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Accord Expositions
Trans-Canada hyw 19000
H9X 3S4 Baie D’Urfe (Canada)
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AKA The town I’m moving to as soon as I get a Visa.
Founded in 1832 as Bell’s Corner and changed in 1852 to Shakespeare, this tiny community of 1,200 is in Perth County, Ontario. Every June, they celebrate Field Day and have a fish fry at Shakespeare Optimist Hall.
That’s pretty much all Google and Wikipedia told me. And that’s pretty much all I need to know. I’ll be packing my bags now.
If an employee is paid on commission or receives a salary plus commission, you can deduct tax in one of the following ways:
Note
If an employee does not file Form TD1X, or revokes in writing-during the year-the election he or she made in completing Form TD1X, calculate the tax deductions using the table method.
Employees who claim employment expenses on their income tax return must have their employer complete Form T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles
Readings: Ephesians 2;19-22; Psalm 19:2-5; Luke 6:12-19
Citizenship is an important characteristic for many people. When I have applied to study at universities, or to work, the applications have often asked me to state my citizenship. With some pride about having been born in and living in a prosperous and peaceful country, I have filled in or selected “Canadian.” That said, it brings me much sadness at times to complete the paperwork of the refugees I have worked with both in Windsor and here in Toronto. Those forms also ask for the refugee’s citizenship. When I read his or her country of origin, I realize deeply that the people with whom I work have been persecuted, threatened, and driven from their homeland. Somehow I must give these people hope and show them compassion in a land foreign to them.
The earliest Christian communities were like those of foreigners to our own country in our time. Paul writes to the small Ephesian Christian communities- scattered, maligned for a variety of reasons by surrounding pagans, occasionally brutally persecuted (1)- that they have obtained the only citizenship that matters: they belong to “the household of God.” (2) Like being made citizens of a nation automatically by birth, their belonging to God’s household is less about their own effort than that of Christ who holds the “whole structure”- the Church, God’s kingdom on earth- together as a “holy temple” and “dwelling place for God.” (3) Thus with the Lord we are “no longer strangers and aliens.” (4)
Granted, Paul wrote from an advantageous position; he was a Pharisee and also a Roman citizen. (5) Paul could be compared with those today who enjoy legal privileges due to multiple citizenships. But Paul sacrificed his religious and legal rank to become a servant of Christ, a missionary to those without status. Paul is therefore counted among the Apostles, although he was not one of the original Twelve.
Jesus’ choice of the Twelve in today’s Gospel also shows what it means to be an Apostle and to belong to God’s household. Jesus welcomed all kinds: impulsive people like Peter who denied Him (6), Judas Iscariot who betrayed Him (7), Thomas who believed only upon seeing the marks of the nails and lance on the risen Jesus (8), Matthew, a tax collector (9), Zealots like Simon who were part of a movement seeking a messiah figure who would overthrow the Romans in Israel (10), and those like Jude, named “Judas son of James” by Luke (10), whom we know little about except a later traditional patronage to “hopeless cases.” (12)
The Apostles, diverse as they were, were unified under Christ. However, the variety of those they would serve was more important than their own. We hear that people came from Tyre and Sidon, distant Gentile territory, to hear Jesus. (13) That diversity is a characteristic of the Church today as it was in the Apostles’ time.
As diverse as the Church is, we are all united by Christ, whose power spreads over us and heals all of us. Thus we are welcomed as “members of the household of God” and “citizens with the saints.” (14) Let us pray then especially for the consolation of those who have sought refuge from threats to their lives or security, and that our Church may increasingly be a place of welcome and healing as Christ intended her to be.
WRS
The fight for starting places began in Austria last weekend, with the World Cup opening races on 24th-25th October 2009. One person who also attended the races in Sölden, was the German ski-racer Christian Flühr. He is the man who has written new chapters in skiing history with his amazing ski world records over the last ten years. Now he is thrilled to announce a new sensational record attempt. He has achieved his qualification for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and will race there in February. His aim will be a new unbelievable endurance record with 299+X hours nonstop on skis at Grouse Mountain Resort, located just 15 minutes from the centre of Vancouver.
The Olympic Dream
Christian Flühr will surpass his actual world record, which at the moment stands at 264 hours, achieved in Obergurgl, Austria in 2008. This represents an extension of more than 35 hours extra hours on skis! In history he has already smashed 12 world records. Christian has got a lot of confidence. He is absolutely determined to achieve this unbelievable feat of endurance and has got a very simple explanation for this: “For me it is definitely the last winter in skiing. After this one, my career will end. The chance to make my last attempt at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games 2010 has ignited an Olympic flame inside me. This world record attempt at Grouse Mountain represents the final challenge of my career.” Christian will start shortly after the opening ceremony and finish one day ahead of the closing ceremony.
More than 299 hours on skis without a break
The rules of this amazing ski-adventure are easy to explain: breaks, stopping on the slopes and waiting at the lifts is forbidden. Christian must ski non stop for more than 12 days and nights, whatever the weather, even in storms or heavy snowfalls. “We expect a huge media coverage on the mountain,” says Victoria Grimes, who is responsible for the English media in Christian’s team. She is just one member of a 25 strong team. Victoria lives in the United Kingdom and met Christian for the first time during the World Record in Obergurgl. She is sure that Christian will achieve his goal: “This challenge at Grouse Mountain represents something new for Christian, but he will no doubt draw on his experience of the previous attempts to ensure success in this unbelievable attempt.”
The event loctation: Grouse Mountain
The place to be this time is Grouse Mountain, the landmark mountain of the Olympic Village, Vancouver. The base-station of the lifts are just 15 minutes drive from the city centre. The ski resort boasts an annual snowfall of more than 305cm. There are 9 lifts and 26 ski-runs within the ski area, with fifty percent of those being floodlit for night ski events. This represents the ideal terrain for Christian’s challenge. „We are very happy that Christian is coming to Grouse Mountain to attempt his next World Record and we will ensure that his Olympic dream becomes reality.” says Jeff Silcock, Marketing Manager for the Mountain.
Christian Flühr’s Olympic dream is about to come true. More information on his previous 12 World Records and his unique ski-career, see www.cf-1.net .
GLOBE-NET October 15, 2009
Canada’s most precious natural resource – fresh water – is in jeopardy due to the effects of climate change and growing water demand, according to a new WWF-Canada report released today called Canada’s Rivers at Risk: Environmental Flows and Canada’s Freshwater Future. The report uses a scientific approach that focuses on the importance of water flow to examine the health of 10 Canadian rivers and reveals that some are dangerously close to drying up. It concludes that we must value our fresh water differently and take immediate action to protect it. Evaluating the health of our rivers according to what scientist refer to as environmental flows reveals a truer, and more troubling, picture of Canada’s freshwater future than the more traditional focus on raw quantities of water within our borders. It forces us to look at the scale that matters most when it comes to fresh water – the watershed.
