KSSreads

Cdn General- memoir of his efforts in Afghanistan

Hillier's memoir shows general fought on many fronts

Last Updated: Monday, October 19, 2009 | 7:26 PM ET

The Canadian Press

Canada's former top soldier says in his new memoir that he argued for Canadian troops deployed to Afghanistan to be kept in the relative safety of Kabul, and he rebuffs claims he was responsible for getting the country mired in the bloody battlefields of Kandahar.

The decision to send Canadian soldiers to southern Afghanistan was largely made before Rick Hillier became the country's military commander, the former chief of defence staff says in a provocative new memoir, A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War, which is now available.

Blunt, hard-hitting and often cheeky, Hillier lays out his side of the story through the tumultuous early years of the war, including his strained relationship with former defence minister Gordon O'Connor and an attempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office to limit his public profile.

Book Description
 In the summer of 2008, General Rick Hillier retired as Chief of the Defence staff of the Canadian Forces. You could almost hear the sigh of relief in Ottawa as Canada’s most popular, and most controversial, military leader since the second World War left a role in which he’d been as frank, unpredictable and resolutely apolitical as any of his predecessors.

Born and raised in Newfoundland, Hillier joined the military as a young man and quickly climbed the ranks. He played a significant role in such domestic challenges as the ice storm that paralyzed much of eastern Ontario and Quebec in 1998, and quickly became a player on the international scene, commanding an American corps in Texas and a multinational NATO task force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But it was his role as General Rick Hillier, Canada’s Chief of the Defence staff, that defined him as a Canadian icon.

In Afghanistan, Canada faced its first combat losses since the Korean War, with every casualty becoming front page news. A country formerly ambivalent, or even angry, about its role in the conflict suddenly became gripped by the drama unfolding not only in a war zone halfway around the world but in unfriendly conference rooms in Ottawa. There, as everywhere, Hillier pulled no punches, demanding more funding, more troops and more appreciation for the women and men fighting a war on foreign soil. This hard-hitting, honest account of Hillier’s role—told in his own words—will be one of the most important books published in Canada this decade.( Mosaicbooks)

KSS teachers making history

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=216538

History teachers make history Daily Courier Staff 2009-10-09 At first, Lindsay Gibson was reluctant to enter the 2009 Governor General‘s awards for excellence in teaching Canadian history. The Central Okanagan secondary teacher has been talked into entering the competition for Canada‘s top history teaching prize from the National History Society before, but he hates blowing his own horn. In spite of that, Gibson and fellow teacher Graeme Stacey entered their names for their unit plan on the benchmarks of historical thinking. They were rewarded this week when they were among the 25 national finalists. A panel will now select six recipients who will receive $2,500, a gold medal and a trip to the awards ceremony in Ottawa on Nov. 20. Their respective schools will also receive $1,000.  ( DailyCourier) History teachers Graeme Stacey, left, and Lindsay Gibson are two of 25 teachers from across Canada nominated for the Governor General award for excellence in teaching Canadian history. GARY NYLANDER/The Daily Courier

PBS American Masters- Neil Young- 'Don't Be Denied '

PBS American Masters- Neil Young- Don't Be Denied

How amusing that PBS claims NY as american...nevertheless this is an intelligent and poignant production about a musical icon.  I was blown away! A doc that only public broadcasting could enable.
Any humanities course could use this quality biographical production to springboard mindful discourse and further study. - Al Smith

Watch a portion at: [Link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gKwjxF7ilI

A resolutely private artist who seldom looks back, Neil Young has never before unfolded his career on camera. With unprecedented access to one of the world’s renowned music legends, American Masters presents Neil Young: Don’t Be Denied premiering nationally Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). The film explores how Young’s unbending dedication to the muse has created an awe-inspiring body of work and bruised a few egos along the way....

"..Neil Young is one of very few artists who’s contribution to music is as vital and important today as it was when he started in the 60’s. He is an artist true to the muse, thought provoking, heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time. I am a huge fan and look foward to Neil’s next endeavor..." (PBS)

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/neil-young/dont-be-denied/1152/#comment-4000

More...iTunes Gallery> and  Facebook> and YouTube-Live at Massey Hall

____________Neil Young performs "Helpless" live, solo, acoustic at Massey Hall in Toronto on January 19, 1971. American Masters presents Neil Young: Don't Be Denied premiering... ______________

Author, Joseph Boyden-CBC theHour

If you read any of his books, we'd love to hear your views. Blog his writing...post a comment below

or send us a review

 Joseph Boyden is a one-time punk-rocker and street kid who grew up in suburban Toronto, but he also spent time on reserves in northern Ontario. Boyden is part Metis, with family in the Ojibwa tribe. His roots have had a huge impact on his work - especially his critically acclaimed novels: 'Three Day Road' and the Giller-winning 'Through Black Spruce.' Today, Boyden splits his time between Northern Ontario and the University of New Orleans, where he teaches writing. Up next from Boyden is a biography of Louis Riel and he continues the story from 'Three Day Road' and 'Through Black Spruce' in a third novel, due out in 2012.(CBC)

