Bloomberg Soda Ban

I really dont know what to say about people who dont care about NYC Mayor Bloomberg's upcoming bans on soda pop of particular sizes. The latest news says that the ban would not allow pizza places to sell 2 litres of soda with their orders. I just found an online chat forum when i was researching this and was suprised at the responses.http://www.subchat.com/otchat/read.asp?Id=1039572 . The people in there are talking about people being too lazy to go to.store to buy the pop.cheaper,.etcetc. Thats not the point, in my opinion. Its the fact that a city MAYOR is involved in this, along with other bans, that affect people's personal choices and private business practices. What is going on?? I have a family of 5 and every other month or so we order pizza and sometimes get a family meal that includes the pop. Whoopie. We share it among 5 people and often dont even finish it. Its a treat for the kids as we dont eat out and rarely order in. Sure some people.overdo this but who am i to judge??

It reminds me of a few years ago at work when getting a govt inspection. The inspector saw a staff member's can of pop in the fridge and said that when drinking it, the staffer should pour it into a coffee mug so the children dont see an adult drinking pop. I said "oh, so its okay for them to think we are drinking coffee, but not pop?'. Some.people put tons of sugar and cream in their coffee, while the pop in the fridge was coke zero. Sure its not the greatest but coffee is not the best for everyone either. I just found that over the top. 

So back to nyc and bloomberg,,,, if the people there allow this to slide by and elect him again next time, they deserve everything that is thrown their way in the future. It will not stop at pop and salt. Trust me. 

How do you tell someone you like, " I really dont care if you lose your job"?

sometimes I run into a dilemna with my beliefs about wasting tax payers dollars and a real-life in-person encounter... i work in childcare and for decades, the funding for various things just came straight to us. But then things started to change.... different levels of groups and committees started popping up, with people paid at each level with tax payer dollars, in order to 'coordinate' on a local level. Now, for many things, I do not believe in centralization... but in this case, when you have federal and provincial money being sent to Edmonton for various childcare needs, it should probably just get sent straight out in the most direct way (if they are going to have the funding in the first place), not drizzled down through multiple layers like 'southern alberta region' and then the local city and town regions. All of the people along the way are getting good full time wages and using up some of the money that is supposed to be going to our KIDS and their families.

There was a city/district meeting last night in my city pertaining to this and the co-ordinator was worried that some big changes coming are going to mean an end to her job.... well booo fricken hoooo. That job title did not even exist 5 years ago and every center in the city managed to run and get funding before that... so what was this job actually FOR? I know she makes more money per hour than I do, and I am the front line worker actually with these children all day. Why does a coordinator who sits around filling out bazillions of govt forms get more? And in a job that wasnt even needed or in place only 5 years ago? So what if she loses her job? Seriously.. what is the job even FOR?? I guess the Alberta govt knows that it is in hot water with spending, and less revenue to boot, so it's looking at downsizing. We should be happy about that. Sure, it sucks that the top dogs never seem to take a pay cut and get their bloated cheques for sitting around posturing and doing basically nothing most of the time, but if there are lower level jobs that are completely unnecessary, why not save some money there?

I had to bite my tongue right off because I did not think it was the proper venue to say 'well, so what? your job title is completely useless and has been a waste of tax payers money for the past 5 years'. But I was also a chicken lol. I could have thought of a nicer way to put it, I suppose, but its never easy to look right at a person youve known for a long time and like and say 'you SHOULD lose your job, no one should get paid to do what you do'. Sure, she has helped organized a few workshops each year, but half the time we cant go to them anyway because they happen during the week and we are ummm working! But we also managed to look after hundreds upon hundreds of children since the center opened in 1988 without ANY of these programs and workshops and coordinators. My boss was the chair person several times over the years and never got paid a dime for the organizing she did, so why is there someone in that position now, making over $50,000 a year? That's more than DOUBLE what I make after almost 20 years in direct child care. im sure that money can be used elsewhere.

and people always cry out that they are taking money away from our children and more needs to be put in early childhood education... well I am a person that does believe in ECE, however, not at the cost of everyone else in the province and country. I believe it's good for kids to learn a few things before they go to school, but I dont expect to churn out a bunch of little einsteins that are going to be bored to death in kindergarten and grade one if we teach them too much... I also am well aware that the greatest minds in history didnt have preschool classes. Some of them grew up in poverty but happened to be brilliant. How about the NASA scientists that ended up putting a man on the moon in the 60s... when they were little kids, did they all go to preschool? Doubtful, especially if they grew up in smaller areas.

