This is the latest in my “It boggles the mind” series. I’d like to give the federal Conservatives a break, I really would. There are other things to write about, and I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’ve got some insatiable bone to pick with these guys, from our Own Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MP Larry Miller to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa. Continue reading
Politics
Stark Choice
So, the battle lines are being drawn finally for a federal election, either this fall or next spring. In a speech in Whitehorse this week, and recently in Ajax, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told Conservative party faithful Canadian voters face a “stark choice” between a stable Conservative majority government, and a coalition government of the Liberals, NDP and the separatist Bloc Quebecois. Continue reading
Conservatives Bouncing Back
As of mid-week the latest poll suggested the Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper had already bounced back from two earlier polls that had them in a “statistical” tie with the Liberals under Michael Ignatief. Continue reading
Foolish $9 Billion Plan to Build New Jails
If you live in a rural area, as many of us in this area do, you’ll maybe know the old saying, “the (insert name fruit or vegetable here) want picking.” Well, I’ve got rows of beans that “want picking,” and hundreds of pounds of potatoes virtually crying out from underground to, “please, please, please dig us up soon or heaven knows what we’ll do.” Continue reading
Get liberal, Liberals
There’s a tall, mature maple tree about 100 metres off to one side and behind the house here at Hope Ness.
Underneath it is a large area of rough ground covered with wild grass and underbrush, and a thin layer of soil and moss. Only by venturing in, pushing aside the many small branches, would you discover the old rock pile. We started digging there for rocks last week to make a border for the new flower garden beside the house and discovered buried treasure.
I wonder if it takes a certain inclination of mind, and even spirit, to see what interesting things rocks are, each one in its own way. Did the Greigs and the Butcharts, the pioneer homestead families that cleared this land many years ago, stop as we did to marvel at the different patterns and textures? Continue reading
New provincial legislation to curb violence at work
The wheels and gears of government often grind and turn exceedingly slow in response to pressing socio-economic problems.
Anyone who has been in the workforce and worked at different jobs for many years, as I did, has more than likely experienced workplace harassment and violence in its various forms either directly or indirectly. I had a warehouse boss once who liked to squeeze buttocks as probationary workers stood beside his desk and he pointed out mistakes they had made. Back in those days, nobody complained, for fear of “not making” their probation. He had developed the habit during the war years when most of the workers in the automotive parts warehouse were women; and it simply carried on after the war when it became an all-male staff again, as it still was when I worked there from the mid-60s into the mid-70s. Continue reading
Ovid Jackson a nice, friendly person, like so many others in the area
The news that Ovid Jackson is to be named to the Order of Ontario got me thinking about nice people this week.
Those of us who are students of history and close followers of current events at home in Canada, and abroad, could be forgiven for thinking nice people are few and far between; indeed, if all you do is read history books and newspapers or surf the Internet for that sort of thing and otherwise don’t get out much it’s not hard to understand why ivory-tower academics devote lifetimes of deep thinking to the study of human nature. I mean, are we good or evil beings? Are we God’s children or the devil’s spawn? Continue reading
Progressive Conservatives Likely to Win in Fall 2011
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario stands a pretty good chance of winning the next provincial election in the fall of 2011. It’s relatively new leader, Tim Hudak, will therefore be Premier. Continue reading
Parliament Passes First Reading of a Bill to Amend the Firearms Act
If you know the woods, you likely also know deer hunting season is a good time to stay out of them. I was tempted to put on my bright red toque and cut some firewood anyway last week, the weather being ideal and all, but thought better of it. No matter what, I certainly wouldn’t have taken the dogs with me, especially after what I saw Thursday of that week. Continue reading
It’s business as usual on Conservative AM radio in the United States
The FM function on my car radio hasn’t been working lately, so to while away the hours as I drive to and from visits to family in the deep south of Ontario, I am reduced to searching the AM dial. In the dark of night, when the stars are out and the radio airwaves are bouncing madly off the upper atmosphere, this can be a scary thing.
Pressing the “seek” button leads to the breathlessly frantic intonations of a preacher from the Bible belt warning anyone listening the day of judgement will soon be upon us, so “get ready.” I fear he may be right, though not in the way he means it. The signal fades, a sports talk and phone-in show takes over and I’m listening to someone’s opinion about A-Rod’s recently admitted steroid use, and the latest off-boards exploits of Kobe Bryant. Apparently he’s a surprisingly good dancer for a big man. Continue reading
Finding Hope Ness 