Den of Zeus

Lost in Translation......

2012-02-08T22:16:00.000-08:00

Oh god this was funny!!

Simon's Cat in 'Fowl Play'

2012-01-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

A tad late but still funny

SHOT show 2012

2012-01-29T22:24:00.000-08:00

picture from armsbook.ca

Went to the Shot show this year with some friends, this is my third time, so somewhat used to it, the first time going for a shooter is like being a kid in a candy shop! I really enjoy going as it is so totally different than working in a government office, listening to small business owners talk about idea's, buying, selling, importing, exporting, regulations and what will happen next in the economy is refreshing and quite educational.

The show is divided into a few large groupings, the main floor is the big names like Ruger, Smith and Wesson, Remington and Winchester to name a few. Downstairs is the small businesses, this is where the real gems are, everyone down there has a better mousetrap or at least a better price on the widgets than someone else. Off to the side our the special sections for military and law enforcement.

The show was held at the Sands expo in Las Vegas and will likely be near for the next few years.
One thing I have noticed over the last 3 shows I have gone through (2008,2010 and 2012) is that women are becoming a force to be reckoned with.

picture from womanofuspsa.com

The women I see see there are increasingly more involved with both shooting and the business side, this is reflected in the marketing that is going on. While a large group of retailers think all they have to do is put some of their products in pink, others are going far greater lengths to redesign their products to match the physique of the average woman. This explains the rocketing popularity of pocket pistols which are light, easy to concel and easier for most women to grasp and operate.

Around 61,000 people came to the show and there was over 1600 exhibitors. What I found to my surprise is that despite the economy and growing concerns for another hard recession, the firearm industry is booming (pun intended).
Some of the interesting highlights I saw are:

Turkish bling guns

Lots of air rifles

The "Rhino" revolver, unique as it fires from the bottom of the cylinder rather than the top, this reduces "muzzle flip".

How about some $257,000 shotguns, made by Perazzi The scary part is this is their "mid-range priced guns" . they also have a set for over $400,000!! They asked me if I wanted to hold one and I said no, if I dropped it I would have to sell the house to pay for it!!!!

Now this is the latest in Scottish high fashion, Bullet proof vests in the tartan of your choice!

Some interesting and novel shotgun slugs.

Zombies are all the rage right now, zombie ammo, zombie knives, zombie targets, zombie grips, everyone and anyone who could work the zombie angle did.

The show is wheelchair friendly, this one costs over $20,000 and uses 6 gyroscopes to stay stable.

What do cupcakes and Lightsabres have in common?

2012-01-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

What do cupcakes and Lightsabres have in common? Apparently they are both weapons according to TSA.

Did you hear about TSA and the cupcake?

That’s right, two week ago guards in Las Vegas took a frosted cupcake away from a woman named Rebecca Hains as she prepared to board a flight to Boston. The frosting, you see, was “gel-like” and thus a potential security threat.

I’m really not sure how to approach this one, other than to weep uncontrollably.

According to a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson the confiscation was in error — the work of an overzealous (or maybe just hungry) screener. “In general, cakes and pies are allowed in carry-on luggage,” said the spokesperson. Still, I don’t know if that makes it OK. That we can use the words “cupcake” and “security” in the same sentence is a bright red flag that something is very, very wrong in America. TSA says the incident is “under review.” I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.

This is yet more fodder, of course, for my American Hysteria Hall of Shame. The hall isn’t limited to airport security foibles, but clearly TSA is gunning for the bronze, the silver and the gold. Operation Cupcake joins a pretty fat list:

TSA confiscates a butter knife from an airline pilot. TSA confiscates a teenage girl’s purse with an embroidered handgun design. TSA confiscates a 4-inch plastic rifle from a GI Joe action doll on the grounds that it’s a “replica weapon.” TSA confiscates a liquid-filled baby rattle from airline pilot’s infant daughter. TSA confiscates a plastic “Star Wars” lightsaber from a toddler.

Read the rest at : http://www.salon.com/2012/01/04/what_do_cupcakes_and_lightsabers_have_in_common/singleton/

2011 going out with a bang!

2012-01-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

courtesy of Castle Arrrgh and the CanadianArmyNews

(I miss making things go bang!)

Thou shall sweep away all that oppose you!!

2011-12-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

Only in the ME could you find 3 groups of priests from basically the same religion get into a broom fight over cleaning a church! Seems 100 Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests had a turf war on who gets to clean which part of the Church of Nativity they get to clean. Although it seems their religious zeal is a double edge sword as the state of repair of the church is quite bad, as seen in this wiki quote:

The present state of the church is worrying. Many roof timbers are rotting, and have not been replaced since the 19th century. The rainwater that seeps into the building not only accelerates the rotting of the wood and damages the structural integrity of the building, but also damages the 12th-century wall mosaics and paintings. The influx of water also means that there is an ever-present chance of an electrical fire. If another earthquake were to occur on the scale of the one of 1834, the result would most likely be catastrophic. ... It is hoped that the listing will encourage its preservation, including getting the three custodians of the church - the Greek Orthodox Church, the Armenian Orthodox Church, and the Franciscan order - to work together, which has not happened for hundreds of years. The Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority would also have to work together to protect it.[2][3]

In 2010, the Palestinian Authority announced that a multi-million dollar restoration program was imminent.[4][5]

It's pretty sad when the Israelis and Palestinians have to tell you to get along......

Top Gear - The North Pole Expedition

2011-12-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

Two middle aged men, deeply unfit, mostly drunk. Show off an inconvenient truth.

Courtesy of SDA

Santa Baby By Eartha Kitt

2011-12-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

A very Merry Christmas to you and all of your family. Now I understand why my parents where so tired Christmas morning....

I await the massed protests

2011-12-22T11:23:00.000-08:00

So the Muslim world protests loudly about cartoons allegedly showing the Prophet (the fact that no one knows what the Prophet looks like is not important), they protest at the slightest hint of insult by the West. So I await their massed protest where the Taliban kill people by bombing a mosque, seems a holy place is not so holy when you need to kill someone.

A suicide bomber killed six Afghans, including a district police chief, in an attack at a mosque in the eastern province of Kunar, a known haven for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vest as worshippers were leaving the mosque in the district of Ghaziabad.

"The attacker detonated his explosives in the mosque, killing the district police chief, an intelligence officer, two police and two civilians," Kunar's governor told AFP.

The attack is the second suicide bombing at a mosque in Afghanistan this week. On Dec. 6, a suicide bomber killed 54 Afghans at a mosque in Kabul. The Afghans were Shia who were celebrating Ashura. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Almi, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with the Taliban and al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban have carried out numerous attacks at mosques in the past, including the assassination of Kunduz's governor in the province of Takhar on Oct. 8, 2010, and more recently, a suicide bombing that killed seven people, including a local police commander, in an attack at a mosque in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan on Nov. 6.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/12/suicide_bomber_kills_62.php#ixzz1hIDjDWwg

Signs and foreign body language (Philippines example)

2011-12-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

I fully agree with this fellow, body language is far more important than many realize. A few examples I picked up in Malaysia is pointing, which is done by pointing a loose fist toward the object with the thumb on top in the direction of the object, but not protruding past the knuckle. If towards a person, it's more of a general direction rather than right at the person. When passing between people, you bend forward slightly when walking with your right arm extended out and your left arm behind your back. Hands should flat with forward hand's thumb on top.
Another example is greetings, you gently touch the hand of the person you are greeting (if of the same sex) and then place that hand on your chest over your heart. Normally done to the elders first, the people clearly younger than you will show their deference/respect by bringing their head to your hand and then touching their chest.
If you are a fairly tall person, just remember your height may create a tension and might be felt like intimidation if you are to close.

All I Want For Christmas - HMS OCEAN

2011-12-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you leave sailors with to much time on their hands!

Merry Xmas to the crew of HMS Ocean and a hope that you are home for Christmas.

"Dream Lines - Part II" Wingsuit Proximity Flying by Jokke Sommer

2011-12-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

Pretty cool, but one unplanned updraft or a unexpected encounter with an eagle could lead to making quite the mark on the cliff wall. Under no circumstances show yourself doing this to your insurance agent!

Nando's: Last dictator standing

2011-11-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

Hah! I guess Assad won't be able to make it either.

Swanson Bay, the town that vanished

2011-11-26T10:53:00.001-08:00

While reviewing a project I came across the story of Swanson bay, a ghost town on the west coast of British Columbia. In 1901 the BC government passed an Act that allowed companies a interest in the land if the set up a mill. The Canadian Pacific Sulphite Pulp Co. Ltd. took up the challenge in 1906 and 1909 began to produce lumber. The town was serviced by the CPR and Union Steamship vessels. By 1919 the town had a population of 500 people producing 100,000 board feet a day , sulphite pulp and shingles.

In 1923 an earthquake hit Japan, their biggest customer (history repeats itself!) Sometime after 1925 the mill was closed and the town began to lose it's population. Soon the only persons there was a watchman. At some point around the 40's the town was completely abandoned. this is not an uncommon story on the coast, many towns were completely dependent on one company and mill/mine, when it would shut down the town would die. the mortal remain of the town exists but shrouded in the dense bush. If you have taken a cruise ship up the inside passage than you have passed the bones of this ghost town.

I have gleamed this information and pictures from 2 websites, please visits them, for more of the story and some excellent pictures.

Patty Griffin - Mil Besos

2011-11-25T23:42:00.000-08:00

My wife and I were dancing the Rumba to this at a dance party tonite, a great song to dance to, the Latin's just do love songs better than us Anglos!

Flints and Flintlocks

2011-11-20T14:09:00.001-08:00

To be honest I have not gotten into flint locks, the oldest rifle I have is a 1860 Nepalese Snider that replaced the percussion caps rifles which had in turn replaced flintlocks. This website gives a good description of fitting a flint to a flintlock. If it was not for amateurs like this gentleman much of this detailed knowledge would lost. Link courtesy of another interesting website, the http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/

.

Yasmin Levi - Me Voy

2011-11-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Yasmin Levi is an Israeli singer song writer who does Judaeo-Spanish music. both my wife and I enjoy here music.

