Kids Say Web Contact is Preferable to Human Contact

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/04/17/5310481-sun.html

A recent study has revealed a shocking number of children prefer web contact over face-to-face social interaction. Take a boo at the article and let me know your thoughts... is the number really that shocking?

T-Shirt making waves

I always find it amusing when such problems arise from wearing a T-shirt. When i was in high school i got into trouble for wearing a T-shirt that said "The Green Bastard" on it. My friend told the principal just for a joke because he never thought it would be such a big deal but i guess it was.

As for this shirt i have mixed feelings about it, because shirts are just shirts i am not very emotional when it comes to this issue but i do have an opinion. I understand that some rape victims may want to talk about what happened to them and not feel like they have to hide something. I also realize that other victims may not want to talk about it and would sooner leave it in the dark. I think that the right way to handle this issue would be to do whatever makes you feel better and if wearing a T-shirt that says "I got raped" on it makes you feel better then i say go for it. Although i don't oppose the idea of wearing this shirt, i think a better way to deal with being raped would be to talk about it with other victims so you could realize that you are not the only one and other people are dealing with the same problems as you. If you are a person who would sooner hide the fact that you were raped then i guess that is also the right way of dealing with the issue aslong as its not hurting you or making the problem worse. I don't really see how the shirt can help because if i saw someone wearing it i wouldnt say anything. I don't look down on people for being raped so wearing a t-shirt that tells me you were raped isnt going to effect me but if it makes it easier for you to deal with the aftermath of being raped then wear the shirt!

On Triggers

From the creator of the t-shirt...

I’ve read about how any survivor who wears this is being a terrible person to other abuse or rape survivors who might be triggered by it. However, I never see the same concerns voiced about, oh, many media representations of sex or romance, people verbally abusing their children in grocery stores, people who enforce ideas that sex is a duty people owe one another in certain social contexts, people using the word “rape” applied in scenarios like “The IRS just raped me,” or… hey, wait! People deciding to verbally abuse a survivor because she breaks silence in a way they don’t like or wouldn’t choose for themselves. Just a word on that? I feel pretty confident saying that most of us who are survivors are not likely to be triggered by another survivor saying he or she was raped, or having that voiced on a piece of clothing. More to the point, if you think this is the only way in any given day we might be reminded of our rapes, you’ve got to be kidding yourself. The most benign aspects of daily life are often triggers: groups of men crowding close to us in a bus, the street we have to walk down to get home which was the one we were raped on, being quickly grabbed by the shoulder from someone who had no idea that was a trigger, a chair, a doorknob, a broom handle, someone’s hand, a belt, a given way the light looks at a certain time of day, the smell of a cologne, the very skin we inhabit, or someone, perchance, saying something about rape to us like “Don’t tell a soul.”

Pretty Babies

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/pretty_babies/page1

This article explores the latest fad of taking young girls for spa treatments - including bikini waxes. Thoughts?

TMI?

A shirt causing controversy? I’ve come across this phenomenon before. However this seems a lot more “out there” than when my high school principle demanded I not wear my favourite shirt because it said “ass” and subsequently taped over one of the “s’s” in Ass when I refused.

Anyway, the shirt in question is one with an open safe on the front, inside the safe is a simple note saying “I was raped”.

This rape shirt is an interesting concept. I’m really not sure how I feel about it. Part of me feels like it’s just an attention grabber for rape victims. It’s horrible that people get raped, however publicizing it on a t-shirt might be going a little far with it. There is also a “I had an abortion t-shirt” as I understand it. My feelings for that shirt are the same as my feelings for the rape shirt.

I think deep down I feel like this shirt doesn’t need to exist. I’m not saying rape is something that should be swept under the rug ; far from it. I think rape victims should talk about their experience, and should own that heavy burden. But a t-shirt isn’t the right way to do so.

What happens when the nut bars out there start wearing it as a novelty or a joke. I’ve seen people walking around in shirts that say “pervert” on them like it’s a badge of honour or some big joke. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that people would do the same with these shirts.

I don’t like it, I understand its point, but I don’t think it’s needed.

-Dion-

TMI?

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/this-t-shirt-is-about-rape/

A shirt to start conversations. Take a look at the article - READ THE COMMENTS at the bottom of the article and post on your blog your thoughts about this t-shirt.

Jill

P.S. Here's one person's response... http://blogwonks.com/2008/04/05/more-liberals-playing-the-victim/

Tuition Freeze Lifted - Yet Another Sign of Global Warming?

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/04/07/tuition-freeze.html

Two days in advance of the budget, the Doer government has announced the end of the provincial tuition freeze for post-secondary students.

In your blogs, I want you to calculate what you feel is the actual cost of attending post-secondary school and whether or not you agree with the lifting of the freeze. Please take into account cost of living, books, entertainment, etc. when you make your argument. We will read and discuss each one in class.

