http://nallison36.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/651107 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:57:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/651107 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/624021 ]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:27:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/624021 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/622613
While I can see the value in the dubbing of Dora the Explorer (I mean who doesn't want a trilingual child that can move seamlessly between gaelige, English and Spanish) I have to admit I was confused by the presence of a country music program and initially upset over the broadcasting of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill (it should be noted that while I can't stand the show Gossip Girl, I am a big fan of One Tree Hill so the bias gets balanced out). At a time when my generation is being told constantly that we are at risk of losing our culture (especially our language) and that we need to hold onto it now tighter than ever for its survival, we find it being watered down. If a dubbed version of some American sitcom is what we are trying to protect is it really worth fighting for? Shouldn't the television channel that is best placed to help us protect this culture that we are being told is being eroded by immigration, westernisation, secularisation, globalisation (and a whole bunch other -isations) have a responsibility to preserve Irish culture as opposed to further adding to this Americanisation? Shouldn't TG4 promote the idea of "we ourselves" as opposed to "us only a little bit different from the rest of 'em"?

A bit bitter, and nostalgic for times when TG4 was full of grandfatherly men with flat-caps talking about sheep, I phoned a mate of mine still living in the Republic for his take on the matter and the perspective he offered surprised me even more than the thought of a ginger mum-look alike strumming a bango and attempting to yodel a Dolly Parton song on a Wednesday afternoon. He actually saw the dubbing of American programmes as a positive thing and a way for us to protect our culture by making it easier for us to engage with something that may seem distant and foreign at times, a relic of the past lost within the lights and sounds of the modern world. It is the Gossip Girl generation that (frighteningly enough) that is entrusted with the responsibility of pulling gaelige back from the brink of extinction. So, Colm argued, if the youth are going to be watching Gossip Girl anyways, wouldn't you rather have them watch it as gaeilge where they can reinforce their language skills rather than in English? Furthermore when they dub these programmes, Irish speaking youth get the sense that both they and their language are important and worth making an effort for. While I still think that it would be better if TG4 were to make an effort to create some worthwhile Irish programming that would speak more directly to this generation (preferably without all the consumerism or glorification of teen sex and drug abuse), I think now I see the value in the dubbing. I just wish if they were going to dub they would dub some different shows - maybe a little House, some Scrubs maybe? It's just too bad that I'm not in the Republic, because I'd like to think that if given the option of watching One Tree Hill as gaeilge every week as opposed to English I would take it.

As I live in Canada, it also got me thinking about the whole Québec situation. Is this what it felt like before the Quiet Revolution. Are the parents and youth of Québec struggling with the idea of watching Gossip Girl en français? Maybe with this whole globalization thing we are more connected than we think.
]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:56:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/622613 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/613655 This month I also had the opportunity to attend the IMPACT conference in Washington DC and to meet with some of our key partners from the past year to see where we should be concentrating our efforts over our last few months and opportunities for final collaborations. The biggest challenge I faced this month was in finding a balance between administrative and active duties, often finding myself bogged down in paperwork and forgetting about the world outside and the on the groups with youth work that I enjoy and that CLC needs. I think I'm finding a better balance now though. I'm really looking forward to all the workshops coming up and for getting to meet more young people from my community, so I think that will help tip the scales back away from paperwork.
Have a nice month,
Nikki
]]> Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:46:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/613655 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/608927
This morning I attended a workshop on using social networking for orgnizations. I learned that in the states MySpace is still used for organizing, while in all of the workshops I have done back home no one has ever said that they use MySpace anymore so it has been cut from the SNFSC curriculum.

Following this workshop I attended a workshop on Arts and Service Learning. We had the chance to discuss issues in education, something that I am very concerned about, and it was really interestin gto hear that so many of the concerns tht I have about our education system in Ontario are also pressing concerns across the United States. Perhaps issues like increasing drop-out rates, acheivement gaps and curriculum diversity are more universal than most people would originally think. There is a lot of space for us to learn and share our ideas for improving education across borders. This conversation continued later in the afternoon when I met representitives from the Price Goerge's Country School Boards who were in the same building for a different conference, also looking at adressing these issues and the role that technology can play.

