tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46689119521144714502009-12-02T10:16:41.736-08:00... and other irreverent activitiesChrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.comBlogger870125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-83871194481694513472009-12-02T08:58:00.000-08:002009-12-02T09:04:23.280-08:00

This will only increase the importance of social media and bloggers in enabling democratic access to information. A not insignificant number of people can't afford to pay for the news of what's happening in their world. Ergo, the Internet community, fostered by social media, will become all the more crucial to properly functioning democracies.

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-91206425661482907932009-12-02T08:13:00.000-08:002009-12-02T08:13:12.537-08:00

[Reposted, from last night] From my own community comes this news. Employees at Duncan’s Sunridge seniors complex were told this afternoon about 200 will be let go as of March 31, a Health Employees Union official told the News Leader Pictorial. “It’s a mass firing,” Margi Blamey said. Her report comes on the heels of Saturday’s HEU certification vote when some 70 per cent of the facility’s

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-84688399654010155132009-12-01T18:24:00.000-08:002009-12-01T18:26:10.968-08:00

From my own community comes this news. Employees at Duncan’s Sunridge seniors complex were told this afternoon about 200 will be let go as of March 31, a Health Employees Union official told the News Leader Pictorial. “It’s a mass firing,” Margi Blamey said. Her report comes on the heels of Saturday’s HEU certification vote when some 70 per cent of the facility’s employees voted to join the

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-24672039225410016522009-12-01T12:39:00.000-08:002009-12-01T15:35:07.232-08:00

Over the past ten weeks - actually, beginning in early Spring -, virtual strangers have been helping me. Even government bureaucrats, who are notorious for thwarting one's ambitions, have speedily done their job. I've no idea how to handle it. First, in the spring someone whose blog I read diligently contacted me about a subsidized seniors development that might accept my application. No

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-55218614875118114362009-12-01T11:52:00.000-08:002009-12-01T12:25:08.745-08:00

From Michael Ignatieff, no less. The man, and the Liberal Party, is on record for supporting a harmonized sales tax; but as demonstrated with other issues in the recent past, support for policy x has been no guarantee that Ignatieff wouldn't change his mind about policy x and thus signal a change in the party's support for it. This time, finally, Ignatieff has made the correct decision.

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-47630880505363226722009-12-01T09:02:00.000-08:002009-12-01T09:39:23.683-08:00

People the world over are shouting about Climate Change. People are demanding that their governments work together to stop the downward spiral spin. And what can an individual do, you might ask. One giant step would be to stop eating meat. Yep. Get rid of the meat in your diet.Half, yes half of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by growing, slaughtering, rendering, transporting and

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-14643190523234536682009-11-25T09:55:00.000-08:002009-11-25T09:59:30.506-08:00

What a difference a pet can make! Imagine recovering from a painful surgery and the doctor orders two doses of pet therapy a day while recovering in hospital. Imagine snuggling up to a soft and purring kitten when you are ailing, lonely, frightened or stressed to the max. Well, it seems that researchers have finally acquired enough 'evidence' to support what we've known for a long time: that

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-57829391629813203572009-11-19T11:00:00.000-08:002009-11-19T11:30:54.652-08:00

This story illustrates one major contributing factor to the swelling numbers of homeless in BC. It's constantly avoided by the powers-that-be in this province. Sherry was polite and resolute. I was puzzled. I asked why she was willing to sleep in a parking lot in order to be with her cats. "They've always been with us," Sherry told me. "Even just moving out of the house, one of our cats -

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-25908456608127644632009-11-19T09:00:00.000-08:002009-11-19T09:24:51.856-08:00

So, get ready goils. Here's another Dis-ease being foisted on us by Big Pharma: 'Restless Vagina Syndrome' aka 'Female Sexual Dysfunction'.You are among the "43 percent of American women [who] experience some degree of impaired sexual function," according to a Journal of the American Medical Association article. The FDA’s evolving definition of FSD includes decreased desire or arousal, sexual

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-76129950459572822009-11-18T09:30:00.000-08:002009-11-18T09:38:31.364-08:00

It seems that young men today are struggling to create a new masculine identity for themselves, one that takes them away from the good 'ole boys idea of a REAL man. And they are brainstorming new ways to be in this post-feminist world. This is about so much more than the 200 men who attended this conference. They are on the front lines, but there are legions of progressive men of all ages, all

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-59285707364782456382009-11-17T16:55:00.000-08:002009-11-17T17:20:31.211-08:00

In BC, the CEOs of crown corporations are getting grandfathered salaries. At the opposite end of the economic scale, renters living with disabilities in this province can be denied rent grandfathering. This effectively prevents these long-term, reliable renters from moving to identical, but more accessible, units. Where's the justice?

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-37947990052634082002009-11-17T14:17:00.000-08:002009-11-17T15:07:02.915-08:00

Went to the food bank for the first time two weeks ago. Had been putting off this visit for the past eight years, during which my household income from self-employment was at or below the poverty gap. Disabilities prohibit regular employment. In Canada, the poverty GAP hovers around the lowest decile (i.e., 10th) income category, while the poverty LINE marks the lowest quintile, or 5th, income

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-71498942191234781132009-11-17T09:00:00.000-08:002009-11-17T09:55:44.816-08:00

According to researchers at BC Cancer Agency a breakthrough has been achieved in the fight against breast cancer. For the first time in history, BC Cancer Agency scientists in British Columbia, Canada have decoded all of the three billion letters in the DNA sequence of a metastatic lobular breast cancer tumour, a type of breast cancer which accounts for about 10 per cent of all breast cancers,

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-70327415350662746382009-11-09T16:32:00.000-08:002009-11-09T16:37:31.761-08:00

This is one of the better renditions of Duetto buffo di due gatti (Humorous Duet for Two Cats), which has been attributed to Gioachino Rossini, but likely was written by Robert Lucas de Pearsall. Have been playing it all day and it cracks me up each time I hear it. These two boys certainly get the audience going. At about the one-minute mark, a little girl can be heard giggling - very cute.

