I kick baby seals (but not penguins).

I like when the news has nice stories. And really awesome stories of seal justice. ERGHHH, PETA. If someone is reading this and thinks the seal hunt "scandal" is worthy of terrifying costumes and pies in politicians' faces - GO AWAY.

My head is splitting today. You know that episode of The Simpsons where Homer is in 3D and at the end, while he falls into the "real world" he gets split up into a million and one pieces? That's pretty much the kind of headache I'm battling right now. (Clip found here, though in German lolz, the part I'm referring to can be found at 6:15 if you are truly curious.)

Spent last night not playing Risk with the loveliest of the lovelys. We watched Dr. Suess and war propaganda cartoons instead, hilarious really and truly. And Felix the Cat!!! Oh man, does that bring back the childhood memories.

Tonight Alex and I will be heading to the Blue Rodeo concert, perhaps followed by an evening of dancing doontoon. Shall I see you there?

Tuney misters.

Read this article and be amazed at the good things being done in this country for young musicians... much to Stephen Harper's dismay.

Women are taking over (yay).

Boring politics post, ewww.

There was a collective "wtf" moment a couple weeks ago when Stephen Harper elected Leona Aglukkaq as minister of health. Health is HIGH-PROFILE. Aglukkaq is a first time MP. SHE'S THE SARAH PALIN OF THE NORTH JONES' PANTS.

I was super happy to see a woman get this position, but in all honesty, I'm pretty sure it was just Harper shining up his cabinet. I mean, what is better than a female native cabinet minister? Nothing... except maybe one that's in a wheelchair.

And this sounds cruel, yes, but I've taken enough Poli Sci classes to realize THIS IS THE SHIT THAT MATTERS. It is not who is qualified for the job a lot of the time, it's who looks good/sends a good message. Just ask Duceppe's hairnet supplier.

Back to women in politics.

Eva Aariak was elected as Nunavut's second ever premier today. I know absolutely nothing about her and the CBC says she's an "Iqaluit store owner."

Paul Okalik has held the position since 1999 when Nunavut was formed. I'm kind of sad to see Okalik go. Not because he accomplished anything worthwhile mind you. But he always said hello and kind words when I passed him on the street during my lunch breaks in Iqaluit (Nunavut's a tiny place... population wise).

And I super loved that classy seal-skin vest he wore all the time.

The man will speak.

There is something important about a politician's voice. Maybe it's the whole voice-of-the-nation thing. In Canada we've had our share of poor speaking leaders, as well as legendary ones.

A single sentence can make or break a politicians career.

I wish Obama would do books on tape or something. I would definitely read the Harry Potters if Barack was the one describing all the wizard shit.

What am I getting at? DUDE CAN SPEAK. And America needs to gain some face in that department. Because rarely is the question asked: is our children learning?



Obama '08, baby!

Take a sad song and make it better.

Now that the election is over a lot of people are still looking at Stephane Dion. Not to be leader of this country. Not even to be leader of his party.

Its been questioned over the past few months if Dion will resign as leader of the Liberal party without ever being elected. Let me just say that this would be VERY abnormal. Actually it has only happened once before, back in 1887 (did you learn about that in Marland's class yet, Dave and Leah?! See his teachings ARE relevant!).

But now the question has turned from if to when. If Dion doesn't step down, he'll probably get the boot during the Liberal's convention. Which really saddens me. The dude is too awesome for those conniving politicians.

And he deserves some respect. Its so Paul Martin-esque of these people to be chasing at the guy's coattails already. CUT HIM SOME SLACK, HIS DOG IS NAMED KYOTO FOR GOODNESS SAKE.

So who's it going to be: Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff? Ignatieff writes kick ass books but hasn't lived in Canada for the past like thirty years. Bob Rae swam naked with Rick Mercer on national television but is a former NDP-er. Oh, the choices!

Are you sick of me talking about politics yet?


P.S. I totally created that Stephane. I AM SO MANY KINDS OF NERD IN ONE AMAZONIAN SIZED PACKAGE.

Equalization impasse.

Looking at that makes you ache for proportional representation, huh?

Well I can't say I'm surprised. I'm trying to be grateful that Harper only gained a minority, but now it just means we have AT LEAST another year with him. Probably more since the Liberal party is still hanging out in shit land.

And Dictator Danny got his goose egg. I think a lot of people haven't caught on that it means we'll have NO representation from the current government. Expect the roads to get shitty. Literally and figuratively.

