Katamat at Home

Dear Mr. Schellenberger

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:13:54 +0000

ANNE DIXON-MAHATOO
76 Parkview Drive
Stratford ON N5A 4R6
519.272.0378

May 14, 2010

Gary Schellenberger
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Schellenberger,
I am quite interested in trying to understand the reason that MPs from all parties are so reluctant to allow the Auditor General’s office access to their spending records.
It would seem, in light of the current climate of skepticism, that MPs would welcome the chance to show their transparency and accountability to the Canadian taxpayers. We are, after all, the ones footing the bill.
Can you please clarify for me what your position is on this particular issue?

Regards,

Anne Dixon-Mahatoo

Caffeine High?

admin — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:32:03 +0000

Go ahead, I dare you. Take the caffeine click test and see how you score.

Created by OnePlusYou

The Right to Free Speech

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:00:54 +0000

Much has been heard, of late, in the Canadian news about Free Speech. Coincidentally, I was reading a novel by the late Stieg Larsson and came across this passage. Mr Larsson has very clearly articulated what free speech means in the context of Swedish law. Would that our own media and others in the public eye had such a finely tuned grasp of the concept.

Swedish democracy is based on a single premise: the Right to Free Speech (R.S.F.). This guarantees the inalienable right to say aloud, think and believe anything whatsoever. This right embraces all Swedish citizens, from the crazy neo-Nazi living in the woods to the rock-throwing anarchist – and everyone in between.

Every other basic right, such as the Formation of Government and the Right to Freedom of Organization, are simply practical extensions of the Right to Free Speech. On this law democracy stands or falls.

All democracy has its limits, and the limits to the R.F.S. are set by the Freedom of the Press regulation (F.P.). This defines four restriction on democracy. It is forbidden to publish child pornography and the depiction of certain violent sexual acts, regardless of how artistic the originator believes the depiction to be. It is forbidden to incite or exhort someone to crime. It is forbidden to defame or slander another person. It is forbidden to engage in the persecution of an ethnic group.

Press freedom has also been enshrined by parliament and is based on the socially and democratically acceptable restrictions of society, the is, the social contract that makes up the framework of a civilized society. The core of the legislation has it that no person has the right to harass or humiliate another person.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson

This blog has moved

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:29:54 +0000

Welcome to the new home of Katamat. You may notice we have the same address – www.katamat.com/blog – but Katamat is no longer a Google Blogspot blog, we are now a Wordpress blog.

The reason for this is that Google decided to make some changes to their Blogger tool and since that forced me to do some administrative things by May 1 to keep the blog running, it was just as easy to move it to Wordpress (like all my other blogs) and now it is easier to manage. All I needed was a little motivation to make the change. So thank you Google for motivating me.

You will probably see the theme of this blog changing a few times over the next few weeks as I decide how I want to decorate my new blog.

Cheers all, Anne

Join the Army of Women

admin — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Dr. Susan Love/Avon Partnership

The Love/Avon Army of Women is driven by two key partnerships that will accelerate the research necessary to discover ways to prevent breast cancer: a partnership between the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation for Women, and a partnership between scientists and women.

If you or someone you know has ever been touched by breast cancer, join this army of women and spread the word!

Tikal Templo V

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:13:00 +0000

Tikal, Guatemala

Number Lovers

admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:31:00 +0000

Now here is a woman after my own heart.

Number Gossip

You just have to love the purity of a site that gives you nothing but trivia about numbers.

Hint: Try zero.

You’re Welcome, Brian Williams

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:58:00 +0000

And thank you, Ying, for sending it to me.

Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News

After tonight’s broadcast and after looting our hotel mini-bars, we’re going to try to brave the blizzard and fly east to home and hearth, and to do laundry well into next week. Before we leave this thoroughly polite country, the polite thing to do is leave behind a thank-you note.

Thank you, Canada:

For being such good hosts.

For your unfailing courtesy.

For your (mostly) beautiful weather.

For scheduling no more than 60 percent of your float plane departures at the exact moment when I was trying to say something on television.

For not seeming to mind the occasional (or constant) good-natured mimicry of your accents.

For your unique TV commercials — for companies like Tim Horton’s — which made us laugh and cry.

For securing this massive event without choking security, and without publicly displaying a single automatic weapon.

For having the best garment design and logo-wear of the games — you’ve made wearing your name a cool thing to do.

For the sportsmanship we saw most of your athletes display.

For not honking your horns. I didn’t hear one car horn in 15 days — which also means none of my fellow New Yorkers rented cars while visiting.

For making us aware of how many of you have been watching NBC all these years.

For having the good taste to have an anchorman named Brian Williams on your CTV network, who turns out to be such a nice guy.

