Amazon.ca: Books: The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution

I decided finally to order this book from Amazon.ca. I have been following the going on's of the music industry since the days of Napster and I am still amazed how they, the industry continues to miss a tremendous opportunity.

to give an example, let's go back to Fiona Apple's incredible CD Extraordinary Machine. It is a wonderful piece of work that has been permanently shelved by Sony, or so they say. However it has been leaked onto the internet and it is possible to download it by doing a bit of hunting. One site that featured the cuts received a Cease and Desist order from RIAA. Again, here is an organization which deserves to vanish through extinction. Sony does not want to release it, so how can they complain.

So the book to get back to the original topic examines the industry and suggests the future of music, one without CD's and record store. Well, both points I'm not sure, i do believe there will always be record stores because people like records and the same holds true for CD's. Although the future may be filled with home made CD's burned from tracks downloaded from the internet, either legally or illegally. Trust me people will always find a way.

Right now, if you're interested, I'm listening to U2, "Rattle and Hum", a great CD. I am still so ready to see the concert in October.

H�tel-Dieu Grace Hospital

People who know me may find the subject of this blog odd. Let me say that I actively discourage people from going to Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, in Windsor Ontario. I say it to you as well, if you become ill or require a visit to an emergency ward, do not go to HD/GH. If you are ill, may I suggest that you simply you lie down for 10 days. After that period of time you will either be well, or dead. If you go to HD/G you will probably be dead.

Let me give you some examples, recently a person I respect and know told me an incident, of which she was a witness. This woman came to the aforementioned hospital complaining that she thought she was having a heart attack. They gave her an EKG and had her sit in one of those rooms in ER- they told her she had some indigestion and sent her home. Now listen my knowledge of medicine is nil, but I know a few things the main being that women have different symptons of a heart attack, also their symptons are different. She returned, in far worse condition and was air lifted to Detroit Recovery Hospital; they felt her condition was to far to risk a flight to London. So she was flown to Detroit where she died. I suppose it could be argued whether she would have lived anyway, but the delay of time ensured death was inevitable.

The second incident is recent, this fellow I know checked in with some curious symptons, such as confusion and cold sweats. He went in and after seeing some sort of nurse practitioner he was released. His conditioned remained at least the same and the doctor he saw on Tuesday said he should not have been released. He is now at HG/G having tests to determine whether or not he has had a stroke. Let's consider it, for two days he received no treatment.

So the bottom line, stay away from Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital.

The Globe and Mail: Volpe won't apologize to Tories

It's nice to see the governing party is acting like the government. Now theyare calling each other names. When my kids do that there is usually punishment. Such as going to a room, or writing out lines, that sort of thing. What to do with Mr. Volpe? Well, he won't apologize. Makes sense, this government has squandered our resources, screwed us royally and not a word of apology.

Just remember all this when you go to the poll.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Greediest Generation

All us baby boomers need to read this article and then remind ourselves the world was NOT created for us. The people of the First Nations have this quotation:
" We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.". Let's remind ourselves of this fact.

We babyboomers are in danger of becoming the most despised generation of people ever produced. We consume without the slightest interest of the impact we have on our world. We seek only that which is benefical to ourselves. Our politics are of the most selfish of natures. We care only for our needs. We are corrupt and unthinking, and it's time we GROW UP!!!!

Remember you have children and perhaps you older BB's have grandchildren. Stop thinking of ourselves and think about them.

It's not too late to change.

Peace

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Went to see the movie opening day, loved it. Yes there was the romance between Arthur and Trillian, or Patricia McMillan but that is forgiveable.

I loved it, yes totally enjoyed it. The book parts were funny; Arthur was funny, Ford was great, Zaphod was off the wall, like he should be and the stuff that only a true fan would get, super.

What sort of thing, the bejewelled crustasian of Vogsphere, the home of the Vogons.

I laughed and like a lot of fans, clapped at the end.

by the way, I did annoy my daughter by speaking along with some of the great quotes from the book. You could also tell the fans, they were the ones really laughing at things.

There was a cameo from the original Marvin and the original Arthur Dent, and for the latter, had to google to see where he was.

for more on the Vogons, see this link.

Also, if you want to read the book, go to this site.

Peace

With the fact I watch a lot of Call for Help, I hear a great deal about Macs and Linux. A few weeks ago there was asegment on Linux Live CD-ROM. What this does is allow a person to boot from a CD-ROM and use a brand of Linux on the computer. After looking around I was able to download Slax Linux and put it on a CD. It took a while to find the right way to burn the program onto a CD, because the program is downloaded as an .iso, it requires a person to make an image onto the CD. It is not the same as doing the same as a regular burn.

Yesterday I ran it on the main computer and it worked. There is still some work needed, first of all I couldn't get the mouse to work, but it was interesting to discover how it works.

I'm going to be reading the Slax documents to learn more how to use the program. I'm sure it will be interesting.

Another Linux I decided to try is ubuntu Linux, which means humanity for others. It's another Live CD so I will find it interesting to use. Perhaps eventually I will move to Linux in all it's glory.

Peace

viksoe.dk - GMail Drive shell extension

Andy Walker of Cyberwalker.com and CAll for Help mentioned this great Gmail hack. You can use the file and turn your gmail account into a virtual hard drive, accessible from your computer.

Follow the directions, it does work and it is great. You may want to move all your files to the archive, since they will show up as emails.


With Gmail offering over 2 Gigs of storage, it's even mor enticing.

Peace.

Earthday Network Homepage

Tomorrow is Earth Day. I know some get cranky and want to make a day in March Earth Day, for most tomorrow will be the day. It's the day we go out and walk softly on Mother Earth, thanking her for the life she gives us. We also must stop and consider what we are doing to the Planet. It is still our only home and as one poster declared, a good planet is hard to find.

I came across this site, celebrates the Celtic feast of Bealitainn. It is the festival of fertility. It is also known as May Day, and while that's still a few days away, there is some advice for that feast and also a good idea for earth day.

It suggests we:

1 Take an early morning walk, greet the animals and plants, look for Faeries.

2 Wake early to gather morning dew to bathe for face-one could also gather some from a stream or spring for the same purpose.

3 Collect water from the above sources for use in scrying or blessing for magickal workings.

4 Pick Spring flowers to braid into your hair or make into crowns or wreaths-add some tiny fairy bells!.

5 Set offerings of flowers or wreath into a pond, lake, river, etc.



All in all, not a bad idea.

Be at peace with the Earth.

AdScam.CA

A website dedicated to all the news regarding AdScam that is fit to print. You want to know something, reading it will give you fits.

Enjoy working on your income tax after reading this.

FaireBulletin: Guilds

So last night my daughters encouraged me to take them to their club meeting. Being the loving father that I am I agreed. I knew the club was a medieval group and it lived up to my expectations.

The name of the group is the "Essex Medieval Heritage Society", and I have to admit I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, the girls suggested I wear my Monty Python t-shirt, it features a scene from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's the scene where Arthur deals with the black knight and the knight has no limbs and the t says "It's only a flesh wound". Plus my Jethro Tull bandanna, I felt I was readly. Well everyone loved the t shirt.

There wasn't much happening and my daughters explained that they had a huge convention over the weekend, plus they moved to a new location so things were slow. They wanted to know if I will take them next week. They also told me they will make a costume.

OH well, as long as I don't miss Doctor Who.

London Free Press: News Section - Election fever taking hold

I have some concern about this. I know lately the PM has been goading the leader of the Opposition to 'pull the plug' and force the government to resign and call an election.

while I would say that might work I have only one question and that is, why does Paul want an election? Why not wait for the full release of the Gormey Commission. While what has been said is damning and damaging, is this the proverbial tip of the iceberg?

Perhaps it would be better to let the government swing. Right now the government is on its heels; they can't do much more then respond to the the accusations. This mean they don't have time for much else, so nothing is getting done. Perhaps allowing them that is the LIberals is revel in their incompetence would be a good thing, although perhaps not for the country as a whole.