In the afternoon Naila, Muneeb and I worked the TIG table at the continuation of the opportunities fair where we got the chance to connect with orther organization and with youth that we have met at the conference in workshops and in other capacities as well. We are currently wrapimng up these conversations and getting ready for the next sets of workshops where I will be learning about millenial definitions of citizenships. ]]> Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:46:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/608927 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/608925
This morning I attended a workshop on using social networking for orgnizations. I learned that in the states MySpace is still used for organizing, while in all of the workshops I have done back home no one has ever said that they use MySpace anymore so it has been cut from the SNFSC curriculum.

Following this workshop I attended a workshop on Arts and Service Learning. We had the chance to discuss issues in education, something that I am very concerned about, and it was really interestin gto hear that so many of the concerns tht I have about our education system in Ontario are also pressing concerns across the United States. Perhaps issues like increasing drop-out rates, acheivement gaps and curriculum diversity are more universal than most people would originally think. There is a lot of space for us to learn and share our ideas for improving education across borders. This conversation continued later in the afternoon when I met representitives from the Price Goerge's Country School Boards who were in the same building for a different conference, also looking at adressing these issues and the role that technology can play.

In the afternoon Naila, Muneeb and I worked the TIG table at the continuation of the opportunities fair where we got the chance to connect with orther organization and with youth that we have met at the conference in workshops and in other capacities as well. We are currently wrapimng up these conversations and getting ready for the next sets of workshops where I will be learning about millenial definitions of citizenships. ]]> Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:15:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/608925 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/596319
Guest speakers include:
James Devine - Fredericton, NB - Amnesty International Canada
Komal Minhas - Grand Prairie, AB - Obama Chaser South Asian Dancer
Bryan Levesque - St. Catharines, ON - Ontario New Democratic Youth
Justine Castonguay-Payant - Quebec, QC - CLC Canada
Jamie - Toronto, ON - CLC Canada

To join in on the chat visit:
www.tigurl.org/livechat

If you have any questions or would like more information email: ottawa@clc.takingitglobal.org



]]> Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:10:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/596319 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/594329 Imagine if we all had pressure upon us to choose a college/university in the 7th grade. Imagine if we had to follow through? I am pretty sure that for most of us what we wanted to do in the seventh grade is not what we wanted to do in grade 11/12, or even grade 9.
I think that this rule, as opposed to easing the pressure on younger players will serve to do nothing more that increase the pressure. Even though this type of recruitment was green-lit for regulatory purposes, coaches will still see a green light.
Whatever happened to the care-free days of childhood, playing middle-school sports to get out of class with not a real care in the world.
I sincerely hope that it won't take the NCAA too long to come to their sense on this issue. ]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:25:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/594329 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/565711
This got me thinking about some other strange differences between Canadians and other cultures. Why is it that after a meal or even a coffee and there is an argument about who is to pay it is almost always over who gets the chance to pay, with each party insisting that they will cover it (something I am guilty of myself). Why is it that conversations with strangers always start with "So what do you think of the weather today."

Please don't make the mistake that I believe that Canadians are all one huge homogeneous lump of people. There are certainly huge regional discrepancies as well. For example while in New Brunswick cars stop to allow pedestrians to pass, in Ontario it is customary to to speed up to either a) frighten the living daylights out of the elderly woman and her dog or b) hit them. Another example is why do people in Ottawa love to shovel repeatedly during snowstorms while people in Niagara wait until the storm is finished before shoveling? And furthermore why do more people drive pick-up trucks in Niagara, where 20cm is an insane snowfall, than in Ottawa where 20cm is a good winter day?

What an odd country!]]> Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:06:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/565711 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/543699 While in recent years, there has been a focus on the issue of AIDS in Africa which has become a full-fledged crisis or "global state of emergency" as my friend Lynne would say, it is important to remember that it is not only the lives of people in one part of the globe that have been affected. Asia is the area of the globe where the AIDS rate is rising most rapidly, it continues to be a serious problem in Latin America and regardless of whether we acknowledge it or not, it still exists in North America.
AIDS is everywhere and it can affect anyone. It does not discriminate. It is my hope that on this World AIDS Day we can remember the lives of all people who have died from AIDS and who are living with HIV regardless of who they are, what they do or have done or where they live. A human life is a human life and even one life is too many to lose.]]> Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:11:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/543699 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/541825
The Canadian Youth Delegation will be coming in live from Poland to talk about their experiences at the UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan. Participants will have the chance to ask questions of the delegation and share their thoughts about the climate change negotiations.

