Drive to Kill!

They call it an accident. A  slamming of the breaks and a wrenching of the steering wheel - seconds? milliseconds?? after impact. Whether that impact is with a gravel truck, lamp post, mini-van, or teenager on his bike travelling at night through an unmarked crosswalk, it's often too, too late.  2,011 vehicular collisions resulted in a daughter, father, sister, uncle, aunt, mom, brother being killed 2,209 times in Canada in 2009.   Why? Even if the numbers of these tragic deaths are down from generations passed, this unneccesary taking of life will never be the same for the families that are left behind. Sometimes, destroying that family beyond any hope of repair.

Sometimes when I am driving I envision that pedestrian walkway I just coasted through. Or that 3-way stop in front of the school. Did I really do everything I could have to ensure the absolute safety of anyone that might have been there?  I like to think I did. I like to think I am a pretty good driver. But then again: So. Does. Everybody.

MADD is probably the #1 advocate towards the creation of positive change of driver attitudes. Despite sad year-to-year reports of not much ever improving for alchol related traffic deaths. Maybe for real change to ever happen though, we need a PADD - Politicians Against Drunk Driving. This is only a pipe dream though, because it is usually the politicians that can't stop drinking! In all seriousness, though, the senseless murders on Canadian roadways have to stop. I think it would be great if the city would leave the fatality signs up wherever someone has succumb to a traffic-inflicted tragedy. And perhaps when a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th or 10th loss of life occurs there, they put up a round bright orange 2 foot sign with the cumulative number of deaths at the location that it happened. This would probably result in the public's realization that current mitigation techniques at ending road deaths is inadequate.    In the meantime, families continue to suffer because someone just doesn't get it. Christopher Dew's sentencing for the murder of a grandmother of 6 is slated for today.  The conviction of this murderer might result in a 24 month or else a 30 month prison sentence, depending on whether the Courts feel that the extra 6 whole months will do him any good or not. Keep in mind that this clean-cut white boy has served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and is looking forward to becoming a humanitarian aid worker in some poor, poor, developing country. Currently, my aunt's native-born foster child is serving a 2 year sentence for trafficking marijuana, first offence.   What gives.

Even when it isn't alcohol-induced idiocy behind the wheel, there still remains the constant potential for certain traffic death. This is often due to belligerent, ignorant asshole drivers that have no respect for anything but themselves.

Impatience is wearing thinner than ever on Alberta roadways. Merging onto a freeway can be stupidly hazordous as speed-demons cut through solid white lines, disregarding any respect for their fellow road companion or the laws of the city that are put in place to make us all feel at least a little more safe.  Stale yellows? Well, you go right ahead, but I'm not chancing it! The distracted driver bylaw? I fortunately do not have $60 or $80 for an iPhone bill every month, so fucking around on facebook while driving is out of the question. Texting is sooooo 2004. Eating while driving? Kinda gross. Changine CDs is probably my biggest vice, but at leat I am not applying mascara. Which brings me to women drivers. Without getting myself into toooo much trouble, let's just say: Yowza.  Soccer Mom's are the worst. The stress of the job of being a working Mom nowadays makes them the most insane drivers on the road. Those SUVs are indestructible though, so even with the whole fandamly in the back, she can still afford to exceed posted speeding limits by 30%. Buckle up, kids.

Extremely poor driver education and an incredible degree of ease in attaining a license do not make matters any better. Newcomers to Canadian roadways, old people, and indeed 16 year old children would all benefit from an annual re-education of 2-axle vehicle operation every year, complete with a thorough practical government administered examination for 3 years after first earning their Class 5. And old people have to get off the roads at age 75, please. The exam must be rigorous enough that the people incapable of learning even the most fundamental and necessary safety aspects of driving will NOT be driving! After all, we all know that there will be more than enough of these people that pass the test, then totally disregard everything that they were told anyways. Let's at least make it hard for them to earn that privilege of fucking around on our roadways.

If there ever is a time where a person's unacceptable driving affects you directly, I encourage you to speak up and fight for what you know to be right! Enough with the apathy. And flipping the person off doesn't do much more good either. Leaving a note on the driver's windshield is at least something, but it's better if you can muster the balls to say what needs saying to their face. Politely? Politely. As possible.  True, we can all try and exemplify a more civilized, empathetic behaviour of others' undignified driving habits or techniques. But sometimes ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! (I think it's time to pull out the 9-iron from the back seat now).

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Moving On.

As globalization continues, fuel prices will increase. Eventually they will be so unconceivably high that only the privileged elite will be able to afford to drive. But please be rest-assured: the combustion of fossil fules will continue well into the 2050s. 

Urbanization will keep our streets crowded and more public transit infrastructure will go ahead REGARDLESS of how poorly it is implemented. Even the best of public transit infrastructure will not deter the privileged elite that can afford to drive their own person vehicles from driving.

And with every additional car on the road, we continue to kill our planet with every last tonne of CO2 that is emitted into the atmosphere. even if we start driving more fuel efficient vehicles, the likelihood of our old cars not being driven by somebody within the next 10 or 20 years is pretty low. In addition, "more fuel efficient cars" does not mean "no fuel" cars, and will resultedly continue to wreck havoc on the environment! This website indicates that about 50 MILLION cars are produced every year worldwide, with 600,000,000 currently coasting around city streets.  Our oil dependent lifestyle will only intensify with our desperation for newer, better, and even more "environmentally friendly" / technologically advanced cars. The production  alone of  millions of "zero" emission cars will certainly contribute to global warming in the production line! Anthropogenic climate change. This is unsustainable.

In the year 2050, disparity and inequality will run rampant, leaving our poor civilized society in shambles. Right now, I am reading Collapse by Jared Diamond who demonstrates how crucial it is for us to aknowledge the warning signs before it's too late. It's not a case of "probable" or "likely" or "mitigation" or "work-on-technology-to-save-us" It's a matter of the necessity of change. Now. Everywhere. Fast. 