By the way, expect Paul to wrap himself in the flag and constitution. He will paint the Conservatives as intolerant, mind you what would we want an 'intolerant' government or a 'corrupt' one. That may be our choice in the next election.

Peace

Martin glad to be rid of turncoats

It's always interesting when a person in the midst of scandel attempts to gain the moral high ground. Witness the case of Paul Martin, the Prime Minister of Canada. The Gormey Commission is revealing so much of the horror that was the Chretien years, it's amazing these people don't do the honourable thing and resign. Now we find out that a personal confidente of Chretien received payment totalling Six Million Dollars for well, no one is quite sure what he did.

I love the last paragraph: n a pep rally to his dwindling troops, Martin said Liberals must prepare to fight a campaign focused sharply on a strong fiscal record and mainstream Canadian values. Just one question, what values would those be, vaciliation, graft, corruption squandering resources, just what are our mainstream values Paul. Because all that I mention seem to be the Liberal Party of Canada, but do they represent ours?


Peace

Piercing the peer�to�peer myths: An examination of the Canadian experience: "First, that the Canadian recording industry has sustained significant financial losses in recent years due to decreased music sales. Second, that those losses can be attributed to peer�to�peer file sharing. Third, that the losses have materially harmed Canadian artists"

This is a fascinating article. The author takes on what he calls the three pillars of the CRIA lobbying campaign, which are: "First, that the Canadian recording industry has sustained significant financial losses in recent years due to decreased music sales. Second, that those losses can be attributed to peer–to–peer file sharing. Third, that the losses have materially harmed Canadian artists". It are these three that the RIAA base their lobbying and harassment of music fans, ie the law suits on.

What this article by Michael Geist does is demolish each of the pillars or myths. Everything that the Music industry says and does is to blame all their woes on peer to peer sharing of music files. They have launched court challenges, lobbied governments, thrown obscene amounts of money at candidates and sued everybody on the myth that it is the mp3 that has had such a negative impact on their industry. The truth is, the industry has hurt itself by gouging consumers, through bad talent andn just by being idiotic and refusing to use technology. They prefer to hold to the old method when the old is definately out.

This is also coming out in the trialMGM Studios v. Grokster, the idea that Grokster should be closed down since it has only one purpose and that is to all the free flow of copyrighted material across the 'Net. One of the concerns is that if MGM wins it will basically end technological innovation. There are some who believe this case might send a chill through the computer industry because some may argue that any item that can be used to playback illegally obtained material should be stopped and the manufacturer should be sued.

Geist argument destroys the CRIA's argument. Then again it always was tenuous, which is why the lobby was all for throwing huge amounts of money to get what they want. Why argue facts when you have a wheelbarrow full of money to throw at politicians?

So read the article and read some of the background articles, they are equally as interesting.

Peace

Detroit Tigers : The Official Site

I am a baseball fan. I love the game, there's something about it that appeals to me. Perhaps it's the heritage and tradition. It's a game that's both easily understood and played. Yet it is a challenging game.

It is the beautiful game. AT its best it is beautiful, the sight of grass and dirt, And I do mean grass, none of that astroturf or even 'field turf' for me. It must be grass, it must be a full infield.

Go and enjoy some baseball

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca

this is worse then imagined. So all of you who haven't filed your taxes for this year, or if you have get out your T-4 slip and stare at the box that reports 'taxes paid'. Ask yourself one question, how much of this money ended up in the pockets of the Liberal party of Canada?

When you use the word 'kickback' it kind of reminds you of organized crime. What happened was the Federal Liberals were laundering money. They gave money to a 'legitimate' business and then got it back in other forms. The government cannot by law give money to itself, that's illegal, but if a company made a donation. Well that's perfectly legal. Unless it's part of a scam that is.

Just remember all this. Look at your t-4, or your next pay stub and remind yourself that part of your tax dollars went for crooks.

How does that make you feel?

Peace

Captain's Quarters

If the Liberals don't want this material out, then it's my duty to provide this link for all you from Canada.

Read. As you do, remember this is your tax dollars at work.

Liberals want to call a snap election, let them. If you love Canada you will toss them out.

CBC Television - Doctor Who

Okay, I am still tingely from the first episode. It is great. It is super. Christopher Ecclestone is a great Doctor. He portrays a very 21st century, post-modern, tongue in cheek Doctor who can still save the world, attract a bird and have a good time at it.

When I heard the opening song, oh man, it was great. I mean I will enjoy each episode if they are as good as this one.

Interesting that the monster the good doctor takes on are the Autons. It's interesting to note this was the first 'monster' the third doctor faced.

I do believe this is a good sign since the Jon Pertwee doctor really started the golden age of Doctor Who.

All I can say is Christopher, stay as the Doctor, you are great.


Peace

Doctor Who Information Network

A couple of years ago I came up with the Denise Crosby awards; they were to be given to the actor or actress who made a career move that was so mindbogglingly stupid as to sink what little career they had. It is named after Denise Crosby who played Tasha Yar during the first season of Star Trek:The Next Generation. She left after one season and then spent the next years trying to get back on, she did have guest appearances as Sela, a half Romulan- half human leader. I'm not going to go into the details, if you're a trekker, you already know.

Later recipients were Genevieve Bujold who was chosen to play the part of Captain Kathryn Janeway, the commander of the Federation Starship Voyager. Well, she decided she couldn't take the pressure of a weekly show and left after a few rehersals. I guess the grind of a regular paycheque got to her too.

Now we come to 2005 and we have a winner and it is Christopher Eccleston, our intrepid new doctor. The article states that he doesn't want to be typecast as the Doctor and the grueling schedule. Again let me ask the question, a regular paycheque is also a pain isn't it Chris. It's not like the guy hasn't done television before so he can't say the idea of a schedule is a stranger to him. Well, thanks for getting it started, I hope you enjoy being the shortest staying Doctor ever. Yes I know, Paul McCann only played the Doctor in the telemovie, but let's not bother him, he would have been a great doctor.

So who's next? Well, one name mentioned in the article is David Tennant.

You know who I would like to be his replacement? I'll tell you, it would be Liam Lynch, yes "United States of Whatever" dude. He did a great video called Fresh Electric which was a whole Dr. Who set up and he played the Doctor. It's a great video featuring the Blue Police Box, K-9, the Master, the Daleks; just a great great video. He should be the next Doctor. Tell the BBC this.

To see the video, go to this link. If it doesn't work, then go to the this G4TV link page.

It's great.


Peace

ThinkGeek :: iCopulate

I heard about this on Attack of the Show, the G4TV replacement for The ScreenSavers.

I was interested as it had to do with iPods. Let me say this, I would never allow my Ipod Mini to copulate in such a manner. I mean I plan to tell my mini the facts of life and how good Mini's never do such things. You just never know where the other Mini has been.

For more interesting April Fool's stuff go to: Google Gulp.

I mentioned how much I am enjoying Moby's new CD, Hotel. The links can be found on an earlier entry. I know some people are getting bent out of shape because the second disc has nothing but ambient songs; to them I say, get over yourself. Listen, Moby started out as a punk rocker, so if he wants to experiment and grow his reportoire, who are we to argue. Both CD's are fabulous.

The first one, which contains his electronica based work has some wonderful dance cuts. I think my favourite is "Lift Me Up". Talk about dancing, I've got it in the iPod and it's a tune to move your body with. In fact last night I was a live iPod commercial all by myself.

Here are words so you can follow along as you groove to the beat:

Blind talking (blind talking)
Take us so far (take us so far)
Broken down cars (broken down cars)
Like stronger old stars (like stronger old stars)

Blind talking (blind talking)
Served us so well (served us so well)
Travelled trough hell (travelled trough hell)
We know how it felt (we know how it felt)

Lift me up, lift me up
Aiah Nouwamba
Lift me up, lift me up
Aiah Nouwamba

Blind talking (blind talking)
Making us cold (making us cold)
So strong out and cold (so strong out and cold)
Feeling so old (feeling so old)

Blind talking (blind talking)
Has ruined us now (has ruined us now)
You never know how (you never know how)
Sweeter then tough (sweeter then tough)

Lift me up, lift me up
Aiah Nouwamba
Lift me up, lift me up
Aiah Nouwamba
[4x]

Lift me up, lift me up
Ohla la la la
Lift me up, lift me up
Ohla la la la
[4x]


words by Moby

Hey, I've been doing this blogging thing for a year now! Happy birthday to this site. As I read some of my posts I'm amazed at the level of ranting that went on, especially during the federal election. Guess I got a little overheated there. Not that I'm at all apologetic, those scondrels deserve a few litres of my bile.

