Wil's Rant

There is a new program that essentially using spamming techniques against the spammers. The intention is to bombard them with so much e-mail as possible in order to overload their system and effectively prevent them from using their own servers. This is absolutely something that I would like to take part in. One problem, their is currently several efforts being made to bring in laws making the practice illegal. If I were to join in the fun I might be breaking the law, if not now then later. So I think I'll pass for now. But I would highly recommend it to anyone living in an area where they are sure that this would be legal. Now that would be justice.

Close to a month has now gone by since I switched to Firefox as my default browser. I continue to be very pleased with the result. It appears that I am not the only one. 20% of the visitors to this site are now using Firefox as well. This is much higher than the 10% market share being reported in the press. I'm not sure what to make of this. Either the numbers being reported in the press are a little behind or there is a higher percentage of people who view these pages that are willing to take the chance or just plane fed up with Microsoft than the reported figures would suggest. In either case it pleases me a great deal. Microsoft, much like George Bush, needs to be taken down a couple of pegs and I'm more than happy to do my part in making that happen. I suppose I just don't like monopolies in any form. I prefer to see a lot of competition in order for all of us to get the best product available. This applies equally to governments and politics as well as corporations, especially corporations. My next PC is likely to be an Apple. This seems to be the best medium between Microsoft and Linux. I would be more inclined to try a pure Linux or Unix system if there was the same number of software packages available as Apple. Of course, that may all change by the time I'm forced to make the switch. Alternate operating systems are coming up fast which I find very refreshing after five years of frustration with Microsoft.

A German actress appearing in Snow White has been fired because she has posed nude while in a bathtub filled with bubbles. I am very surprised by this as I have always thought that European nations had gone beyond being disturbed by something as harmless and natural as nudity. I thought that this type of nonsense was confined to North America where we can watch brutal violence on television everyday during prime time just so long as it doesn't contain nudity. Hey big tip...nudity is the most natural thing in the world but the extreme violence we all witness daily is just the opposite. Apparently ignorance and prudity about the body is not something found only in North America.

I just don't understand all the hoopla about the immigration minister meeting with a representative of a stripper looking to have her case reviewed. Is this not the job of Sgro in the first place? This debacle has now been going on for a week with the opposition calling for her resignation. I might understand it if she was receiving some sort of compensation from the strippers for the meeting, but to my knowledge she is not. It would appear that the main reason for all the attention is because of the word stripper. The politicos realize that this word will gain media attention so they are milking it for all they can. I might understand if the debate was centered around the concept of whether there should be a special clause in the immigration policies for strippers or not but this has not been the case.There are far more important issues in this country that should be the focus of our leaders in this day and age. Their continued attention to this particular issue amounts to a great waste of taxpayer money and they should get back to the more important debates and issues of the day.

Everyone is expressing outrage over the shooting of an eleven year old girl on a Toronto bus yesterday. Apparently not everyone shares in the outrage. Very few people who had been on the bus ( estimated at over 40 ) have come forward to assist the police in the investigation. Without the help of witnesses it makes it very difficult to find the cruds responsible for this crime. Even if the police manage to find those responsible, there's still the matter of getting convictions. Without public support, the job of the police in cases such as these is damn near impossible. So we can complain all we want about the lack of justice, things will not change until the public recognizes its responsibilty to assist the police in any way possible. At least then we can confine our bitching to the subject of the laws and how they are applied by the courts.

Welcome back to the U.S. Army folks in Baghdad. Believe it or not I was once a member of the Canadian Armed Forces ( Combat Engineer). I really feel for you guys trying to serve your country and getting stuck in the hellhole that George W. has created there. My objection is definitely not with the men and women serving in the U.S. forces. I agree that you are among the finest individuals your country has to offer. I think you deserve much much better than to be led by a self- serving liar such as George who continues to waste your lives for all the wrong reasons. While I agree that Saddam had to go and democracy is really needed there, I think that George has gone about it the wrong way for all the wrong reasons. Best of luck to you guys, I know that many of you are working to try to help the Iraqis as best you can under very difficult conditions. My objection is with your leaders, not the men and women of the U.S. armed forces. The news shows all the errors and crimes committed by a very small group in the Army but shows very little of the efforts to rebuild schools, hospitals, and infrastructure that you guys are involved in every day. My thoughts go out to you and I hope you make it back safe.

Four Times. That's how many times she tried to have him killed. She is currently serving the resulting sentence in Australia. Now here's the fun part. He wants her back! These two lovebirds are working together in an attempt to get the Aussies to send her to Canada to serve out the rest of her sentence so they won't be so far apart. If you look in the dictionary under the word putz I think you just might see a picture of this guy.

I've just heard of this on CTV news. According to the report there is a company that allows people to virtual hunt over the Internet. This I find somewhat distasteful, but not that much. What I do find really distasteful is their plan to expand on this and allow people to actually kill an animal from the comfort of their armchair. One of the reasons more people don't hunt is the fact that they can't stomach the gore involved. This site would take that reservation away making it much easier to kill without actually getting any blood on their hands. Now I don't have any real problem with hunting so long as the people involved use every part of the animal and it is done in a manner so as to not cause any unnecessary suffering to the animal involved. I personally do not hunt anymore simply because it's just plain easier to go to the store. So my objection has nothing to do with the "bleeding heart" syndrome. It's is only because I believe that hunting should not be viewed as a sport only as an alternate way of feeding ones family. Hunters should approach the subject in the same manner as natives peoples do and that is to have the highest regard and respect for the animals which they are killing. Anything less than this is criminal and shows a total lack of respect for life, all life. It's one thing to play video games which depict killing for pleasure and another to actually make a game that really kills. At least with the game, everyone knows it's just a game. Lawmakers are reported to be examining this plan in the hopes of stopping it before it actually goes into practice. Damn good thing in my book.

I just had to repeat this one. I cracked right up when I read it.

Dad: " Son, it's time we had a talk about sex"
Son: " Sure dad, what do you want to know?"

Firefighters must be at the top of my list as the most dedicated and honourable people in every society. They have consistently and repeatedly given their lives to help and save others. Entering a burning structure has to be among the very last things in the world that I would wish to do and yet they do it over and over again. Seven firefighters in Switzerland have made the ultimate sacrifice. We all owe these men and women more than can ever be repaid. Many of those who manage to survive the career later fall victim to illness that results from a lifetime of breathing smoke laced with many toxins. 9/11 was a clear demonstration of this dedication but it is only one example of the efforts and sacrifice these people face every day. This is my way of saying thanks and spending a moment in silence to honour them.

