Boxing Day, St. Stephen’s Day From Hell

I wanted to go out to one of the larger malls here on Boxing Day (Known in the UK sometimes and St. Stephen’s Day or the Feast of St. Stephen) for one item and to take a look at the mayhem most love to enjoy.  I managed to get my companions to be all ready fairly quickly, given that one of them is a three year old toddler. The trip to the mall was almost boring because it was so routine. We found a shopping cart at the patio entrance, so we put the three year old toddler out of harm’s way by putting her in the cart.

We got to the mall and watched as people lined up for each store! Some stores had security teams at the door, others just kept the doors open to allow one or two people at a time, and others just allowed the public to shop. Talk about goofy! Crowds walking around looking at all the signs, but not really a lot of them buying items, unless the item was marked way, way down.

I found one shop that had what I wanted, and yes, like a total goof I stood in line. We left there after I managed to get the item and headed off to eat. Even getting a table with chairs proved to be a marathon!

We picked up other items and headed for the trains to head home. Ohhh yeah, this is where hell’s doors opened wide. It was only about 3 PM, not anywhere near the closing time, so we figured it would be easy. Wrong, way wrong!

I need to explain a bit here, so hopefully this will be somewhat clear. There are actually two lines, one heading east, the other circles around from the city center, through two adjoining cities, then back to near the beginning (imagine a loop with a slight tag on it).

We paid our fares then headed up to get to the elevated train platform. First thing I noticed was the train heading on the alternate route was just sitting at the platform, not moving, and the system alarms were going off every thirty seconds or so. Hmmm not a good sign, but with the toddler along, the faster we managed to get home, the better.

Then an announcement put a chill on the idea. ” We are experiencing a problem with the switch near the station. We have a crew working on it, and the trains should be moving soon.” The switch in question is the one that separates the two routes. sending one train east, the other north then east.  We stood on the platform for ten minutes, then twenty-five minutes, then three-quarters of an hour with heavy snow and a breeze blowing. Nadda, nothing, the train we saw on arrival was still in the station!

Phooey, the toddler was getting cold, we obviously were not going anywhere, so I suggested we head back into the mall or a local restaurant to warm up and maybe get a cup of coffee at least. I asked the train security if they had any idea how long the problem would take, they had no idea.

Great.

We took our packages, which were now starting to feel like we had bought twice what we actually did, and headed for a place to sit, warm up, and maybe, just maybe, get some coffee. Nope! Every bloody seat in every local restaurant was taken, and the toddler was now getting chilled.  I suggested one restaurant that most seem to forget is there, and we did manage to get a table after a five minute wait.

Now to put a time line on this. We paid our fares at around three, waited for at least an hour, then headed off for coffee. We decided to order two meals and share with the toddler. Our thinking was to allow an hour, perhaps two, for the situation to be resolved. We ate leisurely, and the toddler curled up on the seat and slept for a bit.

Now, back to the train station. We got close to the station and saw one horrendous long line! No trains moving! A toddler that we are now alternately carrying while she slept.  Oof! So, we sat at a bench and watched to see if the trains were moving. Nope. By this time the mall stores are beginning to close or are closed, so the number of people has multiplied considerably. Now it is eight thousand! Yeah, eight thousand people all waiting for trains going east or on the circle route, and not one car is moving. Adding to the problem with the switch, a tree branch fell on or near the tracks so they shut the trains down to clear THAT!

We remained on the benches, holding the sleeping three year old child in the snowy wind, watching to see if even ONE train would move. One finally did, heading into the city center and if there was room to add even a toothpick on that train, I would be surprised. Nothing going our way, nadda.

Finally we did see one train head east, then after twenty minutes or so, another came into the station, stayed for ten minutes, and voila! One train did move east!

The “normal” schedule for these trains is about seven to twelve minutes between trains, and often on busy days, every six minutes. Here was one train leaving one station every half an hour, with eight thousand people  lined up for the trains!