What I have also learned is there is more then going off on a triade, need balance in life to have a full rich one. So, here's a few things that have interested me over the weekend.

1) Just finished reading Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. I have been a long time fan of his writing and it's amazing what he does. He writes fascinating stories about ordinary people. This one deals with a woman, Liz who is alone. She is like the character from the Beatle song "Eleanor Rigby", in fact she uses that name for her email, she has no real friends and only interacts with her family; no one calls, no one visits, she is one of those lonely people. She is the type that is ignored, then her son comes to back in her life, a child conceived during a school trip to Europe. Her life changes and, well read the book if you want to know more. What has impressed me about Douglas Coupland's book is the spiritual undercurrent that exists, his characters are often searching for more meaning to their lives and often there is a quest for God. This book is no different. I will confess there were tears in my eyes at the end, it is that good.

2) Moby's new CD is great. Hotel is great and worth purchasing and listening on the home stereo or the Ipod, where mine is.


Yesterday I had off, it was good to relax after a busy weekend.


Peace

Here's another view of it. One thing I have to say is that Apple makes cool packaging for their ipods. In the box came the headphones, belt hook, usb cable, software, instruction booklets and two Apple stickers. How is that for fun. 

Well, I promised some photographs of my new Apple Ipod mini and here they are. I am truly enjoying this little wonder. Right now I'm hoping to add Christine Fellows to its hard drive. 

PCWorld.com - File Swappers Find New Ways to Trade Tunes

This makes sense and before the RIAA breaks open the champagne let's be honest, it has nothing to do with them. You see it goes to the basic standards of people. People are inately honest and will pay for services if they are a good price.

The problem has been people felt they were being gouged by the record industry and the p2p was a reaction to this feeling. Now that there are safe alternatives, such as Itunes and the new Napster. You have to remember that people will pay for good services. The above and to them I do add Puretracks offer good and safe services. We all remember when Jack Valanti went on a ramage against VCR players but it was the VCR that stimulated the movie industry, in fact to a number of movies, it is rentals that make them profitable.

So all, with our Ipods and all that we can have a lot of great sources for tunes.

Peace

Weird Worlds presents... The Real Da Vinci Code

Last night I took the two hours to watch the above on Historty Television. The show looked at the claims in the book The DaVinci Code. I did read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it, Dan Brown produced a great pager turner of a mystery. I couldn't stop until I finished that's for sure. Now as much as I enjoyed it as a novel it has a lot of flaws when it comes to history, especially the history of the early church.

The narrator, Tony Robinson of Blackadder fame. He played Baldrick, you know hello, my name is Baldrick, yeah we know Sod off Baldrick. He looked at the various claims of the book and considered the history and the legend of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail has been quite a figure in western legend and stories, Robinson examines such things as the start of the legend, what it could be and where it could be. He visited various sites in both Israel and England. to follow the legend. He spends a fair bit of time at Rosslyn Chapel. Visit this site to read how the Knights Templars and the Freemasons may be involved.

Overall, it is two hours well worth watching. He examines all the claims, from the Priory of Sion to the painting of Leonardo DaVinci. He considers it all and reveals some interesting facts.

If you missed it Wednesday, you can watch it on March 27th, at 7:00 PM.

Peace

It happened this past weekend; I bought the Ipod Mini. It cost me, with a three year service plan, $343.00. I am so excited. Since then I've been putting music on the devise. To date I have U2, Moby, Fiona Apple, Wilco and a number of singles from my fave groups of the 80's. Last time I looked I have about 7 hours worth of music at approximately 560 Meg, so I have about 3.5 gigs to fill, or so. 

FIONA APPLE EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE MP3s

so here's the deal, Fiona Apple's latest CD is unavailable to the fan. The label didn't release it; however it is available throught the Internet, but people who post it are getting nasty letters from the RIAA.

Okay, so the label doesn't want it out there, I mean obviously they believe there's no interest, but people are downloading it at a huge rate? so what's the problem. If they don't want to release it, then let the fans still listen.

This link will allow you to see the tracks, and well, far be it for me to encourage piracy, but I believe if you right click and then look for the word 'save', something wonderful will happen. so give it a try and see if that wonderful thing will happen.

The Wired article is here if want to get more information.also there's a site called Free Fiona.com with a great deal of interesting information. You can download a poster.

so if you like good music, do what you can.


Peace

Garage Inc. - Whiskey In Teh Jar Song Lyrics


With tomorrow being St. Patrick's Day, a day to celebrate all things green; I thought i'd include a link to my favourite Irish song. Sing along

Garage Inc. - Whiskey In Teh Jar Lyrics

As I was going over the Cork and Kerry mountains
I saw Captain Farrell and his money he was counting
I first produced my pistol and then produced my rapier
I said "Stand and deliver or the devil he may take ya"
I took all of his money and it was a pretty penny
I took all of his money and I brought it home to Molly
She swore that she'd love me, no, never would she leave me
But the devil take that woman for you know she tricked me easy
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There's whiskey in the jar-o
Being drunk and weary I went to Molly's chamber
Taking my money with me and I never knew the danger
For about six or maybe seven in walked Captain Farrell
I jumped up, fired off my pistols and I shot him with both barrels
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There's whiskey in the jar-o
Now some men like the fishing and some men like the fowling
And some men like to hear, to hear the cannon ball roaring
Me, I like sleeping specially in my Molly's chamber
But here I am in prison, here I am with a ball and chain yeah
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There's whiskey in the jar-o
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da
Musha ring dum a doo dum a da

Yahoo! News - Top Five Online Scams

I have only one word for today. Read. Read this article and follow it's recommendations closely.

CBC Television - Doctor Who: "Slawko Klymkiw, Executive Director Programming, CBC Television said, 'Bringing back the hugely popular DOCTOR WHO series to fans new and old alike - was an exciting opportunity for CBC. "

This is great news, so mark the calendar, power up the VCR or DVD recorder and get ready, the Doctor is coming back. He's live, He's back and he is on CBC. What a great way to start the Spring season. After over a decade the secret wish, the dream that seemed to fade a bit with each passing year was the return of Doctor Who and now it's true.

With word the BBC was resurrecting the series hit the wire and world it was exciting, then the word CBC was commiting to bring the series to Canada was ecstactic. There was a concern that it would be stuck at some ungodly time of the day, but here it is, coming at Prime Time. The good news, I've got satellite, miss it in my time zone, I can watch it an hour later.

Celebrate my people, the Doctor is Coming.

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca
It is always good to share ones view of the world, so here's another from my world. People have accused me, as reported in this blog, of not being a good conservative. There is a good reason for that and here it is, I am not a conservative. I am far more comfortable on the left side of the political equation. This leads to the next question, why am I not a supported of, say, the Liberals. There is a good reason for that, the Liberals aren't liberal. Take that silly notion out of your mind immediately. They are as liberal as, say the PRI ( Institutionalized Revolutionary Party) of Mexico is a Revolutionary Party. You can read some notes about the PRI here.
If you read the link at the opening you can understand that the Liberal Party of Canada is not liberal, it is a tired, corrupt organization that pretends to be liberal but has in fact become a means of providing perks to the friends of the Prime Minister. What is rather amusing is a comment near the end of the article, let me quote:
Jean Lapierre, Prime Minister Paul Martin's Quebec lieutenant has insisted the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party was free of tainted funds because it had a $3.9-million debt when Martin became party leader in November 2003. Actually that was never part of the equation, no one accused the Party of benefiting from the scandel, it's always been about the Friends of the PM receiving the spoils of the pillage.
You see, what usually happens is that every so many years the Liberal get turfed out,usually after the become tired, corrupt and inefficient. Now that should have happened in the last election, however the burghers of Ontario, my fair province decided a corrupt government is better then one with a leader from Alberta, namely the Conservative Party of Canada. So the Liberals remain in power with all their problems and have not been allowed to go through their period of penance and cleansing that is required of them every decade or so.
The end result will be until that time comes, more government waste, more corruption and a more incompetent government.

