tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31168744504741585522024-03-19T15:31:12.698-03:00ViewPoint 2010This is a personal opinion blog.ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-47525552349443515102014-12-26T16:12:00.001-04:002014-12-26T16:12:14.187-04:00Time to say goodbyeThanks to everyone for your encouragement and support over the last few years since I started this little exercise in 2010. The blog represented a "way out" for me to express opinions and form some new friendships and those have been very important. The time has come to wrap up this project. Farewell. Be well!ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-3677710129983476222014-07-17T20:28:00.003-03:002014-07-17T20:33:52.352-03:00Is it curtains for the "Old Duff"? <span style="font-family: Verdana;">There’s a temptation to suspect
the worst when the police lay charges against someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our mentality in Canada, as much as we deny
it, is that the person is guilty until proven innocent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, why would newspapers and
television stations plaster the names and often addresses of ACCUSED sex
offenders across the media?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKt3qUvyRpoOCGKRC_kPE1jWvEJOjO0v4tmIjS1KEQQmHl1NckFJBgZjt53faJQgcwAg80MaZdyHY-mzfJyP04uR2JUr6PMmy-3txvJQlyoGFttdz-KCD3D87V4xqtUjXRbk05KVzVN2AU/s1600/duffy1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKt3qUvyRpoOCGKRC_kPE1jWvEJOjO0v4tmIjS1KEQQmHl1NckFJBgZjt53faJQgcwAg80MaZdyHY-mzfJyP04uR2JUr6PMmy-3txvJQlyoGFttdz-KCD3D87V4xqtUjXRbk05KVzVN2AU/s1600/duffy1a.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">So, we come to the case of
68-year old Michael Dennis Duffy, the suspended Canadian Senator from Prince
Edward Island who today was charged with 31 separate criminal charges by Canada’s
national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, after a 16-month
investigation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It is fair to assume that 90-95%
of Canadians who heard about the charges automatically decided that Senator
Duffy is guilty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ottawa reporter John
Ivison said this in his National Post </span><a href="http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/07/17/john-ivison-mike-duffy-trial-could-be-tipping-point-for-canadians/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">column</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">,
“<em><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Depending on what emerges from
the [Mike Duffy] trial, it may well be the tipping point for many Canadians,
already uncomfortable with the Conservatives’ modus operandi but who have, to
this point, held their noses and supported Stephen Harper.” </span></em></span><em><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The national media, without any
love for Duffy, put the pedal to the metal when it came to prosecuting him in
the court of public opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One can
only assume it was because they did not want anyone to be able to accuse them
of favoritism in terms of their reporting of the Duffy or Wallin stories. Or,
perhaps, they wanted him to be found guilty since more than a few are jealous
of the Senate appointments he and Ms. Wallin managed to get from Prime Minister
Stephen Harper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I have no particular affection
for Duffy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only met him once and
considered him to be pompous and as superficial as a Mexican river - a
mile wide and an inch deep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have
thought that Stephen Harper with all of his reported analytical skills and
political savvy would have been smarter than to appoint Duffy to the Senate but
perhaps it was part of Harper’s agenda all along to hasten the demise of the
Senate … or am I giving him too much credit for logistics and strategy that he
may not possess?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Bottom line is that unless
someone gets to Duffy and guarantees he and his wife a comfortable life after
all of this is over and convinces him to take a dive, he’s too much of a show
boater to let the opportunity pass to try to take down Harper and his PMO
minions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could still turn into the
best political theatre this country has seen in a century since Dalton Camp and
crew did their thing to Dief.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Needless to say, stay tuned.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hope you enjoy your weekend.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span>ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-15018994702985117662014-06-07T12:21:00.001-03:002014-06-07T12:21:40.001-03:00How stupid do they think we are?
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXA2sm9Sj8u8EtYgnaKeJy79vf70QM5vDS6HBgSaWYLNuMsyx36n1MwoF-14H06t544_N5c3ovokBr5iCKAXCCgmBUG9HEPNvDbgAsb-2e4xm64kLdHIf5o0Gjl94Xw0oFNDpY8ZdD32iZ/s1600/pinny1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXA2sm9Sj8u8EtYgnaKeJy79vf70QM5vDS6HBgSaWYLNuMsyx36n1MwoF-14H06t544_N5c3ovokBr5iCKAXCCgmBUG9HEPNvDbgAsb-2e4xm64kLdHIf5o0Gjl94Xw0oFNDpY8ZdD32iZ/s1600/pinny1.jpg" height="198" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">One cannot help but feel a certain sense of pathetic indifference to
the Rob Ford saga in Toronto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The latest is Ford’s brother Doug is quoted in the </span><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/toronto2014election/2014/06/06/doug_ford_rob_ford_wasnt_intoxicated_he_had_muscle_spasms.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Toronto
Star</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> as saying Rob Ford was not drunk when caught on security cameras at
Toronto City Hall on Easter Monday; rather, he had been working out and pulled
some muscles in his legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently Rob
Ford bench presses 1200 pounds with his legs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">When will this family stop enabling Rob Ford and admit he has a serious
problem that needs to be addressed? I understand his brother’s love for him,
but one gets the feeling that Doug Ford is blinded to his kid brother’s illness
and keeps trying to explain it away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It appears, from a distance, that a powerful sense of entitlement is
the main characteristic of the Ford siblings and as we learn more and more
about them, it becomes clear that they see one set of rules for everyone else
and another set for themselves. Their wealth enables them to access things
which lead them further into murky waters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Many knowledgeable people agree that the so called “rehab” period has
been more like a Club Med visit for Rob Ford when he apparently comes and
goes at his pleasure. What he needs is rehab away from the luxuries that money
can provide and a Spartan trip down the road to recovery. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sadly, he probably will end up as John Candy and Chris Farley did and
they were far more talented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em>(Posted comment in Toronto Star 07/06/2014)<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-24383899528315120462014-06-06T08:38:00.000-03:002014-06-06T08:41:18.164-03:00Moncton breathes a sigh of relief<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7v8gHppoVrhNV9hX13B2uRwrlYHhBMItBt4yO2Ly7bWUKl7W7lfHqk9IFayy7SSwhARaqvET3i9FehilD6twH4OhdJe0euOx4ljadl0cxpRdOrOQZ_564cXvVnZFVek2iz49af8XpvXzD/s1600/rcmp-marching-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7v8gHppoVrhNV9hX13B2uRwrlYHhBMItBt4yO2Ly7bWUKl7W7lfHqk9IFayy7SSwhARaqvET3i9FehilD6twH4OhdJe0euOx4ljadl0cxpRdOrOQZ_564cXvVnZFVek2iz49af8XpvXzD/s1600/rcmp-marching-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">People in Moncton, New Brunswick are celebrating this
morning, with the news late into the night that the RCMP had arrested the man
they suspect of shooting and killing three RCMP officers and wounding two
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The small city was on lockdown for a couple of days as
hundreds of heavily armed police from across the Maritimes converged on Moncton
to assist in the search for the killer. Small police departments in other parts
of New Brunswick sent a single officer while entire emergency response teams
from other jurisdictions made the trip to Moncton, or “the hub city” as it’s
known across New Brunswick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Few people other than first responders can understand the
emotions those police officers faced every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the RCMP, they were dealing with the grief of losing three of their
colleagues and friends while searching for the police killer and putting
their own lives on the line as he was known to be armed with high powered
rifles and other weapons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any one of
them, at any time, could have been the killer’s next victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Everyone can tell you a story about a bad cop or they can
