MORE MAMMOGRAM INFO

I received this letter in the mail. It is a form letter that the British Columbia Cancer Agency sends out after a dubious mammogram. I scanned it and removed personal specifics such as address and care provider from the letter. I am posting it because it has more detailed information on mammograms and breast cancer.

NOTE: Please click on the jpeg to see the letter's text.

I hope that this will give more assurance to women dreading a second procedure and a realistic perspective on diagnostic mammogram.


Technorati Tags: breast cancer

WE MOURN

Whatever confronts me in my personal life, there cannot be the same devastation that is in Arkansas. A gunman shot and killed state Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney on Wednesday.

Police shot and killed murderer Timothy Dale Johnson after a high-speed chase. Earlier, Johnson had painted obscene graffiti on the Target store where he worked.

Officers later found a Post-It note with the chairman's name and keys from one of Gwatney's car dealerships at the killer's home.

This is the second attack on those of the liberal persuasion in less than two months. Underlying the attacks are work-related fears, anxieties, and paranoias. The American economy is stressed to its limits and so are those who are unemployed or underemployed. I know the strain of not being sure when the next paycheque will arrive or if my writing career will ever get past piecemeal stage. I've gone through ill health and no money. Health I hopefully retain at this point but there were times in the past where it has been touch and go. Life is sometimes difficult.

However, there is no reason to hurt or kill out of the pain and fear of a down-turned economy. The victims of wage rage are, in a shooter's mind, symbols of the financial devastation in America. These deaths don't touch the core of what is wrong in the United States. The fatalities won't change the mismanagement of the real estate market, nor the human and monetary cost of the Iraq war, or the country's failing infrastructure. Only each person's constructive and patient work will create a difference to solve these problems.

We are all neighbours in the same tough situation. We stick together or fall individually apart.

Technorati Tags:bill gwatney,guns

GETTING ANOTHER DAMN...

...MAMMOGRAM. This time it is a diagnostic test because the tech found a shadow on the film which is "abnormal, of low suspicion."

No, the preceding quote does not represent my state of mind unless you're a John Bircher conservative or Fundie Christian who stumbles across my blog. Crazy liberals. I'm fine (really!) but was at first a little panicked when I initially talked to the person who called me while I was on the way out to breakfast with my family. She said that there was "an area of concern" which left me confused because that usually refers to my brain. I had some time with my family, then returned home and called the clinic again. It seems that they aren't ready, yet, to strap me to a gurney and start pit mining in my chest. The diagnostic mammogram is a precautionary measure because of my family history of breast cancer.

There are two types of mammogram, screening and diagnostic. The initial x-rays are a general sweep of the chest area to see if a lump exists. If there is something awry then a secondary diagnostic with more focused x-rays or ultrasound is necessary to ensure that the object warrants surgery.

I have a diagnostic follow-up on Monday, August 18th. Yes, I am a bit scared and afraid to go to the appointment. I want to crawl under the bed with my teddy bear and a blankie. However, ignorance is more harmful than knowledge. That's why I'm not a John Bircher or Fundie Evangelical.

Don't be afraid to find out a hard and painful truth. I know my life, and the lives of other women who are terrified with the spectre of cancer can be saved with taking just one extra step.

Technorati Tags: breast cancer

GOT THE DAMN....

....MAMMOGRAM

I get the results in about a week.

Yes, it was kind of like pressed flowers but the tech, bless her, was as careful as could be when she had to squish my baby feeders in two x-ray plates. Fortunately, as I have written elsewhere, my greatest assets are between my ears and not my shoulders or I would be in hurt city and lugging an ice pack out of the clinic. Take that you wanna be porn stars, fashion models, and trophy wives (including my ex-brother-in-law's new hootchy who went the sandbag route for her buried treasures). I was only uncomfortable but I will never feel your pain.

That's all there is until I know more. For now, ta-tas!

Technorati Tags: breast cancer

BAD PUPPY, NO SPEECH

John Edwards, with the revelation about an affair with Rielle Hunter, should not speak at the Democratic National Convention.

He lied about not having the affair to the media. He hurt his wife who was later diagnosed with breast cancer. John Edwards is not fit for any public office. Mr. Edwards should take the honourable route and recuse himself from participation in the Democratic Party. He is a liability who should hang his sorry, cheating tail between his legs (and not someone else's) and stay away from the DNC.



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THE FACE OF THE RIGHT

A gunman killed two people on Sunday in a Knoxville Tennessee Unitarian church. He wounded several others.