The City of Edmonton is being laughed at for the $100M in creating & expanding cycling lanes over the next 10 years.  Maybe if we're lucky, some of those 50,000,000 cars produced annually will not make it to Edmonton, and there will be more room for those of us who enjoy riding a bike on those new paths, with having less fear of being mowed down by some F-250 Hemi Engine Pick Up Truck or Distracted Driver or Soccer Mom. At least for the 5 or 6 months that the weather allows for cycling up here on latitude 53.

Today is World Car-Free Day! And it is also the day that my cousin was killed in a traffic accident 15 years ago. She was 18. I miss you, Shantell.

ch50.2/7C.2

My Ride to Conquer Cancer

At this time one week ago I was in a tent at Chain Lakes Provincial Park trying to get some much needed shut-eye. 

You see, there was this matter of 109 kilometers between where I woke up that morning and where I had to sleep that night - and only one means of bridging that gap: my bike. Needless to say, this distance on a bike can tire a guy out!

When my Mom was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September, everything - and I mean everything - was pretty much a blur.  Including the fact that September was ovarian cancer awarness month.  Including the fact that the leaflets for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer were now available for the springtime event.    

It wasn't until February when my Mom was through about 90% of her chemotherapy treatments (that all went reasonably well, thank God) when a friend convinced me that it would be a good idea to register for The Ride. "200 km on a bike? Well, I don't have a bike!"  But then I realized that this was something that I just needed to do. Just as my Mom needed to do her part by conquering cancer - it was now time for me to do it in a different kind of a way.

And this is what it was like...

My Mom joined me at Spruce Meadows on Saturday morning for the opening ceremonies and to watch the 22 hundred of us pedal through the start gates and down the winding road to - well - hopefully somebody near the front knew where we were heading!  My group (Team Paladin West) all crossed the startline together and looked good with our navy blue & sunset golden orange team wardrobe on display for world to see. The weather was mild, our water bottles were filled. It was time to get the show literally on the road. 

The first pitstop was in Okotoks where the the whole town went nuts for us. We had to pedal right through one of the main streets in town so absolutely 100% of the Okotoks population came out to cheer us on and show their support for what we were trying to accomplish. 

After Okotoks I was able to get into a little bit more of a rythm as we started to get a little more spread out. Feeling good, riding with a few of my team mates, we managed to pound back the first forty clicks reasonably well. Close to the 40km mark, my pal Mike found me. He wasn't riding with my team, but rather with is 60 year old father who happens to be  living with cancer. Not only that, Mike's dad had accomplished riding this same 200 km event the previous 2 years! Needless to say, I stopped to get a picture with this cancer crusader & his son at the 40 km pitstop. The next 20 km length of road down to Longview I found to be pretty reasonable. The wind was a little rough, but sometimes in life, you just need to bear down and overcome the more difficult challenges. Plus, there was a really fun hill to go down just prior to pulling into the Longview lunch stop.

At lunch we chilled. We carbed up & hydrated. Longview I learned has excellent jerky but didn't quite get the opportunity to try any out. Time to ride some more.

Some of my good riding buddies were great too keep me going on each day's 60 - 80 km stretch of highway. Pacing is a big part of riding bike, as is stretching, eating, and stopping for pictures. The mountain view for this part of the ride was pretty remarkable. I am sure happy the weather was so terrific...

Day One was nearing completion. They even had a 100km marker in the road. But at this point, the only thing keeping me going was the conversation I was able to have with a truly amazing TPW member as we battled up and pounded through the last few hills.  And finally - camp was in sight. I made it. Now all I had to do was find my bag, sleeping bag, tent, bike rack, change of clothes, shower, food, and beer.  

The amenities at the camp were tremendous. They even offered yoga, acupuncture, and massages. Bike techs, hot showers, live music, and lots of food. (and beer). Some people were in bed before 8 but I somehow was up talking and enjoying my evening til past 10. When I found out that my tent mate was a snorer, it ended up being a pretty late, restless night indeed.

6 AM! GO!!!! My team wished to all start Day 2 of the ride together at 7 o'clock in the morning. Yikes. So, with sore knees, sore everything I was up packing my bags and strolling through the field under a slight drizzle towards the coffee decanter.  By the time I was awake enough to find my way to breakfast, the drizzle...strengthened.

Yup. There it was. Rain. Alllllll morning long. Cold, wet, cold morning. But cha know what?  A miserable morning in the rain is nothing compared to the battles that those living with and fighting against cancer has to deal with. So we did it. Mile after mile. With always that one more hill to climb, we made our ways from pitstop to pitstop.

But as things do, the day brightened up. Every quarter distance traveled on Day 2, the weather also improved by a proportionate amount. So despite having to cycle into harsh northwesterly's and a needly foot-soakening rain, and only slivers of blue sky to motivate us - we made it to Black Diamond (or Turner Valley?) for lunch. Which ever it was, the break here was very welcomed.  By the end of my ~1hr pitstop here, I was even a little bit warm! But I kept the foil wrapped around my feet and my windbreaker on just the same. A handful of people got swept and brought closer to home on this extremely challenging day, but I am proud to say that with the support of my team, my friends, my family, as well as strangers on the road urging me on - I did it. Alllll the way to the finish line, where an emcee announced each rider's name while completing about 220 km of cycling alongside Alberta's Rocky Mountains. What a rush!!!

At the end of the day, there was my Mom. She was waiting there for me in what turned out to be a pretty hot day! It was great seeing her after finishing this pretty huge accomplishment. (My $3315 gets to be directed specifically towards gynecoligic oncology).  The team mates that I crossed the line with were more than happy to take a picture with the person that inspires me - inspires us all - to do what we did over the weekend. Thank you Mom for everything.

Sidenote: please do not be cynical about the usage of funds. I can never say enough how every last dollar makes a difference towards the treatment of any cancer patient. Signing up for ACF events, I am understanding that the participant can choose any of the following areas of oncology for their hard-earned fundraising dollars:

prostate cancer
colon, rectum, GI cancers
gynecologic cancer
head & neck cancer
lung cancer
leukemia & lymphathic cancer
brain cancer
sarcomas
skin cancer
breast cancer
childhood cancers,      
priority cancer discovery fund

So sign up today!!!

