gender – Sommer Season all year

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

American comedian and actor Kevin Hart wrote a book called, I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons. The things I am about to talk about is reported as truth, strange truth, and as the title of Hart’s book says, I can’t make this up. The title of this blog post, You can’t make this stuff up, is a common idiom. It is typically said when a situation, event, or action seems particularly bizarre, surreal, or difficult to believe. Personally, I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) tend to use the idiom, You can’t make this shit up. Some consider it rude slang, but it is more my style. Never have these idioms become more relevant than in today’s world. Let me explain.

This past weekend, Mother’s Day was celebrated in Canada. What’s bizarre is a Manitoba school ditches Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to be “inclusive.” A memo sent out by the school said they encourage non-gender-specific observations of “all those who support our students.” Interestingly, the school’s vice-principal who sent the memo was asked whether parents or students had complained about the use of “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day,” but they received no response. It is not just Manitoba, as a Quebec school district apologizes after teachers cancel Mother’s Day & Father’s Day. Then there is a Toronto-area School that erases “exclusionary” Mother’s Day sign because a woke parent was offended. It’s bizarre, as Mother’s Day has been around since 1907 when American school teacher Anna Jarvis organized the first Mother’s Day in honour of her own late mother. In 1915, it became an official day of recognition in Canada. Mother’s day began in the USA in 1907 as well. It’s strange that this day is considered exclusive and there is an attempt to erase Mother’s Day. It’s difficult to believe but it is true.

These cancel culture movements happen because a small minority of people are offended. Orange book on Twitter says, “It’s impossible to never offend anyone, simply because some people will always seek reasons to get offended as a diversion from their reality.” That is so true! Mokokoma Mokhonoana says, “Freedom of speech gives us the right to offend others, whereas freedom of thought gives them the choice as to whether or not to be offended.” Theses freedoms are no longer allowed is our country. Thomas Paine once said, “He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” Exactly. Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan said, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” What happened to “majority rules?” Isn’t that what democracy is based on? I recently saw a meme that said, “Why don’t the 99% of us who aren’t offended by everything, quit catering to the 1% who are…?” A great question. It is time to stop this nonsense and stop censorship.

A Boy is kicked out of school for wearing t-shirt saying ‘there are only two genders.’ What this 12 year describes is unbelievable. Watch the video.This never would have happened when I was teaching. Are freedom of speech and freedom of expression no longer valued? I taught Biology for 30+ years, and always taught my students that there are only two genders. If you have male genitalia, you’re a male and visa versa. You can claim to be female, you can dress like a female, but that doesn’t make you a female. Same is true for females who claim to be males. If you lack male genitalia, you’re a female. It’s simple biology. The fact is, as the old idiom says, if it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it is a duck. In other words, if something has the characteristics of something, it is probably that thing, regardless of what it is called or presented as.

To expel a student for speaking truth reminds me of George Orwell’s book 1984, a book I studied in high school English. Orwell’s novel speaks of the Ministry of Truth which is really the ministry of propaganda. As with the other ministries in the novel, the name Ministry of Truth is a contradiction because it serves to do the opposite. It is responsible for any necessary falsification of historical events. Some want to believe that these things no longer happen in our supposedly advanced civilization, but it does. Joe Biden is under fire for ‘dystopian’ disinformation bureau for creating the “Disinformation Governance Board,” which is likened to Orwell’s Ministry of Truth. Canada just passed a law where Truth will vanish with Canada’s internet censorship law. Need I remind you that Adolf Hitler had a Ministry of Truth and Joseph Stalin had a Ministry of Truth. Now Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau have Ministries of Truth. Governments now decide what is truth. You can’t make this shit up.

Many continue to trust the mainstream media, but the CBC admits that it spread disinformation on ‘Freedom Convoy,’ retracts false story. Furthermore, the CBC asked social media to censor users too many times to count. Censorship is bullying (#bullying, #antibullying) as bullying is a deliberate misuse of power in relationships. Now the Ethics Commissioner confirms CBC lied about Danielle Smith. I guess that is why 4 in 10 Canadians believe CBC is Liberal propaganda. It isn’t just the CBC, as Health Canada regularly asks Twitter to censor tweets. It is also reported that the Public Health Agency of Canada makes regular requests to Twitter to censor tweets from social media users for “offensive language.” Censorship is wrong in any context as it removes people’s right to think for themselves.

