If a man is world renown for his explorations into the distant regions of time and space said that, then his thoughts on this matter must be true?
Monday, October 19, 2015
Stephen Hawking
If a man is world renown for his explorations into the distant regions of time and space said that, then his thoughts on this matter must be true?
Friday, October 16, 2015
Canadian 2015 Federal Election
The Canadian Federal election (2015) is seeing more and more people becoming informed (thankfully) about their choices for not only the leaders and their parties, but also about their own future.
Although this may be the longest election campaign it has also become perhaps the longest personal look at ourselves as a nation and as a people. We have, and continue to be shown what we are, good or bad, rich or poor, our Canada is on view for the whole world to see as it has never before been seen.
The aboriginals (First Nations) have become a voice. Our military is taking exception to treatment of their veterans by the government. The older generations are taking a good hard look at their future under the various governing options.
Most surprising, the young are getting involved, taking notice of the choices, and getting motivated to vote for their own futures.
The politics of fear, and of hope have been laid bare during this election for the world to see. The world is seeing, perhaps for the first time in decades, what Canada has become.
The future of Canada and how we wish to be seen is what this election is about. It is not about the current Prime Minister, or Mr. Trudeau's hair, or Mr. Mulcairs personal heritage. It is about what the citizens of Canada want their country to be.
Do we continue down the path of fear and ignorance and disrespect for others, or do we plot a path back to what the world believes us to have been.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Friday, September 4, 2015
Call to Arms
The picture, taken on Wednesday morning, depicted the dark-haired toddler, wearing a bright-red T-shirt and shorts, washed up on a beach, lying face down in the surf not far from Turkey’s fashionable resort town of Bodrum.
READ MORE:
This type of story tends to put everything in perspective. This type of image tends to tug at the heart strings. If ever there was a time to act, that time is now.
What will you do?
Friday, August 28, 2015
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Canada's Aboriginal system
ABORIGINAL LEADERSHIP HAS FAILED MISERABLY!
"It's failed grassroots aboriginals, and Canadian taxpayers. They have not taken care of their people, they have taken care of their pockets, they have unsettled our entire sovereignty, they have incited a very potent hate in their youth who are ready for civil war because they were raised to believe Canada committed a holocaust on them. These leaders have pumped hatred and incited war and no one seems able to stop them, or even challenge them. They try to sue and bully and silence anyone who does."
READ MORE
https://www.facebook.com/ENDRACEBASEDLAW?fref=nf
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Lining Up
Question of the day -
How many people and politicians lined up against Mr. Harper will it take before the Conservative party realizes it is backing a loosing nag?
Google search results for:
Websites against Justin Trudeau - About 1,170,000 results
From
http://globalnews.ca/news/2154863/ontario-premier-kathleen-wynne-throws-more-jabs-at-harper/
"Ontario Premier compared Harper to Canada’s first prime minister, saying transcontinental railway never would have been built if Harper were in charge back then."
(The star.com).
From:
http://www.24news.ca/the-news/canada-news/152858-wynne-implies-transcontinental-railway-wouldnt-have-been-built-if-harper-was-pm-in-19th-century
Wynne said Bill Blair has chosen to run with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau because he knows that he would be the kind of prime minister who will work with premiers on issues including climate change, infrastructure, the economy, jobs and growth.
“Ontario needs a federal partner,” she said.
canada/canadian-politics/its-not-just-cabinet-ministers-jumping-ship-conservative-
exodus-ahead-of-election-largest-in-20-years
at least 46 are not running for the party this fall. It’s the third-highest dropout rate since the
Second World War and the highest since 1993, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
A list of some high-profile Conservatives not running for re-election in 2015
Jim Flaherty — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s only finance minister until he stepped down after delivering the 2014 federal budget — his ninth — saying he wished to return to private life in Whitby, Ont. Flaherty died suddenly of a heart attack in April 2014, just weeks after leaving cabinet, depriving the Conservatives of their senior political representative from Ontario.
John Baird — The Harper cabinet jack-of-all-trades and former Ontario provincial cabinet minister caught even Harper off guard when he announced in February he was leaving his post as minister of foreign affairs, saying he was deeply affected by the passing of his old friend Flaherty and wanted to explore life outside politics. Baird gave up his Ottawa seat shortly after.
Peter MacKay — The co-founder, with Harper, of the modern Conservative party cited his young and growing family when he announced late last month that he would not seek re-election in his rural Nova Scotia riding but would remain on as justice minister until the election call.
Shelly Glover — The bilingual former Winnipeg cop announced in April that it was “time to return to my previous life” after being first elected in 2008, leaving behind her role as heritage minister and official languages minister.
Christian Paradis — Harper’s international development minister announced in April he’d consulted with his family and decided it was “time to pass the torch” in his Quebec riding, which includes the town of Lac Megantic, devastated by the 2013 oil train derailment and fire.
