It's Tough Out There

If you have a job, a thriving business, a reliable income, some hefty savings, or all of the above, be thankful. If you were an American, one in five of you would be unemployed.

This from the Wall Street Journal:

 The income of the typical American family — long the envy of much of the world — has dropped for the third year in a row and is now roughly where it was in 1996 when adjusted for inflation.

The income of a household considered to be at the statistical middle fell 2.3% to an inflation-adjusted $49,445 in 2010, which is 7.1% below its 1999 peak, the Census Bureau said.

The Census Bureau’s annual snapshot of living standards offered a new set of statistics to show how devastating the recession was and how disappointing the recovery has been. For a huge swath of American families, the gains of the boom of the 2000s have been wiped out.

Earnings of the typical man who works full-time year round fell, and are lower — adjusted for inflation — than in 1978. Earnings for women, meanwhile, are a relative bright spot: Median incomes have been rising in recent years and rose again last year, though women still make 77 cents for every dollar earned by comparably employed men.

The fraction of Americans living in poverty clicked up to 15.1% of the population, and 22% of children are now living below the poverty line, the biggest percentage since 1993.

The article goes on to say that 46.2 million people are below the poverty line, more than any time in the last 50 years.

Around 70% of the USA economy is driven by consumer spending. How can these people be big consumers so the economy can get back on track? It just cannot happen. We are in uncharted territory when it comes to economics. The numbers show that we are not in a recovery, a slump, a recession, or a depression. I believe the correct word would be "a correction", where we have to re-think how to do economy. The old ways will no longer work, that is expansion through spending and borrowing. As soon as our leaders recognise this, we might be able to stop the free fall.

Transformation

This is another book in my latest series of reading about the world of Islam. This is an autobiography of a wealthy and highly placed Pakistani woman whose husband abandoned her in middle age. She retreated to her family mansion to live out her life in tranquility and luxury with her grandson and her fourteen servants.

A series of incidents happen and she begins to question her Muslim faith and begins to explore Christianity when John the Baptist appears to her in a dream and she has to go to a local Christian missionary to find out who this John guy is. 

Leaving the Muslim faith is no light decision in that culture and she began to feel the alienation from her very large extended family and circle of friends, even to the point of finding that her life was in great danger. 

Her journey of faith is very interesting as she struggles to know what God would have her do in her relationships and with her former life. There is great emphasis put on 'being in God's presence' and she develops an amazing sense of how do that in all circumstances.

It has always intrigued me how Muslims are lead to faith through dreams and miracles. They certainly put more stock in these sorts of things than we do, but when I read the book, I get the sense that very many of the 'miracles' that happened in her life, happen to us also, but we do not recognise them or give them credence as messages from God so that they can guide our lives. 

The book is a bit of a wake up call for any Christian who is being casual with their faith and wondering why they do not feel that God is near to them.     

MCC Follow-up

What do you do when the local newspaper makes a liar out of you? I read that the proceeds from the sale were just over $600,000.00 which was short of the goal. But then there was a paragraph on the symbolic loaf of bread, which, they said, sold for $100,000.00. Just a minute. I was there. I witnessed the bidding and final offer of $2000.00! There can only be one explanaition for this.

At the sale, there a number of booths where one can simply donate money to MCC with cash or cheque. Perhaps they total all these donations and put them under the 'loaf of bread receipts'. If this is the case, then the announcement of the auction price is very misleading. The way they play it up, it sounds like one person bid the large amount and paid, out of his pocket, the total sum. That would indeed be one very generous person.

Help

Last night was movie night. It was Toonie Tuesday, what can I say. We can't even stay at home and twiddle our thumbs for that price.

"The Help" was recommended to us by at least six people over the weekend so, not wanting to be the only ones in our circle of friends to have not seen it, we relented.

I was tempted to walk out after the first fifteen minutes, but a while later I reluctantly admitted that it might be a good idea to stay. It was finally starting to get to the point.

The time is the early sixties, and the location is the deep southern USA, Mississippi to be precise. The whites and the blacks are miles apart, but are under the same roof because one works for the other. It is an interesting and often amusing study of varying degrees of racial prejudice. It also gets heart wrenching at times to see the way people can treat each other. The attitude towards blacks in the south was deeply ingrained over many generations, and the ugly cycle was only beginning to break during this time in history.

