Monday, May 31, 2010

There Just Aren’t Enough Days in the Year for Quit Facebook Day

Two Toronto, Canada men created a website to encourage the 400-million-plus users of the world’s largest social networking site to abandon it, because of privacy concerns.

Joseph Dee and Matthew Milan created the www.quitfacebookday.com website, calling for Facebook users to quit en mass today, because Facebook is too hard to use.

Oh boo hoo you.

Yes, there is a complex web of settings to go through, but all it takes is a little time and even a child could figure out how to set their settings just the way they want.

And Facebook has since resolved this issue – last week their CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the changes to make it easier to protect private information.

Having a day of protest for a website?

Speak of lazy protesting. Back in my day, you would have grabbed a placard, your running shoes and a megaphone, and walked a picket line.

That’s how you make a statement. Or rather did.

I think that’s what concerns me more than the 6,000 nuts that joined the Quit Facebook Day website – the lack of real social awareness thanks to technological advances like the Internet.

These days, it is all too easy to create some online site to badmouth whoever or whatever you want, without any real thought.

And what’s even worse, is millions of people can join into these causes, with just as little thought or effort as the causes creators.

SO what you end up with, are a bunch of people YELLING AND SCREAMING online for reasons which they themselves don’t fully comprehend.

All it takes is for someone with an understanding of the issues to cleverly manipulate these naive protesters, and you end up with a group of people, yelling and screaming online, for something they didn’t intend too.

Either way, it certainly raises concerns over grass roots democracies which formed the basis of our current governments, via real protests over real issues, with really intelligent, thoughtful and aware individuals that actually knew what they were protesting and why.

Many of our greatest leaders have risen from the protest movement of the 1960’s – former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was known to cause a ruckus in his university days, even current American President Barack Obama was known to take a stand on controversial issues in his pre-political days – much as he does today. Just look President Obama’s healthcare and fiscal reforms – they are very clearly taken in part from his younger days of action.

But these days, protests are days of inaction – by asking anyone with half-a-brain to “sign” online petitions, mass email everyone they know, and even going so far as to quit using online sites.

Can’t get any more inactive than to quit.

Inaction leads to no action – it is a basic law of physics, which just so happens to work with policies and procedures just as well as it does an apple falling from a tree.

Does this mean the end of grass roots politics – and in turn – the end of real knowledge, power and good governance?


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Friday, May 28, 2010

Parents – PLEASE – Be Parents

Every year at this time, we hear about a horrible tragedy of a child drowning in a recently opened unattended pool.

Just yesterday, a four-year-old Toronto-area girl was plucked from the clutches of death, after she fell into just such a pool. The child is currently in critical condition in hospital, but is expected to recover.

A few weeks ago, a child was run over dead in her driveway, by her own mom, who claimed she didn’t see her baby girl playing behind her mini-van. Another child suffered the same fate less than a week later in a different Toronto neighborhood, also by the parent.

Kids will always be kids. They tumble, and fall, scrape their knees, and suffer all sorts of little cuts and scrapes as they run and play.

That’s okay – that’s what childhood is meant to be – far too many children these days spend too much time in front of computers, than playing in the fresh outdoors.

But what isn’t okay are the tragedies befalling kids of late, because of parents that just aren’t very good parents.

Not that parenting is an easy thing to do, and no one has written a complete and comprehensive manual on how to be the perfect parent.

Deaths from unattended drowning, and driving over your own child are completely avoidable, and are the results of exceptionally poor parenting skills.

Even those of use without kids know better than to drive anywhere – in any direction – without first looking. So those with children should be ever more diligent, knowing that their kids – like all kids – will always be kids.

Any parent that backs over their child not only should have their driver’s license taken away forever, but should be charged with murder – not manslaughter, not accidental death – murder.

By failing to do what everyone knows is the right thing to do – look before you leap – they killed their own child, and should suffer the consequences.

