It’s OK to leave a note here and there so you don’t forget things…
Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category
On Growing Old…
Monday, February 19th, 2007No, YOU change.
Monday, October 23rd, 2006We can’t do it alone.
But we must begin with ourselves.
Spam, spam, spam, spam…
Saturday, October 21st, 2006I was away from my machine and my Internet account for approximately 25 hours last weekend.
This (below) is what happens when I go away for approximately 25 hours.
Over 600 e-mail.
When you e-mail me and I apologize for the delay in replying, this is why.
gs
Canadian Blood Services
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006For many years now, I’ve been a donor of blood products at the Canadian Blood Services (formerly known as the Canadian Red Cross).
Like most donors, I started by donating whole blood – my first donation was at age 18.
I realized early in the game that it’s not everyone who is cut out for blood donation – in fact, if you’re feeling a little queasy just reading this, you’re one of those folks who should probably stay away from the venipuncture area.
Don’t despair, however – there are a number of ways that you can give to the Canadian Blood Services if you’re looking to contribute to the program that may have kept you or a close relative or friend alive at a critical time, or if you just like to do something for others.
(more…)
New Cure for Hiccups!
Monday, October 16th, 2006The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize winners were awarded on October 5, at the 16th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre.
http://www.improbable.com/ig/2006/2006-details.html
Follow the link above for the complete list of winners. I was particularly intrigued by the pair of winners in the Medicine category and their novel cure for hiccups…
(more…)
Smart? Rich? OOOOOOOOHHHHHH.
Thursday, October 5th, 2006Good news for the vast majority of female readers of this blog!
Smart, rich women more likely to have orgasms, study suggests
SCOTT DEVEAU
Globe and Mail Update
October 4/06
http://tinyurl.com/msy93
“(…) According to revealing new research, heterosexual women with graduate degrees are more likely to reach orgasm than their less educated counterparts. There is also a higher incident of orgasm in women who speak English at home, have a higher household income or hold a managerial or professional job, the Australian study found. Confirming a widely held belief, the research also found that men were far more likely than women to experience an orgasm during their last sexual encounter, 98.4 per cent and 68.9 per cent respectively. (well, duh. I just wonder about the 1.6%)
HOWEVER…
Smart, rich women more likely to have poor taste in men, Common Sense suggests.
http://tinyurl.com/pw2em
And what about smart, rich men with questionable tastes?
http://tinyurl.com/lbt7r
(Yeah, it *was* difficult for me to use the word “smart” in reference to the former Leafs’ head goon, but then again, he’s 36 years old and he’s worth more than ten of us regular folks put together, even after Leanne gets through with him, so there.)
[Begin period of self-doubt.]
Sunday, October 1st, 2006This blog thing is proving to be a bit of a challenge, right from the get-go.
I *was* planning on using the blog at least partly as a window to the “other side of me”, i.e., the slave-to-our-three-cats, fishing nut, long-term plateletpheresis donor, etc.
However, because the blog is part of a website that deals with serious social issues, I feel that it would somehow be seen as trivializing significant events like this past week’s federal govt. cuts if I were to go on about the big bass that I caught last week or the latest hijinks of our two kittens.
Maybe the discussion group format *would* be better…
I’ll have to do s’more thinking about that.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions, I’d appreciate your views on blogging in general, and also what you hope to get from this specific blog…
Thanks in advance!
Gilles
Federal spending cuts and impacts
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006Yesterday, the federal government announced a series of spending cuts impacting on many organizations across Canada and the people they serve. Click on the Treasury Board link below for a detailed list of the specific cuts.
Here are the biggest losers in the social envelope:
[NOTE: Cuts/savings shown below are for a two-year period]
Status of Women – “Administrative Savings”:
$5 million
Elimination of Health Canada’s Policy Research Program:
$7.5 million
“Health Portfolio†(??) efficiencies:
$28 million
Social Development Partnerships (HRSDC):
$13.8 million
“Efficiencies” in the administration of CMHC programs:
$45 million
Elimination of Funding for Canadian Policy Research Networks:
$3 million
Elimination of Funding for the Law Commission of Canada:
$4.1 million
Elimination of Court Challenges Program:
$5.6 million
These “lowlights” were prepared by Pedro Barata – merci, Pedro! For details on *all* cuts, click the Teasury Board link below.
*****
To everyone in the organizations and programs that are now forced to reassess their future:
I know that I speak for everyone in the social justice community in offering you our support in this dark hour for you…
*****
Here’s a catchy quote with a familiar ring for many of us:
“Canadians want to know their hard-earned tax dollars are invested responsibly in effective programs that meet their priorities.”
Source:
Treasury Board Secretariat Backgrounder on Effective Spending
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_e.asp
Just change the word “Canadians” to “Ontarians” in the above quote, and one would think that we’re back in the mid-1990s with the likes of Mike Harris and his Common Sense Revolution. Hey, wait — the two federal Ministers who announced the round of cuts are John Baird (Treasury Board) and Jim Flaherty (Finance), both former Ontario Ministers with the Harris government. Same as it ever was…
TIP: The key expression in the above quote is “hard-earned tax dollars”. When I first read this, I immediately remembered the Ontario Tories of Mike Harris and their mantras, which included, among others, references to “hard-working men and women” and “hard-earned income” and “hand up, not a handout”.
Gilles’ rule # 63: the words “hard-working” (people), “hard-earned” (money) and “hand-up” automatically characterize a text as conservative propaganda.
The Forbes 400
Friday, September 22nd, 2006For the first time, everyone who is included in the Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans has at least $1 billion.
http://www.forbes.com/400richest/
Four of the ten top billionaires in the U.S. are from the family that owns Wal-Mart, the American juggernaut that routinely gives its new staff applications for the local welfare and food stamp programs because Wal-Mart employees aren’t paid enough to make ends meet.]
- see the special Wal-Mart section near the top of the Canadian Social Research Links Banks and Business Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/bookmrk3.htm
To put this figure in perspective:
- In 2002, $1.25 trillion represented about 12% of the U.S. gross domestic product.
- With a population of about 83 million, Germany’s total government revenue in 2003 was $1.25 trillion.
- In the U.S., about $1.25 trillion of public funds are spent each year on security and support (Medical care – Cash aid – Food benefits – Housing benefits – Education aid – Services – Jobs and training – Energy assistance).
- The cost of Iraq War will top $1.25 trillion dollars by the end of 2006, according to an academic from the University of York in England.
Pretty sad…
(…except for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Warren Buffett’s donation to that Foundation!)