I walked over to one of the nearby buses at the nearby stop and asked if the driver knew what was going on with the trains. He had absolutely no idea, the company that is in charge of the trains had not contacted the bus company to let them know. Damn! “Were there any buses being used to shuttle passengers over the bridge to the east. so we could at least get on the train beyond the switch?” Nope, nadda, all the coaches were dealing with snowfall and running late too. That was evident from the huge lines for each bus, some of which “normally” run every ten minutes.  Damnation!

Back to the bench, watching almost in desperation at this point, for even two trains heading east, even if they were leaving every half hour. Nothing, and we are now being deluged with snow and a wind is rising.

Finally! We see two trains heading out, the crowd is moving, so we cross the street and try for the elevator. We had packages and a toddler to carry, so the elevator would save us a huge amount of time and energy. Damn and double-damn, the elevator (which we took when we  arrived) was out!

Back across the street, through the crowds waiting for the buses, and up the escalator, and into the long, long lineup. We paid fares again.  The total for the return trip was now up at ten dollars, plus our meal, plus at least four hours waiting time. Needless to say, my patience was shot!

We do get to the platform again, a train heading our way arrives, and we move as quickly as we could to one coach, find the seats, and sit. WE ARE NOT MOVING OFF THAT DAMN TRAIN!

Announcement. ” We are experiencing trouble with a switch on our tracks just past one station. We have a crew working on it.” Groan! It is now four hours and counting since we tried to board the train for the first time! We sit, in relative warmth, and the toddler curls up on the bench beside me to resume sleeping.  Ten minutes go by, then fifteen, then twenty, then finally we move!

The train is totally packed, not even room for some to put their bags or backpacks down on the floor, but WE ARE MOVING! The train pulls into stations along the way, weary shoppers shuffle off, and we go again. I sit with trepidation as the train nears that bloody, damn, switch. DO NOT SCREW UP NOW! I scream in my mind. We get past it, then over that bloody bridge and off to the east. We get within one hundred yards of our stop and the train stops. Arghhh! Announcement. ” We are having trouble with a switch near one station, our trains are being held up.”

No kidding! The trains are being stopped, held up on the tracks with no place to go! This is the system they want to use for the Winter Olympics? Who the hell are they kidding?

We get going again after about fifteen minutes, and by this time it is NINE PM! We get off that bloody train, get on the bus and head for home. Snow is falling all day, so we know it is going to be a tough slog through snow with weary toddler and packages, but at least we are heading there.

We get off the bus, head up the middle of the snowy roads which only have small ruts in the snow from cars driven through earlier. It is heavy snow, and some of the “drivers” ( I use that term loosely here) have created some huge patches of ice from spinning their tires endlessly, apparently, to get around. The toddler has to walk with us, otherwise we would fall on her. We watch for cars, move aside to let them pass, and trudge onwards. We are just about home when one car comes at us, so I wave to get the driver to stop long enough for us to get out of the way, but he keeps coming! I have no place to go, the toddler with her mother has no place to go, and he just keeps coming at us! The Mom is standing on glare ice, I know I am on nothing but ice underfoot, so she grabs the toddler and lifts her up.

I lose it totally, and yell, ” You stupid dipshit! Stop!” Nope, he keeps coming straight at me! His car literally comes within inches of me, so I raise my right arm and with full, furious force, slam my full arm on his rear window. WHAM! Or as the Mom said, ” Ker Whooompah!”  His car passes her with barely inches then stops! He backs up his car right at her! She bellows  “Hey! Stop!”  Then he starts ahead and pulls up about twenty feet ahead of us and yells at us. I bellow at him, ” You stupid dipshit, you damn near hit a baby! Fuck off! ”  He pulls off to a driveway, then pulls in, and looks back at us.

Just as we get our tempers back down from a high boil, a truck comes down the street towards us, and, without any place to go, heads at us! This driver uses their brains and pulls wide, gives us room, and keeps going.

Why were we walking in the car ruts in the first place? Because not ONE DAMN HOUSE had their sidewalks clear, not ONE!

