Oh Harper when will you learn!!

So my favorite PM is in the news today. Apparently he's gone and snubbed the Premier of Nova Scotia. You think this guy has some sort of social phobia or really poor social skills. Actually I think he does have poor social skills--he always looks so awkward up on stage and in public settings. Anyways, back to the point I'm trying to make here and less on the 'personal attack' side of things--that's more the right wing approach!

Harper was down in Nova Scotia over the weekend to make some big announcement regarding some military stuff. I don't pretend to know anything about what they're spending money on--I'm just not that into military stuff! The announcement was made without inviting the Premier to the announcement. In Harper's words:

that it was strictly a federal announcement

What is wrong with this guy?? How is an announcement that brings money to a PROVINCE and contracts to a PROVINCE not be considered a joint announcement between a PRIME MINSTER and a PREMIER?? Is this man smoking crack or what??

Where is the outpouring of anger??

Has anyone else noticed that the Conservative Government has gone unchecked with respect to making 'blue' our new national colour??

The Cons have taken the traditional red and white that is our flag colour and our country colour and made the main stage blue and white instead to show Canada the new colour that has been added to our flags and national identity!! Anyone else see the fallacy in this?? Red,white and blue??? Hmmmmmmm Where is the outrage??? Canada day celebrations are not for partisan politics people.....who cares if the Liberal party is red--I don't associate the red on Canada day with the red of the Liberals, nor to the majority of Canuckleheads alike. I'm so glad I'm leaving this country where people have elected a half twit like Harper to run this great land. I can't be around stupid people anymore!! Period!

Central Nova just got a bit more interesting!!

With Peter "doggy dog" MacKay agreeing with the budget it looks like Elizabeth May's little "uphill" battle just got easier. I suppose one could say the the Liberals are kicking themselves in the arse for not running a candidate now. It's too late for them to consider running someone. If they were to run someone now they would be seen as a bunch of liers and that is not what that political party needs right now.

Petey boy has made quite a few mistakes as of late. One being agreeing to vote with the Cons on their budget--I don't pretend to understand financial issues but apparently down there the mood is that Nova Scotia feels like it's been handed a nice big ol' kick in the arse. Another little mistake Petey boy has encounter is the Khadr case. While most Canadian's are unsure of how they feel about the Khadr family they know that deep down holding a child in prison to be subjected to abuse is wrong and are calling for the government to move on this issue. Petey, being the Foreign Affairs Minister is lagging in his responsibilities. He's waiting for his girly friend Condi to make a suggestion. Doesn't want to upset her too much--look what happened last time he and a political figure disagreed on some issues--she jumped ship and ran far far away from him!

Finally the thing that will be his downtrodden is the handling of Afghan prisoners. The flip flopping of this atrocity is going to hurt him. Looks like good ol' Lizzie is going to kick some Con butt, as she should.

Wow, surprise surprise a child molester gets little time!

As some of my readers know when it comes to justice around sex related crimes I take a very harsh and strong stance. I have advocated numerous times for the tougher sentences for those accused and found guilty of a sex related crime, especially those who have been found guilty of a crime committed against a child. Well today I was yet again reminded of the inadequate justice system with respect to this area of the Criminal Code of Canada.

I was reading over the news--I skim over Google news in the morning and was instantly drawn to this story (albeit from The Sun which is a right wing news agency and one can tell by the use of 'pervert' in the story) of a man who was charged and found guilty of a sex crime against a child. The child in question is 13 years old and according to the CCC is unable to consent to any sexual relationships, period. The legal age of consent is 14 years old and therefore this would be a 'rape' by that definition alone. Although I'm not 100% up to date with the crimes which a person can be charged with in respect to the CCC, my understanding is 'rape' is no longer a charge. It has been changed to aggravated sexual assault, or something of that manner. Nonetheless, lets call it for what it is, rape of a child.

What pisses me off the most about this story is not that the man was found guilty or pleaded guilty but the judges inability or unwillingness--only the court room knows for sure--to throw the god damn book at this man. Which brings me to my biggest problem with the CCC with respect to sexual crimes, especially violent sex crimes. I hate the fact that these crimes are not considered to be of the same calibre as a murder charge.

