Life After York

So it's been a while

2005-10-08T23:42:00.000-04:00

A line I was reading of Dave Barry lent some insight into how, post-college, I disappeared off the face of the blogosphere:

"So I visited my son at college on Parents Weekend, which is a nice event that colleges hold so that parents will have a chance to feel old.

I started feeling old the moment I got to my son's housing unit and saw a sign on the door that said: END WORLD HUNGER TODAY. This reminded me that there was a time in my life, decades ago, when I was so full of energy that I was going to not only END WORLD HUNGER, but also STOP WAR and ELIMINATE RACISM. Whereas today my life goals, to judge from the notes I leave myself, tend to be along the lines of BUY DETERGENT."

Ya, so I got old. I live in the US now, I work for a living, I pay taxes, and I am very, very old. What the hell happened? I'm technically still 21!

Disengage this!

2005-07-30T22:02:00.000-04:00

While the disengagement seems tragic but necessary, Israeli citizens are still under daily attack from their neighbours - in this photo, Elliot Chodoff of Mideast On Target is doing reserve duty in Gaza. He writes in the site's frequent email updates:

"Elliot holds the tail of a Qassam rocket that fell on a house in Gush Katif (note damage to wall on right). This family has a collection of four Qassam tails, all of which fell on or around their house."

An email subscription is well worth the read.

In a piece by Ne'eman that cannot regretfully be found online:

"The orange clad anti-Disengagement demonstrations of last week began and ended as a lost cause. PM Ariel Sharon made sure everyone understood that in a speech he made Sunday declaring the evacuation from Gaza to be one of the most important steps taken in the Zionist epic. He made it clear that after the Gaza and northern Samaria withdrawal the Palestinians will no longer be able to make claim to a "Right of Return". US President George Bush made this clear in his April 2004 letter to Sharon. In her recent visit US Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice apparently reiterated the point as part of the price to be paid by the Palestinians in the American orchestrated plan for conflict resolution. For the first time ever this past Saturday, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas made it known publicly that "not all the refugees will be returning home." As related by former foreign minister Shlomo Ben Ami and others at the Camp David talks in 2000, Abbas was the most vehement (even more than Arafat himself) in demanding the full return of all the Palestinian refugees to Israel."

It's about time.

York's ultimate whiners...

2005-07-20T21:05:00.000-04:00

As a teacher, I can tell people that the word "ultimate", often used to mean "most extreme", technically means "last".

I have determined that June's whiner of the month (Yeah, I'm tardy. So sue me.) is possibly the ultimate York whiner of the month - since I officially graduated in June, I make no guarantees that future whiners will be from York.

As such, it is appropriate that June's ultimate York whiners of the month (three individuals from one organization) are both "last" but also "most extreme".

This one's easy, even with the sparse contents of the June 1 Excal. Is there any doubt that the dishonour goes to the York Federation of Students executive members Omari Mason and Corrie Sakaluk and their councillor Milton Chan?

Corrie Sakaluk, presently the VP but formerly the college councillor from Winters, has a bee in her bonnet about some new people moving into Winters.

As the Accolade Project is underway, plans for the Fine Arts and Music departments to vacate their college offices leaves (sic) room for space reallocation in Winters, Founders and McLaughlin colleges. Winters will be the first college to experience the ripple effect of certain departments and faculties moving into college space. This has spawned a negative reaction from the college community since they were not initially consulted or notified about their new roommates until a few weeks ago.

According to vice-president of students Robert Tiffin, the renovation proposal was a decision made in the winter by the University's executive committee to move the Faculty of Education out of the eighth floor of the Ross building in order to make room for the expanding Faculty of Arts.

Apparently, according to Sakaluk, Ed is just not welcome in their space:

"This is a clear attack and infringement of student space," says Sakaluk, adding that there has been a lack of communication and consultation with the students and master.

FACT: Fine Arts students are getting the big-ass Accolade project building all shiny and new for their use. The fact that they don't get to keep their Winters space entirely to themselves as well should not be a big issue. We're all students, aren't we?

Or is Sakaluk acting like the member of CFS she is and suggesting that her special interest group is more important than someone else's special interest group?

Anyhow, there's more.

In the other front page article, a piece bemoaning the dismissal of long-time equality crusader Teferi Adem strikes a few of the wrong chords:

Adem's forced departure has the YFS and many student groups looking for justification since he was an integral part of the student community.

YFS president, Omari Mason, believes that it is important for the University to be as transparent to students as possible and that failing to provide an adequate explanation for the decision to dismiss Adem is questionable.

"There should be no reason why the university cannot reveal why they would choose to remove someone who has contributed to the university within a very important capacity for almost 20 years," says Mason.

Nazareth Yirgalem, the YFS presidential commissioner whose focus is on the dismissal of Adem, states that he has a historical connection in terms of what he did on campus.

...

According to Yirgalem, Adem was the only black representative for students.

The YFS did not pay the salary of Teferi Adem. Should they choose to hire him to work for them (something they could feasibly do), it becomes their business. Until then, the only person who can complain is Adem, who could easily file a wrongful dismissal suit with an actual court of law if he felt he was wrongfully dismissed.

But a YFS-led witchhunt will do no one any good, especially if it disempowers many other black employees at York by suggesting that York's sole black student liason was fired.

Let's finish off with Milton Chan's ghastly op-ed suggesting that YFS exec salaries be increased:

To be perfectly honest, even full-time remuneration wouldn't really reflect the long hours that student executives devote to their work. It is always a sensitive task to talk about salary increases for politicians, but I believe student leaders should not be exploited and penalized for their dedication.

I was at York for four years and didn't feel that my life was so significantly benefitted by or affected by any student government, except maybe when the shenanigans of various YFS administrations (mostly Milton's leader Omari Mason and his people) led me to be embarrassed by my duly-elected representatives.

Message to YFS execs: Our lives are NOT enriched by your services. Why should you be enriched by our student levy?

Message to Excalibur: When did you become the unedited mouthpiece of the whiny YFS?

------------------------

With this last post, I allow that from this day forward, I am not a York student and I don't have the same right to comment on the goings-on of York students as I did in March. Nonetheless, I'll continue to do what I please and comment as I see fit.

As always, I say to those who dislike what I have to say: Go read someone else's blog.

A welcome double-cross

2005-07-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

In recent days, the revelation has popped up that the federal Liberals may not have spent the farm on $4.5 billion of promises as much as we thought. As Grumpy Young Crank points out, Martin is now saying that the promised cash only comes at the end of next year IF we have a surplus.

I can't say I'm surprised. I can say I'm delighted to discover that Paul Martin at least has some sense of the fact that you don't spend money you don't have.

As for Jack Layton, I hope no bank ever gives the guy a credit card.

"A Party of Inclusion" part two

2005-07-10T14:27:00.000-04:00

This is a few weeks old, but worth reading nonetheless due to its timeless nature.

About a month ago, Howard Dean, already not the American most in touch with reality, called the GOP a "white Christian party". Then he went on to praise the Democrats. Courtesy of the GOP email list, a National Review Online rebuttal noting that Howard Dean was likely absent the day they taught history in history class. Quoth Peter Kirsanow:

Dean’s comments clearly suggest that the GOP is, if not hostile to a demographic broader than white Christians, at least cool toward including non-whites and non-Christians in the party. If Dean truly believes these statements, then he needs to both review his history texts and spend some time on current events.

In terms of sheer historical hostility toward minorities, the Republican party fares a bit better than the competition. For example, it wasn’t the GOP that opposed the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor was it the GOP that opposed the Thirteenth Amendment prohibiting slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing equal protection, or the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing voting rights. (In fact, Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act in greater percentages than did Democrats.)

As a Jewish woman, this speaks to me because there are many who wish to tell me that as a woman, I should vote Democrat and/or that as a Jew, I should vote Democrat.

This is silly. When you vote for a party because they're that party regardless of how they act (sort of like Canadians who keep supporting the Liberals) then the party doesn't need to be responsible to you. George W. earned my vote in 2004, and whomever runs in 2008 will need to earn my vote.

The Republicans tend to see their weaknesses, I think, and are working hard to include. The Democrats need to figure out what theirs are (and fix them!) if they're ever going to get back into power.

June whiner of the month delayed due to me having a life

2005-07-10T14:25:00.000-04:00

I need to do June whiner of the month. It will happen. Let this be notice, though, that
June whiner of the month will very likely be the last one with formal ties to York due to me no longer being there as I graduated.

One last call for nominations, which I may choose to not care about.

Moving right along

2005-06-22T12:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Tiger for pointing me at today's source of extreme amusement: Moveonplease.org, a parody of MoveOn.org. The parody site is owned by the National Lampoon.

Their promise makes me snicker:

These latest GOP life-affirming gambits are all about getting the voting public to re-elect those behind this slimy optimism in ‘06. It’s an old Republican trick. You give people hope and supply opportunities to those who have spent their entire life looking to others to take care of them and you end up with an entire new voting bloc in your corner. As true as if they had a bulls-eye on their backs, this is a war against the poor and hopeless. You refuse to let people be victimized, and bam, they're not victims anymore. It’s so fascist.

"A party of inclusion" part one

2005-06-22T12:18:00.000-04:00

Though I love the West Wing, I differ from them politically due to the American Democratic party being nowhere near as warm and fuzzy in person as they are on TV/in Hollywood.

So with no further ado, the theme of the next two posts:

Bartlet: Charlie, I want to hire a women whose voice I think would fit in nicely around here. She's a conservative Republican. Do you think I should do it?

Charlie: Absolutely, Mr. President. 'Cause I'm told that theirs is a party of inclusion.

The truth is, I am increasingly uncomfortable with the way the Democrat party treats Jews, and I'm not the only one. From American Thinker:

What are we to make of Thursday's mock Judiciary Committee hearing designed to impeach President Bush, conducted by Michigan Congressman John Conyers? The meeting was attended by about 30 Democratic members of Congress... As reported in the Washington Post but (surprise, surprise!) not in the New York Times,

The session took an awkward turn when witness Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst, declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration "neocons" so "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

As the author of the article writes, Democrats are not overwhelmingly anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. Most of them don't hate us. Many of them are Jews (almost 75% of Jewish votes cast in 2004 were for Kerry as opposed to Bush) and people like Joe Lieberman have done well in the party.

But it would sicken me to belong to a party which welcomed anti-Semitic statements with open arms. In the United States Congress on Thursday, members of the second major party entertained the idea that Jews in the state of Israel are vying for world domination.

So have they recently started selling "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" on the hill, too?

Whiners of the Month for May

2005-06-03T14:52:00.000-04:00

About three times a day, someone on the anarchist left suggests that Lorna Marsden is trying to shut her up.

Now, it is pretty clear that if Lorna Marsden was trying to shut this anonymous individual up, (let's call her "protester X"), protester X would probably be shut up already.

York has free speech coming out of its ears. It has a thriving student press, a thriving labour union press, and student groups devoted exclusively to advancing their right to scream in someone else's face. It would seem from web chatter, student papers, and a casual glance that we have far more free speech than anyone else in this country.

Yet, nonetheless, YUFA, the rabid faculty association representing a few extremists and a lot of normal professors, has gone whining to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) to ask for an investigation into academic freedom at York, report both CAUT and Excalibur.

"Freedom of speech is very fragile. The way it is dealt with in one university affects how other universities deal with it," says James Turk, executive director of the CAUT.
Turk says that the investigation will be far-ranging, examining general governance practices and policies such as the temporary use of space, which bans gatherings in certain areas and requires 30 day notice to book other university spaces. The report will even take a look at York's controversial land deal for the Tribute housing community.

Is this an investigation or a witch hunt?

For whining above and beyond the call of duty, I call upon YUFA and CAUT to share the whiner-of-the-month badge of shame for May.

Forgive me if my free speech offends you.

Calling all math majors and betting fiends...