Aspiring brain surgeons

2011-11-20T13:50:00.001-08:00

Would have posted this earlier if I hadn't mislaid the cable for my camera and couldn't download the photo's. Here are my two daughters quite enthusiastically digging out the "brains" of a pumpkin in preparation for Halloween. Was a good Halloween, much candy was obtained, which we ration out till the candy stash is refilled by Christmas stuff and Easter.

Remembrance

2011-11-10T19:24:00.001-08:00

Many of us have our own reasons to remember Nov 11th. Most Canadians have a parent, Uncle or other relative that died in WWI, II and Korea. Now a new generation knows all to well what the term "sacrifice" really means and have to remember the recent loss of a son, daughter, father, uncle or other in Afghanistan. A thank you to the survivors of those who fell in our recent conflicts and to those that may reluctantly join their ranks.

Now a memorial thought to 2 different soldiers, from two different generation, linked by a common thread. Both survived, one just and the other almost unscathed.

Smokey Smith

Ernest Alvia 'Smokey' Smith, was born in New Westminster, B.C. in 1914 and educated in elementary and technical schools there. He left his work with a contracting firm to enlist in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada in March 1940, joining the regiment overseas a few months later. He was a private when he won the Victoria Cross at the Savio River in Italy on Oct. 21-22, 1944.

The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada were the spearhead of the attack across the river, which torrential rain had caused to rise six feet in five hours, making it impossible to get tanks and anti-tank guns across to support the rifle companies.

The right forward company was suddenly counter-attacked by three Panzer tanks, supported by self-propelled guns and some 30 infantry. Private Smith led his PIAT(projector, infantry, anti-tank) group of two men across an open field and left one man on the weapon. Crossing the road, Private Smith obtained another PIAT. An enemy tank attacked and wounded the man on the first PIAT. Smith fired his own and put the tank out of action. German infantry jumped from the tank and attacked him but Smith drove them back with his tommy gun. Obtaining more tommy magazines which had been abandoned in a ditch, Private Smith steadfastly held his position, and later gave aid to his wounded comrade.

"No further immediate attack developed and as a result, the battalion was able to consolidate the bridgehead position so vital to the success of the whole operation, which led to the eventual capture of San Giorgio Di Cesena and a further advance to the Ronco River," reads the citation in part.

'Smokey' Smith left the army for a short time after the war, but rejoined and served until August 1964, when he was released with the rank of sergeant. http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/smokysmith

I was fortunate enough to meet Smokey a couple of times while visiting the Seaforth mess, He was a soldiers soldier. He certainly was not perfect, apparently he had to be "arrested" and escorted to London by two Military Policemen to ensure he showed up sober in front of the Queen! He was remembered as a bit gruff, but kind to the common soldier. He certainly was not the "perfect hero" but he was heroic when it counted and for that he will be honoured for many generations to come.

Captain Charles Trevor Greene

Greene deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 as a Civilian-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) officer, volunteering from his home unit of the Seaforth Highlanders.

On March 6, 2006, his platoon, composed of members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, 1st Battalion, Alpha Company, visited the village of Shinkay in the Shinkay District, to talk with the village elders about access to clean water and other basic needs under Canada's area of responsibility. After the soldiers removed their helmets, a common practice and show of respect, Abdul Kareem (or Abdullah Karim), a sixteen-year old boy, almost split Greene's brain in half by hitting him with an axe. Kareem tried to hit again but was instantly shot and killed by other members of the platoon. The platoon then came under heavy fire while waiting for a US Army medical evacuation helicopter.Greene received care on the helicopter, and medic Gary Adams was able to unblock his airway. Greene was transported to the then Canadian-led hospital at Kandahar Air Field where he was stabilized.

He was later evacuated to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany from which he was transferred to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest US Army medical facility outside the continental United States.There, he underwent further surgery to allow his brain to swell without causing further damages.

Shortly after being stabilized, Trevor Greene was transferred from Landstuhl to the Vancouver General Hospital, where doctors initially thought he would never come out of his coma.Greene underwent two bilateral cranioplasties, with the second one successfully repairing his skull. He was also subject to physiotherapy sessions, which were lacking results at first. Greene was then released from the hospital and was transferred to a private-care rehabilitation center in Langley, BC. On April 30, Trevor Greene started speech therapy sessions.^[16]

In July 2007, Greene was admitted to the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury in Ponoka, Alberta, for long-term care and rehabilitation. At that stage, he had made slow but significant progress, and was able to open and close his hands, among other things.

In December 2007, Canadian Forces engineers installed a lift at Lepore's residence in Alberta, which allowed Trevor to come home for Christmas and on week-ends.Around the same time, they also received a wheelchair accessible van from the then-new Military Casualty Support Foundation.

In September 2008, Greene moved to Nanaimo, BC, with his wife and daughter, after spending 14 months at the Alberta facility. As of 2010, Trevor Greene is now able to stand, but still cannot walk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Greene

I never had the pleasure of meeting Capt Greene, he is a different kind of hero than Smokey, Greene like the other Canadians that volunteered to go to Afghanistan had a pretty good idea of the risks they would be taking, but they went anyways. I can't speak for his time there before he was hit by an axe, but his heroism started then, the slow painful climb back to self sufficiency requires a different kind of courage, His struggle reminds us of all those who did not come back whole and must suffer the disability and the accompanying demon war leaves on the soul.

These are just two examples of what we will be remembering tomorrow, go, mourn, remember and then celebrate those who will not return, those that have returned, those that still suffer and finally those that still face the risks in a combat zone far away.

Hypocrisy

2011-11-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

This article really captures some of what truly bugs me about the critics of Israel and Muslims in general.when I speak to Muslims and they go on about how bad Israel is, I tell them; "The most dangerous thing to a Muslim is another Muslim".
According to Mssrs. Heinsohn and Pipes, the grisly inventory finds the total number of deaths in conflicts all over the world since 1950 numbering around 85 million. Of that, the Muslim Arab deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict were at 46,000 including 11,000 during Israel’s war of independence. That makes 0.05 percent of all deaths in all conflicts, or 0.4 percent of all Arab deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In another calculation ignoring “small” massacres like the one that goes on in Syria and other deaths during the Arab Spring, only Saddam’s Iraq, Jordan, the elder al-Assad’s Syria, Iran-Iraq war, the bin Laden campaign in Iraq, the Iranian Islamic revolution and the Turkish-Kurdish conflict caused 1.65 million Muslim deaths by Muslims compared to less than 50,000 deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1950, including fatalities during and after Operation Cast Lead which came after the Heinsohn-Pipes study. For those who don’t have a calculator ready at their desks, allow me to tell: 50,000 is three percent of 1.65 million.

Read the rest here:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=why-golda-meir-was-right-2011-08-23

You twits the data is the registry!!

2011-11-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Sheesh what part of killing the Long Gun Registry (LGR) does the NDP not get? Bill C-19 will stop the collection of registry data for non-restricted and cause the LGR data collected to be destroyed. The data is the LGR, so keeping the data is in essence keeping the LGR. Getting rid of the LGR is not just politics for the CPC and it's supporters, but it is righting a moral wrong. The LGR and bill C-68 (Firearm Act) are seen as a form of punishment for law abiding citizens and does little to fight the real issues of violent crime.
So to have the NDP and it's members pretend that they didn't realize the Conservatives would destroy the data is almost comical and they would have to be stunningly stupid to not have foreseen such an event and I don't think Nathan Cullen is stupid. In which case his sudden "bout of conscious" in regards to possible voting against C-19 is pure political manouvering likely connected to his bid for the leadership of the NDP.
Bill C-19 is now in committee, which is controlled by the Conservatives, which means they can bring forward witnesses the last committee run by the liberals blocked from testifying. This means much of the hidden truth about the LGR failure will be recorded for future historians to ponder.

Simon's Cat in 'Double Trouble'

2011-10-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

This is why we are not getting another cat till after Zeus is gone.

Heli-logging in British Columbia with Rick Mercer

2011-10-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Very odd, thought I had posted this sometime ago. Anyways, I have been up in the area they filmed this and have had conversations with some of the people in the film. Heli-logging is quite the way to do things. It minimizes the impacts on the environment but can be quite expensive. For it to be profitable you must have the right trees in the right place and a very efficient crew. I have been told that a 2-3 minute turnaround time is the best to make it profitable, which means from the time from pick-up to drop to pick-up should be within 3 minutes. The helicopter in this clip is a Chinook, but the company Helifor also flies a Boeing Vertol 107, which the sharp eyed amongst you will recognize as the same type as the old Labrador SAR helicopters we used to have. I think the company bought the air frames off of the RCAF.

Going, going.......

2011-10-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well talk about striking while the iron is hot, the Tories are already on to the 2nd reading of C-19, the bill to end the long gun registry, they have adopted a motion giving only 3 days to debate it. I am not sure what is to debate, the Tories want it gone and the data destroyed. I am in favour of this for several reasons. the 1st being the purpose of the gun registry has always been eventual confiscation, the authors of the registry have admitted this themselves and every instance in history shows these registries eventually leads to that conclusion. 2nd not having a registration paper for a firearm is a CRIMINAL offense, not a civil offense. So a law abiding gun owner could easily run afoul of the law and get a record. 3rd. It has been a complete and utter waste of money, only about 1/3rd of the legal guns in Canada were ever registered, none of the illegals guns ever where and much of the information in the registry was wrong and inaccurate. The gun registry was supposed to cost $200 million, instead somewhere near 2 billion was spent on it.

The purpose of destroying the current data is to ensure another government does not circumvent the wishes of the legal gun owners by creating another registry using the remains of this as a foundation. It also protects the privacy of gun owners and prevent the illegal use of the data by anti-gun organizations and organized crime.

Even with the passing of C-19 there will still be a long gun and handgun registry. The requirement to have handguns, restricted rifles, shotguns and prohibited firearms registered remains. personally in my view all rimfire firearms should be made non-restricted as well, not to mention other stuff.

We gun owners have waited a long time for this, but for us this is only the beginning. we won't be satisfied till there is a complete re-write of the Firearms Act and relevant sections of the Criminal Code. the current version is useless and criminalizes the law abiding gun owner. About the only thing we want to keep from the current Act is concept of training for new shooters and hunters. (funny enough about the only part of the Act that Firearm groups had input on and the only part that seems to have any positive effect). Looking forward to toasting the end of the registry with a nice bonfire of registry certificates.

