Monthly Archives: December 2008
We Will Remember Them
| 12/28/2008 | Posted by Patti under Brave Canadians |
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadians:
Pte Michael Freeman – Afghanistan December 26, 2008
WO Gaetan Roberge – Afghanistan December 27, 2008
Sgt Gregory Kruse – Afghanistan December 27, 2008
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
Canada Has an All White Christmas
| 12/25/2008 | Posted by Patti under General |
For the first time in almost 40 years, Canada has experienced a coast to coast white Christmas. A series of snowfalls in the days leading up to Christmas has brought the white stuff from coast to coast which is an unusual occurence. The forecast for the next few days shows a warming trend with snow. What wacky weather we have at times.
Hope all have a happy and joyous Christmas
We Will Remember Them
| 12/14/2008 | Posted by Patti under Brave Canadians |
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadians:
Cpl Thomas Hamilton – Afghanistan December 13, 2008
Pte John Curwin – Afghanistan December 13, 2008
Pte Justin Jones – Afghanistan December 13, 2008
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
Ignatieff Takes the Liberal Helm
| 12/11/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics |
Life must be a bit bittersweet these days for Stephane Dion. As much as I’m sure he would have liked to have left the leadership of the Liberals under different circumstances, he did so with as much grace as could be mustered under the circumstances. Bob Rae also made a class act exit from the leadership race that cleared the way for the party to put Michael Ignatieff in as ‘interim’ leader. He’ll have to be confirmed at the convention which is still scheduled for May.
Two years ago I was strongly opposed to Ignatieff as leader. My main complaint at the time was that he had not been back in this country long and definitely had little political experience. I support his leadership now. It is clear that Ignatieff has engaged his well known learning and adaptability to have earned that support. I didn’t dislike Ignatieff two years ago, I had been aware of him for some time and had great respect for him as an intellect. I just didn’t think he was ready for political prime time. (more…)
They Are Not Just Numbers
| 12/7/2008 | Posted by Patti under Afghanistan, Brave Canadians |
With this post I’m passing the milestone of 500 posts to this blog. It is almost ironic that today’s post is about the latest deaths in Afghanistan. The media has been making much of the fact that the three Canadians killed Friday in an IED attack crosses the ‘threshold’ of 100 deaths during the Afghanistan mission. For the families of the men killed, their friends and their communities they are not 98, 99 and 100 — they are Mark Mclaren, Demetrios Diplaros and Robert Wilson — men who believed in the mission and died trying to see it succeed.
I’m not a person who is moved to tears often but the deaths of each Canadian in Afghanistan moves me. I’ll be one of the Canadians up on the bridges tomorrow. Standing to the left of the Legion colour party, our Sgt-at-Arms will be standing on the right. As the procession approaches he’ll call out “Branch 187 — to our fallen comrades — salute!”, I’ll clench my jaw and hold that salute until the last vehicle passes underneath us. Saluting not only the service of those in the hearses but also the families who will feel their losses not as numbers but the numbing pain of losing one of their own. (more…)
We Will Remember Them
| 12/6/2008 | Posted by Patti under Brave Canadians |
They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them
In memory of our fallen Canadians:
Cpl Mark Mclaren – Afghanistan December 5, 2008
Pte Demetrios Diplaros – Afghanistan December 5, 2008
WO Robert John Wilson – Afghanistan December 5, 2008
Always Caring — Always Canadian — Never Defeated
Support Our Troops — Wear Red on Fridays
Parliament Suspended – Harper Has Reprieve, For Now
| 12/4/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics, Harper |
Harper has concluded an over two hour meeting with the Governor General and has had his request to porogue parliament granted. The move is clearly to avoid confidence motions scheduled to take place in the House on Monday. While he’s busy accusing the Liberal-NDP coalition of making a power grab, he’s made it just as clear that he will cling to power at all cost. Had the GG not consented to his request, which she could have refused since it was clearly an avoidance move, then she would have had to have chosen between an election, barely 2 months after the last one, or asking the Liberal-NDP coalition to take the reigns.
As much as I would have preferred to see Harper face the music on Monday, the GG’s decision is not all bad. When it comes to power grabs and the subversion of the democractic process, none of the clowns in Parliament have a finger to point at anyone. It would be nice if the GG imposed some conditions on Harper, starting with the ultra partisanship leaving the scene. The blatant lies and distortions gone would be nice too but that is way too much to hope for. (more…)
The Bully Teeters on the Edge
| 12/2/2008 | Posted by Patti under Canadian Politics, Harper |
Well, I must say I’m a tad surprised but intrigued. I have been watching the reports over the last several days about the Liberals, NDP and Bloc in talks about forming a coalition government to bring down Harper and his gang of bullies. I didn’t really expect that the egos in the group would manage to tone themselves down enough to actually work out an agreement. I’m a bit impressed, now to see if it can be sustained.
Seems to me since the Liberals and the NDP have managed to work out an agreement with the pledged support of the Bloc for about a year, that those three have at least got it that compromise is needed to make government work. That is a lot more than Harper has managed to get and actually carry through on — and he has a lot more to loose.
The Conservatives are crying foul, bemoaning that the Liberals are in bed with the socialists and the separatists. Socialists is a bit of a subjective term — according to many of our southern neighbours, we’re all a bunch of damn socialists up here in the great white north. So, I don’t really think the term carries quite the negative connotations here, at least to those who are not of the right wingnut persuasion. (more…)
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