point to a video on the internet that shows someone being abused by the police,
but the fact of the matter is that it’s a case of one bad apple in the barrel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the extreme good fortune to work as a
first responder for a number of years and came to know and respect the police
with whom I worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were most often
the men and women who would run into a burning building to rescue a child, dive
into the river to save a drowning person or end up at a family’s door in the
middle of the night to tell them a loved one had died in a car accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one universal truth about police officers
is that the caring gene is built into their DNA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">When those three officers who were killed in Moncton
responded to the call of an armed man on the street, they were going to help
protect the community, to make it safe for children to play on the street, for
seniors to take their daily walks and for families to live in safety. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of that, they ended up being killed by
a cold blooded killer waiting in ambush for them to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One will never know what prompted the killer
to act in the way he did, but one cannot help but feel that perhaps he deserves
the same justice that he used to take the lives of those three officers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too much money has been spent on him already.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The police who arrested him last night will head back to
their regular jobs today – handing out traffic tickets, trying to settle
domestic disputes, investigating assaults, and trying to make the community a
safer place for all of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The least we
can do when we see a police officer today is say thank you.</span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-91222739452307563982014-04-19T13:51:00.001-03:002014-04-19T13:53:09.721-03:00The prodigal writer returns<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Last few weeks have been a bit
challenging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had an accident and ended
up in hospital for about a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still
rolling around in a wheelchair but healing is happening – slowly but surely.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Glad I missed some mighty snowstorms
over the last few weeks – watched them on TV news instead of live & in
person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hospital rooms are not known for
their scenic views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you consider
windows on the other side of the complex as being scenic!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7k8Hh_U-PabkVOHU7pr8gTPPr5eySjKcOuGBsTqArhLEqpi66VgWwDOfl4sIOiNzlIP7w7jv3fgggYsHWve9KmaP6ccXfBvlOauYbXyZwPGfxYTBwUbXbv8KjTD0gNA3FRHMUjxBrdqxo/s1600/riverflood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7k8Hh_U-PabkVOHU7pr8gTPPr5eySjKcOuGBsTqArhLEqpi66VgWwDOfl4sIOiNzlIP7w7jv3fgggYsHWve9KmaP6ccXfBvlOauYbXyZwPGfxYTBwUbXbv8KjTD0gNA3FRHMUjxBrdqxo/s1600/riverflood.jpg" height="254" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It’s good to see spring coming – if slowly
in these parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the moment, there is
a danger of flooding along the river valley but all we can do is keep our
fingers crossed that the ice jams will break free first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Just wanted to say hi and wish everyone
a Happy Easter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here’s a powerful meditation used by the
Christian Church for a couple of millennia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Speaks to me of where this old world is this weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope you enjoy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://cantusmundi.blogspot.com/2010/03/ubi-caritas.html"><span style="color: #336699; font-family: Verdana;"><em>Ubi Caritas</em></span></a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><em>Where charity and love prevail, <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<em>
</em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";">there God is ever found;<br />
Brought here together by Christ’s love,<br />
by love are we thus bound.<br />
<br />
With grateful joy and holy fear<br />
His charity we learn;<br />
Let us with heart and mind and soul<br />
now love him in return.<br />
<br />
Forgive we now each other’s faults<br />
as we our faults confess;<br />
And let us love each other well<br />
in Christian holiness.<br />
<br />
Let strife among us be unknown,<br />
let all contention cease;<br />
Be his the glory that we seek,<br />
be ours his holy peace.<br />
<br />
Let us recall that in our midst<br />
dwells God’s begotten Son;<br />
As members of his body joined,<br />
we are in Christ made one.<br />
<br />
No race or creed can love exclude,<br />
if honored be God’s name;<br />
Our family embraces all<br />
whose Father is the same.</span><o:p></o:p></em></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-76047914848196177202014-02-26T12:36:00.003-04:002014-02-26T12:38:02.253-04:00What is really happening in Venezuela<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dear friends,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is worth watching. Please share it with YOUR friends. Thank you.</span><br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EFS6cP9auDc" width="420"></iframe></center>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-56277513549686180752014-02-25T20:26:00.003-04:002014-02-25T20:27:09.523-04:00Afghanistan - the view from the BBC<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Afghanistan is such an amazing place – beauty and rugged
beyond belief, home of some of the world’s oldest cultures - an ancient focal
point of the Silk Road and human migration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now it is home of unfathomable corruption and the base for the world’s
biggest opium fields.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">It has demonstrated time and time again that it will not be
conquered – whether by Alexander the Great, Arab Muslims, Genghis Khan, the
Soviet Union or the American-led NATO forces, including the enormous price paid
by the Canadian soldiers with their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Now the latest conquering forces are getting ready to leave
and one has to wonder what has changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The BBC currently has an interesting series of articles discussing
modern Afghanistan and how much we have to learn about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are those articles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The mammoth military task of leaving Afghanistan<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-25848662"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-25848662</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">What kind of Afghanistan will foreign forces leave?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25410582"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25410582</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">US planning full Afghan pullout, Obama tells Karzai<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26346115"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26346115</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Viewpoint: Taliban gaining upper hand in Afghanistan and
Pakistan?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-26064230"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-26064230</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Will the Taliban take over in Afghanistan?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25879217"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25879217</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Afghan suicide bomb 'kills nine' in Uruzgan province<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26343572"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26343572</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">'Deepening' medical crisis in Afghanistan<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26335410"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26335410</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-40488722677971691772014-02-16T14:32:00.001-04:002014-02-16T14:33:59.892-04:00Enough Snow Already<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just another day in the backyard ... glad I didn't have to shovel it! :-)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxFhKbY7BMQCOkdYgJN19rJbjjFig1u_Sqqc5FYdYag03bONjmg2eJw4ULqkOOJxKt6LvMSO2NrjTVWj4Af8vuRVYngK7Fe2IPJyTrgs0jRTbaygm5Q-_63XRQC2d96_HoF0jHhQtMxOd/s1600/driveway1a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVxFhKbY7BMQCOkdYgJN19rJbjjFig1u_Sqqc5FYdYag03bONjmg2eJw4ULqkOOJxKt6LvMSO2NrjTVWj4Af8vuRVYngK7Fe2IPJyTrgs0jRTbaygm5Q-_63XRQC2d96_HoF0jHhQtMxOd/s1600/driveway1a.JPG" height="284" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-66530541950514212562014-02-15T10:19:00.000-04:002014-02-15T10:20:11.452-04:00A personal decision<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaP5LkfBT2aZCypM93GivMSjChEl0aotCGI3dM4OZtjsa2CHRTLIGC18vkhiKYG2CeiQ_-D5xt4O-wcTuORJlUf0Unt-0qTOyU0N-zYmgp_nqThreQ70xx8UvsklwulIBdc1Kpv_NQIH35/s1600/tombstone2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaP5LkfBT2aZCypM93GivMSjChEl0aotCGI3dM4OZtjsa2CHRTLIGC18vkhiKYG2CeiQ_-D5xt4O-wcTuORJlUf0Unt-0qTOyU0N-zYmgp_nqThreQ70xx8UvsklwulIBdc1Kpv_NQIH35/s1600/tombstone2a.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Why shouldn’t I be allowed to choose when and where I want to die?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I just finished reading an article in the Montreal Gazette about the
