IBAAW

Dear Aisling,

I am a scholar, and recently I discovered your website in an Internet archive. I'm studying history, and I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about your life. It has taken me several months to learn your language. Here we speak a Global tongue, which I've read is similar to that of your modern day "Chinese." I am quite interested in how you managed to survive in a world where you do not speak the same language. How is it that you've managed to communicate?

I live in the region formerly known as "Alberta, Canada," which is where you live now. I live on a mountain, and from the West facing window, I can see the ocean. Sometimes, with all of the floods and tsunamis, it threatens to climb up the mountain and wash into the prairies. But it hasn't yet.

Our government is controlled by one Global council, that was established after the third world war. They mandate pretty much everything. It is an honour to work for the government. I, myself, submit my research to them to help them run the world better.

The main conflict afflicting us these days are terrorist threats by reactionaries. They believe that the assimilation of former culture is wrong, and that we should be preserving the old values of your world. Many of them have been gathered and sent to the part of the world you know as "Africa." Africa proved to be too much of a challenge for your generation, and by the end of the third world war it had been transformed into a nuclear wasteland. Now it is the site of the largest prison on the planet, and also contains laboratories for experiments comparing the DNA structure of your people to that of ours.

It has changed quite a bit, they've reported. Vaccinations were banned shortly after the break out of the war, and our immune systems developed a way of protecting ourselves without that ancient technology. There are still diseases, resembling what you would know as cancer, caused by the rapid changing of our DNA due to exposure to dangerous chemicals used as warfare, but AIDS is no longer a threat. The government took care of that by commanding quarantine in 2076, and waiting for the virus to run its course.

I'd best be wrapping this up now, as too much information about the future can prove to be harmful to less-developed mind of your century. Just a tip- learn to use the extra 90% of your brain, it will be useful in the future.

Sincerely,

A Future Friend

What do you think the future will be like?

Labels: Exposé, Journal

Hey everyone!

I know some people out there have been bummed with all of those articles about copyright infringement floating around. It's almost becoming impossible to claim you haven't seen one, and at this point, I'm sure about 30% of your comments consist of something like "Celeb layouts are illegal!!! Read this copyright article." To which I'm sure you respond "zOMG, it's MAH site, and if I wanna put picz of HiLaRy DuFf on MAH site, I WILL. It's mah site 'yo. I payd for it!" To which someone else probably responds "Yes, but did you pay the photographer for that photo of Hilary DUff?" And you may respond "Yeahhzz I did, he's my uncle Bubba, yo!" to which I respond "You are a liaaaar."

But never fear! For there is a way to keep your swirly brushes busy around another (non-illegal) photograph of someone pretty.

I am now offering Aisling Brock PSDs! You have my full permission to use them on your awesome, formerly-Celebrity-focused layouts, and I promise not to sue. (Unless they're used in, erm... porn, or something more illegal than celebrity photo theft...)

For the launch of ABPSDs, I give you the first of the collection! Please feel free to download and use to your fuzzy little heart's content!

Click here to download!

Labels: Exposé

The news is full of stories about the UN meetings currently taking place. One of the top stories is of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom has been visiting New York, and has spoken at Columbia University recently. Ahmadinejad maintains many controversial views. He is trying to obtain nuclear energy for Iran, he insists that there is freedom of speech in Iran, and that the country is void of homosexuals.

He is also an avid holocaust denier and has been accused of antisemitism based on comments regarding Israel that may or may not have had meaning lost in translation. During a conference called "A World Without Zionism," he was quoted in a translation that Israel was a "disgraceful stain," that should be "wiped off the map." On December 12, 2006, at the "International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust," which has been referred to as a holocaust denial conference, he said that "Israel is about to crash," and that when it did, humanity would be free. At Columbia this past week, he referred to the holocaust as a "theory," rather than fact.

