Seal meat?

There is a lot of hubbub as of late regarding the piece of seal flesh Canada's governor General ate in Nunavut.

Animal rights activists are enraged, local sealers are thrilled and the rest of the world is for some reason paying attention.

I understand the position that bludgeoning a seal or any other animal with a blunt club is a barbaric act (barbaric as in prehistoric for the use of tools only, not for the result of providing food for one's community), I get how that looks. But in this day and age, in a remote place in the Arctic, why is the global, teary eyed community, so enraged over the hunt which has evolved to be much like the hunt for Elk, Caribou, Moose or Whale... wait, bad example!

Unfortunately for people in the North there is no way to raise beef or Chicken viably, the climate, availability of feed (hay, grain, etc...), and safe pasture land is non-existant. God bless these people who subsist on the land on a diet of local, free range creatures.

How funny that here in the South the same people that demand an Organic diet, unprocessed, un-medicated or hormoned food are the same people calling the GG's act disgusting.

Baby seals are killed for their pelts, that might seem wrong to all but the people who make a living selling the pelts. But in this case the GG was participating in a community tradition that uses all parts of the seal. The seal was shot, not tied to a steel chair, waterboarded; nipples tied to a car battery.

Good for our Governor General for recognizing a people's right to eat and live off the land. If you had seen the meat that was on grocery store shelves at the local "NothMart" in Rankin Inlet that sells for more than triple what we pay anywhere else, I bet fishing and hunting for your food would look real good.

Oh and as for an all-vegetable diet? Try growing a head of lettuce in the frozen Arctic Tundra.

Warning: Controversial content

Here's a story about a mother who sent her kid to school with a swastika marked on her arm.

They are calling it the white pride case. While agree that a white person has every right to be proud of being white, I also think that using a symbol of Nazi origin is wrong. The symbol does not represent White Pride, mot moreso hatred of all other races or colors.

Now it's important not to confuse the issue. The terms White Pride, Native Pride, Black Pride etc., are all great things. These trerms should not be confused with White Power, Native Power or Black Power. These suggest a control element and are more easily viewed as a supremacy statement.

I submit that for all of us oxygen breathing, carnivore, vegitarian, lactose both tolerant and otherwise people, become proud and experienced in human being before deciding we have earned the right to be proud of the color of our skin.

All good things

Well after being away from the job I despize, I am on my way back. I managed about 4 years away acting in a few different jobs finally settling on one I love. It was an assignment and now I just got word that because of the economy, I am "frozen" until an organization revamp is done.

Good news is, I will be blogging a shitload more

6-8 weeks would have been nice

The hiring process in the Federal Government was never quick or easy.

I wrote teh exam to qualify for a competition in May of last year. The results wereren't known until the end of October. I scored a 80% which was enough to get me through to an interview which was completed in December.

If you think you have to wait for things where government is involved, try working (or try trying to work) for the bunch!

I am told to expect an answer in the next few weeks... Hold your breath!

I miss writing stuff

Jeremy walked outside to start his truck as he does each morning before leaving for a 35 minute commute from the country to work. The -30 degree temperature embraced him like a cricket bat to the face, the numbness was comparable.

Wearing nothink but flip flops which doubled as slippers and his housecoat, a gift from his wife and daughters, he hurriedly skipped through the snow toward his truck hoping that the lighter he stepped the less snow would cover and instantly freeze his toes. Being that he was a little heavy the lightest steps in the world would still result in a drift over his 5 piggies.

The engine groaned and turned slowly over twice, on the third, life sprung into his sleepy frozen engine. The RPM's rose and soon he departed confident that it would continue running while he executed the morning routine.

Stomping the snow out of his "slippers" was done with great care, since a house-full of sleeping women was not a place that would welcome stomping about at 6 a.m., the woodstove was still radiating a welcome heat near the door to the house, there were surely enough embers to re-ignite the the main source of heat. A few seasoned logs thrown on and it was time to Get coffee started, dress and sneak out of the house once more.

Mobile Blog

Can you believe it? I am actually posting from the cummunity cubicle. Wonder if I'll post more often now? Stay tuned to find out!

Boating and CFL bashing

I leave Thursday for the Great White once again. This time we'll be making a 4 day boat ride from Hay River to Tuktoyaktuk. Should be an interesting ride since I've only ever flown there.

Since I may be away from my computer I encourage you to try and keep a healthy daily dose of laughter by listening to ESPN Radio talkhost Colin Cowherd. Here's a bit of what he had to say (pilfered from Rod Pedersen).

Outspoken ESPN Radio talkhost Colin Cowherd dumped all over the CFL recently on his daily call-in show. It's got everybody talking. Here's the transcript....

COWHERD: Listen to this story; you've been bashing Europeans all day, let's go bash some Canadians! Senator Larry Campbell, yesterday tabled Bill S-238 which aims to protect the CFL by keeping the NFL from playing regular season games in Canada. The proposed Canadian Football Act is a direct response to a perceived threat to the CFL from the decision of the NFL's Buffalo Bills to play eight games in Toronto over a five-year period beginning this August.

I mean honestly, is this the dumbest thing you've ever heard? A Canadian politician wants to keep the NFL out of Canada. That's like the president of Yale saying 'no more valedictorians in our school! Give us dumber kids!' Could Canada be more provincial?? Listen, we took Celine Dion and hockey and they're both HORRIBLE!! And you won't take the NFL?