2005-06-02T18:56:00.000-04:00

Frank J. from IMAO is going to be, on Saturday, an age that is double a prime number. This will not happen again (to him) for eight years.

With my extremely high level math skills, I deduced that he will be either 6, 14, 26, 38, 74 or 106 on Saturday and have introduced a prime number point spread in which people with too much time on their hands bet with cool points to see how old Frank J is.

Odds:
38 - 3:2
26 - 3:1
14 - 5:1
74 - 11:1
106 - 13:1
6 - 17:1

Since we all have infinite cool points inside ourselves, this is fun and risk-free. Post bets in the comments and/or email to lifeafteryork[at]gmail[dot]com. I will tally them up after an unspecified amount of time. Maybe.

I bet 100 cool points Frank J. is 38. Oh, anyone can bet except Frank J (because he knows), Dan Freeman-Maloy (because he sucks) and Satan (self-explanatory).

--------------------------

Does anyone have ideas for York whiner of the month for May?

Quick, everyone, into the bomb shelters!

2005-05-31T15:23:00.000-04:00

Hat tip to the nice people over at Right2Express who sent me this article about the way democracy goes in Iran:

IRAN: VOTE FOR RAFSANJANI AND WE WILL HAVE NUCLEAR BOMBS, SAYS RELIGIOUS LEADER

Tehran, 27 May (AKI) - Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hasani, a representative of Iran's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in Iranian Azerbaijan, has no doubts as to who to vote for in the next presidential elections on 17 June. "You need to vote for Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani," said Hasani. "This way we will finally be able to have for ourselves the atomic bomb to fairly stand up to Israeli weapons," said Hasani.
"Freedom, democracy and stupidities of this type cannot be carried over to any part, and these concepts are out of sync with the principles of Islam," said Hasani, the imam who led Friday prayers in the main city of western Iranian Azerbaijian.
"Islam always spoke with the sword in the hand and I don't see why
now we have changed attitudes and talk with the other civilisations."

Can I ask why in the grand scheme of global politics most Canadian prefer to talk to the country whose clergy speak of "Freedom, democracy and stupidities of this type"?

Freedom = GOOD.
Democracy = GOOD.
Iran having nuclear weapons they can lob over our heads into America or at Israel = BAD.

People like this make me sick if only because they make Persians and Muslims look bad. At York, there are many Muslims who do not wish to nuke the Western world. I have met Persians who don't hate me because I am a Zionist. But I wonder why they let this nutcase be the one to represent them to the world.

I hope that most Iranians vote following my nutjob rule, which I made up when Dan Freeman-Maloy endorsed Unity: Find out who the total nutjob wants you to vote for; then vote the opposite.

The things that are actually wrong with America (Corrected version)

2005-05-29T00:20:00.000-04:00

There is an internet program called Speedy Vote, that attempts to ensure your favorite Idol is not eliminated. You get the software, an "automatic redialer" and program it to vote through your modem for your candidate and tell it how many times to vote.

There are things that are wrong with America. Many of them revolve around the fact that people in a nation of 272 million are willing to cast 500 million votes about who sang the best. Other things wrong in America involve people actually being willing to spend $30 on the software - the show's outcome is worth that much to them.

It's not even like we're giving Carrie nuclear warheads to manage or anything.

....

From the site's clarification on 'votes or voters':

One thing is for certain and that is that the number of votes is increasing each week and you will hear Ryan Seacrest make statements such as "Vote as much as you want", "Vote as often as you like" to encourage viewers to help make the vote count even larger.

So what happens when you hear American Idol's host Ryan Seacrest announce a new large vote count the next week and you know that you put a little more effort in that week to cast more votes? Does it make you feel like you played an important role in helping to make the shows new record? That is exactly why we are marketing Speedy Vote's, American Idol voting software. It helps you, help the show make history. It helps you place votes for your favorite Idol contestant. It helps you get through on American Idol's busy toll free numbers to cast your vote.

Do you think the show will ever limit voting to one vote per household? If so, you better think again. It's all about marketing and the more people that call in, and the more votes that each fan places, the more successful the show is. It's like a magnet and it makes more people feel that they should vote also or that they should place more votes. Why? Because everyone else is doing it.

"Because everyone else is doing it" - apparently, not just a reason to have sex and smoke pot.
----------------------------
Also, apparently, there were only 272 million people in America in 1999.

Who knew?

A thought about the world

2005-05-26T20:21:00.000-04:00

In the Kerry-Bush decision, 106 million Americans (myself included) cast ballots.
Last night on American Idol in the Carrie-Bo decision, 500 million Americans cast ballots.

I love America, but there are some things that are seriously wrong with that country.

West Wing quote of the day

2005-05-26T20:16:00.000-04:00

In this White House:

TV Moderator : "Ainsley Hayes, is that true?"
Ainsley : "No, it's not."
TV Moderator : "Is Sam Seaborn lying?"
Ainsley : "Lying's an awfully strong word... yes, he's lying. And we should tell the truth about education. The bill contained plenty of money for new textbooks - also, computer literacy, school safety, physical plant. The difference is we wanted to give the money directly to communities, and let them decide how best to spend it... on the off chance that the needs of Lincoln High in Dayton are different than the needs of Crenshaw High in South Central L.A."
...
Ainsley : "The bill contained plenty of money for textbooks, Mark, and anyone who says otherwise is flat-out lying. And we should tell the truth about this... textbooks are important, if for no other reason than they accurately place the town of Kirkwood in California and not in Oregon."

Dear, dear Ainsley Hayes.

West Wing quote of the day: Mallory is not allowed to date fascists...

2005-05-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

Sam Seaborn: Mallory, education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes. We need gigantic, monumental changes. Schools should be palaces. The competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be making six figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge to its citizens, just like national defense. That's my position. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet.

And before every other neo-con out there suggests that this quote recommends wasting taxpayer money, I send you here to Angry in the Great White North, who tells us some of the horrific things going on at Adscam:

From section 7.3.2 of the Kroll Report, a sample contract is deconstructed.
Out of a total of $46.32 million:
$460,000, or 1%, went to sponsorship
$8.34 million, or 18%, went to actual work done
$26 million, or 56%, went to "unrelated or unknown parties"
$11.52 million, or 25%, was unspent or the invoices were not found
Quite enlightening. 1% goes to sponsorships. 18% goes to work. 56% goes to stuff unrelated to sponsorship. And 25% they can't even find.

And this is only one contract?

I don't propose increasing taxes. I propose that we take that $11.52 million dollars and spend it on books for our students. Just for some perspective, the teacher in me says that $11.52 million dollars is:

576,000 copies of "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss (a classic; every child should read it)

1,152,000 copies of "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare (his best)

886,154 copies of "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand (the world would be a better place if more people read this book)

1,440,000 copies of "Something Else" by Kathryn Cave

172,800,000 Sesame Street bandaids (you can get about double that if you go for generic. But trust me, you need this many band-aids to run a school)

Canadian teachers don't need higher salaries; they need responsible government dedicated to the actual issues, not just dedicated to sliding envelopes of cash across the table. I wonder if so many parents would have voted Liberal if they thought long and hard about how that money is coming directly out of their cash-strapped classrooms. (I'm not a nurse or anything but I'm sure $11.52 million would buy a lot of syringes.)

I don't need a raise or a six-figure salary. I need a well-stocked classroom and a well-stocked library down the hall. And that sure as hell won't happen under Paul Martin's watch.

-----------------------

Update: 05/26/05 - Spelling mistake corrected.

And in the spirit of our anonymous donor is today's quote. Can I put away the wet noodle now? My point still stands.

People who don't know what they are talking about

2005-05-23T18:37:00.000-04:00

1. Teachers who think we make too little money. It's not that we make too little money, it's that some teachers are greedy. Also, the government takes too much of our money.

2. People like this idiot (people, note today's date and time. I rarely mock republicans. Maybe I should do so more often....) who think teachers have it easy.

I cordially invite anyone who thinks we do to take my grade 6 class for an hour and have them learn something and enjoy learning by the end of it.

One year respite...

2005-05-19T19:04:00.000-04:00

We won't be going to the polls yet, after an amusing speech by Milliken in which he saved the government:

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Paul Martin's fragile minority government was left bloodied, but still standing Thursday after barely winning a crucial confidence vote that means an election has been deferred - at least for now.

But let's be frank, the Liberals would have won, and what good is that? So they can embezzle $3B MORE?

...

Poll after poll has shown in recent weeks that the majority of Canadians are in no mood for another election and want the government, which has been completely side tracked with all the election planning of late, to get back to work.

Haven't they spent billions these past few weeks?

Jumping the gun

2005-05-19T01:42:00.000-04:00

Fresh out of the gate for May whiner of the month is Belinda Stronach, who for the sake of her own political ambitions told Canadians this:

But [I] regret to say that I do not believe the party leader's truly sensitive to the needs of each part of the country and how big and complicated Canada really is.

Fact: Better to stay in a party of principle than to switch sides and jump on a corrupt leaky dinghy just so for a few months you can call yourself a "cabinet minister".

Funny postscript: Every link on her site is gone except for the statement. Hmmmm...

Anyhow, for more read Tiger, who is bloggin prolifically as always.

Comment of the week

2005-05-16T19:20:00.000-04:00

Fun with sarcasm as an anonymous individual called "Informed Conservatism" commented yesterday:

"What, another hackneyed 'York U is socialist and I'm a marginalized neo-con fighting wishy-washy liberal opporession, but glad to love and use wishy-washy liberal free-speech' blog? This ought to be fun."

I'm confused. Were there other marginalized York U. neo-cons blogging all along with whom I could have commiserated?

My new sarcastic friend, where have you been all my life?

Stockwell Day - an upstanding fellow

2005-05-12T17:53:00.000-04:00

Skeet brings us a Stockwell Day report from London, ON:

Day made it clear from the outset that when he spoke of Muslim countries, he was referring to the leadership of the country, not the people (whom he feels are victims of oppression). Stating that a country is in trouble when it fails to heed the will of her people, he went on to indict tyrants the world over: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely all the time. Foreshadowing President Bush's speech an hour later, Day said "Democracy is the only check on that."

On the topic of anti-semitism, he addressed the recent UN 'memorial' to the victims of the Holocaust. Recognizing it for what it was, he went through a laundry list of complaints with the day:

no resolutions or final declarations were allowed
Only 41 countries spoke (by his count), and only 5 mentioned Israel. Canada wasn't amongst those that recognized the Jewish state. You know, the one that was established by the UN because of the holocaust.
Kofi Annan's terrific idea to start a registry of Palestinians who have been affected by the security council (I'm still waiting on that registry of the Sudanese murdered in Darfur), with no mention of the Men, Women and children who have been killed, maimed or otherwise injured by Arab terrorism in Israel
In another parallel to President Bush, Day went on to quote Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner who now is in the Israeli Knesset. Never call a tyrant anything but that. Not a diplomat, not a leader. He went on to state that Sharansky is his personal hero. I find it really hard to not like this guy.

While most of the speech seemed to be delivered without notes, he relied heavily on his blackberry while cataloging nearly every conflict in the Middle East in the last 50 years. Could Israel really be held accountable for all of them? It was Day's contention that Israel moderates the region. I'm not sure how much of that argument I buy, but here was his reasoning: With a common enemy, and one they can't seem to beat, it stops them from their usual Arab on Arab violence, which tends to be more brutal. Maybe he's right.

He went on to state a few hypotheticals: What if Israel had lost in 1967? Would Egypt and Jordan have handed the West Bank and Gaza to Arafat? No; they hated him more than the Israelis did then. If Israel ceased to exist would there suddenly be peace in the region? Of course not.

Getting back to the Tyrants, Day cited a number of UN development reports that have Muslim countries finish at the bottom of the pack in every major index. That they live so poorly is a direct reflection on the Tyrants who rule them.