To join the live chat, use your TakingITGlobal account visit:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/clccanada/chat

See you there!
]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:31:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/541825 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/541651 It's been a while since I last posted. I am looking for some help from the. I am helping a friend at a local non-profit plan a youth leadership conference on poverty issues. One of the issues we have been struggling with is age groups? I know from my experience at the HRC that there is an interesting dynamic with a large age range (12-30) but also challenges. I am therefore soliciting your ideas. What is a good age range 12-30, 14-30, 14-18, 12-18, 18-25? So many possibilities. ]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:42:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/541651 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/529207 http://taggalaxy.de/]]> Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:46:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/529207 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/527301 The other films on the docket cover almost every human rights issue imaginable. There really is something for everyone. Tibet, Burma, Aboriginal Rights, Business and Human Rights, Congo, environment. Plus there will be talks after each of these films by a human rights defender.
So check it out. I know I would if I lived in Toronto. Or if you don't live in Toronto, look at the films screened to get ideas for your own human rights film night with family and friends.
More info here:
http://www.aito.ca/reelawareness/index.html
]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:04:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/527301 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/507530
The live chat will be discussing election results from the perspective of youth involved in working for change. Representatives of Make Poverty History, the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and Project YouTube will be presenting their ideas and hopes for the next 4 years. Following brief presentations from our guest speakers, the floor will be opened to questions and comments from all participants. All you ned to participate is a TakingITGlobal account! (Although speakers/headphones are recommended for full effect).