If anyone is taking notice, they will be astonished at the rate of beachings that are now taking place. The numbers are getting larger with beached whales appearing all over the world. From Australia to New Zealand to Cape Cod to Mexico they are beaching themselves everywhere. The scientist state that they can't prove what the cause of this trend is but I think we can make some pretty safe assumptions. Whales navigate by sonar. I think we can assume that they are not purposely committing mass suicide. That essentially leaves the question of navigation. The worlds oceans are now filled with so much sonar interference in the form of propellers and ships sonar systems as to effectively cause them to be blind. I read once that it was felt that whales had the ability to communicate almost 1/3 of the way around the world. I am quite certain that this is no longer the case. Combine this with the never before seen levels of toxins in the oceans waters and we have all the ingredients needed to cause yet another great link in the worlds eco-system to die out. We must start to limit the degree of human impact on the oceans if we are to save them in a state which even begins to approach the state that they were once in. The technology already exists for us to make some changes. Wind power for large vessels is not a new concept. This method of propulsion would not cause the many harmful effects of propeller and fuel based engines. Combine this concept with a reduction in global trade, trade which in fact does not make a lot of sense from an environmental perspective, and our impact would be much less. Now this may not be what the big corporations would have us believe, but we all know just how far we can trust these guys so long as their main consideration is how many millions they are going to make with their next bonus'. True ethics in business and government is long overdue. The only way it is going to come is if we make them feel it in the pocketbooks. Lets not hold our breath waiting for our leaders to do the right thing. The globe will be a barren wasteland long before that happens if we don't force the issue through our buying habits and the issues we stress come election time.

The tiger populations have been in decline for years. Some sub-species are already extinct. The situation for them all is now approaching critical mass. For one such sub-species the report states that there are now less than twenty of these magnificent creatures left. I would have to view that number as less than necessary for a viable population. In other words, they are already extinct, they just don't know it yet. Another fine example of human caretaking. There are so many people who are trying to do something about this crime that I could not even count them. The problem is that there are far more people who either don't care, feel that they can't do anything, or are driven by economic considerations to the point that they are prepared to make this sacrifice in their own attempts to survive. We can do something! It must start with education and awareness. The next step is to provide the necessary means to survive for the people whose lives also depend on these same resources and land areas. It's not too late, but it soon will be.

This is one of the tougher topics of the day. Reportedly, schools are now canceling dances in response to the manner of dress and conduct of the students. Increasingly students are dressing more promiscuously and effectively dirty dancing while at school functions. The principals are starting to make dress codes and canceling the dances in response. I'm not sure what the correct response should be to these trends. I also have a teenage daughter and as such I share in these concerns. I'm not sure that canceling the dances is the correct response. To my knowledge, no student has ever gotten pregnant or contracted a sexual disease while dancing in a school sponsored event. I personally would be horrified if my daughter was to dress in the manner that I have witnessed other teenage girls do. We can't really blame them for emulating what they see on T.V. all the time. I would much prefer to see them dancing at school under supervision than at a private event where this supervision would not be present. Perhaps this is more a problem of the lack of good role models than anything else. But there are some good ones. Hillary Duff does not dress in this manner and she is one of my kids favorites. There is also the Olsen Twins who also dress a little more reserved. To date, my daughter has never even kissed a boy or gone out with anyone. I know this for a fact as I intensely monitor all my kids internet activity and have tracking features for everything they do there. Perhaps we are in a better position to keep them on the strait and narrow because we live in the country and can spot trouble coming miles away. This would not be the case if we lived in the city where the chance for trouble would come much more easily and often. It's actually one of the main reasons we moved out of the city of Ottawa over ten years ago.... We have never looked back. In the setting we now live in, the kids seem to lag a little behind the city kids in this regard, a very good thing in my view. The kids today seem to be in an awful rush to grow up. Just because their bodies may be mature enough doesn't mean they are emotionally and intellectually ready for adult relationships. Another factor is the fact that once started in a more adult relationship, the kids focus on school and career seems to wane. I definitely share in the concerns of all parents with the current trends. We might start by simply talking with our kids, know what they are up to, try to emphasize that they should try to enjoy this time without all the concerns of the adult world, and lead by example. A couple of my teenage daughter's friends have already gotten themselves into a bit of trouble that these kinds of activities can lead to. Our response is to spend time with our daughter discussing the issues and letting her know that she can come to us about anything for help or counsel. As a result she does just that. We discuss everything from sex to birth control to drugs, smoking to dress code. There is no topic that we will not discuss with her and she feels comfortable talking with us about anything, we know this because she does. Oh, and as to the internet tracking, she is well aware that we do this. It was one of the conditions that we imposed when she first requested to use the computer for chat lines, e-mail and the like. She is aware that there are truly no secrets on the internet and the dangers possible make this necessary. I specifically have installed trackers for both the internet and the keyboard itself so that I am always aware of what my kids are up to while on the computer. She has only received an unexpected and unknown source message once, and she did exactly the right thing by bringing it to my attention and not responding to the message as she was instructed to do. I tracked the message to a Toronto 20 year old male who she did not know. Her actions were comforting to me, but I would have known about it anyway had she not chosen to bring it to my attention. This is the approach we must all take as parents if we want to protect our kids from the kinds of dangers that can be found there.

Accidents can happen, even in the U.S. What gets me about this one is the response of some of the people involved in the issue. Quotes such as " it is unpatriotic to question the military during the Iraqi crises" or " let them alone because these guys are putting their lives on the line over there". Oh come on, they are apparently putting the lives of American school children on the line over here as well. Even for those unfortunates who support the Iraqi Action should admit that these types of accidents must be investigated to ensure that it is not repeated. This is not a question of patriotism, just survival of your kids. I strongly suspect that their reaction might be different if one of their own kids ended up dead. Would they still consider it unpatriotic to question how this accident had happened? Lets not confuse patriotism with idiocy. Again, accidents do happen, especially when training for armed conflict. War is a dangerous business. While this doesn't mean that the pilot should be raked over the coals for it, it also doesn't mean that the incident should be ignored either. Ignoring it is the best way to ensure that it will happen again, and the next time, it might be a school near you, and your kids might just be inside it. Military training generally should not endanger the civilians who live near the training ground and when it does there must be an investigation in order to change the training procedure to prevent it in the future.

The U.S. is going to stop providing aid to any country that refuses to sign an agreement which essentially states that they will not charge any American Citizen with criminal offenses while in their country. Where do I start with this one. I can understand the desire to ensure that Americans civil rights are respected while in a foreign country. What I can't understand is the approach being taken. First, why should an American have anymore civil rights in a country than anyone else? I would think that a better approach would be trying to work with a nation to gain these rights for everyone, not just Americans. Second is the fact that this would effectively give Americans total immunity from prosecution no matter what the offense. Third is the fact that the people who will be hurt most by this are the most needy people in the given country. Another fact is the concept that should a person feel that they do not agree with the laws of a given nation, they should feel free to stay the hell out of it, that's called having respect for the laws and desires of a sovereign nation. The law is so one sided that nations who have been essentially forced to agree with it in most cases do not report the fact for fear of the reaction of their own people to it. International travelers have long had to keep in mind the possible results of their failure to respect the laws in any country that they are traveling in. It is for this reason that there are many countries where I would not travel in because I do not agree with those laws and out of respect for that country I would not travel there. The U.S. must start to recognize that this is not the way to handle their foreign relations, not if they want to have any friends left at all. If you don't agree with the policies of a foreign nation than by all means voice your objection, but do not under any circumstances penalize the very people who you are supposed to be trying to help. Any efforts to further the cause of civil rights should be applied across the board equally and not specifically in regards to American citizens.