Turning to the spread of freedom, Day mentioned something I hadn't heard before. Apparently, millions (his number) of Iranians called in sick last week to watch President Bush's inauguration speech. If its true, that certainly bodes well for the Iranian student democratic movement. He called freedom 'contagious' and called out those who claim that the Middle East can't handle democracy as racists (again, shadowing something Bush has previously said many times).

He ended his talk by again stating that supporting the only stable democracy in the Middle East was a simple, but important decision.

Democracy good.

Are we? Aren't we? Who even knows?

2005-05-11T14:17:00.000-04:00

I could talk about how the Canadian liberal media exhibits absurd amounts of bias, or I could refer you to Stephen Taylor, who shows us front pages and headlines. Read Stephen.

Tonight's big news: The budget at 4pm. Will the Rae Review be implemented? Will there be more cash for post-secondary? Will the lower middle class be forced to subsidize the upper middle class? Will the Liberals screw Ontarians over again?

Stay tuned.

West Wing quote of the day - May 10

2005-05-10T23:22:00.000-04:00

From IMDB.com, in honour of local celebrations.

Josh Lyman: Victory is mine, victory is mine. Great day in the morning people, victory is mine
Donna Moss: Good morning, Josh.
Josh Lyman: I drink from the keg of glory, Donna. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land.
Donna Moss: It's going to be an unbearable day.

10,051 hits later....

2005-05-09T19:45:00.000-04:00

I've always been nobody - on campus, in the blogosphere. I still have no official name. 1 year and 24 days, 88 posts later, I've made friends, garnered attention, and most importantly, had my say in a world where the big and powerful push us little women around.

And I suppose that's why I love the blogosphere - because in it all you need is DSL and you can have a voice. This 10,000 hit mark is seven times less than lgf gets in a day. But I - and marginalized Iraqi women and bullied sixth-graders and people whose opinions don't fit the party line - we all get to say what we think.

And that is why the blogosphere is a gift to the world - an equalizer and something that levels the playing field.

Sometime in my next 10,000 hits, I hope to talk more about an issue I care a lot about - Israel - since I've greviously neglected her. I hope to figure out what Trackback is and then figure out how to use it. I should also figure out what XML and RSS are so that I can give intelligent answers as to why I don't use them. And I've just introduced the West Wing quote of the day, because that's just so much fun.

Free speech. A beautiful thing.

I like free markets. I don't like greed.

2005-05-09T19:22:00.000-04:00

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is educational, as always, which means that I did not read most of it. Why would I read anything educational? Remember how I'm done school?

I did read this post, however, about Linkin Park, who sing some seriously good songs, such as "In the End."

Linkin Park, the rock/rap group that is one of Warner Music's most successful acts, is publicly protesting the company's upcoming IPO. The band is 'offended and discouraged' that only $7 million of the $650 million raised will go to WMG and wants out of its contract. Other Warner Music acts, including Metallica and Kid Rock, have
also been critical of the company in recent months. Here is a copy of Linkin Park's comments and WMG's response.

Among the Linkin Park allegations?

...of the planned $750 million raised by an IPO, only about $7 million will be put toward the company's own operations, with no money going to WMG artists.

Where the hell is the rest of it going?

I don't download internet music because I believe it's stealing. But I ardently disapprove of major comapnies taking advantage of bands to fatten profit margins. Have an IPO, and put the bloody money into the company to help sell more CDs! (That's the kind of capitalism I like.)

-------
For West Wing fans, here's a story about Notre Dame.

West Wing quote of the day...

2005-05-09T18:58:00.000-04:00

Today's quote of the day is from the Portland Trip, in honour of the article below that talks about Notre Dame.

Danny : Are you being punished?
CJ : I'm not being punished, I'm going on the trip.
Danny : If the whole bus goes off the record, will you tell us why you're going on the trip?
CJ : I made fun of Notre Dame.

Brock on Equalization

2005-05-08T01:15:00.000-04:00

brock: on the attack.:

Dalton McGuinty, who is a liar, is quite the character. I mean, who would have thought that it would be a Liberal premier from Ontario who would be the one to completely upset the national equalization program?

I don't want to have to bring myself to give McGuinty credit for anything -- and I won't -- but if you're an Ontario taxpayer like I am and you look at these numbers, it's quite the kick in the balls.

If Ontario got back in services what it paid in taxes, we could basically give every Ontarian a 25% income tax cut and maintain services the way they are today. That's quite the figure. Having nearly one-quarter of every Ontario taxdollar being earmarked for the subsidy of other provinces is quite an extreme figure in my mind.

The difference between myself and Dalton McGuinty is of course, that if he gets his hands on that 25%, he'll spend it all, and probably even further raise taxes. Me? I'd give it all back to taxpayers and thensome. But on the other hand, I'm just a stupid neocon."

He's right about McGuinty being a liar, and I'd add "racist wanker" to that as well for his ideas on how publicly-funded religious education is only OK for certain religions, but he is dead-on on the funding gap.

I wouldn't say give it all back in tax credits, though I personally went to the legislature and protested that stupid new Medical Tax this time last year. Paul Martin, also a jackass, cares little about crumbling hospitals and schools in Ontario and ignores the fact that though Ontario is a "rich" province, that doesn't help our poor people any.

I like income taxes. They're equalizing. I would rather they kept income taxes, funded our schools, hospitals and universities, and dumped the sales taxes, which hurt the poor the most.

Oh, I forgot. The Liberals first got elected in 1993 promising to get rid of the GST. I'll expect that repealed any day now. Or perhaps Martin enjoys oppressing the poor?

Right Thinking Girl's Weekend Survey 10

2005-05-08T00:18:00.000-04:00

In this Weekend Survey 10, Right Thinking Girl asks:

1. If you were a writer, what kinds of books would you write?

LAY says: I would write non-fiction. The truth about what happened at York these last three years is far, far more entertaining than any fiction I can find.

2. Do you expect to ever be famous in your lifetime? If yes, what do you expect to be famous for?

LAY says: Famous, no. Well known within a small localized community, yes. For my writing.

3. Say something liberal.

LAY: Tax cuts are bad. Just yesterday, tax cuts killed some innocent people.

4. Say something conservative.

LAY: Tax cuts are good. Just yesterday, tax cuts saved small puppies from disaster.

5. What did you dream about last night?

I had a nightmare in which I was protesting alongside Dan Freeman-Maloy. Michael Moore and Saddam Hussein were kind enough to join us.

6. What have you read this week? Include everything: magazines, emails, blogs, books, etc.

Ummmm, textbooks, the new Dan Brown, Paul Cooper's new site, IMAO, the Tiger, Dose, the National Post, and because I couldn't grab anything else on the way onto the subway, that left-wing drivel Eye Weekly. Ick. Old favourites by Steven Gould and the great dame herself Ayn Rand. And duh, this list.

7. Tell me about your worst date ever.

Reunion breakfast in Jerusalem with old boyfriend who told me I was a manipulative control freak. It's not like he wasn't telling the truth, but still, kinda sucks.

8. Name three of your bad habits and three of your good habits.

Bad Habits: Blogging when I should be doing something constructive.
Watching DVDs when I should be doing something constructive.
All other forms of procrastinating.

Good Habits: Blogging. Reading a lot. Eating my vegetables.

9. Tell me something you're very proud of.

Sticking to my Weight Watchers, which is not a diet. It's a lifestyle.

10. Give me a piece of wisdom that I should pass on to Parker Grace (who is now twelve weeks old)."

Never let a boy tell you that you are a manipulative control freak. Even if you are. Instead of going out with a boy, go shopping. Boys come and go. But the right classic tee will last forever if you buy it in enough colours.

New stomping grounds

2005-05-07T23:42:00.000-04:00

Mazel Tov to Yoshi's Cookie/Moonchild who finally made the jump over from Livejournal to Blogger.

She's invited me to join the team, to which I have acquiesced graciously, starting my first post by completely contradicting her on the matter of just how difficult the religions exam was.

Quite the irony that though we blog together and took the same exam, we've never actually met.

That's what comes from having 500+ people in the same religions class.

Finally, help for Sudan

2005-05-07T23:18:00.000-04:00

In today's Globe and Mail, finally some good news for the beleaguered people of Darfur:

"Canada will send up to 150 military personnel to Sudan to help the African Union and a United Nations mission keep the peace in the war-torn African country, The Canadian Press has learned.
Ottawa will also shore up its support for the African mission by handing over some old military equipment and likely adding to the $20-million in humanitarian support it has already given to Sudan, a source said."

Good work done by independent MP David Kilgour on this...he's been very good at using his now-powerful independent position to get good things done.

"In a recent meeting with Prime Minister Paul Martin, Mr. Kilgour said he requested boots on the ground in Sudan, plus equipment like helicopters, food, medicine and money. He also wants Canada to boost its foreign aid to get it closer to 0.7 per cent of the gross domestic product.

"There was clearly an understanding that a major initiative would be undertaken by Canada, both militarily and in terms of aid for Darfur.""

Hmmmm. I guess there are good liberals after all.

==========================
For more info on Darfur, try here, here, and here.

As a Jewish person less than three days after Holocaust Memorial Day, all I can say is "Never Again".

Freedom of Speech for Whiners

2005-05-06T18:50:00.000-04:00

The Whiner of the Month for April is very clearly the Dan Freeman-Maloy fan club.

This case last month was a clear indication that DFM himself will stop at nothing to get lots of cash out of Lorna and the university (he's suing for $850,000) ... but it's all the people who fall all over themselves pretending he's the Jesus of the socialists who really enable his ongoing absurd behavior.

Why they do this I do not understand. If you believe in this hard-core activism, go be an activist. Don't post stupid comments on the blog or bow down to his effigy and think you're getting the man down.

You're not.

So everyone who loves him, talks about him, strokes his ego, even those who take the time to write extremely long comments and leave them on my blog qualify to receive this award. Liberty Dog noticed aptly that I have for the first time enabled comments in my relaunch. Being post-York makes me think that I can do so and it won't be a big huge deal.

Of course, I have two choices - give freedom of speech on MY SITE to the "We love DFM" club, or be a censor. I have enabled comments. I can delete stupid comments from idiots like this individual, or I can leave them up and mock them.

Anyone who reads my blog knows well enough that I like mocking people and hate censorship.

So to the Dan Freeman-Maloy lovers of the world...you're all whiners too. Feel better now that Dan is not the only one getting right-wing venom spat at him?

This April goes out to unwashed whiners everywhere, who are so insignificant, the most they will do in their entire semi-literate and unexciting lives is post anonymous comments on random and uninfluential blogs like mine. Really, what are you accomplishing by posting? You think you make me question my beliefs? You don't.

You just make my day (I can't crusade against whiners without the whiners pre-existing) and make me realize that I am much smarter and well-reasoned than you are.

Whiners of the world, unite!

Then go away.

-------------------------
Note on posting comments on my site: I now allow anyone to post. I may change that if need be. If you write something stupid and/or whiny, I will mock you. Extensively. I reserve the right, however, to delete comments that are slanderous or defamatory in any manner. Wanna call me a "talking pile of pig snot" (for example)? Get your own blog.

Is it a crime to incite capitalism?

2005-05-06T18:00:00.000-04:00

Check me out on INCITE's Carnival of the Capitalists.

My picks:
ZeroBoss writes on the liberating nature of the blogosphere in which the little guy can do it him or herself instead of being at the mercy of the big guns:

"Many bloggers (myself included) have harbored a secret desire to 'go big-time' - get mainstream media attention, land an appearance on Oprah, and live in a gated community with a 90210 zip. But blogging's entering a new phase. The pieces are in place for bloggers to build cottage industries out of their talent. That's the real power of blogging: the ability to serve micro-markets neglected by those in search of the next million-dollar opportunity."

Also, a gem on slacking in the workforce.

Sorry with the brevity of blogging. Summer jobs suck.

Whiner of the Month for March.....

