CBC.ca - News

I decided to include this page to make mention of the fact that the health accord is now off the front pages. We have solved Canada's health problem. Hallelujah, now we can deal with what's really important like the hockey strike.

I've been thinking about the health accord, the plan to save the Healthcare system in Canada. I'm glad to read that Roy Romanow sees it as a set in the right direction. However I get the feeling there is still a lot of work to do. You see we have a program that is taking a lot of money but providing less and less. On one hand you hear that the provinces are spending more of their budget dollars on health care, which means they're either increasing taxes or cutting back other programs. Which ever means there is a problem. However, what is being provided is less. There are waiting lines, there are shortages of staff, but it's costing more and more.

There are intrinsic problems that may require more then just throwing money at it, and hope it goes away. What is the problem is the question, and perhaps if we could face this problem we could come to the answer. Here's what I hear and wonder about, they say that people are living longer and longer and procedures are becoming more technical, read expensive. With people living longer the potential for expensive sickness increases. Then there is the worry about the baby boomer, when we all turn 70+ are we simply going to swamp the system. It's like pensions, the huge baby boom generation is coming. Yet, when you think about it, this is the time to save for that future, after all the baby boomers are all in their 40's and 50's closing in on 60's. This same group is at their prime earning ages and so that means more disposable income which in turn means more taxes. Plus with the huge number of babyboomers plus the busters plus the gen-x'er means there's a whole lot of people paying into the system you would think there would be no problem. Yet we have a problem.

Perhaps part of it, and this has been discussed by others. It is too institutionalized. By this it means too hospital oriented. Hospitals are expensive to operate and so the rationale is to put all services into the hospital, such as MRI and Labs. But to do all this requires people, lots and lots of people. So expenses are up and this requires more funding. If anything goes wrong, you still have this behemoth consuming the income but not providing the services.

I think the most important part of the recent agreement is the transparency with every province but Quebec. This is part of the asymetrical federalism that is Canada. That means by the way that the rules don't apply to Quebec. So you got to know this is just waiting to be a problem.

I think I'm going to sleep on it and come up with the perfect solution tomorrow.


Peace

CBC News: Newspapers accused of misusing word 'terrorist'

And who said semantics is dead. Here's an interesting example of opinion colouring the news. Reuters is all upset that CanWest Global is changing the wording of their stories. Now, let's identify the players shall we, you have Reuters, a long time provider of the news, which now has been bought by Arab interests. So the news they send out over their wire services is going to have a particular bias. Shall we say more pro-Palestinian then objective. Then you have CanWest Global, owned by the Asper family, it bought Southam news from Conrad Black, including the National Post. The fellow who did this was Israel "Izzy" Asper. Now with a name like that you can assume it's bias is pro-Israel. I think that's fair. So you have a rather anti-Israeli organization complaining that it's bias is being changed to reflect the bias of another organization.

It gets even more interesting, now a group called Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada wants to complain as well, since the National Post tends to portray terrorists as Muslim, wow, imagine that.

I must admit, Reuters does have a point, if the Post is changing the bias to reflect its bias, there should be some mention of it. I believe that's only fair. However, the Post does have the right to make comment on the news, so that it reflects its unique view of the world.

To the busybodies of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada I have only one word of advice, the same word of advice the Dark Lord of Black once gave to Maude Barlow, "if you don't like what I print, start your own newspaper". Come on guys, you're getting Al_Jazeera, you'll be able to have all the strident anti-Israeli propaganda you want.


Peace

CBC News: PM, provinces sign $41B health deal

One quick comment, before you start to celebrate this, I did some calculations. This works out to $136.00 per person per year. So in other words, this works out to one extra visit to the emergency room or the clinic, because you probably won't have a family doctor with this agreement.

More later

Yahoo! Sports - NHL - Puck stops with Bettman

Well it is now official, the lock out is on and the chances of a new season are probably getting slim. After all when you are dealing with to very entrenched sides, it's hard for compromise to happen, think the Western Front, circa 1914-1918.

One article says that Canadians are more willing to side with the owners then the players. Yes I can understand that it's hard to garner much sympathy for any group that makes 30 times your average salary. The concept of the spoiled brat comes to mind. But before we start throwing rocks at the players let remember the owners in all this, they are equally to blame. They are the ones, especially those in the major centres like New York and Detroit that paid the players all that money.

I came across one stat, speaking of players' salaries and I learned the average salary of the Calgary Flames was 925,000 US and the average for Tampa Bay was 1,155,000 US. In other words the Stanley Cup champ paid their players 225,000 more to win the cup then the runner's up. The Rangers, by the way pay over 2.5 million US to be a last place team.

So I suppose who is to blame for this mess, players? Owners? A combination of both? How about one person, and that person is Gary Bettman. What can be said about this weazel, besides the fact that calling him a weazel is to insult weazels everywhere? Who else has made the League a laughing stock then him. If you are reading this in Canada, you may remember his infamous interview with Ron McLean. Now Ron McLean is a man very knowledgeable about hockey, he's a broadcaster, straightman to Don Cherry and a referee. Yet to hear Bettman call him "Ronny" was maddening. In fact I felt if I heard him say that one more time I would have if I could, reached through the tv and throttled him. The man is arrogant with no reason to be arrogant. He has no appreciation of the game of hockey. Remember he's the guy that let Winnipeg and Quebec lose their hockey teams. He is the fellow that watched Pittsburg go almost down the tube.

I know this is a baseball concept but one of the roles of the Commissioner is to act in the best interest of the game. All Bettman has done is ruin hockey. He ignores his primary market, Canada with the hope of making the game popular in the US. Instead he's allowed the league to become something that is losing popularity. Some people laugh at the fact that SpongeBob Squarepants is more popular on TV then the NHL.

It's enough to wish for the return of John A. Ziegler Jr. Now understand I believe Mr. Ziegler was a good president of the NHL, after al he understood and loved hockey. He cared for the game.

Well, what will all this mean for TV watching in Canada. Let's see, how many times can the CBC re-broadcast the funeral of Pierre Trudeau and that lame mini-series on him.

As for TSN and SportsNet, I guess they will either show classic games or we will learn about all sorts of exotic sports. Hey, you can never have enough "World's Strongest Man" contests.

Argggghhhhhh


Peace

Suckers for Jesus

I came across this article through a posting of a yahoo group I belong to, and may I say this is brilliant.

They say it's always good for a writer to state his biases and well here is mine. Yes I am a Christian, the born-again variety and yes I've tried to be right wing. But goodness, I never felt comfortable being one of those 'religious right' types. You may gather from my rants during the election I am not a friend of liberalism. Actually I'm not a friend of the Liberal party of Canada which believe me is NOT a liberal organization. It is a tired, corrupt worn-out organization that has managed to bamboozle the electorate through fluff and scare tactics into getting themselves elected yet again, but enough of that.

The premise of the paper is to ask the question why are Christian fundalmentalists, which make up the religious right in the States a part of the neo-conservative movement? There is a listing of the groups making of the neo-cons and truly it is frightening. In fact the groups listed, the libertarians, free market absolutists and plutocrats are as far from the philosophy of Jesus, if not in opposition to, as possible.

One quote that I thought was interesting is this one"The Right has, in effect, established a separate and distinct definition of "liberal," so that it is effectively equated with "libertinism" - sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. In addition, the Right's use of "liberal" connotes the stifling of religion, welfare cheating, profligate government spending (as in "tax-and-spend-liberals") and even, in the hands of such uninhibited ranters as Ann Coulter, treason.
". Here is the key, the 'secular' right knew which buttons to push, they painted the liberals as being pro-abortion, pro-gay, anti-private schools and soft on crime. So by pushing these buttons, they were able to, as the next paragraph says:" In short, this redefined “liberalism” serves well as an embodiment of “evil” to the religious right. And when this sense of “liberalism” is associated, through constant repetitions, with the Democratic Party – well, you know the rest
". So the Democrats are the embodiment of evil. So what sort of agenda does the Republicans push, well, pro-life, but only of unborn children, forget about who live in the third world, or even those who live in the ghetto.

In other words, by pushing a few topics they, the secular right are able to get their way. You have to understand the bible, it is a document with a very strong sense of social justice. The writer points this out and certainly the case could be made by quoting prophets such as Amos and others. Certainly Jesus made not attempt to hide his anger against those who exploited the poor, even going so far as throwing the money changers out of the Temple.

If you are a Christian I invite you to read this article, it will get you thinking. You will ask yourself 'what would Jesus do'. What would He do? Perhaps he'd march to the White House and throw Bush out.

Peace

Every so often something comes up that gets my blood boiling and I have to stop and blog off on the subject. Today has to do with a film that 'premiering' at the Toronto International Film Festival. Normally I would say nothing about a film festival since they tend to be pretentious and overblown affairs in which third rate movies directed by foruth rate directors starring fifth rate 'actors' is the order of the day. Most of the stuff is nothing more then glorified film school stuff that failed the course.

