When is Change Needed?

I do find my life lucky. 

Some people may think that I am a downer, that I am so negative and many times when I am not on my medication that is true. 

But right now in my life I am happy. Even though there is stress, I am trying very hard to deal with that stress in a positive way. I am trying to help not only myself but others who matter very much. I keep busy with gardening and Keagan is keeping me on the run.

A short time ago I blogged how much money I received of government funding. I want people to know, I do not expect more than what I am getting. I have survived on what I get and I know it is my choice to live where I do.

I don't waste what little I have. I use my funds to feed, cloth and put a roof over my daughters head while still being there for my son who is living with his father. 

I am not responsible for any other person's expenses or hobbies but my own and my daughters which are minimal to begin with (until lately ;) Keagan has gotten into some school activities like badminton and track and field. We also found her a Cello teacher! YAH!) 

I live a very simple life, eating out happens rarely, I do not make expensive purchases for others or for myself without having the cash available in hand, meaning I save for it first. Snacks are a given in all households but there is a limit to how much is spent each month and fruit is always available in the house. I do preserves and freeze in the fall what we cannot store over the winter.

Do I expect others to live the same way? No. 

But there are those that are very much worse off than I and that is who I want to bring attention to...to those people who don't even make the $18,000/year, but are working from morning until night. 

Those who can make the difference are those who make more than I do, they make more than $40,000/year...these are the people who need to decide that cleaning toilets, mopping floors and cleaning grills is worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who have to look at the numbers...inflation 1975 pay=2015 pay for minimum wagers...but the prices are wacked. These are the people who have to see that a house in 1975 was 10% of what it is now. 

Food cost has skyrocketed since then as well and you complained THEN that it was expensive, if you are not living on minimum wage now...think, if you were complaining about the cost of food in the '70s how do you think someone on minimum wage feels NOW? They cannot afford meat.

Doctors, lawyers, accountants, all those professional politicians, along with the floor scrubbers, hamburger flippers and skyscraper builders need to decide that those people who bathe, feed and dress our grandparents in the homes are worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who need to say, enough of YOUR taxes going into the pockets of people who are not doing their jobs and into the pockets of people who are working. 

A person who works as a client care attendant/nursing aid in a group home for seniors or for the severely disabled should not have to be on assistance and a person working as a chambermaid should not have to be on assistance. These people should not have to be assisted with health care benefits.

Alberta has an election coming up in a matter of days...while I choose to live in Saskatchewan, I am always watching what happens in my beloved home province. 

Informing ourselves about the choices and allowing those choices to have a chance to prove themselves is how change happens, it is scary...but more often than not it works out for the best when we decide change is needed.

Who is Cleaning Your Toilet?

When the Middle, Rich and Mega Rich classes tell the Poor class they shouldn't procreate it leaves me to wonder…

Who do you think is going to clean your toilets?

For the most part the Middle class do this on their own at home, but think about it this way, who does it in the Malls, Restaurants, theaters, Hotels or Casinos you enjoy using?

I wonder…

Which class of citizens do the Middle/Rich/Mega-Rich believe make the beds in the Hotels they stay in when they vacation in their favorite destination spot? Which class of citizens rings your bill up and hands you those bags of groceries every time you visit a grocery store?

I read comments all the time from Middle/Rich and Mega Rich individuals who believe the poor should stop having children if we cannot afford them, we should have to have a licence to have children in the first place.

What these individuals do not consider is who after our generations are gone and we are not allowed to procreate unless told to is going to clean up after them, cook for them, stock the shelves for them…basically do the manual labor?

Can you see a Lawyer, after spending the night in a $500/night hotel room, washing the bedding and cleaning the room before he leaves the hotel for the day? Can you see yourself cleaning the isles in the movie theater and washing the sinks and toilets after the movie?

Those jobs are done by the working poor, whose children are usually the ones who take over those crappy jobs, thank you very much, unless WE parents drill it into their heads that they are worth more and can be more, the working poor’s children will end up as the working poor right after us…serving the Middle/Rich/Mega Rich Classes.

Before you try telling the poor classes to stop having children, remember who is handing you that coffee, making that bed or cooking that meal at your favorite restaurant, because most likely it isn’t your wife or husband if your family is making over $100,000.

