But I Love Celine Dion! Oh, And Rita MacNeil Too!

A few days ago, I was reading the comments on a blog about Justin Beiber’s ‘dissing’ of Anne Frank.  I am sorry but I had no prior knowledge of who she was and had to hurriedly do a google search.  A neat story indeed.  I sided with the Beibs on this one.  Maybe she would have been a Belieber.   But back the comments.  One blogger, obviously a Canadian, said he didn’t like the fact that Beiber was from Canada as Canada is done apologizing for Celine Dion.  Double ouch!

Which brings me to the question, ‘Why do so many Canadians not like Celine Dion?’  She’s a true Canadian icon.  The woman can sing.  My humble opinion of course.  Well and the guys at Caesars too.  Arguably one of the greatest singers in Canadian history.  With the few genuine celebrities we can call our own, we should be proud of Celine Dion.

To understand this phenomenon, you must understand that us Canadians suffer from a sort of inferiority complex, maybe as a result of living in close proximity to the United States.  The self-proclaimed master of the universe.  We hate our sports teams, preferring to support US teams.  I am a fan of the Washington Capitals even though we have our own NHL team in the city.  Even our Canadian born players choose to play in the US than stay in Canada.  According to us, CFL sucks. NFL is the way to go. Our high school and even university basketball games are not worth televising because it can’t compete with NCAA. Our television shows? Well that’s another story.  Why do  you think we own illegal satellites?  We have tried mimicking American reality shows like ‘So  You Think You Can Dance’ and ‘Canadian Idol’ to name a few, but the ratings were so low that they were cancelled.  Who really wants to watch Canadian Idol with some Canadian judges when there were real celebs like Randy Jackson and washed-up Paula Abdul judging American Idol?  A no-brainer for sure eh?  I think our winning idols played a few gigs at malls then went back to whatever they were doing in relative obscurity.  Apparently the Canadian Idol judges tried to copy the antics of their US counterparts.  I am guessing they were never told to ‘be yourselves’.

So, we are an apologetic nation.  We say sorry, whether we mean it not.  We think the grass is greener on the other side of the 49th parallel.  We know more about the US Presidents than we know of our own.  Harper who?  We think Justin Beiber is one of Canada’s biggest embarrassment.  I am not a Belieber but I disagree with that sentiment.  We hated the late icon Rita MacNeil.  Such a sweet and honorable woman.  We diss Celine Dion. Awesome pipes and great concerts.  And there’s more but you don’t have that much time.

While we are apologizing to the States for invading them with our ‘watered-down talents’, they accept our apologies and give us Kardashians, Britney Spears, Honey Boo Boo and whatever they could dredge up from the society’s also-rans. So who should apologize?

It’s just my take, what do I know eh?

Related articles

• Trailer Park Boys and Rita MacNeil (*Coarse Language*) (reflectionsonlifethusfar.wordpress.com)
• Celine Dion – The Quantity A single Singer (celinebagsonline1.wordpress.com)
• Celine Dion can hold a hell of a note, and end a date just as crazy (lorenserritella.net)

 

Assisted Suicide

This morning I did something I rarely do.  Especially at work.  I cried.  I didn’t  sit there and sobbed with my shoulders going up and down but I was choked up and a few tears streamed down my face while I sniffled.

I was skimming through the Monday edition of The Winnipeg Free Press and there was an article by Lindor Reynolds that seemed interesting.   Here.   It detailed a woman’s decision to end her life after being diagnosed with an illness that would have gradually rob her of her quality of life.  Assisted Suicide is illegal in Canada so she was travelling to Switzerland where it is legal.  I cried as I looked at a photo of her walking down the steps of her house for the last time.  As she was wheeled through the airport.  As I read about her saying bye to her grandkids.  I was sad and I cried.

As a Christian, my opinion on this form of self-demise is somewhat bias, I must confess.  I err on the biblical side that teaches that murder in all forms is wrong.  Reading about Susan Griffiths’ choice to die on her terms and not be a ‘dead living’, I softened on my stance.  She knew that her condition would see her confined to a bed unable to even manage the simplest bodily function.  Being a burden to her family, while suffering the indignity of being tended to by impersonal caretakers.  Strong points for the case of assisted suicide.  Under those conditions, what would I want?

I have always have this fear of lying in a hospital bed with my mind intact but  unable to communicate with my loved ones.  A few months ago, I saw a friend in that condition.  Mercifully, he died a couple of weeks later.  When I went to see him, I looked into his eyes and knew he wanted to talk to me but he couldn’t.  I could see the confusion, pain and panic in his eyes.  I turned away and couldn’t look at him.  I never went back.  If he could, would he have chosen death?

Last week, I sent a Facebook message to an old friend.  It was a few months since I had seen her.  I wanted to know how she was doing as her future didn’t look to bright.  She was diagnosed with a serious form of cancer and had undergone the gamut of treatment including chemo.  She was forced to give up her job and her boy friend, who couldn’t deal with her condition.  I messaged her to find out how she was doing and to be honest, was not expecting the response I got.  She was healed! She was back to work! I had prayed hard for her, much like many other prayer warriors on her behalf and it had worked!  In her words,  “I’m doing great docs are really amazed I’m in complete remission & back at work full time a miracle”  She also added,  ”Grace of God & prayers saved my life & for that I am eternally grateful.”

Another example.  A few years ago, my cousin’s boyfriend suddenly fell while in church.  He was rushed to the hospital where he stayed in a coma-like state.  His family and the doctor discussed pulling the plug since his future looked bleak.  Fortunately, they didn’t and today, he’s fully recovered.

Now what if my friend had decided that she wasn’t willing to face what lay ahead?  What if she had offed herself?  What if the plug was pulled in the young man’s case?  In my opinion, when you believe in God, you believe in fighting to the bitter end.  Till the last breath.  Lazarus was dead for 4 days, yet he was brought back to life.  If you are not a believer, things can still change for you.  What if doctors come up with a cure?  I have heard of so many miracles by people like my friend.  So many people have ‘come back from the grave’ so to speak.  Why can’t it be you?  As they say, ‘Once there’s life, there’s hope.’

On the legal side of this issue.  Should it be legal in Canada?  Murder is a crime, right?  If it becomes legal, how do you draw the line about who determines who dies and when?  Who gets to play God?  A co-worker thinks that it is unfair that dogs are put down when they are terminally ill but humans are not given that choice.  Good point BUT, we are our dogs’ masters.  No human is my master.

I am curious though, if someone is strong and able enough, why can’t they do the act themselves?  Why get someone else’s hands dirty?  In Susan’s case, instead of travelling overseas to seek a killer, couldn’t she mix and drink her own poison?  Just wondering.

Sorry, just my take…

Related articles

• Winnipeg woman seeks help to die in Europe (cbc.ca)
• Federal assisted suicide appeal heard in highest B.C. court (cbc.ca)
• No ‘right answer’ when it comes to the assisted suicide debate, government lawyer tells court (theprovince.com)
• http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/a-date-with-death-201884711.html
• http://www.elizabethmcclung.blogspot.com/2013/04/susan-griffiths-72-isnt-tragic-is.html

Remember The Soldiers? Or Go Shopping?

November 11 is Remembrance Day (Photo credit: Enokson)

On November 11th, the commonwealth countries will show their respect for the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy the benefits of living in a free world.   It is recognized as a national holiday here in Canada and up until a few years ago, the entire day was set aside to reflect and remember.

A recent editorial in the local newspaper bore testimony to how even a day such as Remembrance day is no match for commercialization.  The editorial was titled “Sunday shopping affected on Nov. 11″.   Sunday shopping affected?  Affected?  Doesn’t that sound to you as if Remembrance day is intruding on one’s right to shop?  Yes, that’s what I got from that also.

I have always had an issue with the new Sunday shopping laws that now allow stores to opening earlier on Sundays to help those who make shopping their hobby.  Read my blog here.  When a holiday as important as this falls on a Sunday, the least we could do is show some respect and observe it to the fullest.  It’s only one day versus how many days some of these soldiers spent in war zones fighting to make it possible for us to go shopping.

Remembrance day is a great opportunity for us to sit down with our kids and tell them stories about the wars.  Children love shoot em up stories with villains and heroes so we could take advantage of this and spin an interesting story for them.  This way,  the fading memory of our soldiers would never be forgotten when we are gone.

The editorial should have been, ‘Remembrance day halts Sunday shopping’.

Just my take, Lest We Forget.

Related articles

• Vets say bar is ‘sexualizing’ Remembrance Day (lfpress.com)
• Remembrance Day 2014: Calls To Close Shops (news.sky.com)
• Why Wear a Poppy (insidehalton.com)
• Sunday Shopping Affected On Nov. 11
• Shop or Family?

Thursday’s Thoughts: Winnipeg’s Praying Police Chief

A few weeks ago, the City of Winnipeg got its first black police chief when Jamaican born Devon Clunis got the nod for the position.  Devon, who has over 20 years of service, also served as the police chaplain.  Since his selection, his strong Christian faith has been a topic of discussion.

In one of his first meeting with the media,  (A Christian news magazine), Clunis wore his faith on his sleeve and said the following:

EXCERPTS from the ChristianWeek story, New police chief: prayer will play a role in reducing violent crime

– “I’m a little tired of us… being ‘(the) murder capital of Canada,’ ” says Devon Clunis, who was appointed chief of police at the beginning of October. “People consistently say, ‘How are you going to solve that?’ It’s not simply going to be because we’re going to go out there and police it away. I truly believe that prayer will be a significant piece of that.

“What would happen if we all just truly — I’m talking about all religious stripes here — started praying for the peace of this city and then actually started putting some action behind that?” he adds. “I believe something phenomenal is going to happen in our city. I truly believe it’s coming. I don’t think I’ve arrived at this position just by chance.”

– Clunis attributes his success to God. He says he has never asked God to make him a powerful person, but rather he has prayed that God make him a leader who treats people with dignity and respect and who is successful in his endeavours.

– Clunis says at the end of the day, he just wants to give of himself to help the community.

– “God still cares, He’s still involved in our lives,” Clunis says, “and I believe without a shadow of a doubt the only reason that I am in this position is because God is involved in it. Without a shadow of a doubt.”

Yesterday, the media was in a frenzy.  ’Chief urges prayer to fight crime’ was the general headline, his words sadly taken out of context.

Chief Clunis has my support.  I am happy to see a man of strong christian values in his position.  I have seen, read and heard of too many ‘bad cops’ and ‘dirty cops” that I, for the most part, have lost faith in them.   Clunis has given me a reason to have at least a glimmer of hope.

As for using prayer as part of his arsenal, why not?  With Winnipeg the nation’s crime capital, what do we have to lose? And while you kneel in prayer for our city,  don’t forget to say one for Clunis.  He needs our prayers and support and we need him to stay strong in his faith no matter what comes.

Oh, and like him, I also believe that the only reason he’s in this position is ‘because God is involved in it’.

All the best, Chief!  Keep the faith!

Just my take.

 

Related articles

• Winnipeg police chief proposes prayer to help combat crime (cbc.ca)
• Winnipeg police chief says comments on prayer and crime misconstrued (ctvnews.ca)
• Combat crime with prayer urges Winnipeg police chief (metronews.ca)
• Local Hero: Devon Clunis preaches the power of prayer (stjohnscathedral.ca)
• Winnipeg police chief to speak to media (cbc.ca)
• Police chief ‘misconstrued’ on controversial prayer statement (theglobeandmail.com)

BC drug smuggler caught smuggling cocaine in car with ‘SMUGLER’ plates

Jasmin Klair of B.C. caught smuggling cocaine in car bearing ‘SMUGLER’ plates

By Jordan Chittley | Daily Buzz – 12 hours ago

The woman was also staying at the Smuggler’s Inn just metres from the Canadian border

When trying to smuggle drugs between Canada and the U.S., it’s not a good idea to be in a car with vanity plates that read “SMUGLER”. Or stay at the Smuggler’s Inn, which is a stone’s throw from the Canadian border in Washington.

Department of Homeland Security agents received a tip about possible drug activity at a Pizza Hut near the inn in December. Agents were watching as the owner of the bed and breakfast pulled into the parking lot and picked up a passenger and then drove her back to the inn. His vanity plates read “SMUGLER”.

At the inn, agents contacted B.C. resident Jasmin Klair who they described as “very nervous and erratic,” according to the Seattle PI. Klair admitted to having a gift-wrapped box in the car and when officers searched it, with her consent, they found nine bricks of cocaine weighing 11 kilograms.

Klair told agents Gurjit Singh Sandhu gave her instructions and said he would pay her $4,000 plus expenses for the job. She was to go to Bellingham, just south of the Canadian border, pick up a package, stay at the Smuggler’s Inn and leave the package outside the door to her room.

The Smuggler’s Inn has rooms named “Al Capone” and “DB Cooper”. According to MSNBC, Klair requested the “Captain’s Room,” which is about 50 metres from the border.

Agents then set up surveillance and saw a driver and passenger cross illegally from Canada into the U.S. and stop in front of the inn shortly before midnight. Agents saw them approach the package of drugs and when the men were close, agents arrested them. The men were Sandhu, who had given Klair instructions, and Narminder Kaler.

Klair pleaded guilty at the end of last month in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. She remains in jail pending a May 29 sentencing hearing. Klair’s co-defendants Sandhu and Kaler also remain in jail on similar charges.

The Inn’s owner, Bob Boule, told the Bellingham Herald about 60 people are arrested every year going through the yard of the inn.

(Reuters photo)

Talk about a smug smuggler.  Coincidentally, she was also staying at THE SMUGGLER’S INN when apprehended. Talk about advertising one’s business….My take, is it the air in BC?