However at the festival this year is a particularly noxious film that goes by the name of "Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat". The film is a documentary about these three scumbag losers who thought it would be a good idea to capture a stray cat, torture it, skin it and then kill it. They decided it would even be better to shoot the whole thing on video as a statement against the slaughter of cows for food. A rather interesting leap of logic, one that would escape most thinking people.

The scum eventually were arrested and pleaded guilty for animal cruelty. So this character Zev Asher decides to make a documentary about it, and he interviews some of those idiots. What really got me about this film and no I haven't seen it and you want to know something, I have no interest in seeing it. The only reason I'm mentioning anything about this film is to rag on the people involved. Yet this is considered 'art'. What really got me was the concluding comments about the film and this is from the Film Festival Website: "He places us in a unique space, one which vacillates between serious reflection, horror, transgression, banality, righteousness, humour and - mostly - paradox. This may be one of the most political films in this year's Festival." There are a lot of words that one can use to describe the torture of animals, but banality and humour and never one of them. I understand the director allows these knobs the right to defend their actions. Yes, let us have a lunatic explain themselves.

However the film festival has defended their right to
show it. Let's call it what it is, garbage. And now for the rants, Jesse Power, Anthony Wennekers and Matthew Kaczorowski you three are total idiots and if you think torturing a cat is great, perhaps you would love to experience your own skinning at the hands of the Friends of Animals Group.

Zev Asher, you're an idiot for even considering these knobs deserve even a second of film. Hey, if you think torturing a cat is banal and funny it's a shame you weren't alive for the Holocaust, I bet the killing of all those Jews was a hoot.

Toronto Film Festival, while you're hiding behind the shield of 'freedom of expression', let me give you my expression, you are total idiots for giving any of the above a stage by which to show their cruelty. Even if they don't show any of the footage they shot, just allowing them to gain any noteriety over it is wrong.

I called Bell Canada and suggested they consider not sponsoring this Festival again by the way.

Let me say the torture and killing of anyone, or anything is wrong and no one should think of it ever as being 'humourous' or 'banal'.

Remember Kensington the cat who died at the hands of these idiots.


Peace

A few days ago it was a wonderfully warm and sunny day. I have been hoping that the sunflowers I planted would eventually flower. As you can see it has and is doing quite well. Today there were bees flying around and so I hope that the seeds will soon develop. 

National Post

First of all, I am very happy that Scott Taylor did not meet the fate of so many of those who have been captured in Iraq. It disgusts me that these "militants", or thugs as they should be known feel they have the right to kidnap, torture and kill innocent people is terrible.

One of the telling lines of the article is this one: "Simoneau says it's still unclear what prompted the abductors to let Taylor go. "
May I make a suggestion, because they found out he's Canadian. You may ask how would that influence their decision? Simple, because they know Canada is a friend of terrorist organizations. With our wimpy government, the fact they don't listen or even read the CSIS reports on terrorist organizations in Canada. A few years ago, before he became our Prime Minister, Paul Martin attended a fund raising dinner for a Tamil social group. CSIS warned Paul that this group was a front for the Tamil Tigers, a notorious separatist terror groups in Sri Lanka, that quote is taken from the "Terrorism: Questions and Answers page. Yet Paul went to shake his boogie and take the cash. It keeps him quiet when dealing with all terrorist groups. Scott even though he probably hates terrorist groups enjoyed the fact that he is from a nation that is very friendly and soft to terrorist groups. Our nation is a safe haven to all groups that use terror as their major weapon. We are the front for organizations and we support them with money. All the time our government turns a blind eye to them.

Scott I'm glad your free, what bothers me is the reasons for it.


Peace.

As a person who volunteered and spent two weeks at Ground Zero I want to express my sympathy to those who lost loved ones on that fateful day.

I heard your stories, and saw you search for some sign of that loved one. May God grant you peace as you remember.

God Bless you.


Peace.

Now that the inquest into the sponsorship 'scandal', the Liberal Party has decided to get some legal representation for the inquiry. First of all, this is not a legal inquiry, it is an investigation so you have to wonder why they have to bring in such a powerful legal team.

If that wasn't enough now they want the people of Canada, that is the same bunch of taxpayers they hosed with the sponsorship scandel, should foot the legal bill.

Hey, Liberals, I have an idea for you, why don't you get some of that cash you sent to your buddies in Quebec and ask for some more donations. After all you all know that you can arrange to send more money to them. Just let them know if any of the truth gets into the open not only is the cozy little arrangement over, most of the people involved will be making license plates for bucks a day and not bending over while in the shower, if you get my drift.

It's now time for the scondrels to hang together.

Oh by the way, hear John Kerry wants to stop the flow of Toronto garbage to Michigan. I hope this strikes some fear into the denizens of the mistake by the Lake. Guess what, you days of seeing your garbage go over the border may be coming to an end. If you read the Toronto Star and watch CBC you think Canadians want Mr. Kerry to win, personally I'm not at the place to make an opinion yet. So that means only a few months and you're going to have to find a place to store it all. One person said they'll enter discussion with some other states, umm, dude, if Kerry doesn't want it in Michigan, what makes you think he wants Canadian garbage anywhere.

I always find it interesting to notice that everytime some MP yaps about the Americans something goes wrong for Canada. Of course the person is the same idiot MP from Mississauga, Carolyn Parrish called them 'idiots'. Hey Carolyn maybe the people of Toronto should use your property as the new garbage dump. Maybe that would teach you to watch what you say.

Understand, I truly believe we have the right to differ from the Americans, and if this Space Shield is not a good idea, then discuss the issue, and keep the name calling out of it.


Peace

News | canada.com network

Why doesn't this surprise me, the annual performance reviews of the Department of Public Works never made mention about the sponsorshpi program. Do you think because everyone knew it was a sham and the whole program was nothing more then a way to transfer taxpayers dollars to the friends of the Prime Minister? Do you think Canadians would have rioted if they knew the whole time?

So next time you look at your pay stub just tell yourself that part of this money you send every week, or every other week went to and probably still goes to that most fortunate of groups, "The Friends of the Prime Minister".

Peace

I know it's been a bit of time since I blogged, so I got to get caught up. Well let me say I finally started to watch "The Passion of the Christ". If I can give a one word review, moving. Profound, incredible. Thank you Mel Gibson for giving us this incredible interpretation of the events of that Good Friday and first Easter.

What I 'enjoyed' was the little touches, such as Jesus looking at a dove before he went before Pilate. The symbol, the Holy Spirit was present to help Him even at this time. It is a movie not for the faint in heart, it is gory. There is no letting up on the violence then again we realize it was a violent time and life was cheap.

What came through was the Passion, the love of God in action.

Again, thank you Mel.


Peace

Canada has had a pretty good day at the Olympics, there is the first Canadian multi-medal winner and three medals to the time I'm writing this blog. After the first week things seem to be better for the nation's psyche. I recall someone suggesting that the medal tally could be about 14 for Canada and if our athletes can garner just two more then the total will be reached.

It has been an Olympics of mood swings, either high or low, sometimes in the same day. During these games, people who were shoo in for medals didn't do all that well and the unknowns have come to the fore, being our new champions.

Well, still you have to give all the best of support and love to these people. A lot of themselves is left on the arena and they know they do this for love of the sport and their nation.

Im still see red about the Toronto Star and their coverage of Perdita Felicien. In a column by Rosie DiManno it was a classic hatchet job. I have never read anything more horrendous and terrible. Perdita has shown more class then most of the Toronto Star columnists.

Today was a day of new things. First of all, it was a day for a new pet. After much lobbying by the children, we have become a two pet family, actually four if you include two degus, but two if you just count animals that are allowed to roam. Yes we now have two cats. The family went to the Windsor-Essex County Human Society and chose a 'muted tortoiseshell' female cat. Our cat was feeling lonely as he lost a friend, no kidding, he and this other cat were inseperable and it is gone. We can now join with Crosby, Stills and Nash with this song Our house is a very, very, very fine house With two cats in the yard Life used to be so hard Now everything is easy 'cause of you.. The orange is for the tortoiseshell.

The second thing that came today was my Johnny Mnemonic CD, it's the soundtrack from the movie. Yes I am a fan of William Gibson and I did enjoy the movie. I got it on Ebay.ca by the way.

The third thing and this was the plunge, a Dell laptop. I bought the Inspiron 1000, okay it's not the flashiest but I ccould afford it and now I'll be posting all my blogs from it, rather then the main computer. Thank goodness for home networking. I don't have a wireless card, but that's coming I'm sure.

Well, now it's time to enjoy either the cat, the CD or the laptop.

Peace

I want to entitle this days blog "is Canada becoming a nation of the entourage?", If you can remember the events leading up to June 6th there was a huge cry that the government told those surviving veterans of the D-Day landing that if they wanted to visit Normandy it would be on their own dollar. Mind you the government was sending a large entourage of politicians, in fact both Jack Layton and Stephen Harper both told Paul Martin to give their seat on the plane to a vet.