I was for the goose egg, don't get me wrong. ABC voters don't have to buy me a birthday present. But it only adds fuel to Harper's and William's whip-it-out-and-measure contest.

But I'm looking to the future! In a few more years, with some experience under his belt, sexy reincarnation man is going to come and save this country like his ol' pops did in the eighties. Oh please come and save us, Justin. :)

Patriarch on a vespa.

Stressful times always it seems. We got a call late last night that my Uncle Nat was missing. He had gone out in his boat early that afternoon and didn't return.

This kind of made me mad, because he is the only one on my Dad's side of the family I actually enjoy spending time with. Honestly, he's the funniest old man in the world.

They found him this morning, thank goodness. Mind you it was after spending all night in his small (and very open) skiff, right on the ocean. The rain and snow didn't help much either.

I'm just bothered by the whole thing.

Luckily I spent all evening with my lovely friends who took my mind off everything.

Though cheap Indian food we could not purchase, we did manage to get some mighty awesome eats at a cafe on Duckworth. Score one for St. John's.

And because it was mentioned (and it makes me lol every time I was it), Robert in a gear.

We're better off alone.

In the United States millions of dollars, countless people and dozens of months of effort are poured into their presidential elections. It is international news for almost a solid year before their Inauguration Day. Pretty much anyone in the Western world can tell you who the contenders are for the upcoming American elections.

Quick. Who are the leaders of all five major parties here in Canada? (And considering half of the people who read this blog are Poli Sci majors, you better know the answer)

That being said, the United States will have to share the limelight with Canada because it's...

ELECTION TIMEEE.

Ohhh, yes. Parliament has been dissolved and on October 14th (like an early birthday present!) Canadians will go out and choose a new (please, oh please, be new) leader for this country.

I am definitely getting involved in this election. Stephen Harper reigning this country for almost two years is LONG ENOUGH.

And maybe Stephane Dion looks like a mouse, but at least he is on the right path about the current war, the environment (his dog's name is Kyoto for goodness sakes) and social programs.

SO REGISTER TO VOTE. Do you realize none of you voted in the last provincial election ("none of you" being the friends who read this blog)? Consider it my birthday present. :)

Just don't vote Harper.

P.S. Looking for a laugh? Check out the Conservative Party's Youtube page and view the ads currently plaguing television. And what a surprise, they have comments disabled.

Toronto explodes.

There is something absolutely frightening about an entire city screaming together into the night. Watch until at least two minutes.

Clutching mickey mouse.

The idea of Guantanamo Bay has always confused me. The whole putting an American prison in the same country they refuse to take sugar from is... funny. In that flabbergasting kind of way.

The rest of it just pisses me off.

The Omar Khadr tapes released last week have caused a frenzy here in Canada. Imagine, a Canadian citizen, jailed at fifteen and tortured. He is the youngest prisoner and the only Westerner left within the prison as Australia and Britain have already said "give us back our citizens and let us try them!"

Shit. I'm getting all shaky angry. Calm, Sarah. Finish what you have to say.

This is a matter of politics pure and simple.

In any other country, in the poorest countries of the world, a child soldier is told "it is not your fault". We as a people accept that a child's mind is too susceptible to the rantings and ravings of lunatics. So what's the problem here?

Khadr was arrested for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier. Except the Pentagon accidentally leaked documents earlier this year saying that it was in fact another militant who did so. Oops.

But still Khadr sits in a prison cell six years later. Well, not in the same prison cell since he is moved to a different cell every three hours so that he is sleep deprived and more willing to talk.

Our government refuses to do anything. And though some would suggest it is a matter of race or religion, I would wager a guess that our PM has moved back into his perpetual state of fear. Go against AMERICA? Not on Harper's life.

Canada's indifference to this young man is a slap in the face. That these political games are allowed to continue in one of the freest nations on earth with absolutely no consequence for the players involved is a slap in the face.

And I'm wondering when people are going to wake up and see this country for what it really is.

Mister anchor assure me.

I caught the tail end of the CBC news tonight and it was that part where they do the “here’s what our viewers have to say” thing. There were a great number of responses to a piece that had aired on Friday about a protest in Kelligrews against a 64 year old sex offender who planned to move to the small town. The man had been convicted for two sexual assaults against children, acts he committed over a decade ago.

