Thursday, January 31, 2013

Rub It In, Rub It In

5 places that are colder than Saskatchewan

They are:

Alert, Nunavut: -41.
The North Pole: -39.
Dzalinda, Russia (in Siberia): -51.
Vostak Station, Antarctica: -36.

 And (drum roll, please) Mars: -55.

Where IS that global warming????

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What Is A Nation?

 This YouTube video is a good place to start. I'll have a bit more to say below:


The Indian Industry has allowed the total bastardization of the word "nation" over the past 30 to 40 years. I'll take Treaty 6, to illustrate, because it is the Treaty 6 territory I know most about. When the so-called "numbered treaties" were negotiated, the representatives on the Indian side of the table were chosen to represent all of the Treaty 6 area, not individual bands within that area, although individual bands were represented by their leaders. That is an area that stretched from a short distance west of the present day Manitoba-Saskatchewan border all the way to what is now the Alberta-British Columbia border in the Rockies.

Certainly the size of the territory, if not the native population within it, was closer to what we would today call a nation, but even so, by the time Treaty 6 was negotiated, disease such as smallpox and a multitude of others, not to mention starvation, as the buffalo were rapidly disappearing, had already devastated their population.  In fact, the dire straights and state of semi-starvation was most certainly in the background when the Treaty 6 Indians sat down to negotiate, and was responsible for the insertion of key new elements into Treaty 6 which had not been in any previous treaty and that raised the hackles of officialdom in Ottawa, namely the medicine chest clause and the promise of relief during times of extreme depredation.

Perhaps that was reasonable, but what passes for a "nation" today, in the Indian Industry, is better likened to a village or town within a nation. About 30 to 40 years ago, the Indian Industry began to sell its version of snake oil, and boy, have they sold a lot of it. And a lot of people have been suckered into it, and a lot of people have made a good living selling it.

I'll have more to say about the Indian Industry and its output over the next several days.


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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Who Knew???

Monday, January 28, 2013

Another Kleptomaniac Moment



Don't believe it for a moment. Besides being a kleptomaniac, I'm also a compulsive liar. In fairness, tho, this one was stolen from someone else.

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Stupidest Question Ever

You Can't Make This Shit Up

Caribou hunt in Labrador draws sharp criticism
"New tensions are surfacing in Labrador over reports that animals in a fragile caribou herd were hunted, just days after an aboriginal summit focused on its future.

The population of the George River herd has dropped by more than 80 per cent over the last decade. (CBC)

Sources tell CBC News that dozens of George River caribou were recently killed by Innu hunters in the Border Beacon area in northwestern Labrador."
And CBC reported it!!!!

Emphasis mine.

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I Wonder...

...if she could have a little talk with that bloke across the channel who I affectionately call Chucky-Pooh? Do us a little favour, can you luv? After all, we gave you sanctuary during WWII. Those tulips we get every year are lovely and all, but living way out in the hinterland, as I do, I never get to enjoy them:

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicates in favour of son

Oh yeah, and my dad helped liberate your country. That should count for something.

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I'm Okay With This...

What Shawn Atleo wants from Stephen Harper: real change, real commitment

...as long as the results are put to a vote in a national referendum. And where else but Canada would this happen? You have to wonder whether Atleo's tough talk is aimed at the prairie chiefs as much as at Harper and Canadians in general.

I can't imagine the FSIN or the AMC agreeing with a BC chief on anything, and to get them all together around a table to negotiate a new vision --- Hah!! Snowball - Hell and all that.

And this:
"When I look in the eyes of the kids in the villages, I want them to be able to take a decision [to do whatever job calls to them] and know that they don’t need to feel compelled to enter politics because of deep injustices and the inability to have the freedom to say, “I want to be a chef and go to school and open a restaurant and be an entrepreneur because that’s what I really want to do.”"
...is ridiculous.  There's nothing stopping "the kids in the villages' from doing that right now.  I my lifetime I've eaten in many restaurants owned and operated by First Nations people. Me thinks this forked-tongue speak has to stop - NOW.

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Everything You've Wanted to Know, But...

Sunday, January 27, 2013

And In Other News

Polls Show Harper's Conservatives Widening Lead Over NDP
"The surveys suggest that 35 to 36 per cent of Canadians would support the Tories in an election. The New Democrats trailed with between 28 and 29 per cent, while the Liberals were third with 22 or 25 per cent support.. [Emphasis mine]"
Surprise. Surprise.

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Great Advances in Science

B.C. shooting one owl species to save another

Dung beetles use the Milky Way as a map, and other science news

And the other science news is......?
"Greenland’s climate was approximately 8 C warmer during the last interglacial period than it is today..."
Oops.

"It holds all your genetic material, but could DNA also store your music collection? Researchers reported Wednesday that they had stored all 154 Shakespeare sonnets, a photo, a scientific paper, and a 26-second sound clip from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in a barely visible bit of DNA in a test tube".

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Western Civilization

This morning, just after I got out of bed, the power went off and stayed off for two freakin' hours. Bear that in mind as you watch this video - The 6 killer apps of Prosperity:

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Moving Right Along

Blast hits key Iranian nuclear site?

Sure hope it's true.

Next one should go right up Ahmadinejad's ass before it explodes.

PS: I can't believe there aren't several, if not legions of, insiders in Iran who are working with Israel and the West.

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Friday, January 25, 2013

I Can't Help Myself....

....I'm a kleptomaniac. I keep finding stuff posted on Facebook by other people and I steal them:

Like this, for instance:



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Thursday, January 24, 2013

This Is All Beyond Me...

