Ontario Tuition Reduction

   After years of student complaints about rising tuition fees, The Ontario Provincial Liberal government has decided to lower tuition for university and college students by 30% starting in the fall of 2012. Ignoring criticism from Conservatives about interfering with market forces and dealing with a potential flood of applicants from lower socio-economic brackets seeking an inexpensive education, the Liberals have decided to embrace the new knowledge economy and encourage more secondary school graduates to embrace higher education.  This is in stark contrast to the States where institutions such as the University of California are expected to increase tuition costs by ten percent each year for the foreseeable future and national student debt will reach one trillion dollar debt by the end of this year. This debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy proceedings and enforces a form of peonage for those unlucky enough not to have rich parents. The Provincial government is continuing its drift to the left with a socialist agenda of providing an affordable education to the masses.

Favourite stores: SOMA chocolatier

Happy Valentine’s Day! At my age, every vice is fattening and on this day my thoughts turn to chocolate and my favourite chocolate store, Soma which is in the distillery district of Toronto and makes the best chocolate items in the city. Roger’s chocolates in Victoria, B.C. is also pretty good but I like the ambience of this store for which I hope you can get an appreciation from the photos.

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You can see the entrance at 55 Mill Street with the sign hanging above in the center of the picture below. It was voted best chocolate store by Toronto Life  and Now magazines.

 They make small batches of chocolate directly from fairtrade, organic and flavour grade, single estate cocoa beans which come from a variety of countries around the world using the grinder below. The first chocolate machine was made in Barcelona and the first book about chocolate was in Spanish, "Libro en el cual se trata del chocolate.``

They have all kinds of chocolate including such exotic ones as an 8 Year Old Balsamic Vinegar Truffle. The owners are David Castellan and spouse Cynthia Leung who is also an architect. You can also buy Spanish ensaïmadas if you`re looking for something other than chocolate to enjoy with your Mayan hot chocolate drink. The building was orginally the whisky keg storage facility for the distillery.

SOMA became one of a few fortunate chocolate makers in 2002 when his cacao bean supplier purchased 630 hectares of woodlands with 400 of them, wild, pre-Columbian cacao forest growing on raised islands of pottery shards, planted 600 years ago by indigenous peoples near the north-eastern Bolivian town of Baures. An original, non-hybridized bean which is smaller than its selectively-bred cousins and genetically different from all other known cacaos is produced on the land and has a unique flavour.

There is an article in Scientific American this month about problems with chocolate supply due to increased consumer demand, pests, fungal infections, climate change and lack of access to fertilizers by the local farmers. The solution seems to be selective breeding, pest-management and farmer education.

A U.S. government-backed report estimated that more than 1.8 million children in West Africa are involved in growing cocoa. The widespread use of children in cocoa production is controversial not only because of the usual concerns about child labor and exploitation, but also because up to 12,000 of the 200,000 children working in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest producer of cocoa, may be victims of human trafficking or slavery, Most attention on this subject has focused on West Africa, which collectively supplies 69% of the world's cocoa, and Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in particular, which supplies 35% of the world's cocoa. Thirty percent of children under age 15 in sub-Saharan Africa are child laborers, mostly in agricultural activities including cocoa farming. The major chocolate producers such as Nestle buy cocoa at commodities exchanges where Ivorian cocoa is mixed with other cocoa.  (Wikipedia)

Fortunately Soma has no trade with these folks. 

I spent about sixty dollars when I was in the store. Not cheap but well worth the cost.

Chocolate is made from the bean pods of the Theobroma cacoa tree and the name of the tree is literally translated as the "Food of the Gods". The ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures used the pods as currency. The tree only grows within 20 degrees latitude of the Equator. The three types of cacoa trees are the Forastero, the Criollo and the Trinitario which is a hybrid of the other types.

The cacoa pods are harvested and split open to remove the beans which are then fermented for two to eight days in baskets. After fermentation, the beans are dried in sunlight and then shipped to the chocolate makers who roast the beans and remove the shells to leave the "nibs" that contain the cocoa solids and cocoa butter. These nibs are ground to make a paste called a cocoa presscake.

Valentine’s Day is a Christianized version of the pagan Roman festival of Lupercalia without the random couplings of men and women by means of drawing women’s names from an urn. The first person to match chocolates with the day was Cadbury in the 1860s who promoted the idea to increase sales of his candies – good old capitalist marketing and a Victorian predilection for romantic love.

And here`s an infographic on chocolate which compares a number of high quality chocolate makers in the world from which you can purchase.