Peace

Turn Your Radio On

to me, one of the easist gigs in the world has got to be a liberal commentator in America. After all GWB practically writes their material for them. I mean what's not to target, you have the continuing misadventure that is Iraq; a place where brave Americans are dying for, now what was that reason again? to the deficit, the huge burden that's being placed on the shoulders of future generations to the now below the surface but still potentially embarassing Enron debacle.

Let's not forget the latest which is GWB plan for social security. He wants everyone to throw their potential retirement income onto the stock market where they can invest in companies such as; Enron, Qwest and other winners.

I should say that I do have investments in mutual funds, but I tell you I'm not putting all my future income there.

Yet, they don't seem to be able to get anywhere; I wonder if it's because one of their 'stars' is Janeane Garofalo; a woman who invented the phrase not funny comedian. She's a comic in search of both material and a comedic sense of timing.

But to continue, you could consider the economy, here's one article. You know your country is going down the tube when Canada, my fair dominion, is beating the crap out of you in the financial front. Hey, this makes it good to be a Canadian. After getting our teeth kicked during the 90's and early 00's we're now on top looking down.

You know if they could only see beyond the nonsense, they will realize one thing; they are set up to win big.


Peace

Fairvue Central >> Bloggies >> Fifth Annual Weblog Awards

well, no one nominated me this year. Better luck next year. But you see what's in the catagory of best Canadian blogs??? Probably a bunch of Liberal friends of the PM bloggers.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US demands 'action' from Syrians

It's rather ironic that the US is demanding Syria pull out of Lebanon. First of all, this is a laudable desire, Syria should end their occupation of Lebanon. They entered as occupiers, no matter what Hezbullah says, they came to occupy a sovereign nation. Yes Lebanon was going through a difficult civil war, which was inspired by the Syrian backed Hezbullah, by the way.

Now it is time for them to leave.

It's also time for the US to consider their exit strategy from Iraq. Forget the rhetoric, they are occupiers. They invaded a sovereign nation under dubious reasoning and not a shred of evidence of either a) weapons of mass destruction or b) connection with Al-Qaida. Although I do believe Saddam did have WMD which he used on his own people.

But the problem, how to leave Iraq without the whole nation blowing up in a huge and ugly civil war? The next question is what about the oil? who will profit from the reserves that are in Iraq, the Iraqi people or the oil friends of George W. Bush?

Free Lebanon
Free Iraq


Peace

AnnCoulter.com - View Photo

As I continue my thoughts for today. No one this hot, should be this conservative.



Certainly not looking this great in this outfit . This might make me rethink my whole political philosophy ;).

Just a reminder where I was last year. This race was my first duathlon. I had participated in a number of 5k runs, and I have the t shirts to prove it so this was my longest distance.

Well, I want to do it again, according to the schedule it's August 13th, so you know when I'm going to be on holidays.

Today, I did my first run. I have been walking the treadmill but today I laced them up and headed outdoors. It is a wonderful feeling to get free of the basement.

My time 20'35" distance 3 km. I wanted to be easy and not over do it on the first attempt. Plenty of time to add on distance later.

I am planning to develop and follow a training plan. My goal last year was to finish around 2h15', which I did, for this race I would like to be closer to 2 hr.

Peace

Yahoo

Ten Years ago Yahoo! started. How life has changed. Happy birthday Yahoo.

Turkmen President Closes Hospitals - NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM

Okay, I said I had requested some poetry from the President of Turkmenistan, perhaps its not a good idea right now. Seems he's busy closing his infrastructure, no hospitals, no libraries.

His reason is a bit far fetched, I mean closing libraries because the people are illiterate? That's why you have libraries.

Why do I think we're going to see Saparmurat hanging upside from a tree soon.

Peace

Yahoo! News - U2's Bono Should Head World Bank, Paper Urges

Perhaps on one level this makes no sense, after all, what does a rock star know about the intricacies of global finances and financing. On the other, it was the actions of the World Bank pressing an agenda of monitarism and globalization that precisely led to the impoverishment of the third world. Yes Bono is not a banker, but then again, he understands poverty.

As mentioned it is the LA Times and yes where else, after all, what other state would elect an actor as governor, not once but twice. So it only makes sense that the entertainment capital of the world would consider an entertainer for the job. However Bono's passion for the development of the third world and the ending of poverty makes him a pretty good candidate. After all, it has been the policies of the World Bank that brought about the problems so perhaps another point of view would make a positive difference.

You can read the editorial here.
Honestly, while it probably won't happen, it does make you think.


Peace

My quest for an Ipod Mini still continues. Sadly the auction ended and so I wait for something other then pink to show up at my local Best Buy. Well, I have to go past it this Thursday and that will be opportunity to stop and see. If I am fortunately, perhaps another open box item will appear, like magic.

I will keep you posted.


Peace

Technology - canada.com

after tell the 'world' my hopes and dreams for purchasing an ipod mini, an act of narcissism, I decided to comment on this article. I read in the paper this past week and truly wondered what Paris Hilton, Blogs and the President for Life of Turkmenistan have in common.

this is an interesting article for a few reasons, one, it talks about Saparmurat Niyazov and it quotes Sam Vaknin, who has submitted a number of essays and short stories to aovegroundtesting my ezine. Actually I have written the President of Turkmenistan in an attempt to get some of his poems for my publication.

I suppose this is a form of narcissism, but then again, we kept pictures of ourselves in albums, or shoe boxes and that wasn't considered narcissistic? I realize rarely were they pictures of ourselves naked making out with other women, but still we did keep photographs of ourselves. I have to confess I have googled myself and have discovered that the RealPaul Gilbert is a guitarist of renown. Which is not me by the way.

Yes I do have a blog and I do have a ezine, so what. Am I grandiose, well through these endeavours I am, but again, so what? Is it narcissism to express your opinion. Honestly do we think thousands of people read our stuff? Besides in MSM they pay people to give their opinion and usually their opinion is just as off the way as your average blogger.

Narcissistic? Probably, but then again, so what.


Peace

I came soooo close to getting a blue apple ipod mini for $206.00 at BestBuy yesterday. If I had been about 5 minutes sooner, it would have been mine. I had thought about purchasing one before, but the cost was a big item. Apple has now lowered the price by $100.00 and suddenly it doesn't look all that expensive. They did have pink ones, but I'm just not sure about that colour. I mean, pink is okay , it's just not my favourite colour. Now I have made an offer on ebay and I have to wait.

TheStar.com - Voice vote approves same-sex marriage

Well so it is, Ontario joins Belgium and the Netherlands in allowing same sex marriage. Yes I always wanted to be in the same catagory with the Netherlands and Belgium.

I am glad they allow clergy the right to refuse. That is a right they have always had. You see just because one calls a preacher and asks to be married, he or she has always had the right to refuse. Now what is hoped is that some nob doesn't decide this is a violation of 'their' charter rights. Freedom of thought and expression are far greater rights that must be protected because that goes to the core being of an individual. The State has no right to judge the thoughts and opinions of another. Yes I know it does but it shouldn't. You are allowed to think and believe as you wish and so long as it doesn't endanger another you are free to believe.

How far have we come from the ."Friends of Voltaire who believed that, I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Nowadays its, believe what we say you are to believe, otherwise you will be marginalized. Yes this is a tolerant and progressive nation, as long as your thinking is in step with the elite and the MSM.


It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.


