Election. Now the fun starts.

So we have an election. And there will be lots of things to make fun of coming from the candidates.
The first one out of the slot is Marc Garneau, Quebec's favourite space cadet. He is telling us to get over it, the sponsorship scandal is in the past, he says to forgive the bad Liberals and move on.
Hmm, I wonder if he'd go back into space if the mechanics on the shuttle had been caught cheating on the bolts and valves and those same mechanics were still working on the rockets?
Well Mr. Garneau, the same cheaters are still there within the corrupt Liberal party, some voters can't move on until they do. Mr Dithers was IN CHARGE of all that money that disappeared, telling us he knew nothing about it only points to his own stupidity and poor management.
And did you notice how quickly Mr Martin jumped on Mr Harpers comments on same sex marriage? It seems that it is not an issue, yet Harper brought it up. And Martin, clever as he is, jumped on it. You know the Liberals are going to try the same tactics they did last time, to put Harper on the defensive on these kinds of non issues and deflect a Conservative attack on their record of corruption.
Mr Harper made the mistake last time, of allowing the Liberals to set the tone of the campaign. Let's hope he makes a better fight of it this time.
Jack Layton nips and yelps at the others like a jackal following the lions, yet they have no interest because he wouldn't even make a decent meal. He simply is not a player.
Gilles Duceppe is preparing to become the leader of a new country. He has no interest in the rest of Canada, but we should be asking the other three leaders about Plan B when he leads Quebec out of confederation.
If this election run is going to be like others in the recent past, we'll just comfy down on our sofas and watch the Liberal media destroy Harper again.
Same old same old.

Larry Campbell on ice?

Keep your friends near but your enemies closer?
(Colour coded for clarity)
I think we have just seen a clever gambit by sneaky Gordon Campbell and sneakier Paul Martin. This is what happened; Gordon Campbell, head of the BC Liberals, who insists the BC Liberals have no connection with the federal Liberals, called up his pal, and mentor, Paul Martin and asked for a favour - get Larry Campbell out of the picture!
Larry Campbell was perceived to be too dangerous. He had a whopping 70 percent popularity rating when he gave up the Vancouver Mayor's chair. That position of Mayor of BC's largest city has often been a jumping off point for greater ambitions of Premier. Hence a huge threat to Gordon Campbell if Larry decided to run for the NDP party. He could have been the next premier.
Gordon said he needed to put Larry on ice, sort of like someone did to the NDP's Tom Berger a few years ago, make him a judge and get him out of the political loop. So Paul comes up with the idea of making Larry a senator. No better way to make anyone forgettable than a senator. Presto, threat removed.
Larry disappears into dusty senatorship, and Gordon continues selling off British Columbia.
We're not sure if even that will shut up Larry Campbell.
Can a senator still run for anything?

Christmas coming soon ...

Yes, just about one month away and I am drawing up my Christmas shopping list.
No, not the one where I list my choice of colour for the Maserati Quatroporte, or the wish for that new faster than lightning Toshiba laptop, not even the endless list of gifts under $100. that I would gracefully receive. I am drawing up the list of STORES that I might shop at.
You might have noticed last year, it kind of started, no more Merry Christmas in the display windows, it was changed to Happy Holidays. Why? Because these wise retailers, in their desire to get every dollar in the highest buying time of the year didn't want to OFFEND anyone. In their perception of what Christmas is all about, they seem to think that Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Shinto priests, medicine men and Shamans of all esoteric tribes will quit shopping at their chain stores if they dare have the words Merry Christmas on their windows or in their advertising. Macys in New York won't say it. The Bay in Vancouver didn't last year. I hope they rethink it this year. The Body Shop refuses to say Merry Christmas, as does snooty old Holt Refrew. Maybe they think they'll sell more head scarves to Muslims.
So who exactly ARE these retailers offending?

Tradition in North America at least, seems to point to Christians as the core of this buying spree built around December twenty-fifth. They are buying gifts to loved ones in celebrating the birth of Christ. Sure it has gotten out of the basic concept of a religious time of deep spirituality. Yet the spirit of love, acceptance, toleration, forgiveness, and brotherhood remains amid the feelings of well being at Christmas. We are all nicer people at Christmas.
Yes it is a buying spree. Yes it has become commercial. And you needn't go to church services or mass to celebrate a special time of year.
I know MY list of Christmas buying will be made around those who actually have the Christmas spirit instead of those who perceive some imagined offence at this time. Public Relations departments don't get it. Happy Holidays doesn't cut it. Xmas doesn't either. Merry Christmas does.
I am offended by those who are afraid to express it when they want my dollars.

Merry Christmas to all you who have tolerance, bah humbug to you who don't.