For the body scans at the airport which make pat-downs and cavity searches unnecessary.

For designing those really cool LED Olympic rings in the harbour, which turned to gold when your athletes won one.

For always saying nice things about the United States…when you know we’re listening.

For sharing Joannie Rochette with us.

For reminding some of us we used to be a more civil society.

Mostly, for welcoming the world with such ease and making lasting friends with all of us.

Women Over 50

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:34:00 +0000

I think Andy Rooney says it best.

As I grow in age, I value women over 50 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 50 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ She doesn’t care what you think.

If a woman over 50 doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it’s usually more interesting.

Women over 50 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 50.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 50 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest.. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one. You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 50 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 50, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, ‘Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?Here’s an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage.Why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

We Are More

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:33:00 +0000

We Are More

by Shane Koyczan

When defining Canada

you might list some statistics

you might mention our tallest building

or biggest lake

you might shake a tree in the fall

and call a red leaf Canada

you might rattle off some celebrities

might mention Buffy Sainte-Marie

might even mention the fact that we’ve got a few

Barenaked Ladies

or that we made these crazy things

like zippers

electric cars

and washing machines

when defining Canada

it seems the world’s anthem has been

“been there done that”

and maybe that’s where we used to be at

it’s true

we’ve done and we’ve been

we’ve seen

all the great themes get swallowed up by the machine

and turned into theme parks

but when defining Canada

don’t forget to mention that we have set sparks

we are not just fishing stories

about the one that got away

we do more than sit around and say “eh?”

and yes

we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One

who inspired little number nines

and little number ninety-nines

but we’re more than just hockey and fishing lines

off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes

and some say what defines us

is something as simple as please and thank you

and as for you’re welcome

well we say that too

but we are more

than genteel or civilized

we are an idea in the process

of being realized

we are young

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history

we are an experiment going right for a change

with influences that range from a to zed

and yes we say zed instead of zee

we are the colours of Chinatown and the coffee of Little Italy

we dream so big that there are those

who would call our ambition an industry

because we are more than sticky maple syrup and clean snow

we do more than grow wheat and brew beer

we are vineyards of good year after good year

we reforest what we clear

because we believe in generations beyond our own

knowing now that so many of us

have grown past what used to be

we can stand here today

filled with all the hope people have

when they say things like “someday”

someday we’ll be great

someday we’ll be this

or that

someday we’ll be at a point

when someday was yesterday

and all of our aspirations will pay the way

for those who on that day

look towards tomorrow

and still they say someday

we will reach the goals we set

and we will get interest on our inspiration

because we are more than a nation of whale watchers and lumberjacks

more than backpacks and hiking trails

we are hammers and nails building bridges

towards those who are willing to walk across

we are the lost-and-found for all those who might find themselves at a loss

we are not the see-through gloss or glamour

of those who clamour for the failings of others

we are fathers brothers sisters and mothers

uncles and nephews aunts and nieces

we are cousins

we are found missing puzzle pieces

we are families with room at the table for newcomers

we are more than summers and winters

more than on and off seasons

we are the reasons people have for wanting to stay

because we are more than what we say or do

we live to get past what we go through

and learn who we are

we are students

students who study the studiousness of studying

so we know what as well as why

we don’t have all the answers

but we try

and the effort is what makes us more

we don’t all know what it is in life we’re looking for

so keep exploring

go far and wide

or go inside but go deep

go deep

as if James Cameron was filming a sequel to The Abyss

and suddenly there was this location scout

trying to figure some way out

to get inside you

because you’ve been through hell and high water

and you went deep

keep exploring

because we are more

than a laundry list of things to do and places to see

we are more than hills to ski

or countryside ponds to skate

we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can’t wait

we are first-rate greasy-spoon diners and healthy-living cafes

a country that is all the ways you choose to live

a land that can give you variety

because we are choices

we are millions upon millions of voices shouting

“keep exploring… we are more”

we are the surprise the world has in store for you

it’s true

Canada is the “what” in “what’s new?”

so don’t say “been there done that”

unless you’ve sat on the sidewalk

while chalk artists draw still lifes

on the concrete of a kid in the street

beatboxing to Neil Young for fun

don’t say you’ve been there done that

unless you’ve been here doing it

let this country be your first-aid kit

for all the times you get sick of the same old same old

let us be the story told to your friends

and when that story ends

leave chapters for the next time you’ll come back

next time pack for all the things

you didn’t pack for the first time

but don’t let your luggage define your travels

each life unravels differently

and experiences are what make up

the colours of our tapestry

we are the true north

strong and free

and what’s more

is that we didn’t just say it

we made it be.

-Shane Koyczan