The Shopper's Drug Mark Weekend To End Women's Cancers is the last weekend in July  but is in Calgary again. It consists of walking 32 km 1 day or 60 km over 2 days and asks that participants raise $1250 or $2000 for the 1 or 2 day event, respectively. As important is EVERY cause out there, I will be giving this one a miss. Heaven knows there are soooo many causes after all...


Today we celebrated my Mom's birthday at Delux Burger. Nicola Crosbie introduced us to this place by advocating ovarian cancer research at this restaurant in February. Not only was it my Mom's birthday today, but we were also able to celebrate 4 months of my mom being cancer free!

Something Green and Leafy Is Just Over The Fence

Chapter Fifteen

I have a few ideas of how I could actually work towards making this place called home a little more tolerable. But most of them involve matches and kerosene. Just kidding.

Or am I?

The longer I am here the more difficulty I am having in actually liking it here. The people, the politics, the culture, the major issues that seem to be important to people here...I'm not gonna lie: they are not too important to me. I think there are places out there in this world that I could probably thrive in. Maybe. Heaven knows I have been fortunate enough to travel more than my fair share and have seen how lives get lived in different places around the world. And right now I am reading this book that will hopefully help to give me some perspective on ways that I might learn to be happy here - especially if I never get the real opportunity to be happy anywhere else (like 99% of the rest of the world).

I have few good friends: most of them far, far away. If not, then they plan on being away soon. Friends from my past seem to have faded away all but completely. Family? Well, sure. That is important. Take care of your family. Without them, who knows who will help pay for your funeral.

Edmonton is really starting to piss me off. It seems there's always some outrageous thought or stunt or act trying to be pulled off by someone for his or her or its own benefit. The Katz Group? What gives?!?! This city hasn't seen such a dictator calling the shots since Puck dumped Gretz. Envision Edmonton? GET A LIFE!!!! There is a serious lack of cohesion or community resulting from the rampant development that our movers and shakers are all trying to become memorialized for. Rapid above ground LRT routes, Mandel? You're still such a pinhead. And then there's the Edmonton Police Service. You lost the faith of your populace in the year 2000, back when "gangs" were all the rage and we realized that you had No Freaking Clue what you were doing. In the past decade occurences of police brutality have just sky-rocketed in the city. Now the next pig in line to run the EPS is fleeing e-town to work for the RCMP in B.C. - a police body with an even worse record of corruption, bigotry, and using excessive force. The worst part of it is he's taking his wife, Lynda Steele, - one of the most admired (if not attractive) local celebrities, with him. Stupid councillors waste their time bringing Indy car races into the city and approving the use of green light cameras that don't even work. Millions of dollars later, and hundreds of shelter beds remain un-built and tens of thousands of kilometers of roads remain unpaved in the summer or uncleared from snow in the winter. Good job, boys, keep it up! Vote yourselves a raise next week!

Edmonton wasn't the murder capital of Canada in 2010. Only 27 lives taken by the means of another person. An improvement for sure. I hate the idea of living in Windsor though, where they had a grand total of 0 murders last year! To live in Windsor would mean to live in Ontario. And that just won't do. But we'll get back to that in a minute.

Since Zac has left to Vancouver, Gary to Calgary, Andrew (RIP) to Saskatoon, and Dan to...NEW ZEALAND, I have been putting more thought into where I would like to live/start living my own life. I would like to be in a place that can truly embrace the multi-cultural differences that a community is made of. Stop All This Racial Hatred! The disparity in an oil-rich city is despairing. The poor can't get too many $60 Oilers tickets (bottom price) if they begged for them. Hockey teams have highs and lows so I would never move to a place because of their hockey team (unless it was to DisneyLand) and as frustrating as it is to admit: the Oilers will always be my team. And I would like to get away from this roughneck attitude that is becoming ever more redneck and belligerent as the years "progress". I would like to be a part of a culture that takes pride in sustainable living with less diesels and more bicycles. Less BBMs and HDTVs and more canoe trips or "beach & a book" days. I would like to surround myself with people that have some degree of respect for their fellow man, plant, and animal.

Outside of city politics and cultural stereotypes, I find the idea of ever leaving this northern city in this wild west frontier to be a somewhat bitter pill to even think about swallowing. To me, ALBERTA is both a prosperous and pristine place that still has a load of un-marked landscape alongside fully developed social services (that are essential for an aging population especially). From the majestic western peaks to the unharvested coniferous forests to the north, and golden plains everywhere else, this place has some good things going on.

The province's cities (I hate Calgary) bring in most of the big events and a person never has a lack of choices for finding something to do on any given night. It's not like my family on Vancouver Island who only really have the options of: drinking Lucky/Kokanee, playing ball, and getting pregnant (usually 2 of these things go together and result in the 3rd). Although, even the Satanic Surfers played Victoria in 2002... But in my biased opinion, the city of Edmonton has one of the strongest local music scenes - from metal to folk to punk to alternative country to classical to blues. We have it all. And it is all done well. The city also has a ridiculously huge mall, a trendy south side street, 3 "professional" sports teams, and an amazing river valley with parks and trails throughout. Not a bad place at all (especially for a place stuck waaay up here on the 53rd parallel)!

Outside of the city, this whole region can be great (as long as you don't live too close to a sour gas well). The cold dry winters make snow mobiling or cross-country skiing favorite past-times. Pond hockey? "You betcha!" as that hockey mom Sarah Palin would say after fucking every member of the team in her film debut in Not A Big Mystery Alaska. That was actually filmed here in Alberta.

Some of the truly amazing country girls out there are probably what I love about living in Alberta the most. I could even see myself one day riding horses (or cowgirls) one day, living on an acreage, and listening to a little bit of (good) country music. After all, we all come from families of farmers from somewhere down the line, right?! I would like to pretend that I could live the life of a rootin' tootin' hootin' hollerin' COWBOY, if I found that 1 special cowgirl to show me just how it's done. As long as I can get to the next big punk show that comes through town too.

