Change

I don't like change.  Sure there are many things I'd like to change in my life, but actually going about affecting those changes are, at times, frightening.  A few weeks ago, frustrated at work, I'd approached my boss about switching from report writing to doing the financial details for all writers in the company.  The company only has 3 writers, including me.  Part of this change would require me to take courses through the college our offices are in.  The courses I was looking at taking all qualified for transfer credit to a professional association in Canada; Certified General Accountants of Canada. 

After taking those foundation courses through the college, I'd be able to apply for the transfer credits and pay a membership fee.  I wouldn't be done yet, though, as it would take a program from a local university to finish the CGA courses and acquire a BA in business.  Which would be nice seeing as currently I'm technically only a high-school educated shmuck.   All told, this plan would have taken about 10 years part time, mostly due to the fact that the foundation courses through the college is equivalent to a 3-year program full-time. 

I thought, for the briefest moment, it would be faster and better for me to return to school full-time.  It would be hard, sure.  I'd be making almost no money, but I'd qualify for a student loan again, having paid off my loan from my abortive college attempts.  But I lack the intestinal fortitude to leave my comfort zone.

Well, on Friday last week, the choice wasn't mine to make anymore.  Changes were made at work and I found myself superfluous.  Being laid-off certainly wasn't the birthday surprise I'd planned to give my wife when I woke up that morning, but it's what I had to share.  For the second time in 8 years of working, I'd been let go.

But I found I wasn't upset.  While my boss was explaining the state of the company and how we'd both acknowledged earlier that I wasn't really a 'fit' for technical writing anymore due to recent changes in what was required, I found myself relieved.  It had been hard the last few months, trying to keep up with the changes.  I was no longer happy and dragging my ass out of bed to give my best that was seeming to never be quite good enough was very disheartening.  It's part of the reason why I'd thought I should just quit and go to school full-time.  Get a diploma in business accounting and open a few doors to other employment opportunities.

Being laid off, there are programs in Canada that I should qualify for apart from using student loans to pay for my education.  I should be able to receive employment benefits while going school, which while it's nowhere near what I was being paid, it would allow me to still pay my rent.

It's an odd feeling, being hopefully and terrified at the same time.  A few years ago, I think I would have caved to the terror and simply decided to go out and find some other full-time job and continue to seek a path more comfortable.  But in the last few years, I've read quite a few blogs here on 2o2p of people facing all kinds of changes and difficulties.  And I've been inspired by a few members, in how they deal with adversity and strife that I could never imagine dealing with and they do it with such faith.

So to everyone on 2o2p that's ever shared a piece of their life with the rest of us, thank you, and know that you've made a difference to others.  You inspire us to be try to be better than we would otherwise be.

Posted by NorthernPlato @ 12:33 pm EDT | Permalink | 8 Comments

Child Soldiers

The treatment of Omar Khadr is something that I've found disgusting since I first heard about it. A child soldier, aged 15, is accused of killing a US soldier with a grenade. It's not so much that the US arrested him and sent him off to Guantanamo Bay, it's that the Canadian government has done shit about it. It's similar to the case of a Canadian citizen being sent to Syria by the US instead of being sent back to Canada; in that case it was the US officials acting on information provided to them by the RCMP. That information was later found to have been wrong and largely speculative.

But the Khadr case annoys me most because he's a child soldier, accused of killing only 1 person in a combat zone. I say 'only 1' because Canada apparently has a reputation for putting a lot of time and effort into the rehabilitation of child soldiers from other countries, and comparatively those children have seen or done far worse things and in greater numbers. There is/was a group in Africa known for using child soldiers as part of it's more violent groups. The Canadian government sees fit to spend resources on these children because of the belief that they're victims, and yet one of our own citizens is allowed to wallow in a prison with a rather dismal reputation. We've allowed a child soldier to be interrogated and suffer abuse. It took years for Khadr's defense (currently U.S. navy Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler) to even acquire documentation related to the charges. Kuebler was in Canada recently telling parliament that he doesn't believe the charges are true (arguably the job of all defense council) and I've read before (but can no longer find the article) that there was testimony that Khadr wasn't the one that even threw the grenade in the first place. Yet we still do nothing. I

'm not saying that he shouldn't remain in custody while the trial continues. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a trial, and I certainly understand that it's quite possible he's guilty of what he's being charged with. However there is precedent in the international community in regards to the treatment and punishment of child soldiers. Even if Khadr's found guilty of murder, like many other child soldiers, Canada should spend the resources rehabilitating him and not allowing him to spend his life in some US military prison.


I'd like to make it clear, given the mixed audience at 2o2p, that I'm annoyed with my government and not the US or the existence of the holding area at Guantanamo Bay. It just seems, over the last several years, that the Canadian foreign policy is "if you find yourself in a bind outside of Canada, fuck off and don't bother us. Obviously, you deserve whatever has befallen you, legitimate charges or not. We don't care." It seems to be a pretty shitty position. While I understand the need to respect the autonomy of foreign nations' justice systems, that autonomy should only go as far as the reputation the country has in the international community. Leaving a citizen stranded in some hostile environment is unacceptable. We have the means here to track them, hold them if necessary, and ensure they are treated humanely. Fuck the autonomy of countries that presume guilt and treat people accordingly.

The article that got me all riled up this morning can be found below for those that are interested. At the end of the article are links to previous articles published on Khadr's case.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/Canadian+child+soldier+faces+Nurembergtype+charges/Home/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080507%2fomar_khadr_080507&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=True

Posted by NorthernPlato @ 10:48 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

testing

Just because Smoke said he couldn't add a new blog, and I'm an ass like this.

Posted by NorthernPlato @ 12:42 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

One more cat pic

Lately, with nothing to say, I haven't had a reason to blog anything, and I find it pointless to just post pictures from www.Icanhascheezburger.com when y'all can bookmark the site and have a daily smile yourselves  =)


All that said, this picture was far too cute to pass up, and I just feel the need to share.  It still makes me smile, even after a few days, and quite frankly I just want a way to get back to the quickly   ;)




cutest sleepy kitteh evar!

(I'm actually debating tagging this NSFW, just for kicks, but I think I can resist the cheap joke.  I think..)

Posted by NorthernPlato @ 8:55 am EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Canadian music heritage

I'm a fan of the late Stan Rogers, and while perusing the intertubez today, I meandered across the official site for his music.  While digging around for some samples of his music (because there's nothing on YouTube...arg...damn you CBC, damn you), I found a link to work his son is doing.  I watched a video recorded at a concert, and I was blown away by how much he sounds like his father in that song.  Granted, the song is a cover of his father's, but still, it was amazing.

So now that I'm back at home with a CD copy of Stan Roger's Home in Halifax, I'm going to link (or at least try to link) the youtube video of Nathan Rogers singing Northwest Passage, on the small chance that there are other fans of Roger's music on the site.




Posted by NorthernPlato @ 10:11 pm EDT | Permalink | 0 Comments