Wednesday 29 August 2012

Hope

Watch in despair

Errors repeated again

Stop the descent


The Earth Moved

Dogs howl in fear

Silence covers the city

Shattered terra quakes

Direction

Where do I go

The road ahead is shrouded

Sol breaks through the clouds


A Declaration

I declare that I am a straight caucasian male and damn proud of it. I am defined by the choices I make, the activities that I choose to engage in, and the people I interact with. I believe in marriage, I think marriage is an important institution - people committing to each other, promising to hold the other close to them, to protect and nurture, to love. I believe that children need parents, one of the horrors of this world is seeing a child wander around with no one looking over them.

This post is courtesy of another blog entry made by Carlos Maza

I believe that marriage is the joining of at least two consenting adults. The two operative parts of my belief are consenting and adults. A man and a woman, two men, two women, three or more in any combination of men or women as long as they are all adults that consent to care and nurture each other.

But all gays do is have sex with whoever and whatever they want, with no thoughts or cares. Yes, I sat through and watched the entire Queer as Folk series. Wonderful show, great acting (by the way, Brian, the main stud for the show, he is straight - what an actor), all of those gay folks fucking and screwing and being promiscuous. Terrible to consider these folks marriage material - except for the lesbian couple who had a baby and moved away. Terrible people and the image that is portrayed. Can't have that, they can't possibly be able to commit to a stable, loving relationship.

Let us look at some other very TV worthy people, how about George Takei. No one, but no one could fly the Enterprise or slash an epee like Mr Sulu. Quite the man he is, also he has been in a very stable and loving relationship since 1988, to Mr Brad Altman. I know nothing of either of these two gentlemen other than they have been together for more than 20 years. That sounds pretty stable to me, and I can't imagine waking to the same face every year for 20+ years without an awful lot of love - this I can say from my own experience. George and Brad, two decent people, neither one of them (to my knowledge) has ever been in trouble with the law and the threat they pose to me and my stable, loving relationship is.......

To give equal weight to the other side of the coin, another TV personality, Britney Spears. I am sure that she is a nice person inside even thou some of her public face has been somewhat less than stellar. She has been married twice, both to men, making the "proper" bonds of holy matrimony. I won't really go into the drunken haze of 55 hours that was her first marriage. While the two people I stacked up beside one another really aren't in any way equal, they both have exactly the same impact on my marriage. Zero.

The quality of parenting, that will have to get to in another post

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Blue Moon




Sol rests her head

Luna returns to light terra

Slumber in peace

A Definition Please

Can someone please tell me what the hell "Sexual Assault" is? Is it one of those words we have developed to  downplay what really happened, a euphemism?

The CBC reported that "Ron Bencze was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday morning in Surrey for sexually assaulting the son of a family friend." This walking piece of garbage did this crime over a period of 7 years, starting when the child was 7. That child had taken from him by force something he will never recover and Ron was charged with sexual assault.

As defined by Merriman-Webster - a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person (as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner) that puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact.

Ron made this "assault" happen again and again and again, by some small miracle this piece of garbage actually got 4 years in jail. Apparently this surprised defence council, they were expecting a conditional sentence of 24 months. Conditional on what? And 24 months for the 7 years of direct hell that was imposed on that child, and this doesn't even go into the rest of that child's life. 

A threat or attempt to inflict, what did he threaten that rated 4 years in jail?

When are we going to start calling it what it is so that those who have it happen to them can get the help they need to deal with it?








Sharing - Thank you Bill Bennet

Ah, to be able to park it in a chair, on a beach, with a cool drink. This is what it is all about, the ability to once in a while just to relax. Just ask  MLA Jagrup Brar. He went down to Cuba for a vacation. Good on you Mr Brar, I am glad you were able to put your feet up for a bit. While you were down there, you had a look around and saw some things that were working for the people of Cuba. That is what being a tourist is all about, going out to see somewhere else and learn a little about where you went. 

Mr Brah then showed his true colours. He came back and told others some of the things he had witnessed, sharing his experience with others. For shame, sharing good things with your friends, family and community. But why is this such a bad thing? I seem to recall that in kindergarten I was taught it was good to share, sharing is a good thing, heck, that is what we are all about here in Canada. We all share a bit to make life a bit easier for us all.

Apparently the sharing that Mr Brar did has exposed his true evil self. Mr Brar is a communist, and worse yet, so is the entire NDP party here in British Columbia. What an amazing deduction, I never knew that sharing your experiences with others made you a communist. I am truly thankful that I have Bill Bennet to protect me from the evil sharing of Mr Brar. I will know in the future to see the great communist threat behind anyone who is going to share bit of knowledge with me.

Remember, to share is to be a communist. Thank you Bill Bennet for sharing that information with me. Oh, wait a minute, now Bill Bennet is sharing. OH GOD! He must be a communist as well, him and his entire Liberal Party of BC. Who can I turn to for the truth? Who will protect me from the evils of sharing?

Anyone with a thought they wish to share?

Oh My God, did this really happen?

Apparently it has.
Republican Governor Jan Brewer has signed into Arizona state law that Pregnancy begins 2 weeks prior to conception. Now, I can understand that a state whose politics are dictated by the Christian Church (so much for separation of church and state) could come up with this. I can understand a Republican coming up with this, more and more it appears that Republicans have a very tenuous grip on reality. What I can't understand is that it appears that a woman has signed this garbage. A woman, the very same chromosomal identity of the very people this law targets.

Yes, targets. This law has painted a big red target on every woman in the state of Arizona. The now official date of pregnancy is calculated as the first day of your last menstrual period. That equates to every woman becoming pregnant and then aborting that pregnancy about 12 times a year. Jan Brewer has turned every menstruating woman into something that should be producing a baby each and every time it has a menstrual cycle because as the holy church dictates, abortion is evil.

Well done Jan Brewer, our trip to the dark ages is one step closer to being complete

Monday 27 August 2012

Irony


Makes you think a bit. What have all of those people done that has made God so pissed?

Suffer The Little Children


Is this what they mean when they say this?

Mr Akin



Oh to be able to say I thought of this first.  Well done Christy Caine


For anyone who likes this, feel free to send it to Mr Akin. Perhaps if he sees it a few hundred times he will get the message

Sunday 26 August 2012

The Power of YOU

Up here in the Great White North we are having our own political nightmare, in the form of Steven Harper. Some time ago he said something to the effect that he would make Canada unrecognisable to the outside world. Well, he is accomplishing that quite effectively.

At the last Canadian Federal Election, the party he leads managed to get a very strong majority of the seats required in the House of Commons. I will not go into the Robocall scandal or any of the other crap that was done during that election, only to say that close to 60% of the registered voters made it to the polls. Where were the other 40%? Why did you not go out and vote. It is your duty to make your voice heard.

Now Canada is stuck with Harper and what is beginning to look like a dictatorship. He has pushed through the infamous Omnibus Budget, and through his majority, made it impossible for any contrary voices to be heard or acted on. He has made it legal to have torture used and acted on here in Canada. He has pushed through the acquisition of the F35 fighter jets, an aircraft that hasn't even been built yet, as the next great step in keeping Canada strong. This is only a partial list of what has happened and will continue to happen unless he is stopped.

