Unicorns

My God, Tommy. 

You certainly got those minerals. 
Well, come on then. Before zee Germans get here. 

Don't be sad — it was never alive in the first place.

Should drag shows be used as a teaching tool in Alberta schools?

Not according to a critic of a new LGBTQ guidebook for Alberta teachers

Andrea Huncar · CBC News · Posted: Nov 01, 2016 7:00 AM MT | Last Updated: November 1, 2016

This purple unicorn is used to describe 'a more authentic way of understanding gender' in a new toolkit being launched by the Alberta Teachers' Association. (Alberta Teachers' Association)

A new toolkit to assist Alberta teachers with LGBTQ discussions is being slammed by critics for suggesting drag shows could be staged in schools and students be addressed as "comrades" rather than boys and girls.  

Those are just two of the proposals in a 150-page document from the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA). The "Prism Toolkit for Safe and Caring Discussions" aims to help teachers create classrooms and curriculum that are more LGBTQ inclusive.  

The backlash over the toolkit, being distributed in schools this month, is just the latest in a divisive battle over LGBTQ rights for students, pitting advocates against religious and parental groups.  

• Alberta home-schooling group fires back at government report
• Edmonton-area Baptist schools defying LGBTQ rules face third-party inquiry
• Edmonton Catholic policy fails LGBTQ students, critics say

The toolkit document includes four pages of LGBTQ terminology, as well as the history and legal framework surrounding LGBTQ issues and lesson plans for students in Grades 7-12 on a variety of subjects, including math, biology and religion.

While the ATA argues the document, developed internally, will help teachers create a safe and inclusive environment for all students, some critics say it excludes many points of view.

"There is this implicit presumption that everyone already agrees on this very specific singular perspective of gender and sexuality," said Theresa Ng, a mother, former teacher and parent rights activist who writes a blog called Informed Albertans. "There's no honouring or valuing of alternative perspectives on this issue."

'Comrades' an alternate for 'boys' and 'girls'

One activity, titled "Drag 101" for cosmetology and drama students, suggests inviting local drag queens to teach makeup techniques and organizing a drag performance for the school.

The toolkit advises teachers to use gender-neutral language. For instance, rather than relying on the traditional terms "boys" and "girls," the guide suggests using alternative terms like friends, folks or "comrades."

Terms such as "caretaker," "guardian" and "responsible adults" can replace "mom" and "dad."

"Grade 7-12 students have no choice to decline these lessons, which happen during mandated instructional time, and are powerless to object to their learning time being used toward political activism for the advancement of LGBTQ rights or watching a school-wide drag performance," Ng wrote in her blog.  

Edmonton blogger Theresa Ng said the tool kit doesn't reflect alternative perspectives held by Albertans. (CBC)

Andrea Berg, head of the ATA's human rights and diversity division, said the toolkit was created based on demand following a similar document released four years ago for elementary school teachers.

"The document came about as a result of demand from teachers in the field who saw a need in their classrooms on how to create the welcoming, caring, safe and inclusive learning environments," said Berg.

She pointed to the high rates of bullying, self harm and suicide among sexual and gender minority students.

Berg said it is hoped the document will help teachers cultivate safe and supportive discussions in the classroom. It includes advice for teachers if a student comes out about their sexual or gender orientation, as well as dealing with homophobic and transphobic behaviour.

The suggestion of staging a drag show "was recommended as an optional activity that teachers could choose to participate in or not," Berg said.

A purple unicorn is used in the guidebook to describe "a more authentic way of understanding gender."

This guide suggests 'caretaker' could replace 'mom' and 'dad'

A picture of a purple, cartoon "gender unicorn" is shown under the heading: "Where do you fall on these spectrums?" It lays out a range of options for gender identity and expression, as well as sex assigned at birth, and physical and emotional attraction.

"Everything in here speaks to a theory of how some people — and I recognize some people feel this way, that gender to them means this, and that's perfectly fine," said Ng. "But what this resource assumes is that is what gender and sexuality mean for everyone."

Ng called for a resource that balances all views in a pluralistic, multicultural, democratic society "without ever abusing our authority."

She urged Albertans to sign up for a campaign launched by Parents for Choice, a parental rights group, demanding that parents be the primary authority in education.