And think, should the working poor have to worry about whether they can pay the utility bill or have the car breaks fixed so they can get to their job safely?

Canadian Immigrants: Then and Now

Immigration and immigrants are a hard topic to discuss on many levels, but if we use history as an example for part of it maybe we can come to some type of common ground.

I came across an obituary where a gentleman’s father had immigrated to Canada in 1928 and was joined a year later by his wife and three oldest children. He came from a Polish/German background and came to Canada to make a better life for his family, which they did. The obituary is his son’s who was born here in Canada in 1935.

The difference between the immigrants of yesteryear and today is the changes that are being made to accommodate new immigrants and refugees.

Back then, immigrants in most cases came with nothing but the cloths on their backs and worked hard to bring their families over who also then had to work hard to make a life for themselves here in Canada, that or starve, there were no handouts, grants or health care.

While we have progressed in the last one hundred years and can help those who desperately need it, those immigrants from the past came to Canada knowing what they wanted and worked hard to achieve it.

Which was a new start, in a new land, they knew that the laws would be different and if they were to break those laws it was back to where ever they came from now, not after hearings and delays. If they broke a law they were kicked out of our country no “ifs, ands or buts” about it.

In the past they came here for all sorts of change, from being able to farm land to explore to starting a business, immigrants over the last one hundred years have tried and succeeded in adapting to Canada’s way of life.

They settled into Canada, not the other way around.

 Immigrants came here because of what Canada offered…a better life. They saw what Canada was about and wanted to be a part of it, not try to change it. These immigrants became CANADIAN.

 They worked hard to help Canada become a great nation that was known for its generosity, its patriotism, its kindness and its military stance as PEACE KEEPERS.

But today we are finding new immigrants coming to Canada and want to CHANGE Canada. They want Canada to be the way their old country is in their laws and religions. They want Canada to defend their rights but they will not allow us to be Canadian.

A good example is if you apply for a social benefit in Saskatchewan you are classed as OTHER if you are Canadian. There is no box to mark if you are born and raised here in Canada. There is a box if you are a native, but even if you are 4^th, 5^th, 6^th generation Canadian…DO NOT say you are a Native Canadian that is a no-no. There is a box if you are an immigrant, well if your great grandparents have been in Canada you are no longer classed as an immigrant. Métis and Refugee both have boxes to check, but alas if you are a born and bred Canadian looking for a “handout” you are classed as an OTHER as far as the Government of Saskatchewan is concerned.

Our traditions are questioned, saying “Merry Christmas” is frowned upon for fear of offending someone other than a Christian and our laws are being changed to accommodate instead of immigrants learning to adapt to our way of life. Unlike with past immigrants, new immigrants are the ones who are changing our society and this is where many people in ALL of North America have the problem.

So why can immigrants today not adapt to Canadian life like in yesteryear…because we allow them to change our society. We allow the changes to happen.

Other countries have allowed these same immigrants into their countries but have said, “NOPE, these are our laws, these are our traditions, this is our society…conform or leave.” They either conform or they come to Canada, where they are allowed to tell Canadians that we are not allowed to say or do this or that and if we do, we are RACIST.  

We are “racist” if we believe that immigrants should be adapting to Canadian Law and Canadian Ways which are now being changed to say that we are being racist by saying they need to adapt to Canadian law and Canadian way.

We do not believe that immigrants should have to give up their religions or their beliefs. Many of us do however believe that they can keep it to themselves for instance...

Inequality is flowing deeply for Canadians, Why would it be ok for a Muslim woman to where a burka, which is not a religious garment, in government photo ID but I am not allowed to wear a baseball cap? Muslim boys are allowed to wear a Kirpan to school but my son cannot carry a Swiss army knife to school...a knife is a knife is a knife. Religious or not, it will kill someone if it is stuck into them.

Our country is about equality, so women have as many rights as men, women do not have to hide themselves here in Canada behind clothing, and with terrorists traveling left, right and center, hiding behind black clothing from head to toe with only eye slits makes people suspicious. How do I know you are a woman and how do I know you do not have a huge gun under those cloths? Trust is a huge thing and when you come here making demands but give little in return, like getting rid of the demeaning clothing, I am not going to trust that you have Canada’s best interests at heart.

