One for the Ex Pats

This one goes out to our dear friends who turned tail and ran from this extraordinary piece of earth we call Toronto...

as you both are sitting around, dreaming of paris, sipping strawberry-mango juice, basking in the desert heat, here is a little piece of the free city, some memories of home to keep you through bedouin nights.

We finally had a real snowfall this past weekend. Not these light flurries/wet snow that still seem to frighten the sense out of drivers. No this was a real snowfall, with gently swaying to the ground and accumulating. This time the snow stayed on the ground, blankets of white swirling on the pavement and decorating the roofs. Winter did her long extended entrance to this season, a slow waltz that looked perfect.

Here is the part you won't miss.

-20 yesterday and Saturday with the windchill. howling winds, rattling tree branches on Saturday. Sharp winds the sting the face and parts of the body not adequately covered. Freezing nose hairs, Freezing facial hair and Freezing snot. Ice tip fingers and Ice tip toes. Long streams of steam with every breath and involuntarily creeping upwards of shoulders, clenching of jaws, tightening of muscles.

You don't miss that do you? Postcards are pretty, being in them maybe not so much.

However there are good things to the cold. It feels clean every time you breath. This season of death seems to wash things clean, erase them with bitter cold until renewal is the only option. Winter weather is lonely weather. This nights are longer, the sun turns its back on us earlier each day and comes out later each morning. It feels like a long season, moments outside are heavier, steps take longer, the outside world is a chore. A season of dying in itself lends to loneliness, sadness that longer nights can only bring, despair that cold weather can only bring. Now if you are without kin or kindred or have been during a winter you know what I am talking about. If however you blessed with love and companionship than winter can be a beautiful time that defies the dark charms of that icy lady. It is a time to get close, to huddle up and cuddle up. To unreservedly drink hot chocolates and teams, egg nogs and rum, ciders and spirits. It is a time to warm each other up, for thick blankets and cozy slippers. We parade in pajamas and long sleeves. Hot showers feel all the better during colder days and nights. Candles and soft lighting become la mode and hearty meals full of goodness and warmth are eagerly anticipated. You can go skating or just walk around outside (if dressed of course), throw snowballs, get frosty then come in after a day and look forward to getting warm.

The best part of winter however?

Rosy cheeks. Hands down. Girls look so pretty with rosy cheeks. Especially my girl. Rosy red cheeks make her a different sort of pretty that I love and love.

So while you sit there getting sand in your eyes and shoes, sweating in december, though we might grumble, the winter can still be a pretty pretty sight. As I write this, snow is falling again ever so softly, and it looks so fine. I'll take that all the time and I'll miss it if I ever go.

I was born in february after all.

peacelovefreedomjustice

-s

"this has been an extended weather report from the Free City."

Is Democracy Dead?

no.

Rather I see this as a triumph for democracy. Not just because parties whose ideologies that are much closer to mine may have the chance to govern. It is a triumph because the majority of the people could not trust an economist during a recession with a majority government. The majority of Canada supported the three other parties and I would put forth the rebellious notion that having the three opposition parties in power is perhaps the most democratic solution to this quagmire as it would support the interests of the voting majority.

This morning driving to work I was listening to the FAN590 and on the Gord Stellick "show" and the Mike Hogan bullpen they were all railing against this coalition saying it is shallow and sickening, undemocratic! send the people back to the polls!

