Douane douane day

He didn't read the document. He signed it. But, he didn't read it.

At last Monday's panel conference at Toronto's Metro Convention Centre, former ambassador to them, Frank Mckenna, stated that Canadians feel slighted about the new rule. Former President Bill Clinton said he only heard about the passport requirement the other day.

The audience of 6000 souls also heard from the recently formerized President George W. Bush. "I will be frank with you, Frank, "Bush said,"I don't know about the passport issue."

But a week later, a dream is about to occur. Sometime ago I wrote that if the Americans did insist on passports, it would finally signal the official end of the 1776 American Revolution and the defeat of the Americans in the War of 1812. Grandmother always opined. "Don't chew your cabbage twice."

Screw you grandma. I am gonna have too for the sake of literal continuity as outlined in Strunk's what'ever Style book for Urinalists. Mark tomorrow June 1st, as the greatest day to occur in North America.

The Declaration of Independence purged venom at proto-imperial Britain. Something to do with Tea, Boston and a horse riding bell ringer. The stated goal outlined in this document was the secession from British rule of all British North American colonies.

During that conflict and the later War of 1812 Americans defined their United States but after numerous invasion attempts of Upper and Lower Canada and the Canadian Maritime colonies they came up short on achieving that goal.

An aside here. Lucky a couple of those armed attempts was led by a General Benedict Arnold. A brilliant commander tempered by doubts lacked motivations.

There were suggestions immediately after the American Civil War, to the effect that it would be a shame to disband such a combat ready force like the Union Army. Invade Canada and complete the liberation of the North American colonies.

One of the policies of hope for the USA's war aims was to make the border invisible and court Canadians to feeling close to the spirit of America. Passports were never employed as long as the hope for the absorption of the Canadian provinces had a chance. The imposition of a passport rule meant that Canadians would finally be recognized as foreigners. Tomorrow, June 1st, 2009, Canada finally gets full independence.

Tomorrow, June 1st, 2009, the American Revolution officially ends. Tomorrow, June 1st, 2009, Canada can finally declare victory over the war aims of the War of 1812. Tomorrow, June 1st, 2009 Canada finally becomes fully an independent nation.

Arena problems

Simple observations can approximate some on-going stories. For instance, on my way into the breakfast place I saw this parked behind Moss Park Arena.

Obvious conclusions arise. Serious problems with the ice making machine here.

Know how to do it

My long dead father, survivor of the Great Depression, had one favorite phrase. "Tory times, are tough times."

Repeating it about once a month in all sorts of conversational twists, it became the solid capstone of his formidable debating skills. Such a phrase hangs with some truth. Canadian Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, proved that this week when he grimly stated that next year the federal government will post a $50 Billion dollar deficit.

Laminated on this Conservative announcement lies the foundation of political policy, which is that only they, not the tax and spend Liberals, are best suited to run the country. The problem lies again not in the honest intention of Conservatives but in their genetic inability to improvise, emphathize, and innovate.

Human species divide inherently into two basic and equal divisions one with a Conservative in attitude and the other Liberal. Yet a lot of the higher thinking species also divide into those same two divisions. Sound purpose clasps this natural observation and its all based on hard wired genetics. These species also have the same divisions. Understanding this one can see how this serves the entire species.

The cowardly conservatives maintain those natural activities that work. They maintain the position on the escalator of genetic progress. Liberal thinking beasts explore and improvise to allow the species to expand into new areas of environment and adaptations. Flaherty while trumpeting the Conservative values, champions this philosophical view by proving it.

In both the USA and Canada and Britain Liberals in power lead a breathing, dynamic self sustaining economy. The Conservatives constantly post high deficits and economic declines. Yet, the business community and military community insists on supporting Conservative governments.

Stephen Harper Conservatives fully aware of their failings decided to launch a serious media campaign bent on discrediting Michael Ignatief. This campaign of hate advertising is meant to discredit Ignatief. The secondary goal of the ads aims at deflecting the attention of voters away from the patently obvious. Conservatives employ ineffective economic policies.

Conservatives don't know anything about business economics. Liberals do.

Lids

Its amazing how one equates political freedoms. My advocacy for change in Great Britain does not include wrecking the economies that have managed to intertwine themselves somewhat successfully.

The working political model is the same ones adapted by the progeny of the British Empire, specifically Canada and Australia. Indeed one part of Canada was allowed to vote for secession twice. And twice remaining in the union won. Quebec is viewed as a partner.

Still they had the right to make that choice. It makes for a better partnership. And looking at all the material from modern day Scotland, that's all they want. At the end of the day, I believe that even though theoretically independent. People on all the British Isle will want to remain in close association economically and yes politically.