2005-04-28T23:12:00.000-04:00

The whiniest of whiny in the last few Marches have been none other than the anti-war protesters. They had a big downtown march, as glorified in (where else?) Excalibur (or should I say anarchistcalibur):

"The student contingent at the rally saw several groups come out, including members of the University of Toronto's Students for Peace in Iraq and York's Grassroots Anti-Imperialist Network (GRAIN).

'I think it's such a dirty thing that they are doing in Iraq, and I think they should get the troops out now. It's been too long and it shouldn't have been done in the first place,' said Katherine Lei, a first-year student and a member of the UofT group."

My rule for whiners: In order to comment authoritatively on the situation in Iraq, you need to meet the following criteria:

1. Can successfully locate Iraq on a map.

(You'd be surprised how many people at a rally cannot in fact do this.)

2. Have studied political science or history for a leeeeeetle bit longer than a year.

3. Have an understanding of Iraq that predates the Gulf wars.

4. Can justify your position as to the morality of war with a better rationale that "it's such a dirty thing".

5. Can rationalize why it was in fact, not a bad thing that Saddam used to massacre his own people by the thousand.

Once you fit the following five criteria, you can be classified as a certifiable nutcase. Until that point, if a person chooses to insist on defining liberation as bad and oppression as good, without anything substantial to back it up, then that person, like the airheaded protester above, is in fact, a WHINER!

A victory for non-whiners everywhere

2005-04-28T18:36:00.000-04:00

It was reported in today's The Globe and Mail that Dan Freeman-Maloy cannot sue Lorna Marsden for misfeasance of public office, since, whoops, she's not a public official.

"York president cannot be sued as public official, Superior Court rules
By JAMES RUSK
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Page A14

Madam Justice Alexandra Hoy of the Ontario Superior Court ruled yesterday that York University president Lorna Marsden is not a public official and cannot be sued for abusing her power as such.

'Dr. Marsden is not a public officer in her capacity as president of York University,' Judge Hoy wrote in her judgment, one that had been widely awaited by Ontario universities because it would have broken new ground on the issue of the legal status of university officials if York lost.

If Judge Hoy had ruled against the university, Daniel Freeman-Maloy, a York student who was banned from the campus for three years last April and who is suing the university for $850,000 even though he was later reinstated, would have been able to include the grounds of misfeasance in a public office in the lawsuit.

Mr. Freeman-Maloy's lawyer had argued that, because York was created by a provincial statute that gave the university's president the power to regulate student conduct, the president was, in effect, acting as a public officer when she disciplined Mr. Freeman-Maloy and could be sued for flagrantly abusing her power as a public official.

The judge rejected the argument in her six-page ruling.

'The mere fact that a statute passed by the Legislature of Ontario provides for the office of president of the university, to be appointed by the board of governors, and accords the president so appointed certain powers in respect of the university community, does not make her a public officer,' the judgment said.

While the law gives the president of York power to discipline students, the core functions of a university are non-governmental and "the government does not have control over how the president regulates a particular student's conduct," the judgment said.

...."

This is good news for those of us who believe that a little governance is a good thing. Was Lorna wrong in expelling one of the university's major instigators? Perhaps. But don't act like she murdered your puppy.

Upgrade complete!

2005-04-26T21:46:00.000-04:00

I have a new email address, I finally got the Alliance blogroll in, I fixed my "Blogging Tories" code, I added comments for the first time, and Life After York is ready for a super happy blogaversary relaunch!

Now if only I finish up the March whiner of the month and study for finals....

True Dat.

2005-04-26T15:50:00.000-04:00

The Meatriarchy:

"Prime Ministers should address the nation more often if you asked me. Like the President does in the US. I mean he gives a radio address every week (I think), plus the State of the Union, plus numerous press conferences.

In my opinion the Prime Minister would look much more like a leader if he did more of this. "

Amen. Why is it that our Prime Minister is so convinced of eternal domination that he thinks that he can hide and pretend he is doing his job? It's not like he's doing anything of substance...

Lay off the rich. We'd be screwed without them.

2005-04-26T13:47:00.000-04:00

So I'm not rich. I'm actually a poor student. But I've always thought our society and the "liberal" left have given the short end of the stick to the rich. There was quite the revelation in Saturday's Globe and Mail, where Canadians learned what it takes to make the top ten per cent in this country, and what it costs if you do:

"Canada's top 10% pay 52% of total tax bill
By TAVIA GRANT
Saturday, April 23, 2005 Page A1

They used to say make the rich pay. Well, they do.

The top 10 per cent of Canadian wage earners carried more than half the nation's federal personal income tax load in 2002 -- 52.6 per cent -- up significantly from 1990, according to a Statistics Canada report released yesterday.

Meanwhile, the other 90 per cent paid 47.4 per cent of the total federal income tax bill in 2002.

...

High-income earners are defined as those who earned $64,500 or more in 2002 and $48,700 or more in 1990, said Duane Hayes, senior economist at Statscan's tax data division."

$64,500 makes you richer than 90 per cent of the population. That means most of our anarchist profs at York are in the top ten per cent of wage-earners. So are many doctors and schoolteachers. And that's not even a lot of money anymore.

It bothers me a lot when people complain about corporate tax cuts that can help small-business owners, many of them immigrants, put food on the table and pay their employees. It bothers me when the left disdain the "rich" for having the audacity to have cash.

Goodness knows they paid for half our roads, half our schools, half our teachers, half our streetlights, half our police officers, half our universities, half our hospital beds and half our infrastructure.

And the system is "progressive", meaning they pay more than their share without getting anything extra in return.

We shouldn't attack these people, we should build shrines to them for paying the taxes that subsidize the bus routes they never take.

Something similar was said by the character of Sam Seaborne in the West Wing episode "The Fall's Going to Kill You":

Sam: Henry, last fall, every time your boss got on the stump and said, "It's time for the rich to pay their fair share," I hid under a couch and changed my name. I left Gage Whitney making $400,000 a year. Which means I paid twenty-seven times the national average in income tax. I paid my fair share. And the fair share of twenty-six other people. And I'm happy to 'cause that's the only way it's gonna work. And it's in my best interest that everybody be able to go to schools and drive on roads. But I don't get twenty-seven votes on Election Day. The fire department doesn't come to my house twenty-seven times faster, and the water doesn't come out of my faucet twenty-seven times hotter. The top one percent of wage earners in this country pay for twenty-two percent of this country. Let's not call them names while they're doing it is all I'm saying.

My tuition bill this year covered 23 per cent of the cost of my education. Over three-quarters of it was paid for by someone else. I made chump change at my two part-time jobs this year; enough to pay the bills and keep me in coffee. I'll be graduating debt-free because the Canadian way is that someone else paid for my education and medical care. I just did my taxes. Going to even get some money back.

I think I owe some thanks to the top ten per cent.

If you're normal like me, the next time you drive down a plowed or maintained road, the next time you see a cop car, the next time you drop yourself or your kids off at school, the next time you go to a hospital, don't curse the rich - say a silent "thank you" to those who carry you on their backs and hold our country together.

My Googleability

2005-04-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Statcounter, I know that 28 of my last 100 pageloads were from people googling random words and finding little old me. Actually, 27. One was a Yahoo! Search.

Just cuz it's fun, a sampling of the searches that will lead you to me....

Four searches for "york university sucks" lead people here.

Snicker.

"york u frosh week" takes you here.

Not what the seeker bargained for, I'd bet.

"york u parking tickets are illegal" leads here.

I also like the person who searched for "excalibur sucks york". I certainly agree.

But the absolute best is the searcher for "bill gates & the truth about being muslim", in which my main page is #4 in the results.

Moral of the story? Put quote marks around names when you Google. And expect the unexpected.

York could get screwed....

2005-04-25T22:46:00.000-04:00

This was on the Toronto Star front page on Friday, Apr. 22, 2005. I am not sure if it is true (due to the Star being a crap paper) but if it is, it could suck for York.

Argos drop plan to play at York U
Pre-construction stadium costs rise
Can stay rent-free at Rogers Centre

DAMIEN COX
SPORTS REPORTER

Toronto's football Argonauts are expected to announce as early as today that they are pulling out of the York University stadium deal.

With the Rogers Centre trying to persuade the reigning Grey Cup champions to stay at the downtown retractable dome stadium with a sweetheart, rent-free deal, Argo owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon are facing rising costs at York.

Originally budgeted at $70 million, with the federal and provincial governments kicking in $35 million, it's believed costs have already climbed upwards of $75 million before a shovel has been stuck in the ground.

The Argos owners were scheduled to contribute $20 million to the stadium through a charitable donation to the York University Foundation, but they have also agreed to cover any unexpected costs or financial overruns.

In essence, Sokolowski and Cynamon could have ended up putting upwards of $30 million into the stadium for fewer than a dozen events per season, with York University still owning the structure.

The Argos were to have moved into the new York facility for the 2007 season but instead they are expected to announce plans to remain at the Rogers Centre and host the '07 Grey Cup game at the dome.

Whether the York stadium will still go ahead is now unclear. The Argos were only expected to need 10 dates a year, with the Canadian Soccer Association and Toronto Lynx soccer club to fill up much of the rest of the calendar.

In theory, the 25,000-seat project could still be downsized to 15,000 seats or less, and thus cost far less to build.

The stadium is committed to co-hosting the 2007 FIFA world youth soccer tournament with Edmonton, but FIFA only requires a minimum 10,000-seat venue for the event.

Whether the federal government, which is to contribute $27 million to the stadium, and the province, on the hook for $8 million, will continue to financially assist the project without the Argos is also unclear.

That would be getting screwed with our pants on. Can they just pull out like that?

On board for narcissism

2005-04-25T22:17:00.000-04:00

I got this post into The Best of Me Symphony. It still makes me snicker.

Monday morning quarterbacking...Why? Because it's fun...

2005-04-22T10:49:00.000-04:00

Manipulating and blustering politicians. Oh, what a world.

Well said.

2005-04-21T23:42:00.000-04:00

The Truth Laid Bear: "I haven't had much to say on the selection of the new Pope. As a non-practicing agnostic, to me, the fanfare of the past few days has been roughly equivalent to learning that the Marlins have found a new star pitcher: it's not just that they're not my team, I don't even particularly follow the sport. "

The Tiger in Exile ... is just like me!

2005-04-21T23:41:00.000-04:00

My good blog buddy The Tiger is relaunching, and we're going to use the same template now that I changed everything.

One of life's little quirks.

Men are rats. They're fleas on rats. They're amoebas on fleas on rats. Especially if they're Dan Freeman-Maloy.

2005-04-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

Since there is little I ennjoy more than slamming veteran whiner DFM, here is more food for thought:

York University President Lorna Marsden is a public official, and a student
activist should be able to sue her for flagrantly abusing her power as such, lawyer Peter Rosenthal told an Ontario Superior Court hearing yesterday.
"The legislature gave her this power [to discipline students] by statute, and she abused it," Mr. Rosenthal told Madam Justice Alexandria Hoy of the Ontario Superior Court.

Idiot. If she was elected, or appointed by an elected government official, then fine. But she's picked by the Senate and the Board and various other internal York types, and so entirely not a public official. Though I think she was once on the Canadian Senate. The worst thing I can say about Lorna Marsden is she's a Liberal.

Of course, that's better than the worst thing I can say about DFM, which is that he is a whiner. A greedy little whiner:

Although the court overturned the suspension in July, Mr. Freeman-Maloy launched an $850,000 lawsuit against Ms. Marsden, York's board of governors and the university for libel, misfeasance and breach of academic freedom.

Of course, the university is fighting this one tooth and nail:

York University lawyer William McDowell argued that, although an institution can be created by statutory power and its officers given duties by law, that does not make its officers public officials.

He said that, for instance, if an officer of a company incorporated under the Ontario Business Corporations Act fails in his duties under the act, that does not make the officer a public official who could be sued for misfeasance in public office.

See, and in addition to that being true, it's also not whiny.