Quebec government’s forthcoming <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">“act
respecting end-of-life care”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Bill 52
is adopted, it would allow doctors to end a terminally ill patient’s life by
lethal injection, <u>provided the patient specifically asks for it</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Eighty percent of Quebecers
support some form of euthanasia or medically assisted dying. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roughly 2 million Quebecers currently state
in their wills that they don’t want to be kept alive by extraordinary measures
if there’s no hope they’ll recover. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The dilemma is between those who
want to dictate morals and those who want to make their own choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The proponents of “natural death” will argue
until their last breath that no one has the right to choose to end their life
earlier than whatever the life-clock determines. For them, any intervention in
that process is murder.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">For me, I want to make the call
when I feel the time is appropriate without interference from those pushing
their own morality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My family is long
dead, so it’s not as if there’s going to be a family conference to discuss when
to pull the plug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to set out the
parameters for that long before the time arrives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to be sure the medical people have a
clear “DNR” – do not resuscitate, on the documentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything other than that is unacceptable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">As a society we have become so
wrapped up in projecting our own values that we sometimes overlook the needs of
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We warehouse our elders, spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars on life support and insist that the final laborious
breath be a natural one – often to assuage our own guilt and because we can’t
let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re scared of death and
denying it postpones it for just a little longer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-70131807041064658722014-02-14T11:28:00.005-04:002014-02-14T11:55:44.074-04:00World Vision launches 'Good Chocolate Guide' to help Canadians shop ethically this Valentine's Day<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>By <a href="http://www.mississauga.com/community-story/4352353-world-vision-launches-good-chocolate-guide-to-help-canadians-shop-ethically-this-valentine-s-day/" target="_blank">Canada News Wire</a></em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGICsEWEYLi83Fe1RVsxyp0L1YlmQG0WQG1l6dZ3KCJFgpRP9l3gYZ_Pxwg9He0_EqRs4rjv7U40AOCvVZDdMzdBu_Y7W9Z7I6MYsbcJjXltVeNWrlIfEdNhVkQ4AOLCEgYLdF1N5INFfO/s1600/VD1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGICsEWEYLi83Fe1RVsxyp0L1YlmQG0WQG1l6dZ3KCJFgpRP9l3gYZ_Pxwg9He0_EqRs4rjv7U40AOCvVZDdMzdBu_Y7W9Z7I6MYsbcJjXltVeNWrlIfEdNhVkQ4AOLCEgYLdF1N5INFfO/s1600/VD1a.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">MISSISSAUGA — Today World Vision launched its <a href="https://nochildforsale.ca/ethical_chocolate/" target="_blank"><strong>Good Chocolate Guide</strong></a> to help Canadians shop for Valentine's treats they can trust not to contain any dark secrets. Whether they're on-line or in line, shoppers can use the mobile-friendly guide to find chocolate products that are ethically certified to be child-labour free. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Tackling child labour is not only up to companies who earn profits from chocolate, but also consumers who get pleasure from it. World Vision's Good Chocolate Guide will help Canadians indulge in their favourite treats while still being ethical and protecting children," said Cheryl Hotchkiss, manager of World Vision's <a href="http://nochildforsale.ca/#/" target="_blank"><strong>No Child for Sale awareness campaign</strong></a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to the aid agency, child slavery and trafficking is an ongoing problem in the cocoa industry, particularly in West Africa, where an estimated 1.8 million children work in cocoa farming in West Africa. They are just a small segment of the estimated 85 million children the International Labour Organization says are doing dirty, dangerous and degrading work all around the world. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The risks for children who work on cacao plantations include: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Injuries from machetes used to clear land and cut down cacao pods; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Exposure to chemicals, including pesticides; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Exhaustion from working long hours in intense heat; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Abuse from employers; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Poor nutrition and limited access to health care; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Jeopardized education </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
"Camino's product portfolio includes over 75 products, primarily chocolate based, all of which are Fair Trade and Organic," said Jeff Mains, chief executive officer of Camino, a Canadian company featured in the Good Chocolate Guide. <br />
<br />
"Our direct relationships with our producer partners, along with the Fairtrade certification and logo, is the consumer's assurance that every ingredient from Bean to Camino Bar has been ethically sourced." </span>ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-88225375121906472692014-02-12T20:20:00.001-04:002014-02-12T20:22:24.268-04:00Are *some* high school graduates ILLITERATE?So say the experts ... and apparently it's getting worse instead of better. Scary!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNvlnagOyh03xmzrWsUsO5dcAoSm_zgt7GHcNaWP5UWgwB85Z_-hDnFSNIqbkLdgO_17U6fLObU5ZjHBztIp46UQELs1SBGVMsy3XByzsfzEvLJrEEvwjx6RqgfdLyOsjQgATf-22cKjZ/s1600/literacy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNvlnagOyh03xmzrWsUsO5dcAoSm_zgt7GHcNaWP5UWgwB85Z_-hDnFSNIqbkLdgO_17U6fLObU5ZjHBztIp46UQELs1SBGVMsy3XByzsfzEvLJrEEvwjx6RqgfdLyOsjQgATf-22cKjZ/s1600/literacy.jpg" height="257" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.telegraphjournal.com/daily-gleaner/story/36255728/" target="_blank">Telegraph Journal editorial cartoon 12/02/2014</a></div>
<span id="goog_1641785652"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1641785653"></span><br />ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-77843440902924431882014-02-09T20:41:00.000-04:002014-02-09T20:43:58.712-04:00A little pedestal kicking is needed now and then<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In many ways, I have liberated myself from the social media
conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realize it’s a bit
ironic to be announcing that on a blog, but such is the technological way of
the world. :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I WAS a child/slave/devotee of Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, My Space and God knows what else, but a year or more ago, gradually
began withdrawing from the various outlets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It first happened with Facebook when I realized that friends of mine who
are obsessive picture-takers were posting my face all over Facebook and “tagging”
the pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a pretty private guy
and am not interested in having my face/life spread across the known cyber
universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got all the publicity I
needed years ago in a different life and now enjoy/love/treasure privacy and
anonymity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Then, somewhere along the way, friends convinced me I should be on
Twitter so I signed up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Appears I inadvertently
followed a bunch of people (pseudo-intelligentsia) who have very firm opinions and are convinced
their opinions are the only ones that matter because I discovered some of them
will jump on you like a pack of rabid dogs for disagreeing with them and further they belittle
those who disagree with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I've known enough jerks like that in real life. I don't need to associate with them on cyberspace. </span>Memo to
self: cancel the Twitter account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Next came Linked In.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put
