How Dare He!

Righteous indignation is...well...funny. Especially when the people who are righteously indignated don't realize it's funny.
Consider, if you will, a lecture at a university. A Canadian university. Let's call it McMaster. A lecture in an English class. About the book Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King.
The book constantly uses the word Indian. Not India Indians. Cowboy and Indian Indians. Don't people know any better, the girl thought? Don't they know that it's wrong, she pondered worriedly? Don't they know that Columbus called them (Cowboy and Indian Indians) Indians because he thought they were India Indians, she said? Shouldn't somebody educate them, she seemed to infer?
Surely they would prefer to be called Native or Aboriginal or something. Anything, really, other than Indian. It's just seems so wrong somehow. Isn't it offensive?
Shouldn't the author know that? Especially being an Indian and all?
And I think I see her point. Obvious, when you think about it. Being a middle-class white girl at a university, she should know. So you kind of have to agree. Which only leaves one question still to be asked. When will someone tell these backward, ignorant savages that they should only ever refer to themselves in the ways that we tell them they should? They only need a white person to show them the proper way of doing things. Surely, that will make everything alright after all.

There, I says, we fixed that one, didn't we Coyote?
Oh yes, says that Coyote, we fixed that one good. I liked that one.
I thought you might, I says.
Says that Coyote: what should we fix next?...

Electoral Impropriety?

News Item: Mike Hancock wins re-election as Mayor of Brantford, Ontario by a margin of 165 votes over challenging former mayor Chris Friel. A tight race, yes, but not as tight as last time. In the previous election in 2003, Hancock defeated the then-incumbent Friel by a mere 15 votes. Clearly, not much has changed in terms of who Brantford residents support. The difference? This time 150 more people voted for Hancock.

News Item: 150 people abducted in Baghdad. Four guards at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research were no match for the 80 armed abductors. Could they have been Mike Hancock supporters? Will there be an investigation? Think about it. 150 people go missing. Half a world away (only half a day away by plane), a politician wins by 150 more votes over the same challenger than in the previous election. Can it really be just coincidence? Will somebody at least check if there is an influx of Middle-East experts looking for academic postings today at the Brantford campuses of Laurier University and Mohawk College?

Other Ontario Municipal Election News:

- Faced with a three-way race that included the incumbent mayor and a former mayor, the residents of Waterloo did the only sensible thing. They voted for the one without the "valuable leadership experience".

- Hamilton voted out the Pillsbury Dough-Mayor (Larry DiIanni). In the end, it wasn't his lame policies, or the stunned look constantly on his face when interviewed. It was simply that his last name had too many vowels, not enough consonants. And, really, how can you take a city seriously when they have a Larry for mayor?

- Ottawa, on the other hand, voted for a Larry. Fortunately, what makes Ottawa most worth visiting is under the domain of the National Capital Commission, not city council.

Next Ontario municipal election update - four years from now.

Thought For The Day - November 6, 2006

If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?

Whether Weather Matters...

Whether weather matters or whether it doesn't, and for no particular reason, here is the weather for various cities where friends and relatives currently are:

Kitchener, Ontario: 2 degrees, partly cloudy.
Brantford, Ontario: 2 degrees, partly cloudy.
Hamilton, Ontario: 2 degrees, partly cloudy.
Toronto, Ontario: 4 degrees, a few clouds.
Kingston, Ontario: 4 degrees, partly cloudy.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario: 0 degrees, overcast.
Ottawa, Ontario: 2 degrees, partly cloudy.
Tyne Valley, P.E.I.: 2 degrees, WEATHER CONDITIONS UNKNOWN!!!
Edmonton, Alberta: -6 degrees, overcast.
Calgary, Alberta: -6 degrees, partly cloudy.
Kelowna, British Columbia: 6 degrees, overcast.
Vancouver, British Columbia: 13 degrees, overcast, heavy rainfall warning.
Grand Island, New York: 3 degrees, partly cloudy.
New York City, New York: 7 degrees, a few clouds.
Boston, Massachussets: 7 degrees, a few clouds.
Los Angeles, California: 17 degrees, a few clouds.
Lincolnshire, United Kingdom: 10 degrees, a few clouds.

Thought For The Day - November 4th

Sex is like air. It's only important if you're not getting any.