The movie is well done, once the myriad of characters are straightened out and the viewer gets a feel for the developing story line. In the end it is satisfying and knowing history, we have hope because we know how the battle against racism was fought and how it is still being won today.

But I must say that at any moment I was expecting Oprah to make a cameo appearance and urge each and every one of us to go out and buy the book ( the title of the movie is also the title of a book being written in the movie) so we could change America. Oprah got her big career boost from the movie "The Colour Purple" and I could easily see one of the black maids in this movie make a big leap forward from this platform. A final note. I have always been a huge fan of chocolate pie. I was cured last night. I'm stickin' to apple.

The Butter Story

My grandfather had a general store in the prairies back in the 'good old days'. There was a story, one of many, about a butter incident that has always intrigued me. Apparently a customer from the farm, one of many, would supply my grandfather with butter, milk, cream, and eggs and would exchange those products for such things as flour, sugar, salt, etc. . One day she brought in a batch of butter, but told my grandfather that she actually needed it for herself. The reason she was bringing it in was because a mouse had dropped into the churn and although she fished it out and the butter was perfectly clean, she was horrified by the thought of eating it herself, even though she was sure it was just fine. She pleaded with my grandfather to simply exchange it for other butter that he might have in stock. He gave her his business man's smile and assured her that he could accommodate her wishes. He disappeared to the back of his store, re-packaged the ladies butter, and brought it back out to her. With eternal gratitude, she clutched her 'new' butter and scurried off home.    

Now, fast forward to Saturday afternoon. While visiting with my father in the care home, he got a visitor that I had never met. We introduced ourselves and I asked what his connection to my father was. He told me that he grew up in the same area as my dad did, and indeed he knew my dad's family. Then he told me how his mother used to bring butter to my grandfather in exchange for other grocery items. Of course, that triggered a question. After relating the butter story to him, I asked if he thought there was even a remote possibility that his mother could have been that woman. He said he doubted it because his mom was sharp. I let him think that, and did not challenge him. After all, how would she know she had been duped. As sharp as she was, I believe my grandfather was even more clever. Besides, these stories lose their intrigue when the mystery is solved.

Menno is my Homeboy

The famous MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) sale was this past weekend and for the fourth time in my life, I attended. There are very few changes over the years, but there are some: The people you meet from your past are much older looking. The venue. They now sell Sushi, although what that stuff is doing at a traditional Mennonite event is beyond me.

Pretty much everything else stays the same. For those who are not familiar with this event, or are, but have never gone, this is the deal. First off, you buy your food tickets because food is king at the MCC sale. You then line up for the sausage and pancake breakfast. With Aunt Jemima syrup running off your Styrofoam plate, you find someone you know at the endless rows of tables and chairs and join them for breakfast. It will be somebody you have not seen for many years but have some sort of connection with through a church you once attended.

After the last gulp of so-so coffee, you start wandering. With one eye on the booths and their wares, and the other eye on the lookout for familiar faces, you do the rounds. The rows and rows of food booths can take a back seat now that the pancakes are digesting, and you look for the quilts. At least that is what we did because busylizzy is into quilting. Even a novice has to admit that the quilts are amazing! At this point, you part company with your spouse because she knows a whole set of people from her past that you do not know, and vice versa. It is just more efficient that way.

I wandered to the Auction area and watched the proceeding there for while. There are boats, cars, and three brand new RVs this year all sold at auction. Something I saw at the auction shocked me. They start the proceedings off by selling a loaf of bread to the highest bidder. Of course, it is a donation and the bread is only symbolic. In past years, this loaf has sold for $100,000.00 to $200,000.00. With the economy being down, I was really curious to see how much this loaf would fetch this year. The bidding bogged down at a mere $2,000.00 and that was the final offer. This is unprecedented and does not bode well for the lofty goal of raising at least $700,000.00 at the sale for this year. It also says a lot about the financial well being of our community, or maybe just the fear of letting go of money in a bad economy. There were few bidders and the prices on all the items were very low. It was getting depressing so I began to wander again.