enough detail on there to update friends who stumbled across my profile and
were looking for an update.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
bought the paid version of it so I could see who was checking out my
profile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creepy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were people rooting through my cyber sock
drawer who I wouldn’t want in the yard, let alone the sock drawer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jettison Linked In.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">So, now I’m left with Blogger and it’s a good fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I check it just about every day and read postings
from cyber pals who keep me entertained, provide food for thought and sometimes
kick me off my pedestal (who can’t use a little being kicked off their pedestal,
eh?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s also a learning
opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can see the blogs I
follow by looking at the list to the right, entitled "<strong>Blogs of Interest</strong>".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I’m as engaged as I want to me, and none of my blog buddies ever push
for more or less content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re happy
demented souls who take what we get and are generally grateful for the stimulation - either soda bread or buttermilk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So what prompted this? <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26066325">Adam Gopnik’s column on BBC Online</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You may
enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy surfing!</span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-62189628828713514712014-02-08T19:28:00.002-04:002014-02-08T19:28:20.026-04:00Tears of Zeus for the hungry children
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I find it really scandalous that $50billion is being spent on the
winter Olympics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many
people dying from hunger in this world - every day, almost 16,000 children die
from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can rational thinking people support the
political bullshit that permits the spending of $50billion for a two-week
sports event?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Some statistics: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
estimates that nearly 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people in the
world, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in
2010-2012. Almost all the hungry people, 852 million, live in developing
countries, representing 15 percent of the population of developing counties.
There are 16 million people undernourished in developed countries (FAO<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2012). (</span><a href="http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Juliet Johnson, a professor of political science at McGill University
in Montreal </span><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/07/for-putin-its-personal-sochi-olympics-symbolize-a-comeback-for-russia-and-its-middle-aged-leader/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">says
the Games</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> “have very much become Vladimir Putin’s personal project, and as
such he has staked his international reputation on delivering an impressive,
safe Olympic games that showcase Russian athletes and Russian culture.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">What makes me wonder is how has the notion of the Olympics become so
bastardized and how has the notion of competition for the sake of competition
become so perverted that it has to be more spectacular every year?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, don’t the athletes
(presumably bright) mostly-young women and men realize they’re buying into this
political morass hook, line & sinker and by their participation are
endorsing the back story here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, are
they so caught up in the possibility of personal riches if they win gold that
they’ve already cemented their deal with the devil?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sport has become a new deity in this world and the Olympics have become
the modern day altar of Olympus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
only imagine that Zeus must be shedding genuine tears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-1395150339417685802014-01-17T21:57:00.002-04:002014-01-17T22:06:23.529-04:00The jury is still out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRpaXKLK1YzD8AMMPAvjqstEi0sbeIO6_2PsBHYd1Q35dehqv9pbwtLjnW4NaeeMxoDIjYP_zts10szmiouM1rnk4KQ0DDP6QiDZhbcpwbcp4fLWGPmwSC3bNgx4DfOohqw5QnhwaB39Q/s1600/romancards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRpaXKLK1YzD8AMMPAvjqstEi0sbeIO6_2PsBHYd1Q35dehqv9pbwtLjnW4NaeeMxoDIjYP_zts10szmiouM1rnk4KQ0DDP6QiDZhbcpwbcp4fLWGPmwSC3bNgx4DfOohqw5QnhwaB39Q/s1600/romancards.jpg" height="200" width="170" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mixed reaction today to the news headline in </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/10580939/Vatican-defrocked-400-priests-for-molesting-children.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Telegraph newspaper</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> saying the Vatican defrocked 400 priests over the last couple of years for molesting children. On the one side, there were cheers from those who felt the Vatican wasn’t doing nearly enough to deal with the sexual abuse of children crisis within the Roman Catholic Church while others said it was merely the top of the iceberg and that much more needs to be done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The news came via documents released at a hearing in Geneva being held by the </span><a href="https://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGNI_enCA565CA565&q=United+Nations'+Committee+on+the+Rights+of+the+Child"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Two senior officials from the Vatican, the governing body of the 1-billion-member Roman Catholic Church were testifying in detail for the first time before the UHCHR. They were asked some tough questions but according to the reports out of Geneva, they were reasonably forthright in their responses – something that’s new for the secrecy-obsessed Holy See.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More than a few people are hoping that this represents a major change in Vatican policy under the new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentinian prelate who was elected to lead the Roman Catholic church almost a year ago. Pope Francis, as he calls himself, has pledged massive change in many areas, including dealing with the Church’s sordid history of priests and bishops physically and sexually abusing children of all ages. This apparent openness may be the beginning of that change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Certainly the secrecy and abuse of power related to the sexual abuse crisis is why so many Roman Catholics left the Church and the practice of their faith. It has been said that nearly every diocese in Canada was affected in some way by the crisis. For many people, the stunning revelations surrounding the Christian Brothers’ Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John’s was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Across Canada and into the USA, hundreds of millions of dollars were paid in an attempt to put some financial salve on wounds that money will never heal. Many said the victims were exploited twice – first by the clergy perpetuating the abuse and second by the lawyers who made millions of dollars in fees from the lawsuits.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vatican expert reporter </span><a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/riveting-theater-geneva-popes-rabbi-jewishcatholic-relations"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">John Allen</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> said, “<em>[T]he sex abuse crisis is where two powerful narratives about Catholicism collide. One is that the church is a secretive institution devoted above all to protecting its own interests, so that claims of turning over a new leaf are viewed through a lens of suspicion; the other is that Francis is a reforming pope genuinely committed to the poor and the vulnerable, and people <u>seem hungry to believe</u> that he'll do the right thing</em>.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What no one doubts is that these hearings in Geneva present the Vatican with an opportunity to show that change is happening. In the past, the tradition was to close the big doors at St. Peter’s Basilica and retreat away from public view and criticism. The mantra was always that the Church knows/knew best. If anything, today’s testimony showed that while some of that attitude still prevails among the swishing soutanes in the Vatican, there would appear to be a recognition that increasingly the Vatican is being called to task. And none too soon. The jury is still out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">vp</span>ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-66055586815367141802014-01-13T17:04:00.001-04:002014-01-13T17:04:50.406-04:00Looking after the vulnerable in the cold