I understand somewhat this vitriol. The probably voted conservative and having a lame duck leader like Dion make this power grab (because I acknowledge it is a power grab that came about at an opportune time) is unsettling. Yet none of them before the last election railed against Harper for breaking a law (his own) and setting an election trying to capture a majority. That too was a shameful power grab (one that came about at an opportune time). Now Mike Hogan was in his own words pissed and sickened this morning regarding these happenings. He talked poetic about how he is pro-canada, supports Canadian athletes and Canadian sport, does everything he can to promote Canadian talent on his radio show. The inference here was that this gave him license to say that as a Canadian this makes him sick and pissed and not very proud to be a Canadian. Well if someone has a radio show in Canada and does everything they can to promote Canadian talent then they've done their job and Bravo. This must not be confused with license to spit garbage about politics on a SPORTS SHOW! You are doing a sports show and yes there are political bumblings going on but if you want to talk politics, blog or get a new job talking politics in the media. Using the pulpit to convince people of your unwavering patriotism and parlaying that to convince people that makes you a bonafide pundit is something that makes me pissed and sick. I tune into sports radio to hear about sports and the politics of sport. If you want talk about how in sports some of the most democratic people and owners end up becoming entirely communist in how they run leagues, pay salaries and control personnel behaviour. If politics is interfering in sports or trudging the ground of sport (tax payer subsidies for stadiums for example or no allowing tobacco sponsorship of sports teams/franchises) then talk about politics as it relates to that aspect. If the above doesn't apply, stop being so damn grandiose about your "feelings." Get back to sports.

I have to believe though that Harper brought this on himself. Now asking the GG to suspend parliament is also a ploy of political gamesmanship and Harper is well within his rights to ask, so we may not see a new(old) government until February and I'm cool with that. Harper can bankrupt the tory coffers in the meantime through advertising how much of a undemocratic usurpation of power this is and that is fine. I don't like it but fine, well within his rights. This would not have happened if he had stuck to the principle of working within parliament for solutions since he has a MINORITY not a majority of seats. Harper said he wanted to wipe the slate clean, start fresh with the other folks on the Hill to solve the acrimony of the last parliament (which was his ludicrous excuse for calling an early election). Then he poisoned pilled an economic statement to bankrupt the other parties (something the alliance and opposition conservatives never considering putting forth as a motion) and made it a confidence vote. Now I don't buy the whole "there was not stimulus plan so we have to act in the best interests of Canada" excuse by the other three. That smells like horseshit no matter where on the divide you stand. They used it as an excuse to throw this Tory government down and establish a parliament that can work together and hopefully create an infrastructure that respects labour, manufacturing, infrastructure, the environment and of course the arts. All Harper was doing was doing his best to ensure that the next time he broke election laws no one could financially challenge him and he could end up with the majority he so desperately covets. So really who is doing the power grabbing? Harper was fine with coalitions 4 years ago as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, was fine with it when he was merging the alliance and Conservatives and now all of a sudden the duty to protect parliament from dissolving is undemocratic? This also smells like horseshit no matter where you stand.

So we wait with bated breath (at least folks in the cities, Atlantic Canada and Quebec) to see who wins this chess match, but at least Canadian politics and the British Parliamentary System has become sexy again. This is so much fun to watch. 3/4 is better than 1/4 and a coalition of ideas and participation may be what this country and politics in general needs. So here's to working together. Let's hope it saves this country To the Democratic-Liberal Bloc, let's hope it saves the country.

I leave you with the words of Thom Yorke.

bring down the government

they don't...

they don't speak for us...

peacelovefreedomjustice

-s

"This has been a amusing musing from the free city."

Random Swirlings From the Milk in My Brain

Been awhile, been awhile. Pleased to make your re-acquaintance sirs and madams.

Update from the land of back...not really a clean bill of health but good news in general! I have arthritis in my back! Awesome! Just what I was hoping for. Basically the trauma of the now infamous snowstorm/car push incident degenerated an already degenerating disc in my thoracic region to pretty much collapse. From their it became infected which was why I had such severe pain, the radiating, burning pain, intense spasms and pain that would crawl across my upper body and stiffen muscles i never thought existed. All this could have been avoided if my doctor had taken me seriously when I complained of the pain I was feeling instead of dismissing me and with medication my pain would have had the strong possibility being tempered and resolved afr earlier than june/july when it started to ease substantially. I'm not bitter about it anymore, i've moved past that, but i confess to being disappointed and letdown by the whole process. There are two things I've learned and can pass on for others who may one day find themselves in similar positions (though I truly hope not).