Now I hear that those Canadian athletes who are in Athens had to get their on their own coin. Now again, I don't think a whole lot of them bought their own ticket, basically because the majority of Canadian athletes live below the poverty level. I read the the stipend for our athletes is 1100 a month. So in other words that guy stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart could be an Olympian. I know that a lot of them get sponsored by corporations such as McDonald's, the Royal Bank or their local community or athletic group make sure they have no more expenses then they already do. And you thought everyone going to a food bank was a welfare bum. I like what John Derringer of
q107 wrote in his column. His most telling remark was this: "Canada's elite athletes receive about $1,100 a month in funding, yet Toronto spends $30,000 per homeless person. Just try getting your head around that one. If a few homeless guys could run a sub-four-minute mile, at least we'd get a little something for our investment". If only. Yet I believe the COA is sending a full entourage of hacks, flacks and sycophants to Athens. Again, money for the posse, but none for the stars. At least Puff Daddy is the centre of his entourage, in Canada the real stars are pushed to the side and the jokers get all the perks.

Right now Canada has one bronze medal. Don't get me wrong, I would never slam our athletes, they are all great men and women who spend years of their live to practice their sport. They surrender a big chunk of their personal lives and potential earnings to wear the Maple Leaf. They want to support their nation, even though their government treats them worse then a bunch of terrorists claiming refugee status. That bronze medal ties us with Thailand by the way. While our athletes work hard, the Secretary of State for Sports Stan Keyes, the guy responsible for the mess tells us not to get fixated with medal counts, huh? Dude, that's why we have a medal count in the daily newspaper, we want to know how many medals we win. I know it's not we, it's a group of individuals and certainly a nation's self esteem is more then medals, but it really looks bad when a nation that is supposely as wealthy of Canada doesn't do anything in the area of sports.

Now it's not the athletes then who's to blame? Our society, I don't think so. Let's put the blame where it belongs on our beloved federal government. This bunch for the last ten years, actually eleven has been jerking our best athletes around. I suppose it could be argued they were treated no worse then everyone else during the last 11 years. Of course in Canada the best treated people are those who belong to that most exclusive of clubs "the Friends of the PM". Amateur athletics has been cut probably harder then any other program and yet while they are going to food banks and working at McDonald's, our politicians make sure their buddies are all on the gravy train. Recently Canada Post accepted the resignation of Andre Ouellett, the 2 million dollar man. The guy who had problems keeping receipts. He made 400000 a year, that would pay for 10 athletes a year @ 40000 a year. Or how about the Commissioner of the Official Languages, she sent a bill for 40000 for a trip to Sudbury. How she spent that much I don't know. Again Ottawa has an unlimited supply of cash for these dregs and none for our athletes. If you want further proof, just read this. Our beloved G-G, the Queen's Representative seems to love the Big Apple. Now let me say, I join with her on this sentiment, I too like New York, however it doesn't cost me $4800 to fly there. Multiply that by 10 and you see another example, no funds for athletes but for the parasites, the vault is open.

You may remember Dyane Adam, she's the idiot who 'investigated' Don Cherry for his comments about hockey players that wear visors. Again, another parasite on the body politic of Canada. We need less of her and more athletes who work very hard and want to represent their country on the nation stage.

Go Canada

Peace

Yesterday I did it. I completed my first dualthon. My time was 2hr15m22seconds, good enough for 91st overall. You can see where I place by going here. To give my overall, I was pleased with the run portion, both the 3k and the 6k. I was surprised I did so well with the 6k since this was always my concern. The bike, well, I'm not too happy with. I was slower then I thought even though my training runs were I though good.

It was an experience I'm glad I had and I will be going next year.

Between now and then I plan to develop a training plan. You see when I started only a month ago, I didn't really know how to train. I just biked and ran although I never did get to the place where I'd bike and then run. So I will be following some strategies and will do better next year.

In the end I did feel good, especially after taking the ASA.


Peace

Well, I've signed up and written the cheque. I had the pasta dinner at the restaurant and tomorrow I'm doing the duathlon. This is my first one and I'm both excited and nervous about the situation. I'm excited because it is my first duathlon, and nerves because I ask myself the question, am I ready.

If you want information about it go to the website. I had been complaining to myself and anyone who wanted to listen that I feel I needed a motivation to train. That had been lacking, usually I enter at least one or two races a year and that is my motivation but until a month ago I didn't think I was going to enter any race. Then I picked up that pamphlet and now I'm ready.

I suppose the big question is was the training sufficient? I know going down south didn't help matters although I did try to stay active, so it's going to be the litmus test tomorrow. I'm not worried about the distances, I've done 30k on the bike, I've run 3k and 6k. It's the transition from bike to run that still a concern. I know doing the 3 and then the bike is not a problem, its the final leg.

I went over and checked out the course, the run takes place on the Ganatchio Trail. A map of the course is on the website. There is a few inclines and declines, probably not bad but I train in Essex where the only incline and decline is the railway crossing. But tomorrow is it, I'm ready.

Yes, I'm ready. I'm just going to take it easy tonight, rest up, drink water and other liquids and have a good night's sleep.


Peace

The Globe and Mail
Here is one of those articles that begs a comment. So Andre Ouellet felt he had to resign. I love the opening quote from the Globe, here it is: André Ouellet, once one of the most powerful politicians in the country, felt he was forced to quit as Canada Post president yesterday in the wake of audit reports saying he had not properly accounted for about $2-million in expenses.
. Well, yeah. I mean if I handed in $2 million dollars of expenses to my employer and asked for reimbursement without any receipts to back it up, the response would be, a) laughter and b) a pink slip. Then again I suppose if you're the boss the normal rules doesn't apply to you. Actually Andre they do. You resigned because you knew your butt was in the sling and when Parliament reconvenes guess who's head the Opposition would be asking for. So he quits, he understands that it was all political. No it wasn't Andre, you 'resigned' because you stole and committed fraud. I'm glad you're not getting severence, inspite of your 'good' work. You claim that Canada Post became profitable under your leadership, good thing eh? Otherwise the corporation couldn't afford your lifestyle.

I think the response of all us taxpayers is simple, let's sue the idiot. As a Crown Corporation we are the stockowners and if the CEO acts in such a fraudulent way, it's upon us to teach him a lesson.

Andre you are a weazel.


Peace

Last month I mentioned the problem my brother had with his telephone bill, it appears he got that nasty dialer on his computer. It is a problem and a lot of innocent people are being sucked in and discovering they have huge long distance charges. A good resource is Phonebusters, a webpage set up by the RCMP and provincial police.

People who have been calling to complain to Bell Canada, I don't have any information on other long distance carriers, usually don't get a whole lot of sympathy. What they tell you is a) pay up, it your problem, b) we'll give you a discount now or c) we might give you a better rate of interest. They will threaten to cut off your phone if you fail to pay.

Here is some information you can use, and this is from Phonebusters. First of all, Bell has know about the problem for 4 years or so and have decided to do nothing, that is until this past weekend, now calls to Sao Tome have been cut. You have to go through an operator to make a legitmate call. This also applies to those other problem nations as well. So what do you do? Here it is, complain to Bell and inform them that you will not pay those bogus LD charges, since you are not obligated to pay for fraud. Do not pay their offered discount. Pay the rest of your bill, that is your regular charges and legitimate LD calls. They may threaten to cut off your phone but they can't. They may disconnect your LD but so what, there's only 20+ companies that will be only too glad to take your business. May I also suggest you follow through the steps on the Phonebusters page, they are very helpful. Also there's a class action suit pending against Bell, for more information go to classactionlaw.ca, and go Active Claims and then look up Bell Canada Modem Hijacking Claim. Join the fun. Also you may want to write a letter of complaint to the CRTC and fill out a complaint. I know I've been critical of the CRTC in the past but here they may be useful.

Be vigilant, scan your computer, look out for trojan horses, spyware and all that nastiness.


Peace

One of the things i wanted to do on vacation was stop at Lennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, which is a bit north of Atlanta. I had visited this sight years ago and wanted to visit it again, plus I did promise a friend some Confederate money.

It is a interesting place, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was part of Sherman's March to Atlanta and was a particularily nasty battle. As you can read the south did win this engagement although General Johnson did retreat rather then face being cut off by Sherman's forces. We did do some hiking and made our way to Pigeon Hill, there are some Confederate earthworks visible. At this sight there was a serious skirmish which cost the lives of hundreds. It's eerie to consider that where we stood, people fought and died. There is a hush still today when you consider that men put their lives on the line for either a cause, or for the fact they were protecting their homes from a perceived invader. On a fence was a wreath with the simple words of a state and the fact these were soldiers of the Confederacy.

It was a silent yet in the silence there was something that made it a place not to play but to mediate and consider.

Peace

Back from the trip down south. I can say it was a great time, the food was fabulous and seeing family that I haven't seen in a decade was great. Also met some new second cousins for the first time. As mentioned it was at the Elijah Clark State Park near Lincolnton Georgia. It is a delightful camp and if travels take you there, it's worth the stop. The place has cabins which quite frankly rival some hotels. At the park there is the burial plots of Elijah and Hannah Clark a small museum, hiking trails and a beach to swim at, a great place to visit.