New Arizona School Curriculum

State Lawmaker Wants Public Schools to Offer Bible based curriculum: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

In place of the now infamous and eliminated Tucson Unified School Board District (TUSD) Mexican American Studies program (MAS), Arizona lawmakers wish to start a Biblically inspired curriculum through the means of Arizona House Bill 2563 which was introduced into the Arizona assembly this month by Rep. Terri Proud. The goal of the new curriculum is to inculcate Latino students with Judeo-Christian values and normative Greco-Roman western culture in order to combat the subversive, communist, atheistic, un-American views of Howard Zinn, Paulo Freire and many other Latino authors as well as Native American teachings   and feminist writings such as Feminism is for Everybody (2000), by B. Hooks which were present in the former MAS program.  The new curriculum will be in place as of June 30, 2013 if the bill is passed. Here is the pertinent section (15-717.01) of the bill:

35 A. THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL PRESCRIBE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A

36 COURSE DESIGNATED AS "THE BIBLE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON WESTERN CULTURE" FOR

37 PUPILS IN GRADES NINE THROUGH TWELVE THAT ENABLES PUPILS TO EARN CREDIT

38 TOWARD A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS PRESCRIBED BY THE

39 STATE BOARD SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

40 1. THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ERA.

41 2. THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ERA.

42 3. A COMBINATION OF THE SUBJECTS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPHS 1 AND 2 OF

43 THIS SUBSECTION.

44 B. A COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL BE DESIGNED TO:

12 -

1 1. FAMILIARIZE PUPILS WITH THE CONTENTS, CHARACTERS, POETRY AND

2 NARRATIVES THAT ARE PREREQUISITES TO UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY AND CULTURE,

3 INCLUDING LITERATURE, ART, MUSIC, MORES, ORATORY AND PUBLIC POLICY.

4 2. FAMILIARIZE PUPILS WITH THE FOLLOWING:

5 (a) THE CONTENTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.

6 (b) THE HISTORY RECORDED BY THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.

7 (c) THE LITERARY STYLE AND STRUCTURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW

8 TESTAMENT.

9 (d) THE INFLUENCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT ON LAWS,

10 HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, LITERATURE, ART, MUSIC, CUSTOMS, MORALS, VALUES AND

11 CULTURE.

12 C. A SCHOOL OR CHARTER SCHOOL MAY OFFER THE COURSE PRESCRIBED IN THIS

13 SECTION AS AN ELECTIVE COURSE. A SCHOOL MAY OFFER THIS COURSE AS AN ONLINE

14 COURSE.

15 D. A PUPIL SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO USE A SPECIFIC TRANSLATION AS THE

16 SOLE TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OR THE NEW TESTAMENT AND MAY USE AS THE BASIC

17 TEXTBOOK A DIFFERENT TRANSLATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT OR THE NEW TESTAMENT

18 FROM THAT CHOSEN BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD, THE CHARTER SCHOOL

19 GOVERNING BODY OR THE PUPIL'S TEACHER.

20 E. A COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL FOLLOW APPLICABLE LAW AND

21 ALL FEDERAL AND STATE GUIDELINES IN MAINTAINING RELIGIOUS NEUTRALITY AND

21 ALL FEDERAL AND STATE GUIDELINES IN MAINTAINING RELIGIOUS NEUTRALITY AND

22 ACCOMMODATING THE DIVERSE RELIGIOUS VIEWS, TRADITIONS AND PERSPECTIVES OF

23 PUPILS. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION IS INTENDED TO VIOLATE ANY PROVISION OF THE

24 UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, THE CONSTITUTION OF ARIZONA OR STATE LAW OR ANY

25 RULES, GUIDELINES OR REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF

26 EDUCATION, THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OR THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF

27 EDUCATION.

28 F. BEFORE ADOPTING RULES IDENTIFYING THE STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR A

29 COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION, THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHALL SUBMIT

30 THE PROPOSED STATE REQUIREMENTS TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. THE ATTORNEY

31 GENERAL SHALL REVIEW THE PROPOSED STATE REQUIREMENTS TO ENSURE THAT THE

32 COURSE COMPLIES WITH THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION.

33 THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY NOT ADOPT RULES IDENTIFYING THE STATE

34 REQUIREMENTS FOR A COURSE OFFERED UNDER THIS SECTION WITHOUT THE ATTORNEY

35 GENERAL'S APPROVAL PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION.

36 G. A TEACHER OF A COURSE OFFERED BY A SCHOOL UNDER THIS SECTION WHO

37 PROVIDES INSTRUCTION TO PUPILS IN LANGUAGE ARTS, SOCIAL STUDIES OR HISTORY,

38 IF PRACTICAL, SHALL HAVE COMPLETED POSTSECONDARY COURSES IN RELIGION OR

39 BIBLICAL STUDIES. A TEACHER SELECTED TO TEACH A COURSE OFFERED BY A SCHOOL

40 UNDER THIS SECTION SHALL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE STAFF DEVELOPMENT TRAINING AS

41 SPECIFIED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. PERSONNEL SHALL NOT BE ASSIGNED

42 TO TEACH THE COURSE BASED ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

43 1. A RELIGIOUS TEST.

44 2. A PROFESSION OF FAITH OR LACK OF FAITH.