Jim D. Adkisson hid a .12 gauge shotgun in a guitar case and pulled it out to shoot during a rehearsal of the musical Annie. The killer cited, in a four-page letter, his hatred of liberals. He wrote that liberals were destroying the country and had prevented him from obtaining employment.In a search of Adkisson's home, there were several right-wing books, including Michael Savage’s book Liberalism is a Mental Disorder. Adkission killed 60-year-old Greg McKendry and 61-year-old Linda Kraeger who was visiting from another UU congregation. Eight people were wounded.

The sludge rises in this case. Underneath its hoity-toity facade, the conservative movement is made of those who are undereducated, illiterate, and just plain stupid. The conservatives attract the scholastic inept. An intelligent person would read budget analysis and realize that the right-wing Bush administration has cut off help to those disenfranchised. I am, as a liberal, an excellent researcher. When I marched against the invasion of Iraq, for example, before the war it was not because of a lack of patriotism or such sentimental rot but because I read the U.S. Army War College analysis of the possible consequences which would be costly both in terms of human life and finances.
Conservatives should confess that, as an ideology, their beliefs are a destructive menace to a strong America and a safe world.

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STEVE, WE LOVE YOU BUT...

is there a succession plan at Apple Inc.? In a recent eWeek article there was some concern about Mr. Jobs' health, specifically that he was looking awfully thin and pale at his last appearance. There was also mention that there was no second in command.

As a conscientious CEO, it is necessary for Mr. Jobs to have a clear hierarchy to succeed him should he again fall ill with cancer. According to news reports, there is no re-occurrence. Or it need not be sickness. Accidents in life do happen. An industry leader must show wise example to his or her employees by being prepared for known probabilities such as one's mortality.

Thus written, I hope Mr. Jobs enjoys good health and a long, creative life. Radio Free Canada sends him a wish to rest, and take a hot cup of virtual tea.

UPDATE: Mr. Jobs does not have cancer according to news reports. He has nutritional issues related to the surgery that excised the tumour.

Stay cool, we luv you mon.


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GOD ONLY KNOWS

being gay is natural. Homosexual and bisexual behaviour characterizes not only mammals other than humans but also birds and insects. In a recent article in the Scientific American, bisexuality ranges from beetles to bonobos.

However, try to inform this to the eejits that make up the dissenters to the Anglican Church's policy of ordaining a gay American bishop and female bishops. Several African, Asian, and other know-nothing congregations have threatened to leave the Anglican Church because homosexuality is "against the Bible". In the meantime the Right Reverend Gene Robinson, whose appointment caused the kerfuffle, is showing up at the once in a decade Lambeth conference in Canterbury despite the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' demand that Rev.Robinson not attend. Hmmm.... I wonder if Rev. Robisnon will bring the mister, having married his partner in June 2008. The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane (former blues drummer...daddy-o), of the Washington Cathedral in Washington D.C. no less, has threatened to bring his own constituents to crash the proceedings with as many gays and lesbians as he can find. Perhaps they will rename this the Lambda conference.

It seems to me that the protesters to gays in the Anglican Church can take what's left of their marbles and leave. They'll be gone but the over 1500 species that dance on both sides of the ballroom, from our cousin apes to the smallest church mouse, will still be at the party.

Technorati Tags:,anglicans,gay rights,gene robinson,lambeth

IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS

I'd buy you a brain. Bare Naked Ladies front man Steven Page has been arrested for drugs in New York city, specifically cocaine and marijuana possession.

This is very stupid. BNL has been committed to several charities including those for the environment and for AIDS causes. Steven Page's arrest embarrasses the band which is a Canadian icon and an environmental ambassadorship.

Shame. Canada, and the world, is watching Mr. Page to see if he has a valid reason for his innocence or remorse for his guilt.


Technorati Tags: bare naked ladies, illegal drugs, steven page

DISNEY PACKS HEAT

Walt Disney World in Florida has shot down a proposal to have their employees bring handguns in their car. The National Rifle Association in Florida has passed a law in that state allowing people to take guns and secure them in their cars. The Magic Kingdom has fired a security guard, Edwin Sotomayor, for bringing a gun to work and leaving it in his car to protest the zero tolerance policy that Disney has mandated for its employees.

I think the CEOs of Disney are well within their rights to ban guns from theme park and administrative properties. Guns are a huge insurance liability and a potential source of immense tragedy. The nightmare scenario is of an employee who forgets to lock the car or of a car that is jacked and used to commit a crime either on the employer's property or at another location. Too, one never knows when an employee will go "postal" and seek to harm tourists or fellow employees. Businesses, especially in the entertainment industry, need to protect their clients and their workers. A ban on guns brought to work and left in a parked car is a sensible response for workplace safety.