1. The human body is a crazy contraption. The human mind is even more extraorindary. Have faith in yourself and your surroundings. Having good people around you helps this enormously, but if you start living day to day and believe in the old saying "this too shall pass," it will. It takes time and copious amounts of patience but it does work and you feel better for having endured.

2. If you feel pain, fight for it. Impress upon your physicians and specialists what the pain is like and DEMAND better care. It is your right. Don't just ask, being meek allowed my standard of care to be diminished and for my pain to circumvent what I am entitled to receive in health care. I cannot stress this enough, DEMAND more. Do not take no as an answer, harass the doctors until they fight for you, otherwise they won't and will just move on to the next patient and collect the money from the government. Take a cynical approach and that way you will fulfill your responsibility to yourself and force the health care professionals to take responsibility for their jobs and duty of care.

So i've been cleared to run and exercise with weights and I have a lot of physical body work I need to catch up on. I didn't quite forget how good it feels to work out, but it has become more fun than i remembered and I am by most accounts, happy and doing well. Thank you.

A quick shout-out to the dirty 'Shwa. I just want to applaud this once mighty blue collar town. In the midst of an economic crisis that saw their city crumble, that has decimated jobs in their town and has increased their unemployment rate due to their heavy dependence on American car manufacturers, they held their resolve and voted conservative in the federal elections. There are no accolades I can heap upon this city and its people to do it justice. BRAVO Oshawa, BRAVO! You voted for a government that scorns your labour, that has tried its level best to discourage investment in Ontario and is now looking to bail out the auto companies that have pissed away your pension and severed your jobs while your jobs will most likely not come back without proper investment in future technologies in your city. Once more, BRAVO! Ladies and Gents, a round of boisterous applause for Oshawa! A city hell bent on Hari-kiri.

The wife and I went to the old city of Montréal for our anniversary. We were debating between being in Ontario and going to Montréal and did we ever make the right choice. I swear that this is such a wonderful wonderful place to visit and walk and eat. When you get their you get stuck in time, feel the history soak into your bones in every breath you take. The cuisine is beyond amazing and the culture has no rival anywhere in Canada. It is such a fun city to be in at anytime and a very very pretty city. Trees line streets, the buildings do not impose on the skyline but rather are moderate in height and rich in character and architecture. One day I see myself there, once I'm a writer for real for real, just living and playing in that grand old city. If you have a chance, go to Montréal, go to tam-tams, l'avenue, la banquise (thanks meryl), schwartz's and most of all get a transit pass, hop off the train and just walk around. It is a city designed for pedestrians with its spacious sidewalks sprinkled with trees, its hills and a certain je ne sais quoi that gives life to even tempered hearts. Em and I went on walks at midnight through downtown, nestling close to each other and the ghosts of the city breathing in the fragrance of that beautiful place. Montréal Je T'adore.

Our 4 play pass to the Toronto theatre company Soulpepper just finished with our viewing this past friday of Top Girls. Extremely well done play and wonderfully acted. Every performance was stellar, the lighting was perfect, the music set the tone well and it was paced with veteran style. We had seats right in front of the stage and it was slightly unnerving to be less than 4 feet from some of the scenes but an experience that was eye opening and made me appreciate live theatre much much more. The other plays we saw this year were As You Like It, Uncle Vanya and Raisin in the Sun. All plays were great but As You Like It was the weakest of the four we say. The other three each had their merits and I cannot choose just one which stood above the rest. The actors they get at Soulpepper are phenomenal and the dedication of the staff and artists of the company show how seriously they take theatre. Soulpepper is one of my favourite things about this city and I urge any of you with even the slightest passion for art, culture or the medium of performance to check out a play. Its a great night out, the distillery is a nice cozy romantic enclave and there are enough restaurants and drinks to suit any discerning taste. They have some really great plays coming up in the next season like Antigone, Glengarry Glen Ross and Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf coming up in the new season, so if your looking for a night out, there's an idea. Also they have a student program where you can get tickets for any night (under $30!) and a 21-30 program where if you are between 21 - 30 years of age you can get a ticket to a show for $28 the night of by going to the box office. Really, what are you waiting for? Go now and support the arts in Toronto, support culture because Lord knows our government will everything it can to make this country into a sterile artless, brainless, formless country in the service of Godmoney.

