Mercer for PM.

There are days when, as I get sidetracked writing a new piece for Democracy Under Fire , I fail to connect as usual with my good friend and brother in all but bloodlines. Despite all the writing I do I cannot compete with his way with words inherited I suspect from from his Newfoundland roots. Here is how he responded to my excuse that I had been busy blogging and so was late with my morning email.

To Me Bloggin' Brudder....

 

Blog I shall, till rooster crows

Frost to fingers so cold me toes

Spread the word so voter knows

Canada games, we have a-new..!

 

He said, she said but noted wrong

Words to paper, sometimes too strong

Wish they could all just get along

Rick Mercer , can do the job.

 

Rick for Prime Minister we must chant

  We've watched him in his glorious rant

But what party you may say...

Start another..no, Greens on its way.

 

Put Rick in Green with Suzuki too

This country soon returned to you

With dollars spent here at home

 Pensions, investments are left alone.

WallyGuy -Jan 2011

 

Shitty pickings - Shitty service

Another flawed tenet of right wing ideology is going to be tried yet again by the mindless Harper Conservatives. Here is the plan ... give Billions of borrowed dollars to the largest corporations (banks, car manufacturers, etc.) and these dollars will be invested in the economy by the big capitalists creating jobs and prosperity. Problem is that this ideology has failed time after time after time. Essentially, the concept is that if you give a bushel of oats to a big old horse, the oats will work their way out of the arse end of the horse and the little sparrows can pick through the crap and find some of the oats to eat. Trickle Down Economics is a pillar of the Right's failed ideology. It basically feeds the corporate sector with borrowed money that the taxpayers have to repay. It works VERY well for the Corporate sector. It doesn't work that well for the little sparrows .. I mean working taxpayers.

http://buckdogpolitics.blogspot.com/

Cheap, cheap ....this tastes like shit......

Belgium's much-reviled phone company Mobistar was elaborately pranked by a program on VRT Belgium; the pranksters hid themselves in a steel container, which they had dropped directly in front of the gates of a large Mobistar office at 5AM. The container had a prominent customer service number printed on the side of it -- a number which rang the pranksters inside the container -- that was promptly called by a series of Mobistar employees who wanted to get the container moved off before 2,000 Mobistar employees reported for work and found the parking lot blocked off.The pranksters proceed to put the Mobistar employees through a high-art comedic phone hell, disconnecting them, subjecting them to terrible hold music (performed live from within the container on a little synthesizer), gradually ratcheting the misery up in a Dante-worthy re-enactment of every terrible, awful mobile phone company experience. The program was a huge hit in Belgium

http://informedoninformation.blogspot.com/

Now where did you say Bell corporate offices are?

Medical Officer of Health Outraged !

Dr. Hazel Lynn, chief medical officer of health in Huron and Bruce counties, was outraged when the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment sent out a media release that suggested she had disavowed the link.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Lynn, who estimates between 10% and 15% of people living near turbines in her area say their health has been affected.
It’s not clear if turbines cause physical harm or stress that brings on poor health, but concerns are real and need to be examined, she said.
“Many people, in many different parts of Grey Bruce and Southwestern Ontario have been dramatically impacted by the noise and proximity of wind farms. To dismiss all these people as eccentric, unusual, or as hyper-sensitive social outliers does a disservice to constructive public discourse and short-circuits our opportunities to learn and benefit from their experiences as we continue to develop new wind farms,” she wrote in a report to her health board.
“It is apparent that a minority of those people living or situated near Industrial Wind Turbines may experience dramatic, negative impacts. We cannot pretend this affected minority doesn’t exist. A determination has to be made as to what level or extent of negative impacts is tolerable.”
Those findings weren’t mentioned by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment when it issued a release that highlighted two lines from Lynn’s seven-page report — that most people don’t complain of ill effects from wind turbines. (Which is akin to saying that most people don't complain about the affects of lung cancer or poor air quality)
“Forty years of science suggests wind turbines do not harm human health,” wrote Gideon Foreman, the group’s executive director. He linked Lynn’s report to a review done last year by Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, a review Lynn publicly objected to because it excluded a section on community harm.
“The study found the scientific literature ‘does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health’ effects,’ ” Foreman wrote.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/01/21/16986491.html

The Haircut

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut.

    After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you , I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop.

    When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

    Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you , I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop.

    The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

    Then a Member of Parliament came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I can not accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The MP was very happy and left the shop.

    The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen MPs lined up waiting for a free haircut.



    That, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Sorry,  could not resist sharing this one!

On the soapbox again!

Its been a while since I dragged out my rural soapbox but the following article struck a chord with me. I was particularly struck by the reference to the difficulties that less affluent rural residents face regarding transportation to larger centers where we are directed for various services. This was highlighted when watching the local news on new years day and hearing the father of the New Years Baby in London, Ont say that they had driven from Goderich. Whilst there may have been a pressing reason for them not getting delivered in their own community I doubt it, there is an ever increasing centralization of services of all sorts and I am aware of a number of mothers being told to drive to London or Kitchener because there “are no obstetricians” at the local hospital wherever that may be. Childbirth should be the most basic of services in most cases and families should not have to drive to a hospital one to two hours away with birth imminent, this is but one example of how rural residents are increasingly becoming second class citizens. The squeaky wheel get the grease and there is a lot more noise coming from the more populated areas!

Read on for another perspective......