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-75769782657209704892009-10-30T11:59:00.000-07:002009-10-30T12:02:20.951-07:00

Here's more about BC's new bill to sweep Vancouver and other cities' streets of layabouts. The bill says the definition of 'extreme weather' will follow the definitions cities are using in their Extreme Weather Response Plans, but the provincial cabinet can make regulations to adjust the definition.Criteria in Vancouver include temperatures near zero with rainfall making it 'difficult or

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-41876850574719210342009-10-29T13:38:00.000-07:002009-11-13T10:08:37.789-08:00

The wording in the BC Government media release says it all. The new Act, just announced, is intended "to protect homeless in extreme weather." How fortunate that the Act has been put in place in time for the Olympics! The Province has introduced the Assistance to Shelter Act to keep homeless British Columbians safe from extreme weather by giving police the authority to take people at risk of

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-9892569343588168482009-10-14T14:22:00.000-07:002009-10-14T18:06:03.460-07:00

... but I don't support the way our Liberal government foisted its particular brand of the HST onto British Columbians.In principle, I consider taxes on consumption to be a good idea and a harmonized sales tax an improvement over two or more separate taxes. Simplicity is better; additional paperwork and process for the collection of money from the same source introduces needless

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-52876590138725134212009-10-03T07:00:00.000-07:002009-10-03T08:37:51.720-07:00

So, there have been complaints from a neighbourhood in the lower mainland about the sex trade workers.A targeted police investigation led to the arrest of 15 sex trade workers last week in downtown Maple Ridge. This was the latest effort by Ridge Meadows RCMP to clean up the streets and address complaints from the community.“It is illegal and when it is that type of activity that is so blatantly

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-17125451823581923452009-10-01T07:00:00.000-07:002009-10-01T07:40:22.166-07:00

We all seem to have an image of Bossy, the milk cow, placidly chewing her cud in a field of vibrant green grass. This is the cow we all get our milk from, carefully raised on the local farmer's field. Isn't it?The reality of cows bred for milking is far different. This video may be an extreme example of cruelty, but it is more common than we want to believe.The dairy industry's standard forms

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-80359921882769176662009-09-30T14:30:00.000-07:002009-09-30T17:00:59.331-07:00

Both resolutions of the Union of BC Municipalities call for action - on the part of the Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada. The first ... will see the UBCM lobby the provincial government to develop a strategy [for] the use of pine beetle affected timber in the construction of homes throughout BC, and demands that BC mills be utilized as part of the strategy to reduce BC's

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-19757837463215025032009-09-30T11:54:00.000-07:002009-09-30T13:50:45.477-07:00

What on earth are we to do? How can we persuade Canadians to vote for us? Where, oh, where have we gone wrong? So cry the Martinite backroom boys who, come to think of it, didn't do so well with Paul Martin either. Similar hand-wringing is portrayed here.Scott Reid, who was director of communications for former prime minister Paul Martin, said the Liberals are actually doing worse than the polls

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-41165232536055142822009-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:002009-09-30T07:13:05.831-07:00

Unbelievable, but true. The BC government has restored the $440,000 it axed from domestic counselling in the province. Solicitor General Kash Heed made the announcement in a press release, after his government faced a wave of criticism in recent days for slashing funding to women's groups.Now if the Powers-That-Be would only reconsider cuts that have dug into the province's daycare programs,

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-7560840846280737392009-09-29T11:58:00.000-07:002009-09-29T13:25:42.396-07:00

What do poor working people like me do when they have to visit the dentist? When they know they have work to be done or risk losing their teeth? Or suffer the consequences of infection and the following agony of pain?For me, I visit the dentist and have the doctor inform me of what needs to be done to avoid complications before deciding to follow through - or not. Luckily for me, I have

Daphne Moldowinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05469181012833419032noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-14838804879830270592009-09-27T18:55:00.000-07:002009-09-27T19:21:38.911-07:00

So I was fuzzily reading the report of Roman Polanski's arrest in Switzerland, which had been based on a 30-year-old US arrest warrant. Polanski's crime, to which he confessed: sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old.Given that media tend not to use certain words, imagine my surprise when I 'read' this:The challenge was made after the allegation of misconduct emerged in a documentary released last

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4668911952114471450.post-72064283397960043842009-09-27T18:04:00.000-07:002009-09-27T19:21:14.307-07:00

If a homeless or street person says it, it cannot possibly be true. Even if it is, it's a truth of little significance.But does a truth spoken by, for example, Gates Foundation CEO Jeff Raikes have significance? Such as, "homeless people aren't just a problem to be minimized or cleared away; they have amazing potential"?Half of Seattle's homeless population are parents in their prime productive

Chrystal Oceanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00171002438761303983BCseawalker@gmail.com0