Sorry for the delay folks, we've been busy and I haven't had as much time to update, but I will try to write some more in the coming weeks. Oh yeah, went to the Leafs-Habs game (HNIC BABY!) last saturday and witnessed a storybook thrashing of the Canadiens. Beautiful to watch and be a part of and nice to send the Habs off the ice with a NA-NA-NA-HEY-HEY-HEY GOODBYE chant with 5 minutes left in the third. As always GO LEAFS GO!

peacelovefreedomjustice

-s

"This has been a delayed broadcast from the Free City."

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance - Aristotle

Oh Canada!

Oh Canada!

How could you? I really don't want to overly proselytize, but this is the best we as a country could do? 59% voter turnout, yes ladies and gentlemen, stand and applaud democracy.

I said i wasn't going to vote and I didn't, sort of. How does this give me license to grumble? Well thanks to my dear wife and the EDGE 102, I was able be counted and not vote. Here is the dirty little secret Elections Canada does not want you to know. You can register to vote at a polling station then when they hand you the ballot, you hand it right back (blank of course) and say I refuse to vote, I am protesting. They then have to put the ballot in a separate pile and mark down the vote as "protest." Pretty cool eh? Now it seems that even the lovely people at Elections Canada have no clue about this. I called them yesterday to find out for sure if protest vote was a valid option. The gentleman on the other side of the phone said that I should mark an "X" beside all the candidates names as a protest vote. I proceeded to inform him that this was in fact illegal (yes ballot spoiling is a federal offense carrying a 500.00 fine and the small possibility of jail time), whereupon he proceeded to get flustered and went to talk to his manager. The manager eventually confirmed that to submit a protest vote, one must do exactly as previously mentioned, hand back the blank ballot and affirm the vote is a protest. Again, I find this very cool indeed.

Now why did i protest and not submit a vote for any party? There are a few key reasons which I will explain.

1. There was no candidate I wanted to vote for in full. I like Layton just fine, would be fine and actually happy with him as PM, but he had chances to bring the last government down and instead propped them up. In fact it was the NDP that supported a no confidence with the Tories to bring down the Paul Martin minority which led to our dear leader taking office. That to me is inexcusable and I could not with any heart or conscience vote NDP. The greens, well, they still have issues and are not solid enough to get my vote, the liberals are dysfunctional and pompous and don't get me started on the Tories who are pompous and dysfunctional. I have previously stated that if i lived in a BLOC riding, i would be a staunch BLOC supporter. Duceppe is the only leader I truly have faith in and he is the only leader who has his country's best interest at heart.

2. Until there is proportional representation, I don't think the vote is fair and therefore is flawed. Here is my example of this. I have a broken car. It still works, but is dangerous to drive and might just give up any moment. Just because i have a car does not mean i should drive it. It is not an inherent right to drive the car, it is a right by proxy. Similarly with the election, just because I have the "right" to vote does not mean I should exercise it. If the system is broken and refuses to be fixed or even looked at, then why vote? It is not an inherent right of citizenship, it is a right by proxy which should be exercised with care.

3. Most importantly this was an ILLEGAL election. Our Dear Leader broke the law in calling this election. Not only broke the law but broke his own law! By saying parliament was dysfunctional (read: no one is doing exactly as I tell them), Harper, riding support numbers near or at 40% nationally, called an election. This was a despotic move, one that was so arrogant, so hypocritical, so callous in the disregard of principle and loyalty to a man's word that anyone who voted for him should question why they voted for him in the first place. The only thing i could do was protest a vote that ate up over 400 million dollars during an economic panic and was called only to stroke ego and manipulate the citizenry and parliament. This vote should never have happened nor been allowed on these terms, terms our dear leader himself set and held up as a bastion of citizen focused consensus and integral to democracy. All in all, this old/new government has done nothing more than embolden the mock in democracy to absurd heights.