Most people know I am pretty forward thinking when it comes to the Justice system. As a matter of fact I have gone--on here at least--tete de tete with Vic Toews on his view of 'get tough on crime'--and I know he's no longer the justice minister so when news pops up on the new minister I'm sure he'll get the same treatment from me if he trots the same line. I think there needs to be more preventative options put in place instead of tougher sentences. However when it comes to this little area of the law I get real heated in debate and I get really pissed off at the view most politicians and judges and lawyers have with respect to the victims of these crimes. This is nothing new as I have always had this stance!

Let's face it, these sexual crimes are committed against two of the most vulnerable groups of people on this earth. We know that about 90% or more to the sexual assaults committed are committed against women and children. What boils my blood is that these 'men' in suits up in the offices--and the vast majority of politicians are men (women don't get involved enough)--don't get up in arms about this very small section of the Criminal Code of Canada. What if these very women and children who were having these crimes committed against them were their own daughters, wives or children? Would they then be up in arms about the whole issue??

What needs to be done, as I have always maintained, is that people charged with these crimes and found guilty should be held accountable to the same standards as those who take the lives of others. The emotional, spiritual, and mental death that occurs because of these crimes is likened to that of physical death. A person never fully recovers from the sexual assault that has been committed against one. When will these politicians wake up??

Khadr and the illegal detainment of this child--young adult now!

Omar Khadr has some reprieve from the illegal trial in the US for the moment. A Military judge has dismissed the charges against Khadr because of some wording, however he has said that new charges could be filed against him in the future.

The US needs to release this young man. They have detained him without proper cause and are in violation of International Law. For those unfamiliar with the case Omar was 15 at the time of his imprisonment and therefore under international treaties is considered a "child solider". However because the American and Canadian government--to some extent--have this war on terror and this view that all people involved in the conflict are considered enemy combatants then they should be imprisoned. I have written on this issue before and I feel that the American government needs to be held accountable.

The Canadian government is not without scandal on this issue. They are afraid to approach this child because of our countries problems with this family. The Canadian government is failing this child because of their problems without taking into consideration that the development of this child was a household of hate. Had Khadr a different last name then I suspect the government would be up in arms but because he shares the same last name and blood line of a terrorist and grew up in a house that normalized hatred for anything American or 'western' then this child is not worth saving. I'm ashamed to say I'm Canadian for this very reason. We are a nation of hypocrisy. We say we're the nation that pushes human rights yet we refuse to look after our own child in Gitmo. What a sad state of affairs if you ask me.

May and Dion's attempt at doing politics differently!

I have not put my two cents forth with respect to the Stephane Dion and Elizabeth May collaboration. I have kept my comments to my inner circle of friends and family with my views on this change in the political landscape. The reason you ask, well because there has been nothing but bad press for the most part since their announcement. This is unfortunate as I see this collectiveness as a great leap forward.

I have always resisted in joining a political party as some past readers will remember. I recently joined the Green Party of Canada because Elizabeth May is their leader and because I think she will breath life into a venue that is dying.

Politics has gotten nastier and nastier. When I turned 18, the age of voting, I was ecstatic that I could exercise my democratic right to vote. When I first started voting I was a Liberal. I liked that they were socially progressive yet financially conservative. My best friend became a card carrying Liberal member and I resisted the chance to join. I wanted to be sure about my affiliation with a political party. As I started to age and understand the injustices of this country, and world for that matter, my political thought turned more towards that of the NDP. I liked the Ed Broadbent's and Stephen Lewis' of the world. However, with Jack Layton at the helm I could not bring myself to join the NDP either. I voted for the party but it was always a protest vote in a riding that has always seen a Liberal or Conservative. I never voted for the Greens because it was a party I was truly unaware of. However, a year and bit ago I met a man who introduced me to the Greens and what they stand for and I've been hooked ever since. They are a party that speaks to me on more than just protest voting. They get it on so many levels and I'm glad to say that I found a political party worth joining.