It's not all postal workers, not even the carriers, who are again threatening a strike during the Christmas rush. At least if it were the carriers, we could show a little sympathy. It's also hard to blame them in light of the massive raises our leaders regularly give themselves. But in the end, the real problem is the fact that less and less people are even using the mail system these days, and who can blame us. Why even bother with snail-mail when we can send letters instantly, and for free. Add to that picture the seemingly never-ending threat of a strike which would prevent our mail from arriving in a timely fashion, especially over the preferred strike threat period of Christmas, and these workers appear to be the author of their own demise. I can't even remember the last time I mailed a letter. I actually don't know a thing about the issues in this one, I only know that they should re-think their strategy as far as public opinion goes. All government services are being viewed increasingly with distrust by the general populace. Most of us consider a government job as being the equivalent of winning the Cash for Life Lottery. While the actual real workers, such as the carriers, hold much more respect, many of the others, especially the politicos, are being viewed with significant distaste as they get better and better packages that the rest of us don't.

This ones a tough call. One family loves Christmas and puts up significant display. Neighbor complains because street is dead end and there is so much traffic that they are not able to even have their own company over for Christmas because they literally can't get through. It's one of those cases where I can sympathize with both. Kids love the display, so do a lot of adults. On the other hand, the neighbors have a right to reasonable access to their own street and home. The problem would not be as severe if the street was not a dead end. So what's the solution other than having one of the two homeowners sell and move. Personally, I don't have a clue.

I was extremely surprised by this one. Apparently, it has long been legal in Ontario to hunt wolves without limit and with no season. This is incredible considering that I have seen many wild animals in my life living in Ontario and that includes everything from wild turkeys to moose, but the one thing I have never seen is a wild wolf. To think that in this day and age that they are being hunted without limit is criminal. I would have thought that in a province as progressive as this one, this oversight would have been corrected long ago. Alas, it was not. Better late than never I suppose. Ontario is now prepared to correct the error by introducing limits. Wolf populations all over the world have been in decline for decades and this correction should have come much sooner. Wolves have long been misunderstood, and it shows my own level of ignorance to have not been aware of this problem before today. Even in Algonquin Park they have been in decline and park officials have been working for years to try and save the Red Wolf. This in a provincial park where they are protected. I can only imagine what it must have taken for authorities to come to this decision. I hope that they are not too late.

This time they are going to impose sanctions. This is in response to the Byrd Amendment that the U.S. brought into law a couple of years ago. The U.S. has taken a tyrannical approach to trade with other nations for some time. The attitude taken has always been one of take it or lose your ability to sell goods to the U.S. at all. Canada is not the only country to feel outrage over these tactics and the distaste for it is spreading. More and more the U.S. is isolating itself from the rest of us lesser humans. In virtually every trade relationship they have, they have always taken the position that anyone else should be so thankful for being able to do business in the U.S. that we have to accept any conditions that the U.S. imposes. The rest of the globe is becoming less and less inclined to accept these terms. I continue to have hope that the U.S. will see the light at some point as the pressure keeps building to treat others with fairness and respect. Of course, this will require a new type of awareness and maturity in the U.S. of the rights, needs, and opinions of others that they have to date not shown. The problem is deeply rooted, so deep in fact that it is entirely uncertain whether the American people will accept trade on a fair and even basis with the rest of the world. So essentially, the Americans have placed themselves in a bit of a conundrum over this one. The Americans truly believe that this is their God given right as the leaders of the free world. They seem unwilling or unable to see that their long history of this kind of thinking is no longer acceptable to the rest of us. As much as the loss of trade will certainly hurt countries like Canada, we will adopt if necessary rather than continue under these conditions. There are other countries who are prepared to conduct relations with us on an equal basis and the current situation is causing us to examine these options more and more. While there is still time for the Americans to act on a more evolved basis, I have no doubt that it is going to take some time before anyone else is going to believe that the Americans have truly changed. They have lost a great deal of the faith and trust that the rest of us have for them, not that anyone in the know ever had much. Probably a good thing in the end as the concept of shipping goods that can be manufactured locally across the globe ever made any sense from an ecological standpoint anyway, but that goes back to the concept of true cost over perceived cost, but that's another discussion.

The facts as described are bad enough. Reportedly hundreds of children involved, many people charged, some very prominent people in Portugal accused of crimes against children. That in itself is bad enough. But it gets worse. According to the report, over 60% of persons polled state that they do not believe that justice will be done in the cases! Sounds like the people of Portugal have just as much faith in their justice system as people in Canada. Somethings gotta give. For a civilization to last, one of the fundamental requirements is that its people believe in their legal system. When a large enough portion of the populace looses this faith, anarchy and chaos results. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I'm sure it must start with a decrease in the number of false convictions, corrupt police, and proper sentences for those properly convicted of these types of crimes. We owe it to the kids, we owe it to ourselves.

Canada is preparing to strike back at the U.S. over unfair trade practices. The U.S. has time after time refused to accept trade rulings of the international court as well as the WTO and NAFTA. After attempting to get the U.S. to follow the rules of trade set out in these agreements for more than ten years, Canada announced that it will impose levies on American goods. This move is expected to hurt the relationship between the two countries, but Canada has been left with very little choice. Canada has been forced to come to the conclusion that the U.S. will never live up to its agreements and Canada is no longer prepared to continue with the relationship under its current conditions. It's about time!! One might think that sooner or later the U.S. is going to realize that they are alienating pretty much the entire globe with the attitude its leaders have repeatedly shown towards everyone else. The down side to the problem is the fact that what has been a long freindship between the two countries is dissolving because of this attitude. The U.S. must recognize that they are not the only country on the planet, and must start showing a willingness to negotiate resolutions to problems as opposed to dictating their demands and expecting the rest of us to jump. I lived in Colorado for three years, three of the most enjoyable years of my life. It is not the American people who are creating these problems, just their leaders. The recent election in the U.S. bares striking similarities to the one in the Ukraine in that the exit polls showed a significantly different outcome than was reported. This is not democracy George, in fact quite the opposite. The American people must speak out for these facts to change. There may still be time to save the relationship with Canada. As to the rest of the world...... who knows, only time and change will tell.

You can't be serious. The U.S. is going to collect unpaid parking tickets from foreign missions. What I find particularly funny about this one is the fact of the American's own record in this regard. Ottawa also suffers from the same problem. While my figures are a couple of years old, I suspect things haven't changed very much. The biggest source of unpaid fines in Ottawa is the U.S. Embassy. Combine this with the fact that the U.S. also has the largest amount of unpaid U.N. dues and this seems to make the U.S. position somewhat hypocritical. Oh, I get it, the rules that the U.S. would have the rest of us live by don't apply to them. Well, maybe they have corrected this little oversight in the last couple of years, but somehow I doubt it. Another fine case of the U.S. leading by example. You might want to take notice of the goings on in Kiev these days George and Hillary. The continued mockery of the system of democracy currently being enacted in the U.S. will eventually lead to the same chaos there as is being seen elsewhere as people become more informed and begin to take great exception to these types of false direction and hypocrisy.

Over the last couple of days an ad has appeared in my blog to " support America's Heroes". While I have no problem drumming up support for police, firemen and the like, I take great exception to an ad asking us to support the American war effort in Iraq. This completly contradicts the over-all tone of my blog in regards to the American presence in Iraq. I have taken steps to correct this and the changes should take place fairly quickly. Again, I apologize for this, and I am just as offended by it as I'm sure many of my readers are or will be.

On a better note, Canada continues to play a leading role in providing assistance to the developing world. This does not apply only to food aid, but also to school building as shown on the news last night. Every developed nation in the world has a very great responsibility to share the wealth that the planet has provided for them. The question is never whether we should, but rather how can we do even more. It is efforts such as these that allow us to take great pride in being Canadian.