There was no shortage of familiar faces. I could not walk a few yards without making eye contact and then saying hi, or stopping to chat. I even picked up some business when I bumped into an old client from 10 years ago. I spoke with the 92 year old pastor who married busylizzy and myself 41 years ago.  He was so thrilled to see that we were still married. Isn't that a sign of the times? 

We then decided on what to have for lunch. Because we eat all the traditional 'Menno foods' at home, the usual fare did not appeal to us so I had a Bison Burger heaped with fried onions. We found a retired pastor couple from our church and ate with them and what ensued was an interesting conversation regarding their recent trip to Peru. A bit more wandering and meeting and greeting and then back home to get on with our day. 

In the next few days, we will hear how much money was raised for HIV/AIDS as well as clean water wells, all for Africa. I sincerely hope they reach their goal, but it will surprise me. We usually leave a big donation, but because my work situation has been abysmal this year, we too are being careful. If we are typical of the average attendee, there will be a downturn. Let's hope not. 

busylizzy's mom and dad together with Reverend Erwin Cornelson, the pastor who married us. He crafts beautiful wooden dishes and busylizzy purchased a bread plate. He tells us it will be his last MCC sale. If my mind is half as sharp as his when and if I attain his age of 92, I will be thrilled. (And will still be blogging) 

We actually had two pastors marry us, and the lady on the left is the wife of the other one, together with two of her daughters.

Here is me with a real 'find'. This woman, together with her now deceased husband, were witnesses at the signing ceremony of our wedding 41 years ago. She also happens to be one of our neighbours in Oroville.

     

911

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York City. There will be memorials and tributes, and it will be very difficult for the thousands who lost loved ones. For most of us, it is at a distance and does not not create sorrow or grief, but just perhaps a longing for the way things were 11 years ago. There were many knee jerk reactions by the leaders of all nations at the time, and unfortunately those actions have had a profound effect on our lives in many ways that we do not even blame on that incident.

The purpose of terrorism is not to overwhelm, but to undermine, and in that sense, the attack was successful. We have given up many civil liberties in exchange for a perception of safety. Do you remember colour coded terrorist alerts or suspicious paper bags in hallways or garbage cans before 911?  How about airport security or fear of anyone that even looks Muslim? Our governments are spying on us more than ever before and do we complain? We now take for granted the excessive scrutiny we endure while crossing the border for a bit of weekend shopping.

Another and bigger tragedy is the 4,683 US soldiers, 100,000 soldiers and citizens of Iraq, and many more Canadians and others who lost their lives fighting a war that in the end will only accomplish what Iran has wanted for many generations, and that is Iraq out of the way for control of the Gulf.

Brown University recently did a "Cost of War" study for the decade and came up with the figure of  $4 Trillion. So we can conclude that even our financial woes are in great part to be blamed on 911. War is for the most part, a very unproductive undertaking, and even more so when it is done with borrowed money.

I am afraid that we have let the terrorists win this one. It is difficult to imagine how they could have done us more harm than what we did to ourselves in reaction to their attack. Much more than they had hoped for, I'm sure.   

It's OK To Be Blue

Due to the cold early summer we had, all fruits and produce were late in arrival. We could not wait for our Blueberry feed so we bought some of the early variety berries and enjoyed them, but found that just a little handful would leave a sour feeling in the stomach. They tasted a bit tart and certainly had a very high acid content. We are now at the end of the Blueberry season and brought home 25 pounds of the delightful little things yesterday. In a word, they are amazing! I am eating them by the handful and finding that they leave a peaceful, contented feeling in the stomach. It is one of the rare fruits that one can eat 'tons' of at a time and have no ill effects. At least that is true for me.

I had a banana blueberry smoothie for breakfast this morning and it was wonderful.

No this is not "Mennonite Guys Cannot Cook" blog, but I will give you my version of the best smoothie ever. One ripe banana, at least a cup of blueberries, three tablespoons of plain yogurt, and two ice cubes. Put them in the blender and there you have it. If your blueberries are not really sweet, you can add a bit of honey to taste. It does not get more healthy than that, and I have no idea why my font is suddenly in Italics. Is this what happens when one eats too many blueberries?  