The driver that used his car to threaten and damn near back over a child and mother was Indo-Canadian, driving a black two-seater with tinted rear windows, and it was a Chrysler Intrepid. If things had gone just one tiny bit wrong, there would be a dead or injured child and mother, and charges of dangerous driving causing either death or injury. My fury still boils up now.

The Boxing Day of Hell is over, but definitely NOT forgotten.

Unexpected Events Often Called Miracles

I have been alive long enough to see events that were, basically, unexplained yet also miraculous. At this time of year, with the lighting of the Manorah, the man in the red suit, and angels, along with lights of every colour, there is a theme of the unexpected.

Stories like Santa Claus don’t survive without a grain of true ideals and truth within them. The Fairy God Mother is another one. We all want to have those wonderful surprises, those small signs that someone is listening to our deepest inner desires. Angels play a part here too, carrying the messages between us and the unseen forces of our world, our spirits, perhaps our own souls. This is completely out of the realm of science, unless you know that under all matter is energy, and energy is never lost, just transformed. Thoughts of our families often bring phone calls we don’t expect, images of those we care about, and even the events we remember. That is the energy of the universe, the same energy we use every day to put our ideals into practice.

When our desires appear, without our own work, without any verbal expression of that desire, we call it fortuitous, even miraculous, and we all want to have someone appear in our lives to bring these to us.

This desire is based on belief, on the faith that tomorrow will be better, that somehow we are more than we perceive, that we do have importance in our own way.  We want just one small sign, signal, whatever we can get, to say, “Yes, I see you, I hear you, I know this is for just you alone.”

Children are perhaps those who know this desire and the way it can be fulfilled better than all of us. They don’t doubt events like this happen, they are much freer to enjoy the fun of the unexpected, the miracles. I have seen children as young as 3 just shrug and totally accept the unexpected as if it IS the norm. Maybe we need to learn, or relearn, that inner joy and acceptance, because we lose the magic, the wonder of our world when we become cynical, cold,  disbelieving.

Magic, it is one word that confounds logic, confounds science, yet it appears as the desire for a white Christmas, the sight of a bird, animal, person or other image we really desire to find, even for just one day.

Santa Claus is a potent symbol of the magic of our desires, the giving of something without asking or needing acknowledgement. He carries the magic of desire and wishes with the energy of the universe. The Fairy Godmother in Cinderella is much similar, she embodies the idea that tomorrow will bring desires, wishes and fulfillment. Both have endured for centuries, both do have some seeds of truth within them. Magical, powerful, and above all, personal.

The lights, whether of the Manorah or those strung along the eaves, trees, fences, and buildings all remind us of the light we desire, the need to find a way to endure, and light the path for others along the way. They are symbols for us of joy, hope, and love. The pagans used lights to change the darkness into light, and when it seems we are dealing with the inner darkness of our doubt,  the lights remind us that there are glimmers of our own sacredness within, we just need to let it shine, just a little glimmer.

Magic, we are in the midst of it, we feel the power of magic in healing and loving,  prayer and hope, and it IS real, using the energy of our thought, our universe, to change and transform and, maybe, bring a miracle or two.

Now, let’s all give this a real boost. If you have, say, a pair of slippers, a knitted hat, even a chocolate bar, cup of coffee, whatever you may just happen upon, take it with you. When you get the impulse, the gut reaction, give that item to the one person that you feel should get it. Don’t balk, don’t become self-conscious, just do it.

This is fun! We are moving outside our “comfort zones” yet we are also putting the magic of impulse and good wishes into the world, changing and moving our lives into magic.

There is NO such thing as coincidence, so each time we do something like this, there is a ripple, a benefit we may never see to someone we may not even have seen. But, it IS real, it IS there.

Bush Puts Through Health Bigotry Law

I am honestly sitting here shaking my head at the antidiluvian measures the outgoing American president created in his last days of office. What this law does is make it blatantly apparent that Bush wanted to overthrow the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court re: Roe vs. Wade and make it possible for further governments to reverse that decision.  It also is apparent that this is a deliberate attempt to force the U. S. health system into a Christian only belief system.