...but it kinda shows you how fragile life (including us) on earth can be:

Gamma-ray burst 'hit Earth in 8th Century'
"If a cosmic explosion happened at the same distance as the 8th Century event, it could knock out our satellites. But if it occurred even closer - just a few hundred light-years away - it would destroy our ozone layer, with devastating effects for life on Earth."
And you're worried about a few degrees of warmth.

Be good now. We don't want the gods to be mad at us.

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Bwhahahahahaha!!

Young Saudis have some humour. Something about dinosaurs....

Forced into extinction

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Ever Wonder Why...

...the Russians are such hardy people?

Welcome to the coldest village on Earth where the temperature can hit -71.2C, mobiles don't work... but homes still have outside toilets

  • Russian village of Oymyakon has lowest recorded temperature for any permanently inhabited location
  • Nothing grows so locals live off diet of reindeer meat and horse meat but never suffer malnourishment
  • Locals keep their cars running all day for fear of them not starting again if turned off
  • Digging graves for a funeral can take up to three days as ground has to be thawed with hot coals

You gotta wonder why they didn't win the Cold War.

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Aye, Matey!!

And may the best team (that'd be us) win:

100-year curling battle between Scotland and Canada hits Regina

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Ezra Levant: I Love You

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Oh My!

Is the world spinning the other way now?

From the Telegraph:

Bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain may last for weeks

Can't be because there a global warming conference going on in Britain. They only have those in hot countries now to achieve maximum propaganda - er - effect.

How Britain went tilting at windmills
"Not only are wind farms an unreliable source of power, but it has been revealed that generous licence deals will pay out even if they fail to deliver."

Sir David Attenborough "wrong" on human plague
"Sir David Attenborough was “wrong” to describe humans as a “plague on the Earth”, according to a leading environmentalist, who insists that the planet can sustain a much bigger population whilst protecting animals thanks to new technology like genetically modified crops."
Well, It's gotta be the Telegraph. It's a right-wing rag, isn't it? It certainly isn't because this cold snap is global.

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Moving Right Along...

...S senators urge approval of Keystone XL pipeline "
A bipartisan (Emphasis mine) group of more than half the 100-member U.S. Senate has urged President Barack Obama to approve the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would connect Canadian oil sands to refineries in Texas.“This is about something that Americans want. It’s about energy for this country,” Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, told reporters on Wednesday."
Majority of senators back Keystone XL pipeline
"Hoeven and Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, wrote a letter to Obama, signed by 51 other senators, urging him to approve the TransCanada Corp project, which has been pending for nearly four and a half years.

The letter came a day after Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approved a revised route for the pipeline to travel through the state while avoiding ecologically sensitive areas."
[Ed. I don't know about you, but I'd like to meet this Senator Max Baucus. Sounds like it might be a lot of fun to have a glass (or more) of wine with him.]

And this is just the cherry on top: Keystone XL prompts ‘unprecedented’ Sierra Club decision to break U.S. law

But, maybe not.

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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sport Builds Character...

...or so they say.

And then there's Canadian figure skaters:

Canadian figure skaters get in fight at hotel after championships

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Freakin' Cold!!

Why do I have to live in such a cold country. Forecast for tonight: -42 windchill

Even my house is cold inside and I've got the heat turned way up. Flannel jammies tonight and extra blankets.

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Good Grief!!

 You can't get any more blatant than that!!

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I Wonder What's Happening In Iran?

How many of those young people who were protesting in the streets a few years ago are rotting away in jail.



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The British Empire

Here's a little history lesson to rub in the faces of those losers on SunNewsNetwork:

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Sitemeter Sighting...

....I haven't done one of these for a while, but this one is a doozy. On Sitemeter, someone from the US landed on my blog after using the search term "uncut redneck men".

Ooooookay.

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Saturday, January 19, 2013

LOL!

This news -



- brings back a memory from ages ago. Somewhere around 1986 or '87 I was teaching school in Northern Saskatchewan and a school photographer came to take pictures of all the kids and the teachers. In my picture I had the dopiest smirk/smile on my face. It looked like I was making a rude noise from the other end.

It got a good round of laughs from all the staff in the staff room. It ended up tacked to the wall of the staff room with the title "Moana Louisa" beneath it. I still get an urge to giggle when I think of that.

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Time For Another Roundup

From the Aaaaargh file:

Child abusing grandma receives conditional term

"A 66-year-old Saskatoon woman who was convicted last fall of common assault and assault causing bodily harm for using violence against a granddaughter who was in her care will be allowed to serve her sentence at home, where she continues to look after three other grandkids."

Protest about 'Redmen' thwarted at Saskatoon high school
"A group of Idle No More protesters says it was blocked from entering a high school basketball tournament last weekend by Saskatoon police.

On Saturday, Bedford Road student Storm Night and about 30 others had planned to stage a protest at the finals of the Bedford Road Invitational Tournament — one of the largest high school basketball tournaments in the country.

The protest concerned the Bedford Road Redmen, a team name with an old logo that some people think is racist. Aboriginal people, in particular, have taken offence at a logo that shows a First Nations man with a red face."

...and the Breath of Fresh Air file:

To Solve Native Issues, Focus more on the Indians and Less on the Chiefs
"The country’s most famous hunger striker has declined to declare victory and moved the aspirational goal posts after successfully hijacking the Prime Minister’s schedule. Canadians are divided as to whether she is a Northern Ontario Mother Teresa or an incompetent small town administrator on a highly publicized weight loss program.

The Idle No More movement has seen demonstrations across the land, so far peaceful and no sign as of peaking. Yet Idle No More has no coherent program or leadership, and indeed is founded upon a rejection of such elements. Surfacing spokespeople demand a shifting grab bag of change.