Holocaust denial has been going on since the holocaust took place during World War Two. The first deniers were the Nazis themselves, following the fall of the Third Reich. They used their knowledge of propaganda used during the regime to rewrite history and try to put a spin on their story. Quite a few historians call the holocaust a hoax, regardless of the hard evidence to prove otherwise. French historian Paul Rassinier who was actually imprisoned in Buchenwald, denied the gassings of the Jewish people. However, it is well-known that Buchenwald was not a mass extermination camp, which is obviously why he would not have witnessed any. It is also noted that Rassinier also omitted facts from his book, and ignored contradictions in his own writing.

Some claims holocaust deniers make include that the Nazis had no extermination policy, that gas chambers were not used, and that the figure of 6 million Jewish deaths is an exaggeration. However, there are quite a few facts to prove otherwise.

The Nazis were very bureaucratic and kept extremely well-detailed records. Why wouldn't they? After all, they thought they would get away with it, and I'm sure they thought having records of what they thought were accomplishments would be highly valuable. After the liberation of concentration camps, many records were found detailing the amount of people brought into camps, how many had been killed, and invoices for large orders of cyanide. Also, there were film reels made to document how things worked in the camps. Mass graves were found, survivors were interviewed and Nazi diaries were recovered. There is so much concrete evidence that it seems impossible for anyone to dispute it! After all, if six million Jews were not killed during the holocaust, what happened to them?

Investigation pertaining to people who deny the holocaust has revealed that many opinions that they pass off as "fact," are based on biased and falsified information.

So far, confronting this issue has proved to be difficult, since it has been said, that attempting to argue with a denier would perhaps influence the possibility of factual evidence being undermined. Still, I believe that these deniers and their movements are a valid threat that cannot just be ignored. Holocaust denial is getting bigger and bigger, especially with the media attention that Amadinejad is receiving on this current trip to the U.S.

During the International Conference to Review The Global Vision of the Holocaust, David Duke presented the idea that

"In Europe you can freely question, ridicule and deny Jesus Christ. The same is true for the prophet Muhammad, and nothing will happen to you. But offer a single question of the smallest part of the Holocaust and you face prison."

Well, the obvious difference with that, Mr. Duke, is that the Holocaust has hard proven fact to back it up. I'm not saying that Jesus and Muhammed do not have fact to prove their existence, on the contrary, I believe that they did walk this Earth, and that they were very influential people, but do I have solid fact to prove that they were connected to a source of higher power? No, I do not. Unfortunately, it seems that God has left less records of proof of his existence than the Nazis did of proof of their regime.

I think the visit of the Iranian President, and his views of denial, and the media attention they are receiving may not be all bad. At least it is opening it for discussion. This needs to be discussed instead of pushed back into the shadows. We all know that the denial of the holocaust is a lie, and we must stand up for it, to overshadow the denial views until they can no longer be heard at all. We must present the evidence so that there is no possible way to dispute it. We must use our morning Internet time to do research on topics like this one, to better understand our world and change it for the better.

Random Fact of the Day: Holocaust denial is complete and utter crap. It happened. It's fact. You can try, but you can't deny it. At least you can't and make any sane person believe you.

Labels: Exposé

Okay, so here we go.

This is a little bit embarrassing, but...

I am afraid of ladybugs.

I don't know exactly why, but they just creep me out so badly! I think it probably goes back to when I was younger. My brother and I used to spend hours finding ladybugs and sticking them in a margarine container. We'd collect hundreds. I was alright catching them, but looking at them in the container was gross. Even worse was at the end of the day when my mom would make us throw the little bastards on the grass next to the front door. Then, comes the image that generally pops into my mind when ladybugs are mentioned- one hundred plus ladybugs scuttling all over each other trying to get away, ultimately going nowhere fast, trampling the bodies of the morning's catch who had long since run out of oxygen even though holes had been roughly provided.

My fear escalated from there. The sight of a ladybug causes me to shudder. Actual contact with one can be responsible for a much dire reaction. One time I was at work, at Canadian Tire, and I made the mistake of telling someone about my fear. He proceeded to tell someone else, who decided to pretend to put a ladybug on my back. I started yelling, and actually had tears in my eyes at the thought.

