The cost of university tuition, opportunity cost, rationalizing university, and cleaning puke.

Hello blog readers,

As a self-loathing university student struggling with the cost/benefit ratio of attending university, I found this video particularly interesting. In the video below a past university graduate rationalizes the positive effects of attending university against the costs; keep in mind, he is located in the United States where tuition costs are much higher than Canada. University is still a worthy pursuit despite the over-commidification of university degree programs and the exceeding commercialization of quickly turning out over educated people with undergraduate degrees :) Yippeeee!

sad reality of war

Why is something popular referred to as "viral"? As in, "this internet video has gone viral".
I think it has something to do with the infectious nature of a virus. "Infectious" also confers a negative spread; a spread of sickness and sadness. Rebecca Black's video, "Friday" has all of those characteristics. But I digress...


Recently, a video of US Marines urinating on Afghan corpses has gone "viral". I have not seen the video, as I cannot bring myself to watch it. An event like this has serious repercussions for all stakeholders in the ambiguous War on Terror. The American effort to win the hearts-and-minds of Afghans will suffer. The reputation of the American military will suffer. More people may take up arms against the United States. The international community will shame the war effort because this is a disturbing reality brought into the public's homes via computer screen.


Unlike the Gulf war, which was highly televised, the Afghan and Iraq campaigns have remained sheltered from the public's view. Time magazine recently did a piece on the growing separation between the military and the public, and this video is a jarring reality of being conscious about the war.

I found a lot of the press to shame the soldiers in the video. No doubt, their actions are despicable. But how can I begin to comprehend the circumstances that led to that video? War takes a toll on the mind, and people of differing mental fortitude go off to fight war. I don't mean to apologize for the soldiers in the video, but rather apologize for the circumstances in which their actions were committed. I assume watching scores of people die from bombs and bullets could rework the reality of the brain; make someone crazy. The reality of war could make urinating on your supposed enemy commonplace. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Who am I too say? I can't. We need to rethink how we fight these wars.


National Post - 
Video of Marines urinating on dead insurgents won’t harm peace talks: Taliban


Globe and Mail -
Video of U.S. Marines urinating on Taliban dead causes uproar

republican primary

Triptych of Haywain by Hieronymus Bosch. It's a crazy painting! The tadpole mouse is making a getaway!

Often, it is the loudest voices that carry the day. Popular media can have a way of sensationalizing the loudest voices, however extreme they might be, while the best voices become marginalized. I am referring to America's Republican Primaries, currently taking place. GOP candidates campaign to represent the Republican Party against Obama in November; if you didn't think the GOP was a breeding ground for unqualified leaders during the 2008 election (Palin), you will after the Republican Primaries (Cain, Bachmann, Santorum, Perry, etc).

The "media" (ambiguous, I know), presents us with politically themed stories, that have little bearing on the actual issues at hand. For example: Herman Cain's sexual harassment accusations. Why did this dominate news headlines for as long as it did? Our infatuation with reading about Cain's sordid personal life is pathetic. Headlines were made when he said pizzas with few toppings are for sissy's... I'll admit it, I ate it up. I had a great time laughing about Herman and all his nonsensical junk. The same thing happened with Sarah Palin in 2008. The media needs to do its job and clear its palate of these candidates who clearly do not stand a chance. The void created by the lack of non-pertinent distractions could be filled with stories that actually inform (I'm looking at you FOX NEWS). We need to do our job, and not give the soap-operaesque tabloids credence. 

We have some similar political personas in Canada, although not as extreme. The closest thing Canadians have to the political carnival characters from the States, is Don Cherry. Unfortunately, he garners more respect and attention than many of our top ranking public servants. And he doesn't even practice politics. We laughed along when Peter Kent apparently didn't know what ozone was, but unfortunately that is a much more serious issue than Herman Cain's mistress(es). Peter Kent's issue is  actually rather sad, and not something to laugh about.

It's not about a left-versus-right thing either. I would certainly vote for some of the Republican contenders over the Democrat's Obama. It is about intellectual honesty, and separating fact from drivel.
I encourage you to look into the United States' electoral race, starting with the Primaries right now. The changes taking place across the border are inevitably going to affect Canadians, and we should do our part to get informed and advocate for the change we want.

As of writing this, Cain and Bachmann have dropped out. Below I have posted a video from Rick Perry... scary I know. I have also posted a rebuttal I found on youtube, which sums up my feelings more eloquently than I can express.

im going to decapitate you. jk, Halloween!