Okay. I can pretty much guarantee I know more about sexual offenders than your average adult, simply because I’ve taken several classes for my criminology certificate on the subject.

So when I see something like this, I get about 20% mad and 80% frustrated. Ignorance irks me!

Pedophilia is a disease. This man will always be attracted to children and I am not saying that a couple years in prison have fixed him. Probably made it worst.

But Canada has been labeled a sex offender's “heaven”. We have the lowest legal consent rate like EVER. And our sex offender registry is s-h-i-t. I really wish I could convey to you how pretty much non-existent it is. It would scare you.

So when a convicted offender registers with the police in hopes of bettering his life, I can’t help but have respect for him. You might say “Sarah! You can’t respect a person like that!” But he is human.

And think about it: a sex offender who doesn’t register could be living in Kelligrews right now. But we wouldn’t know it. And he isn’t getting any help or therapy because he isn’t registered.

At least this man is trying to live his life the right way. And what do we do? Protest a man with a proven mental condition? Would you protest someone with AIDs on the off chance they might spread it to you?

I’m going to tell you what will happen here. This man will stop checking in with the RCMP so that he can live somewhere with his wife in quiet without the neighbourhood being notified. His neighbours will befriend him and his wife, taking them to be a retired old couple living in rural Newfoundland.

And it might work for the first year or two.

But after awhile the man will become sick again, there is no cure for pedophilia. And he will have no access to therapy or guidance because he will be too scared to face the penalties for not having kept the registry updated.

And he will slip and fall like any other human. Except it won’t be an extra piece of cake for dessert. It won’t be a few bottles of beer wrecking his liver. It will be a child.

And I cannot believe that these adults who are protesting this man in Kelligrews cannot make this connection.

There was a FANTASTIC article in Maclean’s a few months ago about Canada’s sex offender registry. And you can read it online here. And it might seem long or gory, but seriously people, educate yourself. Before you go out protesting something you don’t even understand.

Almost 1,300 of the 16,000 people listed on the national registry (eight per cent) have disappeared. That may seem encouraging. After all, that means 92 per cent are doing what they're told. But remember, thousands of convicted offenders are not on the registry - and that number gets bigger every single day. Where those people are living right now is anybody's guess.

And brown to white.

Six years is a really long time.

You could get a couple degrees in six years. Get married and have a bunch of kids. Have countless meals and holidays and relationships and jobs.

You can grow up in six years.

This whole Ingrid Betancourt thing has me over analyzing everything from this summer to the entire human population. I'm sure you've all heard of this "stellar" rescue operation, but if not read about it here.

But what I really want you to do is watch this news clip on mute. Seriously, turn off the sound, the newscaster is dumb and ruins the moment. The clip was taken right after Betancourt's kids stepped off the plane. The first time they've seen their mom in six years.

Just watch them and start thinking.

Adequate treatment.

If you’ve checked any provincial or national news’ sites this week, you would have seen the latest scandal to plague the healthcare system. Only this time it takes place here in St. John’s.

A royal commission was launched after the government became aware of serious errors in breast cancer tests. Between 1997 and 2005, 1,013 women were subjected to faulty hormone testing.

The fallout? Some were told they had breast cancer when they didn’t. Others with breast cancer were told they were fine. Some were given inadequate treatment plans, while other perfectly healthy women underwent chemotherapy and mastectomies.

Mount Sinai found St. John's got it wrong for about a third of these patients. So 275 living patients didn't get the treatment they should have. As a result of discovering the error, about half of this group were then prescribed anti-hormone treatment. On March 18, 2008, a day before the beginning of the inquiry, the province confirmed that 108 patients who died did not get adequate treatment. In other words, 383 patients of 1,013 didn't get the treatment they should have.

It should also be noted that 50 women in Newfoundland and Labrador were mistakenly told they had advanced stages of breast cancer when they didn't. Some had mastectomies. The inquiry won't be addressing this problem specifically. [. . .]

The backlash from this discovery is going to be enormous in size. Every person who has been affected by this is going to seek retribution, and rightly so. But it does have the potential to get out of hand.

If you want to learn more, read one of the 158 news articles Google News links to.

Low-life vermin.

Fidel Castro (president of Cuba) and Andy Wells (mayor of St. John’s) both announced their resignations in the past two days.

I always knew they were in cahoots.

I have nothing personally against Castro. His country gives me sugar to make my candy sweeter, so how can I dislike him?