When we do, we find that growing more food, generating more electricity, quenching the thirst of expanding cities, and fuelling industry, are taking their toll on the nation’s rivers.
”The combined threats of climate change and growing demand for fresh water by cities, agriculture and industry are converging on Canada’s rivers,” says Tony Maas, Director, Fresh Water for WWF-Canada.
”Even seemingly remote northern waters like the Mackenzie are at risk. As temperatures rise, and industrial water withdrawals and interest in hydropower increase, we must start planning now to protect river flows to ensure water security for the communities and economies that depend on them.”
Emerging threats: The report shows that the overallstatus of these rivers is troubling, due to three primary threats:
1. Climate change is altering the entire context of water management, resulting in changing precipitation patterns, increasing evaporation, melting glaciers, and causing droughts and floods to become more frequent and intense;
2. Growing water demands by expanding industries, agriculture and urban growth, are drawing down rivers to sometimes dangerously low levels; and
3. Growing demand for low-carbon energy is driving construction of new hydropower projects which can alter river flows and cause species and ecosystems to suffer.
Required action:
The report recommends two critical points of action for restoration and protection of river flows.
First, the federal government must play a much stronger role in Canadian water stewardship. The Mackenzie River is emerging as a national priority for freshwater conservation. The federal government can play a much stronger leadership role in protecting the waters of this vast watershed by facilitating implementation of the Mackenzie River Transboundary Water Agreement to ensure increasingly intensive development in upstream jurisdictions does not impair the health of the river, and the communities, downstream. Among the most urgent priorities for federal government leadership in the Mackenzie watershed is the is the development of an enforceable water management framework to secure environmental flows in the Athabasca River in the face of growing water withdrawals by industry.
Second, to avoid irreparable damage, the report recommends there must be a long-term plan to keep rivers flowing for people and nature. This includes strong federal leadership to address climate change – both at the UN Climate Conference this December, as well as in implementing a credible, national action plan to reduce emissions and put strategies into place for adapting to a changing freshwater future across Canada.
“These issues are of a scope and scale that require national leadership on fresh water in Canada now,” said Gerald Butts, President and CEO, WWF-Canada. “Water is our most important national resource. Our responsibility is to steward it wisely to ensure that future Canadians can benefit from it as we do today.”
River Summaries:
Skeena River, BC – supports Canada’s second largest wild salmon fishery (worth $110 million annually). Proposed development of mines, coal bed methane fields, oil and gas pipelines, and run-of-river hydropower projects could significantly affect the Skeena’s natural flow and potentially compromise the watershed’s incredible biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
Mackenzie River, NWT, YK, BC, AL, SK – is one of the world’s longest free flowing rivers and plays an important role in regulating ocean circulation and climate. The Mackenzie watershed has experienced greater temperature increases than anywhere else in Canada which further impacts flows, and growing interest in hydropower development is an emerging threat.
Fraser River, BC – contributes to 80 per cent of the province’s economic output and produces more salmon than any other river on earth. Its fishing industry is worth over $300 million annually. Major dams on the Fraser’s tributaries, drainage for flood control, and withdrawals for agriculture and urban use have compromised flow within the watershed.
Athabasca River, AL – provides the greatest direct inflow of water to the world’s largest boreal freshwater delta – the Peace-Athabasca Delta. Together, the river and the delta support over 30 species of fish and more than a million migratory birds each year. The amount of water taken for development is projected to increase by at least 200 per cent by 2015.
Nipigon River, ON – was once a turbulent river but now its flows are highly regulated. Only three meters of its original 95-metre vertical drop remains unharnessed by dams. However, it is a great example of what is possible in terms of restoring river health – even in the face of significant threats. Operation of hydropower dams on the river have been improved to restore flows to more natural conditions, and the ecosystem and fish populations are showing strong signs of recovery.
South Saskatchewan River, SK, AL – is Canada’s most threatened river. Hundreds of dams exist throughout its watershed and 70% of the flow is withdrawn for agricultural and urban use. The water scarcity typical of the region’s arid climate is expected to intensify under climate change, which experts describe as an emerging water crisis.
Grand River, ON – is one of the most regulated rivers in Canada – more than 100 dams and control structures along the Grand and its tributaries have significantly altered the river’s natural flow regime. Increased demand for water to supply growing cities is a growing threat.
St. Lawrence River, QU – drains water from the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem, the Great Lakes. Its natural flow has been drastically altered and is currently in a declining state due to numerous hydropower dams and the infrastructure developed to create the St. Lawrence Seaway, which is one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors.
Saint John River, NB, QU – is the longest river in Atlantic Canada. Hydropower dams on the river have dramatically altered river flows and contributed to the decline of the Atlantic salmon population that is now endangered. Downstream from the dams, river flows can fluctuate by as much as 91% over a 24-hour period; at times flows are reduced to the point that the riverbed almost dries up.
Ottawa River, ON, QU – is severely fragmented by hydropower dams in both the Quebec and Ontario portions of its watershed, the Ottawa is one of the most regulated river systems in Canada. Its natural flow regimes have been dramatically altered, compromising habitat and the diversity and distribution of the river’s fish and shoreline vegetation.
The full report and an executive summary are available at www.wwf.ca/rivers
A Calgary operator of a marijuana grow-op who preyed on new immigrants and was the source of some pot sent to Toronto has won a legal victory in his fight to stay in Canada.
De Bing Li, 38, of Vietnam, was jailed for 16 months in February 2006 after pleading guilty to production of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
FOUR HOMES
He was one of four men charged in August 2004 after Calgary police raided four homes used for marijuana growing operations and seized more than 2,000 plants with an estimated street value of $2.5 million.
Police said the ring grew pot in a network of grow-ops in Calgary. Most of the drugs were sold in that city with some being trucked to Toronto and other parts of Canada.
Court heard Li, who is a permanent resident and father of two young children, was declared inadmissable to Canada and ordered deported in July last year because of his criminal record.
He appealed the deportation to the Federal Court of Canada, which this month ruled there was an error made in the case by an immigration and refugee board. The court ruled he should receive a new hearing.
NEWCOMERS
Court was told the ring preyed on newcomers to Canada who were offered big money to look after the plants. Many, like Li, quit their jobs to go into the drug trade.
“The appellant is not rehabilitated and has not shown remorse,” Federal Court Judge Robert Barnes said. “The only objective finding in his favour is that he is bringing in a revenue to this household.”
Li claimed he did not know what he was doing was illegal. No date has been set for a new hearing.
bron: www.torontosun.com [12-10-2009]
Two days in Vancouver are not enough. This city is awesome, everything that I like. High rises everywhere, gridded, easy to walk around and just very pretty. So far I’ve spent the day walking around, looking and doing errands. I now have a SIN number and a bank account. I also bought a new SIM card and have a Canadian cell phone number; you can ask me for it or check my contact details on Facebook, not so keen to add it in a post.