The real reason the anti's fear the demise of the gun registry is not some mythical "Blood in the streets" scenario (They would actually welcome that, as they love to dance on graves) but the slow but sure realization by the general public that they have been fed a lie for the last 2 decades, a very expensive lie at that. Once the public see that the world has not come to an end they realize that most of the anti's arguments are just as hollow and the anti's will lose what creditably and funding they currently enjoy.

Hank C. Burnette - "The Heebie Jeebie Blues" (blues)

2011-10-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

Some old style blues, good song to drink a beer to, enjoy.

He's Dead, deal with it.

2011-10-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Gaddafi is confirmed dead, now the western "chattering class" is demanding an inquiry in how he died. Sheesh it was a civil war with people who have fought long and hard, there was 40 years of pent up anger at this nutbar.what exactly do you expect?
Libya faces to many challenges to count, a divided population, diverse political & religious groups. what little government they have is stepping down. I can't say I blame the NTC, better to be remembered as a hero of the revolution than the people who failed in making a proper transition to a stable government.

The west needs to offer aid (with a set timeline) and political advice. Telling the Libyans that the aid runs out at X time means they need to get their house in order quickly, so we don't have a long drawn out bickering session like Iraq that paralysed their government for months.

Some of the strength that the Libyans have is a high literacy rate, a fairly intact oil system and civil infrastructure. what they need is to call back the bureaucrats to get things running and then weed out the hardcore and forgive the low ranking regime supporters who don't have blood on their hands.

The cons facing them are many well armed and experienced armed groups, some of them with fundamental Islamic religious views who will not be keen to allow a secular state to form. Also the various tribes will be jostling for positions. Not so much an issue in the cites, but they will play a big role in the rural areas.

What happens next set the stage for the next generation of Libyans, they have the opportunity to succeed or fail utterly like the Iranian revolution. the West has won a fair bit of goodwill on the street with our support of the rebels, while we want to support a secular government there, we have to avoid meddling to much with their internal politics. what comes next is not likely to be clean and pretty, the next 6 months bears watching. I really hope they can achieve a better place, but I have my fears.

Oops

2011-10-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Under dim lights in a grand hall of the great Folger Shakespeare Library lies the “Wicked Bible,” called so because it omits one distinctly important word from the Seventh Commandment. It is a word with the power to prevent sin.

“Thou shalt commit adultery,” the Wicked Bible commands.

Read the rest at TYWKIWDBI

Gun walking, Obama vs Bush

2011-10-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Operation "Fast and furious" is quickly becoming Obama's "Watergate". In a desperate attempt to conduct damage control, the Whitehouse dragged up some dirt from the Bush era. this dirt is "Operation Wide Receiver" which was a plan to track firearms sold legally but falling in cartel hands. The plan involved guns fitted with a RFID chips and tracking aircraft were equipped to pick up the signals. The plan was ok, but failed on the details, the RFID chips were not properly installed and the battery life was to short. The bad guys also found out the schedule for the aircraft and were able to to cross the border when the aircraft had to refuel. the intent of the operation was to roll up the network and retrieve the guns before they could disappear. The intent was good, but the execution was sloppy. Some more information can be found in this article by The outdoor wire. Approx 450 guns slipped into Mexico, at which point the operation was shut down.
In contrast "Operation Fast and Furious" ran at least 2000 weapons to the cartels, with no ability or intent to track them, when strawman could not come up with the money, agents gave them taxdollars to buy guns, dealers were ordered to sell the guns illegally to the strawman. the guns quickly disappeared only to resurface in Mexico and the US in crime scenes. It seems around 3 people in the US and possible 200 people in Mexico have been killed by these guns. There are rumours that up to 9 other operations like Fast & Furious have been conducted under Obama's watch, if each of those were similar in size and scope it could mean that Obama's administration has purposely given the cartels close to 20,000 firearms, using taxpayers money.
Meanwhile Obama's people are not being terribly honest when questioned. Seems even supporters of the Obama administration are worried and upset about this.

Keen observers will note I have linked several times to Pajama's Media. This is true mainly as they have done a significant job of tracking this scandal, while the MSM were busy examining their fingernails and hoping to avoid having to bring it up.

Father daughter moment

2011-10-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

Took my daughter shooting at the range this Saturday, she really did well! She was responsible and safe. She also hit the target 9 out of 10 times, very impressive for the 2nd time shooting. She was using a modified Ruger 10/22 with a short stock. After watching her shoot I have to make her a special rest, all of the ones there are to high. Also need to shorten the length of pull on the stock and smooth out the trigger so it's easier for her.

It's important when you are teaching kids to shoot, that you set them up for success, don't start them on a large calibre rifle with a target a 100 metres away! From the picture below you can see I set up a series of targets at 25 metres, making it easier for her to hit the target. In the beginning the focus needs to be on safety and learning how to hold the gun. Next time I will work a bit on trigger pull and breathing. Kids can only take in so much at a time, keep your learning plan for them simple and achievable. My daughter had a great time and didn't want to stop. I could see though that her attention was beginning to wander and her arms getting tired. After shooting I took her to Tim Horton's for a donut, which she also enjoyed of course! It was a great father- daughter day and daddy is very proud of his baby girl. Another lady at the range came up to me and said: "Watching you with her, reminds me of my dad teaching me to shoot. Lots of great memories"

13 can be a lucky number!

2011-10-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

The 13th C-130J is delivered to the RCAF, this is the last one for this year, the final 4 arrive in 2012, for a total of 17. Photo courtesy of "Defense Watch"

Just remember the Liberals and NDP say "sole sourcing" is bad because you will end up with stuff like C-130J, Leopard 2's, C-17's and Chinook helicopters. All of which will make the Canadian military more effective and therefore we may be called upon to do more as the US scales back.

To be fair to the critics I think the F-35 is a plane to far and we should take a hard look at what we need in a fighter. My concern is that we are buying far to few airframe and throwing all our eggs in one untried basket. I would be far more comfortable with a mixed fleet of 80 or so fighter aircraft made up of Super Hornets and perhaps the F-35.

Afghanistan, Helmet Cam

2011-10-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

Some serious and little not so serious footage from Afghanistan. There is some soldier language, so mind the volume around kids and the office.

Unintended results

2011-09-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

Somehow I don't think this was the intent of the architect.

Saffron or opium?

2011-09-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have been following this for awhile, saffron is a viable alternative because it competes with the profit margin of opium, it's also labour intensive and does not require a large robust transportation system. According to one source I know, most of the top quality Saffron comes from Spain, the rest is a blend of different crops. I certainly hope this works out for the Afghans.

Farmers’ fields outside the western Afghanistan city of Herat are about to blossom into a purple form of gold.
Once rife with poppy, the lucrative spring crop used to produce heroin, these plots are now seeded with saffron flowers. They yield the burnt orange granules that trade as the most expensive spice in the world. At its highest quality, saffron sells for between $2,000 and $4,000 per kilogram in global markets, enticing farmers to switch their allegiance from opium, which sells as little as a tenth as much.

read the rest at "Globe and mail"

Coming out of the gun closet part III

2011-09-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Not your average collection...

Ways to buy a gun

In part 2, Italked about buying a gun from the store, which is a great way to see how a gunfits you. The other way is to go to the range and ask people to let you holdtheir guns (If done politely chances are that many will let you shoot it aswell). It’s important to realize that any gun you buy fits you. It doe notmatter how good the reviews are, or which police/army/big game guide uses whichgun, what really matters is how it fits your hand and body shape. Almost everymodern handgun and long gun are excellent guns and you are really choosing onfit and details like “ambi-safety”, decockers, left hand/right hand, etc.

How not to buy a gun

When purchasing your first gun, avoid anything with the word magnum, Casull or Lapu in it, these guns are expensive to feed and requires good technique to hit the target repeatable.
Not everything a gun store clerk tells you is true! Chances are that the gun he is telling you will never be available again, will be on the shelves next month.
Don’t be talked into buying a particular gun, because someone claimed that anything less is placing your life and your family in danger.
Do not buy a gun based on what you saw in a movie and please don’t base your firearms handling on them either!!

Suggestions for afirst gun
It really depends on your budget which gun(s) to buy first.If you have lots of money then your options are much wider than what I amsuggesting. Keep in mind the gun is just the beginning of the shooting hobby,you will need carrying case, trigger locks, gun cabinet/safe, lots and lots of ammunition,gun club membership, possibly optics, safety glasses, ear protection and ofcourse a cleaning kit. Ammunition is by far the most expensive ongoing cost ofshooting which why serious shooters reload their own (covered in a later post).

My Dlask 10/22

.22cal rimfire

Your first gun should be a .22cal, this will allow you topractice and learn at very reasonable costs and they are just plain fun. For arifle I recommend the Ruger 10/22. This rifle is very common, has a huge amountof aftermarket parts and modifications. For a pistol it gets a bit harder.There are several routes to go. First is the dedicated .22cal target pistol likethe Buckmark. These are accurate and reliable, but all of this type of firearmare finicky to take apart.

The other option is a centrefire pistol with a .22calconversion kit. You can get aftermarket kits for the Glock and CZ line. Sigoffers their classic .22 models which is a fullsize frame fitted with a .22calslide and magazine. You buy the 9mm/.40cal slide and mags later.

If you love the 1911 model, there are dedicated guns made byGSG that are in .22cal.

Sig 226 with conversion kit on and 9mm slide below it

Centrefire choices

If your first gun must be a centrefire I recommend rifles in.223Remington or 7.62x399. The Warsaw Pact guns like the SKS are the cheapestcentrefire to shoot and lots of fun. Just keep in mind that most 7.62x39 ammois corrosive and you must clean the gun as soon as you get back!

Norinco SKS with Tapco stock

Rifles in .223 offer very good accuracy with little recoilfor a reasonable cost. You can get this calibre in either a bolt action orsemi-auto, keep in mind most of the semi-autos in this calibre are restrictedand can only be used at the range.