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"GET THE DAMN...

....MAMMOGRAM...."

Molly Ivins

I am. My maternal grandmother died of breast cancer when my mother was age six. My mother had breast cancer but survived. Breast cancer worldwide, each year, claims 548,000 lives. Women aged 40 to 79 are encouraged to have a mammogram every two years.

There are all sorts of excuses to avoid the exam with the main complaint that having one's knockers pressed between two x-ray plates is as much fun and just as painful as watching Auntie Myrtle's slide show of her precious Fifi dog's teeth cleaning. Well, a mammogram is the only time I am glad that I will never grace the centrefold of Playboy unless someone does a few rounds of heavy duty Photoshop. I like being in line with my 3 to 4 size jeans. However, there is no cover for any shape or cup to forgo this vital test.

The date for my mammogram is August 6, 2008. I'll post the results. Until then, ta tas!

This has been a Radio Free Canada public service announcement.

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VERDICT

The building remains intact. I arrived to the townhouse this evening heavily sedated with a grande Calm tea from Starbucks and my blood sugar somewhere around my toes. I was a little woozy. Shouldn't have had the caffeine rush of Ceylon and China tea blend with a twist of Madagascar vanilla at breakfast. Phantasms of architectural ruin haunted me during the day with thoughts of the wall crumbled and my kitchen in ruins.

I feared for my Corelle dishes which the company now does not manufacture. They are a beige colour with petite blue flowers circling the edge. Very lovely. The white Pottery Barn dishes that I own I could have set quite cheerfully in the slab's path. The set was a gift from my relative and that, with the Fiesta ware of searing red and orange (again Pottery Barn) which was another gift from same relative, could have been "an unfortunate accident" if I had the cojones to do away with the lot. Oops.

There is not anything more depressing than brightly tinted dinnerware for a night-owl with sombre literary preferences. Our choice of dinnerware show the personality differences between my relative and me. She is urban professional to the tips of her manicured fingernails and likes the hues of sunny climes. I, in contrast, am a struggling neo-Victorian gothic writer whose favourite ankle length dress is a dark Aesthetic indigo sprinkled with early Spring morning blue forget-me-nots or a pair of army green khaki pants from Value Village where I shop not due to any lack of funds but it is the only place on the island I can find thus far that carries a size 3 or 4 trousers. They're comfortable in their slim fit and so am I.

I am also very, very much less frenetic in my imagination than I was before my arrival to the townhouse.

My fears were not realized. The plates are without damage. The house is what it is , simply a way-stop. I did not stay for the excision of the concrete with the consideration it would be better not to have my youngest in the line of danger. The only scars that remain are exposed boards where the concrete had a precarious hitch. There are no prises for the contest and I am an extremely less anxious writer.

I suppose I should offer some consolation prises. These are:

1. My unfailing devotion and eternal friendship. You can't cash it at a bank but it's there forever.

2. A promise not to blog Britney Spears or Paris Hilton or whatever media created bimbo next arrives on the tabloid scene.

3. A promise to blog off the liberal mainstream. I don't know about you, but I think everyone has heard about "climate change".

4. A friendly Public Service Announcement from yours dearly at least once a year.

5. To keep my sense of humour even when I read and comment on the most difficult subjects.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MY LIFE

This is a slab of concrete that fell from a wall at my rented townhouse. This was a privacy partition
that dropped off the wall a few feet from where we live. There is one close to us that hasn't fallen yet and we can't use our front door to go in or out for fear of dislodging the nearby slab which weighs about 1000 pounds. The owners were warned a year ago that this was a problem but did nothing.

Luckily, no one was hurt. The man that lives near the dropped slab usually sits outside on his porch. The load hit and flipped over the fence. It rained and our neighbour was inside.

Okay, here's the deal. The staff at the complex is coming today at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. This big baby is on a wall held by nothing but a few nails. They are taking this off with a crane that they will situate on the roof. Winners who bet on the wall, the roof, or the fence going out will have a chance to be the guest columnist for one of my blogs free. There's a 30% chance the concrete slab will take out some building structure.


The rules are nothing smutty (keep it G to PG rated, please) and relevant to the topic on each blog. One is a political blog,Radio Free Canada and the other is a blog about the writing trade, The Writer's Home.