I’ve been walking around quite a bit in my brand spanking new sneakers. Ok so they are very me, bright purple and pink (pink not so much me but I compromised). The reason I bring these up is that everywhere I went today people either looked at or commented on my shoes. I have no idea why. I mean yes they are cool shoes, but c’mon Vancouver get with it, this is such an old fashion that it should be normal. I even had people on the street tell me how awesome my shoes were. I think I’ve lost count, but I would say over 20 comments on them. Not that I’m complaining it’s a great conversation starter and makes me feel like less of a loner strolling around these streets.
Oh I bumped into my first Kiwi here, a random lady in a souvenir shop, go figure. I like it though a first Kia ora that I have heard, and probably a last for a while. I’m hoping for some awesome Kiwis in Whistler. I need some friends that I can understand.
Well off to Stanley Park tomorrow apparently it’s a 2 hour walk. Here’s hoping for some good weather. Until next time!
Article from www.vancouversun.com
Protestors shout at people going into the Shaw Conference Centre to hear former U.S. President George W. Bush speak in Edmonton Alberta on Tuesday.Photograph by: John Lucas, Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON — Scores of angry activists waved placards and chanted slogans outside an Edmonton conference centre Tuesday evening to protest a speech inside by former U.S. president George W. Bush.
The protesters harried those in line for the talk with loud boos and calls of “shame, shame.”
“He has no business coming here,” said Elvira Falconer, who brought her young daughter to the protest. “She needs to be a part of this because he killed a lot of children,” Falconer said.
Police blocked the activists from the centre using a line of black bicycles. Groups of well-dressed young people in fitted suits and fancy ties clustered behind the police.
“I think he’s more than used to this by now; this is small potatoes,” said Jon Germain, one of those in line.
“I wouldn’t say I’d ever pay to go to see him, but it should be interesting,” said Janelle Janig, who, like Germain got his ticket for free.
Two thousand people are expected at the talk.
http://www.vancouversun.com/Activists+protest+George+Bush+Edmonton/2125522/story.html
More from other sources ;
______________________________________________________
Former president speaks in Edmonton
5:45AM
by Don Lawson
10/21/2009
http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/LocalNews/story.aspx?ID=1153681
A former U.S. president made a stop in our city Monday night, for what was billed as “A conversation with George W. Bush”. The 2,000 people inside the Shaw Conference Centre seemed to think they got their money’s worth.
Bush started by saying he likes Alberta because we have oil, farming, ranching, and we speak better English. The former President spoke for a few minutes at a podium, then relaxed in an easy chair while former NHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey asked a number of questions. Bush spoke candidly about how a president makes major decisions, he said he never worried about polls, but rather stood on principle.
Bush called Canada a great friend to the United States and thanked Canadians for their involvement in the war in Afghanistan.
Among other issues the 43rd president talked about were nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran and the tense situation in Pakistan.
On a lighter note, Bush said one of the duties he had to get reaccustomed to after leaving the White House was – picking up after his dog Barney. He said he had dodged it for eight years.
Bush told the crowd, he wanted to be the education president, but said the real test of someone is to see how they play their cards, when the one’s they’re dealt aren’t the ones they wanted. When all was said and done, people seemed pleased with what they’d heard.
There were three protestors who got into the event and shouted at the president, but they were quickly escorted out.
Photo: Eileen Bell
Photos: Don Lawson
As for the protestors outside, they made their voices heard. “War Criminal go home!” was just one of many chants by over 200 protesters at the Shaw Conference Centre. Some of the organizers, including the Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism and the Palestine Solidarity Network, said the crowd was protesting Bush’s involvement in the war in Iraq. Many of those who had purchased tickets smiled and kept walking as protesters hurled insults at them.
And as Tamara joined in, she said they planned to keep things peaceful. “We don’t want to give anyone a reason for why we shouldn’t be here. We don’t want to give anyone a legitimate reason to say this is unsafe.”
And, for the most part, RCMP Corporal Wayne Oakes said the protestors were well behaved. “There were some people removed from some areas. Whether those resulted in arrests or not, or just people taken aside and given a talking to – I don’t know the full extent.”
More protests are expected when Bush speaks in Saskatoon tonight, and Montreal on Thursday night. (dl,td,blb)
http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/LocalNews/story.aspx?ID=1153681
Protesters gathered at the Shaw Conference Centre during an engagement headlined yesterday by former U.S. president George W. Bush, inset. Bush will be in Montreal for another appearance on Thursday.
http://news.google.ca/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&ned=ca&topic=n&ncl=dM2yR1FLQN27HhMTAwR_m1-Baw1oM
Et voilà, des deux mois déjà passés. J’ai compris le mécanisme de ma serrure, et ne suis plus obligée d’aller aux toilettes – au bout du couloir – avec mes clés. J’ai mémorisé les codes de mes casiers (postaux et de cuisine), me suis re-familiariser avec les cadenas américains. J’ai apprivoisé mon frigo et ses grondements, grognements, vocalises. J’ai trouvé l’entrée de la piscine, l’entrée des souterrains. Je suis passée en onde et j’ai mangé de la poutine. Je suis allé à Québec en vélo, tôt le matin pour voir la ville se réveiller. J’ai cueilli des pommes et fait de la croustade. J’ai perdu un appareil photo et une poêle à frire, mes gants. J’ai vu un match de Hockey et visité deux fois le Parlement. J’ai bu toutes les sortes de bières Boréales et ai préféré la Rousse. Je me suis faite l’oreille québécoise. J’ai découvert Alfa Rococo et Jean Leloup. Je ne m’étonne plus de croiser des marmottes et des écureuils sur le campus. J’ai assisté deux fois au spectacle du Cirque du Soleil et j’ai reçu une lettre. J’ai fait trop de photos que pour pouvoir donner un nombre approximatif… Et puis j’ai enfumé les cuisines… une expérience culinaire qui a mal tourné.
Mais je fronce toujours les sourcils quand je dois donner mon numéro de chambre : soixante-seize quatre-vingt trois (essayez pour voir, ça demande une concentration folle) et me perds toujours dans le sacro-saint Casault.
Reste à …
- Aller manger un hamburger Chez Victor
- Fêter Halloween
- Acheter des bêtises au Dollarama et passé au Village des valeurs. - Aller au Musée des Beaux Arts du Québec
- Attendre la neige
- Acheter des gants et un parapluie
- Visiter les voûtes de Napoléon et le Dagobert
- Passer un vrai jeudi soir au Pub avec les mijoles
- Sacrer avec la VRAI intonation québécoise…. Taaaaabarnac’
- Organiser une soirée belge pour apprendre aux Français que Jacques Brel est Belge !
- …
Et au lieu d’écrire ce post, je ferai mieux de terminer ma revue de presse… Sinon, je vais passer ma première nuit blanche à Québec (Entre nous, si ça devait arriver, je préfèrerais la passer ailleurs qu’en tête à tête avec mon ordinateur)!
