Cutbacks

 

Two related articles in yesterday's newspaper caught my attention. Cross border shopping is a hot potato in our border community as it takes much needed consumer dollars out of our local economy. Our falling dollar may help somewhat, but the recent cutbacks of staff at the US border stations may be more effective. The wait times are predicted to increase by at least 20% in the next month.

 

 

 

Border lineups are not for the impatient or the feint of heart. It helps nobody including the environment. (cars idling for an hour or more)

 

The second article was also regarding US cutbacks and this one also will have an impact on our local economy. The military is curtailing participation in the air show business. The 'big boys' in the flying business are always a huge draw for air show goers.

 

So just how wise is the US government for choosing its priorities for cutbacks? That they finally are curtailing some spending is commendable and should have been done five years ago at the  soonest. The military pullback makes sense. What is productive about burning thousands of litres of jet fuel just to show off your military hardware?

But, the border thing is just plain silly and ill advised. The US economy benefits greatly when Canadians go south to shop. When they cut back on staff and eliminate any overtime, and the potential consumer is so inconvenienced that he decides not to go south, the dollars stay in Canada. That is good for us, but dumb for the USA to allow such a thing.

But then those Washington bureaucrats don't know a cross border shopper from a cross dresser.

We Have Much To Fear

This is hard to believe , or is it? Look here to see the video and news report.

     A few weeks ago in the Land of the Free, a five year old girl in Pennsylvania was labeled a terrorist threat.
     Fortunately for the citizens of Northumberland County, local authorities managed to detain this nefarious kindergartner before she could exact her villainous deeds on thousands of innocents.
     Authorities were tipped off after someone  overheard a conversation between the girl and one of her classmates in which she mentioned plans to shoot people ... with a bubble gun!
     Administrators at her local elementary school questioned the girl alone without her parents for 30 minutes. She was then labeled a 'terrorist threat' and sentenced to a ten-day suspension.
     Now it is quite fortunate for the child that she was granted a reprieve, albeit a small one, from the state sponsored brainwashing. Public schools stamp out children's creativity and independence, replacing it with obedience training and state propaganda.
    It is truly incredible, though, that the police state security culture has gotten so out of control, and that as a collective, American society has really become so frightened.
     The government has pulled an amazing mind job. In just over a decade, the home of the brave is now terrified of five year old girls with bubble guns.
    
     

    

Not a Corny Joke

 

Bureaucracy (Big Brother) has never been stopped by reason or common sense. Rules, regulations, agendas, dogma, and pig headedness are the guiding lights. Take the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in the USA for example.

It is commonly known that the drought throughout most of the USA Midwest this summer has decimated the corn crop. The corn shortage has driven up prices for anything corn, including both animal and human food. One would think that would precipitate an action to reduce the Green driven agenda of using a designated amount of corn for ethanol, which is mixed with our gasoline to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. The effectiveness (or lack thereof) of this initiative is a story by itself.

The mandated increase in corn consumption for ethanol for 2013 brings it to 40% of the total corn produced on US soil.

Why are we burning our food?

A few days after his election, President Obama declared 1.6 million acres of potential oil producing, government owned lands, off limits to oil extraction. Another agenda by the Greens.

Would not common sense dictate that in order to keep food prices down, that some of that ethanol could be foregone by extracting a little more oil from the ground? After all, the USA is declared to have become the country with the richest oil reserves in the entire world.

Don't you think some of it could be used for a rainy day*?

 

*I use "rainy day" as a euphemism for drought. Rather clever, don't you think?

Post Halloween Madness

 

After a wet and uneventful Halloween night, with relatively few begging goblins at the door, I checked the latest news on the Internet. The article on the new 10 year renewable passports intrigued me so I clicked on it and immediately started laughing, until I realised it was Halloween and not April's Fool Day.

Naturally, Canadians being the cynical bunch that they are, had nothing but criticism for the water mark images on the pages of the new and revised travel document.

Initially, the main beef was that the images are "musty and dusty" and give the impression that nothing new had happened in Canada in the last 50 years.

After spending $53,000.00 on focus groups, the criticism now, is that there is a lack of ethnic diversity portrayed. Remember the trouble a while back when the Chinese lady on the $100 bill was neutralized? Now the multiculture Nazis think that the visible minorities of Canada should not only be represented on the passports, but they should be front and center and highly recognisable. We just cannot win. Read the article here.

