Educating through crisis

I will admit this whole political crisis in Canadian politics has been very interesting. For a start I now know who the Governor General is, she's Michaelle Jean. For those non-Canadians who read this blog regularly (Hi Mum! Hi Dad! Hi Auntie BT9!), let me explain the crisis. It was sparked following a fiscal update given by the minority Conservative government on the 27th November. Following the announcement of these plans two of the opposing parties, the Liberals and the NDP, formed a coalition which has the support of the Bloc Quebecois (who hold the balance of power in this parliament). The coalition was about to introduce a vote of no confidence in the government when parliament was prorogued.

Scandalous, n'est-ce pas?

Crisis? What crisis?

If you are living in Canada at the moment you cannot have escaped the political crisis that is now swirling around Prime Minister Stephen Harper. If you are living outside Canada, you are probably thinking Stephen who? Well, Harper's government looked set to lose a confidence vote and thus his Conservative government could no longer stay in power. However, there was an election mere weeks ago in Canada, so Harper went to the Governor General of Canada, and asked her to prorogue Parliament until the New Year. What this means is that the Canadian Parliament is not currently sitting. I attended a very interesting panel discussion today at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. It was very informative, but I feel I need to read more about the crisis to fully understand it.

Still, at least I know a little bit more about Canadian politics.

Saint Barbara

On this day in 306 CE Saint Barbara was martyred. I will confess to never having heard of Saint Barbara before. In fact there is conflicting evidence as to her actual existence. She is the patron saint of those who work (legally I might add) with explosives such as artillery men and military engineers. The reason behind this is because she is associated with lightning. Basically she converted to Christianity and her father disapproved so he had her locked in a prison and tortured. Each morning, however, her wounds would be healed. Her father tried to have her burnt but the torches used to do this kept on extinguishing, so he beheaded her. Having done this he was then struck by lightning and his body was burnt, leaving Barbara to a Christian burial.

And, yes, Santa Barbara was named after her.

Late note

If you were ever late or missed a day at my school a note from your parents would be enough to get you off the hook. I suspect that it is the same in most schools. However once you enter the big bad world of work no parental excuses are allowed. But what are you to do when you are late due to the unreliability of public transport? Well in New York City if you are late for work because of a subway delay you can get a note from New York City Transit verifying your claim. So popular is this note system that NYCT is planning an online system so that it can email the excuse letters.

Funny Money

It's amazing the things you can learn from a law article, it really is. Today, for example, I read an article called "Twentieth Century Metaphors for Self and Society". It's a little too complex for me to get into here, however it did contain some fascinating tidbits of information. My favourite one had to do with paper money. During the early years of the United States paper money was mostly associated with private banking. In fact the federal government issued no paper money between the American Revolution and the Civil War.

Of course nowadays most people don't even use paper money, just computerised plastic credit. It's best not to think about it too much or you'll lose all faith in monetary transactions.

So what now?

Growing up in Northern Ireland meant that when I reached P7 (Primary 7, i.e. the seventh year of primary school) I had to sit the transfer test or 11 Plus to see whether or not I could get into a grammar school. As it happens I passed and attended a grammar school. However the test was always a little controversial, and this year is the last year that P7 pupils will take the test. I was surprised to learn that as yet no replacement has been organised. Although it does look like the major political parties, and churches (well it is Northern Ireland) are in favour of transferring to post-primary schools at 14.

This could get very interesting indeed.

Somebody call 111!

In the UK the emergency services can be contacted by calling 999. The reason 999 was chosen over 111 was because when the number was introduced telegraph wires rubbing together in the wind produced the equivalent of a 111 call. 999 is the world's oldest emergency call service. You might wonder why it is 911 in North America, well the reasons for this are not known in fact the first emergency number used in North America was 999 in Winnipeg. However the number was changed to 911 at the suggestion of the United States. The reasons why the US wanted 911 remain unclear.