I dunno who we have to blame, but someone should be fired....what the heck is going on with this snow?? It's the 31st of March and we are in the midst of a major snowfall...no...snowstorm with all kinds of snow on the ground and ice pellets and....yuck!! This should be over by now! What happened to Spring? I gotta go find my shovel.....
HRM to Split?
There has recently been a poll that says Haligonians favor the idea of splitting the Halifax Regional Municipality in to two pieces....nobody asked me, but it doesn't sound like a bad idea to me...
The poll asked if the resident would be in favor of dividing the municipality into urban and a rural areas. Apparently it was close, with 51% of respondents in favor of the split, 36% were against it and 13% didn't care....so..if you take the 13% who don't care and split them in half, giving 6.5% to splitting and 6.5% to not splitting, add them on you arrive at a result of 57.5% in favor and 42.5% against, giving those in favor a big lead!
So what do you think? Should we split-er-up?
Canadians Not Happy With Fox
I am doing something I seldom do, and that is post something that I have posted on another of my blogs, but it is mine and I guess I can post it where I decide...so here goes....this was what I posted on The Cottage Chronicles tonight.
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Canadians are a people with a pretty decent sense of humor, I mean c'mon, take a look at some of the Prime Minister's we vote in....and we can take a joke with the best of them, even if we are the brunt of it, take a look at Newfoundland....
I thought about writing this post, I really did, because it's easy to get all wound up about "sumthin" that is really "nuthin" but I found myself needing to weigh in on this. While part of me wants to say, 'Ha! funny guys..you Americans are funny guys" smile, turn the other cheek and walk away, see it for what it is, a couple of 'TV morons with mics' but alas....I couldn't....so if I offend my American readers...well...I too am offended...
It seems like there is a bit of a disconnect in the USA as to Canada and what we have been doing of late....first of all, when 911happened, we took all the planes that your country wouldn't allow to land in the United States, and landed them here, even put some of your folks up in our homes while you were struggling with the aftermath of the twin towers. I remember well, we worked late that night collecting names from Canadians opening their homes and calling to offer assistance and a place for stranded travellers to stay.
Then we booted up and helped you kick some ass in Afghanistan where your ill informed intel said Binn Laden was hiding...we've been there ever since. We've lost over 100 (116 to date, the highest casualty rate among allied countries fighting there) of our soldiers, with countless more injured and maimed, on your behalf....sure we have a stake in it, but let's cut through the hype, it is on your behalf... I'm sorry, but Binn Laden and his terrorists didn't seem all that interested in Canada prior to 911....
Apparently the folks at the Fox Network didn't know what we have been doing, as they let some host take a lot of low-brow shots at the Canadian Military, on a late night TV Show. You all know the story by now...no wait, perhaps not, because it might not be talked about in the U.S.A.
So here's the deal...we've been eating, sleeping, fighting, killing and dying in Afghanistan since our troops first landed in that God forsaken piece of desert in 2001. After your leaders pulled most of your troops out and headed into Iraq for reasons that have become quite feeble of late, perhaps even criminal, we dug in and stayed on in Afghanistan, still chasing and killing your terrorists.
The leader of our forces in Afghanistan Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie recently said that our military may need a year to recover after Canada's mission in Afghanistan ends in 2011. Don't forget, Canada isn't a warmongering country, we don't have a huge military waiting to go after terrorists or others we don't like, so fighting a long term war in a far off country is taking it's toll on our limited resources. So the Lieutenant General was referring to our need to pull back, re-group and perhaps re-think what has become another Viet Nam. He referred to it in what I imagine was military jargon as a 'synchronized break' The host of the Fox show and his panallists picked up on that comment and thought it might be funny to say the following...
"the Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants."
"I didn't even know they were in the war,"
"I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight. Go chill in Canada."
They continued by saying the Canadian soldiers needed a break for "manicures and pedicures,"
And they really pissed in our corn flakes when they made fun of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police saying police in 'Canada wear red coats and ride horses while the American police wear bullet proof vests...'
“Isn't this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country?” he said. “They have no army.”
That's what you think fella...c'mon up here, we don't need an army to deal with you, we're all fighting mad and good to go....This would be a good night for you to visit a bar in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Nunavut, I'm sure folks there would give you a warm welcome. Each of those Provinces has lost sons and daughters fighting in Afghanistan.
Tell your 'jokes' to the family of Trooper Jack Bouthillier, Corporal Tyler Crooks, Trooper Corey Hayes, and Master Corporal Scott Vernelli, the latest four young Canadians who recently lost their lives fighting in Afghanistan on March 20, 2009...