I think that this dry barren wasteland complete with its blue skies and bitter cold can appeal to people that thrive in extremes. I think Alberta can offer some of the best health care service in the country. But I know that the rate of unsustainable growth & urban sprawl is far beyond any responsible long-term prosperity. Breathing the exhaust from endless gas-guzzling pick-up trucks is exhausting too. The arrogance with which the way these chauvinistic sons of bitches drive their stupidly enormous trucks is uncalled for as well. But it is Albertan, and to be expected.

So what to do. Where to go?!?!?! Go where the work is? Fort McMurray? Still doubtful. As good as an environmental engineer's degree is to work towards mitigating problems or risk, the real hope is that the tarsands just stop altogether and we all just work towards something that has less devastating long-term results.

Let's run down the rest real quick:

British Columbia - This place is filled with dope fiends and tree-lover hippies. The government is always in a state of chaos and everyone is taxed to their teeth. Not to mention that the coast will likely be under water in a few years from now...

Saskatchewan - Filled with the hillbilly deluxe. If you thought the English had bad teeth, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Also, this is probably going to be the first place that is attacked by America after they realize that Sask's nuclear power plants are within soldiers' marching distance to Alberta's tar sands.

Manitoba - They have no hockey team but the boys from Propagandhi still call it home and Comeback Kid is a Winnipeg product as well. This city often has one of the highest crime rates in the country, and happens to have one of the largest Native populations in a major urban center also. Oh. And they get flooded every year. Especially with these increasingly-frequent extreme weather events.

Ontario - This is the place that true blue blood Albertans hate the most. It is filled with politicians that screw Albertans over every chance they get. They are egocentric bastards with 2 equally embarrassing hockey teams.

Quebec - The Quebecois want as much to do with Canada as Canada wants to do with Quebec. Sure, they have a few sexy French women. But I think that for the most part, our Albertan cowgirls are 1 hell of a lot funner.

The North? Really? The arctic trails have seen strange tails that would make your blood run cold! So cold. That's if you have any blood left after the moose-sized mosquitoes/horse flies are done with you. But nice in the right season - I think - maybe the Yukon could be a pretty cool place. Once. Between May and August.

The only thing left in alllll of Canada is...The Maritimes! Merry Times? Possibly. They are a very merry people who like to drink a lot of beer. But then again, the degree of racism there is more prevalent (because of the smaller amounts of visual minorities, and smaller populations in general). I had a blast when I was there 6 1/2 years ago, but if the economy is the dumps, then maybe I should just emigrate like Dan and pick some foreign country to just start completely fresh.

I guess I will have to consider some things very carefully over this next short period of time...I sure hope that things work out. Maybe Buettner's Blue Zone book will inspire me. Maybe something (or someone) will inspire me. After all: this world is nothing more than we make of it!

The Best of Millwoods (Is Better Than What You May Think)

Ch. 62

So many people love to rag on Millwoods. They love to talk about the gangs, the muggings, the street drugs, sexual assaults at transit centers, and the opium busts, which may even lead to the question of what Canadian - Edmontonian - soldiers are doing in Afghanistan. They love to count how many minority groups are within their classrooms and how many white trash rednecks live within walking distance of the Millwoods town center in this place that is often referred to as "ghetto" or "the hood".

But I am here to tell you that this is really truly an amazing community, as communities go. The many minority groups have sooo much to offer and really, it's about time that we start appreciating all of our multi-cultural wonderfulness that really exists within that approximate 40 square kilometers of green spaces, golf courses, schools, dog parks, and even a water park. And as for the "white trash rednecks"? Well, they are not just in Millwoods. Of this, I am certain. Edmonton is falls into the jurisdiction of Northern Alberta, afterall. And really, the schools in the area are held to pretty high standards, as far as I have seen­ª. Not to mention that having schools that taught a different (i.e. better) curriculum is part of our jobs in electing a government with the values that reflect our own. (that's been blogged about already i am sure) Gangs are only of concern if you are in a gang and drug deals are usually done conspiculously enough such that your every day Millwoodsonian will not notice.


But what's so grande about this place I call home besides it having a moderately priced golf course and a mall with an HMV? And really, a much exaggerated reputation for being a bad place? Well I'll tell ya!

For 25 years now, I have been experiencing the grandeur lifestyle in this place called Millwoods. For my first 5 or 6 years, life was golden! Short walks to the local store, playground, or playmates. We would run around shooting water guns or nerf guns at eachother well into any given evening, with absolutely zero fear of being abducted or attacked. Between my ~7th and ~13th years, a lot of time was spent at the Millwoods Recreation Center - a building BUILT by the community. (Not like anywhere else now, where everyone wants new buildings and ask someone else to pay for it!!) In this rec centre, I remember my first jump in the dive tank, swing off the tarzan rope and step I took on the hockey rink. Later on, this rink would become the place where I would score hat tricks against the Millwoods Team in their own building (Go Knights!) and this pool would be where I would show off doing 200m swims in the "advanced" group of students in the high school co-ed gym class. I even remember that sign that said "athletes need fresh air" and the day that the city went "smoke-free" and it wasn't as bad walking through the players entrance to the dressing rooms anymore on the way out from the building. This focal point of Millwoods really brought together the community and allowed young families to let their children to interact and learn from eachother.


The freedoms in Canada are often highlighted in Millwoods, especially with all of its cultural diversity. I must have been about in grade 3 or 4 when I first noticed this. But it wasn't til Junior High til I realized that for me to learn some Tagalog was actually a legitimate possibility. And then only about a few months ago I saw children "playing" with actual sabres/swords/long blades of some sort in a church/temp/e parking lot that was obviously practice for some religious thing. Cool. In Millwoods, a person can where what they want and go where they want wearing that feeling reasonably safe. I just finished watching Mississippi Burning so I guess I am just trying to say that despite all of our short-comings when it comes to acceptance and prejudice - here in Millwoods - you can at least express yourself for the Millwoods Hero you are!!

On another occasion, there was a blackout. It must have lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. The whole community became unplugged from their electronic vices and got plugged right back in to the community. It was sunset and the whole of Millwoods was outside. This is no exaggeration. It was really incredible to see so many dogs for walks and just friendly greetings as people passed by each other.