Steven Harper is a public servant, that is all he is. He works for YOU, not the other way around. YOU have the power to fire him, YOU have the power to stop him. He must be stopped before he makes Canada no better than some third world country with a puppet dictator. Stand up and be heard those of you living in Conservative ridings. Demand a recall of the member who speaks for YOU. Make that person accountable for his or her actions and if they do not act in your interest, force a by election. It is your right to do so. Get that person fired and vote in someone who will listen to YOU. There are 166 Conservative ridings in Canada, if only 13 of them change, it will make a difference. Harper will lose the majority and will have to listen to the people he SERVES.

13 ridings, that is all it will take. Everyone stand up and be counted. Steven Harper is our SERVANT, we are the ones who are supposed to be in control. Stand up and take control back from him before he takes the choice away from you.


Saturday 25 August 2012

The Republicans Are Coming

This year is another great one for the circus that lives below the 49th parallel of North America - it is election year. The two great parties of the people and for the people are squaring off against one other, beating their collective chests and saying "See how great it would be with me running the show!"

 For this election, we have in the Democrats corner the President, Barack Obama. From all that I have seen of him and about him, he appears to be a man of his word. He has really worked his butt off over this past 4 years, he has actually done something real, several actually. He repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, he managed to save the auto industry from complete ruin and he managed to bring in a national health care bill to allow more people access to decent health care. On the negative side of the President, he is still  haunted by the whispers that he isn't a natural born citizen and he relates to the great evil that is been named Islam.

In the other corner, we have Mitt Romney for the Republicans. He appears to be a man of his word as well, thou the value of those words seems to be negligible at best. He also appears to be a very rich man, thou it is very hard to accurately asses that as a great deal of his personal wealth appears to be in off shore bank accounts. He is a very charismatic man, he would have to be. The fact that there are women in the US who will vote for him is proof of that.

The republican party has just recently made its polices clear over the past week and one of those policies or goals is to put women into their place. Yes, I know I ranted on this last week but it really bears more energy. The only question I really want to examine is why is this still an issue? Why are women still second class citizens in one of the most developed country on Earth? Why do women pay more for health care, are they denied prompt and appropriate health care, do they perform the same work as men and get paid less for it? Why is a woman who chooses to stay at home and raise her children considered not to have been working? Why are less than 10% of all rapist given any sort of jail time when every one who is raped given a life time sentence by the "justice system".

I ask to every woman in the US, how can you look at yourself in the mirror and vote for a man who will continue and add to this cycle of violence to you. To your Mothers, your Sisters, your Daughters. And to every man, who was the person who held you when you were a child? Who was the person who kisses your knee when you skinned it? Don't let the Mitt Romney continue to push that person to the back of the bus. Women don't need special treatment, special rules, they need to be treated the same. That is all they want.



Wednesday 22 August 2012

Child abuse on TLC

It has finally happened. A father has seen that his child is being abused and turned into a little sex object by its mother and is doing something about it. The phenomenon of child beauty pageants is big business down in the lower US states as seen on the program Tots and Tiaras, shown on TLC. On the occasion I have watched this program I have been horrified at what mothers down there are doing to their little girls, little girls who are just barely older than 1 year. What is wrong with these "mothers"? I say mothers because the vast majority of the adults with the kids are women, though their are men involved with this abuse. And this abuse is now entertainment for the masses.

First part of the abuse I am going to address comes in the form of bags and bags of sugar that are being fed to these kids every time they show up at a pageant. The camera pans around and you see children 4 and 5 years old with a Super Big Gulp in their tiny little grasp - a 44 oz cup of water, sugar and a little food colouring. In that cup there is 128g of sugar, dropping 512 empty calories into that childs body. As a fully grown moderately active male, I should be taking in about 2000 calories a day. What is going to happen to that child she develops with her body loaded with sugar? There was one "mother" who spoke directly to the camera and said  "I give her Pixie Sticks to give her that special sparkle". Why don't you just give you kid cocaine and be done with it.

The next really horrible thing that is happening to these children is they are being turned into little sex things. Tight little dresses, dance moves that emulate adult strippers and now even fake boobs, all things designed to entice the judges. Teaching children that they only thing that is important is how good they can wiggle their hips and how perfect they look. And lets look at the judges for a moment. This job must be a paedophiles dream, all of these little girls being paraded in front of them, GOD BLESS AMERICA.

These children are having their childhood stripped from them. Children are supposed to be running and playing with their friends, climbing trees and scraping their knees. They should not be forced, coerced or cajoled into spending hours and hours practising routines, hours getting their nails and hair and face primped and preened, and being stuffed into uncomfortable and sometimes physically painful costumes so that they can be paraded in front of some adults who will judge her of being worthy.

One man has stood up for his child, well done. Now, when will the rest of them follow suit?



Tuesday 21 August 2012

To The Republican Women of the US

Did you know that the party you support activity hates you? Did you know that they want complete and total control of your body? Are you okay with the thought that some well to do white male is going to make you a second class citizen? You don't think so?  

According to CNN, "Republicans drafting their party's official policy platform on Tuesday ratified a call for a Constitutional ban on abortion that makes no exceptions for rape or incest.  The party's official stance on abortion was approved after just a few minutes of discussion. The language in the platform must be voted on before the full Republican Convention next week, though Republicans say it is all but certain to pass."

No exception for rape or incest and it took these white males just a few minutes to stuff you to the back of the bus where you belong. 

How is it possible that any woman out there can vote Republican? How can you look at yourselves in the mirror and believe you are a citizen of the US, with all the rights and privileges that entails, when  you are letting these rich white men decide what is the right thing for you, or your 13 year old daughter who has been raped by her father for the past 3 years - and no, don't come back with incest isn't rape. 

Being pregnant is a huge thing to happen to anyone. The woman's body is changed in so many ways science hasn't classified them all yet. Not every woman is ready or able to go through childbirth. That is a fact of life, not everyone can do this. For some women, childbirth presents a very real danger of physical harm to the point of death - the Republican Party will to condemn those women to whatever fate awaits them. 

There are people out there who feel abortions for any reason are wrong; fine, it is your right to make that decision for yourself. You do not have the right to make that choice for his wife, her daughter, the kid down the street, or anyone.


Ladies of the US, are you going to let this happen to you and your daughters and sisters and mothers?

The more it changes, the more it stays the same

This mornings big news comes from Augusta, one of the last great boys only club. It was announced that the Augusta golf club had allowed 2 ladies to join. Imagine that, another boys only club is gone forever, another golf course must allow girls to play as well.

I think my feeling on this have been best expressed by the late George Carlin

"Golf is a arrogant, elitist game engaged in primarily by white, well to do business men who use the game to get together to make deals to carve this country up a little finer amongst themselves." 
With that being said, let us look at who has just been allowed in, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore. These are two very wealthy and politically powerful women. I guess things haven't changed all that much. It is still a club to have rich people decide who owns what. 

That is equality for you, now the girls get to slice up their own piece of America.



Monday 20 August 2012

That's Entertainment!

I just received an email asking me to sign a petition to have the Premier of Ontario force the owners of Marineland to improve the living conditions for their aquatic animals. Recently there have been stories bandied about saying how awful the animals are being treated, the filthy water, the blind seals and the skin falling of the sides of the dolphins. Phil Demers was the head trainer for Marineland and after 12 years he had finally had enough of the abuse he was a part of and he quit. This has had a lot of people in an uproar, how could those animals be kept in such conditions, why is there no law protecting them?

I agree, those animals are being mistreated and they should be protected. They should be protected by shutting down Marineland, and every other water attraction park in the world. Each and everyone of those animals is being imprisoned for no reason other than to amuse us. What is right about that? No matter how well they are being "cared" for, they are still being held captive and forced to entertain us. 