I like Elizabeth May for a few reasons. I like her because she is honest. I value this trait the most in all people. Honesty breeds greatness. I also like her because she is a strong woman. Alexa McDonnough, as leader of the NDP, was a nice change but politics wasn't ready for women then. I hate to say that last bit but lets be honest here, it just wasn't ready. Look what it did to Kim Campbell. It ate her alive. Elizabeth May, on the other hand, is strong in more than many ways. Being a highly publicised activist she's got a bit of scrap in her that people have not seen in women of power often enough. I also like her because she has this soft, feminine side to her. This ability to connect with those who need our help the most. However, the thing I like the most about her is that her intellect puts those men in power to shame. She has the ability to go head to head with these men and I think this scares them.

The only male leader who gets her is Stephane Dion. I like him, I like him a lot. However, it's not enough for me to vote for his party. People undermine him because when he first started speaking to the 'English' media his accent was so thick, but if you hear him now his accent is not as strong. His English has improved much more than I suspect Harper's French. He's an intellect and he's a great leader. I think that it scares the crap out of the other parties, that trying to dismantle him in the media is what they are trying to do. What the other parties fail to realize is that while they try to bring him down, Dion is fighting back. He's improving his English, he's making leaps and bounds in the political landscape and his understanding of Canadians is becoming stronger.

When Dion and May made the announcement about not running a candidate in each others riding I couldn't help but feel absolute joy. This move of theirs has been torn down in the media by a bunch of old guards. They are trying to make Dion appear weak and May appear like another political back room dealer. However, the difference is that Dion has told the media that he is doing this out of respect for May as a leader and showing that he is an honest man. Dion had said during the North London by-election that he would not run against May as he did not want to be the one to stop her from entering Rideau Hall. He is keeping his word as leader of the Liberal Party. He is not going to be the one to stop her from entering Rideau. May has also been honest with the media. She told them that she was in talks with the other parties. She has always maintained that for her it was never about partisan politics. She has always maintained she was willing to work with other parties on many things. When Dion showed May respect, May returned the favor. I think showing RESPECT for each other as leaders of a political party is missing from Politics now!! This is what scares the pundits and this is what scares the old guards.

I just hope that the media wakes up to this new realization about the change in political landscape. It's happening in the US and it is definitely happening here in Canada. I see that Susan Riley has woken up in her article to this realization.

Here's to the great May/Dion collaboration!!

Doggy Doo Doo and other things!

How many of you out there are pet owners. More specifically, how many of you out there are dog owners. Well I am one of those dog owners. If you had asked me a few years ago if I'd be an owner of a dog I would have said no. I'm not a big fan of the responsibility that comes along with a dog. The getting up early to walk to dog, the clean up after they have a nice bowel movement and the grooming was enough to turn me off. I have always owned cats in my own house. This is not to say I did not grow up with dogs. I had 3 dogs in my childhood.

My first dog was Brownie. It was this cute little puppy. I'm not sure what happened to it, I think it was my parents before I was born. I only have a picture of her and very little memory of her. We didn't get another dog until I was in Grade 4 or 5. It was a big dog, but we had a big yard. To be honest I can't remember the dogs name, only that my brother played with him the most. Then we had to give up the dog when we moved into town. My parents felt bad so they gave us a smaller dog. My Dutches was a very loyal and quiet friend. She lived to be the ripe old age of 20 years old and fought till the very end to live. It was only after her inability to control her bladder and walk to go to the washroom outside that the decision to put her to permanent sleep was made. I figured that decision would be made while I was in China so I was able to say goodbye to her before I left. However, during the ownership of these childhood dogs we were rarely responsible for the dogs. My father and mother bought the food, let them out for their daily release of waste and made sure the grooming was completed.

The first animal I owned when I moved out on my own was a cat. I put the food down, changed the kitty litter and pet it but the actual amount of responsibility for cat ownership is low. Along comes my daughter. She loves animals. She was upset when Dutches died. I waited almost a year before getting her a new dog. So I'm now the proud owner of a dog. I mulled over the possibility of ownership but I could no longer deny my daughters desire to have a companion. I can't give her a sibling--not sure I want to go down that path anytime soon--so why not give her the next best thing. A buddy for her to play with, and she does. Angel--the dog--has to tolerate all the 'fun stuff' that she and Bailey engage in. I don't think the dog minds all that much as she does love Bailey. She is very protective of her buddy and will remind you in no uncertain terms that coming within close proximity to Bailey will result in a sharp bark.