The stores are pretty great in mdot. For starters, Sobeys has always produced an amazing staff of deli-workers. Namely, Heather & Heather. (although there are others!) Who can ask for anything more?!?! It's tragic, really, but with the JIT servicing & the Big Box Stores & globalization in general, I am finding myself traveling out to the new superstore who actually has much more reasonable prices. When I have to, the MWTC Safeway is actually not the worst thing, because at least then, I can see my favorite security guard in all of Edmonton. You know the guy I'm talking about if you live in millwoods!! But I will always love my Sobeys girls. The 2nd best place to spend money in millwoods is @ the 3 or 4 year old Dairy Queen in 23rd. Although, we have some pretty interesting pubs too...

This summer I hung out at the MWTC parking lot on another occasion. I went to a DRIVE IN!! They were showing the movie Up! so I drove down there with a friend and some snacks and had a pretty good time!! Millwoods has it all!!!

Our elected officials are con artists and I hate all politicians and think they are all corrupt. NEVERTHELESS, my old bus driver, Amarjeet Sohi is doing what he can to represent his electorate. This Millwoods councilor is not afraid to go in front of cameras & actually speak an opinion or idea - whereas David the Fat Ass Thiele - does nothing but sit on his ass & blackberry the shit out of his endless days on the city's payroll whether the council is sitting or not. They both showed up for the Conservative MP, Mike Lake's, pancake breakfast though. Lake represents Millwoods but really, he's just another back-bencher that keeps another seat from another party while desperately trying to use any political clout to bring attention to Autism, which his son happens to have. So yeah! Millwoods!! Pancake Breakfasts!!! Party on!!! Even though, you had to ask the conservative line cooks for a second pancake to be flipped onto your plate. I wonder how many pancakes Thiele ate? More than Benito cuz the PC-MLA was a no-show.

My Edmonton Public Library. What can I even say?? She and I have been going steady now for about 10 years. Before that, we were less frequent sweethearts, but now, our relationship is stronger than ever and I love her so. I can't wait to see her next week. I think she has something there waiting for me. I only ever cheated on her when I was @ Grant MacEwan and snuck around with her sister downtown. Shhh. Don't tell.


The timely release of this blog comes following a recent meeting regarding the fate of Graunke Park (on 50th & 34th). This green space is a hot spot for kids to "have a good time" - use your imagination. So one of the things they are doing now is actually trying to revitalize it. This might include incorporating kids from the area schools to clean it up, 55+ groups to maintain it, and a whole bunch more of us involved community members to have a vision and insight of how to make it better. Maybe next time I will even go to the meeting! As much as I want to travel and see the world and LEAVE EDMONTON for the mean time, I think that some of my time could be invested in helping to shape a part of a community that has truly shaped me over the past quarter century.

The Re-Inventing of Public Education

Chapter 45. The Re-inventing of Public Education

These blogs are way overdue. I blame my inability to pound out a few hundred words without sitting on the idea for a while of what I want to at least try to say. Not to mention that distractions are endless: hockey playoffs, my library book, facebook, and not necessarily in that order. But sometimes key current events force me into just forcing out the few semi-thought-out ideas I had scattering around in my head. This is what is happening now.

VueWeekly had an interesting article just come out in today's issue by social activist Ricardo Acuna. It clearly indicated acts of fascism and intolerance by the Albertan government, under the guise of ironically wanting to move forward and developing a long-term vision of what education in Alberta should look like in 20 years. This incoincidently happened to be an immediate follow-up to the passing of Bullshit Bill Number 44. I mean, hell! Even the slightest liberal-thinking young person would want to see this Bill fail terribly!! This could be seen with the 4756 members in the facebook group called "Students Against Bill 44" in comparison to the 61 members in the group called "Students For Bill 44". Something's up. HEY! Teacher! Leave Us Kids ALONE!!!

So. Now that we are all updated with the current events, let's go ahead and see what the hell I was thinking about regarding public education when I came up with my 45th topic of something I thought that could be turned into a blog .

#1 - Bill 44 proves we need a change in government.

Aside from the street response from the passing of this bill ("Alberta's always been seen as a bit of a redneck province"...), the vocal minorities sometimes do need to be heard. What good is a government that has no intention of letting the local gay & lesbian community have any degree of clout in the place they call home. Sheer intolerance. This is not the way to work towards a world with acceptance and peace. Even outside of this minority community, there was a whole whack of parents who agree that their kids need to be getting the entire curriculum so that they all come out with the information they need to make decisions for themselves. Education is not supposed to be limited.

So, it is important to understand that governments provide us with schools but we get the government we deserve (including strategic voting & apathetic non-voting). But more importantly we must understand that industry controls the government. Economies thrive on industry. And now since the economy is failing, we have the perfect opportunity to go all Obama-style and realize the potential in change! We can actually vote in a government with ideas on fresh technologies and genuine acceptance of all the minority groups that make Alberta interesting! We can realize the devastation of the air, water, people of oilsands production - despite how proportionately small they say it is!

#2 - Curriculum Enhancement: we can get more out of kids than just having them be able to regurgitate biology textbooks, take the derivative implicitly of a multi-variable equation, or memorize dates of wars.

This is actually a part of Engineer's Without Borders' goals once upon a time. We hoped to (and did) get more talk about "development" in the classrooms - something more than Grade 5 Social Studies, Post-War rebuilding policies in high school, or Sociology 269 @ the UofA. But the current curriculum must be re-vamped as we move farther into this 21st Century if we have a hope in hell of leading lives that will benefit all Albertans aka global citizens.

EWB focused primarily on aid dollars, water access, food subsidies, and fair trade. These 4 components have to be embedded into the Alberta curriculum at a very young age, just as RECYCLING was put into the classrooms when I was in grade 2.

So in addition to studying spelling, reading, the government, math, computers, christmas, the food guide, phys ed, sex ed, canadian politics, the holocaust; our curriculum needs to be more precise on taking on topics like:

the environment:
global warming, pollution, recycling, water scarcity

ethics & faith:
abortion, stem cells, evolution, islam, christianity (like, get them to read Life of Pi)

inequality & intolerance:
the apartheid, HIV/AIDS, globalization

I hadn't even touched a non-fiction book until I was well into my post-secondary. Why not get high school kids reading at least 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction book per semester through high school? That doesn't seem too hard.