The Indian establishment is fractured. The nominal leadership for the Assembly of First Nations has met with the Prime Minister with no tangible results. Numerous other chiefs reject that process, challenge their elected grand chief and darkly threaten serious civil disorder.

Treaty negotiations across the country are stalled. On-reserve poverty reigns in spite of immense public expenditures. Cries of “genocide” and “colonialism” rive the air.

And to top it all, a federal judge has issued a ruling effectively doubling the number of legally recognized Indians in Canada. One wag responded by suggesting we should just declare everyone an Indian and the whole country a reserve. Then none of us would have to pay taxes any more.

How to parse this chain of events? Let us start with Chief Theresa Spence. Were her reserve truly a sovereign nation, it would clearly be called a failed state."
Yup.

Who are the deniers now?
"Last year The Mail on Sunday reported a stunning fact: that global warming had ‘paused’ for 16 years. The Met Office’s own monthly figures showed there had been no statistically significant increase in the world’s temperature since 1997.

We were vilified. One Green website in the US said our report was ‘utter bilge’ that had to be ‘exposed and attacked’.

The Met Office issued a press release claiming it was misleading, before quietly admitting a few days later that it was true that the world had not got significantly warmer since 1997 after all. A Guardian columnist wondered how we could be ‘punished’.

But then last week, the rest of the media caught up with our report. On Tuesday, news finally broke of a revised Met Office ‘decadal forecast’, which not only acknowledges the pause, but predicts it will continue at least until 2017. It says world temperatures are likely to stay around 0.43 degrees above the long-term average – as by then they will have done for 20 years.

This is hugely significant. It amounts to an admission that earlier forecasts – which have dictated years of Government policy and will cost tens of billions of pounds – were wrong. They did not, the Met Office now accepts, take sufficient account of ‘natural variability’ – the effects of phenomena such as ocean temperature cycles – which at least for now are counteracting greenhouse gas warming."
[---]
"We all get things wrong, and by definition futurology is a risky business. But behind all this lies something much more pernicious than a revised decadal forecast. The problem is not the difficulty of predicting something as chaotic as the Earth’s climate, but the almost Stalinist way the Green Establishment tries to stifle dissent."

2012 Probably Not the Warmest Year in America
"Last summer headlines blared, "Hottest July in the history of the United States!" The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said so.

This week, NCDC is reporting the same, with the added alarm that 2012 was the warmest year on record and one of the top two years for extreme weather in America.

Climate activists are linking this to man-made global warming, ignoring that the area reported on in the NCDC reports, the U.S. contiguous states (i.e., continental America, not including Alaska), is only 2% of the Earth’s surface. So trends that may, or may not, be real in the U.S. in no way indicate global phenomena. In fact, the U.K. Met Office has admitted that there has been no global warming for 16 years and, this week, announced that temperatures are expected to stay relatively stable for another five years."
[---]
"This week, NCDC’s credibility was further damaged when meteorologist Anthony Watts announced that he had discovered huge differences between their “State of the Climate” (SOTC) reports released each month and the actual database of NCDC temperatures. For example, the July 2012 SOTC report, issued in early August, announced that a new record had been set with the average July temperature for the contiguous U.S. being 77.6°F, one fifth of a degree higher than in July 1936. However, today NCDC say the July 2012 average was actually 76.93°F, nearly 0.7°F less. What is going on?

It turns out that, besides periodically "adjusting" the temperature database in ways that tend to lower historical temperatures, NCDC does not wait for all the data to be received before computing, and announcing, the U.S. average temperature and its rank compared to other months and years. While some stations, such as those at airports, send the data quickly via radio links and the Internet, other stations use old paper forms that arrive by mail considerably later.

When the data from lower technology sources finally arrives, NCDC update their temperature database typically “cooling” the country when all the data is used.

But neither NCDC nor NOAA tells the public and the press if, when the complete data set is analyzed, the temperature announcements in previous SOTCs are no longer correct.

Strangely, NCDC change temperature data even from the distant past without notification. For example, NCDC now assert that the average temperature in July 1936 was 76.43°F, a full degree cooler than the 77.4°F that they claimed for the month in the July 2012 SOTC report. This allows them to continue to claim that July 2012 set a record.

NCDC claims cannot be taken seriously."
Other than that, American blogs are all "gun control" hysteria, while here in Canada, it's all Idle No More and raaaaaaaaacism. And I continue to have fun at SNN's website where the discussion in the comments is getting really, really nasty. It's so refreshing to see a website where the comments policy is "anything goes" and the facade of political correctness has been thrown out the window.

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Friday, January 18, 2013

Looking Considerably Refreshed...

...Shawn Atleo returns to the table. I wouldn't want to be him right now. He may have to preside over the dismantling of the AFN, if the Prairie Goons have anything to do with it. The Prairie Goons are too stupid to realize they will be handing the Feds a big prize if they willfully assist in the demise of the AFN.   B R I N G   I T   O N,  I  S A Y ! !

And this is sweet, isn't it:
"Although Mr. Nepinak said Manitoba chiefs “take exception” with being characterized as a “dissident group of chiefs,” several Manitoba leaders raised the spectre of ousting Mr. Atleo when they caucused at the First Nations meeting in Ottawa this month, Grand Chief Harper said.

Specifically, he said Grand Chief Murray Clearsky, who speaks for the province’s southern chiefs, said there should be a non-confidence vote. Mr. Clearsky did not personally respond to several requests for comment, but his political assistant, Gerald McIvor, said “all conversations between the Grand Chief and any southern chiefs are confidential and are kept privileged.”"
That sound you hear is the toilet flushing. At least they're not so stupid that they don't recognize they've painted themselves into a corner and there has been, pardon the pun, a circling of the wagons.