Ça fait beaucoup de moi-je… Et vous qu’avez-vous fait ces deux derniers mois ?
Despite the global economic recession, the Canadian economy has proven to be quite resilient. Throughout September, there have been many signs that not only showed that the economic situation in Canada is improving, but that its economy was less affected by the global downturn than most economies around the world. Canada remains an ideal place to do business with its stable banking system and the ease of starting a business in the country, and as the economy moves out of the recession, immigrants are the key to its success.
Hi,
also da sich hier momentan nicht viel tut, außer der erfreulichen Tatsache, dass der Herbst heuer doch nicht übersprungen wurde, der Schnee also von den grünen Blättern wieder weg ist und sich der Jahreszeit entprechende Temperaturen (um +10 °C) eingestellt haben, habe ich an der Vergangenheit gearbeitet und ein paar Seiten für die Rubrik “Was bisher geschah” geschrieben. Die fehlenden sind gerade in Arbeit und werden demnächst online gestellt! Bis es also wieder Aktuelles zu berichten gibt, könnt ihr nachlesen, was sich bei uns von Ankunft bis zur Blogeröffnung getan hat.
Liebe Grüße!
Daniel
Finding a flat in Montreal is easy; there are loads of student apartments around, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Just don’t do what I did!
Having made lots of friends at the hostel in Jean Talon, but still without a permanent place to live was starting to worry me. Fresher’s week (Frosh) was starting on 25th August so I had very little time left.
Before arriving in Canada, me and Jacqueline, another Glasgow Uni student discussed getting a flat together, so I was searching for 2-bed apartments. However, it wasn’t as easy as you would think because we had completely different criteria.
During my first 2 weeks I had literally fallen in love with Le Plateau (zone F on McGill map below), so i was keen to live there, but Jacs had her eye on the Ghetto (zone A/B). Both areas are fantastic; The Ghetto is the closest to campus and is very student orientated, Le Plateau is very similar, but with a more European charm- great food and nightlife, and less of a claustrophobic feel to it. Anyways, we decided to find apartments for ourselves, which is my advice to everyone else. You’ve just got to do what’s best for you.
Having only been to 2-bed apartments I would have to start from scratch with 1-beds and flat shares. Luckily, websites like craigslist.com, the American version of Gumtree, is a great way to see the latest openings. Straight away I went round to view a room sharing with 2 other Brits and a Quebecoise. It was a decent flat and in my desperate state I said stupidly said yes! However, the room was dark and unfurnished, so not ideal, but hey, I had somewhere to stay.
That night though I went to a friends’ flat for some pre-drinks, literally a 2min walk away. Their place was awesome! Fully furnished, all bills included, wi-fi, cable TV, flexible lease, even an Xbox 360! If I could move here I would be paying the same price per month for double the quality. So, after a few phone calls with the landlord I found out there was a room spare.
I knew this could get messy (legally) so I went to the Off-Campus Housing Department at McGill. They were really helpful and explained it all to me. I hadn’t signed any papers therefore the chances of me being taken to court were slim because verbal agreements are hard to prove. This was just as a precaution though, and in actual fact, it wasn’t that bad. I explained to the original people that I had found somewhere better and even though they were upset and a wee bit angry, nothing serious came of it. They found a new flatmate within the week, so it all ended happily.
I moved into my new place the same day. Instantly I knew I had made the right decision! I had some great friends in the building already, also doing exchange, and I didn’t have the hassle of furnishing it. In addition, getting a lease for 9 months rather than the full year would save me a lot of $$$.
Yeh, so my new place is 15 mins walk away from campus. No it’s not in Le Plateau, but it is a great location with the high street, supermarkets and clubs less than 2 minutes walk away. Plus, I bought myself a bike for $50 (£30), so getting to uni is easy and safe, especially with the bike lanes. I’m paying less than $600 a month which isn’t too bad considering the bills are included. Did i mention it drops to -30oC in winter? So heating is a major consideration when looking for somewhere.
Whilst all this was going down, I was still managing to have an awesome time at Frosh. There are two types of Frosh: Faculty, which is first, and SSMU, the Student Union. Faculty Frosh is by far the best! You get put in teams with other unsuspecting Froshies and then given crazy leaders whose sole aim is to PARTY! Because I’ve already done Fresher’s week back in Glasgow I thought that I might be a bit too mature for it all, but not at all. I put in as much effort as possible and the returns were great. For $125 we got 3 days of Unlimited Beer, Pub Crawls, Free Entry to Clubs, T-Shirt, Frosh Pack, Beach Trip, Food. Everything except your night drinks, which didn’t matter if you spent the whole day at the Beer Tent.
I’m still friends with my leaders and a few of my fellow froshies.
I’m even joining a team for the Winter Carnival at the start of next semester with them.
Again, it’s going to be messy few days, but I can’t wait!
http://www.mcgill.ca/offcampus/
http://www.mcgill.ca/files/offcampus/OCM-lowrez.pdf
L’Australie a annoncée la semaine dernière une hausse de son taux directeur, devenant ainsi le premier pays à l’augmenter depuis le début de la crise financière mondiale.
Vous me suivez?
C’est le signal que les taux d’intérêts ont atteint le plancher.
Ça ne peut qu’augmenter. Fermez-donc votre hypothèque et pour le plus longtemps possible.
ING Direct offre l’hypothèque fermé cinq ans à 4,34%.
Ma prédiction est que ce taux pourrait tripler d’ici cinq ans. Alors profitez-en pour geler votre hypothèque.
Le dollar canadien monte tellement rapidement que la Banque du Canada n’aura pas le choix d’augmenter son taux directeur. Déjà hier en conférence de presse, le premier ministre Stephen Harper se disait inquiet de la remontée du dollar.
Desjardins croit que la Banque du Canada haussera son taux directeur de 0,50% à une moyenne de 2,50% en 2011.
Moi je crois davantage qu’en 2011 ce taux sera près des 5% pour une hausse de 4,5%.
C’est donc dire que le taux cinq ans fermé chez ING Direct pourrait passé à 9,84%.
Donc cette hausse sera réelle à moins que Mark Carney, gouverneur de la Banque du Canada, fasse la sourde oreille et laisse le huard s’envoler. Il tuerait là des centaines de milliers d’emplois au Canada.
De toute façon vous savez comme moi que le Canada ne gère pas sa politique monétaire elle lui ait dicté depuis des années par les américains. Donc si l’administration de Barack Obama dit non, la Banque du Canada laissera le huard s’envoler.
Le Canada est à la merci des États-Unis et ce n’est pas en 2009 que ça va changer. Pour bien faire le dollar canadien devrait retourner à 75 cents. Là le chômage diminuerait et l’économie canadienne se porterait bien. Le Canada est un pays exportateur, il lui faut donc avoir une monnaie plus faible sinon les autres pays importeront d’ailleurs que du Canada.