But Berg said the ATA's perspective is "that it is the duty of all teachers to respect all diversity of students, regardless of religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity."

She estimated it cost the association between $30,000 and $35,000 to develop the toolkit, plus part of a $6,000 grant from Alberta Education.

Toolkit optional?

Asked whether use of the toolkit is optional, Berg responded that "it is a requirement from the School Act that schools and teachers work to create welcoming, caring, safe, inclusive learning environments for all students."

But she added: "As far as how teachers are going to use this particular document, it's one tool in their toolkit they can choose. It is absolutely optional if they want to use this."

Ng noted the document contains a warning that suggests optional usage may be subject to interpretation. "Canadian courts have found that schools that fail to address homophobia and heterosexism can be in serious breach of their professional responsibilities and considered to be engaging in educational malpractice," the section reads.

"I think that when teachers read that they see this resource as being not so optional," Ng said.

Education ministry chief of staff Jeremy Nolais said the PRISM toolkit is one of the resources produced from a $191,000 grant to help school authorities implement amendments to the School Act.

"Neither Alberta Education nor the minister require school authorities to refer to the PRISM toolkit or any other external resources," Nolais said.

But school authorities are legally responsible to provide caring and safe learning environments for all students, including LGBTQ pupils, he added.

andrea.huncar@cbc.ca               @andreahuncar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrea Huncar

Reporter

A Vergence, You Say...

Qui-Gon Jinn: 

I have encountered a vergence in the Force.

Yoda: 

A vergence, you say...

Mace Windu: 

Located around a person?

Qui-Gon Jinn: 

A boy. His cells have the highest concentration of midichlorians 

I have seen in a life-form. 

It is possible he was conceived by the midichlorians.

Mace Windu: 

You refer to the prophecy of The One Who Will Bring Balance to The Force. 

You believe it's this -  boy?

verge (n.)

"edge, rim," mid-15c., from Old French verge "twig, branch; measuring rod; penis; rod or wand of office" (12c.), hence, from the last sense, "scope, territory dominated" (as in estre suz la verge de "be under the authority of"), from Latin virga "shoot, rod, stick, slender green branch," of unknown origin.

Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c. 1400). Modern sense is from the notion of within the verge (c. 1500, also as Anglo-French dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the king's court. Sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Meaning "point at which something happens" (as in on the verge of) is first attested c. 1600. "A very curious sense development." [Weekley]

verge (v.1)

"tend, incline," c. 1600, from Latin vergere "to bend, turn, tend toward, incline," from PIE *werg- "to turn," from root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." Influenced by verge (v.2) "provide with a border" (c. 1600); "be adjacent to" (1787), from verge (n.). Related: Verged; verging.

Hating

You refer to the prophecy of 
The One Who Will Bring Balance to The Force

You believe it's this -  boy?

"The Oak Tree..?!?

Qui-Gon Jinn: 

I have encountered a vergence in the Force.

Yoda: 

A vergence, you say...

Mace Windu: 

Located around a person?

verge (n.)

"edge, rim," mid-15c., from Old French verge "twig, branch; measuring rod; penis; rod or wand of office" (12c.), hence, from the last sense, "scope, territory dominated" (as in estre suz la verge de "be under the authority of"), from Latin virga "shoot, rod, stick, slender green branch," of unknown origin.

Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c. 1400). Modern sense is from the notion of within the verge (c. 1500, also as Anglo-French dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the king's court. Sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Meaning "point at which something happens" (as in on the verge of) is first attested c. 1600. "A very curious sense development." [Weekley]

verge (v.1)

"tend, incline," c. 1600, from Latin vergere "to bend, turn, tend toward, incline," from PIE *werg- "to turn," from root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend." Influenced by verge (v.2) "provide with a border" (c. 1600); "be adjacent to" (1787), from verge (n.). Related: Verged; verging.

"Yes, You Deserve to Die, and I Hope You Burn in Hell!"

(But I forgive you)

Scene where the prosecutor (Kevin Spacey) asks Carl Lee (Samuel L. Jackson) if he thinks the boys that raped his child deserved to die.

Enforcing Boundaries Means Punishing The Guilty Yourself

He Who Has No Boundaries Will Wake Up One Day to Discover That He is Surrounded By Wolves.