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Dear Abby, Dear Abby...

...You won't believe this;

The real Dear Abby has died, but for me, she will always live on in the immortal words of a John Prine song, Dear Abby:

Dear Abby, Dear Abby ...
My feet are too long
My hair's falling out and my rights are all wrong
My friends they all tell me that I've no friends at all
Won't you write me a letter, Won't you give me a call
Signed Bewildered

Bewildered, Bewildered...

Chorus:
You have no complaint
You are what your are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up Buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood

Dear Abby, Dear Abby...
My fountain pen leaks
My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks
Every side I get up on is the wrong side of bed
If it weren't so expensive I'd wish I were dead
Signed Unhappy

Unhappy, Unhappy...

Repeat Chorus

Dear Abby, Dear Abby...
You won't believe this
But my stomach makes noises whenever I kiss
My girlfriend tells me It's all in my head
But my stomach tells me to write you instead
Signed Noise-maker

Noise-maker, Noise-maker

Repeat Chorus

Dear Abby, Dear Abby...
Well I never thought
That me and my girlfriend would ever get caught
We were sitting in the back seat just shooting the breeze
With her hair up in curlers and her pants to her knees
Signed Just Married

Just Married, Just Married...

Repeat Chorus

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Brad Wall Strikes Again!

Rather than reacting with police to arrest Idle No More lawbreakers he has announced what amounts to a good, long over-due slap in the face of the Indian Industry:

Wall suggests funding changes

"Premier Brad Wall has hinted the Saskatchewan Party government will change how it provides First Nations-related funding in the province.

"We're going to move away from funding the process part of things that have delivered for Canadians and for aboriginals, specifically, the same lack of results," Wall told reporters Wednesday at the legislature.

He said the government has communicated this message to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

"If you will bring us projects that are about results in education and employment, you're actually going to find a government willing to partner with real dollars.

"But we're going to be moving away from just funding these tables where talk happens and interminably talk happens and the problems continue," he said.

Wall said he hopes in the future the Idle No More movement "will focus perhaps less on blockades and more on the opportunities that are available here in the province."

"We want to engage with First Nations with respect to education, with respect to the jobs that are available today and you will see some specific initiatives in this very area in the budget or perhaps even before the bud-get's out," Wall said.
[---]
""As long as I'm the premier, as long as this government is in office, there will be no special deals for any group, regardless of that group, in terms of natural resource revenue sharing," Wall said.

FSIN Chief Perry Bellegarde said resource revenue sharing is "unfinished treaty business."

"We've got to find collaborative ways to come to the table to deal with that. Treaties were not meant to impoverish our people, yet that's what we see," Bellegarde said, adding that he thinks more formal processes and meetings with government decision makers are needed.

"We need processes to get us there," Bellegarde said. "We need dialogue. ... Let's put our heads and minds together so we can really work in a co-operative manner to resolve these issues."

He said the FSIN receives "minimal" provincial funding, which is directed to specific programs or projects. He added he assumes by "tables," Wall was referring to long-standing self-governance tables.

"I want to see results as well," Bellegarde said, noting he also agrees with ensuring the population is "grounded in a good education and has good skills so they can compete and do a job in this economy."

Federal and provincial politicians are scheduled to make an announcement in Saskatoon on Thursday about training for aboriginals."
I think he's got Perry Bellegarde on the run, too.

Wall can't be idle on First Nations

The author of this piece, Murray Mandryk, is an unabashed Liberal/Dipper who has nothing good too say about either Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party or Stephen Harper and the conservatives, so he starts with a quote from Brad Wall:
"As long as I'm the premier, as long as this government is in office, there will be no special deals for any group, regardless of that group, in terms of natural resource revenue sharing," Wall told reporters.
He then continues:
"Wall also said provincial funding will not necessarily flow through the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) [Ed: Good. About damn time]  and will instead focus on results-based projects. "If you will bring us projects that are about results in education and employment, you're actually going to find a government willing to partner with real dollars," he said.

Even for First Nations people with a healthy skepticism of the FSIN's or their local band council's ability to deliver, there will be an even greater skepticism of a white politician who claims treaties are the foundation of our society, but refuses to engage in what treaty rights really mean.

There again, if you are white, middle-class and conservative - the very people at least part of Wall's message Wednesday seemed aimed [at]- you likely weren't completely pleased with everything he had to say, either.

The notion of any more provincial tax dollars being tossed into what they regard as the bottomless pit of aboriginal demands is vastly unappealing to this demographic, some of whom likely viewed Wednesday's Idle No More protests mostly as cause for arrests. Heaven forbid that we view the protests of First Nations in the same way as farmers' tractor rallies in the 1990s."
Let there be no doubt why I admire this Brad Wall, and the party he leads, and have the utmost contempt for Murray Mandryk.

New funding for Aboriginal employment
"The federal and provincial governments have teamed up to create the Skills and Partnership Fund – a fund they hope will help First Nations people find fulfilling long-term employment.

The announcement, which followed Brad Wall’s hints about cutting FSIN funding yesterday, was made by MP Rob Clarke and MLA Rob Norris.

The majority of the funds announced come from the federal government’s $7.9 million investment in Northern Career Quest, with the province chipping in $1.5 million through the Ministry of the Economy.

Federal funds are being invested in Northern Career Quest for its training for employment in the mining industry.

“Our government’s top priorities are job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity,” said Clarke in a press release. “That is why we work with organizations like Northern Career Quest to ensure that Aboriginal people are able to take full advantage of economic opportunities.”