Canadians want the NFL. I never met a Canadian in my life who'd rather watch the Saskatchewan Radial Tires instead of the Steelers. I've never met one! Call me, if you'd rather watch the Calgary Caribou over the Dallas Cowboys. Dude, you are doing meth. The CFL is HORRIBLE! Canadians don't like the CFL! I'd rather do black tar heroin with Alanis Morrissette than watch a quarter of CFL football. GOD!

The field is 800 feet and looks like a tarmac! The endzone is 400 yards long! They punt on the 1! It's ridiculous. You can run a post-pattern at the 2 - what kind of league is that? It's ridiculous! Listen, we took Bryan Adams. You can't take the NFL? We take all your bad acts. Sheesh.

Dave in Toronto, you're in the Herd. what's up?

DAVE IN TORONTO: Usually I disagree with everything you say but I just want to say that Canadians are usually very excited about the NFL and I normally never watch the CFL except to watch Ricky Williams to see if he's gonna get stoned on the field. But you've gotta remember up here the Senate is unelected. It's a bunch of careerist buffoons who are friends of the Prime Minister.

COWHERD: Dave, we let Tim Horton's in down here because we're not afraid of competition. You're afraid of us! We don't vacation there, but you vacation here because we build better resorts. Except for Banff. That's nice.

I mean it's just incredible. It's like in Canadian radio you have to play 70% Canadian artists, so you get some guy with a banjo. It's terrible! Canadian Football League.

Alex in Nebraska, you're in the Herd:

ALEX IN NEBRASKA: Yah, Johnny Rogers from Nebraska played in the CFL after he left the 'Huskers and they were playing in the Grey Cup. He ran a punt back and threw the ball in the end zone and they had to end the game because that's the only ball they had.

COWHERD: (UPROARIUS LAUGHTER)

ALEX IN NEBRASKA: That's the CFL.

COWHERD: U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!!

Dan in Toronto, what-up?

DAN IN TORONTO: Hi Colin. About that politician who's trying to make a stance on the NFL, he's absolutely absurd. I'm Canadian and I love the NFL and I hate the CFL. A 300-yard endzone is ridiculous.

COWHERD: You'll let Ricky WIlliams into Canada, but not the NFL. He's the biggest dingbat in the NFL. That's corrosive. You've got to be kidding me. Every Canadian I met is reasonable and nice but your politicians are absurd.

Meredith in Michigan you're on the air..

MEREDITH: Hey Colin. They're afraid of the NFL because they're afraid the Canadians will see how awful their football is and how awful hockey is to watch and they're afraid their sports are gonna wither up and die.

COWHERD: I love Canada, but here's Canada. Canada's one of those countries who lectures you on how sophisticated they are. Yet, have you ever gone to Windsor, which is just across from Detroit? They have casinos, where they put huge signs that say CASINO. Like in America, it says the Mirage. People can figure it out. If they're so smart, it's like going up to a place with a sign that says RESTAURANT or SCHOOL. I mean honestly, your Queen doesn't even live in your country. She lives across the ocean. Canada, you've got issues.

Let the NFL into Canada and give your people options. Not the Nova Scotia Bumble Bees against one of nine teams called the Roughriders!

Two words Pig Rectum: "Fair catch"... Pussy.

Newfoundland wins the Cup!

This is a bit of what I dislike about the Eastern provinces. Those who know me, know I dislike many other things east of NB. I've written and erased so many paragraphs for this post that I think I'll leave it where it's at.

Congratulations Dan Cleary.

Gloomy day blogging

Though the forecast is calling for some great stuff in the next few days, today is shaping up to be a tv watching sort of day. Escept I'm at work.

I submitted some pretty funny Rider Pride pictures to Rod Pedersen's blog, I think I had him to thank mainly for a lot of the traffic I used to get that has now disapeared. It probably has something to do with the 1 post in three months thing.

I am being "blessed" with a Blackberry this week. I am a little disapointed because I see those people at the airports or walking down the streets completely engorged by their little computers. I don't want to be one of those people. Another thing that bothers me is sitting down with the closest family and friends and competing for their undivided attention.

Otherwise, Riderville is looking amassed and ready for battle, my tanline is developping nicely as is my Stanley Cup playoff keg-belly. I have however been drinking lite beer... sometimes... when the store is out of anything GOOD!

Stay sexy WWW.

Ontario

Suddenly I realized my daughter is going to be an Ontarian.

Not sure why this bothers me but the thought of my little girl saying “aboot”, instead of about, the fact that she’s likely to develop some sort of breathing problem and that she is destined to be a horrible driver, gives me shivers up my spine.

I grew up in Saskatchewan where kindness and patience were always practiced. I spent a few weeks in the Northwest Territories and the place reminded me of home. Nobody flips you off or tailgates you for pulling out in 100 feet in front of them. The give a penny take a penny rule is in effect up to 10 cents, and if you’re still short, the person in line behind you (not snarling at your lack of preparation and existence on the same plane as theirs) will gladly oblige a few dollars.

My stress levels dropped during my sojourn, and every time I go back to my hometown in Saskatchewan I always come away feeling recharged and more patient with the screaming heads of this area. I guess that’s why I moved away from the small city of Sarnia and found a little spot where I can take a drive at 80 kilometres and hour in my old truck, wave to every set of fenders I meet and cool down when the city stress gets to me.

Knowing the kids are a 15-20 minute drive from any curb or convenience store also gives me some comfort.

Hey does anyone have the cliffnotes version on raising poultry? This could replace office chatter if I’m ever lonely for the office. HA!