Well, I suppose that the promised break in the days of rain that have been mid-July in Easlakia has to stand for something. I can't think when I last took a summer week off and did not load the family for somewhere - which is just as well as a van full of damp is not a happy van. It has been a time of napping and of reading something other than the glowing screen. I did not home repair. Of that you can be truly proud.
- Byelection Fever Update: About 1% of the Canadian electorate go to the polls on 8 September. Woooot!!! This is what we have been waiting for.
- Ben is proxy blogging Berlin. I hear we need change.
- What do you think about the fence?
- My new found status as Canada's sixth most popular political blogger demands that I make some obtuse observations on the state of doings in Ottawa. Except nothing seems to be going on. Who cares about election plans - I want substance. But aside from the general quality of Federal leadership, there seems to be only one big issue: carbon tax. I still think this is a yawner and a loser for whoever gets marked with the green tint. It shouldn't be so but as there are no strong answers yet, proposing the unpopular and the unlikely-to-succeed is seldom a yellow brick road to a majority hold on Parliament. And it's no more than a plank at best. We need more.
- So which Federal issues deserve more airplay?? The recent premiers' gathering raised the prospect of actual steps towards First Nations reconciliation. Wouldn't that be nice of real steps were taken towards that national quandary? How about infrastructure - Ottawa and Toronto have made nice to buy bridges and buses. But do you run an election on that? Rideology not ideology??
- Al Purdy's cottage is for sale. Owning that would be rather neato.
- This week's weather shattered the promise of a massive harvest for a lot of Ontario fruit growers. Hailstorms. We need to start the "Buy A Peach With A Bruise" campaign. Why do all the farmer's protests have to be around the combine harvesters? Who's behind this anyway?
- Apparently the oversight committee decided to lay off hitting each other in the head with hammers. Who thought that was ever a good idea?
Full disclosure: I wrote most of this Thursday. Between the dodgy internet access and my new found love for not being up at 6:15 am, I thought it would be prudent to plan ahead so as to ensure you desk jockeys have your moments of bulletty bliss at the crack of dawn.
Comments
sean liddle - July 25, 2008 9:41 am
Fence: Well, you know, if the deed says they own down to the waters edge, so be it, but as water fluctuates with the meagre non-oceanic tides and seasonal water levels, maybe the fence should have a 3-4 metre bit at the end with a rolly wheely thingy ha ha!
The reaction from the public however is slightly moronic. If it's not your beach or your bit of beach, just because you walked on it in the past doesn't mean you have the right to do so.
Staycation: This is the week my wife is off that I didn't book off. Home with the kidlings all week meant I didn't have to get up at 6:15 and make lunches and breakfasts and such.. Mosey on out of bed at 7:15, eat and read by myself as rest of brood slept, shower etc., out the door at 8:00. Bliss.
Hans - July 25, 2008 9:42 am
Its time for first nation reconciliation. That ethnic group is the fastest growing demographic in Canada and the reserves are not getting any bigger or better. Indeed, many are in a disgraceful condition. I think there must be a way to allow both full cultural autonomy for First Nations people and meaningful participation in Canadian society.
David Janes - July 25, 2008 11:54 am
Updates on old bullets:
* Cash for Ontario from Stevie!
* What did society get out of the "no-cracking DRM" deal here exactly? Is this the fate of all future music and valuable knowledge to fade into unusable bits?
And I'm not sure how you missed this one ;-)
* Strippers anger P.E.I. Legion member. Obviously Wallace MacAusland didn't talk to legion members who did some Paris occupatoin.
Alan - July 25, 2008 12:42 pm
"...licked women in the audience..."
Apparently those participating didn't talk to Wallace MacAusland either.
Lesson: it don't take much to rile an Islander.
Funniest thing: Wallace is 28 and not 78.
Jay Currie - July 25, 2008 3:51 pm
Alan, re #6...it may just be that the vast traffic of your brilliant beer blog may be being counted on this blog.
"Green" was over when a) gas hit $1.40/l, b) people in Ontario started being laid off from jobs building trucks which got 10 miles to the $1.40 litre.
The only question being whether anyone in the Liberal caucus has the guts to tell M.Dion.
Alan - July 25, 2008 3:53 pm
Beer is politics, my friend.
Temujin - July 26, 2008 1:27 am
Would certainly be nice if first nations people were freed from the bondage of government hand-outs and band nepotism, and given opportunity to succeed based on personal efforts and ambition.
Alan - July 26, 2008 9:48 am
Or, for that matter, to be relieved of others telling them what to be - like being "given opportunity to succeed based on personal efforts and ambition" when they might wish to succeed instead based on their own communal values which challenge our own notions of success based solely on personal efforts and ambition.
Temujin - July 26, 2008 6:27 pm
I don't remember ever telling them what to be. But it seems more than a little unjust when I think about the Gitxsan Treaty Office and their mandate:
"The Gitxsan are seeking; an alternative to the land selection model; benefits to future generations; compensation for past injuries; no extinguishment; a living treaty."
And then I ask myself, "at whose expense?" And I also ask "Who will benefit when these goals are achieved?" All Gitxsan people? 'Future Generations' seems quite vague (to me, but perhaps I'm not nuanced enough).
Granted I am not a treaty expert, or even a person that can be considered "First Nations", but does it not seem the slightest bit odd that taxpayers are funding both sides of the treaty negotiations? I've searched the Gitxsan site (just as an example since they are in my neck of the woods) and it does not say exactly how they receive their funding. They have a very nice building in Hazelton, BC with many offices. The heat and lights aren't going to pay for themselves. All the staff members must be paid wages, since I doubt they do it for free. I also doubt they are privately funded.
And although it is true that no one should have to endure others telling you "what to be", is it not equally valid that taxpayers (ie: me) should not have to endure seeing my productivity being taken from me and given to something that I have no personal stake in. I want them to succeed in whatever way they see fit, and even though I think personal efforts and ambition is good way to go, they should be free to pursue whatever course they like. "Communal values" or whatever.
So long as they fund their activities themselves.
Alan - July 27, 2008 1:34 pm
Do you have issues with the offices of landlords or the fact that in the fine print of your mortgage that you pay all the bank's legal fees? And since when did being "a taxpayer" - who isn't? - elevate anyone being above those with property interests used by those same taxpayers?
David Janes - July 27, 2008 8:57 pm
la de da la de da
Alan - July 27, 2008 9:58 pm
You know, I never claim "clever by sibling proxy".
David Janes - July 28, 2008 7:44 am
No no, you've got it backwards
Alan - July 28, 2008 8:25 am
Oh, he relies on you for everything? ;-)
David Janes - July 28, 2008 9:44 am
Certainly for his stereo and kitchen table!