This model has worked in Switzerland for five hundred years as a federation. It has four distinct cultures together by choice not by monarchist or political decision. The present day United Kingdom could adapt the models their nation building created. Nor does it mean any less for the Monarchy. Two members of the Commonwealth still use the British Monarch as a head of state.

For instance, England would have a state parliament then create another smaller federal parliament in a new federal capital. This would give the cultures of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ulster state parliaments and a new central capital district outside London. This type of partnership would functionally work better than the present Imperial model where junior parliaments exist but all are found in the English parliament.

What is disturbing about the Scottish nationalism is that it is far more alive (about seventy percent for) than in Canada's province of Quebec (about 40%). Its amazing that the lid has been on this for almost three centuries.

nee Alba

I am the descendant of refugees from the thousand years of conflicts with the Angles. Ask the children of the exiled too. The Treaty of Union was good for the present day Lairds and Lords but did nothing for the common Scot...

As one can see, most of the bad things happened after 1700. It was a good thing that the BBC stopped at 1600. After that, the only argument for Union appears economic with an obedient enslaved population, the very same greedy rational for the Clearances.

Deported populations went onto North America and Australia to build vibrant independent nations, with class equality, religious freedoms. A majority of those pioneers were Scots, not French, not English. ...And these Nations were modeled on the hopes and aspirations so wanted for Alba. ...

Most of the generations have forgotten the homeland, and the supplicating toadies that were left behind. We are the last of the free. Scotland is only the place of, not the spirit of Wallace. ...For example, the first Prime Minister of Canada was a MacDonald.

Interior freedom cannot be legislated, created or controlled. ...We the last of the true Scots build a Scottish independence far from its shores, free from the clutches of Union. I would not want my ancestral homeland to have less political freedom than I enjoy.

Gordon Duncan Campbell - Toronto, Canada

Last of the free

The '45 while inconsequential in the history of United Kingdom, for Scotland it was a dramatic pivot point. Clearly the Scots were not militarily strong enough to completely overturn the English crown.

No matter. If you're a Scot, ask yourself. What would have it been like today, if the Jacobite Rebels had won then? ... No Clearances. No deportations. No Scottish regiments serving the British Imperial Army. No Empire to begin with.

No United States of America and thus no Napoleon. Its amazing how one minor event weaves its way into history and today's events.

G.D. Macrae - York, Ontario,Canada

Forecast

Summer still tries to crash into the calendar. Temperatures continue to be below the seasonal norm. So the forecasters say.

I've come to the conclusion that sportswriters and sports broadcasters possess a more faulty forecast ability. Despite the cliches about changing coaches, in the final four of the Stanley Cup chase, three of the four National Hockey League teams involved had coaching changes this very year.

Further, none of those teams were placed in a possible playoff position at the points of the transitions. The only consistent forecaster in the pantheon of sports "experts" still remains Bob McCowen of the Fan590. Not that he is an expert but he gains in percentages by simply being a contrary cuss. For instance, he forecast the Jays to finish with 90 wins this season.

So when knocking the weather forecasters simply remember that if they go, the weather will be done by sports experts. And that would be true climatic horror.

Black has no appeal

The Conrad Black got good news this week. The Supreme Court will hear his appeal. However the assizes aren't until the fall. The decision not until a year from now.

The Toronto Sun conducted a survey with the question being. "Do you support the appeal"?

83 percent voted no.

Colleagues?

The prefix "co" implies a connection, a partnership. For instance, a single person operates. And two people co-operate.

I work with a colleague. But if I work alone... Then I am a league? If I have a collision then its with another car. If I put it in a ditch... Shouldn't that be a lision???

Honest officer. Its a lision.

Mulroney's gulch

Mulroney says he's the most investigated former Prime Minister in history. Out of frustration for the most part. Its his own fault. He took money from a person who possessed a reputation for being a scammer.

In his own defence, Mulroney stated that he didn't do anything to earn that money. That's one hell of an admission. He said that it wasn't fraud or an illegal payment. He made the first set of ethics rules for parliamentarians.

The heat would've been off but about a decade ago Mulroney proceeded to lift two million dollars from the Canadian taxpayer in a lawsuit which stated that he did not receive illegal payments. Sounds like a guy who would blame the church key for failing to remove a twist off cap off a beer bottle.

Do onto others what Deuteronomy

Being the solutions guy. If I were Mayor of TWNBMB. The question is how to use resources, present facilities to effectiveness. How to improve business without getting a bunch of old farts moving into town.

Here's what I would do. Instead of changing TWNBMB into a retirement community like the brain banks in Manitouwadge or Terrace Bay, I have the community change to be an educational centre in the midst of the Boreal Forest.

The idea comes from the deep south of the United States as it converted from an rural to an agrian technical based economy. As the family farms closed down local supply towns focused on turning into College Towns.