Kick the bums out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And what is up with Blogger?)

2005-04-21T21:59:00.000-04:00

Go figure that following the craziest three hours of news in Canada in a long time, Blogger goes down. Here are thoughts from Debbye, Meatriarchy, and Canadian Comment:

Every Canadian government must be held accountable and to the highest standards possible, if Canadians let the Liberal party get away with this type of behavior, what kind of message would we sending to our elected officials? Steal from us, we don't care! Is that the type of lesson that the Liberals should learn from this experience? No, its not. Each and every government that is involved in this type of behavior will be made to pay a heavy price, that's the message we should sending.

Nothing from Andrew Coyne, for those of us who are too impatient to wait for the Post tomorrow. Also Adam Daifallah hasn't done anything since Question Period.

Been listening to CPAC on my laptop. I'm like many Canadians, fuming that they put money in their own pockets rather than in crumbling schools, crumbling hospitals and national priorities like feeding people.

The Liberals make me sick - Martin shouldn't be so smug, and he shouldn't have the audacity to suggest that they are even remotely qualified to govern.

Martin says: "That's my job, I'm willing to clean it up."

TTAY/LAY says: "You're fired. We'll get someone else to clean it up."

Call an election, Martin.

---------------------------------

Update: Also worth reading.

Blogaversary presents for me and you...

2005-04-19T21:37:00.000-04:00

For you ... Pretty, new design.

... lots more opinionation.

For me ... can anyone tell me how to make pictures on my background?

... and can anyone tell me how to get the Alliance blogroll code onto my blog without it f$#^ing up my sidebar? (I tried for hours on Monday and ended up weeping and eating chocolate.)

Hmmm ... maybe I should call myself "one technologically-challenged York student."

Coming soon ... Blogaversary linky fun (woo hoo)!!!!!!!!! Plus, the March whiner of the month, and fresh opinions on things that only I care about.

It's so good to be back in the blogosphere...

I should really be studying for those pesky exams...

Another mention

2005-04-18T18:50:00.000-04:00

The Lexicon is a campus paper that prints pictures of York hotties and publishes the news months after it happens. They liked me.

Of course, other than the LiveJournal blogging communities, there are numerous personal York University student blogs available on other sites. One anonymously written blog, www.thetruthaboutyork.com, reveals the “life at York by an ordinary student who goes there.” Blunt, provocative, humourous, political, “The Truth about York” is a York University student staple.

I'm too much of an elitist to say the same about the Lexicon.

Blogaversary!

2005-04-18T16:14:00.000-04:00

I just passed my one year-blogaversary. Though the original plan was to do the one-year site redesign, that didn't work so much.

Bear with me, people. I have exams to pass. In the meanwhile, you want links, scroll down.

Oy.

2005-04-18T16:07:00.000-04:00

Hmmmm....my sidebar is in the wrong place.

Grrrrr....

In flux....

2005-04-18T14:33:00.000-04:00

I'm republishing, somewhat incompetently. Bear with me, people. I'm just an ordinary ex-student.

Liberal York, as usual

2005-04-18T12:15:00.000-04:00

This was in Saturday's National Post:

TORONTO - Michael Ignatieff, the Harvard scholar touted by some Liberals as their leader-in-waiting, yesterday called for a royal commission on fiscal federalism, telling a gathering of legal scholars that Canada is entering a constitutional "perfect storm," the cost of which will be national unity.
Wearing a Liberal-red tie to give his luncheon address at York University, Professor Ignatieff said the commission should "think long and hard about how to renew our federation's finances in the 21st century."
He lumped the most immediate constitutional threat, Quebec separatism, together with all the other federal-provincial-municipal tensions: from equalization squabbles with Alberta and Ontario, to Atlantic disputes over natural resources and the pleadings of cash-strapped cities.
"You can all see the doomsday scenario coming up," he said in the politically charged speech. "If this is a systemic crisis, we need to take this out of the political arena and
think systemically."
All of these crises, he said, have undermined the traditional separation of politics and the law by linking a party's political fortunes to its constitutional stance. The parties, in turn, serve regional interests before national unity and behave like "professional election machines" rather than vehicles for ideas, he said.
"We do not want our constitutional law to become a plaything of political forces," he said, citing the case of Quebec nationalists, who inevitably exclude 40% of the province's immigrant or anglophone population from their visions of francophone
self-determination.
"We have a battle on our hands, not just in Quebec, but in the rest of the country," he said. "We need some agile constitutional thinking. We need to think some very big, basic thoughts that we haven't thought for a generation.

Here's the problem: Party politics are party politics, and Quebec nationalism has been holding Canada hostage for three decades, which is sickening and contrary to what Canadians believe in: multiculturalism, diversity etc. We do have a serious problem in that the federal government has too much cash and power, and they seem to enjoy wasting it rather than sending it back to the provinces for things like education and health care. How can one huge federal government have any concept of what an entire country needs, especially the size of ours? If our hospitals are crumbling, it's because the federal Liberals saw fit to emboss Quebec golf balls with logos instead of hiring more nurses.

Whiners of the month for February

2005-04-12T17:31:00.000-04:00

The official Toronto Star brouhaha over the "land scandal" is only made wackier by the extreme political protests that ensued:

The meeting's seating limitations, which prevented all 40 protestors from entering the meeting, were harshly criticized. When locked out of the traditional in-camera session, protestors began to bang on the one-way mirror windows of the room where the meeting was held, knowing that though they could not see the Board, the Board could see them.

The Board moved to a second-floor room for the rest of the meeting. University officials allowed three student protesters to enter, warning them that only board members may address the board.

Nonetheless, two of the students began addressing the board a few minutes later. When they were asked to be quiet, the protesters outside the doors began chanting "Lorna out! BOG out!"

In response to the ongoing chanting, the board adjourned their meeting.

I don't know what makes people think that mob rule is okay. 40 screaming protesters? You better believe I'd boot it out of there.

OMG - Ordinary York student to leave York!

2005-03-27T20:10:00.000-05:00

What am I going to call the blog when I graduate?

Whiner backlog - January

2005-03-15T00:31:00.000-05:00

In January, it was clear that the super-duper whining was done by the protesters. Litmus test: Articles in: Fulcrum, the Link, the Manitoban, the Gateway and list goes on....

Let me make this clear - I don't think police beating people up is a good thing. I just think people should remember why we are here and not be surprised when the university doesn't subscribe to the protest-a-day philosophy.

~MoonChild~'s Journal

2005-03-15T00:12:00.000-05:00

I have a new friend, I think.

In other news, York is having another #@$#@ election.

OMG!

2005-03-06T21:12:00.000-05:00

What am I going to call TTAY when I graduate?

Evil Glenn protests - hey, he must be a York student!

2005-03-06T21:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Alliance members for making those of us who are pro-class and anti-disruption feel less alone, now that we know our neighbours to the south have much to be protested by Evil Glenn. Shortly, we will return to our regularly scheduled sarcasm. Some of us are trying to graduate here.

Except for Independence Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Groundhog Day, and Arbor Day, President's Day is the
patriotic-est holiday of them all. So, Evil Glenn - being evil and all - probably hates it. How will he register his displeasure? The following Alliance members clue us in:
LEM of Strike Thee With Curses says that the protest is "all about the TALLLLLLLL", not the OILLLLLLLL.
Basil of Basil's Blog explains how - in a roundabout way - it's all about the BILLLLLLLY Mumy.
Sapere of I Am The Hermit left this notion in the comments:By dressing up as the beloved George Washington, with a twist---as a Washington-esque transvestite and flouncing around campus carrying a banner, "Washington- the first Gay American-Make Love, Not War".
*shiver*
Now, if that's not enough to burn a Glenn Reynolds effigy, I don't know what is.
Amigo of Amigo's Place thinks it's all about the HILLLLLLLARY.
El Bandito of Baby Wings says it's all about the BILLLLLLLLLL Gates.
Sally of Whimsy Capricious insists that it's all about the penguin LLLLLLLLLOVE.
I (Harvey of... well, IMAO now, at least for Alliance Assignments) maintain that it's all about the DOLLLLLLLLARS.
GEBIV of There's One, Only! wants us to realize that it's all about the NASCAR
LLLLLLLLAPS.
Whatever the reasons given, we REALLY know that it's all about the GLLLLLLLLLENN!
INSTAPUNDO DELLLLLLLLENDA EST!

Daily Chuckle

2005-02-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

lol

Kindred spirits in engineering

2005-02-02T01:16:00.000-05:00

I knew I always liked engineering students.

Draft Condi!

2005-01-31T22:51:00.000-05:00

It's never too soon for 2008...Draft Condi! gives us lots of good reasons Condi Rice should be president.

One of many:

She actually knows what she is doing, a rare attribute in a candidate these days. A person doesn't get to be Provost of Stanford University by goofing off. Rather than spending her adult life running for office, she's actually ... well, gone out and worked hard. To be a "professional politician" has never been a mark of competence, energy, or skill.

If Michael Moore shot a documentary at York...

2005-01-31T22:26:00.000-05:00

The Alliance of Free Blogs does funny things sometimes. Here is a funny:

What will Michael Moore's next "documentary" be about?

If Michael Moore shot a documentary at York, what documentary would he shoot?

Hmmmm......

Well, he might start with "Bowling for Vari", in which he attempts to uncover how hundreds of poor, marginalized protesters had the crap kicked out of them when all they were doing was trying to put their political agenda in front of the schooling of others. Silly others, the protesters just need to have the right to storm about and express themselves in your face.

Then he might move on to "Supersize York", in which he argues that York's president Lorna Marsden is clearly poisoning the fast-food that is being served to unsuspecting Falafel Hut-eating anarchists. Best feature: Lots of oppressed-looking protesters telling the cashier at Falafel Hut: "Supersize my balls!"

Then of course who could possible forget "Fahrenheit 196", in which Moore discovers that students who take the 196 express to York are being silenced by a lack of student space on the overcrowded buses.

And last but not least, "The Corporation", in which he discovers that tuition at York is so cheap ($5K a year is cheap!) because evil, bloodsucking corporations have the audacity to subsidize the education of those whose only life goal is to shut down those very corporations. A tear-jerking scene will include sad-looking anarchists being presented with a bill for the true cost of their education, minus corporate subsidies, which they will tearfully but bravely agree to pay in the name of not supporting evil, bloodsucking corporations, because everyone knows they are evil.

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS! (For those of you who are confused by the Alliance motto, it is Latin for "Marx would be turning over in his grave if he knew what labour activists were doing in his name today.")

But seriously, Michael, come to York. We'll make you whiner of the month!

York is making me old and jaded.

2005-01-30T22:40:00.000-05:00

You Are 30 Years Old

30

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

How sad that I am only 22.

I don't want to go to school on Monday

2005-01-30T03:32:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in bed trying to think of ways to get to the library without walking through Vari Hall on Monday, in case there is another protest. Thursday's was big and loud and not a happy place for a Zionist like me.

It's kind of ridiculous that they call together "everyone" for a protest about freedom of speech, and then put up signs with divisive political crap like "occupation is a crime" and "Israel kills a Palestinian child every 3 days" and "abortion is a right".

I have encountered more than one person on that side who does not actually believe in freedom of speech - of only because they want me to shut up with my moderate libertarian views.

Welcome to York - Marx's way or the highway!

Worth 1000 words

2005-01-28T09:59:00.000-05:00

Ordinary York Student under seige

2005-01-28T09:49:00.000-05:00

Has anyone been reading the papers? We're at a protest a day over here, cops beating people, people getting arrested, and all the left keeps saying is that their right to freedom of speech is more important than my right to go to class.

Excalibur's written about it. So has the Star and CBC.

I'm just getting sick of this and will be happy to get out.

2004 - Year of the whiners

2005-01-15T20:15:00.000-05:00

I skipped December whiner of the month because I decided I would be better off doing whiner of the year for 2004.