     I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. I love trick or treating, carving pumpkins, wearing costumes, the festivities, and thinking of spirits. I hate the commercialization of cheap plastic crap adorning people's lawns and the glorification of brutality and violence. The type of society that casually enjoys decapitation, gore, and skeletons, is a society that is far too comfortable. It is a society that has never truly experienced actual hardship or brutality. We need to stop normalizing violence in society, especially in Halloween advertising. You know where they don't have such violent Halloween media? Answer: In places where there is actual violence. In Mexico and the Philippines, where people actually get beheaded, Halloween or All Saints Day, is a celebration of lost spirits. People gather for potlucks in cemeteries and remember the spirits of lost family and friends.


     I hate the proliferation of cheap costume stores popping up around Halloween. I understand everyone has to make a buck, but I certainly won't be spending my dollar there. How many junky costumes, and plastic accessories end up in the trash? All of it. Don't even get me started on those full face plastic makes; I can think of no better way to encapsulate your head in chemicals. Be original; make your costume at home and put some make up on. 

Aboriginal Issues? No Trespassing

Hey all, sorry I've been away. Although, you probably don't care that much. But here is something to care about!

There was an article in the Toronto Sun on the 22nd, that detailed First Nations in Northern Manitoba and their request for adequate sanitation infrastructure. The Island's Lake First Nations requested running water and long term sewage solutions. Long story short: they were sent 5-gallon buckets (toilets) and 45 gallon drums (above ground septic tanks). In some instances "15 people were sharing one 5-gallon bucket as a toilet". Not at the same time, obviously. This is shameful of Ottawa. How have issues like this not received more attention during the campaign? Even the more socialist parties, the NDP and Green, have not mentioned aboriginals issues, in any depth, at any of the rallies or debates I have seen. Locally or Federally. People in the audience have not asked questions about it either. We were all too busy worrying about people getting ejected from rallies.

To make matters worse, people post ignorant and distasteful comments on the Sun's article message posting. Reading some of the racist dribble people post while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet, makes me sad :( If you read below the article, and look through some of the previous comment pages, the negative comments become more clear. Why do people express so much anger at the money given to First Nations?

Here is the Article: Natives Asked For Toilets, Got Pails. Toronto Sun, April 22

A friend of mine, of mixed Ojibwa and Caucasian descent wrote an apt response to the Sun's article, and many of the racist and distasteful comments made by posters to the Sun's online forum. Her views are her own, while I may not agree with all of them, she makes some very valid points, and combats some of the stereotypes placed on aboriginals.

THE FOLLOWING NOTE IS BASED ON THIS ARTICLE, BUT MAINLY ON THE RIDICULOUS COMMENTS PEOPLE POSTED IN RESPONSE

I find it very disheartening that many of you can’t seem to develop a more in depth perspective of native societies. Recently, I went on a Canadian Roots exchange to the East Coast native communities and got to see and hear first hand some of their issues and accomplishments.

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Yes, there is corruption on some reserves due to ill-natured chiefs (just as there is corruption in our own government.)

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Yes, some natives are alcoholics or drug addicts (just as there are of any race, but more prevalently so because of the long-term psychological and societal damages caused by the residential schools natives were forced into.)

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No, former African-American slave descendants may not be asking for assistance the way natives are, but they also came to Canada to gain freedom whereas natives are still fighting for that freedom (and let us not forget that African-Americans have also been forced to internalize the image of being an under-educated, lower class where kids feel the need to adopt “gangster” behaviour because our media portrays rappers or basketball players as the only means of making it out of Ghettos - especially in the states where sports scholarships seem like the only way most of these families can afford to send their child to post-secondary.)

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Also take note that reserves are necessary for traditional survival by means of hunting grounds and natural resources. Unfortunately, there are reserves whose jurisdictions were assigned to the most barren land and were pretty much meant to be a death sentence. Not to mention our whole society’s view towards bastardizing the environment. We can sell our fresh water to the states, but we can’t pay for a reserve to have a functioning sewage system –open buckets of festering urine and feces doesn’t seem very sanitary; there is a reason why we don’t throw buckets of human waste into the streets like 14th century England. For native people it’s not simply about going to a mosque or church and praying on Sundays; the environment is our church. We view the animals and elements of nature more as our sisters and brothers than our commodities. A study was done which indicated that children that don’t get enough interaction with the outdoors actually develop severe health issues, namely depression. Now extrapolate that to an entire society whose entire history has been based on nurturing close bonds with nature.