Peace

BBC NEWS | Technology | Iran jails blogger for 14 years

I placed the label and link on my blog and now he's been jailed for 14 years.

Follow the link to Committee to Protect Bloggers, and read. Also take the time to write to the Iranian Ambassador to the UN, and express your opinion. As the site suggests, be polite but tell them you believe in the freedom of expression and that it is in the best interest of the Iranian Government to let Arash Sigarchi go free.

Freedom of Expression, it's freedom to express your humanity.


Peace

Straight Goods - Canada's independent on-line source of news, analysis, information and fun

First of all, subscribe to Straight Goods. It's the source of information you won't get anywhere else.

Second, Linda McQuaig makes some very good points. We need to invest in social programs that help all Canadians. Linda talks about education and that should be one of the top priorities. The talk is competitiveness, what better way to ensure competition then having an educated healthy population? There was a bumper sticker which once said, 'in a perfect world, schools would have all the money the needed and the military would have to have bake sales'. Well in Canada the latter is true, the former isn't.

Now the talk is a national day care program. I oppose this for a few reasons, one, it will be a typical government boondoggle. In other words a lot of money will be thrown at a ill-thought program and very little resources will go to the people who actually need it. Think ad-scan for the preschool set. Second, there is nothing for parents who choose to stay at home and raise their children. I know that sounds old fashion, but many want to do just that. Why not make it possible for them to do so without punishment?

I have children in post-secondary education, they will get two things when they graduate; one a degree, the second, a large debt load. Great way to start a life. Only in Canada.

Peace

Committee to Protect Bloggers: THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT BLOGGERS ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST CAMPAIGN: Free Arash and Mojtaba

Today, remember Mojtaba Saminejad and Arash Sigarchi. Their crime according to the Iranian authorities was to print the truth and be critical of the government.

Freedom is still precious, their right to think is still an important one. Their freedom to share their thoughts must be protected.




Peace

Girls Gone Wild Invades Canada - Nationwide Tour Kicks off This Monday; Notorious U.S. Series of Naughty DVDs Travels North in Search of the Hottest Women Canada Has to Offer

I was reading my local paper when this article caught my attention. Just what we need in Canada, "Girls Gone Wild". Now we all remember when the female fans of the Calgary Flames decided to flash themselves. I supposed it is to show that you are a liberated person not afraid of yourself or your sexuality.

Here's the reality ladies, your pix will now be part of the public domain. Quicker then you can say, 'My gosh what was I thinking', it's on every computer on the planet. Yes, that a great legacy.

Tell you what, and here is some fatherly advice, keep your shirts down and if the GGW group approach you, instead of showing your breasts, show them the door.

Peace

Yahoo! Sports - NHL - With NHL season on the brink, NHL presents players its final offer

Yahoo Sports had a poll asking the question, will there be hockey next year? I answered, "I don't care". Now I hear that the players have decided to accept a salary cap, although not the amount for the cap. Now the NHL says, 42.5 million or no season. Well, I suspect the players will crumble and accept this. After all, they accepted what they said every day for the past 153 days of the lock-out, so what's a few more million down. 52 million, 42.5 million, it doesn't matter.

Will the League survive, who honestly cares?


Peace

FT.com / Home UK - McDonald�s libel case goes to Euro court

Just appears to be the trial that Will Not Go Away for McDonald's. They at one time thought they could sue activists into silence, at one time a standard act by multinationals. Officially McDonald's won, but the publicity and embarrassment the company went through made it a very hollow victory. You can read more here.

Now the two have decided to appeal their 'conviction' to Strasbourg and according to one news source the two won a reversal of the decision.


Good for them.


Peace

I know everyone thinks that today is Flag Day here in Canada. About 10 years ago the then PM Jean Chretien declared February 15th as 'Flag Day', the day the Maple Leaf was adopted as the flag of Canada.

Truly it is a day for Canadians to stop and consider what a beautiful flag we do have. It is a flag that unites our nation and gives us a feeling of pride.

However, today is another special event, one that was also established by the then PM Jean Chretien. You see today is also "Choke a Homeless Person" day. . It was the day the Poutine wandered into the crowd of well wishers and confronted a person who was heckling him. The man was reminding the PM of the Red Book Promise ( the Liberal's campaign material) to restore funding to social programs. Of course like every other promise given by the Federal Liberals it was quickly broken. Seems this man didn't like what was happening to the poor of Canada and felt he had to say something. Silly fool, doesn't he realize that people like Chretien don't care about the needs of the poor.

As I was looking for the photo, I came across this

article. Keep it all in the proper perspective.

Peace

metronews: news

Let's put the last couple days of testimony into the proper perspective. Both the sitting and the former PM knew all about the purpose of the program, they knew money was ear-marked for the program and they all thought it was a great program.

I'm talking about the Sponsorship program.

What neither of them knew was where the money went.

Just think about it for a while. They didn't know where the money went.

I'm not talking about the coffee money here, I'm talking hundreds of millions of dollars, some of which ended up in the pockets of people who worked for the various ad agencies.


Before the Gormley commission people knew there was something crooked going on.

But the sitting PM, who was the Finance Minister during this period, and the former PM, knew nothing about the money.

Let me repeat, they didn't know where the money went.

Meditate on this, they didn't know where the money went.

So, what do we have, either two of the biggest crooks Canada ever produced, or two of the most incompetent leaders Canada has ever entrusted to run this country.

They didn't know where the money went.

CANOE -- CNEWS - Canada: Liberals cheer Chretien, Martin lauds his service: "and used a briefcase full of golf balls as a devastating stage prop"

Seems M. Chretien likes to use props and make jokes in dealing with scandals. Let's remember a few. There was the APEC summit in Vancouver a number of years ago, in case you forget one of the visiting dignitaries was Suharto of Indonesia. He was a nasty little dictator who invaded East Timor and oppressed people. What he also had was a very delicate condition, he didn't like to be criticized. Now in Canada, unlike his nation, dissent and protest is part of the fabric and protected, allegedly by the Charter. While in Vancouver one of the events was to take place in the Museum of Archaelogy on the campus of the University of British Columbia, a place where Protest 101 is a required course for all freshmen. Many of the students were upset over the fact that a blood thirsty tyrant was coming to their home and decided to protest, calling him all sorts of names. Of course this couldn't happen for reasons that are now unclear, still the result was a lot of students were pepper sprayed and arrested all under orders of the PMO ( Prime Minister's Office). During a press conference when asked about the pepper spraying of Canadians, Chretien laughed it off with "Pepper is something I put on my steak". Gosh what a comedian.

The next time his true comedic genius was on display was at the height of the HRC scandel. Apparently the Auditor General of the day reported s/he couldn't track a billion dollars of money that had been earmarked for the HRC department. The government of the day denied any knowledge of this and said it couldn't be tracked. During the ugly time and let's remember we're talking one billion dollars here, he stood up to address the Parliament and had this big old binder of documents and he started to read all the places the money had gone. He was having a good old time and his then right hand weasel Don Bordreau, a man who had to resign in disgrace by the way, was either giving him the pages or taking it from him. Again, a billion dollars lost of taxpayers money and Chretien thinks it's hilarious.

Now the AdScan, same thing money, lots of money goes missing and to defend himself Chretien uses some cheap props, in this case golf balls to prove his point. What was his point, that the golf balls are not cheap because other world leaders have them. Right. There is one slight point about his comments, and this is it HE DIDN'T ANSWER A FREAKING QUESTION!!!!!

The golf balls are a devastating prop, they sure are, because they should remind all Canadians that money that could have gone to education, or to hospitals, or to fixing infrastructure went to his buddies. You know what, every Canadian should during the next election, chuck golf balls at their local Liberal candidate and ask them, if that's a funny enough prop.

Disgusting. Chretien may be the most corrupt Prime Minister this nation has ever had.

Peace and practice your aim.

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca

Oh good, he's now off the hook. Former PM Jean Chretien 'regrets' any sponsorship mistakes. After all, it was all done in the name of 'national unity'. Yes all that money that went to Liberal friendly firms was to preserve the Dominion. I guess those were the only firms you could trust, after all you couldn't trust any PQ friendly firms could you.