Ridley Scott and I, I recognise, are kindred spirits on a very profound level.

He is not an agreeable person.

He is another one of those said to be "difficult" to work with, especially by actors, which all contributes to The Smear Campaign.

He is some about whom they would have said, "He Doesn't Suffer Fools", although that's not a phrase I like particularly at all, personally, I just don't think it's accurate, or particularly authentic.

I'm quite fond of fools myself, personally - I enjoy their company, and I generally get along well with them, and they with me.

I just don't hire them.

And whatever else is True (and most of it is) - Kevin Spacey is certainly no fool.

If you pay someone to do something, for you, it's because you can't do it, and you recognise their superior talent or ability to do the thing you want done in the way you want it done to the standard that it needs to be done well.

If they can't do that, or don't do that, either because they prefer not to, or because circumstances or unseen factors known only to them, which they don't disclose to you when you agree to pay them and employ them, then 

That is an Act of Betrayal


If they don't tell you things when you hire them that you need to know, not because they are frightened or ashamed, but because they are intending to ignore The Problem and stonewall it, hoping that it just goes away, or if they just don't give a fuck about the injury it will do to you (and many others), if they are choosing to expose you to harm, then 


That is an Act of Betrayal


And if, once The Shit Hits The Fan, that person employed by you doesn't call you straight away to explain themselves, apologise for concealing The Truth, beg forgiveness, offer their support and offer to do whatever it takes to make good the damage they caused and make ammends to you personally, and to the people you've placed in the firing line by forcing them to have to suffer the misfortune of being tainted with your shit, thenThat is an Act of Betrayal

Descartes

" THE MASTERY OF NATURE IS TO BE ACHIEVED THROUGH NUMBER AND MEASURE "

- "The Angel" who appeared to René Descartes in Ulm, in September 1619 and told him to establish on Earth the doctrine of Rational Materialism

" ...and Rene Descartes was a drunken fart,

'I drink, therefore, I am' "

- The Four Bruces

The Irony of Science

"I suppose, accordingly, that all the things which I see are false; fictitious. I believe that none of those objects which my fallacious memory represents ever existed; I suppose that I possess no senses; I believe that body, figure, extension, motion, and place are merely fictions of my mind. What is there, then, that can be esteemed true? Perhaps this only, that there is absolutely nothing certain. But how do I know that there is not something different altogether from the objects I have now enumerated, of which it is impossible to entertain the slightest doubt? Is there not a God, or some being, by whatever name I may designate Him, who causes these thoughts to arise in my mind? But why suppose such a Being, for it may be I myself am capable of producing them? Am I, then, at least not something? But I before denied that I possessed senses or a body; I hesitate, however, for what follows from that? Am I so dependent on the body and the senses that without these I cannot exist? But I had the persuasion that there was absolutely nothing in the world, that there was no sky and no earth, neither minds nor bodies; was I not, therefore, at the same time, persuaded that I did not exist? Far from it; I assuredly existed, since I was persuaded. But there is I know not what being, who is possessed at once of the highest power and the deepest cunning, who is constantly employing all his ingenuity in deceiving me. Doubtless, then, I exist, since I am deceived; and, let him deceive me as he may, he can never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I shall be conscious that I am something. So that it must, in fine, be maintained, all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this proposition: I am, I exist; is necessarily true each time it is expressed by me, or conceived in my mind."

~ René Descartes

Probably one of my all-time favorite philosophers, much of his work laid the foundation for modern western philosophy and set the foundation for the modern scientific method. I would also consider Descartes to be the most influential character to agnosticism. He doubted God, he doubted the objective world around him that he perceived through his senses, he even doubted he had a physical body (Hundreds of years before the invention of virtual reality!). He even doubted his own existence, until he found this was the one thing that could not be doubted, the fact that he was consciously aware of himself doubting his own existence proved he must exist! The famous phrase “Cogito Ergo Sum” otherwise known as “I think, therefore I am.” Our own conscious experience is in fact the only thing we can be certain to exist without a doubt.

Little known fact:

In 1619, while in his early twenties and serving for the Hapsburgian army, one night Descartes has a series of three dreams. In these dreams an Angel appeared to him and told him "The conquest of nature is to be achieved through measure and number." Ultimately the revelation he had from these dreams is what inspired him to persue his works.

