Sentence Diagramming

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit a good friend at her new house. What a lovely mini-vacation it turned out to be. The dogs played at the beach, we had great conversation with a little wine and I got a chance to get away. My friend, who is now retired, was a teacher for 33 years. We chatted about the different highschool subjects and challenges. One of the interesting English grammar tools I discovered in our conversation is a Sentence Diagram. My friend discussed her dismay that such a great tool was no longer in curriculums for students. I have often found graphic representation of a concept or technique to be easier to understand than a formula. I had a terrible time with Algebra which prevented my progression to University. It only made sense when I ended up spraying herbicide in a field. X Roundup concentrate to Y water to cover Z sq. ft. coverage, or something like that.

With Sentence Diagramming, demonstrated in the example below, you can see how each component of the sentence is diagramed in its relation to the word it is associated with. "And" is a conjunction to "encourages" and "participates", which are verbs. Nouns such as "Society" are an adjective modifier of "management", etc. "In" is a preposition for "discrimination".

The diagram above is based on the Reed-Kellogg system published in 1877. The pictorial representation of the sentence structure was created by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg and published in Higher Lessons in English. The diagram starts with a horizontal base line with the subject on the left and a line separating the predicate on the right. The predicate must have a verb and when and object is included, is seperated by a line ending in the base line. A direct object line is vertical whereas a predicate noun or adjective uses a line at an angle, similar to a backslash, angled towards the subject.

In the example above, the sentence starts with 2 verbs with "and" as the coordinating conjunction. "Is", being the verb, is on the right side with "behaviour" being the noun.

Give it a try below or here

The New Sheriff In Town

Quite a few years ago a community gathering was held with the, then, new landlord. A variety of community members were in attendance including a friend and neighbour. My friend observed the new landlord making inappropriate sexual advances on one of the tenants. She approached the new landlord and adviced him to back-down. The new landlord's reply, "I'm the New Sheriff in Town!" From this point forward my friend and neighbour was a target for relentless bullying. Luckily, it was determined that this individual had a white-collar crime history, demonstrated in a Canadian law database, to which I brought up and a hasty departure, "due to health reasons". It was amusing to watch the budget change from healthy to not so good in such a short time. I realize I am bullied because I am a whistleblower.

 In the complex I live in, I have a friend who I've known for a number of years. One day I visited him to say hello. He was crying that he had to return his box heater outlined in a letter from the landlord. "What's wrong? Don't your heaters work?", I said. "No", was his reply and his apartment was quite cold. "How long has it been like this?", I asked. "A year". I looked at his heater and, sure enough, it wasn't working. I decided to check the heaters in the cold hallways and they were also not working. The entire building had been without heat for an entire year. I understood why the tenants had not spoken up as they are either all or almost all BC Housing subsidized tenants. They were concerned about losing their home if they speak-up so either you live in cold and keep your home or speak up, get heat and lose your home. Being a subsidized tenant myself, I phoned the office and advised them that there was no heat in the building. I guess that's one of the reasons I'm a target. Kind of an "unheated" topic.

This same friend asked me a few weeks ago if he should go to the police as the landlord has relentlessly accused him of being a drug dealer. How do you prove a negative? Having known this fellow for a number of years I am fully aware he is not a drug dealer. He is, though, a social person and has many friends. Culturally speaking, english is not his first language and his ethnic cultural background, which is Latin American, is social in nature. So, if you have a number of friends, you are labelled a "drug dealer". I think back to the Citizenship ceremony of another friend and the Citizenship judge discussing the importance of respecting different cultural backgrounds as a Canadian value. One could easily say that the landlord is encouraging and participating in discrimination based on ethnicity. By mentioning this, I am concerned he may lose his housing.

In a society that encourages "Have" over "Have-Nots", the differences in rights, dignity and respect granted to the "Have-Nots" diminish with each passing moment. As a prime example, the housing complex I live in has BC Housing "subsidized housing" and "market-rate" housing, which really isn't "market" as it is also subsidized. Over a number of years the "market-rate" tenants have become the "Have" and the "subsidized tenants" are the "Have-Nots". The market-rate tenants enjoy quick repair services, regular maintenance, access to all amenities and services, power influence of the landlord and society board of directors, dignity and respect. The subsidized housing tenants are subject to less building maintenance, limited access to amenities and services, little to no respect and dignity and discrimination. A market-rate tenant who possesses a great deal of power and has been a stalker and bully towards me once expressed that the subsidized housing was only meant as "temporary housing". I liken the situation to classism based on socio-economic position in housing.