 

So, in the spirit of true fairness to the entire mosaic of our Canadian population, and the icons of our national identity, here is my list of demands for watermark images on the new passports.

- A hearty bowl of Borscht to represent all the Russians, Ukrainians, and Mennonites who settled the prairie provinces.

- A robust marijuana plant to represent the economic diversity of the Fraser Valley and the many ethnicities who participate in this lucrative industry.

- A size large band-aid to represent the broken Health Care system from sea to shining sea.

- A large hockey stick tangled in cobwebs to represent our broken NHL.

- A donut and cup of coffee to represent our loyalty to Tim Horton's and our true Canadian pastime.

- A cup of Starbucks coffee to represent all those Canadians who do not know what bad coffee is.

- A depiction of a moose being chased by an RCMP along a bike lane, through the tar sands, over a pipeline with protesters hugging nearby trees singing Koombya.

 

If these images are not included in the re-vamped passports, I will be greatly offended and will bring my case to the Human Rights tribunal where the government will pay all my legal fees and after a three year battle, all the way to the supreme court, I will have enough credibility to form my own political party and will contend for the primeministership of our great country and I WILL defeat Justin Trudeau. Just watch me.    

Cats

My sister, a cat lover, posted this very funny photo and caption on Facebook a while back. I found it particularly amusing because it reminded me of a cat we once had, whose name was Jasmine. She too was a white cat. I don't think cats are even supposed to be white, but that is another topic.

Our Jasmine was a pear shaped animal with a tiny head and front shoulders, and a bulging tummy with wide hips. She was an extremely wary and distrusting animal, avoiding people, especially me. We were the second owners and we heard through the grape vine that she had come from an abusive situation where there was a nasty canine and another dominant cat harassing her continually. We could not and would not provide therapy for her so we left her alone, and she avoided us. My dislike of Jasmine grew as the months passed. We were feeding her and keeping her protected from those that would abuse her, and yet she gave nothing in return, not a purr, a meow, or a jump onto a lap to keep one warm on a cold winter's night. When she walked into a room where I was sitting, she would give me a wide berth and never lose eye contact. The slightest move on my part would send her scurrying into a corner or under a sofa. I never once raised my voice to her or did anything to hurt her. We simply grew more and more distant. She had "man issues", without a doubt.

Then one day, this poor brain damaged cat did a stupid thing. She tried to jump onto the clothes dryer. She was fat and out of shape and probably thought she was a normal cat and that this would be easy. She only got her front paws onto the top of the dryer and because there was no purchase for her claws, she slipped back down to the floor and landed on her hips, breaking one of them. We are not totally heartless, so we took her to the vet and the prognosis was not good. After a quick administration of euthanasia, she slipped into that big litter box in the sky where she is probably being harassed by the other cats.

I remember her, but I do not miss her.

Shake Your Head

And yet another post for my "Stupidity" category. Last time it was the story about how the police showed up at a little girl's house because her library books were overdue. You could not make up stuff this silly, and yet, read below how the Premier of Ontario is defending another, similar action.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is defending Kitchener school officials for calling police and reporting a four-year-old girl who drew a picture of her father carrying a gun.

Father Jessie Sansone was arrested, strip searched and told he was being charged with illegal possession of a firearm after police were alerted to the drawing last week.
Sansone's three children and his pregnant wife were also questioned by Family and Child Services.

Waterloo Regional Police found only a transparent toy gun in Sansone's home during a search and Sansone was released without charges.
An internal police investigation has been launched into the way Sansone was treated by officers.
Speaking on Wednesday, McGuinty defended the school's decision to alert police to the potentially revealing picture, saying it is difficult for teachers and administrators to make such decisions when they believe a child's welfare could be at risk.

I could be wrong, but I think it was Ron Paul, Republican candidate for the nomination for the presidency who stated that, "When the people are afraid of the government, it is called tyranny. When the government is afraid of the people, it is called democracy."  

Lunch Box Nazis

Nanny State, Police State, Big Brother, call it what you will. Some incidents just make it so obvious that government wants to control us from the cradle to the grave.