I thought a lot while I was supposed to be listening to boring profs yak about Neitzsche and the tragic chorus, and I pondered a lot of people who would make excellent whiners.

With little fanfare, I have discovered that there are many many whiners who deserve to be crowned for their uber-whines.

Fortunately, it seems clear to me that if any one group were to be called Whiner-of-the-year, it would be the LEFT.

You're going to forgive me for not caring that Unity won a three-month term at YFS. With the PNP actions of last week, I am not entirely sure I still support them. We shall see how bad Unity turns out to be.

Let's look back at 2004:

Ontarians in paroxysms of joy at the Liberal win in provincial government saw the McGuinty government come in and raise taxes. The ensuing panic saw Canadians lose their minds and almost elect a federal Conservative government.

A Maclean's poll indicated that if running in Canada, more Canadians would vote for Ralph Nader than George W. Bush.

Bush still won by 4 million votes and increased his majorities in House and Senate. Ouch.

At York, the CFS wants lower tuition. The TAs want smaller classes and higher salaries. The left wants corporations out of York. Where is this hypothetical money coming from? The public sector would like their cash to go build more hospitals.

And don't even get me started on Dan Freeman-Maloy and his motley crew, who are three steps to the left of the rest of the left.

Whiners, all of you.

Things that make me go hmmmmmm......

2005-01-15T20:05:00.000-05:00

The Alliance:

"January 12, 2005

New Precision Guided Humor Assignment: Detecting Media Bias

The recently-release report on CBS's investigation into the forged memo scandal came to the conclusion that airing a story based on completely fabricated evidence in an attempt to decide the outcome of a presidential election does NOT indicate bias.

Um... ok.

Which begs the obvious question that is this week's Precision Guided Humor Assignment:

If Memogate doesn't indicate media bias, what would?

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!"

I need some time to stew over this....but I am going to enjoy posting about all things Excalibur.

PR for me!

2005-01-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

Free PR comes my way through the Excalibur, which did a short article about blogging:
"However, the trend of blogging among York students is not something entirely new, with many students using the popular free web programs Blogger and LiveJournal to keep their blogs. These blogs, with their various themes, include everything from the extremely personal - like 'The Experiences of a Bajan Girl in Toronto' at changeofscene.blogspot.com - to the extremely political 'Truth About York' at thetruthaboutyork.blogspot.com."

The only shitty thing is they don't hyperlink to it.

Wow, I hate Excal less today.

Score one for big breasts

2004-12-29T15:21:00.000-05:00

The Tiger in Winter noted that Hedy Lamarr was a screen star who parlayed that career into one being an inventor...all because she wanted a breast enlargement.

Which was decidedly less my point than the fact that even my intelligent intellectual guy friends tend to talk about women based on hotness. While smart can be sexy (which is what gives me a shot), I seriously doubt when a guy meets a woman with large breasts, his first thought is "she must have a really great personality".

Women, on the other hand, tend to value power. It is my contention that Jewish girls, for example, who visit Israel would find the ugliest guy irresistable if he was wearing an IDF uniform.

"Hot chicks" blogging.

2004-12-21T14:29:00.000-05:00

Hat tip to reader Tiger who remembers as always that I am interested in discussions of gendered blogging.

I'm female. People who read me know that, because it's been a matter of debate - specifically because many of those who would guess would consider me a male if they didn't think about it.

The current discussion is in Dean's World and OxBlog, where discussions are had abot gender gaps in blogging.

Both posts are definitely worth reading, stemming from the initial question of "WHY DON'T HOT CHICKS BLOG?"

Many good answers are offered, some which are more true and some which are less so. One thing I notice is that my blogging is specifically because I have things that I want to say that the world doesn't want to hear from me (because aggressive women aren't cool, because pro-Americans aren't cool, because whatever...) and the anonymity of the blogosphere makes it possible for me to say what I say without being shunned or ignored or mocked.

I of course find the use of the expression "hot chicks" to be quite revealing. I will call myself a chick because I think it's useful for modern feminists to reclaim the word.

But if the various gentlemen concerned about a dearth of female political bloggers stopped typecasting women by their degress of hotness, perhaps it would go a long way to making women, and more importantly young girls, think that their ideas and opinions are as important as their cup size.

Just a thought.

The Best of Us

2004-12-20T07:11:00.000-05:00

The BOMS (Best of Me Symphony) is up as usual.

Sadly, it includes a post I wrote two months ago about York not being safe and the admin being lax on security. I say sad, because it's been two months and I don't think we're any safer.

Worth reading: Mad Anthony.

Calling Alliance peeps: Evil Glenn needs a new quote

2004-12-19T13:36:00.000-05:00

With the recent defeat of PNP in the recent York election, Evil Glenn's quote:
"Vote PNP - Punditry not Politics - for YFS" is being to be a bit sad."

Evil Glenn is clearly depressed about the defeat of PNP and wants to change his quote. What should he change it to?

All entries to thetruthaboutyork[at]yahoo.ca are acceptable. Puns and plays on the words PNP, Unity, One York, are all acceptable.

Winner shall receive an unspecified prize of dubious value. Entries should be received by Saturday, December 25. (Christmas to some, but not to me.)

(For more about the tyrannical career of Evil Glenn, visit the Alliance.)

At last! A comrade in arms!

2004-12-19T05:36:00.000-05:00

There is at least one other ordinary York student out there with a brain in the blogosphere! Everybody, I'd like you all to meet MJB Pit Stop.

Then there was this one girl in my political science tutorial from the Carribean who was frustrated because she had to pledge allegiance to the queen during her citizenship ceremony because of the "evil historical actions of the monarchy towards Africans" I say, if she has such a big problem with it, why apply for citizenship in the first place?

Feeling your pain!

I can't claim the responsibility for finding MJB, though. MJB found me first.

On whining (on Prancer, on Dancer, on Blitzen...)

2004-12-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

The Tiger In Winter wrote in to comment on my trademark move, nominating whiners in my ongoing Anti-Whiner crusade.

Re whining:

Isn't the very essence of blogging whining of one sort or another?
Justified whining, I grant you, but whining nonetheless.

My $0.02. ;-)

I think whining depends on a lot of things. The kind I mock is the unjustified and/or excessive kind - like whining about your elected officials and not voting; whining about your elected officials and begrudging the public of the right to choose the wrong leader; whining too much, or too hard about something you could be acting construtively about.

I try not to whine. I snipe, I comment, and I express my thoughts. I don't blame other people for things that are my problem like most whiners do (Dan Freeman-Maloy, for example, broke York's rules flagrantly. SPHR shouldn't make public statements if they won't stand by their word.) I act very decisively in my personal life, but I have opinions and I express them. That's not whining. I specifically try not to whine, because it just gets really old really quickly.

And I don't try to tell anyone that my problems are their problems, like many of my whiners have done.

I don't think annoying whiny whining can be justified in the way ranting can, because there is a matter of tone and word choice. I didn't say "It's not fair PNP lost," I said "the students have spoken".

I'm not a whiner.

I'm many things, but I'm not a whiner.

Amen.

Alliance members deliver

2004-12-16T17:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I noted that the Alliance was giving holiday presents to the terrorists. I put mine in, and here is Harvey's (he writes Bad Example). Some highlights:

A box of bullets clearly labeled "For Internal Use Only" and delivered from the rifles of happy Marines wearing Santa hats.
A crate of dreidels.
A 55-gallon drum of pickled pig's feet. MMMMM! Pork-o-licious!
Inflatable camels that explode upon penetration.
New tents. With big red bullseyes on top and GPS beacons in the tentpoles.

Similar ideas over at This blog is full of crap.

Cheers.

Everything in moderation

2004-12-16T16:55:00.000-05:00

Some moderates have a group blog where they talk about stuff and bemoan the political divisions that have shattered America in two. Three cheers for dialogue and moderation.

Underrated blogs

2004-12-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

I decided to go through the Ecosystem and check out cool blogs York students would like to read and only post those sad new blogs that have no links. The only caveat that it has to have been updated recently. No blogs that have done nothing since June.

So here goes:
There's this Student Money Tips blog...Nothing since October, but useful archives.
Dude, where's the beach is full of interesting stuff.
Minyan of hits...read it only if you already know what a minyan is.
No recent posts but still worth a mention: The Embedded conservative is a conservative working amidst a sea of liberals. Sound familiar?
Kind of liberal, but human rights should be universal, so let's hear it for Amendment Nine. I especially like them because one of their bloggers notes that there has been a "dramatic decline in free-thinking on university campuses".
And one funny one called Blue Damage.

I think that's enough altruism for one day.

Hanukkah presents for terrorists

2004-12-15T17:35:00.000-05:00

The Alliance has posed the question: What should we get the terrorists for Christmas?

In light of the news about what is going on in Greece, I only can say that my Hanukkah present for the people of Greece, Israel, Palestine, Beslan and Iraq would be the freedom to ride a bus without fear of violence, if I could grant it.

My Hanukkah present to all the terrorists of the world is an idea I got from an old ex-boyfriend, who said that Israeli construction companies who need to wreck old buildings should just hire suicide bombers to blow themselves up at the demolition sites. Easy demolition, less suicide bombers: Two birds, one stone.

Good present, eh? It's employment!

Granted, he also said that I was domineering and controlling. (Jackass.) He wasn't wrong about that.

8 crazy nights: completed

2004-12-15T17:27:00.000-05:00

So something about Hanukkah always gets me. Maybe it's the spirit of the holiday - the triumph of the weak over the strong, etc. Maybe it's eating greasy latkes cooked by my mom and watching the candles burn when it's warm inside and cold outside. Maybe it's family. Certainly not my favorite of the holidays, but one that leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

Ultimate coolness: Hanukkah at the White House.

A joyous holiday season to all.

So overrated

2004-12-15T17:11:00.000-05:00

Did I ever mention how much I love Right Wing Duck? Not personally - never met him. But really, he makes me laugh so much. I admire a humourous man with a healthy level of disdain. Here are my favorite two from his lengthy list of Most Overrated in 2004:

These awards, represented by a small pile of gold plated duck poop on a little pedestal, are given to those personalities that have stayed in the limelight for no logical reason.

Can anyone say "Dan Freeman-Maloy"?

John Kerry.
Sure he’s war hero. Just ask anybody who didn’t serve with him. Otherwise, the Democrats were looking for the ultimate Not Bush candidate. Memo to Democrats. There are 300 million Americans who are not Bush. You could have done much better. In fact, for 2008 you might consider a candidate who as actually done something in the last 30 years.

Amen. I'd vote Democrat if there was an adequate candidate!

And last but not least - the lifetime non-achievement award goes to…

The United Nations.
Dear Koffi, the Sudan is still slaughtering thousands of their own people. Make sure you write a strongly worded memo. BTW Mr. Annan, did your son leave any bribe money lying around? Tuesday is Bring Your Daughter to Work Day.

Amen. What the UN does to Sudan whilst persecuting Israel for defending its own people is shocking.

2004 Blog awards (not mine!)

2004-12-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

Those of you devoted readers know that I sometimes do awards. This time, people who are entirely not me have done some awards, and I think that's cool.
So here are the results, which are "based on 366,187 votes cast in all categories over 10 days in early December 2004."
That's a lot of votes.

Categories included best overall blog, best liberal blog, best conservative blog, best humor blog (because Americans spell things funny), etc. Also, specialized International categories and Ecosystem based categories put small blogs vs. other small blogs and big blogs vs. other big blogs - kinda fairer that way.

Special props to small dead animals, whom I have never seen before, for winning best Canadian blog. To quote Jim Carrey at one of the Oscars ceremonies I watched a million years ago:

"It's an honour just to be nomi- Oh. God."

(Quite frankly, and this is a major admission - I doubt my blog, with its limited scope, would ever become super popular. How far I have gotten with my anti-whining rants has been overwhelming - I am shocked anyone outside of York would care about life as a Conservative on an uber-Marxist campus. Thanks to all those who've supported me. Sniff.)