25%, that's what Ottawa City Council has given themselves as this years pay raise.....SWEET. I find this particularly offensive in the light of the massive tax hikes homeowners in Ottawa have faced in the last couple of years. The time has come for a new system for allotting pay increases for politicos. The concept that they should decide their own pay increases is immoral. We might have been able to accept the system so long as they showed some restraint and ethics in their decisions, but this is clearly not the case here. These people should hold their heads in shame for this self-allotted winfall while cutting social services at a never before seen pace. The time has come for change. It can't happen fast enough for my liking.

I might as well weigh in on this one as I have on pretty much everything else. I have seen an awful lot of things that are in bad taste on the Internet. The new JFK game ranks right up there. In interviews with the creators they have expressed that the game was created as an educational tool. This is absolute bull. There are a lot of ways to teach about the assassination of JFK without getting people to take their symbolic turn at killing him themselves. This is simply a money making scheme that victimizes the family, friends, and anybody who remembers JFK with fondness. The full truth of the JFK incident will likely never be known. This one goes beyond bad taste. Not that I particularly care about the current senior Kennedys, but the younger ones, and the rest of us, deserve better. The best response to this one is for everyone to simply ignore it and not let these guys make any money from their efforts. The publicity it has already received almost guarantees that this will not be the case.

I'm not even going to go into it. Suffice it to say, this blog paints the most horrific scenario that I've ever heard concerning 9/11, Iraq, and American Politics. While we all know that George is as dirty as they come, this one is a must for anyone interested in the truth. Whether we agree with his conclusions or not, the writer makes just too much sense and complete with references, quotes, and opinions from those in the know. This one is real scary folks. I hope and pray that the guy is wrong in his conclusions, because if he is right, the current situation is far worse than anything we ever read from Orwell or anyone else. If he is right, George Bush is the biggest war criminal the world has ever known even as he pulls off the biggest hoax the world has ever known. I think all of us in Canada should find Jean Chretien and literally kiss his ass in thanks for keeping us Canadians the hell out of it. George should be arrested the minute he steps foot in Canada as an international war criminal. This won't happen for the simple reason that Canada doesn't want to become the next Iraq. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't speak out. Anyway you cut it, I'm scared by it, damn scared, for the present and even more for the future.

See, I always thought, with some notable exceptions, that Canada's record on the environment was pretty good. But reportedly not that good. The Conservation Congress in Bangkok has requested that Canada pay better attention to protecting our Boreal Forest. I suppose the fact that it is so far north always led me to believe that it was fairly safe from human damage. Leads me to think that the only reason it is in such good shape today has more to do with our small population and large size than because of any intentional effort to preserve it. So much for holding my head up over that one.

The Grand Canyon is being deliberately flooded in the hopes of restoring some of the natural sediment that has been lost since the Colorado River became so extensively dammed. It has been long recognized that the area was becoming more and more salinated as a result of the reduction in volume of water that flows through the southern portions. Half the species of fish that used to be there are now extinct and scientists are now trying to save the rest. I actually first heard of the problem in the seventies while living in Colorado Springs. I hope this effort proves successful and that they will repeat it much more often.

Or so they say. Now if I were them, I'd be really worried. The level of customer satisfaction with Microsoft's products has fallen so low that any viable alternative is now being considered by a large portion of their customers. But they're not worried? They will be, if they aren't already.

She was fifteen, and in a mental institution. The authorities there were reportedly concerned that she might be sexually assaulted while in their care. There solution, sterilize her! Let's forget for a moment the fact that this constitutes a horrendous assault by people charged with her care. The logic behind their stated reasons absolutely baffles me. First was the concept that she would need to be protected from sexual assault while in a medical facility. Another is the fact that these fools felt that by making her sterile that this would provide any protection for her whatsoever. I have yet to hear of a rape where the intention was to impregnate the girl, thereby providing conclusive evidence as to who had done it. In fact, now that she was sterile, the odds of being assaulted be a staff member would actually go up. Once sterile, after a short time there would be no evidence to prove who had assaulted her. So their reasons for committing this crime don't make any sense at all. This case should involve a lot more than a simply lawsuit. It is also a police matter and as such I fail to understand why they are not involved.

According to reports Artest didn't start the incident. A scuffle broke out on the court, Artest goes to the side where the score keepers desk is and lies on it. At this point a drunken fan throws a cup of beer on him. That's when the real fun begins. His response may have been inappropriate but it is certainly understandable under the circumstances. So, it seems to me that the real problem with this one was the level of security at the stadium. While I don't feel that a person has the right to beat the hell out of someone simply for throwing beer on them, I do feel that a player should not have to suffer the risk of assault by a fan under any circumstances. It appears to me that a full out riot was very narrowly avoided here. There seems to be an awful lot of emotion at these games, and that's the point, it's just a bloody game people. This is not something that I would consider life and death. Whatever happened to the concept of good sportsmanship? Remember the day when everyone present would be happy to see a good game, regardless of who won. At the end of such a game everyone should be shaking hands and having a beer together and celebrating the game. That's the type of spirit that sports should bring out in people, not the abomination that we witness today over and over again. Sad day for sports as a whole, and a really sad day for the NBA.

Does anybody know what actually happened with this one. From the T.V. news I can't tell who started what and what happened after. What I did see was a player attacking several fans. It's comforting to see the NBA take quick action over the matter, and serious action at that. The NHL might want to take notice. Pro sports lost me as a fan many years ago. The reason.... the cost of going to see them, and what we get for our money. Even when I do watch, it's from home, where I can have my beer, get the best view, and not spend a hundred bucks. The pay that a lot of these guys make is obscene when you consider that they are hardly saving the world. While I admit that a pro sports player should make enough to offset the risk they take of injury, and that not all players are paid these crazy amounts, the price of a ticket has far passed the ability of the average person to afford. In hockey in particular, we get to watch criminal offense after offense in the process of any given game, usually complete with assault with a weapon. Suffice to say, I won't be taking my kids anytime soon, and that's the real shame. My daughter loves to watch pro hockey, and asks often to go. I try to explain my opposition, but this means very little to a young girl who loves the game. She is lucky enough to have a couple of uncles who often take her, but even so, I still take exception to the type of violence that she will see there. So, hats off to the NBA and the stand they seem to be taking on this one. We all deserve better for our money. Criminal acts have no place in pro sports, and it's far past time that these leagues take a more responsible approach to the problem.

At least that's what their saying. It's not all that surprising that a person living in a metro area would like to not spend several hours everyday commuting. I was surprised to learn that at least for the two day period of the study, they're productivity actually increased. They say that this is due to the lack of distraction that they have in the office. However, the fact that the study lasted for only two days raises certain questions. Would the results quoted stay the same if the study had continued for a longer period, in other words, would the novelty have worn off? Second is the lack of interaction between employees. This type of interaction can lead to big breakthroughs in any field of study. Another point is the fact that there are people who actually work better with the support and input of the other staff, the type of person who enjoys social interaction. Myself, I'm a combination of both. Sometimes I like socializing, but most of the time I do not, something about being very busy and not having the time. It also has to do with the fact that I'm interested in so many things, that to spend any real time in these pursuits would be to do a disservice to the poor sap who would become quickly bored with the conversation. I think it might be very interesting to extend the study over a longer period, perhaps a year, and evaluate the results again.