But now back to the political clime...oftentimes i feel like i am on an island with few peers. I wish to stress that this is not arrogance, I do not believe I am better than other people, but when I see such folly in the elections, it only strengthens this perception. I remember when the Martin government fell and the tory ads had the tagline "Stand up for Canada." During that campaign, our dear leader promised an elected senate, then went ahead and appointed a senator. He promised fixed election dates, every four years (unless the government fell by way of no confidence), then broke his own law. He bribed a dying member of parliament with a life insurance policy to rejoin the tory caucus, lied about doing so then admitted doing so. He said there would be no fixed pullout date for the Afghan war, then affixed a pullout date for the mission. So the question I pose to you, my fellow Canadians, who voted for Our Dear Leader in the previous election: Is this the Canada you stood up for? Our Dear Leader promised an accountable government, then reneged on the promise basically trampling all over the Gomery report which accused his sitting government of the same practices that led to the sponsorship scandal. He promised a government that was honest, that you could rely on to keep its promises, then time and again showed how little he valued your faith and how highly he valued his own reflection. He plagiarized speeches and adopted policies from the neo-cons of Australia and America saying they were his policies. He sent envoys to world summits that blocked bills and binding resolutions to GUARANTEE CLEAN WATER for the most impoverished of our earth. This was chicanery and thuggery on a level even Vegas isn't privy to.

You have to hand it to the man though, he ran an effective campaign and even though he blipped, managed to dupe people into believing he is honest and the best fit for the job. He focused on the Liberals knowing full well that most of this country sees only two parties as effective. He showed images of a stumbling Dion then yelled HIGHER TAXES! HIGHER FOOD! cajoling the public through false fear and borderline defamation.

I am really disappointed in Ontario though most of all. The west we concede, but our province here? He has a finance minister who told the global business community not to invest in Ontario, was a finance minister under the Harris regime which decimated Ontario and brought us to a recession earlier than the rest of Canada (we are seeing the effects now) and Ontarians forgot. We forgot what it was like during the Harris years when our teachers were laid off en masse, were treated like incurable infections and our public school system spat upon. They laid off nurses, took no initiatives in qualifying immigrants for degree required positions, left our province in shambles and racked up a massive deficit by MAKING CUTS! And we forgot, gave the cons a free pass to destroy Ontario with last night's election. I am not even angry, just ashamed that we allowed this to happen. It is a sad sad time when we allow the murderers of our province to be the pallbearers for its funeral.

All in all we have a few things to be thankful for. Perhaps this is strawgrasping or trying to find a silver lining in an ever greying sky, but here they are.

1. Thank God for cities. Except for Calgary, the major cities in Canada (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) sharply slapped the conservatives in the face and elected only Liberal, BLOC, or NDP. While Tory support grew in the suburb/metropolitan areas, city folk understand how detrimental a tory government is for cities that have wholly different and unique challenges to face. With increased populations, issues such as immigration, transportation, housing and environmental impact due to increased consumption are demanding attention and are pressing on municipal/provincial/federal governments to stand up for cities. We now have a government that thinks nothing of any city not named Calgary, but in small part the cities prevented a majority.

2. The NDP made gains. These gains, if the Liberals can gain back support over the next few years (here's a hint, bring in TRUDEAU for leadership), they may well lose those gains quickly. The NDP's, like the cons, encroached into liberal territory and are now, for the time being at least, acting as a legitimate buffer and viable third option. The best story of the night was an NDP candidate getting elected in Edmonton, beating out tory incumbent Rahim Jaffer. Nevermind that Jaffer is a sellout to his people, the NDP did what the liberals haven't been able to do, namely win a seat in Alberta. In fact the NDP made great strides through the prairies and west and it is now Jack's job to make sure that the seeds thus far planted, are watered and grown.