The health measure he created and made into law by decree, without any possibility of debate is completely filled with bigotry. What this law does is make health providers, from doctors and nurses, to pharmacists and others the people who can impose their own bigotry and disdain for human life onto patients and clients.

Imagine this scenario. A person who has AIDS or is HIV positive has to see a doctor, and that person also happens to be gay. Well, according to this law, the doctor, the nurse and any others can refuse to treat, refer, or even see that patient because of their own “moral persuasion.” The providers can have the “moral persuasion” that being gay or lesbian is abhorrent. Now, add in the fact that the patient is possibly pregnant and wants to get some information on the genetics or have other health treatment and it becomes a total nightmare. This law gives health providers the means to impose harsh judgements on lives and the ability to deny any care whatsoever.

Or, imagine this one. A senior is looking for help with pain, and wants to be admitted to hospital for possible testing, but that patient is not a Christian, but perhaps pagan, or of another faith which requires special treatment. The health providers, including the hospital, can now deny that person the ability to have their community come in and provide any counselling or symbols. This could mean those who are Sikh being forced to have facial hair shaved, their turbans removed, and any prayer items removed from the room. Or, worse still, the patient is told, ” We cannot, with our moral stance, treat you at all. Find another place.”

When it comes to health care for women who face unwanted pregnancy, or have to find ways to deal with a health issue during pregnancy, the situation becomes very ugly if bigotry and religious belief come into play. I know there are some doctors who will absolutely refuse to refer, provide alternative information, or even talk to patients who face pregnancies that endanger the mental or physical health of a woman. This is blatant bigotry.

Doctors, pharmacists and others are in the field to provide health care, not judgement, bigotry and even racism with their medications. IF you are one of those who insist on being so narrow minded, then either limit your practice to patients who are of the same mind or get out. Find a position in another field, perhaps research, but DO NOT impose your beliefs on others, even if the outgoing president provides you the means.

It is time for Bush to get the hell out of power, and it is obvious that the beliefs of Bush are set in the early 1920’s, certainly not even close to current society belief and practice.

It is time that the American public understand some things. There have been people who are gay and lesbian since the time of Caesar, and there have been unwanted pregnancies since long before then. Women have aborted fetuses for centuries, either with medical help or without. OUR modern society is facing a huge problem already with overpopulation, scarcity of resources, and the idea that forcing another child to become part of an unwilling society is far more of a violation of their rights than stopping the process.

Each child born now needs to have at least 65 years of food, shelter, clothing, and work. For every child born now, there will be that much more drain on the finite resources of this small planet, and when that child is resented, avoided, or even worse, facing abuse because some “health professional” imposed religion on the mother, it becomes a very nasty world for that child.

I have no problem with parents who want to have children, but remember, those who are responsible parents are the ones who use birth control, limit the family, and make sure that every child they have is supported, loved and given the necessities.

Each year I see articles on the costs of supporting more and more families in poverty. The numbers increase every year, yet this law makes the likelihood of far more people either dying in agony from the bigotry, or living in poverty because of that same bigotry. Phooey. Time for our society to grow up, face the reality that we all have no other place to move to, this is the one and only planet we have! It is time to ensure that each person is given respect for their choices, their lives and their needs.

Vancouver Woman Burns To Death, She Was One of Thousands of Homeless

I am so saddened by the needless death of a human being when it was totally preventable. The woman was outside, the temperature was at least -10 C. or about 15 F with a wind blowing. She just wanted to find some way to keep warm under her meager belongings, and asked for a candle. Instead of finding an alternative to an open flame,  people told her “No, you cannot have a candle, and I will not give you any matches either.”

Somehow, that woman did find or get a candle, then borrowed a lighter, lit the candle and tried to sleep.  She was huddled under her grocery cart, with cardboard and other covering over that, and yes, the candle caught the material on fire, the woman burned to death.