It's my tree stand, no it's my tree stand....And so it goes until at least one person started shooting. The result, five dead, more wounded. I thought they were supposed to be hunting deer. The actual reports about this one are fairly lacking in detail so it is very hard to guess what really happened in the Wisconsin woods not to long ago. One thing is for sure, I won't likely be going camping there anytime soon.

I suppose I shouldn't be real surprised. The part that I do find surprising is the fact that this is the first I've ever heard about this one. According to the reports, everything we print using a modern printer is encoded to allow the Gov't to identify the printer that printed it, and by default, track us. But that's O.K., we have their assurance that this information is used only in the case of criminal investigation. Well, I'm certainly relieved. With the high degree of ethics and morals displayed by our leaders, I have no doubt that this is true ( hah). Of course, there is no actual law requiring the feds to adhere to this policy, but I'm sure they're being totally honest about this one. After all, it's not like they'd lie to us, would they?

A young punk spots an elderly woman, decides to snatch her purse. Her companion is a 78 year old man, who proceeds to whack the guy. End Result.... Purse-snatcher in custody and needs stitches. Chalk one up for the old folks. Reminds me of the time three guys tried to car jack a car with Gene Hackman in it. Result... two in hospital, neither of them Gene Hackman. You definitely have to respect men like these two.

The Canadian Gov't plans to reduce green house gas emissions from cars by 25%. Not actually a leading role as California is actually the American Leader in this regard. The unfortunate part about this is it is not enough. Coal plants and industry must follow suit if any real benefits are to be gained. But it's a start. To finally take the big steps needed, we must start with the small ones. So I'll give my nod of approval to this plan. Now, let's see them put it into law and not just make this pledge.

In a repeat of a long line of Presidential visits, Bush is bringing them out in droves wherever he goes. It's the main reason I prefer him not to come to Canada. It seems like a lot of commotion for very little gain. The most we can expect is a pledge to follow some international law, but again, this will only be the case if Bush considers it economically advantageous for the U.S. to do so. If not, then he will just ignore the international court and do whatever he pleases.

After extensive study, they have concluded that the best over-all treatment for back pain is a combination of pretty much all the techniques. The funny part, they actually had to do a study to determine that a combination of all the treatments would work better than any one of them alone!

The cops told her in Toronto that they'd get him......They didn't. That night she went home and received several axe blows from dear old hubby. From what I can tell, this is the rule, not the exception in Canada. Woman gets beaten or threatened, goes to police for help, best they can do is restraining order, man comes back and brutalizes or kills woman. Can anybody possibly blame one of these women for not going to the police? And it's really not the cops fault. They have done there part once they arrest one of these guys. I'm quite sure the cops would be more than willing to keep the guy if the law allowed. In jumps the Canadian Justice system, who promptly releases the guy, most of the time without having to even post bail. When convicted, he'll be sent to jail just long enough to get him really pissed, and out he goes again. What's a girl to do?

Wouldn't you? Let's think about this for one second. What is Iran's position? Recent Civil war put religious fanatics in power. Slowly but surely, internal forces causing them to open up. In stomp the Americans all around them generally destroying everything they touch and taking all they want. Under these conditions, I would want to develope a nuke just as fast as I possibly could if I were them. If the Americans want a stable world where everyone is not panicking to develope their own deterrent to an American Invasion, ( after all, isn't this the American Way) then they must take a different approach to global politics. Sooner or later, America will no longer be the dominant force in the Universe. Once that happens the U.S. should hope that they are not treated in the same fashion as they have treated everyone else for the last fifty years.

Recently a young man was sent back to prison for parole violation. Well that's just great, considering the reason he was in prison in the first place was because he and a friend were bored one day when he was fourteen and decided to kill four people. Now here's the part that just pisses me right off. He did these crimes in 1996. Since then, he was tried, convicted, sentenced, served his time, was paroled, warned multiple times for parole violation, disappeared for 13 months, and was finally re-arrested. All that in only eight years. My question is, in all that, how long was he actually in prison for killing four people? Did this monster somehow deserve a second chance? I am sure this is a great comfort to the dead, and moreso to the family, friends, and relatives of the victims. Another fine example of the Canadian justice system at work.

In a statement that many of the worlds leaders would do well to emulate, Prince William has stated that he would not shirk his duty to go to the front lines if called to do so. I have long felt that this would be the easiest way to avoid war, that is to make it mandatory for our leaders to lead from the front in times of conflict. If a leader is going to send people to die, he should go right along with them. This shows true leadership instead of the shadow of it we all see today. Tip of the hat to you William, you've demonstrated that some of the old world honour still exists

Actually..... it's worse. The real problem with all the trouble in the world today is the concept of threshold levels. This applies to virtually every topic I discuss here. No one knows just how much strain all our various systems of government and the eco-system can take. At what point will the domino affect take over, and the problems become runaway problems that we can't stop no matter what we do. This is my main fear. Until the actual runaway problems occur, no one can say exactly what level of disturbance will initiate it. Unfortunately, by that time, it will be too late to do anything about it and the best we will be able to do is hold on for dear life and hope that some of us survive. There are positive signs. We are becoming more aware of the dangers of the environment. Kyoto, reduced emission laws for cars, stricter guidelines for industry, and an overall increased awareness are making gains. On the down side, one of the biggest sinners in all these regards, the U.S. continues to refuse to get on board with the rest of the world. The U.S. continues to refuse to accept their responsibility in this regard. This is not likely to change in a nation that values economic gain above everything else. The only way that it is likely to change is when so many Americans begin dying from the results of these policies that they can not ignore them any longer. Tragic enough in itself, but what makes it worse is the fact that a lot of other nations will suffer right along with the Americans as pollution and environmental damage doesn't recognize borders and as such becomes as big a problem for others as it is for the U.S. Anyone wishing to take a look at this problem need only examine the recent past to get this point. As environmental laws make it more difficult to operate in this fashion in the U.S., big American companies have simply set up even more lax manufacturing practices in third world countries that have not enacted laws to control them. Once there, they go right back to the good ole' way of doing things. Another example is the Kyoto Accord. Virtually every nation on Earth has signed this accord, but not the U.S. There is such a widespread agreement on this that it is about to become international law. How much difference that will make is questionable. The U.S. will likely respond to this as they do to everything else that the rest of the world thinks....Eat My Shorts, or " You Can't Talk To Us Like That... We're Americans". That attitude is quickly becoming quite annoying to the rest of us lesser humans ( we were not born American). Sooner or later this will change as the entire globe gets tired of it and the U.S. ends up being an island of ignorance all on its own. The real shame here..... The U.S. has the best ideals in the world for having true freedom and democracy. Somewhat startling in the face of deceit, lies, corruption, hidden agendas, and ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. Even the polls in the U.S. state that the Americans don't really like either of the two candidates in the last election, but what other choices are they being given.

The Israeli Army mistakenly killed three Egyptian soldiers the other day. This demonstrates the real problem with nations living on the brink all the time. It doesn't take an intentional act to start a war, just a mistake. We can take all the precautions one can think of to avoid accidents, but in the end, it often doesn't matter. It is the risk we take every day when living in a world such as ours. With everyone armed and ready to defend their rights(?) it only takes one slip for the whole thing to explode into conflict. It was the danger of the cold war, and it is even more so today with so many conflicts going on, and everyone's finger on the trigger.