#3 - Developing temperance of students is a lifelong skill we can work on developing even at school, even when the parents aren't there.

Restraint. Thinking. Patience and understanding that often less is more. Sometimes the easiest solution isn't the best. Sacrifice. I think that these things could be incorporated into day-to-day classroom stuff.

#4 - The teachers must actually want to teach (see my blog called 80 X 40)

So many times, a good government job is all that a person could really hope for in life. We need some way of paying the bills and paying into a pension so that the golden years will be all that we hoped they would be.

But I know of two people from my past. Let's call them Mr. C. and Miss B. Both are relatively new teachers. Miss C. counts her days until holidays and reaps the benefits of everything the teaching profession has to offer, with giving as little back as possible. On the other hand, Mr. C. hopes to be a principal one day, and is constantly putting in extra time with his class in sports-related activities, and also sits on committees that he doesn't get paid for to discuss item #2: Curriculum Enhancement! Kudos, Mr. C! Miss B? Why did you even bother going into teaching? Don't you realize that these kids need to see a passion in their role models - the shaper of their minds? You deserve an F. Your kids deserve better. So please, young people, don't go into teaching unless you are certain that you could convince your class that you are in fact there to create a positive influence in their lives. Maybe it's up to the government we elect, and the parents too, to ensure that we hold our teachers (with these compensating salaries) up to the standards we feel our children are entitled to!


Ricardo Acuna's article:
http://vueweekly.com/article.php?id=12135

Andrew Nikiforuk has a book: "School's Out: The Catastrophe in Public Education" available at the edmonton public library

95% of the World is 3rd World!

Ch. 30

Whether you believe it or not, 95% of the world is 3rd world. That's about 6.3 out of the 6.6 Billion people living on this earth. Maybe you are one of the lucky 300 Million. If 300 Million people live in America alone, then you certainly know that some of them will be having a hard time. I guess, like in anything, it just gets a little hard as to know where to draw the line. Especially when it comes to the various kinds of being poor. But I am telling you: out of all of the various forms of inequality of the world: race, gender, environmental (water, sanitation, sustenance farming through drought/deforestation), political, religious, educational, those with disabilities, those with no access to health care, animal rights...about 95% of us will be affected in a pretty significant way. It's just a matter of how we react to the things that we know that will determine one of two things:

1. whether you will be openly welcomed into the pearly gates of heaven, or


2. whether you will be sent directly to the fire depths of hell to burn for all of eternity.

Okay, maybe it's not quite like that. (maybe it is!) But this I know for sure. There is a growing number of people that actually DO give a damn' about the world! And they aren't necessarily all senior citizens or students either. Lifelong commitment of people wanting to leave behind a better world is becoming more and more popular. I am currently reading a book called "How to Change the World - Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas". It is a hopeful and inspiring book that provides specific cases of the projects that people are having success with in a world that sometimes seems very impossible.

In my life, I have seen some people take on some pretty amazing things. Thanks to Engineers Without Borders, I have seen thousands of school-aged kids get informed about water scarcity and the difficulties of governments in securing access to this precious resource. Letters to MPs and MLAs alike are being sent for issues ranging from untying Canada's Foreign Aid Dollars to quashing Stelmach's unconstitutional Bill 19 to asking the City for better access to public transit. I have seen benefit shows and bottle drives, bike rides for cancer and church groups doing development work abroad. A blog called http://attemptsatabetterworld.blogspot.com/ is probably one of my new favorite things to follow, where a man is trying to just make life better one step at a time. But with incredible inspirational people like Senator Romeo Dallaire, Doctor David Suzuki, AIDS advocate Stephen Lewis, and even grade school teacher, Mike Engel, it is not difficult to see how generations are now in fact changing the world.

I know just as much as anyone how easy it is to get very depressed, apathetic, and busy & carried away with your own life in such a fast-pace world. Especially if you are having a hard time making the rent or you recently find out that you are pregnant. Especially if you are worried about job security in the worst recession in 80 years. We have all watched the rich get richer and the poor faint away to nothing. We watch the pirates of the world continue to pillage and plunder the remaining few unhabituated areas or exploit the perpetually developing areas, slashing down trees, cutting into the earth all in order for their insatiable gluttony and greed. We watch as civil war rages on in Sudan and are sickened by the ideas of Child Soldiers or Slumdogs or for-profit companies going into countries for drug testing. We watch our own native people get displaced to the city streets as their water and land is polluted and destroyed. But we carry on. At the very least, we get informed. The hardest decision I think is deciding when you are informed enough to start contributing, or maybe when you can afford to start contributing because you aren't all busy with just surviving. From what I've seen though, a person doesn't need very much to survive.

So with sooo many inspirational and motivated people around me, I vow from this Earth Day 2009 forward, to start surviving more realistically and start contributing more appropriately. This is going to begin with writing a letter to my MLA Carl Benito and his boss Eddie, and the opposition parties too, about reversing their plans on cutting funding to the Wild Rose Foundation - a voluntary organization that offers support to a huge array of Alberta non-profits like the Sexual Abuse Center of Edmonton. After that, I am going to write out a plan of action that will help me to active goals within a certain time frame. Wish me luck.

http://www.wildrosefoundation.ca/about.aspx

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/04/21/cgy-wild-rose-foundation-alberta.html

Eco-Terrorism: The Trials & Tribulations of Environmentalists' Fight Against Resource Exploitation

(Ch. 4)

A guy named Andrew Nikiforuk is trying to take your money. He released a book last year called "Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and The Future of a Continent" for approx. $20. Ambitious to write a whole book? Yes, but HELL! There's just soo much damn' money flowing out there around environmental ideas and criticisms that why the hell wouldn't a guy try & redirect some of that cash flow in his direction?!?!

I wrote about this guy before. Before any of this tar sands mumbo jumbo came to the forefront of local headlines. You see, I came across another one of his books at the EPL entitled "Saboteur's: Wiebo Ludwig's War Against Big Oil".