Rappelez-vous ceci. Collectivement, les canadiens sont plus riches avec une devise plus faible. Collectivement on ne s’enrichit pas en voyant la devise canadienne s’approcher de la parité avec le dollar américain.
Pour votre hypothèque, pensez-y sérieusement!
The federal Conservative Party is in a heap of trouble over allegations of allocating partisan stimulus funding again after somebody looked at a month-old photograph of Nova Scotia MP Gerald Keddy handing out a big cheque, and noticed that it had a big Conservative logo on it. The facts look pretty open-and-shut here. Federal laws make it clear that the government has to distribute funding and make announcements in a nonpartisan way, which means the big logo is a big no-no.
Gerald Keddy says it was a mistake and that the sign wasn’t his idea:
“I didn’t order it, it wasn’t me. I’m not sure how that happened.”
First rule of leadership: it’s always your fault. Buck passing should only be encouraged in philanthropy and hunting.
But I digress. Let’s assume it was an honest mistake. It doesn’t make the allegations that have been levied at the government for quite some time that they’re playing favouritism and politics with the stimulus any better. It’s not going to erode the perception that the Conservatives are using the stimulus funds as an opportunity to increase the profile of their party and their elected representatives in office.
The “perception” of more money being spent in Conservative ridings isn’t necessarily a matter of perspective either. One would naturally assume that more money would be spent in Conservative ridings, as there are more ridings belonging to that party than any other. However, in Nova Scotia three Conservative ridings have received $162 million more than all eight other ridings put together, with Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s riding of Central Nova getting the most money.
There’s an argument that can be made that some ridings deserve the allocation of stimulus funds more than others, so it isn’t simply a matter of comparing these ridings and expecting equal portions distributed across Canada. The federal Equalization program is inherently unequal in this regard; more money goes to the province with the larger population. The federal Employment Insurance program, on the other hand, rates regional employment levels in order to hand out money. So there are times when it does matter where you live in Canada in order to receive money that, arguably, all Canadians need.
The National Conservative caucus chair and MP Guy Lauzon has dismissed the claims by Toronto MP Gerrard Kennedy, who says that Conservative ridings have received on average $3-4 million more under the communities component of the Building Canada Fund. Mr.Lauzon said that the Liberals are merely trying to create controversy where none exists, and that funding eligibility is dependent on municipal funding requests.
That may be so. But here’s a tip for the Conservative Party: try not to have any more giant Conservative logos on giant stimulus cheques if you want to maintain the faith that these figures are mere coincidences.
Random thoughts of happiness:
Frequent flier points: Today was a really good day when it comes to frequent flier points. Southwest was able to credit me for all of my flier points, simply by my confirmation numbers. This is pretty ballin’ considering I haven’t credited myself with miles for probably my last 10-15 trips. so I might get a free ticket sometime soon. this however got me thinking, why can’t there be frequent flier points for other things? Like gas, food, or more importantly, liquor. If there were frequent drinking points, I’d get a free 30 rack a week, which in turn would make me a very happy person.
Football: Most people that read this are either Illinois or Louisville fans I am assuming, so lets take a look. Both teams suck. Illinois has 0 offense which is very surprising considering we have the all time leading QB rusher in Illinois history and ARRELIOUS BONG, one of the best WR in the country. Louisville on the other hand is a different story, after blowing a 4th quarter lead to UK, getting blown out by Utah and Pittsburgh, Kragthorpe gave himself some glimmer of hope of saving his job by beating southern miss even though UL was 20 point underdog.
I am t-pain:
Vacationing: So I have been up in Canada again these past few days bc of fall break at U of L, and let me tell you it was the best decision of my life because yesterday was Thanksgiving day in Canada. Lets be honest, Thanksgiving is one of the best F’en holidays of the year, and no day is better than the day after when you have all those leftovers. Turkey, pulled pork, cranberry bread, potatoes, spinach dip, etc. etc. etc. Good thing I came home to work out and try and diet.
Golf: Congrats to the good guys (USA) for beating the Internationals in the President’s Cup this past Sunday. The Int’l team made a run on the final day being down big, but the USA came through in the clutch and who else, my boy, Tiger Woods straight up scraped Y.E. Yang in straight up match play. This is disheartening considering he gave up a 2 shot lead to Yang in the PGA Championship, but at least he got his redemption beating Yang 6 & 4. Honestly, I think I could get beat by Tiger 6 &4. Realistically I would only need 10 pars. Maybe I can lobby myself to be on the Int’l team in 2 years somehow, maybe I’ll move to…. Canada!
Nobel Peace Prize: Where is mine? Now I’m sorry, most people think I’m some raging Republican, and huge conservative, which is very far from the truth. Sure in hs I was in Young Republicans (good for the resume) and campaigned for Bush/Northup (Who wouldn’t for 80 bucks a day, even had strong liberal friends do it with me). Regardless, not getting political in any sense (haven’t been political since Kennedy was shot), but, how in the world could you give Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. Maybe someone wants to give some light on the situation but here are the facts. Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize were due before February 1st, meaning Obama hadn’t been in office yet but 2 weeks. I mean, he hadn’t done anything to deserve it, and if the only explanation is that he has great hope and vision, give me the Nobel Peace Prize too, I have great hope and vision as well. And if your giving it to him for being the first black President of the United States, give it to Oprah, because she got him elected. Sure you can’t blame him for getting the award, not like he decided it, but I’m lost here.
The Fifth Element: The fifth element has been playing on HBO a lot lately and I salute the maker of this film. He put everything in to perspective when he made the fifth element a MOUF. Lets be honest, what are the most important things in the world, wind, water, fire, earth, and Moufs.
What ever happened to Milla Jovovich anyways? I mean, if she is still looking for her Corbin Dallas, I’m Single.
NFL REFEREES: Get a real job, you are totally screwing my Ravens over. Last week you screwed us against the Patriots because Terrell Suggs bumped into Tom Brady. F the Tom Brady rule, we shouldn’t protect certain players because of who they are. Jamarcus Russell took bigger hits that week and never got one flag, yet someone falls on Tom Brady’s foot and they get a penalty (not knocking them over, and just because he bitches and moans he gets the penalty?) That is illegitimate.
ROCK: Rocking out is getting er done. Simple.
AD OUT
So, Matt and I will be making our third trek to Montreal on December 12th. We were able to book a nice-looking hotel, the Hotel Maritime Plaza, for pretty cheap via 1800hotels.com. I’m really excited for it; I absolutely adore Montreal. I’m not really sure what it is about the city—it’s probably the distinct feel of what I assume is European-ness (I say this as someone who has never actually been to Europe), the bustle, the huge city blocks, the culture… it’s just a fantastic city. There’s so much going on, so many little neighborhoods and so many people and so much French-ness. We’ve had a lot of fun during our past visits to Montreal, and we’ve never been at Christmastime, so I have no doubt that it will be a great trip.