Furthermore, all considered prises are null and void if there is death or major injury to the workers, bystanders, writer of the contest, or any of her family or friends during the take down of the wall.

Place your bets in my in-box.

Anne

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WE REMEMBER

A memorial has been set up for four Mounties that were slain in the line of duty.
The

memorial in Mayerthorpe, Alberta for constables Brock Myrol, Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon and Leo Johnston has generated controversy from some family members that did not approve of the statues.

I respect the families that feel grief at the memorial. The government should have listened to all those concerned in the decision. However, it is also a time to honour once again those that have died in the line of duty in their capacities as police, firefighters, and emergency personnel.

Technorati Tags: mayerthorpe, brock myrol, peter schiemann, anthony gordon and leo johnston

IT'S NOT THAT HARD, EH?

Google did not have a logo for Canada Day this year despite it being British Columbia's 150th birthday and Quebec's 400th (girlfriends. you don't look a day over sixty, just like her Maj the Queen).

Google, instead of creating an apology, had some whinging PR shill explain that it rotates logos.

How difficult would it be to make a logo? The graphic that you see on your screen took me about 25 minutes tops in GIMP. Cheese off, you hosers.

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YOM HULEDET SAME'ACH!

Taking time out of my still manic schedule of homeschooling, kids' birthday parties, gardening, Girl Guiding, kid's ear infections, classes in sustainable agriculture et cetera, looking for freelance work, and novel writing.

At least I don't have to deal with the Yorkshire brat. I saw the tartette briefly this weekend and it was all I could do to not grab an onion bulb from the fridge (we didn't have garlic) and turn the plastic chopsticks from the utensil drawer into impromptu crosses. She did not stay. The Goddess has little mercies.

Let me take a deep breath here and get to the point after a week with children and teens and teaching the arcane mysteries of double-digit addition and subtraction to an eight-year-old or discussing static electricity with an almost fifteen-year-old.

Just a pause to wish comedian Billy Crystal
Yom Huledet Same'ach! Happy 60th Birthday!


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THANK GOD, HE HAS HER....

Ellen Craswell, arch-conservative Washington State former legislator and failed gubernatorial candidate:(1932-2008).

Don't bang your butt on the way into the pearly gates.

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THE HERO FIELDS

Dith Pran

September 27,1942 - March 30,2008

This obituary was written at the request of
a journalist friend. I am thankful to the person in question for pointing out
the story.

Dith Pran was a photojournalist who

survived the cruel regime of Pol Pot. The movie The Killing Fields was about his experience. He was a brave soul
among horrible circumstances. Dith Pran died of pancreatic cancer at the age of
sixty-five.

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A TRUE BIRTH DEFECT

Secretary of State Condi Rice has said that slavery existed in America because of a moral birth defect.

Nonsense.


Slavery existed (and still exists) because people are greedy for power and money. The Bush administration knows about this particular ethical failing. There is no end, with over 4,000 soldiers dead in Iraq and thousands more Iraqis slaughtered, to the disaster created in Iraq in the Bush Administration's rush for oil.

I read the article about the Secretary of State with horror, and a lucky sense of irony. When I clicked through to the story, a banner ad appeared of a young girl with a cleft palate. I grabbed the picture with the Print Screen function of my computer. After excising the browser frame from the image, this is the talk back to Condi's lazy metaphor.


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TRIBUTE TO A WIZARD

"Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night."

--- Dylan Thomas

My daughter and I watched a video about Terry Pratchett and his diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

The dialogue is as follows:

Eldest daughter: "Why couldn't this have happened to George Bush?"

Me: "You mean it hasn't?"

Eldest daughter: "Nice..."

High fives.

Terry Pratchett is not only fighting his own demons but the creatures of bureaucracy. The beloved novelist is challenging the United Kingdom National Health Service to provide Aricept for early Alzheimer's disease instead of its use in the more severe cases. Haven't these eejits heard of preventative medicine? I have relatives in the medical profession and they have always told me that treating a disease early is better than waiting for it to degenerate into something more cumbersome or lethal.

Okay, penny pincers are stupid. They want to go for the most "cost-effective" remedy even though the "inexpensive" solution will cost more later...

Take them down, Terry. We're cheerleading you.



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WONDERS NEVER CEASE

Scientists have found strange and wonderful creatures in the Antarctic's Ross Sea. Some of the creatures include two foot starfish and large sea spiders. The finds are part of a year-long study to catalogue and protect the biological diversity of the Antarctic.