There is a time and place for drugs, and this morning was the time, and the breakfast table was the place. I am loathe to take any kind of medication, but I had a bottle of Ibuprofen from the sore hip days, and it was just sitting in my medicine chest getting closer to the expiration date. At the time, I bought a large bottle, thinking that my hip would never get better and I would simply manage the pain when it became unbearable. Since my hip was fixed by Dr. Dan, I have not opened that bottle, until this morning. I could hardly get dressed and I had an important job to do that had been arranged many weeks ago. By 9 am the pill kicked in and after the second one at noon, I was about 90% good to go. The job got completed and I did not scream out even one time. I am now waiting for the inevitable digestive problems that I am prone too when I take this stuff. But that is something I will not blog about. I have few enough readers as it is.   

I'm Hurtin'

I did something at work today that was very physical. I was at it steady for more than three hours, yet I knew after the first twenty minutes that I would be paying a price. My body is yelling at me, "Retire, already, you fool, before you break!"

My form of retirement is to ease out gradually, and actually, that is what I am doing. I had not worked for while, I worked an easy job for an hour in the morning, and only for three in the afternoon. What more does this body want from me? Had I done what I did today for eight hours, I would not be typing this tonight, but would be filling out an application for the after life.

Biography

I have added another book about Muslims to my list of "Books I Have Read." This one is a little different in that the author never was a Muslim, even though he was a Palestinian and later in life married an Egyptian. He grew up in Jerusalem and was farmed out to a Catholic orphanage, and had most of his early schooling in a French Catholic private school. He later went on to get many different degrees at various universities, and lived in Beirut, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and Morocco.

As a young man, he questioned his Catholic up-bringing when his older brother invited him to a Baptist church in old Jerusalem. The book is about his journey of faith and eventually the calling he had to become a radio broadcaster, telling the Arabic world about Jesus. His mantra is that talking about religion never goes anywhere. Talking about Jesus is what gets results. He learned how to appeal to the Muslim culture and mind and became successful doing so. From that point of view it is interesting, however the book is poorly written, feeling disjointed and incomplete.

My quest in reading all these books about Muslims is to discover the nature of the dichotomy in the world of Islam, the division, if it indeed exists, between the radical and the peaceful aspects of that religion. I am making some progress.  

Bonus

What a spectacular evening it was last night. We decided to drive to Mill Lake and then do the stroll. I finally remembered to take my pedometer and discovered that it is what I thought it was in distance, a bit over 3Km. I guessed that because it takes me 30 minutes to walk it and my pace is around 6 Km. per hour. The air was balmy like a soft blanket, the sun was just setting, the light was warm, and the air quality was rather good considering it has been warm for so many days now. The orange glow on Mt. Baker made me sorry I did not bring my camera. The path was almost crowded and we met very many people we knew. A quick "hi" and we carried on, except when we met a friend from the past, someone we had not seen but once in the last twenty years. By an amazing coincidence, I had just seen her husband the day before and we spent a couple of hours catching up over a cup of coffee. They were in town together for a change and usually go their separate ways once they get here, in order to cover all family members on their rare visits to their old home town. We made a date, and promised to get together twenty years from now when they are both in town together again. Our grandchildren can push us around Mill Lake in our wheel chairs, while we catch up, and wish we had gotten together sooner. Then we will all go back to the care home for a warm glass of milk and diaper change.   

Monster Houses

I took a stroll around my old neighbourhood on Saturday morning. It is not what it used to be. It was first developed in the 50's and 60's when there was an abundance of room and lot sizes were large.  

Today these lots are sought after because they are the only properties in town that can accommodate monster houses.

I suppose soon this is the only type of house we will see, but right now, the old 1200 Sq. Ft. homes are dwarfed by the massive houses on every street.

There are no front or rear gardens, and limited landscaping. The houses take up the whole property.

Absolutely every one of them is built and owned by East Indians. It is their culture to house many families in one dwelling, enabling larger and larger numbers of family members to come to Canada.

It may be a clever thing to do, but it changes the neighbourhood. There are parking problems, and when the houses have lost their polish, they are generally poorly maintained and the landscaping is neglected.