Northern Career Quest will provide Aboriginal people in the province with classroom and on-site training and work experience in the mining industry. In two years, the organization will train 800 people for positions such as mining technicians, heavy equipment operators, welders, and office administration.

Additional funding for the project will come from industry partners, including Cameco, Areva, and Northlands College."
Sounds like a very good idea. However, we'll have to see if it turns out any better than legions of past initiatives have. I'm not holding my breath.





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First Time I've Ever...


...understood Shakespearean English.  LOL!!

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Thursday, January 17, 2013

I Like This

Sask. premier directly appeals to Obama for approval of Keystone XL pipeline

Brad Wall urges Obama to ‘swiftly’ approve Keystone pipeline

Saskatchewan premier, U.S. governors push Obama for Keystone pipeline approval

Interesting that Allison Redmond was not part of the delegation. No fat lady in sight, yet, either.

And for your information, I'm not one of those people who owns one of Saskatchewan's 17 Lamborghinis (First video @ 8:14 mark).

[Frankly, just the thought of a Lamborghini sitting in the garage of my humble abode is hilarious.)







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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Nothing Like A Little...

...trouble in Indian Country to stir up people from one end of the country to the other. Stuff like this brings Quebeckers out of the woodwork and onside with the ROC. Those poor Idle No More dolts have got more that they've bargained for. Quebec is mad at them, or at least Eric Duhaime is.

Okay. Okay.  I know.  Mr. Duhaime is a conservative journalist erstwhile politician, which is another rarity in Quebec, I admit. But that's not the only reason I'm oogling at him.  I'm sorry ladies.  I know this is highly anti-feminist and all that, but I just have to swoon over him because he's soooo good looking. What normal hot-blooded female would not fall for those dole eyes? Especially when he's fighting mad.  You go Eric!!



I like the way he says his family has been in North America for 17 generations. Fer Christ's sake.  If that isn't enough....

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Monday, January 14, 2013

What Did I Tell Ya?

Okay. I've been ignoring my blog again. That's because I've been following this whole Idle No More/Attawapiskat nonsense over at Sun News Network. In fact, that may be where I told ya this before, but when news that Shawn Atleo had booked some time off, on doctor's orders, my first reaction was that the Prairie Chiefs (the FSIN, especially) had got to him and we may see the end of the Assembly of First Nations. This article seems to confirm my hunches:

Norovirus, exhaustion leave Atleo sidelined as schisms deepen within AFN

The prairie chiefs, especially Saskatchewan's FSIN, have been a$$holes for decades now. The FSIN is corrupt and filled with thugs.

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

We Humans...

...are destroying the earth, I tell you:

Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species: Health
"Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason.

Waning infestations of the bloodsuckers have been linked by doctors to pubic depilation, especially a technique popularized in the 1990s by a Manhattan salon run by seven Brazilian sisters. More than 80 percent of college students in the U.S. remove all or some of their pubic hair -- part of a trend that’s increasing in western countries. In Australia, Sydney’s main sexual health clinic hasn’t seen a woman with pubic lice since 2008 and male cases have fallen 80 percent from about 100 a decade ago."
And we're gonna have to come up with a different excuse if we're caught scratchin'. It's enough to drive you crazy.

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Saturday, January 12, 2013

Instalment II - Cuthbert Grant

Instalment I

EARLY DAYS OF THE METIS IN THE QU'APPELLE AND AT LAKE KATEPWA (By Gertude Murray):
"There were many fur trade posts in the area we now know as Manitoba and Saskatchewan. These areas were close to the buffalo lands. The Red River Valley and the Qu'Appelle Valley were very busy areas for fur trading.

The Qu'Appelle was the domain of the North West Company. The Fort at Qu'Appelle was the main centre for the preparation and distribution of pemmican for the traders and from the Qu'Appelle boats and brigades of Red River carts carried the furs back to the Red River area for shipment to the east and overseas.

One of the most colorful characters who came into the Qu'Appelle area was Cuthbert Grant. His father had been a Nor'Wester at a post near where Kamsack now stands. His wife was a Cree and young Cuthbert was their second son. The boy became a clerk with the Company and later a trader. His area was the Qu'Appelle. From 1814 on he made continuous trips west, bringing supplies from the Red River and taking back furs.

In the Red River area Cuthbert Grant became the leader of his Metis people as the struggles took place between them and the Red River settlers. He led the Metis at the time of the Battle of Seven Oaks, doing his best to prevent bloodshed between the traders and settlers. He was recognized for his leadership of the Metis and charged with the responsibility of trying to keep the peace. He was given the title "Warden of the Plains". Later he formed a Metis settlement near St. Francis Xavier. It was called Grantown.

Although Cuthbert Grant died in the little settlement he founded, his son James Cuthbert came to the Qu'Appelle and lived at the end of Lake Katepwa." [Ed. Not far from where I grew up]
[---]
"The story of the Metis people in the Qu'Appelle can be picked up again at Lebret. This was an early mission founded under the jurisdiction of the diocese of St. Boniface, established in 1862 for the North West Territories.

Father Lebret, from whom the name of the present town comes, came there in 1866. Father Tache had come in 1865 and held a four week's mission and chosen a site for a mission. Then in 1866 when Father Lebret arrived the post and chapel were built of logs and thatch. Father Decorby came in 1868 and was the first residing priest and resident. In 1870 Father Lestang came. Then Father Hugonard arrived and was the parish priest for some years. In 1884 they built the residential school where Father Hugonard served as principal for thirty-three years.

The mission at Lebret was the centre for thirty-two posts north, south and west of the Qu' Appelle.

