We Will Remember Him
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadian:
Spr Brian Collier – Afghanistan July 20, 2010
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
Related posts
- No related posts.
We Will Remember Him
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadian:
Spr Brian Collier – Afghanistan July 20, 2010
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
If you like this post, please tweet it. Follow me on Tweeter here
In Case the Liberals are Wondering…
Just so I’m transparent here, I am currently a Liberal supporter. I became one when Ignatieff became leader because I believe, notwithstanding my previous disapproval of him, that he had improved his performance and might just be a good leader for the Liberals.
In the intervening time, I have to admit, I have sure wondered about that decision. I know for certainty that Harper would never get my support, nor would Bob Rae. I am extremely unlikely to support Layton or the NDP. I have to admit to noticing that inspite his having to take time to battle with cancer these last few months, he sure manages to speak up about things Canadians are concerned about.
I want to not only hear that out of Ignatieff, I want him to mean it. In order for him to mean it, he can’t just shoot from the hip, he needs to do enough background to know he can carry through on what he’s saying.
Where was he when the cops in Toronto all but goose-stepped all over the rights of hundreds of Canadian citizens during the G20? Why did we hear the NDP calling for an inquiry but virtually nothing said from the Liberal camp? Since the NDP hold only the slimmest chance of actually forming a government in this country, does the absence of a Liberal stand on the police behaviour during the G20 indicate a Liberal government would have been okay with the same happening?
Is it more important to the Liberals to avoid an election they might not be ready for or for them to represent and defend the best interests of Canada? Why has the Liberal party allowed bad bill after bad bill pass them by and head for the Senate, including the budget bill loaded with issues which should have been dealt with by parliament separately?
A Liberal party focused on what’s good for Canada instead of what’s good for them should have stood their ground. I applaud the Liberals for finally taking a stand on opposing the abolition of the gun registry even if it did take the second time round. Course that vote hasn’t happened yet, and that stand could change. I hope not.
It’s nice Ignatieff is taking time this summer to get among the people. To give Canadians a chance to get a better idea of who is and what he’s like. Just remember, when you get back to Ottawa in the fall, it’s those same people you are supposed to be representing and looking out for.
Canadians want to see an Opposition which stands up for them. Then Liberals might find they have a chance at becoming the government.
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Keeping it Simple
If you are anything like me, you’ve spent time online trying to figure out how make some money. Actually, some serious money, not just pocket money, but a living which allows for the freedom and lifestyle you dream about.
I’ve downloaded files, paid and free, until the most I’ve got to show for them is gigs of space used up on my hard drive. Some I read, some I started to read and then got distracted to the next ‘shiny coin’ and some never even got opened before I got distracted.
The problem was first off that I hadn’t yet developed the mindset which I needed. I needed to embrace a business model, plan and implement it, and then work on it until it either succeeded or showed me why I failed at it.
If it failed, then pick myself up and get on with refining what I was doing until I got it right. Instead, I kept looking for that one magic new bullet that was going to make it all work.
Doesn’t exist. There might be variations on techniques that will boost your results a bit. For the most part, none of them are new, they are variations on something that has already been done before.
So, I’ve finally reached a conclusion. I need three things to make my online business work: a blog, a list and traffic. Will that give me overnight success? No. Will that give me a base to build longterm success. Yes. So, as of this post, I have stopped chasing overnight success and embraced doing what will give me longterm success.
The content on this blog will share with you what I’m doing to establish the base I’m seeking. The techniques I’m going to use are not fancy, miraculous or ground breaking. They will provide me with the financial base I want and need.
So, if you want to settle down and establish that online business you’ve been racing around trying to find. Come on along for the ride. Subscribe to my newsletter so you never miss a post. I am planning on sending some material to my list that will not appear on the blog. There has to be a perk for joining, right?
How’s your business plan going?
visit the Patti Network News to see where else I’m writing.
Breaking the Silence
Well, it has been a while since I did a post here, other than a memorial post when a Canadian dies in Afghanistan. I’ve been rather busy and for the last couple of weeks have been suffering with bronchitis. The upside to the bronchitis is that it gives me time, although not necessarily the energy, to think through some things in my life.
Some blog posts are coming and soon.
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We Must Not Shrug Off Our Democratic Rights
Two weeks after the G20 summit concluded the fallout continues, and so it should. Canadians watched an unprecedented attack on our civil liberties and human rights as the result of police action during that weekend. The question is, who issued the orders which allowed this to take place with impunity?
Many Canadians remain blissfully unaware, while others are choosing to be unaware as they don’t believe what happened. Many choose to focus on the violence as justification for the mass arrests which followed the next day. The question should be: where were the police and why did they not move in to corral and stop those who were committing the violence?