Personally, I would not want to spend that much money on a house in a neighbourhood without underground wiring. It is ugly.

These homes are causing controversy in our town, not just because they are so huge, but because there are illegal suite issues and huge revenue losses to the city. Our mayor is one to turn a blind eye, however, because he knows on which side his bread is buttered.  

Here is a rare one that borders on the tasteful.

This one is on my old street, about a block from where I grew up. At that time, we had the nicest house on the block.

And, finally, a photo of an original home on my old street that shows what really should be happening in the old parts of town. A tasteful up-grade is not all that expensive and maintains the character of the subdivision. Of course, if this owner is offered above market value for this home, to be pushed over for a monster home, can you blame him for selling out?

Sticking To It

One of the many delights one will encounter on the Mill Lake stroll.

On my May 9th post, I made a prediction that the NDP and Liberal parties of Canada would merge. They have just taken one step closer to that reality. The NDP Mp Pat Martin is making noises that he is going to run for the leadership of the party with a platform of seriously starting a dialogue with the Liberals with the view in mind of working closely together or merging. He has a powerful endorsement from the big union boss of the CAW (Canadian Auto Workers), Ken Lewenza. They both give the example of the Conservative alignment that met with great success, namely the Reformers and Conservatives, both parties frustrated with splitting the anti-Liberal vote for so many years. 

For the NDP and Liberals to now do the same only makes sense for both of them. The Liberals are decimated and floundering, the NDP have gone as far as they can go, and they did that with a charismatic leader who is now deceased. 

The fly in the ointment here is that there is a perception that a two party system is an evil thing. Why? Because, of course, the USA has a two party system, and every good Canadian citizen knows that we do not want to be like the Americans. It is a big part of our identity to 'not be like the Americans'.

If the two parties do not merge, we will have Conservative majorities for a long time to come. And that is why I think the merge will happen. Conservatives are so evil in the minds of the left that we can easily risk being like the Americans in order to prevent the insidious Conservatives from forcing their right wing agenda down our wimpy throats. Don't you love politics? I am sticking to my prediction, and if I am wrong, all the better. 

What The?

I cannot believe I went to see this movie! However, when I was invited to tag along, I thought there was a certain appeal based on the fact that I love westerns, I like action/adventure, and I like Daniel Craig (James Bond) and Harrison Ford. There must be something of value here, I thought.

I was lured in by the opening sequence and was duped into thinking that this was going to be one awesome western. Gritty, mysterious, rugged, and two fisted down and dirty is what it was. But it soon got weird, and when Harrison Ford's character came on screen, I was disappointed. But hey, what can you expect with a title like that. The plot thickens and the object of our interest turns to a mysterious bracelet worn by Daniel Craig. We soon get to see some Steven Spielberg monsters from outer space with all the attendant scare tactics. Why do an alien's eating utensils always come out of their chest? And if you came for explosions, you will not be disappointed. Six shooters do not do well against alien technology, but somehow they, together with bows and arrows and a few sticks of dynamite, save the day. And even Harrison Ford and his whiny snot nosed kid come around to our liking at the end of the movie. This movie was in the middle of the pack for me. Seen better, seen worse.   

An Awesome Book!

If you are a reader like I am, you will have a long list of books that you would someday like to read. You know, so many books, so little time. "The Kite Runner" has been one of many on my list of must reads and I finally got around to it. I must say that it is one of the very best books I have ever read. The craft of writing is at its finest in this novel. I have often misjudged a book by its cover or its theme, but the danger in doing that is, of course, that I might miss out on a treasure, a genuine diamond.

This is a story that is totally captivating. It is about Afghanistan, then and now, culture, immigration, friendship, loyalty,fathers and sons, friends and enemies, betrayal, secrets, redemption, and most importantly, restoration. The themes and plot twists weave in and out like a brilliant Persian carpet pattern, each turn of the page revealing more of what lay in the past, and what might be in the future. The foreshadowing always becomes clear after the fact and almost always takes the reader by surprise, yet, we should not have been surprised. The tapestry of wonderful imagery is interspersed with action and suspense and we find ourselves at once loathing the protagonist and then totally sympathising with him, all the while hoping he can rid himself of the deep guilt that forever keeps him from being whole. And how satisfying to discover that in the end, our 'hero' has, indeed, "found a way to be good again".