It is without question that writing about this issue will result in my eviction. It is my fundamental freedoms of conscience, thought, and expression, amongst others, that I exercise according to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that I write this blog.

Right Rights, Right?

Yesterday was a great day! My friend became a Canadian Citizen. He was smiling from ear to ear. I was proud to be there at this most important ceremony in his life. I jokingly told him that the honeymoon is over and the abuse starts now. During the ceremony the citizenship judge went over many important aspect of being a Canadian. The importance of volunteering, respecting diversity, learning the languages and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Oh ya, there's them rights we're supposed to have. I'd beg to differ from experience.

In the past year alone, my rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms have had multiple violations. In addition, my rights under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), Residential Tenancy Act, Human Rights Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have been violated on a number of occasions. I'm sure I'm missing additional breaches that have occured at the hands of my landlord. You know what they say, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, First Baron Acton (1834–1902). Power goes to the heads of those that have it. For the power hungry, checks and balances are the obstacles. When the loss of your home is dangled infront of you as the result of protecting and standing up for your rights, the powers have far too much power. It is a disgrace to say I'm a Canadian with a landlord that is corrupt. Have we lost our way with who we are as Canadians? The very rights we proudly embellish to new Canadians are the rights that many Canadians do not have at the hands of Canadians with power. How quick we so easily forget what we have had.

To life, liberty, and security of the person.

Shake Yo Booty!

The trend-setting new dance steps emerging from social media so rapidly, is truely inspiring. It's great to see youthful expression while having a whole lotta fun. Today is no exception.

The Harlem Shake seems to be the current trend-setting step. Not only does it have an interesting history, with it's origin in, of course, Harlem around 1981 allegedly by Al B and originally called the "albee", it actually goes much further back to an Ethiopian dance called the "Eskista". Al B was an alcoholic and danced the dance upon request as a "drunken shake away". The format is simple - start with only one person dansing to the music with everyone else doing standard "life". At the breaking point in the music everyone is dansing in what looks like a drunken-stuper, shirtless, strange costumes, etc. The more bizarre, the more diverse, the better. Fun for all.
Update: According to this video: video the dance being called The Harlem Shake is nothing like the real Harlem Shake according to people in Harlem.

The Harlem Shake also seems to have become a bit of a competition between universities and various organizations for the most unique twist. I think the best part of this particular danse is that everyone can be included as there are no rules, no fancy steps, no wrong or right. Just do it!

We all do a little dance in the mirror, when a good song comes on the radio in the car or waiting in line. Heck, I even shook my booty at a Mexican Agriculture fair walking infront of the John Deere dealer display because "Bad Girls" came on the loud speaker and, of course, it's Donna Summer! May she rest in peace. A month ago I noticed a Youtube video of a dancer who really enjoys dancing for the sake of dancing. Look for "Laundromat", "Mall" and here's "Airport". The "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" videos are just plain fun.

The Dubstep dance moves with the techno bass sound, which originating in the UK, seems to exemplify body control, precision moves and creative expression in almost robotic form.
Marquese Scott and his colleagues, who seems to have brought this form of dance to the forefront even did an amazing version on the Wall of China. How cool is that!

Graceful yet concise, I can only imagine the concentration required to ensure every step and move flows with the heavy beat of Dubstep.
I do remember a Coke commercial which  Marquese Scott some time ago. An art, for sure. These are just a few inspirational dances I found amusing. They are emerging as "viral" everyday with no sight of slowing down. In my days of "dancing with the devil", I'd like to think I'm doin' my own dance.

Lead me Not into Temptation...