So the foundations of modern science were based on a revelation from an angel in a dream. HA! Talk about ironic, how very rational indeed

Purgation

The Penitent Man Kneels Before God

There are 3 parts to Penitence :

• Confession ("I am at Fault")

• Contrition ("I am Sorry")

• Satisfaction ("You have done What is Required to Make Amends")

Or, alternatively, you could just decide you prefer to sh*t all over everything :

WINTER, 1691

SALEM VILLAGE, 
MASSACHUSETTS COLONY

It is Seventy-One years after The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and England has not yet signed a formal charter.

The New World, still a wilderness frontier, has no clear governing body.

The Winters are bitterly cold, there is little food or dry wood to burn, and hostile Indians threaten this small outpost of settlers.

The only existing law is provided by the Puritan Church, which demands that individual sins be cleansed through PUBLIC HUMILIATION.

Into This World a handful of girls are about to unleash a terror so great that it will forever curse the town of Salem.

Ann Putnam: 

Who will forgive us... who will forgive us?

NOT OPRAH

Justice
Prudence
Temperance
Fortitude 

+

Faith
Hope

Charity

Timon of Athens

"...that idea of The Far-Off Man, way, way out there,  but what does The Hermit tell us...?


If you try this get as lonely as you can get, you become visibly aware which you can't get away from it, because when you get very lonely very fast you become extremely thin and everything that goes on is or now ordinarily unnoticed cum spiritum 

First of all, you will find that there is a  Community of Insects.

And they are tremendously interested in You, and not necessarily hostile, in maybe some cases they are so.

But alone in The Forest, when you get really quiet, you'll notice little creatures will come and inspect you look you all over an
they'll go away and tell their friends and they'll come and look to see what it is and you become aware of every single sound and you realize that alone you're in the midst of a vast burning crowd - it may not be human but it's everything else - so
that the the point of being honest the discipline leads you to understand that 
You can't Resign

The lonelier you are, the more you're joined together with everything else. "

" Look at it - from another point of view, supposing I say everybody's playing the game Me First  - now, I'm going to play the game You First, to use the phrase of Bonhoeffer who called Jesus The Man for Others - now, let's see if we could play that game instead of Me First, You First 

Or,

"I'm the one see who's so generous I'm the one who's so loving so self-effacing and all you insolent brats ...."

- Alan Watts

" This controversial play follows the declining fortunes of a man of extravagant contradictions.  

The fabulously rich Timon believes all his friends to be as open-hearted and generous as himself. When his wealth suddenly evaporates, however, he discovers the truth and his altruism turns to a bitter hatred of mankind. Stirred up by the cynical Apemantus, Timon retreats to the woods where he plots the destruction of Athens, the city that had formerly seemed to embody everything pleasurable and civilized. The cosmic scope of his hatred is communicated in a series of powerful and disturbing dramatic tableaux. 

The Curse :

SCENE I. Without the walls of Athens.

Enter TIMON

TIMON

Let me look back upon thee. O thou wall,
That girdlest in those wolves, dive in the earth,
And fence not Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent!
Obedience fail in children! slaves and fools,
Pluck the grave wrinkled senate from the bench,
And minister in their steads! to general filths
Convert o' the instant, green virginity,
Do 't in your parents' eyes! bankrupts, hold fast;
Rather than render back, out with your knives,
And cut your trusters' throats! bound servants, steal!
Large-handed robbers your grave masters are,
And pill by law. Maid, to thy master's bed;
Thy mistress is o' the brothel! Son of sixteen,
pluck the lined crutch from thy old limping sire,
With it beat out his brains! Piety, and fear,
Religion to the gods, peace, justice, truth,
Domestic awe, night-rest, and neighbourhood,
Instruction, manners, mysteries, and trades,
Degrees, observances, customs, and laws,
Decline to your confounding contraries,
And let confusion live! Plagues, incident to men,
Your potent and infectious fevers heap
On Athens, ripe for stroke! Thou cold sciatica,
Cripple our senators, that their limbs may halt
As lamely as their manners. Lust and liberty
Creep in the minds and marrows of our youth,
That 'gainst the stream of virtue they may strive,
And drown themselves in riot! Itches, blains,
Sow all the Athenian bosoms; and their crop
Be general leprosy! Breath infect breath,
at their society, as their friendship, may
merely poison! Nothing I'll bear from thee,
But nakedness, thou detestable town!
Take thou that too, with multiplying bans!
Timon will to the woods; where he shall find
The unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
The gods confound--hear me, you good gods all--
The Athenians both within and out that wall!
And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
To the whole race of mankind, high and low! Amen.