To join the chat just go to:
http://projects.takingitglobal.org/clccanada/chat

Looking forward to meeting everyone on Monday!]]> Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:02:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/507530 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/361857 1) Take Time to Relax
- if you don't you WILL burn out
- the time to take time to relax is when you have no time
-relaxing will help you refresh and recharge making you more productive when you get back to work
2) Simplify Your Life
- When we were kids the word we heard the most was NO! We have probably heard it hundreds of thousands of times. Why is it that as young adults we can nver seem to use it?
- It's oka to say no if you really can't take on something else. Someone might get mad at you, but at least you'll keep your sanity.
3) Smile and Laugh More
- adults don't smile or laugh enough
- we should do it more
- smiling and laughing is contageous
- smiling and laughing makes you feel better and it makes everyone else feel better to
4) The Galileo Principle
- you are not the centre of the universe, pretty self explanitory
5) Do Something Nice for Someone
- doesn't have to be big - could be as simple as holding open a door
- giving makes people feel good
- but when you give remember to keep some of yourself for you, don't give yourself all away
- giving perks up the giver more than the receiver
6) Reward Yourself
- celebrate your success
7) Dare to Be You!
- people will like you for being unique, not for being one of the crowd
- being yourself helps you to stand out form the group
- it also feels better when you dont have to pretend to be something that you are not
That's it hope they are some use to you.]]> Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:20:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/361857 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/350079
Sorry this took o long to get up. Anyways last week I had the pleasure of attending The Ontario Rural Council’s (TORC’s) 2008 Rural Development Conference. The theme of this conference was “Leading the Rural Renaissance”.
On the first day of the conference, last Tuesday, there were special sessions for youth in the morning. We started the day with a quick talk by a really energetic and engaging motivational speaker. I don’t know if a motivational speaker is supposed to make you want to pack in school, but I really quite enjoyed him and based on the audience response everyone else did as well. This was followed by a group of concurrent workshops. As the theme of the youth portion of the conference was on youth employment in rural areas, there was one workshop (the one I attended) on networking. It was like speed dating and it was nice to meet a wide variety of people from homeopaths to engineers to authors, but I was not really sure how to approach things because I was not looking for a job, and I certainly wasn’t looking for a job in rural Ontario (no offence to rural Ontario but I just moved and I don’t really plan on moving any time soon). I used this opportunity to informally talk to those I was meeting about TakingITGlobal and to learn about their organization, or profession. The other workshop going on at the same time was podcasting which I heard was really interesting. After this we broke into small groups to develop ideas on how to lead the rural renaissance. We did this by identifying the main challenges faced by rural youth, what can be done to overcome these challenges and how we can go about getting that done. At first I was really shy and did not feel like I had anything to contribute at all. I have never lived in the country. I have lived in a small town, but it was right beside a big city and was more or less a suburb. But eventually after listening to some of the other youth talk about their experiences I realized that the challenges that rural youth face have a great deal in common with the challenges that urban youth face. Transportation, lack of anything other than McJobs and stigma against the trades/college were some of the key challenges highlighted. Some of the ideas on how to overcome challenges included offering entrepreneurship grants and support, having mentoring programs where youth can “learn the ropes” from an established leader in the town’s business community and promotion of the trades and college as viable alternatives to university from middle school on.
After the youth session, the main conference began with a very interesting keynote address from Dr. Greenwood. Because of the weather he was not able to get into Ottawa from Newfoundland, but they hooked as conference call up to the speakers. This was really neat and something we should keep in mind for meetings that we have glitches with. I did ask the tech crew how they did it and it’s really simple. This was followed by another workshop session. I attended a workshop session on how to start Youth Councils. As a teenager there were many attempts to start a youth council in the City of St. Catharines and though our neighbouring municipalities were successful, we were not for the longest time. After hearing these passionate and dedicated youth speak, I have come to the conclusion that youth councils are easier to set up in rural communities, because generally the mayor and local government is more accessible, but they are absolutely essential in both urban and rural areas. This session was lead by the YNOT committees from Simcoe region. I plan to contact their adult mentor, who does not really have a strong role in the committees which operate very autonomously, to talk to him about the sort of tools that TakingITGlobal can offer the groups and the kind of connections that we can help them make.
I was unable to attend the second day but the third day of the conference was also very interesting. There was a keynote address on rural poverty and a workshop on e-business and the importance of broadband in rural communities, which I think CLCers can defiantly agree is a huge complication to effective communications with people in rural areas.
It ended with by far the best workshop of the conference called the 7 Humour Habits for Workplace Wellness. This guy was both absolutely side rippingly hilarious and insightful. One of the things that he said that stuck out the most is that that it is most important to relax when you don’t have the time to relax. He also had us practice saying no. He talked about how it is rather funny that we hear the word “no” thousands of times as children and young people but when we get to be adults we are terrified of using it ourselves. Sometimes we just have to say no, draw the line somewhere and stop taking on things that we really can not handle.
One of the things that I noticed with the youth session on Wednesday is that there were two very separate categories of youth… young professionals either finishing up university or finished and high school kids. It was really cool to see both groups interacting with one another and working together on the same level to solve problems relevant to rural communities.
I would also like to thank the northern Ontario futures economic development group as their staff team kind of adopted me on Thursday. At a big conference with a lot of people that you don’t know or have much in common with, it can be very intimidating to talk to people, but they made it really easy. They gave me people to sit with and joke with and brainstorm with.
Overall I am really glad that I went to this conference because it gave me the opportunity to go way beyond my comfort zone and meet really different people and understand the problems of rural youth.
]]> Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:39:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/350079 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/344951 Why is there all this hoopla over St. Patricks Day in Canada... especially today? Why are we celebrating a holiday on behalf of the Irish when it isn't that big of a deal there (don't let the parade in Dublin fool you... it's more for the tourists than anything else)? And not only that but we are celebrating it on the WRONG DAY! Saturday, March 15th was St. Patrick's Day this year. It was the Roman Catholic Church that moved it so that it would not coincide with Holy Week, the most somber week of the liturgical year for Catholics, which Ireland if full of! Then people in Canada get upset becuase it is moved, while the people in Ireland more or less are fine with it. And of course how do people in Canada celebrate St. Patrick's Day? By getting wasted and thus reinforcing a very negtive and inaccurate misrepresentation of the Irish people.
My goodness.]]> Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:51:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/344951 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/343967 On Wednesday morning trying to walk to the bus stop to get to school I was attacked by dogs 3 times. No it was not 3 dogs with one owner that just could not hold onto them - it was 3 different dogs with three different owners.
Now I do walk with a walker and I understand that it can be frightening to dogs, but can my walker really be that much scarier to them then a German Sheppard on his hind legs on my walker barking inches from my face with me not being able to run or hide.
At least only one of them bit, I suppose that is a little bit reassuring.
But the behavior of the owners wasn't. A mumbled sorry. A delayed response. For the bite I at least I got a full sentence, "He was just being friendly."
"He was just being friendly?" - friendly isn't broken skin. This time I was incensed! I had heard this line before, as unfortunately with a walker and a bum leg I had been attacked by dogs before.
"Your dog may just be being friendly, but I AM NOT!" - I responded. Not very accurate, as I am very friendly, I just don't like getting attacked. It's not cool.
So next time you think about taking your dog for a walk please put it on a leash. Think a little less about the enjoyment of your dog, and a little more about the safety of your neighbors. Even the friendliest dogs can do some really scary things.]]> Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:24:00 EDT http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/343967 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/341989
Movies
1. About a Boy
2. Bend it Like Beckham
3. Rudy
4. King Arthur
5. Benny and Joon
6. A Knight's Tale
7. RENT
8. The Constant Gardiner
9. Bridget Jones' Diary
10. The History Boys