Parents that don’t watch their kids around pools should be prohibited by law from being parents. Common sense – yes I know isn’t all that common – says that water and children spell disaster.

Kids, will always be kids. SO how come parents don’t always be parents?



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Thursday, May 27, 2010

World Leaders Fail to Use BP Oil Spill for a Greener Good

Funny thing, with all the media coverage of British Petroleum’s (BP) failure to cap its massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico – it has been over a month since the problem smeared across the waters – and around the world – no one is thinking green.

Yes, it is of utmost importance to put an end to the gushing gallons of crude oil – about 5,000 barrels or 210,000 gallons of the icky slimy stuff billow out per day.

But even the once so-called “most green American president ever,” President Barock Obama hasn’t used this ecological disaster to forward his county’s green agenda.

Yet wasn’t it President Obama who boldly declared from his lofty pedestal in the White House’s Rose Garden: “We have to reduce America’s dependency on oil?”

Ironic, as America – and most of the western world – still depends on the highly toxic fossil fuel for everything from heating our homes, powering our cars, to creating plastics and rubbers used in everything from medical hoses to carry drugs and oxygen to patients, to the tires on our cars.

If the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth can’t truly go green, all hope may be lost.

One person may make a difference, but what really matters are the differences made by those in positions of real power.

So, don’t stop your recycling, and don’t switch back to energy wasting incandescent light bulbs just yet. By reducing your impact on the environment, you are making a difference.

However, oil slicks polluting our wetlands and killing off millions of fish, endangering the lives of birds, trashing our drinking water, and even harming human beings involved in the cleanup efforts will continue until world leaders – like President Obama – stop talking about making a difference and actually do.

Sure, President Obama has extended an American-led ban on deep-water oil drilling, but that was his response to a crisis which could have been prevented, had he acted on his previous promise to move his country further away from a dependency on oil. All he did today when he extended this moratorium to six-months was media damage control for his public image.

Sure, President Obama’s administration is holding congressional hearings specifically on BP’s oil spill – but even if BP is fined, and forced to pay the enormous costs to clean up their mess, that won’t prevent future oil disasters.

President Obama, and other worldly leaders need to get together on greening the planet – and I’m not talking about token carbon emissions. Whenever world leaders meet, they talk about reducing Greenhouse Gases by setting specific emission reduction goals –which often aren’t met.

What our world leaders need to do is to create a functional, working plan for implementing green energy alternatives in their respective countries.

Solar, wind and geothermal won’t work in every part of the globe. Not every spot on Earth receives enough sunlight for solar power, nor enough wind for wind power, nor has the underwater hotspots needed for geothermal.

However, every part of the globe can make use of at least one or more of these green alternatives – to realistically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

We may not completely eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels such as oil – yet. But if we had world leaders that made it law to use environmentally-friendly alternatives wherever possible, it would be just the incentive we need to reduce our use of fossil fuels, while invigorating the drive to research new ways to power our high-energy consumption lives.

Big business wouldn’t see green energy alternatives as a costly hassle, but rather a cheaper alternative to over-using fossil fuels and having to pay fines or added taxes for their wasteful ways. Having fines and heavy taxes on those relying on oil and other fossil fuels would also encourage companies to fund research into green energy alternatives, as it would now be in their interests to use the greener energy sources.

Having court hearings as to what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico, and why after a month, the toxic crude oil is still leaking is important – we need to find out what went wrong to prevent oil spills from happening due to the same cause.

But the real way – the only way – we will ever truly avoid destroying the only planet we know of capable of sustaining our lives in our universe – is for world leaders to mandate environmentally-friendly alternatives to the point when they aren’t alternatives – they are the norm.



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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Gee Canada Drops $1 Billion on G8 & G20

Property taxes in Canada’s largest city are rising, the country’s largest province is implementing a new combined federal/provincial tax in July, and many are still getting over the effects of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Yet today’s estimate of security costs to protect the G8 and G20 world leaders which will be in Canada for a mere 48-hours have topped the $1CDN billion mark.