Norinco CAR

For a centrefire pistol I recommend 9mm to start, my preferenceis the SW M&P, but the Glock 17, CZ models, Ruger SR-9 and the Sig 226 areall fine choices. In fact you really can’t go wrong on any modern pistol. Ilike the 1911 models as well, very accurate guns, but most are in .45acp whichis not cheap to shoot. Also being single action they require excellent muzzlecontrol and trigger finger discipline.

SW M&P with weapons light and Blackhawk Serpa holster

Where to buy?

So you have figured out what you want and how much to spend(your spouse may have different ideas here!) but none of the local stores havewhat you want! Relax there is another couple of ways which I will explain;

Exchange Forums

Many popular gun forums such as Canadiangunnutz, Canadiangunslingers and HuntingBC have exchange forums where you can buy and sell guns,gun parts and shooting/hunting related stuff. While the forum cannot guaranteethat everyone is perfectly honest and will not refund you any lost money, whatthey have done is to create a “Trader rating”. This means that buyers andsellers can rate people on the transaction and this will give you an indicationon how much to trust someone. As you buy and sell on the forum you too will geta trader rating.

Retail outletswebsites

Most successful gun stores operate websites that allow youto buy guns and gun stuff online. This is a great way to comparison shop and toget the best price. Keep in mind shipping costs and taxes when calculating thefinal price. Here are few; Reliable, Epps, Candaammo, Questar, Marstar

US gun online stores

When you surf the web you will find great deals in the US,however many items including parts for AR-15 type rifles, scopes, and other certainparts are barred from export under the ITAR rules. Basically if it’s used by amodern military it’s likely to be blocked from export. Parts for rimfires andhunting rifles are likely cleared for export, however keep in mind shipping,duty and taxes payable upon crossing the border.

Ebay

While Ebay does sell some gun parts, Ebay is anti-firearmand won’t allow the selling of guns. When you do order from the US Ebay keep inmind many sellers won’t ship across the border. It is a good place to get oddbits like grips, holsters and such. Paypal is very anti-firearm and will giveyou grief if they find out the item is gun related.

Craigslist

While an excellentplace to sell baby clothes and such, I would very much discourage you fromselling gun stuff on Craigslist. There are too many non-nice people that cruisethere. If you must sell there, do not let people come to your door, offer tomeet them somewhere public, this can be awkward with a firearm and hence one ofthe reasons I don’t support it for firearm related stuff.

Gun shows

I find gun shows a great place to buy gun related stuff, but find the guns often overpriced, do your homework before shopping at a gun show.

The CFC and buyingguns online

There some legal steps to go through to buy a gun online.Once you contact the seller and make the agreement to buy, you must give theseller your name, address and PAL number. The seller will contact the CFC andinitiate the transfer. The CFC will give the seller a transfer number and thencontact you. You then call the CFC to confirm the transfer giving them thenumber.

Mailing a gun

Guns can be mailed in Canada using the most secure mail available whichrequires a signature at the door. The CFC gets around the Firearms Act byclaiming the gun is not really a gun when in the mail system (sigh), but it’snot in our interest to rock the boat here, but shows you how bad the FirearmsAct is written.

In Part IV of the series I will deal with joining a gun club,cleaning a gun among other things.

Part I

PartII

Missing Malaysian food already!

2011-09-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

To be more accurate I am missing Indian Malaysian food, most Malay dishes contain "Stinky fish" a small dried anchovy which my wife loves but I will take a pass on. My love is reserved for the Naan's, roti's and dosai dishes along with Tandoori chicken. Throughout Malaysia you will find a type of restaurant that caters to the Indian style, these places are half indoor and half outdoor, inside are several stalls each dealing with one type of food and one for beverages. The one pictured below was nearby and quickly became my favorite. You will be greeted with a smile and a "Hey Boss!" The guys that work here are likely half illegals and some landed immigrants, mostly from southern India and Bangladesh. These guys work hard for little money, they will not accept tips. This restaurant is located in Precinct 15 of Putra Jaya.

Here is the Dosai cook at work, dosai are somewhat crisp on the outside with a soft centre, a little like a crepe.

The end result, served with curry and a coconut paste. In the centre of the table is the Tandoori chicken, sheesh I am getting hungry just posting this!!

The meal above was 4 naan, 2 dosai, 2 roti and 2 Tandoori chickens. along with 2 Iced nescafes and 2 iced milo's the cost came to 28RM or about $9.00 Canadian!! compared to Canada, it would not take long to pay for your plane ticket just by eating out.

I should mention that I have seen the name of the bread spelt 3 ways; "Dosa, Dosai and Tosai" I am not sure which is right or perhaps they are all right, just different spelling for the same thing.

For whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you Malaysia

2011-09-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

Anyone crazy enough to drive in Malaysia will quickly notice that the highways have a significant number of toll booths on them. While the costs per booth are not high, it's not uncommon to go through 6 or 7 on one drive, some seem to be no more than 4km apart. It's quite annoying and quite the make work project for a large number of ethnic Malays. Some tolls are based on distance, you get a toll ticket at the entrance to a highway and they calculate how much you owe when you get off.
The money is supposed to go to new highways and to maintain the existing ones, however this being Malaysia, one is never really certain where which pot of money goes where. A well known Malaysian cartoonist drew a great cartoon showing the government throwing up an inflatable toll booth, to the dismay of approaching drivers.

Finally got the computer working!!!!

2011-09-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Yea, seems that IE8 does not work well here in Malaysia, but Google Chrome does. The internet here is all based on the Cellular network and is not exactly fast by our cable standards. Seems also the new blogger interface works better here than the old one. Very strange.

Very happy consuming large amounts of Tandori chicken and Dosai's. Sigh I wished they served beer here....

2011-09-04T06:35:00.001-07:00

hmm can't enter text into the text box, very odd, not sure if it's the borrowed computer or the Internet here?

2011-09-04T06:33:00.001-07:00

Happy Hari raya!!! in Malaysia, computer not working right

2011-08-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you Bill

2011-08-26T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well I am sure Bill Vander zalm is pretty happy tonite with the results of the HST vote. While the results of the vote are important, what is even more important is the exercise in democracy that we just conducted.
Think about it, despite regulations to make it as difficult as possible, the group opposing the HST manged to get enough valid signatures on a petition to force a referendum onto the government and then got enough votes to win the referendum. It's a pretty remarkable feat.
Needless to say it was the organization behind Bill that won both the petition and the referendum, but he was the spokesman and was able to harness peoples anger about how the tax was implemented. Bill reminded people that the authority to govern rest with the citizen, the government governs on our sufferance, this referendum is a message that we are not pleased.
Note to Bill this referendum was about the tax, don't be thinking this will allow you to come back. Sit back and enjoy the victory and stay in political retirement. Attempting to run again will likely not go well.

Murder at the Grand

2011-08-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

An exceptional good piece by R. G. Harvie at the "Searching for Liberty Blog" regarding the recent murder of Jonathon Bacon and the pointlessness of laws that we have such as the gun registry.

In the middle of the summer holiday in Tourist Mecca Kelowna, B.C., at the Delta Grand Hotel, armed men in hoods jump out of an S.U.V. and start spraying bullets out of assault weapons at what appears to be rival gang members, reportedly killing one of them.

I was in Kelowna last summer.

Stayed at the Delta Grand, in fact. Very, very busy place.

So - it was with some sadness and shock that I read this morning that less than a year after my last visit, there are armed gang members shooting assault weapons at other gang members in the middle of the resort.

Just a few thoughts today:

a) How did this happen in the face of the National Gun Registry?

Doesn't the registry prevent people from shooting guns at other people? That's what Michael Ignatieff said as he paraded the shooting victims of KimV** Gill before the press (ignoring the fact that KimV**'s weapon was actually registered when he started shooting up Dawson College).

I'm assuming that these gangsters, when they stepped out of their SUV to commit murder were aware that we have a national gun registry. I'm assuming they realized, as they squeezed the trigger to shoot another human being, that there are strict penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm.

Definitely read the rest here

Pointless post it notes

2011-08-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

Daily Vowel Movements is a great little site for a good laugh, enjoy some of these "pointless post it notes"

People are good

2011-08-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

Got stuck along the Sea to sky highway yesterday for close to 3 hrs (with an 8 year old boy!) due to a serious motorcycle accident. What impressed me was the way people dealt with the situation. A couple with a trailer, flashed up their stove and cooked up hotdogs and juice for everyone around them, another couple let all the ladies use the bathroom in their camper and everyone just got along. Not to mention the people at the scene giving first aid to the injured.

About the only animosity I saw was for motorcyclists who pushed past people to get to the front of the line. The Highway is a magnet for motorcyclist and while most are careful, thee is a significant number of young guys on "crotch rockets" who use the highway as their playground. Ripping around traffic, popping wheelies and excessive speeding. Apparently the police used a helicopter last weekend and busted one guy for doing 260km and they impounded 6 motorcycles in 2 hrs. If you know someone who likes to speed on motorcycle, then I suggest you send them this link, warning it's very graphic!

Pride in what exactly?

2011-08-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

So the Vancouver gay pride parade has concluded for another year, to be honest I don't attend, but looking at the pictures online and media reports I have to ask myself; Is this really what you want to be proud of? for the most part it appears to be a whole lot of barely dressed people at the best having fun, at the worst making fools of themselves. In fact I ask how much of the crowd is really laughing at you? I certainly feel educated, but not in the message I suspect you wanted.

Now the fact that the parade can be held and supported by the city and sponsors speaks more of the citizens of Vancouver than the gay community (Not to take away from the organizers who must have worked their butts off, well hopefully not literally). Also one can't help but to think of the outrage if there was a "Hetero-sexual pride parade", Hypocrisy is the name of the game in a progressive society after all isn't it?

Before you work yourself in a lather (or leather) I not anti-gay or attempting to gay-bash, I have known many gay people and count a couple as close friends. I take pride in their real accomplishments and respect their work ethic, humanity and other positive traits. the fact that they are attracted to the same sex is more or less immaterial to me, actually I don't really give a damm!!

If you are gay and you want people to respect you and want to be proud of who you are, then do you really want this to represent you? Because I tell you, that is what most people think when they hear "Gay Pride Parade"

So if you disagree with the above, feel free to show me where I am incorrect and pictures showing some of the more positive role models represented in the parade would be useful, here is one of the few I found.