James Moore — First elected in 2000 at age 24, the Conservative industry minister announced Friday he would not seek re-election in his lower mainland B.C. riding in order to spend more time with an ailing young son.
Gordon O’Connor — The retired brigadier-general, 75, served as revenue minister and defence minister after being elected in his Ottawa-area riding in 2008.
Diane Ablonczy — First elected to parliament as a Reform party MP in 1993, Ablonczy served as a minister of state in various portfolios, most recently for foreign affairs. She served notice back in 2013 that this would be her last term in her Calgary riding.
James Rajotte — An Edmonton MP since 2000, Rajotte most recently chaired the Commons finance committee and won respect across partisan lines for his intelligence and even demeanour. He announced he wouldn’t seek re-election just this month without providing a specific reason.
Joe Preston — The MP for a southwestern Ontario riding around London, Preston was another garrulous and popular Conservative MP who chaired the Commons’ often fractious procedure and house affairs committee.
Patrick Brown — A young, low-profile backbencher in the Conservative ranks, Brown vaulted into the spotlight last September when he launched an ultimately successful campaign to become leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, which meant he formally gave up his Barrie, Ont., federal seat in May."
Although the MP's mentioned above have stated legitimate and personal reasons for leaving the Conservative party I wonder why would anyone leave a good job. The benefits are good, the pension is good, you have a possibility of making a difference, helping to shepherd Canada through part of its future. Must be something else wrong.
Have you ever worked in a company where the employee turn over rate was very high yet no one seemed to notice that maybe you were loosing good employees because of bad management?
Makes me wonder.
(Buffalocricket)
No Vote
An unfortunate reality of elections is that so many people are
disillusioned with our political choices that they do not vote. With that in
mind, an elected “Majority” government is really a minority government.
If a government is elected into power but receives less than
50% support from the eligible voting population, then they can in no way claim
to be a majority government.
The issue of “no vote” is an indicator of a system that has
become so abused by the political parties that people are just giving up on
ever having a government worth supporting. That needs to change.
How do we change that?
How do we send such a strong message to the political
parties that their time is up, that the status quo is no longer acceptable?
Obviously, electing a government that is able to claim
majority support by less than 50% of eligible voters does not send the right
message. They still claim a majority win.
How do we as a nation reengage the population in the
political process?
Introducing a law that states you must vote or be punished
with a fine will not work.
I believe that the only way to reengage the voter in the
process is a law that states upon becoming of legal age, the individual must
choose a political party, must become a supporting member of that party, and
must pay for that membership each year (a standard fee for all parties).
The fee must be high enough that the voter will think twice
about where their money is going if the party they support does not live up to
its promises, is involved in scandals, or spend recklessly, etc.
Then, remove all “public” funding from political parties so
that the only way they can have money to spend is through direct voter support.
(NO current party would ever support that, would they?)
I know that if someone I directly financially supported
tried to stab me in the back, they would quickly loose my support.
Friday, August 7, 2015
Legacy
A very SMALL man when compared to a mouse.
A young lady willing to let the entire country know
she stands up for what she believes in.
she stands up for what she believes in.
Now, the question is, what do you believe in?
The environment or a political party?
The environment or a political party?
Friday, July 31, 2015
Pre-paleolithic Neanderthals
In his Friday speech, Stephen Lewis took aim at the “pre-paleolithic Neanderthals” in office.
By: Tim Harper National Affairs, Published on Sun Nov 23 2014
At the age of 77, Stephen Lewis describes himself as being “happily in his dotage,” a man free to bare his soul and dispense with diplomatic niceties. He did just that in Charlottetown last Friday. The one-time lion of the left unleashed a withering roar over eight years of Stephen Harper government.
Lewis focused on five fronts of perhaps irreversible decline in this country. The former Ontario NDP leader, United Nations ambassador and lifelong human rights advocate took aim at the “pre-paleolithic Neanderthals” in office and their role in the decline of Parliament, the suppression of dissent, the plight of First Nations, their blinkered climate-change policy and our plummeting world status.
When he surveys the political scene today, he says he runs the emotional gamut from “rage to rage.” But he is not alone. He joins a line of political elders who are taking increasingly harsh stock of this government’s performance.
Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark has spoken out about foreign policy, former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin has been an outspoken critic of aboriginal policy and former ministers in the Brian Mulroney government emerged to condemn the watering down of environmental regulations.
Lewis told the Symons Lecture on the future of confederation:
• Canada’s world standing is in free fall.
• The Harper government’s contempt for Parliament and its traditions has degraded political life and fostered voter cynicism.
• Its attitude to aboriginals is not paternalistic, it is racist.
• Harper’s refusal to join the rest of the world and move toward renewable energy sources is endangering future generations and contributing to a looming planetary meltdown.