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HAPPY, HAPPY!

Okay, so I am homeschooling my youngest. Long story about her being bullied that will take a while to explain. Suffice to write that some Brit girls vie for fishwife status in their tender elementary school years. I call the monster Alisoun for the Chaucer character although she comes from Yorkshire,not Bath. Almost needless to report, but germane to the situation,the school my daughter attended does not understand the unhappy situation. They had retained my daughter in the same classroom with the tarty thugette. I am searching for alternatives for my daughter's education

While this has all evolved, I have become a Girl Guide co-leader, am still looking for work as a freelance writer, and struggling through a second novel even though the first remains unpublished.

I am tired but pause to take time out of my manic schedule of writing, homeschooling, and (pointless) meetings with the school, to wish Alan Rickman HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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GIVE US BACK OUR BOOKS!

The Greater Victoria Public Library Board (GVPLB) has decided to lock-out the librarians from their workplace. This is an escalation of a pay dispute ongoing for five months.
Librarians cannot make a living wage in Victoria due to the high cost of housing, food and other goods. They provide a valuable service to the people of this city. Victoria (or should it be Victorian?) librarians create a hub for education, knowledge, and simply an inexpensively safe place to take the kids on a rainy day. Here I must assure the librarians that, at least my youngest, has supervision at all times. The teen simply wanders off, mp3 player headphones hardwired, into the manga section. Librarians are not babysitters or mere book jockeys or shelvers of books. The librarians I know are very patient when treated with respect, eager to assist, and competent guides to the library's resources.

The GVPLB, despite the professional work of Victoria's librarians, have denied these knowledge workers a raise after ten years of broken promises to remedy the situation.

Please send a message of support to the librarians. Thank you!

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CHOICES

My preferences for president are Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. Fight it out among yourselves.

Technorati Tags:barack obama,hilary clinton

WE MISS MARPLE

Actress Geraldine McEwan is retiring from her role as Miss Marple. After three glorious years as the knitting sleuth, McEwan has decided to hand the role over to another yet unnamed actress.

We hardly knew ye, ma'am. We will regret not seeing your sparky eyes and mischievous smile. Cheers for the memories.

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MICROYA WHO?

Microsoft has made a bid for search engine company Yahoo! to the tune of $44.6 billion. While that is pocket change for Bill Gates, why? Yahoo is just a portal. It doesn't have the applications that Google has such as spreadsheets, documents, notebooks, e-mail, and --- by the way --- a search engine. The Yahoo! MyWeb can't compete with Reader in terms of cross-functionality with other Google apps. Bill and company are too little, too very late in buying a company that hasn't understood how to use the Internet for socialization, information, and business. I don't understand the logic behind Congress and the European Union scrutinizing Microsoft for the purchase as possible monopoly. Whoever thought of this purposed merger was shy five pixels off the screen.

To place the idiocy of the merger in perspective, I Googled not Yahooed or Live Searched for the information for this post. And, yeah, it's an article on Blogger. 'Nuff said.

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CLOSE THE GAP

The Virginia Legislature recently voted against S.B 109, legistlation that would have closed a loophole that allowed private sales without background checks at unregulated gun shows. The defeat came after the National Rifle Association and the Virginia Citizens' Defence League lobbied to torpedo the bill.

The defeat of the bill occurs after family members of students killed in the Virginia Tech Massacre staged a "die-in" on the lawn of the Virginia capitol to support S.B. 109. During the protest and support of the legistlation, pro-gun lobbyists heckled and taunted those who suffered the loss of their family and friends.

My sympathies are with those who supported closing the gun show loophole. I champion their cause not only for the common sense of requiring background checks on gun buyers and dealers but also for their civility. It is trashy to heckle and taunt someone whose family or friend was murdered in a horrible event such as happened at Virginia Tech. The NRA and the Virginia Citizens' Defence League are what is commonly referred to, regardless of skin colour, as "white trash" and "patterollers". Yes, those are loaded terms. The obscene behaviour of taunting someone whose family or friend has died in gun violence warrants harsh words of condemnation.


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AWAY UNTIL FEBRUARY

I'm away from blogging until early February.I have a paying gig writing web reviews. More on that when I return.

WHY NOT SUE STARBUCKS?