One time when someone may have used some brains, maybe just gone out of their way to find her some way of getting some flameless heat, and that woman would be here today. But, no, people won’t go that extra step, even the people who worked for the local police. Yes, the police did TELL her to get to a shelter, but unless you know someone who has experienced the local homeless shelters or seen photographs of people sleeping on wooden benches and matresses that even gymnasts would avoid, as well as hearing about the theft and mentally ill people crying out all night because they have not had medication, you too would tell the homeless to get to one of these hellish places.

Some of the local agencies try their hardest to give some semblance of decency and respect to the shelters, some of the places are clean and afford a mimal amount of privacy, but the carts are the lifeline, the possessions, the entire storage for any food, socks, and other goods these people have, and the shelters refuse to allow the carts inside the buildings, and there is no means to securely store the carts anywhere.

Burning to death is a very harsh sentence for anyone, but when it comes from the very basic need for warmth on a very cold, humid night, it becomes tragic. Someone saw this, went in to call the local emergency and they were basically given a cold shrug, the same cold shrug that most of those living on the streets where millionaires walk during the day. Yes, the woman burned to death on a corner where the condos sell for over half a million dollars, there are boutiques and designer shops nearby.

This will just be a passing note, not even worthy of concern to our governmental agencies here, mostly because they figure the poor, those who are so impoverished that they become sub-human, non-existent in any monetary or political power, that this type of death can and will be dismissed.

The 2010 Winter Olympics are getting billions, the city is putting millions into window dressing, the province is pumping out ads that call this place, “The best place on earth”. There are millionaires here that will  lobby the government to reduce the purchase taxes on high cost property, yet every person who has volunteered for charity knows very well, they give much less than the poorest. Why? Because they all just do not give a damn, and the impoverished do not have monetary or political power, and certainly don’t have lobbyists working for them.

I guess the ugly truth is that the government will ignore this death, maybe count the money they might save now, and just carry on.  That is why British Columbia is nicknamed “Bring Cash”, because if you don’t have it, you will not survive here.

If anyone does give a thought to those who live on the streets, in Vancouver the agency that helps out these citizens is:

• Blankets
• Bus tickets
• Winter coats
• Long-sleeved shirts and thermal underwear
• Wool socks
• Sleeping bags
• Tarps (preferably small)
• Hygiene items (combs, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, nail clippers, etc)
• Boots

Donations can be made to Gather and Give, a non-profit charity. It is open Tuesday-Saturday, and is located at 105-418 East Kent Avenue South — just east of Main and south of Southwest Marine Drive. Or visit their website: www.gatherandgive.org.

Bush Designs Pollution, Health Hazards, Guns for America

I honestly thought this was some kind of sick joke when I got some information sent to my email account, but when I checked with several sources, it is true.

The outgoing president is using his “executive” powers to put into law a whole bunch of stupid laws that guarantee fecal matter in streams and drinking water as well as increases in lead. He is also putting into law that truckers can work more than half a day on the road, which most people know is worse than driving drunk!

This is from the Guardian in the U.K.

Paul Harris, The Observer, Guardian.co.uk

George Bush is working at a breakneck pace to dismantle at least 10 major environmental safeguards protecting America’s wildlife, national parks and rivers before he leaves office in January.

With barely 60 days to go until Bush hands over to Barack Obama, his White House is working methodically to weaken or reverse an array of regulations that protect America’s wilderness from logging or mining operations, and compel factory farms to clean up dangerous waste.

In the latest such move this week, Bush opened up some 800,000 hectares (2m acres) of land in Rocky Mountain states for the development of oil shale, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet. The law goes into effect on January 17, three days before Obama takes office.

The timing is crucial. Most regulations take effect 60 days after publication, and Bush wants the new rules in place before he leaves the White House on January 20. That will make it more difficult for Obama to undo them.

“There are probably going to be scores of rules that are issued between now and January 20,” said John Walke, a senior attorney at the National Resources Defence Council. “And there are at least a dozen very controversial rules that will weaken public health and environment protection that have no business being adopted and would not be acceptable to the incoming Obama administration, based on stances he has taken as a senator and during the campaign.”