• Civil society and the ideas it fosters have been slapped down and censored, subverting democratic norms.
“There is a radical ideological agenda gripping this country,” Lewis said, “but it’s not the environmentalists or the other targeted groups committed to the quest for social justice; it’s the political leadership.”
We are channelling the years of Richard Nixon’s enemies list, Lewis says, adding the former U.S. president was driven by paranoia, Harper is driven by malevolence.
Lewis compared the atmosphere in Ottawa to that of the Ontario legislature where he served for 15 years, the William Davis years.
There was a respect in that chamber, he said, and that was respect was fostered by the premier.
“Vitriolic nastiness in debate does not breed respect,” he said, “nor does adolescent partisanship, nor do pieces of legislation of encyclopedic length that hide contentious issues, nor does the sudden emergence of frenzied TV attack ads, nor does the spectre of a Prime Minister’s Office exercising authoritarian control.”
The government’s refusal to hold an inquiry on missing and murdered aboriginal women, its refusal to compromise with aboriginal leadership on the funding gap on First Nations education and its environmental standing that has sunk so low that we are seen as an impediment to a climate change accord in Paris next year, are all being watched around the world, said Lewis.
“It is as though Canada had decided, like some mindless national curmudgeon, to be a permanent outlier on issues of minority rights and women’s rights,” Lewis said.
“It does us damage. It does us shame.”
Of the “redundant” tarsands, Lewis says he is “hyperventilating for the day, when some Canadian politician has the courage to say: Leave it in the ground.”
Is this merely an overheated attack on a government that shares none of Lewis’s principles? An angry journey into nostalgia?
“Somewhere in my soul,” Lewis says, “I cherish the possibility of a return to a vibrant democracy, where equality is the watchword, where people of different ideological conviction have respect for each other, where policy is debated rather than demeaned, where the great issues of the day are given thoughtful consideration, where Canada’s place on the world stage is seen as principled and laudatory, where human rights for all is the emblem of a decent civilized society.”
He will be ignored by those in office. But his words should be studied by any who seek to govern going forward.
Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1
By: Tim Harper National Affairs, Published on Sun Nov 23 2014
At the age of 77, Stephen Lewis describes himself as being “happily in his dotage,” a man free to bare his soul and dispense with diplomatic niceties. He did just that in Charlottetown last Friday. The one-time lion of the left unleashed a withering roar over eight years of Stephen Harper government.
Lewis focused on five fronts of perhaps irreversible decline in this country. The former Ontario NDP leader, United Nations ambassador and lifelong human rights advocate took aim at the “pre-paleolithic Neanderthals” in office and their role in the decline of Parliament, the suppression of dissent, the plight of First Nations, their blinkered climate-change policy and our plummeting world status.
When he surveys the political scene today, he says he runs the emotional gamut from “rage to rage.” But he is not alone. He joins a line of political elders who are taking increasingly harsh stock of this government’s performance.
Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Joe Clark has spoken out about foreign policy, former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin has been an outspoken critic of aboriginal policy and former ministers in the Brian Mulroney government emerged to condemn the watering down of environmental regulations.
Lewis told the Symons Lecture on the future of confederation:
• Canada’s world standing is in free fall.
• The Harper government’s contempt for Parliament and its traditions has degraded political life and fostered voter cynicism.
• Its attitude to aboriginals is not paternalistic, it is racist.
• Harper’s refusal to join the rest of the world and move toward renewable energy sources is endangering future generations and contributing to a looming planetary meltdown.
• Civil society and the ideas it fosters have been slapped down and censored, subverting democratic norms.
“There is a radical ideological agenda gripping this country,” Lewis said, “but it’s not the environmentalists or the other targeted groups committed to the quest for social justice; it’s the political leadership.”
We are channelling the years of Richard Nixon’s enemies list, Lewis says, adding the former U.S. president was driven by paranoia, Harper is driven by malevolence.
Lewis compared the atmosphere in Ottawa to that of the Ontario legislature where he served for 15 years, the William Davis years.
There was a respect in that chamber, he said, and that was respect was fostered by the premier.
“Vitriolic nastiness in debate does not breed respect,” he said, “nor does adolescent partisanship, nor do pieces of legislation of encyclopedic length that hide contentious issues, nor does the sudden emergence of frenzied TV attack ads, nor does the spectre of a Prime Minister’s Office exercising authoritarian control.”
The government’s refusal to hold an inquiry on missing and murdered aboriginal women, its refusal to compromise with aboriginal leadership on the funding gap on First Nations education and its environmental standing that has sunk so low that we are seen as an impediment to a climate change accord in Paris next year, are all being watched around the world, said Lewis.
“It is as though Canada had decided, like some mindless national curmudgeon, to be a permanent outlier on issues of minority rights and women’s rights,” Lewis said.
“It does us damage. It does us shame.”