So, yes, I have a fear of ladybugs. It's weird, and unreasonable, and not likely to change anytime soon.

Funnily enough, a few years ago, my dad revealed that he is ALSO afraid of the little buggers. So, maybe it's genetic!

Labels: Exposé, Journal

Some of you may know that I am an advocate for bilingualism in Canada. When I was twelve years old, my parents and I decided that I would start attending a French Immersion school for junior high, and so I did, for three years.

I just watched the movie Babel (IMDb), which is all about how misunderstandings are caused, and how they are sometimes based on language and cultural stereotypes. It is a topic I am most definitely interested in, since I have experienced a few instances of misunderstanding due to language barriers. Obviously, my experience with the matter was not as dramatic or life-and-death as those portrayed in Babel, but still hold importance in my life at this point.

I believe that Canadian society should be bilingual. I think that if we are to have laws that promote speaking both official languages, and being accessible in both tongues, we should take it all of the way. One of the aspects I would like to see in my ideal version of Canada, would be for everyone to have at least a conversational knowledge of either English or French, depending on their birth language. I would like to see French taught in schools beginning in Kindergarten. I would like to see French taught with more importance than it is taught at this point. When I was in elementary school, we started taking very basic French lessons in the sixth grade. My mother continues to work at that school, and now it is not French being taught but Spanish. I have nothing against Spanish, but I do believe that we are a bilingual country that supports both English and French. Shouldn't we have an emphasis on learning these two languages before others? After all, we, as Canadians, generally look upon our bilingual nature as something to be proud of. Is it in name only? Are we proud of the words on the Bilingualism Act? Or are we proud of bilingualism, as people who are striving to communicate in both of our official languages?

I recently was in a situation that let me examine the bilingual situation in our country a little more closely. When I signed up for Katimavik, one of the perks was improving my French, which had, I will admit, diminished a bit when I returned to English school in the tenth grade. When I arrived, I was eager to learn, and slightly disappointed to find that my fellow anglophones did not share my goal. I don't hold it against them in anyway. I think the main reason that learning the language held no interest for them, and they've agreed with this point on several occasions, was because in most of their cases, French held no use to them at all! Living in Western Canada myself, I can see the point of this. Other than a few small francophone communities, there is hardly any exposure to a French culture. The largest groups of francophones are located on the opposite end of the country. I suppose I always assumed that as I were to move closer to these predominately French-speaking areas, more French would be accessible. However, I was wrong, as I quickly learned from my group mates from Ontario. They used even less French than I had in Alberta.

Following our arrival in our first placement in the English city of Kelowna, British Columbia, we were all asked many times why we had decided to take part in this project known as Katimavik. The anglophone part of the group cited various reasons ranging from traveling the country, to getting back at ex-girlfriends! The francophones unanimously stated "to learn English." Why such an imbalance? Well, quite simply, the world is much more accessible in English. Even the most stubborn of sovereignists in our group could recognize that English was the language necessary to make it in Canada today.

In Kelowna the Quebecoises worked diligently to work on their skills in English. They spoke in English as much as possible. The held English jobs where they were forced to immerse themselves in the language for eight hour days. They attended their English classes, and completed their English homework. They improved and today are considered bilingual by most standards. In contrast, when we arrived in Quebec, anglophones always made sure to travel with someone who could be used as a translator. Their jobs involved manual labour, and very little instruction, which meant very little interaction with the French language. I attended French classes with them, in hopes of being able to pick up more of the language myself, and although they took the notes, they did not retain much. I don't mean to say that they did not learn anything at all! I just mean, in contrast to the francophones. Near the end, there were a few who had begun to understand most of what was said to them, however, they did not achieve bilingualism in the same way the girls from Quebec did.