The Canadian federal government says it’ll cost at least $930CDN million, but won’t release final dollar amounts until after both events, which are being hosted in Toronto, Ontario, and “cottage country” just north of Toronto, in Muskoka, Ontario.

It is expected security costs will actually be higher than estimates, due to threats and allegations from protest groups.

That’s more than double what it cost Canadian taxpayers to secure the entire 17 days of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Yes, it is important that world leaders have clear and concise communications – but can Canada afford to spend a billion dollars for a mere 48 hours, to keep these people safe?

At least with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, much of the costs to secure it were recouped through tourist dollars – if anything tourists are being discouraged to come to Toronto during the G20 and G8 summits.

Much of the downtown core – the heart of the largest city’s entertainment and tourism industry – will be shutdown and off limits due to security concerns during the G20 and G8 summits. Just yesterday, the country’s largest university – The University of Toronto – announced it was ordered to close its downtown campus for the duration of the two-day summit, because it represented a security risk. At great expense to the educational institution, they will be putting students who live on the downtown campus up at hotels, as the campus will be sealed off tighter than Fort Knox.

Other tourist attractions, such as the CNTower, the Rogers Centre, First Canadian Place, numerous theatres, clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels, the major banking skyscrapers, and many other places right in the downtown core will be off limits to anyone who either doesn’t work there, have the right security clearances, or both.

Getting around Toronto and “cottage country” will be hell in late June, when the summits are to occur – roads and highways will be sporadically closed to ferry the high ranking world leaders to the various venues of the two summits.

That and the thousands of people expected to flock to both areas to protest the summits, the leaders, and their policies, don’t make for a tourist-friendly environment.

Would you want to take your next vacation amidst the screams and chants of an angry mob?

Well, maybe the protesters will at least spend some money while at the summits, to help offset the costs?

Wait a sec . . .

Aren’t most protesters twenty-something unemployed students with too much time on their hands?

Guess not.

Oh Canada – what a country.



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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Another Korean War – But This One IS Different

Today, North Korea’s leaders have stopped talking to their counterparts in South Korea, because of alleged intrusions by the South Korean Navy in North Korean waters.

Ironically, it was North Korea’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea which made the announcement.

For most of this year and part of last year, American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been outspoken in her bid to unite the two countries peacefully.
That’ll never happen.

Not just because the north falls under the Communistic idealism which conflicts with the views of a more open Capitalistic south, but because of politics of another sort.

America’s relationship with North Korea has always been on shaking ground – from as far back as the Kennedy Administration to present. That’s a long time to hold a grudge.

And a grudge it is – North Korea sees attacks on the south as an attack against an American ally, which is why so long as an American politician is leading the way towards unification – it’ll never happen.

Although U.S. Secretary of State Clinton’s heart may be in the right place, her mind must be elsewhere. Because as long as she’s at the head of the peace talks, the two sides will grow ever further apart.

Yesterday she made matters worse, be admitting her country’s stance, saying that America’s “support for South Korea’s defense is unequivocal,” and that North Korea should “stop its belligerence and threatening behavior.”

This threat by the American politician came after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak announced his country was suspending trade with North Korea, closing their waterways to North Korean ships, and adopting a more aggressive military posture.

All of this sounds like anything but peace – if anything it looks more like the prelude to war.

Although outside representatives should be present to arbitrate the tensions between the two opposing factions, American politicians need to step back from the situation, as their presence is only adding to the tensions, with their support already firmly seated in the south.

The United Nations must move in, first with a peace envoy – who isn’t American – to try to quash the war before it begins.

Failing that, the UN will need to take sides, and put an end to a war, before it gets out of hand.

North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons – and although everyone knows the dangers to the planet of launching such massively potent weapons, their rulers don’t have the patience which the American and Soviet leaders had during the Cold War.