How many times have you heard from the animal cruelty activists and seen the pictures of the bears being forced to walk on their hind legs? Circuses have changed, it is becoming rarer to see a circus that has animal acts - at least here in North America. I say rarer because we still have the Rodeo, good clean entertainment - no one gets hurt, mostly. At the Calgary Stampede this year, how many horses were killed or had to be put down for injuries they received at this entertainment venue.

Animals are being imprisoned, maimed, tortured and killed for our entertainment. Just like the good old days of the Roman Circus. How does that make you feel? Does that make you feel?

Something to think about

Dude, Where is your car?

How often have you gone to your local store and found the only spot available has this sign in front of it?
"Its just for a minute, I will be right back"
I will not claim to be innocent of such thoughts when I was a little less patient with the world. How much extra effort is it really to park over there? Is it really going to kill you? While I can appreciate being pressed for time really, can you appreciate the person who is in a wheel chair - they are not there by choice. It may not be that the person is confined to a chair, the person in question may be able to walk to the store and that is all they are able to do. What ever the situation is, if you don't need the space for any reason other than being lazy or pressed for time, pull on your big boy/girl panties and leave the spot open.

One day it may be you in the chair

Steel vs Ink

Pen writes the law
Changing the life of many
Who can see weakness


As the final line
Is written to law
Sword removes the hand


The Denmark Treat

Snap, click, connect

Brick after brick watch it grow

Lego creation



The Call to Separate - Again

The perpetual thorn in the side of Canada - the separatists in Quebec. Ever year or so the same thing gets spread to the rest of Canada - WE WANT TO SEPARATE. Every time this crap is raised it gets shot down  by the people of Quebec. It just won't stop until -

1. Canada forcibly deports everyone who waves the separatists flag
2. Canada gives the whiny shits what they want

Option 1 isn't all that workable. Who would take the deportees? Maybe put them on a boat and have them find a country who will take them - maybe they could find France.

Option 2. Give them their own land for them to rule as they see fit. Take a chunk of Quebec, wall it off and say, anyone not want to live in Canada, fine, there you go. Make sure that they have access to the sea and let them do what they want. This gives them the right to have everything in French,  no paying taxes to the rest of Canada - of course that means Canada gives them nothing.

I like Option 2, it gives everyone what they want. The separatists get to run their own lives the way they want. Canada doesn't have to listen to the incessant whining and bitching and general crap that comes out of a small group.

The next time the vote is called, put Option 2 on the ballot and see just how many people choose it. They want to leave? Let them.

Did he really just say that?

>A member of Congress has thoughts about abortion

Engage brain, think about it again, open mouth then speak.

U.S. Representative Todd Akin has just been reminded exactly how important the order of that string of steps is. In speaking about his moral outlook on abortion in cases of rape he said -"It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that is really rare," Akin said of pregnancy caused by rape. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin said.

Legitimate rape, what an interesting thought. Did you mean to suggest that there are reasons to rape or be raped or were you trying to suggest that not every woman can legitimately claim they were raped? Which was it Mr. Akin? You know, looking at both of those possibilities you would have been much better off keeping your mouth shut.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to speak and remove all doubt"

Who belongs on the $100 bill

The Royal Canadian Mint has buckled into pressure from some very concerned Canadian citizens that the new $100 bill has a lady on the back of it who has some distinctly "Asian" features. My guess is that these concerned citizens think that only "Canadian" citizens should be allowed on "our" bills. Before I get into who should or should not be considered Canadian, let me ask this.

Why is this such a big issue? Do you really spend so much time examining $100 bills that you can pick out each and every little nuance of shading? Do you have one framed in your house, showing everyone just what a Canadian looks like? I don't know about you, but it has been a long time since I had a $100 in my wallet. I know it is a brown colour, there is a clear band on the right side of it and it has $100 written all over it. When I get one, I usually have something that I need to exchange it for. I don't have so many of them that I spend hours and hours looking at one to see if something is not Canadian.

Now, for the real reason of this post - Who is a Canadian? Someone who was born here, whose family has lived here for x generations? For those who have forgotten, unless you are a North American Indian, at some point in history, your family were immigrants. Caucasian  people have only been on this part of the earth for about 500 years. Where is the cut off line of when you are considered a Canadian?

Here on the west coast of Canada, the two largest non caucasian communities are Chinese and East Indian with a growing Arabic community. I enjoy seeing the all of the different worlds come together. There is something to be said for good old steak and potatoes but damn, a good humus is hard to beat. We all have so much to share with each other, it is a shame not to welcome others into your backyard.

The problems arises when people coming here bring their garbage here with them. "Honor" killings that are still happening in our Indian community. Some of the Arabic groups who are still teaching their children hatred towards the infidel. How many people have wandered into china town and felt like they were not welcome to be there. So many people coming here, insisting that Canada change to suit them. Canada can't change to fit everyone, everyone needs to fit to what is already here. Have your culture, have your language, have your customs but leave the hate, violence and xenophobia behind.


Sunday 19 August 2012

Its The Real Thing

A couple of posts ago, I posted a link to the Animated Route Video that Enbridge provided for us to show just how nice and pretty things will be. Well, they have changed the video saying this is "broadly representational, not to scale". Too bad they didn't change the tail end that shows Douglas Channel as a wide open route to the sea.
This is the route video the Enbridge put together. Note at the 40 second mark you can see the "broadly representational, not to scale" wide open Douglas Channel, complete with a little tanker.

This is real, the real lakes the pipe will be crossing beside, the real rivers, the real Douglas Channel. Note the 1:20 mark, that view is looking west, where the big open area that Enbridge put that tanker. Those islands in the background, they are real, and the passages between them are real too, real narrow and real twisted.








God, Good Guy or Evil Overlord?

Jesus of Nazareth, Allah, Elah Shemaya, all names for the same belief, the one and true God.
Almighty, all knowing, merciful, the just, peace, love, all attributes of God.

"Allahu Akbar!" the last words spoken by a suicide bomber, just before his load of explosives rip through a crowd of shoppers at the bazaar.

"God told me to," claims Mark Chapman as John Lennon was buried.

"God is on our side, we are the victims" is claimed while rockets fall on school children in Israel.

Where is the love of God when people use his name to maim the innocent? "In God We Trust?" as his head is dunked below the waterline again.

Allah is merciful? What mercy is there in making children hate? In planting bombs in places where the innocent will be slaughtered? 

God must be hate have a headache of massive proportions listening to all the prayers to him. Half of them ask for healing and happiness, the other half for death and destruction. When did God become such an angry person? Is he really all about killing those who he created? 

Do as you will as it hurts no one. Nice, peaceful and it keeps God from being blamed for your actions

Friday 17 August 2012

Quiet Riot - for now

Tic Tock, Tock Tic
Hammer of justice swings hard
Caged away


Tic Tock, Tock Tic
Another life held inside
Belief imprisoned


Tic Tock, Tock Tic
Walls worn away in time
The light breaks in


Tic Tock, Tock Tic
Time crashes to a halt
Truth will be heard

THE NHL, Can we afford it?

Short Clip of the Stanley Cup Riot, 2010

This is the legacy left behind from the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Down town Vancouver torn apart, fires, looting and so on and so on.
Every year the same sort of thing happens in two cities - one because they won, one because they lost. Some cities manage things a whole lot better than were in Vancouver that year but still, how much does it cost all of us, even those who don't care about hockey.

I am sick of having to pay for extra police, extra security all because some people don't know how to behave as adults. Take another look at that video, recognize anyone it in? Those people have cost YOU millions of dollars.