Why am I bringing up my stories of my pet ownership--more specifically the dog ownership you ask? Well I read today on the CBC website about a City Counsellor hoping to make it law that dog owners have to take her dog poop home with them instead of dropping them off in the garbage bins that scatter the parks and streets of Toronto.

This does make sense in a round about way. I am guilty of throwing the dog poop bags in the garbage bins around my park and street area of Toronto. I was doing this before I knew about the green bin program with respect to doggy doo doo. I was of the understanding that doggy doo doo couldn't go into the green bin because it's not a 'good' organic for compost purpose. However, this myth was busted while visiting a knowledgeable friend a few weekends ago. I was informed that we could put the dog poop in the green bin so long as it's not wrapped up in the plastic bag. Even if you use a plastic bag for the green bin purpose it's the tightly tied up poop bags that can be problematic. Therefore, you're asked to just put the pooh in the bin, and the bag in the garbage. Or purchase a pooper scooper for the purpose of scooping the poop without the environmental damage of a plastic bag.

If this City Counsellor hopes to pass this law then I think an educational period needs to be put forth. I didn't know about the ability to put dog poop in the green bin, so I suspect that the average Torontonian is unaware of this ability as well.

Now if we could only get on the dog owners who let their dog crap all over the place without cleaning it up!!

The Iran Issue

I have been following the Iran issue lately with some interest. I've recently begun reading a book on Iranian Blogging and I've gotten a bit of insight into the minds of regular Iranians and views of their government. So the news coming out as of late with respect to the "Iranian Crisis" has sparked an interest that I'm usually not prone to. I could care less to be honest what goes on in the middle east. I shouldn't say care less more like confused by it all.

Anywho as anyone knows with the news of today Iran has released the Britons whom they 'captured' in Iranian water. My partner and I have been talking about this issue for some time privately--I haven't written about it because it is such a complicated issue that I don't fully understand. We've both thought that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'captured' the sailors to prove a point--and I use capture loosely as we're of the thought they kidnapped with purpose.

We're of the belief that there was some intended message behind the kidnappings. We think that they west in underestimating Iran and the steps it'll go to get it's needs met. We've always thought that it's Iran telling the world how it's done and not the world telling Iran how it's done.

Well today in a Time Magazine article our thoughts were confirmed. Not that I believe everything I read but it's interesting to see that other people believe Iran is sending some very powerful messages.

Time believed it was sending three messages:

The capture of the Britons seemed designed to send three messages to London, and
more importantly, to Washington:

Don't think about attacking Iran, because
it has the capacity to threaten Western interests in the Gulf and throughout the
Middle East, directly as well as through allies in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine;

Expect Iran to instigate trouble if the West continues to punish Iran for
what it sees simply as exercising as its legal right to nuclear technology; and,

Iran will play tit-for-tat if U.S. forces continue arresting Iranian
officials working inside Iraq, as in the Jan. 11 raid on an Iranian consular
facility in Erbil where five Iranians were detained.

The full article can be found here.

It'll be interesting to see how things play out in the next little while.

Toronto drivers are funny people!

So I was walking my daughter to school today. I am able to do this now that I'm a stay home mom. Really who becomes a stay home mom when their child is 9 years of age? I never said I was conventional!!

Anywho, back to the discussion at hand. I was walking my daughter to school this morning and what interesting things I witnessed from our local Toronto drivers. To preface this piece I will say that I learned how to drive in Woodstock, Ontario and if any of the readers out there know it's a snow belt area. We learn at an early age the best way to get around certain weather conditions. We're pretty prepared for anything that comes our way. This is not to say that there are not accidents--actually a high amount of them in our area from our more ill equipped folks--but the majority of seasoned drivers know what needs to be done to ensure a safe journey from point A to point B.