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserh2ddxIRh-vP8cWPPZ_ICUpdRDtWnGN_h8D-skO7fmzozqtU4UcP_v88zbkJSwaGudEhortfreAZsTnEH2hwzcASicnn66bN-tZ1OPR7ulpLUxBTIo7MmxzgjkGLfxbGl8bCW_3UtLn/s1600/linesman+storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhserh2ddxIRh-vP8cWPPZ_ICUpdRDtWnGN_h8D-skO7fmzozqtU4UcP_v88zbkJSwaGudEhortfreAZsTnEH2hwzcASicnn66bN-tZ1OPR7ulpLUxBTIo7MmxzgjkGLfxbGl8bCW_3UtLn/s320/linesman+storm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">No question but this has been the winter (so far) of the nasty snow
dump!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve read stories about it from my
fellow bloggers </span><a href="http://shediacllew08.blogspot.ca/2014/01/a-bit-of-winter.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">GFB</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
and </span><a href="http://wisewebwoman.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">WWW</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re all agreed that we’ve seen worse
winters but for some reason, this one seems to be making all of us go a little
squirrely – not that it’s a long trip for me!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It has a lot to do with the snow and icy roads taking away from my sense
of independence – I want to be able to go where I want, when I want, the
weather be damned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, nearly
a foot of snow in 24-hours and roads & streets like skating rinks take away
from that independence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The neighbour’s
kids were actually skating in their driveway over the weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, because I watched them from behind
the quadruple thermal pane window with the heat turned up in the living room!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Of course we can make jokes about the enforced captivity created by the
storm, but it’s truly scary when the power is off for a week or, in some cases,
nearly two weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some people, it
reaches crisis state when there is no heat or running water and the temperature
is dipping into the minus twenties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
the elderly and medically fragile, it can be life-threatening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank God for the volunteers who spent so
much time during the recent power blackouts going around to those who they knew
were vulnerable, checking on them, bringing water, firewood or coal to those
who heat their homes with those resources or helping them to move to warm
emergency shelters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It helps us to learn
the meaning of fragile and caring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We also need to give thanks for the power crews who work in the most
hellish weather to try to get electricity restored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen pictures of those men and women
climbing utility poles in the midst of near-blizzard conditions, working in
what can only be described as very dangerous circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I talked with one two-man crew when they
stopped for a coffee as they were trying to reconnect the electricity and they
hadn’t slept for nearly 24-hours as they tried to get the supply hooked
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I paid for their coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A recent quote from Pope Francis in his 2013 apostolic exhortation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html">Evangelii Gaudium</a></i> seems appropriate in
these circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, "<span style="color: purple;"><em><span style="background-color: white;">How
can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of
exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points</span></em>?.”</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not completely convinced that he’s as
progressive as he seems, but you can’t beat the veracity of that statement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Hope you’re able to keep warm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-5012274418308331072013-11-17T12:50:00.003-04:002013-11-17T12:50:18.798-04:00Too bad we don’t have a time machine
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There’s an article by </span><a href="http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/11/15/andrew-coyne-rob-ford-mess-a-monster-born-of-divisive-and-condescending-populism/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Andrew
Coyne</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> in the National Post about the situation in Toronto concerning the
Mayor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like Coyne’s writing and this
sentence sums it all up for me: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It is
the same condescending populism, the same aggressively dumb, harshly divisive
message that has become the playbook for the right generally in this country,
in all its contempt for learning, its disdain for facts, its disrespect of
convention and debasing of standards</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Regardless of Rob Ford’s addictions, immaturity, entitlement and all
the other things at which he appears to excel, Coyne nails it – first and
foremost, it is the ENABLING provided by the coterie hanging onto Ford’s unkempt
shirttails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That Ford became the
poster-boy for the right in Toronto is neatly summed up by Coyne – the “debasing
of standards”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a tailgate party run
amok.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Ford story is too well known to deserve repetition here but a
question emerges from this mess that every provincial and municipal government
in Canada should be considering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
question is simple – what happens if a similar situation develops in St. John’s,
Halifax, Fredericton, Saskatoon or Dawson?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is there the necessary legislative framework in place that can FORCE an
elected official to step aside while an investigation is conducted?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does a municipal council have the authority
to effect such action?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The potential for a similar situation to develop exists in each of our
communities and likely will continue to develop as the economy squeezes us
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appears we are prepared to
accept that debasing of standards from our politicians as long as they appear
to be doing something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s how Rob
Ford got elected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It’s like Biff Tannen from </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Back To The Future</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> becoming
Mayor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t have to be bright to
get elected – just loud and with a bunch of enabling buddies who think you’re
great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Too bad we don’t have a time machine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-47393445672751064092013-09-29T07:15:00.002-03:002013-09-29T07:26:34.319-03:00He’s not my patient<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Every time I turn around, it seems I’m reading stories about problems
in our health care system – ranging from mistakes made in the interpretation of
diagnostic test results to lack of proper hygiene for some very complicated
medical gear through to sheer incompetence on the part of the people who are
supposed to be the health care professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One has to wonder in the wake of yet another news conference and more
apologies – is anyone minding the store?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Case in point: a retired nursing professor in New Brunswick told the
story of how she spent several months caring for her husband in a medium-sized
hospital as he lay dying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She spent
every day with him in the hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
only one incident of the many she wrote about, she went to the nursing station
to ask the person on duty if they could help her turn her husband in bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The response?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“He’s not my patient”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">To me, that’s the root of the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So many people who work in the health care system today see it as being
a 9-5 job and please don’t ask them to do more than the contract
stipulates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I understand the problem of
cut-backs and stress; it’s not unique to the health care system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone is being asked to do more with less.
