So Far Away

Separation sucks....I miss you.

The Hammer checks out

Tom Delay is, in my opinion, one of the worst politicians possible. Rarely have I ever had the misfortune of seeing someone being so crass in his partisanship as to subvert democracy itself. He is the prototype of the Republicans who believe that winning, no matter how dirty you play, is all that counts. Scorched-earth politics benefit no one and hopefully that will be the end of him and his un-American activities.

More bad driving

Here is a disturbing trend in driving that I have noticed is becoming more common: People racing in front of you at stop signs.

Here's the scenario. You are driving down a road, past a parking lot entrance or T intersection. A car comes to the intersection and, normally, would wait for you to pass and then turn into traffic (as you have the right of way, legally). Over the past year, however, I've noticed a sharp increase in people who don't want to wait, so they gun their engine and turn in front of you, and then accelerate fast in the hopes you don't rear-end them. You usually end up having to brake because the other driver misjudged a) your distance, b) your speed or c) both.

What's the rush? You've gained a whole 5 seconds IF THAT. Someone did that to me on the week-end and at the very next intersection, someone did it to him. Pretty soon, the only laws people are going to respect on the road are the laws of physics. Anarchy slips one step closer every time...

Gas gouging

I'm a bit perplexed about the hue and cry about gas prices. I've heard one person suggest that gas stations that suddenly charge $2 for a litre should be prosecuted or charged with price gouging or something to that effect. From what I read, those stations in southern Ontario did raise their prices and then dropped them down within an hour or two. In other words, the market couldn't bear the price, so it had to drop. So where is the foul?

Also, I'm amused that the "experts" are mocking consumers who lined up under the false belief that gas prices were going to rise over Rita. These "experts" (and I'm quoting the term in a deregatory fashion) say there was no shortage of refining capacity or gasoline in Canada, so people got into a panic for no good reason.

Curiously, there were no shortages of refining capacity or gasoline when Katrina hit almost a month ago, yet gas prices shot up at that time. The story from those so-called "experts" at the time was that, yes, there was lots of gasoline in Canada, but the prices are set in New York and we are part of a North American market for energy these days. So if the price goes up in New York on the trading floor, then it hits all parts of North America, regardless of their local situation.

So which is it? It appears the market price of gasoline didn't freak out this time, but after what happened after Katrina, should it surprise anyone that consumers think gas prices are no longer connected to reality.

In any event, anything that puts some sanity back into the automotive sector is a-ok on my part; if we aren't paying $2 for a litre of gasoline today, we will soon enough.

A new Senator is appointed

From the Globe and Mail tonight:


"Ottawa — An aboriginal activist from New Brunswick is Canada's newest senator, as Prime Minister Paul Martin moves to fill the last of the vacancies in the upper chamber.Sandra Lovelace Nicholas, a Maliseet from the Tobique First Nation, was appointed Wednesday. She'll sit as a Liberal.
Ms. Lovelace Nicholas, born in 1948, rose to international prominence in 1977 when she petitioned the United Nations over Canada's discriminatory policies toward native women and children.Her campaign eventually bore fruit in 1985 when Ottawa agreed to abolish a 116-year-old clause in the Indian Act that stripped women of their Indian status if they married non-aboriginal men."

It was a Tory government that changed a discriminatory law against Aboriginals in its first year in power, after 7 years of being ignored by Pierre Trudeau. So why is she sitting as a Liberal?

Mysteries of the universe

Why do so many stores have 4" saucers, but not the 4" pots for plants that go with them? What good is a saucer if you have no pot with which to put in a plant?

Gardening is just not a natural talent for me apparently...

Decline of the American Empire

Catching up on my reading, I noted that the September 10th issue of the Globe and Mail had a whole section about 9/11 four years later, including a very long and somewhat confused piece about how America is doomed. As well, perpetually unhappy columnist Heather Mallick (who could find a reason to whine about Christmas or small puppies) did another screed about how GWB is the devil and the US is the greatest threat in the world.

It's perhaps not surprising that people are seeing the end of the US following the third world images that originated from New Orleans, but I think it's over the top. For one thing, as bad as the situation is New Orleans is, it only affects one part of the country. If you look back 70 years, most of the West was in the midst of a drought while the rest of the country endured grinding poverty through the Depression (a world-wide phenomenon). The land of plenty was unable to feed its own citizens or provide jobs for anyone, which was quite a comedown from the overexuberant 1920s.

And yet, Americans responded to their situation by changing the way they voted and getting leaders who were more concerned for America's future than that of cronies or self-interest. This, I believe (hope?), is what we are going to see in the coming elections. America won the Cold War and brought about a new confidence that evolved into arrogance as the 1990s wore on. A sense of entitlement became the norm and Bush, contrary to his 2000 campaign, is not a uniter, nor is he a compassionate conversative (the compassionate part is evidenced from his starting needless wars, gutting social programs and a gleeful disregard for civil rights, and no true conservative would say that the solution to any problem is more deficit spending). Rather than unite America, he has played rich versus poor, straights versus gays, white versus black, and while long on rhetoric about America for all, he has been short on actions.

