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Article content Our navy is short thousands of sailors and struggling to build new ships, but they are looking after the important stuff – changing the official march song because it’s not woke. Recommended Videos Senior officers at the Royal Canadian Navy have spent four years discussing replacing Heart of Oak as their official march song. The song has been part of the Royal Canadian Navy since its inception, coming from the traditional march song of the Royal Navy in Britain. A briefing note drafted in December 2020 states there are three issues with the lyrics that are contrary to defence policy. Those issues include not being gender inclusive, celebrating a colonial past and a reference to slavery. “Disgusting,” one naval veteran said upon hearing about the attempt to change the song. “It’s all I’ve ever known,” said a still-serving officer who doesn’t support the move. No one should support the move; it’s ridiculous social justice crap not based in reality. Having read the lyrics and listened to the song, the reasons presented in the briefing note show a political agenda at work. “First, the line ‘to add something new to this wonderful year’ references Annus Mirabulis of 1759, various British victories as part of colonial conquests including over the French colony of Canada,” the briefing memo states. The Royal Canadian Navy is worried their march song celebrates a victory of Britain over France? That’s our history, deal with it, and yes, both Britain and France were colonial powers, France lost, move on. Secondly, the briefing note mentions the lyric “not press you like slaves,” which is today sung “as freemen not slaves,” and mentions that the Royal Navy had been involved in the slave trade. The more important thing to note is that no organization on the planet did more to eradicate slavery than the Royal Navy after Britain abolished slavery. The comment is historically ignorant to say the least. “Finally, the lyrics are not inclusive to all genders,” it states. The memo was drafted by Lt. Catherine Norris who is currently the Commanding Officer of the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces. Rather than simply delete the memo and the email it came with, officials decided to begin a process that has been going on for four years to find a new march song and throw out something that is part of Canadian naval tradition. “ Heart of Oak is very ingrained in the RCN, unlike a lot of commands/branches/units who couldn’t name or hum their march. However, I think it is worth pointing out the hypocrisy of changing the ranks be more inclusive while continuing to sing a March which isn’t,” wrote Lt. Norris. Seems having lyrics that refer to men and lads, but not to women or the other invented genders, just isn’t acceptable in the navy today. “One of the decisions at Admiral’s Council back in February was to replace Heart of Oak as the RCN march as it fails to meet muster on both GBA+ and Canadian grounds,” Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, wrote in July 2022. For those not familiar with the term GBA+, it refers to Gender-based Analysis Plus, which is an official policy and commitment of the Canadian government under Justin Trudeau. “GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation,” the government’s website states. Is there any military song that would be generic and inoffensive enough for this policy? The other day, Defence Minister Bill Blair said the Canadian Armed Forces as a whole are short 14,000 people. All three branches of the military are having trouble recruiting people join. Going woke and throwing military tradition away isn’t going to help that problem. blilley@postmedia.com
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining by more than 250 points on Friday. The Dow traded up 0.59% to 44,128.84 while the NASDAQ rose 0.08% to 18,986.80. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.28% to 5,965.15. Check This Out: Top 3 Materials Stocks That Could Blast Off In November Leading and Lagging Sectors Consumer staples shares rose by 1.5% on Friday. In trading on Friday, communication services shares fell by 0.6%. Top Headline Ross Stores ROST reported better-than-expected third-quarter EPS results. The company said it sees FY25 earnings of $6.10 to $6.17 per share Equities Trading UP Elastic N.V. ESTC shares shot up 16% to $109.17 after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and issued FY25 guidance above estimates. Shares of Matthews International Corporation MATW got a boost, surging 19% to $30.26 following upbeat earnings. Replimune Group, Inc. REPL shares were also up, gaining 45% to $16.00 after the company on Thursday announced it received breakthrough therapy designation status for RP1 and will submit an RP1 biologics license application to the FDA under an accelerated approval pathway. Equities Trading DOWN Autonomix Medical, Inc. AMIX shares dropped 55% to $6.11 after the company announced the pricing of a $9 million underwritten public offering. Shares of Aptose Biosciences Inc. APTO were down 43% to $0.1390 after the company announced the pricing of an $8 million public offering. Cemtrex, Inc. CETX was down, falling 41% to $0.1164 after the company announced its board approved a 1-for-35 reverse stock split. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded up 1.5% to $71.16 while gold traded up 1.1% at $2,704.00. Silver traded up 1.1% to $31.275 on Friday, while copper fell 0.8% to $4.0940. Euro zone European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 1.12%, Germany's DAX gained 0.77% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.46%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.16%, while London's FTSE 100 gained 1.35%. The S&P Global UK composite PMI declined to 49.9 in November versus 51.8 in the previous month, while Eurozone composite PMI dipped to 48.1 in November from 50 in the prior month. Asia Pacific Markets Asian markets closed mixed on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 gaining 0.68%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.89%, China's Shanghai Composite Index dipping 3.06% and India's BSE Sensex gaining 2.54%. Economics The S&P Global US Services PMI climbed to 57 in November versus 55 in the previous month, while manufacturing PMI increased to 48.8 in November from 48.5 in the previous month. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the US fell to 71.8 in November versus a preliminary reading of 73. The year-ahead inflation expectations in the U.S fell to 2.6% in November from 2.7% in October. Now Read This: Wall Street’s Most Accurate Analysts Give Their Take On 3 Industrials Stocks With Over 3% Dividend Yields © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.BISMARCK — The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education and Bismarck State College President Doug Jensen are parting ways. Following a special meeting Friday, Dec. 20, in which the board that oversees the state's university system went into executive session for about an hour, board members voted unanimously to accept a separation agreement with Jensen. ADVERTISEMENT The board did not discuss the reasons for Jensen's departure or the details of the agreement that was reached. "We'll have some words for him (Jensen) to follow shortly," Board Chair Tim Mihalick said in the meeting. Jensen was hired as Bismarck State College president in March 2020 after the retirement of Larry Skogen. Jensen previously served as president of Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois, and as president of Alabama Technology Network. His contract with Bismarck State College was renewed at a meeting of the State Board of Higher Education on June 25 and was set to last until June 30, 2026. His base salary at the time was set at $258,952. While president of Bismarck State, Jensen oversaw growth in enrollment, a change in athletics from junior college status to NAIA and expansion of campus buildings. According to Jensen's contract, if he is fired without cause, he is entitled to a payout of his current contract or the option to "retreat" to a tenured faculty position. A replacement for Jensen was not immediately disclosed. ADVERTISEMENTExamining Generative AI: Cutting Through the Chaos / False Stories Spread to Thwart Western Aid for Ukraine, Reduce Nation’s Resolve to Battle Russia