Mastodawn

February 2026 Grab Bag o’ Humour

The first two hands of a clock are the minute hand and the hour hand because they are always present. Some clocks or watches only have these two hands. So they could be called the first and second hands. But what is the third hand of a clock or watch called? The second hand. This means that any of the three hands could be called the second hand!

To me this is first hand information, To you it is second hand information. For anyone you tell, it is third hand information.

Have you seen the price of a one bedroom apartment in New York City? It’s about $5 000 a month on average for a NYC renter.

But capitalism has a way of subsidizing these apartments. All the renter has to do is show up at a game show or a talk show and cross their fingers for a giveaway. And you wondered why game and talk shows always seemed to be hosted in these big cities. Now you know why.

You’ve heard the latest craze for kids all over? They laugh hysterically when the numbers 6, 7 come up and in that order. My sources tell me there is no real reason for the laughter. There is no real reason it is these two numbers being funny. It’s just a fact of life in today’s world.

Teaching kids to count must be hard, especially when you get to that 6, 7 trigger. But usually kids are taught to count that low of numbers when most of them aren’t socially aware. So they might not realize that saying 6,7 is supposed to trigger laughter. So maybe counting is safe.

And fortunately, 67 is a prime number so it doesn’t come up when kids are learning their multiplication tables.

Still, I would hate to be a Canadian middle grade history teacher. You see, Canada’s confederation came in 1867. So that number gets mentioned a lot.

So I’m glad I am not a middle grade history teacher. But let’s be truly honest. I’m glad I’m not teaching middle grade school at all. Thus, I don’t have to deal with those brats.

#67 #clock #counting #firstHand #historyOfCanada #hourHand #howCapitalismSubsidizes #kids #minuteHand #NYCRenter #primeNumber #secondHand #thirdHand

Ms. Que Banh Mar 12, 2025

"Chinese and Indigenous communities have shared histories. We faced hardships together while mining for gold in the British Columbia gold rush and experiencing the rugged Canadian weather and terrain.

There are many graves on First Nations territories when Chinese people died from the flu and from the building of the railway, crushed by landslides, collapsing tunnels and premature blastings (Mittelstedt, 2014). The First Nations communities took in the Chinese railroad workers and care for their grave sites to this day (Mittelstedt, 2014). We enjoyed economic success and partnerships that were respectful and mutually beneficial (Ma, 2012). Chinese people leased lands (on First Nations) to farm and then hired Indigenous people to help farm the land (Mathur et al., 2011, p. 74). The Chinese built elaborate gold-mining operations among First Nations communities and perhaps most importantly our communities intermingled and there were many marriages between Chinese men and Indigenous women. In 1891, 98% of Chinese people in Canada lived in British Columbia (Barman, 2013, p. 1), which explains why there are such intimate ties between Chinese people and our First Nations communities in British Columbia. Unsurprisingly, one in six Chinese men created a family with a local Indigenous woman (Barman, 2013, p. 1)."

https://fccrwc.com/chinese-and-indigenous-history-relationships-canada/

#BCHistory #CanadianHistory #ChineseCanadians #Intercultural #POC #Chinese #Indigenous #Coexistence #MutualSupport #RaceRelations #DecolonizationReading #Educational #FirstNations #ChineseCanadianHistory #MixedMarriages #HistoryOfCanada #AntiRacismEducation #AsianMastodon #LearnHistory

Chinese And Indigenous History & Relationships In Canada | FCCRWC

Chinese and Indigenous communities have shared histories.

FCCRWC The Foundation to Commemorate the Chinese Railroad Workers in Canada

Ms. Que Banh Nov 20, 2024

*In case you missed reading this when it was first published last year.*

#Canada’s #NationalParks Are #Colonial #CrimeScenes.

Many see wilderness as a right of citizenship. But the concept of Canada as untouched #nature is unrecognizable to #Indigenous people

In 2017, it felt like the whole country was swept up in the rah-rah celebrations around Canada 150. It was a collective anniversary, a chance to celebrate our history. Well, some of it, anyway. Tied to the many calls to explore the country and take stock of its many wonders, #ParksCanada released its Discovery Pass, which granted free entry to all national parks that year. These natural spaces “represent the very best that Canada has to offer,” it announced in a press release. “They are the essence of our country because they tell stories of who we are, including the history, cultures and contributions of Indigenous peoples.” But, as Robert Jago explored in his timely essay, Canada’s parks program was built on the displacement of Indigenous peoples and the capture of their territories—a form of “green colonialism.” Parks are wonderful spaces, but they have also acted as #political cover for the control of land, a tactic we still see used today.—Daniel Viola, senior editor, November 2023 issue.

https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-national-parks-are-colonial-crime-scenes/

#IndigenousLand #ColonialCrimes #CDNpoli #Landback #NativeLand #IndigenousCanada #NativeMastodon #NativeCanada #TRC #KKKanada #ColonialInjustice #TruthBeforeReconciliation #ColonialResistance #ColonialViolence #CanadianHistory #HistoryOfCanada #History #Decolonization