Today was a terrible crappy road conditioned day! Arctic air moved in to freeze the rain on the road and then snow covered it. I live at an intersection with a small slope with a four way stop. This morning before I even left the house I witnessed a slight fender bender at my corner. The joys of living on the corner unit! Nothing major I suppose, just some names and insurance information exchanged. I went about my business getting Bay ready for school. We started our journey with two almost accidents. A car was coming to the stop sign, that is on the hill, and a kid was crossing.....he had to honk to get the kid moving or we'd have witnessed them being run over. Then while Bay and I were crossing, a car was trying to climb the street we were walking up, that has the hill. They had the pedal to the metal hoping that would help them get up. Little do they know that spinning your wheels like that won't get you up the hill. You have to slowly put your foot to the gas and just go up that way. You won't have the slipping and sliding nor the spinning of the wheels this way. Silly Torontonian driver!!

Then I witnessed quite a few farmer stops on the way. The street we take to Bay's school is full of all way stops. However non of the drivers were stopping. They were slowing down and going through because of the sheet of ice under the snow. The ones who did try to stop were sliding and slamming on their breaks. Anyone who has driven in this kind of weather numerous times know that the best way to stop is not slamming on your breaks but pumping them. Don't hold on to the steering wheel either. You need to just go with the flow. It'll work itself out. Silly drivers.

Then I walked home after saying goodbye to my precious little one when I witnessed more spinning of the wheels. I was almost hit twice trying to cross over my corner but I was quick. Once I got to my corner I noticed that there was a 4 car fender bender. I had a slight giggle in my head and went into my house. When I was in my apartment I looked out the window to witness the action--yes I am occasionally a rubber necker!!--when I watched the beauty of an accident happen. Again no one understood the need to go slowly down the slight slop and it slammed into a car already dented up. Only this time it was pretty serious. Instead of a slight fender bender it was a full blown collision. Do you know what this driver did. She slammed on her breaks hoping to stop the car. This only increased the speed instead of pumping the breaks.

Silly drivers I tell you!! Silly drivers!

Speaking of driving, I'm glad that I have given up this task. I was back in Woodstock yesterday to visit my doctor and I had to borrow my parents vehicle to get to my appointment. It's a driving town which is unfortunate. I couldn't help but get angry at the drivers around me. This was my signal that driving and me are not a good mix. I don't want to ever own a car again!

Going car free

I have lived most of my life dependent on cars. Growing up in rural Ontario or small town Ontario you get use to having a car for everything. You become so dependent on cars it becomes absolutely ridiculous. I even remember this one guy who was in my small town who would drive his car from the parking lot of Zellers--that's where all the 'cool' folks hung out--to the store which was just across the street. He didn't feel the need to walk the few hundred steps to get there.

Recently though I've made a decision to go car free. I gave up my car in August 2006 and I've not looked back. I've seen some great benefits to living this lifestyle. It does help that I live in Toronto now which makes it much easier to go car free. I've lost about 20lbs since having to rely on my two feet and a heart beat. I've also increased my cardio tolerance. Where it use to be a challenge to walk for long periods of time I can now do it without running out of breath. I've also noticed a cost benefit. This has been the best motivator for going car free. I pay $100 a month for transportation plus any cab rides and they're cheap in Toronto. Before I went car free I was paying $300 a month for the car, $150 a month for insurance and then gas which was anywhere from $40-$60 dollars a week depending on gas prices and where I travelled too. I save a crap load of money by being car free. Which I need because I went from paying $300 a month in rent to $1400 in rent.

So why am I writing this post one might ask. Well today I came back to my parents place for the weekend. It's my nephew's first birthday. My daughter and I hopped on a GO train and my father picked us up in Burlington--they don't allow dogs on VIA. I had not bought Nolan his birthday present so I needed to do this while visiting the folks. If I had been in Toronto I would have just hopped on the TTC, taken the Dufferin bus down to the Dufferin Mall and went into H&M or some other store that has taken to selling kids clothes. Instead I was stuck here in Woodstock relying on my parents good faith to DRIVE me to the Wal-Mart--a post will soon be relegated to this organization--to pick up his present. They live close to it but you can't even walk to it in a reasonable amount of time. The urban/regional planner for this city has got to learn how to make the city much more functional. Where is the GREEN to Woodstock??

The Imprisonment of Children

I'm back and ready to write. I have all the time in the world now. It's very snowy out right now so today's post comes from the comfort of my living space. If it was warmer out I might consider walking down to the local coffee shop and sip on a macchiato and write away.