There is ballot proposition in Colorado and five other states that would define a fertilized egg as a human being with the full rights of a human being. Well, chickies, why not sue Starbucks for selling a abortificant because caffeine in coffee can cause miscarriage? That's the thought. Let's go on a pro-life rampage and burn down every coffee or tea shop in America to protect the unborn fertilized eggs. The church ladies will have to give up their freeze-dried coffee in tins after Sunday service. Destroy all the soft drink factories for the pre-born. No more Coca-Cola or Pepsi for women. Why stop there? No caffeine for men either. Every sperm is sacred.

Where's my torch and hammer?

Technorati Tags:Technorati Tags:abortion,colorado politics,starbucks

RIP HEATH LEDGER

April 4, 1979 to January 22, 2008

Drugs are stupid.
Painkillers: oxycodone and hydrocodone.
Antihistamine: doxylamine
Sleeping Medication: temazepam
Anti-anxiety Drugs: diazepam and alprazolam

Screw the pharmaceutical companies.

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OBIT: CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

Sir Edmund Hillary is dead at the age of 88. The first man to climb Mount Everest, he called himself a "no-hoper at university". After his famous climb to the top, he raised and donated millions of dollars for the Sherpas to build clinics, schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges. A staunch conservationist, he badgered climbers into keeping Mount Everest clean from trash.

From nothing, a man who called himself "no great shakes at Auckland Grammar" [high school,]he made several mountains out of the molehill of his life. The world needs more people like Sir Hillary to inspire and challenge us to be greater in what we can do with the little that we think of ourselves.

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HER MAJ'S XMAS

Queen Elizabeth II has become a member of the YouTube generation. She gave her 2007 Christmas address on YouTube and has her own section on the site. It was a very precise do good onto others lecture with grand music and royal posh all around.

Give 'em 'ell Ma'am! Happy Holidays!

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WRITERS' STRIKE

Please support the writers' strike in Hollywood. One way that you can support the writers' strike is to boycott any scab activity that takes place online. Recently, I found this ad. The spelling errors are not mine:

"Freelance TV Writers - (US-CA-Hollywood - 90078)

Min Education: Bachelors
Job Type: Contract

Everyone knows it is a rough time here in Hollywood with the strike and with the holidays coming up it couldn't have come at a worse time. I was starting to wonder how I would be able to make it an enjoyable Christmas for my twin 12-year old daughters. That is why I decided to come up with an alternative.

I, and some marketing folks, producers, and other interested parties had some private disucssions on how to get some writers back to work while this strike works itself out. I've worked out deals to get scripts written on a couple of CBS shows and I'm working on a deal with Fox. We will be privately and discretely writing scripts for these shows. We will ensure your privacy and confidentiality and are willing to pay top dollar for talented writers. We are currently working on bring other shows into the mix, but the producers want to see if we can make this work for a few shows first before giving us many more.

Together we can make this a happy holiday season for our families, contact if you have any questions.

William Kinkade
Kinkade Creative Solutions"


I've excised the contact information for the company. Why help them?

Help these people instead.
Here is the web page for the Writers' Guild of America.
http://www.wga.org/

Technorati Tags:writers'strike

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION

Would someone please whack presidential candidate Mitt Romney over the head with a large history book? Mr. Romney claims that freedom needs religion to be successful and that religion needs freedom.

Uh, hello? Hasn't Romney heard about the term auto-da-fé? Being a Jew in Inquisition Spain was dangerous. There was no freedom in being, for example, a Protestant in Queen Mary's Catholic England nor for that matter Queen Elizabeth I's supposedly Catholic tolerant leadership where followers of the Pope were under the same suspicion as Huguenots in the former reign. Perhaps Mitt Romney should read Fox's Book of Martyrs, or brush up on the atrocities of St. Bartholomew's Day in sixteenth century France where the rivers were so thick with Protestant corpses that no one could fish, to understand that religion does not confer freedom if you are of a then heretic faith.

Mitt Romny also disregards the thousands of primarily women murdered for alleged witchcraft. The freedom inspiring qualities of religion were not evident in Salem Massachusetts when innocent people, mostly women,were accused and hung for the supposed crime. Those of us touched by the evil of religion, myself with an ancestor hung and burnt for witchcraft, do not forget or forgive how religion is an instrument for ensnaring and destroying innocents.

Perhaps it is too much to expect Romney's followers to be historically literate (or for that matter, simply literate). When Mr. Romney claims that the big FFs, Founding Fathers, were religious, he is not quoting Thomas Jefferson who once wrote to his nephew Peter Carr to "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear". and "Do not be frightened from this enquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you." None of the Founding Fathers had much love for religion. They were, unlike your average fundamentalist Christian or Republican presidential hopeful, were great in curiosity and scholarly pursuit.

