Double news in one blog!

First, a bit of a polical rant.  It's Election Day here in Canada, meaning I went out and fulfiled my democratic responsiblity.  Yes, I say responsibility and not right, because I  believe that being engaged (at least as minimally represented by voting) is a responsibility of citizens.  I can't stand hearing that people don't vote.  It's not your choice, fucktard, it's your damned responsibility.  Gah!

This election, I only had one issue that mattered to me above all, and it wasn't education, health care or the economy.  This issue wasn't on any opinion poll and it wasn't address by the majority of parties.  The issue most important to me this election was Arctic sovereignty.  After reading an article early this year about the Russians mapping the sea-floor and trying to make a case at the UN (or wherever it happens to matter) that because of a continental shelf extending from land they own, they should have 'ownership' over the artic, I was impressed (although reluctantly so) by my government's reaction.

It doesn't matter now.  It may not matter in my lifetime or for another 10-15 years.  But pledging now to increase military troop patrols and invest in coastal Inuit villages to bolster our use of land we've staked a claim to for decades (if not hundreds of years; I'll profess ignorance for how long we've officially claimed our border there), the Conservative party got my vote. 

As this election progressed and I tracked the events, I was extremely put-off by my usual party of choice, the Liberals.  I haven't been happy since Chretien screwed over Martin and messed up the party with which I most identified; I hate partisan politics and watching the jackals try to advance their agenda at the expense of my country pissed me off.)  If Harper gets a majority government, or a more substantial minority than what he had, and he doesn't mess it up by going socially right, then I may be a Conservative for a while.  Ah well.  My opinion (and vote) changes based on what I see and how I perceive the party to act.  It's never written in stone and my vote is up to the least damaging party.

 

The second bit of news: I'm doing well in school.  Since returning, I've been holding a 95% average.  I'm damned pleased with myself because I used to slack off in school and glide-by effortlessly with 70s.  Working, studying and paying attention have netted my marks of which I'm proud.  I even had a teacher state she owes me coffee because I got 100% on the test in her class.  Like a 'first trimester' exam.   Woot!

 

All told, I'm pretty damned giddy.  Well, it's time to go reheat left-overs from turkey-day dinner.  I hope everyone reading (and not, I'm not biased  ) has a good evening, and if you're Canadian, I hope you don't feel terribly dirty after voting.  I know I did.

Posted by NorthernPlato @ 5:59 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

First Steps...

... for me into a new career.  

Shortly after getting back home from the LAN, I received mail from a few different places.  One fromEI (social assistance for people recently laid off; for you non-Canadians, it's basically a refund on a 'tax' we pay off of each pay check similarly to pension payments) saying they'd finally sorted all the paperwork out and another from a new program in Ontario called 'Second Career'.  Basically, it allows "under" educated people such as myself to go back to school while on EI and receive assistance.  It does require a contribution from myself, of course, which I think is a good thing for such a program.

I'd never be able to go back to school on my own without some form of assistance, and having already paid off a student loan once I'm glad I don't have to do it again. 

Anyway, today was a 'mandatory' pre-start, 'quasi'-frosh day that at least 50% of the people registered in the course didn't attend.  I wouldn't of showed up, but I figured that'd be a crappy way to start off.  I'm very excited to be going back to school, especially for something that I was exposed to in my previous job (consulting/technical writing for companies that wanted to submit a report for research tax credits).  There was a lot of financial information from clients' that I'd have to handle, but helping them stratigize such expenditures was beyond my (and my employer's) realm of knowledge.

Hence, I'm now in an accounting course.  The program I'm taking is appearantly a fantastic program that'll qualify me for transfer credits for the programs from all three professional accounting associations in Canada.  All I need to finish after this course is, depending on which university I attend, either 1 or 2 years to get a degree and the rest of the courses required by the various accounting associations.

So, in 4-5 years, I'll have a degree, a diploma and a professional designation that's recognized across the counrty and in demand, all of which will compliment my work experience.

So far, with only a high school diploma (I started a landscaping technician program out of high school, but couldn't afford to continue living out of town.  A $5,000 loan for nothing.) I've been a quality assurance co-ordinator (I have my ISO9001:2000 Internal Auditor accredition that's RAB certified), I've been a production controller for the same company, and most recently I did consulting for a research tax credit program.  I didn't do any of the tax work, just the technical report submittion and helping clients to identify qualified expenditures and in a few cases help them to plan out future research or improve research tracking documentation.

That my all sound very boring, but I loved the strategizing.  As my former employer started to require stricter technical content, I started to lag behind and I was finding my job very stressful.  We'd discussed my going back to school, but with their client load and such they couldn't justify the loss in revenue and keeping someone just to do the financial information.  I don't think I've ever been relieved to be laid off, but I was then.

And now I'm about to start school for a program/course that I'm excited to be taking.  Woohoo!  Yay me!  I can't wait to be pulling in a 4.0 average and rocking numbers and ledgers.

Posted by NorthernPlato @ 2:20 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Where is the head?

If you've never read Least I Could Do before, you really should start.
http://www.leasticoulddo.com/

And to encourage you, here is the most recent video they've made using the main character of the comic.  The song is somewhat NSFW, so listen quietly.




Posted by NorthernPlato @ 1:27 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

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