So they have discovered Atlantis again, in a different place than they have found it the last ten times it has been found. If in fact Atlantis ever existed, I have no doubt that they will indeed find it sooner or later. This may in fact be the one true Atlantis. One way or another, when they do find it, and prove it, it should prove very interesting.

Even the Taliban is now condemning the actions of the monsters who killed the CARE director. This is hardly a surprise. They recognize that they are going to be grouped right along with these guys and are going to be hunted more severely because of it. And to make matters even worse, the rest of the world will go along with it all the more willingly in the face of these actions. Meanwhile, George and the rest of that " War President" set will use it to gain even greater power and support for his actions among people all over the world. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know who these guys are and what there real goal is other than throwing the world into anarchy, but they continue to be a better political tool for George Bush than anything else that I can think of. The last thing in the world they seem to be working towards is a better life and future for the Iraqi people.

At this day in history, I still can't get over how many people there are who won't accept the truth of global warming and the state of the environment. They continue to argue that the current trends have nothing to do with humans and are in fact a natural cycle. While I admit that there is a natural warming and cooling cycle and I also believe that we are do for a natural shift, the changes we are seeing are far beyond natural. On any given day there are numerous articles concerning our affect on the ecosystem. From melting glaciers in Peru and Everest to premature deaths from high ozone levels to the ever increasing number of species becoming endangered everyday, the evidence is plain and plentiful. Yet they won't admit it. Now here's the really funny part, human beings are going to die from these changes at an ever-increasing rate whether those individuals ever admit it's our fault or not. Yes that's right, you don't have to be brilliant and admit the truth, because that same truth will kill you anyway whether you choose to ignore the truth or not.

He's coming! Yes George is coming to Ottawa. Let the church bells ring. But seriously folks, I don't want him and I'm sure that thought is shared by many Canadians. From the softwood lumber dispute that the Americans have chosen to ignore ruling after ruling by the International courts and NAFTA , to the war in Iraq, I find that we have less and less to discuss. There comes a time when you just have to say enough, George passed that point a very long time ago. You can talk politics and morality to a turkey all day long, doesn't mean it's going to listen and get the point. Such is the case with George. I often wonder if one of the main reasons for this Iraq thing is simply because George likes to call himself a War President, as if that explains and justifies all his actions, he certainly seems to enjoy calling himself that. Anyway, stay home George. We don't need to protests, riots, and chaos that your visits seem to bring along with you wherever you go. I don't believe in the positive affects of violent protest. I think Canadians might get there point across much better if the people who come out for the big visit simply turn there backs every time he speaks, on mass. Your words are poison George with very little basis in fact,so much so in fact that it's pointless to even talk with you. Almost any other human being in the world would be welcome to discuss the issues, but not you. Save the lies for the American people who seem to have no problem with them. Slogans and media control may work for you in the U.S. but there effect will be the opposite here. Paul Martin may feel that there is something positive to be gained by your Royal Visit but I do not. Just four more years, just four more years.... I keep telling myself that. I wonder if the world can hold its breath for that long.

He tried to do the right thing. He became an informant for the F.B.I. to help them prosecute terrorist suspects concerning 9/11. Unfortunately, the F.B.I. did not live up to the agreement. He says his life and that of his family has been destroyed. Not exactly the treatment one would expect from the F.B.I. The reputation of this particular agency, I have always thought, was of the highest order. Perhaps that reputation is in error. I guess it all comes down to just another human, used up by the system, and discarded to burn on the White House lawn. Suffice it to say, this is one system terribly flawed. Something is going to break, and probably soon. The worlds opinion is turning against the U.S., mostly due to the total lack of concern for the wishes and sovereignty of anyone else. We are all taught in school that might does not make right, perhaps this is one lesson that American leaders should learn, and fast.

Just wanted to take a minute to welcome the readers from the intelligence community and the American Army. Don't be afraid to add your two cents to my thoughts. The wonderful thing about living in a democracy is the fact that we can express ourselves freely. The other wonderful thing about democracy is the concept of open-government. This concept has been somewhat lost over the last 50 years. The stated reasons are as a result of national security concerns. This is bull. It has a lot more to do with keeping the ignorant masses ignorant than it has to do with national security. For a democracy to truly work as intended, it must embrace this concept of open-government. At any rate, I anxiously await the chance to debate some of these points. It's O.K. , don't be afraid to say your piece. I recognize that many Americans who have read this blog over the past year that I have been writing it, may not agree with all that I say. They may even think I'm anti-American. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's simply that I have a deep longing for the U.S. to be ruled and governed in the manner in which it was created. The ideals expressed at the creation of the U.S. within the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are among the highest ever recognized by a nation. It is in the application of these morals and rights that the U.S. has a long history of failure. As in any ideal, the application often falls far short of the ideal. It is in this area that the U.S. must evolve, hopefully before George Bush pushes the entire planet into anarchy. The U.S. can be the greatest force ever seen by man as far as leading the planet into a new era of freedom. The way they are going about it now will do just the opposite. There are so many voices of reason in the U.S. that it is amazing that the message is not getting out. From Noam Chomsky to Ralph Nader and everyone in between the U.S. has the brains and the talent to take a truly beneficial role in the future of the planet. So long as people like George Bush continue to lead, this will never happen.

So they went ahead and killed the woman. That's right, a woman, an aid worker, an Iraqi citizen, a human being, a person whose only mistake was her desire to help the Iraqi people in any way she could. I can't blame the Iraqis for being angry and frustrated. I can't blame them for not wanting the Americans in their country. But this, this is the actions of monsters. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the only thing these individuals are accomplishing is to strengthen the resolve of the Americans to keep up with their course of action, so much so in fact that they might as well be working for Bush. And not only Bush, the whole world looks on deeds such as these and starts to wonder if Bush wasn't right about the need to go their in the first place. People who are sympathetic to the plight of the Iraqis lose that feeling in the face of this kind of action. The problem is, this is not the fault of all Iraqis, just a select group of monsters who prefer Iraq to exist in a state of chaos, where no law and morality makes any difference.

This is not about religion. The small group of monsters who are committing these crimes do not represent all Iraqis. They are simply criminal monsters who absolutely must get dealt with for the sake of everyone, most of all the Iraqi people. How can any peace loving, law abiding citizen anywhere be expected to deal with this type of criminal. The only way is to get together with other peace lovers and put them out of business, but be careful, these guys have no problem with the killing of innocents, women, children, etc. so long as they get the required number of virgins upon arriving in their version of heaven. Big tip, I seriously doubt that anyone committing these types of crimes will be getting into heaven anytime soon. After reading reports like this one, I'm sure the world doesn't lack for individuals who wouldn't mind speeding them along there way, no matter where they eventually wind up. So again, who are these guys working for, and what is their main goal? Judging from their action, that goal is anything but bringing peace to their country and getting the Americans to leave. There have been many guerilla actions in wars that didn't specifically target women and children. These guys don't follow any laws, not god's, not man's, not humanity's, not anyone's. They must be stopped!