It is something of a tradition for Matt and I to visit some large city at Christmas. We’ve gone to New York a couple of times, but after our last trip, I don’t think we’ll be visiting again anytime soon. Nothing really seemed to work out on our last visit to NYC, unfortunately, so Montreal will be a good stand-in. Plus, the ride to Montreal is incredibly pleasant (through Vermont, which is beautiful), the hotels are cheaper, and… well, everyone speaks French. And we love Canada. It’s fabulous. We’ve talked about moving to Canada in the past… of course, that’s not possible with our vast sums of loans, but it’s something interesting to think about for the distant future.
Although unemployment continues to lag in the United States, the economy seems to be rebounding slowly. The Financial Post has two articles on the Keynesian stimulus spending in both the United States and Canada, with both arguing against the necessity for them in the first place. In the first article, George Bragues asks whether it was really necessary to “save the economy” when the recovery began before the money could be spent. Although some believe that the massive flow of money into the economy has had a positive effect on recovery, the facts do not seem to bear out that theory.
The $787 billion stimulus plan was only signed in February, a few months before the bottom levelled off in the U.S., and when almost nothing had yet been spent. And although the rest of the world hasn’t spent anything close to what the Americans have, the U.S. is in the slowest category of those recovering. Mr.Bragues even argues that the recovery on the Nasdaq was largely due to losses taken when it became clear that Barack Obama would be elected and enact a massive stimulus plan in the first place. And the gains that we have seen have been based on good old actions unimpeded places in the market where deflation has led to a natural resurgence in consumer spending.
The New Yorker’s resident economist, James Surowiecki, talks about that consumer spending as it relates to the automobile makers:
In fact, you could argue that consumption has actually fallen less than might have been expected. Spending did drop off the proverbial cliff in the fall of 2008, in the direst phase of the financial crisis, but it stabilized at the beginning of this year, and has now risen for four months in a row. And much of the decrease in consumption since early 2008 can be traced to a drop in spending in just two categories: gasoline (thanks to lower prices) and cars. The decline in new-car purchases has been so steep that the average life of a car on the road today is at a historic high. This is just one example of how better product quality makes it possible for consumers to cut back without experiencing much decline in their standard of living. We can delay buying a new car because the one we have can be driven hundreds of thousands of miles without problems—making the auto industry a victim of its own success. Nonetheless, the response to the Cash for Clunkers program indicates a certain amount of pent-up demand out there.
The funny thing about the “Cash for Clunkers” program, however, is that it merely creates another “bubble” in consumer spending by pushing an artificial demand forward. As Mr.Surowiecki says, most people can delay purchases of cars for a few more months or years, but an artificial pricing fix in the market merely resets the timeline for the demand. Eventually when the “special” expires, people will go back to their frugality, and the bubble will pop again.
Today the Financial Post ran an article arguing against Canada issuing any more stimulus spending in order to create more artificial “bubbles”. Encouraged by low interest rates, businesses are beginning to recover in Canada as well, despite having a similar lag effect in the employment numbers. And just as it is doing in the United States, but on a much lesser scale because of our much more restrained stimulus budget, Canada risks creating problems in the natural growth sectors of the economy by creating competition from artificial sectors created by “stimulus”.
All a stimulus program can really accomplish is to bring an artificial demand for something forward in the market, which could wind up impeding the kind of natural growth of demand that occurs when the economy recovers, and when consumers begin opening their wallets again in earnest. As the Fraser Institute encourages, instead of worrying about stimulus, Stephen Harper should “focus on scaling back his own government’s profligate and harmful spending.”
Canada, 2008, 5’
Director/Regia: Pedram Goshtasbpour
Script/Scenariul: Pedram Goshtasbpour
Production/Produs de: MoM Studio, Vesta Pictures
Animation/Animaţia: R. Smith, S. Guppy, O. Exmundo, A. Marquez, K. Labanowich, D. Testani, L. Choi, S. Skube
Technique/Tehnica: 2D, 3D
No dialogue/Fără dialog
Awards/Premii: Audience Award, Filmstock; Short Contest, Moving Pictures.October 1929, in a small town fringing an advancing metropolis, a love triangle propels passionate activities. The two asymmetric males compete for Anna’s attention through shameless and shameful acts.
Octombrie 1929, într-un orăsel de la periferia unei metropole, un triunghi amoros naşte activităţi pasionante. Cei doi masculi asimetrici se luptă să îi atragă atenţia Annei, prin fapte ruşinoase şi scandaloase.
Joi/Thursday, 8 oct, Cinema Elvira Popescu, 21.00I have just confirmed the visit for the University of British Columbia (UBC) and University of Toronto (UT).
Both of these schools visited us last year. They came on short notice and met with a group of IB students that had already applied. This year I hope to have a larger group for them.
If you are interested in either of these schools or if you are interested in Canada in general sign up for this event when the time comes.
Canada’s upper chamber, the Senate, may yet save the day for Canadians on bill C-6, which is essentially a repackaging of Bills C-51 and C-52 that generated such outrage among Canadians last year for their attempt to impose Codex-style pharmaceutical fascism on the supplement industry — reclassifying common herbs and foods as prescription drugs — the usual Codex stuff. Here’s an excerpt from Helke Ferrie’s report on the status of Bill C-6 as published in the October issue of Vitality magazine. It seems there’s still hope, if the Senators block the bill. Health advocates have been sending letters and emails to Senators all summer so there should be little doubt as to how “the people” feel about this issue:
“On April 30, 2009, all four parties supported Bill C-6 without protest. True, MP Paul Szabo (Liberal, Mississauga North) and MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (NDP, Winnipeg North) wanted assurances that C-6, to amend the Hazardous Products Act, would not affect regulation of natural health products. Judy Wasylycia-Leis reminded parliamentarians: “The furor that erupted after the introduction of Bill C-51 [to amend food and drugs regulation] and C-52 [the former version of C-6] last year was a result of the fact that the government failed to consider the need to clearly differentiate natural health products from current drug legislation.”
Indeed, the pernicious fact is that C-51, C-52, and C-6 share regulatory provisions that were and are constitutionally insupportable and make a mockery of current medical and environmental science.
The Conservatives promised that C-6 has nothing to do with natural health products, pointing to Clause 4 (1). What they didn’t say, and what the Opposition failed to recognize, is that if C-6 were to become law, any sort of consequential amendment to food and drugs legislation could be made, and that this could happen by a mere Order in Council, without any parliamentary debate. Nobody would know. This extraordinary power is written into Bill C-6, which also is explicitly exempted from the mandatory requirements of the Statutory Instruments Act, against which all Bills must be checked to ensure that they are in harmony with the Constitution. The authors of C-6 must know why they did that. Tested for its constitutionality, C-6 would not survive.
