BostonHerald.com - Local/ Regional News: Time to turn clocks back

Just one more to add to this day's blog. Remember to set the clocks back before you go to bed. An extra hour of sleep. Whoo Hoo.

We have two cats in our household. This is an early photograph of the two of them. The one in the foreground is Eowyn and she is a muted tortoiseshell. The one at the back is Theo and he's all white. Eowyn annoys Theo. She is a kitten, she has a lot of energy and can't sit still. Theo hisses every so often at her when he's had enough. Eowyn takes no nonsence from Theo. It's rather entertaining at times. 

The scene of my backyard. The joy of trees means the work of raking leaves. It's part of the process of the season and to be expected. I must admit, when the weather is fine and the sun is shining, raking is a wonderful activity. How else can you get so close to nature? Fortunately where I live there is an extensive composting program. Every other week, grass clipping, food and other material is placed by the side of the road for pick-up At this time of year it includes leaves; yesterday I placed 11 paper bags of leaves and they were all gone this morning. Right now I have four packed and I've only just begun. 

while searching through Blogs, I came across this Link. The Internet is 35 years old. Today was the first time two computers at distant locations were connected and communicated with each other. The first act was an email from UCLA to Stanford. I liked what the person interviewed said, they had no earthshaking message, just 'log', 'in'. As Dr. Leonard Kleinrock they weren't prepared for any 'history-making' moment. I supposed they were more concerned whether the whole thing would work or not.

So, from that humble and bug filled beginning, it crashed, and my isn't that prophetic, we now have the World Wide Web, Blogs, Email, Spam, Adware, Spyware and the ability to communicate to anyone who has a computer attached to the Internet. I know I use capitals, I think Wired had decreed that 'Internet', would only be given in regular, not capitalized letters. Still it is a significant piece of communication and I think still worthy of being capitalized.

Happy Birthday Internet. May you grow, prosper and continue to keep us communicating with each other, even if it does mean I still get Viagra ads filling my inbox.


Peace.

bIPlog: Revolution is not an AOL Keyword*

came across this blog while looking at a t shirt from Jinx.com
the place for all your geek wear.

fascinating. take the time to read.

peace

Like a lot of other blogs and bloggers I want to give full props to Red Sox Nation today. It's been a long time between World Series hasn't it. I remember watching the series Baseball by Ken Burns. One of the episodes dealt with the Boston Red Sox. I recall Bob Costas saying, and this may not be an exact quote: 'to be Red Sox fan is to be involved in a Greek Tragedy, you constantly draw your eyes to the heavens and ask the question 'why?'. Certainly since the alledged curse of the Bambino, which started when the owner of the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees after the 1918 World Series. Certainly if one examines the recent and distant history of the BoSox, one has to wonder if there isn't some sort of truth to this talk of a curse. We all remember what happened to Bucky Dent in game six of the 1986 World Series, the ball dribbled through his legs and the Mets won that game, and won the next and thus another Series hope was dashed.

I heard a funny story, and this tells you something about the obsession of Red Sox Nation, on the Jim Rome Show. This fellow recounted the time he brought this girl from school to over to his house. His father was there and so the fellow introduced her to his dad. As they shook hands, the girl told the father that her father was a baseball game, I think she saw all the Red Sox material. He asked who he was and she replied, "Bill Buckner". In the middle of shaking hands, he exclaimed: "Bill F*****g Buckner!!!" and whipped his hand out of her's. Red Sox Nation does not easily forget or forgive.

Yet, all that is now in the past, BoSox fan you have at long last your World Series win, the curse has been broken. You will all remember last night, October 27, 2004 for two things, one the lunar eclipse and two, the night your beloved team finally won the world series.

Sleep well and enjoy Red Sox Nation, you have suffered a lot of abuse, from the hands of your enemies and from your memories. Sleep well.


Oh yes, before I sign off, I came across this quote from the Motley Fools: "Then, the fatality and inevitability that comes with being a Boston Red Sox fan -- our inability to win the World Series since 1918 is cloaked in sports' greatest mythology (the curse of the Bambino) and wrapped in heartbreak".


Also, Wired featured an article about a bet between Mike Elliot and Ted Danson. The wager was that the Men's Soccer team would win the World Cup before the Red Sox win the World Series. Looks like Ted Danson and his charity won finally.

