Progress?

I am ashamed of our Prime Minister, the man is voting against a UN Treaty that would ban asbestos internationally.  Why?  500 people in Quebec work for the industry, the industry our government spends our money on advertising abroad, advertising cancer basically, and not the fight against it!  The use of asbestos in all its forms is banned in Canada, yet our country exports it to developing nations.  Our morally bankrupt leader defends this by saying under controlled conditions, asbestos can be used safely.  First of all science and medicine don't agree with him, and second of all, we're talking about developing nations, it is not all that likely that they have the wherewithal to ensure these controlled conditions are met or adhered to - so because they've been warned we can wash our hands of it?  Is that what he's saying? Because I think it's unconscionable.

There is no justification for refusing to sign off on a well known fact that asbestos is a carcinogen and should be banned internationally, lest some under-informed country use the toxin in their schools, homes, or anywhere - the risk far outweighs....well what?  I don't even know what benefits could possibly exist.  A mere 90 million dollars a year in revenue to Canada?  Our government wastes more than that on political expense accounts - so why exactly is he destroying the reputation of our country?

There is no explanation for this hypocrisy, it is the behaviour of a despot, of someone who is bereft of humanity, and he is doing this on behalf of Canada.  If you feel as I do, that this behaviour is absolutely contrary to what we, as Canadians, deem acceptable, then please go to CanadaCausesCancer.ca and sign the petition imploring Harper to sign off on the UN treaty.  The leader of Canada's largest union signed it - I signed it - please - you sign it too. 

 While everyone is outraged, and rightfully so, about the plagiarizing dean at the University of Alberta, I was struck by something I find truly remarkable.  In case you haven't heard about the story; the Faculty of Medicine dean, Philip Baker, was delivering a convocation speech Friday, June 10, 2011 - when some of the students recognized the words and looked them up on their smartphones.  One attendee apparently found the speech on The New Yorker's website and was following along on his iPhone as it was being recited by Baker.  Big chunks of Dr. Atul Gawande's commencement speech at Stanford University in 2010 were copied word for word the students said.

What blew me away was that (a) the students even found Baker's speech familiar and (b) they were able to find it on their smartphones.  A commencement speech, delivered a year ago, at another University, in another country, was familiar to the students of U of A?  That is a dedication I could not even imagine.  And the guy who found the original speech on his smartphone?  I don't care how smart your phone is, that guy is an expert searcher, he mustn't have been using google, it doesn't matter how exact your search terms are, google will send you to every commencement speech at every school on the planet before returning the results you asked for - yes, that was some fine and impressive work!  I have a new found optimism for that generation...yup, I think they might just be the ones who can save us from ourselves.

I bet I know someone else who was very surprised that the students heard the speech before; he probably figured it was a safe ripoff, why would his students be listening to or reading a commencement speech at a school that had nothing to do with them? Well, of course he has to go!  Had a student pulled a stunt like that, he or she would be disgraced and expelled so fast, their futures all but destroyed - and I don't imagine medical school is a small investment financially, mentally and emotionally, not to mention the actual devoted man hours.  No, he has to go.

It is befuddling how people think they can get away with things.  This past week alone has a congressman having to admit what everybody else knew; he tweeted inappropriate pictures of himself to women he's never met.  And recently, the head honcho of the World Bank attempted to rape a hotel cleaning woman, Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, right under his pregnant wife and children's noses sires a kid with his cleaning woman, and don't even get me started on that sociopath John Edwards, the dichotomy between what he practiced and what he preached is epic!  The audacity, the hubris, the stupidity!  That they didn't think they'd get caught can only speak to their egos.  Did they think they were above it - that nobody would believe them capable of such a thing?  Or is it that they thought they would be forgiven, the incident swept under the rug because they are just so damn awesome?  I don't know, but it's happening a lot - men behaving badly, I think it's great - we need to weed out the idiots, and their egos are our best tool in accomplishing that task! 