Today preschool is really a babysitter for most people. I look at my job as making sure that children are safe and having fun while their parents are working. I enjoy teaching them new things and helping them experience the wonders of playdough, glue, and glitter. But my number one mission is to ensure that their parents can be at work all day and know that their children are safe and happy. I am a parent of three, and Ive had one of my children with another caregiver before he came to my center (age restriction)... he came home with THIRTEEN BRUISES one day from that place and I never want another parent to feel the way that I did. NEVER. It was horrible. I felt terrible and so full of anger. My mission is to never have another parent doubt their child's care and be able to work and concentrate on that and not worry about their child. I cant think of a better job in the world than making sure these tiny humans are safe and well cared for. I dont care if they can read when they go to kindergarten, because that's what K is for! I dont care if they cant write their name at age 4/5, as long as they are having fun trying. But today, preschool is looked at differenty and the sad thing is, I will be leaving the field within the next few years (center closing because boss is retiring), and I will never return. It has become a monster and I cannot stand the amount of paperwork and crap we have to do. It takes me away from the job I love - working with kids - and then I have to listen to other people bellyache because they might lose their paper-pushing job. Maybe they should come back and work WITH the children and ensure from first hand experience that they are learning and having fun and are safe. INstead of sitting behind a desk and taking $50,000 a year away from the children and their families in the local centers. Lord only knows how much waste there is all over this province through useless positions and beaurocratic waste. It's disgusting, really.

Police Shoot Innocents - Where is the outrage?

I am completely gobsmacked over why I have not seen much, if any, outrage over the innocent civilians who were SHOT at and by police in the manhunt last week for Chris Dorner. Seriously, WHAT is going on??? The woman who was shot was 71 years old! I kept waiting and waiting for news networks to be all over it, but they weren't. There were stories that day and a slight mention here and there, but that's it. Try googling it yourself and the top listings come from sites like salon.com, huffingtonpost, and local news sources - not from Fox, CNN, etc. WHY NOT?

I cannot believe what I am seeing. I really cant. It is upsetting and I hope all three of those people sue the department and win. Lots.

Who the hell goes out delivering newspapers on a quiet morning and expects to get shot by POLICE OFFICERS? What 71 year old woman should fear for her life in such a circumstance. She was shot in the BACK according to this local cbs article dated Feb 7th  http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/02/07/2-innocent-women-shot-during-manhunt-for-ex-cop-chris-dorner-had-no-warning/

It really is disgusting. This dude Dorner goes out and shoots people, killing some, wounding others, and it is all over the news that we need to find this crazy lunatic and get him off the streets. How about getting some crazy ass trigger happy police off the streets while you are at it?? To me this shows that even Fox News, famed for being super right-wing anti-govt etc blah blah is in the pockets of police. They do not want to show a bad side to the force, or what??? I dont get it. Youd think this would be huge news. But nope. How often are innocent bystanders shot by police, or injured in car chases between suspects and police, and it makes headlines? More often than this particular incident... why is that? Too embarrassed? Oops while we were out looking for Dorner, we ended up doing something WORSE - shooting at unarmed, innocent people who were just going about their own business and not appearing in a threatening manner in any way, shape, or form.

The man that was shot at was just as bad a situation. Driving along the road, doo de doo, and BLAM BLAM BLAM.... wtf? I saw the live aerial shots of his truck and all of his air bags had deployed. Oops sorry man, we got a call that shots were fired, we saw your dark truck and thought you must be the suspect fleeing the scene, so we shot at you without ANY reason other than the colour of your truck.

That is truly revolting. What if it was YOU driving down the road, readers, and you were shot at by police because of the colour or your vehicle? Or that you were driving slow (cos you were delivering papers to various houses on the street, like you do every other day of the week). How would you feel if your son or daughter was shot? What if any of these people were killed?? Is it 'okay' because the man wasnt injured (his truck sure was), or because one woman only got cut by SHATTERED GLASS from BULLETS, or is it okay because the old lady got shot in the back but will survive? WTF is going on. Seriously. I can't believe that I have not seen story after story about this on the news. It should be investigated hugely.

Every time there is a maniac on the loose, are we to fear that police might get trigger happy and shoot US? that should not happen anywhere.