Anyhow, I am glad to have discovered this happy new (to me) blog, which posts such useful things like Federal Budget Line Items:

Federal Gun Registry - $2 billion
Official Bilingualism - (another) $750 million
"Queen" Adrienne - $19 million
Sheila Copps "free" flags - $15.2 million

No wonder we have no money for health care.

Also, special second-place props to IMAO, for Frank's impressive finish in the humour category. I woulda voted Frank had I not been busy failing all my exams. (In case y'all didn't notice that I blogged twice daily in the summer and like twice monthly in the fall.)

Most amusingly, the 2004 Weblog Awards site itself has rocketed to #12 on the ecosystem - with almost 2000 links from everyone trying to get all their buddies to vote for them, and reporting on the outcome. (Hell, I just added seven.)

Congrats to all the winners - and to all the non-winners out there, remember, God loves little people too.

Whiner of the month posted by slowpoke of the month

2004-12-14T13:07:00.000-05:00

F***ing exams; no time to blog.

Three nominees for whiner of the month:

Two I like very much; one less so. The truth is it's my blog so I shouldn't have to post anything at all that I don't want, but let's, for the sake of fairness, give all three a shot:

First, from "Mיlanie Argent"mailto:m_argent1984@yahoo.ca:

I would like to nominate the whole Progress Not Politics team for being such sore loosers.

What was on their website the day after they all lost? 'You made your bed...hope you can lie in it?' Tell me that's not bitter and whiny!

Even better - they hold an emergency general meeting at the Novotel ?!

Why didn't they do this on York campus? What a waste of our students' money! Something tells me they are doing everthing they can to spend it all before the Unity ticket takes office in January. They approved $20,000 for a party for the outgoing YFS. This is nothing short of being whiny little babies who cannot get used to the fact they lost.

Now since I am a bitch, I will first mock the fact that Melanie can't spell "sore losers" correctly. Then I will pull a Norman Finklestein and post her email WITH her email address so anyone (especially spam bots) can find it on the world wide web.

Then I will say, what-ever! So they whined once. I specifically decided not to whine about their loss though it made me unhappy, and I think that while it seems that they too are unhappy for being smashed, it does not make them the whiniest whiners in whineronia.

And their comment, while snippy, is merely reflective of the truth. York asked for Unity and will get Unity. May I note that Unity exec Rabia Siddiqui was not half as polite after losing last year's election - she and her friends brought forward elections complaints from here to Timbuktu which were chiefly responsible for the two-month delay in ratifying last year's council.

One line on a website? Downright conciliatory.

Nice try Melanie, and forgive me for noting that YOU seem to be the teeniest bit cranky yourself. Ever heard of a sore winner?

I can't say I know anything about the money thing, but if it is true, forgive me for reminding you that this is what is called the spoils of power. It is always scandalous when a government uses money to their own benefit - but everyone does it. I expect Unity to do it too. After all, they promised to give themselves money in their election campaign.

Second, from "Mega Man":

How could it be anybody but Furat Al Yassin's friends? Apparently they were so worried about funding TBLGAY that Furat had to send them an email to reassure them that the 7 Muslims and & 7 Blacks on the slate were "conservative" when it came to sexual diversity. In other words, Furat suspected (for some reason) that Muslims and Blacks would be uncomfortable enough with the idea of homosexuality that they would allow that feeling to influence their YFS voting. Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

Hmmmm.....hard one. While I personally am for same-sex marriage, I would understand why someone with deeply held religious beliefs would be uncomfortable actively pushing for something they find immoral.

Toughie.

Truthfully, no. Sorry Mega, but the email was private (until Excalibur put it online and in the paper) so they were just talking among friends - decidedly less whiny then some of our more whiney whineroos, who whine in the media.

Third, (saving the best for last), Paul reminds me that SPHR (which Furat is head of) was so whiny that after they came out in support of the Jewish community, which was unfairly targeted by David Noble in his recent pamphlet, they quickly reversed course poorly.

As per Excal:

SPHR president Furat al Yassin commented, "we stand behind our commitment to combat all forms of racism, discrimination and misinformation ... and SPHR in no way endorses the views expressed [by Noble]".
But SPHR's position on the matter was amended before Thursday's free speech rally, when the group issued a statement which read that it "emphatically supports professor Noble and other like-minded, open-minded professors who ... elicit critical thought from students on campuses".

So now, they are just flip-flopping more than John Kerry. But it gets better:

Shadi Hajjara, SPHR's regional coordinator for Toronto, explained that the group's second statement was issued because it felt that the University administration distorted SPHR's position on Noble's material.
"Although we are not officially supporting the leaflet ... we don't believe it to be anti-Semitic and hold that [Noble] had every right to give it out," Hajjara says.
SPHR claims that their spokespeople were not furnished with a copy of the material they were asked to condemn.

Talk about whineration.

So there you have it - SPHR is Whiner of the month for November.

Stay tuned for the fun December - super-duper 2004 whiner of the year! (Coming shortly after the new year...)

So many whiners, so little time

2004-12-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

So who whined most this November?

Dan Freeman-Maloy?
Unity?
One York?
Excalibur?
York admin?
Leftist protesters?
SPHR?

This is an open call for nominations for November whiner of the month.
Due: Wednesday night, Dec. 8

Happy exams, everybody!!!

Democracy sometimes sucks

2004-12-02T17:57:00.000-05:00

York students have spoken. I won't whine; they got what they want.

Democracy might be annoying, but it is better than the alternative.

Linked at PNP

2004-11-27T21:12:00.000-05:00

Talk about rsponsive government - PNP linked to me!

Whining Unity drives me to PNP

2004-11-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

Stupid Unity chick Rabia Siddiqui opposes the dental plan. What the hell?

Unity candidate Rabia Siddiqui has been outspoken in her opposition of the plan, calling it “second-rate”. She claims that students at other universities typically get coverage for 75-85 per cent of their dental work, while York students only get 50 per cent.

I can tell she is not a math major, because 50% is greater than 0%, which is what I was getting two weeks ago at my dentist.

Anyhow, it takes little guessing to say that in general, I voted Progress Not Politics, if only because they have minimized the whining way more than the other slates who think that yelling about tuition and student debt is a platform.

Why?

Over the last year we have implemented a new, free dental plan, doubled funding for clubs, launched a new web site at www.yfs.ca with access to past exam downloads and more, extended the MetroPass discount, refunded part of your levy, reduced health premiums while increasing benefits, cooperated with York to get results on security, cut executive salaries so that more of your money is spent on student issues, and much more.

I think that's fine. I don't give a shit about much at York - I'm not a politician, I don't spend lots of time on campus, I'm not looking for much more than the basics. Cash back. A metropass. Cheaper dental. These are good things.

My only reservations?

Our team is a combination of experienced veterans and fresh faces. Daniel Cooper has been YFS councillor and presidential commissioner, chairing the Refund Initiative and working on the dental plan. Joseph Lavoie, likewise, has been involved with the YFS as Glendon College councillor. And Sophia Hyginus will bring a new voice to the table, adding to the depth of diversity of our team.

Whatever. I don't know who these people are. The only one I have really heard of (aside from Excal's report card the other week) is Paul Cooper. I'd vote for Paul Cooper again. He's quite the stud.

Plus, uber-whiner Dan Freeman-Maloy endorsed Unity. If I am ever unsure in life of what to do politically, I always think...what would Dan Freeman-Maloy do?

And then I do the opposite.

I belong at Harvard

2004-11-25T19:36:00.000-05:00

HARVARD! Yes, this well-known institution is
filled with spoiled rich brats pretending to
have a social conscience and brains -- just
like you! Don't let your school make you
arrogant; just remember, if your daddy didn't
buy a new research lab, you wouldn't have been
"intelligent" enough to make it in.

Which Ivy League Institution Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

One DUMB York

2004-11-21T02:11:00.000-05:00

The One York slate, also known as the all-white-male slate, proves to be silly. Not dangerous or politically malevolent like Unity, just silly. The slate is made up of Joshua Geno, Brett Cockburn and Johnathon Spink, whose sole crowning acheivement is how attractive they are.

In Excal this week, they wrote this statement, which I will now pick apart and mock simply because I can:

The hairpin of this YFS election is the answer to the question “what is the general student interest, and how is it to be determined?”
PNP, in last year’s election, made it clear that the general student interest would be determined by the will of the electorate, and their policies during their past term have reflected so.

That is GOOD. Will of the electorate = Good. You trying to tell me what I should think = BAD.

On the other hand, Unity displays that the general student interest is defined by the balance of power that underpins the relationships between a few clubs and services in the Student Centre.

Yes. They are elitist radical leftists who want three groups to control the entire school and all its money.

Although both PNP and Unity propose two ultimately separate agendas existing on two different sides of the political spectrum, both chose this election to run full campaign teams focused on gaining TOTAL CONTROL of York University’s undergraduate central government.
Whereas Brett Cockburn, Johnathon Spink and I have not!

So they want us to elect them knowing that they won't have the political power to do anything?

Our plans seek to open the arms of York’s central student government to the entire University by means of an integrative process separate from an ideological disposition.

York is a commuter school. The "entire University" doesn't give much of a shit about anything.

Firstly, we will empower York’s security team with “special constable status” that would enable their staff to protect York students, while not providing them with the power to usurp the students’ ability to protest. Secondly, we will establish a “real” university experience, by creating five (ex-officio) social programming positions within the YFS to coordinate solid events with the entire York Community.

“Special constable status” costs money. Where is the money going to come from?
And as for socials, can't the colleges and York Is U be left to do what they already do well?

The student body has had its central student government annexed by the interests of others. The YFS should not have commanding control; instead, the general student interest should always be determined by means of a referendum.

Referendums are pointless since no one votes anyways.

A group of 20 student politicians should not be deciding which organizations are funded “services” of the YFS, or whether the YFS should be a part of some larger, nationally based student union. A vote for our team would be a vote to empower yourselves, not the organizations who merely “claim” to represent you.

I feel plenty represented and empowered, thank you.

Thank you, and please visit our web site at www.oneyork.com.

Just in case anyone wants to scope out the SWMs (sexy white males). Other than hotness, and their desire to spend everyone's money on parties, there is nothing really serious about them.

Don’t come to Canada

2004-11-21T01:53:00.000-05:00

Overheard by me on a recent visit to a university campus in the States:

"If Bush wins, I'm moving to Canada."

Stupid Liberals.

Apparently, the day after the election, thousands of American liberals flooded the Immigration Canada web site. They may hate Bush, but enough to handle snowstorms and high taxes, not to mention our country's decided lack of Victoria's Secret stores?

And it takes 2-3 years to get approved to immigrate. As far as we all know, 2008 will be Hillary's. A waste of time indeed.

Domina from Pro Libertate notes that this is silly.

This is just like the 6 year old who takes his marbles and goes home because he is losing. Face it Americans, you don't belong here.

Amen.

Jealousy personified

2004-11-14T02:15:00.000-05:00

Right thinking girl meets the President.

2004-11-14T02:05:00.000-05:00

This picture comes from We're not sorry, a site by the 59 million Americans who are glad they voted for George W. Bush. They have more than one thing in common with me - we all hate whiners. I don't know and can't find out who precisely uploaded this picture, but to them, I say - thank you.

P.S. - I'm not sorry either.

Unity stinks

2004-11-12T14:59:00.000-05:00

So here are my first thoughts on Unity, who have covered York with icky yellow posters. (For the "fair and balanced" crowd, I have no intention of sparing the other candidates and slates from the scathing criticism they deserve.)

The plan is ridiculous:

"Our Platform:
� Build upon the tuition fee freeze victory and advocate for reduced tuition fees

This will never happen as long as they still intend to actually pay our professors and the school's electricity bill. News flash, whiners:
Education costs money. Lots of it.