This behaviour will continue every year until we stand up and make these miscreants pay for the damage they did. Round them all up and make each and everyone of them spend a week cleaning garbage from the street. And let them wear a bright orange vest so everyone will know exactly why they are there.

Those who rate no pity

The spin doctors of the world. The people who do their best to make us see something that really isn't there. How many times have you encountered one and thought "how do you live with yourself? Have you no shame?" What is it about some people who can come up with these deceptions day after day?

I just encountered one such person today. Up here in British Columbia, we are dealing with Enbridge wanting to build a pipeline through our province. The pipeline will end at Kitimat and really that is where the problem for me begins. From Kitimat the sludge from that pipe will be shipped to China. Now, I really am not to worried about who is buying the sludge, what is bothering me is Douglas Channel. Douglas Channel the route the oil tankers will take to get to China. Enbridge put an animated video together showing part a very sanitized version of the route. The picture below shows one section of the video. On the left is a part of the the video. On the right is what really exists

There is a  huge movement here, trying to get the rest of BC to see what is really happening. I wrote to Enbridge about this picture. I cc'd that email to the Premier and two different news outlets. I received a reply from them today. The spin doctor the replied said that some environmentalists are trying to smear our good name.  The video you were referring to was meant to be an illustration only. Illustration? Illustration of what?
What did this person give up to be able to spin the lies and deceptions of Enbridge? How can the person who wrote me blame the environmentalists for the what Enbridge put on the website.

I would pity this person, but I can't. There is nothing there to pity.

People to Pity

On the occasion I encounter someone who really deserves pity. Frequently these people are tasked with facing the angry , hostile, or just plain nasty customers of the company that employs them. There is always one person who has to face customers who are unhappy for one reason or another. Sometimes that customer is just being unpleasant for the sake of causing someone else grief. The person on the other side of the desk does not warrant your violence, they are just trying to survive day to day, just as you are. Don't be going up to them with "The customer is always right" attitude. By law, any place you shop at must take action if you have purchased an item that is defective. They are not required to take back something because you bought the wrong size, the wrong colour, the wrong style or I really don't like it.

Companies do returns as a courtesy to its customers.

Treat the person on the other side of the counter with a little of that courtesy, they deserve it no less than you do.

Trout

Sharp steel hook

Dangles innocently

Surprised  lunch

Help Me Steven Harper, I'm Canadian

News from Russia, a group punk band has been sentenced to 2 years in jail for hooliganism. I am sorry to hear that. People have a need to be able to speak, what I don't understand thou, is why there are people here in Canada who think that the Canadian government should do something about it.

First of all, just what do these people think the Canadian government can/should do? President Vladimir Putin, a very charismatic guy, couldn't  care less about anything Steven Harper would say. Heck, I couldn't care less about anything he has to say. There is evidence that the members of this band are Canadian, and therefore subject to the protection of the laws of Canada. If this band had done whatever they had done on Canadian soil, this would be true. Anyone doing anything on Canadian soil will be subject to Canadian law.  Any Canadian doing anything on Russian soil, is subject to Russian law. End of subject.

If you chose to go against the law of whatever land you happen to be in, you have to be ready to accept the consequences of your actions. It does not matter one whit if the laws you are breaking are illegal in your home country - if you are in Russia, or Greece, or Egypt or..... you are subject to those laws. You don't like that idea, then don't do what will get you into trouble where you happen to be and then expect some government somewhere else to bail you out.

To the members of Pussy Riot, I am sorry to hear you have gotten yourselves into trouble. I am even more sorry to know that you have placed young children in enormous danger. To those who think that the Canadian government should do something about it, find something else to waste your time on. The Canadian government has enough to do here in Canada.

Excuse me, I gotta answer this

On my way to work this morning I got to listen to my favourite 5 minutes of radio in the morning, Cliff LeQuesne  (sorry Ed) from 100.3 The Q gives us a brief view on his take of the world right now. This morning he talked about two restaurants down state side where cell phone use is being discouraged at one by giving a 5% discount on your bill if you hand over  your cell before you dine and the other expressly forbids the use of cell phones. The whole point of putting away your phone is to connect with that person you are dining with. 

How often have you been dining with someone, in the middle of a conversation and their cell phone goes off.

"Excuse me, I gotta answer this"

How does that make you feel when the person you are with does that to you? What does that say about your value to them knowing that they are more interested in something else?

It is bad enough now, when your cell phone is a physical device that can be put down, handed over or turned off. What is it going to be like in 20 years when the device is a physical part of you. You are talking with the person you are sharing dinner with and all of a sudden, their face goes blank and they start talking to someone else. Relationships are already a lot of work to hold onto, this scenario is only going to add to that work load.

Reach out and touch someone and then be with that person. Leave the cell at home, turn it off or let the voice mail get the call. There are few things that qualify as "I gotta answer this". When you are taking that person out to dinner, be with that person, not the electronic tether in your pocket. Talk with that person, who knows, you might just learn something new about them.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Republican Values

It seems to me that the Republican Party is a party of the people, that is until each person is born. Then it really looks like that the only interest the RP has in you is how much work they can extract from you. Women, not worth attention unless they are producing another being they can send out to support the munitions producing corporations - read into that Protecting Our Way of Life by invading some other country. Seniors, sorry, you are going to have to work just another 2 years. Young men, I need you to go overseas to Protect Our Way of Life. The 1%? Oh Hi Frank, what was that you wanted, a tax break? Sure, let me see who I can get to pay for that.

Now, I am sure that the Democrats have their own dirty little plans but it really looks like the current Democrat is actually doing something other than lining his friends over seas bank accounts.


Mitt Romney

The next presidential election draws ever nearer and Republicans have finally gotten their team together. It is a whole 3 months before the election, what is their big rush? Even though they have loads of time to step on their dicks and screw things up for themselves, Mitt is right there showing the whole world exactly how mediocre US presidential candidates have become.

First and foremost, why does he even want the job? Why does he need a job? How many offshore accounts does he have, with how many millions? How much of that can he spend and enjoy in the 30 odd (if he is really lucky) that he has left to live. This election champaign is going to cost how many millions of dollars, and at the end of it all, if he doesn't win, he won't be able to get any of it back. A 50/50 gamble of millions of dollars - either he has nerves of steel or he doesn't really understand the concept of odds.

Next point up for discussion, his religious affiliation, a Mormon. A fundamentalist group who have very specific views on what is and is not proper behaviour. By the way ladies, think hard about where your place is within a Mormon family structure. Translate that into the head of the US being controlled by a group who have a very rigid view of your place and value.

Now I have a question. Why is Mitt touring Europe? What value is that going to add to his election champaign? Notwithstanding the fact that he was making the US look bad, what does the average US citizen care about Mitt being spending money in Europe when they are living pay check to pay check


Think about it when it comes time to vote.


Tuesday 14 August 2012

Dust in the wind

When the water leaves

The shell will wither away

Naught lives forever

Where did that spud come from?

Right up front, I am not slamming the quality of the any spud grown anywhere else in the world.

One of the managers at our Save On Foods stores hates to see me walk through the produce isle. Why would anyone not like to see me shopping at their store?
Potatoes. The almighty spud. When I go shopping for potatoes I get incensed when I see bag after bag of potatoes grown in Idaho. I just can't stand it. Once again  I have nothing bad to say about the quality of the spuds grown in Idaho, what I object to is that they are being sold here with no option to buy a locally grown spud. Just to the north of Victoria is a beautiful chunk of farm land, where all kinds of great produce is grown. Carrots and beans and corn and potatoes. I can go further north up Vancouver Island and find more large tracks of land devoted to growing potatoes. I look east and see the Fraser River Delta, another huge track of land devoted to growing potatoes. All of these locally grown potatoes and I do not have the option to buy one.

