Canada Day

I am privileged to have been born into and lived my entire life in the best country in the world, Canada. Yes, Canada, but not just the whole wonderful expanse of the country but in a specially blessed corner or the country. My current address is in Mississauga Ontario snuggled against the beautiful waters of Lake Ontario.

                I’ve lived in many communities along the shore of the lake and as far as the St. Lawrence River that takes its precious waters to the eastern ocean.

                Lake Ontario and the whole Great Lakes system is a gift from centuries past when the ice cap covered this area with a huge blanket that eventually melted and filled the lakes with fresh cold water. Canada is blessed with resources including responsible democratic government, a diverse population,  gold, iron, other minerals, forests, oil, gas, mountains, prairies and a northern frontier that will soon be a major shipping route between the west and east.

                We live north of the great United States of America. It is a country that has grown huge and prosperous by exploiting its resources. It is a war like country that spends heavily on the military and employs many thousands of people as soldiers. It has, in the past, attempted to include Canada in its perceived manifest destiny but our forefathers defended the northern country and saved us for a kinder, gentler existence. We thank them for that.

                Wise men have said that oil drove 20^th Century but water will drive the 21^st Century. Oil powered the industrial might of America and coupled with water resources the country became a super power. Earlier super powers included Britain, France, Spain, Rome and many others back through time. They all prospered and eventually failed for a variety of reasons. It is inevitable the American empire will decline and be challenged by another growing power.

                Canada has never aspired to being a power in the world. We chug along, do what we must, support our friends, give our young men in battle for other nations and take nothing from them. We are overlooked in the councils of power. So be it. We are blessed and want for nothing.

                I believe our greatest gift is our lakes and mighty rivers. I love to walk along the shore of Lake Ontario and gaze at the huge expanse of fresh life giving water. Long life Canada on this Canada Day 2011.

G20 Fallout

It's one year since the G20 fiasco in Toronto and the local newspapers are full of comments and stories about individuals who experienced the wrath of the police that weekend. I know I felt disgust at the images of rioters on Younge Street that Saturday afternoon. We do not burn  police cars Toronto and in Canada. (We saw cars burning in Vancouver this month and it was equally distrubing.) 

          We were all angry that the police let the rioters run wild when there were thousands of officers stationed just a few blocks away. Was this done to justify the expense of all those cops by saying we told you this could happen?

        The next day the cops took out their frustration on the general public and arrested 1100 plus people in a most humiliating way. Our support for the cops started to diminish as images of their brutality emerged. 

         As the months went by more stories emerged and the cops began to look worse and worse as they tried to cover their collective asses . Only two officers have been charged because no one recognized their own buddies that weekend inhibiting full investigation of complaints by the SIU.

          Chief Blair and Union President McCormack obfuscate the issues and will not admit that the behaviour of some officers might have been criminal. Maybe they are embarrassed by what happened under their watch. 

          The cost in public support is high. People will look at cops with suspicion for a long time to come.

Stanley Cup

I don't have to eat my words. Boston won 4-0. The Canucks couldn't even score one goal.
We, that is many Canadians even in Toronto, were hoping the Canucks would have won. We were encouraged in the first two games amd then in the fifth game but the sweep made by Boston at home was a harbinger of the final game.
Ah well, next year the Maple Leafs.

Stanley Cup

The hockey game tonight has been another disaster for Vancouver. It was so bad I didn't watch it. How can the Canucks play so poorly in Boston and be so LUCKY at home? Yes, I believe they have been lucky at home.

        The game on Wednesday will be a cliff hanger again since the Canucks do not seem to win by more than one goal. Boston just has to play like they did tonight and the cup is theirs.

         I believe Boston will finally win in Vancouver. Maybe I'll eat my words again but I doubt it this time.

On Men and Women

Mankind’s first conflicts must have been about water, food and women. Through the ages men have waged wars, created mayhem and done stupid things for women as mates, concubines, slaves and bearers of sons. Men are driven by hormones that override their common sense at certain times in their life cycles. It might be likened to a battery that is trickle charged until it must be discharged or it will burn out or explode. 

Men and women make a bargain when they marry. Traditionally men provided for the woman in general terms and the woman looked after the man in many ways including discharging the battery.

In recent years there have been stories of many powerful men who have been discovered discharging their batteries away from the marital couch. (For a partial list go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_local_political_sex_scandals_in_the_United_States)

The most recent story is of a guy named Anthony Weiner. He was found to be looking for women on the Internet in weird ways. Why would a man do it? Heather Mallick writes an often entertaining and insightful column in the Toronto Star. In a recent column she wrote in part; " I don’t do a Weiner. Women don’t. Why? Because we don’t have to. Sex is available to us. We just stand around being ourselves. It’s not like that for guys.

It’s difficult to be a grown man and indeed, many women argue that it’s beyond them. Why, men, why?

        The answer is that, generally speaking, if men want to meet an attractive woman, they will have to make the first move. Rejection is intensely painful."

Women are the gatekeepers even for their husbands with the exception of abusive marriages. She can have sex if and when she wants. Single or attached women can go to a bar and with little trouble go home with some guy even if he isn't the man of her dreams. Funny thing about Mr. Weiner; he is newly married to a beautiful woman who is in the first trimester of pregnancy. She must be doing her duty but in general a woman or wife who wants to keep her man must make him happy at home. He may not be romantic but he won't wander. Many wives, busy with children, forget to look after their men and the men, struggling with their career, forget to engage in the foreplay women need to be aroused for sex. Many times the man will meet an attractive woman and begin to fantasize the loving he isn’t getting at home.  

            If a powerful man, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eliot Spitzer, DSK from France, and others in business and the professions, starts to wander many women will make themselves available to him. He begins to think he can do anything and some get into serious trouble and expensive divorces when reality strikes. Simpler men do the same thing but with less publicity.

            We can’t blame it all on the women but why is it so common in our society? Other societies have solved the problem with polygamy and a more liberal perspective on mistresses. Why is prostitution the oldest ‘profession’ practiced in all societies if it isn’t to help men, married men, relieve their tensions? Of course mature women have needs too and some are known in bars as cougars.

            Many divorces occur after twenty five years of marriage when the kids are grown and excitement in the master bedroom has become routine and probably disappeared completely. What’s the answer? Religion? Islam allows a man four wives. He can even marry a woman for an hour and divorce her immediately after. That doesn’t seem like the answer for men in the west. Our women have achieved a degree of what they call ‘liberation’ but they are more frequently practising male domination.  Wives must become more flexible as the sexual energy of their husbands wains but his desire remains strong. Wives or partners can help their men in many ways both emotionally and physically using a little imagination. It doesn’t bite and there might be reciprocal delights for her too. Try it, age is not a factor.

            Unfortunately it won’t happen and men will continue to stupidly do whatever is needed to discharge their batteries. Sad but true.

             Do you have an opinion or suggestion? Don’t be shy. Use the comment box and tell us.