Weathering the unexpected.

I woke up this morning to a prepper’s nightmare, or a dystopian writer’s wet dream. I’m not sure which part of me is dominant right now.

But both parts are shocked that Trump won! How could this inarticulate, rage-filled, spoiled baby of a man, this racist, misogynist, hate-spewing wanna-be Hitler WIN?

I am scared for the future, worried about friends in the US, and generally nervous. It has long been an axiom that “Where the States go, so goes the rest of the world.”

I love reading dystopian stories, I don’t want to live in one.

Based on the Nasdaq falling 10+ points last night, and DND having fire drills this morning (coincidence?) I am a bit skeptical of the Sunny Ways right now.

Nasdaq	-10.75  /  -0.22%
Level	4,791.50
Fair Value	4,800.14
Difference	-8.64

But I have strong, wise, and hopeful friends, who make me feel better about our nation.  (for those who never noticed, I am Canadian, living near our capital city. In nuclear blast range, now that I think about it.) *shiftyeyes*

Anyway, one of those friends is JD Hobbes, professional storyteller and bard, a gentle, loving and wise man.  This was his Facebook post this morning.

“Canada needs to be the strong, united nation now. The world will be looking to us for strength, for guidance, for leadership. We need to be The Beacon on the Hill.

Our leaders need to be strong and hold true to Canadian values. They need to protect us and to inspire us, and in turn, we need to support our country and keep it on the right path.

We the people also need to strong. We need to not give in to fear or hatred or intolerance. It is 15+ years of fear, hatred, and intolerance that have led to this moment.

As Canadians, we need to rise above these base emotions and work towards better solutions. We need to let compassion guide us, rather than fear. We need to consider our second impulse rather than acting blindly on our first impulse.

This is Canada’s moment to shine, to provide the example, and to offer shelter and compassion to those who need it. We have a long history of doing that and we cannot afford to be less now.

We need to be more. We can be more. We will be more.”

Hobbes inspires me to be better, to live on hope rather than fear.

AS the Late Jack Layton, beloved leader of Canada’s Opposition at his death , said “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”— Jack Layton

So I am going to drink my coffee, hug my ginormous white cat, and believe that the niggling fear in the back of my brain is a story fighting to get out, not a premonition.

Climate change and Senate seats?

I’ll start with the Senate. Further to his agenda of making the Senate (in Canada) non-partisan, PM Trudeau II has opened the senate to 35 non-partisan, self-nominated appointees.

What this means is that if you feel you’d make a good senator, don’t religiously follow one party, and can find three other people who think you’d be a good senator, you can apply to be appointed.  Last time there was an open season on senate seats, there were 300 applicants. That makes it a 1 in 10 shot.

I’ll take those odds. Although I have asked 10 people to write me a letter of support and only ONE has done it. Does no-one but me think I’d be a good senator?

I’m educated, open -minded (about everything but Harpes) and a strong supporter of  equality, human rights, equal pay, religious freedom, climate change strategies, and more.My foster son, with whom I’m still close, is a gay person of colour, so I’m keen on both those groups having rights and protections under the law. I have worked with and done a documentary on Indigenous groups at risk, including the devastating poverty of remote reservations.

I follow politics and keep an eye on legislation for its impact on specialty groups. I’m not quite so open minded that my brain falls out, but I’m willing to listen. I’m white, from a poor family, but now have a foot firmly in the middle-class. I know what it is to be hungry, to choose between hydro and lunches at school. I have also seen the widening gap between the haves and have-nots.

I’m mobility impaired, I know how insufficient disability support is at both federal and provincial levels, I know how poorly executed a lot of “accessible” buildings are.

I’m a firm believer in stopping omnibus Bills (one bill = one changed/ new law), and in having Bills written in plain language, if you mean X, say X, don’t leave it open to interpretation and abuse.

I’m also a very spiritual person, I formed and led Ottawa’s largest open neo-pagan temple in history. I have been a spiritual elder for twenty years, and am well respected in the community. I have published articles on paganism for a non-pagan audience, and have written for pagan magazines.

As a senator, I would watch closely every Bill that may impact individual freedom of choice, pay and job equity, religious and cultural freedom, health care and any that slide into omnibus status.  I would fight for the average, lower-to-middle-income guy. I would fight for the environment.

I just need three letters from people who’ve known me more than five years, although “fan mail” would also help. LOL

 

And speaking of climate change.

This is my garden 3 years ago, and this year. See a difference?

2013

2016

   Can you see the difference? I sure do! It is getting hotter and drier even in Canada. Since when is 35C+ the norm ? I used to wear sweaters in August!

Voting and “I am a person”

“Today, I am a person.”  This was spoken in 1916 by Nellie McClung in Manitoba, upon women receiving the right to vote.  I think.  It might have been one of the other hundreds of women who were attacked on the street, beaten by police, jailed and starved to get women the vote. It was a hard fought campaign.

So, in the honour of feminism at its best, strong women everywhere, and BECAUSE I CAN…. I voted in the federal election.

I would say that Election day was great, but I couldn’t wait, we voted Thanksgiving weekend.  And got a result to be thankful for: the decade of Harpes and his CONservative battle against everybody who isn’t rich, white and male is OVER!

This is our new prime Minister: Justin Trudeau, son of one of my favourite former PMs, Pierre Trudeau. He is off to a promising start with this letter, his FB page, and this photo.  That’s the Prime Minister.  Yessirree.  I’m gonna have to get political.

So, what does this have to do with anything?  Specifically, why should you care?

Well, two of Justin’s platform logs were: Double the CBC budget (Canada’s national TV broadcaster, which is supposed to be politically neutral, but under Harpes was defunded until they became his mouthpiece).  And raise investment in the arts, including writing and independent film. Which was also slashed to nearly nothing by the HarperCons, after being renamed “Culture” and having the Olympics steal almost all the funding.

Harper said that if he didn’t like it, it wasn’t art.  He only liked things that made him look smart, like ballet, symphony, opera… and hockey.  He didn’t even know who Margaret Atwood was until she publicly came out as anti-Conservative. Then he got petty and misogynistic, qu’elle surprise….

Or things that made him look important, like the Olympics and G8 summits.

So, more money for Arts Council grants, research grants, publishing grants…

Maybe grants to attend seminars on why has my book had 1 sale in the past 30 days, Amazon??

Maybe I need to remind people more often, but I hate being a pain, and know very little about marketing.  Plus I’m 5 scenes from finishing the first draft of an epic fantasy, and planning to write the sequel to the published book during Nano. I need a grant to pay a marketer.  I know of a couple awesome ones…