Why potatoes? Why does that particular thing get my goat? I had to choose one thing to be picky about and potatoes were it because they are grown everywhere and they store well. We grow a lot of potatoes locally so damn it, let me buy one.

Go to your local store and look for yourself. If that vegetable is in season and grown here ask to have it available. Every dollar you spend here, stays here and is spent here again. Every dollar you spend on a spud from Idaho, goes to Idaho and gets used there.

Let your wallet talk for you. If there are no local veggies, find out why and then tell the manager you want to see them. When you do that, and your neighbour, and their neighbour and so on and so on we will keep our farms producing food for us all.

Spuds, a small thing, but damn are they ever tasty with a bit of butter.

Surprise

Soft gray mist blankets

Sight muted beyond your reach

Steel blade cuts through

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Well, the truth is that the waters are not troubled, the bridge is. Our iconic Johnson Street Bridge. Lovely blue icon that says Victoria. Originally opened for business in 1924, it has stood there and served the community of the lower island for more that 80 years. 80 years is a respectable age, time to retire her. Retire or replace has been bandied around for the past 5 or so years, what is the question here?

The entire structure of the bridge has been subject to 8 decades of corrosion, plate tectonics, heavy trucks and occasionally being run into by some ship. The bridge has served us well, it is time to replace. Yes, we could dump $25 million into her and keep her going another 10 years, maybe. Yes the current estimate says $70 million but what does that higher amount get us? New engineering for one. Our knowledge of how the earth moves and how to counter the effects of the earth moving is far greater than it was 80 years ago. We will get new materials, materials that are not old and brittle and that have been subject to the pollution and corrosion of 8 decades. We will get a bridge that will last another 80 years instead of spending a third of the amount to patch up the old one.

A miracle happened (IMO), city council said "New Bridge". Great, one hurdle out of the way. Next hurdle is what to make the bridge look like/do. The current bridge has a single track rail bridge beside it to accommodate the old E&N rail line. A large part of the traffic woahs of this region stem from the lack of mass transit, or the lack of support for mass transit. The old E&N rail line was not used nearly as well as it could have been, thus it became something to ignore and now it is unusable. The city planners have decided that there will be no rail link across the new bridge. What are these people on? Anyone with any vision can see that at the very least the Johnson Street bridge is the south end of the Galloping Goose trail. During the morning and evening commute several hundred bicyclist use this trail to get into and out of Victoria. That is several hundred cars that are not on the street, several hundred parking spots not being filled, several hundred hunks of metal between you and where you want to be. People on bike used that rail bridge, keeping the road bridge clearer for cars. And now that will be gone.

If the time for mass transit between down town and the western communities never comes, at the very least, make it possible for something to be created and put into use. Put a mass transit bridge beside the new bridge. Even if all you do is put the bridge deck down and make it usable for bikes and people to walk on. Doing so now is a better use of everyone's tax dollars because it is far far cheaper to put the structure in now and not use it then it will be to retrofit a link later on when it becomes an absolute necessity. Putting a single track bridge beside the main bridge and leaving it as a bike or walking path will cost a minor faction of what it will cost to put something in ten years from now. It just may encourage more people to bike, taking more cars off the road.

New Bridge? Check.
Making proper use of our resources? Still working on it, keep your fingers crossed

Summertime Friend

Soft buzz in the ear

Dodging best effort to swat

Drop of blood taken

Was it worth it

A couple of months ago some little twerp decided it would be really cool to go ripping up the highway on his crotch rocket. What made it even better was that he decided to record it for prosperity sake and then post it to UTube. "See what a man I am? I can dodge through traffic at 300kph"
Yeah, we are all impressed. Impressed that you didn't hurt anyone with your fucked up notion of "macho".

Somewhere in the back of your mind you had to know that someone was going to call the cops on you, it was going to happen. When you looked at the video when you posted it, you saw the land marks, the signs that showed exactly where you were, and how fast you were going. What was going through the empty space between your ears?

Someone put two and two together, found out who was driving the bike and then arrested him. With the proof of the crime so nicely provided to the cops, he decided to plead guilty to being an idiot. Notwithstanding any fines he will have to pay, any hassle of getting his driving licence back, his bike is being sold for auction. At last report the bike had a $4000 bid on it. With someone willing to pay that kind of cash for a used bike you have to wonder what it would cost brand new - maybe $8k?

So, the question remains. Was it worth paying all that money for his 15seconds of fame?

The Cost of Sewage

Just recently the powers to be here in Victoria have finally decided that yes, there will be sewage treatment here. The estimated cost is some stupid number that will be translating into about $400 a year on my property tax - hmmm, didn't I say something about that yesterday? Currently, our sewage is pumped out Constance Banks after being screened for large chunks of stuff. The plan, as it stands now, is to build a treatment plant about 2 blocks down the road from my office, screen out all solids and then pump them up to  our landfill to further process it there. The liquids will be treated and then pumped out onto Constance Banks.

What is the right thing to do?

On one side we have those who say it isn't needed. At the discharge site, as it currently stands, a huge ecosystem lives off of our sewage. This system feeds the salmon that return every year, the pods of killer whales that live in our area, and a whole multitude of other marine life. That sewage is driving a large part of our economy forward. If we remove that  sewage outfall, what happens to that economic engine, what happens to all of that marine wildlife?

On the other side we have those who believe that it is imperative this sewage treatment must happen, and happen now. According to them, we are pumping garbage into our ecosystem, causing great harm to it. The treatment must happen, it must be paid for, there is nothing to discuss. Damn the torpedo (and the price tag of it), full speed ahead!

At one time I was completely on the build the treatment plant but then was shown exactly what was happening at the outflow pipe. Now I am not so sure. I can see what life is supported at the end of the pipe but I have to wonder what will happen to that life as the sewage we pump out becomes more and more toxic, just as our bodies are becoming.

Do we continue to change our environment to suit ourselves, or are we able to change ourselves so that we can suit our environment.

Monday 13 August 2012

Take a load off

I saw the coolest thing on my walk home this afternoon. For the sake of discovery, I took a different route home. It was hot and sunny, and I was tired and sweaty. Coming up Obed St in Sannich I came across this house. The owners have set up a rest stop for everyone to enjoy.



"Leave a book, Take a book or both". How cool is that? A little sanctuary at the side of the road. It shows just how wonderful a small thing can be.

Have a seat, take a load off and read for a few minutes.

City goes Chapter 8

In recent news, there are several cities in California that are bankrupt. I know what it means for a person to be bankrupt, but what happens to the city?

How is this for a scenario. A city of 300,000 people, debts totalling 500% of the amount the city has to offer its creditors. The city council has done everything it could to restructure the bills, increase revenues, sold of city assets and still it is not enough, the BANK wants its money, right now if you please. The BANK comes in and scoops out every last penny out of the city - leaving nothing. Maintenance of roads, public parks, water and sewage (at lease up here in Canada), police and fire protection, all gone. What now?
The BANK still wants its money, so now that it effectively owns everything that keeps the city operational the first thing that happens is taxes. Lots and lots of taxes.