So a war between the north and the south could be truly catastrophic, sending nuclear material into our atmosphere, destroying populations far outside the warring nation’s battle grounds.

Which makes it all the more important that the Americans get out of the discourse, because their presence is just making matters worse. And when a country has it’s fingers on “the button” worse isn’t where you want to go.



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Thursday, May 20, 2010

CN Tower Closed, Work Downtown, Watch Out For . . .Who Cares? It Is May Two-Four

Canada’s largest city – Toronto – will be closed for business during the G20 Summit in June.

Security has scooted out the city’s Major League Baseball team, three games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies which were supposed to be in Toronto, will now take place in Philadelphia. No word yet about refunds or exchanges for ticket holders of that match.

Federal police – the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) – have advised professionals working in the heart of the country’s financial district on Bay Street not to wear their usual suits and ties, as they could easily become targets of protesters.

The country’s largest financial institutions, along with some other major corporations which have offices right next to the G20 designated areas are stockpiling supplies, in case their buildings are locked down.

And perhaps the most ironic security measure, one of the most recognized symbols of Canada’s peaceful freedom worldwide, the CN Tower will be shut down during the G20 Summit. Guess security-types are afraid some protester will break through the impenetrable Plexiglas floor and drop water balloons on the world leaders during one of their many photo-ops.

When Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper boasted about the great honor it is to host the most politically powerful 20 nations, he failed to mention at what cost that honor would come.

Granted, world security has been beefed up since the horrible events on Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon in the United States were attacked by terrorists.

But do we really have to tell people they can’t wear suits and ties to work for their own protection?

Sheesh!

What a world we live in.

But I don’t care – at least for the next few days.

Here in Canada, we’re gearing up for what most consider the first long weekend of the summer, the May 24 weekend, or May “Two-Four” – in Canadian-speak.

The last Monday on or before May 24 is always a holiday here, to honor Queen Victoria’s birthday – hence it is officially called the Victoria Day Weekend. But it also celebrates the reigning sovereign’s birthday (the Queen), so many just call it the May 24 weekend.

Or maybe it became known as May 24 because of the many 24-packs of beer which will be consumed this weekend, as we launch fireworks from our canoes and kayaks – a really challenging feat even on calm water.

WHAT!?!?

Never mind -- cheers, to long weekends.


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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Woman Sues Cell Phone Provider for Contributing to Divorce

Only in Canada, eh? A Toronto, Ontario, Canada woman is suing her cell phone provider, claiming her marriage fell apart because the detailed billing on her cell phone account exposed her extramarital affair.

Gabriella Nagy is seeking $600,000CDN for the alleged invasion of privacy and breach of contract, according to documents filed in the province’s superior court.

When Nagy started cheating on her hubby, her cell bill was sent directly to her. But her husband signed up for a bundled plan, and all phone bills eventually went to him, where he found his wife’s lover’s numbers.

What a load of . . . well . . . you know . . .

Not being the cheating type, I suppose I enjoy detailed billing. It helps me keep track of the numbers I call most frequently, so I can manage my calls, call time and other related expenses. It also helps in the event that something is amiss – which can always happen in our technologically driven world.

That said, the question of whether or not the wife’s privacy was breached is a good one. Everyone has a cell phone these days – even kids – though why a kid barely old enough to not play with his food needs a mobile device is beyond me.

Cell phones have become an integral part of who we are. We personalize our phones in more ways than just changing the screen saver and covers. We put our lives in our cell phones – the names, numbers, addresses and birthdays of our friends, family and colleagues. We have our appointments in our cell phones, many – including me – “sync” our phones with our computers, so our contacts, appointments and other personal info is always with us.

So in a sense, we can all put ourselves in the woman’s shoes, and feel for a certain loss of privacy if her cell phone bill got into someone else’s hands.
Does that put the breakup of the couple’s marriage squarely at the feet of the cell phone provider?

Not a chance.