Films
1. Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself)
2. Control
3. This is England
4. Braford Riots
5. 24 Hour Party People
6. Once
7. Second Generation
8. Spare Parts
9. In the Name of the Father
10. Waking Ned Devine]]> Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:56:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/341989 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/335149
Now of course this has generated a lot of debate. Those in support of the Afro-centric schools argue that the schools will help students succeed by addressing their unique needs as a community and will also give them a sense of cultural history. They also point out that the schools will be open to anyone wishing to learn in an Afro-centric environment. Those who are not in support of the schools focus their arguments around regression - are we moving back to 1940s Southern United States with black children and white children not being allowed to learn together? They feel that the schools will harbinger racism and increase stereotypes about black people that exist in our society today.

Looking at this issue, I feel that it can not be fully separated from the debate concerning separate religious schools that reached fever pitch in the fall. I am not equating skin colour to religion, that would be extremely ignorant, I am simply drawing this line because supporters of both the Afro-centric school and religious schools have argued that these schools are needed to address specific needs felt by their communities and that these separate schools would help students to succeed and become whole people.

The religious schools debate is more complicated and divided into more camps:
1. those who believe that the current Ontario school system is fine the way it is with four separate sets of boards (English Public, French Public, English Separate - Catholic, French Separate - Catholic)
2. those that feel the whole system needs to be combined into one public board which would do away with Catholic schools completely because it is discriminatory funding
3. those who would like to see some government funding of schools for other religious groups but not total funding - this could mean putting Catholic schools into that religious sphere or it could not, opinion varies greatly
4. those that support full funding of all religious schools

Obviously 1 and 4 are the extremes of this debate, and like in the case of the Afro-centric school these two sides generally build their argument around addressing specific needs (pro funding) and fears of racism, segregation in society and hatred that would be fostered by keeping students from different backgrounds away from one another. Both sides have their pieces of legislation to support their argument, with those who want to see the withdrawal of funding from Catholic schools even having the support from the United Nations who say that the funding of Catholic schools in Ontario is discrimination. With a ruling from the United Nations, it makes the legislation for the pro-funding of catholic schools but not other religious schools look very weak as their argument was centered around a clause in the British North America Act or 1867 that remained obscure for the better part of 125 years.

Now that I think I have fairly presented all of the basic arguments of the different sides in these debates, I see it to be fair for me to explain my stance on this issue. I support the Afro-centric school, but I am not black. I support funding for the Muslim school, the Jewish school and the Christian school, though I am not Muslim, Jewish or protestant. This is not because I am a racist who does not want to learn with black students nor is it because I do not want to learn alongside people of other faiths. I want to see funding for these varied schools because I see the value of an education that is tailored to the needs of a specific community. The only reason I see that is because I was able to attend publicly funded Catholic schools in Ontario (to assist with any confusion I am Catholic) and received a whole-person education. I benefited from that obscure clause in the British North America Act and so did my sister and the vast majority of my friends from Ontario. Friends who by the way have varied religious and cultural backgrounds who attended Catholic school because they saw the value added approach of a Catholic education. Therefore based on my experience in the school system I am happy to support those who are pushing the government of Ontario to support funding for schools for black students and students of different religions on the condition that they have certified and licensed teachers and teach students the core curriculum that will culminate in an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, and a mandatory course in comparative religions (like all Catholic high schools offer). I believe that the right thing to do is to give everyone, not just Catholics, the opportunity to seek an education in the religion of their choice, regardless of their financial means. Religion is not for the wealthy, so why should religious education be?

