betsy

We hear endless debates and whining about the environment. It's everyday news. These Greenpeace activists are not after his attention. The PM already knows. The only problem is that these activists don't agree with the PM's decision. In a civilized democratic society, we have our way of protesting. What happened to simple marching with placards? That's not good enough anymore? We've seen activists who throw pies on people's faces....or throw paint on people's furs to demonstrate their protests, fighting for their cause. Are these behaviours acceptable? If some radical looney believe that certain establishments....and/or legal practices should not be allowed (such as aborting babies), and decide to "get the government's attention" to these issues by some daring means....is that okay? What message are we sending to the youth today? If you don't agree with your government's policy, change it by force? Caledonia is an example of how some things could get out of hand. Where do you draw the line?

Yes, for SOME we have no idea about the mental/psychological damage (because it all depends on how and why). BUT we not only have a mental idea....we actually see....the damage of what is being passed as "discipline method", is actually doing. It's messing up our children. It's messing up our society. Young parents are usually either clue-less how to deal with their children since a lot of them lack the role models of effective parenting when they themselves were growing up. I took up a course called "Systematic Training For Effective Parenting" way back in the early eighties, and this course deals with children with problem behaviours. The notion of giving choices to children in that course had been tweaked and re-invented by today's method to mean "negotiate." HOW DO YOU NEGOTIATE WITH A THREE OR FOUR YEAR OLD? Johnny, it's bitterly cold outside, you've got to wear your winter coat. The end result of the negotiation: Johnny goes out with his coat undone! Or worse...the parent sheepishly tells me "Oh well, it's only from here to the car!" I mean, who is in control? I've seen some of these parents nerves so frayed dealing with a child they do not know how to handle. If there is trouble in the marital relationship, tension like this could be the final nail that goes right in that coffin. I've got a set of parent going through that right now. Dad is in denial and says the stress of handling their child is not part of the problem...whereas mom, says it's part of the problem. I know it's part of the problem. But of course, parents do not want to ARGUE with children. A lot of them are worn-out from work that the last thing they need is resisting the relentless battering of a wilful and determined child. It's so easy to just give in. If we think we have a problem now due to these parents who grew up on Dr Spock methods of discipline...wait till this current generation of children become parents themselves.

I, myself do not think spanking is wrong. I was spanked as a child by my mom numerous time throughout my childhood, and only once by my dad.....and yet, I never hated or resented them for it. I guess it all depends on one's relatoionship with parents at home, the over-all atmosphere. I am fortunate enough to have been raised by loving parents, who were also demonstrative in their affections (especially my mom). On one hand it is now hard to blame some teachers who are AFRAID TO DISCIPLINE...for anything might trigger a lawsuit or grievance from just about any pseudo-child advocate. I heard of public daycares who call parents at work to deal with their two-year olds having temper tantrums! My current 8 year old boy I was talking about got into trouble for being loud-mouthed and rambunctious in a school bus. The principal gave him something to do as a penalty (which stretched for about a week). Guess what! After he did his "time"....they gave him a "prize" for doing what he was supposed to do as punishment. Of course the boy was excited about the prize! The whole point why he was doing time was lost! I dealt with this boy in a severe way at my daycare (I guess he was testing me since he was new at the time, therefore it was the perfect time to show him how different I am from the others who dealt with him). He got banned from video games for two weeks, AND he had to write 200 lines saying "I will not blah-blah-blah...." I warned him that I do not want a sloppy writing....because I also consider that as a writing exercise. He can do the writing at his own pace....but if he did not finish, it will be the first thing he'll continue doing the very next day (just to let him know that going home does not mean everything is forgotten). It was the most boring two weeks of his life (which is good). I did not ease up. Two weeks is just that - two weeks! I told him that next time he does what he did, he'll be looking at a month and 500 lines! Once children know you are consistent...and that you definitely do what you say....it is usually smooth-sailing from then on! Now, this boy is just like a normal kid. Even better that some normal kid. After his punishment, I noticed he crave "entertainment." His attention span on toys and video games is short. He would say "I am bored." I say..."if you are bored with so many toys, puzzles and books around you...well, I can't help you. You've got to learn how to entertain yourself without relying on anyone to do it for you. Why don't you read book? It will open up a whole new world for you. Look at the toddlers how they play, they use their imagination!" Now guess what, he rummaged through all the books geared for older kids and guess what he dug up and chosed! A child's BIBLE! He's engrossed in it and got to page 57 at the first reading. I gave him a bookmark. I thought that was it, a one-shot-wonder. Yesterday, I found him relaxed on the kiddie couch, still with that bible! He also spends hours on blocks... Some kids just don't know how to trigger their imagination...from lack of use as growing toddlers!