Hama redux

2011-08-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Photo via Reuters

Like a chip off the old block, Bashir al-Assad is following in his fathers footsteps, brutally suppressing dissent throughout Syria and in the town of Hama. To be fair the death toll under Assad throughout Syria appears to be around 2-3,000, with a significant amount injured, arrested and some "disappeared". This seems to pall in comparison to his fathers approach to dealing with Hama, where between 10,000-40,000 people died over a few weeks. Seems all that western education has paid off, maybe Assad son will be able to make his point with only a few hundred dead, now that would be considered progress in that part of the world.
About the only silver lining in all this is it gives me more ammunition to beat "history unaware" progressives who seem to think all evils flow from Israel alone. Prior to the current uprising, few had ever heard of Hama or the atrocities committed there and why should they. Authoritarian regimes are always suppressing somebody and makes for boring print. Plus the dictators don't give a damn anyways. Far better to beat on Israeli's who actually care about their international reputation.
Meanwhile I await the first flotilla to Damascus to help the poor people there to throw off the shackles of the oppressor. (I don't plan on holding my breath)

Peggy Lee - Why don't you do right

2011-07-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

Found this song on a video game I am playing "Fallout, New Vegas". The song has a great feel to it, the singer is Peggy lee. Enjoy

The politics of pizza

2011-07-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

Quick Guide to Different Governments

Bill, James, Tyler, Andrew, and Mike get together every Friday night and order pizza. They can never agree on what to get, though. Bill wants to get Meat Lovers'. James wants to get Canadian. Tyler wants to get pepperoni made with free-range meat because he is against animal cruelty. Andrew is a vegetarian, so he wants to get veggie pizza. Mike is vegan and wants to get vegetarian pizza with soy cheese. So how do they decide?

read the rest here

Good luck Jack

2011-07-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

I am no fan of Jack Layton, I despise his politics, his party platform and the way he portrays himself in the media. That being said, I wish him well in his fight against cancer, it's a crappy disease that has taken my sister, my sister inlaw and almost my Dad.
This is not how I wanted Jack to leave the political scene, there is no joy in him leaving this way. I hope you recover and we can trounce you the political battlefield, in the meantime I wish good health to you and your family, it will be a hard road regardless of the outcome.

Simon's Cat in 'Hidden Treasure'

2011-07-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

What lurks under your fridge?

Black bear on Hwy 37

2011-07-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Saw this young black bear on Highway 37, It either just got booted from mom or lost it's mom. I suspect people having being feeding it. this is a bad idea which lead to having the bear hurt someone and getting killed. If it can find enough food then it stands a chance to survive the winter. Actually hanging out near the road might be a smart survival move as the road will keep the bigger bears away and it can avoid bear on bear conflicts. On this 3 day trip, saw 3 Grizzlies and 12 black bear.

Here is one of the Grizzlies

why I am voting Yes

2011-07-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

The HST referendum is upon us, I will vote Yes to extinguish the HST. I have heard arguments on both sides, some businesses do benefit from less paperwork with the HST, but many people shoulder a greater tax burden because of it and I see that extra tax every day.(Not to mention the recent carbon tax increase and the proposed Evergreen line levy)

Yet that is not the main reason I am voting to rid us of the tax. For me it was the way the tax was imposed on us after promises it would not and the way it was sold, which was downright dishonest. The Government need to punished for that breech of trust. A vote to extinguish the HST will be a clear message; "You govern on our sufferance". Governments by their nature quickly become arrogant and the government under Gordon Campbell was more arrogant than normal and much of that attitude and the players still remain.

If the referendum is successful we will return to the GST/PST tax which was far from perfect, however there will be nothing stopping government from improving it and even proposing a new HST. I am not against that, but do it properly, be open, debate, be prepared to go to the polls on it. Had they done the HST honestly we would not be doing this referendum right now. This is a lesson the government needs to learn, a vote to support the HST is a vote in support of dishonest government and will tell them there is is no consequence for lying to the public.
The government is feeling the pressure though, promising to lower the HST to 10% from 12%. Lets be real, if it was not for the referendum, the HST would remain at 12% and we would be stuck paying more in tax. So I ask, if the government can afford a 10% HST, why then did they original try to ram a 12% HST down our throats? Where do these tax numbers come from? political whim or true costs?

Boogie Song "Caledonia"

2011-06-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Some kids just make you feel inadequate. His name is Frank Sugar Chile Robinson Another video of him here and when he is older.

Aftermath

2011-06-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

Social media that likely played a part in encouraging the rioters, is showing them it is a double edge sword. The public is now using Facebook and blogs to out the rioters. You can bet there is some frantic erasing of Facebook pages going on, however that which is posted is never really gone and will come back to haunt them. Already people have lost their jobs and another has lost sponsorship. I could blame it all on a generation which grew up with an expectation of entitlement and lack of consequence, but to be fair there has been riots in our city's past and will likely be more in the future.

What I do like is that people are taking it onto themselves to help correct the wrongs. First was the people who stood up for what's right during the riot, this takes a lot of guts and likely was a spur of the moment thing. But says a lot about their character and understanding what is right and wrong.
The second group are the people who came out the next day to help clean up the mess and help the businesses. It speaks well of their sense of citizenship.

The third group has a finer line to walk. they are busy outing those responsible. This requires a sense of justice and sense of responsibility not to tar those they can't be sure where responsible. One such sight is this.

I can't not abide or support those who harass the families of those involved. Yes some of the parents failed, but others had done their best to raise their kids and it was the young adults that made the choices they must live with. focus your anger on those who caused the mayhem, but always temper it. It's likely that few will be successfully charged in regards to the riots, but the burden of proof in a civil court is much less and far more likely to be successful.

Behind the scenes the knives are out, seem blogger alexgtsakumis.com is taking aim at the leadership of Vancouver for bungling the riot. Also reports that their budget had been reduced will not help. I am not sure if the Olympic parties had lulled City Hall into a false belief that all would be fine, despite warnings of what was likely to come. The political nastiness is far from over and these decisions will come back to haunt the current administration at the next election.

Excellent Tango

2011-06-09T11:21:00.001-07:00

Some excellent work there, the toe lift is well done.

Time to turn the Page

2011-06-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

It would seem that students from the University of Ottawa are incapable of grasping the ethics involved in being part of the government system that supports Parliament. The current system is quite unfair and excludes anyone who is not a university student.

I suggest that we open the job up to disabled Vets, I have no doubt they will value the ethics of a democracy far more than a wet behind the ears student. Also the constant reminder to the politicians in the house of the price average citizens pay for government decisions would cause then to reflect carefully on their choices.

Seems even Jack Layton did not approve of the stunt either.

Ban the Hammer!!!

2011-06-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

More awesome stupidity from down under. During the trial of some bad guys who killed someone with a hammer, the judge suggested that the government look at laws regarding the carrying of hammers. In other words restricting the times you can carry them and who can carry them. now my knowledge of Australian law is not strong, but I suspect heavily that it is very similar to our. In which case the use and intent to use the hammer (or any object) makes it a weapon.

No doubt the next step is to set up a hammer registry, police will stop and question anyone seen carrying a hammer. Soon carpenters will be reluctant to advertise in public in case the police raid them. hardware shops will be required to keep the hammers under lock and key. Only people demonstrating a "need" will be allowed to buy a hammer. Since none of this will actually solve the violence issue, the next step is create classes of hammers, some hammers would be prohibited in particular sledge hammers with long handles, who really needs one of these anyways?

Worker going to a site would be required to keep their hammers stored in hard to break in locked cases. They would only be allowed to take them out of the case at an approved worksite. Meanwhile kids drawing hammers at school or pretending to use them will be chastised or expelled. Thieves would realize that hammers have value and status. they would smuggle in hammers and carry them in their waistbands.

On the bright side, there will be a whole lot less wannabe weekend carpenters walking around with sore thumbs!

The death Rae

2011-06-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

The Liberals (or the mortal remains) are still not quite dead, but we have hope! They have appointed Bob Rae to lead them out (more likely further in) of the darkness. Bob Rae had been the Premier of Ontario where his legacy is that of "Rae days" The hatred I hear many Ontarions voices when they speak of those times is still quite strong and vibrant, from both left and right.
On top of his baggage he also was a hardcore NDP type and one has to wonder if he is a agent of the Laytonites with a mission to destroy the Liberals in order that there will be no threat from other left wing parties to challenge the new postion of the NDP as the "Loyal opposition". Sounds tinfoilish but Socialists for all their fault are good at taking the long view on achieving their objectives.

Here is my suggestion to the Young Liberals on how to save your party. Invite all of the old guard to a convention, once they are inside throw all of their policy documents inside, bolt the doors and burn the place down. About the only one I would keep around to provide wise counsel is Bill Graham. Only then can you actually stand a chance at building a party that's not contaminated with the "natural governing party of Canada" crap. Plus throw out stupid policies like the gun registry and banning guns, stuff like that is a millstone around your necks. You have about 10 years to get the job done, study everything about the early days of the Reform Party learn from them, build your base around real issues that people will support thick and thin. I also suggest you change the name a bit to something like the "New Liberals"

the faithful gather

2011-06-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

"The Chalice"

Update, well that was a nail biter, I suspect this series will be about which team makes the first mistake rather than which is better. I will predict that the playoffs goes the full 7 games.

The faithful gather tonite, to cheer their disciples along, the most devoted (and rich) trundle to the temple, while the lesser ones huddle around their TV's or big screens in the pubs. To be fair the Canucks have rewarded their faithful with some good games and now are neck and neck with the Boston Bruins to decide the fate of the Stanly cup. I dare not predict what happens, but the Canucks fans are out in force today wearing many generations of Canuck Jerseys. As I left downtown today the crowds and excitement were building. I hope they win if not for the sake of the Canucks, but for the sake of the fans who having been devoted through thick and thin. Bit more on the game times here.

The Bruins do have a sense of humour judging by their ads.

