Saturday, July 3, 2010

Allan Rock: Still choosing what you are allowed to think and do


Cartoon courtesy of Simon Fraser University Library


Well Allan Rock certainly is consistent. The latest revelation that he is the one who was behind the e-mail threatening Ann Coulter with criminal charges if she said the wrong thing at a university lecture comes as no surprise to me. Allan rock was the Justice Minister that helped push the current Firearm Act through. An Act that contains sections that may actually be un-constitutional. Not to mention his other past lapses in moral judgements.
Allan Rock said “I came to Ottawa believing that only the army and the police should have guns” Not an exactly neutral position on the subject, not to mentioned such beliefs have not really worked out all that well and puts you into the company of these notable people; Hitler, Mao, Stalin.
So to discover that Allan Rock has issues with free speech by people who disagree with him is no surprise to me.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Big band is where it's at!



Well it's another Friday and nobody's needs to think to hard so I will offer you some old time music. This is Glen Miller's "Tuxedo Junction" I love the big band sound and I hope you will also. find a dance partner or pull up a chair, crack a cold one and get into some foot tapping. Cheers

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The ugly Canadian




While we celebrate Canada’s birthday it’s a good time to reflect on what it means being a Canadian. For many people it is enough to be anti-American to consider themselves Canadian. When pressed they say “We not war-like or imperialistic like them”. The sad fact is the beliefs they held are not terribly true. Canadians have been involved pretty heavily in almost every major conflict of the 20th century. As for being imperialistic, I guess the Boers might disagree and ask why Canadians troops were fighting against them in South Africa in the early 1900’s. Not to mention the local First Nations.

These people I call “Ugly Canadians” they ignore our own history or gloss it over, perhaps out of guilt that in reality we not as wonderful as they pretend we are. Instead of being proud of who we are and what have accomplished and learned, they are content to bash our neighbour in order to show how ‘Canadian” they are. Yet Like a parasitic they remain tucked in close to the belly of the beast they despise for warmth and protection. If you disagree with their values they will brand you “un-Canadian” something the Federal Liberal Party likes to do as well, hence their pounding at the polls.

Canada was born in war and by war. First between France and the local First Nations, then France vs England, then England vs the rebels, then Canada/England vs the US. Then the final attempt to defeat us on our own soil was by a bunch of drunken Irishman (typical eh?). The concept of Canada as an independent nation really coalesced during WWI and came of age upon the slopes of Vimy ridge. Even then it took till 1949 for the country to be complete. In WWII Canada put 1 million people in uniform, out of 11 million, an astonishing feat. In the Cold War we helped stare down the USSR and Warsaw pact. We invented peacekeeping and devoloped it as workable concept. Strangely few Canadians can describe it correctly and merely repeat myths about it.
We have continued to prosper and currently we have done well in this current fiscal crisis, impressive for a country so closely tied the US economy.

As a country we depend heavily on immigrants, both to maintain and grow our population and economy. The thing about immigrants is that they can be a double edge sword. Whether they help us or hurt us is entirely up to us. The type of immigrant we need is willing to work hard, adapt to this new land and then give something in return. This does not mean just let in the rich ones, this country was built by poor immigrants who wanted a better life. We don’t need the kind of immigrant that takes as much as they can, gives nothing in return, flout our laws and ignore our culture. I firmly believe that the current version of multi-culturalism that we are pursuing will either destroy the country or harm it greatly.

Some would say I am racist based on the above, well my Malay-Indian wife will disagree with you. I am against destroying our culture to appease a few radicals. With exception of Quebec who are still pissed about the Plains of Abraham and First Nations who got trampled on (it could been worse) this country is a Common law, Commonwealth country with solid English roots. We owe a lot to the English they gave us the tools and knowledge to be who we are today. These traditions, beliefs, laws and our culture are like a giant tree. Upon that tree we can hang the positive bits of the many cultures represented by the people that have come here. I enjoy watching the mix of cultures showing off the best their cultures have. But make no mistake, many of those cultures have a dark side and under no circumstance do we want it repeated here. Our culture is the glue holding all of this together. If you stop or destroy the glue everything falls apart. The loss of Canada as a nation would be a tragedy the world would mourn.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Happy birthday Canada




Happy Birthday Canada, don't take what we have for granted.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Boiling the civil liberty frog


Courtesy of news.com.au

Don’t get me wrong, I have no sympathy for the punks from the “black bloc” who get their high out smashing other people’s property and burning police cars, if they get a few bruises from the cops at that point I don’t really care. I laugh at the statements that this is a police state, I have been to police states and you will shake in your boots if the cops there decide they don’t like you.
Yet I am outraged that police stood back during the mini-riot and then went after the more peaceful protest later. Peaceful and sometimes rowdy protests are a fact of life in a democracy and like democracy they aren’t always perfect. The ability to protest is a fundamental right necessary to keep governments in check. All democratic governments require the will of the people to govern, without it they are doomed (Do you hear me Gordo?)
The police get the unenviable task of balancing these rights in the real world. When things get out of hand they must act and swiftly, at the same time they must exercise restraint against legitimate protesters who may push against the law and fences. A peaceful occupation of an office is a legitimate form of civil disobedience, burning cars and smashing windows is anarchy for the sake of anarchy.
But what really sickens me is Toronto Police chief Blair now admits that the 5 metre security zone on the outside of the fence never actually existed, but his officers acted towards people in a direct manner that it did. This “neverland” was the result of the enactment of a old law without any public notice or debate. The 2 events together show a sickening lack for the respect of due process and trust of the people in both the government and the police. Being a gun owner I have always despised Miller and Blair for their scapegoating of legal gun owners. The problem of course is once people like this are allowed to harass one group of law-abiding citizens, you can bet they will do it to someone else and then eventually you.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Death by halibut!








Smiles Café
An interesting place started in the 1920’s to offer ice cream to the fisherman and cannery workers. It’s heyday was during the war when 5,000 troops were stationed in Prince Rupert (More on this later)the place was going 24/7 serving the shift workers. For a place mat they give you an old menu list from 1945. Average price back then was around 40cents for a meal, coffee was 10 cents and 5cent refill! Steaks with extras were $1.25. some notables items were “Hot Tamales” and “Mexican chilli”. Likely added to the menu because of the high number of US troops who were used to Mexican food. Also they had canned spaghetti and canned beans as menu items. At least they were honest about their food back then.
Prince Rupert,Cow Bay
On this trip I had the halibut burger, it was decent meal with a good size chunk of fish. When you are in Prince Rupert, do yourself a favour and eat fish, it’s generally fresh and plentiful. When you get tired of fish, check out “Zorbas”, a Greek/Sri Lankan restaurant that makes a great lamb vindaloo.
Prince Rupert as a whole is suffering, the downturn in Fishing and Logging is leaving it’s mark, evident by the number of closed shops. The only good things happening there are tourism and the new container dock. The large mill there is unlikely ever to reopen, despite many failed attempts. The major exports currently are raw logs, a practice few people like, but it employs people who otherwise would not be working. Prince Rupert is no stranger to the Boom and Bust cycle, a read of the current and old newspaper articles shows that the citizens have never given up hope that one day their city will grow beyond that cycle.

Edit: sorry for the picture eating at the words, the margins don't seem to want to work.