Parliamentarians went into summer recess assured that C-6 aims to protect Canadians from terrible poisons hidden in dangerous imports arriving from various foreign countries. Nobody even thought of asking why this Bill was exempt from being checked against the Constitution. Not one MP wondered why C-6 has these extraordinary powers that would make a judge’s jaw drop. C-6 was sent off to the Senate. Having been approved by all parties, Harper & Co thought it unlikely to raise Senatorial hackles. The fact that this toxic products Bill is itself toxic to the rule of law, human rights, and our Constitution never surfaced at all in parliamentary debate. Parliament had been successfully bamboozled, misled, or was complicit.
If I had my way, every MP would have to pass, with at least 80% success, an exam in Canadian constitutional and international human rights law as a mandatory prerequisite to run for office. The examination results would be posted on the Internet and the major newspapers. Imagine the dazzling intellectual wattage that would illuminate our parliament as a result of this one precautionary measure!
Latest Developments in the Bill C-6 Battle
If you want something done in Canada, you do it in the winter. If you want to prevent something from being done, you do it in the summer. This tactic has worked for Liberals and Conservatives alike for at least a century. Therefore, Manitoba’s Senator Sharon Carstairs’ surprising move on June 23 to adjourn second reading of C-6 until September could at first be understood as summertime having arrived in Canada and that the living was easier without debating Bills. However, knowing her thoughtful work in the late 1990’s, which made public the antiquated, inhumane policies that dictated chronic pain management, I suspect her decision to have C-6 discussed in the fall was based on her correct assessment of its assault on human rights.
C-6 was tabled in the Senate on September 16. Over the summer, determined and coordinated action by various health freedom groups resulted in each Senator receiving at least 600 e-mails or letters from across Canada protesting this Bill on the issue of its unconstitutionality. Having waded through the moral and legal morass of Bills C-51 and C-52 last year, this campaign went to the very heart of the matter: the loss of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms which were snuck into a Bill under the guise of protecting public health. By the time the Senators met to discuss C-6, they had read the Bill, its legal analysis, and got an earful from Canadians. The result: the Senators were furious.
The last time that happened, about a decade ago, a public inquiry was the result of their outrage. They subpoenaed those now internationally famous “rogue” scientists from Health Canada (Drs. Shiv Chopra, Margret Haydon and Gerard Lambert) who had consistently fought the governments of Prime Ministers Mulroney (Conservative) and Chretien (Liberal) for disregarding published science and safety requirements of the Food and Drugs Act, and for knowingly passing into our food and pharmacies drugs that cause cancer, liver failure, hormone disruption, systemic disease, birth defects, and central nervous system injury. As payback for their audacity in testifying before the Senate, those scientists were fired by the next Prime Minister, Paul Martin (Liberal).
In 1999, bovine growth hormone and other killer drugs investigated by that Senate inquiry were subsequently banned in Canada and the rest of the world. But many more such scientifically and legally insupportable or unsupported drugs are still killing and maiming Canadians (in fact, at least 23,000 people annually) according to the Canadian Medical Association.
NATURAL HEALTH PRODUCTS UNDER SIEGE
Meanwhile, the natural health products (NHP) which kill nobody and often cure, continue to be under attack in blatantly illegal ways – including recent raids at gunpoint. Over the past 6 months, the Canadian Coalition for Health Freedom has provided to the Senate documented case histories of these assaults on natural health product distributors. This is highly significant because Health Canada is acting already as if C-6 was in place, and as if consequential amendments had already been made to the Food and Drugs Act. Passing C-6 would legalize Health Canada’s now out-of-control behaviour….”
Read the whole report in Vitality’s online edition. There lots more to this.
Voici une succincte présentation de la cave où je vais hiverner.
on commence par ouvrir une porte et descendre des escaliers vers le sous-sol qui à ma grande surprise st quand même lumineux. Oui il y a des fenêstrous (c un mots qui n’existe pas dans le dico mais ma grand-mère l’utilise donc en quelque sorte je lui rend hommage) qui donne à la hauteur du gazon. Puis en bas il y a une sorte de “salle TV” avec le câble s’il vous plait. Cette “salle TV avec deux Canapé ” d’un style sobre et modeste (IKEA tu me manques) donne sur une chambre spacieuse déja prise par un autre ( le saligaud) mais son placard c’est sous les escalier avec le chauffe-eau et un fil comme porte fringues et donne sur la laverie de la maison à partager avec tous ces habitants ( et oui les habitants du ss sol en fond partis). Puis vient deux petites chambre de 8m*m et 7m*m, la salle à manger et enfin la cuisine et la salle de bain (avec une douche donc à partir de maintenant on l’apellera la salle à douche). Ce qui est marrant c’est que la laverie fait à peu près deux fois et demi ma chambre mais il n’y a pas de fenêtre. Voici des images:
la salle TV et son fenêstrous
Le “Space”
La 2.5x space laverie
La salle TV avec sa tv qui a depuis été remplacé par une tv 2nd génération (couleur et HP intégré) on distingue aussi un lampe qui ne marche pas et untas de feuille pour faire du feu ainsi qu’un brasseur d’air dans le couloir (l’humidité dans les caves est un réel problème public ici au canada et mon loueur a été choisi pour tester ce matériel à la pointe de la technologie)
La 7m*m bedroom à qui j’ai pris la commode et le store et lui est refilé une commode et un store casé. Par contre le bureau de mioche “brisé” (ici au Québec sa veut dire casé) je lui est laissé. Pour l’instant, personne n’a choisit de résider dans cette pièce. Mais depuis aussi bizarre que cela puisse paraitre quelqu’un a accepté. Et cette personne fut une femelle. Avec mon colloc Marc-André on a donc parié sur sa couleur de cheveux et voici ma théorie. Elle ne peut que être blonde:
argument 1: la chambre est pourris donc elle est blonde pour accepter
argument 2: elle a un mois de retard par rapport à tous le monde donc seul une blonde pour avoir un mois de retard.
le paris fut donc un pack de 24 bières (soit 22-36$ selon les marques) avec deux possibilités soit elle est blonde ou brune et le perdant doit payer son Pack. Soit elle est autre chose et les deux perdants doivent payer leurs Packs. On laisse à notre nouvelle colonisatrice la charge de définir elle même sa couleur de cheveux.
rq: même si ici au Québec les blonde sont plus rare je prenais très peu de risque.
Résultat: elle se déclara châtain et tous le monde fini heureux.
Anecdote: il m’a fallu une semaine avant de la croisé dans la cave ou notre sous-sol car nous n’avions pas les même horaire de lever et de coucher.
revenons à la visite de la cave sous-sol: pour rappel il reste ma chambre la cuisine la salle à manger et stocker le nourriture et enfin la salle de douche.
Voici ma 8m*m mais au moins j’ai plein de meuble et un mur du fond en brique.
Mon fenêstrous
La salle à manger
L’espace pour stocker la nourriture
La CuisinetteLa salle à douche
What can I say? They are maps. I imagine by now they are slightly out of date.