Our country is about tolerance, we allow religions to build their temples and practice their religions freely, ALL religions have this right here in Canada respect that or go back to where ever you came from. Canada was founded on Christian beliefs, you may not agree with those beliefs and some of those beliefs may even be outdated, but this is Canada you can take it or leave it we are not going to change our belief system that has done us just fine over the last 150 years just because you say so. Pack your bags and head home if you don’t like the Christian values this country was born from.

Our country is about peace, over the last few decades wars that are being drawn out in countries overseas have been dragging Canada’s military into fighting battles. When you come to Canada, you leave that behind and become CANADIAN, do not beg our government to save your country. You want to save it, go back and fight for it.

Canada’s military has been known World Wide for its peace keeping missions, now we are becoming as hated as the American military because of our interference into other countries ideologies. That interference is from different causes, one of them being from new immigrants insisting we fight the battle that is going on in their countries, maybe?

What I do not understand, if it is that important why are these people not staying and fighting for their country themselves? That doesn’t sound very patriotic to the old country or the new one. Not something a Canadian from yesteryear would have done. Many of which went to war against their neighbors during the World Wars, as CANADIANS.

Some of us Canadians do believe that if immigrants thought that Canada was great enough to immigrate to then they shouldn’t have the right to try to change it.

If they truly want to live with the laws and lifestyle that they came from without the danger, they need to return to their home countries and fight for their freedom without coming to Canada and changing our society to suit them.  

I am not saying that new immigrants do not work hard or do not deserve to be here; I am saying that immigrants in the past did not have things handed to them like grants and loans to help upgrade their education so they can find better jobs here than they would in their old countries, health care to pay for medical bills that never would have happened in their old countries or help bringing family over from their old countries, help to support those family members and an education for their children.

These are the things that aggravate Canadians, we have to adapt to the immigrants lifestyles but they get the benefits of being Canadian and Canada is being changed to suit the majority of immigrants and refugees, who seem to be coming from the Middle East.

While many Canadians that were born and raised here need to start being more grateful for what they have, new immigrants need to appreciate that they are coming to a country that has great qualities, this country does not need to be changed. They wouldn’t be here otherwise.

If we are going to set a law, the law has to stand for ALL people, no exceptions. Race and Religion should not come into the picture EVER.

We are all human beings, which is all that matters…not race, not religion, not sexual orientation…nothing matters but that we are human.

PEACE

Why Have an Abortion?

Why would women want to have an abortion?

http://www.upworthy.com/a-dude-trying-to-ban-abortions-is-asked-a-question-he-never-considered-its-so-obvious-it-hurts-8?c=ufb3

Growing up and in my 20’s I never even considered the idea of abortion. It took me so long to have my son and daughter that it boggled my mind to even think about it. I would never do it, but it is a woman’s issue and if a woman felt they needed to have an abortion that was their right.

Men, I understand you may become attached to the thought or idea of having a child, but you are not the one who has to carry a fetus.

Men are not the ones who, if raped, have to endure the constant reminder of that rape if made to carry a child full term.

I do believe that a man can be raped; I do believe they would have a difficult time moving forward from that rape, but to have your body change with the growth of a child made because of that rape, you will never know that feeling. It is not joyous like it is supposed to be, it is not a miracle, it is a jail sentence for women.

Finances are another reason, not a good one, but a reason…after a one night stand, men are not the ones with the financial burden of raising a child that is carried to full term if the woman does not know who the father is. Some women will rely on social services, free money right? Not all women are that greedy or lazy.

We all know this happens and the blame game can be played on both sides of the fence. A man knows how to use a condom and a woman knows how to pop a pill or have a needle stuck in her arm every few months.

Although men, a condom does more than save you from child support, it can save your life as well. While the “pill” helps prevent pregnancy it cannot protect you from disease, remember that when you place the blame on the woman for getting pregnant in the first place.

Health reasons for abortion are always acceptable, but which health reasons? Life or death seems to be the only acceptable reason, as long as the mother’s life is at stake she is allowed to abort a fetus.

Many people are made to feel guilt for having an abortion. Guilt is a stupid feeling when it comes to abortion and making people feel this way, is cruel. 