Another example of the lack of interest English-speaking Canadians put on learning French came to me while working in an elementary school in the city of Orleans, Ontario, which is a suburb of Ottawa, Canada's National Capital. Ottawa is one of the most bilingual cities I've ever been to. Orleans was a very popular community for French-speaking people in the Ottawa region. So much so that the Quebec girls in my group, ever so focused on improving their English, would become slightly frustrated when salespeople, hearing their accents, would switch to French, when they wanted to be practicing their English. (I can see their point of wanting to be constantly immersed in English, but here I must say I applaud these salespeople for their accessibility through bilingualism in these situations.) Yet I recall during a Social Studies lesson on bilingualism and multiculturalism in Canada, a sixth grade student saying he could hardly tell we were bilingual here, and so what was the point. Well, I was flabbergasted! If he thinks they're hardly bilingual there, where a large portion of the population speaks in both languages, and the street signs are presented in both languages, he should take a trip out west!

I just don't think that it's right that we should claim to be a bilingual country, when in actuality we aren't. Or that we should make the francophone population work to learn English, when so many of us are unwilling to learn French in return. But, I do believe that bilingualism can work, and that Canada should go for it, and really put effort into it, so we have something to be really be proud of, instead of just hiding behind the name of an act we don't entirely follow!

Labels: Exposé

Here it is, an exposé (because I haven't done one in a while, and the label seems kind of lonely) on things I will miss about Katimavik and La Pocatière.

Things I Will Miss About La Pocatière:

• People riding bikes. Everyone has a bike here. Even the paramedics ride around town on their bicycles. And more often than not, these bikes have baskets on the front, which is pretty rad. Often I have felt out of place due to my lack of bike. When I get back to Calgary, I plan to bring casual biking to a whole new level!
• People driving their cars way too fast and way too loud. Seriously, it takes 10 minutes to WALK across town. Still, people insist at zooming down the road at 100km an hour. You can hear the tires screaming "Gahhhhhhhhhh!!!! Why are we in such a hurry to get to the Métro?!?!?!" Still, it's amusing. Also, lots of people here have really pimped their rides. I've seen several cars that glow purple during the night.
• Mopeds and motorcycles. Okay, we have them in Calgary too, obviously. But not EVERYBODY does. This is just as popular as the bike. They can be seen driving around downtown La Poc constantly. Unfortuently, downtown is only 1 street long, then they loop around to our street, and go back downtown in an odd circular fashion. Apparently they just drive for fun, with no real destination.
• The small town feel. Okay, so the lack of shopping is somewhat maddening, but I have no money anyway! I do enjoy the small town feel. I love how the new Tim Horton's was like THE BEST THING to ever happen. Ha ha. I think it was probably a bigger event than the McDonald's. I hope La Poc never gets a Wal-Mart, because I rather enjoy Zellers. I bought my Spice Girls lunchbox for 1$ at the La Poc Zellers.
• The pretty schools. I don't know how they do it, but the schools look very nice with their etheral glow at night.
• Church bells. And school clock bells. Knowing what time it is is quite handy. Also, the bells at 4pm mean I'm done work! Yay.

Things I Will Miss About Katimavik:

• My group mates. Oh my goodness. I don't even really want to think about this yet. This is going to be intense. These are my brothers and sisters! And we're about to be seperated and scattered across the country! It's something I've always thought was dodgey about Katimavik. Like, "Okay....okay.... let's get these strangers together, turn them into a family, and then.... rip them apart, causing ultimate emotional damage! What a great idea for a program aimed at youth! We'll build them up, and then crush them!" Ha ha. Okay, maybe it's a bit far. Anyway, I will miss them more than I am able to express in this little thingy. Even though it actually hasn't sunk in that we're leaving yet. Gahhhh.
• Ummm... I really can't think of anything else... Sponsered activities? Yes, those are pretty great. I mean, who doesn't like free trips to some of Canada's biggest cities? But still, those trips were only really made memorable because of my group mates... Hmmmm....

Okay, okay, new, unplanned category!

Things I Will Miss About My Katimavik Family:

Working our way West to East....