Although the cell phone provider indirectly aided the husband in tracking down his wife’s lover, chances are the couple were experiencing marital problems long before he saw it on paper. Problems in the marriage must have been going on for a while, which lead to the wife’s cheating. The husband was probably already suspicious; otherwise he wouldn’t care about his wife’s cell phone use – unless she was racking up excessive amounts, which we don’t know.

Either way, the woman is simply in denial, using the leaked cell phone details as an excuse in place of the real cause of her failed marriage – the reason which led her to cheat on her hubby in the first place.

We may never know the true cause of the breakup, but chances are, it involved one thing that ironically cell phones are good for – communication.


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Monday, May 17, 2010

Texting I’m All Thumbs

You know you’re old when the kid sitting next to you on the park bench is happily typing on her mobile phone with her thumbs as fast as she can talk, meanwhile, you are struggling typing “Hi” using every finger possible.

“How many messages have you sent?” I ask the kid as I continue to struggle with my “thumbing.”

“Fifteen,” she says, not even breaking her concentration as she continues texting.

Even in the office, I am starting to feel like an out dated paper weight, as I watch the new generation on the corporate ladder text their way to the top. In meetings, I see these new young people sitting off on the corner of the table, thumbs moving so fast you can see the motion blur.

“One meeting,” I interrupt.

“Uh?” they scoff.

“May we have one meeting, PLEASE?” I scold, as I sternly tell the new kid in the office to stop texting and pay attention.

That’s another thing – attention spans just don’t exist anymore, everyone under thirty these days seems to pre-occupied with their digital devices.

Evrythn is shortened thse dys. SO even if I were to take away the kid’s BlackBerry, I’d never understand what was on it.

The short forms used for texting help the kid thumb her messages lightening quick, but a side effect is she talks the way she texts, so half the time when you talk to her, you haven’t a clue what she just said.

I wonder if scientists have come up with a long horrible sounding phrase for that condition?

If they aren’t texting a friend, tweeting their latest thought on Twitter, chatting on Facebook, then they are fiddling with their MP3 music player, or they are watching a video on their mobile device, or they are shooting a “pic” to send to their buddies.

With their heads constantly buried in their electronic gadgets, it’s a wonder they can see where they are going.

I swear the new kid never looks up from her BlackBerry.

Whatever happened to the old days, when people used to actually talk to each other face-to-face? Those were the days, when you could actually see how the team was doing, instead of being texted emoticons – punctuation marks combined together to graphically represent emotions.

Since when did :) replace a smile?


You know you’re old when the kid sitting next to you on the park bench is happily typing on her mobile phone with her thumbs as fast as she can talk, meanwhile, you are struggling typing “Hi” using every finger possible.

“How many messages have you sent?” I ask the kid as I continue to struggle with my “thumbing.”

“Fifteen,” she says, not even breaking her concentration as she continues texting.

Even in the office, I am starting to feel like an out dated paper weight, as I watch the new generation on the corporate ladder text their way to the top. In meetings, I see these new young people sitting off on the corner of the table, thumbs moving so fast you can see the motion blur.

“One meeting,” I interrupt.

“Uh?” they scoff.

“May we have one meeting, PLEASE?” I scold, as I sternly tell the new kid in the office to stop texting and pay attention.

That’s another thing – attention spans just don’t exist anymore, everyone under thirty these days seems to pre-occupied with their digital devices.

Evrythn is shortened thse dys. SO even if I were to take away the kid’s BlackBerry, I’d never understand what was on it.

The short forms used for texting help the kid thumb her messages lightening quick, but a side effect is she talks the way she texts, so half the time when you talk to her, you haven’t a clue what she just said.

I wonder if scientists have come up with a long horrible sounding phrase for that condition?

If they aren’t texting a friend, tweeting their latest thought on Twitter, chatting on Facebook, then they are fiddling with their MP3 music player, or they are watching a video on their mobile device, or they are shooting a “pic” to send to their buddies.