Why do adults feel that children and teenagers can control their emotions and urges any better than we could at their age? Teaching safe sex is the best way to prevent teen pregnancy, but even then when a teenager has to deal with becoming pregnant, why do we feel the need to pressure them into either keeping a child they have no clue how to emotionally, mentally or financially support?

Each person knows their body better than any other person on this Earth. We cannot tell someone what is best for them from one day to the next. 

Looking back, as a teenager I was not responsible enough to have a child even though I desperately wanted one. A child would have suffered under my parentage while I was a teenager. 

If a teenager can make the decision that abortion would be best for her future, then no one should stand in her way, she will be the one who has to make the sacrifices in the future. 

Anyone can say a teen girl should have thought about that before she had sex, I will serve the ball back by saying that there are not many women left on this world who would be able to say they "saved" themselves for their husbands, so before you cast that stone...make sure your house has no windows.

What about mental health reasons? Are they acceptable reasons?

Most people know I am Bi-Polar; one of the symptoms is an increased sex drive when in a manic phase, euphoria is another.

After I had my daughter I was put on the birth control shot, you are only allowed to be on this shot for 5 years after that an alternative is used. I would like to point out, my children have the same father and I was married to him our marriage did not work, one of the reasons being my disease. 

When I came off the shot I was in a manic phase and I had been looking at other options but never followed through. If you know Bi-Polar, you know "follow through" is a big problem when you are in manic/depression phases.

Remember I said I would never consider abortion?

When I was in my mid-30’s, already supporting two children on a disability pension/child support and I became pregnant from a complete stranger because I was in a Bi-Polar Manic Phase, I did what was necessary for the welfare of the children I already had. The son and daughter I have were not going to go without because I made a mistake, I was going to fix the mistake and it was an easy decision for me.

I chose to do what made the most sense. Instead of making the Federal and Provincial governments pay me more money for a child that was not conceived under the best circumstances, I had an abortion. Do I have regrets? Nope.

Some will say that adoption is an alternative.

I agree, but we see the statistics on children in foster care that could be adopted…but are not, even babies because of their background/history.

No one wants the burden, people want perfect children who will be little darlings, not children who may have disabilities down the road because a mother had a mental disease or the father was an alcoholic/drug abuser. I know people who are foster parents, in their 50’s, raising babies nobody wants or people cannot care for.

Do I know anyone that would have adopted the child?

Even if I did, I would not have felt comfortable knowing that one day, those people could have come back to blame me for this child having the disease I fight with everyday. 

I already worry about my two children having this disease and helping them through it if they do, worrying about another was too great. Abortion was the solution, the best solution.

When you give a child up for adoption, it ceases to become your child, having adoptive parents come to me and blame me for a disability was not going to happen and having a child end up in foster care because a family does not want to deal with mental illness was not going to happen either, and to be honest, that child would have been their child, not mine.

I would never presume to tell a man what they have to do or not do with their reproductive organs. 

Should we castrate rapists and pedophiles? Most people would say yes to this, but we don't for humane reasons.

Should we "snip" men who keep having children with different women? Probably another yes, but it would be unethical.

There would be more yes’s to "snipping" men in 3rd world countries, easier and faster healing time then for a woman to have surgery, governments will send money over to 3rd world countries to circumcise men before they will stop them from procreating. Go figure, they will perform cosmetic surgery but won't stop over population. 

So why should men dictate whether women have the choice to have a child or not?

  

When a man can carry a child to full term after being raped or when a man can carry a child after sleeping with a woman one night, never knowing her name, then a man will know what it feels like to have to make a very difficult, or sometimes very easy, decision of abortion. 

Until then, it is a woman’s issue and should always be thought of in that way.

Religious people use their book and their God to condemn those that do not agree with them on this topic.

Hypocrisy always has a way of coming around to bite us in the ass... 

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged~Matthew 7:1 

Some call it Karma. 

Good Reasons for Drug Testing

I will say right now, I agree that some social assistance cases should be tested for drugs and rehabilitation would be in order if they fail. Sometimes rock bottom is where people need to hit in order to grow if rehabilitation isn't wanted. I am not saying give up on them, I am not saying don’t take care of their children; I am saying they need to do it on their own.

There are very good reasons for drug testing for people who work in high risk careers though.