All too many Canadians are choosing to ignore the facts and the politicians who should be on the hot seats are able to avoid answering to the public they are supposed to be serving.
An acquaintance of mine seems to be pretty typical of those who haven’t woke up to the assault on them that took place. When the subject came up, he immediately pointed to the violence on Saturday and said the police had to react.
When I responded by agreeing and then asking, so where were the police when this was going on? How come with an an overwhelming police presence in the downtown those individuals were able to rampage for upwards of 90 minutes. He responded blissfully that the police were told to stand back. By who I asked? He shrugged.
When I described to him the video footage I had watched on the web including the real time footage of a group eventually rounded up and arrested near the Eastern Ave detention centre early Sunday morning, his response was “they should have left when they were told to”. I described to him, again, how I watched as the group were surrounded by a ring of riot shields and met with a wall of silence when one young man asked repeatedly in which direction they could leave.
Again he shrugged, replying they shouldn’t have been there. When I suggested he should try telling that to those who were rounded for simply being on the street trying to go about their business, he gave me the same response. When I asked him when martial law was declared that would have told those people they were supposed to stay in their homes, his response was they should have used common sense and stayed away. When pointed out that those people going about their business lived there, he again shrugged.
At no point did he get it that the cornerstone of a democracy is the right to peaceful assembly and protest. He didn’t get it that it is a basic democratic right to be able to go about our daily business without fear of arrest.
The only ones who should have feared arrest were those who carried out the violence on the Saturday. They lacked fear because the police backed away from them and their rampage. Instead they went on an unconstitutional rampage against the rest of the citizens the following day.
The questions remain and Canadians should continue to push until they are answered. Who issued the orders which allowed rank and file police to disregard the constitution and human rights? Who allowed police to attack and round up citizens with impunity? Who allowed the deplorable conditions at the detention centre to occur?
Canadians have the right to know. We should not have to demand that politicians who are elected to serve us find out those answers. The refusals by the provincial and the federal governments leads to an obvious conclusion that the highest levels of authority allowed this to happen.
So, when does what happened during the G20 start to become the normal conditions under which we live start? Don’t shrug too often, it may be sooner than you think. Complacency breeds greater boldness.
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Site Changes Coming
This site is currently undergoing some revamping. I’ve finally reached a better sense of where I need to go with it and have some great content coming. Stay tuned!
visit the Patti Network News to see where else I’m writing.
Eco Fees — A Cash Grab by Any Name
Along with the HST coming into effect in July 1st, more Eco fees came into effect covering a wide range of products. The Eco fees are supposed to be fees charged to manufactures based on the amount of products or packaging they put into the market place. Stewardship Ontario which receives these fees claims not to be government yet they were setup by the provincial government.
If they are not government, then someone or some group is getting the money we are all being forced to pay. The manufactures are allowed to pass along the fees they are charged to the consumer in any manner they choose. At this point, the fees are appearing on our sales receipts as an added fee one which we pay — you guessed it — HST. But it’s not a tax you see, you just have to pay tax on it.
There appears to be no established standard as to how the fees are assessed and as such the consumer has zero protection from the manufacturers taking whatever they want as the cost of passing on the fee. Since it isn’t attached to the product at the point of the consumer making their selection, we don’t even have buying power to limit the fees to a minimum.
There is no incentive for a manufacturer to absorb the costs into any part of their process or even to find cheaper ways to bring their product to market by keeping the eco fee to a minimum. Those products that are being charged the fees, oh yeah, you’re supposed to recycle them. While some retailers will be accepting some of those products, the vast majority of them will be recycled through municipal waste programs which, you guessed it, our tax dollars pay for.
Stewardship Ontario claims the new fees, along with those introduced in 2008 and since will “helping ensure that these products are collected, recycled, reused or disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way. And that’s good for you, good for your families and good for the environment.” Lots of luck with that boys.
If you think for even a moment that after paying this fee at the till I’m going to make sure the product ends up in a recycling depot, you have another think coming. Why would I pay for having to separate the items from my regular garbage (that I also pay to put out) and then transport it to a recycling depot when I’ve already paid a fee at the till?
They really want to ensure that more of these items are diverted from landfills, they need to do what beer and wine producers have done for years. Convert the Eco fee to an Eco deposit, with flat fees depending on the size of the items, which can be refunded when the products are brought to a recycling depot. That way, those who don’t recycle pay for the cost of running the program.
That would be too much like providing a real incentive and returning some of the cost of the effort to the consumer. Heaven forbid the taxpayer come out even when a cash grab is more fun.
This debacle was started by the Harris Conservative government and advanced under the McGuinty Liberals. This is one more nail in the Liberals coffin in Ontario. Since I wont vote for Hudak (Mike Harris lite) I may yet have to hold my nose and vote NDP in the next election.
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