Consequences?

Seems that our politicians can't figure out right from wrong.  Between helicopter rides out of convenience, sleepovers at fishing camps and thousand dollar hotel rooms at a conference dealing with poverty, you would think that at some point in time, someone would say, No More!  But you would be wrong.

Governments rise and fall based on three main factors: their record of success; their record of failure; or their record on ethics.

Maybe our leaders should begin to pay attention.

Is Titanic more sacred than Indian Burial Grounds?

I am growing a bit weary of hearing and reading that the relatives of victims of the Titanic are upset that the graves of their forebearers are being pillaged by treasure hunters.

Seems that they believe that the Titanic wreck is more sacred than Egyptian tombs or sacred Indian burial grounds.

Historica? All the history the government wants you to know?

 Historica-dominion Institute is the self-proclaimed preeminent Canadian history organization that has told Mysteriesofcanada.com, on any number of occasions, that we are like a flea on their back and other than the occasional itch, they do not even care if we exist.  I always wondered if their arrogance had some sort of underlying feature - and now it comes out.

Seems that the official-charity-case-known-as-Historica (Historica for short) also has an number of connections to the Harper government, which by the way provides it with $7.8 million (equivalent to 780 FTE civil service jobs) in subsidies each year.

Connection number one is the privately-owned telephone fundraising company they use,  The company, Responsive Marketing Group (RMG), not only is the company used by Harper to raise funds, but it also uses that Conservatives own fundraising database, developed by the party at taxpayers expense.  You may remember RMG was in the news in March of this year in connection to the Robocall Scandal Misunderstanding.

How deep is Historica into the pocket of RMG?  Seems that Historica raised $1.2 million and for that paid $600,000.  You think that is a good rate for a charity?

Connection number two is Micheal Levine, a senior executive at Historica, who also happens to be the lawyer who is negotiating for publishing rites, including big advance payments, for his client, Stephen Harper, who wrote a book about hockey.

Seems that Historica has a bit of a history itself when it comes to conservative fundraising.  In addition to RMG, they have also used Target Outreach, a US based company that raises money for conservative causes and the Republican Party.

Just have to wonder if Historica can claim to be an independent interpreter of Canada's past.

Why was it that we needed the F35s again?

The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem.  It is generally employed by only small children and large nations.- David Freidman

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.  The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.  We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted.  Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. - General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of European forces during WWII and former President of the United States.

Government complains about unspent funds

In the most recent copy of Frontline magazine, author Ken Pole starts off his article, Unspent Funds... Again,  by saying,

"A familiar problem continues to plague the Department of National Defence - its inability to spend its budget in any given fiscal year due to contract complications and mismanagement, delivery delays or, most disturbingly, the government policy which complicates or eliminates options for carrying forward funds."

Amazing, just amazing.  The complaint is that DND does not spend all the money it is allocated.  And this when the government is trying to focus on value over spending.  Maybe we need to revisit zero-based budgeting?

The forgotten hero in Afghanistan

If the name, Mike Frastacky, does not ring a bell with you, I am not surprised.  I came across his name while reading an American newspaper recently and I could not be more ashamed of myself, my press and my country.

Mike was a carpenter who was shot to death on July 23,2006 in Afghanistan.

Mike was a carpenter who spent four years building a school in Nahrin, north of Kabul.  He raised the money for the construction himself, he built it himself and for his effort and humanitarianism, he was shot three times by terrorists who wanted to claim the $10,000 prize offered by the Taliban.

In 2012, there are over 600 children attending the school he built and the animals who killed him are looking like they will come back to power.  What a tragedy and a waste.

Elvis says hi!

I am just back from vacation in the deep south of the USA.  Visited family in Florida, saw how they harvest and process sponge, walked on the beach and ate Stone Crab.  Good time.

Then off to Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis Presley was born and to visit Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.  It is worth the trip!  On the way back, visited the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky.  Impressive.

I encourage people to drive for their vacation and visit places that you never expected to visit.

Next trip is to the Jello Museum in Le Roy, New York.

It has been 17 years since the boys disappeared

On March 17, 1995, six teenage boys stole a boat from a marina in Pickering Ontario and presumably motored out into Lake Ontario.  They were never seen again.

After extensive searching by the local police, RCMP, Canadian Armed Forces and a multitude of ordinary citizens, nothing, and I mean - nothing, was found of the boys or the boat.