Following the outrage, the host of the Fox show made a public apology, thanks for that....it means so much....ha! I'd like to see him resign his television gig and sign up in the Canadian Army for a tour of duty in Afghanistan, we have some open positions, 116 and counting....
In case you still figure we are running around the beach in white capri pants, here is the list of the 116 men who won't be on a beach anywhere ever again... Canada's Fallen 
Metro Transit Bus Drivers In Action...sorta....
I've always thought bus driving was a bit of a stressful job...I've also thought it takes a certain kind of person to drive a transit bus through the downtown streets, loaded with passengers, navigating traffic, pedestrians and everything else, all the while staying on schedule....tough job...
I've also had the pleasure to know a couple of bus drivers in my life, and therefore know of what I speak...bus drivers, or at least the ones I know, tend to be a little...well...um...let's say, 'quirky'
Now, before you jump on me, I am referring to the ones I used to know, I can't speak for all the bus drivers, nor can I speak for any bus drivers but....I don't have to, they are doing it themselves, and if actions speak louder than words, they are speaking volumes at high pitch....
Just last week a metro bus driver made it to the news when he refused to allow a Muslim woman wearing a traditional 'niqab' on board the bus. A niqab is a form of head scarf. According to a witness, reported in the Metro, metro's daily free newspaper, the bus driver began yelling at the woman because only her eyes were visible. The driver stood up and raised his voice, according to the witness, and repeatedly told the woman that he wasn't letting her on the bus, saying "that's the law" over and over. Um....what law is that exactly?
Apparently, after about a ten minute stand-off, the driver called his supervisor, then allow the couple to board and continued on his route....
For their part, the general manager for Metro Transit told the Metro News that Metro Transit believes in fostering diversity....uh-huh...I guess they do because the next Metro Transit Bus Driver to leave us wondering, well he was driving his bus down Spring Garden Road in Halifax when he spotted a group of seal hunt protesters who were protesting to mark the International Day of Action against the seal hunt....He stopped the bus on Spring Garden, got up, left the bus, ran across the street and began clubbing a fake seal the protesters had on display....yes...I said, clubbing a fake seal....on Spring Garden Road...in front of witnesses....
I so wish I had been there to see that.
Metro Transit is investigating both incidents....
The Honourable Michael Baker
I'd like to take tonight's post and dedicate it to the loss of a valuable Nova Scotian, the Honourable Michael Baker, Q.C. who passed away Monday March 2nd, after what I can only describe as what appeared to be a brave, unfaltering battle against cancer.
Michael Baker was a man who had a deep sense of civic responsiblity and demonstrated it at every turn. His list of accomplishments both in the public service and his private life is long and impressive, far to impressive for me to do justice to here in this little website, and I fear I might miss something if I tried.
The positions Michael held as a Cabinet Minister were never the easy ones, in fact, his most recent, which he worked at diligently up until about two weeks ago, was Minister Of Finance for Nova Scotia, in these turbulent financial times, one of the most difficult of Ministerial positions.
Minister Baker did it with a courage seldom seen in political life. His devotion to his duty was unwavering, going to work everyday, despite the pain he was suffering. He should be an inspiration to all Nova Scotians.
I watched his various public appearances with a sense of sadness as Mr.Baker's health was obviously declining this past year. His once robust, strong body reduced by the illness that eventually claimed his life. The pain he suffered didn't stop him, and had I not known of his illness, in the beginning it was almost possible to think that perhaps he had just gone on a big diet, but, unfortunately that wasn't the case.
So, after a long, brave fight, with his family around him The Honourable Michael Gilbert Baker, Q.C., Minister of Finance, 52, of Lunenburg, passed away peacefully at home on Monday, March 2, 2009 leaving behind his wife and two children.
Michael Baker, lived and died as what my father would call,
a "man's man". That is to say he fought for what he believed, and he took whatever happened with honour, full on, unwavering in his conviction, determined and brave....and that is the way his life finished, full on, unwavering and brave, and above all, honourable....
The Honourable Michael Baker Q.C. shall be sadly missed by all Nova Scotians.....
Harbour Solutions Needs A Solution
The same folks who were scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do with cats and chickens are now turning to much bigger problems. The Halifax Harbour Solutions Project to clean up Halifax Harbour needs...ah....well...a solution....
It seems the same system that Mayor Kelly thought was protecting him when he swam in the Harbour is on the rocks...since a malfunction in January following a power outage.
Raw sewage made it's way back into the Halifax Harbour waters after the plant malfunctioned, leaving us kind of back at square one. Now everyone at HRM City Hall is looking dumbfounded....
Read about it Here! and Here
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