simply concerns me that we are potentially tormenting and coercing 15% of our youth population, and perhaps detracting from the freely-given work of the remaining 77% of them.  40 hours isn’t alot, but if someone tried to force me to do something for 2 hours, let alone 40, I’d have a thing or two to say about it.   I NEVER volunteered as a teenager.  I was busy with school and work.  But as an adult, with a busy professional career, I made time to volunteer in the critical care unit at a major urban hospital, dealing with families of patients at very difficult times in their lives.   It also seems that the data bears a similar pattern – as in, no clear pattern that links youths who volunteer with adults who volunteer.   Thus, not so much support for the of these mandatory community service programs. 

The Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. )

Stop Killing My Butterflies

Its June and I’ve seen exactly two butterflies the whole year.  I’m getting a bad feeling about this.  We have a backyard that is specifically landscaped with native plants and lots of nectar rich plants for the bees, birds and butterflies. 

It seems like everything and everyone is plotting to kill my butterflies.  Are YOU a butterfly-killer?

KILLER # 1 – SOME GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN

Some kinds of genetically engineered corn (“BT”) have been shown to kill butterflies.  On the face of it, the corn sounded like a good idea.  It was engineered to contain a pesticide to cut down on farmer’s spraying - only problem is that the pesticide gets dispersed in its pollen and in a test was shown to kill the monarch butterflies exposed to it and severely stunt the growth of remainder.    A growth stunted butterfly cannot make the great flight from Mexico to my backyard way up here in Canada.  Neither can the dead ones.

http://www.globalchange.com/monarch.htm

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/May99/Butterflies.bpf.html

KILLER # 2 – YOU, THE GARDENER WHO USES BACTERIAL PESTICIDES

The popular trend in bacterial pesticides – you know the ones that have little bugs in them that kill other bugs?  They kill larvae, including butterflies.    So, if you want to see more butterflies, quit using that *&^%  BT (bacillus thuringiensis (BT)) which kills caterpillars INCLUDING butterflies.

KILLER # 3 – DESTROYERS OF WETLAND

The monarch butterfly needs milkweed to lay its eggs on and to host its young.  As wetlands get destroyed, so do large stands of naturally occuring milkweed.  Since we like to live in big houses usually built on formerly natural land, its a nice thought to give back a little spot to nature by planting a small stand of milkweed.  Its ugly but it works.

WANT TO HELP?

I know you do.  You aren’t killing my butterflies on purpose.  Help restore some of the butterflies’ natural habitat in your own yard.  You don’t need a huge complicated garden.  Even a few well watered pots in full sun will do the trick, especially if there are some flat surfaces like stones or bricks nearby that the butterflies can use to sun themselves. 

NECTAR VS STYLE - Butterflies like nectar rich plants.  The insidious truth that most greenhouses don’t want you to realize is that Just because a plant is pretty doesn’t mean it is nectar rich.   In fact, some of the prettiest plants today are engineered for colour, at the expense of the nutrients available to our bees and butterflies.   Sometimes, the humble original species of a plant is best for the wildlife instead of the fancy cultivars.   Try to find good plants that will feed the butterflies AND come in colours that are attractive to them – pink, red, purple, orange and yellow flowers.  They love our white and purple cosmos masses.

BIG FLAT TOPS -Butterflies like plants with big steady tops like coneflowers.  

PLANT TWELVE NOT ONE - Butterflies like stands of flowers.  So don’t just plant one cosmos – plant 12 all together making a big patch. 

ROTTEN FRUIT – Believe it or not, this is all some butterflies eat.  Try some mashed banana or watermelons.  Keep out of reach of children and watch out for the bees – they like these too.

TRY THESE ON IN YOUR GARDEN – Plant some of the following plants (but please check your local environmental authority to make sure they aren’t invasive in YOUR area), and put those bottles of insecticide away.  We grow these in our Zone 4 garden. 

• Butterfly Bush (buddleia davidii) – perennial, likes moderate moisture, smells incredibly sweet.  You will never regret planting two of these side by side.  Sit back and watch the butterfly parade!  Needs some winter protection.
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia Cardinalis) – perennial, likes wet
• Yarrow (achillea millefolium)- perennial, likes dry
• Cosmos – annual, likes moderate wet
• Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) – perennial, grows anywhere
• Coneflower (Echinaecea) – perennial, likes it a bit dry
• Milkweed (Asclepias)  This is the monarch butterflies’ sole food for caterpillars – why not plant some in an inconspicuous spot and sacrifice them to the pretty striped monarch caterpillars?  Perennial, likes moister areas.
• Joe Pye Weed (eupatorium maculatum) – six foot tall native wonder, loved by all.  Big pink puffy plumes.  Plants likes moisture. 

NASTY NASTY STAY AWAYS

For the sake of our wetlands, please stay away from these plants in most areas of Ontario and Quebec.   They are invasive and smother native plant species that feed our wildlife:

• Rose of Sharon
• Russian Olive
• Japanese Blood Grass
• Silver lace vine
• Wisteria

Alright, you know what you need to do.   Pick up the trowel and go to it!  And no, I don’t make house calls!

 On behalf of the butterflies – thank you.

Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 by the Northerngardener.  Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me. ) 

Alma College (St. Thomas) Fire – Flowers, bricks and economics

I managed to get down to see the Alma College Amphitheatre this week, once the heat wave broke.   It looks pretty incredible.  The gardens will face a few challenges in upcoming months –  to name a few:

• watering challenges.  Rain barrels?  Determined citizens toting buckets of water every now and again?   For the past few days, Mother Nature was helping them out in a big way with lots of rain.  It will be exciting to see how the grass seeds take hold.  I shall continue to pray for some well timed rain showers for the new plants.
• safety challenges.   They need some railings to help visitors walk up and down the stairs.   They were never that safe to begin with from what I recall – lovely to look at but quite steep.  I’m not sure if recycled rails would fit the bill but it would sure be cool if they were able to find some donations in this regard.  Or donations of labour.  Sounds like they are looking into all the options, new and used.
• access challenges.   Will the owners continue to allow free access?  Let’s hope so.  Sounds like the community is getting used to there being a new garden there. 
• money challenges – to address all the other challenges – this is a community effort with no funding other than donations
• ownership challenges – see access challenges

Its a big project.  The organizers seem like they have some pretty big shoulders.   They will obviously be keeping an eye on what the owners will ultimately decide before making any big investments in fixed improvements.  Water will be the big bug-a-boo I think, for the near term. 

I have a souvenir brick.  Chipped and blackened. I’m not sure what I will do with it but I couldn’t leave without a piece of the building as this whole situation still seems unreal.  The brick helps ground me in reality.  Its a yellow brick, one of the external bricks.  One of the gardens in the Amphitheatre includes a patch of yellow flowers for our troops.  Standing there, I was saddened to think that our brave men and women are giving their lives to protect our freedoms, and this wonderful building and heritage was not protected by us. 

It was also one of the few occasions that I personally witnessed a building that was meaningful to me be destroyed and lay in rubble at my feet.  I think we take the calmness and safety of our country for granted.  A good friend of mine was an ambulance driver in Lebanon for five years.  Another was a medic in the wars in Africa for 15 years.  They have both commented to me about the peacefulness and stabilty of Canada and that most Canadians do not seem to realize this astonishing thing about our country.  As I stood there I felt a kinship to all those in any country who have had this experience, of standing in front of one of their solidities that had been crushed before them, for whatever reason.  It shakes the foundations that you construct in your head and makes you wonder, what else that I assume will always be there is so fragile and tenuous and will be found laying at my feet, defeated?   So there I stood with a yellow brick and if I had to choose an object to throw the brick at in that very moment, I would have been at a loss.   

The Alma College situation wasn’t simple.  People keep asking me what exactly happened to the school. I will share my personal opinion that Alma was a victim of economics.  Declining enrollments in the 1980’s combined with increased maintenance costs led to not enough money for staff costs.  Factor in an economic recession and very little safety net.  The teaching staff unionized during the 1987/88 school year to win higher (or likely, market) wages and more paid time (they used to have to do a LOT of after hours stuff, for which I’m sure they were not compensated.)   And then when the demands were not met, they went on strike.  

The problem with going on strike is that it is usually only successful if the money exists to meet the worker’s demands and if the company/school involved can financially sustain the fallout from the action.  Sadly, in Alma’s case, it wasn’t able to.  At the time of the strike, the school struck me as dependent upon foreign students – they paid higher fees, and came to Alma usually for two years to prepare for attendance at English speaking universities.  The parents of these students were particularly leery of the strike disruption.  Many of these parents withdrew their children during the strike action to other private schools.   So did many Canadian parents.  

Substitute teachers were brought in to replace the striking teachers.   The girls who remained at Alma were in danger of losing their entire year due to lost classroom time.  They didn’t – but many parents were not impressed with these shenanigans.   Many alumnae were not impressed.  And all this was happening while the school still reeled from the retirement of Miss Betty Bone in 1986, the school’s vigorous Principal for several decades.  I sometimes wonder how she would have ’stick-handled’ her way through all of this.  She was such a vigorous defender of the school for so many years.  She must have been devastated to see it close, a few years before she passed on. 

Following the teacher’s strike, enrollment plummetted for 1988 and the school was out of business after over a century of operations.  The Alumnae tried to purchase it and run various schools out of it, etc.  None of these plans came to fruition.  Fast forward many years ahead to the eventual ownership by the Zubick family.   The building was not adequately protected since its closure by the government at various levels, which lacked the will (and by this, I also mean the allocated funds) to enforce building standards appropriate to a heritage property throughout this period.  And of course, the vandals had lots of fun.

So, if someone will point me in the direction of ‘economics’ then I will happily throw this brick at it, because that is where this all started - not the teachers, not the students, not Brian whats-his-name-and-the-Alma-Estates-idea.  Not the Zubicks. 

If I am honest, I admit that perhaps I would throw this brick at the stagnating culture that was perhaps responsible for some of the declining enrollment at the school during the 1980’s.  Not the educational aspect – that was awesome – I breezed through the first two years of university because of the high quality of Alma’s math and science curriculum and teachers.   I loved Alma, but “she” wasn’t perfect.  Some of the residence rules were hopelessly outdated and unreasonable, frustrating everyone including the girls’ families.  

Since I’m unlikely to be able to throw this brick at a theory or the culture of an organization that no longer exists, the brick will be given a place of honour in the Northerngardner’s own gardens.  And I wish peace to all parties involved.  We can’t resurrect the building, but the School’s motto was “Toujours En Avant” -which means always moving forward, always looking forward.   What was good, we carry with us.  What was bad, perhaps we could try to leave to the rubble. 

“Dear Old Alma may we ever look back upon thy glory.  Though we’re far from thee, still we long for thee – Ever faithful still. We will always fight for thy name and right, Truth and honesty we will pledge. So here’s loyalty in our hearts for thee — Let us sing thy praise”

 

I’m sure a few of those words aren’t quite right.   I’m equally sure some of the other alumnae will pop in and help me out. 

Northerngardener

(Copyright 2008 – Northerngardener – Go ahead and link to me, just don’t copy me.)

A quick postscript  – which I shouldn’t have to do:   

If you have nasty comments to post about particular individuals involved in the past administration at Alma, please get your own blog.  The posts won’t be approved here, as you have no doubt surmised by now.   Peace Out ~ NG