If I had three thumbs, they would all be 'up'.

Overkill

I pulled into my bank a few days ago and spotted the only available space in the parking lot.  At a glance I saw that the car next to the spot I had my eye on was too close to the building and in fact had humped over the retaining curb, gone over the space next to the walkway, and was tucked up against the building. I then saw that the lady driver (I had to mention that the driver was a woman) of the brand new Nissan was inspecting her car while she was on her cell phone. She had lightly bumped the building, which has just been totally renovated from the outside with plate glass, and two of the panes of glass, about 3 ft. square, were shattered. There was another person on his phone a few feet away and I surmised that everyone was OK except for the glass. A minor mishap, so I proceeded to do my banking. When I came out of the bank, it was like a terrorist attack had just taken place. The complete parking lot had been blocked off with emergency vehicles. There was a fire truck with four firemen in full gear, an ambulance with paramedics about to pull a stretcher from their vehicle, and four police cars, one of which was a ghost car. I stood beside my truck for a moment, surveying the situation, and could not help but burst out laughing. I then approached the policeman nearest the ghost car and asked him to kindly remove his car so I could back out and get on with my day.

I have witnessed overkill similar to this too often to think it is unusual. Is there no common sense left? Is all this equipment and manpower brought out just because it is there and can be used? Are these people bored? Did someone send in a false report of supposed mayhem? Really, all that was required was a tow-truck and an insurance adjustor for the damage done to the building.  Perhaps a police report for insurance purposes.

As I drove away from the building, people were flocking down the street to see what all the commotion was about. Imagine their horror when they discovered two broken window panes!  

Deja Vu All Over Again

It is fair and square. We democratically voted and we will now go back to our old tax system of PST/GST to replace our present HST.

The big plus to all of this is that the referendum legislation of BC, which was designed to fail, but has never really been tested, has  shown us voters that if we really are disgruntled about the direction our leaders are taking us, we do have recourse apart from a provincial election every four years. This should help to stave off any more stupid moves in the future.

But now what. It is interesting that a new tax can hit us over night, but getting rid of an onerous tax will take 18 months. This is about how much time it will take to gather enough money to pay back the feds the incentive money they gave us to get on the HST bandwagon in the first place. Why are we squawking about paying it back? There is only one tax payer, the worker. There is only one government, but divided into federal, provincial, and municipal. If my tax dollar, that I gave to the provincials, is now being given to the federals, it is still my money going to government. So lets get over that aspect of it. What remains to be seen is how the old system, after 18 months of set-up will eventually change to reflect the much needed, but lost revenue of the HST. It will be political suicide to handle this issue badly. And then it will be the downfall of us all if the NDP get in because we are still angry about taxes. Let's be smart here. We all know that as us 'boomers' are aging, the implications to government spending are huge regarding health care and the fact that we will collect pension and will no longer pay into the CPP. As selfish demands for more services keep coming, it will have to be paid for, either with more taxation, cuts in other areas, or with debt. None of these options is palatable. Had we kept the HST, at least it would have been streamlined, and streamlining is all about efficiency, something that is sorely missing in all levels of government today.

Get Rich?

This is one of the books I was reading on my recent vacation in desert country. Normally, I would never even pick up a book like this, for several reasons. I did, because a trusted friend recommended it to me, and told me he was following the formula and it really worked. Being on the verge of retirement, I consented, more out of curiosity than anything.

It was written in 1977 and the edition I purchased (1988) had some up-dates and testimonials which make it rather interesting. The nature and purpose of the stock market never changes so the formula for success is really timeless. The idea is that there is a dynamic energy in the ups and downs of the markets and Mr. Lichello has come up with a mathematical equation that lets the common investor take advantage of the swings. The key to making money is not in the up swings, but in the movement, so the investor is making money in both directions. It is very interesting and it works. And it only takes a bit of time once a month. There is no watching and fretting over rising and falling stocks. Everything is good.