Obama, back to the 60's

2011-05-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

What Israel looked like just before the 1967war

Maybe Obama does not remember the 60's, maybe all he remembers is Woodstock or the the girls with flowers in their hair. The Israelis have different memories of that time, war on their doorstep, threats to destroy them. in 1967 the Israelis pulled off one the most impressive feats of arms since the end of WWII, destroying 3 armies all poised to attack them. In turn making their tiny country more secure and winning the long sought prize of Jerusalem.

One factor that totally escapes Obama, is that even in 1966 there was no "Palestinian State", Gaza belonged to Egypt and the West bank to Jordon, in fact there has been no "Palestinian state" for centuries, prior to 1948, it was a mandate that UK took over from the Ottomans, who treated the area as part of a province of their empire.
The reality is that the Palestinians have enough to start a real state, Gaza strip is 364 sqKm and combined with West Bank land it compares well with Singapore. Also like Singapore, the only real resource that both countries have are their people. Singapore invested in it's people and the results are well known. The Palestinians instead invested in homemade rockets and suicide vests, the result are rather predictable. Their current plan to gain statehood by attacking Israel have achieved none of their aims and helped their economy to hit rock bottom and still digging.
So far all the "Great one" has achieved is to get both Israel and Hamas to agree his idea sucks, albeit for different reasons. No peace will be achieved till the Palestinians realize that the state of Israel is not going anywhere and the "Right of return" is a myth that will not happen. To people so morally opposed can not live in the same house and that is the simple truth here. The longer we enable the Palestinians to live this lie, the longer they will suffer. Fairly soon the number of people who actually did leave in 1948 will be a handful, every decade it will be less, till no one from that episode is alive from either side. Shall we allow the Palestinians descendants to carry living the lie and paying it's price?

If you need any help understanding why the Israelis don't want to give up land, take a look at this map. The 1967 borders were undefendable with no space to recover from a tactical error. In the 1973 war, the Syrians came within a hairbreath of breaking through the IDF lines in the Golan, only luck and a timid response from the Syrian saved them.

Note, can't remember the blog I got the maps from, but will credit them as soon as I find the link.

Shotgun Boogie

2011-05-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

Could you imagine the present day media allowing a song like this? In their view guns are bad, therefore such light entertainment on such a subject is verboten!!

I like the part about asking the girls father for her hand in marriage. More on the singer; Tennessee Ernie Ford

How I wish it was true

2011-05-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Some reports are floating around that Mullah Omar is dead, as I mentioned in my post "No Remorse" I would like to see him dead, mainly as I think it will open the door to more negotiations and hopefully a political end to the fighting in Afghanistan. Mullah Omar and his senior advisers are the reason why any negotiations have not moved ahead, he knows the current government will never relent to his demands or negotiate with him, so why allow others to do so. I have no doubt that many of the Taliban foot soldiers and their low level commanders would like to settle on some agreement that would allow them enough face to put away their weapons, but they dare not express those views or take part lest the senior leadership gets wind of it.
An alternative possibility is that Omar was being moved in secret so he would not suffer from any backlash caused by the recent attack on the naval base. The attack will not help relations between the Pakistani military and the Taliban. after OBL getting whacked, you can bet senior leaders in the Taliban are nervous about who they can trust.
I like the fact that the Taliban are nervous, sowing mistrust in your enemy ranks is a good thing and another benefit of the attack on OBL.

Ernie Ford and The Everly Brothers-"Rattlesnake Daddy"

2011-05-16T22:55:00.001-07:00

Some fine guitar work.

Cats in tanks

2011-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

Cats in Tanks from Whitehouse Post on Vimeo.

Some people have to much time on their hands, language warning may not be safe for work, depending of course where you work....

Tanknutters will note that the music is from Kelly's Heros.

No Remorse

2011-05-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

I was debating with some friends and their family about whether killing Osama Bin Laden was the right thing to do (On facebook no less...) The other people felt that killing him was just wrong. Sorry but I think it was right, deserved and useful.

Now there are not a lot of people I wish dead, and most of those I have wished are dead, there are only a couple remaining on my list, Joseph Kony of the LRA is certainly one of them. There are no doubt a few others out there that I would wish dead if I knew about them or knew more. Even the majority of the Taliban I don't wish dead, although I think having Mullah Omar dead would further the chances of a lasting peace. I respect those that fight for a cause and then are ready to lay down arms when there is a chance to do so.

Osama Bin Laden (OBL)came from a rich family, he had many choice in front of him to do good or harm, he chose harm. OBL could have turned his anger into something useful and built schools and hospitals in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the same way that Greg Mortenson of CAI did. Had OBL done that, he would be alive and regarded as a hero, a great Muslim and would have furthered his goal of a greater Umma far more than what he has done. OBL used the Pastun code of hospitality to protect him, instead of either giving himself up or showing he was no longer in Afghanistan he allowed the Taliban to suffer a major defeat, I suspect there is little real love for AQ within the ranks of the Taliban, the cost of hosting them was to high. OBL felt he was more important than all of the Taliban and the people of Afghanistan, it's clear he would saciface anyone to protect himself.

In history certain people become prime motivators, creating an effect far beyond their own capabilities, Hitler certainly was one of these and OBL had a similar ability to motivate his followers. He also had access to his own wealth, connections to a wealthy but guilt-ridden Arab upper class and was fortunate( for him) to appear on the worlds stage just as the Internet flourished. OBL was smart enough to realize the usefulness of the Internet for his agenda and it has become one of AQ primary tools to get their message out and recruit.

OBL saw the USA and the house of Saud as the prime enemies of his dream of greater Islamic caliphate. He understood the Arab culture and how to exploit it and he thought of the US as weak, corrupt and unable to defeat him. Like others before him, he failed to realize the latent strengths of the US and the will of it's people. The odd thing also is that a Muslim in the US is far freer to practice their faith, then in the majority of Islamic countries.

OBL declared Jihad (Holy war) on the US and caused great suffering in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, ME and North America. What I find odd about the Islamic fundamentalists is that they declare Holy war on the US and then are upset it responds to that declaration with deadly force, what exactly are they expecting the US to do? Perhaps they have the average Muslims so browbeaten, they can't believe that people will stand up to them? OB was a legitimate target, killed in a war of his own creation.

People argue that killing him changes nothing and that AQ will live on. They are both correct and wrong. AQ will live on like a Hydra growing a new head, it is possible that the new head will have an effect like OBL, but it's unlikely the circumstances that existed with OBL will repeat themselves, to much has changed. (for more on a replacement see the Long War Journal) the Arab street has spoken against the Arab (and others) regimes and the pent up anger is being directed elsewhere. Few of the AQ replacements will have access to the upper class of Saudi and the millions that resides their. AQ in Iraq and Afghanistan has shown itself to be excessively brutal and totally uncaring of civilian causalities and in fact kills civilians on purposes. the killing also sends a message and that is: You attack us, we will not forget and will not give up. It means that anyone who plans on carrying out these attacks must live in hiding and fear for the rest of their lives.

I went to Malaysia on Oct 2001 to marry my wife, many Muslims celebrated OBL and 911. when asked how how I felt about OBL, I responded that AQ wanted to kill me, my family and would happily kill them to make it happen. When I go back now, there is no mention of him, the one joy I get out of the long period to track him down is the realization that he witnessed his power and influence fall away, before being killed. A difference between the SEALS and AQ is that AQ would have killed everyone in that house, slowly if they had the chance. The SEALS killed only those who were a threat and a target.

Finally my reasons I wanted him dead is that he made this personal, OBL wanted me and my family dead, it's not that he knew me, but I was a target for him and the death of my family and self was his goal. If you think I am wrong, just look at these videos and remind yourself that these were average people going to work on a average day. This could have been me, my wife, you or a member of your family. So yes I am happy the bastard is dead, I won't even pretend to be noble and every time I take a leak off the side of a boat I know with satisfaction that I will be pissing on his grave.

big cats and pumpkins

2011-05-08T01:22:00.001-07:00

No matter the size of the cats, you can see the same behaviours. although I don't think Zeus would think much of swimming.

LOL

2011-05-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

The kids have all their little texting codes...like BFF, etc.

So here are some codes for seniors use:

ATD - At the Doctor's

BFF - Best Friend's Funeral

BTW - Bring the Wheelchair

CBM - Covered by Medicare

CUATSC - See You at the Senior Center

FWIW - Forgot Where I Was

GGPBL - Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low

GHA - Got Heartburn Again

IMHO - Is My Hearing-Aid On?

LMDO - Laughing My Dentures Out

LWO - Lawrence Welk's On

OMMR - On My Massage Recliner

OMSG - Oh My! Sorry, Gas

ROFL...CGU - Rolling on the Floor Laughing...Can't get Up!

TTYL - Talk to You Louder

WAITT - Who Am I Talking To?

WTP - Where's the Prunes

WWNO - Walker Wheels Need Oil

Hope these help!

GGLKI - Gotta Go, Laxative Kicking in!

Thank you Roberta for this.

Wow what a week!

2011-05-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

First of all I get the news that US navy Seals has killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, good riddance you scumbucket, I hope you are paying a hefty price for the blood on your hands. I hope enough Muslims have learned that this guy and his buddies (Omar hopefully you are next) are more that willing to spill Muslim blood in their pursuit of Jihad. Anyone that saw what Al-Qaeda in Iraq was doing to average people knows what I am talking about.
I agree this is not the end, but the end of the beginning, AQ is a Hydra and will grow new heads, but if you can chop the heads quick enough, the successor bring less and less to the table, till finally no one is willing to be the head except the real nutbars and they will be sure to alienate the people they depend on, leading to the draining of the methporic sea that Mao spoke of. I also agree that releasing the pictures is a waste of time and tossing his body into the sea is a great idea. Time for him and his story to fade away.

While I am digesting the news above, the 41st election in Canada was underway, I helped out my candidate and his awesome team on the final day, door knocking, picking up voting lists and scrutinizing the polling stations. It was pretty clear knocking on doors that people were fed up with elections, so it was no surprise to me when I finished at the polling station to hear the Conservatives sweeping to a good majority. The icing on the cake was the NDP putting the boots to the Bloc with the NDP F troop smashing long term BQ types, OUCH! man that is going to leave a mark! I'm not a great fan of the current NDP, but I will take them over the Bloc any day, at least we and the NDP agree on a Canada, even if it looks different. Funny this is the only election that my Dad and I can congratulate each other on. He is hardcore NDP and I am the "blacksheep " of the family!
Iggy has been in a death spiral for awhile so not surprising he failed to get in. The only sour note was the realization that we will have to live with the screeching of Elizabeth may for the next 4 years. Harper gave a great speech and a heartfelt thanks to his family and wife. I don`t envy them, anyone who has had parents who were politicians knows how little time there is for family, for the PM, his family will have no time to themselves for the next 4-10 years.