After that we did get to Six Flags over Georgia. A fun time was had by all. There are a number of fun roller coasters, my favourite turned out to be the last one I rode, the Superman Ultimate Flight one. It is one of those flying roller coasters where you don't sit, or stand, but fly with the tracks either above you or below you. Yes you fly upside down and go through a number of loops and turns. It is great. I'm only sorry I waited until the end of the day. Other fun coasters were the Ninja and the Georgia Scorcher. I do enjoy a good coaster.

The journey home was uneventful.

Let me say it's always important to learn something and here's what I learned.

1) the waffle is king
2) the greatest invention is the waffle iron
3) Southerns are very proud of their culture
4) it is hot down south but it appears people are used to it.
5) the South is beautiful, the ugly states are Michigan and Ohio.


I know I've lost some training days but still managed to do 30k on the bike in 1hr 13 minutes. Not bad. Tomorrow I'm running.

Peace

Decided to play golf, actually I was invited so I went. I got a new driver for my birthday and this was my second opportunity to try it out. I think I did okay with it, in fact I can only think of two drives that missed the fairway. It felt nice and made a great 'ting' when it hit the ball straight and true.

Well this is it for a while, I'm taking some time to head south to Georgia. Going to a family reunion at Elijah Clark State Park. It looks like it will be a fun couple of days with a lot of family get-together and some quality time down in the sun and fun of Georgia. After that we're going Six Flags over Georgia for some serious roller coaster fun.

I'm looking forward to it and now I must pack, if only I knew what I have done with my digital camera.

Peace

I did my run for the day, another 6 km with the time of 36'47". I think that's just a touch slower then last time, although I did run a faster final 300 metres then before. I'm going to blame traffic on this one, I was held up crossing the street.

You know I wonder if we should not declare 2004 the "Year of the Salad". Seems every fast food restaurant has added salads to their menu. I notice that Wendy is doing salad up big, although this is not anything new to them, I remember going to Wendy's in the 80's and enjoying their salad bar. Yes that was a treat, baked potato and salad bar. People laughed but they were looking to the future. Then the 90's hit which was the supersize decade and now as we enter the first decade of the 21st century there is the realization we have supersized people. So salad is a good choice, plus it may stave off the inevitable lawsuits that are bound to come to the fast food industry.

Salad, always a good thing.

Peace.

Well the training continues. With the weather keeping me in for most of the day I decided to venture out in the late dusk. Thank goodness my back light still works. Decided to keep it simple, just 11.5 k today, for 30 minutes.

The most difficult part was keeping the gnats out of my mouth, I almost succeeded although there were a few crunkies as I chewed. I don't know how many flying swarms I went through but there was the distinct ping of bugs off my jacket.

Feeling good about what I'm doing.

Peace.

I got a frantic phone call, seems my brother got nailed with one of those fraudulent dialers. Seems his modem has been calling people in Estonia and Sao Tome. I just want to say to those morons who design such things, I hope your burn long and painfully. It seems more and more people are figuring there is a thrill from sticking viruses, trojan horses and other things on computers to screw people up. I read an article that said service was slow on Google because someone made a worm. Why bother. I know Google is set to have an IPO and make people a lot of money but why bother something that a lot of people use for their searches. I admit I google on a regular basis, especially if I want to look up interesting facts.

To give an example I spent an hour or so looking up information on the Chinese poet Qu Yuan . You can ask why and the answer will be because it was interesting. It started by looking for information about Rice Dumplings, which was from an Iron Chef episode. I found there is a legend attached having to do with the suicide of this poet. I also learned that Dragon Boat festivals are held in commemoration to Qu Yuan. I also read some of his poetry. So all because of a single google.

Yet there are malicious cranks that want to cause damage. Those of you, please grow up and let the rest of us continue with our interesting lives.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system. Oh by the way, if your phone bill does have calls to Sao Tome, contact PhoneBusters. The page has their toll free phone and fax number, it will be worth it to report these clowns.

Went for my run today, far better 6k, 36:44- better then the 39 I had before.

Peace

Continued my training yesterday I did a 3k run (18:19) & a 19.3k bike ride (49'15"). Felt quite good.

Today will either be an easy day or rest day.

The joy of knowing the holiday has begun is a great. Going to be a busy couple of weeks, what with a family reunion happening next Sunday. Still this is the weekend to relax and take it is.

I was going to come up with some interesting political comments; and I still plan to. The CRTC has been getting under my skin for years. A lot of it has to do with its mandate to 'protect Canadian culture'. When you look at your television there is a lot less Canadian culture. In fact the national networks seem to do without a lot of CanCulture. As far as I can figure most of the restrictions have to do with allowing Canadian advertisers to show their commercials.

But I wonder why on one hand ESPN, HBO and the channels Canadians want to see are unavailable, but Al-Jazeera is totally acceptable. Good question, I guess if Canadians saw what, more sports it might make us question our loyalty to Canada. It's nonsense we require this regulatory body to tell us what to watch or not to watch. But they do, the Globe and Mail had this little report: "The RAI bid to the CRTC was a huge election issue among Italian-Canadians, with senior Liberal MPs promising that the channel would find its way on to the Canadian airwaves". Then in Quebec, 15000 protested the closing of their favourite radio station.

Good thing I live in such a free land, where I can decide what to watch or listen to without fear.

Peace

Was able to get out and do some bike training today, 17.2 km in 42'35". Considering how hot it was I feel good about my time. What I need to do is get a street bike rather then my mountain bike to do some more training.

You know every so often the various agencies of the federal government do something that makes me scratch my head. Recently the CRTC our anal-retensive commission that has the role of deciding what is fit for Canadians to watch and listen to, sort of a modern "ministry of propaganda and public enlightenment'. Well they made a couple of decisions which make me wonder. First of all, a radio station in Quebec CHOI had their license pulled by the commission because they allowed their morning DJ to be rather boorish. Now you have to remember this is Canada, the world's largest nanny state, where you are not allowed to think bad thoughts, only government approved thoughts. They DJ's were like a lot of DJ's and involved in the 'shock jock' stuff that Howard Stern made famous. What makes this ruling rater ominous is this quote: "The decision by the CRTC, which marked the first time the regulator has refused to renew a radio licence because of on-air views, was criticized by some observers as censorship and an infringement on freedom of expression". Look forward to more of this because I believe once you censor one thing, it becomes easier to censor the next and the next, you get my drift. So now the CRTC is involved in deciding what is proper thought for Canadians. Like I said, the nanny state, you know if you don't like something there is a few things you can do; you can stop listening, you can write or call and complain, you can promise to raise hell with the sponsors of the program. You can do a lot, you have that choice and freedom. However once you let the government decide what is right you enter a very nasty time.

In a related piece of news, the same regulatory body which censored one station for saying bad things, is allowing the Arab satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera to be a part of Canadian satellites systems. My question for the CRTC is this, are they allowed because they are stridently anti-American or because they are anti-Semitic. You see, in the nanny state there are thoughts allowed but only those sanctioned by the State. In Canada you are allowed to be anti-American and anti-Semitic.

One more thing, came across this article. Very funny my only fear is that the CRTC will read this and think it's a good idea.


Peace

This was going to be a run day for my training of the dualthon in August. After that opening line you are expecting a 'but'. Yes there is one and here it is. But the forecast was for smog and humidex warnings and so I decided to stay indoors. This is not to say I did nothing but watch 'Seinfeld', I did a half hour of weights and a half hour on the treadmill. So I gave myself both a strength and cardio workout for an hour. I do feel good, especially after the shower.
I know the literature does inform a person to add variety to the work out so it doesn't become stale. I worry sometimes it is happening, so I do try to vary the routines. Right now I'm looking for some new weight training workouts to add that freshness to the regimen.
Hopefully the air quality will be better for Friday.
Yesterday I attended a game at Comerica Park the new home of the Detroit Tigers. I have attended a number of games at Venerable old Tiger Stadium, yes I've seen Al Kaline play, but this was my first visit to this new place. I was impressed it is a beautiful place to watch a game. There is an intimate feel to the place and it does have what I want in a stadium, real grass and dirt. I would like to say the home team won, but alas, this is the 21st century Tigers, although they put on a good game and lost 5-4 in 10 innings. I believe this is a team on the rise and will only get better.

Peace

Today I started training for the dualthon in August. It's taking place on the 15th. Now it's not like I'm a total newbie, I've done both bike races and runs. Really it's a matter of combining the two with all the necessary work that will entail.
For this day I did my usual 6 k run and then rode for 11 k. The total time was 1 hour 6 minutes. My run was very slow today, I think I intentionally kept it slow for the bike. This week I plan to run on Wednesday and Friday, with the full training of bike and run on next Sunday. I'm hoping to shave time off and then add another 11 k to the bike. For the bike I'm taking sort of my running trail and then doubling it.
I felt good after the bike and with only a water bottle felt hydrated at all times. The bike was not a drain on my strength, especially after a good run so I'm hoping.
I'll let you know how I feel on Wednesday. Oh yes, I'm going to keep the weight training going as well.

I have to admit, every so often I do find it interesting to watch a
game of golf on television. I keep hoping to find some tricks and
tips that will assist my own rather amateurish game. The good
news is that I recently read most players shoot over 100. So I
feel in good company, those who don't are very good amateurs or
professionals. Since I am neither, I shall be content.