Exit

Jasmine

MALE REPORTER
Uh, excuse me, Jasmine. 
What can we do to show our love for you?

JASMINE

You don't have to do anything except love one another. 
(smiles broadly) 
Although a temple would be nice. Something massive and awe-inspiring, yet warm and nurturing, celebrating the gentle pleasures of a peaceful, precious coexistence where violent behav—

" Any name of God which is found in the Bible can not be applied to the Deity prior to His self-manifestation in the Creation, because the letters of those names were produced only after the emanation. . . . 

Moreover, a name implies a limitation in its bearer; and this is impossible in connection with the “Ein Sof”. "

WOMAN

Now, what're we going to call me?

FRED

You don't have a name!

WOMAN

No.

FRED

You should have a name. 

WOMAN

Yes.

FRED

I don't know. 

I can't imagine one word, you know, summing you up. 

I mean, you're a superior being. 

Shouldn't you— Don't you want to choose it yourself?

WOMAN

No one born to this earth can choose their own name. 

They are named by those who love them. 

There are some rules even I must follow.

BORG: 

What is your designation?

LAFORGE: 

Designation?

BORG: 

Third of Five. 

CRUSHER: 

You mean our names. 

We don't have designations. 

We have names. I'm Beverly. This is Geordi.

BORG: 

Do I have a name?

LAFORGE: 

Do you want one?

[ Notice how they do not let  him answer - they just decide for him. ]

BORG: 

A name.

CRUSHER: 

I'm Beverly, he's Geordi, and you.

BORG: 

You 

CRUSHER: 

You 

LAFORGE: 

No, no, wait a minute. 

That's it. Hugh. 

What do you think?

BORG: 

You.

LAFORGE: 

No, not you. 

Hugh.

BORG: 

Hugh.

CRUSHER: 

Okay. Now, I'm Beverly.

LAFORGE: 

I'm Geordi.

BORG: 

We are Hugh.

[ Because 7 of 9 is most assuredly not Anika Hansen - all later claims to the contrary notwithstanding. ]

7 : 

When I was separated from the Collective I, too, was damaged. 
I was no longer connected to the hive mind. 
I lost many abilities that I had acquired as a drone, but I adapted. 

NEELIX: 

Because Captain Janeway didn't give up on you. 
She kept trying to help you. 

7 : 

But not by restoring me to what I'd been. 
By helping me discover what I could become.

"And God separated the light from the darkness. God call the light day, and the darkness he called night." 

And, again, the fact that things are named is also very important. 

You see this later with Adam, because God gives Adam the job of naming all the animals. It’s sort of like the animals don't actually exist until they’re named. 

That's another indication of the authors of the Bible attempting to come to terms with the fact that our cognitive faculties and our ability to speak have something to do with the way that we cast chaotic potential into actuality.

 We can't really get a grip on something before we have a name for it, which is why, for example, you all have names. 

Everything that you encounter has to have a name, because before it has a name, it's just part of the blurry background. 

You could say it exists before it has a name, and that's True, but it's also true that it doesn't exist before it has a name. 

As soon as you give something a name, its nature changes. 

You’ve transformed it into something that's not so much mere potential anymore. 

It’s, at least, on its way to being actuality, and to being a tool. And so the act of naming is repeated continually in the first chapters of the Bible. 

The reason for that is this continued emphasis on the importance of consciousness, conscious articulation, and speech. "

Red Matter

See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!

One drop would save my soul, half a drop: ah, my Christ!—

Rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!

Yet will I call on him: O, spare me, Lucifer!--

Where is it now? ‘Tis gone:

   And see, where God stretcheth out his arm,

 And bends his ireful brows!

Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,

And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!

No, no?

Then will I headlong run into the earth