Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Proud to be Canadian

This is a bit of a long read, but well worth it! Like it says in the article it is amazing it has taken a person from out side of our country to recognize the fact of how valuable we are in this country. I know at times we are the laughing stock of the world, and you know that is alright. At the end of the day we can stand with our heads up and be proud of who and what we are!

Enjoy
From the 400lb Gorilla

A British newspaper salutes Canada. This is a good read. It is funny

how it took someone in England to put it into words.

Sunday Telegraph Article: Salute to a Brave and Modest Nation -

Kevin Myers, The Sunday Telegraph LONDON -

Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably

almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian

troops are deployed in the region. And as always Canada will bury its

dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its

sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.



It seems that Canada 's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid

both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis

is over, to be well and truly ignored.


Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall,

waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out,

she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers

serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing

resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once

helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet

again.


That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent

with the United States , and for being a selfless friend of Britain in

two global conflicts. For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in

two different directions: it seemed to be a part of the old world, yet

had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it

never fully got the gratitude it deserved. Yet its purely voluntary

contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the

greatest of any democracy.


Almost 10% of Canada 's entire population of seven million people served

in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died.

The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops,

perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.


Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's

unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as

somehow or other the work of the "British."


The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war

with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the

Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships

participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian

soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone. Canada finished the war with the

third-largest navy and the fourth-largest air force in the world.


The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had

the previous time. Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged

in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a

campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a

touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned,

as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.


So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood

keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary

Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William

Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter

and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and

Christopher Plummer, British.


It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be

Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian

as a moose, or Celine Dion....


Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements

of it's sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely

unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are

unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided

10% of the world's peacekeeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past

half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39

missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from

Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.


Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular on-Canadian

imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia , in which out-of-control

paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then

disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for

which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.


So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless

friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan? Rather

like Cyrano de Bergerac , Canada repeatedly does honourable things for

honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains

something of a figure of fun.


It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such

honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian

families knew that cost all too tragically well.



*********************

Please pass this on to any friends or relatives who served in the

Canadian Forces or anyone who is proud to be Canadian; it is a wonderful

tribute to those who choose to serve their country and the world in the

quiet Canadian way.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Quack Quack Quack...

Wow here it is in late May and some people are still dealing with snow. I awoke to a nice quite patter of rain on the roof this morning. I know that April showers are to bring May flowers, but what does May snow bring, other then dead plants and trees???? LOL I guess it is not funny for all those that have that green thumb, and put out your plants in their beds for the year. Maybe for once my procrastination has paid off!! LOL... The wife was just accusing me of being lazy....I think of it as being smart...WOW did I ever dodge a bullet on that one! Some folks around us not really that far have received a foot or so of snow over night. The nice part of it is that it will not stick around for long. The down side to that is, that is very wet and heavy, and has created real havoc with the gardening and tree community. Maybe my Grandmother had something in the fact she used to tell us never plant the garden until after May 24th or you could be in for a surprise. Thanks Granny... Even though a garden is not in the plans for this year I will keep it in mind for years to come. I would like to ask all my readers to say a bit of a prayer or at least take a moment and think about your health and not take it for granted. One of the fellow readers let me know that a good friend and past co-worker's husband had a serious heart attack this past weekend. Our thoughts go out to you Diane and Denis, hopefully he will be up and around in no time. Remember Denis you are married . No matter how cute she is Diane is better...LOL You will be in our thoughts and prayers. Get well real soon!!! Now on to a more serious topic....

What is happening to our youth of today? I watched the news again last evening, and they lead with a story about a young man being shot and killed in a Toronto school yesterday. What is going through a child's mind or anyone for that matter, child or not that you wake up one morning and decided that today seems like a good day to go out and kill someone. Now there is the special interest groups that blame video games. All I can say to that is POPPY COCK!!!!! It is like saying lets ban guns because there is too many people dying. Unless you have not noticed people it is not guns that kill people, it is people that kill people!!! I am finding it harder and harder in today's society that nobody is taking responsibility for their own actions. My question is where did such a young man or women get a gun to take to school in the first place? Better yet I don't know about you, but as a parent I think I would be paying a bit more attention to my kids as to what they do and don't have. If it is a case that it was taken from the home I think the parents should be charged at best for child neglect as I really don't think a kid of that age should have access to weapons. I am not saying the parents cannot have guns, But PLEASE store them properly so little fingers do not have access to them. If you feel that your child is that unstable store them off the property so they do not have access to them. The situation I see with this is now all the special interest groups are going to be climbing back on that big band wagon to ban guns globely. I really struggle because of that. There is some very good and responsible guns owners out there. Just because there is one dolt out there the whole group has to suffer.

