Rose's Cantina

Embed from Getty Images I will not speak his name. He does not deserve attention anymore. In some other cultures, this man would have been cast out into the wilderness, shunned by his people, at the very hint of the violence he committed against many, many women. In other cultures, he would be allowed to let his energy flow freely, and it would be the women who would be cast out for being dirty, evil, lesser. In our culture, it's somewhere in the middle. He has been cast out, in some way, unemployable in the vainglorious media where he toiled; he has been denied his hunting ground. But he still walks among us, his face allowed to feel the cold and damp of this spring/winter day. I hope the rain stings like needles. In our society, the women, too -- one named the others nameless -- have been singled out for punishment. They weren't believable enough, they didn't remember enough, they talked among themselves, reassured each other. In some cases, they cov...

Embed from Getty Images And now back to the weird and wacky heads of Jian Ghomeshi. All I can say is, I'm glad I stopped dating before sexting became a thing. I was never good at it, the sexting thing. It always seemed silly to me. Ditto for dating websites that sound like Pit Bull videos. I was once a woman not unlike the ones who are taking the stand in the Ghomeshi trial. I was fairly successful at hooking up in younger years, and I met a few Ghomeshis. I encountered one or two who liked rough sex, playful rough sex, but I certainly never dated somebody who would punch me in the face. Truth be told, I was usually the one doing the punching if things got out of hand. I grew up with brothers who regularly beat the crap out of me, and I soon learned how to give it back. Really, I wish all women would learn defensive dating. It would save them a lot of grief. I can also relate to the letters, and emails. My early years were spent covering rock ban...

I am posting this blog from the father of Rehtaeh Parsons, the 17-year-old who took her own life after being drugged, sexually abused and humiliated on social media. This is for all the girls and boys who have been victimized, held up to ridicule and been forced into the unthinkable situation -- suicide. This is also for all the school officials who did nothing. Every day, children take their own lives because they feel they have no option, no hope, no escape from pain. Our family knows the pain of teen suicide. My son's friend Michelle took her own life at 19. We are forever scarred. Please share this with your own children. Talk about it with them. Heed the warnings, get them help, hold them close. There but for the Grace of God... This is a post from the blog of Glen Canning , Rehtaeh Parsons’s father, in response to media inquiries about his daughter’s death. Canning posted this on April 10. My daughter was three years old when we went to watch Babe: Pig in th...

You see this apartment building? We live down the street from it. The police are there sometimes twice a week. Ottawa fire, too. Last year, we called the cops because the yahoo yelling on the right balcony was also lighting fire works right in the street on Canada Day. And menacing, he's always menacing women and children who walk by. See these guys by the car? They were protecting the car while their boss went in. You know they weren't up to good. I watch them from my rear window each day, the place I sit to write my blog. Sometimes I take pictures and send them to the police. Let's call me Neighborhood Watch. Last night, I saw pictures of this building on the local news. It seems last spring and early summer, this building was a party palace housing sex slaves as young as 13 years old. Girls from my neighborhood, girls lured by Facebook into prostitution. How did I not see that? How did the cops not find them when they are at that building every single w...

Really, I don't give a hoot who becomes Pope. Black smoke, white smoke, no smoke, makes no difference to me. My children are all Catholic, but I'm sure if I polled them about the Pope, they would say, 'meh'. The church has never been relevant to their lives. Besides, I have a grudge against the Catholic Church and my own church for that matter. And everybody knows I can hold a grudge a long time. When I married to Mr. Big, I made the decision to raise my kids in his church, mainly because I didn't have a positive connection to my own church, the United Church. I've always wanted a spiritual connection. When I was a little girl, I begged my mom to dress me up all pretty and take me to Sunday school so I could participate in Sunday School and learn about My Lord. Mother was calloused about it all. She agreed to take me -- and dropped me off at the church door. Me, a six year old! I always felt sadness and raw nerves when going up the steps with my lit...