The other day I checked my bank account online to see how I could possibly get by on my last $20 for the next week and a bit. Splitting hairs is never easy on a disability pension. I was stunned to see a whopping $5000+ cheque deposited to my account. Ack! This makes no sense whatsoever. In the morning I walked down to a community advocacy office to help sort this out. After explaining this to the receptionist, who stated, "You're my new best friend!", I was able to speak to an advocate. I said to the advocate, "lead me not into temptation, but delivery me from evil." Cheesy, I know, but it was what I recited before every class and this was practical application of this line from The Lord's Prayer. We got on the phone to a bank rep and explained the situation. I stated that making a bank error to someone who will be going to the food bank in a few moments down the hall isn't exactly easy for me. Needless to say they took the money back quickly but not as a "cheque reversal" but a "cash withdrawl". What!

I had to get on the phone again and explain that any record of monies going into and out of my account could mean the difference between keeping my home and living on the street. I tried to explain that this wasn't as simple as an error. If my landlord demanded my bank statements as they did last year, almost every statement looking for a way to squeeze every dime they could out of me with the threat of eviction, they would consider this as "income" and my rent would increase significantly and probably above my income. Letters that were offered wouldn't work and I really wanted the whole thing removed. I didn't care how, just get rid of it. "We can't do that", was pretty much all I heard. I told them I could have gone on a shopping spree easily but I hold honesty and integrity close and I did the right thing. I begged them to please do the same. At this point I realized not a soul from the bank had even thanked me for bringing this to their attention. The next day I got a call to state it was completely removed and a thank you. Disaster averted, thank goodness

Penny for your thoughts - oh, forget that - pennies are no longer accepted - Thoughts?

Act In Good Faith

I have often wondered what, "Act in Good Faith", really means when described in the BC Society Act [RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 433. In this Society Act Review - Discussion Paper December 2011, from the Ministry of Finance it;

1. 17) Allow societies to indemnify directors and officers: Currently, societies need court approval to indemnify their directors and officers for legal liability and expenses incurred as a result of their good faith actions. Allowing societies to provide indemnity without court approval would help ensure that individuals continue to be willing to take on these important roles.
2. 19) Provide defence of due diligence for directors and officers: This defence would allow directors to be relieved of liability if they rely in good faith on the statements and reports prepared by professional advisors, including lawyers, accountants and appraisers. As well, there would be a remedy allowing the court to relieve directors or officers of liability in a legal proceeding brought against them where they have acted in good faith and ought, in the circumstances, to be relieved. These defences will ease the legal risks of directing or managing a society. It is not proposed, however, to grant directors of not-for-profits blanket immunity for personal liability for negligence.

In a Not-for-Profit society I am well familiar with, the membership voted a few years ago to remove the Executive Director from position. The ED is a paid position, hired by the Board of Directors. When the vote was approved by membership, the ED hired a lawyer, threatened the society with an expensive wrongful dismissal case and stronghanded the directors and society to change the ED from term position to permanent with a nice raise. I guess my question is, if the membership of the society voted and approved the removal of the ED, by ignoring this vote and passing, was the Chair of the Board "Acting in Good Faith" by avoiding an expensive wrongful dismissal case and saving the society legal fees or would it have been "Acting in Good Faith" in carrying out the wishes of the society membership? I'd imagine this area is quite "grey" due to the employment aspect. Did the Chair of the Board and Board of Directors have the power to vito such a vote? I find it amusing that records associated with this vote have been removed from society meeting minutes.

The words, "Act in Good Faith", really is about honesty and integrity. Is it honest to ignore the membership's wishes? In the same society, the board of directors must approve all society membership applications and decline those they wish. You could say that the very thing that our forefathers fought for, democracy, is deteriorated with every added step. Can you imagine if there were conditions on voting in the Federal or Provincial election? Technically, the board could approve their friends and decline those that they feel are differing from the boards direction. Food for thought.

Big Leaf Maple = Future Big Problem as a Street Tree

7 February 2013 (I have sent the below mentioned comments as an email to every media outlet I could find, many arborists in multiple municipalities, municipal politicians, The Mayor of Vancouver, City Counsillors, etc)

Recently I received a press release (above) from Mole Hill Community Housing Society, my landlord, that the City of Vancouver has approved Big Leaf Maple Trees as a replacement tree for dying Cherry trees along the 1100 block of Pendrell Street in downtown Vancouver. The boulevard is under 2 metres in width between the curb and the sidewalk. Having been an admirer of this fine native species of Maple, with the largest leaf of any maple, I am troubled by this choice of tree as a street tree in the city core.