As for the NDP, well what an interesting kettle of fish we have here. Jack is going to be busy running his daycare, I mean caucus and will need all the help from his veterans to keep this mob in line. This is make or break for the NDP, they have 4 years to show Canada what they can do, and people will be taking a hard look at the party and it`s rather whacky policies. A move to the centre will likely cost them support from their current base. Plus he also has to appease his new Quebec base, with MP's that will have little pull to get things done. I predict jack is going to have ulcers.

The defination of Faith

2011-04-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

When the Pope is asked to define faith, he points to the Vancouver Canuck's fans.

Update: That was a close one, their faith restored, the faithful once again march toward the holy mount were the Chalice can be seen glinting in heavenly sunlight.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T10:52:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter
Now I hope that our whimsical celebration of this day by having our kids and their friends go crazy hunting Easter eggs and stuffing themselves on chocolate and cupcakes does not so offend our christen friends that they will declare us as blasphemous and sentence us to death....oh yea wrong religion, they grew out of that some time ago. To bad others haven't.
I like to also wish happy Passover to our Jewish friends and wish them a safe holiday.

My Nephew Neil supervising the madness

However I am still wondering how a Rabbit (who is a mammal, not commonly known for laying eggs) who poops out chocolate eggs can work it's way into our culture and what relationship it has with Christ's Resurrection? I pity the theologians of the future explaining that!

Update
This just adds to the confusion
Hop trailer

My first Landrover still going strong

2011-04-23T16:04:00.001-07:00

This was my first Landrover. It's a 1968 Series IIA 88 model. 88 refers to the wheelbase length. This truck was sold by Clark Simpson's motors to BC Hydro who used it for their line crews. You can tell BC Hydro trucks by the PTO winch on the front and the way the 2 piece tailgate had been fixed together and altered to a 1 piece door.
I bought it around 1977-78 from Wright marine supplies. I drove this truck hard, had lots adventures and some misadventures in it. I am still alive today because of the remarkable "Safe Working Angle" of these trucks, other trucks would have rolled on me. It was a good vehicle to learn on, cheap to fix and you can handcrank them, which was good as I was to broke to get a better battery.

in the summer I would take the top off and drive around with the windshield down. Driving on the highway like that I saw a dot ahead of me, seconds later the dot turned out to be a bumblebee that did a head on into my forehead, leaving a nice little bruise, the bumblebee did not fare as well.
Two features that I can spot on this truck is the shovel on the wing and two hooks for sandchannels on the side, both installed by myself. The fellow who owns it, installed a new frame and rebuilt the motor. However I notice that several temporary fixes I did are still in place, pretty funny to say the least. I sold this truck around 1988 to the current owners dad, who gave it to him. I replaced it with a 109 5 door, which I will chat about in another post.

Camping CF Style

2011-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Some things I don't miss about the army.

I am the "Evil gun Lobby"

2011-04-14T18:11:00.001-07:00

I belong to Canadiangunnutz (aka CGN) forum, a very active firearm forum on all things firearms and associated sports. It has about 70,000 members. Apparently certain Liberal politicans have been claiming CGN is part of the "Evil gun lobby funded by the NRA" They are wrong on 2 points, first the Liberals would not recognize a grassroots organization if it came up and slapped in the face, mainly as the Liberals are all about "big money" (hence their current funding problems). also if they bothered to check facts (Not a liberal strongpoint)they would note that the NRA is barred by it's own rules from donating money outside of the USA.

Firearm organizations in Canada do talk and visit the NRA and vis versa. However the Gun control groups do the same with their US counterparts and the firearm "Lobby" has never received a penny from government,unlike the gun control groups here that fed off the Liberal teat for years (Remember Adscam?) They still receive money from the Police Chief Associations. Meanwhile the "Evil gun control lobby" has to do with personal donations and membership fees. Which means that I and people like me are the "Evil gun Lobby" and I wear my badge with honour.

I have posted below Greentips (Owner of CGN)response to the bogus claims.

We have been reading the latest rhetoric's from certain politicians about our website. First of all, we must thank certain newspapers for giving us the exposure! We appreciate it!

Apparently, we have been elevated to the status of an Evil Radical NRA-funded Gun Lobby!! We will love to be funded by the NRA but to the disappointment of many we do not get any money out of any evil gun lobbies.

Let us say again: We do not get a single penny from any "gun lobbies or advocacy groups". Some people may think CSSA and NFA (the real gun lobbies) are "sponsors" of this website because of their banners. The sad truth for all firearms hating politicians and journalists is that : we did not get a single penny out of these organizations! Actually to the contrary, we are putting their banners up for free so our members will think of giving them money!

If we are anything, we are just tens of thousands of Evil Radical Grass root Canadians that have real jobs and pay real tax. We are in your offices, your workshops, your schools, your neighborhood, your churches(or temples/Mosques/religious joints)....And yes, we are spending too much time on the Internet!

Simon's Cat, Sticky Tape

2011-04-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

Sigh are the Liberals truly that dumb?

2011-04-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

What amazes me about the Liberal ads about the fighter jets is that they don’t realize how they are being setup. Everytime they say we will cancel the deal and use the money elsewhere all I can say is: Sea KingChretion’s cancellation of that program costs us huge amounts of money and a decade of procurement sorrow that is still ongoing. Cancelling the F-35 contract and using the money elsewhere is just another repeat of that fiasco.
I not a huge fan of the current fighter jet buy plan, I much prefer a model like the Aussies are doing using a mix of Super Hornets (including Growlers) and a buy of the F-35. In my mind this reduces the risk of having the whole fleet grounded at once and increases the number of airframes.
If the Liberals would say ‘We need to quickly run a competition to determine if this is the best choice and will do so immediately upon entering office” I might buy that. It certainly not as catchy as their current platform, but rather more reality based. The Liberals created this mess by not replacing major military items and allowing so many systems to rust out at the same time everything is at a crisis point (there are more equipment issues out there that have yet to make the headlines).

Mind you the Liberals have still not figured that the Long Gun Registry is another perfect stick for the Tories to beat them with. The best thing in that regards is for the Tories to win enough seats to get rid of it and have the whole sorry affair disappear into history. But I know the Liberals would rather drown than to cast off their holy millstone.

Life imitates art

2011-04-10T19:06:00.001-07:00

This picture of a rebel T-72 on the Libyan Rebels front(among others)has been making it's way around the military Internet and blogshpere (thank you John at ARRRRGH!). What makes people smile is that many years ago, the movie "Kelly's Heros" had created a similar scene where Clint Eastwoods Charactor is seen meeting "Oddball" a wonderful charactor played by Donald Sutherland (frankly I don't think anyone could have done that role anymore justice).

Here is Oddball introducing his crew

Silent walls

2011-04-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

The city of Farah in Western Afghanistan has seen it's fair share of invaders and cultures, in the centre of the city resides a massive citadel. some believe it was made by Alexander the Great, other think it's newer than that. Likely both are right, I suspect a proper dig will find build upon build as it was common for a new culture/invader/ruler to build on the fortifications of the previous occupant and often terrain dictates the logical defense positions. Regardless of who built it, it's truly impressive. The picture used here is from Robert Lankenau photo album and is worth a visit.

Another astounding view can be seen at Micheal Yons Gigapan account, well worth the visit. gigapan

Here is the citadel on Google maps

View Larger Map

Dogs have owners and cats have staff

2011-04-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

What can I say, guess he does not like getting his feet cold. Zeus does not see anything wrong with this, other than the fact that I won't carry him on my back anymore. He like to dig his claws in!

Future politicans

2011-03-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

I suspect these 2 babies would add more to the televised debates than Elizabeth May would. Isn't she supposed to be busy trying to convince a small bunch of Canadians she is worthy of representing them, rather than annoying the rest of the nation?

Thanks to Laden for the video

Living on a potato

2011-03-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

Chief among these new insights is a clearer view of how the oceans are moving and how they redistribute the heat from the Sun around the world - information that is paramount to climate studies.

So does this mean those climate models were flawed?

Read the rest of the fascinating article at BBC

Election politics

2011-03-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

The symbolism is strong in this one! Done for US politics, but can be applied North of the Border as well.

Shall we dance Tango

2011-03-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

Wife and I just got back from dancing, they played this tango there, I love the beat and sound of the crickets. Tango is one of those dances that just is.

Hit the road Jack

2011-03-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

This song dedicated to the NDP

This one to Iggy

and he will get by with a little help from his friends

So it begins again

2011-03-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well the opposition has brought the government down, considering the polling numbers and the coffers of the various parties I can't but help to think this is a dumb move on their part. I wonder if the leaders had much to do with it. Iggy must be getting tired of trying to save a party that loves to eat it's own and Layton's health is not great, I don't like the guy, but I hope his cancer stays in remission.
The CPC fundraising machine is already in full gear and they will outspend the others. You have to ask yourself, if a party can not organize it's supporters to support it, how can they run a country effectively?

There is a joy to living in a democratic society where governments come and go and we don't have to risk life and limb fighting them, like so many others are doing right now. I have many friends who have completely different political beliefs, we will fight each other fairly on the election battlefield and then continue to be friends afterwards. I respect all that take part in this process regardless of their party. Democracy is not so much about voting, but about tolerance of each other and other ideas. No party including the one you support should remain in power for to long, it will corrupt them eventually, the key is to always have a viable alternative available. The Liberals should have let their party crash and burn, then built a new party out of the ashes, instead they go into this battle creaking and groaning, sufferring the rot and stain from their recent past. The story of the Phoniex is so lost on them.

The first Help desk call

2011-03-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Always got a kick out of this. Our desk is made of young students who really try but are genearlly defeated by our citrix system which seems hellbent on keeping us from being productive.