Here is some more from the world of the bizarre. NHL goes all in on drag shows at hockey games. Even political parties are embracing these shows as A drag queen performance occurs at an NDP constituency—a Canadian political party—annual general meeting. A teachers’ union puts up unauthorized Progress Pride stickers in Catholic schools — and the school board is too terrified to order those stickers to be removed. One of the more bizarre things I came across was J.K. Rowling calls out Canadian male politicians for prancing around in high heels. Yes, you read that correctly. The author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, along with other prominent women called out Canadian male politicians for prancing around in high heels, which was their effort to raise awareness about domestic violence. I like to think I have a pretty good imagination, but even I couldn’t think of something that weird. A Transgender lawmaker proposes deregulating pedophilia. It is being reported that a transgender representative in Minnesota introduced a bill that removes language from the state’s Human Rights Act that currently declares pedophiles are not included in protections based on “sexual orientation.” So, this lawmaker wants pedophiles to be protected. Wikipedia defines pedophilia as a psychiatric disorder in which an adult has a sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Let me get this straight. People who violate prepubescent children are protected? You cannot make this stuff up.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ponders ban of Fox News following complaint from LGBTQ lobby who claimed Fox host Tucker Carlson made ‘false and horrifying claims’ about transgender individuals. Someone complained, so let’s ban Fox News in Canada. It seems Canadian and American citizens can say what they want so long as they don’t offend anyone. Then there is the Fury over World Health Organization’s (WHO) sex education about ‘early childhood masturbation and gender identities’ for UNDER-FOURS. Yes, we’re talking about children ages 1 to 4. The WHO is giving guidance to schools about ‘sexuality education’ for young children, saying children under four should ‘ask questions about sexuality’ and ‘explore gender identities. Is this for real? That is just insane. Just when I think I’ve heard it all, then I read about Elizabeth Jean Carroll who Says ‘Most People Think of Rape As Being Sexy’ In Bizarre CNN Interview. This is the same E Jean Carroll who alleges Trump sexually assaulted her. I thought she said sexual assault was sexy. Why is she indicting Trump? You cannot make this shit up.

Ontario parents, teachers despise ‘woke math,’ but fear repercussions from public pushback. What is “woke math?” This stuff is hurting my brain. Then I read, Common sense labelled “unsafe” by radical school board. Common sense is unsafe? I don’t understand. The story is about a parent who appeared before a School board to express concern about teen boys who identify as female sharing an unsupervised non-gendered washroom with adolescent girls. It reports on the dysfunctional school board handling this parent’s address to the board. I’m still scratching my head.

Feminist group calls out Regina YWCA for inviting trans activist to lecture women. Now wrap your head around that one. A biological male who now uses “she/they” pronouns gives a keynote speech at a women’s awards night. That means a biological male is speaking to women who are celebrating women where one of the finalists for the Regina YWCA Women of Distinction awards is a biological male. You can’t make that up.

‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ cancelled, but Friday events still on. Apparently a “Trans Day of Vengeance” protest in Washington D.C. was cancelled because event organizers alleged there were threats made towards protesters. My question is: What is a Trans Day of Vengeance? It sounds frightening. Truth is stranger than fiction, I tell you.

Lord Byron, an English romantic poet once said, “Tis strange, -but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction…” It was Mark Twain who said, “It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” The truth is, I can’t make this shit up because it is just too bizarre even for my mind. The world no longer makes sense to me. It seems many people choose to believe the fiction though, but maybe that is because fiction makes more sense to them.

What is Happening in Our Schools? (Part two)

When I wrote (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) What is Happening to Our Schools? I thought our schools couldn’t get any worse, but it turns out I’m wrong. The school insanity continues.

When I began teaching in my first school, I was told there was a dress code for teachers which meant male teachers had to wear a tie. My, how things have changed. In September of 2022 a Canadian school backed trans teacher with giant prosthetic breasts, with the stance they’re protecting “gender rights.” It seems anything goes nowadays, including males wearing prosthetic breasts. I would have been fired, and likely put into a mental institution, if I’d pulled such a stunt. Ironically, now it is being reported that this Trans teacher with Z-size prosthetic breasts dresses as man outside of school. One would think if you sincerely want to be a female, you would dress like one on all occasions. Even more insane is A British Columbia secondary school is promoting a workshop for students between 14-year-olds to 19-year-olds on how to access “gender affirming care. Now we’re teaching kids how to change genders.