The flurry of new rules – known as midnight regulations – is part of a broader campaign by the Bush administration to leave a lasting imprint on environmental policy. Some of the actions have provoked widespread protests such as the Bureau of Land Management’s plans to auction off 20,000 hectares of oil and gas parcels within sight of Utah’s Delicate Arch natural bridge.

The new regulations include a provision that would free industrial-scale pig and cattle farms from complying with the Clean Water Act so long as they declare they are not dumping animal waste in lakes and rivers. The rule was finalised on October 31. Mountain-top mining operations will also be exempt from the Clean Water Act, allowing them to dump debris in rivers and lakes. The rule is still under review at the OMB. Coal-fired power plants will no longer be required to install pollution controls or clean up soot and smog pollution.

Yet another of the new rules, which has generated publicity, would allow the Pentagon and other government agencies to embark on new projects without first undertaking studies on the potential dangers to wildlife.

Announcements of further rule changes are expected in the next few days including one that would weaken regulation of perchlorate, a toxin in rocket fuel that can affect brain development in children, in drinking water.
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Bush can pass the rules because of a loophole in US law allowing him to put last-minute regulations into the Code of Federal Regulations, rules that have the same force as law. He can carry out many of his political aims without needing to force new laws through Congress. Outgoing presidents often use the loophole in their last weeks in office, but Bush has done this far more than Bill Clinton or his father, George Bush sr. He is on track to issue more ‘midnight regulations’ than any other previous president.

Many of these are radical and appear to pay off big business allies of the Republican party. One rule will make it easier for coal companies to dump debris from strip mining into valleys and streams. The process is part of an environmentally damaging technique known as ‘mountain-top removal mining’. It involves literally removing the top of a mountain to excavate a coal seam and pouring the debris into a valley, which is then filled up with rock. The new rule will make that dumping easier.

Another midnight regulation will allow power companies to build coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. Yet another regulation will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions without installing new anti-pollution equipment.

One lengthens the number of hours that truck drivers can drive without rest. Another surrenders government control of rerouting the rail transport of hazardous materials around densely populated areas and gives it to the rail companies.

One more chips away at the protection of endangered species. Gun control is also weakened by allowing loaded and concealed guns to be carried in national parks. Abortion rights are hit by allowing healthcare workers to cite religious or moral grounds for opting out of carrying out certain medical procedures.

Bush’s midnight regulations will:

• Make it easier for coal companies to dump waste from strip-mining into valleys and streams.

• Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks.

• Allow people to carry loaded and concealed weapons in national parks.

• Open up millions of acres to mining for oil shale.

• Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights.

• Hurt road safety by allowing truck drivers to stay at the wheel for 11 consecutive hours.

Bush says F U to the Country and All Citizens

What this looks like, to me, is Bush trying every trick in the book to sabotage the country, the new president, the endangered species act, the FDA, the Federal Environment Agency, and basically making everyone live in a garbage dump.

There is no good excuse, never mind reason, to pass this unless you want to work for one of the companies that will give you a job with them later. This is totally aimed, in my opinion, at Barack Obama, green energy and the value of the wildlife and ecology of North America, all being sabotaged by Bush.

What I cannot figure out is why on earth Bush would want to do this, other than total contempt for his own daughters and their children, the people who live in the rural areas, and above all, the families of truckers who may end up attending the funerals of either the trucker or someone that trucker killed.

Bush, you are one stupid Son Of A Bitch, and the man who threw shoes at you was insulting you, not target practicing.  That action was akin to throwing a used sanitary napkin at your head, with the blood of children, women and others killed on the napkin. Got it?

Modern Slavery in Canada Still Exists

With all the economic news I did some research into the existing poverty levels in Canada, and found a very disturbing series of facts.

Did you know that if you are on welfare (assistance in some provinces) and you get some temporary work, you do not keep a dime of the money, and to add insult, any costs regarding transportation is up to you?

So, for example, a person works for 2 weeks part-time and gets a cheque for $350, that money is taken off the next cheque, all of it. Basically you end up working for nothing at all. Some incentive that is! If you finally find a place to live, and there is a deposit required, that money is demanded back from your welfare cheque too!

