Word Prisms

Having been written almost over 30 years ago, I felt "The Art of the Deal" needed an update. The Donald negotiates for reasons of pride and greed. Those in developing countries such as Egypt may negotiate for pride and greed but, for many, they negotiate for survival. Tourism accounts for about  Dudes waiting for tourists to ride their camels & ponies 12% of GDP and about the same percentage of employment. The average annual income in Egypt was $2724 U.S. in 2016 or $3509 Canadian. So, when men (and they're always men) hawk their merchandise and service to tourists on the banks of the Nile in Cairo, Luxor, or Aswan or at the entrance to the pyramids in Giza, they are not looking for money to purchase a new car or bigger house. In all likelihood they need money to feed their family (often large), send their kids to school or feed their horse or camel.   When my wife and I had only been in Egypt a few hours, we were given a lesson in the art of the deal I will n...

Dog-whistles emit a sound above the range of the human ear but not to that of your dog or domestic cat. It can be very useful if you’re hunting birds and you want to grab the attention of your dog without disturbing the birds. A politician would use a dog whistle to alert his or her the public to a position he or she holds that may be repugnant to the general population. It’s not a literal dog-whistle. The guy doesn’t get on stage and blow a whistle. No, he uses certain words or phrases that make her more radical supporters go, “Hey, is he saying what I think he’s saying?” And the next thing you know you’ve got white supremacists pushing around a black woman at one of your rallies after you tell them to “get her out” and you’re being sued for “inciting violence.”   CNN Footage You may ask, what brought the white-supremacist to Trump events? Well, it all started with his initial announcement that he was going to be running for president when he said of Mexicans, “They’re bring...

I got my first teaching job with my wife in Fort Resolution. That was hard. I used to dream of turning the wrong way when we went to get groceries in Hay River. Instead, I'd drive toward freedom in the south. The residential school was still standing and, although it was no longer in use, you could still feel its effects. Binge drinking was among the worst. For some kids, school was their only refuge. Which was rewarding. I taught grades 2/3 and my wife taught grades 7/8. I took both classes for gym. They loved indoor soccer. And they were good. Really good. They were also artistic. Nicola's cousin taught Grade 2 in Vernon and wanted to exchange letters with my students. The contrast in drawing abilities was stark. When my students drew a person, she had bulk and depth. A ski-doo looked like a ski-doo. Then, Nicola got pregnant. She wanted to stay home with our future daughter. I took over Nicola, our eldest, and our dog, Emily her grade 7/8 class in the second year and s...