Think about people who work in private industry for whom the notion of overtime
is a fantasy world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not going to
get any better; as a matter of fact, every indicator is that it’s going to get
worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But that doesn’t excuse anyone from saying “he’s not my patient” when
the simple request is to help turn a patient in bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The attitude unfortunately is endemic throughout the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Think about nursing education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once upon a time, Registered Nurses had to take a two year program that
focused entirely on patient care in hospital and most often was based<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the hospitals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, the four-year Bachelor of Nursing
programs were introduced into universities because it was felt the nurses weren’t
getting enough “professional” training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now, the norm is moving back in the direction of a two calendar year
course in university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> V</span>eteran RNs
will tell you that many of the students in the BN programs are there because
they want to be nurse-managers and not bedside care givers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does that tell you about attitude?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also speaks of skill level.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Think about cleanliness in hospitals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can walk into just about any hospital in this country and see the
lack of attention paid to cleanliness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most hospitals (dare I say ALL?) wouldn’t come even close to passing a
white glove test, but the people who do the job will tell you “it’s good enough”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, that attitude seems to prevail
from the custodian whose job it is to clean up a room after a patient leaves
through to the sterilization of some very sophisticated equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of how many times we hear about </span><a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/mrsa/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">MRSA</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> or other superbugs – often transmitted
because the people working in health care don’t wash their hands properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of a urinal or bed pan being left on
the tray-table where the patient’s meal will be placed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of dirty (and I do mean DIRTY) bathrooms
for patient use.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Think about the physicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
many of them see themselves as being unquestioned authorities and yet there’s
as much incompetence there as in any other profession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are medical school graduates who score only
the 51% required to pass some tests and that’s all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much of medicine is an educated
guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you recall the psychiatrist at
Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s whose first move when a new prisoner
was admitted was to suspend all of his medication?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It created chaos as prisoners who had long
histories with specific medications were taken off them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a psychiatrist, by the way, who was
teaching at the medical school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I seem
to recall his reasoning was that he knew best.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The same thing happens in hospital where changes in medication are
often predicated on the reasoning, “I wonder what will happen if we do this”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When so many people today are on very complex
pharmaceutical cocktails, messing around with one can create a domino effect in
terms of reactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Most doctors are not pharmacologists. </span>Again, it’s a
question of attitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There are very many good and caring people working in today’s health
care system – as a matter of fact, the majority of health care workers fit that
description but there is enough evidence out there to suggest that they’re
struggling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only imagine that </span><a href="http://www.easternhealth.ca/AboutEH.aspx?d=1&id=50&p=73"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Vickie
Kaminski</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> must feel enormous fatigue every time she has to host another news
conference to explain another serious error in protocol. Mainly because people were not doing their job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like the dirty floors, it needs to be
fixed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-43617650525747238102013-09-23T09:34:00.000-03:002013-09-28T01:03:03.265-03:00How the news media fertilizes depression<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I sent a note to a friend of mine the other day and mentioned that I
had had a “radio-free” day and felt less stressed because of it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sounds a bit strange, but it seems that whenever I turn on the radio
(mostly CBC because I like talk radio rather than music-based formats) all I
hear about is murder and mayhem in various parts of the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be chemical gas attacks in Syria, shopping
mall massacres in Kenya, multiple killings in Washington, Senate spending
scandals in Ottawa, corporate rip-offs or the pro-separatist government in Quebec
denying basic rights.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Is it any wonder that the focus on negativity causes stress?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Those of a certain age will remember former U.S. Vice President Spiro
Agnew, who served under President Richard Nixon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Agnew was known for his scathing criticisms
of political opponents, especially journalists, whom he described as
"nattering nabobs of negativism".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In so many ways, he was right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I listened to part of a national radio newscast this morning and turned
off the radio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just don’t want to hear
any more of that stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s enough
doom and gloom in this world already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t need to hear about any more nutcases with automatic weapons, killing
innocent people and justifying it as some great religious conflict. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Have you noticed how often now you hear the disclaimer before a news
story on TV or radio, “What follows is very graphic and may not be suitable for
children”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My question to those in media
is why do you feel compelled to show it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The best recent example was the bodies in Syria stacked up like so much firewood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knows who was responsible, but you can
believe that both sides were milking it for whatever political advantage they
could get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Media agencies fall over
themselves to promote their story as being “exclusive”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much of it is staged for the cameras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sensationalism is the new standard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Meanwhile, we drink this shit like so much grape Kool-Aid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think of the reality shows on TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lowest common denominator is what
prevails now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoy watching the Food
Network now and then, but even their latest offering is called “Cut Throat
Kitchen”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guarantee that’s one show I
won’t be watching, along with so much other garbage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s cheap to produce and attracts the rubber-neckers just like a highway accident.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As a wise man once said, "Resist the urge to be negative in
thought and word. It can be like a cancer that destroys from within."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Have a nice day, eh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-89275759266379690972013-09-15T09:19:00.002-03:002013-09-23T08:53:42.853-03:00Keep on truckin'<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some days when you wonder, why bother?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8 Practical motivations to blog when no one is reading it:
</span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/njsvzs5"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://tinyurl.com/njsvzs5</span></a></div>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Learning and growing</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Clarity</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Personal improvement</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Search engine benefits</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Upgrading your skillset</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Infinite search</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Your content engine</div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
Numbers versus impact</div>
</li>
</ul>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-48367108993176738502013-09-01T11:03:00.003-03:002013-09-01T11:03:40.999-03:00My blogging world has lost an important friend
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJH1Jn7y4WxERApftRyBQBKFFExs2h0xGu_Mf9sZkseKRC0-G_bx0-e3LkT4gLo0VyB9U9KwWkcLnVMsoYut_xk7iqZWuzb_6YK2BUxgkWMqpO-AYxKN-9ISr_VQ82ZhEwwv3MVw0aDfi/s1600/4whlr.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikJH1Jn7y4WxERApftRyBQBKFFExs2h0xGu_Mf9sZkseKRC0-G_bx0-e3LkT4gLo0VyB9U9KwWkcLnVMsoYut_xk7iqZWuzb_6YK2BUxgkWMqpO-AYxKN-9ISr_VQ82ZhEwwv3MVw0aDfi/s200/4whlr.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">This announcement appeared on the </span><a href="http://torngats.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">Nain