Well if you are not sure that this is true, why are you repeating the lie? No one refuted Tim Powers when he said that. Liberal Strategist Scott Reid was right there. It would've been just so easy for me to say that is it...and leave it at that. I'm just saying "I'm not sure"...because you never know in politics. At least I'm trying to be fair....

It's easy to be "courageous" when you know the kind of society/people/mentality we're dealing with. But I'm not protesting! I kinda agree with the Conservative outlook on environmental issues! Never mind challenging me, Charles. Instead I challenge Greenpeace protesters to do their "protests" where there's really a need to protest. I challenge them to chain themselves to the gates of the presidential palace in Beijing....or to the gates of the compound of Mugabe...and hug-a-tree on some mountains in Asia and other countries notoriously wrecking the environment! I will gladly give donations for their trip to these places if they show "courage" where it's truly deserved!

The RCMP had to get a special cutter to use. If any of the protesters got injured in the process of cutting the chain...like let's say, an arm or a finger just suddenly falls off....will tax-payers be saddled with the following lawsuit and of course in this type of mental climate pervading the world, almost certainly the compensation package? Heaven forbid the RCMP draws any blood!

I'm not sure if this is true but yesterday watching Budget 2007 on CTV, Conservatist Strategist Tim Powers said that prior to the incident, the protesters were seen in the office (?) of the Liberal Party leader.

This segment of W-Five had only bolstered my suspicion that some schools/teachers are irresponsibly endangering the health of some children. In the years of doing daycare, approximately 8 of my children had been "diagnosed" having ADHD by their school. They all came from the same school....and most, if not all, had been with one particular teacher. Three of these children do not need medication. All three do not have ADHD, as far as I'm concerned. They're normal active children! And my verdict had been backed up by my voluntary "trial" by assessing through observations how these children behave in my daycare. I do not know if all of the other children really needed medication...for unfortunately, I only became aware after reading about the dangerous side-effects of these medications. The latest child "diagnosed" by the teacher to allegedly have ADHD is an 8 year old boy I have today. I had advised his mom to resist the school's pressure...which she did. Her boy had just transferred from a Catholic school and she said he had no problems there at all. He was rambunctious and sort of "out of control" the first day in the daycare. But through discipline, in only a week after.....he is now just like any normal boy, and he is very smart! His mom also told me she's getting positive reports about him in school now, and they had stopped talking of Ritalin. Some teachers and some schools are just plainly...and simply... taking the easy way out....instead of doing their jobs in teaching and instilling discipline in class! Check this segment out (you can watch the video segment I think). One interviewed single mom was pressured to the point of being threatened by the teacher about calling Children's Aid Society. Single parents are probably more easily cowed or pressured into this. http://www.ctv.ca/wfive “A Convenient Diagnosis” (ADHD children in school) "When Joshua Lourie was seven, he started acting out in class. His school sent him for a psychological assessment and he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Not unusual, as estimates say that between 3 to 7 per cent of Canada's more than seven million children are diagnosed with ADHD. Joshua's mother Janette says, "The school had suggested that I put him on Ritalin and this is when he was about the age of six, going on seven. They put a lot of pressure on me to take him to the doctor, get him on Ritalin." She refused, but that was not the end of it. Using data received from IMS Health Canada, an agency that tracks the use of prescription medications, W-FIVE discovered that in 2006, over one million prescriptions for ADHD medications, drugs like Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta, were written for children under the age of 18. And there were over 300,000 prescriptions filled for anti-depressants (SSRIs). Some people are increasingly worried about the sheer volume of these prescriptions. Marty McKay, a psychologist who has treated and assessed children for over 30 years, believes that "Ninety per cent of children diagnosed as ADHD are misdiagnosed and drugged for no appropriate reason." She points the finger of misdiagnosis at the school system and the psychiatric industry. Teachers, she believes, are not qualified to make these diagnoses, but do so regularly. They are in fact being asked to assess children through the use of psychiatric rating scales in which they check off behaviors. Check off too many behaviours and it can lead to a child being diagnosed as ADHD. The next step is to refer a child for psychological assessment, which McKay says, generally just rubber-stamps a teacher's diagnosis. "

That's what CTV newscaster laughingly said as she got this scoop from a journalist reporter. Apparently some environmental activists had chained themselves on the gate of Harper's residence, and as of this writing, the RCMP have not been able to break the chains. Harper and family are inside their residence and couldn't go out. Although the newscaster may find this incident so amusing, I however, do not see it as a laughing matter. I hope those activists will be criminally charged.

It's right there somewhere alongside the NDP now. Someone scoffed: The Green Party is the political wing of the David Suzuki Foundation, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Foundation, et al. In other words, BIG ENVIRONMENT. cf Big business!

