The Bear, The Dragon, and The Beaver

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Skid

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First, there was the facade of Sochi and Olympic ideals. After the distraction of the medal count, the world looked elsewhere for news. Then the lens cleared and given the recent events in Crimea, the world refocused it's attention on Russia, and the global domination force that is Vladimir Putin. I know, I know, his photo ops would make even Stockwell Day blush, but it would not be the first time in the last hundred years that a megalomaniac has attempted to take over the world one country at a time. Given Putin's background in the KGB, his Russian Mafia connections, Russia's still potent nuclear arsenal, and his recent forays into the Ukraine, he is a phenomenon not to be underestimated. He can kill tigers or cuddle leopards whenever he chooses.

Barack Obama dismissed him as a "regional" player who could easily be punished by removing Russia from the Group of Eight. Putin responded by pointing out that his longest border is with China, a country of over a biliion people representing about 20% of the world's population. The Bear and The Dragon together would be an unstoppable tsunami of global domination if that were their wish. And they wouldn't check in with the G7 or NATO for permission.

Enter The Beaver, Stephen Harper, looking statesmanlike even while the Supreme Court of Canada was squashing another of his ill conceived appointments, as he announced Canada's condemnation of Putin's aggression. With what are you going to threaten Vlad? Our military? Potash? Wheat? Insults over the hockey Gold Medals? Arms sales? (Arms sales? O'Canada, the shame!) Or maybe you want to take him on mano y mano! Listen, Steve, if we put the two of you into a ring, you'd come out looking like week-old poutine that had been left out in the sun.

No Steven, The Beaver is safe behind organized photo ops in comfortable armchairs, but in the real world The Bear would maul you, The Dragon would flame broil you, and they would serve your carcass to their dogs. You are a straw man, and they know it.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

“Inspiring Change”

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Skid

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Our local newspaper asked this question in the last editorial before International Womens Day: WHO INSPIRES YOU? This was my response.

This March 8, 2014, I will remember and celebrate two women who changed my life.

The first is Nellie McClung who, as part of the "Famous Five", in 1927 moved that women should be declared "persons" under the law. As a young student, I read about her court case and couldn't believe that men and the "law" could be so stupid as to state that a person, male or female, could be considered "property". She is also famous for coining the phrase that governs my daily behaviour: "Never explain, never retract, never apologize. Just get the thing done and let them howl."

The other is Elizabeth May, probably the sharpest mind in the Federal Government right now, certainly much sharper and a much better role model for women than the photo-op blonde who leans forward to frame Stephen Harper during Question Period every day. Raised by the side of her own mother who was fighting chemical pollution in Nova Scotia, Elizabeth rose as a single mom to lead the Green Party to their first elected seat in Canadian Parliament. The old boy's club still quakes at the thought of her being on a national debate.

The theme of international Women's Day this year is "Inspiring Change: equality for women is progress for all." – I would like to see the work of Ms. McClung and Ms. May change the face of Canadian governance in 2015. And let the old boys howl.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

The Evolution of Creation Stories

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Skid

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In the Beginning, Man created god.

That's how I began an English lesson in essay writing to support a point of view. The week before I had started with, "In the Beginning, God created man," with no complaints, Little did I know my second statement, based on an age-old rabbinical teaching style of offering opposing points of view to students, would bring in a flood of Biblical proportions from concerned parents who felt I was challenging the faith of their children.

I hold fundamentalist religious beliefs in the same category that I hold the military/industrial/agribusiness/pharmaceutical/energy complex, so I admit to a certain bias. As an English teacher, I celebrate the stories of humanity, creation stories being the most amazing. As a Science teacher, I respect the quests for answers to the deepest questions of who we are, from where did we come, and to what future are we travelling.

In one York University presentation I gave on the State of the World, a student came forward at the break to express her concern that I had only told the Western science perspective and had not told The Creation Story. I reflected on her concerns, and after the break, I apologized to the class, and told my favourite creation story. It featured a great turtle island, an otter, beaver, muskrat and a Great Spirit That Loves Life, and mud carried up in the paws of a creature that would not give up in the quest for life. The class sat mesmerized, and my fundamentalist student was not amused.

"So," I asked the class, "Pick your favourite creation story and celebrate it. It is based on geography and the wonder of human imagination. In the beginning, we were, and still are, the storytellers. If you base your life's direction on a story, choose it carefully."

If there is Intelligent Design, humans need to start applying it.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

Legacy

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Skid

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I never want to forget the stories of our parents who fought for our freedom, who lost the innocence of their youth in battles not of their own making, but in defence of something far greater than themselves, following the clarion call of leaders to whom they entrusted their honour. A quiet conversation at a curling game revealed that my teammate had a father who had served in the Juno Beach D-Day landing in 1944; I had a father who was a Hurricane pilot and a POW for 3 1/2 years in the infamous Stalag Luft III prison camp of The Great Escape fame. One story led to another and we slowly resurrected each other's photos and war logs from our parents. I had the privilege this last week of reading of the journey of a father and his son taking part in the 50th Anniversary of the Juno Beach landing on June 6, 1944. The album was filled with wonderful photos of family and friends sharing a unforgettable trip through history.

But the most moving story of all was his personal reflection when he and his dad visited the graveyard of all of the fallen. He recorded in his journal that he simply couldn't believe the number of white crosses, and the young age that marked their passage. His father had gone one way through the rows, he through another. When they met again, he learned his dad had found the name of a friend from Craigleith, and was too overcome to speak.

We should all be too overcome to speak. But their stories must be told ere, as Wilfred Owen warned us, we must not inflict the great lie upon our children: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." No more will ideolgical fanatics sacrifice the youth of their countries for the good and glory of their ambitions.

So, to honour their stories, what do we do with their war logs, our journals, their stories when we pass on? Who will be the storytellers for our veterans? I do not want my father's or my friend's father's sacrifice to end up in a dumpster, or a government shredder. I want a veteran's library.

There are fewer and fewer left to remember – we pass the torch of their memories – someone, please, hold it high.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

The Gilmore Junio Factor

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Skid

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Gilmore Junio, you are my Olympic hero. You have exemplified the best of the Olympic spirit – a true competitor who gave up his place in an Olympic final to a team mate he felt had a better chance of competing for his country. You share fully in the Silver Medal that was won, and deserve a Gold Medal for sportsmanship.

Like the coaches who gave out ski poles and skis to opposing Olympians so that they could continue to compete, that is the even field of competition upon which the Games should be based. Now that, more than any country's medal count, is truly inspirational.

I would like to propose that the official Olympic motto be changed to: "Higher, Faster, Stronger, and more Honourable."

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon