THE CHURCH OF DENIAL

Well its Easter. The kids have probably overdosed on chocolate bunnies by now. Your favorite dinner is cooking in the oven. Did you go to Church Sunday to celebrate the death and the resurrection of Christ? Maybe not! Maybe its because your fed up. Could it be your not feeling very Catholic these days? Maybe you've had enough of the scandals, the denials. Perhaps your tired of watching the church try and explain away or blame away its responsibility. If you are, your not alone. The Catholic institution (yes its no different then any other institution) has been doing serious damage control recently as reports show that the current pope (the guy in the funny hat) leader of all the collard pedophiles had perhaps assisted a Priest accused of pedophilia. This shocking (not really) revelation comes as the Institution continues to come under fire for its total lack of management of this epidemic. It might seem that the issue at hand is the way the Vatican and the institution has constantly handled the accusations of pedophilia but its actually not about the way it has handled it. Its the way it has truly shown that nothing in the religious foundations of this organization can be believed in.

Like many, i have simply waited for one thing and one thing only from the Vatican. I have simply waited for them to take unmitigated and full responsibility for their botched management of the sexual abuse scandals. I have waited patiently for the day a news conference was to be called to have the main man (the funny hat guy) not some Cardinal or Clergy or some PR quacks to stand up and take responsibility for what has been allowed to go on in that institution for hundreds of years. I have waited, as i think the world has waited. I want the leader of the collars to stand front and center. I want him to look directly into the camera and say, ''we have made mistakes, a whole lot of mistakes.We have mishandled those who have gone against the values of God, the bible, of the foundations of the Catholic religion. We have betrayed and failed our followers, we have sadly turned a blinds eye to the pain and suffering the actions of certain of our members (Priests) have caused on those who followed the way of Christ. We have protected and sheltered those who should have been prosecuted under the law. For those things we are sorry, we cannot correct the past, nor undo the pain, we can however begin anew with a resolve to remove this disease from our ranks and here is how we propose to do that''. Then he could go on to outline a plan ( a real one with measurable results) for dealing with those pedophiles within their ranks. He doesn't have to give excuses, no explanation for the mistakes which have been made. Just step up and fess up. Take ownership. Get a set of balls because we know the men in your church have them, we know all to well you have them and at the appropriate (most inappropriate) time like to use them.

The thing i find the hardest to accept however has not so much been the way the Vatican and that whole institution has handled the situation its the way some people (mainly the devote catholics) have tried to defend the church. The thing i find sickening about their defense of the institution is that if it was any other organization, company or entity other then the Catholic church those very same people would be parading in the streets demanding accountability and prosecution of the guilty. What does that say about the institution and those that follow it? What does it indicate to anyone with the slightest level of intelligence. In my case it indicates to me that they are nothing more then a fraud. They rally around a book and a figure and use that to drive social values and social conduct when it suits them. When it goes in direct opposition to it they point fingers and attempt any type of diversionary tactic to play off their responsibility. Take for example Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz said, ''the church should take notice of individual tragedies and treat sex abuse cases very seriously, but at the same time, he criticized the media for "targeting the whole church, targeting the pope, and to that we must say `no' in the name of truth and in the name of justice." This was followed by this statement by Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn which only goes further in demonstrating just how out to lunch some of these zealots are. "I admit that I often feel a sense of injustice these days. Why is the church being excoriated? Isn't there also abuse elsewhere? ... And then I'm tempted to say: 'Yes, the media just don't like the church! Maybe there's even a conspiracy against the church?' But then I feel in my heart that no, that's not it." It doesn't stop there though,  Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher said, ''allegations that the pontiff covered up sex abuse cases by Catholic clergymen reminded him of anti-Semitism''. Are you serious? Do you really want the population of the world to take you seriously?

Perhaps the long standing denials, cover-ups and attempts to talk your way out of every accusation of sexual  impropriety may explain why people no longer have any confidence in anything you say and why the media has pursued you. The constant word play and excuse making lends as much credability to the institution as to the existance of the Easter Bunny. Perhaps the media and the public in general are waiting. Waiting for the leader (the funny hat guy) to do what i mentioned above. Maybe the press and the public is waiting for the Vatican to release the files of all those in their institution who have been accused of inappropriate conduct. Perhaps were waiting for you to release all the cases you have covered up and those in your institution responsible for those cover ups. Do any of you in the Vatican or the management of the Church believe that the public believes you are above the law? Does the Pope believe he is above the law? Of course he does and so do all the Cardinals and anyone else related to the church. You believe that you do not in fact owe an explanation. More importantly you do not believe that those within your institution deserve to be prosecuted. In fact your more likely to believe in the Eater bunny then you are in justice.

Its not a wonder that the ranks of the Catholic Church continues to shrink. Without the churches major surge into Africa the number of followers would have shrunk beyond its ability to write off the declining numbers to the aging population. The Catholic Institution is in total denial. Every Sunday morning the followers gather to hear the word of God preached and celebrated to them by men supposedly of God. What has become clear is that many of these ''men of God'' preach one principle and practice another. There is no confidence in an institution which can not even follow its own covenant. Whose representatives demand a specif alignment to scripture and rules but have no respect for them themselves. Nowhere in other institutions in our society would that be acceptable but for some reason the leaders and the followers of this institution continue to believe that they are not only above the law but above the word of the God they claim to worship.

When challenged by anyone from outside the church, its followers and leaders first tool is to claim anti-semitism. To call those wanting answers non believers and enemies of God is a sad attempt at deflection. To claim that the sexual abuse scandals are not the fault of the church but of a small percentage within it simply shows the length to which its members will go to avoid holding the institution and its leaders responsible. The Vatican has time and time again worked against prosecuting and dealing with those who have committed these atrocious crimes. They have covered them up, hushed up those who might speak and have tried to purchase innocence. No i am not a believer in God but i am not an enemy of God either. I believe everyone should have the choice to follow whatever religion they best believe represents their core values. I personally do not follow any organized religion. I am however a believer that there is some higher power. I like to believe that the power which i believe would never tolerate such abuse. Such indignation, such shameful denial. When an institution cannot or will not abide by its own doctrine then how in the world can you expect others to? Do you believe you maintain credibility in a mode of denial? That you pull people towards you as you point blame outwards? Judging by your actions or lack thereof you believe the answers to those questions are. Yes.

Christian theology condemns blasphemy. One verse from the Bible that directly concerns the sin reads as follows: “ Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7 KJV). Blasphemy was written into the bible by the writers to protect the Catholic institution from attack. To give the institution this sense of being to holy and important to attempt to bring down. It was designed to protect the institution from those seen as non believers or those from the outside who might want to challenge it. In essence it was to protect and ensure the survival of the Institution, the entity of God and his words. The current situation and the way the Vatican has handled the whole sexual abuse scandal does one crucial thing. All to simply, It shows that it was not those from outside the church which they needed protection from. It was from those directly at its helm.

DRIVING ME CRAZY

OK you had to figure it was only a matter of time before i pulled out a blog concerning driving skills or lack thereof. Yes every day I like all of you head out of the house and get in my car. I do this mainly without even thinking of it. I rarely, if ever ponder the, ''what ifs''. I simply open the door, slide behind the wheel and off i go to whatever destination is required for that particular moment. Recently though i have come to realize that making it to and from my destination has become so frustrating that i am truly considering sending my car to the scrap yard and buying a life time bus pass.

In general there is not anyone reading this who does not take their car out every day. For that matter most of us use it more then just once. If you have children then you probably spend more time in your car, SUV, or van then you do in your own home and probably log more miles then the average cab driver in your city. In my case due to my work and for pleasure I have had a unique opportunity to drive in many places around North America. No i am not a truck driver. I have crossed the country from PEI to Alberta twice. Once using the Canada route and once using a US route. I have driven from Montreal to Florida and back half a dozen times. I have driven to Houston, Texas and back. I have driven through California, Colorado, Montana, Arizona and just about every other state you can name. I have spent time living and driving in British Columbia. So in essence i have covered most of the US and Canada via rubber tire.

People often ask me. Rob in your opinion who drives best and who drives worst? I have often had a hard time answering that question. My easy fall back used to be drivers from Ontario were the worst and drivers from Quebec were the best. QUEBEC! WHAT? You say QUEBEC!!! Now calm down and I'll explain. I learned to drive in Quebec. I went to driving school and got my permit when i was 18 years old. I grew up driving the mad streets and highways of this province. The thing i always loved about driving in Quebec was that the drivers here were predictable. Yes predictable. They drove fast, they drove on the edge, they did questionable things but they were predictable. You knew that if there was a major traffic jam on a highway and you were trying to merge you were most likely to encounter a car coming the wrong way up the on ramp trying to escape traffic and expecting You to get out of the way. No surprise. If you were in a major traffic jam you were for sure going to see a bunch of cars racing down the shoulder of the road like it was just another lane on the highway and probably saw a cop sitting in one of those U-Turns letting it all happen. Best of all you knew that if you planned to get into the passing lane your speedometer better not indicate anything less then 140 KM Hr (75 miles per hour). I loved driving here. I always knew what to expect. When i travelled to the US, Ontario or Western Canada i often found myself extremely frustrated and frequently stunned by what i encountered on the road. In most of the US and Western Canada i found out quickly that driving 57 miles per hour in the passing lane to pass a car traveling 55 miles per hour was normal practice, often resulting in a 5 mile traffic jam on a two lane road as the person in the passing lane took 15 minutes to pass the the slower vehicle by 2 miles per hour. That driving along in the passing lane with not another car insight was perfectly reasonable and screw you buddy you just pass me on the right cause Willy Nelson is playing and i ain't moving. I was always surprised to be sailing down a road a 40 Miles per hour only to have a person merge onto the road 50 feet in front of me like i wasn't even there; and when i laid on the horn i was greeted by a finger and a rear view mirror look which said, ''you don't own the road dip shit''. I was stunned to see people burn through stop signs like they didn't even exist, driving the wrong way down the Highway cause the big Red sign that said, ''DO NOT ENTER'' really meant nothing. Yes i saw allot of stuff crossing North America but i always felt safest driving in Quebec. That was until about 5 years ago.

Something happened in Quebec over the last 5 years and i have no idea what it was. Everyone just threw out what they used to know and choose to apply what was wrong everywhere else. Driving here has become a nightmare. I guess its probably a nightmare everywhere else also seeing as if it got this bad in Quebec i a can only imagine what its like in Ontario or New York. So here goes my rant and stick with with me if it gets ugly because i just cannot figure out what the heck has happened.

1. BLINDER. They bozo! That little blue light on your dash showing a light means your high beams are on, NOT YOUR REGULAR LIGHTS. That light shouldn't be on unless your traveling through the forest of middle earth in a demented version of Lord Of The Rings. But thanks cause now i need laser surgery and i did enjoy spending 2 hours in the ditch from being blinded.

2. GAS IS ON THE RIGHT. If your going to drive in the left hand lane (passing lane) could you do it with some speed. No, me and the 4000 other people coming home from work following behind you have no interest in watching you pass the vehicle in the right lane by 4 miles and hour, the car in the center lane by 2 miles an hour and oh by the way you don't need to be half a mile in front of the middle lane vehicle before turning into the centre lane. YOUR NOT DRIVING A TRAIN!

3. NOT A PSYCHIC. I wish i was cause then i wouldn' t have rammed into the ass end of your car. That little arm sticking off your steering column on the left side is for indicating your intention to turn. Now i know between deciding to have potatoes or corn for a side plate is more important then telling EVERYONE else what you intent to do with that 4500 LBS vehicle your driving but could you just try. I guarantee you won't break your finger or anything. Oh by the way, up means your going to turn right and down means left. I know that's hard to remember. Kinda like; righty tighty, lefty loosey. Think you can handle that? Didn't think so!

4. HEY MULTI TASKER! You are barely qualified to drive. I can promise you you are not qualified to talk on your phone, eat a Big Mac and fries and try to read that file. Your wife can attest to your lack of multi- tasking capabilities (wink) Your being more interested in not getting special sauce (wink) on your shirt is not really important to the guy who's lane you just swerved into cutting him off and almost causing a 15 car pile up. The best part is you didn't even notice, cause you were to busy concentrating. One thing at a time. RIGHT?. EEH GAD.

5. OK GRANDPA i know your retired and you deserve to enjoy the rest of your life with your sweetie pie. Just not on the road. What in God's name made you think your qualified to drive a 35 ft motor home when the largest vehicle you ever drove when working was a Toyota Tercel. How do i know you drove a Tercel? WELL, cause its attached to the back of your motor home making the total length of your vehicle slightly less long then the empire state building.

6. CAPTAIN CAMPING! Listen your Ford F150 4x4 is really not qualified to substitute for a freight train locomotive. That 22 ft camper attached to your pick up with the 17 ft boat trailer attached to it making your total length about 51 ft is a hazard. Cause you might be in the right lane but if the wind is blowing the wrong way your boat is in the left lane and those foolish oversized mirrors won't even allow you to see that. Your kinda like an out of control anaconda except your on the highway not in the swamp. Suggestion. If you need to transport that much stuff to your destination might i suggest loading it all on a train or a flat bed 18 wheeler.

7. HEY MEGAN FOX! Your beautiful. That mirror hanging in the center of your windshield is NOT for applying your make-up or doing a last minute verification of your beauty before meeting that guy you met online. That mirror and the ones attached out side your driver side and passenger side door are for ensuring that you don't side swipe the family van that just passed you in the centre lane cause your going 100km Hr in the passing lane.

8. SPEED DEAMON! If its rush hour and traffic is backed up in every lane going 20 km Hr it won't matter how far you try and stick your front bumper up my ass i can't go anywhere. If your into that kinda thing i just want you to know i don't play for that team but I'm sure they have a bar in town somewhere where guys hang out that could satisfy that need you seem to have.

9. FENDER BENDER. In Quebec we have a thing called no fault insurance. Its like if your husband cheats on you and you cheat on him...its really no ones fault. NO it doesn't matter who did it first. You wanna take your little BMW and that little Audi out of the centre lane and go over to the shoulder to figure out who did what to who cause the police nor your insurance company cares about the 200 dollar scratch on your bumper or how it got there. GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!

10. TAXI DRIVERS. Your all a bunch of idiots. Not one of you knows how to drive regardless of the needless time you spend sitting in your cab eating salami sandwiches.

11. HE'S ALREADY BUSY! Hey when you see a police car with his lights flashing and another vehicle stopped in front of him its cause the policeman is busy. He's already giving a ticket so he isn't likely to jump back in his car cause he thinks you might have been going 121 Km Hr. So no need to slam on the brakes to slow down he isn't coming to get you anyways.

Got anymore? Please feel free to add them. The simple fact is you could probably go on forever. The sad fact is that its gotten down right dangerous to be out on the road. Everyone gets into their car and closes the door and something really, really bad happens. They forget about everyone else. Yes we all are guilty at one time or another of doing things on the road that we should not. But if everyone just spend 5 minutes thinking and realizing that they are not alone on the road things might just get a little better. So ask me again who has the best and worst drivers. HA!

Happy driving everyone!

BLAME THE 11 YEAR OLD

11 year old Jordan Brown was charged Saturday as an adult in the shooting death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, who was 8 months pregnant. (Yes you read that correctly! 11 YEARS OLD!). According to police and the District Attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania the 11 year old took his 20 gauge (his gun used for hunting with his father and not requiring a permit) and shot his father's pregnant girlfriend in their western Pennsylvania farmhouse, then got on the school bus and went to school, authorities said Saturday.


By now if your not shaking your head in total disbelief and astonishment then there might be something wrong with you. But! Then again, given the enormous amount of violence, brutality and treachery which we are exposed to each day you might not be shocked at all. What shocked me were three things;

1. A 26 year old woman Kenzie Marie Houk and her unborn child were brutally slain by her soon to be stepson and that two families have been destroyed by this terrible act.
2. That he is 11 YEARS OLD. No more needs to be said.
3. That the District Attorney John Bongivengo decided to charge the 11 year old as an adult.

Now first let me start by clearly stating that i am not a bleeding heart liberal. Yes my political leanings tend to be more Liberal then Conservative but i do consider myself rather independent in my political views ( i believe in the death penalty for murder or heinous crimes against children and women). Secondly I want to also say that the victims here are Kenzie Marie Houk and her unborn child. They are the victims of this terrible crime. There is no way to justify the act. Any attempt to try and candy coat the earth shattering impact it has had and will have on their families would serve only to undermine this tragedy.

One thing we must do however is try and understand the act and most importantly weigh the logic in charging an 11 Year Old as an adult. It is necessary to ask the questions that need to be asked. To try and gain greater insight into what has happened and more importantly what is happening to the youth in our society. The questions are not simple and the answers are far from clear. The fact however remains that there is an 11 year old who is going to be brought to justice for his act by being put on trial as an adult. The questions are. What purpose does this serve our society? What impact does this have on preventing or deterring similar crimes in the future? Most importantly will ultimately putting him on trial as an adult fix anything that is wrong with today's youth? I probably don't have many of the answers to those questions but i do want to explore some things more indepth.

For any of you who have 11 year olds take a look at them. Now sit back and carefully analyze how they act. What is their level of intellectual intelligence? What are their overall social skills and compartment? What is their ability to rationalize and distinguish between right and wrong? Not right and wrong as in its not OK to pull my 8 year old sisters hair, but their ability to measure the long term implications and consequences of their own actions and the actual real life results. This is where i have a problem. I have an 11 year old. I cannot imagine my child or any other 11 year old taking such a course of action. I cannot imagine what would drive or motivate them to do something like that. At the same time i know how 11 year olds act as i have had 3 of my other children pass that age. I understand to a limited degree their ability to measure actions and the resulting consequences. I am also all to conscious of the incredible impact our current social environment has on them and how they behave. Am i trying to create an excuse for murder? NOT for one single second. But i am not willing to simply throw any 11 year old under the bus simply because we live in some state of denial.

11 year old's of today are not the 11 year old's of yesterday. They are similar but they are different then night is from day. The constant bombardment of violence available from all formats including TV, music, Internet, video games and movies is one element that is completely different then that which an 11 year old growing up in the 70's would have experienced. The transformation of the family unit from two parents to single shared parents and in many cases singular parent models is vastly contrasted to the 11 year old of the 1970's. Our children grow up in a very different world facing very different pressures and exposure then we did 35 years ago. Some might say its easy to look back and make comparisons and to say that that is in no way a justification for the violence and the crime which contaminates the youth of today. In some cases it would be right not to try to hard to look back to see how we were but to focus on how we are now. It would also be easy to write off the change which has occurred and simply blame the obvious. That is unacceptable. This desire we have as a society to blame everyone and anyone else for the current plight of our youth is sickening. We try and blame everything and anything on their habits, their conduct and their actions. We blame Hollywood, the video game producers, we blame the Internet, we blame their teachers, we blame other parents.We blame a weak judicial system, bad judges, lawyers, police. We blame the government. We simply point the finger and the situation grows ever worse.We never ever take responsibility.

That responsibility is clear. The reason its clear is because we are the parents, we are the Internet, we are the film makers and video game makers. We are to blame. We vote for the people who make the laws. We allow our children to see what they see. To be exposed to what they are exposed to. There is no way to protect them or shelter them from everything that is out there but our attempt to limit our liability and responsibility to 10% is sad. So now an 11 year old will stand trial for his crime. There is no doubt that he must be punished for his acts. That he must be made to understand the irreversible effect which his actions have caused. The pain and trauma which results from those actions. The truth though, is we should all be on trial for what we have allowed to happen. What he have accepted is happening in our society and how we have turned a blind eye and tried to blame everyone else for the current results. This child needs to be on trial as a child, he is a child and he is what we have allowed and permitted him to become. The old fall back of, ''he must just be evil'' is a lame excuse for us, for our society. A way for us to simply continue to pass along the blame. This 11 year old boy could be anyone's son, yours or mine. The idea that we can simply write off these actions to rare occurrences has long since past. Don't believe me? Simply type in child killers into an Internet search engine and prepare to be astonished. In reality you won't be astonished because somewhere buried deep in the recess of your mind and heart you already know how off track we have become in regards to raising and managing our young people.

Fear not however my friends for very soon a child will go on trial as an adult and instead of questioning ourselves and our actions we'll simply watch the process. We will not question what we have allowed our society to become and our role in that. Instead of trying to find answers and solutions to what plagues our young people we will simply allow ourselves to believe that the district attorney of Lawrence county Pennsylvania has the answer. We won't seek out tough answers to tough questions. We won't modify anything in our society. We will certainly not modify our behaviour. No we won't do any of those things. What will we do? We'll simply blame the 11 YEAR OLD!

DYING TO GET IN

Is it just me or are things going from bad to worst on a constant basis. Most particularly Health care in this country and specifically in the province of Quebec. It has become abundantly clear that no one and I mean no one has a solution to the current crisis. I am so sick and tired of listening to politicians banter back and forth about who is to blame for the current situation. I am also fatigued by the claims by both Mr. Premier Ministre (Charest) and the Health Minister that the system is generally good. It is abundantly clear that neither they nor anyone of their families spend any amount of time in a Hospital emergency room. It is actually sickening to imagine that these very individuals who claim the system is good would never have to spend one minute let alone 20 hours waiting in an emergency room. What one quickly understands about these individuals is that they are so detached from actual reality that they may as well be living on Mars. Does anyone actually think that the Premier Ministre, Health Minister or the leader of the opposition would be ushered off to the local emergency room by their handlers if they were to fall ill or get injured? That they would sit there with the common folks waiting to be triaged and evaluated only to be told it will take 20 hours before being seen by a doctor? NEVER! Therein lies the biggest problem. How can those who are least affected or touched by a problem be in any position to correct it. What kills me (and for that matter many others for real) is the promises and the lies and the impotency to take any concrete action. Yesterday during question period in the House in Quebec this was the discussion between the Premier Ministre and the leader of the Opposition Madame Marois.

(NOT WORD FOR WORD BUT CLOSE ENOUGH)

Mr. Charest: Since 2003 our government and party has worked tirelessly to repair the debacle created by the previous government.

Madame Marois: Mr. Le Premier Ministre please stop blaming what happened over 7 years ago on the current government. It is you that has been in power for the last 7 years and the problems have not been fixed by your administration and when we were in power people did not die waiting for a heart operation.

Madame Marois: May i remind the ''Premier Ministre'' that he is the leader and that this situation is his responsibility

Mr. Charest: May i remind Madame Marois that this situation is her fault.

WHAT?????? Are you serious? Are you telling me that this is the way the people we elect manage issues facing the government and our society. Nah-Nah your to blame...NAH NAH its not my fault....for God sakes SHUT UP! While they are acting like 10 year olds people are dying. These people aren't from another planet. They are not strangers. They are our fathers, mothers, grand parents, children our brothers and sisters. While these politically motivated and irrelevant politicians debate about who is to blame members of our families die. These are not isolated cases. They are not anomalies, they are an indicator of just how broken the system is. Here is whats happening in the province.

These are some stories from a recent Montreal Gazette article by By CHARLIE FIDELMAN

• On Friday, Jean-Guy Pitre, 65, a retired police officer, died after waiting six months for surgery to fix a blocked aorta. His heart operation was delayed because of a lack of beds in the intensive care unit, said officials with the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal.
  
• Mariette Fournier died Feb. 23 after spending four days in a corridor of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont's ER. Her family wants an inquiry into Quebec's health-care system
• Mieczyslaw Figiel died last month in the corridor of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital's emergency room, right next to the triage nursing station where an ambulance had left him that morning. By late afternoon, when the 75-year-old Montrealer was gasping for air, triage couldn't locate his file in the computer. After he stopped breathing, medical staff came to his side with a blood-pressure device and a thermometer.

       "I watched my father pass away before my eyes," Della Figiel, his daughter, said yesterday.

        On Feb. 3, after Figiel fainted at home, an ambulance delivered him to Maisonneuve-   
       Rosemont Hospital at 9:45 a.m., hooked to oxygen and a heart monitor. He was still wearing
       his hospital bracelet from a week before. Ambulance staff took their equipment and left him
       with no oxygen or heart monitor right under the window of the triage office. His wife, Helen,
       was by his side. "I showed up at 4 p.m.," said Della Figiel, who drove in from Ottawa. "My
       mother was standing in the hallway. She said they couldn't do anything and there was a 16-
       hour wait to be seen." Operating at about 180-per-cent capacity, the hospital ER was jammed.

Listen the system is terribly broken. It is broken across this country. People are dying as a result of the in-actions of government. The Ontario Government recently released numbers showing that out of every tax dollar collected 40 cents went to health care and that within 10 years that number would jump to 70 cents. According to statistics the amount Canadians spend on health care in 1997 dollars has increased every year between 1975 and 2009 from $39.7 billion to $137.3 billion or a more than doubling of per capita spending from $1,715 to $4089. In 2009 dollars spending is expected to reach $183.1 billion ( a more than five percent increase over the previous year ) or $5,452 per person. Most of this increase in health care costs has been covered by public funds. The greatest proportion of this money goes to hospitals ($51B), followed by pharmaceuticals ($30B), and physicians ($26B). Total spending in 2007 was equivalent to 10.1% of the gross domestic product which was slightly above the average for OECD countries, and below the 16.0% of GDP spend on health care in the United States. The proportion spent on hospitals and physicians has declined between 1975 and 2009 while the amount spent on pharmaceuticals has increased.

The issue at hand is not only the failing of the existing system from an operational and management perspective but what will ultimately (and some say already has) become our inability to support it financially. The common idea has been to throw money at the problem. With a ''that will save it'' mentality. The idea that the system itself is not broken but simply the Political managerial system which supports it, is also WRONG! The true fact is all of it is broken regardless of who wields the stick of power and nothing short of a complete overhaul of the system is going to make it better. When i say overhaul i don't mean an inquiry or commission. I don't mean a few additional tax dollars raised and thrown at the problem. I mean serious ''knock it down and rebuild it''. What do i mean? Well i mean rebuild much more then the system. I mean rebuild the way we think, act and live. Here you go. Instead of just criticizing the problem or lamenting it I'll offer up my 1 cent worth of ideas

1. The administration of health care, the bureaucrats, the administrators, the boards, hospital structures they all need to be deconstructed and rebuilt.


2. The ''addicted to pharmaceuticals'' by both Doctor and patients. The out of control, ''prescribe drugs to fix it'' mentality has to change. The role of pharmaceutical companies in the system needs to be strictly regulated and controlled.

3. The implementation of an incentive program to encourage our youth to become doctors, nurses and medical specialists and to hold onto those already in the system. Including a potential, ''Service for Learning'' model could be adopted and implemented as well as a ''stay and earn more'' program for those already in the system.

4. The obesity factor. Everything from the food manufacturers, distributor and the consumer needs to change. Including heavy tax on food items (Soda, chocolate, cakes, candy etc..) which are predominant causes of obesity and other health problems (all taxes collected go directly back into the health care system).

5. The potential implementation of a modified and strictly controlled ''pay by user'' model needs to be seriously considered.

Now I'm sure your saying Ha! Good luck with any of that. The reality is that if something concrete does not take place there is going to be a health care system in this country that within 20 years will look like what they have in Africa or Mexico (which by the way is none!). The one item which has always been a flash point is number 5. The whole, ''pay as you go'' system. Every time this is mentioned everyone points across the border to the US and says, ''thank good that's not our system.'' The problem with this ideology or philosophy is simply that we have the ability to change our system and build a better one without becoming like the United States. Think about how many times you have seen someone in the Emergency room of a Hospital looking like anything other then an Emergency? 2 or 4 times or more. Sure you have. We all have. In many cases we ourselves have gone to the Emergency room when we were not really an emergency worthy patient. The whole ideology of a State System lends itself to abuse. It has gotten so bad that we have created bogus issues which we use to blame for the systems failure. Instead of looking directly at ourselves and our own actions we turn outward to find other things to blame. The other issue is that people will call you Un-Canadian for proposing such a system as if you wanting a better system makes you a Socialist or uncaring, or greedy. We all better get beyond that nonsense pretty fast because the train wreck is coming and were all either in the train of stuck on the tracks.

To implement a system that could potentially work Government would have to apply;

1. A ''pay as you go'' system would have to insure that those who cannot pay end up getting equal care to those that can. Is this hard? Not really. You implement a system that ensures that new Doctors or nurses coming into the system have to do 4 years in the no pay system before being able to leave for the ''pay as you go'' system. The Government pays for ALL the school bills for these individuals in return for service. Similar to a military, ''serve and learn program''. Government could establish those who cannot pay by annual income, set at a specific amount. Those on Social assistance programs such as Welfare, Unemployment, workers compensation. Those under the age of 18 and those over the age of 70. Those with diagnosed prescribed medical conditions or serious illnesses.

2. Giving back the percentage it currently collects in taxes for health care to each citizen who does not fall into anyone of the groups mentioned above to offset potential, ''pay as you go'' cost to the user.

3. Specific strategies need to be implemented to cover habitual users. (by this i do not mean those with legitimate health issues but those who tax the system in an unreasonable way).

4. This will sound brutal but those individuals who by their own actions and personal life style choices create their medical conditions such as smoking, over eaters (obesity) would not get a free pass into the government paid system. They in fact would have to assume the cost for their own care.

5. A 5% increase to corporate tax to be used directly to re-subsidize Company health care programs which could be used in a direct ''pay as you go'' system.

These are just a few of the ideas that could be used. I am not saying anyone idea alone will fix what is broken. There are many, many others and there are those way more qualified then me to come up with some ways to avert the upcoming train wreck. The hardest part is getting to the place we need to be, not just us but politicians, health-care workers and for that matter everyone. A place where everyone recognizes that if we don't pull together and fix it its going to die.

If your not convinced that anything needs to change then simply go pay a visit to your local emergency room. Or God forbid be forced into one as a result of a sick child, a friend or a member of your family. Then pray the system doesn't fail you as it did Jean-Guy Pitre, Mariette Fournier, Mieczyslaw Figiel or the many others we pretend not to know about.

I STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE

Ok friends let me just start off by saying that yes i was TOTALLY wrong about the Men's Olympic Hockey results. I blew it big time. Both our Men's and Women's teams performed incredibly and both took home GOLD BABY! In the Women's case I don't think there was ever a whole lot of doubt. The women did not disappoint and it was fun watching them take another Gold medal. I was saddened to hear the negative press from the celebration the women held on the ice (with no one in the arena but a few media types). It made me angry that these women were called to behave in a manner that would constantly pass had they been Men. The double standard was disgusting from the media and I think the women deserved to celebrate however they saw fit. Good on you ladies don,t be deterred by a few talking heads.

So i am eating my crow on the men's side big time. Admitting that i was wrong and might i say i am very, very happy to have been. The start for the men was questionable. Especially the first game against the Americans. Perhaps that game was a wake-up call. Or perhaps it was just simply a part of the team bonding process. Whatever it was it certainly didn't make the average Canadian Hockey fan to comfortable. There were however some strong positives working in favour of our men's team. It seems the Russians and Swede's decided to give only 50% and they ended up doing us a big favor. On paper as is often the case the best team did not win Gold. But as always the paper is worthless its what you hang around your neck that counts the most. For our Boys it was Gold and that's all that anyone will ever remember. This team, at home with almost unattainable expectations did what it had to do. It pulled the strength, courage and skill together to create the winning recepie.

These games marked a potential turning point for Olympic Hockey. With no guarantee the NHL will compete is Sochi Russia in 2014 it might have been the last opportunity we Canadians get to see the very best our country produces on a sheet of ice together. If that is the case it will be a sad day for Hockey while at the same time it will restore the original Olympic spirit of amateur sport. I truly believe that having amateurs compete in Olympic Hockey would actually be good for the sport world wide. I believe it has the ability to grow the sport more then having NHLer's participate. The reason i say this is simple. Most youngster watching the Pro's play in the Olympics realize that that is a rare, if not impossible dream to make it to the NHL. If the players were still amateurs while playing in the Olympics it gives a better perception of the opportunity that might still exist for some young boy hoping one day to achieve hockey greatness. Prior to the NHL being involved in sending players to the Games almost all the players (minus Russia and the Czech) were amateur. Many of those players never made it to the NHL after competing in the games. However many of their names still remain common as a result of their performances during those 2 weeks every 4 years. I think if you want to build hockey worldwide you have to start by making it seem like it is possible to achieve great things without looking singularly at the NHL as an example of all hockey has to offer.

Whatever ends up happening will never change the past. it won’t change the Gold in Salt lake City or the 7th place finish in Torino or the most recent Gold. Canada's sport is hockey and whatever decision is made concerning Sochi in 2014 you can rest assured that Canadian televisions will be glued to every game involving our men's team.

FROM 7TH to 5TH

Well boys and girls its time again. Yes every 4 years the frenzy comes back. The total insanity that is men's hockey during the Olympics. Many still hold fresh the fantastic accomplishment in Salt Lake City in 2002 but more importantly the disastrous finish in 2006 in Turin. That year it was the Swede's winning gold, the Finn's taking silver and the Czech's taking Bronze. The Canadian team finished 7th. Yeah i know your trying to forget. AH but as you know in Canada their is no forgetting, good, bad or ugly.

So here we are in 2010 with the games on home soil in Rainy, windy, foggy, sleety Vancouver, Richmond or Whistler i can't really be sure. Twelve teams have qualified for the men's event and will be split into three groups of four teams. At the request of the your friendly neighbourhood NHL and that midget, sorry assed, excuse for a commissioner Bettman; asked that the preliminary round be reduced to 3 games. Following the completion of the preliminary round, all teams will be ranked 1 through 12 based on points. The top four ranked teams will receive byes to the quarter-finals, and the other eight teams will play for the remaining four positions. Following that, the final eight teams will compete in a playoff. For the first time, Olympic games will be played on a narrower NHL-sized ice rink, measuring 61 metres × 26 metres (200 ft × 85 ft), instead of the international size of 61 m × 30 m (200 ft × 98.5 ft). Now some might think this gives some type of advantage to US and Canadian players. This however is far from the case. A large majority of teams competing have sizable NHL stars playing regularly on these ice surfaces. So hence there goes the imaginary advantage.

The Canadian team looks like this for this years Olympics:

GOALIES
Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) (Montreal, Quebec)
Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins) (Sorel, Quebec)
Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks) (Montreal, Quebec)





DEFENCEMEN
Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks) (Ottawa, Ontario)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings) (London, Ontario)
Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks) (Penticton, B.C.)
Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim Ducks) (Cranbrook, B.C) *Team Captain*
Chris Pronger (Philadelphia Flyers) (Dryden, Ontario) *Alternate Capt.*
Brent Seabrook (Chicago Blackhawks) (Tsawassen, B.C.)
Shea Weber (Nashville Predators) (Sicamous, B.C.)

FORWARDS
Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins) (Sillery, Quebec)
Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) *Alternate Capt.*
Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim Ducks) (Regina, Saskatchewan)
Dany Heatley (San Jose Sharks) (Calgary, Alberta)
Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) (St. Albert, Alberta) *Alternate Capt.*
Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks) (Aneroid, Saskatchewan)
Brenden Morrow (Dallas Stars) (Carlyle, Saskatchewan)
Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets) (Brampton, Ontario)
Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks) (London, Ontario)
Mike Richards (Philadelphia Flyers) (Kenora, Ontario)
Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes) (Thunder Bay, Ontario)
Joe Thornton (San Jose Sharks) (ST. Thomas, Ontatio)
Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) (Winnipeg, Manitoba)

It certainly will be interesting to see how this team gels together. The thing to watch this year will be the emergence of younger players who play in their first Olympic games. Stars such as Crosby, Towes, Fleury and Bergeron will make for some interesting analyses after everything is said and done. Several players that were part of the 2006 Olympic team were left off the roster, including Vincent Lecavalier, Shane Doan, Simon Gagne, Ryan Smyth, Martin St. Louis, Robyn Regehr and Bouwmeester. As a result, the Canadian team will be relatively young. Twelve of the 23 players are currently 25 or under. These players had better take advantage of the moment because as of 2009, it has not yet been decided if the NHL will participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. A deal will have to be negotiated between the NHL and NHLPA in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. NHL management is hesitant to commit to the tournament; Bettman argues the Olympic break is a "strain on the players, on the schedule and on fans", adding that "the benefits we get tend to be greater when the Olympics are in North America than when they're in distant time zones." According to Bettman, most of the NHL team owners agree with his position, and feel that the league does not receive enough benefits to justify the schedule break and risk of player injuries.

OK folks so here it is my prediction for the Olympic medals.

RUSSIA Gold
CZECH Silver
SWEDEN Bronze

So what of our Team Canada. Well unfortunately look no further then 5th spot right behind Finland and one spot in front of the Americans. Why do i believe this? Well the Canadian talent is young. There is some good senior talent but i don't think the team will be successful in blending the two to create a wining recipe. The youth should provide some interesting entertainment but i think that talent can have some serious negative impacts on the whole team aspect required to win at these Olympics. Due to the fact that these youngsters hardly ever play together can cause some serious balance shifts in the, ''play like a team'' mentality. Then there is the goaltending issue. Brodeur has not been particularly hot lately. Luongo does not give me a whole lot of confidance going in and Fleury is young. Fleury however might be the key to any success beyond a 5th place finish if they give him a chance to play. I also believe simply that the home rink advantage will turn out to be anything but. The media scrutiny will simply play against our guys. I also think if you size up the team against the type of hockey being played by the Russians; this will leave our guys looking flat and winded. Combined with the complete team the Czech will put on the ice and the talent in the Swedish Team leaves no chance for a medal finish this year. But hey! I could be wrong.

DO YOU BELIEVE? Or more appropriately. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?

WINDBAG-LIMBAUGH

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." President Shepherd from the movie, ''The American President''. In a society driven by the the first amendments freedom of speech such is the reality of today's world or more appropriately the American society. Recently and not for the first time one windbag in particular has had absolutely no trouble exercising that right regardless of the lack of value of anything he has to say. He hides behind the ''Freedom of Speech'' uses it as his weapon. His name is Rush Limbaugh.


For a long time i wrote off Rush Limbaugh as nothing more then a balding, girth enlarging, red neck, sexually frustrated, well-to-do republican mouth piece. I have listen on numerous occasion as he has attacked everything that comes from the Liberal side of politics. I have watched him make a fool of himself and shook my head as he brushed off this responsibility to act as a responsible journalist. I was surprised in a small way when we all found out that the windbag had been breaking the law and was found in possession of illegally acquired pain medication. I was not surprised however at how he brushed it off and held himself to a completely different standard then that which he would have held a high profile Liberal caught in the same situation. That is how Windbags like Limbaugh operate. They have one standard for themselves and another for whoever they happen to be targeting. I guess it is fitting when you realize you must have to take allot of medication to try and free yourself from a never ending echoing storm of nonsense and bullshit that swirls around in that balding head. For the longest time i wondered why he was so frustrated ( i figured it was from lack of sex). Why he spent so much time screaming at the moon. It then dawned on me. It wasn't because he needed to scream at it, it was because he knew someone had to be listening. He was in some demented form brilliant, for he knew that eventually the screaming would attract the curious and if you can scream enough of your wind you can actually find an audience. You see intelligence isn't what is in large commodity in America at least not with those who listen to screamers at the moon. Rush knew this, he also knew that to maintain and grow the audience he had to shock.  You see logic, common sense, ideas and answers do not appeal to the scream listeners. Oh no! They want shock and awe. Not the facts, not the truth, just dramatics. So Windbag gave it to them.


There was a part of me that wanted to write off Rush Limbaugh and most importantly his audience. I lulled myself into believing that only bigots, and racists, and fear mongers were the ones listening to his screams. As time progressed however i started to realize that writing off all his listeners as just a bunch of redneck, intelligence challenged, gun toting Republicans was a cop out on my part. You see my friends i am neither a liberal nor a conservative. I am neither Red, Blue or Green. My beliefs and political views tend to cover a broad spectrum. While i have more predominantly Liberal leanings i am by far not a liberalist. Let me explain; I believe in the Death Penalty. I believe in a Woman's right to choose, I believe in the right to own firearms. I believe in immigration, yet i don't subscribe to reasonable accommodation. I believe in same sex marriage. I believe in legalizing marijuana. In considering my own political beliefs i recognized that not all of Limbaugh's listeners could be simply written off to some specific groups or more importantly to one specific political party (Republican). There had to be more to it all.

Then out of nowhere it hit me one evening while quietly enjoying a movie. The movie was ''The American President''. Near the end of the film the President takes the podium to discuss his republican rival (named Bob Rumson) who has been spewing garbage, lies and his own version of things to the American public. The President has watched as his approval ratings have plunged due to his refusal to enter into a useless war of words with the Windbag President wanna be. When he finally has enough he sets forth in a speech with some incredible words which i think perfectly helps explain Rush Limbaugh...(so read this and replace Rumson with Limbaugh) ''I've known Bob Rumson (Rush Limbaugh) for years. And I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob (Rush) devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain (moon) was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's (Rush's) problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's (Rush's) problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson (Rush Limbaugh) is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle age, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family (Earthquakes and security and economic stimulus), and American values and character, and you wave a flag (talk about Haiti, and accountability and liberal conspiracies) an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism (and taxes and unfair politics). You tell them she's (Obama's and democrats) are to blame for their lot in life. And you go on television and you call her (him a capitalist and an opportunist) a whore''. Wow! Noting in my mind could more accurately describe Rush Limbaugh and the game to which he subscribes.

What you always notice about a person who screams at the moon is their total lack of ideas. They simply have none.You won't see their name on a Ballot, you won't see them contribute to society or their community in any concrete manner. All you will see or more likely hear them do is capitalize on disasters, immigration, poor economies, wars or any other subject proposed by the mass media. They use these events to tone up the rhetoric to keep themselves current, to show they are of value, to falsify their knowledge and to render those not smart enough to think for themselves content. When Limbaugh went after the President and the current disaster in Haiti he did the only thing he could. You see Limbaugh is impotent to actually contribute anything of value to assist in this tragic event. He took the low road and played the lowest common denominator. Such is the fascinating thing about these talking head windbags. Their only solution to any problem it to change whoever is in charge if the person in charge does not subscribe to their narrow minded lack of idea position. But wait it gets better. The Windbag does not really even have a position. They know nothing of how to criticize constructively, to offer up positive ideas. NO! Making outlandish, foolish and inflammatory comments which only serve to wind up the listeners is their only possible contribution. The funny and simultaneously sad thing about the windbag is that they know exactly what they are doing whenever they open their mouths. Don't think for one second that you can write them or their words off to simple wind and nonsense. You cannot. Rush Limbaugh knows exactly what his words will incite and he gets pleasure out of it. It is his ''Raison D'etre''.

On the Haiti topic Limbaugh did the unthinkable, he did exactly what he accused Obama of doing. He politicized a human tragedy to increase his own ratings. He used human suffering and despair to increase his own net worth. He used the desire of not only a President but of a World to step up and act with their hearts and their wallets. He used the right intentions of a caring society to push his own narrow minded anti-social agenda. He does so all the while cloaking himself in the First Amendment right to, ''Free Speech''. If there is anyone that has been able to look at the images of dead children lying on the side of the road, or a mother hysterical over the loss of her child, or seniors starving under a 92 degree sun and then turn that tragedy into a personal opportunity needs no recognition. The reality is they need nothing from us other then our sympathy or more appropriately our disgust.

In Limbaugh's case he needs the following; that screaming, those words, that wind is measured in dollars earned. If you look at the radio in your car, home or at work you will notice a button marked ''On-Off'' the only way to stop a windbag like Limbaugh is to simply switch it to ''OFF'' That my friends stops the screaming and in the end is the ultimate use of your ''free speech''.

14 DAYS IN....ITS BAD

We are 14 days into the New Year and already 2010 is looking like a year we might want to forget. Its funny how when we arrive at the end of a year we get this feeling of excitement about the New Year which lays only days away. We begin to dream about the, ''what might be'' we begin to plan how we are truly going to make this new year special, how we are going to use the changing calendar as an opportunity to start anew. Unfortunately more times then not the new year only continues to be part of the last year with no discernable difference other then the number obvious on the calendar we hang on the refrigerator door.

HAITI

Use one of the following organizations for donations. Stick with these reputable charities to ensure maximum impact for the dollars you donate http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ , http://www.redcross.org/ , http://www.worldvision.org/ , www.OxfamAmerica.org/Haiti . Haiti is one of if not the most impoverished Nations in the Western Hemisphere. As a rule of thumb the people living there have little or nothing and since this magnitude 7.0 earthquake which is believed to have taken between 50,000-100,000 lives they now have less then nothing. Think about that. Less then nothing. GO TO THESE OR ONE OF YOUR PREFERED CHARITIES TO MAKE A SMALL CONTRIBUTION. IT WILL HELP.

