Specious Arguments

If I were still teaching, this passing conversation I had with a neighbour would be a great example to use in class.

I was walking down the stairs, and a neighbour was coming up.  Said hi to him, as one does.  "How's it going?" I asked, not really wanting a dialogue.  He stopped.  Now that's  a bad sign.  I know he likes to talk....  Oh well, I made my bed, so I guess I had to sleep in it.

I can't repeat the whole conversation.  For one thing, I didn't record the thing, so I don't have a transcript.  And another, it would take five days of blog entry to encompass all that.  But here's some highlights.

"You know this situation in the Ukraine," he started.  "I follow these geo-political things," he continued, as though it somehow affords him some kind of authority in the matter.  "Russia is Russia," he explained.  Whatever that means.  "Biggest country in the world, and 150 million people.  4,000 nukes."

I'd be real impressed if I were born yesterday, but okay.  Then he muttered something else (He's from Quebec, so most of the time I have no clue what he's talking about.  In Quebec they don't speak French French, and they don't speak actual English either.  Well, you know how I feel about Quebec.  Conquered people, so shut the fuck up).  Anyway, I "think" the idea is that the world should just accept that Russia will take Ukraine and leave it at that.

"Their Foreign Minister," he went on, "is very smart.  Knows his stuff.  When a reporter asked a question in French, he replied in fluent French!"  Okay, so the guy speaks French, is that supposed to give him some magical power?  Does the fact that he speaks French mean something?  Well, yeah, it means he speaks French.  So, pardon my French, who the fuck cares?

"And their Finance Minister," the neighbour found his groove now, "has a PhD from Oxford."

Excuse me, what the fuck does that have to do with Ukraine?  Or anything, for that matter?  I don't have any statistics, but I am sure there are many Oxford PhDs out there, and I'm sure a fair number of them are morons too.  Just like I'm sure there's a fair number of smart people from Quebec.

And then suddenly, he changed the subject to the truckers protesting in the city.  "If the trucks don't work, we will have no food," he said.  Does it matter that fewer than 10% of truckers are actually affected, and every single trucking group has come up and denounced the protest?  "This government is stupid," he said (or something to that effect).

"I know what his father was like, too," he continued.  Okay, now, any Canadian who knows anything about government knows Justin Trudeau's father, he being one of the longest serving Prime Ministers, and the one who brought the Constitution back to the country.  And the one who faced down the fucking Quebec terrorists called the FLQ (who kidnapped a British official and put bombs in public places).  See some Frenchies never forget THAT.  How dare a PM, who was from Quebec, impose martial law on the province.  So what if it's under domestic terrorist attack!  Anyway, so I guess you know where I stand.

But back to our conversation (actually more like a monologue).  "I know about his father," he reminded me.  Well, here's the thing, any Canadian over the age of say, 45, would have been around when he was Prime Minister.  So knowing about Pierre Trudeau is like saying I've watched hockey.  Duh!

"Yeah, so do I," I finally said.  "I even voted for him.  And for Justin as well!"

He looked surprised.  Was he surprised I actually know Canadian politics?  Or surprised that I voted Liberal in every single fucking election?

In for the kill.  I continued,  "And I think NATO should send troops to Ukraine.  And the US should freeze Russian assets.  Yeah they are a big country with lots of bombs.  They also have an economy smaller than Canada's.  But that's just my opinion."  I chuckled, and said, "and you know, opinions are like assholes, everybody has one."

I will let you think about why I said this conversation would have been a great example for class.  How best to avoid stupid logic, aka, specious arguments.  If any one of you teaches, feel free to adopt this example.  No copyright.  Haha.

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On an unrelated note, I have decided to drop the ethnic class.  As one of my readers (thanks, Mr. Tightend) said, "the prof is an idiot."  I agree.  Let's not waste time with him.

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Well. it's an absolutely balmy day with a forecast of -15 at noon.  Perfect day for a nice walk.  I hope the truck protestors froze to death last night when it hit -30.  Good riddance.

Don't Believe It

Typically, a person who lives in a cold place (e.g. Ottawa) says to someone from a warmer climate (e.g. Miami), "don't worry, you'll get used to it," and then adds condescendingly, "in time."

Don't believe them.

Sure, you can wear 45 layers of clothing and go outside looking like the Michelin Man.  Hell, if you wear enough layers of t-shirts you'll be warm enough too.  But that's not the point, is it?  Shit, if you can't function "normally" (whatever that means), then you're not fucking "used to it."

I continue my walks.  But in the winter I just can't go as far or for as long as I would in the summer.  It's either too damn cold, when the wind cutting right through your hoodie and then your toque, and on through your skin into your brain, it's a bit much.  Or you're wearing insulated boots and heavy wool socks, and after a couple of hours you feel your toes freezing, it's a bit much.  Or if you feel the arctic freeze through your winter coat, your sweat shirt, your scarf, and your merino wool base layer, it's a bit much.  And I am only talking about days when it's only -20.  When it gets to -30 and beyond, and that's not counting windchill, fuck, you wanna be back indoors.

Used to it my ass.

Of course it's all relative.  For someone from White Horse or Churchill, Ottawa weather is downright tropical.  But for someone whose coldest home had been Toronto and Green Bay, this Ottawa winter shit is, well, as cold as Putin's blood.  And this is now my fourth winter here.  Hell no, I ain't NEVER gonna get used to this.

And when will summer come?  Hell, May?  It'd be so nice to go out in shorts and t-shirt again...