I'm trying the new edit composer which they have
with blogger and may I say it looks sharp. It's nice to see
there are a number of options that can be used when working on
it. I wish some other programs would also get with the program
and use something like this.

Well, not much to report on the political scene,
after the election I think we all need a break. So there's the
Open today, also known as the "British Open" and it's interesting to
watch the weather come in and go out, with apparent ease. One
moment everyone is in the sun and pleasant conditions, the next there
is a storm. So it will be interesting to watch how the weather
acts tomorrow. I wonder if it's better to start or be at the
end. I know that score is the determining factor but with the
weather it's conceivable you could start in good weather and end in
bad. If the openers end in bad, will that mean the leaders will
start in bad?

Something to consider. Who do I hope to
win? Good question. I don't have any favourites, just
hoping to see some good golf.

This isn't much of a thought, but hey it's Saturday and I hope it's going to be a good weekend.

I'm thinking about entering this dualthon in August
so I'll be practicing on the bike tomorrow. The run is only a 3k
and a 6 k. Both of those are normal distances for me, but it's
the bike or combining both which will be tricky. I'll get the
bike out and do about 20 k tomorrow. I'll blog how I felt
afterwards.



Peace

So yesterday I decided to watch the All-Star Game. It was a good game and since I'm more of an AL fan it was really good to see them hammer the National League. There was a few things I didn't enjoy, first that animated character "Scooter". Why do some networks feel they have to make something like this 'cute'. I know it was geared to the kids to explain some of the terms; hey you want to make the game appeal to kids, start it an hour early.

I also didn't care for Bud Selig stopping the game to give Roger Clemens a lifetime achievement awards. I mean it stops the flow of the game, and the All-Star game, while a celebration of the individual baseball player is also a game that pits the best of both leagues. You want to honour a person wait until the game is over. It's lessens the game. Now they talk about how important it is, it was always important, until knobs like Bud Selig decided to cheapen it.

Much has been made about the Rockets horrible first inning, giving up six runs and having the AL batters go through the cycle. I wonder and I understand a lot of people are wondering if Mike Piazza didn't try a little 'Bull Durham' on the Rocketman. As you may know the two hate each other. Although they claim to have patched things up, there will always be some underlying animosity.

If you know the movie 'Bull Durham' it deals with a catcher by the name of 'Crash' Davis, he is given a job to develop a new star pitcher, Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh, who has a million dollar arm and a 10 cent head. There's one scene where 'Nuke' brushes off the signs and tells 'Crash' he wants to throw heat. Crash goes back to his position and tells the batter what's coming. The batter obliges and hits the ball out of the park, hitting the Bull sign over the right field fence. So it makes you wonder, did Piazza whisper, 'he's throwning heat' to a few batters. I know Jim Rome has dismissed it during his show today. Well, it's fun to consider isn't it.


Peace

Well it's been some time since I posted something. I read an article on the Wired website of many people suffering from burn-out. It would be difficult to be articulate & witty all the time. This wasn't my problem, I've been away for a vacation.

What have I been thinking about? One thing has been the CFL , the Canadian Football League. It seems more Canadian players are playing in the 'skilled' positions such as running back & receivers. This is a nice return. For many years Canadians would be the O-linemen & the kickers. The 'skilled' positions of QB and the abovementioned was for the import (read American) players. Teams like Ottawa are playing more Canadian players. The CFL has a definate import/non-import ratio & it seems more teams are allowing Canadians an opportunity to excel at out game. Canadian football is unique and if you haven't watched any take the opportunity to watch some


Peace

Today I start my holiday! Yay. It turned out to be a great day weather wise. Okay, I am now going to bore you with a list of what I did for the first day:
1) Slept In
2) Worked on the Garden
3) Vacuumed out the MiniVan
4) Washed the MiniVan
5) Went for a Run ( 7 km)
6) Going to relax and listen to some music.

What I'm listening to right now is Melissa Auf Der Maur's first solo album 'Auf Der Maur". The second cut is getting a lot of airplay, but personally I think the first one 'Lightning is my Girl' is great. I enjoy having it as background as I work on the computer.

Well, nothing overly profound, I've got some theories about medicare that I'm working on, but right now, it's holiday time. It is time to kick back and not do much thinking.


Peace

HAPPY CANADA DAY

Indeed it is a happy Canada Day. We went to Fort Malden this afternoon and witness an interesting sight, 137 people took the oath of citizenship today and became Canadians. I didn't expect that but it was a delight to see; people from all over the world were making Canada their official country. From this point on they will be able to call themselves Canadians. They promised to be true to their new home and obey the laws and be good citizens.

I know there are a number of challenges facing this land I love but it restores my faith in the dominion to know people are willing to take this step. When you think about it, it's severing their old ties and loyalties and becoming one with their native land. Made me feel good to be a Canadian.

The local paper The Windsor Star featured a column by Victoria Billingsley. In her column she bemoans the fact that our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald is forgotten today. She wrote this poignant passage "Nevertheless, you were always true to your country and to its interests.
Your unique capacity to understand human nature, that men could never be made into saints, kept you focused on the realities and on men as they actually were, with all their warts and blemishes.
You grasped the means by which change could and did occur under your 20-year guidance of your Dominion as its prime minister.
Langevin, your loyal friend, admired your tolerance, intelligence and understanding". I've been a fan of Sir John A. for over 30 years and I appreciate these words, he was our greatest Prime Minister and had a love for our land that has never been surpassed. While others claim to love Canada, his was the deep love of a parent to a child. Thank you Victoria for these words.

Well, only a few hour remain of Canada Day, or Dominion Day 2004, our 137th birthday. All I can say is the words of our national anthem: God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.O Canada, we stand on guard for thee . God keep and bless this Dominion.


Peace

the election is over. what an interesting result. so we face a minority Liberal government. I suppose the question is what that will mean to us and what will be the result. One obvious result is that we will be going to the polls in probably two years. The second is that all of a sudden, Paul Martin is going to have to keep some of his promises. I know what you're thinking, a Liberal keep his word, what a concept. If the NDP comes with a list it will mean Paul will have to become a liberal. You see one of the great myths in Canada is that Paul Martin is a liberal. He is not, he is a conservative multi-millionaire. The only thing that interests him is not paying Canadian taxes. It is still the irony that the man who wants us to pay for all the benefits of being a Canadian doesn't like his company paying any taxes. You would think the man who believes paying taxes is a patriotic duty would gladly get rid of those 'flags of convenience' and pay his fair share. Of course, this is another example of the two rules that exist, one for the rich and one for the rest of us. The big difference is that the rest of us get to pay.

I was glad the local candidate I supported go elected. Jeff Watson will do a good job representing this riding in Ottawa. He's got some good ideas and will make a strong presence nationally. One difference between him and Susan Whelan is that he had to work to be elected and not depend upon the last name. Oh yeah, and some of his election workers, very nice.

I did some scrutineering last night, oversaw the counting of the ballots. I want to say this right here, right now, Liberals cheat. This one fellow decided a spoiled ballot should count, yes I immediately put on a challenge. Had this been a narrow election my objection could have made a lot of difference. Lesson to all, a Liberal will cheat, steal and do practically anything to win. Perhaps we should give Liberal supporters a world map to show Canada is not a bananna republic.

The biggest disappointment I had, besides the minority Liberal was the turn-out. I thought there was sufficient interest to get a huge crowd but the turn-out was the same as 2000. At 60.6% that means a lot of Canadians didn't get out to vote. Of course there will be the questions and probably the best answer is the fact a sizable number of Canadians have lost faith in the political process. The mantra, 'they're all a bunch of crooks' is one that comes out of the mouth of Canadians too easy. Of course if you examine the last 11 years of Jean Chretien, it's easy to understand why the cynicism has developed. Here was a man who went out of his way to prove politicians are crooks. He ruled with an iron fist, abused opponents and spent money on his cronies. He lied about the sale of his property and to ensure that the right people got the right money put pressure on the President of the Business Development Bank, to the point he resigned. This man later sued the government and won. Also for the people of Ontario, with the McGuinty break a promise a week regime there is a lot of mistrust. It's sad because not all of them are crooks, just the ones who run under the Liberal banner.


Peace

The Globe and Mail

This is it everybody. The big day. Like the headline in the Globe says, just vote. Today is the day we decide who will govern our lives for the next number of years, or perhaps a better time, months. It's easy to sit home and not bother. You look about and spout the mantra 'they're all crooks'. Well, who's fault is that? By not voting you give those in power the idea that they can get away with murder because no one really cares. Prove them wrong and show yoou care by doing one of the easiest chores imaginable. Go to the poll take a little piece of paper, go behind this cardboard booth and make an 'x' at your choice.

Don't know where the poll is, go to your recycle box and pull out on of those election flyers and call the local candidate's office. Tell them you need a ride and they'll come and get you. For the ultimate irony, call the office of the candidate you're not voting for, just don't tell them that.