Sounds like a business opportunity. Create a 'emergency supplies box' with a best before date and the address/phone number of the local food bank. Sell the boxes as a closed package that people could keep in their closet or garage. You could even allow people to sign up for a service where the foodbank would call a month before it expires and offer to sell off a replacement box. In fact, the foodbank could make this as a vehicle for donations - give the boxes for free with every $100 worth of donations. Now that Riverwind had mentioned about calling people.....fund-raising for Diabetes call regularly every couple of months or so to tell us what day their truck will be coming to our street/area. They are asking for old clothings. We leave said clothings in a box outside by the street with a label indicating it is for the diabetes and the truck just automatically picks it up. Maybe the food banks in every community should call their local population and do particular planned route of rounds, repeated after every couple of months. It will remind people to check their pantry's expiry dates (and it's so easy to forget about some old cans sitting there gathering dust).....so the food bank is actually also providing a service to these homes when calling. I bet people will still give away a few cans or so even when they're far from expiring. If every community conscientiously gets involved in regularly donating to their local food banks, and food banks motivate that kind of dedicated involvement by promoting awareness, showing credible well-organized methods (and I am sure communities will gladly want to take part in it on a regular basis), then maybe there wouldn't be any hungry people going around...and who knows, it might just put the spark of hope back into some of these folks' hearts. Giving to the food bank will...and should become just one of our regular habits. And think how it will help our young kids learn about compassion, concern for others and empathy....by getting them to see and understand what mom or dad is doing when they go through the contents of their pantry, putting food in bags or boxes. Those are the values that seem sadly lacking in this self-centered world that we live in. So it's a win-win! Let's do it!

I must say, it sure is hard to be a leftie these days. They're bombarded with dilemmas .... I'd be surprised if you got a straight answer....they're reeling from all these!

Margrace, maybe you know people who can suggest to manufacturers to use a consumer-friendly straight forward expiry date or best-before-date instead of those codes. People have a little stock-pile for emergency situations, and it will benefit the food banks if you put out the necessary information and encourage people to have a practical emergency food supply in their pantry. The Red Cross advises that in case of storms or other natural disasters. My friend experienced huricane Katrina in Mississippi trapped in their house for several days...and they survived on canned beans. And she said she never thought about the importance of disposable cutlery until they experienced having no clean water to wash their cutlery...what little water they had was reserved for drinking. Right now my stock-pile is limited to only those that specify a clear expiry date, all ready-to-eat, with the assumption that there is no electrical power or means to cook (just like what some places experienced during the ice storm). About 3 months before they get expired, I haul them off to the foodbank box and replenish my stockpile. An organised rotation of food products. Imagine how much more food donations the banks would get on a regular, continuous basis by promoting this practical emergency readiness. I don't know why a lot of products still use those codes.

I have to admit that what I know about abuses come from hearsay. One was regarding a single mom, waitressing in a bar. The talk about her receiving child support plus undeclared tips for income, and that allegedly she was also using the food bank. So that was the rumour that went around. However, not long after that, she died of cancer. Now I'm thinking that perhaps it was really financially tough for her to put food on the table, have a roof over their heads...plus the added expenses of dealing with her illness. If that were the case, I have no complaints about it. My heart goes to her and her family.

I do. I try to give regularly....and I do consider the nutritional value of what I give. The grocery where I shop has a drop-in box...so I try to get some extras to put in it. Why? Because there are people who truly need help. I am thinking of those who are poor that they have to skip meals, or scrounge in garbages. And food is the most basic need. Yes, I feel aghast that some people abuse the food bank....but I guess it is something I have to accept. My concern is for those who are truly helpless and hungry. My usual donations are what you'd call "ready-to-eat" foods, or those that need less preparation and hardly any additional ingredients. Chunky soups, pea soups, and stews, peanut butter, Chef Boyardee Spag and meatballs, ravioli etc..(only those with meat/protein included), pasta/pasta sauces (includes Bravo meat sauce), yes Kraft dinner too, pork and beans, hot cereals, etc., If I win the lotto, the food bank is one of my main charities that I will aid.

What a truly pathetic attack on one of Canada's most respectable figures. You are one sad, little soul. Sheeessh. I'm probably a much "sadder little soul" than that if I give free reign to what I think of the UN and people like Lewis. This was not a personal attack on his integrity. This is just an observation on what is obvious among the NDP....or you might say, the socialist-leaning party. And of course, the UN. Let's not overdo this drama on this "darling of the decade," Africa. As far as I know, Canada is givng foreign aid to Africa. I have no complaints about that. But people like Lewis wants Canada to shoulder the healthcare of this foreign country! Lewis reminds me why I'll never vote NDP! Why is it suddenly our obligation to carry the entire burden of Africa? Before you all scream and hurl labels of "hypocrites"....why don't you all work to concentrate on eliminating our own problem of AIDS, poverty, illiteracy, healthcare woes etc....right here in our own backyard! When there are no longer any homeless people roaming the streets, poverty-stricken elderlies and hungry Canadian children....and when AIDS no longer spread among our population....THAT'S WHEN we tackle saving the entire world!

