Todd Babiak's Article

Last night, I ripped out an article from the paper because I wanted to quote it. As I logged into blogger, I looked around for the article, trying to remember where I put it. Oh right. In the back pocket of my jeans. The jeans I just put in THE WASH! I managed to remove the very soggy bits of paper from my pants, but only in little tiny shredded bits.

Hey wait - thanks to the miracle of the web, I can find the article on line. The article, by Todd Babiak, was called Canada's tolerant culture: Gay marriage foes aren't Sponge-worthy and reflected on the oddity that is the current attack on Spongebob Squarepants because he/it/whatever appears to certain groups as a Gay Character. The quote:

Conservative American and British magazines have had fun characterizing Canadians in the last couple of years as marijuana-smoking gay-lovers. This has been a source of immense pride for millions of us who grew up without a national identity.

All I could think was SO TRUE, SO TRUE (while laughing, of course). The Canadian national identity is mostly built on the fact that we are NOT Americans. That's it - Not Americans. Oh, and we are polite. But in today's climate of the Christian Right having an extremely loud voice in the US, Canadians can also identify as being more liberal/tolerant/non-conservative. I realize that much of my readership is American, and I love you all individually, but I think it's pretty clear I don't love your president. I am Liberal with the big L. I'd be a Democrat if I lived in the states. I'd probably one of those people who apologized on the Sorry Everybody website. Which brings me to a very odd thought. The Red States are the Republican states, the blues ones Democratic, right? How did the Republicans get to be red? Here, it's the Liberals that are Red. And besides, weren't the Communists red? Better Dead Than Red wasn't it?

Quick - guess which way I'll vote if this "snap election" gets called! *L*

Reading the Paper

I have frequently said that I am not afraid to go places by myself. If a band is playing at a bar and I want to hear them, I'm willing to go even if no one else is available to go with me. The only place I'm not willing to go by myself is Blues on Whyte. Although it has the best music, the atmosphere just screams bring a friend to me. Preferably a big, scary one.

One of the places I've always considered to be fine is The Globe Tap Bar & Grill. I was there just a few weeks ago to see Trooper. If 2 friends hadn't been able to go with me, I would have thought nothing of going by myself.

So imagine my shock this morning at reading the Edmonton Sun headline:

Man dies helping friend

Where, you ask? At The Globe Tap Bar & Grill. Apparently I've missed out on some of the recent news events - there was a stabbing there in September as well. The details of this incident seem a little unclear in the report, but it seems the 23 year old man tried to help his friend who was being attacked. The 23 year old died of multiple stab wounds.

I don't know why I'm so surprised. It's not like these things don't happen absolutely everywhere. I forget that security is just an illusion and that this line I've drawn between Blues and other bars is completely arbitrary.

Letter to the Editor

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Edmonton Sun this morning. I'm still twitching with anger.

It seems that each time I turn on the TV the count of the numbers of dead from the tsunami increases by 10,000. Could it be that the numbers are being artificially inflated on purpose by these countries to squeeze more money out of the bleeding hearts in richer countries such as ours? Will the poor actually get any of this money or will it be stolen by those damn corrupt government officials in these countries? The media should be more cautious and question everything that is being done.

Dear Sir,

You obviously have not been watching the same news footage as I have been watching. You couldn't possibly be reading the same interviews with grieving relatives that I have been reading. Perhaps you missed the graphic descriptions of the recovery efforts. They are still finding bodies as they clear away debris, and it's been almost 10 days. I do not believe those numbers have been inflated. As for the media, I have seen reporters struggle to keep their composure as they report live from the affected areas.

If you are worried about corrupt governments taking the money, perhaps you should donate directly to one of the charities already working in the area. Do your research first so you can be confident that most of your money is reaching the people who need it. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) uses 10-11% for administrative costs. Save the Children claims that 90% of its donations go toward program services. Medicins sans Frontiers or Doctors without Borders has a rate of 85% of donations going toward aid, but it also does not accept money from the US government. According to CNN, Oxfam puts only 77% towards its aid programs. If you would prefer to donate closer to home, the Canadian Red Cross spent about 91% on program services in 2003 (assuming I can read a financial report correctly).

You still need to have faith in people and you can not let these people continue to suffer because you are worried about the possibility of corrupt governments. Perhaps you consider me to be just another "bleeding heart". At least I've done something to help. It's not much, but it's a start.

Update: A report on CTV tonight has Oxfam Canada claiming that 90% of its donations go toward its aid programs, which differs greatly from the CNN report. Perhaps the CNN report is referring to a different branch of Oxfam. They also reported that World Vision puts 80% toward its programs and that the Salvation Army claims that 100% of its donations are used for aid programs.