Olympic costs already 50% over budget

File this report under "I knew it would happen."
John Furlong, head guy of the coming Olympics announced that the games budget was already overspent ... it seems that when all these politicians, 'thinkers', power players, accountants, engineers, got together a few years ago, they called Home Depot to find out what a 2 x 4 piece of wood costs.
They might have been told a dollar. THEN they went ahead and planned everything based on that dollar! NOW, lo and behold, they are crying because the 2x4 doesn't still cost a dollar!
Furlong points out that the original estimate was in 2002 dollars and that between now and 2010, the Vancouver region has between $70 billion and $75 billion in construction projects on the go, putting immense pressure on labour and materials costs.
Hmmm. In all that forward thinking brain activity, didn't ANYONE suggest that the cost of that piece of wood wouldn't be the same in 2005? 2007? 2009?
One begins to believe that these 'organizers' are just plain stupid people ..... or ..... they knew it all along and told us one price of the games to win over public support.

Hmmm, wait a minute ... I just got it ... aren't the lying cheating deceiving Gordon Campbell Liberals involved in here somewhere?
See the light bulb over my head?

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/stories/headlines.shtml?/story/olympics/national/2005/11/25/Sports/vancouver051125.html

Debra LaFave teacher sex

Florida middle school teacher Debra LaFave has been sentenced to a three year house arrest for having sex with a 14 year old student in her car, home and classroom.

Debra - ba-a-ad teacher. tsk tsk.


I wonder if I can apply to have my house as the venue in which she serves her house arrest sentence?

Power of the public

Rapper 50 Cent is supposed to come to Canada for a tour of several cities. He advocates gun violence. There was a shooting during his performance the last time he played Toronto, which is currently plagued by gun violence.
And as most rappers do, he advocates guns, drugs and violence in general, demeans women in general, and is generally bad news for vulnerable children listening to a twisted message against society.
One person has suggested the public to do an action that they did with Axl Rose in some cities in the states. (Axl Rose suggests killing cops in his songs.)
That action is to call in bomb threats to all the venues where these hate message people play.
The police must respond and clear the building. (I think they delighted in doing that with Axl)
I am not suggesting anyone do such a thing, but it does demonstrate the power that the public has to put these hate message bearers out of business. How many times would a building have to be cleared before the promoters got the hint that these people are not welcome to tour in Canada and spread their hateful diatribe?
And all the movie theaters today have about 6 movies running at the same time, if you have to clear out the theater for a 50 Cent movie, you have to clear out the rest of the theaters too. Would the producers of all those other movies tolerate 50 Cent movies being in the same theaters as theirs? Cutting out their profits? Producers don't want to die trying to get rich, they just want to get rich.
'Fiddy' needs a ministerial permit to enter Canada because of his criminal record. Why would we want his kind of people here? I hope they don't give it to him.
But the law abiding, respectable public does have the power to put him out of business.
Even at 50 cents his tickets should be overpriced.

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=canada_home&articleID=2097695

and a little more common, 9 Millimeter Ruger
16 shots, hollow points will go through ya
and this? this here? this is a 12 gauge Mossburg kid,
two shots and you can wet like half a block
this shit here gets my dick hard,
it's a Calicko, it holds a Hundred shots
if you can't kill your beef with this you need to stop
c'mon, pick somethin' now nigga, you know it's hot
- - - fifty cent

ETC ETC

Carol James is the bad guy (girl)

Did you notice how the Liberals are spinning Carol James' action of backing off from the pay raise the sneaky MLAs brought in? They are making HER the bad guy, calling HER the bad leader, and it's obvious that they are just pissed off that they didn't get their stealth money.
No concern whatsoever for the screaming public voice at all. Like they don't even REALISE what the furor is about!
Typical Liberal arrogance.

proof of Liberal collusion in the media

If there wasn't Liberal collusion in the media, we would have clips playing every five minutes of Premier Campbell standing up and saying, "We are going to have open government." A phrase he constantly repeated while running for the Liberals to govern our province. Some dupes believed him.
Gordon Campbell has now gone to the opposite extreme; secret government.
And one must fault the NDP in with this sneaky secrecy and deception. Together the greedy MLAs got together in the back room and voted themselves a fifteen percent raise in pay, when thousands of British Columbians are struggling to make ends meet. Union and non union. When Gordon tells us all that the economy is strong, he doesn't mean for you and I, he means for his big business buddies.
There is a public outcry to MLA offices. The people of the province are furious, they are expressing their anger every way they can, on the web in chat forums, to phone in radio shows, but do we see it in the press or television? No.
Why? Because the federal Liberals have most newspapers, even community newspapers, and TV stations in their pockets. The only newspaper the public has left is the Georgia Straight, the one Gordon Campbell tried to shut down.
Gordon Campbell and Carol James betrayed the people of BC. They KNEW they were doing it. They KNEW it was sneaky. They did it anyway. Without a single dissenting voice from one Liberal or NDP MLA anywhere! Without one leaked message to the media.
Once again, I hear a cry from the dark wilderness, where is the Social Credit party when we need them?
What a mess!