The real enemy in Afghanistan is illiteracy

2011-03-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Via Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee

It has always been clear to me that Afghanistan is a generational war, to win we must educate a new generation. Normal education is the biggest threat to the Taliban, hence their destruction of schools, murders of teachers, threats to parents and throwing acid onto schoolgirls. Regardless of what you think of the war, the increased number of people that have been able to go to school and the increase in the number of infants that survive their first year is impressive. We have done far more good there than bad. The question is; "Will we setup the conditions for the Afghans to succeed before we leave?" for that I don't have the answer.

Please visit http://www.cw4wafghan.ca/

Iggy in wonderland

2011-03-23T20:39:00.001-07:00

I feel like I am living in Alice’s wonderland, we have the Liberal party attempting to bring down the current government on “Ethics” and “trust”. Now to be fair, Iggy had zero to do with the previous Liberal governments, in fact he wasn’t around for most of them. So I can understand why he does not get the irony, but can the people working for him really be dumb enough to think we have forgotten about the Liberal scandals and hidden costs games?
Don’t they expect the Conservatives to bring up, Adscam, gun registry costs, APEC, shawnigate among others every time the Liberals say ethics, trusts?

Perhaps they expected the NDP to save their butts yet again, which might have happened had the CPC polling numbers been lower. You can bet there are some serious discussion going on in the Liberal and NDP war rooms about how much an election is going to cost and where are they going to get the money or credit for it.

Meanwhile Elizabeth May will be working on a clever plot to piss off what little support she has left within her own party. The Bloc will wish this wasn’t happening but likely have the least to worry about, although I wish they did have something to be afraid of.

But for the grace of god go thee

2011-03-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

We have been glued to the TV and Internet following the multiple crisis’s in Japan. I haven’t said much on the subject because it’s changing so rapidly. Currently they are saying that around 7,000 known dead and about 10,000 missing. Frankly I was expecting at least 50,000 dead. If the finally number is less than 20,000 then it says volumes about the Japanese building construction, seawalls and evacuation systems.
The whole thing is more real to us in North America than other disasters, as we see a culture much more similar to our own, unlike Haiti which most us could not wrap our heads around prior to their earthquake. We also had a personal connection as well, my niece was in Tokyo during the quake, but has just arrived back home. Now my sister can sleep better!
These people have suffered an 8.9-9.0 scale quake, hundreds of lesser quakes, 7 metre high Tsunami, volcano eruption and a ongoing nuclear crisis. Adding to the misery is snow hampering rescue efforts. In fact Japan moved 2.4m, is 13’ wider and parts dropped by 2’ in elevation. After shocks continue.
What is apparent is that fortitude of the Japanese character is showing through. No mass panics, little or no looting, organizing to help their neighbours. This is a silver lining in a very dark cloud. The recent stuff coming out on Japanese TV and Internet prior to all of this had to make you wonder if the culture was going off the deep end. Lesson learned, don’t judge a people by their entertainers and TV producers! Another interesting note, the city of Kandahar has given $50,000 dollars to the Japanese people, a small but important gesture from a people that owe much to the Japanese.
The nuclear crisis has shown the flaws of the current designs currently in widespread use. I am not a nuke expert but there are better designs out there. It is my understanding that one of the reactors effected was to be de-commissioned shortly and two others later this year. The timing could not be worse for the nuclear industry, many plants are coming up for replacement, and it will be a hard sell now to a public that is rightfully concerned. The bright side is that many lessons are being learned and if the industry can adapt them into newer designs that can operate without much input from humans and go into safe mode when things go wrong. The new designs will have to deal with the storage pond issue as well, which seems to be the main problem.
I fully expect a big push on Humanoid robots that can deal with nuclear accidents within the next decade. Currently our only choice is to rely on the bravery and self-sacrifice of the workers there. The people fighting the fires at the plants know they are shortening their lives and accepting much future pain and struggle. A grim determination sort of courage.

Living in Vancouver, we are all too aware that a major earthquake and Tsunami is part of our future. The geography is likely to preclude a 7m high wave, but a significant one could still hit Vancouver if say part of the seafloor on eastern Vancouver island sluffed down. To give you an idea what a 7m wave would do to Vancouver, I guesstimated the areas that would be covered by colouring blue over the land that would be engulfed.

before

After

Moose crossing

2011-03-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Never, never get in the way of a moose!!

Hiring process explained

2011-03-10T18:12:00.000-08:00

This is a video done by a less than happy civil servent. The basic events are apparently true, although the details and I suspect managments view are somewhat different. This is the reality of staffing in the social media age, something us dinosuars( and prospective dinosuars in my case) need to be aware of and prepared for.

I am not Canadian!!

2011-03-04T13:13:00.001-08:00

A little humour to start your weekend, not really worksafe if you work in a bilingual office...

Snow day

2011-02-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

This Sunday it finally snowed enough here for the kids to toboggan at the local parks (No doubt readers from the east coast would be more than happy to share some of their snow with us!). The kids had a great time. My oldest is a daredevil, the younger is more like mom, cautious but likes the thrill. I would like to tell parents that the blue baby toboggan we used here are a pain because the underside fills up with snow, making it hard to pull.

Rocky Mountain Rangers return to Prince George

2011-02-28T13:47:00.000-08:00

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - Prince George is getting a new Army Reserve unit. As part of an Army Reserve expansion project the new unit, which is a detachment of the famous Rocky Mountain Rangers, is planned for the city as early as September this year. read the rest of the article.

I think this is excellent news, there is a large pool of recruits that the Army Reserves can tap into in Northern BC, many of them already have significant outdoor skill sets which they can bring to the job. Also southern reserve units were losing people that had to move up north to follow work. I would also like to see a Combat Engineer troop established there as well.

HMS Hood enters Vancouver

2011-02-28T13:04:00.000-08:00

Little history moment, HMS Hood, known mostly for her ill-fated battle against the Bismark, came to Vancouver in 1924, part of a world cruise. At the time the Hood was one of the most powerful warships afloat. She combined the speed of a cruiser and the amour and guns of a battleship and was referred to as a “Battlecrusier”.

While she was in Vancouver, my Grandfather worked on her as an electrician.

This picture is from The Vancouver maritime Museum which has a excellent library and collection ( I volunteered there for 15 years) Do yourself a favour and go visit the museum, it’s a great place for kids and you can tour the St Roch, the inside is nice on a rainy day and in the summer there are events down in the harbour. Check out their main page here.

Some more pictures of the visit here.

Pulp Fiction Theme: Surf Rider

2011-02-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

Some cool instrumentals to get you ready for the weekend. I actually prefer instrumentals over songs with voices, sometimes words get in the way of your own mind wanderings.

Further to my previous post, wish those charactors from Pulp Fiction would solve our Libyian problem.

We told ya so….

2011-02-25T16:17:00.000-08:00

“We” being the blogsphere and right of centre types for the most part who were asking: "Who in their right mind would want Libya on the UN’s Human Rights Council?" It’s like giving the keys to the henhouse to a hungry fox. Speaking of Fox, they asked back in May 2010 “WTF” is the UN smoking appointing this nutbar to the UNHRC.

Now that he is machine gunning, bombing and executing his own people with wild abandon, the UNHRC ask that Libya be suspended from it’s ranks, a little late as even Libya’s diplomats have resigned and told Ghadhafi he was a nutbar. (I reserve judgement on their flip-flop, it’s quite possible that the nutbar had their relatives held as “guests” to ensure compliance overseas.)

But all is not lost for the supporters of hypocrisy and the UN (but I repeat myself) Iran who was not chosen for a seat at the esteemed UNHCR, still got a seat on the UN’s Woman’s Commission. Seriously what could possible go wrong with that?

U.S. vs Canada: Suicide Edition

2011-02-24T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting look at suicides in Canada and the US, the long and skinny of it is that method has little effect on the rates. Anti-firearm types always claim that restrictive gun laws reduce suicide by gun, well they are telling the truth, only it’s a tiny slice of the truth, what really happens is that the people who wish to commit suicide will do it anyways.
I did Search and Rescue for the Coast Guard, I got to watch far to many people jump off of bridges and what a sudden impact with water does to the human body is not worth thinking about, even worse when they live for a couple of days after that. It’s also hard when the body is not found and the family can not have closure. We once rescued the same guy out of the Fraser river two days in a row. They would send him to hospital and they would release him, on the third day he went missing, wouldn’t be surprised if he was the donor of one of those missing feet. If you really care about suicide rates, forget method and go after the causes. The only thing that stops a person from taking their life from what I have seen is a strong interaction with empathetic person.

So on the whole then, the U.S. and Canada would appear to be very similar to one another where deaths caused by self-inflicted injuries are concerned. If Canada's population were identical to the United States, it would likely see the same number of suicides each year, or actually a bit more than that, given its slightly higher suicide rate.

Things change dramatically however when we consider the methods by which people in the U.S. and Canada have committed suicide in the years from 2000 through 2007

Read the rest at Political Calculations

Look! Is it a bird? A plane? No it’s neither!

2011-02-20T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is very cool tech, copying the hummingbird does offer a lot of advantages in regards to stealth, manoeuvrability and size. It would be interesting to see what are the power consumption rates for the wings compared to a more traditional rotor. I suspect flight endurance times are likely between 5-10 minutes. Article on it here.

I took part in UAV trials for the Canadian military back in the mid 80's in CFB Suffield, Alberta, back then they were called "RPV's" I don't think the program every got anywhere but it sure was interesting.

Walmart is selling camera equipped helicopters for around $69, quite amazing how cost efficent the tech is now. I'm sure by next year they will be twice as good! If you plan on buying a small helicopter, you can choose from IR (Infrared) or RC (Radio Controlled) RC gives you better control, but costs almost double. I bought this one and am having a lot of fun with it, mind Zeus does not think much of it!!

You can see more about it at Cobratoys

John Cleese selling computers

2011-02-18T13:30:00.000-08:00

Can you imagine the advertising types going for this style of selling nowadays?

How is that gun amnesty working for you?

2011-02-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

source: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp99/rp99-056.pdf

Now go listen to these newsreels
1961 newsreel
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=42638
1968 newsreel
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=45147