 1 3. PRIOR OR CURRENT RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION OR A LACK OF RELIGIOUS

2 AFFILIATION

ALA cc by nc - sa 2.0 lic.

  The shelves in Tucson school libraries are getting empty with the removal of over 81 banned books and according to some sources the teachers were forced to box these books in front of the students in order to reinforce the message. Notice that "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare which deals with themes of oppression and race is on the list below of Arizona banned books so the state has out done the Roman Catholic church which never put any of Shakespeare's works on its Index Librorum Prohibitorum or list of prohibited books that dates back to the sixteenth century and represents the apex of closed minds. Here is the most current list although more books have been added since this was compiled last year:

List of 81 Banned Books by Course and in alphabetical order *

·         *From http://www.scribd.com/doc/58025928/TUSD-ethnic-studies-audit

American Government/Social Justice Education Project - Texts and Reading Lists

• Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2001), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic
• Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1990), by H. Zinn
• Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000), by P. Freire
• Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson
• The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader (1998), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic
• United States Government: Democracy in Action (2007), by R. C. Remy

 American History/Mexican American Perspectives - Texts and Reading Lists

• 500 Anos Del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1990), by E. S. Martinez
• A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (2003), by H. Zinn
• Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998), by R. Rodriguez
• De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views Multi-Colored Century (1998), by E. S. Martinez
• Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales
• Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A. Burciaga
• Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (1997), by C. Jiminez
• Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (2004), by R. Acuna
• Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson
• The American Vision (2008), by J. Appleby et el.
• The Anaya Reader (1995), by R. Anaya
• The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez

English/Latino Literature

• A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993), by R. Takaki
• At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965), by E. Guevara
• Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003), by E. Martinez
• Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998), by R. Montoya et al.
• Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
• Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte
• Loverboys (2008), by A. Castillo
• Mexican WhiteBoy (2008), by M. de la Pena
• Ten Little Indians (2004), by S. Alexie
• The Devil's
• The Fire Next Time (1990), by J. Baldwin
• The Tempest (1994), by W. Shakespeare
• Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997), by M. Ruiz
• Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
• Woodcuts of Women (2000), by D. Gilb

English/Latino Literature(Advanced)

• ...y no se lo trago la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1995), by T. Rivera
• A Place to Stand (2002), by J. S. Baca
• Address to the Commonwealth Club of California (1985), by C. E. Chavez
• Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (2005), by L. Rodriguez
• Black Mesa Poems (1989), by J. S. Baca
• Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999), by G. Anzaldua
• By the Lake of Sleeping Children (1996), by L. A. Urrea
• Cantos Al Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing (2003), by C. Garcia-Camarilo, et al.
• Civil Disobedience (1993), by H. D. Thoreau
• Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States (1995), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos
• Crisis in American Institutions (2006), by S. H. Skolnick & E. Currie
• C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans (2002), by J. S. Baca
• Curandera (1993), by Carmen Tafolla
• Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A Burciaga
• Drown (1997), by J. Diaz
• Feminism is for Everybody (2000), by b hooks
• Healing Earthquakes: Poems (2001), by J. S. Baca
• House on Mango Street (1991), by S. Cisneros
• Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems (1990), by J. S. Baca
• Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature (1993), by T. D. Rebolledo & E. S. Rivero
• Justice: A Question of Race (1997), by R. Rodriguez
• La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities (2000), by R. Garcia
• Like Water for Chocolate (1995), by L. Esquievel
• Live from Death Row (1996), by J. Abu-Jamal
• Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (1986), by T. Sheridan
• Martin & Mediations on the South Valley (1987), by J. S. Baca
• Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (2001), by Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzales
• Mexican American Literature (1990), by C. M. Tatum
• New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993), by C. M. Tatum
• Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (2002), by L. A. Urrea
• Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995), by O. Zepeda
• Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States (2005), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos
• Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991), by J. Kozol
• Saving Our Schools: The Case for Public Education, Saying No to "No Child Left Behind" (2004) by Goodman, et al.
• So Far From God (1993), by A. Castillo
• Suffer Smoke (2001), by E. Diaz Bjorkquist
• The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1999), by F. Jimenez
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994), by S. Alexie
• The Magic of Blood (1994), by D. Gilb
• The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools (19950, by D. C. Berliner and B. J. Biddle
• The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez
• When Living was a Labor Camp (2000), by D. Garcia
• Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros
• Zapata's Discipline: Essays (1998), by M. Espada
• Zigzagger (2003), by M. Munoz
• Zoot Suit and Other Plays (1992), by L. Valdez
• Zorro (2005), by I. Allende

New Additions (to be added)

“I suspect that TUSD is using many books which were never legally approved, in many different courses, and we have to track those books down and either remove them or go through proper curriculum approvals. Staff has already begun that search process.” – TUSD board president Mark Stegeman. (From the Tucson Citizen news, Jan. 19, 2012)

by GOOD.

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