1st World Problems

 My word it has been a while.  Over the time I have not been here many things have changed, as they tend to do. And the other things that haven't changed are the ones that will bring you down.  Now, you know I can't resist talking at least a little about politics. So let's get that out of the way.  Alberta, we are on the cliff. As of July 1, 2022 (according to Google) our province's population was 4,543, 111. That is a lot of people. Through the magic of politics, 42000 people elected our current leader, on their sixth shot at it.  I am sure you know about our current leader. How can you go anywhere without hearing about her next try at speaking her truth into existence and then backtracking on what she said like a three year with red hands telling you that they aren't the one who got red paint all over your walls? I never thought I would be able to say anything positive about our last leader, but at least Kenbabe never seemed to be actively trying to tear our p...

 I'm Back! It's been a while. And there really is no reason other than every once in a while, you need a break from the routine.  I also spent last week in Newfoundland with my mom and daughter. We spent the week living within our own schedule (for the most part) and stopping whenever we felt like it to see whatever sparked our interest. One stop was a shipwreck, another for an ice cream cone.  Whenever I spend time somewhere other than where I live I wonder whether I could live there or not. I think we all do some form of this. New places are just that, new. We are on vacation and have the time to poke around instead of the seemingly endless race of routine when we are living our normal lives.  Vacation places don't have the same issues. Unless you do research or watch the news where you are staying, you don't really know what is going on there. The politics of home and the difficulties in the local area are lost to us.  So when we think about relocating, are w...

 Here comes another political post.  Gird your loins friends. As you are well aware the federal PC party is looking for a new leader. They said, "see you later loser" to Erin O'Toole months ago. According to the die-hards in his party, he was too liberal when he spoke on acceptance and how the party itself needs to move forward (and maybe a little scooch left) if it wanted to be a contender for becoming Canada's top party.  That was far too much and he was catapulted out. I bet he was hurt at the time but is now super relieved that he isn't the one that needs to herd all of the cats that are currently running to be the leader.  Let's start with Jean Charest. He seems to be the safe choice. He is the best choice to work on stopping the growing divide in our country. He acknowledges that the country can't continue this way if we ever want to work together. He comes with some issues though. He has been in the leader's seat before. In 1993 he was the leade...

 I have talked about this before.  So if some of the things I say in this post sound familiar, it may be because it is something I have said before. Some points in this issue bear repeating, and sometimes to feel truly heard, you have to repeat yourself. So, it actually happened. Roe Vs. Wade was repealed. And almost half the states in America have either made abortion illegal already or are working on it. In some states, like Texas, people had appointments made and had traveled to appointments. Only to show up and find the clinics closed.  This wasn't a surprise really. That is what happens when the highest court in the land is stacked to one side. R V. W isn't just about access to safe abortion though. It is also about privacy in health care and accessing health care safely. Part of the explanation for the repeal is that things like abortion, contraception, gay marriage, and interracial marriage were not specifically mentioned in the constitution.  My question to t...

 It seems my post yesterday was written just a touch too soon.  In traditional narcissistic behavior, it seems someone just couldn't help himself. And he is back for another round of "let's see just how far I can push this province until I bankrupt it financially and emotionally". He is giving off real Ross and Rachel "I didn't cheat, we were on a break vibes" with this stunt. Our friend Jason Kenney is like that itch you just can't get to. After less than 24 of being gone, he came back. Someone on his team even posted a not-at-all staged video of him walking into the board room to get down to business. Our little dancing buddy even got a (not rehearsed at all) standing ovation from the ministers within. Only a couple of them had the dignity to look uncomfortable about the backward pageantry of it all. I guess the good news is that he has said he is only back in leadership until the UCP party finds a good leader. Looking at the majority of the candid...

 If you have been reading my written meanderings for a while, you are probably expecting me to be super excited about what happened yesterday. Unless you haven't heard.  Jason "Kenbabe" Kenney made it through his leadership review by the skin of his teeth (incidentally, I hate the phrase it makes my teeth hurt). And then took the podium. From the crowd's reaction to his speech that I watched, his announcement that he was stepping down came as a surprise for everyone.  My initial reaction when I heard was one of elation. Then excitement. Now I am worried.  Jason (the real-world embodiment of Randy from The Trailer Park Boys) was not the right leader for the average Albertan. Own an oil and gas company? Do your kids go to a private school? Do you believe that public healthcare is terrible, and those who can afford to jump the line are the ones that deserve health care? Then he was your man. For the rest of us, who work every day and don't have much of their paychequ...

 Have you heard the term "navel-gazing"? If you haven't, it's a term that basically means that the person doing the gazing is spending too much time focusing on how something is affecting them and not enough time focusing on what it will do to the big picture.  There is a lot of navel-gazing going on these days. Many of us have forgotten that there is a great wide world out there and that we are not the actual center of the universe. I am not going to pin this on one particular age group, gender, or political leaning.  As a society, we have become less "greater good" and more "what's in it for me". The chasm between those who are able to big picture things and the ones who can't see the forest for the trees causes more than just a shoulder shrug with an agreement to disagree. It's getting us into intellectual and political disagreements with neither side willing to listen to anything but their voices. No respect is given, and there is n...