A little fun ....

The original Numa Numa guy, Gary Brolsma ...

http://www.guzer.com/videos/numa_numa.php


This guy can't stop laughing at the second person who speaks ...

http://www.break.com/articles/holditin.html

Liberals' "business first" policy

If there was ever a case showing how putting business ahead of people by the present Gordon Campbell government hurts, it is the tragic death of little Sherry Charlie. Mr Campbell cut funding to many agencies that helped the people in our society who need it.
We saw old folks split up and their community hospitals closed. We know Mr. Campbell has the reputation for hating women. And now he should hang his head in shame and resign because his policies have resulted in harm coming to children too.
I wonder how the tax cuts to business are going?
Well, whatever, as long as the foreign economy within our province is strong, that is what Gordon Campbell really cares about. Too bad.


Goodbye sweet little Sherry Charlie, too bad you were a female, a native indian BCer, and poor. Too bad you didn't have a chance at life.
Too bad you didn't even make it to your 2nd birthday.


Oh, I forgot. Today the MLAs, in secrecy, voted themselves a 15% raise in pay. Does anyone else feel sick like I do?

the Eleventh Hour

The cherry tree in Victory Square gives up another yellowy leaf fluttering softly to the damp ground.
The Cenotaph. The eleventh month, the eleventh day, the eleventh hour.
Nearly a century after the signing of that first armistice in November, 1918, we are gathered on this cool autumn morning to remember the darkest hours. The large crowd is not restless, there is too much respect in the chill air to be restless. Only soldiers’ ghosts have the right to be restless this poignant hour. Looking over shoulders toward the marble monument, flags bright against the morning dull of overcoats and scarves, the cherry tree steals attention. Burnt orange and yellow and faded green leaves now sparse on its dark wet branches. The Vancouver Bach Youth Choir sings beautifully beneath it, an ethereal sound, angelic voices coaxing the leaves to let go, asking our hearts to remember.
The 15th Field Artillery Regiment begins the 21 gun salute with a dull thump in the thick misty air, startling nervous pigeons to fly in circling squadrons. Marching cadets and full dress troops arrive in staccato rhythm, heels upon pavement, commanded to halt by a disjointed voice. Military uniforms are especially crisp for this day and polished boots are perfect.
People singing Oh Canada with softness and pride, knowing we are the best. A patient grey sky of swirling cloud holds back its rain. A large plane with full flaps glides as slowly as possible overhead. Then four Harvards in the 'missing man formation' following in a drone of sound.
Another cannon thump. Gulls wheeling, watchful of food. Curious crows disappear into the dark evergreens. A poem written by a high school student is read with quavering emotion. Children’s voices echo. Murmurs. Here and there a solemn glistening tear on a worn face.
Many younger families clustered in an area they would never go to normally. A car alarm squawks irreverence, perhaps a comment to an almost forgotten generation. Bagpipes wailing, reproachful of modern interruptions. A phalanx of antique planes now circling with buzzing engines.
The earth smell is not unpleasant. Nor the odor of damp wool. Pipe smoke floats through the assembly. Coughs from some who shouldn’t be here remembering others who couldn’t be here.
An elder Sergeant’s voice giving directions to the parade troops, losing its strength with a crackle. The Chaplain speaks a prayer, I catch words, ‘in the journey through life’, and give a silent thanks that my passage has been without the fright of war, without the fear of death, without the tragic loss of dear ones.
My mind drifts to Belgium, a few years ago, of feeling a duty to visit Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Canadian World War II Memorial, even though I had no name to search carved on that monument. Standing amid the wheat fields in a summer breeze where a sprinkling of red poppies still grow, giving thanks that I was allowed to roam at will in a free Europe. There’ll be Bluebirds over, the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow, you just wait and see, Vera Lynn promised, and there were.

the parade's gone by ...

click to enlarge
And in my free Canada, the laying of wreaths begins, dignitaries, officials and crippled old military men weighted down by their chests of medals, saluting a memory, a face, a daring-do friend, perhaps a chipper smile from long ago. Their bodies are crisp and straight for the salute, if only for a moment before they hobble back to their place in the hushed crowd. A man’s valor can never be extinguished.
Another thud from the artillery. War is different now. Can individual bravery and courage exist today? The choir sings, Abide With Me, and the beauty of the music and words hang in the mist.
The cherry tree sheds another leaf, then another. Dropping silently to the moist brown earth, as many soldiers did in a strange land. A song I once wrote drifts into mind -
Oh that man there might have been your uncle,
or a brother who was very dear,
or a father, never having seen his little son.
Now he’s lying softly in the grasses,
and he keeps on looking at the sky,
and he’s slowly giving up his dreams, one by one ...
Again the thump of artillery. Two minutes of silence. A frail woman’s voice in prayer. Yet not disturbing to those in reverie, they have liberty because of these fallen GrandDads. Lest we forget, lest we forget, at this moment, Kiplings greatest lines.
The clusters of dress parade troops begin to move off. Straight-backed young cadets in a rhythmic shuffle, perhaps understanding for the first time what glory is. And crumpled old veterans, walking as best they can. Able to show a resolve in their eyes to all who would see it. Leading the way even at this long time from the event of their courage. Perhaps able to incite the young men gazing at them to be the very best they can be. And I hoping that they are able to sense and receive my thanks as they pass. And not sure, so I say it aloud. Thanks.
The eleventh month, the eleventh day, the eleventh hour.
The cherry tree gives away another yellow leaf fluttering down, though not to die in vain, but to give life to that tree for a future world.
Remembrance day, any time, any year.