Bay</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> blog one month ago:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: purple;">It is with great sadness, that the family of
Brian announces his passing on July 25, 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brian was diagnosed with cancer
in May, and received radiation therapy in St. John's. He was then sent to the
Labrador Grenfell Health facility in Happy Valley Goose Bay for care. This is
where Brian spent his remaining days. He was surrounded by family and friends
at the time of his passing</span></i>.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Brian’s blogging friends had noticed the drop off in his posts over the
last few months but I’m not sure any of us realized how ill he was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Here’s how he explained his online absence back in mid-April: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: purple;">I am receiving inquiries why the dearth of
postings of late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is mainly due to
some health issues that have popped up making life painful and miserable for
the most part, and I just don’t have the inclination to get onto the internet
that much</span></i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Brian, a transplanted Australian, did more than anyone else to educate
me about coastal Labrador and the challenges faced by people living there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is how he described himself, “<span style="color: purple;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Born in Brisbane Qld. Australia. Moved to
suburb of Sydney N.S.W. at early age. Left Australia in 1978. Traveled in
Canada and Europe for several years before choosing Nain Labrador as the place
to settle. Happily married, love this place, people, land. Like most things
there is good and bad in people as in life’s experiences</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There’s no question but that family was the biggest part of Brian’s
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wrote lovingly of his wife Fran
and of his grandchildren, Carter-bear and Mia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You could always count on at least one or two new pictures each week of
his little bear buddy in whom he took great pride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His world and his love grew even more this
year when little Mia arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a
picture of the two grandchildren with their father who is a pilot with Air
Labrador.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqKhJwRV7_n5OK6SQvUDugXZvP00ACRvZEVW8OvhWwOvM5vjjt4hrllWDl-8yAqzRZvMrnKYN1e-ZYGynq5GP2GtUi52DpxBuJ7nC6A1JFHG2xgN3s5y1YyuIpxqa1V1-8OF_9Y_Zos4O/s1600/Mia+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqKhJwRV7_n5OK6SQvUDugXZvP00ACRvZEVW8OvhWwOvM5vjjt4hrllWDl-8yAqzRZvMrnKYN1e-ZYGynq5GP2GtUi52DpxBuJ7nC6A1JFHG2xgN3s5y1YyuIpxqa1V1-8OF_9Y_Zos4O/s200/Mia+4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">One of the fun things about Brian’s blog was that at least once or
twice a week, he would post pictures of meals he had prepared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took great pride in his cooking ability
and in sharing recipes, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his interest in
trying new ideas and experimenting with the food that is available in coastal
Labrador.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I jokingly asked him one time
if I could hire him to cook for me. His response?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as I moved to Nain, it might work
out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Verdana; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">At one point a few years ago, I actually was contemplating such a move
and wrote to Brian to seek his advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He told me about the challenges I would face, but also shared with me
his great love for his adopted homeland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He offered to give me the grand tour from the back of his four-wheeler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regrettably, that’s a tour I won’t be able to
take.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I miss Brian’s presence in my blogosphere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RIP my cyber-friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-62837026056337731622013-06-29T09:32:00.000-03:002013-06-30T12:07:57.150-03:00In Mandiba's shadow<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As I read the
coverage of Nelson Mandela’s pending death, I feel sorry that the old man who
gave so much is being exploited so ruthlessly.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I read a piece online
earlier this morning that talked about the mixed messages being given around his
death watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point was that for most
people in that part of the world, very few live beyond 80 and their death is a
cause for celebration of their life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Mandela’s case, his family is apparently fighting over who gets to share the
greatest part of his legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very
distasteful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Consider how his
ex-wife Winnie has reinserted herself into the picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s garnering more media attention than his
present (and third) wife Graca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Winnie is the one
who I remember best for this </span><a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,145854,00.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">quote</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">,
"With our boxes of matches and our necklaces, we shall liberate this
country."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Necklaces, by the way,
are when you put a tire or tires around someone’s neck, fill it with gasoline
and set it on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a common
punishment (read murder) used by the A.N.C. with Winnie at the helm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The South African
politicians are all scrambling to post their scrapbook pictures of them with
Mandela and SA President Zuma is the source of all the medical bulletins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>US President Obama is over there now on what’s
reported to be a one hundred million dollar family vacation and they’re going
to meet with Mandela’s family (whatever that means) to pass along their
sympathies and have the inevitable round of photo-ops. Practiced Colgate smiles
will abound.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In so many ways,
that’s what the whole Mandela death watch is about – photo-ops in one way or
another.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There is no
dignity being afforded this gentle man who led his country out of white colonial
rule; instead, the new black leaders with their multi-million dollar bank accounts
are doing everything they can to try to get a piece of his shirt and claim it,
as the Catholic church does, as their first class relic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all want to justify themselves in
Mandela’s shadow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-38894171702741607302013-06-29T09:27:00.003-03:002013-06-29T09:27:55.151-03:00Susan Delacourt featured on Viewpoint2010<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If you scroll down this page a bit, below the blog posts,
you’ll see where I’ve included some “news feeds” – automatic updates from a
variety of sources I review on a regular basis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I added a new one this morning from Susan Delacourt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Delacourt is the Toronto Star's senior writer
in Ottawa and has covered federal politics for more than two decades as a
reporter and bureau chief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I very much
enjoy her writing and insight and routinely read her material as well as follow
her on Twitter - @SusanDelacourt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I would encourage you to check out her material when you
have a chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s worth the time.<o:p></o:p></span>ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-51375110086263207242013-06-09T16:10:00.003-03:002013-06-09T16:13:40.127-03:00Are you being snooped?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Sunday 9 June 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">One can’t help but be amused by the furore spewing in the USA about government
monitoring of telecommunications.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The news this past week was that the American National Security Agency,
one of the biggest government intelligence gathering agencies in the world, was
conducting pretty much unrestricted surveillance of telecommunications inside the
USA and beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leading politicians
expressed outrage and shock that such a thing might happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Give me a break.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Any idiot knows that every keystroke you make on your computer and
every time you use certain key words in telephone conversations and other
communication, it IS being monitored by some of the most sophisticated snooping
technology imaginable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As an example, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service on Ogilvie
Road in Ottawa is in the midst of adding a massive expansion to their already impressive
complex with its seven stories of super-secret underground office space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Thomas Merton’s “Seven Storey Mountain”
comes to mind, but in a slightly different context!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">While the CSIS lads and lasses are certainly monitoring foreign
governments, you KNOW they’re also monitoring us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a matter of fact, chances are very good
that sometime in the next 12 to 24-hours or less, a computer scanning program
will flag the fact that I’ve typed CSIS twice now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The Americans probably already have read
this because of the NSA reference above.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My point is that, to me at least and a lot of my friends, there is no
surprise in the fact that our communication IS being monitored by our
