A response to "U of C wasting money"

On Feb 3 I posted an article published by the Calgary Herald, U of C wasting money.  My brother-in-law in Scotland, Reinier, sent me an email expressing reservations and defending the university's position. Reinier and I have had many debates and discussions on many things. I love him dearly, as he does me, and we have a deep respect for each other. We simply do not agree on some issues - this being one of them. With his permission I post his response here. The photos are nothing to do with the article or Reinier's response but were taken when Ingrid, Judith and I visited Glasgow two years ago. The one on the left is Judith, Maya, Reinier and Ingrid walking along the bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. On the right is Fleshmarket Close in Edinburgh where Ian Rankin had somebody murdered in his book of the same name.

Hi Terry

I, too, expected you to disagree with me. But, perhaps, both of us are wrong to’expect’ these stances from one another. On second reflection, me, you, and people generally are far more complex in their emotions and reactions to life’s challenges than we would credit.

I know that the ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ debates conjure the most bitter and emotionally-charged arguments. Your  blog entry and links to the U of Calgary and their SU webpage (I’m sorry! …don’t know how to do these links!) reveals an abundance of opinions regarding the rights and wrongs of abortion. 

The issue regarding banning the particular group, though, seems to be about the rights and wrongs of free speech. And the right – if that is claimed – of a group of people to confront very vulnarable women regarding their fucundacy or pregnancy. I believe that’s wrong - and if you go to the U of C website and read the comments I think you’ll agree that, at the very least, the pro-life campaign is problematic.

Of course you are welcome to publish my response. Like, you – even if from the opposite angle – I would welcome further debate. 

Fond regards,

Reinier

James has breezed back into our lives

I think the obvious place to start to catch up since February is with the biggest item of news first, which also happens to be the most recent. James has breezed back into our lives after totally disappearing off our radar for more than ten years. James, for those who do not know, is our adopted son, our sixth "kid", older than Miriam by three years. He will be the first to tell you that his policy has always been, "Don't call me, I'll call you." He backed this up by keeping his whereabouts secret even from the Security Police, CSIS, FBI, CIA, KGB... Nobody ever knew where James was except James, and God.

Last Saturday Aunty Bessie (about to turn 93 - has just memorised Pat Prinsloo's new phone number because she is pretty-well blind - don't ask me the number, I have it written down somewhere) asked me on our weekly phone call if we ever heard from James because she has been praying for him every day for ten years and it would be nice to know if her prayers were being answered. I told her I had not heard from him since before leaving for Canada in 1998 and at this stage did not expect to hear from him anymore. On Tuesday somebody named Steve left a comment on this blog telling me he has been trying to get hold of me about James. I replied and told him he had my full attention - I had been ignoring his "friend request" on Facebook. One email led to another. Apparently James had been looking for us and Steve tracked me down to this blog. On Friday Ingrid & I had an hour long phone conversation with James at the place where he has been boarding with Steve's mother for the last eight years in George in the Eastern Cape. Miriam and James were talking on Saturday; Mark took his turn today (Sunday). Everybody is very happy at the "reunion" - James so much so that he has given us all his contact info! Deo Gratias!

Other news...

Mark and Luisa "actualised" their Christmas present to Ingrid and me - a weekend of painting and DIY getting our house a bit more ready for all the relatives who will be visiting for the wedding in August. They did a great job and seemed to enjoy it; we enjoyed having them.

We all enjoyed getting together at Geoff and Miriam's for a braai (BBQ) to watch South Africa beat Australia in one of the recent Twenty/20s. Geoff has impressed us all learning the laws and terms of cricket as well as doing an excellent job with wors (South African sausage) on the braai. Afterwards they all jammed down in the basement where Geoff and Miriam have a really nice setup with drums, keyboard, guitars.

Final news item: it snowed. What's new about that in Canada you ask? Well, if you consider that the picture of the the mourning doves basking in the sun was taken March 1, and the pictures of the snow were taken April 6 & 7, then you can understand the communal depression that came over the people of southern Ontario as the snow hung around for another 9 days. Yesterday and today were just wonderful and I even saw dandelions. We'll be overwhelmed by weeds before we know it. Come on summer.