If you used the bus to get there, which costs $5 per day, you end up in the hole for $50! Yeah, good incentive to get a job, NOT!

If you are a single parent, you must also cover part of the costs of daycare, so that comes out of your income too. Going further into a financial hole to get some kind of work experience.

If you do have kids or even one child, any support money the other parent pays goes to the government, not the child, which means the children are paying for being poor again! If the child needs to join in any school activities or trips with the rest of the daycare children, they are out of luck because the government will take any funds away again.

The various provinces all will take any tax refunds, child or alimony support payments, and wages from those living in poverty, making the people who do work basically slaves! This is in one of the very richest countries in the world. Sad, ugly, and yes, disturbing. What is even more astounding is that birthday gifts of money or goods is also repayable, so if a parent gets some money to buy anything for the children, that money is required to be reported, then is deducted from the next month income.  What happens here is that the children are penalized twice, once from living on basically less than families got 10 years ago and having any support from a parent never seen, gone, with no benefit to the children at all.

In the US there are several states that force welfare recipients to work, but they get little or none of the money they earn. Food stamps amount to around $3 per day to feed an adult. What on earth do people expect the poor to eat on that? So, there are basically some American people working as slaves for their governments too!

There are provinces in Canada that have the most millionaires, yet those are the ones that have HUGE numbers of people living in poverty, and those same provinces are the ones with the HIGHEST number of children living in poverty. Keeping people in what amounts to socialized slavery is probably the best hidden secret in North America.

Bashing the poor, especially children who do have responsible parents who support the children as best as possible, is making a very harsh example for those children. After all, the message is that Mom or Dad going to work is going to put less food on the table, make things much harder, and the value of the work is nothing, worthless, because there is NOT ONE DIME more for anything.

This is deliberate, make no mistake. Some states and provinces scream out “welfare fraud!” when the statistics on any fraud is less than 2% of all people getting support, yet those same statistics are used to make these very harsh policies. Talk about damning all because of a very very few!

There are seniors living in cars, families living in tents or car wrecks, all looking to find somethings just decent, yet the states or provinces make it virtually impossible to get one single dime ahead. Some provinces insist that people who have nothing  go looking for work for a minimum of 6 weeks and show they did go around looking for work before they are even allowed to apply for support! Question here. How on earth do you go out looking for work when you don’t have a dime, have no address, have no phone number that prospective employers could call, and have no clothes to go out for an interview?

Actually, in some provinces, that 6 week rule applies to anyone looking for any support. Which means that single moms who are trying to leave an abusive situation must leave their children somewhere to go out to look, which basically can force them to leave those children with the abusive person. Lovely, friggin’ lovely.

As long as the work people do is deemed worthless, and the support for children is seized by governments, and any chance of getting ahead are thwarted, there will be more problems for all of us.

Look at this from a child’s point of view. They need new shoes, sorry, no. They are invited to go out with the daycare, sorry, no. They want to have a Christmas gift for Mom, sorry, no. The child need a new coat and boots, sorry, no. Any possibility of going to the local zoo, swimming pool, movies, or any other outing is gone. Their lives become so narrowed, so lacking in any enjoyment, it become pretty bleak.

This research made me wonder, about those who make these policies, about our society which demeans and belittles these people, and about our own idea of society at all.

The provinces with the worst support are, ironically, those with the most millionaires in them, Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. The rates for welfare in those provinces have actually gone down in the last ten years, making the support cheques worth less than those issued 10 years ago.

The golden rule says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” or  “Do NOT do to others what you DON’T want done to you”

Guess some people forgot, or maybe we all JUST DO NOT GIVE A DAMN!

Harper, Dion, Canadian Politics IS Actually Interesting Now.

Well, no, this is not a sex scandal,(Drat! no pics or innuendo!) not an issue of money wasted,(they do that all the time, definitely NOT news), none of that. Instead, our politics are now more interesting because our  Prime Minister made some stupid choices and lost the confidence of the House of Commons.  Some are calling this a constitutional crisis, I call it amusing.