The Qu'Appelle Valley trails were the natural way for people to come west. From the valley you could go on to Prince Albert, to Long Lake, to the Cypress Hills and far to the northwest. Travellers, traders and missionaries were constantly moving back and forth. And, of course, some of them stayed in the beautiful valley.

By 1895, following the exodus of many Metis from the Red River after the troubles of 1869, the mission at Lebret was home to about 560 people, most of them Metis."
[---]
"There was also a small group of Metis living at the east end of Lake Katepwa and east along the valley. They were part of the mission at Lebret and were served by Father St. Germain and Father de Bretagne who came to Katepwe and to Blackwood (further east) to give services. In the records at Lebret we see that at Katpwa, Father Guy de Bretagne gave services to 87 souls. And Father St. Germain recorded visits from 1871 - 82.

This little group of settlers were the first Metis to live beside or near Lake Katepwa"
[Ed. Among the names in that "little group of settlers" were several that I remember from the days of my childhood. They include the Cardinals, Racettes, Klynes, Peltiers (alternately spelled Pelletier), and Amyottes.]
"By 1880 there was a small settlement at the end of the lake. The Metis were soon joined by settlers from the east.

John Lauder came from Winnipeg. He laid our a townsite at the end of the lake. He also gave the land for the All Saint's Anglican Church [I dealt with this church, built by my ancestors, in instalment I] He was a builder and the little settlement became known as Laudertown. Some called it Dogtown.
[---]
"And then there were the Peltier brothers-Clem and Bill. Bill finally settled on the south side of the lake."
[---]
"Clem Peltier's land was close to that now used for the Anglican church. Many residents and cottagers who came later to live around the lake remember Clem and his family. He ran a little store, too.

Further down the valley lived Cuthbert James Grant. He was the son of Cuthbert Grant, the Warden of the Plains. The son had settled there and taken up a homestead, following the Rebellion.

The Grants and the Peltiers had numbers of horses and were quite ready to help settlers and travellers who came through. The first church services were held in Grant's home when the Fathers came from Lebret.His grand-daughter, Alice Marshall of Lebret, remembers to services well. [Ed. Alice Marshall and her children lived next door to us. She is the person who I remember being a descendant of Cuthbert Grant.]

James Grant had a son and a daughter....The son was Allyre who lived on the home farm for many years."
[---]
"The children in this little settlement went to school first in Skinner's sod shack (Skinner is my maiden name, but I don't know which of my ancestors would have been the owner of this sod shack.)
[---]
"Many stories could be told about the Metis families but the story of Clem Peltier is told here briefly.

Clem Peltier's story is a fascinating one."
[---]
"...he and his brother came to Katepwa in 1876."
[---]
"Clem was a French-American from St. Paul, Minnesota. He broke the first land at Katepwa in 1880 using oxen and a walking plow. He developed large gardens, too.

He and the Grants acquired large tracts of lands. They also had lots of stock and machinery and were very generous with it all.

Clem's second wife was (a) daughter of James Grant. They lived on land not far from where the Anglican church is now. Clem built a new larger home of brick over near the Katepwa School. He had set up a brick making business at this spot. [Ed. And that, ladies and gentlemen is the house in which I grew up. I grew up to stories about the brick factory that operated on the home quarter where we lived. There were several holes in the ground in the pasture that were said to be places where Mr.Peltier had dug up the clay he had used to make the bricks.]"
[---]
"Clem Peltier's brick can be seen in many places. If you drive around Indian Head you will see many buildings and houses built of this yellow brick."

GRANNIE'S GREEN VALLEY (By Alice Marshall)
"My father, Allyre Grant, was born at a Hudson Bay Post at Pembina, North Dakota, in 1876. A few years later the Grant family moved north, probably by Red River cart; their destination ended at the east end of Lake Katepwa."
[---]
"As small girls, my sister and I always admired our Katepwa Lake and enjoyed just being part of it."
[---]
"In the year 1929 the present concrete bridge was built, all done by horses and manpower."
Again, I grew up right beside that bridge.

I have written about the Qu'Appelle Valley before - and quoted from the same local history book. Obviously, growing up in that locale has had a deep impact on my life, and most certainly influenced my life in many ways, not the least of which, is a life-long passion for Canadian history, especially the fur trade era.

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Ogallala Acquifer

You may recall, environuts in Newbraska were concerned the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would put the massive Ogallala Acquifer at risk of contamination. Here's a really good article that blows that meme to smittereens:

Local View: A science-based approach to the Ogallala Aquifer "
Over the past 40 years, it has been my good fortune to focus my research on Nebraska's Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer. Thanks to the University of Nebraska's Conservation and Survey Division and to the U.S. Geological Survey, I have been able to drill more than 1,000 test holes into the Ogallala formation."
[---]
"The Ogallala Formation is layered rock, not a lake or a sandpit. Some people say "the lake beneath my feet" when referring to the aquifer. Others think of it as loose sand identical in all directions. These are misconceptions. Our portion of the Ogallala/High Plains Aquifer is made of widely varied sediments eroded off the Rocky Mountains and then deposited in what is now Nebraska by streams and rivers similar to the Platte over a span of 5 million to 30 million years ago. Eventually, those sediments became layers of different types of rocks.

In the western reaches of the state, the Ogallala formation is exposed at the surface. Going eastward, the Ogallala and related rock units dip; the top of the aquifer can be as deep as 300 feet or so below the land surface.

Detailed test-drilling shows that those many layers of sediment that became rock vary tremendously in all directions. Some are heavily cemented siltstones and sandstones that impede the flow of water; others are highly porous sandstones and conglomerates, with the ability to contain vast amounts of moving water between the grains. No matter which direction you drill -- up, down, or sideways -- you'll go only a few hundred yards or so before hitting a different rock type.

