I witnessed two things on my walk this morning that got me thinking. The first happened early on when I saw an EMT leave his ambulance and head into a house. He was wearing gloves and a mask which is probably standard right now, but could also mean that someone with Covid-19 was inside. TheContinue reading “The Elephant in the Room”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Swingin’ Shepherd Blues
My father was a journeyman musician in Toronto for over three decades starting in the early 1950’s. This meant he made his living playing miscellaneous gigs like bar mitzvahs, weddings, dances, and jazz clubs, as well as lots of studio work and shows for the CBC. He was in his prime at a time whenContinue reading “Swingin’ Shepherd Blues”
Ghost Rapes
I just read the introduction to Miriam Toews’ novel “Women Talking”, and I am so outraged that I need to purge some of the fury from my system. I wasn’t sure if the tale she shared was true so I looked it up and found a corroborating article in The Daily Mail which cites informationContinue reading “Ghost Rapes”
I Want a New Drug
I recently watched a heartbreaking documentary about thalidomide and the devastating birth defects if spawned in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Some 10,000 children worldwide were effected, half of those in West Germany where the drug was first patented and most widely used. I was appalled to learn that the man who created thalidomideContinue reading “I Want a New Drug”
International Women’s Day
So we have once again arrived at International Women’s Day which always puts me in mind of a few things. The first is something that happened early in my teaching career. The day was acknowledged on our morning announcements, prompting a boy in my class to petulantly blurt out, “When is International Men’s Day?” ToContinue reading “International Women’s Day”
Along came Mary
Movies were a big deal when I was a girl. Now movies are made and released one after another, but when I was little there were not nearly as many of them so it was a real occasion when one came out. People dressed-up to go to the cinema, there were luxurious padded seats coveredContinue reading “Along came Mary”
Modern Leviathans Pt. II: Accountability
I discussed the growing problems related to privacy engendered by so much personal information being amassed by Facebook and Amazon in the first part of this blog. I would now like to turn my attention to another area of concern related to these technology giants – accountability. Let’s start with Facebook. With his wide eyesContinue reading “Modern Leviathans Pt. II: Accountability”
Modern Leviathans Pt. I: Privacy
One of my sisters-in-law and I were both teacher/librarians, and we used to go to the Ontario Library Association’s Super Conference in Toronto every year for professional development and to attend sessions on best practices. One year Senator Romeo Dallaire was the conference’s keynote speaker. The main auditorium was packed on the morning of hisContinue reading “Modern Leviathans Pt. I: Privacy”
Women’s World: A Primer
Most men, in my experience, really have no idea of the day-to-day insults, harassment and fear women endure at the hands of the opposite sex, quite aside from the larger and more visible problems of assault and societal and workplace inequality. In other words, even if some men understand the scale of #METOO (a debatableContinue reading “Women’s World: A Primer”
Where’s that Confounded Line!? Part 2: The Whining Continues
While the first part of this article dealt with an imaginary line men made up to serve their own purposes, I would like to acknowledge that there are lines of behaviour towards women of which men need to be aware. For example, I think just about everyone has heard of “mansplaining” – the common occurrenceContinue reading “Where’s that Confounded Line!? Part 2: The Whining Continues”
Random Samplings 