Election? It's Over!

   Canadians take a healthy interest in American politics. American conditions affect us greatly. We are neighbors. Many of us have family on both sides of the border. ( My daughter lives in Chicago.) Our press covers U.S. politics and elections in great detail.

   I'm sure that many Americans feel as I do that I'm glad the election  over.

   Since we receive many U. S. television channels we are not spared election ads. For me ads become rather tedious. 

   It's our new services that are a little hard to take. We get a blow by blow account of the the whole affair. I have said many times in this blog that I appreciate a well reasoned logical opinion. Sadly, very little of the reasoned and logical were present in this campaign. It's sad to see that the advertising can be so negative.

    So the day after the election most people are saying that things have to change. Many good suggestions are being made as to what has to be done.  I hope that what the politicians are saying about working together gets done. Not only Americans depend on a successfully functioning government , but also your neighbors to the north...Canadians. 

    One thing following an American election gives me is a much better understanding of the U.S. government system and how it works. 

    In case you're wondering , our Canadian elections are full of attack  ads. Our Canadian politicians try to divide and conquer all in the name of winning an election and when elected do a very mediocre job. 

    Politicians in many countries could stand a tremendous improvement in their behavior and tactics. Politicians need to come up with realistic policies that can be put into effect and build our country so that we have a secure future. Promises and attack ads just for the purpose of wining an election don't bring about concrete actions.

Society's Challenge With Mental Illness.

     My direct experience with mental illness has always been from afar. However , I have never ignored the  subject of  mental health . Mental health has been a challenge for all societies from the beginning.

     My earliest memories are from the late 1940's. Mental health was not really talked about. The people around me knew very little about mental illness and for that matter the health professions knew very little as well. The public feared people who were mentally ill and shunned them.There were huge government institutions were people were locked away. Little treatment was available so these people were warehoused and kept away from the rest of society, sometimes for the rest of their life..

    As I was finishing high school one of the suggestions my father made for a career possibility was to be a psychiatric nurse. I thought about it but not seriously. 

     Now most of the big bad black institutions are gone. Medication and counselling help to keep people in as normal a situation as possible. Some space is available to treat those with very acute conditions. Many changes have taken place from the bad old days until now. In many ways the treatment now is much more humane but there's much more that has to be done.

    So another incident that got me thinking about mental health is a medication that I was given when I was diagnosed with seizures. I was reading through the information which came with the drug and was shocked to find out that it was the same medication used to treat two of the common mental health conditions : schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. With a little research I soon discovered why this is so. All three have to do with some type of brain dysfunction. In the case of seizures there's an area in the brain that has abnormally fast waves. Now I don't like taking this medication. It messes with my balance and  moods.

     So now back to how mental health is dealt with today. For those people lucky enough to come in contact with the health system there is a protocol. First, counselling and medication are tried. If things don't work out and deteriorate a number of different agencies begin work on the case. They make a joint recommendation for treatment. There is a mental health board that deals with the patient and explains the reasons why and what will take place. The patient and family also have input. If all things go well the patient agrees with the health board to follow a set   treatment . The mental heath board is a somewhat legal body that puts everybody on the same page and attempts to safeguard all from problems.

     Those who do not come in contact with the health system have a horrendous time and tend to get into serious consequences in the general society. Some refuse treatment. I can understand why they wouldn't want some of the medication because it has some nasty side effects. One of the saddest things I ever saw in my life was a man in the Washington subway yelling at a huge wall. As I listened to him it was just words pouring out of his mouth...no sentences whatsoever. He  was obviously not in contact with a health system and left to fend for himself on the streets.  

    Is this the ticket for success? Far from it.  Much more  research has to be done in the health field to find more effective medication. Society's attitude and support for mental health could go a long way to help people min their community .

    Now this is a black post but sometimes there are things that have to be said. We can't ignore the black all the time. Some good has to come out of many places to bring about a better life for people suffering from mental health issues.