3. Thank God for the non-Canadians, they helped stop a Tory majority. We can thank the peoples of Quebec and Newfoundland for this. Both these provinces have historically been wary of Ottawa and it showed last night. The other night, at the in-laws we were relayed a story about Newfoundlanders. Em's aunt told us she once taught a girl from Newfoundland ho had a thick newfie accent. This girl would get teased quite a bit and, Em's aunt took her aside one day to reassure her that the students were jesting. The young girl replied back, that's ok, when I tell my parents what the kids say at school, we just have a good laugh at the Canadians." Speaks volumes on how these provinces view our confederation. Isn't it ironic that perhaps we Canada was just saved by people's who are half-heartedly Canadian?

4. This was Our Dear Leader's chance. he had a majority in the grasp of his claws and let it slip. The most astute observation of this election happened last night on CBC by a comedian. He said (i'm paraphrasing) that Our Dear Leader found himself in the spotlight during economic turmoil. Our Dear Leader is an economist and flirting with a majority, this was his big moment to make a tory majority, to distinguish himself as an economist amidst a storm. In all, he failed. He gained seats, made progress in Ontario, but in the end failed. he lost Quebec (the key to his wished for majority) by making controversial arts cuts which struck at the core of Québecois culture and mistrust of Ottawa censorship. Popular support for the Tories stayed relatively even, meaning that Canadians by and large do not trust Our Dear Leader with the keys to a majority. They showed last night a desire to weather the storm but not give the ruling party a carte blanche. This must dismay Our Dear Leader. The public showed it does not have full confidence in an economist during a possible economic crisis.

So now Our Dear Leader has taken Dion's idea of having a ministers meeting on the economy and has drafted a six step plan (Dion had a five step plan and during the debates and Our Dear Leader blasted Dion for panicking when he offered this plan and meeting). He was handed ideas by all parties on how to gain popular support during the second term and manage an economic crisis. Quite Savvy. This while campaign has been an exercise in obdurate and recalcitrant behaviour from Our Dear Leader. The best thing is we are less than 18 months away from the Olympics in our country and you can bet dollars to tarsands that Our Dear Leader will want to be the leader during that showcase of the West. So there will be no more elections for 18 months (the usual standard for a minority government) unless popular support crashes and the Liberals can mount a strong challenge. For better and most likely worse, we are stuck. Expect new hard drug laws and copyright bills to pass soon, expect the downtown eastside in Vancouver to lose their methadone and addictions support centres very soon and expect a jolly if not false face to be put upon our dear dear country as we approach 2010. The True North Strongly Shackled indeed.

I leave you now with the wisdom of Pete Townshend, a man much wiser than myself.

Come meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

peace,love,FREEDOM,JUSTICE

-s

"This has been a non paid political message from the Free City. Never more Free than it is today."

The Real Opening Night

Get out the chalk

Mark the streets from Bloor, east and west

Mark the streets from Yonge, north and south

Mark the beginning of a long awaited parade

Cover every inch of this teeming metropolis

Fly your flags, sound your horns, chant the old refrain

Wear your hats, your toques

Wear the jersey proud, defiant, loyal

Crack the champagne, sip from the cup of victory had and

victory to come

Show those ink hands how wonderful hope is

Show them all how hope rebels, how hope can be the margin of victory

Show them, you young men of our brigade how our hope is in their youth

Show them why it still matters for this city, this city of cities, of nations and men

Show us young man, just enlisted, now deploying, what it is to be a hero as a child

Speak soft for the moment, guard your exuberance, play like a storm that has fooled the earth

Take this place, this time, this town by its flaming devilled horns

Arrest its motion

Shine bright, shine long, shine forever, shine among these bright city lights, over these Babylon towers

This city, this city, is all yours, all for you to take,

Be princes be kings,

Become Gods,

Among these hallowed streets of people and places, you can

legend,

you can become ghosts and walk among the saints of our nation,

blue and white

Help us believe once more

We do nothing better, we want nothing more

Nice game last night, well played defensively for the most part. I'm hesitant to not give the leafs their due, but I wonder if the wings didn't take the leafs lightly, and perhaps not play to their potential while the leafs perhaps exceeded their. That being said, the leafs played really well, really hard. The threw the body, fought for pucks and position and played a solid solid defensive game. It was fun to watch. Toskala once again looked solid.