True, Africa is in a very desperate situation. And it's not only because of AIDS. They've got these endless wars that usually end up in tribal or ethnic cleansing, the endless famine, the endless orphans, the endless poverty...all endless sufferings. And who brings these sufferings? Africa, sad to say, had become a very profitable business venture to a lot of people. Why not? You've got the perfect poster to tug heartstrings all over the world. How many pockets are getting lined, starting from the donor country....going through the regular channel of endless bureacracy....all the way to the refugee camp? That is what is hypocritical about this.

Most of the notable rich people came from the poor. I do not doubt that a lot of poor have legitimate reasons for needing help.....but you cannot dismiss the fact too, that a lot of people had abused the system....and they are the reasons why there's so much cynicism and skepticism. People do not want to hear that some welfare people blow their money on cigarettes, drugs and booze. That their starving children will continue to starve even if you give them more money. It paints such an ugly picture. But it is part of reality. Anyway, of course the rich will only get richer....and the gap will widen between the rich and the poor. Why is that such a surprise? The rich have the extra money to invest and make more money! What is worrisome is the way the middle class is starting to get squeezed out. In most third world countries, middle class hardly exists at all, if they ever do.

But I know some people who abuse the welfare system....not seniors....and they don't care if their abuses affect those that really do need help. I also know some who get food from the food bank, even if they do have work and undeclared income and are getting paid under the table. All I'm saying is that some bad apples are mixed with in all types of groups.

To save lives? But we're talking of business. The business of "saving lives." These people are not in it for charity. Funding to make new drugs to fight diseases and other ailments from cancer to heart to respiratory to mental, etc.., is an investment for them. Of course they know they'll make tons of money....that's why they're doing it. For every new drug made available....how many times did it go through several experiments, failures and trials until it is deemed a success? I don't think they deserve this much bashing. For all their greed....mankind had benefitted from it too. Just with the fight against cancer alone....they've come a long way. What's so different about businesses that sell food? Shouldn't we pressure them to sell food in impoverished countries at bottom prices since children in Africa are dying at an alarming rate due to hunger? I wasn't referring to AIDS. I'm talking about what we consider as ordinary diseases now, which were serious illnesses and killers in the past. Tuberculosis, pneumonia, heart diseases, syphillis, etc.., No, there's nothing wrong about being humanitarian. And there's nothing wrong about a business making money. Don't these companies have a code of ethics...I think they do have one that they adhere to, otherwise they can be forced by the government to do it. What gets me is the way some (usually the socialists-minded) tend to demonize businesses....any businesses that makes money. Besides, it's all a "band-aid" solution anyway...until the people learn that the best way is to prevent getting AIDS....using condoms and stopping promiscuity. And most importantly, until the corrupt governments in most African nations give the aids to their people...and not line their own pockets out of it!

That amount is too much. The lawyer for Arar said that "you couldn't place a price tag on what he'd gone through." I'd say, it's the same as those innocents who had gone to prison and served time over crimes they didn't commit. No one received that kind of an amount, did they? One journalist say he'll be surprised if he gets over 10 million.

Anyway, does anybody have reliable info about what is it exactly that made the RCMP be suspicious of Arar?

Given his background as an NDP, I am more inclined to think he speaks as one. Have you ever notice that nothing seem to satisfy this socialist party? They're always shooting for more....wether it be on social programs, benefits, anything they percieve as for the good of the common people. And they are so ridiculously anti-businesses and corporations....that incidentally create and give jobs to the common people! Am I right to assume that drug companies fund break-through medical research/experiments, drug-wise? If there is nothing lucrative for companies, why would they spend billions making new drugs? And if there are no incentives to discover, make or improve drugs....just think how many people world-wide would've been dead or dying of diseases that we just take for granted as simply common nowadays!

FDA will announce it safe for public consumption and are saying that it need not have to bear labels since there is no difference at all between naturals and clones. Some opposition groups are saying some research showing more deaths and deformities in producing clones were ignored.

With all the changes and all the things happening around us at a fast rate....I try to envision how Canada and the world will be like 50 years from now. I am pessimistic. My consolation: I most probably wouldn't be around by then....and I do not have any children of my own.