Just a couple of questions before you leave M. Prime Minister, why did you send your henchmen to cast doubt about the integrity of the Commission? Why have you taken so long to even admit this? You say it is your ultimate responsibility, if so how will you bear this responsibility. Why is it you send A. Gagliano to Denmark after the scandel broke?

Just how much did you know, when did you know it and why didn't you act upon it?


Just answer those questions, okay?


Peace

I was away last week, so I think I missed a lot of things.

Let's get to the news. The Pats win Superbowl xxxix, or 39 for those of us who are roman numeral illiterate. Good game, both teams were very nervous in the first quarter. I don't know what Philly was thinking about regarding clock management. Very bad.

It's very damp and cold today. Miserable weather.

Have to find more for tomorrow.

Peace

Wired News | Sudan: U.N. Darfur Report Does Not See Genocide

Of course it doesn't see genocide. The UN refuses to see genocide in anyplace except Israel. The world, I believe would be relieved if the Sudanese militia and air force would simply kill everybody. You see once they are all dead, it's no longer genocide. Also, dead refugees are easier to deal with; all you need is a couple of front end loaders and a few bulldozers. You dig the pits and push the bodies in and problem is solved.

As well, a negative report against Sudan will only be squashed by the Arab-Muslim bloc. Any aid would be resisted by this group, because the only country that apparently can engage in genocide and be condemned is Israel, and they don't even engage in genocide.

Remember Darfur


Peace

This is the new symbol of courage in the world today. A finger with purple dye, a finger that proves the person attached understood the challenge and the threat and refused to be intimidated. This is the finger of a person who voted in the Iraqi election.

Those who are the angriest today are the terrorists, no sorry, as Suhanna of CBC Newsworld reminded an Iraqi, insurgents. The threatened ordinary citizens that they would kill them, well guess what, millions refused to be intimidated, the last legacy of the Saddam Hussein regime proved to be an empty threat. The other group that are the angriest are the stridently anti-Americans who hate anything and everything that country does. Now again, I do oppose the military operation, it was a sham but this does not mean I can't rejoice when regular people decide to take matters into their own hand and vote. The opposition in Afghanistan thought they could discredit a vote and threatened to boycott that election, however when they discovered that regular people wanted this election they suddenly showed up.

Now many are complaining about the lack of Sunni voters, let's remember that under Saddam, the Sunni were the favoured people. The perks, such as they were, belonged to them. While the Shi'ites in the south and the Kurds in the north were either being gassed or shot, they lived in relative security. Trust me in a couple of months all those Sunni's who didn't vote will be kicking themselves for not doing what they could for their nation.

To the strident Anti-Americans in my country, to those who work for the CBC and suppose to represent what I think, just one word of advice, Shut your traps. Democracy won today.

This does not mean the danger is over, the opposition still has guns and bombs, but it's the start of the end for them. The people, not the armies of the coalition are the ones that defeated them.


Peace

None Is Too Many - A Cause For Canadians To Repent - Anti-Semitism and Holocaust


I thought about the ceremony this week to mark th 60th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. The message is as it should each anniversary, "Never Again". I wish this was so, but also this week the Sudanese Air Force were strifing civilians near Darfur in violation of a truce. Never again is hollow because the world has witnessed the horrors of Cambodia, the terrors of Rwanda, the silent destruction of the Tibetan people and simply turned the other way.

While one can point the finger at the Nazi's for the Holocaust, let us never forget our duplicity in this manner. Many western nations, including Canada slammed the door to Jewish immigration, and has the blood of no doubt thousands of Jews on our hands. What would have happened if our nation had allowed unrestricted immigration of Jews to Canada? How many lives would have been saved? According to Irving Abella Fredrick Charles Blair who was the director of the Immigration Branch of the Department of Mines and Resources was a Christian and an Anti-Semitic. He is a disgrace to the Name of Jesus! He ruled the department because Makenzie King was also anti-semitic. Remember it was King who thought Hitler was a great person. These two have put the blood of those Jews on the hands of every Canadian.

We were as much involved in the Holocaust as Dr. Joseph Mengele and the Nazi hierarchy.

I invite you to follow this link to learn more.

Let us never forget.


Peace

World Economic Forum - About Subhome
Couldn't let this day go by without saying something about the World Economic Forum in Davos what can be said about this? It gives the leaders of business and the world the chance to mingle, smooze and get their picture taken with Bono to show their grandkids they are actually cool and not a stuffed shirt.

The usual is said for improving the world and remember the membership are the same group who ensure the world does not become a better place for the poor. It is made up of the largest corporations in the world, the ones that have re-invented the sweatshop for example. These are the industries such as Nike that have gone from nation to nation to find the cheapest labour possible. It's these companies that have cut deals with some of the most ruthless dictatorships on the planet, so that their interests are protected.

Now they want to help Africa. Yes Africa needs help. But will corporate World give what it needs, will Pfizer or whoever agree to ship cheap anti-AIDS medicine, will Nestle stop trying to get mothers in the third and fourth world to start bottle feeding?

When that happens, let me know, OK?


Peace

CNEWS - Canada: N.B. won't pay for abortions at private clinic

This, being Canada, is part of the reason why the public health system is failing. Okay, the Federal Health Minister is ordering the province to pay for abortions performed in a private, for profit clinic. Now, this is public money being used to pay for a service already provided in public hospitals.

Keep that in mind, now let's say I decide to open up a private MRI clinic in my province. What do you think the reaction would be? Well easy Dosanjh would have a coronary. He would be screaming that is the erosion of the public system and it is shameful that service is provided for people who have the cash. You know, yadda yadda yadda.

The Health Minister for New Brunswick made a very good point when said:On one hand, he is trying to argue about health services being provided through a public system, but on the other hand, he's advocating for New Brunswick to provide health services through private clinics," the minister said.
So if the issue is trendy, it's okay, if it's not, it's not okay.

Figure it out, because I sure can't.


Peace

ALEXANDRASCOTT

I found about this site Stop Ashlee. Com from the Jim Rome show. It's a petition wants Ashlee Simpson to stop, to stop pretending she's a singer and leave the stage immediately. At last count there was over 212,000 signatures. I don't know about you but that says a lot of about the feeling this singer elicits in the heart of music lovers. I would suggest to Ashlee she return to what she does best, and that is an actress on "Seventh Heaven". This is a good family oriented show that is enjoyable to watch. I understand she's Jessica Simpson's sister and for some reason that got her into the music industry, but really when you're booed by 60000 people + at the Orange Bowl, it's time to move on.

Well, I could continue this negative blog but I want to draw attention to a singer you probably haven't heard and that is Alexandra Scott. She's an unsigned artist who deserves recognition for her ability and her talent. So when you're tired of the congromerate artist of the month, try someone who is real, try Alexandra Scott.


Peace

CTV.ca | 2004 CD shipments make first gain in six years

I honestly am happy for the music industry. They deserve some good news after all the bad news that has been generated in their direction. Of course, most of the bad news has been of their own making, still slow embracing new technology aren't they. I wonder why the numbers from ITunes and Puretracks isn't being included because that is now part of the music purchasing equation. I know over the last year I've bought both single tracks and a couple of albums using Puretracks.com. Are they afraid that even mentioning online music will cause people to pirate. Still they need to get over themselves.

I do agree that much of the inspiration has been the release of some good CD's. Let face it, U2's is incredible and worth every penny it cost and Shania Twain is always good ear candy. I mean she's quite nice to look at and she does a decent job. You will notice no mention of some of the horrors of the past year, like Britney releasing a "Best Of...", or the latest monstrosity from Hillary Duff or Lindsay Lohan. I want to suggest that if the music industry wants to keep this up they should do one thing do NOT offer contracts to a) Paris Hilton, b) the Olsen Twins or c) Donald Trump. None of them have any ability so there.