I've not turned on my TV in 4 days, with one exception; Jon Stewart's return from vacation, I did, after all, want to know what was going on in the world, and he's the only one I trust to give it to me straight.  What I've realized during this self imposed media blackout, is that life is a lot better than they'd like us to believe, that, and, there are a lot more hours in the day than I ever imagined. 

I have no idea which celebrity, pseudo or otherwise, has been arrested for DUI, who's checked into rehab, who broke up, who hooked up and I must say, I like it!  I confess that I did try to catch Chelsea Handler last night, I guess my snark tank was severely depleted, and out of habit I went for a refill - but my magical TV didn't accommodate this ill-perceived need; the E! channel mysteriously disappeared - from the bottom of my heart, thank you Universe!!!

I also haven't have my iPod running, this house has never been so quiet - it is eerily peaceful. I don't intend to make a habit out of THAT, though, because music is integral to my well being, I just wanted to see, or rather hear, what silence was like, it is nowhere near as deafening as I thought it would be.  The sense of well-being derived from this experience has convinced me that the TV is one of the most destructive devices I own.  With my computer I can choose where I want to go, what I want to invite into my space and consciousness - with television, not so much.  I can change the channels, but I just get more of the same, it's either mainstream media 'reporting' on how dire everything is, or obnoxious people throwing stones from glass houses, or 'real' people in ridiculous situations acting all outrageous - what is appealing about any of that?  The dramas and sitcoms I used to enjoy are over for the season, so I'll wait for them to return before I succumb to that box of vapidity, or, maybe I won't.

There's the first of 3 eclipses tonight and I can feel the winds of change, I suspect it will get a little bumpy, but I'm remarkably undaunted.  The weather is gorgeous, not too hot, lovely breeze, the sun is shining - all is right with the world - and it really is, if you don't listen to those who profit from making you believe otherwise - and make no mistake, everyone of them does profit in some way.  It's easy to see why the masses are stressed out beyond capacity, they are being barraged by messages of despair, being told ad nauseam, that they should be very afraid of every single thing, bombarded with solutions to their heretofore unknown lack of appeal - how could anyone not be depressed?  How could anyone maintain a level of self-esteem?  The profiteers don't want happy, confident people, they say they do, but they don't.  If everyone was happy and confident they would realize that everything they are being told by voices outside of their heads is fundamentally wrong!  And were that the case, how would governments assert control?  How would the cosmetic, fitness and self-help industries survive?  How would Wall Street and the like weather another storm?  God forbid they try a different tact!

No, I like it here in this place of silence; I'm sure my roots could use a touch-up, I'm sure my abs could be tighter, I'm sure I could be quaking in my boots over my financial situation - but I'm not, all is right with the world, and I'm no exception!  I wish that for everyone - have a super swell day! 

While walking my dog around my neighbourhood on this very lovely morning, I took a different route along a trail that brought me behind the houses on my crescent; what a different perspective.  Whereas the front yards feature well-tended gardens and welcome signs; images of a peaceful, happy co-existence between neighbours, an entirely different picture emerges from the back.

All of the houses are semi-detached, the backyards also connect, separated only by fences of equal height. Some houses share a fence, while others have reinforced their space by adding another, redundant fence, suggesting that a meeting of the minds did not occur.  Same with the roofs; on some houses the shingles meld seamlessly, covering both houses without distinction, whereas others have what looks like lines in the sand, different shingles on either side that scream; THIS part of the roof is MINE, and THAT part is YOURS!  I tried to imagine the conversations; the happy to co-exist neighbours might have had a conversation that went something like this: neighbour A to neighbour B: "Hello neighbour, it looks like it's time to get the roofs replaced, why don't we do this together, get quotes from roofers and hire them to do them both at the same time?"  Neighbour B: "That sounds like a fine idea, we'll use the same shingles for continuity and I bet save a few bucks." These are the people, coincidentally, who also share but one fence between them.  