Related articles

• Alleged cocaine smuggler nabbed near border in car bearing ‘SMUGLER’ plates (theprovince.com)

No ‘care’ in Healthcare

Whenever I am in a hospital, I always have this safe feeling.  I think to myself that if I am going to have a heart attack, I am in the best possible place and my chances of survival are excellent.  Turns out that I was having a false sense of security all along and I probably have a better chance having a heart attack in my home.  An 82 year old woman fell while visiting a relative in a Canadian hospital and broke her leg.  She was ignored as she lay there and told to call 911 to get an ambulance. (ambulance was called and took 1/2 an hour to arrive).  Read the rest for yourself and see how much the CARE has disappeared from Healthcare.

 

Related articles

• Hospital to Injured Woman Already at the Hospital: ‘Call an Ambulance’ [Healthcare] (gawker.com)

Jets take off

Yesterday was the Winnipeg Jets’ first game.  It came with the expected fanfare.  The Prime Minister of Canada, the NHL Commissioner and other dignitaries including Don Cherry all showed up to add their star power to the Biggest Show In Town.  Unfortunately, that was where it ended and the Jets came out flat and cruised to a rough landing at the sticks of the Montreal Canadiens.  The score was 5-1 and deservedly so.  I hope that this game is not a sign of things to come. For now, I will blame it on the jitters.

Bring our soldiers home!

Poll: 1 in 3 vets sees Iraq, Afghan wars as wastes

By ROBERT BURNS – AP National Security Writer | AP – 20 mins ago

• WASHINGTON (AP) — One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and most think that after 10 years of combat America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on its own problems, according to an opinion survey released Wednesday.

The findings highlight a dilemma for the Obama administration and Congress as they struggle to shrink the government’s huge budget deficits and reconsider defense priorities while trying to keep public support for remaining involved in Iraq and Afghanistan for the longer term.

Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops have died in Iraq and about 1,700 in Afghanistan. Combined war costs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have topped $1 trillion.

The poll results presented by the Pew Research Center portray post-9/11 veterans as proud of their work, scarred by warfare and convinced that the American public has little understanding of the problems that wartime service has created for military members and their families.

The survey also showed that post-9/11 veterans are more likely than Americans to call themselves Republicans and to disapprove of President Barack Obama’s performance as commander-in-chief. They also are more likely than earlier generations of veterans to have no religious affiliation.

The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan organization that studies attitudes and trends, called the study the first of its kind. The results were based on two surveys conducted between late July and mid-September. One polled 1,853 veterans, including 712 who had served in the military after 9/11 but are no longer on active duty. Of the 712 post-9/11 veterans, 336 served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The other polled 2,003 adults who had not served in the military.

Nearly half of post-9/11 veterans said deployments strained their relationship with their spouses, and a similar share reported problems with their children. On the other hand, 60 percent said they and their families benefited financially from having served abroad in a combat zone. Asked for a single word to describe their experiences, the war veterans offered a mixed picture: “rewarding,” ”nightmare,” ”eye opening,” ”lousy.”

There are about 98,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, where the conflict began with a U.S.-led invasion on Oct. 7, 2001. Obama campaigned for the presidency in 2008 on getting out of Iraq and ramping up the military campaign in Afghanistan. He is on track to have all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of this year, and in July he announced that he would pull 10,000 troops out of Afghanistan this year and 23,000 more by next September.

The Pew survey found that veterans are ambivalent about the net value of the wars, although they generally were more positive about Afghanistan, which has been a more protracted but less deadly conflict for U.S. forces. One-third of post-9/11 veterans said neither war was worth the sacrifices; that was the view of 45 percent in the separate poll of members of the general public.

Fifty percent of veterans said Afghanistan was worth it, whereas the poll of civilians put it at 41 percent.

Among veterans, 44 percent said Iraq was worth it. That compares with 36 percent in the poll of civilians.

Of the surveyed former service members who were seriously wounded or knew someone who was killed or seriously wounded, 48 percent said the war in Iraq was worth fighting, compared with 36 percent of those veterans who had no personal exposure to casualties.

Exposure to casualties had an even larger impact on attitudes toward the war in Afghanistan. Fifty-five percent of those exposed to casualties said Afghanistan has been worth the cost to the U.S., whereas 40 percent of those who were not exposed to casualties held that same view.

Pew said its survey results found “isolationist inclinations” among post-9/11 war veterans. About 6-in-10 said the United States should pay less attention to problems overseas and instead concentrate on problems at home. In a Pew survey conducted earlier this year, a similar share of the general public agreed.

The survey also reflected what many view as a troublesome cultural gap between the military and the general public. Although numerous polls have shown that Americans hold the military in high regard, the respondents in the Pew research acknowledged a lack of understanding of what military life entails.

Only 27 percent of adult civilians said the public understands the problems facing those in uniform, and the share of veterans who said so is even lower — 21 percent.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

My take exactly.