In contrast, UNL environmental engineer John Stansbury's report (on worst-case consequences of a spill, released in July) makes the incorrect assumption that the Ogallala Aquifer is uniform sand in all directions and right below the surface. The calculations of a projected 15-mile plume (of leaked oil) did not take into consideration the geology of the aquifer."
[---]
"Yet another consideration is the depth to the water of the aquifer. Through most of its alignment, the pipeline is some 10 to 50 to 100 feet above the top of the Ogallala formation. It's questionable whether the leaked oil could work its way down through the overlying sediments; they contain interspersed seams of silt and clay.

Even so, no leak, large or small, is something to take lightly. For me, the area of greatest concern is Holt County, where the water table is at or near the surface. Any leaks there could go directly into the waters of the shallow aquifers, although not easily into the deeper Ogallala Aquifer. In this area, it is my understanding that TransCanada will build a protective, sealed cement conduit that will surround the pipeline."
[---]
"These geology and hydrology realities, gleaned from over 75 years of research into Nebraska's subsurface, should put people's minds at ease about the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Ogallala/High Plains Aquifer is not at risk from a pipeline spill"
My only question is why did this dude wait until now to produce this article. I'm sure the environuts will also ask that question and accuse him of being in the pay of "Big Oil".

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Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Okay. I Freely Admit....

...I've been ignoring this blog. I've been over at SNN's website shooting my mouth off on stories about Theresa Spence and the Idle No More movement. I've been presenting facts, which, quite naturally have been countered with the usual accusations that I am iiiiiiignorant and raaaaaacist, but no facts of their own.

In any case, I've been reading portions of a local history book which includes histories of many families in the area where I grew up, including my own. But this time, I was reading some general pieces from that book, which I had never read before.

Below is one of those pieces. It deals with Chief Sitting Bull and his brief foray across the Medicine Line into the Great White Mother's land, known as Canada.

I grew up in the Qu'Appelle Valley and went to school with several Metis kids.  One of the Metis (half-breed) families I went to school with were descendants of Cuthbert grant and within a 50 mile radius of where I grew up there are roughly 50 Indian reserves. These snippets, taken from this book, describe some things I did not know, most specifically about the presence of Chief Sitting Bull in the area. I will deal with the bits about Cuthbert Grant in a second instalment:

Two Visits of 1881
"The end of one era, and the beginning of another, are well illustrated by the contrasting stories of the separate visits of two famous people to our area in 1881. Sitting Bull, the noted Sioux leader, arrived in May, and stayed until late in June.  The Marquis of Lorne, Governor General of Canada, came by one day in mid-August.

Sitting Bull, with a pitiful remnant of fewer than a hundred of his followers, came to the Mounted Police establishment at Fort Qu'Appelle to make a final appeal for a reservation in Canada. As is well known, he had fled to Canada to escape  the wrath of the United States Army after the Indian victory over General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn of 1876.  By 1877, an estimated four to five thousand Sioux refugees were congregated in and about the Wood Mountain area of present-day Saskatchewan. They were accepted on this side of the border as legitimate refugees, although with strict rules for their behavior. They claimed the protection of the British crown.  They claimed the protection of the British crown on the basis of allegiance of their forefathers to the British in conflicts with the U.S.A., generations before.  Also, they claimed that much of the plains country north of the border was  part of their ancestral hunting territory, and that some of them had been born here.

Under the watchful eyes of the NWMP their hunting parties ranged widely across the south country with an occasional forbidden foray across the 49th  parallel.  However, the hunt became progressively less productive year by year.  In separate  groups, large and small, most of the refugees returned to the United States, accepting the promise of amnesty of the American authorities.

By the end of the very cold, hard winter of 1881, only about 300 remained in Canada.  Sitting Bull chose the fittest of those to make the trek to Fort Qu'Appelle, travelling overland more than two hundred miles. The splendor of their previous proud position as masters of the plains had gone. This small group was described as "haggard, lean and unkempt",  with inadequate numbers of worn out horses.

They were disappointed to find that Superintendent James Walsh, their special friend and advocate in the Police, has left Fort Qu'Appelle and was not expected back.  Hoping against hope, they stayed on for over a month camping on the prairie above the police barracks.  From there they ranged far up and down the valley, hunting and digging roots of the wild Indian turnip.  Land surveyor Mr. W. T. Thompson reported meeting two of them near present day Sintaluta that summer. This would place them about 15 miles southeast of Katepwa.

Their distant relatives, the Sisseton Sioux of the Standing Buffalo  reserve at the northwest end of Echo Lake shared some of their food with them.  Later it was reported that a few of the men of Sitting Bull's group stayed on at that reserve, after the main party left.   Simon Blondeau, a well-to-do Metis, helped relieve their situation with a large supply of white fish he had on hand.  Father Joseph Hugonard of the Lebret Mission gave them flour and garden produce in exchange for a few horses and some other almost useless possessions.

But clearly they  were not welcome.  Most local Indians and the Metis, although perhaps sympathetic, resented their presence here.  White settlers feared them. The Hudson's Bay Company post at the Fort had an insufficient stock of provisions to supply them. The Police and Indian Department officials were charged with the responsibility of carrying out the policy determined by Ottawa, and urged them to return to the United States.

Eventually, late in June, they returned to Wood Mountain with a police escort, and soon after that crossed the border to surrender and accept their assignment to previously allotted reservations.  A handful remained at Wood Mountain, where their descendants live to this day, on a small reservation which was granted to them by the Canadian Government many years later (1913).