Property tax is always the first to happen. Those who own homes pay through the nose to the city to keep the city running. Now the BANK wants its money so it raises property taxes. People try to sell their house and move away but who will buy it? If you don't pay your tax, your house gets seized, too bad, so sad, another house stolen by the BANK, another family on the street, another life ruined. More and more places get siezed, more and more people forced to move away. Now businesses start to suffer, no one to work and no one to buy the products. Businesses begin to shut down, more assets getting seized by the BANK. Pretty soon, no one has anything left to give because the BANK has everything.

The BANK has gotten its blood, but it is still not happy. It has all of these empty buildings that aren't making money for the BANK so the BANK does a turn around.
"I will let you live in these houses if you do exactly as I say" the BANK tells all of the people whose lives have been ruined.
The people look and see that winter is coming and realize the choice is do as they are told or freeze so they all say "yes BANK, we will do as we are told."
The BANK is happy. It has workers doing as they are told, sweating to produce things so the BANK will get bigger and stronger and the BANK gives back to the people only enough to survive - can't be giving away too much now, that would not be profitable.

A pretty far fetched scenario? Couldn't happen that way? Never ever seen such? Company towns look an awful lot like that. The Company owns everything, controls everything.
"Oh but" you say "Company towns are only a recent thing, they will never last".
Such things have existed for thousands of years.
Replace "the Company" with "the King" and replace "the people" with "the serfs".

Think about that next time you vote for something that needs to be paid for over the next 20 or 30 years.

The mighty Spud

Hack at the cold earth

Struggle, sweat and toil

Plant the many eyes



Water and nurture

Tender care, water and sun

The green rises up



Harvest the bounty

Cut, mash, ferment and distil

Siberian juice



Crane

Cool depths a beacon

Gliding over the mud flats

Sushi on the move


Listening at the Door

Have you ever sat and listened to what was being said on the other side of the door? Here at my desk I get to hear about how all of the people in this empire are going to get fired, how that person really isn't worth the air space he takes up or how the dude over there should be aware that he was acting as boss, not really the boss.
Just listen a bit little bit, you may be surprised at what is said


Sunday 12 August 2012

4:20

So here I sit, smack dab in one of the largest producers of weed in the entire world. Last year it was estimated that the marijuana business generated something like $7 billion and not one of those dollars was taxed in anyway. I am confused, with the state of our budget, having a good chunk of those taxable dollars would really be a windfall. 

Cannabis, weed, MJ, whatever you call it, is out there. It has always been there, and it will continue to do so no matter how hard the powers to be try to stamp it out. Prohibition, the war on pot, continues and to this day what has it really accomplished? A whole lot of tax dollars flushed down the toilet, a whole of people in jail for no real reason other than someone has an agenda - a big $$$ agenda.

We all have heard the government say how evil it is, how bad you are for using it and yet the Powers to Be continue to allow alcohol and tobacco to be produced and used - making a tidy profit out of it mind you. What is so different about weed? Notwithstanding the real medical uses of MJ, the entire plant can be and has been used for all sorts of things in the past. Food, textile, building material, paper, rope.... the list goes on and on. Why has it been turned into the great evil.

MJ is definitely a drug. Smoking it or eating it will change your perception of the world. Smoke enough of it for long enough and you will damage your body. Some people are violently allergic to the smell of it. All of these things are definitely true.

Alcohol is definitely a drug- have a couple shots of that and you no longer can see properly. Another couple of shots and you cant speak clearly. Take enough of it in a short time and you will die. Spread out the amount you drink and risk losing your liver. There are people who are violently allergic to being around someone who is drunk.

Tobacco is definitely a drug.  Smoking it or crewing it will change how your body is reacting to the world. Smoke enough of it long enough and your will begin to cough your lungs out. Some people are violently allergic to cigarette smoke.

All three of these drugs look really similar don't they, but only weed is illegal. Who is benefiting from that? If weed is illegal, the only ones benefiting are criminals. The overall effect to the people who are using it is nil. The overall effect to those who aren't using is they are paying people to hunt down the pot and those who are using - that means we all pay for something that really should only be paid for by those who are using it. At the end of the day, if a joint costs a user $5, where would you rather that $5 go? To a criminal who we need to spend money on trying to stop, or to you? 

I don't care one way or another if you want to wander around, stoned out of your mind, drunk, or happy on tobacco - it is none of my business as long as you keep it to yourself. You want to toke up? Fine, do so where I don't  have to deal with it in public. You want to booze up? Fine, do so in such a way that I don't have to deal with it in public. Tobacco? I don't care, just don't inflict it on me.

Eye for an Eye

Once again we have a walking piece of garbage in our world - what do we do with him?

Back when we were less civilized than we are now, capitol punishment was the call of the day. You murdered someone, you died. End of story. You never did it again. Jump forward to now, most places in North America consider capitol punishment to be cruel and inhumane.
For sake of argument, we have exhibit A. He has just walked out of a shop, gun in hand, blood and GSR (gun shot residue) all over him. There is video evidence he wandered into the shop and killed the guy behind the desk. What to do with him?
Put him in jail for the rest of his life (which means 20 years - good behaviour). What has that done to solve the problem? What has that done to ease the pain felt by the kids who no longer have a father? Oh, it is wrong to kill some people will cry. Put him in jail where he will pay for what he has done. Him pay? Give your head a shake if you feel that. It costs you tax dollars to keep him behind bars. Three meals a day, free health and dental care, TV and whatever other perks they can get.

Cruel to end the life of the life of this animal? How cruel is it to lock him in a small cell for the rest of his life, where he will slowly lose what is left of his humanity? Twenty years later, he is let out of his little cell and left to his own devices. Then what? Get a job? Become a useful member of society? More often than not, his social skills will be reduced to the point he can no longer even attempt to get along with normal society. All he knows is pain, anger and hate. He kills again because he has no hope of anything better. Back into jail for another 20 years of you paying taxes and him in another small cell.

Cruel? Where does the cruelty really lie?

Is it wrong to murder another person? Yes, but if it is a paedophile, a drug dealer, someone who has killed another while drunk, or whatever the violent crime is, I support the idea of taking the cruelty out of the loop.

Saturday 11 August 2012

And they called it Puppy Love

A really sappy song from long ago, and now I get to experience it first hand, with real puppies even.

Our papillon gave birth to two lovely little girls about a month ago, Abby and Betty. Abby is the larger of the two but I think Betty has it over Abby in cute factor.
They are both seeing, hearing, squeaking, walking and falling over these days, soon it will be time to give them a much bigger living space.
They got their first taste of solid food yesterday, being fed some rice cooked with chicken broth - apparently they thought this was the best thing ever as they dug in.
By the end of the feeding, the two of them had managed to get it everywhere, in a manner befitting any baby. Have a look see here Puppy First Meal

Time to wander away and play with the little darlings some more


Friday 10 August 2012

Does it really matter?

A couple of years ago there was an excellent golfer who got caught cheating on his wife. This, like many other such events, turned into the greatest news story of the century. Why? If this man was just any other Joe walking the streets, this "news" would not have even made a 1" blurb in the local newspaper. What was it about Tiger Woods that made this so important that everyone around the world had to be told. Who benefited from knowing this (other than the bank of lawyers that was employed)?

Why are so many people so interested in knowing the intimate details of someone else? Just think of what we could accomplish if instead of sitting down and reading the gossip rag - Teen Beat, National Inquirer, World News....(take your pick of garbage) people stood up and did something useful like talk to their children. The first huge benefit would be all of those trees would not have to be ground up to be wasted on this trivia. A child might know that someone in the world cares about them. Someone might go outside and help a little old lady get  her groceries home, someone wouldn't have to be hiding their face from the bunch of parasites who are drooling over the thought that maybe they would get a picture of them kissing a friend on the cheek.