Safety of the worker and others is the number one priority for the oil field and construction crews.

Talking with my son, who is looking at welding as a career, welding is very dangerous. How do you think those beams are put together in those tall buildings in major cities around the world?

We have heard how farmers have their accidents on the job, many losing limbs (my daughter was born missing her left hand, we attend War Amps Champs Camps and some of the Champs are from farming backgrounds), construction crews working on skyscrapers and oil field crews (I personally lost someone in the oilfield who had been doing drugs many years ago), the list goes on.

Safety is a very big factor when working in many high paying jobs that is why you are paid high wages and why you receive benefits. Your boss has a legal obligation to make sure his equipment is being properly operated by someone who can do it safely, you need to be alert and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

It is only right that an employer gets to have their employees drug tested. Their employees are an investment. They pay employees huge amounts of money and they pay out a lot in benefits for employees as well.

If you want to look at it another way, if the employee screws up, who pays for it? 

Not the employee, they end up on assistance and believe me when I say Workers Compensation Board WILL throw you to the wind if you screw up. Your benefits will mean nothing if you cause the accident and that Union that you are so fond of…well, they are not going to defend a murderer are they?…because if you are doing drugs on a high risk job site, that is what you are if you kill someone isn't it? I call it as I see it.

Hard working people who make a very good living at what they do, your employers stipulate that drug testing is mandatory for good reasons.

Spilling a plate of Spaghetti on someone’s lap if you’re stoned on marijuana might burn someone and destroy a new outfit, you will end up losing your job, but it won’t kill a person. Working 20 stories in the air and not welding a beam properly, driving a semi into oncoming traffic or you doing one thing wrong on a rig…YOU could kill someone while under the influence.

Do you see the difference?

Those people that believe social assistance cases are constantly using the system or are only on the system because they do not want to work, you either haven’t met someone who is on the system and works as well or you chose not see the other side of how the system works for those who absolutely need it.

I have met and I know some very hard working people who have just been very down on their luck or this is their life. This is what their life was supposed to be like you chose to believe that way. Their life purpose. 

They did not receive the education, the experience or the hand up to get into a career that has benefits so their children can have the things they need like braces, glasses and medications. They work at dead end jobs, smiling at every customer…including you. But won’t ever be able to take those trips you enjoy. Not that they care; they do not envy your life. They are happy in theirs and really, someone still has to hand you that Whopper with Cheese.

Many people do not have children while on welfare. Like me, they try very hard to stay away from the assistance programs, but they end up on assistance AFTER they have had children. There is not much you can do about it when even with an education you still cannot afford a pill for your child when they are sick or need glasses to see.

The people collecting “welfare” are not all sitting at home with a bong between their knees giggling at Cheech and Chong and a bag of chips beside them. Not all of them are women popping out babies every year.

They work as hard as anyone climbing into a Semi, up a Rig or scaling a skyscraper. They sweat just like you. They earn money just like you and they work hard at what they CAN do to survive each day.

The only difference, 

they need help doing it, because not all jobs pay 40/50/100 thousand dollars a year and have benefits to pay for the glasses on their child's face, the tooth knocked out by a bully or the ADD medications that they need. Someone needs to hand you those Tim Horton’s coffees, bag your purchases at Wal-Mart and serve you in a restaurant.

I know many of you agree drug testing is a good thing. As I agree some Social Assistance cases should be as well. I also agree that rehabilitation should be used before “canning” someone. I believe many companies offer that as well in their benefit packages.

Some people though, believe that because they make money, work hard and pay huge amounts of taxes, which a small portion goes to helping those on social assistance, it is not “fair” that they (the workers) have to be tested for drugs and those on welfare don’t. (I would like to point out; these are the first people to say “life is not fair” to those less fortunate when the poor have to go without.)

These are the people who only see what they want,

They see that if they smoke “Pot”, they have to stop smoking it for a month so they can “pee” clean for a job while someone who needs help paying their utilities doesn't.

How fair is that right? Especially when the person peeing is building that skyscraper in downtown Calgary, they have to climb 20 stories? How dare they make you pee in a cup?

It is time people started looking at the bigger picture. It isn't always black and white there are many shades of grey in there and seeing them takes a heart, it takes compassion and it takes parents teaching their children compassion as well.