And I thought that in general, police were not supposed to shoot unless there is imminent threat? The women claim they had no warning and I would have to agree because if they received warning, youd think at least one of the women would yell back and surprise to the officers - a FEMALE voice is responding, when you are looking for a male. If you can get shot by officers simply because you happen to be driving near a home of a higher up officer who is on some hit list, that's scary. I know that at least SOME people out there are outraged by this - I even saw some clothing articles being sold that say stuff like 'DONT SHOOT! IM NOT DORNER!'. Maybe the WHITE guy who's truck was shot at should have had one of those handy things. If they didnt notice his white skin through the windshield, maybe they would have seen his shirt? Yeah right. Anyway, the public DOES have to get angry about this and call for an investigation into the practices of police departments in situations like this. They all take their lives into their own hands when they sign up for a badge and carry a gun,,, what about two older women delivering newspapers? Should they expect to be ducking police bullets? From what I have read online in the few news articles available, their truck does not match the description to Dorner's enough, obviously not the same plates, and well again, that silly little fact that they were FEMALES. Just like the silly little fact that the man shot at minutes later was WHITE, not black like Dorner. Oh but who cares, it's okay for the police to shoot first and ask questions later.

Isnt that perhaps an example of why the US constitution writers decided that regular citizens should be allowed to bear arms, that are of equal comparison to whatever their law enforcement officials have? Because of times like this? Hmmmmm.

the Shot

so... so far all of the kids at my daycare that have had to be sent home sick, or stayed home because they were sick, have had the flu shot. All of the kids we have had off sick have had their shots. So what is going on? some have had a bad gastro bug too on top of a fever and bad cold/influenza. Parents included - they have said things like 'man, Ive had to take 5 days off work since October but i got the flu shot too!'.

Then i see down in the US they have declared an epidemic from the flu, and I heard on the news that more than 20 children have died so far, let alone other ages.

I would like to know some stats - i would like to know how many of those who are sick and those who have died also had their flu shots for this season.

It makes me wonder a few things - how useful is the flu shot? How helpful is it? and - what strains of flu are causing these deaths? Were they included in the flu shot this year or did another one pop up that was not expected to be so strong?

From what i understand about the shot, the WHO signals what strains they feel will be worst, and choose 2 or 3 or 4 of them to include in the shot. I dont know how many they included this year or what strains because I havent looked it up yet. At any rate, the flu shot is supposed to help against those strains and then help with a lesser reaction to any similar flus. But people seem to get a false sense of security and think it protects against all flus. it does not.

I havent had a shot in over 10 years and have never taken time off work for flu like illness. My children have never had the shot and none of them have had to take off school for flu either - only a couple days each for stomach bugs (vomiting, etc). Actually one has only missed one day in 4 years. Anyway it drives me crazy that people are getting these shots and don't even know what they are for. I couldnt even count the number of people who get a stomach virus and call it 'the flu'. that is NOT the flu. the flu is a respiratory virus that lists vomiting and diahorrea (sp lol) as RARE in the symptoms list. but people throw up and say 'oh no, I have the flu'. Or they say 'i got the flu shot this year because last year i had it for a week and couldnt stop throwing up'. Hello people - you didnt have the flu when that happened! that was a gastro virus, stomach virus, tummy bug, whatever you want to call it. But they go out in hoards to get shot in the arm with stuff they don't even understand and expect to not get sick.

But still, I would like to know some real stats from those who are genuinely sick with the flu and received the shot. I want to know what kind of flu it was, especially those who succumbed. i think the health organizations should be carefully collecting data through whatever samples they need in order to determine the type of flu involved and tabulate whether the victims had their shot or not.

Its a guessing game with the flu shot. They pick the strains ahead of time that they think will be the most damaging and then tell everyone to get their shots. What if they were wrong this time? Up in Canada our flu map shows very little movement other than a couple of huge cities. Everywhere else is listed as sporadic activity or none reported. So what's going on right next door in the US where it is now classes an epidemic?

The B*tch and Moan Club

Yup, it's already started. I shouldn't be surprised, as I predicted this, but still....

My small city is building a new 'Events Center' after many years of the public crying out for one. According to supporters of the project, 'the majority' of city residents want this. But that is based on computer polls not like a city referendum or anything like that. Only people with access to computers and 'friending' certain groups on facebook, twitter, etc or following certain blogs, and people who voted in our local tv station polls online did the voting. I'm not sure how the results from that constitute 'the majority' but whatever. I saw some polls that were 60 to 80% in favor (some with only a couple hundred people voting) and some where barely 50% were in favor. Regardless, the City has finally decided to go ahead with the plan and build the new Events Center to house our WHL team and hold other events like concerts. To the tune of at least $60 million dollars. In a city of 60,000, that's $1000 per resident... or $3681 per family according to various census data online. Just to build it. Who knows how much it will cost to keep it running after the fact, or if it goes over budget (but of course, we all know govt projects neverrrr go over budget, oh no!)....