Peace Tower Motion

The minority Canadian government has passed a resolution to lower the flag on the Peace Tower whenever a Canadian soldier or government worker is killed in a foreign land. As this is a non-binding resolution the Harper government has decided to ignore this resolution and only lower the flag on Rememberance Day.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/02/flag-motion.html

Tell me your thoughts on this motion - do you think it is important to recognize individual deaths or rather, should they be recognized enmasse in a special day of rememberance. More importantly, do you feel the Harper government's unwillingness to recognize a passed parliamentary motion is indicative of their policies and view of democracy.

This Tears Me Apart

I found out last night my father has a tumour growing on his spinal cord. If work and life allowed, I would return to Manitoulin to take his picture today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2008/mar/31/lifebeforedeath?picture=333325401

Tell me how the pictures affect you.

Nothing or everything

Its interesting, I often find myself stumped on the highway of life. Like today for instance. I’m supposed to be writing an interesting thought provoking blog. Blogging isn’t new to me, I used to blog frequently and often take credit for its invention. Years ago, before blogging was the jugernaught of misinformation that it is today, I have a monthly email that I would send out to my contacts list. It was simply titles “The Maxwell Report”. It was just a vehicle to release what ever I was displeased (or pleased) about and people enjoyed it. I often received feed back from people telling me how much they enjoyed my “rant”. My most popular blog was one on cell phones and cell phone users. I am now of course a cell phone user myself, but my gripe wasn’t with cell phones parses but more how people and society misused these devices. Perhaps I’ll go back through my extensive archives and find that blog and post it up here for everyone to see. But I digress. You see! I just started writing about how I was stumped and had nothing to write about and went off on a tangent only to write around two hundred words (Credit to word counter).

My main point was going to be that I’m not really passionate about anyone thing at this point. The last blog I wrote was my 2007 year end review, where I recapped the year 2007 and talked about my hopes for 2008. I know it sounds bad, me saying that I’m not passionate enough about anything enough to write about it, but Buddha said “Passionless is the path to virtue”. I’m not Buddest, but I like that.

I read back over this blog and I don’t enjoy it at all. I’ve said little of consequence.

So I’ll just ender here.

-Chris Dion-

30 Hour Fammine

So I did a 30 hour fammine about 2 years ago, and well I actually found out some info that i dodnt know about before. They were talking about what life is like for young children over there. They have to work everyday, some kids dont get the opportunity to go to school, and most live in fear.

Children usually aren't allowed to go out by themselves because of their military. They would go around to villages and take the children and froce them to become part of their military; child soldiers.

Just hearing about this actually made me sad. The world can come down to doing such horrible things.

So thats when I decided that maybe joining in on the 30 hour fammine would be a good way to help out and participate (something I normally dont do).

I am also sad to say I didnt get the chance o do it last year, but I am hoping to do it again this year. these are the dates for the upcomming famines: February 22-23, 2008 April 25-26, 2008

http://www.30hourfamine.org/

Good Heavens!

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvVMDsqypmxHdfqIdUILSiAjP12Q

Although I am not naive enough to believe this is the first time in history political parties have released talking points for their supporters; I am disgusted by the overt way this propaganda has been released. It's as though the Conservatives know they are moving towards media fascism but think the Canadian public is too apathetic to care. Thoughts?

Why Write?

Well, I would say that writing is something you simply have to have a passion for. Before facebook, texting and the like, it was necessary to know how to portray emotions and meanings through written work. But now, we use short hand ways of writing to get the point across much faster. So, technically, we don't need to write, but it's an excellent way of expressing deeper emotions in a very creative way.
Creative writing is purely for entertainment. But nowadays we have much more captivating ways of entertaining ourselves. So unless you have a really strong passion for creative writing, you can live without it. However, I don't think that it will die just yet. The general public still enjoys reading actual books, for now. But that could change. If a picture is worth a thousand words, why are we still writing?

The greatest show on earth

Up until last night, Metallica was the best live show I had ever seen.

That is, until Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters rolled into town. Considering I had never seen the Foo live before, I went to the MTS center with high expectations. I loved their newest album "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" and was fully prepared to sing along with any anthems they decided to choose. But what I witnessed was much more than just another rock show. Dave Grohl treated me to the kind of electricity that wreaked of experience and the kind of on-stage savvy that can only be gained by writing, recording and touring vigorously for the past 13+ years. Even those who had seen the Foo in concert before were blown away by the intensity that they brought this time around.

Considering Dave is rounding 40, one would think father time would at least show signs of catching up to him. Not a chance in hell. His voice is still every bit as powerful as it ever was, if not better. Witnessing this show made me realize that Dave Grohl is THE performer of our generation. He's taken what Kurt Cobain started so many years ago and refined it to the point of perfection. Long live the Foo Fighters.

Why write?

So we text and facebook and upload pictures with amusing captions, but do we really write anymore? Do we agonize over word choice, flow and meaning or do we just get the point across as quickly as possible? Is there a need to write anymore or can a picture, emoticon or txt msg get our point across just as well as elegant prose?