governments and we do NOT feel threatened by it – nor should we.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t say or do anything online to break
any laws, so I’m not worried about who or what sees my text.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My rights to freedom of speech and thought
remain intact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should the unlikely need
arise at some point in the future, I can be cleared to Top Secret within the
federal establishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being monitored
doesn’t worry me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither does it
surprise me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Politicians in the USA need to find a new piñata.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">("<em>I cannot make the universe obey me. I cannot make other people
conform to my own whims and fancies. I cannot make even my own body obey
me." Thomas Merton</em>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-83927116408160242162013-06-08T08:29:00.001-03:002013-06-08T08:33:12.314-03:00If they're guilty, send them to jail<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday 8 June 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My last entry here talked about the stench of corruption in Ottawa
surrounding the misuse of expense accounts in the Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, since then, there have been almost
daily “new revelations” about how Miss Piggy (Duffy) and the others made money
off the system while wallowing in the dirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corruption at this level has been big news here in Canada. It’s not new
– think of Brian Mulroney’s “envelopes stuffed with cash” but it has been the
lead story on most radio and television newscasts and been the above-the-fold
story in our national newspapers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t
help but compare that with so many of the tin pot dictatorships in continental
Africa where such corruption is considered the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our situation is small peanuts by comparison
but that doesn’t reduce its seriousness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think about Ben Ali in Tunisia, Ghadaffi in Libya, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Houphouët-Boigny
in Côte d'Ivoire, Boumediene in Algeria, Biya in Cameroon<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and so many others you would need reams of
paper to list them all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s almost
impossible to determine their wealth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Robert Mugabe is considered to be one of the richest. He is a pariah in
much of the western world although he was welcomed at the Vatican for the
installation of the new pope. Maybe he drops a huge blood diamond into the
collection plate or something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has a deal with the Chinese to mine blood
diamonds and he and his cronies are reaping the huge wealth from that operation
while Zimbabweans are starving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not his
problem apparently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some appear on the scene as liberators, while others arrive as freedom
fighters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually they show their
real faces as tyrants, having looted the state treasuries and wanting to
indemnify themselves from accountability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of them, if not all, leave office as multi-millionaires or, in some
cases, billionaires with so much gold in Swiss banks they could pull their
countries out of deadly poverty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In most cases, there is a military link to their rise in power, but
also strong tribal or clan dynamics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Think about the Rwandan genocidal mass slaughter of the Tutsis by the
Hutus that took place in 1994.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by
military and other officials and mass media, but at its base, it was a
tribal/clan war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why does such corruption and lack of respect for human life seem so
endemic in that part of the world? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">News this morning from South Africa is that 94-year old Nelson Mandela
is back in hospital and in serious condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is esteemed as a hero in South Africa but even there, there are those
who are trying to make money off Mandela’s legacy including his ex-wife and
grandchildren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ANC government leaders
went to visit him at his palatial retirement home a few months ago and brought
along photographers so they could prop-up the old man up in a chair, record
their visit and claim his endorsement while he apparently is barely able to
speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greed is not confined to the African continent or the political circus
in Ottawa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where there’s a buck to be
made, there are those who will take advantage of the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scope of the crime is not a factor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If fraud or theft is proven, then the perps
should go to jail – whether in Zimbabwe or Ottawa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-----------------------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21,634 days and counting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>ViewPoint2010http://www.blogger.com/profile/01220005318305605072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3116874450474158552.post-39352148263216681132013-05-25T17:55:00.002-03:002013-05-25T18:04:46.348-03:00The stench of corruption in Ottawa<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My cyber-buddy the <a href="http://wisewebwoman.blogspot.ca/">Wild Web Woman</a> (she uses another first word – same
difference) recently published a </span><a href="http://wisewebwoman.blogspot.ca/2013/05/bang-bang.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">commentary/rant</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">
about the state of affairs in this wonderful country of ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I returned from a week in Ottawa last night
and after reading through her piece, was prompted to write this little
reflection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3u5Nq5zMeNcmiyDoPwE3zYqCbQthUy8lx67ZbKoo-lK8w6bFlW6oyvpNE5-X6zH0eZKJAuicPmZ47gmF1cavsly9zoafN9EaeIIiGZEsKq9vhER9_xjsuJ9aUjvgtN9UozLlmhEDAnvg/s1600/garbage+fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV3u5Nq5zMeNcmiyDoPwE3zYqCbQthUy8lx67ZbKoo-lK8w6bFlW6oyvpNE5-X6zH0eZKJAuicPmZ47gmF1cavsly9zoafN9EaeIIiGZEsKq9vhER9_xjsuJ9aUjvgtN9UozLlmhEDAnvg/s200/garbage+fire.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Just back after a week in Ottawa and I almost could smell the stench of
corruption (if it hadn’t been for the head cold).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drove by the Langevin Building and the Parliament
Buildings several times and felt extreme disappointment in how low the
political process in this country has sunk. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Parliament Buildings and the Prime
Minister’s Office which used to represent something “special” for me have lost
that, thanks to the current inhabitants.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I used to be one of those perpetually optimistic and naïve Canadians
who believed that regardless of how bad things were, there was a silver lining
and it was impossible politicians could be as corrupt as they were said to
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slowly, but surely, that optimism
and naiveté has been whittled away and reduced to disbelief and
skepticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time in my
history, I don’t believe anything the current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper,
says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same applies to his cabinet
ministers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Who can forget Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s solemn 2003 pledge after
being elected as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party that he would
never approve the merger of his party and the Canadian Alliance by Stephen
Harper? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It happened about three months
later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">I’m not a Tory and never would be (actually I am about as apolitical as
they come) but that little drama told me all I will ever need to know about
Peter MacKay’s integrity, of which I’m convinced there is none.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought up to that point lawyers had a
code of honour by which they must abide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So much for that misconception as far as MacKay is concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As for "Miss Piggy" Mike Duffy and his ilk, I can only hope they will be
consigned to the trash heap of history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">You mention Fukushima.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seem
to have forgotten Chernobyl except for the brave and/or deformed souls who
still live there or the photographers who sneak in every now and then to record
the ongoing devastation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We hear so little of the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill which was
listed as the 54th largest spill in history in 1989 at up to 750,000 barrels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sea life there will never return to normal
despite all the well-financed studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Or consider the BP oil
disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest marine oil
spill in the history of the petroleum industry; the total discharge estimated
at 5 million barrels.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">There IS reason for hope out
there – maybe in the newness of the Ottawa tulips or the anticipation of the first
crop of the new peaches & cream corn but it sure as hell isn’t coming from
our political and business elite whose main interest is in feathering their own nests and
those of their corporate buddies (Koch Brothers and otherwise).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">As for OUR pensions, two
words – bonne chance!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>VP.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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