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As you know I am down to two courses now.  One (Lifecourse) I am okay with.  I'd give it a 7 out of 10.  The other, on inter-ethnic relations, is not as palatable.  I'd say a 5 out of 10 at best.  Every time I do the readings or the assignments for this second course, I keep telling myself to drop the fucker.  It doesn't help that the prof is hopeless (useless?) as a teacher.  Shit, we are down to three students in the class now.  Everyone dropped out.  Last Tuesday I was scheduled to do a presentation.  He fucking forgot.  I had to remind him, by which time he had talked about half of what I was going to say.  What nonsense.  I had thought that, well, ethnic identity stuff is my cup of tea, so at least I should get a kick out of the subject matter.  No such luck.  The way the course is structured, it reifies ethnicity to the point where everything is ethnic.  I guess if all you have is an ethnic hammer, there's ethnic nails everywhere.

I'll give you an example.  One of the readings for the coming week has to do with ethnic representation in the Canadian parliament.  You know, the % of this group and that group.  And how that changes from year to year, etc etc, and how that doesn't mesh with the % of ethnic minorities in the population.

Consider that for a moment.

Why, oh why, should it matter?  I have voted in every fucking single general election that I was eligible for.  That's going on 35 years.  I have never had cause to vote for anyone based on their ethnicity, self-ascribed or not.  Yet I have never felt that the MP is not reflecting my interests BECAUSE of ethnicity.  Is it just me?  Why the fuck would my interests be isomorphic with my ethnicity?  Or that of my MP?

And since when is ethnicity fixed?  It's situational, dynamic, negotiated, and subjective.  And this is a sociology course.  This being the case, why does the course presume an unchanging and fixed ethnicity, or that it matters all the time?

And if you know me, you know it fucking never matters to me.  The only thing Chinese about me is that my parents were born in China.  Am I the only one who feels this way?

The more I write about this, the more I wanna drop the fucking course.  Maybe I should stop complaining.  I mean, things could be worse.  This could well be a fucking gender studies class....

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So a bunch of fucking moron trucker are protesting in Ottawa against a vaccine mandate.  Basically, the US and Canada both instituted vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers.  In other words, you cannot truck across the border unless you are vaccinated.

These truckers (apparently about 10% of truckers) don't want to get vaccinated, and couch it as an infringement of their rights via regulations.  Yep, damn right it is.  Just as it is an infringement of my right to force me stop at a red light.  Or "pretend" to drive at the speed limit on the highway.  Or to even have a fucking license!  But less frivolously, the trucking industry is always heavily regulated.  How many hours you can drive.  What sort of health checks you must have.  And so on and so forth.  So it's not like this is anything new.  Hell, I respect anyone's right not to get vaccinated.  Just like I respect anyone's  right not to pay taxes.  But every action we take has consequences.  Live with it.

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Someone said, you should look after your health.  Why?  Being healthy just means it takes you longer to die.

Welcome 2022!

It's a bit late, I know.  But hey, better late than never, eh?  So here's a Happy New Year wish to all you faithful readers who miraculously have stayed with the blog for so long!  Thank you, and I hope 2022 will be a much better year than the one prior.

I am writing this in the morning, when it's so frigid cold outside that I am in hurry to dash out for my walk.   Not that it's unusually cold for Ottawa.  Just the typical -20 Winter day in the capital.  Haha.  There IS a reason why people invented thermal underwear.  Sunny skies today, which usually means fucking cold.  And at least today this holds up.  Think I will just go for a short little walk today, like an hour and a half maybe, lest I turn into an icicle.

A new year also brings a new semester, my second in the MA program.  This semester looks worse than the previous one due to a paucity of appealing courses to take.  I am officially enrolled in five, but due to various reasons (e.g.  I don't like the prof, I don't like the contents, I don't like the timing, etc. etc.) there is only ONE that I actually am semi-interested to take.  Bummer, eh?  To make things worse, this semester there are only 6 English MA level sociology courses available (I am registered in five of them), two of which still list "staff" as the instructor.  So likely adjuncts who get dragged into it last minute.  AKA gonna suck.

The way it looks, I might end up dropping all but one.  Yeah, this puts me way behind schedule, but I don't think I will finish this degree.  As it turns out, uOttawa sociology is (1) very theoretical, (2) very radical and revisionist, and (3) very French.  This latter point means there are lots of courses in French, and not as many in English.  I think I will be hard pressed to only take courses I am interested in and still have enough credits to graduate.  Just won't happen.

And that brings to mind why I am doing this.  To have fun.  Well, I won't have fun taking courses I don't enjoy, right?  Not like I need the degree.  Already have four, thank you very much.  So, once my full-ride is over after the three semesters, I will just withdraw from the program and begin something else in the fall.  We shall see.

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Ontario is under a semi-lockdown again.  Indoor dining is closed.  Gyms are closed.  But it's not a full lockdown like we had before.  So it's still not too bad.  This omicron shit is pretty wild.  You know, though, that as long as the First World countries keep all the vaccines to themselves, leaving Third World countries to their own devices (or to use stupid Russian and Chinese vaccines) there will continue to be variants and shit like that.  And we will all end up getting "boosters" every other month till we all become addicts.

And when I say First World and Third World, I am using the terms as they were originally coined, not the bastardized version to mean rich and poor etc.  So don't start cursing me for not being politically correct.  And no, don't get me started on that either.

And on the subject of Covid, what do you make of that tennis player who is being kicked out of Australia?  I know celebrities have egos the size of Texas, but this to me is a case of just being tone deaf.   You may be able to get around the law, but at least have the common sense not to flaunt it.  Prima Donnas will be prima donnas though.

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School starts Monday.  I will let you know how things go, and how many of the five courses I end up keeping (maybe none, haha).  Meanwhile, stay safe.  Live long and prosper!  And Happy New Year!