We Canadians think we live in a country where there is freedom of speech, but that is an illusion. A Canadian Student was Kicked Out of Catholic School for Expressing Biblical Beliefs on Gender. You can say what you want if it agrees with authorities, but the reality is Big Brother is watching you. In case you don’t know, the phrase ‘Big Brother Is Watching You’ comes from the novel 1984 by George Orwell, a novel I studied in high school. It has since become a phrase that refers to threats of government scrutiny.

Watch the news cast about a High School that Orders Removal Of All Urinals In The Name Of Gender Equity. These school board believes All-gender washrooms are a big sign of inclusion in these Canadian schools. Do students support this? Not all of them as Students protest multiple ‘gender neutral’ bathrooms at Alberta high school. My great niece attends one of these schools with ‘gender neutral’ washrooms, and she avoids going to the washroom all day because of fear of meeting boys there. That signals there’s a problem with ‘gender neutral’ washrooms.

I just read about a Parent furious a transgendered men was allowed into girls’ changing room at Calgary pools. Is this what is happening in our schools? If the school has gender neutral washrooms, it is happening. Watch the video below about a student who leaves woke school board SPEECHLESS. This kid is amazing! He reveals truth. This grade 11 student tells about his experience in school and why he is changing schools.

You can also watch it on Rumble should censorship happen. The censorship going on is not only about gender, but it’s also about racism as Anti-Anglophone “Wokeness” Dominates Canada’s Education System. Being a white (Caucasian) is a bad thing now. Then there is the pronoun confusion. The pronoun thing confuses the hell out of me, so I’m sure our young people are confused too. Watch the video, This Is Really Where the Pronoun Madness Has Led to. The video is about a middle school student in the United States being charged with sexual harassment because he refused to use pronouns. This is bullying (#bullying, #antibullying)! and it’s not only happening in Canada.

I recently read that Dr. Seuss was re-classified as adult fiction, gets “racism” complaints: Ottawa Public Library. The thing about our schools is books are being censored because they are deemed as racist, yet a Canadian dad feels the need to rip school board for sexually explicit book available to young children, gender policies. Watch this 11-year-old SILENCE a School Board as he reads from a sexually explicit book found in his school library. You can also watch it here. If you’re a parent, ask why: Are These 7 LGBT ‘Kids’ Books in Your Child’s Classroom or School Library? A Father exposes child grooming books in Canadian schools. Is this what is happening? Are our children being groomed? The article suggests sexually explicit books are being used as tools by predators to aid them in child grooming. Are people trying to normalize pedophilia? If you’re a parent or grandparent, read this article. It’s alarming to think this may be why these types of books are showing up in school libraries.

As far as I’m concerned, our school system is warping the minds of our children. We are confusing kids about gender and teaching them to be racist. That is what Critical Race Theory does in my view, and many others agree. Is there an agenda? You bet. ‘A lot of reason to be afraid,’ says censured teacher critical of the woke revolution in classrooms. In an Interview with the National Post, this teacher said, “Teaching is now a political act that involves indoctrinating children instead of educating them. There’s a lot of reason to be afraid. We are in a kind of cultural revolution and people really do need to pay attention.”

In a February state of the nation speech, Russia’s President Putin said Western nations are trying to “‘distract people’s attention’ from corruption scandals … from economic-social problems…Look at what they do to their own people: the destruction of families, of cultural and national identities and the perversion that is child abuse all the way up to pedophilia, are advertised as the norm … and priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages.” Mainstream Media (MM) maintains Russia is our enemy, but are they? If you have been reading my blogs in past years, you know what I think of the MM. Is Putin merely trying to warn us about the insanity in our Western world?

Here are some other ridiculous things happening in our schools. A N.S. school fires coach after he makes late team members run exercises. When I was teaching, kids were taught to be responsible to their team, and there were consequences for being late. Is that no longer the case? Seems so. School boards placing equity lens as priority even for tree pruning jobs. Equity means staff should reflect the “diversity of the community.” The article states, “It used to be…that prospective employers were not permitted to ask or discriminate against candidates based on age, sexuality, religion and any other personal details that really have nothing to do with one’s ability to perform a particular job. That was when one’s ability to nab a job was based on merit.” I guess ability to do a job doesn’t matter anymore. Human rights are protected for transgender people, but not for those who belong to a majority ethnic group.

