tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86448362010-02-12T18:41:45.764-05:00A one-woman think tank.Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-5245290076787717972010-02-12T18:41:00.000-05:002010-02-12T18:41:45.770-05:00

Having moved house twice in the last two years, I think it's only fair that my blog share in the experience. Whatever is here will stay put for now. I will post new entries at http://www.paulinebrock.com. What brought this on is that Blogger is cancelling its direct FTP service. That, combined with my wanting to reserve my own domain (finally) is what broke my *inertia*. So please change your

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-27587869810580024132009-09-06T20:16:00.009-04:002009-09-07T12:04:57.954-04:00

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Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-41029406388179178862009-05-26T19:04:00.003-04:002009-05-26T19:38:01.550-04:00

Yes! Yes! Canada is finally getting noticed!No longer are we just a red (or grey, or brown) splotch on the map north of the 48 states. No longer is our news unreported, unworthy, unloved. And best of all no longer can Americans pretend to be Canadian when they travel abroad in order to be liked better.What brought this on, you may ask?Our Governor General ripped the heart out of a dead seal and

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-26112532903884368782009-04-25T20:21:00.008-04:002009-04-26T12:20:56.471-04:00

It took me awhile to get around to it, but here it is, the e-mail that got me so worked up in January:Subject: You SHOULD be concernedOur National Anthem - at the 2010 Vancouver OlympicsPlease read and forward to as many Canadians you can think of. Thank you - WE ARE PROUD CANADIANSBruce Allen is on the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee and new Canadians (specifically Hindi's/Indian's) want him

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-80151689397827503302009-01-14T18:37:00.006-05:002009-04-25T19:20:54.131-04:00

I have a new obsession, and it’s not a good thing.I am obsessed, these days, with the evils of email forwards.They are coming in even as I write this.Now, I don’t so much mind the ones with cute animal photos although they are getting a little repetitive. And Maxine is pretty cool her own self.I don’t even see them all since I refuse to click on any link to a website, a movie file, or anything

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1669567961535600322008-12-01T10:59:00.005-05:002008-12-01T11:22:26.503-05:00

Am I hallucinating.. or did Canada really have a federal election JUST LAST MONTH?In which, in my dreams or possibly reality, the Conservative Party won re-election with a larger minority than it had before the election.Yes a minority. But they still won.Now I know how minorities work, and how they can be overthrown, I was around during the Joe Clark debacle, etc. etc.But it seems to me that

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-55701989552321301762007-10-13T22:01:00.000-04:002007-10-13T22:26:43.858-04:00

News item:Duceppe to make French his priority in ParliamentGilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, had some intriguing words for students at the University of Montreal this week:He wants to change the law to make French the official language of Quebec and to ensure that Quebecers work in the French language.Say what?If that sounds familiar it’s because it is. French IS the official language

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-72231348535020691542007-09-11T21:49:00.000-04:002007-09-11T21:56:41.182-04:00

You know that old folk tale, where a man asks for advice from the village elder because his house is too small...And the elder tells the man, bring six chickens into your home to live with you and your family.The man does this, but it makes the problem worse and so he goes back to the elder, who tells him, now bring 3 pigs into your home as well...And this repeats a few times, each time the elder

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-88595000085076839442007-09-10T21:50:00.000-04:002007-09-10T22:21:16.848-04:00

Tomorrow morning, September 11, 2007, the MSNBC network plans to rerun the original NBC coverage of THE September 11, six years ago. CNN did the same thing last year but only online if I remember correctly.Why? What is the point?The usual answer to why media does anything is, ratings. Perhaps people will watch but again I have to ask, why?Why put yourself through it?Commemorate the day, of

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-74333729038715025002007-09-06T21:48:00.000-04:002007-09-07T11:11:26.345-04:00

It has long been a contention of mine that schools ought to prepare students for the real world. School society should, in an age-appropriate fashion, mirror adult societies such as the workplace.For instance: nobody in a workplace is going to sit down with a bully and ask them nicely to stop it. Bullying exists, will always exist, and while teaching children not to do it is an admirable goal, it

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-40519474513740475892007-06-20T21:59:00.000-04:002007-06-20T22:31:30.043-04:00

Bush vetoes stem cell bill.The headline sounded familiar.Indeed, it happened less than a year ago, in July 2006, when a Republican-led Congress passed a bill that aimed to loosen restrictions on public funding of stem cell research. Bush vetoed that bill, as yesterday he vetoed a similar bill presented by a Democratic-led Congress.The will of the people? Not when it conflicts with the individual

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-59216891936503280972007-05-13T09:27:00.000-04:002007-05-13T09:42:15.326-04:00

...for the shortest* campaign in political history goes to...GILLES DUCEPPEPauline Marois must have given him a really really big what-for!*I don't know if one day is really the record but it's close enough.