With their heads constantly buried in their electronic gadgets, it’s a wonder they can see where they are going.

I swear the new kid never looks up from her BlackBerry.

Whatever happened to the old days, when people used to actually talk to each other face-to-face? Those were the days, when you could actually see how the team was doing, instead of being texted emoticons – punctuation marks combined together to graphically represent emotions.

Since when did :) replace a smile?


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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Most Violent Sporting Fans May Get Rowdier this Season

A riot at a soccer match? Unheard of!

Yeah, right, there have been more riots by overly aggressive fans at soccer stadiums over the past decade than in any other sport worldwide. Some soccer stadiums have even been set ablaze by the very people in attendance.

Never hear of that happening at a tennis tournament.

Not that tennis is completely innocent from violent acts, for those of us old enough to remember John McEnroe’s tossing of his racket and other protests in the 1970’s and 1980’s when he wasn’t happy with the score.

But soccer fans are known to be – shall we say passionate – enough to cause riots, destroy public property and run drunkenly rampant through the streets.
SO why is Canada’s largest city encouraging – if not making it easier – for soccer fans to get sloshed?

Yesterday, city councilors in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, voted in favor of allowing bars and restaurants to start serving alcohol one hour earlier during the World Cup of Soccer next month. Currently they aren’t allowed to start serving beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages until 11am – but during the World Cup they can begin serving these drinks at 10am.

The reasoning Toronto’s politicians gave for allowing the earlier drinking, was due to time zones – those watching the World Cup wouldn’t be able to toast their team’s victories, or drink in their losses because of time differences conflicting with bar and restaurant serving hours.

Drinking in of itself isn’t a bad thing, when done responsibly. But Soccer fans the world over have proven just how irresponsible they can be – over turning cars, lighting buildings on fire, looting stores, getting into drunken fisticuffs . . .

“Drunken fisticuffs” . . . a statement taken directly from a news report after the last World Cup.

Maybe the politicians in Toronto were under the influence when they made their decision yesterday, because they certainly weren’t thinking straight.



Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Open for Business – What About Me Time?

No question about it, we live in an always on world. Thanks to the Internet, laptops, wireless networks, smart phones – even smart dashboards in our cars – the world is available to us – always.

That means in order to compete in today’s wired world, businesses have to be open all the time too – despite all the technology, someone has to be around to make sure things run smoothly.

Is this a good thing?

That’s one of the questions politicians in Canada’s biggest city are debating today – sort of.

The City of Toronto – as many municipalities – has rules governing who can be open on statutory holidays (like Christmas) and who can’t.

Currently, only retail stores and restaurants in designated tourist areas are allowed that privilege, but today city councilors are voting on whether or not to strike down this law, allowing any retail establishment to be open 365 days a year.

Working in retail isn’t the most glamorous life, often fraught with the lowest of wages, schedules which change on a weekly basis, few (if any) benefits, and constant pressure from bosses to sell – even when no one comes into the shop.

Retail workers are often seen as entry-level, low paying gigs easily filled by the masses who don’t have any experience and need a job. So retailers often treat their employees poorly, because they expect high turnover.

Not that all retailers are bad to work for, but just type any big box retailer into any search engine, and your computer screen will fill with horror stories from badly treated employees.

For most in the retail sector, they work for minimum wage, part-time, without any benefits or vacation time. That puts them into a terrible catch-twenty-two come holiday time – they often want to work the holiday, because they need the hours for their pay cheque to pay the bills, but at the same time, they could really use a break, and much needed time with friends and family.

So our constant need to do business thanks to our technologically-driven world, is creating a burned out lower class.

Is this a good thing? Do we really need to be able to go shopping anytime, all the time?



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Monday, May 10, 2010

North American Political Freedom – What Freedom?

In Canada’s largest city a local politician claims there is a booklet, secretly listing people, services and streets exempt from parking tickets.

The city councilor says the 25-page booklet is costing the city millions, as those on the list can have any parking tickets canceled.