When he surrendered to the U.S. Army on July 9, 1881, Sitting Bull asked that it be recorded that he was the last of the Sioux to lay down his rifle. "
In 1881, as Sitting Bull was laying down his rifle, my ancestors took up homesteading in the Qu'Appelle Valley, about 30 miles east of Fort Qu'Appelle, most likely on land where Sitting Bull and his "haggard, lean and unkempt" followers had desperately tried to make a living. Shit happens in history.

This same local history book records the building of a little school and a small Anglican church, both with the help of some of my great-great uncles. Some of my ancestors are buried in that little churchyard.

A short few years later, two of my uncles headed north to help put down the second Riel Rebellion. At the foot of the valley, near the original homestead, stand two tall fir trees that those two had brought back with them from Batosh.

Now for the other 1881 visitor:
"In contrast, the Marquis of Lorne arrived in splendor. This English nobleman, scion of a distinguished family, was married to the Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria [Ed: no relation]. As Governor General of Canada, he travelled to the West to see at first hand this frontier country, in order to assess the conditions for immigration and settlement.  Leaving the railway at the end of construction, a few miles west of Portage la Prairie, he travelled by steamboat on the Assiniboine River, reaching Fort Ellis five days later. The viceregal party then proceeded overland following the well travelled south trail that brought them down into the valley  just east of present day Ellisboro.  Following this, they came along our north shore on August 17 on the way to Lebret.  They were welcomed there by Father Hugonard and his parishioners, after passing under an archway of green boughs, erected for the occasion. An even larger welcome awaited them at Fort Qu'Appelle.  There the police and settlers were augmented by many hundreds of Indians.  After a two-day stay, they pressed on with their trip, which took them to the northwest to visit Fort Carlton, Prince Albert and Battleford, then to present day southern Alberta.

The Governor General's entourage which passed along our shore included some 40 members of the NWMP and a number of horse drawn wagons, including three army ambulances.  His Excellency's personal staff included a chaplain, a surgeon, a military secretary, three aides-de-camp, an artist to record the trip, a French chef and six servants.  As well, there were correspondents along from the London Times and the Toronto Globe."
What a difference!  Definitely the passing of an era. I think this is where my interest in history is rooted. It was all around me, as I was growing up.

Tomorrow, the Metis history and the connection to Cuthbert Grant.


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Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Just When You Weren't Looking...

...the Keystone XL Pipeline strikes again:

Nebraska report: Keystone XL pipeline poses “minimal” risks
"The U.S. State Department is conducting a separate review of the pipeline because it would cross the U.S.-Canada border. The State Department is expected to issue a draft of its own environmental analysis in coming days."
What's next, I wonder? I suspect The One will give the green light to the project fairly soon, so that before his term is up everyone will have forgotten that he did so, and no harm will be done to the Democrats and America will be back to work again. Pretty crafty maneuver, if you ask me.

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BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Sacred cows are being slaughtered as we speak:

Reporters barred from site of Spence's hunger strike
"Reporters were asked Monday whether they were "friend or foe" by supporters of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, and were turned away when they said they were journalists hoping to ask questions about the leaked audit of finances at her northern Ontario reserve."
I think the tide has turned and we're finally getting the truth from the timid MSM.





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A Flashmob To Remember



Don't die Europe. Remember. This is your heritage.

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Monday, January 07, 2013

Apology Extended...

...to all five of my readers. I still haven't got back the urge to blog, and it's not for lack of absurd things happening in the world, either. It's just that there's so much and it keeps repeating itself. I've done it all to death. Weather's going to turn bad tomorrow, or so they promise, so maybe that will motivate me.

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Friday, January 04, 2013

Nah. She'll Put It Back...

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Apologies...

...assuming someone out there cares, but I've got a good old-fashioned cold and I'm feeling really punk, not to mention drowsy from overdosing on cold medicine. I'm not too enthused about blogging, or anything else, for that matter.

I want my mommy.

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Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Yup...

...Just your garden variety Indian Industry hotheads.

I gather they don't like the choice of Shawn Alteo as chief of the AFN, most likely because he has chosen a path of cooperation and conciliation. That'll never do.
"But now it appears the rapidly growing Idle No More movement is experiencing its first real growing pains. On Monday, the founders of Idle No More issued a statement distancing themselves from native chiefs who claim to be acting on behalf of the campaign.

“The Chiefs have called for action and anyone who chooses can join with them, however this is not part of the Idle No More movement as the vision of this grassroots movement does not coincide with the visions of the Leadership,” said the statement, released on Idle No More’s official website."
[---]
"The statement also says the Idle No More founders received word that aboriginal “leadership” had been “calling for action” in the name of the campaign, and that they claimed to have met with the representatives of the group who support this call. “We would like to state that this is FALSE,” the statement reads."
[---]
"But the founders of Idle No More made it clear that while they recognize Spence’s support and sacrifice, the movement is about all of Canada’s aboriginal people, not just its chiefs. Spence’s hunger strike began after rallies, teach-ins and a national day of action organized on Dec. 10."
[---]
"Melissa Mollen Dupuis, who co-founded Idle No More’s Quebec branch, said she has seen aboriginal leaders try to co-opt the movement because of its growing popularity within First Nations communities.
[---]
"Mollen Dupuis said the debate over co-opting is a natural part of the movement’s evolution. But some say it’s a problem that stems from deeply rooted frustrations within the aboriginal community.

“(Idle No More) seems to be a rejection of aboriginal leadership, a rejection of local chiefs and chiefs on the national stage,” said Daniel Salee, a professor at Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs. “People seem to feel as though their leaders aren’t working in their best interest or that they simply aren’t getting the job done."
As if the Idle No More movement will accomplish anything. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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