But Andy. Andy frigging Wells: you make me want to hunt you down with a paint gun when you open your mouth.

And I get that we have outspoken politicians. If there is one thing Newfoundlanders can do, its bicker. But honestly, buddy, pick your fights.

He’s been on council for over thirty years, mayor for over a decade (SOMEHOW). Even now after accepting a million dollar job as CEO of a major company, he still wouldn’t resign until the Premier asked him to.

Wells is just one of those agitators. And unlike my good chum, John Crosbie (who also likes to open-mouth-insert-foot), Wells never has a sound argument to back up the bullshit he gets on with.

So farewell, Mr. Wells, let it be known that your only achievement in thirty years of politics is that you were runner-up for Rick Mercer’s “Craziest Mayor in Canada” contest.

Oily silence mocks the legless.

Sometimes I feel like Stephen Harper is the only Canadian who wants us fighting in Afghanistan.

It’s not hard to draw this conclusion when I read newspapers with headlines screaming “HARPER WANTS TO EXTEND MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN” or “HARPER SCARED THAT 2009 PULLOUT WILL HARM NATO”.

Did my Prime Minister just tell the press he was scared?

Maybe it could be the fact that my Poli Sci profs all mutter about a certain foreign president’s hand being stuck up our current PM’s backside playing puppet master.

It could be that all three opposition parties are saying GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE, DUMBASS. The Bloc and NDP parties calling for a pullout of troops right now.

I could look at the 78 headstones of Canadian soldiers and cringe.

I could bite my nails and chalk it up to the fact that this year I will be having not one, but two close relatives serving overseas in this catastrophic “war on terror”.

Every time I start thinking about stuff like this I am reminded of that comment someone left on Matthew Good’s blog once upon a time…


“…if this was another decade, there would be riots in the streets. I guess our rebellious youth are waiting for the revolution to be streamed on Youtube first.”

This is for my people.

Incase you missed it; Heather was in The Muse this week. She was a really good sport about answering their question (after I yelled “HEATHER WILL DO IT”).

I asked her to autograph it, and she fulfilled that wish too.

Fame much?

Terra dos baccalaos.

I SAW THREE SHIPS COME SAILING IN WITH LOVE FOR ALL OF YOU

Michel Gondry
Finally completing my Mom’s Christmas gift after three months!
Dropping Harry Potter English and taking up Intro to French
Medals with Michaëlle Jean’s face on them
Regina Spektor’s Music Box
John Crosbie being made LT-Governor of NL (best person for impartiality EVER)
That clip of John Crosbie when he tells NL fisherpeople that "I didn't take the fish from the God damn water, so don't go abusing me."
Playing an exciting game of Nanny, Nanny, Rich Kid
White Chocolate Peppermint Lattes from Starbucks (Christmas don't end! I want these forever!)
Passing all my classes
My worst grade being the only class in which effort was exuded
Christmas present wrapping = finished
Christmas occurring in four days! :O

It's the Christmas season! Go do your own love list! Or even a Christmas wish list! Something in which listing and love exists! RIGHT NOW!

And even though this isn't lovely, I found this clip of when they announced the cod moratorium here in Newfoundland. I honestly don't think any Newfoundlander could watch this and not be affected. Nor could they ignore the fact that the 90’s were an especially hard time fashion-wise.

I can't help thinking that if Canada believed in assassination, John Crosbie would be dead.

Karma police arrest this man.

I believe that karma is a bitch. A mean-spirited, asshole, ridiculous kind of bitch.

Anyone who stepped foot on campus this year or picked up a copy of The Muse has heard of the group “MUN for Life”.

They have been whining all frigging semester about their right to ratification by the MUNSU. MUN for Life’s view is that abortion is wrong and to gain ratification on campus would enable them to receive funding from the university.

Now I think that everyone has their own right to believe in whatever they want, as long as they can justify it. It isn’t anyone else’s place to judge or condemn another person.

But I have to say, I instantly took a dislike to this group. Maybe it was their scary looking president. Maybe it’s the fact that The Muse printed article after article after article about what a little bitch he was being about the MUNSU’s decision to deny the group ratification. Maybe it’s because yogurt boy is a predominant member of the group. Who knows why, but I did!

And this all leads to one thing: DON’T PISS OFF THE LIBERAL MUN STUDENTS CAUSE THEY WILL FIND YOU AND THEY WILL MAKE YOU PAY.