Mitt Romney, or other candidates for the presidency who claim religion as as a necessity for freedom, should take a hint from the intellectual bent of the Founding Fathers and study history.

Technorati Tags: mitt romney

STUFFIE UPDATE

Authorities in Sudan released British private school teacher Gillian Gibbons from jail.

Gillian Gibbons was arrested for naming a class teddy bear 'Muhammad'. A staff member at the school complained to authorities about the alleged idolatry. Sudanese officials pardoned Ms. Gibbons and she was deported.

My question is where were the staff member's priorities? Naming a teddy bear 'Muhammad' is not sacrilegious but somewhat tacky. The Prophet,when he was sixty-three, had a child bride. Aisha bint Abi Bakr was six years of age when Muhammad married her. He consummated the marriage when the girl was nine.

Hello? In the modern world this is called paedophilia. Muhammad played with the child's dolls and whatnot to gain the victim's trust. Naming a teddy bear, or a child, 'Muhammad' is nauseating in view of the Prophet's sexual assault on a very underage girl. Needless to say, the female in question did not have any children of her own. Rape of a young child can damage the internal reproductive organs.

The Sudanese Muslims who condemned Gillian Gibbons for simply having a class mascot should look to some of the vile origins of their own religion for censure.


Technorati Tags:aisha bint abi bakr,child sexual abuse gillian gibbons,child sexual abuse muhammad,

IT'S JUST A STUFFIE

Rabid members of Islam in the Sudan have called for the execution of a British teacher because she named the class mascot Muhammad.

British private school teacher Gillian Gibbons was arrested and jailed for 15 days because her students named the class teddy bear 'Muhammad' and wrote diary entries about their mascot when they took the bear home overnight.

Now, I have known teachers who have done similar exercises to foster literacy and no one has threatened a firing squad or six months in jail and lashes with a cane. The difference is that these teachers live in a more civilized and rational society than your average Islamic fanatic. Naming a teddy bear Muhammad is not idol worship nor is it cause for imans to get their robes in a wahhabi over an object made of cloth and stuffing.

The imans who are upset about the incident should repeat after me: it's just a toy, it's just a toy,it's just a toy...

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BUG FIX

Hi, just a program note: I had a webring application on the site that was redirecting my blog. I have since removed the application and the site works as it should.


--Anne

UPDATE:CHRISTORPHER WORDEN

RCMP is still looking for evidence in the murder of Constable Christopher Worden who was shot at Hay River in October.

His alleged killer, Emrah Bulatci 23, is due in court on December 13.

Nice of the RCMP to give the death so much attention after the fact. According to news reports, neither Worden or Constable Douglas Scott had backup which should be standard procedure for all RCMP regardless of the funds that Constable Scott did not have in his region.
Technorati Tags: guns

CANADA'S FINEST

Constable Douglas Scott, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, of Brockville, Ontario was buried on Tuesday.

I can feel nothing but a sad tiredness when I watched his eulogy. Constable Scott's killer,Pingwaktuk Kolola, was an intoxicated driver that the Scott had pulled over for impaired driving. The shooter brandished a gun but Constable Scott could not shoot back. The killer held a baby as a human shield. Rather than risk the child's life, Constable Scott decided to take the bullet.

Why is the world not as weary of pain as I am of blogging gun deaths, especially one as noble as that of Constable Douglas Allen Scott? If there was any word to be placed in a thesaurus as a synonym for "hero", it would have to be this young man's name. His RCMP hat won't be one that anyone could wear as honourably and as proud.



Technorati Tags: constable douglas scott, guns

THE FALLEN

Once again, the stupidity of readily available firearms is proved. An 18-year-old man in Finland has shot and killed five boys, two girls, and an adult woman before police subdued him. The killer is now in critical condition in the hospital.

Before the massacre, the killer had posted a video on YouTube entitled "Jokela High School Massacre - 11/7/2007"

Now, logically, all posts on YouTube that show violence aren't going to end up with people being killed. However, if a specific target is named, shouldn't someone at Google/YouTube be more involved with monitoring the videos and seeking help so this type of tradegy does not occur?

Where is corporate responsibility in Internet companies? Certainly not at Yahoo! which handed over its computer records on journalist Shi Tao on the request of the Chinese government. Shi Tao is now a political prisoner due to the corporate weak knees at Yahoo! Specifically, Chief Executive Jerry Yang and VP Michael Callahan lied to Congress about their knowledge of giving the information about Shi Tao to the Chinese government. Furthermore, Yahoo! has been implicated in the arrests of four other dissident journalists.