From the start, I dove into this book with an open mind, realizing that Albertan Pride had already prejudiced most people against Wiebo Ludwig. He was, after all, involved with the slaying of a 16 year old girl, and noone likes to hear about murders - especially when it involves children.

Nikiforuk wrote from a fairly objective & open perspective that tried encompassing the many curious events surrounding Trickle Creek in and around Peace River, Alberta through the early-mid 90s. He got the story from detectives in the RCMP, ERCB (then EUB), neighbors, family members, oil field workers, and the bigshot gas company CEOs based in Calgary. In the end, he really conveyed the idea (to me, anyways) that injustices to the Ludwig family had been done, and that a man truly can only be pushed so far in a corrupt system that only cares about one thing.

Oil wells were bombed, oil field equipment vandalized, signs destroyed, serious threats, and less intimidating and menacing speeches and declarations made. A lot of sneaky work and timely investment & research had been done in order to get the things accomplished that were indeed accomplished.

So eco-terrorism is the word that is thrown around to describe these extreme things that an environmental group or person might do in order to make a substantial point about something that needs to be addressed, or is repeatedly and intentionally over-looked, for the sake of the health of people or the environment. ON THE OTHER HAND, a viewpoint expressed in the book is that eco-terrorism is actually the act of having sour gas flares poison the community and the livestock on which that community depends.

But I digress. I have been 20 years in Alberta and know that the only way that we can remain as a happy happy happy rich rich rich province is if we continue to cut into the earth.

We have nothing else!

Actually, that's a bunch of shit. Alberta truly has some of the most beautiful and diverse environments that I have ever seen, although I am a tad biased. It's just that Albertans have a different set of values, that rises from the days of hard labour of working the earth through the 20s and 30s as farmers. In 1947, Leduc #1 opened up a whole new realm of opportunity for people to get rich in the oil business rather than the typical wheat, flax, & canola harvesting. And even before that, people were attempting to remove the sand from the oil a few clicks north. Sixty years later, this business is bigger than ever.

Recently, Greenpeace Alberta has gained some momentum. It's current leader Mike Hudema (BLaw, BA Teaching (majoring in Drama, go figure)) seems to have some sort of idea of what he'd like to see happen with the current state of the oil business, as unfathomable as his ideas might be as far as economic growth is concerned. But despite any extreme viewpoints or tactics he might be using, at least issues about environmental degradation are getting talked about. In Saboteurs, however, it becomes extremely evident that fighting government supported oil industry is a losing fight; despite repeated outcries of opposition to any additional drilling. So much so, that a person will eventually lose enough sanity to take the government's law into his own hands. And it's happening again. In Dawson Creek (on the Alberta-B.C. border) there was a late-night explosion at a natural gas wellhead last October. But no alleged suspects (if they have any) are being released to the public.

So health issues.

People are resilient. They don't need a lot to survive. They can do alright with minimal food, water, sanitation services, clothing, money... The difference being that those of us that, for example, can afford to benefit from a Privatized Healthcare System, will thrive with the best treatments and opportunities for ideal health. And the rest of us? We be f$#@ed. That is the prominent thing that should be getting our government's attention. The Fort Chipewyan residents have found to have disproportionately high rates of immune system diseases and cancer by prominent regional doctor, Dr. O'Connor. The thing is that Ft. Chip is just downstream Lake Athabasca, which happens to be the majority of the source water for the oilsands operations in the area. There is a lot of headaches and disagreements about the environmental impact from the mining operations and the health effects on the locals. Then again, when tailings ponds can kill ~500 ducks, it's hard to believe that 100% mitigation can be taken to guarantee that people aren't being poisoned the same way, however so resilient they may be.

Bambi in the Bucket of a Bobcat

Besides the health side of things, we are watching the environment of our beautiful province turning more & more into the Land of Mordor. Building and Burning. Continual expansion: industrial sprawl, paving into the country & driving the wildlife away. There's bear killing going on, since the bears are getting in the way of industrial progress and sprawling urban development. And we are idly watching the replacement of habitat with paved roads, clouded skies, dried and filled wetlands. Caribou populations dwindling. This is happening everywhere: hectare by hectare.

The land footprint according to March 2009 National Geographic of all oilsands development in Alberta is 150 square miles. This equates to .01% of the total area of the Canadian boreal forest.

Small, yet devastating.

When Edmonton tears up its northeast soil belt for the sake of building 6 oil refineries in what is destined to become "Upgrader Alley", more farming habitat: lost forever.

And when the building of a new sour gas well (the sweet gas is gone) is approved for just beyond Calgary's city limits (or is it that Calgary's urban sprawl is reaching the foothills where the wells just happen to be being built now?): more emissions.

There is oil under lakes, like Maria Lake, that is constantly being surveyed & studied by geotech's who really wanna get under that lake & say that people & habitat won't be affected. Public pressure has saved our lakes so far, but as resources get depleted and prices go up, potentially devastating that lake will become a more & more viable option to many.

The bottom line of all of this is that we need new enforceable governmental legislation that caters to the interests of the people rather than companies. The existing system ensures that the few involved in industry will continue to get rich and increase the economic disparity amongst the classes, including even the middle-class having a harder time of breaking even. With this new enforceable governmental legislation, we will also have "to invent the corrective feedbacks that are needed to keep custodians (=politicians) honest" (Hardin, 1968). Only then will we be living in a province that we will not feel morally detached from, as we continue to destroy the land, air, and waters all around us.

Marx. The people's revolution. It may still happen. A person really can be pushed so far. Increasing numbers of anarchists and revolutionaries resisting this conservative occupation will get noisier and noisier. We all know that there is a dire need for emission reduction and environmental protection, and only with time will we start seeing these people rising from the ashes and fighting the system back with a vengeance. Unless we get four hundred dollar rebate cheques.