Growing up in Willowdale, Ontario, in the 1970s, Joseph Boyden was a typical little boy. He loved the outdoors, and along with his seven siblings would play war games and cowboys and Indians and roughhouse in the schoolyard next door. They would chase the goats that their father, an old-fashioned doctor, occasionally accepted as payment for his medical services. Joseph Boyden is 38 years old. He teaches Canadian literature and creative writing at the University of New Orleans and splits his time between Louisiana and Canada, which remains home to his mother and most of his siblings, as well as his 14-year-old son Jacob, who lives in Toronto with his mother. Boyden has been married for nine years to an American who’s also a writer; Amanda Boyden’s first novel, Pretty Little Dirty, will be released by Vintage U.S. next year.

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Boyden has published one previous book, the 2001 short-story collection Born with a Tooth. Most of the stories unfold on reserves and examine the joys and tribulations of native life. (Boyden’s ancestry is partly native.) The book was well received, but readers may not be prepared for the transformative, history-shaping power of Three-Day Road, which hits bookstores next month. The novel was inspired by the life of Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. It’s told partly from the perspective of Xavier Bird, a Cree soldier who returns to Northern Ontario after the war, wounded in body, crushed in spirit, and addicted to morphine. Xavier is met in Moose Factory, Ontario, by his aunt Niska, and as she paddles him back to her home in the bush, he recalls the bloody experiences of the war. Meanwhile Niska attempts to keep him alive by narrating her own life story. The novel encompasses a myriad of themes, the motif of death being foremost, and it parallels the brutal massacre known as the first modern war and the destruction of native culture with subtle poignancy.( Quill-Quire)

Note: Nest Book:  Biography of Louis Riel

A conversation with Neil Young - PBS Charlie Rose video

A conversation with Neil Young

Charlie Rose- Neil Young: an interview

Neil Percival Young^[1] OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and film director.

Young's work is characterized by deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature falsetto tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments—including piano and harmonica—his claw-hammer acoustic guitar style and often idiosyncratic electric guitar soloing are the linchpins of a sometimes ragged, sometimes polished sound. Although Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues, and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into either of two distinct styles: folk-esque acoustic rock ("Heart of Gold", "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man") and electric-charged hard rock (like "Cinnamon Girl", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)"). In recent years, Young has adopted elements from newer styles like industrial, alternative country and grunge. Young's profound influence on the latter caused some to dub him "the godfather of grunge".

Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY Déjà Vu (2008). He is currently working on a documentary about electric car technology, tentatively titled Linc/Volt. The project involves a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to hybrid technology, which Young plans to drive to Washington, DC as an example to lawmakers there.^[2]

He is also an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid, and in 1986 helped found The Bridge School,^[3] and its annual supporting Bridge School Benefit concerts, together with his wife Pegi (in this, Young's involvement stems at least partially from the fact that both of his sons have cerebral palsy and his daughter, like Young himself, has epilepsy).

Although Young sings as frequently about U.S. legends and myths (Pocahontas, space stations, and the settlement of the American West)^[4] as he does about his native country, he remains a Canadian citizen and has never wanted to relinquish his Canadian citizenship. He has lived in the U.S. for "so long" and has stated he has "got just as much right to vote in them (American elections) as anybody else."^{[5] ( WIKI )}

http://www.coversproject.com/artist/neil%20young/

"Rockin' In The Free World"

There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign
on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin'
we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan,
but I am to them
So I try to forget it,
any way I can.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away,
and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life,
and what she's done to it
There's one more kid
that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand
We got department stores
and toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes
for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people,
says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn,
got roads to drive.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/rockininthefreeworld.html

( AZlyrics)
__________

Pearl Jam and U2 ::::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SCt1mNbE2o

 

Canadian Geographic Photo Club- October bio

After studying commercial photography in Paris, Patrice Halley marched into a local newsroom not knowing much about the industry and landed the guidance of an established photographer. Twenty-seven years later, Halley is an award winning photographer, living in Cranbrook, B.C., and one of the top photojournalists in Canada.

Drawing his inspiration from books like Alaska by James A. Michener and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, Patrice Halley has an adventurous spirit and goes to great lengths to seek the story behind the image. He is intensely interested in learning about people’s lives, their passions and what connects us all.

CG:  You’re known for doing some pretty exciting things on assignments, for example dangling out of an airplane to shoot British Columbia’s Flathead Valley in the June 2008 Canadian Geographic issue. When on an assignment, do you prefer getting out of the immediate area to experience more? 

A : "...Oh yeah, I always try to get out. Grise Fiord was bad timing because when I showed up, everyone was gone hunting. I walked through the village and recorded some street scenes on the video camera and it was just like a ghost town. Dogs barking and snowmobile wrecks and that was it. Of course, when the hunters came back they were not too eager to leave right away again to take me out..."

_____________________________
Read more on Grise Fiord, photographed by Halley in the Oct 2008 Canadian Geographic issue.
View : his gallery
Visit Patrice Halley's website for more