Indeed TWNBMB could change its name from "(that)" which was the name of the paper company, which deserted it in the worst economic situation, to "Goodchild's Bay".

It was the anglicized name of the place before the railway named it Peninsula. By restoring it to the original name, it will make good luck. TWNBMB carried the curse of a far away ancient battle where blood was spilled.

This would be the marketing reason as the community focusses on positioning itself as an education town. To accomplish this cheaply and efficiently, the semesters in Goodchild's Bay would be from May to the end of August and from September to mid December. The rest of the months would be hibernation.

Such an activity would be more cost effective, and attract more students and faculty. Creation of such a dedicated town could also mean lower tuition fees for poorer students.

The inactivity period from mid December to May means that students can get enough work in their hometowns without having to seek work in the competitive period of May to August. Having a working relationship with another University such as Lakehead University would mean that these students could compress their post secondary education from the standard four years for a basic to about three perhaps even two years.

This is important for medical students since they must go to university for almost a decade. By providing additional semesters these students could get to the finish line two years earlier than the standard educational format used now.

Having the season in summer means that international students would be more likely to come to town , because all the other universities are going through the summertime lull. The location of Goodchild's Bay, also means that international students could be attracted to the immediacy of the Canadian boreal forest unlike those universities located in larger cities.

There are other significant advantages for Goodchild's Bay to use that asymetrical working season. Great cost savings could be derived from having the facility mothballed during the winter months. Everything from the environment, energy, maintenance costs would be reduced which means a lower tuition for the attending students.

So Goodchild's Bay, formerly known as TWNBMB or "that town" would succeed if it worked to become a brand spanking new university town. Its new industry not resource, woodland, commercial or mining dependent but a long term economic strategy focussing on becoming an education centre.

Surrender

Tamils from Sri Lanka marched up onto the Gardiner last Sunday evening in a lunatic effort to convince the Canadian government to intercede and force the Sri Lankan armed forces into a cease fire. Such an effort seems a further futile action. The Canadian government possesses no real leverage with the Sri Lankan government.

The only reason to get involved is to save civilian life. For months we've been hearing from one side, and not the other.

First off. The present Sri Lankan government is democratically elected. The Tamil Tigers have never been.

Second. The Sri Lankan government is the internationally recognized governing body. The Tamil Tigers are a ruthless group of terrorists who claim to be fighting for a homeland. In actual fact, this matter is entirely an internal civil war.

Third. The Tamil Tigers claim that there is genocide and ethnic cleansing. Over two decades the Tamils conducted a terror campaign of suicide bombings, bank robberies, ethnic cleansing (expulsion of Islamic followers), murder, assassination in and outside Sri Lanka (Rajiv Ghandi). This campaign led to the international recognition of the Tigers are a terrorist organization. Further, the Tamil Tiger leaders are wanted for international crimes.

Fourth. Now the Tamil Tigers want a ceasefire mostly due to humanitarian reasons. In 2002, they got a ceasefire and could have negotiated from a position of strength. This they refused to do. The Sri Lankans now demand a full surrender, but have never said it would be unconditional surrender. The leader of the Tamil Tigers, V. Prabhakaran, doesn't qualify since he is the main target.

If their need for a ceasefire is based on humanitarian grounds why do they not save lives by surrendering. The war is lost.

Instead the Tigers draft young children into armed resistance. They have used child soldiers before but the ages on the front lines get younger. The older soldiers hide behind their own youth and civilians. If they have the best interests of their population then surrender is the only option. They have yet to ask any international mediator to negotiate a surrender.

And one must understand how seriously the Sri Lankans take this conflict. They are Buddhists not Christians, not Islamics, not Hindu. Individual soldiers get no access to self realization by engaging in warfare. For a Buddhist to give up the chance to join with the cosmos by becoming a soldier is a serious issue. They get no virgins. They get no glory. They want the head of Prabhakaran and they want an end to the war. It is a complete sacrifice. They must face reincarnation.

The Tamils in Canada plead for their families. No thought to be given to the tens of thousands of Sri Lankans who suffered at the hands of the Tigers they supported. They lost thousands of family members. Islamic Sri Lankans were expelled from their properties by the Tigers without notice, compensation, or remorse.

Help the Zingars

Zinghalese speaking peoples face severe discrimination in Canada. These people andtheir ancient language evolved in Asia, specifically the home of the Zingars or the peoples of the Five and half tails. Their story is not that unusual.

In the last century, 1999, covert armies expelled them from a genocidal ethnic cleansing of their homeland near the city of Balinakkutuur in central Asia. The majority of the population became international refugees fleeing for their lives in a cruel world. All of them applied for refugee status in Canada.

The twenty four surviving Zingars were accepted and moved to the Canadian refugee camp most people call Surrey, British Columbia. Instantly clashed the cultures. This cultural difference erupted in uncalled for repression from the Canadian government. The instrument of repression came the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Lawyers clashed in the courts over the traditional costume of the Zingars.