Ten minutes before Don Cherry tore into the Leafs Management, I was thinking the same thing he was about to say. In fact, in my head, I was thinking I hope Don goes off on MLSE and then BAM! it happens. Spot on Don. Ron Wilson is a good coach but the decision by management to team up drive a steamroller over its players is cringe worthy. Shameful. Like Don, I feel sorry for the young men who have to hear that replayed over and over in this city, that they suck and aren't worthy of playing junior.

On the other hand,this could be the sly-est manoeuvre they could make. Tell the kids they are going to talk ill of them in the media but let them play beyond expectations with everything to gain. Reverse media psychology might be the best thing to happen to this team.

Those cuff links Don was wearing...i want them. Sooooo nice.

Jim Hughson is still the best play-by-play we have in this country for any sport. The colour guy from last night was pretty awful, but Jim Hughson can take a gam on his shoulders with sock puppets doing the colour.

One of the biggest complaints I hear about our dear Bob Cole is that he has become so senile that he refers to players other than Leaf players by their numbers often because many players these days have names he can't pronounce. I think that for this Leaf season, he might just have to start referring to Leaf players by their numbers...names like Grabovski, Kulemin and Finger are sure to trip him up. Hilarity will ensue. Can't wait for Saturday night.

You know during the yankee VP debates everyone was waiting for Palin to lay an egg along the lines of saying "darn right immigrants need to be shot, it will provide American jobs, and Joe Pubilc, Russia is invading my backyard" before Joe biden mauled her and beat her over the head with a mike? Similar to last night's Leaf game. Everyone was waiting for the leafs to roll over or collapse, make some serious gaffe and for the Wings to exploit them without mercy. Funny thing is, like the Palin debates, the Leafs surprised, held their own and the other team was as flaccid as a nursing home.

Wait did i just compare a republican vice presidential candidate debate to the Leafs?

Did I just compare American politics to the Leafs? You now have permission to fire hockey pucks at my head. Someone save me.

This is such a great time of year in this city. We are buzzing with Leaf talk. The chatterbugs are out in full force on the radio. The air is crisp, the trees look pretty. Autumn has finally taken hold of this wonderful city and Hockey Night In Canada is one day away. Basketball season is less than three weeks away and the NFL is in full swing. A beautiful time if there ever was.

Oh, and the con/harper attack on Dion is just puerile, childish and speaks volumes on how the conservatives view anyone who cannot speak english as if it were their mother tongue. I am flabbergasted by how low some people can sink. Does our leader need to be able to speak English? Yes, there isn't a doubt about that. Is Dion's English perfect? No, that is obvious, it is not his primary language. He has done well enough so far in English, and if elected Prime Minister, his English will get better, he will be forced to learn the language better and probably get tutoring. He didn't understand the grammatical complexities of a question. This was bound to happen to someone who is primarily a French speaker or even a speaker of another language as primary when confronted with an inquiry in secondary language. Harper himself didn't know the french word for "trillion," (it's actually billion). If Harper had to conduct the greater part of his interviews in French it is logical to conclude that at some point he would make a grammatical error and/or grammatically misunderstood. However it stands to the character of others (except maybe Duceppe) that they would not stoop to petty parlour tricks a defame a man's character based on linguistic quirks and misunderstandings. They would show class, something the cons sorely lack, something i believe they long ago pissed away. That stunt by the cons was deplorable and shame on them.

peacelovefreedomjustice

-s

"this has been a moment of delirium from the Free City."

The Happenings

Looks like the cons are coming back down to earth...4 points up on the libs with one week to go...by calling the election, did harper just end up pulling a joe clark?