Acer macrophyllum (Big Leaf Maple) can grow to over 45 metres in height, have a trunk with a circumference of up to 3 metres and a significant surface root system (Mature Tree). My further concern for this Friday, 8^th February, planting by the Vancouver City Street Tree Program on Pendrell Street brought me to a Seattle City Ordinance, No. 90047, prohibiting the planting of this species in the City of Seattle on boulevards. In reviewing background on the use of this tree in Seattle, I found reference in “Trees of Seattle” by Arthur Lee Jacobson which states, “Around 1900, it was our most widely planted street-tree, but due to the ruinous effects of root-heaving on adjacent sidewalks, its use as a street-tree is now illegal by City ordinance.” Most municipalities I spoke to shy away from this magnificent tree due to its over-all size, wide and damaging root system, and tendencies to break large limbs during wind storms. Additional problems with this species include excessive seed production and excellent seed germination, powdery mildew and internal trunk rot. The City of Bellingham requires a planting strip with a minimum width of 30’+ for this species to be utilized in the city. Arborists for other municipalities stated that it was not a species they’d consider or had in their approved street tree lists. Don’t get me wrong – I find this tree to be a magnificent native maple with excellent fall colour, large leaves and a prominent trunk, but, it belongs in a suitable growing situation such as a park.

I spoke to Bill Steven, Acting City Arborist and Brad from the Vancouver Street Tree Program regarding the use of this tree and whether Mole Hill will be held responsible for future maintenance and repair costs, and their response was, “40 years and we will see sidewalk repair crews there and taxpayers will be responsible for paying for it.” It will, no doubt, be more like 30 years or less when roots will heave sidewalks and cause street damage with the potential of falling limbs and person/property damage. I’d imagine the city has good liability insurance. It was only little more than a year ago that a mature Big Leaf Maple in Nelson Park, only a block away, dropped a large limb during a wind storm. This tree is situated at the north-west corner of the school playground. The tree had become dangerous and was heavily pruned, no doubt at significant cost to tax payers. The expression, right plant-right place, wrong plant-potentially costly disaster applies to this situation. The City of Vancouver may be creating a costly future problem due to Mole Hill’s insistence for a native tree, namely the Big Leaf Maple. A native plant does not mean it is better than non-native plants. I outright stated to Bill Stevens & Brad, “…so what you are saying is that politics weighs stronger than common sense by planting this tree and taxpayers will end up paying for the end result of this decision?” I was dismayed that little regard for tax payers was expressed in the making of this decision. A street tree decision should be based on what is best for the tree, the city, tax payers and the environment. Just because this tree was planted extensively 100 years ago as a street tree does not mean it was a good choice, then or now, and probably explains the lack of seeing this tree currently as a common street tree. Brad mentioned that he had a hard time finding this tree, and for good reason. It is not a tree utilized in urban forestry for street tree use because of the aforementioned problems. Mole Hill Community Housing Society has long pushed for “native-only” plantings in the heritage block and ostracised those that appreciate non-native plants. Having had the front garden sprayed with herbicide a few times and killed and mob bullying has re-iterated this “native-only” drive. The overplanted and poorly kept native plant walk-through at Mole Hill has created a dangerous environment of drug dealing and criminal activity. With this commentary, I smell an eviction in my future!

What it really boils down to for the tree’s sake is I am asking for anyone’s assistance to prevent “Street Tree Abuse” that starts on Friday of this week. I am a plantsman and I care about plants. This, to me, is the same misguided environmentalist-type of action that Grant Hadwin bestowed on the Golden Spruce. If the City of Vancouver is vying for the “Greenest City” status, it should be done smartly, with the future in mind and without political motives at the forefront. If planting this tree is considered illegal in Seattle and punishable by a fine, wouldn’t the City of Vancouver take heed to this warning? Bill Stephen stated they will go ahead with this planting, despite my concerns. I’m encouraged that Drew Gilchrist, Superintendent of Arboriculture, Bill Stephen, Acting Vancouver City Arborist, Vancouver Parks Board, Donald Luxton, President of Heritage Vancouver Society, Sean McEwen, architect and Blair Petrie, Mole Hill founder and native plant person have vested interest in the community and I trust a sound resolution to this predicament will be found. None of us would want to end up paying for a poorly thought-out decision down the road. It would probably be best that Mole Hill Community Housing Society leave tree choices to the experts. After all, it would be an embarrassment for the Vancouver City Street Tree program, which I have held in high regard for tree diversity, arborists and urban foresters to make decisions based on politics instead of tree sense.