Knowing someone who has had success over many years with this system is helpful, but I have quite a few questions before I take the plunge. Actually, one can test the theory with a phantom account, imaginary money, and test flow sheets. It just may be worth my while because what we have seen lately is volatile fluctuations on the stock market, and that is exactly what one needs to succeed in this program. You can pick up a copy on Amazon.com for $5.

The Last Goodbye

The media hype was building all week so I, like millions of Canadians, watched as Jack Layton, the leader of the Opposition, was memorialized yesterday, after his passing last Monday. How could one not watch when one commentator on Thursday declared this event as "Just like the death of Princess Diana." Now that is a tall order to fill and as it turns out, only a 'died in the wool' Canadian was even aware of this event as opposed to the whole world being fixated on the death of a Princess. Having said that, a state funeral is no small thing, and it was done up in a truly Canadian fashion.

What do I mean by that? For starters, in the true spirit of the CRTC, the media watchdog for Canada with a decidedly socialistic bent, Canadian content was a prerequisite. Steven Page of  'Bare Naked Ladies' fame, sang a familiar piece, 'Alleluia', which has a token churchy sort of religious sound but for the fact that it is a shout to life as opposed to a praise to God. The lead singer for 'The Parachute Club' also gave a contribution but singing in the same key as her band would have been a nice touch. 

And no state occasion can begin without a ceremony lead by a First Nations elder, complete with feathers. If Jack had Indian status, I was not aware. 

Of course, all dignitaries and the who's who of Ottawa were in attendance. When Stephen Lewis, the epitome of Canadian socialism, gave a tribute, there was a standing ovation and the Conservative ministers of the government were put in a tight spot. Dare they stand and condone the statement that Jack's dying words were a manifesto of Canadian Justice and fairness? Jack's ideals are the ideals of everyone in Canada, but there are differing opinions on how to achieve those goals. With the lead of Prime Minister Harper, they all finally stood up. It was the decent thing to do. 

And who would a true Canadian socialist choose to give a sermon at his memorial? Think hard. How about a gay, yet married man of the cloth.  The reverend Brent Hawkes stated that Jack was a very spiritual person and came to church every Christmas, and always asked about his husband. Mr. Hawkes was very articulate, sincere, and his message was well crafted, but his world view is certainly not the same as mine. "It matters not what spiritual journey you are on, but that you are on one." That is an all inclusive statement that precludes any absolute truth. But that is really the way the whole world is going and Mr. Hawkes has legitimized that idea for undecided Canadians at a very high profile and dignified event. We will all know absolute truth when we pass from this life to the next, and that is something that Jack is dealing with at this very moment. 

Judging by all the accolades, Jack was a perfect man. Well, we know that to be untrue, just as it is in our own lives. He has skeletons in his closet, as we all do. How easy to idolize a man after his passing. 

And what about his legacy? He will enter the history books as the only NDP leader to take his party to Official Opposition status. He was a very likable and charismatic leader and friend to many. He was responsible for the demise of the Bloc Quebecois, but time will tell if the NDP becomes the new voice of the self described disenfranchised French Canadian. One of Jack's last tasks was to appoint his successor, and he cleverly chose someone who has ties to Quebec separatism. He will be remembered  very favourably by his family. He will be an inspiration to aspiring social activists and will no doubt be declared a saint by his party. We can only hope that the remembrance of his style will bring a bit of lacking civility into the House of Commons. He galvanized his party in life, but will his death now have the same effect?  

No doubt, Jack will, in the end, have done some good for Canada.        

Just One of the Gang

My favourite photographic subject. He is a happy, cheerful, willing boy who just loves to be part of the action.

Dry land canoeing so his mom does not have to worry.

Hurry up dad, I've been ready for a long time.

Ferrying back and forth to shore.

Canoeing is for sissies but I still like it.

Psyching himself up for the big tube ride.

It's been a long hot day, but worth every minute. I need a nap.

Clouds

We are not used to seeing a lot of sky where we live, so what some people might find strange, staring at the sky, I quite enjoy. Early morning and late evening are the best sky gazing times, and I got a good eye full of God's artistry on more than a few occasions. I will let the photos speak for themselves.