Still undecided if i'm voting, but if i do, it goes to the NDP...unless i were in québec, then i would be a fierce bloc supporter...

i noticed during the yankee debates last night that both mccain and obama are left-handed...this goes to show, that with the devil hand you too can rule the world.

leaf season starts tomorrow...very excited to either see a team growing and winning 25-35 games or as I will venture, a team with expectations so low they have everything to gain and will finish about 5-8 in the eastern conference...mark my delusional words, the leafs will make the playoffs.

The eagles are really pissing me off and it is about time donovan just shut up and play ball. Him opening his mouth, no matter how well intentioned is just not working...also as i keep lamenting, the eagles secondary plain sucks in pass coverage...

shouldn't those ceo's of the bailout companies, who for years lavished themselves with perks and obnoxious salaries be forced to pay that back? the merril Lynch ceo game himself 25 million AS A BONUS last year! The Lehman brothers ceo has amassed a salary/bonus fortune over 400 million! So then what is the plan? have the taxpayer subsidize the rich while they get poorer by the day...oh America, you are such a beacon to the world, a fine example of a shining light in dark times.

I don't think the celtics are going to repeat as atlantic division champs and being the homer that I am, I say the Raps take it within a margin of 4 games. IF JERMAINE STAYS HEALTHY! otherwise, raps finish 6th.

i often feel i am on a different planet then most people. This was most evident after the english federal debates where most respondents to a poll said they believed harper had won. Regardless of my own political affiliation, i wonder how this was remotely possible. He was hammered, and while he was his usual calm, cool, collected self (read arrogant, self-serving, autocratic) he couldn't defend his positions logically. Staying the course? that so far has turned out well for the yanks in terms of economic and military hasn't it??? For someone who is an economist, he really is putting his designation to shame. I guess we wait for the "undecideds" to decide the election on tuesday coming.

this is all i can think of right now...sllllllllllllllllllllow day and i'm getting sleepy.

peacelovefreedomjustice

-s

"this has been a collection of random thoughts from the Free City."

Amerida

Saw the french debates last night. Hate the new format of having the leaders sit at a round table instead of at a podium. Looks too comfortable and amiable and this is federal debate for the highest elected office in the country. You need to be standing to deliver a message, not sitting around like it's a coffee break.

I gained some respect for Dion last night. That isn't saying much since I had about zero to -10 respect for him before. He was feisty when he needed to be and showed some anger at points. In fact all leaders did except for stephen who was calm and cool as per his usual elitist self. Now Dion didn't do anything extraordinary, he did however show some fire in his responses and retorts. About damn time. There were moments when he stuttered in French and this won't help him in the Anglo debates tonight. He already comes off in the press as being flighty and scared and stumbles and stutters, no matter how passionate and sensible the ideas always plays like someone scared and a fool with no ground to stand on.

Stephen never looked at the camera. He just kept looking down at the table or at his lap, never really bothering to look at the camera which in effect represents the eyes of the Canadian public. As always there was an arrogance in his manner that is startling and his responses were so completely blasé. He knows he is going to win and he is approaching this whole election charade as so. From where he stands, good for him...bad for us but good for him. This is his election to lose and so far he has done enough to win and need not be concerned about anything until someone goes for his political throat and calls him out properly and soundly.

If you however want to know how stephen is trying his level best to americanize this country, you need look no further than his left suit coat lapel. On it was a nice Canadian flag pin. Eerily reminiscent of those american flag pins that have showed up after september 11th 2001. Remember how obama was roundly chastised by the american press and punditry for not wearing a flag pin and was eventually forced to wear one to confirm his loyalty and patriotism to the united states? So stephen is playing the same symbol card. He wears a flag on his person, therefore he is the most patriotic and best suited to lead the country.

My dear friends, it is one thing to wear a ornamental flag pin on your clothing. It is quite another to carry that flag in your heart. stephen, i fear has never had the honour or privilege of experiencing the latter.

peacelovefreedomjustice

-s

"This has been a non-paid political observation from within the Free City."