• Anny, Williams Lake, BC: I will miss hanging out with Anny and discussing the craziness of Eastern Canada. I mean, milk in a bag? Puh-cha! Also, our dance parties were pretty sweet. And dress-up games. And crazy photos. I will miss having someone document everything I do (now I will have to do it myself! Arrgggg!).
• Nick, Edmonton, AB: I will miss his snarkiness, which is something he developped in Katimavik. Nick can always make me feel happy. I find his polar bear attributes amusing. I hope I get to see him often! I mean, we only live 3 hours apart!
• Me, Calgary AB: I think I am more West than Edmonton. But we don't really need to talk about me anyway.
• Steve, Timmins, ON: I will miss Steve's laid-back, take-one-for-the-team, just-chillin attitude. I still don't know him very well, but he's still always been nice to me, and what more can I ask for?
• Gwobert, Brampton, ON: I won't miss Gwobert at all. ....... Okay, I'm lying, ha ha. I'll miss Gwobsy a lot too. He's actually very nice, even though we've spent the last 9 months torturing each other. I really hope he finds what he's looking for, what he wants to do, in life. I'll miss long chats either philisophical or about nothing at all.
• Sean, Toronto/Alliston/Mississauga, ON: Where does this boy live, anyway? I'll miss his crazy sense of humour! He has the amazing ability to make anyone dissolve into giggles. Many times I have found myself in shock from something he's said.
• Jadey, La Plaine, QC: Ahhh Jadey. I will miss sharing a room with her! It's been 9 months now! Always my roomie. Ha ha. I will miss her happy demenour, and our emo chats and drawing together. I have no idea how I will be able to get through the night, without hearing her manical laughing in her sleep!
• Joelle, Stanstead/Sherbrooke/Magog, QC: Joelle Ma Belle! I'm going to miss her crazy faces, and her craziness in general! She can always cheer me up, we have great conversations! She's fantastic! I'll miss having someone to understand my insanity!
• Alex, Trois-Rivières/Montréal, QC: I remember when she pretended to be so cool, and turned into such a dork! I will miss her laugh, her constant touchy-feely love expressions, her self-molestation (ha ha, that sounds weird...) and her funny English expressions. "By the way," "Better thing in the world," "It's the perfect girls' night! We have girls... we have night..."

Even so, none of this really does them justice... *sigh*. I guess I'll just give up then!

Hope you enjoyed this odd little exposé, ha ha.

Labels: Exposé, Journal, Katimavik, La Pocatière

A few weeks ago I was watching 'Tyra,' because I love Tyra, and there was a guy that, before he had plastic surgery to look like Brad Pitt, said he was so ugly, e would shower in the dark. To which, I wondered "WTF?"

So, today, as in 15 minutes ago, in a fit of researchness, and because I needed a shower, I gave it a go.

Firstly, after having turned off the lights, I had difficulty actually finding the shower. Luckily, I'd thought ahead to turn on the water, so my sense of hearing was at work, and navigated me safely to my destination. After I had got used to my surroundings, and had found the radio, my eyes started to adjust a bit. However, this freaked me out, because it made the shadows move, which was just scary. However, once my eyes adjusted, I realized the light under the door was quite helpful to allow me to see, if only a tiny bit. I fret to imagine what may have happened had I become scientific and in need of a shower in the late evening.

I found my shampoo and conditioner and soap easily- they were in their same exact spots as when I shower with the lights on, fascinating! My face wash was a more difficult problem, because someone had moved it. After feeling around a bit, and knocking a heavy bottle of shaving gel on my foot- ouch, I might add, I located it, and used it with swift efficiency.

After that, I took some time to reflect on my experiment. I decided against shaving my legs, because I am prone to injuring myself when everything is illuminated. I definately didn't want to risk slicing open my jugular or anything, by attempting to work sharp razors. Then Christina Aguilera "Aint No Other Man," came on the radio (before there had only been advertisements), so I had a quick dance, which was alright. Except then Nick Lachey came on, and you know how emotional he is lately- it was beginning to make my shower too emo. So, I turned him off (sorry Nick), and manoeuvred my way out of the shower without slipping or walking into out glass shower door.

When all is done, it wasn't a bad experience, although I wouldn't recommend it. For those who don't want to see themselves when they shower, I would suggest they take down the mirror some idiot must have left in there.

Labels: Exposé