Help the Zingars keep their ceremonial dress and their cultural and religious rights. The legal arguments were long and involved but basically boiled down to this. Why should the Sikhs be allowed to keep their ceremonial daggers called Kirpans, in school? Zingars were not allowed the same rights in public or private schools. The same law should also apply equally to the Zingar children at school, they should be allowed to keep their ceremonial AK-47's.

Values

Ambling down for breakfast, I always walk by this 1985 VW Jetta. Its a nice looking car mind you. The owner put a anti-theft bar thing on the steering wheel. The anti-bar theft thing is probably worth as much as the present blue book value of the car.

The threat of theft long past. There isn't much demand for a 1985 car on the black market.

In the National Hockey League (NHL), there is this team called the Toronto Maple Leafs. They sell out almost every home night. They have the highest ticket prices in the world. And even with a depression working in the economy, the owners found cause to raise them another three percent in the coming year. They haven't played in the post season in five or six years, like who's counting. Its been so long that the players on the team think playoff, is a russian hockey player.

Why bother such a team? Its values. That ticket is a must buy in the community.

Sticking with absurd values, and the NHL, a team called the Phoenix Coyotes who also haven't been to the playoffs suddenly went bankrupt. In stepped a man called Jim Balsillie (pronounced balls-lee) who owns Research In Motion (RIM) the Blackberry franchiser, offered a bid of $212 Million dollars towards purchase and movement of the team. This is violently opposed by the instransigent little weasel commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman.

At the present moment the real value of the Coyotes is probably less than $100M. That is being generous because in reality, as an asset they are really worth squat. Bettman and Balsillie have been here and done that twice before. No one in their right mind would pay for a hockey franchise let alone over two hundred million. Like I said its all about values.

May the fourth be with you

Looking up some statitististics recently. This is the day to begin the long road to political independence from southern Ontario. Reason. People can remember this day.

A creation of that province of Northern Ontario by whatever name would create the 7th largest province within Confederation. With the resources found and still to be discovered, this political entity could survive economically if not better. We wouldn't be sending our hard won tax money to the softies surrounding Queer's Park. So much for the first argument by the people who oppose such independent action.

The opponents work from self interest, greed, and simple laziness. As for the border, where does Northern Ontario begin? Let's say the French River with the exception of North Bay which is a southern Ontario colony having elected sell-out politicians over the recent years.

The Northern areas aren't unified. This is true. It is necessary for the First Nations and other heritages to work together recognizing the rights, the needs and the respect for others. This would be the focus of future political action, for the short term. There is room enough for all, and working together success assured.

Use today to think about Northern Ontario land. May the fourth is the day to mark.

Up thar!

Today begins the ambivalence towards the warming climate. No joy in this. No traffic either.

The authorities shut down a major highway intercourse to fix the drain pipes. Catch basins they officially call them.

A ten kilometer race must be run down the major street called Yonge Street. It started three hours ago. It must be over by now. Why the hell with all these streets, in a city no less, must these spandex clowns run down a major street?

Such actions reduce the number of cars in the downtown area drastically. I crossed Queen Street under the mid morning sun. The only direction I had to watch out for was up. Pigeons.

Cuckoo over the Flu Nest... ep. 02

What remains befuddling is the hard shot against Mexico but little against the United States. If Canada was alone attacked, the H1N1 flu could be stopped. Travel warnings have been issued against Mexico but none against the USA.

Remind yourself that during the SARS scare, the United States government issued a travel warning against all Canada coast to coast. Since the health system in the United States is antiquated in global terms, any infiltration of a contagion moves quickly into the that population. Public health has unique advantages.

By all rights with the United States having about 50% of the confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, travel warnings to the United States should be issued. The Harper government lacks the balls to do that. They've been neutered since the swearing in ceremony. Simply ban travel or issue a quarantine

The Chinese government has it right. All travelers from Mexico now will be in quarantine for a week. Now that should slow the spread of the virus.

Pointings on May

His fresh half case of beer swung pendulating to a stuttering gait. Remnants of shoe leather slapped on the ground. Unwashed pants and jacket hung tired from his body. It was the beginning of the month. More money.

Not money for shoes, or pants, or jacket. Money enough for beer. He thought he was doing okay.

Cool baskets

Despite the cold temperatures tough Canadian youth in Toronto manage to play a pick up game of basketball. They cleaned off the snow on the outside courts. Toronto, a typical Canadian city, anticipates all the snow to leave the ground by mid-June.

After the game, the players put their parkas back on as they group marched to a local pub for the post game coffees. Its a time honoured tradition. Later they will go home to their igloos and wives to happily tell the story of this game.