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-84594966930557634262007-01-05T18:52:00.000-05:002007-01-05T19:27:48.824-05:00

So, it turns out that while you were busy with the holidays last month, the President of the United States was busy too. Besides not listening to the Iraq Study Group, the Generals, the Troops, the Democrats, many of the Republicans, the pundits and anyone else who bothered to weigh in, George W. Bush made sure he COULD listen to you – if you are an American or send mail to one.He had already

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-11341211827321264182006-12-30T14:16:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:19:22.518-05:00

If I could only draw...This would be my political cartoon of the week:A large housecat with the face of George W. Bush, presents a gift at the feet of his owner, George Bush I: a dead rat with the face of Saddam Hussein.Cats often present such gifts to their owners, unaware that the owners find them icky – to say the least – but to the cat it is the ultimate gift of homage and devotion.The

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-91812854769150224312006-12-29T12:46:00.000-05:002006-12-29T13:25:43.552-05:00

Why I object to giving out *best of the year* awards before the year is actually over: this one is definitely a contender forBest Attempt at Elevating Truthiness and Spin to a Whole New LevelIt's about halfway down the page in this CNN transcript from Dec. 28, in which some reporters are interviewing one Fran Townsend, billed as a “Homeland Security Adviser”:HENRY: You know, going back to

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1166572627086795722006-12-19T18:48:00.000-05:002006-12-19T19:07:08.826-05:00

Update on a news story I blogged about in October, in which an American teacher, convicted of a sex offense for fondling an underage student, was allowed by US authorities to serve his sentence as a parolee, living in his home with his wife and child in Canada:The good news is, Canada has deported Malcolm Watson.The bad news is, he remains here nevertheless, pending an appeal which could take as

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1166128112756179112006-12-14T15:16:00.000-05:002006-12-15T21:01:32.880-05:00

Poor Stephen Harper.Scary in his own country, and now obscure outside of it, at least according to Chris Matthews, host of the MSNBC political show, Hardball.On Tuesday’s show, Matthews interviewed potential presidential candidate John Edwards and decided, somewhat playfully, to quiz him on foreign affairs in a similar manner to how then-candidate G.W. Bush was quizzed during the 2000

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165801701533383152006-12-10T20:40:00.000-05:002006-12-10T20:48:21.546-05:00

Today’s news brings another skirmish in the global war against displaying affection.Not to be outdone by the politically-correct Brits, this time it’s Americans who are asserting their right to be protected against unprovoked cuddles.A four year old boy in a suburb of the appropriately-named Waco, Texas, served an "in-school suspension" for “inappropriate physical behavior interpreted as sexual

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165605797542985362006-12-08T14:11:00.000-05:002006-12-08T15:03:11.313-05:00

Being obsessive, I subscribe to breaking news e-mail alerts from various news sources.Two of these just came in, one from CNN and one from MSNBC, and I had to shake my head at the seemingly conflicting headlines:From CNN:Panel: Leaders did not break rules in Foley matter.From MSNBC:House panel: GOP leaders negligent in protecting teen pages.Further reading revealed that both headlines were

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165267149720438362006-12-04T16:13:00.000-05:002006-12-04T16:21:14.613-05:00

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced Monday that the government will not continue a pilot project that offered tattoos to inmates."Our government will not spend taxpayers' money on providing tattoos for convicted criminals,'' Day said."Our priority is to have an effective federal corrections system that protects Canadians, while providing inmates with access to acceptable health-care

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165188405505928542006-12-03T18:05:00.000-05:002006-12-03T18:28:49.330-05:00

It appears the jury is still very much out on whether the Liberals made a good choice in electing Stephane Dion as their leader yesterday.I still feel he was the best among the choices given with regard to his policies and his personal style, vibe, that intangible whatever.(Charisma? No. But I don’t expect anybody will ever top Trudeau in that department. Canada had its first love affair with

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165109137068215102006-12-02T20:15:00.000-05:002006-12-02T20:25:37.080-05:00

A full day of political maneuverings and analysis with absolutely no idea of the outcome until the very end:It was heaven.I sat in front of that thing for nearly ten straight hours.No commercials.No blogging this afternoon either, as my internet connection was down, as was the TV cable. I almost went blind from watching the local channel through fields of snow. But far be it from me to complain.I

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165077398529764812006-12-02T11:28:00.000-05:002006-12-02T11:38:11.200-05:00

Leading up to second ballot results, a few observations:Much is being made of Stephane Dion’s being *everybody’s second choice*.While that is mathematically a good thing, it doesn’t resound well for the future federal election campaign. I can see the bumper stickers now.I was amused by Scott Brison’s explanation of how he, a former Progressive Conservative, can endorse a former NDP Premier: He

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1165071533520822852006-12-02T09:44:00.000-05:002006-12-02T10:07:18.393-05:00

Random thoughts upon watching the Liberal Leadership Convention on TV:The bottom three candidates have dropped out after the first ballot. That leaves five, and a minimum of one is eliminated with each further ballot.Therefore the convention can have a maximum of four more ballots: 5 candidates, 4 candidates, 3 candidates, 2 candidates.Someone please inform Lloyd Robertson who gleefully predicted

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8644836.post-1164594247489471652006-11-26T21:19:00.000-05:002006-11-26T21:34:51.050-05:00

Remember the old saying,“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”?Well, forget it.If we are to believe the lessons of popular culture, weapons such as sticks, stones and birdshot aren’t worthy of mention; however for words, saying “I’m sorry” is not enough.We teach our children to apologize for the most minimal of transgressions, such as making their sister cry, even if

Paulineeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04576271761708743546paulineee_@hotmail.com0