AMERICAN POLITICS

You know i had as many others did, this incredible sense of something amazing about to happen back in November of 2008. I didn't want to believe it was possible for the Americans to actual take a gigantic step forward not only for their own country but for the entire world. On that warmish November night I was proven wrong and i watched with a big heart and a sense of renewed optimism in January of 2009 as Obama was sworn in as President. Almost 1year has now past and that sense of optimism has turned back to my original pessimism about Americans and their self-destructive nature. Don't get me wrong I'm not an American basher, I love them to death, I have worked in the US, I have visited and lived in the US. At times i have watched in complete awe as they do incredible things. I have watched them take action around the world (excluding the wars) while other nations have sat idly by. The sad part is they just don't seem to be able to keep themselves on track. This whole era of hope was built on the idea that the status quo had to go. That partnership was the way to accomplish the task that lay at hand. Unfortunately it has turned back to the same old, same old. Politics in the US is quite similar to their attitude about war. Its just never enough for them. They seem to need to wage war internally as much as they do externally. They have turned their political system of red and blue into nothing more then a civil war. Instead of North and South they have Republican and Democrats. No need for bullets or cannons, they have the media and its talking heads and they will do just fine thank you very much. Over the last few weeks especially they have sank to new levels of low. It started back on Christmas day with the attempted terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab on NWA flight 253. Since then the Reds (Republicans) have been attacking the Blue (Democrats) more particularly Obama about their inability to keep the nation safe. PARDON ME! SAFE you say. Yup, according to past New York Mayor and Republican presidential wanna be Rudy Giuliani there was never an attack on the US during George W Bush's administration. HUH? Wasn't he the President on Sept 11, 2001? Maybe i'm mistaken. Wasn't there an Anthrax attack that lasted 4 weeks during his Presidency also in 2001? NAH he wasn't President in 2001. Didn't a guy named Richard Reid try and blow up a plane on December 22, 2001 with a shoe bomb on a flight from Paris to Miami? COULDN'T BE! You know what the worst part of all of this is? The media actually plays up statements like Giuliani's as if they are facts. The talking heads of the Reds propagate the nonsense and drive it down an eager publics throat. You want to know the truly sad part? The American people actually eat it up, believe it, recycle it and use it (in the voting box) to move the country forward. That's not forward people that's backwards!!!



SARAH PALIN

SHE'S BACK. UGHHHHH! "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008. Do i need to say more? Well she's back with her book ''Going Rogue'', and now she is going to have her own on air show at FOX (the Bastien of fair and balanced media). You know what scares me is that people actually think she is qualified to be the President of the United States. That there are actually way to many who would actually put a check mark beside her name on a ballot. What the hell does that tell you about the people in the United States. She is one scary assed woman. You could go on and on about her but that only lends credibility to nonsense.

KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN EATING LIPS (AKA HARPER)

Do you remember when you were in high school and there was always one teacher who came across as being condescending (well maybe more). Who walked around and you got this sense that he didn't give a shit about you, how you were doing, or if teenage life was treating you well. When you spoke to them they acted interested but you could just tell they just wanted you to finish talking so they could go get a coffee and in essence didn't give a shit what you had to say or thought. Well let me introduce you to Stephen Harper, he's not a teacher though. Nope! He is the minority (for the second time) Prime Minister of Canada who just prorogued parliament because...well.... he has more important things take care of. The economy isn't bad enough, the whole torture issue in Afghanistan isn't important enough, no, no, no the Olympics might get in the way of parlimentary business, sooooooo. Close her down Baby! I wish there was some alternative to this red neck clown other then Jacky boy and Ignat...i can't even be bothered to spell his name. This Countries politics is sad and its not going to get any better any time soon.

THE OLYMPICS

I'm sorry to my sport loving readers but i can't get behind the Olympics. I just can't. I mean listen McDonald's is the ''official'' restaurant of the Olympic Games. WHAT!!! Common what does fast food and athletics have to do with each other other then millions of dollars of marketing value. There are no more amateur athletes in the games unless of course you count the ski jumpers and bobsledders. Hey, name a Ski jumper or a Bobsledder. I think the Olympics must have meant something once but now they are nothing more then an excuse to pound out advertising and products. Oh and before anyone goes off about, ''yes but you know these obscure athletes training on their own giving it their all and getting no support that's what the Olympics are all about, perseverance''. Listen, since the ''Own The Podium'' initiative was introduced the funding for ''amateur'' athletes has increased to over $90 million dollars per year. That's $90 million Tax payer dollars by the way. The funding was increased for which reason exactly? Because the government and our society so supports our ''amateur'' athletes? AH NO! It was because the government and sports powers that be could not accept the potential that their might not be a SIGNIFICANT podium performance by our athletes on home turf in 2010. That is why the funding was increased, it was all about athletics and the athletes and the value we put on them here in this country. To quote Dr, Evil, ''Yeah Right''.

There are so many major challenges facing humanity at this time and more importantly issues facing our own Nation for me to support the outlandish amount of money being spent by governments on these games. Anyone who claims that the games will not in the end cost the taxpayers money is a fool. The games are going to tax resources which could be spent more appropriately on health care, jobs, the economy, world aid and i don't know maybe the refugees in Darfur could use a $100 million of the estimate $400 million plus the Canadian tax payers are going to have to pay for security overruns alone. I wonder if that might feed a few starving children's mouths. The Harper Government has committed $5 Million to the Haiti recovery. $5 million? Because you know there is way more value in seeing a Canadian athlete on TV atop the podium with a Gold Medal around their neck, a Big Mac in one hand and a Coke in the other with the maple leaf fluttering in the back ground. Thats a much better photo opt then there is in seeing a dead child lying on the side of the road in an earthquake torn country.

Don't get me wrong people, i love sports, anyone who knows me knows i love sports probably way to much. I made a living off of sports. I admire the athletes and their dedication and talent. But truly what the hell is wrong with us. We need serious reflection in this country (as well as many others). We need to start doing concrete things to change the direction we are going. Oh and before anyone starts with the spirit of sports and the games and what they do to bring awareness to the world. SAVE IT PLEASE! The games in China have done nothing to increase the democratic process in that Country. NO WAIT, IT DID! Oh yes! Just recently Google has said it might pull all access to its services in that country as it was discovered that the Chinese Government had been hacking its site to get and use information against dissidents in that country. Yeah the Olympics did wonders for raising awareness. GO CANADA GO! DO YOU BELIEVE?

You know what people if you still have your 2009 calendar you might want to put it back up! 2010 is not off to a good start. Don't worry though 2011 is only 350 days away (well actually 352 its a leap year). Or maybe NOT!