"It is our right to know, they are public property" will often be heard from the masses. BULLSHIT! You don't have the right to know anything about that person that they do not outright tell you. Do the celebrities have the right to know where, when, and with whom you have sex with? Or is it non of their business?

Stop with the unimportant things. Pay attention to where you are and where you are going and maybe we will all get to where we need to be before we destroy ourselves




Thursday 9 August 2012

Brother, Where Art Thou?

Not so long ago (at least in cosmic time) your world was what you could see. There wasn't anything beyond that hill. Eventually you got brave enough to wander over there and see that they was something else to see. Slowly your world grew and grew until you met with Og who lived on the other side of the hill.
Mankind evolved and found more places, more people until we got to the point of realizing we are all on a big ball.
As our knowledge of more and more places, it became more and more important to remember where those places are. Cave behind hill, water over there became walk along the river 2 days and Ogs village is there which grew into more and more detailed and exact descriptions of where things were.

As our placement of things became more and more precise, we needed to be able to share that knowledge and use it in more and more places. Tablets of stone were carved, then paper was written on and those papers were brought together in books. The more we learned, the more we explored, the more we got lost. Now what? Knowing where things are is nice and all, where am I in relation to things I know of became the question of the day.

Scientist studied the stars and math and figured out a way to fit them together. Now we had sextants. Navigators had their carefully guarded charts and sextants and became the life blood of the exploration of the  planet. Humans got more and more clever, developing newer things and more precise measurements until today you can pull out a little box about the size of a cigarette package and call up a picture of exactly where you are and how to get to where you need to be. Pretty cool eh?

I can whip out my smart phone and have it tell me how to get to the nearest shopping center. I can have it tell someone, anyone in the world exactly where I am, the direction I am walking and how fast I am moving. This gets cooler by the second.

If I get lost, someone looking for me can tell my phone to send a beacon out to direct my rescuers. Heck, I can tap into your phone, without you knowing and see where you are (or at least where your phone is).....
Hmmmm, if I can tap into your phone, you can tap into mine. Not to happy about that idea. I know my intentions are good, not so sure about you, or the guy who thinks I have wronged him, or the company who wants me to buy their better than ever product, or the BAD GUYS (you have to fill in the blank here).

How are we all going to feel in 10 years when that phone is no longer something you pick up but something that is a part of your body? You won't have a name, only an IP address.

Brother, I see you now

Church and the Dollar bill

A curious thing, something about a vow of poverty and what does the Pope wear? A three foot hat that you can be sure isn't just made to look expensive.
The big evangelical ministries you see on TV, like Pat Robertson. Why does he need your money? What is he using it for? It doesn't appear to be for helping the poor. One estimate is somewhere between 140 million and one billion. Man, that is an awful lot of bills put into the collection plate. What is he doing with all of the money people are continuing to send him?

All of this begs the question, Why are churches exempt from taxes? What makes those corporations even more special than say the Chase Bank - not that they aren't required to pay taxes, it is that they have too many ways to hide their money.

Somewhere down the line someone will say "well, look at all the good things they do for the poor."

Let us just look at that idea for a moment. According to the Catholic church, you are supposed to give them 10% of your salary. I can see that supporting the place that is supporting you is a good idea. According to the Pope, birth control is a sin. Black and White, use a rubber, go directly to hell. Where is the support for you there? Abortion, another very hot topic. Again, sin. The connotation I get from his message is that you asked for it, you have to live with it, or back to hell again. You asked for it? I know ladies who were raped as children, as teenagers, and as adults. If one of those ladies got pregnant, should they have to bear the pain of it for the rest of their lives? What about is the mother was in great danger of dieing from this pregnancy?

Don't get me wrong, I am not picking on the catholic church because they are the only bad guys out there, I am only speaking on what I know.

I read somewhere that the taxes that the churches would be paying if they were not exempt was something like 70billion. A pretty nifty sum - I wonder what could be done with that amount. As a disclaimer, that figure of 70billion would be before any deductible sums were applied. Like any corporation I expect the after deduction taxes payable amount would probably be pretty close to zero

Master of the House

On my walk to work this morning I got the rare treat of being able to look out over the harbour and watch a cruise ship glide into its berth. The water was dead flat and from where I was I could not see that the ship was disturbing it. With the Olympic Range as a back drop, the bright white of the ships hull just glided its way into berth. It was pretty spectacular when you consider what I was looking at.

Each one of those ships is a floating city, some of them housing as many as 6000 people all told. All of the amenities and services a city dweller expects are contained in the collection of steel plates. Fire, police, medical, dental, communications, food service and entertainment for everyone on board, all packed into a space that is 1100 feet long by 213 feet wide and 16 decks high (Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International). Every aspect of this engineering marvel is under the direct supervision of 1 man, the Master.

Truly the master of his destiny, the ships Master is the one responsible for every passenger, crew member, every inch of the ships hull and everything within it. What an awesome load these people carry - when that ship is under way, the Masters word is the only one that matters. There is no court of appeal, there is no " I am calling my lawyer" there is no telling him where the ship is supposed to go. Manoeuvring more than 200,000 tonnes of steel encased stuff  is an awesome feat, even with modern technology. When someone on board gets sick, he is responsible to ensure proper care is administered, a child gets lost and you will see how quickly one man can organize a search party. All of this and they have to be charming too. No rough and tough spit in your eye type manners, they have to be calm, courteous and debonair. Dinning at the Captains table is rated as the high point of many of the passengers trip and it had better be perfect.

The ships Master, truly the Master of the House


The simple things

This morning I changed my routine a bit and walked to work and now that I am at my desk I get to reflect on what really happened.
Walking along the Galloping Goose and the Songhees Walkway I was reminded of just how cool enjoying the simple things in life can be. I wasn't in a great hurry, I took a few moment here and there to smell a flower, and even got smiled at by others who were out doing the same as I was. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze as I walked along and I was treated to the sight of a few herons in the tidal flats by my place. It was really a nice walk and when it was finished I got to see that I made a reasonable average speed, about 6kph which isn't too bad for being out of shape.
For those of you who have the facilities and abilities to do so, get out and walk a bit. Don't expect to get there fast, don't even have a "must get to point", just go out and enjoy a simple thing.


Wednesday 8 August 2012

Tasty Good

Right now desire

That which delights the palette

Chocolate ice cream


Martian Follies

We have finally made it back to the Red Planet. What a sight we have all had the opportunity to witness. The question is now what?

Many of our science fiction writers have used Mars as a new place for humanity, would you like to live there? Think about it for a moment-

NO gangs
NO homeless people
NO money hassles - what are you going to buy?
NO pollution
NO illegal aliens
NO breathable atmosphere - all right, so it isn't all sunshine and lollipops

Could you get on a space ship to go and be one of the first space pioneers? This would be taking getting away from it all to a whole new level. Of course, once you are there, the opportunities to get back to it all will be exceedingly slim.
You and the first team of 20 build the first habitation structure from the materials sent before your arrival. You would learn how to make do, you would have to because there will be no popping down to the Home Depot to get the missing bit.

5 years later you will walk around the structure you built, showing it to the newbies who arrived on the last shuttle. Walking down the corridor you will point out the first section that was assembled and the first weld you made, still holding strong.

The ticket is held out in front of you, will you take it?

