See, this is why I love the British.

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Keep calm and carry on.

ronnie

Muslim people. Wearing clothes.

Juan Williams gets nervous when he sees people on an airplane wearing "Muslim garb".

If you do, too, here is a handy blog that posts pictures of Muslim people wearing things.

Forewarned is forearmed. You're welcome.

ronnie

I can't figure out if I have to boycott you anyway.

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ronnie

Little pitchers have big ears.

Dan Savage, with his boyfriend, has initiated the "It Gets Better" video channel. It's a campaign to have lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual people post videos explaining to LGTB and just plain bullied youth that school bullying doesn't last forever, and it does get better - if you can just stick it out. It's in response to a sad spate of bullied teenagers recently committing suicide rather than put up with the bullying they daily endured for being, or being suspected of being, LGTB.

In his latest column (warning: it's a blunt sex column and there is explicit language), Dan responds to a letter from a person who "loves the Lord" and who "does not support gay marriage" but who emphatically denies that s/he would ever, ever encourage his/her children to bully LGTB youth. Ever.

Dan has some thoughts about that.

ronnie

First words

Good ol' Aislin :)

ronnie

Bless 'em all

They're starting the Chilean miner rescue.

I'm astonished at how well the whole thing has been handled since they managed to reach the trapped miners. Really, the Chileans and their international partners have done everything so, so, so well. Especially tending to the psychological well-being of the miners. Anyone who's been following the story in the media will know what I mean.

I was astonished again today to read that the miners have started writing their own book in their own words about their ordeal. It was started as a journal for their families about how they died. Instead, it will become the basis for the book on how they lived.

Husband notes that it is like Apollo 13 all over again - the whole world, united in hoping and praying that some human beings - just like us - survive impossible odds.

Appeal to whatever you believe in that they all make it safely - including the incredibly brave paramedics and rescue workers who will descend into the mine via the drilled hole to prepare them. We throw the word "hero" around all too cavalierly for any victim of happenstance - those guys deserve it.

ronnie

"Modern messaging a godsend for the deaf"

To say the least! So much so that even after now with my CI, Husband and I text about 90% more often than we actually call. Email didn't hurt, either. A friend said to me once that I was so lucky to have gone deaf when I did. That was true. I only had to use a clumsy TTY device twice or three times while completely deaf. Text messaging and email have opened so, so many doors for the deaf. Video relay (explained in the story below) is going to revolutionize things even more for native ASL speakers.

Great story in my local newspaper today.

ronnie

Happy Thanksgiving

So much to be thankful for.

Just had a wonderful meal at the Beaverbrook Crowne Plaza with Mom O, Husband, brother-in-law, and a niece (from Ontario, attending University in NB) and a nephew (little guy, brother-in-law's son, one of my favourites). A collection of odds and sods; families evolve. The food was exquisite. Nephew had the turkey dinner. I opted for the New World Coquilles St. Jacques. Scallops as Thanksgiving meal? Where we come from, sure.

Tomorrow I'm making Cornish rock hens for Husband and me. Haven't ever cooked them before; that's okay, "the Joy" (as everyone I know who owns a copy refers to it) has it in hand.

We are blessed beyond belief. I know this. Today I'm especially reminded of it.

ronnie

Terrifying ourselves to death

Found this in my local paper this morning. Alan Able is a dual US/Canadian citizen and well known journalist in this country who writes a weekly column on the view from Washington D.C.

Most disconcerting to read over the scrambled eggs and sausage. Between the recent rise in Islamophobia and this, what is going on down there?

worriedly,

ronnie

Actually, especially beware of the cat.

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ronnie