Just a thought, Ashlee Simpson's tour in support of her CD will probably die either on the road shortly after starting or it won't even get started. I suppose her 'acid reflux' will prevent her from touring. I mean after the SNL and then the Orange Bowl debacle her musical career probably has crashed and burned and there are no survivors.

She is proof that a sound card is no substitution for being able to actually sing.

Peace

Wired News: We're Creative Commonists, Bill

Everyone is jumping all over Bill Gate's remark during his interview that is featured in news.com. The comment from the Wired.com news article was to say that this demonstrates that Bill is a bit out of the loop when it comes to the notion of copyright, or as some like to call it 'copyleft'. The problem is that Bill fails to understand anything but the status quo and really the status quo for intellectual property is being erased, not by the communists, but by individuals and companies who are demanding a total change of the copyright system. The megamedia corporations of which Microsoft is a part of want to change copyright into property. According to traditional law, property is sacred and belongs forever to the owner. Copyright exists only for a limited period of time, a period that lawmakers are trying to change so that it is better for the lobbyists.
At present, when the copyright is complete, the intellectual property becomes part of the public domain that all of us can enjoy without restriction. The megamedia corporations want to lock up their culture forever, if they had their wish.
Which system do you want to live under, one dominated by a few corporations who only care about making money, or one in which culture and media are truly free. If we learned anything, the megacorps only care about their bottom line. It all started with the music industry and while they claim to act in the best interest of the artist, they are only interested in their bottom line. They want the artist to remain in a situation of indentured slavery, selling their creativity for a few bucks.
An extremely good book on the subject is Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig. If you visit his website freeculture.org. It gives a good background to the whole issue of free culture and how the megacorps are attempting to stifle this culture. You can about the time the RIAA sued Girl Scouts for singing campfire songs. If you go into the site you can download legal copies of the book and in various file types as well, from .pdf to .lit for those of us who own Pocket PC's. I'm about a third of the way through and it is a fascinating read.
Everything, including Bill's comments are based upon the Creative Commons, which is a method of protection and freedom for, as the site says, authors and artists. If you are a creative type it may be an interest to you it offers protection and the ability of others to build upon your creativity. It allows the creator to own and do as they will and not to be a part of the megacorps slavery system.

Consider learning more.

By the way, I did order a t-shirt, might as well make it official.

Learn more and free culture.


Peace

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca

that's right Judy, blame your enemies. You probably made a lot of them. You know Judy there's a little saying out there and it goes something like this: "chickens do come home to roost". You've been pretty quick with attacking the conservatives, in fact weren't you part of the team that followed Stephen Harper around? yes you were and now you're ousted.

What is more interesting is the fact that the person that caused your downfall was Pizza Delivery Guy. You know, there is justice in this universe. And to think your rival gets your job, the guy that announced the end to the "Strippers to Canada", over your head while you were the target of volley after volley from the Opposition. So is that all it takes to get into Canada? send free pizza's to the Minister's campaign office? Well, that news should do well with every other person trying to sneak into the country.

Oh by the way Paul. Yeah, did you sleep well last night? How many more of your loyalists will be joining Judy on the disgrace trail. Let's see, that's two so far isn't it.

Peace

It must have been Kismet this past Saturday night. I was coming back from a restaurant meal, listening to CKLW radio in particular a show called the Movie Show on Radio. The topic was the 5 DVD's you take on the desert island, and as I listened I heard some great movies including my faves such as The Great Escape. Well one of the movies that was mentioned and brought raves was The Princess Bride, yes it is a good movie with excitement, some kissing and great lines. Well, so I get home and turn on the television when one channel, YTV is showing it. I figure after hearing about it again, I got to watch it so I did and is it funny or what. I mean the lines are great. Before I go further, you can read the script here. How can you not like a movie that features lines like Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. You just can't. Look, the movie makes no sense but it is great nonetheless. You have Billy Crystal as Miracle Maxx telling us that a rushed miracle is a rotten miracle. Or near the end when Fezzik, played by Andre the Giant says: Ah, there you are. Inigo, I saw the Prince's stables, and there they were, four white horses. And I thought, there are four of us, if we ever find the lady -- hello, lady -- so I took them with me, in case we ever bumped into each other. Or Vizzini describing two classic blunders: You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is "Never get involved in a land war in Asia." But only slightly less well known is this: "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line"
. I was thinking of the first classic blunder, and my how things haven't changed have they? There is a land war going on in Asia and it is still a blunder, maybe not the jungles of Vietnam, but the desert and cities of Iraq, but I digress.
An interesting point made on the Movie Show was that the movie actually didn't go anywhere at the boxoffice, but when it was released to video it developed the cult following that has made it a hit. And a hit it is.

I know it's been awhile, but I've been busy, but I've got a lot to blog over the next little while.

By the way, Happy New Year.

Support The Salvation Army's relief for the victims of the Tsunami.


Peace

FrontPage magazine.com :: Why A Jew Supports Christian America by Don Feder

I found this article while surfing the news and may I say Don Feder is right on. He has an interesting quote: "Finally, I believe the safety of American Jews lies with Christian America.

In secular Europe, Jews are beaten in the streets. Our college campuses – dogmatically liberal – have turned into snake pits of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. The news media, which are so hostile to Christianity, are equally antagonistic toward Israel". This is truly the case in Canada; our's is a secular society and so we allow Islamic fundalmentalist groups at Concordia University to bar Israeli government leaders from appearing. They did this by first rioting and from then on by making threats of riots. The problem is the liberal administration is fearful of the violence. But if they had immediately put pressure on the Islamic groups not to riot, there would not be the problem.

The Jewish population of Canada would do well to follow the lead of this writer's article and support pro-Christian political parties. The mainstream media is worse in Canada, Christianity is viewed as dangerous to rights. Just consider the hostility being raged regarding same sex marriage; those who support the traditional view of marriage are pilloried as being totally out of touch. It is not a question of stifling freedom is having a point of view and yet in Canada if you possess a point of view that is outside of the CBC Toronto elite you are going to be villified.

Freedom of expression means freedom to express views that are contrary. Protect it.


Peace

The name is Francis Tolliver / Twas Christmas In The Trenches

Here's the song that has come to describe that amazing event.

HELLFIRE CORNER - The Christmas Truce - 1914

The spirit of humanity is still amazing. How soldiers stopped killing, not because of official orders but rather because they saw the humanity of each other.

Let's hope the same spirit of peace will fill this week.


Peace be to you all

Green Party of Canada - Parti Vert du Canada

With Christmas almost upon us, we need to remember all the organizations in our various communities who are doing something to deal with child poverty. The question is how many hampers were given to individuals across this nation? I know some groups, such as the Fraser Institute like to complain about the definition of poverty. They do this to claim there are far fewer people below the poverty level. The complain that those who 'inflate' the numbers do so for some personal gain, let me say something, no one 'inflates' the numbers for personal gain. There is none, in this day and age very few people care about the poor, especially with the media. The only time people care about the poor is when the poor interfere with their lives.

I know people talk about the fact the effort to eradicate child poverty is a pipe dream. They will further say there's not enough money to deal with the problem. However, it seems when a company such as Bombardier
needs money, it's always available.

We need to keep the pressure on our politicians and remind them that the goal of this nation is not to solve the problems of private industry, but to ensure no Canadian is left behind.


Peace

Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca

I'm glad Paul is having such a great time with his new best friend Moammar. I mean poor Paul at home he faces questions about his choice of ministers and his view on different issues. He waffles more then the Waffle House and now he's in trouble again. He wanted to take his family to meet his new bestest friend and the best way to take them was on the government jet, yet all those nasty people in the opposition benches got all upset. I mean hey, so it cost a few bucks, it's not like the government is going broke; after all it does have a nine billion dollar surplus. For all that money, surely he can afford to take his family on some vacation.

Oh well, maybe same sex marriage will take the heat off.

Peace

Well, it's been a time hasn't it. I suppose I should give the excuses why I haven't been blogging over the last few days. The question could be asked, nothing outrageous from the Canadian government? Or has Paul Martin been a good little boy?

