May 27 911 Alberta: I was going through
my cell phone inbox, and deleting text messages.
I see this message about 44 cents added onto our cell phone bills and
the website:
“Cellphone customers in Alberta will see a 44 cent levy on their monthly cell phone bills
starting April 1, 2014, when the
Emergency 911 Act comes into effect.
The money
from the new levy will help fund 911 call centres across the province.
The Act
will also bring in fines for frivolous 911 calls that abuse the system and it
will allow for the creation of province-wide standards for 911 call taking.”
Plastic
surgery: I read in the Metro on Feb. 5, 2014 called “Website Helps Women Get Free Breast Implants.” The site was created by Jay Moore and Jason
Grunsta who created a campaign to help their friend get augmentation. Later, they created a website so anyone can
use it.
Women
create a profile about why they want the implants and why they can’t afford it. They market the profiles to men who sign up
for free. They have to purchase
“credits” to “use to send women their messages.
The women get cash in their accounts for every message received. Surgeons are paid directly by My Free
Implants for the procedures.”
I read
this letter in the Metro on Feb.7, 2014:
“There
are many people in countries that need life saving surgery and do not have the
money. For the girl who wants breast
implants and is asking for donations, maybe you should be thanking God for your
health.”
My
opinion: I get the letter writer’s point. However, no one is forcing these men to give
her money. I remember seeing a video on
Jay Leno about this woman who was dressed in a bikini. She was standing outside holding a sign that
she not homeless, but wants money for breast implants. Cars honk as they drive by. Lol.
Right
to Play: I was reading the newspaper and
see this ad that Holt Renfrew is selling these $55 bags and it goes to the
charity Right to Play. They educate and
empower kids in third world countries.
Sexual
assault: I was reading in the Metro on May 6, 2014 “Two men sentenced to life, 13 acquitted in mass rape
trial.” It goes into detail that other
defendants got 10-20 yrs in prison. “Authorities said at least 135 women and
girls were raped in and around the town of Minova in eastern Congo on Nov. 2012.”
Haiti: I was reading in the
Metro on May 6, 2014 “Haiti raises minimum wage.” There
are 29,000 workers who sew t-shirts in factories.
They will now earn $5.11 per 8 hr work day, a 12.5% increase.
They were
protesting to get $11.36 per workday. “The
US based Worker Rights Consortium said in an Oct. report that
Haitian workers receive an average of 32% less than what they should.” Another report said that all of Haiti’s 24 garment factories didn’t pay them the min. wage.
My
opinion: Well, I was surprised the wages
were so low. $5 for an 8 hr day? Maybe $5/hr is something they can work with.
Need
for Speed: I was reading in the Metro on May 2, 2014 about “Man tries to collect every VHS copy of ‘90s
classic.” Ryan Beitz is 26 yrs old and
collecting every VHS copy of the 1994 movie Speed.
He knows it’s a pointless hobby.
The movie
screenwriter Graham Yost says: “Other than world peace and ending hunger, I can
think of no greater cause than what this one brave and visionary man has
embarked upon.”
My
opinion: I thought that was a pointless
task and be using your time and energy for something important. Well I know free time isn’t always productive
time like watching TV.
Oprah
Winfrey: I was reading in the Edmonton
Journal “Oprah aids long-lost half-sister.” She
found her long lost half sister named Patricia Lofton in 2011. I saw that Oprah episode.
A spokesperson for Oprah says: “Patricia’s greatest dream
was to go to college and become a social worker.
Oprah wants to support that dream.” They
have the same mother, but Patricia was given up for adoption. She lived in foster homes and then was adopted
at age 7. Oprah gives her a monthly
allowance so she could quit her job and bought her a $500,000 home.
May 28 Prostitution:
I was reading the Edmonton Journal article called “Saved by the Written Word”
by Peter Robb on Apr. 19, 2013. It’s in the books section, but since it’s
about prostitution, I’m going to put it in my news email.
In her
witty, difficult, frank, marvellously varied book How Poetry Saved My Life,
writer Amber Dawn peels back the veneer society has imposed and humanizes the
sex trade. In so doing, she claims her voice.
"Telling
it like it is, telling it honestly would be high on the top of my list of what
I wanted to accomplish with the book. It is hard to come by dynamic and very
honest portraits of someone who has worked in the sex trade. Stereotypes and
quick answers and solutions still reign when it comes to talking about sex
work.
"I
wasn't interested in being anyone's hero, I wasn't interested in being an
infallible human and I also wasn't interested in being sensational because that
is quite an old trope.
But how
does the former sex worker, lesbian, writer, feel about men? In fact she feels
sorry for the gender.
"That
is an interesting question for me to answer because I would answer it
differently in different circles in my life. But to answer to a broader circle,
I think that men have as a socialized gender an extraordinary amount of
pressure on them not to talk about vulnerability. And that's a really
frightening thing. If we are not talking about the things that makes us
vulnerable in our lives, we become more vulnerable.
"What
we don't talk about can actually become dangerous for us. I see this in the way
that men are socialized, you know the strong and silent type. I think this
causes a rift between the genders and I think that it has an impact on their
(male) sexuality. I think that sex workers are privy to this."
Humour is
important to her. It helps that she is writing about events that happened six
years ago or earlier and there is now some distance on her previous life,
allowing her to see the funnier side of things.
Seventy
per cent of sex workers at some point in their lives lived in poverty; 85 per
cent have experienced homelessness; 90 per cent were abused as children.
"I
don't see it as separate, I see it as an underground arena of ... things that
we should celebrate in life (including) the pursuit of pleasure that we can
negotiate quickly and receive quickly."
She says,
many people have come forward to tell her about how they have been affected by
the sex trade, directly as a participant or indirectly as the relative or
friend of a sex worker.
"I've
made a choice to take on the stigma and whatever else comes with it to tell the
story and to let people know that their experiences aren't one-dimensional and
uncommon and that there are happy endings."
Her day
job is writer and teacher.
Amber
Dawn is her real first and second names. She did not share her last name.
Her next
book will not be about the sex trade. She's looking forward to writing about
something else.
"This
book is something that I have deemed a duty. I've freed myself. My first novel
was magic realism and I'm a fan of speculative fiction. I'm gonna actually use
my hometown and the defunct Crystal Beach amusement park as a setting for ... a
ghost story."
Jun. 7 Post
Secret: Here’s one:
(Printed):
“If you have an unwanted sexual experience or are a survivor of sexual assault”
(Written):
I NEVER reported it…. I Regret it everyday.”
“Regret”
is underlined 3 times.
My opinion: The thing is, if you were sexually assaulted,
report it immediately. You don’t have to
press charges, but it’s important to report it for evidence. Also don’t take a shower. You need to go to the hospital or police so
they can make a rape kit of the evidence.
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