Where do you want the province to take the money from?
The public schools?
CAT scans and MRIs?

� Restore funding to services and increase clubs funding

Define "service" - your special interest group? Why does your group (let's face it, half this slate are YUBSA members) think that you guys deserve so much more money than any other club?

� Save student money by increasing available student discounts.

Could you be more vague? We already have the ISIC card. We already have the metropass discount which no one uses anyways.

� Work for affordable and more available transit and parking.

This makes me laugh. Parking is a cash cow and no amount of lobbying will change that; as for transit - if York admin making hundreds of thousands a year can't get us a subway, what makes you think a bunch of student government lightweights
can?

� Increase YFS academic and financial assistance for students.

K, fine, you'll add three bursaries which you'll give to your buddies.
And we already have the past exam service.

� Increase student safety on campus.

More platitudes. It will cost a whole ton of money to adequately supply security to this campus; where do you expect the money will come from? Tuition increases? I thought you didn't like tuition increases?

� Unite York Students by working with the college councils and with students from across the country through the Canadian Federation of Students.

College councils - if you think those are relevant, that's nice. Why do we need college councils, though, if York is U exists?

If you like anarchy, CFS is good too.
I personally think that we should be distancing ourselves from such radical extremists as the CFS.

� Restore diversity and inclusivity to the YFS."

I hope that's not code for "kick the Zionists out".

Anyhow, I think they're pretty diverse. Certianly not the SPHR/OPIRG/YUBSA coalition formed by exec. candidates Siddiqui, Freedman and Mason.

If York students are stupid enough to vote for these guys, they deserve the lack of representation all but a few will get.

Michael Moore is a sellout

2004-11-07T20:29:00.000-05:00

This New Brunswick student is upset by the way that Michael Moore is seeking to extensively profit his work:

"I don't want to carry on with factual inaccuracies in Moores films and books. This is partially because I support his cause and also because I'm not sure I believe his critics, many of whom seem to be half-illiterate bloggers. I urge Moore to make himself more available as a resource for people seeking the information he has. Rather than charging for it, someone truly passionate about his/her cause would make it available for free. I'm not anti-Michael Moore - I'm just sick of him. "

This half-illiterate blogger (who probably gets better grades than the author of this post) will take criticism of Michael Moore anywhere she can get it.

The Race is on

2004-11-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

Here are the two websites for the slates. There is unity and Progress not Politics.

I hear nothing from the independents. Campus is papered with posters, though.

I have decided to research and rank (and probably mock, because who are we kidding....) all the candidates in the coming weeks. Because who really tells the truth during a campaign?

This is an election - so nobody but me.

And that's the truth about York.

Sanity at Simon Fraser - at last

2004-11-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

Anti-Americanism at SFU:

For arrogant Canadian nationalists to continue to assert that their nation alone holds a monopoly on peace, tolerance, compassion, and diversity is not only profoundly ignorant of Canada's own troubled history and contemporary social problems, it is also extremely jingoistic and xenophobic.

Amen.

Four more...what?

2004-11-03T21:10:00.000-05:00

Just as we had our own Florida recount last January, so too we're heading back to the polls to give PNP.......

FOUR

MORE

MONTHS.

Kind of anticlimactic. Look to TTAY to bring you the scoop on all your candidates in the coming weeks.

Whiner of the month for October and related news.

2004-11-03T20:22:00.000-05:00

October's whiner of the month is OPIRG.

Their crime? Fear of democracy.

In 1992, a group of people who are no longer at York, in their infinite wisdom, approved a referendum to give $3 each a year to OPIRG York.

And they speak for me how?

So YFS is doing a referendum to see if students still want to pay this levy. It seems nothing short of fair to reevaluate.

The referendum to terminate the OPIRG levy was done on the grounds that it is inappropriate for all students to be forced to fund a political organization that Cooper calls “extremely divisive”.

“There are over 220 student clubs that are desperate for money,” Kan added. “OPIRG receives a lot more money than all other clubs and services combined.”

Mary Best, OPIRG co-ordinator, disputed these statements.

“They really don’t know what OPIRG is or what it does,” she told council, adding that “controversy is going to happen, no one is going to agree on everything.”

She noted that it is a refundable levy and students can apply to get their contribution back.

“If you disagree, opt-out,” she said.

Glendon councillor Chris Mahon disagreed.

“It should be opt-in rather than opt-out,” he said.

Best was also upset that student money being paid into YFS would be used to promote the referendum.

Cooper also noted that the OPIRG levy was passed in 1992, and that the students who voted to create it are no longer the students on campus.

“We’re not even saying get rid of OPIRG [immediately], I’m saying let’s give the students the chance to decide,” he said.

Amen.

Even IF the referendum passes, it might not make quorum (no one at York cares. I admit it, sometimes in the past I have forgotten to vote.)

What is the harm in letting people choose?

So OPIRG - y'all are whiners of the month.

Later, Excalibur's managing editor Chris Jai Centeno wrote this editorial criticizing YFS and fearmongering.

The YFS is singling out OPIRG because they are partially helping TBLGAY (Trans Bisexual Lesbian Gay at York) after the YFS terminated their service status.

No, they are singling them out because they are radical leftists who take our money and then criticize the university for not lowering tuition while campaigning with CUPE for the university to increase people's pay. And the money comes from where?

Whiners.

And now for something completely different....

2004-11-03T02:56:00.000-05:00

Four words democrats:

The people have spoken.

Modern day hate speech

2004-10-24T01:47:00.000-04:00

Glad I don't go to Waterloo.

Even the CBC reported this big story: The president of the Canadian Islamic Congress told a talk-show host on live TV that all Israelis are targets:

"Mohamed Elmasry told various media outlets that Israelis above the age of 18, - civilian and those dressed in military uniform - are legitimate targets for Palestinian suicide bombers, because they've all served in the Israeli army."

This is sick.

However, it must be made clear that not all Muslims want to kill all Jews - Elmasry was there alongside another Canadian Muslim who was outraged: (I am printing the entire thing since the National Post website is subscriber-only.

Your editorial took Dr. Elmasry to task for what he said on the Michael Coren Show.

However, the Post should also be taken to task for omitting the fact that another Canadian Muslim on the same panel did in fact state his disagreement with Dr. Elmasry immediately after he made his statements. I was on the show. I disassociated myself from his comments. If taken at their plain meaning, they would be contrary to the teachings of Islam and the views of the vast majority of Canadian Muslims. Why didn't you also report this?

You can't demand that Muslims disassociate themselves from Mr. Elmasry's comments, while ignoring those who do.

Naseer Syed, Toronto.

Good going, Naseer Syed.

(Hat tip to the Tiger.)

Nice Jewish Boy

2004-10-24T01:30:00.000-04:00

Those of you who read me a lot might think I am super-duper enamoured of Nice Jewish Boy bacause of this:

To sum up my point here, I am voting for the all American and Pro-Israel party, not just for GWB. If they put Mike Jackson on the ticket they would probably still get my vote. The democrats scare the heck out of me. While Bill Clinton seemed to be doing a good job for eight years his time is over. The Oslo accords are over. John Kerry is not Bill Clinton. If you vote for him him this time, then you may as well vote for Hillary next time. I know the race is close, and I know some people are trying to rub it in my face about how Kerry won the debate. He may have pandered well to the ill-informed voter last week, but the real debate was started four years ago when it was time to leave to liberal way of doing things and step into the reality that is America today. America is a strong capitalistic society that leads the world in doing what is right.

I actually am more impressed by this:

I support the Israel Defense Force with all my Jewish heart. Unlike the world would have you believe, the IDF is the most moral and righteous military force in the entire world, also the strongest and smartest. They are held to the highest standards and because of that I tip my hat and give them a big shout out in today's update.

Sigh. There are not enough nice Jewish boys running around Toronto.

I think he might be in a rival alliance, but I don't care.

Nice Jewish boys are hard to find.

Linkfest day five: So I'm late. Take me down a letter grade

2004-10-24T01:15:00.000-04:00

I don't think I've ever handed a paper in on time. Some people can. I just can't. Apparently, I can't blogburst on time either.

So here are my entries of Buffy characters who would have voted Bush (I think everyone except Willow) and below, I have linked other bloggers who felt similarly.

From The Puppet Show (Ok, tweaked slightly):

Giles: ...Our new fuhrer, John Kerry.
Willow: I think they call them presidents now.

The incredibly dramatic Showtime, in which we learn that the right thing isn't easy.

Buffy: I don't know what's coming next. But I do know it's gonna be just like this -- hard, painful. But in the end, it's gonna be us. If we all do our parts, believe it, we'll be the ones left standing. Here endeth the lesson.

And of course, Whistler.

Whistler: Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are. You'll see what I mean.

Buffy again, this time with Xander:

X: You don't know how to kill this thing.
B: I thought I might try violence.
X: Solid call.

I have some other favorites, but other people on the blogburst, beat me with the timeliness thing.

Over on TTLB, 50 people have posted their heroes for Bush.

Some Buffy-rific highlights:
Abraca-Pocus points out that Spike is pro-Bush.

Come on! Grrr! Nasty! Let's annihilate those terrorists, for justice, and for... the safety of puppies... and Christmas, right? If we don't take control, they will. It's called security, people. Let's fight that evil! Oh, come on, George W. Bush is the one with the 'stones' to do it, you know I'm right!

Also, Flea has "Buffy for Bush", including that great first-season dress that everyone loved so much.

And, the best Angel quote ever at One Stack Mind:

"'If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.'"

Amen.

Life After York

So it's been a while

Disengage this!

York's ultimate whiners...

A welcome double-cross

"A Party of Inclusion" part two

June whiner of the month delayed due to me having a life

Moving right along

"A party of inclusion" part one

Whiners of the Month for May

Calling all math majors and betting fiends...

Quick, everyone, into the bomb shelters!

The things that are actually wrong with America (Corrected version)

A thought about the world

West Wing quote of the day

West Wing quote of the day: Mallory is not allowed to date fascists...

People who don't know what they are talking about

One year respite...

Jumping the gun

Comment of the week

Stockwell Day - an upstanding fellow

Are we? Aren't we? Who even knows?

West Wing quote of the day - May 10

10,051 hits later....

I like free markets. I don't like greed.

West Wing quote of the day...

Brock on Equalization

Right Thinking Girl's Weekend Survey 10

New stomping grounds

Finally, help for Sudan

Freedom of Speech for Whiners

Is it a crime to incite capitalism?

Whiner of the Month for March.....

A victory for non-whiners everywhere

Upgrade complete!

True Dat.

Lay off the rich. We'd be screwed without them.

My Googleability

York could get screwed....

On board for narcissism

Monday morning quarterbacking...Why? Because it's fun...

Well said.

The Tiger in Exile ... is just like me!

Men are rats. They're fleas on rats. They're amoebas on fleas on rats. Especially if they're Dan Freeman-Maloy.

Kick the bums out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And what is up with Blogger?)

Blogaversary presents for me and you...

Another mention

Blogaversary!

Oy.

In flux....

Liberal York, as usual

Whiners of the month for February

OMG - Ordinary York student to leave York!

Whiner backlog - January

~*MoonChild*~'s Journal

OMG!

Evil Glenn protests - hey, he must be a York student!

Daily Chuckle

Kindred spirits in engineering

Draft Condi!

If Michael Moore shot a documentary at York...

York is making me old and jaded.

I don't want to go to school on Monday

Worth 1000 words

Ordinary York Student under seige

2004 - Year of the whiners

Things that make me go hmmmmmm......

PR for me!

Score one for big breasts

"Hot chicks" blogging.

The Best of Us

Calling Alliance peeps: Evil Glenn needs a new quote

At last! A comrade in arms!

On whining (on Prancer, on Dancer, on Blitzen...)

Alliance members deliver

Everything in moderation

Underrated blogs

Hanukkah presents for terrorists

8 crazy nights: completed

So overrated

~MoonChild~'s Journal