Peace

This is the good thing about blogs, the fact that I can LAUNCH A RANT!!!!!!!. All under a certain level of protection which is afforded me until someone I'm ranting about reads it and realize I am talking about them.

So I went to my regional office to deal with some matters taking place where I work. I didn't go alone we were a delegation. We had been told the information to bring and what sort of presentation they expected. We were also told to be enthusiastic, which I did agree and so we all went.

For the most part the presentation was upbeat, there was a good deal of discussion, some give, some take and some openness. All of which is good, then came my time for presentation. It was going to be a good one as well, worked a few hours on it and had quotes from people like Alan Greenspan and Henry David Thoreau. I figure anytime you can drop a quote from the author of Walden, it's got to be a good thing. So I was reading and discussing when one of the panelists said this is not what they expected. He then proceeded to tell me what they had expected. Now there's nothing wrong with that, after all presentations should be geared to answer the question given. There was only one little problem, They did not ask me to answer that question. In fact that wasn't even to be dealt with!!!!! Understand I wanted to deal with issues but they should at least give me an idea what issues they wish to deal with. It was snarling time.

Then a request was made, and it was one the group needed an answer and we got a flat out 'no'. Again not a problem, however we had the resources in place to deal with the need. It was our funds but they refused to consider the issue. They made a proposal, which was so incredibly asinine that our delegation left with heads shaking.

One question was asked and that was if we were a stand-alone, not tied to their office would we be able to survive, the answer from one of the delegates and this was honest was, if we didn't have to pay so much money and waste capital dealing with the regional office and head, we could. Touche I say.

Well, that's out of my system. I feel so glad. They are still all a bunch of nobs.


Peace

This morning I went to a very interesting church service. It was a seminar that examined "The Christian Response to Israel". What is the response to Israel, certainly a look around would say the response is usually critical and nature of condemnation. Israel it appears can do no right in the eyes of the world.

Yet you have to wonder why the west joins in the condemnation, after all Israel is a modern western democracy that is surviving and perhaps even thriving, an island of freedom in a sea of tyranny. However every step the nation takes for survival and protection is questioned and as I said, condemned.

What is the stance of the church and of Christians, the speaker presented an examiniation of the spiritual response to Israel. Basically we should support Israel, after all, these are the people who gave the Messiah.

It is also the easiest way of blessing, Yahweh told Abraham, "I will bless them that bless you." ( Genesis 12:3). If for no other reason this alone stands true, the way to experience God's blessing is to bless His ancient people. There should also be an understanding that to curse His ancient people is to invite His curse. You look at the nations of the world and you see that.

We should also help Israel, and it is our duty, perhaps the most power verse the speaker gave was Romans 15:27:Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. We owe the Jews much of our spiritual heritage and because of this, the call is to offer support to the ancient people of God. Believers need to stand up against anti-Semitism. We must but before we do that we must examine our own house. Sadly it's very easy to develop an attitude of hatred to the jews. We know the drill, they're rich, they're snobbish and of course the main one, they're the ones who killed Jesus. The last one is ironic because we don't say that to Romans or Italians. After all it was Romans that actually killed Jesus. Yet no one yells, "Christ Killer" at any Italians. We need to repent and rebuke that attitude in our fellowships.

We are also to comfor the Jews. We need to let them know that they are not hated and that there are people who support them.

The Bible says: "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you".


It was an blessing to have attended this seminar.


Peace

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Hard to believe: Yankees finally collapse!

Talk about getting a monkey off your back. Congratulations Red Sox Nation on the unbelieveable. After years of watching other teams win, the Sox did it.

What they did was simple, they punked the New York Yankees. Here they were the Yanks with a foot on their head ready to kick them into oblivion and yet they get up and deliver the boot to the groin to the Yanks.

This is a first, the only team to win after being down 3-0.

So way to go Red Sox. But you still have one more series before you put that curse to bed.


Peace

CBC.ca - The Greatest Canadian

so the list is out! the top ten finalists for the greatest Canadian, as chosen by you, the viewer, is now posted. It is an interesting list that is for sure. Some surprises that were pleasant, some that I knew would be there, both because it is the CBC and a few because they are great Canadians.

