1-Racist Bastards Strike Again
I'm proud of my home town. Kitchener (Waterloo & Cambridge included) is a vibrant, fast growing metropolis with a wonderful mix of cultures and ethnicities, all living together peacefully. It's Canada in a nutshell.
Now, Kitchener is in the news because it's fallen victim to the continuing acts of anti-Semitism the are plaguing Canada (most recently), and the rest of the western world (in general). Over this past Easter weekend, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated; numerous headstones were knocked over...and it happened during Passover!
The people that did this, whoever they are, should know this: they are cowards. Scum-sucking, reprehensible microbes on the level of bacteria. They are the lowest form of life in our society. I would rescue a family of sewer rats from extermination before I would lift a finger to aid the bottom feeders responsible for this diseased, revolting act. They are the worst example of humanity to walk this Earth...and justice will be served, sooner or later.
They can't hide in their hole forever.
2-Free Association (Or How I Spent My Winter Vacation!)
I dismissed a comment from one of my ex-students about the Turks & Caicos Islands joining Canada. This venture/idea/dream has been discussed and debated for decades, but it's always been pie-in-the-sky, in my opinion.
To my shock, according to tonight's episode of As It Happens, on CBC Radio One, the first minister of the Islands has been invited to Canada by the Prime Minister, in order to discuss the concept of a Free Association: a type of arrangement that is already shared between such places as Denmark and Greenland, and the Netherlands and Aruba.
This doesn't mean that the Turks & Caicos will become provinces or territories, but they would have a political and economic arrangement that would link them to Canada. For example, it would be very likely that they would use our currency, or even participate (in a limited manner) in our Federal government.
The concept is fascinating...as is the fact that Canadians may finally get their own little spot of comfort in the Caribbean, minus the immigration and currency hassles. But I'm surprised that talks/consideration of the idea has gone this far, without any major political or economic noise. Maybe Canadians are so tired of winter that the government considers it a win-win situation. As always, time will tell...
But I'm intrigued. 