“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.” Dr. Seuss – The Lorax (1972)

Update 9 February, 2013

The trees were planted on the 8th February, 2013 as promised by the Vancouver City Street Tree Program. One could easily surmise that tree sense and common sense have been superseded by politics and misguided environmentalism. Out of curiosity I looked through several of my books to see what they said. The Western Garden Book, which is often considered the gardening "bible" of the west, states under Acer macrophyllum, "...Dense shade tree 30-75 ft. tall, 30-50 ft wide - too big for a small garden or a street tree." In Maples, by Rosemary Barrett, "There are other maples that call North America home, such as Acer macrophyllum (Big leaf Maple, Oregon Maple) and A. spicatum (Mountain Maple), but these are not suitable garden subjects nor are they readily available. This should not be of concern as the maples that have been described are so beautiful that we should not want for more." In An Illustrated Guide to Maples, by Antoine Le Hardÿ de Beaulieu, which is a marvelous book, it states, "...The tree's root system has adapted to these conditions and is very broad and superfial." I also found this Seattle Times article (October 21, 2002) regarding the tree which states,

"The tree is banned in Seattle for planting as a street tree because of its sidewalk-bursting roots and widow-making branches.
Plagued by compacted soil from parked cars and foot traffic, pavement and construction, the bigleaf is prone to root rot, said Linda Chalker-Scott, associate professor at the Center for Urban Horticulture.
Rot can make it more vulnerable to shattering in stormy weather.
The trees are also just too big to fit into street tree-planting strips, said Nolan Rundquist, city arborist for Seattle.
He has cut many a chunk of sidewalk out to make room for burgeoning bigleafs, and Rundquist remembers one sidewalk muscled up 18 inches by bigleaf roots.
"You had to just kind of fly over that part."
It's a tree for wild, open places, not the straitjacket life of a street tree. "Everything has its place," Rundquist said. "It's place just isn't between the sidewalk and the street."

I also wonder if the Cherry Trees (Prunus sp.) were suffering from honey fungus as almost all Maples (Acer) are susceptible species to this disease. I also noticed in the original Press Release that Acer macrophyllum is pluralized, which I don't even think is legal.

Fate

The supporting evidence is everywhere and experience with this species has taught some arborists but it seems others have forgotten or don't care. I guess some must error repeatedly to learn...or maybe not. It really comes down to understanding plants. Their characteristics, requirements, habits, negative and positive attributes and practical applications.

Bee Correct

The few weeks ago my landlord posted the need for a Mason Bee caretaker. Considering it was coming from the "queen bee" herself, was amusing. What got my goat was: "(Osmia Lignaria Propinqua Cresson)" in reference to the latin name for the Mason Bee, otherwise known as the Blue Orchard Bee. I can imagine Linnaeus rolling over in his grave. If you're going to use the scientific name, use it right. Only the Genus is capitalized, typically there is indication if the name following the species is a subspecies, variety, form, etc. between the species and the second name or trinomen but I found out that the The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature does not require this. The name should also be in either italics or underlined.

What is Cresson? Ezra Townsend Cresson (1838-1926) was an American entomologist who described the western subspecies of Osmia lignaria after the original description of the type-species by Thomas Say (1787-1834) of Osmia lignaria. The use of the author's name ensures an accurate descriptive binomial name, as often the authority can vary and some do not recognize subspecies.

Correctly written, it should be, Osmia lignaria propinqua (Cresson) with a year in the brackets next to the author. In reviewing all the available zoological databases I could find, this subspecies doesn't seem to be recognized. Ergo, the correct name should Osmia lignaria (Say 1837).

Am I beee'n too picky?