Take the Hoke County preschooler in Raeford N.C. whose lunch box was inspected in the school cafeteria. Was it drugs or weapons that they were searching for? No, it was USDA guidelines that had to be adhered to so that every kid was fed proper nutritional elements for lunch. This may have some merit in some rare cases but think of the government waste in employing a food Nazi in every school in America!

Back to the story. The little girl had a pretty good lunch that day consisting of a turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, apple juice and potato chips. OK, the chips may have been a little greasy. The Nazi marched her right over to the counter in the cafeteria and forced her to eat ...... chicken nuggets. Naturally, the girl returned home that afternoon with an invoice for the extra 'food'.

No doubt, we will soon have to clear it with the government to take our next breath. "Not to much exhalation now, you want to keep your carbon dioxide emissions to a minimum."

Cops and Kids

We hear many reports coming out of the US regarding the loss of civil rights since 9/11. First responders have taken on a more aggressive and belligerent stance in the face of unrest or even minor lawlessness. We have all witnessed the change in attitude at the airports and borders and it is a bit frightening even for those of us who have nothing to hide.

Last Saturday there was a disturbing incident in Charlton Mass. that drives this point home. A young girl was traumatized when the police came knocking at the door looking for her and her dad's overdue library books. This is not a joke, meaning yes, it is true, and meaning that this is just the most ludicrous police action one could possibly imagine and is no laughing matter.

It is impossible to know where to begin in denouncing this incident.

 Looking into the situation regarding overdue library books, it is a problem everywhere. It can be chalked up to forgetfulness, sloppiness, or petty theft. There is a simple solution, or two. The library could charge a rental fee that could be refundable or carried over to the next lending of books. Or, there could be a charge to have a library card in the first place and every time a book is unrecoverable, the cost of it comes off the card fee. Once the fee is depleted, no more borrowing until the account is 'topped up' or the books are returned.  

It is time to get innovative instead of sending the police to harass youngsters.

It feels like we are only one step away from doing jail time for eating our salad with the wrong fork.   

Too Stupid for Words

Is there any hope that we will one day arise out of the abyss of utter and abject stupidity? I keep thinking that we have hit bottom, like when the school buses in Ontario are ordered to remove all Christmas decorations from the bus. Or when the instructions on a curling iron caution the user that it may get hot. But the above photo may show that we have hit bottom. The seventeen year old girl pictured was not allowed on a US domestic airline flight because the metal applique on her purse was a replica handgun. OK, I get it that replica handguns can be dangerous, not because they are dangerous, but because they can cause panic among the paranoid, but calling this a replica handgun is beyond stupid. The whole idea behind TSA security is to protect, and to avoid any situation or potential situation where anyone would be put at risk. Well, good on the inpsector who saved all those on the flight from the dangers of a purse in the hands of a seventeen year old girl whose mother was panicking that she was not on the flight.  I am sure they will be forever grateful.   

Choke Warning!

Don't eat these, you may choke on them too.

First off, my apologies for the black font on black background on my last post. For some reason, I discovered it late, and then try as I might, I could not change it.

The 27 nation EU (European Union) has moved closer to Nanny State status today. They have decreed that the age one can blow up a balloon is 14. Anytime before that is an illegal activity. In fact, if you are under 8, you are not even allowed to handle a balloon. This is only one of many news laws and regulations governing toy safety that toy stores and parents will have to keep in mind as they try to educate and entertain the wee ones. Yes, my friends, there is no area of life that is immune to rules and regulations. What with inspections, labelling, enforcement, and re-manufacturing, the cost of entertaining small children just became more stressful and more costly. Perhaps an underground balloon trafficking network will rear its ugly head in a neighbourhood near you, similar to the fireworks situation. (Hey, balloons blow up too!) Birthday parties will never be the same. No doubt, in the future, one will be required to purchase a birthday party permit and have at least one toy nazi on hand to keep all the kiddies alive. And forget those water balloon fights next summer when you and the kids are trying to keep cool. No doubt we would all be dead already if we didn't have the government to take care of our every need. ("Nobody told me one of these things could make you wet!")

You know what happens to children when the parents make every single decision and hover over the kids 'for their own good'. The poor kid never learns to think, and when they finally do make a decision without parental supervision, they make huge blunders. We are almost there as a society.