So this is where the Bitch and Moan Club starts up. a local radio station asks it's listeners if they would be willing to pay for parking at the center in order to help the city recoup building costs. the VAST majority responding on there said NO. They even sounded offended.

Oh okay, so the minority of city residents who will actually use this facility are not willing to pay more, but willing to let the majority of people that WON'T use it pay for it. That sounds fair, doesnt it? I'm tired of people saying 'the majority' want it - it can only hold about 7000 people and there are 60,000 people in the city so do the math - the majority do NOT use it obviously. I go into the seat totals more later, but just thought i would throw that out there.

They don't want to pay extra, in the form of user fees basically, to help the city build this center, or pay it off afterward? Why not? They wanted the darn thing - according to those polls, the majority of people in this city wanted it, demanded it even - but now the majority don't want to pay for parking fees while CHOOSING to attend it?

I have not visited the current/old arena in about 12 years - why should I risk my property taxes going up more, or higher utility admin fees or some other such form of increased taxation just to help everyone that wanted this place pay for it? Why can't they suck it up and know that parking fees are probably going to happen, and higher ticket prices than at the current center, higher concession stand prices, etc? Why do they think 'the City' can fork out over 60 million bucks in building costs and then run the place with a profit after opening? They would first have to come up with 60 million smackers (minimum) to break back to zero... then continue running the place and paying for staff, cleaning, upkeep, promotional materials, supplies, food, parking lot mainenance and snow removal, utilities, etc and making a profit at the same time.

The Events Center is proposed to have around 7000 seats for hockey games, and between 7000 and 8000 for concerts etc, depending on the set up. At opening it is to have 5500 seats, and more opened/installed as they see how demand goes. The current arena holds 4006 and has never met capacity according to various sources I read online. The closest was in 2008 when it was 218 seats short of sold-out. Now they think that magically after the 39 years it was open (remember, it was brand new back in the old days and snazzy and the WHL team used to win the Memorial Cup and have a blast and was very very popular, but even that did not sell out crowds, back when the traffic getting to and from was not bad at all, the city was much smaller and easier to get around in, etc etc).... they think magically they can fill a new one with nearly double the capacity? Interesting. But whatever.

My point is - I watched people bitch and moan about the prospect of paying more if they actually USE the center, and i just do not understand how they think its okay for everyone else in the City to pay more instead, whether they use it or not. This is not a school, it's not a hospital, it's an event center that may or may not hold cool concerts and will hold one hockey team and it's visiting team. That's it. But they don't want to pay more. I don't get it. I thought Alberta was a conservative-leaning province? my city in fact dumped out the PC mla in the last election for the WILDROSE mla, and so did the neighbouring county --- yet everyone acts like they want something for nothing, or want something and expect someone else to foot the bill. That doesnt sound very conservative to me! It's mind boggling and quite simply disgusting!

To end, I saw someone complain that the City said they can afford it, and then start looking for ways to charge people more (oh booohoooo). Why does everyone think the City can afford it (for one thing, the majority of money the city gets is from US through taxes - duh)? The City cannot seem to fix all that needs to be done around here, roads are crappy in lots of areas, traffic backed up the ying yang, 50 year old sewer system needs to be replaced, etc. what they mean is they can afford to pay for it right now, but they need to recoup the money asap afterwards for future spending projects that the city is supposed to be doing like infrastructure, schools, blah blah etc. I know that the WHL is saying our arena sucks now and they threatened to pull the team if we don't fix things up, but it's a WHL team! something that has yet to draw in a sell-out crowd. It's not essential to the survival of the city and from what I have heard, the team has not paid rent on the arena in YEARS, so all these people that supposedly support the team are obviously not coming out in droves to help keep them here. I doubt that the team actually brings as much money into the city as people seem to think - if they cant pay their rent, that means they are tanking, not profiting. if they buy stuff in the city but dont pay the rent on the building, they are not actually helping the city residents financially at all - that would be IN THE RED folks. 

People Are Strange

Just a quick note to go along with my previous post. People are strange, curious creatures.

When this young man was first arrested for alleged threats against a local school, I saw many local people commenting that they wished the mental health system was better so that these people could be helped BEFORE things like Conn happened.