    
    

Just What is on the internet About Us?

  Some of your comments on my last post got me thinking about  more things as to what information is on the Internet about us. As you know from my last post I have been spending time looking for information on some class mates that I was with 54 years ago. For a few there was lots of detailed information. For some there was nothing. For some there was just the possibility of a phone number. 

   Some of the information about us is securely locked away in government or private business computers. My son works for a company that produces, sells, installs and services security systems. These systems are meant to keep your personal, government and private business very secure. Yes, there are hackers. They seem to get pretty high up the ladder in their search for information. Most business things can be done via the Internet. I can file my income tax return on the net. I can buy and sell things by using my credit card. I can do my banking right from home. My bank did inform me one time that a disk with some information on my business and many others had been lost. They of course had this backed up and no bad guy has been able to  use the information. the disk is probably still lost. 

    But most things out on the net are pretty basic. The first half dozen entries are phone numbers. I don't know why it takes a half dozen websites to distribute your phone number and say that you may be on face book or some other social net working site. Some things are sort of fly by entries. Yes, I seconded a motion at a library board meeting. Yes, I'm named in my Dad's obituary. Once I accidentally found my application to teach for the Canadian government overseas. I've tried to find this again but no luck. Sometimes other people say things about us. It seems that there are many genealogy sites that include a few things. 

     Bloggers leave a huge trail behind them. We usually start our blog with a profile. Each entry we make is out there as a separate piece of information. I also write on another blog and find that those posts are listed separately one after another. Much of our material is picked up in searches. Somebody googles something and our site is included and listed. If it's on the first page someone may take a look at our post.

    So yes,  there can be quite a bit of information about us out on the Internet. I can hardly wait for the comments to fill in all the things I've missed or don't know. My curiosity is killing me!

    

Pleasure in Internet Search

      In 1957-58 I took a one year teacher training course. There were 400 in the class and the course was intense as we were expected to take over a class room and teach at the end of the year. So 400 young people met, worked and played for a year. Many good friends and acquaintances were made.

     I came from a small one teacher high school. For me to be thrown in with 400 other people was terrifying. My home village only had 235 people!  I survived and probably learned a thing or two. I got a job and could sort of teach. I was eighteen years old and if you think about an eighteen year old they are great but not very ready to teach.

    I left the teachers' college and began a career. I saw about six of my former classmates since that time. I left the area and at times lived far away So recently I became curious as to what happened to some of these people. Fifty five years have gone by. I wonder what has happened. 

    So off to the Internet to have a little look. One of the first names I Googled I found the person had died. I thought a bit and said well , since most of us are up in our seventies it might not be a bad idea to search obituaries. Fortunately, I found only one more obituary.

    I did find some interesting results. One guy became a school superintendent. Another a Lutheran minister. Another went back to the farm and farmed with his family. Another went back to his home town taught, farmed and wrote. He wrote columns for the CBC. He then put his columns in two books. So the results so far have been interesting and surprising.

     One challenge is that most of the women married so I don't have a name for them. The class was 75 % women. 

    So since I am curious and have some time I practise ( Bugs me that spell check doesn't know the difference between practice and practise) my Internet search skills.

All Old Guys should Walk

     All old guys should walk daily for exercise and good health.

     A few nights ago I did my walk and wrote on Face Book that I had just got in from a refreshing walk. One of my friends replied in a joking way "sick."  That got me thinking a little more seriously about walking.

    Once cycling season ends for me I start a nightly walking routine. Sometime in the evening I do a 30 minute walk. It's thirty minutes because that's what my route takes. I try to go out even when the weather is rather nasty. If I get a little soft then I tend to stay in so I keep on walking.

    Walking is always considered to be an excellent form of exercise. From walking you get some conditioning and strength building. Walking is very safe and has a low rate of injuries. After that you get fresh air and a whole lot of tension relief. 