I bought Nikiforuk's Oilsands book before Halloween and haven't read it yet. Maybe I will go do that now.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/RCMP+investigate+fourth+pipeline+bombing/1143588/story.html

http://www.saboteursandbigoil.com/maybe_youd_fight_too.htm

Bad Habit: A Lesson on Driving Etiquette

Don't race the car next to you when waiting at a red light. You will only end up right next to them 2 blocks later. Don't start breaking for stop signs and red lights 3 meters before the stop line. Stop at stop signs - don't just slow down & keep going. Don't stop 3 feet into the crosswalk. If you see the Flashing Hand, don't step on it. Speeding up through intersections is not a good idea. Especially when there's a crosswalk in front of St. Richard's School or the University Hospital. Don't enter the far lane while making a turn. Make the turn then signal to get over. Signal. Always. That means put the damn' phone down. That includes texting. Don't tailgate and don't cut people off. That's just rude. Don't cross solid white lines in order to get to the turning lane a few seconds faster. Your time is not that important. Don't block intersections. Don't enter lanes when you know that the person in that lane is speeding so fast that they will have to RAM on the breaks to stop from hitting you. Enter the lane after they pass. Don't drive 80 when the speed limit's 50. Don't drive 140 when the speed limit's 100. Don't drive with your brights on in the middle of the city. It's not the least bit necessary. Don't let your 16 year old drive a 40 thousand dollar truck. Don't get into fits of rage about the redneck truck driver asshole that wouldn't ever read this blog. Don't drink & drive. I am pretty sure that after 2 drinks, 90% of people would be safer to Not Drive. Drive as little as possible. And when you do, don't kill animals. Don't kill people. Don't get killed. I like you.

Hey man you know I'm really okay

The gun in my hand will tell you the same

But when I'm in my car

Don't give me no crap

Cause the slightest thing

and I just might

snap

When I go driving I stay in my lane

But getting cut off makes me insane

I open the glove box

Reach inside

I'm gonna wreck this fuckers ride tonight

I guess I got a bad habit

Of blowin' away

Yeah I got a bad habit

And it aint goin away

Well they say the road's a dangerous place

If you flip me off

I'm the danger you'll face

You drive on my ass

Your foot's on the gas

And your next breath is your last

Drivers are rude

Such attitudes

But when I show my piece

Complaints cease

Somethings odd

I feel like I'm god

finish it yourself.

Barely Breathing

Barely Breathing (Ch. 48)

Air. 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% Argon. Anything else (like CO2) amounts to less than 1% of its total composition. At sea level, the whole combination amounts to only 1.2 kg/m³. That would be the same as your 1 liter jug of chocolate milk in the fridge only weighing 1.2 grams. How come that sometimes then, this very substance which is responsible for so much of life, so much of the volume of our planet above the surface of the earth and the oceans, feels like it is just crushing us?

Before any industrialization the air must have been something like "a little breath of Heaven" as Philadelphia Cream Cheese is like "a little taste of Heaven". I wonder if its density was lower before it got just so packed with particulate and stench? But without going into too much depth about air pollution, heavy industry, and all that wonderful stuff, let me just ask you: I am the only one that feels like this air you and I breathe is just incredibly stifling?

It doesn't matter if I am in a cool, temperature controlled room with the fan humming steadily next to the open window or in a large auditorium at the U of A (with heated door handles) with 150 keen students breathing a deathly stagnant air -- exhaling excessively in their excited chatter with eachother. It doesn't matter if I am walking across Northland's pavement while at Capital Ex in July breathing 30°C dry, greasy, sweaty air or walking through the same parking lot in February through miles and miles of cars emitting upwards of 20 mL of exhaust every minute* on my way home from an Oiler's game. It's just so hard to breath sometimes.

Smoking.

In my hockey days there were signs everywhere in the rinks that read "Athlete's need clean air" to deter parents from smoking in the rinks. Yet now, on that same walk back to the car (whether it be after an Oiler's game or a KC Knights game), the second that the door of the building is breached, the lungs are breached too. I can feel it killing me with every breath. Just as it has killed at least one person you have loved as well. Now with smoking gone from restaurants, bars, and bingo halls, kids aren't exposed to any smoke hardly ever at all unless by choice/parents, and I can breathe at least a little bit easier now that I know that this kind of poison is being at least somewhat mitigated.

When I am in the lumber yard at 1 of my 2 jobs, I think a lot about the role I am playing in pulp mills destroying forests faster than they would be if I wasn't there. I spend too much time thinking about how wonderful Banff and Jasper are, with its fresh mountan pine air and the (moderately/minimally) controlled development and expanse of these towns. I am baffled by the amount of trucks that idle in the waiting line and continue to idle while loading. Why not just flick the wrist and turn the effing engine off?? Ignorant Rednecks. I look at the young uneducated, unmotivated labour force with me there in the yard that don't seem to have a hard time breathing at all, as they head out for their smoke break. I think about the gas I am burning to get me to this second job, as well as how stupid and pathetic the Edmonton Transit System is if a more motivated/ money savvy person wanted to breathe easier while relaxing on the bus to at least 1 of their 2 jobs instead of having the stress and expense of driving Edmonton's dangerous roads.

So I attribute my inability to enjoy breathing anymore to my having a conscience. I have this stupid sense of caring about what the world is going to be like in 20 years and in 50 years. I spend too much time following stupid policies that affect Big Industry and Foreign Exploitation and have resigned myself to the fact that immediate and drastic action needs to be taken, for the sake of my ability to breathe, if not for the sake of our world. A sense of hopelessness cannot help but be felt when a person considers the net effects of urbanization & population growth, the industrialization of China, oil depletion, and the water crisis. If you think that global warming, oil depletion, and species' dying is just a bunch of hype made for the sake of fear mongering by a bunch of hippies, then I suppose we have bigger issues to deal with first. Otherwise, I personally don't know how you could have such an easy time breathing and I wish for you to show me how.

But aside from the stresses of the world - even if the difficulty you have breathing is a result of tension at home, school, or the office - I hope that you can find in your heart a way to acknowledge some of the biggest problems that we face as human beings. It really will be like Mordor again one day, especially if we get that next big drought, where we won't even have the freshness of spring showers to look forward to anymore.

Will you be my Frodo Baggins?

*for example: it takes a person 10 minutes to travel 2 km out of a parking lot (=12km/hr) and a fuel efficiency of 9L/100km (=18mL/min) and most cars on the roads won't get that kind of fuel efficiency.