Imagine a community with no soup kitchens, no Out of the Cold programs and no homeless shelters. No support groups, community counseling, legal aid clinics or social assistance satellites.
Only a food bank and the Ontario Provincial Police.
Welcome to Wasaga Beach. Home to the world's longest freshwater beach with 14 kilometres of white sand beach. Located on Southern Georgian Bay, it's one of Ontario's favourite four season tourist and vacation destinations.
"Our quality of life and our safe and friendly community has attracted a steady stream of new residents and season dwellers to our town over the years," said Cal Patterson, Mayor of Wasaga Beach, in the 2010 Wasaga Beach Visitor's Guide.
Like other small communities across Ontario, Wasaga Beach also has its share of homeless and poor people trying to survive without the resources that are available in large urban centres.
"In a rural community, fighting poverty is so much harder because it thrives in silence and lacks the resources necessary to get people back on their feet," said Amy MacPherson, founder and executive director of Wasaga Cares, a recent not-for-profit startup trying to help people living in poverty gain access to a broad range of social services. MacPherson said the Salvation Army will provide shelter in a motel room for up to three days "but even that is in a remote location with no transportation and you'd have to find your way to Barrie, ON (50 minute drive) for emergency accommodations after that."
For a family, the nearest shelter is located in Newmarket which is 1.5 hours' drive away.  "So if you have no vehicle you can either hitch a ride along the 400 Hwy with the kids underarm... or... beg I suppose," she said.................
Read more of this article at http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/johnbon/2011/01/fighting-rural-poverty-poses-unique-challenges

There goes any hope of redemption...

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF TWO NEW SENATORS

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper today filled two vacancies in the Senate, announcing the appointments of Don Meredith and Larry Smith.   (Thus now having a majority of “Conservative” senators in the upper chamber)

The Reverend Don Meredith is the Executive Director and co-founder of the GTA Faith Alliance .......The Reverend attended Ryerson University and holds a master's degree from California State Christian University.  He is the Pastor of the Pentecostal Praise Centre in Maple, Ontario.

Larry Smith is a widely-recognized in Quebec.......known in Montreal from his days as a fullback with the Montreal Alouettes .........He has received numerous awards including the Commissioner's Award for conserving the CFL (2001),  the American Marketing Association-Marketer of the Year and Sports Personality of the Year

So a football jock come salesman to kick the shit outa ya and tell ya its for your own good, and a preacher who hold a “degree” from a U.S. “Christian” university to pray that the truth will stay hidden. This is the best two individuals that Harper can find to appoint to the Senate? When you consider that Duffy was one the last lot you can see how desperate he is to get his majority in the Senate so that he can rise to the position of Dictator of Canada.

Praise the lord, praise the lord, Harper is nigh........

Blowing in the Wind

This blog has not seen much action of late however after todays experience I thought what is the use of a personal blog if one cannot have a good whine about the weather, old tractors, snowblowing and income shortages.

Out here in the wilds of the Klondike we do not have any 'new' stuff be it Ma's wheels, my tractor or Mikes snowblower but when the tractor gets to be almost as old as the owner then one must expect both to get a little persnickety in their combined dotage. Made in my home country of Jolly old England in the fiftys, whilst I was still wearing shorts to school, the Fergison tractor is a surprisingly reliable old girl but like the old man does not like these -20 wind chill mornings and when asked to gather herself together on such mornings to beat a path out to the road through 18” of snow gets a little cranky.

Today being the first time this year she was asked to do such a chore she was particularly reluctant, I got her heart started but the blood flow to the hydraulics was notably lacking, left to warm up she had a hissy fit and bust her fan belt. Now the old man has been giving her TLC for a number of years, and we have the skills to patch up the old girl when she quits, but why o why does she always do these things when its so friggin cold and windy? So out with the wrenches and off with the gloves, kneeling in the snow praying that it will only take 3 or 4 more trips inside to rediscover my fingertips we go to work to patch her up. Much cussing, wading thru 2 feet of snow to the tool shed, and asking for the wherewithal to have a least one piece of equipment that is younger than my son we bring her back to life. After a while to warm up that blood flow we get the old girl moving, sort off!. Meanwhile Junior blows a path back to the shop with the little antique...... only to find that his belt also needs replacing, (hey he was at least near the shop, lucky beggar!) and that one is only in her mid 20s not her late 50s!

Now Fergi is a game old bugger but 18” of packed snow is a bit much to ask of her so with blower and bucket raised we knock the top foot of white off all the way out to the road and back, now comes the hard part Fergi. Blowing the packed bottom foot of snow takes all she can do and half way out she starts coughing n gaging and almost gives up. Upon checking her out I see she now has a bladder problem and is pissing green fluid into the snow, upon further inspection I see she has heart failure and the old pump has just give out due to old age but the game old bird makes it back to her spot in the snow bank by the house.

Now her cousin died some years ago and we keep her in the mausoleum out back of the shed and it looks like we are going to have to do a heart transplant after first examining the replacement heart for defects or seizures. I just wish I could afford to bring in an outside surgeon but doubt whether any such technician would consent to work in a snow bank in the middle of winter anyway. Ah well I think she is going to get a bit of a rest till warmer days arrive, just wish I could get a rest as well but it looks like its shoveling time for this old antique!!

Now I know that folks out on the prairies will say “cold, that aint cold” and the folks down in London will say “snow, you aint seen snow yet” but Fergi and I, we have had enough of winter thank you very much. Is it spring yet?