I guess what I'm saying today is:

Get off your butt and VOTE

G-8 Summit: World Leaders Missed Good Opportunities on Several Issues

If you can remember that far back, Paul Martin had a few photo ops with his new best friend Bono. Bono if you don't know is the lead singer of the band U2, and one of the most social aware rockers you will meet. To give you the scenario, Bono was real happy that his new pal Paul Martin was big on supporting the fight against AIDS in Africa. Paul promised to do whatever is in his power to ensure generic drugs reach this troubled continent.

Let me say I support all efforts to fight this horrible disease, the numbers coming out of Africa are appalling. What's worse is the major pharmaceuticals are doing all in their power to stop this from happening. They don't want to have anything cut into their profits. The tragedy of it all is found in this line: ""Meanwhile, three million people are dying each year from AIDS despite the fact that effective life-extending treatment is already available for less than $1 a day". Lives lost for profit. It is incumbent on the west I believe to help fight this disease. We need to.

What's all this got to do with Paul Martin, well I don't read his name anywhere standing up and demanding the G-8 nations do anything. I mean, yeah they made promises to solve the world's problems, eventually. Listen up all, the world can't wait for the richest nations to get around to it, it must be done now. I notice that when the issue of debt forgiveness to the third and fourth world was brought up by Tony Blair, it was ignored. By the way Paul, this is another favourite topic of your friend Bono. He strongly supports debt forgiveness. It is criminal that the IMF and World Bank demands repayment for loans that basically repays other loans. The IMF puts demands on these nations that destroy whatever social safety net existed. This is a crime, but again, silence from the G-8. Yes they'll do something, eventually, when they get around to it.

Paul Martin, breaks another promise.


Peace

Copps supporters switch allegiance to NDP

I hadn't planned on writing about the election today, I had a story about my cat. I'll mention it at the end of this. Things are getting mighty interesting for the NDP, the headline for today tells of supporters of Sheila Copp switching to the NDP. In a way this is not a surprise, Paul did play fast and loose with Sheila, obviously punishing her for daring to run against him for the leadership of the Liberal Party. In all honesty I am not a fan of Sheila but I must admit, she was hosed by the pro-Martin supporters in the battle for the riding. An interesting comment made by one of her supporters is this: "At a news conference, former Liberal supporter Jimmy Lomax threw his support behind NDP candidate Tony DePaulo.
'We don't want (Prime Minister Paul) Martin,' Lomax said. 'Martin represents dishonesty. How many lies has he told us already?'". Now this is nasty. I suspect these people are becoming public with the blessing of Sheila? If so then Hamilton may be a very interesting place on the 28th, after all the Copps name carries a lot of support in that city and if it is even believed that Sheila would rather support the NDP then the Liberals it will be game over. I suspect there shall be some interesting races, especially the former riding held by Sheila. There is probably a great deal of animosity towards Martin and this is just some fuel for the fire.

All this is happening at a time when Paul is busy drumming support: Martin appeals to NDP voters to vote Liberal. This is interesting, if you read the article Paul told NDP supporters that he and they shared the same core values. Yes, I can almost hear the NDP'ers rolling on the floor with laughter over that. Yes the NDP with its strong labour roots have much in common with the multi-millionaire owner of Bahamas, erm Liberia, ummm, Canada Steamship Lines. Paul is saying the parties shaer the same view of minority rights, well, that may be true, if we could ever figure out what Paul Martin does belive in, besides clinging to power. Memo to all NDP'ers out there: you share nothing with Paul Martin. Remember he's the guy who gutted the Health Care system. He's the guy who killed social housing. He's also one of the people that used taxpayer dollars for his buds in Quebec. You share nothing with him. Don't be fooled.

I don't think I'ver ever seen a politician so desperate as Paul Martin. He's losing, no he's lost. It's all but over Paul. The pain, well actually, part of the pain will be over on the 28th, although I think some more pain will be soon coming your way. If you listen real hard you can hear them sharpening their knives in Liberal backrooms across the nation. Paul, I would now begin to watch your back.

Now for the cat story. Let me say I like cats. I own a cat, but there are times they bug me. Yesterday I was sitting outside with my cat when he decided to go for a stroll. He went to the wood pile and sniffed around. It was then I saw him launch and grab something. Yes he decided to get in touch with his inner cat and grab a baby bird. Needless to say I went right after him and took it out of his mouth, the bird was a Blue Jay. The place exploded in noise and feathers, I picked up the little bird and was almost attacked by Jays. After some work the bird flew over the fence where the parent birds proceeds to squawk and bomb anything, including me, that moved. I kept an eye on the bird when I could and the Jays were in a very offensive mode. The bird stayed in the neighbour's yard for the night and I could see the parent birds were very occupied keeping an eye for any more predators. At one point, I saw them dive at another cat, who wasn't even near their bird.

When I woke up this morning I heard the Jays. When I let the cat out the Jays were very aggressive and so our cat was cowering on the back porch. I decided to see if I could find the little bird, I did, back on the woodpile, just looking at me. with the feel of feathers, wings and air in my hair, I was divebombed, I left the bird alone. At lunch the Jays and the young chick were gone, the adventure was over.


Peace

I've been reading the news today about the Fete-nationale celebrations in the Province of Quebec. It is interesting to consider how a party that calls themselves the party of Quebec continually blows it. If you remember the last referendum the Federal government under Chretien was so lackadasical about it they nearlu lost. If it wasn't for people like Jean Charest it would hàe gone the other way.

The Liberals response to this was to set up the policy of having a prominent presence in the province. This meant sponsoring sports shows & other shows. Of course the result of this was Adscan. The money that was supposed to show the flag ended up in the pockets of friends of the PM.

How did the feds respond to this? One cabinet minister shrugged it off as 'business as usual' in Quebec. So their response to scandel was to say corruption was the usual way in Quebec. The result? The potential is a Bloc sweep in the province. So the end result may be a rejuvinized separtist movement. I hope those companies enjoy the spoils because that money may cause all of us grief.

Thanks Chretien, this is your legacy. Paul, I hope you liked your stay at Sussex Drive, because its coming to an end.

Peace

Yahoo! News - Largest ISPs Attack 'Zombies'

I guess the message here is guys and gals, get some good anti-virus protection. That's the message for today. There's so much nasty stuff, probably some sent by spammers, that we need to guard the computers. These clowns will do anything to get their garbage in our mailboxes. So do what you can to stop this nonsense.

This isn't much of a blog, but it's enough.

Peace

The Globe and Mail

Here's one of those articles that make you go 'huh'? Margaret Atwood is worried that if the new Conservative government gets in will destroy culture. Now understand had the article been one that points out the need and importance of culture as an election issue whe would have been correct. Culture is not being discussed. Culture is not just an important industry but the means by which Canadians can articulate what being a Canadian means. After all, culture defines a people.

However poor Margaret can't leave well enough alone. She attacks the Conservative party as a bunch of phillestine hicks that will slash and burn culture. She accuses them of applying the rules of the market to culture. In one quote she says: """Own merits" is a slippery term. In the marketplace, it doesn't mean "artistically excellent," it just means "marketable." Big money will decide what you read, view, and hear". Actually 'own merit' can mean excellence. You see people aren't stupid. I know those in the artistic community have a rather elitist view towards the unwashed but guess what. It's the unwashed that made Stratford a success and the Shaw Festival of NOTL the great venue it is. People want great culture and they will pay.

Understand I know the need of government support, the problem in Canada is that it is beside the US. That cultural behemoth is so large that it overshadows everything else. However I believe Canadians want to know its stories. What is needed is great culture. In my hometown an 'artist' won some GG award for putting 10 bottles of water in a line. Now I know there's a message here, but what it is fails me.

Culture is important, who will protect it best. I don't know. From Margaret's articles she reminds us that the Liberals do nothing. If she's inferring that it best to support the Liberals because 'at least with them you know what you get', you will continue to keep culture mired in mediocrity.


Peace

All your base are belong to us - Official Video Site

Okay, I'm out of the loop. I will confess it here and now. I don't have a clue what's going on but this "All your base are belong to us" is hilarious. Sorry for being about 3 years late. This is very very very funny.

I was watching X-Play on the new G4TechTV channel, which I am still not happy about, when Adam was talking about this video. He played some of it and it is laugh out loud funny. Being the Internet guy that I am, I googled it and came across a whole lot of material on it. I discovered the history, I watched the video and I downloaded the mp3 file.

All that's really left for me to do is buy the t-shirt, which I can do by staying with the official video site. I also discovered that Wired Magazine had an article on it. I learned it's history. It is very funny. This is why the Internet exists, to take an obscure line from an obscure game and turn it into a phenomenum. And to think some people call the Internet a great waste of time. All this from a game, this is great.

Yeah, I'm not going to say anything about politics, yes I am. I went to a Stephen Harper rally in my home town. It was amazing, I never thought you could get that many people to a Conservative Party rally ever. Trust me, the city I grew up in was not know as a Conservative stronghold ever. Yet that many, a lot of energy. I know the Liberals are releasing a poll saying they are on the rebound. Hmm, I wonder. I don't know, maybe, maybe not. Still we are two weeks away from decision day. All I can say is, it's going to be interesting.