The answer to both is, no. Outrageous, of course, lots, there is still the Adscandel, which I promise never to forget. As for Paul, well he left the country again, after saying he should have been a bit more focused for his first 12 months. Actually Paul I think the country would be far off worse if you had forcused, but that's only me. Although why don't you get back to fixing the democracy deficit like you promised, or getting to the bottom of the scandel, or dealing with the deplorable state of the Canadian military. Speaking of which, in NATO nations, Canada ranks third from the bottom in military spending, only Luxembourg and Iceland is worse, and Iceland doesn't have a military. Yes, I always want to be better then Iceland.

But the reason why I haven't been blogging is two-fold actually. The first reason is I spent the weekend reading the DaVinci Code. May I say it was an amazing book, I couldn't put it down at all, I just had to read it and finish it. It was that good. Yes I know about the facts regarding the Holy Grail and the Knights Templars, still it makes for good reading. I was interested to learn that you can take DaVinci Tours and see all the sights mentioned in the book. Now that would be worth the money.

The second reason was I spent time installing Windows Pocket PC2003 on my Dell Axim X5. I wasn't sure if it would work, but after some time and the later realization I didn't need to stay up so late trying to do it, I got it up and running on my machine. It is different and there are improvements, although I'm still having problems with my wifi drivers and trying to connect, that may simply take time.

So, now that those two things are done, it's back to blogging.


Peace

I would be remiss not to mention this day, the 24th anniversary of the death of John Lennon. I remember it as a night of sadness and an end of an era. The workingclass hero himself was gunned down by a deranged "fan". The world had added to itself some more sadness.
I want to conclude this blog with the words of his famous song "Happy Christmas (war is over)


So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

God Bless you John, sleep well tonight. We miss you.

 

Big Music Canada Fiasco

This is a great article, especially the last point: "That should read, Canadians demand Ottawa protect them from Big Music". First of all, I do understand politicians will always go where the money is, period. The average consumer, or perhaps a better word the average person who happenes to download music of the Internet is not by definition a wealthy person. Big Music is very wealthy, these clowns can buy and sell politicians at will. They say 'jump' and they get the government to look like a bunch of Jack Russel terriers. Jumping jumping jumping.

Now musicians are jumping into the fray by demanding protection from illegal copiers. Here's another quote: "In fact, the musicians haven’t really demanded anything. The cartel-owned CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) is behind the massive PR exercise, having provided the musicians with its own self-serving and completely one-sided statistics with which to con the media and, through them, bring Canadian politicians into line - Big Music's line". this is funny, Big Music has been the enemy of musicians from almost day one. The idea of most of Big Music is to screw the musician out of their royalties. You can go through history, it wasn't just the black artists that got screwed, it was acts as recent as the Dixie Chicks, for example. Now they're singing BM's tune, give me a break. Big music is only interested in big Profit. How do you explain the sad state of creativity now? If the musicians want updates to the copyright law, their demand should be to own the copyright of their music. Most of the time, it's owned by the music companies and they do with as they please.

Let us always remember, Big Music IS the enemy. Keep downloading everyone, it's the one act of freedom you have. Rememeber you're already paying a levy on blank media, so you've paid for the right to share and download. So do it with aplomb. It's your way to liberate music from the chains of Big Music. The enemy is CRIA, RIAA and everyone initial.

Peace

Vancouver Sun: "Ji-Won Park "

If only Ji-Won Park was either a volunteer for the local Liberal candidate or a stripper, she'd have no fears of expulsion. Then again I guess it's hard to go door to door when you're a nearly totally paralyzed after suffering a severe beating at the hands of an assailant. Also, that sort of thing really mucks up dancing around a pole.

Contact your local MP and tell them to get the Immigration Ministry to get this poor woman landed immigrant status.

Peace

CTV.ca | Volpe ends foreign stripper assessment

Just a little life lesson here for everyone, including the Pimp Momma. You see when they start making announcements over you, it means you're done. Here is the case the Minister of another department stands up and deals with an issue that belongs in the case of the Immigration Minister, no more visas. You see, she's getting dragged over the coals and no one in the government is rushing to her assistance. They are announcing changes in policy that impact her department though, while she sits there being grilled. Why? For one simple reason, she is road kill. Trust me, next time Paul shuffles his cabinet Pimp Momma will be on the outside looking in. Everyone in the government now knows that as a fact. Where she resigns or is 'fired' is irrelevent, she is done.

You see it's always a bad thing when they talk about you in front of you, like you're not there, because in their eyes, you're not there. You are done, finished, stick a fork in her mommy cuz this bird is cooked.

Peace

The Globe and Mail: Strippers put Ottawa program at centre stage

The Pimp Momma herself Judy Sgro continues to make herself sounds like a total gnob every chance she gets. Listen to this little beauty: "Ms. Sgro reiterated that she is a supporter of women's rights, but noted that the exotic-dancing industry "has a need, and we have an obligation to fulfill that need whether I like it or not"". thank goodness we have such a minister.

I live near a border community which has from what I can see a fair number of strip, sorry exotic dance clubs. They seem to have enough dancers and yet we have the Minister of Immigration such weird and outlandish statements. I wonder if Pimp Momma reads what she says.

Judy, Judy, Judy. Give up.

Peace

London Free Press: News Section - Sgro defends strippers' right to work in Canada

Far be it for me to question the word of a minister of the crown but, HUH?????

This is beautiful, Sgro is defending the fact she fast tracked a woman, who is a stripper, into Canada because she just happened to work on her campaign. This is hilarious. I have a question, why can't she simply admit she was wrong?

What is interesting is the comment from the law professor, not that Canadian strippers would never do the demeaning things demanded of them, it's rather the quality of the stripper. I mean if true, these young women are teachers, nurses and other trained professionals. Look if they applied as a nurse, they would be turned down, because the medical professional is very protective. I mean, yes they complain about the lack of people, but trust me they don't want to have foreigners coming in to take 'their' jobs. Yet, because these ladies can take their clothes off, a skill most of us learn when we're three, they're allowed in. Because they will humiliate themselves to beer drinking beer bellied louts, who's 'managers' give money to the Liberal Minister of Immigration, they get in.

Judy, Judy, Judy. You were wrong. Admit it, resign will you. You're only making yourself look very very stupid.

You would think, waking up this morning and listening to the news, that a few feet of snow fell last night. In the nearby city, there are accidents on almost all the major roads. Yet a millimetre fall and its chaos out there. Here's an idea to all you drivers, slow down. Don't figure you can go 110 down those 50k roads like you do every other day of the year. You can't. Slow down and learn to drive safely for a change.  

U2 Lyrics - Yahweh Lyrics - Yahweh

I have been spending my time listening to the new CD "How to dismantle an Atomic Bomb" and the very last cut is the one that totally blew me away.

I know the first one 'Vertigo' has been getting all the play and certainly for very good reason. It's straight ahead RAWK that takes over your speakers and hits you hard and fast. It is righteous rock and played the right way.

However it's this last song that got to me. Here is Bono and Co sharing their unique brand of Christianity with the world. Here in North America we think all Christians are like Jerry Falwell and his ilk, mean-spirited hatemongers that have more in common with the Pharisees then Jesus. However the 'religious right' and I won't sully the name of Christianity by adding it to the usual title, don't or at least shouldn't have the market of Christian thought. We have Bono and U2, a third branch of Christianity, one that actually may be closer to the truth then many would want to believe.

The words are those of dedication to Yahweh, one of the names of God as revealed in the Old Testament. The name means "the Hebrew name God. It is usually explained as based on the Hebrew verb for “to be or become,” but it is not easy to translate. “The one who is” or “who causes to be” are possibilities.". The believer is coming to the One who Is and giving him or herself totally to Him, so that Yahweh can make them the person they ought. Just read the first verse of the song:
Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

Moving words that remind us that we do have a part to play in the plan of God. But before we can do this, we need to be fit vessels for His service.

May each of us be that fit vessel.


Peace

waving and singing 

Bono and band in action 

From the concert under the bridge in Brooklyn