Okay, well it just came out in court yesterday that this man has to undergo a 30 psychiatric assessment at a forensic psychiatry hospital in Calgary.

I read comments from THE SAME LOCAL PEOPLE on the news site, calling out that they dont want him to 'get off' on reasons of mental capacity, they want him to go through the system normally, and things about how it's unfair that 'these guys' get to claim mental issues and get off with a slap on the wrist.

Okay - so which is it, people? This guy did NOT commit a crime against humans, he did NOT go and shoot up a school, he did not do anything to this date other than write some words that were allegedly threatening. Now there is a chance that if he does have other issues, they will pick this up at the hospital, and maybe he can receive treatment so that he WONT act on his words.

But the people that said they wished the Conn shooter had received help and not 'fallen through the cracks', do NOT want this young man, who has NOT killed anyone, to receive help. Instead they want him to go straight to jail, no turning back, do not collect $200, and do not seem to put any thought into what might happen when he gets OUT. Since he hasnt killed anyone, even if convicted of his present charges, he would not spend much time in prison - and because trials take so long as it is, he could very well get 'time served' as soon as it's over and be out on the streets - that's what people want instead of an attempt at a psychiatric assessment? Gee that makes sense. A teen who has authority issues and has done his whole life is probably not going to come out of prison with a new-found respect for authorities like magic. It could in fact make him even worse. Gee that will be fun.

But my point is, it's amazing how many people just simply do not think. They put their words out in public for all to see and then deny it when you point out that they are saying two entirely different things. Or they simply do not respond to you at all and pretend they didnt see your remark. People are strange, curious creatures.

Speaking of school shootings

So it turns out that 2 youths in my city are in trouble for things related to school shootings.. One school closed on the last day before xmas holidays because of one student apparently overhearing talk of violence and a 17 yr old was listed as the source. Now an 18 yr old has been arrested for apparently posting a threat to another school here and posting obscene material in relation to the Connecticut shootings. The thing is, ive known this kid since he was about 4 years old and have known his parents longer through work. I have seen things in the media that shocked me, such as a school board chair divulging information about the 18 year old's school history of being enrolled in classes for behaviour/emotional issues a few years ago. Regardless of what this teen said, the info released to the media is from when he was a minor. This is not a trial... What if the charges end up being dropped? My son and his friends hang out with this guy and the general consensus from those who saw the posts is that he did not make a direct threat and was mouthing off to get a rise out of people. what if that is  deemed true and charges are dropped? This young man's personal information is now out in the news from when he was a minor. Im not sure that is right and i hope his.parents are looking into privacy acts and what is not considered okay under FOIPs. This is not in a trial situation... Its people giving out information on a juvenile record.
I admit that i havent paid much attention to this happening to other people, but now that i know the person involved, its made me realize that such things should not happen. Even if charges stick and it goes to trial, i do not believe juvenile info should be flapped around beforehand. In many more serious cases, the court is not allowed to hear a youths criminal past, even if it is related to something they do as an adult. A judge has to figure out what gets released, but apparently in my city, school officials can decide that. What if that was your child? Your high school student? You might not feel the same as most people around here seem to. Its a tough one. He goes to school with my son and i admit i feel wary about all this and not sure what to do when he is out. I really dont. But i do.see.him being treated unfairly and if i was his parent, i would be speaking to a lawyer about this information leak from a named board chair.
The recent horrible massacre in Conn has everyone wary and scared about it happening again, a copycat crime or other planned shooting but does that mean anyone who speaks in an ill manner about it should be arrested? Consider some things i have heard my friends say just in the past few days...

One was frustrated at her kids while we were trying to talk and she said "hold on a minute, i have to go kill someone" and then she chased the kids down to tell them to smarten up. Or just today a woman i know with a newly retired husband said "oooooo i could just shoot him!!! He is driving me crazy!!" . If this kid said "i should just go shoot up my old school", is that an actual threat? Cripes it sounds terrible but is that an actual criminal threat? "im going to kill you" or "im going to get my dads gun and shoot those.mother f-ers" is a threat... But im not so sure if the other wording would stick as a threat charge... If it does, it sets a precedent and we all better watch what we say. Thats all im saying. If a teen tries to be controversial and tick people off or shock them, does he or she deserve to be in prison with convicted rapists and murderers? I would imagine a teen like that has issues with authority already, so what could being arrested and jailed and then imprisoned do? I dont want to be around here to find out!!!just something to think about. Ive seen people post on fb news sites that he should be dragged behind a horse... Thats very helpful.