Peace

The Leaders Debate

well I mentioned I opine a bit more on the above. I have to admit I find the news reports interesting, first of all I went to the Sympatic/MSN/CTV.ca report and I felt this was a fair point. I would agree that the winner, not by much, was Stepehn Harper. I say this because he was the coolest under fire, he made his points and his overall presentation was good. If there is a big loser it has to be Paul Martin. He seems unsure of himself although to be honest being placed on the defensive from the get go was not the best way to be. However he should have realized he would be the centre of attention. As much as he tried to deflect it to Harper, it seemed to fail. The person having the most fun was Gilles Ducette, although there was an interesting moment when he challenged Stephen Harper on french rights outside of Quebec, Harper mentioned that it was 'rich coming from a man who's done nothing to protect English rights in Quebec'. Jack Layton did well, making sure Paul Martin was aware of all his broken promises of the past ten years. He did say that he was miffed that Martin constantly talked about the fact there was only two parties that could form the government. He was perturbed and kept bringing it up.

On the social issues, namely abortion and same sex marriage, a couple interesting discussions, Paul was attacking Stephen on his threat to use the 'notwithstanding' clause of the Charter. He said it was terrible that the Conservatives would attempt to stifle the rights and freedoms of Canadians, and that He Paul would protect the rights of all Canadians. Stephen seemed to have gotten through that relatively unscathed. It was an interesting point that Jack Layton went more after Paul Martin on this point, his mentioned that at least with Stephen Harper you knew his opinion. He criticized the PM for not expressing an opinion and hiding behind the Supremem Court. Mr. Martin was asked by M. Doucette to state his personal opinion about marriage, all Paul did was blather on about the constitution and the Charter.

Memo to Paul Martin: fire your handlers and trainers, they did a horrible job preparing you for this debate. You had to know what you were to be confronted on. One of the funnier moments I thought was when he and Jack Layton went on about missle defence with the Americans, aka Star Wars 2. All Paul Martin could babble on was 'weaponization of space'. What was funny is that he didn't say it once, or just twice, but on and on. My son and I wondered how drunk you could get if you placed a 'weaponization of space' drinking game.

Paul was flustered throughout the two hours, even when he tried to sound Prime Ministerial he was flat. Whatever momentum the Liberals hoped went crashing and burning on that night.

To keep a sense of fairness, I went to the Toronto Star website and of course they declared Paul Martin the winner. Chantel Hebert had a most interesting take, saying that it will help Paul Martin's chances, huh? For what? Certainly not to win, sorry Chantel, you're confused. Another columnist, Antonio Zerbisias wrote in her column: "But last night, during the English language federal leaders debate, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper couldn't make eye contact". That's odd Antonio, he was always looking at the people he was address, Jack kept looking at the camera, Martin was going twenty shades of red and Gilles was having a good time. Then again, you got to remember this is the Toronto Star, the inhouse organ of the Liberal party of Canada. Memo to Antonio, I watched the debate, I didn't listen to the radio, or to streaming audio on the net, via TV and guess what, your bias is showing darling.

Well, that's my take. Was there an outright winner, no, was there an outright lose, yes, Paul Martin.


Peace

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca

This is a quick response. I've got to agree, Harper had a better showing, he was poised, calm and definately knew his material. He did not get rattled when confronted on the moral issues. On the other hand Paul was stumbling a lot.

I had a very interesting lunch today. I was invited to attend a special luncheon meeting, hosted by the local Campaign Life office. Let me say first of all the pizza was delicious. I am very influenced by the quality of pizze available to me. I will also say that it felt a bit funny being the token protestant. I mean no disrespect, its just pro-life meetings and movements are heavy with catholics. Not, to quote Jerry Seinfeld, there's anything wrong with that.

Besides the pizza and demographics what made it a fascinating time was the speaker. The guest was a well known member of parliament who is very outspoken on this opinion of pro-life and other subversive thoughts. He was extremely articulate, quoting from diverse thoughts as the US Declaration of Independence to John Paul the Second. He discussed what is the definition of democracy and in light of this day and age, it's important. He states that democracy, to be understood from a Christian perspective is that it is a system of government that is predicated on the truth of the human nature, that made in the image of God and as such possesses inalienable and inviolable rights. He further stress that any democracy which does not adhere to this principle is in danger of turning into a veiled form of fascism.

All this was said in light of recent directives from the Prime Minister who believes that the issue of abortion is not to be discussed on any level. As you may know Stephen Harper said he would allow a private member's bill to be tabled on the issue of abortion and that there would be a free vote. What the speaker pointed out despite the hue and cry, this is simply enforcing the rules of parliamentary democracy. This is true, there is a place for private member's bills, they are accured the right to a free vote and many are so tabled. Usually the bill tends to be defeated but it allows members of parliament to bring forward issues they feel is important. It appears the man, Paul Martin, who once lamented on the "democracy deficit" is willing to increase the deficit on this one issue.

I have real problems when anyone decided that an issue can't be debated in an open manner, I wonder if it is because the side desiring the suppression cannot argue their issue in an open manner. what is the problem, is abortion an issue that can stand on its merits? What other social issues will Paul Martin declare to be not open for discussion. I wonder are we truly in a time where democracy is becoming a veiled form of fascism? In the quest for tolerance are we becoming intolerant. Whether a person agrees or not we live in the age of the marketplace of ideas. The idea of the marketplace was articulated by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. He believed; "In 1919, Justice Holmes filed a dissent in Abrams v. United States in which he created the powerful and enduring "marketplace of ideas" metaphor to encapsulate the concept of freedom of speech. In the marketplace metaphor, ideas compete against one another for acceptance -- with the underlying faith that truth will prevail in such an open encounter." This analogy is crucial for the survival of democracy, if we place arbitary limits, not for reasons of human safety but for reasons of a particular idealogy, we undermine democracy. If you want to read more follow this link.

It has to be understood that democracy can be messy, people can and say some rather unpleasant things, they can espouse views which are not very nice. However do we say that because we shouldn't say such things, are we empowered to supress them. Most people would probably agree that such thoughts should be suppressed, but what if its your turn to have your thoughts suppressed. The Poem on the wall of the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC says it best: " "When they came for the gypsies, I did not speak, for I am not a gypsy. When they came for the Jews, I did not speak,because I wasn't a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak, for I am not a Catholic. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak."

Where does it end is the question, what next shall be declared sacrosanct and no longer discussed. In our day and age of alledged tolerance, heaven help you if you uphold an opposing view, because you shall be declared a danger and a threat to society.


Peace

What's on my mind Sunday Afternoon

Well I finally saw the vaulted Liberal Attack Ad, good to see my taxdollars at work. The ads are aimed to portray Stephen Harper as a very bad man, who will change Canada and make it a very scary country. So scary you won't recognize the place. Eeew, that's scary stuff boys and girls, to quote Count Floyd.

How scary, let's consider it, first of all the commercial begins by saying that if Stephen Harper had been PM, Canada would be in Iraq, actually if Paul Martin had been Prime Minister, Canada would have been in Iraq. The second point is that the Conservatives will repeal gun laws and make Canada a dangerous place. What the Conservatives would do is scrap the gun registry which has done nothing but piss off a lot of hunters, trappers and farmers and removed a lot of cash from law abiding people. As far as I know the Gun Registry has done nothing to stem the use of guns in crime, or stem the trade in illegal weapons. Got news for the Liberals, crooks don't register guns. It also warns us that our health care will be jeopardized by US style tax cuts. The funny thing, our system is in jeopardy from Martin's hack and slash budgets of the 90's and his US style corporate tax cuts in the early 2000's. Then there is the threat that a Harper government would make a deal with the devil himself, that's Gilles Ducette by the way. Like Martin wouldn't. Then there's the old saw about 'taking away a woman's right to choose. Some of this stuff isn't worth dealing with. Lame Paul, very lame.

Now if you want to see a great ad, click on the link, Ed Broadbent doing rap. Sort of laugh out loud funny. There needs to be more humour, you got to love a political party that doesn't take itself too serious all the time.

Watched England vs France at Euro2004, what can I say, England won in the first 90 and France won in the last 5. Two great goals by Zidane left the English fans in total shock and disbelief. While Beckham assisted with a masterful free kick, his failure to score on the penalty shot opened the way for France to first tie the game and then, after a dreadful brain cramp by Steve Gerrard which caused David James the goalie to tackle Thierry Henry in the box, Zidane scored on his penalty shot for the 2-1 lead and win.

I also did my 7 k run, very warm, but at least I beat the storm. Hey, what's this about Star Choice making us pay for the Weather Network? Contact them and yell at them. This is not a very good idea guys and gals. Weather needs to be free.

Peace

'I read this regarding the Euro2004 football tournament that the Portugese Police got a water cannon & 15000 cans of tear. Yes they're ready. Nothing says soccer tournament like water cannons & tear gas.

I know that sounds bad, personally I'm looking forward to England vs France. Let's see if Beckham can make people forget about those SMS to that chicky. Better bend it Beckham, that's all I got to say.

Hey how about all the silverware picked up by the Bolts? Good going Marty, Brad & Torts for winning the individual honours. Thank you guys for a great Stanley Cup final.