Makes you wonder just what other kinds of political favors our politicians dole out to buy support in up-coming elections.

What other top secret lists exist – giving a very select few privileges at the taxpayers expense? How many other cities around the world do this? Maybe yours?

If politicians want to earn the peoples trust, they have to stop playing old school politics and try something unheard of in political circles – being honest.

Hiding behind campaign promises which you have no intention of really acting upon once you get into office, spreading dis-information about competing views to poison the public’s perception towards your side, and handing out special perks to selected companies and individuals to purchase their unwavering support have become all too common at all levels of politics.

This old form of politics has led to a general populace so cynical with the political system, elections don’t really represent the majority anymore, they just represent the majority of a small group who chose to vote, as voter turn out is always so low.

People from other countries here in Canada and the States, often wonder why we don’t take full advantage of our free and democratic rights by not voting in elections. Often where they come from, people have died for expressing any opinion about their politicians, especially if it flies in the face of the current dictator.

They don’t understand how we can sit idle on election nights.

Maybe it is because we really aren’t any more free than they are?

We don’t suffer under powerful regimes, led by monster dictators that keep all the wealth and privilege to their select inner circle.

Or do we?

When politicians give out special perks their buddies, make policies and laws which favor their supporters, and do whatever it takes to get re-elected instead of what is truly right and good for the population overall, it doesn’t sound all that different.


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Thursday, May 06, 2010

Sometimes Being the Host Sucks

Canada is playing host this year to both the G8 and the G20 Summits – where the world’s eight and twenty most powerful leaders meet to discuss global issues.

One would think it a great honor to be the host country for such an event.
It is, in that it will once again put Canada front and center on the world stage – just like when we hosted the 2010 Olympic Winter Games this past February.

However, security concerns taint the pleasure of the local host – unless you are a VIP.

Security organizers have already begun dividing up Canada’s largest city – Toronto – into color coded security grids, based on the proximity the area is to where the world leaders will be.

If you live or work in one of the high security areas, you have to undergo a background security check – if you fail it, you may not be allowed in the area where you live or work during the summit.

Imagine being told to go away from the place you’ve lived or worked for over a decade without any incidents, simply because some government rubber-stamper found out that you or your family might pose a risk to the summit?

Granted, there are risks, there are groups already boasting of their protests of the events. And wherever there are protesters in great numbers, there are bound to be a few nut cases that go too far – like the people who toss pies at politicians. Though I must say, it was hilarious to watch an angry journalist throw his shoe at former American President George Bush – too bad he missed.

Even if you have been granted the great honor of being able to go to your home in the high security area, if you run to the local store and forget your security papers, you’ll probably be taken down by police at gun point.

A simple mistake – all your life you’ve been able to run to the corner store without anything proving who you are, but those security papers mean you’re clean – safe – someone who poses no risk to anyone.

Like most peaceful Canadians.

Welcome to Canada, show me your papers or we’ll lock you up. So much for living in a peaceful country – and security will be everywhere, even the air.

Over the next few days, Canadian Forces CF-18 Hornet Fighter Jets, and other military aircraft will be seen over the skies of Toronto and Muskoka (cottage country just north of Toronto), as the North American Aerospace Defence (NORAD) run through security drills.

Makes living and working in the host city seem like a war zone.

The G8 Summit takes place in Muskoka on June 25 and 26 and the G20 is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 26 and 27.


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Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Terrorism Fears – Even Obama Can’t Save You

After the horrible events of the World Trade Center bombings, most countries beefed up their security and politicians boasted about how the world is a safer place.

But just last week, a nobody drove a common SUV truck into New York’s Times Square, with enough explosive force to kill thousands of innocent people, out for a night on the town.

American President Barack Obama told reporters at a news conference shortly after the event that his administration will do whatever is necessary to keep American’s safe.

Bull.

Where was Homeland Security – the American federal department responsible for monitoring and preventing terrorist acts on American soil – when Faisal Shahzad drove his SUV full of explosive materials right into the heart of New York’s Times Square?