And while I will support those who want to eliminate discriminatory funding practices by pushing for funding for separate religious schools, I will fight tooth and nail those who want to see the end of discriminatory funding by abolishing funding for Catholic schools. And though I go against the United Nations Human Rights Committee, something almost unheard of for a human rights activist, I feel that I am justified in my stance because that obscure clause is not just in any piece of legislation it is in the Canadian constitution (The BNA Act became the Constitution Act 1867 in 1982 when we repatriated our constitution). This means that it is my constitutional right to have had a Catholic education and it is the constitutional right of my Catholic family members, friends and community to enjoy a Catholic education as well. I am not going to let anyone take away my constitutional rights because the constitution is the supreme law of the land. The United Nations human rights system is supposed to be there to help give people rights, not take them away. And in a United Nations system where sovereignty concerns have allowed inaction in Rwanda, Darfur, China, East Timor (the list is endless really), the sovereignty of Canada in giving funding to Catholic schools seems like a tiny fish in a huge overpopulated radioactive cesspool.

And as for the argument that separating students by religion and colour makes them more prejudiced, I think I can safely dispel that myth. I have friends that are atheists, Buddhists, Hindu, catholic, protestant and who adhere to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. I have friends that are black and that are white, come from all over the world and are living all over the world. I do not see the colour of someones skin or their religion, I see another human being. And you know what, that is something that Catholic school taught me. ]]> Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:14:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/335149 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/333705 http://www.artedojo.com/zazen.htm

Zazen means sitting in silence, a state of being in non-judgmental awareness.

The Japanese word Zazen is not easy to translate. Terms like "concentration" or "meditation" are somehow not suitable, because they imply that the mind centers itself around an object. Even the common term "meditation" originally describes a process of contemplating about an object. But what is Zazen?

One day seeing Yakusan sitting in Zazen, Sekito asked him: "What are you doing?"
Yakusan answered: "I'm not doing anything at all."
Sekito said: "In that case, you are sitting idly."
Yakusan replied: "If I were sitting idly, the I would be doing something."
Sekito asked: "You say you are not doing anything. What is this 'not doing'?"
Yakusan replied: "Not even the ten thousand sages know."

Zazen is doing nothing. We are however used to constantly doing something. "To do" something without goal or purpose seems an unnecessary waste of time to us. Activity gives us the feeling of continuity regardless of the actual sense or nonsense of our actions. Therefore we prefer to engage in thousands of other things rather than starting with Zazen. Most of our problems are rooted in the inability to sit silently. Particularly western people are very restless. We waste our live in endless activities. Our mind never quietens. We are carried away in an never ending cycle of events. Unaware of the deeper motives of our actions, we remain involved in an endless chain of cause and reaction.

Zazen is stopping. But usually we are ready to do this only if we find that our motives and actions do not lead to the desired success. We rather tend to project our thoughts and we do things to make impressions on others. We want to be seen in certain ways by others. But in this way we are constantly looking on others, loosing ourself. As long as one does not know oneself, one wants to become something or is imagining to be something and is disappointed if one is not loved.

Zazen is not goal-oriented, it is without purpose and without supportive devices. Zazen is observation and let go. Zazen is to be here and now. However, we experience the present moment only once our consciousness is free from the processes of thought and identification. It is not the achieving of a goal, but the state of being awake, which then has it's own meaning.

Zazen is direct seeing into the nature of one's own being. There is no conception, no object, over which one meditates. Our brain forms and stores emotional, conceptual and graphical samples and interprets them. Zazen is awareness without anticipation. All interpretations are the attempt to derive the future from the past. This way we miss the direct perception of the world. To let go of accumulated knowledge seems dangerous to us, because it means the end of routine and security.

Zazen is silence, stability and openness. The body is like a mountain, the spirit is like the sky. If too many thoughts are clouding the perception, we not only loose contact with ourselfs, we also loose compassion and humanity. But even when it is cloudy, the sun is shining behind the clouds. If thoughts and emotions are calming down, we start remembering the nature of ourselfs. Like undisturbed water, our consciousness returns to it's natural state.