Of the “redundant” tarsands, Lewis says he is “hyperventilating for the day, when some Canadian politician has the courage to say: Leave it in the ground.”
Is this merely an overheated attack on a government that shares none of Lewis’s principles? An angry journey into nostalgia?
“Somewhere in my soul,” Lewis says, “I cherish the possibility of a return to a vibrant democracy, where equality is the watchword, where people of different ideological conviction have respect for each other, where policy is debated rather than demeaned, where the great issues of the day are given thoughtful consideration, where Canada’s place on the world stage is seen as principled and laudatory, where human rights for all is the emblem of a decent civilized society.”
He will be ignored by those in office. But his words should be studied by any who seek to govern going forward.
Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca Twitter:@nutgraf1
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
The Three Amigos
Let’s cut through the crap !
As a Canadian Citizen it is not just your right to vote, it is your responsibility to cut through the crap and ask yourself and your candidates the really tough questions. A lazy voter will always get the government they deserve. An informed voter who does their homework will get the government they want.
Things you should be asking yourself during this 2015 Federal election
campaign include:
1 – Who has the nicest hair?
2 – Which party indulges the most in cyber bullying? (Attack
ads)
3 – Which party has delivered a consistent positive message?
4 – Which party has fed at the trough the most?
5 – Which party is most represented in the senate spending scandal?
6 – Which party do you think will get the most support from seniors?
7 – Which party do you think will get the most support from
the military?
8 – Which party do you think will have the most civil
service support?
9 – Which party is more interested in Canadians than
themselves?
10 – Which leader leads their party, which one demands that
the party do as it is told?
11 – Which leader is the most passionate about what they are
saying?
12 - Which party has spoken out the most about environmental protection?
And last but not least, which party is playing on your fears so you will choose them over the other candidate parties?
Elections should not be won based on:
1 - Fear mongering.
2 - Because your party has more money to spend on campaigns than the other guy.
3 - Because you think someone has nice hair.
Elections should be won based on:
1 - Your commitment to the environment (we need to breath)
2 - Your commitment to a strong economy (have a plan, and state it in public, let us decide its merit)
3 - Your parties and members adherence to the law (all law, not just those which suit your purpose)
4 - Your commitment to the people, not the party, or worse, yourself and your ego.
5 - Your protection of those in the vulnerable sectors
6 - Your commitment to those you send into battle
6 - Your commitment to those you send into battle
Remember, numbers don't lie, but liars use numbers. And one last thing, opinion polls are just that, opinions. Don't let someone else sell you their opinion, make up your own mind.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Never enough
Heaven Needed a Hero like You
We can never say thank you enough to those who choose to
put themselves in harms way to protect us.
put themselves in harms way to protect us.
We can never say sorry enough to the families of those
who gave their all to perform their duty.
who gave their all to perform their duty.
We can never stop helping those left behind,
for when we do, we fail them all.
for when we do, we fail them all.
R.I.P.
Lyrics by: Jo Dee Messina
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Fathers and sons
In peace time, sons bury their fathers
In war time, fathers bury their sons
The Immortals
In war time, fathers bury their sons
The Immortals
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Youth in Transition
Brigette DePape
2011
2015
Youth Vote Campaigner for the Council of Canadians, calls on young Canadians to vote in the next federal election.
Former Senate page Brigette DePape says she does not regret holding up a sign reading "Stop Harper" during the 2011 throne speech, a stunt that made national headlines. More than three years after DePape became a household name, she is on a mission to encourage young people to better engage in politics. She's part of the 2015 Game-Changers Tour, which calls on Canadian youth to vote in the next federal election.
"Nearly two thirds of young people did not vote in the last election,"I think it's time to break that vicious cycle of feeling like politicians aren't listening to us and so we're not voting."
This young lady has guts to be able to stand up to the Canadian Government in it's own house. Unfortunately it is not just the youth that are disenfranchised with the political fortunes in Canada.
Official Turnout Rate in Canadian Federal General Elections
1945 to 2011
1945 to 2011
(notice the downward trend)
This blogger has for many decades been less than satisfied with the political offerings in Canada and has more often than not voted against someone rather than for someone.
I was first introduced to politics at a very young age when Prime Minister John George Diefenbaker won the 1957 election.
In the House of Commons, Diefenbaker was repeatedly a candidate for the PC leadership and in 1956, on his third attempt, he became the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. In 1957, he led the Tories to their first electoral victory in 27 years. (I should mention that at that time I was just 6 years old).
What, you may ask was a six year old doing listening to a politician. I was not listening to the politician, I was listening to the man. Not for what he was saying, or what party politics he was talking about (remember I was just 6 years old), rather, I was listening to this mans passion about what he was saying.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, and the youth of today, is what is missing from Canadian politics, Passion.
BuffaloCricket
PS - Go get I'm Girl
Saturday, January 3, 2015
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