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Not all native societies are playing the blame game however, and it is important to mention these groups. It seems as though they don’t get enough media attention because no one wants to gossip about happy news. Bear River reserve, for instance, has taken active steps to encourage young members and females to participate on council, have developed good rapport with local fishermen (after much conflict however), are working hard with the ministry to foster such programs as salmon rehabilitation in the wild rivers and other things of the sort. In Eskisoni, angry parents and families protested drug abuse through a walk that ended up on the front door step of a known drug dealer. Many aboriginals have become excellent entrepreneurs and are creating businesses that not only pay taxes, but attempt to develop a bridge between reserves and the rest of Canadian society. Also, reserves as protected land can be misleading, if the government wants to put a highway through a reserve then in the end, that’s what they’ll do so the negotiations between the two parties are merely to save some face (this happened a couple years back with the Iroquois)

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One thing that must be kept in mind is that it’s hard for a people, as whole, to overcome the stereotypes thrust upon them when those stereotypes still exist. African-Americans, natives and even immigrants alike begin to internalize the view that they can’t do it when it is repeatedly rammed down their throats. Government funding is necessary for these communities to build the infrastructure and skills required to be on par with the rest of Canada. I can see how so many people can overlook the 3rd world status of natives in our own country – out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes, and when they are in sight it’s not for their accomplishments, it’s for their strife.

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As a mixed aboriginal (Ojibwa, English, Irish and Scottish) who grew up visiting my grandmother’s reserve, but growing up in the GTA, I think we need to stop viewing ourselves as native or non-native and start viewing ourselves as Canadians. And as Canadians, we have a duty to our fellow Canadians to offer them the equality to such basic elements of life as food, shelter, education and health care. We are only as strong as our weakest member, and as it stands our native communities are, as a whole, our weakest member.

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Just in case you didn’t get it:

You wouldn’t like it if I came to your house, removed all your landscaping; killed all your pets; removed your fridge and pantry; forced you to live with all your relatives because the entire extended family couldn’t afford their own house; stole your kids and forced them to learn my religion in a dialect they didn’t understand – which when they rebelled I would beat them to a pulp and maybe rape the cute ones; shake hands over some promise to let you keep your backyard, then laugh at my promise as I remove your fence and build a new one giving you half the yard space as before; throw a wad of cash at the problems and hope the green of the $20 bills resembles your land close enough that you forget this whole thing ever happened.

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And surprisingly, after all of this, natives are ready to forgive as long as they get a little respect. No one wants to shit in a bucket every day, it’s just degrading and furthering the rift between us. Give them some fucking port-a-potties in the meantime for god sakes (which is what they were asking for) – it’s not like they’re asking for your souls... though it would be nice if you gave them some of your heart.

Let's all be really cynical for a moment.

Why are politicians not addressing the most blatant problems in our society? Afghanistan, Canada's largest military endeavour since World War 2, has been a footnote in this campaign. Do the troops stay or leave? Liberals and Conservatives say stay, NDP says leave. In all likelihood they are staying, but there has been no concrete plan to change Canada's military role. Why are Afghanistan's expenditures still tallied in bullets, bombs, and human life rather than Afghan literacy rates?

The Conservatives and opposition parties unanimously decided to support the no-fly zone in Libya. Which party has developed a plan to get Canada out of Libya with the most positive result? The entire issue has become bogged down in red herrings. The Conservatives use it as an excuse to purchase fighter planes, and the Liberals have an unrealistic plan of supporting rebels. Supporting rebels may prevent a complete massacre on behalf of Gaddafi, but by training and arming rebels you are still creating war. If Gaddafi is a problem, don't fight a proxy war using rebels to receive the bullets. The comparisons between Iraq and Libya are inevitable. Yes, oil will entice foreign governments to have a hand in the jar. Yes, an unpredictable and dangerous dictator is power. Yes, Arab angst occurs in both places. But keep this in mind: The US's second round in Iraq (you know the one where they got Saddam) occurred almost 13 years after Saddam committed his genocide against the Kurds. The timing was way off. Did peace keeping discussions stop on 9/11?

In my perspective, aboriginal issues have been largely left out of the discussion. It's all fine and dandy for the major political parties to talk about misspending millions during the G20. But where has the discussion been to address the largest economic and social gap between aboriginals and "everyone else"? It is not even like aboriginals are a small portion of the population. In fact, aboriginals are one of the fastest growing groups in Canada. How can we prevent cholera in Haiti, when we can't even deliver safe drinking water to our brothers and sisters on reserves. This is not the fault of any specific political party, but a failure of all. This isn't a deep issue steeped in ideology, like abortion, this is a failure of our collective ability to prioritize issues. The answer is obvious, discussion about this has to happen now! But it hasn't shared the spotlight once this election.

Sorry if this comes off as a rant. Which it probably is. I'm actually a happy person.