The only reason Shahzad didn’t succeed in his bombing attempt, was because of a hot dog vendor’s concerned call to police, about a man acting oddly.

That’s right – for all the billions of dollars the American government has spent on anti-terrorism, a humble merchant peddling hot dogs and sausages from his hot dog cart on the street prevented the latest terrorist threat to the most powerful nation on Earth.

Yet President Obama tells his citizens not to worry, he’s got their back.
Yeah right.

He didn’t have their back last week – although Shahzad was on a no-fly list, he was able to purchase and board an airplane bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Had authorities arrived just moments later, the terrorist would have been soaring about 30,000 feet in the sky towards the safety of home.

If American President Obama really did have his finger on the pulse of potential terrorist attacks, then Shahzad and his co-conspirators would have been captured long before he posed any real threat. Or at least, long before he had the opportunity to drive a bomb into a very busy Times Square.

President Obama’s administration dropped the ball on this – and who knows on how many other possible attacks which may be to come. The only reason no one got hurt was pure luck.

I don’t know about you, but relying on luck doesn’t exactly make me feel all the safer traveling through the States.


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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Anti-Idling Laws Environmental Time Wasted

Politicos in Canada’s largest city are debating whether to follow the lead of some surrounding municipalities, and put in place 60-second anti-idling laws.

The proposed law would mean anyone who pulled over, and left their vehicle engine running for one whole minute in Toronto, Canada, could be charge with excess idling, and be handed a traffic ticket. The proposed fine is $125CDN.

Politicians see anti-idling laws as an environmental way to raise some green – they reduce the number of cars idling on our city streets, while pumping in more revenues to the city in the form of fines paid by offenders.

What the proposed anti-idling law really is, is another cash grab by our city’s politicians.

Anti-idling laws can work – provided the time set on them is reasonable. Giving people a mere 60 seconds – one minute – to turn off their vehicle is ridiculously short.

If you stop to pick up your spouse and kids, and help load up their bags, toys and other things, if you didn’t turn off your car, you’d be charged $125CDN easily.

Helping your elderly relatives into or out of the family car could just as quickly cost you a $125CDN anti-idling fine, as they often take more time to do the things we take for granted.

Regardless of the short time-span for the proposed anti-idling law, laws such as these actually aren’t as environmentally-friendly as you think.

Oh reducing vehicle idle times does cut the amount of pollution being spewed out into the atmosphere, especially when done on a grand scale.

But an even better investment of our tax dollars would be funding green transportation alternatives. Investing in stricter vehicle emissions such as California does in the USA is a start.

Even better, would be mandating hybrid, electric or alternative fuelled green vehicles on our streets – which can be done. It’s just our politicians lack the courage, and enjoy the kickbacks from the petroleum industry and automotive industry lobbyists too much to really make a stand for the environment.

If we phased out gas-powered vehicles over time, the same way we phased out lead-based fuels in the 1970’s – then automakers would be forced to manufacture and sell vehicles which were truly green.

And then anti-idling laws would be a thing of the past, because a truly environmentally-friendly vehicle, is a zero-emission vehicle.

Zero-emission vehicles exist, just the oil and gas industry is so powerful they keep these green forms of transportation out of sight. We’ve seen fully functional electric cars, motorcycles and bikes, which produce zero-emissions. Solar-powered vehicles and hydrogen-powered ones are also zero-emission ones, but these do have some limitations to overcome. But if more research was being done on these – thanks to governments mandating environmental modes of transportation – these obstacles may be overcome.

Our lawmakers – our politicians – have the power to do the right thing, by making and enforcing laws which benefit us and our planet.

It is just a matter of getting our politicians weaned-off the kickbacks from the powerful oil and automotive sectors long enough to smell the roses on the green side of the fence.

And that’s going to take a lot more hard work – as money sometimes smells better than roses.



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