It's getting serious now. Anyone who has been looking at the big push to get us all to take the flu shot over the last couple of years may have come to the same conclusion that I did..... There not telling us something. It goes something like this, why would they want to immunize large portions of the population against simple flu? Wouldn't this weaken the over-all immunity systems of the populace? According to some reports only 2% more people will get the flu without the shot than those who have had it. Hardly merits the millions they have spent on the flu shot program. The real reason is to put in place the structures necessary to develope a vaccine and immunize a large portion of the population at once. The risk of a mass pandemic grows larger as we become a global community. The current risk is at an all time high. They are trying to prepare for it and these shots are really just a drill.

Here's another classic example of Canadian Bureaucracy gone amok. Sharon Gless can't get landed immigrant status. The reason given for the current two year wait to even get her file opened.... She doesn't have enough education to qualify as a skilled worker. One might think that life experience and qualification might have something to do with it. One might also consider the credential she brings in the form of her past work in film and television, industries that the Canadian Gov't is trying to support and grow, in many examples by luring film makers from producing those same movies elsewhere. i.e. the U.S. So finally an American star wants to move to Toronto instead of the other way around and how do we respond...... By making her wait what will be three years before her file is even opened.

There saying millions have now switched to Firefox. There will be more. For many years now the focus at Microsoft has been profit and the company's self-interest. Not a terrible thing in itself except for the fact that along the way they forgot about the little concept of satisfying the customer's needs. This was not a problem so long as Microsoft continued to be the only real choice for the average person's computer needs. No longer. More and more we are getting options. Linux, Apple, Unix, etc. have been slowly but surely creeping up on Microsoft. Firefox, I suspect, is going to take a big bite out of the browser market. The stage is set for another big change in the operating system market. My understanding of Linux is that the user has to have a little more basic computer knowledge in order to use it. My next purchase is likely to be an Apple primarily because of the reviews of people who own them. In virtually %100 of the reviews I've seen, the Apple owners will never buy anything else but an Apple. Apparently, the only way to make a company like Microsoft listen to the interests of its customers is to hit them in the pocket book. This is really starting to happen. The end result is going to be more software options for all, and even Microsoft will eventually have to make some changes if they want to stay in business. Many of their business customers have already been lost. The residential market is also starting to shift as the alternatives become more and more attractive.

Well I manged to get the cover, shield, plate, plastic, whatever that covers the rad on my 99 Cavalier. Unfortunatley, to do so I have to break off all the little plastic rivets that hold it, Approx. $15.00 to replace. The dealership tells me that this is pretty mush par for the course for these clips. Hey Chevrolet, ever hear of sheet metal and sheet metal screws! Not to mention the fact that the hole exercise could be avoided by simply drilling two access holes so that one wouldn't have to remove this plate at all to change a bulb worth less than $ 1.00. Note: the access holes would give you access to the mounting bolts for the headlight assembly which also must be removed to change this stupid little bulb. Another fine example of automotive design and engineering gone horribly wrong.

I have made the leap. I have now installed Firefox as my default browser. I must say that so far I am extremely pleased with the result. The design is efficient , pop-up free, versatile, user friendly, I have yet to crash it, all the plug ins are working properly, and I can change it at my leisure to my hearts content. Suffice to say, I am a new Firefox fan and would highly recommend the change to anyone wanting to break free of the Microsoft nightmare. Did I say that you should do this now..... no I mean right now......Don't wait.........You wont regret it.....That's Mozilla's Firefox...... It's free......It's great..... It's About Time.

The evidence continues to build regarding gulf war sickness. Meanwhile most departments of defense' continue to deny any link between the high rates of serious illness among troops who served in the first war and the fact that they served in that war. What's really pathetic is the fact that these men and women deserve much better. Statistical analysis should be enough to confirm that something is certainly going on with these people and that they should receive the best care and support that the government can provide. Both Canada and the U.S. have a very bad record in regards to post-service support of it's military personnel. In the case of the gulf war veterans, if the U.S. is denying the links for reasons of public appearance or anything else, it is one more bad mark on the overall report card.

The women of India have made another statement in their efforts to gain some level of justice in this country. In what is becoming the norm a couple of rapist/ thugs have been killed by woman who have decided to take justice into their own hands as a result of the great failure of the Indian justice system to protect them and punish those who have committed serious crimes against women. I can't say I really blame them.

Looks like Microsoft is starting to take notice of Firefox as it looses more and more of its market share to the new Browser. SWEET. I have been waiting five years for market forces to pressure Microsoft into making the changes that they should have right from the start. And it's open-source. I intend to give it a try very shortly. I'll let you all know what I think after I've tried to trip it up for awhile.

This is one affect of the Re-election of George that I didn't expect. Apparently, this has caused some of the more liberal Americans to want to leave the U.S. According to the reports, unprecedented numbers of Americans are looking into moving to Canada. I can't say I blame them. If I were there, I think I'd want to get out too. The problem with this is that come time for the next election, the number of rational people remaining to oppose George gets less and less. The short-sighted policies of the current administration promise many hardships for Americans in the future as well as for all the rest of us who keep getting either attacked by them or have to live in the unstable world which results from these policies.

I must be missing something here. Apparently, 8 e-bay sellers have received a large fine for falsely bidding up items they were selling. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is. Hell, I have a 99 Cavalier that I would be very happy to sell to someone for thirty-thousand dollars but I actually don't think that there is anyone stupid enough to buy it for that price. Just because someone suggests that we buy something at a given price doesn't mean that we should do it. Whatever happened to "Let the Buyer Beware". If someone sees something on E-Bay, an auction, and decides that they are going to keep on bidding no matter what the price, is the seller at fault? Even if the seller bids themselves, the buyer still has the right not to bid any further. In one of the cases, a man bought a Jeep for several thousand more than it was worth. My first response is to think " What an Idiot". We are not talking about some forged work of art, or some item having been misrepresented. We are talking about a known make of vehicle whose resale value is widely recognized. If the purchaser felt that it was in his interests to pay more than the Jeep was worth, who is at fault? In my view it's the buyer. Maybe he just really liked the colour. Here is another example. I have a brand new Canadian ten dollar bill, value- ten dollars. Say I take this ten dollar bill and auction it on E-Bay as a collectors piece, not untrue as someday it will actually have more than a ten dollar value ( Maybe 200 Years). In a bidding frenzy a group of fools decides to drive the price of this ten dollar bill up over a thousand dollars. Seeing lotteries in my head, I am more than willing to sell it for this amount even if I totally don't understand the reason anyone would pay such a price. As far as I know, the law doesn't require me to refuse the sale because I personally don't value the ten that much. There is no accounting for taste. If I were to try to falsely drive up the price I would think that level heads would prevail and the bidding would come to an abrupt halt. I guess this is simply not the case. All that is really needed to make a huge profit on E-Bay is a lot of bids. People see the activity and assume that there is a really great deal here, despite all common sense when it comes to the price. I doubt I will ever sell that Cavalier for thirty-thousand, there just isn't anybody that stupid. Even if there was I probably would consider them mentally incompetent and wouldn't want to take advantage of someone with diminished capacity. However, there seems to be an awful lot of these individuals on E-Bay, both the unethical sellers and challenged buyers. Big tip, just because there are a lot of individuals prepared to pay ten times the value of an item just because it's bidding rapidly on E-Bay doesn't mean that we have to buy it. Short of proving that the buyer was diminished, I don't see this as a police matter unless the product was misrepresented in some way.