Sympatico/MSN : News : CTV.ca

The Liberals are desperate and are now using attack ads against Stephen Harper. You know I don't know if I'm at all surprised. One week the PM says he's going to stick to issues and approach this election on a moral high ground and the next its attack ads. Here is a party that is beyond desperate. I read over the notes and its the usual stuff, that Harper would have sent troops to Iraq ( so would Martin) or that he will change Canada. You know the funny thing is, what's wrong with changing Canada? We have been mired in a sea of cynicism and funk for the last 10 years, maybe a change will be good for us.

What bothers me is that they think this sort of thing will work, that scaring us will get us to flock to the safety of the Liberal party. Memo to Paul Martin, go back to Ontario in the early 90's your man David Petterson, who was Premier and had just called a snap election warned Ontario about the "Socialist Hordes" at the gate and guess what, it didn't work. The electorate is not a bunch of little children that can be frightened into believing their is a bogeyman. It's time the politicians need to grow up and discuss issues.

All this tells me Harper is on a roll, the Liberals are in total confusion and disarray. I can't wait to read that either another Liberal rat is leaving the sinking ship or they'll be a near revolt in Liberal ranks.

Thanks Paul for bring the election down. I hope you enjoyed your stay at Sussex Drive, cause you're leaving real soon.


Peace

CBC News:Liberal women join to denounce Harper on abortion

I want to give a little lesson on civics. First of all, I do find it funny when Liberals get in a huff over ethical issues, I mean if there's a group that would have problems with ethics its the Liberals. The issue is abortion and the fact that Stephen Harper will allow a free vote on abortion if a privatemembers bill was introduced. I know its important to present your own bias and I will, I am pro-life. I am not a hardcore pro-lifer because I understand there may be circumstances, such as the mother's life in jeopardy which could mean that it might be necessary.

The controversy stems from what happened with Cheryl Gallant:"The women are also concerned about a comment made by Tory MP Cheryl Gallant at a recent pro-life rally on Parliament Hill attended by some Liberal MPs". She was wrong to compare abortion to the beheading of that American, but this is the election and rhetoric tends to be in high gear.
The problem I have is that pro-abortionists are so right about their view is that they allow no other view to be expressed. Hey, all you Liberal pro-abortionists, let me remind you of something, this is Canada this isn't Russia of the 1930's when Stalin told you what to think and heaven help you if you decided to stray from his opinon. Then again, we did have Chretien of the 1990's and with the exception of mass executions and gulags its almost the same. You see, we're so used to being told not to think that when someone suggests thinking it's almost a sin. Funny thing is there are Liberals who agree with Ms Gallant. My it must be refreshing to be allowed to say what you think eh guys and gals.

As for the "notwithstanding" clause of the constitution, let's remember that it was put there by the federal Liberals under that democrat Pierre Trudeau. It has been used once, I believe its called Bill 101 in Quebec.

You can tell things are in trouble when Liberals decide to take a high moral road. Morality and Liberals, can't occur in the same sentence.


Peace

I watched game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals last. Finally one say hockey is over, perhaps until August (World Cup) or for a very long time. depending on the CBA negotiations. But that could be a topic for future blogs.

Let me say I've been a Lightning fan from day one. I used to spend a lot of time in Tampa & have great memories. I have owned a jersey for a long time & a hat & a tee. I saw them play in Vancouver when I lived out there. I have a couple of year books & so I wouldn't call myself a bandwagon jumper. I was so very happy that the Bolts won the Cup. I was on the edge of the bed. I didn't watch my of the play in the final minute, I was counting down the seconds.

What do I say to all this?

THE LIGHTNING WON THE STANLEY CUP.

YES YES YES YES

There is now some discussion regarding the Conservative Party desire to allow 'free vote' & private member bilis on issues such as abortion. The idea here is that MP's are individuals of intellect & should be allowed to exercise that intellect. PM Martin spoke of the 'democratic deficit' in Canadian government. For too long the whip , under the control of the PMO has been informing MP's what to think and how to vote.

So what about free votes and privaie member bills? Couple this with the Conservative ibeliefs in ihe grassroots it can mean some interesting days. The question is what is an MP^ is he or she the mouthpiece for their constituency or do we elect them & allow to act in the best interest of the constituents and the nation. Do they act for us or as agents of us?

Not that is a new question, it was asked & one answer was given by Edmund Burke. His speech to the Electors of Bristol present the view of the MP as representing a constituency rather then the constituents. Thus the election becomes the means by which the electoate express their approval, or disproval of their actions. Has times changed. Are the points Edmund Burke made relevant today. Reading his speech I realized he was presenting his defense for his actions. I should look up the results of that election.

He did make an interesting point:e done: 'Gentleman, bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.'
This is to be remembered no matter what the source. The fear is that private members bills will lead Canada to develop into a Taliban West. Bad laws can come from any source and I hope everyone remembers this reality. As for the grassroots, yes we can be opinionated and perhaps at times bigoted. People can also be thoughtful & having insight that can be very profound.

What's the answer? Perhaps found with a combination of bgth views.


Peace

CBC News - Indepth Backgrounder: D-Day

I watched the international ceremony of commemoration this morning and I want to tell you it was moving. I saw those gallent veterans, still marching, still proud.

the most moving moment, when all the dignitaries stood up and gave these men a standing ovation. They deserved it. So I say to all you who are vets, thank you.


Peace

The latest poll staies the obvious, the local CPC candidate 42%. Liberal 18%. However an interesting observation is the Green Party candidate is just ahead of the incumbent Liberal. So in the right wing rural riding (say the 3x fast) the Greens are second! This is fabulous news. If I read the polls right Jeff Watson should be more concerned about the Green candidate then Susan Whelan.

Just one more indication that the fLiberals are done like dinner.


Peace

How Many Canadian Politicians does it take to change a Lightbulb

Here it is everyone, the explanation of the parties. Of course the ultimate answer is 163, but the importance is the explanation.

Liberals: we shall spend billions to ensure that Canadians enjoy a unique Canadian lightbulb and if I don't change it within the next 2 or three years, I'll resign.

conservatives: we know you demand a change in lightbulb and we will spend about as much money as the Liberals and we'll cut your taxes and slash the graft and corruption that led to the bulb going out.

NDP: It is Paul Martin's fault that the lightbulb went out.

BQ: who cares, we're leaving

Green Party: we will install an energy efficient lightbulb that uses alternative energy.

Marijuana Party of Canada: Dude, smoke this and you won't care if the light is out or not. Whoa anybody got some munchies?

By the way, I'm going to deliver my 'Election Lightbulb' jokes. It's how I understand & explain the election.

I've read with interest the numbers that are coming from Paul Martin. For a person who made a reputation as a fiscal conservative & responsible ministry he's promising everybody a lot of cash. The last number is 27 Billion dollars. He is promising: more money for health care, defense. seniors, disabled & now a national day care policy.

You know this is why people are cynical. Consider a few points the first is all these promises have been said before. This is like every election promise the Liberals have for the last 20 years. The only difference is more money. Second for the last years. forget that, the last year there has been no money for healthcare, cities or the military. Now all of a sudden he can find it. What was it under the cushions at Sussex Drive?

What disturbs me beside this being a new bunch of promises that wont be kept is that its all the same. This is the 4th or 3rd year of a new century & why no new vision for Canada? This could be an election that looks to the future with excitement but all we get are Liberals throwing money at 'problems'.

Let's remember Paul Martin believes it Canadian to pay more taxes so you know what mean our paycheques are not. Oh by the way for a person who loves u & me paying taxes he makes sure his company Canadian Steamship Lines doesn't pay taxes by flying 'flags of convenience'.


Peace

CBC News: Liberals to give billions to help seniors, disabled

I truly believe Paul Martin missed his calling, and that is as a stand up comic. I'm not talking about his promise to give seniors and people with disabilities money, I mean this is chalked up as just another promise to be broken. The only seniors and people with disability that will see money are the "Friends of the Prime Minister". What I thought was funny was this comment: Martin admitted to making mistakes, but he defended his party's governing record over the past decade.

"It is also true in the last 10 years there have been incidents that have caused concern and dismay among Canadians," Martin said.

Dismay? Concern? How about anger Paul? How about rampant cynicism. These weren't just 'incidents', this was part of your record. This was a planned by the Prime Minister Office to rob Canadians blind while making sure their friends were taken care of. This is not an incident, this is the way things were done by your government. Yes, your government, you were the second most powerful man in the land and don't say it was just a couple of 'incidents'. This isn't a few kids stealing candy bars on a dare, this was government policy.

He promised to resign if his promises aren't kept. Before you start having your faith restored let me remind you of an event a few years ago. During the 1993 election Sheila Copps promised to resign if the Liberals didn't get rid of the GST. Well they didn't and she had to be shamed into resigning. Of course she resigned her seat and then ran in the upcoming by-election which she ran. This says a great deal about the people of Hamilton by the way, the result was a lot of money was spent on a silly byelection. The question, why did she run? Nothing changed, except she demonstrated a depth of cynicism that is mind boggling.

Remember all this on June 28th.



Peace