Saturday, December 25, 2010

Christmas with Kids

A asked Santa for a Nintendo DS for Christmas which would be fine if it didn't cost about 100$. When she was making her list I said that she should put a second choice in case Santa couldn't make a DS. She put a slinky. When she got the slinky Christmas morning she said, "at least Santa got me something better than a DS". She's really good at making herself feel better.

It somehow made it worse when she was playing in the car with a set of pens she received and she yelled with apparent genuine happiness, "yay, they're non-toxic". Ugh.

F asked for a Buzz Lightyear and I got him the medium priced one. You press a button and it says stuff but that's pretty much it. When Finn asked after a few minutes, is that all it does, I did feel somewhat wishful that I'd sprung for the fancy feature rich version.

I'm well aware that this is how we as parents are manipulated into a life of consumerism but it's pretty hard not to feel a bit of guilt.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Bulletin from C/S Info

Re-Printed from C/S Info:

Dear Subscribers,

On extremely rare occasions the Info Centre has sent out an alert about a time-sensitive issue of broad significance to the Toronto consumer/survivor community.

We would like to inform you about a children’s Halloween event called Powerhouse of Terror, planned to be held in Toronto from October 28 – 31 at the Power House, built in 1936 by the patients of the Mimico Lunatic Asylum. The event is being widely criticized by many prominent consumer/survivor activists. Visit Powerhouse of Terror http://charityhaunt.ca/indexb.php for details about the event and its treatment of issues related to mental illness.

Here are some excerpts from the event’s promotional website:

Nestled in the grounds of the former Lakeshore Psychiatric Centre, dare yourself to enter what some consider, one of the most haunted buildings in Toronto. In the Power House of Terror... you will experience fear at its deepest level.

Included among the “5 Terrifying Attractions!!!”:

The Asylum- Enter...if you dare...a maze of ultimate madness. Once you enter The Asylum there is no escape. Whatever you do stay together and do not make eye contact if you want to survive

And:

Side Show Attraction - $5 or Free with purchase of Tee Shirt!

Buried alive- A Personal, Solo, Extreme Experience involving all the senses. Ever been in a real coffin before? Experience a simulated burial and get buried alive! This ride allows you to lie in a REAL coffin and feel what it would be like to be buried alive. If you
re claustrophobic, now is time to test your bravery.

Local anti-poverty advocate Pat Capponi sent the following email to president.office@sickkidsfoundation.com

in response to the planned event.

Subject: “asylum of terror = fundraising on the backs of the misery and deaths of patients of the lakeshore hospital”.

“Sir or Madam,

One in five children will experience mental illness. Maybe one of those one in five will tour the awful, regressive Asylum on the grounds of the old Lakeshore Hospital, and see how the mentally ill are portrayed. Do you think that this is right or fair for Sick kids to be involved in? Those of us who have experienced mental illness and the stigma and prejudice against us really don't need this. Shame on you, and shame on your foundation for adding to the burden..and creating further reasons for people not to admit they need help.

Pat Capponi

Voices from the Street”

The Hospital for Sick Kids is the beneficiary of this fundraising event. Ted Garrad, the president and CEO of Sick Kids Foundation, the fundraising organization for the Hospital for Sick Kids, has responded to community outrage as follows. He states

“We certainly do not condone any activities that would deliberately stigmatize people with mental illness and will work with the event organizers, event sponsors and community organizations to ensure this does not happen.”

Concerns remain that his response is very general and does not specify what concrete actions he will take. He has been asked by community activists to provide a more satisfactory response.

If you would like to share your views with Ted Garrad and/or the event organizers they may be contacted at:

info@charityhaunt.ca or 416-356-7689. president.office@sickkidsfoundation.com 416-813-6166 or

1-800-661-1083

Colleen and Helen

C/S Info

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Open Ontario: Will more students mean more education? (Blog: The Inside Agenda - By: Mike Miner)

Open Ontario: Will more students mean more education? (Blog: The Inside Agenda - By: Mike Miner): "

This post was written by the Agenda with Steve Paikin's intern, Ariel Garneau.



If you’ve been on an Ontario university campus in the last three years you know what life for a student is like. Buildings are falling apart, student services like health centers and student unions are in high demand and underfunded. Students need more space and they can’t build classrooms fast enough. Ontario Universities are in need of an infrastructure overhaul.



In the March 8th 2010 Speech From the Throne, Premier Dalton McGuinty unveiled his Open Ontario five-year plan. In his speech the Reaching Higher: the McGuinty Government Plan for Postsecondary Education, McGuinty promises to invest $6.2 billion more on post-secondary education and training between now and 2009-2010 and, this year alone, increase student numbers by 20,000. The plan raises several important questions, mainly are Ontario universities ready for an additional student load?



According a July 2009 report by the Council of Ontario Universities, “$9.4 billion in new construction was needed by 2012 to accommodate naturally increasing volume of students. Universities, however, were not in a financial position to sustain further borrowing to meet this level of construction.” The question is, will this increased funding allow universities to meet the expansion required for predicted student growth? Once the facilities are increased, will there be sufficient room to allow for the 20,000 undergraduate increase per year as Premier McGuinty wants? Surely current student needs should be met before worrying about exponentially increasing the student population. Back in 1996 the Ontario was thinking just that, what changed?



The next question is whether the current state of academics will be able to maintain the same high-quality results for its students after an increase in student body.



Some universities are undertaking “academic planning exercises” to re-shape their faculties, cut courses and stream line programs, and save money according to an issues driven Queen's University website. Most universities are scrambling to maintain service and meet a bottom line. What about China and India? The two countries have huge post-secondary systems, and are producing graduates and trades people proportionally at a greater rate than Ontario. However their degrees are not a guarantee of a quality education as because of the glut of students and the institutions' inability to meet basic staff requirements. But if Ontario Universities can meet infrastructure requirements for an extra 20,000 students a year, will the quality of education slip? Currently the University of Toronto is ranked the 29th best university in the world compared to McGill at 18th. U of T has a total of 69,054 full-time students across three campuses, and McGill has a grand total of 27,044 full time students (including graduate students). The difference in students is 2.5 times larger.



When investing in our post-secondary system to meet future economic demands, should the government of Ontario focus on increasing the number of graduates or the quality of graduates? If Ontario solely focuses on the number of students it can leave the ‘higher’ aspect of education to the rest of Canada. If Ontario chooses to focus solely on the number of students it can graduate, it risks lowering the bar on high education.



"

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Binder Clips as Cable Catchers Redux [Cable Management]

Binder Clips as Cable Catchers Redux [Cable Management]: "

Binder Clips as Cable Catchers ReduxWe've long been fans of using binder clips as cable managers, but sometimes, a person's raw enthusiasm for a technique makes it worth another look. Dutch freelancer David Rudolf Bakker photographs the whole process of desk-edge cable catching in beautiful detail.

If we're being completely honest, this editor never really caught on that the true beauty of binder clip cord management was that the clips themselves could fasten to a desk. It was implied in the lihab's Flickr set, but perhaps not made explicit enough for quick-moving eyes. Bakker's photos show exactly how such a setup should look on a reasonably thin desk edge, and illustrates how the nook of the clip handle holds onto all kinds of cables—USB, Ethernet, Mac power port—just so.


"