Signs of Stupidity

It is obvious that these signs were made by stupid people. But they were only doing their jobs and were taking instructions from those in authority above them.

It is an axiom that the bigger government gets, on all levels, the more rules and regulations are imposed on those in their care. I say"in their care" because that is what the purpose of government is, according to the socialist dictates of today's version of democracy.

It would be oh so tragic to let the common citizen, who is stupid, make his or her own decisions. 

Yesterday I read of a homeowner in Michigan who is facing a jury trial and up to 93 days in jail for .... you will never guess. She is doing something on her property that has been natural to mankind throughout our history. It has been done for survival and for pleasure, or both at the same time. It is environmentally friendly, and uses few resources. There are a multitude of benefits, and really, everyone should be doing it, especially in these economic hard times. Apparently some neighbours complained because they were not doing it and that made it out of the ordinary, and did not comply with the cookie cutter image of the city block. Yes, dear reader, she was growing a garden. Not in a ploughed up yard, edge to edge, but in five raised boxes. 

She should actually get a 'citizen of the year' award for setting a good example. Why? She is not using up valuable gasoline by mowing grass like her neighbours do. This lowers the all important carbon footprint. The largest irrigated crop in the USA is grass. And now this lady is not using the precious water for grass, but for growing food. What a novel and noteworthy idea! But no, Big Brother will come down on her, even though it is the "land of the free and home of the brave". 

 Tomorrow I will show you why I have little hope for that once great nation south of our border.  

Missing a Limb

   I feel like I have lost my right arm. Actually, it is only my computer. After weeks of freezing and crashing, and trying to find the problem, I must finally admit that there has been a death in the family. I could race out and get a new one, or I could wait patiently for someone who knows someone who will come when he is ready and do what might be a cheap fix for me, replace the hard drive. In the meanwhile, I am using the laptop, which limits me. So, sorry, but no photos until this situation is resolved.

   The talk about the Vancouver hockey riots just will not go away. It has sunk in, that more than physical damage has been done to the city. After glowing on the world stage, as a result of our wonderful winter Olympics, we seem to have sullied our reputation world wide. Funny what a handful of goons can do with a lighter and a hammer.
    What will happen to the hundreds of perpetrators, who apparently will be easily tracked down and caught due to all the social media publicity of the event? They say that there were 100 arrests made on Wednesday night with more to follow. If the last hockey riot we had in 1994 is a precedent, let see what will happen. 
    There were 100 charges laid with only a dozen or so going to court and all with guilty pleas. Of those, there were only two convictions with any jail time served. One of them was the ring leader who was brain damaged by a rubber bullet and sued the Vancouver Police. With civil libertarians coming out of the woodwork  already, you can guess that the scenario this year will be similar. There will be little or no restitution by those convicted, and if any of them are punished in any way, it will surprise me greatly. The lawyers and the special team of crown prosecutors who have been assembled will make a lot of money, of course, at the expense of the tax payer who will already be hit in the wallet with police costs and other expenses covered by the city and the province. 
   This all adds up to zero deterrents for future rioters. The politically correct thing to do would be to cancel the hockey playoffs next year to avoid tempting the hooligans again. Or at least hold them in secret and only announce the results in the dead of winter during a snow storm so nobody wants to come to the city core to riot.     

Can You Tell The Difference?

When I read this in the morning paper, I just had to post it. In fact, I had to create a new label just for this kind of thing, called 'Stupidity'.

Apparently, two young fellows were driving down the road right here in our little city and several people called 911 to report that a man was brandishing a gun or "perhaps a replica gun" out the window of a passing car. The police apprehended the would be criminals and gave them a good talking to, a warning you might say. So what was it, actually, the young man was waving out the window of the car? A banana! Hey, I don't make this stuff up. This is the new reality when paranoia rules. I am confidant that the police officers involved have had adequate training in determining the difference between a gun and a banana. If not, somebody could have got shot, and not with a banana.

Please study these two photos very carefully. I am providing a vital public service here in that I am showing all my readers what the difference is between a gun and a banana. For those of you who are not sure, the photo ABOVE is a gun. The photo BELOW is a banana. Oh, and don't go waving any fruit out of your car window or you may get taken down by the SWAT Team.