I have seen so many cool projects made from vintage maps recently. I am sure someone will do wonders with these.
Please don’t use them to navigate, or at least, if you do, please don’t blame me if you drive down a dead end street or over a no-longer-existent bridge!
(All three maps are from the 1970s…)
One Person’s Junk… During the month of October, I will be giving away one teeny-tiny item every weekday. For more details, click here. To enter, just leave a comment below.
NOTE: Unfortunately, due to the highly sensitive nature of some of the information in my motivational statement, I have only included the first half of my entry as well as slightly modifying some of the details. Please refer to my online submission for the complete motivational statement. Sorry and thanks for understanding.
A life-altering journey will soon be irreversibly set in motion. I will be married to my beautiful fiancée, yet we will not have a home. Our plan is to leave our jobs for at least one year. We will embark on a mission to seek out social change taking place in our global community, aspiring to be students of cultures, economies, philosophies, politics and history.
Our goal is to be temporary residents – not tourists – to more deeply integrate into societies and we relish the opportunity to be enablers of social change along the way. We hope to investigate things such as working on an organic farm, exploring the context of those in extreme poverty, consulting with entrepreneurs, while possessing flexibility to jump on a plane and assist with relief efforts.
This is not a solitary journey but rather, the journey of a community. The guests at our wedding will provide social issues and destinations they would like us to explore, perhaps even meeting us there, while we aim to redistribute our wedding gifts along the way, creating direct linkages between our friends with individuals abroad. We believe Kiva is the perfect conduit to channel our funds into local communities in a relevant and sustainable manner. Inevitably, with knowledge comes responsibility, and our hope is that this journey will grow in all of us a high value of humanity and develop a snowball of engagement with our global community.
While our goal is simply to learn and our hope is to be changed, my long-term dream is to be a social entrepreneur. This trajectory has been increasingly apparent.
A blogger on a wedding site I frequent just posted this Marie Claire article. It’s appalling. The author wants to address the issue of ‘Asian trophy wives’ who marry older white rich men…but she also deals with Asian women in general who enter into relationships with white men.
It assumes white men are fetish predators and Asian women are passive (and materialistic). It fails to acknowledge the multitude of same-race May-December romances in society, and the article mistakenly attempts to show these relationships as a new ‘trend’ although many of the partners (Woody Allen-Soon Yi Previn, Rupert Murdoch-Wendi Deng) are hardly new news.
Of course on a personal level it also disturbs me that the multitude of WM-AF couples I count as close friends are so carelessly disregarded as white male fetishes of passive unthinking females.
I guess I’m especially disappointed to see this coming from a North American context. It’s common in Korea to hear such rubbish as Korean women are still disparaged for dating foreign men. Some female friends have been called whores or traitors for dating outside the perceived cultural and racial boundaries (justified by citing cases of women who became pregnant by departing American soldiers). There is also a group of Koreans…not to be named here…who stalk white men they suspect of doing drugs, teaching children outside of regular classroom hours, and gasp…..dating Korean women. The implication here is that Korean women are being blindly conned by white men into having sex to feed the fetishes of outsiders.
Are there white men with an Asian fetish? Hell yes. Are there Korean women with a white fetish? Hell yes. I’ve seen the sexually explicit notes female university students write their white male professors (who everyone knows are married). I know of men pursued by older female students despite explicitly stating time and time again that they have a wife and child at home. I know of Korean girls who sign up for English academy classes because they want their own trophy boyfriend or at least a ‘unique’ experience to brag about. But there are many more white-white, black-black, Asian-Asian one night stands, affairs, and trophy marriages. Furthermore ‘white’ and ‘Asian’ are ridiculously enormous categories. Are Vietnamese women really the same as Japanese women? Can we categorize Russian, British, South African, Serbian men into one large mammoth group?
Seriously, the only reason people obsess over biracial hook-ups and relationships is that a) they have racial hang-ups of their own b) with globalization our ranks are growing.
And then there’s the fact that the couples the author mentions are MARRIED couples. They are not fetish-flings. Some are strange…..Woody and Sook-Yi come to mind, but there’s a whole lot of other weirdness going on in that relationship apart from the bi-racial-ness! Perhaps these couples found an initial attraction based on a racial feature, but it takes a lot more than that to stay together, raise a child, and ride through the ups and downs of a long term relationship together (For the record, FI and I initially became attracted to each other based on our mutual love for Arcade Fire and Stars).
And then there’s that other ‘fetish.’ When FI announced to his parents that he was going to marry a white girl, there was definitely opposition. But in the wider world of Korean society we have never experienced discrimination as a bi-racial couple….we encounter wonder. This wonder is never from Korean women – it is always from Korean men – especially older men – who have a white woman fantasy. The relative absence of white women dating or marrying Korean men (or at least the public display of such couples) makes us all that more fantastic.
While bringing the cats home from the vet last week, a talkative taxi driver asked if we were married. When FI explained we were getting married next year, the driver did something I’ve encountered many times – starred at me sitting in the back seat through the rear view mirror, gasped with his mouth open, and then clapped repeatedly while proclaiming congratulations!!!! (All this in the middle of the infamous Seoul traffic!) I have never experienced this reaction by myself. When students/taxi drivers/inquisitive shop owners find out I have a Korean FI they look at me confused…but when I’m with FI and it is ‘confirmed’ that we are indeed a real couple, there is joyful celebration by older Korean men for my FI. This show of congratulation is most certainly reserved for my FI. He has ‘somehow’ managed to ‘catch’ the elusive white girl (who may also have a magical pass to a resident visa in Canada…although FI is less excited about our intended return to Canada in 10-15 years than those around him).
The difference between how our relationship is perceived and accepted by Korean society is striking. I haven’t spent enough time in Canada with my FI to evaluate how Canadian society understands us although a few have hinted that FI must have an underlying motive to move to Canada (usually from the same people who can’t distinguish the South Korean economy from the North Korean economy). It’s fascinating that white women entering into relationships with Asian men are never perceived as oppressed/conned/exploited. There’s a cultural reason/perception for that..but I think that there’s also a gendered reason for that.
On a tellement peu de politiciens charismatiques, et en plus les gens sont tellement désabusés de la politique en général et du scandale des commandites, que la population a préféré, depuis quelques années, élire des gouvernements minoritaires, malgré l’inconvénient majeur d’un type de gouvernement minoritaire, c’est-à-dire d’avoir des élections à répétition.
Mais les choses vont peut-être de changer au cours de la prochaine élection, puisque selon un sondage, 68% des québécois seraient disposés à voter pour un gouvernement majoritaire.
Mais les résultats de ce sondage me laisse plutôt perplexe. En réalité je crois plutôt que la grande majorité des gens en faveur d’un gouvernement majoritaire, vont tout de même voter pour le Bloc Québécois. Ce qui enlève à coup sûr la possibilité d’avoir un gouvernement majoritaire.