 I'm feeling a little feisty today. Maybe it's the sudden snowstorm that came through last night, maybe it's the longer days.  Remember February? When all of the goose convoy (noisy, angry, left a lot of crap around that they didn't pick up) decided it was a great idea to park in downtown Ottawa? You know, the people that were trying to overthrow a democratically elected government? With the memorandum of understanding? The one that said that the current government would step aside and let the members of the convoy lead the country? Yeah, those guys.  Well, it seems that at least the leaders of that group are having a heck of a time.  Tamara, who started the GoFundMe that raised $10 million was back in court today, arguing that the ban she was given to not use social media basically is too broad and not fair. I wonder if they will ask her where the $8 million that was removed from the fundraising before it was shut down went. Maybe partially to fly her husband in on ...

 Well, I guess we were wrong about one thing. Seems to me like the Timbit Taliban did affect some government changes.  I don't think a coalition government between the NDP and Liberals was quite what they had in mind when the MOU was first drawn up.  For those of you who have been around for a while, a coalition really isn't a new thing. It tends to happen when the party that wins is a minority. A smaller party will hitch their wagon to the minority leading party and they agree to look out for each other.  And this new agreement is not technically a true coalition, as no NDP representatives will sit in the cabinet.  Usually, the smaller party gets to have a bunch of the platforms it ran on at least brought forward to be looked at, if not voted on and passed. The larger party gets to be in power until the next election and now feels a little bit more comfortable when it comes to getting back to the business of running a country. Kind of like a big sibling protect...

 I want to start today with an improv game of sorts. There will be no theatre games. I guess it's more of an imagination exercise. I promise this is leading up to something.  In front of you, there is a chocolate bar, a Kit Kat. At this point, the fingers are all together and the bar is in one piece. It is a lovely-looking snack and the future of your nibble is outstanding. Ok, wait, maybe a Kit Kat won't work for this.  So, you have a rope. It's a long rope, made of many fibers that all work together because of the way the fibers are braided and intertwined. Then a person you know comes along and needs some rope. This won't work either.  Have you played Kerplunk? If you haven't, here is a small run-down. It's a game of strategy and some logic. There is a center tube with a top and a bottom. The middle of the tube has a whole bunch of tiny holes that you put very skinny, multi-colored plastic sticks into. The sticks from a kind of a nest. When your nest is forme...

 I am going to go outside of my area of expertise today to talk about disinformation.  And as usual, all the things I write about here are my own opinion.  Have you ever heard of Madison Cawthorn?  There really isn't any reason for you to know who he is really. So let's start with the basics. Mr. Cawthorn is a 26-year-old from North Carolina who currently works as a Member of the House of Representatives in the US.  Here are some things that he wants you to know about him. He is Christian, he is the only member of Congress born in the 1990s, he trained in wheelchair racing for the 2020 summer Paralympics. He lost the use of his legs in a car accident where his friend who was driving fell asleep at the wheel. Cawthorn's legs were up on the dashboard, his friend escaped the car and left him "to die in a fiery tomb". His political career started when he was a full-time assistant in the office of then-Representative Mark Meadow's congressional office.  Here are...

 So now our premier will be entertaining his followers with a call-in radio show. The premise is that every day Albertans can call in and ask the premier any question that they want.  Altruistically, this is a great idea. It opens the lines of communication between leader and follower. However, the actions this premier has taken in the past, and how he continues to operate leave me with many doubts as to the motivation behind this new way for him to connect.  We have seen again and again who our premier truly cares about. He kills funding on health and child care, continues to allow utility companies to do whatever they want cost-wise, and then lowers the taxes on chewing tobacco. You know highlighting all the important things we should be worried about.  Anyone who thinks that all calls won't be pre-screened and pre-recorded must not have been paying attention. Did you watch any of the covid press conferences that the premier attended? Any of the questions that he d...

 Remember last week when I said to look for the helpers? Turns out the people of Ukraine are the helpers.  As we are all aware good old Poutine himself decided that it was time to reannex Ukraine. He looked at President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and thought to himself that there would no way that the voice of the Ukrainian Paddington Bear, who once competed on a dancing reality TV show would be able to lead an effective defense strategy. I really think Putin thought that he would send in troops and the job would be done within a day or two.  Instead, the Ukrainian people and their leader are showing us what bravery really means.  If you're like me you've been watching the battle unfold mostly through social media. Which is a sentence I never thought I would type. Nor one I would have believed until quite recently. Now, as with all things social media, and all things where Russians are involved, everything you see and hear needs to be taken with a grain (or many) of salt....