The CBC aired a really disturbing story this week about a landlord housing some people who are receiving psychiatric help. Apparently, the conditions are just outrageous including a stint of almost two weeks where the water was shut off because of a leak instead of just fixing it. Read the story here.

And of course the landlord is none other than the president of the MUN for Life society. JUSTICE IS SERVED.

Now I have no proof that anyone from the MUNSU or even the university played any part in getting this story to air on the CBC. But a great way to nip a conservative’s rantings in the bud? Catch him in the act of something good and nasty and tell everyone you know.

Hopefully all this new found attention will knock the piss and vinegar out of this guy. I’m sick of him making Christians look like a bunch of retards on campus.

We bury those things.

Tonight I was really missing my kiddies from the daycare I worked at in Iqaluit. I think about them a lot, over the course of four months you can make some really tight bonds.

So in hopes of curing my heartache I dug out the CD with all my pictures from the summer on it and started to flick through them. I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures, but in the last couple of weeks that I was there I took more and more hoping to keep something to remember everyone by.

I got to the photos of my last day at the daycare and there is easily a hundred pictures. That morning we took the kids to the RCMP station for a tour, it was one of those rare nice days and we made the trek with about fifteen of the kids in tow.

I got some beautiful shots at the RCMP station of the kids. A wonderfully nice (and awesomely hot) guy greeted us when we came in “Hey kids, ladies, I’m Constable Doug and I’m going to show you guys around today.” Well Sheena and I pretty much melted right there. Uniform. Cute smile. Blonde hair. Yum, yum, yum!

And show us around he did “Well kids, this is the drunk tank!” Insert big eyes from me and a “No, uh, it’s just for bad people.” This guy obviously hadn’t caught on that these were four and five year olds.

Man was he awesome though, I kept snapping photos of him left right and center. Hot, stable job and extremely nice to small children… MARRY ME. Sheena kept telling me to ask him to meet us at the Storehouse that night for our leaving town bash. She kept nudging me and going “nooo ringgg!”

A combination of me being chicken, plus already going out with someone kind of stopped that idea. And of course the fact that I was leaving the next day.

Before we left he got every kid an RCMP hat and we took a group photo. As I was trying to get the kids situated he came up to me and said “I can take the picture if you’d like to get in with the kids” and he held out a hat towards me. I could see Sheena and another girl I worked with freaking out because he was singling me out.

But of course the only thing I managed to get out was “um, no that’s okay.”

I was looking at photos of him tonight and smiling to myself thinking about that day, when suddenly I stopped. Constable Doug. Constable Doug. Constable Doug.


"People in Nunavut reacted with shock and grief Tuesday to news that an RCMP officer was shot and killed in the Baffin Island hamlet of Kimmirut. A man was arrested by Kimmirut RCMP several hours after Const. Douglas Scott, 20, was fatally shot while on duty late Monday night. Police have yet to identify the man who was taken into custody in Iqaluit on Tuesday. Charges have not been laid as of Tuesday[. . .]"

I wonder if subconsciously I remembered and that’s why I got so upset when I read about his death.

Casus belli.

For those who’ve got their heads stuck really far up their... toques, I thought I would mention that today is National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women.

Now you might be thinking “Wow Sarah, that sure is a really long name for just one little day. Jesus only gets one word (Christmas) to describe His day, what makes this so important?” Well let me tell you without going into detail about what really happens because apparently truth makes everyone uncomfortable!

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women began almost twenty years ago here in Canada.

Before Columbine there was École Polytechnique. 18 years later flags still sit at half mass on this day, mourning the fourteen women who lost their live.

“Lépine then separated the nine women from the approximately fifty men and ordered the men to leave. Speaking in French, he asked the remaining women whether they knew why they were there, and when one student replied “no”, he answered: “I am fighting feminism”.

One of the students, Nathalie Provost, said, “Look, we are just women studying engineering, not necessarily feminists ready to march on the streets to shout we are against men, just students intent on leading a normal life.”

Lépine responded that “You're women, you're going to be engineers. You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists.” He then opened fire on the students from left to right, killing six and wounding three others, including Provost…”

First off, doesn’t this sound like it could be out of some archaic book describing a scene taking place in like the Middle East? But it was almost the nineties, just west of us in Montreal.

You guys know how I feel about gender-bias, in any form. This just seems unfathomable.

I just want everyone to remember for a second. All of this, just for a second.