News

I don't really watch the news anymore. It's hard to take them seriously after a steady diet of "The Daily Show."
So I only half listen when it's on someone else's TV.
I overheard a real gem last week, when Global was reporting about the "Canadian Psycho," Luka Magnotta (and don't think we're not proud about THAT).
She said that he "was behind the discovery of body parts sent to Montreal schools."
Doesn't that mean he was helping out the police looking for the body parts?
And not responsible (or "behind") sending the parts?
I know, I know, she was just reading what was on the teleprompter, and not thinking about what it said. That's somebody else's job, thinking. And writing, that's not her responsibility, either.
Allan Fotheringham used to refer to TV newsreaders as "teeth and hair."
Heh.
The other interesting thing I heard last week was on Fareed Zakaria's show, when he was talking about the differences in Canadian and American immigration policies. He was suggesting that Canada was more open to accepting people from abroad than the U.S., and he pointed to the example of Calgary's mayor, Naheed Nenshi, a Muslim whose parents immigrated to Canada from Tanzania. The U.S. denied entry to a software designer from India, who went back home and came up with a program that made hime a millionaire.
So there.
Flint and I have written extensively about our experiences abroad, so it's obvious we know what it's like for somebody going to a strange country, looking for a better future.
This is something that I've thought about a lot when I consider what kind of teaching I want to do when I graduate next year. I'm focusing more and more on ESL issues, and I will be working in that field, either here or abroad, trying to help my students make a better life for themselves, and a better world for us all.