Then there is the Canadian school board who votes to terminate teacher who dared to teach truths about Residential School deaths. You’re not allowed to have an opinion or speak truth anymore. It makes people too uncomfortable. “Truth is only visible to those who are able to question everything that they have been taught to believe.” I don’t know who said that, but he or she is bang on. People don’t want to hear truth. It seems Youngsters are becoming infected with adult climate cult hysteria, govt data shows. Let’s panic our youth more. No wonder teachers don’t want to teach anymore. I personally know of a few. It’s why Ontario school boards are hiring uncertified emergency staff.

Yet another survey shows people think things are broken in Canada. This survey says 65% of Canadians agree it feels like many things in Canada are broken. That means 65% are willing to admit something is wrong in Canada. The fact is, all our institutions—schools, government, judicial system, religious institutions and many others—are broken. Things are broken in Canada, and not just in Canada. All of North America and the Western world are broken. As a veteran teacher of 35 years, I find what is happening in our schools very upsetting. I’m happy I am no longer teaching or have children in school. If you’re a parent, or grandparent, you need to pay attention to what’s happening in our schools. Are our children being indoctrinated to think a certain way? Are you okay with that? As a former teacher, I know how easy it is to influence young people, and persuasion can be used for both good or evil. To quote the Pink Floyd song, Another Brick In the Wall, I bet many kids are saying, “Hey, teacher, leave us kids alone.” I say, “leave them kids alone.”

Sexism is Alive and Well :(

A commentary about the prevalence of sexism at least in the political arena.

When Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor-General of Canada, was interviewed by the Globe and Mail in March of 2016 she said,

Politics has always been a man’s club. When Judy LaMarsh was elected as a parliamentarian, she could not find a women’s washroom anywhere near the House of Commons. That women are now half the federal cabinet is a wonderful step forward. I never thought I would see the day.

In case you didn’t know, of the thirty cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, 15 (50%) are women. In outgoing US President Barack Obama’s cabinet only 25% of them are women. In the province where I reside, there are 10 women, including the Premier, in a cabinet of 19 ministers. That means over 50% of the cabinet is comprised of women.

Witnessing these kinds of historic events led me to believe that sexism was decreasing and that sexism was well on its way to becoming extinct. Boy was I wrong. But first, what do I mean by sexism? Dictionary.com defines sexism as “attitudes or behaviour based on traditional stereotypes of gender roles” or as “discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex or gender, as in restricted job opportunities, especially such discrimination directed against women”. It seems when referring to equal gender rights, the idiom, “One step forward, two steps back” is true.

So what has taken us backward. From my point of view, it is people like Donald Trump, now president elect Donald Trump, who is taking us backward. I’ve already written about Trump being a sexist in posts such as, Trump This and Seriously, I don’t Get it.

The Atlantic published an article titled, Fear of a Female President, which shocked me when I read it. The author of the article, Peter Beinart, reported that at the Republican National Convention the hostility toward Hillary Clinton was everywhere. These are his words.

Inside the hall, delegates repeatedly broke into chants of “Lock her up.” Outside the hall, vendors sold campaign paraphernalia. As I walked around, I recorded the merchandise on display. Here’s a sampling: Black pin reading don’t be a pussy, vote for Trump in 2016. Black-and-red pin reading Trump 2016: finally, someone with balls. White T-shirt reading Trump that bitch. White T‑shirt reading Hillary sucks but not like Monica. Red pin reading life’s a bitch: don’t vote for one. White pin depicting a boy urinating on the word Hillary. Black T-shirt depicting Trump as a biker and Clinton falling off the motorcycle’s back alongside the words if you can read this, the bitch fell off. Black T-shirt depicting Trump as a boxer having just knocked Clinton to the floor of the ring, where she lies face up in a clingy tank top. White pin advertising kfc hillary special. 2 fat thighs. 2 small breasts … left wing.