Zazen is not an auto-hypnotic technique and has nothing to do with any kind of visualisations. The awareness is wide and open and not focused in any way. It is not pondering and wandering around terms or phantasies. Zazen means to become aware of the film which is playing on the screen of our mind, seeing thoughts come and go without judgment or fixation.

Zazen is not concerned with metaphysical speculation or spectacular experiences; it has nothing to do with mystification, esoterics or new age.

Zazen is not asceticism. Zazen is not a dry and serious affair. Zazen is a play, the highest play you can play, alone or with others.

Zazen is returning to the source, becoming intimate with oneself.

The spirit flows freely without holding on to anything. The journey is completely open. Eased and open one enters with the whole being, without spending energy. Our memory constantly projects new movies onto the internal canvas. If you find yourself lost in thoughts, just let go. As if before a mirror, everything passes by. Here there is no work to do, no right or wrong, no confusion. The awareness is total, without judgment. The heart and the mind are quiet. Without conceptions of space and time one is here now. Simply sitting, and that's it. One is free and at the same time conditioned by everything.]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:10:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/333705 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/333529
That being said, it is extremely unfortuante that there are many kids that can not afford to play organized sports in Canada and are therefore excluded from the benefits that sport give because informal, or just for fun sports, are not present in communities the same way that they once were. I hope that more and more, parents will see the benefit of sport for thier children and will encourage them to play formally or more importantly informally so that more and more children will be able to participate in sport.]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:07:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/333529 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/332701 I'll admit it, in high school I found those grades gratifying. I prided myself on my straight As and saw them as a reflection of my hard work. Now that I am older though, I find grades to be extremely constraining and an inaccurate reflection of who we are as people. Grades put so much pressure upon us, they force us to preform at an ever unreachable level, that they end up crushing most of us. Our lives can be determined by a grade point, we can lose that scholarship that allows us to go to school, we can lose our program and as a result we can say good-bye to all of our hopes and our dreams and say hello to a future of McJobs, where if you re lucky you get to work at a call center. How ridiculous is that?
Grades have sucked much of the pleasure our of learning as we are forced to take in more and more information about topics that we don't particularly care about and write essay upon essay for a professor or a teacher that does not have enough time to care. Our desire for a good "future" - whatever that really is, forces us to take courses in subjects we loathe and pretend to care about. Numbers and the letters A-F determine where our future is going to lie, a determination that was formerly left up to us. Grades enslave us, rather than set us free and they can consume us.
Who gave grades that power and how do where can we go to get that power back?]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:55:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/332701 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7 http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/332649 For a number of years, the main players in international human rights, most notably Amnesty International, have avoided participating in this debate by not taking any position on the use of force. Recently more and more of these organizations have begun to change their mind, once again drawing attention to Amnesty International. In 2005 Amnesty International adopted a policy where it will advocate for the use of force in very specific cases, specifically only intervention by a UN peacekeeping force to prevent wide-spread and grave human rights abuses in a particular region, only to be used in order to protect civilians. Amnesty first publicly used this position in their activism work to advocate for an intervention in Darfur. If Amnesty International was able to brake a 40-year silence on the use of force for the issue of Darfur, how come the Canadian government has not. UNAMID, the United Nations-African Union hybrid force that is supposed to has already been deployed in Darfur, but still needs 18 more police units and 10,000 more troops? While Canada has volunteered police personnel, they have refrained from offering military personnel or equipment. What kind of message does that send to the world when a nation, who at least externally, is supposed to be seen as a world leader in human right, has not made a substantial committment to UNAMID?
This comes despite the fact that the idea for UNAMID, the legitimacy of UNAMID, has come from the ideas and the interpretations contained in a report called Responsibility to Protect, which Canadians gave life to.
If you, like me are frustrated by this lack of commitment from the Canadian government, one of the simplest was in which you can make your voice known is through the genocide hotline set up by STAND Canada. It is 1-800-GENOCIDE. This number directly connects you to the offices of one of 6 influential members of parliament. If you are nervous or unsure of what to say, before launching you towards an MP there is the option to hear some talking points.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to effect change.
And don't forget to write your MP, never forget the power of a handwritten letter. After the genocide in Rwanda, a prominent American member of the house said that if every elected representative received 100 letters then the United States would have done something about Rwanda.]]> Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:09:00 EST http://nallison36.tigblog.org/post/332649 45.4166667 -75.745.4166667-75.7