First we have a Prime Minister who decided to take all the public funding from all parties and essentially deliberately try to cripple any oppositional resources. Dumb, really dumb! But, this seems to be the Harper way, to make decisions that are arrogant, and very often self-serving.

Then he backed down, and tried to say he was being conciliatory by asking the Opposition to give him ideas. This is leadership? Actually it is giving me opportunity to laugh, shake my head and just sigh.

The Opposition parties got together, drew up an agreement between two of them, with the Bloc Quebecois agreeing to back the two and refrain from using a veto on measures without discussion. Basically, they have more votes from the election in October than the minority party which has the Prime Minister.

Oh Oh! This means that they have enough seats, enough votes from Canadians to actually move into the governmental seats, and with Harper making dumb choices, they chose to use their votes in the House of Commons. I heard this and started to chuckle. Yep, seems the arrogance in politics is getting a smack upside the head, and none of the parties will even think of being quite so arrogant again, as far as I can see.

Oh, boy, then Harper makes another dumb move! He tries to use the Bloc Quebecois to make a case against the coalition. Dumb, really really dumb! If he had been at least consistent in his description of the Bloc as either sovreignist, or separatist, then maybe it would not appear so ludicrous, but he used separatist in his English speeches, sovereignist in French. Yep, the people of Quebec noticed! Imagine that! If I can notice it, I have no trouble believing they would. Geez.

So, our Governor General, who was overseas on official journeys, had to cut her trip short and return to Canada. Why? Well, this is her job. When there is a vote of “non-confidence”, the Prime Minister has to talk to the Governor General. Right now he wants to delay the vote of “non-confidence” until January, which means he has no plans to deal with governing or making any fiscal plans until then. If our economy is the “issue stupid” then we all have to sit and wait on him. This makes me shake my head. Where is the leadership? Apparently it went with our Governor General on a trip, but somehow got mislaid.

The coalition can ask the Governor General to make the government, if Harper cannot make his case to delay the vote until January. This is becoming a very sad parody of the Three Stooges.

Ironically, with Quebec going to a provincial election, the statements by Harper are going to light a good fire under those who want Quebec to become sovereign or even separate, given the disparaging remarks Harper made of the Bloc and it’s role in Canada. The Bloc Quebecois was, at one time, the official opposition. Remember that? Now, according to Harper, they are going to usurp the House of Commons to get the separation that a minority of Quebecois want. This is a threat now? Give me a break! The two main parties in this, the Liberals and New Democrats are the ones who will be the governing parties, and the role of the Bloc is as a support. Where on earth does the idea that including the Bloc in this become a threat to national unity? Good grief, here I go again, chuckling. Somehow the Bloc is honourable enough to be the official opposition, yet NOT honourable enough to back decisions from two parties? Someone needs to make up their minds.

Well done, dumb-dumb! Personally I know that the coalition could work, politically, and even be far more efficient and make some decisions for all Canadians. But, and here is the but that jumps. the two parties need to use intelligence, a larger view and certainly some skill to get the decisions through.

Harper sounded like a whiny little boy in his speech today, and definitely not a leader or someone with confidence.  “Aww, how could they do this to ME?” Umm hello? They did not do it to you, they don’t trust you to keep your word, do what is necessary for Canadians, and get your party to face the need for economic planning.

Then he tried the “they did not vote for them” trick. Wrong! Every member of parliament WAS and IS voted for, otherwise they would not be a member of parliament. We voted for our individual candidates, right? They were elected, right?  Until the votes were counted, there was no party in power, right?

Well, at least there is now fodder for blogs, and opinions all over. Amazing considering after the votes were tallied, the turnout was paltry. Hmmm, this makes me chuckle because there is more emotion now over a perfectly legal means to change the party in government than there was in the election itself. Oh the irony!

All of this while the world economy is taking a nose dive and a huge void is obvious in the leaderships of both the US and Canada. Weird timing, I have to admit.