My view is that the arrogance and conceit of the leadership (hello Tom Delay!) will bring about a great humbling of the American people. Just like in 1932, Americans are going to see that the Emperor has no clothes and elect a more moderate leadership that doesn't feed a sense of entitlement, but rather promotes a sense of humility.

Or so I hope...

Silence of Sudan

It's gotten to the point that people are "Dar-what?".

An excellent read

Ron Paul is a US Congressman whose views are at odds with most politicians, which makes him all the more special.

http://www.house.gov/paul/ is his website

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2005/cr090805.htm is one really good speech he made, highly recommended.

Mulroney's memoirs

I'm sure that Paul Martin would have preferred to have that book published during the election campaign, but oh well.

First thoughts on the Newman book? Hilarious, because it's true.

The pleasures of summer

I'm not a winter person, despite living in -40 temperatures on an annual basis. I find it simply oppressive and restrictive. The joy of summer is being able to walk around town or even in your own neighbourhood in the evening without requiring a jacket. It's sleeping with the windows open. It's driving with the windows down and music blasting from the stereo. It's sunsets during prime time and dawns before I awake. It's feeling grass under my feet, seeking shade from the leaves in the trees, smelling the flowers in the gardens. It's a cold drink on a warm night at an open patio. It's BBQs!

It's a deceptively simple pleasure to close my eyes and feel the warm summer breeze on my bare arms, my face, a simple pleasure of being alive. A wonderful sense of euphoria that carries me through cold, dark winter nights. For one day, those days will be back and when they do, I will be there to drink them in for the simple pleasure they are.

How would you know?

I can't help but view Bush's response to the New Orleans flooding as insincere. Here is a man who has had every priviledge of life, everything handed to him on a silver platter and never allowed to get his hands dirty.

It's easy for people like him to blame the welfare system for what went wrong in New Orleans. How can you know what it's like to not have a car with a full tank of gas in your driveway all the time? How can you know what it's like not to have a credit card with which you can charge a hotel room bill for a few days? How can you know what it's like not to have mommy or daddy take you back home because they are both dead?

There is so much that people don't know about the underclass and that ignorance prompts them to say some really stupid things. It's unhelpful, but par for the course in this day and age.

Fixing the comments

I made use of the word verification to see if that stops the (annoying) comment spam.

Leadership Lost, Again

Bad enough that a large US city will have to be razed and rebuilt, but I'm thoroughly disgusted with what passes as leadership these days. First we have the "shoot to kill" incident in the UK, now we have the sorry spectacle of local, state and federal government officials blaming each other for the debacle in Louisiana. Partisans on both sides have taken up arms with such useless and irrelevant details as the political orientation of the leaders (Lousiana's governor is a Democrat, while Mississippi and Alabama have Republican governors) and the welfare state (the looting and vandalism, according to one idiot, are directly caused by the welfare state).

Is there no one in a leadership position who can say "yes, I made a mistake"? What about the buck-passing? "The people who work for me made mistakes, and I take responsibility for their errors". Why is it no one wants to admit they screwed up? We all know the evacuation and response to Katrina was botched, so why is everyone trying to claim they didn't make any mistakes? Leadership demands accountability, period.

Katrina

I just realized that a link I posted last week is now very à-propos. The post entitled "Behind Those Eyes" links to the website for 3 Doors Down, whose members are from Southern Mississippi. The main page provides a wealth of information about how to help those affected by the hurricane and its effects.

Time, standing still

I took advantage of the lovely weather and long week-end to go to a professional baseball game. Not major league, but still enough where dreams can come true. I hadn't been to a baseball game in a long time and somehow remembered it as kind of slow, so I brought a magazine to read in the meantime.

Oddly enough, I relished the game and the slow moments to the point where I didn't even open the magazine. There was a lot of drama on the field as the game was close until the top of the eighth inning, but even in the downtimes, I found it nice to just soak in the sun and absorb my surroundings. I'm not sure what it is about a baseball game that makes me contemplative, or even if the game had anything to do with it.

Normally, I try to fill all my time with something I deem productive. This is mainly reading, be it online websites, newspapers, books, magazines, flyers, etc...but it can also be some work around the house too. Yet the more I fill my schedule with "productive" the more I relish those idle moments of just doing nothing. It was such a moment at the ball game, but also just sitting out on the deck and watching birds, or plopped on my couch and watching people through my window. It's unstructured and unproductive, but so relaxing.

Pics

Thanks to anisb for info on uploading pics! Cheers!

I love you!