Again I go back to why did this happen? What lead up to this situation? I think that society in some cases have lost control of our youth. Tell me how many parents do not both work? Not many... I want the great Canadian dream too, but I also made the choice to not have children. Now before you start firing off emails as to then what do you know you don't even have kids. Well my response to that is two fold. I come from a therapy back ground so I feel I have some knowledge in the area. Also I did not just crawl from out under a rock last night. Most of our friends have children, and contrary to popular belief I like kids, and take an interest in them. Some of my career has even involved working with youth very closely. I think because of peer pressure and Mom and Dad wanting everything in the first five years of marriage. Better known as the Keeping up with the Jones syndrome. Mom and Dad have to work to pay for what they have committed to. Sometimes I think kids would just as soon want to spend time with Mom and Dad doing the simpler things in life rather then going on expensive vacations to Maui ever year. I would like some feed back about this one. You know how it works leave me your opinion in the comments section at the end of this posting.

The other story that I was following today that made me sit back and ponder life, and what was going on. Is a teenage girl has a baby in a Walmart washroom, and then walks away leaving it there unattended. Again WOW. What was going through this girls mind? I can appreciate she was probably scared witless but, wow in todays society, and so many people want newborn children to adopt, why did she at least take it to a hospital and turn it over there rather then taking her chances, and hoping someone found it before it was too late. I guess I am not a young girl having to deal with this situation, but I will say there must be a tremendous amount of anguish after doing something like this. I struggle with the fact in today's society, and the amount of education and protection how our youth is having accidents and getting pregnant anyway! Again I would like to hear your feed back on this topic. I am interested in you as readers and your opinions on these two matters.

Until next time....

Cheers
From the 400LB Gorilla

Remember:

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.
- John Ciardi

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

Wanting to read more on that school shooting? Click here...
Want to read on baby being born is Saskatchewan Walmart? Click Here...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Wow how time flies!!!

Well hello to all my loyal readers. I am sorry that it has taken me so long to make a post as most of you know that the big ape moved cages so there has been a lot of drama associated with this. I must admit it was worth all the drama as the cage they moved me into now is pretty spiffy! So what is new you ask? Well Like I said I made the big move. We changed internet providers along with telephone providers so it is almost like starting in a new part of the world. Now with moving cages comes all sorts of new responsibilities. I own my cage this time rather then just renting. Now comes the honey do big ape list. Don't get me wrong there is perks for both, but I hope owning my own cage is going to work out better. I must pass on to you, and as you know I normally do not promote any particular business on the blog, but I must admit I recently signed up with Sirius radio. Now as you know I came from a media background. Damn I have not enjoyed radio so much in my life. That even includes some of the shows I did. Now some might ask why would you listen to a radio station that you have to pay for. Well one answer to that is it is uncensored. Radio of today in the public is so censored that it has lost allot of its appeal. Now before you get all bent out of shape there is other benefits also. Have the consistent same station through out North America. Cool... You bet!!! Now it is not all adult content although I must warn you there is some stations that are not for little ears. There is also stations that play the 70's, 80's, Hard rock, Sports, even Martha for all you domestic types. Any way you slice it, it is the best $14.95 a month I have spent on entertainment on a very long time. Well I sit here just waiting on the call back of my MRI. Depending on the results I maybe missing in action again for a bit depending on the decision of whether surgery is needed or not. I will keep you updated as the time goes on. Lastly the big project I am working on that hopefully will wage justice for a person I know, and can truly call him a friend hopefully will create some closure in the coming months. As things get up to speed on the case stay tuned as I will be informing everyone on the happens as they occur. Well it is about time I swing back into the jungle again. Until next time....

Cheers
From the 400LB Gorilla

Remember:
Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.
- Bertrand Russell
The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools.
- Doug Larson