The surprise, Don Cherry. I think this is probably a bit of a 'screw you CBC for tying to get rid of him' vote. Still I suspect this may be an attempt to get the vote CBC really wants and that is that Pierre Trudeau be declared the "Greatest Canadian". Which is a crock by the way. i was surprised to see William L.M. King on the list, yes I know he was the longest serving PM, but he was also a fan of Hitler and was an anti-Semite. Then again that fits the mold of the CBC.

who would I choose? You know a number are great choices, Sir John A. MacDonald, for one, then there's Fredrick Banting, or Terry Fox, who exemplifies courage. I think Tommy Douglas the man who gave us Medicare would be up for contention.

Still I suspect Trudeau will win, after all Wendy Mesley had an orgasm when his name was announced. So tell you what vote early, vote often and DONT VOTE FOR PIERRE.

Peace

I finally watched Farhrenheit 9/11 over the weekend. I wasn't sure I wanted to watch because of my time at Ground Zero.
It is an amazing documentary. I can understand why Republicans hate Michael Moore. the movie exposes the war in Iraq as what it is, a sham. The war is based on 2 suppositions, weapons of mass destruction & a link with Al-Qaida. I do believe Saddam *did* have WMD but he either got rid of them or hid them very well. One problem is that before the invasion there was all these photos of alledged chemical laboratories. so where are they?
Also Saddam was never a religious fundamentalist. A bloodthirsty tyrant yes but a fundamentalist never.
The problem is that brave patriotic Americans are dying to make the profit line of Haliburton secure. I want to state that Rumsfeld, Bush & Cheney should be tried for war crimes.

Peace

I keep forgetting to post this, a couple of sunday nights ago I was outside looking at the stars. As I watched, I saw this one object passing overhead, I knew it wasn't an aircraft since there wasn't any blinking lights. However what was interesting was the fact that the object suddenly got very bright and large. I mean it went from a faint 'dot' to a fairly bright object in a matter of seconds. It then began to fade to the small dot in the same plan.

Let me say that it was not a UFO, I believe it was a satellite, one of the circumpolar satellites no doubt, but a satellite indeed.

As for the brightness, I wonder if it had some sort of solar panels and this was the reflection of the sunlight off them.

Still it was interesting.

Peace

It's seems I've been learning about pain and aches recently. Yesterday I was walking to work, which I normally do when my back went into some involuntary muscle spasms, not there's such as thing as voluntary muscle spasms. Talk about discomfort and pain, not at all nice.

It was so bad I had to go home and put myself straight to bed. I know that at first doesn't sound like a bad thing, after all what's bad about a day off, right? Lots when every move you make hurts, even after the Tylenol and the hot bath.

I did some research and here is what I learned. Another website called it weight lifters back. I must admit I do weight lift and have done it for over 20 years, but this was not the cause of the injury. The first article mentions that while the pain may come directly after the injury in some circumstances it may take a day or two. When I read that a light went on, I spent Monday going up and down a ladder carrying and tossing up boxes of material. I wonder just by the repetition and the hyper-extending myself that this could be the cause? Could be I suppose.

The good news is I'm feeling a little better today, although I have to watch out for the stretching. The bad news, no exercise either yesterday or today, obviously. I had two good runs this week and so it's not nice missing, plus the weight lifting. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

Peace

The Very Un-Christian Jimmy Swaggart - Christianity.ca

This impresses me, that an evangelical magazine would be critical of Jimmy Swaggart. Let' s be honest Jimmy has not be a great spokesman of Christianity for the last few years. After all his little experience in the hotel room was not good. Now he wants to kill gay men who would look at him with 'lust in their eyes'. Got news for you Jimmy, don't think that would happen anytime soon.

For his defense, he did say he uses the expression, 'i'd kill someone and tell God he died'. You know what Jimmy that expression is very lame and not worth your position. I believe the Bible says something about putting a watch on your tongue. Try it one day, it may work.


Peace

News | canada.com network

this is very exciting news when you think about it, democratic elections taking place in Afghanistan.

What is even more interesting is those who once wanted to boycott them as being unfair want to now get involved and be part of the process. I think this may be due to the fact that the people wanted these elections to take place. It wasn't the Americans, or the Coalition. It was the people who got out and voted that proved these were something the people wanted to be involved in and wanted them to take place.

You have to understand and this is for politicians everywhere, your rhetoric means nothing when the people want to do something, they will do it, so either get with the program and or demonstrate to your people that you are a bunch of jerks.