At Google/YouTube, the answer may lie in greater vigilance about content. At Yahoo!, there needs to be a corporate overhaul about human rights, and about honesty.

UPDATE: The shooter died of his self-inflicted injuries. The adult killed was the high school principal. Please keep the family and the seven students injured in your thoughts.

UPDATE TWO: The shooter, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, killed six students, the school nurse, and the principal. He was a loner who faced bullying at school.

Technorati Tags: guns,google,yahoo

REMEMBER THE FALLEN

Const. Douglas Scott, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, of Brockville, Ontario was fatally shot last Monday night. The killer was an intoxicated driver that the constable had pulled over for impaired driving. The shooting was in Kimmerut. a hamlet in Nunavat that bans alcohol. Constable Douglas Scott was 20 years of age.

Earlier this month, RCMP Const. Christopher Worden was shot, possibly with a Glock 9mm pistol in North West Territory after responding to a noise complaint. His killer, Emrah Bulatci has been arrested. Constable Christopher Worden leaves behind a wife and eight-month-old daughter.

A list of fallen police officers from The Globe and Mail.

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THE LYNCH MOB IS HERE

Child killer Ian Huntley has a profile on Facebook. He has a profile under the name Ian Nixon. Currently, there is a group called Get Huntley Off Facebook. If you are Facebook member, please sign the petition. If you are not a Facebook member, please consider joining and adding your voice to the call to remove Ian Huntley from a public forum.


Thanks,

Anne

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HELPING HANDS

While I complain about Medical Services Plan in British Columbia being so slow with its response, I must thank the kind agents who have talked with me. They were very helpful and courteous with my questions. Much appreciation from a worried political blogger.


Technorati Tags: british columbia,canadian health care system

A POST IN DRAFT

OK. So I had a bad blog the other day. MSP in British Columbia still hasn't come through with my medical.

I've pulled my post endorsing the upcoming Sweeney Todd movie. From the previews, the movie is less about plot (corrupt judge sentences innocent man to exile. Exiled man gets terrible revenge yadayada), and more about guts and gore (no, not the one who should be President).

A pity that Tim Burton had to slum with this film because he has a great cast. Johnny Depp, Helen Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman. Be still my pitter-pattering heart.

Instead, I choose to advise The Golden Compass with the wonderful, and very gay, Sir Derek Jacobi. He's almost as cute as Alan Rickman.

Hey, the fundies hate The Golden Compass for being an atheist film! And a homosexual in a lead role! What more do you need to know? Should give James Dobson and the other religious whackjobs hissyfits for weeks.Caution: The link has some spoilers.

Technorati Tags:al gore, alan rickman, british columbia, canadian health care system,derek jacobi

NOT A PAYING GIG

I am thinking of pulling the plug on RadioFreeCanada. I am burned out and cynical from trying to make it as a writer. I have been at the political commentary gig for two years and it hasn't translated into a paycheque. Friggin' doesn't matter if I get so many hits a week on the blog. I could do it for the love of it if I received comments. None of my audience bothers to write.

I find it hard as a writer to have the isolation. There is too much loneliness with not knowing if the readership gives a damn. If no one wrote but I still received a salary for my work, it might be meaningful. As it is, there is just me and the computer screen.

I have enjoyed writing this blog. The pleasure of writing is not enough if no one bothers to drop me a line and say they care. If you like reading this blog, please say "hi" once in a while.


Anne


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THE GUN THING

Well, it seems that disgraced Senator Larry Craig jumped his pistol before solicitating an undercover officer for gay sex in June. Sen. Larry Craig was thinking of suing an Idaho newspaper that was delving into his personal life months before the washroom toe dance with the officer. The suit came to nought and Sen.Craig went onto infamy.

Speaking of guns, presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani believes that blind people should be able to possess firearms. At a town hall meeting, a former police officer who had injuries that left him blind asked about gun possession and disabilities.

Sure! Hell yes! Give the blind guns. At least they could hit better than Dick Cheney who is organizing another hunting party in Poughkeepsie. Dick Cheney once mistook one of his friends, Harry Whittington, for quail and peppered him soundly. Maybe he can take Condi Rice and try the quarter trick on her butt, with a shotgun. A friend of Ms. Rice joked that her posterior was so tight that he could bounce the coin off her gluteus maximus while she danced. He did, without her noticing the coin.

It wouldn't be a waste of a 28-gauge Perazzi.

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