Really Important People

Gorden Ramsey will stand up and shout and scream and throw little hissy fits for us all in order to produce the best chefs, chefs good enough to serve in his restaurants. Really, is it worth watching him do the same thing time and time again? Every new season it is the same thing, each and every service is the most important of their careers. Everyone is incompetent. Everyone is a Donkey (well, actually he seems to have stopped saying that). I have long since begun to wonder why people subject themselves to his abuse.

Survivor, another shining example of the Best TV can offer. When it first started out it was interesting, the people had to work to survive, it was hard. Now they are given so much it no longer is a struggle, at least the food part isn't. What isn't a struggle any more is the plot. Tribe A will be winning, and winning until, unbeknownst to them, someone from Tribe B has made a deal with someone on A to throw the game into a tail spin of drama. Each and every show someone does something to screw up someone elses  plan and Jeff says the same thing - Its a whole new game.  After 20 seasons, haven't we had enough?

How many reality shows are out there now, 10? 20? More? How many people do you know that think this stuff is real? The British started this a long time ago with a very simple show, 1900 House. No one there was trying to stab each other, it was something to watch and learn from. What the hell happened? Do we really need to see the same crap with more and more skin showing over and over again? Sooki, and the Kardashians, Jersy Shore, The Real House Wives of (insert your city here).

The really scary thing is, how many people will recognize Sooki, but look at someone who has accomplished something real, say Terry Fox, and go Who is that? People regard Sooki as someone important, how real is that?


What To Do

I try not to worry about being Good or Bad, I am more concerned with Right and Wrong. Good vs Evil are labels that are given by people in power and are subject to change on their whim. Right and Wrong tends to be a whole lot easier to define and not so subject to change.

As a disclaimer, I believe in God, I believe we are all Gods children, I believe God loves us all. I do not believe that Christianity is the true path, nor is Islam, or Judaism, or any other of the worlds major religions

Most normal people would consider it an evil thing to send people out to rape and pillage but  the Holy Roman Church has done so several times during its existence. Does God think what was done as being Bad? How could it be bad if he sanctioned it? Was it justified because the Saracens took over Jerusalem? What about the Saracens? They were Gods children as well. How can one group be bad and the other not?

Right and Wrong. As I mentioned earlier, these two labels are much easier to define.
Just as most normal people would consider it wrong to kick someone when they are down, people would consider rescuing someone from a burning house the right thing to do. How often do you see on the news the interview from the cop/fireman/person on the street saying that it was the right thing to do when being asked about pulling an injured person to safety?

Pulling out a gun and shooting someone, is it a bad thing to do? You are walking down the street with a loaded gun in your pocket. In front of you is another person walking down the street. You pull out your gun and shoot the other person, killing them. Was it a bad thing to kill that person?
Same two people, walking down the same street. You look ahead of the person in front of you and see a group of children walking toward you and then you see the person in front of you pull out a gun, obviously preparing to fire into those children. Are you bad to pull out your gun and shoot the guy in front of you before he starts killing those children? Or is it the right thing to do?


Before we can start to make our collective lives better, we all have to start asking this one simple question

Is this the right thing to do?

Your Friend

It sits on your desktop, or your lap, or in the palm of your hand - the computer.

It keeps your appointments, it keeps your little black book, it allows you to keep
in touch with friends, family and Joe Black living on the other side of the world
and yet..

Do you really know what is inside of it?

For those of you who have seen the movie TRON, do you not ever wonder if that
computer working for you or are you working for it? Is it just a machine, doing as it
has been programmed or is there some independent thought somewhere inside?
Every time you send a message somewhere, parts of it can get lost - where do
those lost bits go and when they get there what do they do?

A long, long time ago when the earth was just a blue ball floating in space, there was
nothing in the seas that covered most of this planet - nothing but little bits of this and
that. Something happened that caused two of those bits to together, and then a third
bit added itself. Eventually enough bits got together to form something that had
rudimentary intelligence.

Skip forward 4 billion years (give or take a few hundred million) and humans show up
on the planet. Humans grew up, evolved and got smarter(with a few notable exceptions) and they built this vast open space called the Internet. Vast,  huge, full of little bits going to here and there, and little bits just hanging around not doing much but being there waiting for something to happen. Something to happen that will cause two of those little bits to get together.


Tuesday 7 August 2012

What is that sound?

A strange rumbling in the sky, could it be ...
GASP Thunder!!!!
For Victoria, for all of our strange weather, we very seldom get
thunder and lightening. This is a sad thing for me, I like feeling the
air shake and slam into me. Standing outside, feeling the wind
screaming through my hair, the rain pounding off my skin - there is
no feeling like it.

I remember when I was a young lad living in Thunder Bay. We would
get thunder and lightening the likes of which are ever felt here.
The entire sky lights up as sheets of raw power scream across the sky.
The house would shake, windows rattled as huge bolts of static would
slam into the ground 5 miles away.

And after it was all done, peace would cover the area. The air would
taste clean and every nerve of your body would tingle.

And then you would wait for the next storm.....

Give a Little Bit

My trip back to work after lunch was delayed somewhat due to someone not giving a little bit.

Along Tillicum road in the left hand lane was a fire truck 2 cops and a tow truck. All 4 of these vehicles were hovering around a SUV that had rear ended a small van. The van had some buckling across the back and I am sure that the air bags went off. The SUV was wrecked, its hood in the air, its front end smashed in and fluids leaking all over the place.

I have to wonder, what was going through the drivers head?

Mini Van - Oh damn, look how close that SUV, Oh SHIT, HANG ON EVERYONE!

SUV - Oh damn oh damn I am late, what, my phone is ringing, Yes, Hello? OH SHIT!

Was the SUV going a proper speed? Probably not.
Was the SUV not paying proper attention? Probably not.
Would another 20' of separation have been enough to avoid this mess? Probably

I was not there to judge what happened, no one was but the drivers of those vehicles.

One car length more
     the time difference to get to the next light would have been negligible. 

One car length less
     that SUV will not get to where it was going.

Give a little, it might just give you back a lot.


A Happy Post

Detroit, motor city USA
BROKE
$200 million budget deficit

A nine and ten year old

did something about it.
Selling lemonaide and popcorn they raised $3400.

A nine and ten year old.

All they wanted was to help pay for the garbage to be
picked up and the grass mowed at the park so
people could enjoy a little piece of green space.

A nine and ten year old 

These two are what we should all aspire to be.

Don't look down at little kids, because they haven't
been told it can't be done, they will make it happen.

Mr Obama, take the story of these two kids to the
Senate, to Congress and challenge each and every one
of those people sitting there, sitting there getting paid
$100k+ each and every year, to do the same.

A nine and ten year old

Did something, will you?

Sunny Day

Here I sit at my desk, looking up at the sky from the window in front of me and I wonder - what does it all mean?
There has been the struggle of "Is there a God" and if there is, "Who speaks for him"
going on for thousands of years and still we are constantly being told by both sides that they are the correct one to believe in.

Atheist - is there really nothing that can't be touched, seen, felt or measured in some aspect? Is there no wonder, nothing to strive to understand?

Non-Atheist - is there really a being above us, watching us, protecting us from the evils of the world? Are we really just a play thing for some great omnipotent being?

Why is it that neither side of the coin is will to see another point of view? When you flip a coin it will come up heads or tails most of the time. Who wins when it ends up on its edge? Do both players lose? Or will they both win?

Somewhere between the side of the Atheist and the Non-Atheist lies the truth of the matter. When we can all see that the coin has landed on its edge, we will all win and the earth will be a much better place to be.