I was stunned when I read this. I like everyone else thought Mrs. Clinton would make history and that she would be the first female US president. Yes, I understand she had made mistakes and that controversy surrounded her but that was also true for Donald Trump. I believed Americans would see him as the bigot, sexist, misogynist and liar that he is. I was sure that Americans would vote for Hillary, the best, most qualified candidate of the two choices. Boy was I ever wrong. So I reflected upon this. I asked questions. Why would Americans vote against her? Why were the polls so wrong? Was there really a silent majority of people who wouldn’t admit that they supported Trump? Was there something deeper going on? I began to wonder if sexism is more prevalent in society than we like to admit? It seems Peter Beinart agrees. He wrote in The Atlantic article, Fear of a Female President,

Standard commentary about Clinton’s candidacy—which focuses on her email server, the Benghazi attack, her oratorical deficiencies, her struggles with “authenticity”—doesn’t explain the intensity of this opposition. But the academic literature about how men respond to women who assume traditionally male roles does.

Now we Canadians like to think we’re different than Americans. We like to think that there are no sexist or racist people wanting to lead our country. WRONG. Kelly Leitch is wanting to lead the Federal Conservative Party of Canada. Upon hearing of a Trump victory, Leitch told her supporters “Tonight, our American cousins threw out the elites and elected Donald Trump…It’s an exciting message that needs to be delivered in Canada as well. It’s the message I’m bringing to my campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada”. Like Trump, Kellie Leitch has proposed screening immigrants for Canadian values and refers to her competing candidates as out-of-touch elites.

On the day after the Trump victory, I discovered that Alberta politics has its fair share of sexism.

The National Post reports that the only two women candidates in the Alberta Progressive Conservative (PC) Party leadership race have dropped out because of harassment and intimidation. It is interesting that it is only the female candidates that are being harassed. After much research I could not find any news reports of male candidates getting harassed.

Sandra Jansen, one of the two female PC leadership candidates, reports in the National Post article that at the PC convention: “My social media has been filled with filth, my domain name purchased to direct people to smear pieces on me and finally, this past weekend in Red Deer, the final straw. Insults were scrawled on my nomination forms. Volunteers from another campaign chased me up and down the hall, attacking me for protecting women’s reproductive rights, and my team was jeered for supporting children’s rights to a safe school environment.” She did not identify any wrongdoers by name, but she did point a finger of blame at former federal Conservative Party Member of Parliament and Alberta provincial leadership candidate Jason Kenny who flooded the convention with youth delegates.

The Calgary Herald reports, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has and still is being harassed. Now I have to wonder if it is because she is a woman. The Premier’s press secretary has said: “This kind of social media or correspondence activity is not unusual in any way,” and labelled the threats as “totally normal.” These things come by letter, phone and, as in the case of the most recent ones, via social media. Premier Notley has had threats made against her which appeared on two Facebook pages where some Albertans opposed to the New Democratic Party (NDP) go to rant. They included a warning to Notley to be careful, or “you’ll be the first assassination,” while another read: “I’m not advocating for violence against you — yet — but keep talking like that and someone will take matters in their own hands.” I personally find this deeply disturbing to the point where I wrote my provincial representative encouraging him to speak out against this nonsense. I never did hear back from him and in fact he has since become one of the Alberta PC leadership candidates.

CBC News reported last year that Alberta female politicians were targeted by hateful, sexist online attacks. The news article makes reference to gender consultant Cristina Stasia who described the comments as shocking and sexually violent, taking specific aim at the premier’s gender. Stasia said, “There’s a fury that lurks underneath this … that we have a woman running our province” The consultant also said the remarks seek to degrade but say little about policy and show Alberta, which is “saturated with misogyny and high rates of violence,” still has a long way to go. Is it normal for premiers to be threatened? I tried to find news reports of male premiers being threatened but found none. This is occurring in the province I live in. This is not the kind of province I desire to have. I find this deeply troubling.

We males need to look inward. We need to accept that times are changing (I hope) and that the patriarchal world of the past is disappearing or at least needs to. Men and women are equals. Women need to be treated and respected as equals. Yes, I am a man and I sincerely believe this. Gloria Steinem, an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist says, “A gender-equal society would be one where the word ‘gender’ does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.” I agree. I’ll give the last words to Hillary Clinton who almost became the first female US president and if you go by popular vote should be. Mrs. Clinton says, “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” Thanks for trying Hillary!