What happened that night?  Was it an unfortunate accident? Or was it foul play?

I wonder?

Tecumseh. The Real Hero of the War of 1812?

I have been doing a lot of reading on the War of 1812, not only because of the 200th anniversary but also because the subject is interesting.  As I go through the literature I am swamped with visions of British Generals like Brock and Hull and the exploits of the Red coats versus the Blue coats.  Certainly there were heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict but I find that there is not enough attention paid to real heroes... namely, the First Nation people and specifically Tecumseh.

The war started over the aggressive acts of the British, who had a habit of boarding American ships at sea looking for contraband and AWOL British sailors.  The Americans decided that since Britain was busy at war with France then the time was probably right to seek out some more land mass and smack at the British at the same time.  They decided to invade the lands to north of their borders -  the Maritime provinces and the Canadas.

The traditional way to fight these wars was to have the armies line up facing each other, then let fly with musket balls and cannon fire until one side or the other quit and ran away or died to the last man.  The aboriginal warriors, who were allied with the British (because of the way they were treated by the Americans) thought that was a stupid way to fight, so they introduced the combatants to fight and flight - a technique of lightening quick actions that they used quite effectively against the Americans.

Tecumseh also introduced the Americans to the old "circle-of-savages" at the fight for the fort at Detroit.  He showed up with 400 warriors and then proceeded to have them walk into an opening near the fort and then back into the forest.  He had the warriors loop around and actually walk out three times each thus making American General Hull believe that there was over 1,200 warriors.  Hull actually surrendered the fort without firing a shot because he feared that the warriors would massacre his soldiers and the women and children inside the fort.  But it was not to Tecumseh that he surrendered, it was to General Issac Brock, who got the credit for the victory.

And on it went, Tecumseh and his warriors played the pivotal role in the British victory in 1812 but we ended up with Brockville and Brock University... not Tecumseh University.

I am tired of the manipulation!

There is an old story about a woman who goes to see her son marching in a parade at the local airbase.  It was quite obvious that when they said right step, he put out his left.  The mother, proud of her son, turned to another mother and stated, "Seems that my son is the only one in step."

Well that is the way I am starting to feel.

Am I the only person who sees that the government of Canada has decided to play the divide and conquer card on old folks in this country?

I see this as the latest cynical ploy to take the heat of one issue by placing it on another issue.  The polarization of the debate results in Canadians losing sight of real problems for supposed ones. What am I talking about? Let me draw you a picture.

You do not have to remember too far back when PM Harper told Canadians that Canada's economy was strong and there was not chance of a recession in this fair country.  Shortly thereafter the shit hit the fan and Harper was forced to eat his words; which, of course, he could never do.  So rather than explaining his failure, he changed the discussion channel - he started to talk about stimulus programs... oops, I mean economic action plans.  As the action plans percolated across Canada, up went Canada's debt and deficit.  And it was just in time, because it took the heat of the fact that the government had already driven the country from surplus to deficit before the recession and now they has a bogey man to blame.  Classic misdirection.

But as the deficit grew, Harper needed a new bogey man, so up comes the F35 procurement plan.  We can not afford to maintain our infrastructure across Canada, so let's spend on bloody jets instead.  Then up pops McKay and the helicopter taxi service to take the heat off jets, and on it goes until now.  Now it is the turn for seniors to take the heat and get the attention.

Now I am going to tell you that some changes to the pension system are needed, but I will scream from the highest mountain that the Old Age Security is not the way to fix it.  Here is a few facts to bear in mind as we go through this diversion from reality.  The Baby-Boom generation, of which I am one, is said to cover the period from 1945 to 1957 or so.  A quick calculation tells us that every Boomer will be 65 or over by 2022.  Another quick calculation suggests that 13 years thereafter (average age for Boomers is 78), the majority of them will be dead. The crisis will be over.

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I focus on the consequences of action, not just the action.

Unless the government finds a way to fight rampant age discrimination that exists in the work force in Canada, there is no way that a 60+ year old can find a meaningful job in Canada.  By 60 you are either too old, too frail, over-qualified or not youthful looking enough for most companies.  They don't want to hire and train someone that they know will either retire soon or fall over dead on the assembly line.  They want the young guns who have the dedication of a tsetse fly to their employers.

This whole degenerative piece-of-crap policy frosts my balls!