"Techies"

There is nothing that irks me more than someone who claims to be a 'techy' but really just enjoys tech and knows nothing about it. I live tech, so when someone tells me they love technology, I figure they could have discussions with me about operating system speeds and really understand specs, not just talk about web programs, GBs (more is bettaahhh!!) or the obvious. Thinking technology is cool and understanding technology to the point where you could probably build a computer if you were asked to are two different things.

On a different but not completely unrelated note, I had a technological education class today, and while it seems rather simple for a tech-fiend like myself, the teacher clearly shares my passion for tech (clue: she had a circuit board piece around her neck) and I'll probably love the class thanks to her.

Teaching is the best career in the world.

Seriously.

Hamilton Spectator Recognizes my Issue

A little updated regarding the complaint that I sent to the city of Hamilton:

This is the reply I received from the By-Law Municipal office:
"Good morning Claudia.

We are in receipt of your concerns regarding offensive billboard signage advertising.  Municipal Law Enforcement does not regulate the content of signage, strictly the placement and authorization of placement of signage.

You may contact Hamilton Police Services and they will investigate the content of the signage.  Also, you may wish to contact the billboard sign company to inquire as to what regulatory body they are required to conform to when installing billboard signage.

Trusting you will find this information to be of assistance.

Laura McDavid

Customer Service Officer

Municipal Law Enforcement"

As suggested, I sent an inquiry to the Hamilton Police asking where I could direct my complaint. When they didn't reply in a few days, I sent my complaint to the Hamilton Spectator. They were obviously interested and the next day called me asking for an "on-the-phone interview". I told them all the details and I told them how I felt about the issue.

A few hours later, I received a phone call from the executive to the chief of police of Hamilton. He informed me that according to Criminal Code of Canada number 163 "Intending to Corrupt Morals" as well as a case from 1992 that they looked at called "Virgina vs Butler", there is nothing that the police can do regarding the billboard because it doesn't break the law. He suggested (though he did say he didn't want to pass me around from person to person) contacting the sign company and asking them if they know that it's located across from an elementary school and if, as a member of the community who cares about what children are being exposed to, if they could move or remove it.

I didn't have to notify the company of my complaint (the location next to an elementary school) because the following day, I/my issue was featured in the Spec and they contacted the company for me. The company apologized for the location but not for the ad (I couldn't care less about the ad itself).

Here is the article, online: http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/272557--sign-location-wrong-agency

Disappointingly, the comments are nothing but negative and a lot of ad hominem attacks and attacks on who I am as a person and that's their own prerogative (everyone is entitled to an opinion, right?). I wanted my complaint to get noticed and I wanted someone to take responsibility for the poor placement of the advertisements and that happened, so I'm happy.  


And now here's to hoping it's removed, A.S.A.P.

Can this city get anything right?

While driving down the high-traffic Queenston Road which I frequent three times a week, I noticed a billboard that hadn't been there the day before: A SEX SHOW advertisement. Not only was this billboard featured over a FAMILY Martial Arts location, but it also featured a picture of a woman's breast with her nipple topped in whipped cream. This is not only disgusting and sexist but intrusive to drivers who DID NOT ASK to be exposed to this pornographic advertisement. 

But that is not the part that is the most disturbing; what is absolutely disgusting is that this is situated DIRECTLY ACROSS from St. Eugene's Catholic ELEMENTARY school! As I drove by, young students in the playground were openly exposed to this billboard. If pornography is illegal for children under 18, how does this billboard gain the rights to be placed across from an elementary school when it is no different?!

As a future educator and a person who is simply for preserving the innocent minds of our youth, I am so disappointed in the city of Hamilton that they would allow such a billboard, especially in a location where it is so openly exposed to children. Already I was disappointed in every representative that was elected for Hamilton-Wentworth Public Schools when results were in last night but this takes the cake. 

ourtimetolead.ca

Have you heard of it? Have you visited it? Chances are, if you've been to the movies at a Cineplex location recently, you would have seen it on your screen. Accessing the site probably didn't even cross your mind. The advertisement was probably ignored like all the others (despite how eye-catching it truly was).


So, what is it?
It's a website run by the Globe and Mail where weeks are dedicated to specific topics ("8 Discussions We Need to Have"). This months focus is "FAILING BOYS". Let me tell you: if you are a future educator, if you are a future parent, or if you simply have a concern about the leaders of our future, you have to go to this website and read the articles under this discussion, immediately. They are absolutely fabulous and sadly, accurate. While some sentences, as with all news articles, need to be taken with a grain of salt, majority of the topics approached hit the nail right on the head. The feminization of education (something I'm strongly against), the lack of male role models (heartbreaking), developmental differences (something many fail to acknowledge) and so many more gems are available on this website. The best thing is that it is meant for discussion. What this means for you, emotional and passionate reader, is that your opinions are welcomed and, in fact, highly encouraged. Weekly chats, forums and "Article Discussions" are all available on this website. It is, after all, our time to lead. We must have a say and take part in this, as well. These are critical issues and they should not be ignored.


If "Failing Boys" doesn't tickle your fancy, the other discussions are about the military, about multiculturalism, about women in power, about our work-lives, our Health Care, the internet we explore and the food we eat. One is bound to concern you and affect you, first-hand. This website should not be avoided. Do yourself a favour and simply have a little read.

I want to be his rose:

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses. "You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world." And the roses were very much embarrassed. "You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you, the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

And so it begins...

... but where will it lead?