Today I'm going to touch on something that has been bothering me for a while. The way the US has taken to imprisoning Canadian citizens--more specifically children. As I write this there are two high profile cases of kids in jails in the US. One being the little Iranian boy who is Canadian by birth yet unable to stay in the country after we kicked his parents out, denying them refugee status and sending him to a country where he has no roots, to watch his father be tortured for three months and his mother raped. Despite all that we have done to the family, they escaped Iran again in hopes of returning to Canada--under false pretense but I'll look past that--and by some freak of nature incident had to land in the US where they were detained and transferred to a jail in Texas. We all know how Texans feels about imprisonment. They spend more money on jails then they do on the education of their citizens.

What upsets me the most right now is not only our governments inability to be flexible with certain immigrants but that the US has the audacity to put a child in jail. It's a huge human rights violation and for a country that talks about bringing democracy to other 'needy' countries they sure have a funny way of modelling said democracy. It sickens me even more to think that most of the Texans--I'm not saying all, but most--feel this is okay. It's not okay. A child needs to be in school and this jail he's in does not allow that for him. It also sickens me to see that the Canadian government took so long to act.

There is a happy ending to this story--kinda--in that the family has been granted a temporary visa to enter Canada until this matter is settled. This is not the case for the other child. His is a much more difficult and complex case to dissect. That being Omar Khadr.

I think Rosie Dimanno put it right in her editorial for The Star. In this editorial she compared two teenage boys who grew up in similar situations with similar outcomes yet because one happened on US soil and one happened in Iraq they should be treated differently. The other child Omar was compared to was Lee Boyd Malvo. You might have heard of him. He committed a terrorist like act. He will go down in history as the Washington Sniper.

Both boys grew up in a 'family' that used and abused them by moulding their minds of hate. I'm aware that the Khadr family has a rocky relationship with Canada but to allow one of our children to suffer the torture of the American Army in Abu Ghraib-we all know how that story ended-and the torture in Guantanamo Bay is quite sickening. We as Canadians should be ashamed of ourselves for not becoming involved in this case.

This detainment of Khadr is in direct violation of the United Nations Charter of Rights for Children and The Geneva Convention special treatment of children in armed conflicts. In these two documents it is said that children under the age of 18 shall not be recruited to the military as well as making it a war crime to recruit those under the age of 15 into armed conflict. It also allows for special treatment of children of armed conflict and the International Court Court will not charge those under the age of 18 with a war crime. According to them they are not criminally responsible for their actions.

The Optional Protocol of the Children's Rights Charter that specifically deals with child soldiers states the specific:

Reaffirming that the rights of children require special protection, and
calling for continuous improvement of the situation of children without
distinction, as well as for their development and education in conditions of
peace and security, Disturbed by the harmful and widespread
impact of armed conflict on children and the long-term
consequences this has for durable peace, security and development,

Mindful of the necessity of taking into consideration the economic,
social and political root causes of the involvement of children in armed
conflicts, Convinced of the need to strengthen
international cooperation in the implementation of this
Protocol, as well as the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation and social
reintegration of children who are victims of armed conflict,
Encouraging the participation of the community and, in
particular, children and child victims in the dissemination of informational
and educational programmes concerning the implementation of the Protocol,

What it says in essential is that someone like Khadr requires specific consideration regarding what he has been accused of. Sure he killed a US solider during the Iraq war but when he committed the crime he was just a child. A child solider who has every right to be re-educated and protected under international law. Unfortunately the US doesn't see it that way and their War on Terror is blinding them to the call for the release of a child in Guantanamo.

The war and prison industrial complex that is the US has blinded them to basic rights of children. I could go on about my thoughts on the US juvenile justice but I'll leave that for another day. My concern to date is the inability of the Canadian government to become involved in this case. We are failing a child and that saddens me.

Just a quick update

I haven't written in a while as I've been busy with work and other personal life situations but I just wanted to let some of my readers know that I'm still spewing out my thoughts on news items or daily musings while around friends or co-workers but I haven't sat down in front of the computer to get them out for the visual delight.

I will be back to write about some things that have happened as of late. Just not right now.

To be continued.......