    Walking can be suited to each individual. I walk by myself most of the time so I can set my own pace. I walked this afternoon because there's some ice on the sidewalk and you can't see it at night. I happened to notice an awful lot of sea gulls flying over. I stopped and watched . There were literally thousands of birds that flew over. It appeared that they were mostly young of this year or from last year. So my point is you can do different things on a walk. I also stop for geese, swans and chickadees! Once in a while I do walk with people and it is pleasant.

    Since I've lived in the same neighborhood for many years I like to stop and visit with people. Unfortunately, very few people walk. So I always say, "It's only me and the bad guys out there." I believe that if people are out on their streets it makes for a much safer community.

Not today's walk but I've included the birding part

    So I jokingly say "guys" but I would never forget the gals. The same thing goes for everybody. Walking is very beneficial.

Pointless Politicians.

    As one who has had a long interest in current events, I find the present behavior of our politicians to be extremely disappointing. First, I would like to point out that I am Canadian and the conditions I'm commenting on refer to Canadian politics. 

    The level of debate in our parliament seems to have dropped right off the edge of the earth. Speeches that are logical and well researched are completely lacking. Policies that are well developed and reasoned are not  in existence. Instead we get brief talking points which are responses given whether they are on the topic or not. These inane responses are repeated many times. So debate with someone else does not happen. Talking points limit the actions of the individual member of parliament to use his/her own ability to express their ideas and support their party's platform. Members do not get an opportunity to be leaders.

    The present government has to take most of the responsibility for such  low level of performance. The govt. is very loathe to give out any information. The public, press, opposition and any researchers are blocked many times from accessing public information. The govt. is fearful of releasing information for which they may receive negative publicity or criticism.

    Rules of procedure are treated as something which is made to be broken. For the last election robo calls were used to pass out false information to discourage voters from voting. One party compiled a list of opposition supporters and used the robo calls to tell these people misinformation so they would not vote. Some candidates overspent the limits of campaign spending set by law. In some cases the winning margin was small and spending extra money probably bought the election for them.
    
    Why have our politicians become such lunatics?  Parties want to win so badly that they employ tactics which are most despicable. Attack ads are crafted and used. Many of these ads are very remote from the truth. Tactics to divide citizens are used so that less votes are needed to form a majority. With these tactics solid policy and debate go out the window. 

    I for one, would very much like to see political parties concentrate on developing sound policies that they stand for and promote. Then the voters can evaluate policies and elect who they think will do the most good.  Why don't politicians think of the good of their country and be principled about it? 

    Most of all I would like to see some sanity return to our politicians! We are part of the process and have to come up with some strategies that require politicians to perform in a manner which follows rules and results in the success of the country.

A Preoccupation With Records!

    Since Felix Baumgartner made his historic jump the other day, it  has got me wondering about our preoccupation with records... the biggest, the fastest, the heaviest, the tallest, the oldest. You get what I mean.

     Baumgartner went to tremendous planning and expense to set up his record breaking jump. He carefully picked the best place on the planet to make the jump. All kinds of technology was  used. How many cameras were set up to record the event? A balloon made of plastic close to saran wrap thickness carried him to the outer edges of the atmosphere. The balloon...15 stories high! The tiny capsule he traveled in? One small mistake and it was over for Mr. Baumgartner. A small rip in his suit would be automatic disaster. A small rip in the plastic balloon? There were many things where there was no backup. 

    I had not been paying attention to this stunt. On the day of the jump twitter was full of "Felix" and then I realized what they were talking about.

   So the Guinness book of records gets another entry. As an aside, when I taught I tried to have one period a week for reading. Some little guy always got the Guinness book of records and would be mesmerized for the whole period.

    So I have to question the value of setting so many different records. Yes, I know this one had a certain amount of scientific value, but many records are pointless. Example: 150 combines in one field, a hockey game which is played for 72 hours. Aren't we wasting time and making spectacles of ourselves? 

    I for one can do without such records and can get myself cranked up to live a fulfilling life without all the hype cluttering my head.