http://www.anavets.ca/

© RC Westerholm
Reprinted from www.peregrine1.blogspot.com

Movie review - The Legend of Zorro

Long in the tooth Antonio Banderas would rather ride the Black Horse than Catherine Zeta Jones, just when she's heaving her breasts ala Barbara Cartland romance novel, he rides off into the moon. A chubby lil Mexican kid runs weight off by the end of the picture and Catherine wells up with tears again and again. Lots of sword fighting, but it's not Johnny Depp, more like his Dad with bad eye makeup, and nobody ever gets cut. But blow-ups are everywhere and even when a California orange falls to the ground it sounds like the Space Shuttle exploding. I think the sound effects guy must be the producer's brother-in-law. Bring ear plugs. There are a couple of times where they forgot to put Antonio on the apple box and he has to look up to Catherine, but who cares? Being anywhere near that magnificent brunette is good enough, and especially when you're at eye level with her ..... well never mind. Have fun trying to spot the Lee Marvin movie parody.
The hero of the piece? I'd put my money on the Black Horse.
Z

Could this be the start of something big?

In Vernon B.C. yesterday, a local man, obviously tired of street drug dealers with death in their pockets, attacked three men. In the ensuing fight, he was chopped with an axe and ended up in hospital. Neither the dealers or the attacker are talking.
The police said he should have called them and they would have started an investigation. His vigilanteism will not be tolerated.
In our sorry state of policing today, when all of us can spot the dealers on our street corners and evidently the police can't, starting an 'investigation' is a poor answer to the frustration of law abiding folks who are fearing for their children. Meth dealing and labs are driving us crazy. Cocain is everywhere, these drugs with heroin and others are the scourge of virtually every community in Canada. Indeed, North America. The police are always 'investigating'.
Sorry, doesn't work anymore. That answer is standard to appease the public. We all know dealers are back on the streets within hours after being arrested.
It was only a matter of time before someone started doing 'things' on their own. This man had bravery ahead of intelligence though. He went it alone and it hurt. Perhaps he'll learn a lesson from his actions. No, I don't mean 'let the police handle it'. We've been waiting for the police to handle it way too long now.
This man and others who have such a notion might have learned something else; Attack must be with overwhelming odds. Attack must be short and sweet. Attack must be with stealth and secrecy. Attack must be lethal.
In their quest for territory drug battles are spilling onto innocent citizens. A woman was recently shot with a stray bullet from a drive by shooting. Another shooting was in a crowded restaurant. Perhaps local folks will realise that the dealer on the corner is a supreme target himself for a drive by shooting?
Every drug dealer on every street corner should have no sympathetic feelings from the community. Many of them are illegal immigrants here for the PURPOSE of selling us drugs. Every one of them is contributing to the death and prostitution among our children. Somehow, somewhere they need to be stopped. Perhaps the way is to make it deadly to stand on the corner with death in your pocket. The police are failing miserably all across the continent. Judges have no idea what justice is about. Maybe it is time for a new justice.
This could be the start of something big.

Gomery report

What else can we conclude from the Gomery report about the federal Liberals other than that Chretien was in charge of everything and that he didn't know everyone below him was corrupt? And what else can we conclude other than that Paul Martin was in charge of the money and that he didn't know what the corrupt people in his department were doing with it?
What else can we conclude but that everyone in the government from French Canada is corrupt and stealing money from the rest of Canada?
The basic assumption so far is that the Liberal controlled media across Canada will say poor Paul Martin needs another chance for re-election and that the Conservaives and the NDP would be scary as government.
And the basic assumption is that Quebec will pass the separatist referendum which it will hold in the near future, because the French Canadians controlling our government will again step back to allow it and say nothing.
What is REAL scary is that when that all happens, Canadians will once again stand there and let French Canadians negotiate the separation of Quebec with other French Canadians when every French Canadian MP in Ottawa should immediately resign on the outcome of that vote.
But then corrupt people can't be expected to be honourable, can they?