Then there are the not-so-happy to co-exist neighbours whose conversations were not so pleasant, or maybe they didn't have conversations at all - my imagination conjured up this conversation: Neighbour A: "The shingles are getting worn and need replacing, I've gone ahead and called roofers to get quotes and they said it would be cheaper if they did the whole roof and we split the cost, you in?"  Neighbour B: "Thanks, but I'll take care of my own roof, I'm sure I can find a better deal, and I'm not ready to do mine now anyways."  Neighbour A: "Suit yourself, I'm going to have mine done next week, so just a heads up, there's going to be a lot of banging going on over your head for a couple of days..."  and I made my imagination stop there, I didn't want to hear the fight.  I looked more closely at the backyards of the 'good fences make good neighbours,' neighbours; and not only do they have the double fence, the way the backyards are set up confirmed my impression that these folks do not get along.  The umbrellas or gazebos are situated so that when you're sitting on the chairs, you are blocked from view of the other yard.  I imagine this cuts them off from some much desired sunshine as well.   I would not want to be out in my back yard, on a gorgeous day, talking in hushed tones for fear that the evil-doer next door would overhear my conversation, while also depriving myself of that fundamental vitamin D that the sun so freely dispenses.  That just sucks the fun out of being in the back yard at all!

I started wondering how these relationships soured, and how miserable they're making life for each other.  Not only do they share a roof, they share a driveway too.  My neighbour and I would not even consider shovelling just our half of the driveway, we'd do the whole thing.  Same with the front yard, my neighbour on the other side and I wouldn't mow just the one side of the shared yard, we're the happy to co-exist neighbours.  Our patios are open, we invite each other over for cocktails, etc, we say hello when we see each other and offer to pick something up if we're going to the store.  Sometimes I can hear my neighbour's music through my walls on Sunday mornings, it gets a bit on my nerves because we do NOT share the same taste in music, but it's a small annoyance and it sure isn't a reason not to get along - I'm quite sure I have a habit or two that he could live without as well.

So this is life in my neighbourhood, a small representation of life in the world, an aspect of global reality.  We really need to figure this out because clearly, there IS a way we can all get along, we just have to be willing to cooperate and compromise, a little annoyance can save debilitating discord - isn't that a better way to live?

I was upstairs reading last night when I took a break to look for my dog, I was shocked to find him downstairs, lying on the floor, in the dark.  Broke my heart.  I googled "why does my dog go into another room to sleep" because I needed assurance from strangers that it wasn't because he stopped loving me - and, mercifully, that's what I got - although most of the people who had the same issue had dogs who were 18 months to two years old.  In dog years that makes them tweens, and tweens always need their space.  My dog is eleven, so, though I was grateful for the knowledge that I wasn't alone, I was still perturbed - but I decided, based on the information gleaned from people whose credentials were unavailable, that sometimes dogs just want their own space.  There was no carpeting in the room in which I was reading, there was a chill in the air, you know, being the end of May and all (wtf??) perhaps he just wanted fabric under him?  So, I opened the door to the heretofore closed guest room, knowing this is his room of choice, and he wasted no time scooting under the bed and calling it a night.  I got down to his level to ask if he was okay, he licked me on my face and then turned his head, as if to say 'yes thank you, now go away.'  

For years I subscribed to the digital phone service my cable/internet provider provided.  It cost me $49.99 a month for the all-inclusive package, their version of all the bells and whistles: Voice Mail, Caller ID, Visual Call Waiting, Long Distance in North America, 3 Way Calling...I thought, because I compared it to the bigger rip-off; Bell Canada, that this was a good deal.  That was until I got the MagicJack.  The MagicJack cost $39.99 for the Jack and the first year's long distance.  That's $20 a YEAR for every single thing my cable/internet provider included, and more! When I get a voicemail, MagicJack emails me and I can play the message on my smart phone, it even has music-on-hold, and, should I desire it, the ability to store all my numbers on their soft phone.  My cable/internet provider gives you 3 options to 'suit your needs' for $14.99 a month you get the basic phone, the next price up gets you voice mail, then finally, the deluxe package gets you the long distance.  So, essentially, they are making $600 a year off of the deluxe package per subscriber when $20 a year is all MagicJack asks for....and they have the nerve to raise their cable/internet rates on a regular basis????? We tolerate so much, we gotta stop this insanity!