I watched a re-run of "The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart" today, what a delight. Yes there was the usual barbs against GW but what made it wonderful was the presence of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the leaders of the anti-aparteid movement in South Africa and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was a delight to hear and what was so good was his truly humanness. There is no pretention in this individual, just goodness. He sees the goodness of people of individuals and reminds all of us that our cynicism can be very shallow. He talked about God and you felt it was not like a Jerry Falwell talking about God, but rather that thre is a true connection between Desmond and the Lord in Heaven.

Peace

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Not such a bargain. One-owner sub in emergency callout: "'You just cannot beat the value of having a submarine that belongs to you, operating in your waters,'"

Rear Admiral Dan McNeil is absolutely right, there is value in having the best equipment possible to patrol your own waters and to ensure the flag is flying. However with one sub on fire and without power and this was it's maiden voyage, you have to wonder.

The joke once was there were more submarines in operation at Edmonton's West Edmonton Mall then were owned by the Canadian Navy. We can add this sad fact, none of the submarines at the West Edmonton Mall ever suffered a fire or lost the life of a crewmember.

God Bless Lt. Chris Saunders and his family.


Peace

Canadian sub fire kills lieutenant: "Lt. Chris Saunders"

I want to take a moment and pause to pray for the family of Lt. Chris Saunders. He was the first of perhaps a few casualties from the HMCS Chicoutimi. As you know a fire broke and and a few crew members have been airlifted due to smoke inhalilation. I believe it was this which ultimately cost Lt. Saunders his life.

While it is not time to make points, perhaps we should stop and remember the HMCS Chicoutimi is one of those submarines leased from the British government for millions and millions of dollars. They were supposed to be a cost saving measure that offered Canada a chance to modernize it's submarine fleet. To say this has been another disaster for the Canadian military would be an understatement. After years of refit and repairs, yes repairs the subs were supposedly ready for sea, however there has been nothing but delays. One article goes on and states that the Chicoutimi wasa so rusty that it was restricted in the depth it could dive to. So instead of going to the max, it was limited. The thing about submarines is they are supposed to go deep underwater. Remember the movie "Run Silent, Run Deep"? That's what they are supposed to do, if they cannot dive deep, then what's the use.

Here is another of the Chretien legacy coming to the fore, a government so cheap to our proud miilitary that they will pass second hand equipment and say its an improvement. It's a shame that not only a crewmember has died, but the sub is still adritf without power in the North Atlantic. I do understand a tug is there towing it to safety, somewhere. But this still begs the question, why. Why did a submarine, after having experienced millions of dollars for refit would catch fire on its maiden voyage, at least maiden under the Canadian flag.

I started with a moment of silence, let me say sorry Lt. Saunders that your life was considered not worth purchasing the best equipment possible for you.


Peace

I got this picture through email recently. I was thinking this is the power of nature. A massive block of ice coming loose from a glacier. This is brilliant. 

Montreal Expos : The Official Site

I wanted to say something about the Montreal Expos, kind of my way to say farewell.

I remember when the Expos came into the league, even though I was living in Ontario I was very excited to think that Canada was getting a team. This was very cool. I believe that year I bought an Expo hat, I was so excited. I followed the team closely through the newspaper. I wore that hat everyday. I knew the Expos played in Jerry Park, or Parc Jerry and it was a small intimate little baseball park. It was wonderful. My fave player was Rusty Staub, le Grande Orange as he was known. When Rusty was made the Expos All-Star Representative, it was like great.

Of course the first few years were horrible, but I believed, then the team got better...players like the Hawk were added. Those were great teams, the years they were in contention. so close that one year.

Then the first baseball strike and the play-off between them and the Los Angelos Dodgers. Yes "Black Monday" is still etched in my brain, Rick Monday's home run. yes I can still see it. Steve Rogers who was actually a starting pitcher was in relief.. the pitch carried over the wall...heart was broken.

But that was not the end of the good years, they contended but that was as close as they came.

Then there was the year they were so close, leading the NL East when baseball decided to go on strike again. Thus ending the Expos perhaps best chance of winning it all. But it was naught.

The rest is history, but what a team, I recall Pete Rose, Charlie Hustle was a member, and the Big Unit. A lot of great players have played on the Expos. And now it is history.

so I say, thank you Expos for all the good memories. And Washington, try not to screw this up!!!!.

Peace