It’s hard to actually pin down who holds the most fault in this one. About 2 months ago Pilot insurance decided to limit the amount of Auto policies they were carrying. To this end they notified many of their top Brokers that they would no longer be carrying auto policies with them, including ours. Our diligent agent, wanting to make a smooth transition in what was obviously a nightmare for them, went ahead and signed us up with ING Auto. Here’s were it gets fun. Our previous payment had been $ 83.00 per month with Pilot. Last month no payment came out of the account. My wife called our agent to see what was up and was informed about the transfer then and told that two payments would come out this month. This month ING took $ 454.00 from our account. When we called to find out what the hell was going on, our agent told us it was a simple clerical error and we had been listed as code 0 rating instead of Code 6 raising out rates to $227.00 per month OOOpppps. We informed our agent about our little problem of that representing a good portion of our mortgage payment and we would need the money back, as well as any interest or service charges that we incur as a result of their mistake. No can do was the reply, they would only cover any of their own charges and by the way, if we want to cancel the policy we would have to pay a cancellation fee. You got it… Pay to cancel a service that we never wanted, never asked for, never agreed to, never signed for, never authorized to take money from our accounts, and more than doubled our rates without our knowledge, although they have corrected the rate thing now. At last report, out of the kindness of ING’s hearts they have agreed to wave the cancellation fee. As to any monies we are out as a result of their little error- take it up with the Ombudsman’s office. Now here’s the real kicker- Pilot who we will return too with another agent is the company that I would least like to do business with. The reason stems from their Supreme Court loss a couple of years back of a case dealing with their denying an old couple their fire claim due to suspicion of Arson. The problem, no-one else felt that there had been an arson. Not the Fire Marshal, not the Police, not in fact their own investigator. So exactly what reason did they have for making an elderly couples lives a living hell for the ten years that it took them to finally win in court? Perhaps they felt that if it took long enough, they wouldn’t have to pay because either stress or old age would have killed them before they ever won in court. However, the other guys are making it awfully hard to choose a better company!

I've recently changed our ISP and cell phones to Bell. The reason for doing this was primarily due to the package deals they were offering at the time. I've come to regret the decision. Here's why. As for the internet, Sympatico has this annoying little habit of cutting our connection every thirty seconds during peak times, an experience that was not a problem in the three years that we were with Sprint. To the phones- The first of which was purchased at BellWorld last Dec.- eleven months ago. It is still well within the warrenty period. I went to their store the other day to enquire about the procedure for getting a sticking button fixed. I was informed that in order for me to find out if the phone did in fact qualify for warrenty service I would first have to pay with my credit card because the damage to the phone might be misuse or abuse and hence would not be covered under the warrenty. In other words, you are assumed guilty and charged accordingly in advance of any repairs making the warrenty quite useless in my view. The result, I have a very strong desire to end my relationship with Bell Mobility and return all three of their phones which I am now paying for. My understanding is that this is a tactic unique to Bell Mobility and I have been informed that this is not the practice of Rogers ATT. You be the judge!

Have you ever had to change a front turn signal on a 1999 Chev Cavalier? This wins the award for the stupidest setup that I've ever seen on any car. You actually have to remove the entire headlight assembly in order to change the turn signal. It's as if the designers didn't take into account the fact that this might actually be done at some time in the car's life and hell, it might even be the owner of the car who might attempt it. And people wonder why the reputation of North American cars is sooooo poor.

Nine Years. They gave him nine years for sending spam. Now I hate spam, have even changed my ISP once over it. But nine years? That seems an awful long sentence considering the crime. Maybe I'm missing something. Were people scammed out of their life fortunes? Was anybody physically assaulted? Simply annoying someone should not be cause to go to jail for nine years. I respect the American justice system for how it treats violent offenders but the system is seriously flawed when it comes to drugs and fraud.

I guess the intention of these monsters kidnapping innocent men and women in Iraq was to scare Americans. It worked. All too predictably the result has been to get George elected for another four years. Given the record of these cowards so far, I have to assume this is what they wanted. Them Yanks is a stubborn lot. It should come as no surprise that they would react to this threat as they have, which is to elect a President who has shown he has no problem with sending in the troops. Virtually everyone polled states that they do not like George's performance on every front. Yet, he returns. I get the impression that he views the people as sort of pets. He has no problem living high class while so many of his pets live low class. He has no problem starting wars purely for economic reasons and the suffering and death of so many innocents is merely "fortunes of war". Moore made a very good point when he states that virtually no "son of Congress" is currently serving with the forces in Iraq. Oh Yeah, they have no problem sending your sons and daughters to die so long as they don't have to make that same sacrifice. I'm tired of Bush and the world he is making for all our children. Humans absolutely learn that we are all brothers and sisters and as such we must work together, protect each other, and learn together if we are to save this planet. There's not much time left. Even less so now that George is going to have four more years to cause even more damage to our future.

Seems that finally, most of the worlds scientific community is coming to recognize the affects of global warming. What I find very surprising is the fact that they are about thirty years late in facing the obvious. In fact, even now they are seriously tame in describing the possible affects. They are not taking into account just how much all life is linked together on this planet and the domino affect. As they changes occur they will piggyback on each other exponentially. So much so in fact that it is virtually impossible to predict the true affect with our current knowledge. If these changes were happening more slowly than I have no doubt that the life would adapt and go on- nature is good like that. However, the changes are happening at a rate never recorded. The cumulative affect will very likely be disastrous to humans should we fail to stop and possibly reverse some of the damage now. While it is true that the force of capitalism in most cases moderates human activity unlike any other and as such when water becomes more rare and expensive..... humans will conserve it, this may be the one area where these forces will not be quick enough to save us. This holds even more true when we recognize that we don't life in a true capitalist society. Government involvement in dairy, wheat, lumber, oil, etc. causes these industries to act outside the true forces of capitalism and as such can't be counted on to move in the right directions to save us. In any case this is going to be one very interesting ride as the next twenty years or so unfold. Twenty years from now, it is going to be very difficult indeed for any politician to stand at the podium and profess that this is all part of some natural trend.

The pot decriminalization law has been re-introduced in Canada. It's about time. The origin of Canadian law regarding pot rests mostly with a flawed report written almost a century ago. The legal views have not changed since. The biggest problem with this that I see is the reaction of the American Gov't. Strangely, the Americans still feel that it's appropriate to send pot smokers too jail, and not just pot smokers. Anyone convicted of any drug possession in the U.S. stand a good chance of jail time. And the jails are full to the brim. Personally, I think that jail for simple drug possession is a crime in itself. The toughest jails should be reserved for the violent offenders. Canada's recent departure from towing the American line on Iraq, pot, gay marriage, missile defense?, and Kyoto have made me all that much prouder to be a Canadian. Best friends don't have to agree on everything. In my opinion, Canada has chosen to take a more enlightened approach to these subjects. I hardly think that the fabric of our society will come apart as a result!

So it's finally hear, the chance to say goodbye to good ole' George. I doubt Kerry has the same magnitude of political machinery that George does, but I'm hoping that pretty much anyone else will get elected. George lies with a smile the whole time. He has this look on his face that says, yes- I know I'm lying and I know you know I'm lying, but look at me I'm the President now and I'm allowed to do it so there! Unfortunately, when the most powerful country in the world is run by a child, and a not so very smart one at that, the rest of us must always live in fear of what disaster he's going to create next. As he says " I'm a war time President", and he'll make damn sure he stays that way in order to prevent people from looking too closely at the real issues with his performance.